LSSA

LSSA is over... I appreciate every moment I have spent at TLU and all the great comrades I made along the way. The professors were beyond helpful and I have found myself writing a bit more properly thanks to Professor Bost, and of course I can't forget the great and maniacal Doctor Vroomen. I have learned that some things aren't a game no matter how much we would like them to be... well not as straight forward. I'm saddened that I am leaving this place so soon, but I will forever carry these cherished memories that have formed over the past 2 weeks. To each his own, and may you all carry on your way.

Six Flags

Six Flags was just as fun as I remembered. I ended up hanging out and walking around with Mayra, Kassandra and Scott for most of the time. I was overjoyed to ride all the great roller coasters within Six Flags; I absolutely love the Superman and Poltergeist. The Scream was especially fun because I managed to get Mayra to overcome her fears. At the end of the day, my shoes and socks were beyond wet from splashing around in the rain as well as the fun water rides like Bug's White Water Rapids. I would love to go back again if I could before Summer is up. It was a great experience for me and my new friends; it is one that I won't forget.

Extra Blog 2

Today is the last day at LSSA. It's kind of sad, but I must say that it was a lot of fun and I do not regret a single moment. I am going to be leaving with a lot of good memories. In a way, I do wish it was longer so I could hang out with everyone a little more, but a part of me does want to be home again. We all need to have a reunion one day, just saying. Probably the one thing I do wish is that my roommate, Michael, was here for the ceremony, but I am very eager to see my dad and little sister again. Especially my little sister, she has been talking to me throughout the entire camp and begging me to come home. I also enjoyed the classes, despite all the work. I wish everyone a safe ride home and also wish everyone the best.

Baseball

The sport of baseball is also known as Matthews Sport, you cannot deny it! I have played baseball since i was 5 years old. I have always enjoyed the sport, the way its played, and how it is ruled. One time when I was like 10, I was first up to the plate, and on the first pitch I hit a home run, that was my first home run and I will never forget it. The ball sailed over the right field fence and hit the wall behind it. I hadn't moved a muscle since the ball hit the bat. I just stood there watching it go over. I was spell bound because I was never the "power hitter". I always was a contact hitter, one who get on base more than anyone else. And that concludes my best baseball story from my childhood. There may be some better ones in the later years but I want to write about this one.

Extra Blog #3

today is the last day of lssa before we all possibly never see each other again. Even though its all ending today, there was still some pretty fun times with the other kids. Six flags was really fun hanging out with the group and getting on the awesome rides. The first week of lssa was the best to me because we did alot of fun activities to help us get to know each other and not act socially awkward around others. Even though some things in the classes are somewhat challenging, overall it was a great expierience and really fun in the end. Im really going to miss all of the fun times i had at lssa and im going to try and keep in touch with everyone here. Maybe next year I will return and some of the same people will be here. The RAs were pretty cool to, and they were really funny.

Extra Blog

Six Flags was so much fun, despite the rain. I got to hang out with these awesome people who helped me overcome my fear of rollercoasters. I had never ridden a rollcoaster until that day and I am so glad I did. Although the first ride scared me to death, each ride continued to get better. The next awesome thing was when my group and I were in the arcade and Isaiah scored the jackpot on one of the games. He got one thousand tickets! Then after that we did bumper cars! I kept bumping Matthew a bunch, but he got me a few times too. So, I had a lot of fun and was completely drained when we got back. It was definitely a day I will not forget, unless I hit my head on a hard rock.

extra blog 2 sorry som thing has gone wrong here

extra blog 1

       So many topics to chose from. How about a little expanded background information. I am seventeen, a raising junior, with three siblings, that likes to read or write while listening to rock or metal. Now i am pretty sure that you are thinking 'Why did she fail?' or 'What grade did she fail?', but you would be wrong. I did not fail any grade. I was put back the first time I started 2nd grade. A bit of a difference there. Not by much, but it is there. Ever since, so long as I try and show it, I am frequently one of the smartest students in any of my classes. I prefer brains over brawn. Being about five two and a half at about ninety-five pounds that shouldn't be too much of a surprise. Do not get me wrong though that does not mean that I am not athletic in any way.
       Being in JROTC is proof enough of that. Obviously that does not mean that girls, or guys, that are not do not join. That just means that they do not generally stay. Now for my three siblings.We have Michael who ill be twenty next September. He is in the marines with a wife and two kids. He was eighteen when he moved out. Next is Shannon. She is sixteen, also a raising junior, with a boyfriend for the past seventeen moths. She is generally the exact opposite of me. As in friendly, social and bubbly. Then finally we have my little brother Hunter. He is eleven, acts like a little demon(in comparison)at home, and a sweet little angel at home. well talk to you later gotta leave you wanting more for my next one.

LSSA 2012(Free Blog # 4)

We are almost done with LSSA and I am so happy to go back home, but at the same time I don't want to leave. These past weeks have been really fun and i have learned a lot. The classes were awesome and so the Professors. I got to meet new people and so did my other friends. I'm going to miss my roommate Hannah so much!!! Hopefully we get to see each other some day in the future. Now that i have a taste of what college is like, I'm going to work hard to accomplish my goals!! In reality college is so much fun, and a whole new experience. Tomorrow is the closing ceremony and i think I'm going to cry!! So thanks everyone for the fun memories, and hope ya' ll have a wonderful year!!

Six Flags(Free Blog # 3)

After all Fiesta Texas wasn't that bad. I actually didn't get sick this time, and went on the big roller coasters!! Even though it started raining we still had hope/spirit to ride the roller coasters.  I even tried the Superman for the first time, and i loved it! Fiesta Texas was packed, but that didn't stop us from having fun. My favorite roller coasters were The Superman, the Poltergeist, and the Road Runner Express. I want to go again sometime this year, before I start school. It was such a fun experience with everyone, and we all had an amazing day!

extra blog #4 saying goodbye

Tomorrow is going to be a harder day then most of us think it will be because we must say goodbye to all the friends we have become so close to the past two weeks.  I came into LSSA crying, and thats how i am going to leave.  In my mind this is how we are supost to live from now on and going home will be a very strange adjustment.  It seems like we just got here and now it is time to go home.  I am really dreading going home because it will be the first time I fly by myself, which wouldnt be a big deal if I didnt have to switch planes 3 times.  I am going to miss everyone I met at LSSA so much.  I have made great friends that hopefully last a lifetime.  Brooke, Scott, and I will not be able to really ever see anyone since we are so far away.  I am so glad I will always have my memories.  If anyone is ever in Montana, which is totally likely, hit me up. 

