I’ve tried making an alternative to my XXXTentacion video and drew this. It isn’t complete though. I wanted to add quotes around the drawing but couldn’t get around to it.
Month: May 2019
MTA System Fighters Research Memo Revised
Everyone knows the MTA systems aren’t perfect. Governor Cuomo himself deemed this a problem, stated that “New York City’s transit system are in a ‘state of emergency’.” He also stated that subway “delays are maddening New