extra blog #3 Fiesta Texas =) the noob perspective

I really enjoyed Fiesta Texas, but it did not compair to Disney World or Universal, it was really fun! My favorite ride had to be the Superman.  Laughing the entire ride, especially when i rode it with Chris and he yelled multiple times that he was going to be sea sick.  It was a really smooth ride with lots of loops and turns, exactly the opposite of the rattler.  Good riddins to it, because there was no thrill involved all it did was hurt my insides and give me neck problems for a couple of hours.  I would also question its stability, so I hope it holds up till August 5th!  The rain seemed to put a downer on our day, but it actually cleared out alot of people and made it more of an enjoyable experience. I would really like to go back someday. 

b2

            I have learned quite a bit. The thing is not too much of it has made enough of an impression to write about it here. Seeing as that is the case this will be more of what i have experienced, which is part of learning, rather than what i have learned specifically. I have learned a lot about games and gaming itself. I opened the book and almost felt like the average person with the fact that there were so many terms that I did not even recognize. Which is a good thing. On  the first day I learned that the creation process for a game is similar to that of a book. With a lot of the games that i play it didn't really surprise me. (Examples Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance, Final Fantasy X, and Final Fantasy X-2) I think that the fact that i did not know half of what they were talking about was a good thing. It kept me going really. Seeing as I do not play them I was really confused when they were talking about FPS's (first person shooters). I was not much help when I participated in a group project for when because I hardly knew the mechanics. I guess that I was able to write about something I had learned after all. Is anyone able to relate to this?

Six Flag's is on my mind

Having this be crunch time studyhall is not very convinient right now.  All I can think about is how excited I am for six flag's and how nervous I am to give my speech on Friday.  I cannot wait to do all of the rollercoasters tomorrow with my rollercoaster buddy Mike! No sissy rides for this girl right here.  I have never been to a Six Flag's and I have no idea what to expect.  I didn't even know what Fiesta Texas was when it was brought to my attention on the first day of LSSA.  Thank you Austin for clearing that up for me.  I just got home from a vacation to Disney World and Universal resorts right before coming to TLU so I hope the quality of this park doesn't disappoint me. 

Extra Credit free write

I don't know hwat exactly to do this post over, but Marlen gave me some inspiration here. Since we'll be going to Six Flags tomorrow, I think I should note down some of the best ways to hit all the rides. First off, head straight to the boardwalk in the back of the park. That way, you're able to beat the rush to those rides, and then when the crowds migrate back, you can just move to the front of the park. This all is just used in an attempt to beat the lines. I would also like to suggest that Hannah learns to take big steps, since she recruited me as her ride buddy. If she wants to hit all the rides, then she had better keep up

So, since I do not know what to do this blog over, I guess I will do it over my enthusiasm, not hatred because “hate” is a strong word, against Twilight. Now, the reason I do not care for Twilight is because it does not follow the traditional vampire and it is too “lovey-dovey” for my taste. Now I will admit, some of the effects are cool. The other thing that gets under my skin is the fact that the vampires sparkle. I can handle the love story, the drama, and even the hair, but the sparkles are where I draw the line. It reminds me of my little sister’s Barbie dolls, not scary, blood-sucking vampires. I could go on, but I don’t want to be too critical. The other thing I do give credit to Twilight is that it did try to do something different with vampires, but I feel like it fell below the bar on that attempt. But who knows? Maybe one day I might wake up and like it. 

One time at my school, I witnessed one of the most epic and dim-witted arguments, or “debates” according to my English teacher, ever. It was about whether cheese was a pizza topping or not. Now do not get that mixed up with “extra” cheese because that is a topping. The argument was over if cheese, as itself, was a topping. After about fifteen minutes, by this time both the kid and my English teacher were in each other’s faces, which was funny because the kid was like a midget, the class, including me, decided to call Pizza Hut to confirm once and for all if cheese was a topping. Unfortunately, the guy on the phone didn’t speak English well, so we, the class and I witnessing this argument, couldn’t understand what the Pizza Hut guy was saying. After screaming a few ill-advised words, or cuss words if you prefer, in Spanish, the Pizza Hut guy hung up. So, the argument continued for twenty long, agonizing minutes. During that time I was thinking, “Why didn’t I bring my ear muffs?” Luckily, the bell rang and they had to end the argument. Nobody won. So, let me know if you think this story is true, or not and whether you think cheese it a topping, or not.  

BLOGGER NUMBER 3!!!

This edition of Matthew's sing-along-blog we discuss the importance of teamwork. The idea of teamwork is for a group of people contributing with their specific skill sets in order to accomplish a task. Now, teamwork can be seen in almost every sport except Bowling, Golf, and Boxing. There is probably more but i'm just not thinking that hard. A quick example of teamwork is when Scott and I won the water balloon tossing game. Y'all tired of me referencing that? Too bad, it'll always keep coming back to haunt you! I play baseball as most of you know and there is a lot of teamwork involved with that sport. Just like in baseball, you must use teamwork on your way to the top of the ladder of life. Now here is a depressing quote I remember form a play I was once in, "Why make friends on your way to the top when you're never coming back down?" (Warbucks). This quote is about explaining why on your way to conquest, one does not need to acquire comrades. However! Warbucks is a fictional character form the musical Annie, and he changed throughout the play and ended up saying something along the lines of "friendship is good and stuff". Therefore you must use teamwork in order to get to the ranking position you desire. Take it from me, a guy who has yet to figure out the color thing on blogger. No really, teamwork is good. USE IT!!!

Sorry for the color thingy again.
OH SHOOT I FIXED IT

Six Flags(Free Write #2)

My first time going to six flags was when i was in fifth grade, and it was a horrible experience!! I went with some friends and teachers early one Saturday morning. I was so excited that i couldn't even wait for my teacher to pick me up. Once we got to six flags....ohhhhh boyyyy.....my world changed. To me it wasn't just six flags it was like universal studios(Of course because i was little). Once we got in i felt super happy and crazy!!! But after two hours of riding the worsts roller coasters, I started to feel sick!! My stomach was hurting and i felt really dizzy, because i had eaten hot cheetos. But the worst part was when we were leaving and i threw up like crazy in front of some guys!!!! That moment was so embarrassing that i wanted to die at that instance!!!! Jajajaja

The Scream

Once upon a time, long ago, a beautiful baby girl was born in the village of Pasturefield. Her parents, a breadmaker and his wife, were both delighted to see how lovely their daughter was. Callista, they named her, had sky-blue eyes, and dark brown hair, a rare combination.
It took a minutes after her birth for her parents to learn of her pre-determined curse. She was a screamer. literally.

Years ago, Callista's father and mother had come across a witch. This witch was not a nice lady. She stole from the couple, even when they had nothing, while pretending to be their friend. What's surprising was that she fell in love with the baker, but alas, he was in love with his wife, so the couple tried to escape. They did escape, but not before the witch casted a curse on thier first child. The spell went as so:

"Though the child may be a dream
Nothing is as deafly as her scream!"

Years later, Callista was born. Like I said before, she was gorgeous, but her scream was deafening. It didn't take long for the citizens of Pasturefield to learn that headphones were a must. Once Callista screamed, they would all lose their hearing for exactly two days. The headphones were really a false sense of hope.

The villages never lost hope, however. The witch left  a loop hole in her curse. Unless a user of magic signed a spell with a certain incantation at the end, the victim of the spell would be freed once he or she was kissed by her true love.

On Callista's sixteenth birthday, a man from a neighboring village came to buy groceries and saw a beautiful brunette. Without thinking, and without knowing what he was about to do, he ran to her, and proclaimed "You are my true love" and kissed her, then and there.
All the citizens of Pasturefield felt the curse be lifted, and in turn cheered in delight.

Years later, after Callista and her love were married, they had a child of their own. A baby boy.
Not long after being born, the baby looked up at the big blue sky.... and screamed.

Montana

Since I have received many questions about what Montana is like this week, and made a lot of jokes to many of you who I think believed me I hope this blog will clear things up so you can truly understand what Montana is like.

How many people live in Montana? Well Montana's population has been slowly increasing over the years and is now up to about one million people.  Yes, this is for the entire state which is mainly composed of small rural towns and communtities.  Farming and Ranching is the soul of the state, but a majority of people do not live on a farm or raise animals at all. 

Do you ride a horse to school?  No, I have never owned a horse.  Even though it is still a law in Montana that if a horse is ridden to school the school is required to take care of the horse, in 17 years of life living there I have never heard of a student riding a horse to school.

I also do not live in a cabin on a mountain in the middle of a vast forrest of pine trees (the christmasy ones!) and I do get electricity exactly like any house in Texas does. 

The weather in Montana is very different.  It snowed at the end of May this year, alot! And no Texans, you would not like the snow.  Maybe for 10 mins until your fingers and nose started to get frigedly cold and tingled until you couldnt feel it.  You never get used to the feeling.  It is extreamly unpleasent.  It also gets very hot in Montana, but there is no humidity so it doesnt feel as bad as it does all the way down here. 

The state is coved in pine trees in the west and is very mountainous.  The east is vey flat and looks like a waste land.  It is fairly common to see bears, mountain sheep, mountain lions, deer, elk, antelope, and much more.  Wildlife is everywhere. 

I hope this cleared up some of your current ideas about Montana. 

Why do I wish to attend college? I wish to attend college to be able to get into a specific field of work.That field is teaching. The subjects that i would like to teach are either Spanish or P.E. I enjoy both at this moment. I took two classes past the requirement and quite enjoyed them. Thanks to JROTC (Junior Reserve Officer Training Corp) I really enjoy doing physical activities. at this moment i do not know what grade level I would like to teach. A family friend advised elementary school for P.E. I still have a bit of planning to do, but i know at least what I want to do. So of course I need a teaching license to do it with. Does anyone have any suggestions on which I should do, or the grade level?

Sky Ranch(Free Write)

The school that I currently attend has a yearly tradition(Sky Ranch). Sky Ranch is an amazing ranch located in Van TX. We go every September and have a blast. At the ranch we learn about real life problems/how to manage our living, and we explore the outdoor living.. Sky Ranch is fun and exciting because it has a lot of outdoor activities that we participate in. We stay at the ranch four days, and all the high school, and middle school goes. We experience many different things and get to meet new people. My friends and I love to go to Sky Ranch to visit the lake, go to the pool parties, and socialize with new friends. indeed it is a fun experience!! I just can't wait to go this year.

Locked Out Part 2: Amy's POV

It's Sunday night at LSSA, and I'm sitting here in the hallway, my back against the door, staring at my ipod like an idiot. Why won't Jem open the door? Is she sleeping? Is she ignoring me? Nah, she's definitely not ignoring me, I mean, why would she? It's been about an hour since I got back from the room of requirement, finishing my homework. I was super tired, I needed sleep. It didn't help when I found that our door was locked and that neither Jemma nor the other two suite mates would stir from slumber I wished I could be in.

"JEMMA!" I called.
No response.
I banged on the door.
"JEMMA! I know you're in there!"
Still no response.
Well, at least from Jemma. Paulina, who roomed in the suite next door came out with both an annoyed and tired expression on her face.
"Amy, why are you shouting?" She asked.
"I forgot my key and Jemma isn't opening the door!"
I was waiting for Paulina to say something sympathetic, but she just stared at me.
"You forgot your key. AGAIN?" Now she was looking at me like I was psychotic!
"it's like, midnight, give me a break!"
"Amy, this is like you're fifth time forgetting your key! No wonder Jemma won't let you in!"
"Well who cares? What am I going to do?"
Paulina sighed. "Nothing. If she doesn't want to let you in, there's really nothing you can do."
Silence.
Paulina giggled. "Wow, you must've really annoyed her."
My ears turned red. "What?! I didn't do anything to her! I've been completely nice!"
Paulina sighed. "Honey, even I can hear you in the shower."
"What?" I thought I was singing quitely. Guess not.
"Well I gotta go to bed so...."
"Wait! what am I-"
"If Jemma ever lets you in, you need to apologize for whatever uit is you need to apologize for. Now good night."
Great. Looks like I was sleeping on the floor otnight.

College

The reason why I want to go to college, is to have a successful career! College prepares students for their career and their future, so why not attend college? Personally I think college is a wonderful experience that i can't miss. I want to major in Criminal Justice(Crime Scene Investigator), or Forensic Science(Coroner). I have visited many colleges/universities and i get  really inspired to attend college. In order to become what i want to become i need to go to college. In my opinion I'm willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish my goal. College is really challenging, but with effort and dedication i will achieve my goals. Everything is possible when when we work hard! Now i just need to focus and see what college or universities i want to go to. In reality i want to go to a small school, but lets see what the future has for me.

College

My dream is to be the concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Because of this, college is a must. As of now, I would say my playing is alright, but in order to be in the New York Philharmonic, I need more than "alright." College, like violin, is hardwork. You need dedication and discipline to succeed. The great thing about college is, I can choose my major. I'll major in violin performance, and for at least four years, I'll get the concentrated, focused training that I need to make my dream come true. This will mean at least 3 hours of practicing per day (1 hour of scales, 1 hour of etudes, and 1 hour of concerto practice), but if that's what it takes, bring it!

Hannah's College Paragraph Re-write=)

College is an extremely important step towards succes in our current culture because without college young adults are looked upon as uneducated and unsucessful immediatly.  I would like to attend college in order to be able to get a high paying job, like a physical therapist which is my current goal.  This is a necessity to me because I want to live the type of life my parents have supplied me with and be able to give that life to y children as well.  To be able to go on vacation, give them Ipods, and current material objects that are all the rage is important to me.  When moving out teenagers dont realize they will not automatically have the life they would want to have and may have to live in a scetch appartment and have roman noodles every night for dinner.  I do not want to be in this stage for long, so thats why college is so important to me.  It is currently very hard to find a good job in America because of the economy, college will give me a step up on competitors and hopefully also land me a job I actually love to do, whatever that may be, which I will discover when I reach college while working towards a major. 

free blog...TWO

Well this is another free blog of mine, I'd like to discus the idea of free things. I think we can all agree that free things are really cool, unless they are crappy. In that case they aren't cool. If everything was free, then the world would have died off a while ago (I have nothing to prove that). Our excavation projects would never end till we got to China (Katie). Everyone would be lazy because no one have any problem getting items. I swear that I would be retired by now if things were free, along with my Bugatti and Ocean Side house in California (Scott). This post really has no meaning to it whatsoever. It's free though and I felt like talking, so it's your choice to read it or not. But since you've read this far I congratulate you, you just used your FREE time to listen to what an old man has to say. Enjoy the little things in life. It's the little things that make up the big things. Whose ready for the night swim? I sure am! And how bout that Six Flags trip, am I right? Blog blog blog blog! I'll try to make the next blog a little more on topic to things that still don't make sense. 


BYE GUYS!!!
Again, MY BLOGGER IS EVIL!!!!

Free Blogs

I miss my family so much it’s hard to stay away from them and my boyfriend. I am glad I got to see my family the other day at the library although, I didn’t like the fact the my sister got me wet will all those water balloons. Seeing all of my family made me happy and made me miss them a little more after we got back and they weren’t with me. My boyfriend I haven’t seen in a long time because he went to South Carolina to start his basic training so he can join the army when he gets out of college. I get letters from him though so it makes me miss him more but also makes me happy that he is thinking about me. I want to see my family again but I don’t want to leave here. Because then I wont get to see all of my friends that I have meet here.

I have met so many wonderful people while I have been here and I wish this was our actual class and that we all went here together. I don’t want to leave because I won’t get to see all of ya’ll again and I have made so many friends while I was here. I won’t be able to see everyone that doesn’t live in Texas again after this week and it makes me so sad for knowing that time is running out. If you do live in Texas then I might see you if I ever go to through your town one day but what if I don't. I have changed so much while being here and when I go I will just become the same old me. I will miss all of ya’ll and especially the people that don’t live in Texas. Stay safe everyone please and be careful going home.

since i was a child i have had tremendous curiosity to learn about anything and everything i could. as a toddler, i would read anything i could get my hands on: a newspaper, magazines, and especially the little cardboard books my mom would buy me. i would read them with such intent and curiosity, all the way through. Then i'd turn whatever it was upside down and read it backwards. i knew i couldnt really read, but liked to try just to see if i could understand any little bit of it. this curiosity stuck with me my whole life and has helped me stay focused through school and learn as much as i could. reaching my final year of highschool, ive become tremendously excited to join the college ranks and learn new things that i've never had the chance to learn before.  i can't wait to start my college journey and find something that truely interests me to start a career in. college will be great.

One Reason I want to go to College

The number one reason I want to go to go to college is so I can become a teacher and help students learn. I always new I would go to college but I didn’t know what I would be until my sister helped me figure it out. I would help her with homework and teacher her work before she started learning it in her school. So by the time she got into first grade my sister was reading at a fourth grade level. I loved teaching her so much that I decided that’s what I would love to do in my life so I started taking a teaching class at my school. When I get to college I am going to keep taking early childhood education and get my degree to teach and hopefully help other students like I did my sister.

Colloge is a great place to further your education to a point that you can become even smarter. My goal is to go to college so that I can make sure that I can be ready for any future crisis. College is my only option for me at this point due to the fact that ecconomiy is very poor and so many people are loseing there jobs. Your goal should be college as well so that you (personaly) can become the best you can be at what ever you do. The real reson I want to go to college is so that when I'am maried my familly is prepared for any problems that might come such as school work that my son or daughter might have.

The one reason i want to go to college is because i want to have more options for my future. If i attend and actually graduate than it'll will open up better job oppurtunities for me and also benefit me in the long run. I want to go to college because in the future i want to be a business man and do the world some good for once.(; Also, the farther i go in college, the higher the degree I will get and that will help me out by making me richer and richer because of my job. I really think i can take on the college level and actually succeed at the end. Even though it will be a challenge to get through college, i will try my hardest and manage my time wisely to get through it. I will also push myself until i get to where i need to be in college.

Reasons for College

The reason I want to go to college is because I want to earn a title. I want all the work I have done up to this point to mean something. Sure a diploma or degree would be great to have for when i'm looking for job opportunities. But working strenuously for nearly 14 years only to find out you didn't make it into college seems like a huge waste of time and energy. I just want all the work I have done to have served a purpose in the end. I've used this analogy before; its like when you saved up a lot of money for that one car you have kept your eye on for a very long time, only to find out that it was sold a week ago. That's what I want, for my work to be worth the time I've put into it.


Again sorry for the weird coloring, my blogger hates me

The main reason that I want to go to college is for a better chance at great career opportunities, instead of only having a chance at a career at McDonald’s or Wal-Mart, which would not be a “dream” job. In my case, particularly, I would be looking for a career in some type of business, such as accounting. I believe that by going to college I can better prepare myself for a business type of career by learning the main principles of business in classes, gain “on-the-job” experience through internships with companies, or businesses, and making influential contacts, which can help in the application process for a certain job. Another thing about internships is that if one does good enough work, which means that you have to at least put one-hundred and ten percent effort in, for the business, or company, there is a chance that business might offer you a career either during, or after college. Aside from preparation, colleges also have many resources such as alumni base, and career and development services, which can help me, find a job, or better yet, a start to a new, exhilarating career.

Rewritten College Paragraph

I want to go to college in order to gain a job in the game desgining market. To be specific, I want to earn a Creative Writing for Entertainment degree, and I want to work for Bethesda Software Company. I hope to write the backstories for their games, as well as create the characters. I want to work for Bethesda because they have a reputation for making RPGs (roleplay games), and it only makes sense to me because I wan to make my stories into games.

response to liar liar

i just read the Liar, Liar article and found it very intriguing. it asked the question "can  a picture be true or false," and ended with the statement that no, a picture can never be labled either true or false. a picture is a picture is a picture is a picture. even if you dont know what the picture is of, or if you do not recognize what is in the frame, it is not true or false. the opinion is in the eye of the beholder and true and false are facts. a picture is a fact with artistic value, which may be a contradictory to art itself. for example, lets say we show the Mona Lisa to someone who has never seen it before, they would see a woman with a calm look on her face, they would have no backround or context but they would create their own opinion on it. there are no supporting facts of the woman's name or weather she even existed but in that painting, she is real. maybe this blog doesnt make sense and it probably doesnt have much of a point, but since it is a free blog i just decided to write down the inner workings of my mind. hope you enjoy :)

I have really been enjoying myself at LSSA this year and have met some of the most awesome people here. Unfortunately, my roommate, aka best friend, left, but I’m still going to make the best of it and hopefully he might come back. The classes have been pretty cool, especially the gaming class because, well, you get to play games. My favorite games, so far, have been Diplomacy and Dungeon and Dragons. The writing class is also pretty fun. I’ve been enjoying writing and reading the blogs the most. While being here I’ve also learned how to play new, awesome card games, and sing on karaoke night! There have been a couple activities I’ve missed out on, and which I’ve probably should’ve done, but it is what it is.  I am definitely going to look forward to the day all of us go to Fiesta Texas. I’ve been debating whether I should ride a rollercoaster or not, since I’m a little scared of heights and also watched this King Kong type movie where the rollercoaster was destroyed by King Kong. So, if you think I should ride let me know. This week has been awesome and I know it will continue to get even better.

To me, this past week went by extremely fast. We started off with a few challenges starting to get to know each other and do avtivities to improve or communication and teamwork skills. We've attempted to swim twice but each time it would rain so it would cancel our swim orientation but today, we actually got to swim!! It was really fun jumping off the diving board and do cool tricks. Also playing basketball in the pool was intense and really cool to me. We got to watch a movie called We Bought a Zoo. The movie was alright but im sure the other movie would have been way better. We did a service project and even though a few stations weren't a success, it still was overall an enjoyable expierience. I'm really looking forward to six flags and all the other fun activities that we will get to do in the last week of lssa.

Locked Out

Jemma (Jem) Rogers sat rigidly on her bed.
"It's happening again!" She thought angrily, while not helping listen to the high pitched voice of her roomate. Jem's nightly schedule was just that, a schedule. No surprises, yet each night was just as annoying as the last. First the phone calls, then the music, then the singing (bad singing to clarify), and then more phone calls.
LSSA, a 2-week academy for highschooler's at TLU, was Jem's first taste of college, and the classes were fine, the food was decent, but the rooming situation wasn't working.

Amy didn't seem so bad at first. When they met the first day of LSSA, she was more than friendly, offering the snacks she brought with her to Jemma, and even helping Jem move the heavy desk that was for some reason in the girls' closet.
After dinner, and immediately following Jemma's shower, Amy began her nightly routine.
"I have to make a quick call every night, is that okay?" Amy had asked.
"Yeah sure, no problem." What was one quick phonecall, right?
That "quick call" ended up being a 3 hour conversation, most of the language consisting of exchanging "I miss you" and "No, I miss you more." By then it was around 1:00pm, and Jem wanted sleep desperately. "Please phone, die! die!" She prayed, hoping that Amy's phone would miraculously split into a million pieces. It didn't, the phone seemed to be immortal.
Next up was the singing. The bad singing.
"Isn't there a rule against this?" Jem wondered, as she listened to Amy's terrifying voice running loose in the shower. The girl had no inhibitions, she just sang, not seeming to care that it was 2 a.m. After a while, Amy finally got into bed, and Jem sighed in relief. Sleep! Hallelujiah!
Well... that relief didn't last long because Amy needed music to sleep. She conviniently left her headphones at home, so Jem had to fall asleep to weird rap music.

This had happened every night, and Jem was ready to strangle her roommate. Amy had gone to the Room of Requirement to get on Facebook, and wasn't due back for about 15 minutes. Jem tried to calm herself down when she looked at her roommates messy side of the room. That's when she saw something beautiful. Amy's room key.

Free Write!!

Well this blog is going to be a list of the fun things I have been given the opportunity to experience. First off, we did the Ropes challenge thingy which was a team building activity where we tossed the water balloons around (me and Scott won). I thought that was really fun because it helped with teamwork, which apparently me and Scott had the most of. Then then next super fun thing we did would have to be ZUMBA!!! That was truly an amazing experience. All the guys (except 3) joined in on Zumba, when everyone should have come, but im not judging! I felt like I was dancing, working out, and having fun all at the same time (that's what it really is). Then we did game night! In which I played pool (not very well) and played card games, which I got a little too into. Sorry Isaiah! Then we did the service project which was interesting. I'll leave it at that. Now we are at Sunday and we just finished watching We Bought A Zoo, which was a very interesting movie. I liked it in the end though! So that is my week SO FAR! Who knows what will happen the next few days, but so far I am enjoying this place very much!



BLOGGER ISNT WORKING TO WELL FOR ME

    Free writing can be lots of fun. To start with you are free to pick your own topic without any real limitations but your own imagination. when one takes the time to write their thoughts they have a chance of not only understanding themselves better but others as well. Whether in reality or in ones imagination communication is key. Let me see what kind of picture i can convey here. All is calm as the bow slides across the cords. A quiet, soft, sad sound met her ears as she played. Her expression was unreadable as she continued. She was focused on the sound of the notes and their sound alone. With a final cord her tune changed. the break was almost not noticeable. Years had she waited to be able to play with him and he still wouldn't even look at her. She gave a short bow when they were done and walked off stage. without a word she put her violin away to keep it safe until her next show. Where could I possibly be going with this?

Free Write

I don't know exactly what should go in here, but I guess I can talk about one of my stories. Let's go with Drukk, who was a Half-Orc monk.
     He was born in a orc village, and raised as an orc. He had never held the same amount of respect as the other orcs his age because of his dual heritage. On his 13th birthday, he was put through a sort of right of passage. He had to fight against one of the village elders so he could be acknowledged as a warrior. He didn't feel the burning rage that he should have, and therefore did not fight back when the battle started. He simply dodged out of the way of every attack, and the elder wore himself out. He was banished from the tribe, because his battling style was not fit to be seen. He wandered around for close to eight years, and found himself in a human settlement. He was forced to leave the area due to his appearnce, and he began to feel a sort of anger building inside him. Drukk couldn't understand it, and he couldn't control it. He came back to the settlement in the dead of night, and started slaying the villagers. He killed fourteen of them before he realized what he had done, and fled into the woods to be alone with his misery. He wandered for another three years, and was following a road one day when he found a ramshackle lean-to off to one side. He investigated, and inside was a drunk. The man was obviously old, he was incredibly fat, and by the smell of the fumes likely hungover. Drukk slowly approached the man, and got a better look at him. The man, to Drukk's surprise, was a half-orc. Drukk was wonderstruck. As he stood dumbfounded, the man whipped his legs around with the agility of an elf half his size. Drukk landed flat on his back, and the man pinned him to the ground with a foot on Drukk's neck.

 If anyone would care to hear the rest of the story, tell me and I'll email you a copy of the whole thing.

Service Project

I was not impressed with the service project we participated earlier today at the library.  Sure, we had alot of fun but i wish we could have actually done something that could have made a difference instead of entertain six children.  Happily I enjoyed getting my face painted, putting a puzzle together, blowing bubble, and having a water balloon fight, but it didnt even cross my mind that I was doing this so I would be more encouraged to learn.  This is most likely exactly how the children felt as well.  While it was a good idea it was unbenifical to everyone involved other than to have a little fun.  For me this was a waste of time and I would have felt a lot better if we would have done something that would have actually helped someone.  Just because I have a negative view on our service project doesnt mean i didnt appreciate it for what it was.  I learned a little on helping children and giving the positive encouragment.  The kids were soo cute, even the ones who tried to eat bubbles and blow them in my face.  Hopefully they have better luck next year and come up with more 'inspirational' activities. 

Service Project

Our service project today was very fun and exciting. Playing and helping young children was the most amazing part. Even though a lot of people didn't attend the fun day, we still had fun. The children had a great time, making puzzles', face painting, water balloon toss, and many more things. I was in charge of the puzzle station, and I was so surprised to see how smart little kids are. The girls managed to do the puzzle by themselves. We also gave out the Miracle Bubbles for the children to take home. The funniest part was when a little girl started to eat the bubbles, but obviously we didn't let her. Indeed today was pretty fun!! In the future I would love for my school to do a service project like this.

Being at LSSA

Coming to LSSA has helped me with so much. I used to think that college was boring and that it was just like high school. That you never had any free time and you always were in class. Actually, none of that was true because we do get free time and the classes are fun and I really like them. I wish we could stay longer because I meet so many nice funny people and we are all friends. Once we leave we will never see each other again and thinking about it makes me want to cry. To tell you the truth, I don't mind being in class its fun and everyone is really nice. I wouldn't mind actually coming here and we all had class together. It makes me feel like I have made it and I am finally achieving my goals in life. I am going to miss everyone when we have to depart.

In all of my past life experiences, which is a whopping 17 years including those years I don't remember, I have come to realize that life barrages me with hard challenges everyday; I just have to overcome those challenges in some way(no rhyme intended). School was never hard for me when I was in elementary school, but as the grade increased, so did the level of work. I began to slack in school and became unfocused for whatever reason, but recently I have done the opposite of that. Now I am in LSSA; this program that aims to help kids get into college as well as knock out 2 courses of their choosing. It also encourages young adults to become more social and aware of other people's needs and wants. We learn to collaborate with each other to meet a significant goal as well as individually better ourselves through communication, patience, and hard work. The classes are tough, but that only helps you for the better. Hazaa for character building!

Blog 2

When I first learned about LSSA, I didnt know what to expect. I wasn't to sure whether I wanted to do it or not. I figured i'd be meeting new people and expieriencing new things so i figured, why not give it a shot. Ever since I've been at LSSA, it makes me view certain things about college differently. LSSA shows you the amount of hard work you have to put forth in order to succeed. It makes you learn that you must manage your time wisely and try to stay focused or things might start to get tougher for you in thelong run. I am also fortunate that i accpeted to attend LSSA. I feel that im being better prepared for the college level material and that it will also help me improve in the last two years of high school. I defiinitely enjoy LSSA and seriously consider doing it again.

assumptions and realitys of TLU/LSSA

i didnt do much this summer, and i had even less planned. i went to the park just about every day with my friends and drug my dogs around with me wherever i went. its been a nice summer so far, but i had definately been looking forward to lssa since the moment i heard about it. my dad is very involved with TLU and absolutely loves the school. i have a few very close family friends that graduated from here and they all agree that it is a tremendous school, so naturally i was very excited to see what my classmates, if i and they both decided to apply to TLU, would be like. So far its been a pleasant surprise. they didnt exceed my expectations, no offence to anyone, but i have definately made some very good friends. people are much more friendly than i thought they'd be and i feel very at home with not only the kids, but the professors and the RA's eventhough we may not all see eye to eye at times. TLU definately feels very homey and itll definately be on my list of colleges to send applications to.

Blog Uno: Previous Writing Eperience

Hmmmm. My previous writing experience in high school revolved around the Salem Witch trials. It was interesting because I learned a significant amount of history that all happened in less than two years. My thesis statement argued that old religious traditions, court injustice, and Puritanical fundamentalists are the backbone surrounding the events. I truly was fascinated about how skeptics came up with these insane ways to charge other town folk with practicing witchcraft. Most might not even recognize that almost all of the accused were women, and the accusers were also women. I was enthusiastic, so in turn, I attempted to write one of my best essays yet. If a topic is interesting, it greatly appeals to me and thus I do better; of course I'm sure that goes for anyone. I like writing, but it is hard for me to do so. I'm prone to making a lot of conventional mistakes as well as not staying on topic, but I certainly am not afraid to write. I plan to achieve a higher skill in writing and I think LSSA could certainly help with that. And if you haven't looked up the trials by now, you should go do that.

Marlen's LSSA Experience

When I first heard about the amazing LSSA program, I was completely undecided about applying. I thought LSSA was all about hard work and no free time. Two weeks seemed an infinity for me. But now I realize how wrong I was, LSSA is a life changing experience that I'm enjoying everyday. I  have learned more about college, and all the different roles a student has to perform in a liberal arts university. I know that LSSA is only for two weeks, but it's really benefiting me in many ways. I just can't wait to go back to school, and tell my friends about it. College is a completely new world that everyone has to explore!! LSSA is an awesome academy, and I wished i could stay longer. The lesson that i have learned is that no one knows how something functions, until you explore it.

Blog 2

I remember the first day of seventh grade. I had spent the night before having a panic attack about how hard the classes would be, and how there was a possibility that I would get lost and never find my class. This happened for Freshman Year too. One thing i've learned from all these experiences is that yes, every year is harder than the last, but only hard enough to where if you work at it, you can succeed. LSSA, with the college level work has taught me that yes, college life will be difficult, much more difficult than I'm used to, but that it can be done successfully. I know I will have to put in much more dedication to studying than these past years in school, but I am capable of it.

Hannah's assumptions (blog #2)

While I am learning many important skills and qualities at LSSA essential to success in college,  this experience has forced me to reevaluate my assumptions on my own personallity.  It is safe to say that almost anyone at this camp would agree that I am outgoing with a bubbly and friendly persona, but this is the exact opposite of how I act in most situations like this.  Ever since I was very little I was catergorized as the shy girl who would always cry at music concerts, and never answer a question or read in class because of sheer terror.  After I entered high school I became more outgoing, but quiet would have still been my perfect descripter.  I have always wanted to come to this college making this the reason I desperatly wanted to come to LSSA this summer, to invertigate TLU and see if it was truly the college of my dreams.  Something about being thousands of miles away from home has allowed me to open up out of my shell and excel from normal expectations.  This experience has allowed me to break out of the box I was unaware I was trapped in, but there is also one more life lesson it has taught me.  If you truly love where you are and what you are doing that passion will push a person to work hard and improve much more then if someone is forced into a situation.  I enjoy (to some extent) the work we receive, and even though I wish we had more time to complete it, push myself to work hard and gain from this experience.                

LSSA experience!

LSSA has changed the way I have viewed college life. I remember thinking, when I was young, that college was all about going to classes everyday and learn all about whatever the class was about. Everyday it being the same lesson with just a few things added on. It would be like the professors or doctors beating the information into your head. LSSA  has taught me the values of free time, what a typical day in the life of a Liberal Arts university is like. I've learned that college is fun! Although there are times you have to buckle down and really work to succeed in your courses. But studying for those can be fun or interesting too, if you study with friends. My perception has really been changed in a positive manner towards the Liberal Arts college experience. So far I have really enjoyed my time here and I believe it will only get better, well I hope it will.

When I first heard about this program, I thought "Well this is gonna be boring. I'll be stuck in some class working my butt off for two weeks. Why would I want to do that? I won't gain anything besides the college credit." I came in with the assumption that I would be hopelessly ostracized, and not know anybody or really learn anything. After Tuesday though, I started to think differently. I was learning people's names and personalities. I was learning new things about making games. I was actually interacting with other people in a social environment. It was a totally new idea to me, because usually I'm the dude who just sits in the back corner and hopes to be left alone. It's cool and weird, but I feel as if I'm taking an active part in the class.

To be honest, LSSA has helped me to re-evaluate my perception of how college classes are. When I first came to LSSA, I was expecting the course work to be excruciating and stressful. Most of this thought came from being really nervous and hearing rumors of how unbearable the college work is. That you had to be perfect and the slightest mistake would cause you to fail. Those rumors came from teachers at my school, family, and friends who are in college. Those thoughts kept repeating and elaborating in my head for the one hour drive down to Seguin.  So, I was scared like a duck coming in to LSSA. But after meeting a few of the people, my nerves cooled down, well, for a little bit. When the first day of class came, so did those scary thoughts of how hard it is going to be. By the time I arrived I was too nervous to talk and, if I remember right, my hand might was shaking. It wasn’t until half way during class that I started to relax. Once I did calm down, I realized that the work wasn’t that bad. It was actually fun. The classes were very interactive and I never felt a dull moment.  From that moment, I learned not to believe everything you hear and to always keep an open mind when experiencing new things. That’s one of the few major things I took from LSSA.

Lessons are a basic foundation of life that we all know to this day. The lessons that you WILL learn in college is that you must try every day and to never give up what so ever, under any situation no mater how hard you think it is. My first day of getting my grades was a bit of a shocker to me in the fact that college is difficult to work with. The lesson that I learnd is that I need to give not 100% but 500% at every homework that is brought to me on the "silver platter", meaning life. All a person needs to do is try and to never give up at any thing they do. Just keep going and never stop till you reach the end of your life when your body is in a coffin or burned to ashes. The point I'm making is don't stop, in one of my classes I was thinking of just calling my mother or father and leaving, but then I thought about how much that would reflect on me as a human being. I would have looked like a failer and a quiter not to mention a loser who decided to just say "fuck it" and give up, but no I still am here to say "I will not stop till every breath and energy is drivern out of me, till then I'am never going to stop till I succed in doing what I came here for and that is to get me some college credit and make a mark in my life". The lesson here today is never give up till you DIE.

So far i've been to two different highschools and my first had a very structured english department with very strict guidelines for writing. my teacher, Mr. Hines, was awesome. He made his class very fun and individualized his course to the needs to each student, becasue he knew that we all learned differently. As for research papers, they were pretty straight forward. We would read a couple books, look up some stuff on the internet, and then organize all the information we needed by highlighting and book marking pages. Then we would come up with a thesis, arguing a certain point, state it in our intro paragraph and support it with three or more supporting paragraphs. Generally we would think of three topic sentences to start our three supporting paragraphs. We were taugh to use a lot of creative detail and to show the reader rather than tell them different things such as charicter details, details of setting, ect. I throughly enjoied his class. He made us all feel very intelligent and important and helped with any problems we had, weather they were with reading, writing, or with fellow classmates. My second highschool english class focused mostly on creative writing and poetery. We did very informal writing, but also focused mostly on the creative aspect as well as sentence flow. The majority of our research papers were in science and history class and were long and dreary and mostly based on the same style of writing as my previous highschool. We did a lot of poetery such as haikus, lymrics, couplets, carpe diem poems, parodic poems, and we also worked on the creative and "reader-hooking" parts of our writing skills. it was all very informal. In history we had to wirte papers that showed that we had learned the material well enough to the point where we could teach it to someone else, same with science. we wrote papers on the civil war, the watergate scandal, dirt, oil, and im sure i did use plenty of rhetoric devices, but writing this blog with constricted time right before lunch, i cant really think of them off the top of my head. i know this blog is a little short, and i appologize for that, but im a bit rushed for time. the next one will be extra long and more interesting and to the point. i'm sorry, bye bye. the end.

Well in my high school we normally don't write much but I write just for fun on my own. I have always liked reading I guess you could say I am a little bit of a nerd. Growing up with dyslexia is really hard and having ADHD makes it a lot harder. I had to work harder than anyone else in my class and I had to study more. I still do even this week I have to push myself to do all of the homework and everything we have to do. But when I am writing it just all goes away and I get pulled into my own story. Its like I am there I can see what is going on and visualize every person and every detail that’s why when I write I just keep going and going. In school we had to do one paper on something big that happened in history like the titanic sinking or the civil war. We had to write the story like we were there when it happened and everything that was going on. Well I decided that I was going to write about animal abuse since I love animals and Michael Vick was a very big part in history. My paper was I think 10 pages long with the print in 12 point and no double spacing. That was my only writing I had to do my 11^th year of school but I still have it. One day I hope I will write a story and get it published  not just for the money oh I don’t care if I get any just so kids can know that anything is possible no madder what disabilities you have or if you not good a spelling. You can do it you just got to believe.

blog 1

The last writing experience I had in high school that I still think about now is an oral report I wrote for JROTC. I was researching vampires. Like my other classmates I had to present it to everyone. We got to go to the library in groups to do research. It took lots of time and looking to find what I wanted. Through it I learned that there are vampires in reality as well as the fiction world. I gathered information on two diseases that were related to vampireism. one was phorfyria and the other was Reinfeild's syndrome. The more I got into it the more I thought about changing those that I had put in my stories. I actually had one of my teachers looking forward to it. Which surprised me a lot. After looking up everything and typing it up all I had left was presentation an pictures. I couldn't find any good pictures to present with it when I looked, so I went without any. My teacher still enjoyed it even though he said that it was lacking. I had noticed that by the time I was ready to it. I know a lot but how much more could I really  have forgotten about that day?

Most of the time every single kid in life writes about some sort of reaction from school and gives his pest opinions and sujestions to his other class mates and then starts to write about his every day life in school or in college.My first day in my classroom was really.....intersting to describe about, it felt like I was walking into a silence room with really no one to talk to exept mabey the teacher and my room mate. I sat at my "desk" and began to wonder about how on earth is every one going to work together if were all quiet and shy. Thanks to the teacher walking in so early as noticed, he began to do a "ice breaker game" on all of us young adults. The games are fun but still I think that every one needs to understand that we need to communicate and speak with a more open minded brain and not just with what we think we want others to hear. My point is that my first days in the class have been very....great and fun but i just wish that we could really all "speak" with our mindes and hearts not just with our "what they want to hear''. Other than that I think I have had a great first two days of enjoying my classmates and my new teachers!!! My only concern is that I would like to learn even more about my class mates so that when I look back on this day I  don't have to guees my friends names and there likes and dislikes. We all have only 2 weeks of this college program and like me i would love to  remember all of you (meaning classmates) from day one of L.S.S.A college program. Personaly I want to know even more adout every one from out of state and become a good freind to remember about.
                                            sighned
                                                          Austin Charels Cisneros.

Hannah's Writing Experience

Writing was never important in school.  If you answered the question asked, you did it right. I never understood there was anything else to think about.  My perspective on writing changed at the beggining of my Junior year when I moved to Great Falls.  The Councilors signed me up for honors english because I had recieved nothing lower than an A at my old school because of its lack of higher level thinking.  Little did I know that this class was about to change the way I understood writting.  I was so far behind many times I considered dropping the class.  I had never heard of diction, a thesis statment, transitions, or any of the other lingo.  I improved so much thoughout the year.  My final project in english was a research paper, and once again I found myself totally blind to any of its concepts or terminology but everything I had learned and improved upon helped me create an eight page research paper on Anne Sexton and specified on her importance as a great American Poet through analyzing her work.  It was the hardest assignment of my life. (even worse than sceince fair!)  Even though I have learned so much, there is still so much more room to grow.

Ever since I started high school I have taken advance classes, which means I have written a lot. I love writing! My freshman writing class was totally a disaster, most of the students didn't learn as much as we were supposed to. But since I moved to an amazing charter school things have been really easy and smooth. I am used to writing tons of essay's and don't mind writing at all. Specially my junior year was when i had  a challenging writing class. The teacher expected high quality work from the students. At the beginning i was completely lost but as time passed by I started developing strong writing skills. I started working with my friends and asked my writing teacher for extra help. Thanks to my technical writing teacher I finished my year super strong!! Now I'm a better writer!  My sophomore and junior writing classes were super fun. My teacher's are very helpful and never let you sink down.  Therefore I'm taking journalism next year. Writing is not that scary after all. Working with partners and sharing writing ideas is the best!

During my high school years, I always asked myself if my school took essay seriously or not. Every now and then, the class would be assigned essay of a random topic. Suprisingly, everyone would get at least a ninety or above on every single essay or writing assignment. Throughout my sophmore year it was either just do the essay and you pass or not do the essay and fail. There was only one essay in particular that i thought the school cared about and that was the essay on the TAKS. Most of the normal essays done in school were simple topics and could usually be handled with ease, but the TAKS essay actually made you have to think about what your going to write and how the essay would turn out. Basically what I'm trying to say is shouldnt we be more focused on essays throughtout the year if were going to be tested on in on a MAJOR test?

High School Writing Styles

In high school, we were required to learn the Jane Scheaffer writing style. This was all about three body paragraphs including concrete details and two commentary (CM) sentences pertaining to the CD (concrete details). We were forced to know it since freshmen year till you graduate. On the TAKS tests we used no such writing style; we were just told to write about what it asked. Which confused me considering our school was a TAKS prep school. No other tests I know ask for this writing style. Not the SAT, ACT, STARR, or our EOCs. So basically our writing styles were unorthodox. Although I thought it was pretty organized and sharp. It got the point across, easy to read, and structured the paragraphs in a way all teachers knew what to grade for. I think the Jane Schrieffer writing style should be used more often, but that's just me, a lot of other kids think it is pointless format. That is because they wont taking actual writing seriously and are frankly unmotivated. 

During my freshman and sophomore year at my high school, the teachers would create a list of topics for you to decide from and you would have to choose one from the list. The teachers hardly ever allowed us, the students, to choose our own topic. When the topic was finally chosen, then you would have to edit it about three, or more, different times.  So, there was really little work involved.  During my junior year, the teachers no longer gave us lists, or topics, to choose from. Instead we had to come up with our own ideas, which put more work in my hands and challenged my wits. Aside from writing for the teacher, I also had to do writing for AP tests and TAKS tests. AP tests were the major reason I did several essays and practiced incorporating different writing devices in my work. When forming ideas for an essay I take a piece of paper and start jotting down the main ideas of what I want to write about. When I had all my ideas written down, instead of forming the introductory paragraph first and then writing the essay, I wrote the essay and formatted my introductory, or thesis, paragraph to my essay. After that, I would edit it about two or three times. After editing, I was, at last, done with my essay.  

In previous years, my personal experience with writing has been incredibly varied. I've had to write argumentative, synthesis, and TAKS essays within just the past year. The AP test was the main reason behind most essays I had to write, but I tried writing a few stories in my spare time that were just stories for the heck of it. Most, if not all, of them were back stories for D&D characters, and they then evolved into a full recollection of that characters life, and the story of their particular adventures. If anyone would like me to either write a story for them, or if they would like to have one of the stories forwarded to them, I would be happy to help.

Blog 1: Writing Experience

Up unti last year, essays were somewhat of a joke at the highschool I attend. Whenever a teacher assigned an essay, he or she would do just about everything except write the paper itself. Planning, rough-drafting, even the information incorporated in the essay, was pre-planned by the teacher, so the students never had to lift a finger, except when he or she looked at the "100" on his or her paper. One can conclude from this analysis that essays at my school hold no threat.
Last year, during the last six weeks of my sophomore english class, my teacher assigned everyone to do a book report. In this report, we were required to have 6 examples of syntax, 8 examples of annotations, 10 literary elements, and a strong thesis and introduction. The paper itself had a required length of 4 pages minimum. For me, writing this essay was the strangest thing Ii'd ever done in my highschool career yet. Honestly, the most intimidating crediential for the essay was the length. Teachers in past years were satisfied with 1 1/2- 2 page essays, and now I had to write AT LEAST 4. After practically dissecting my novel, I eventually found all the required rhetorical devices.
The thesis and conclusion were surprisingly difficult because I didn't know how much information to put for the general summary if I would continue to summarize the book throughout the essay. Once having conquered that obstacle, I decided to organize my essay by grouping the syntax together, and arranging the other rhetorical devices similarly. Thus, my essay was finished.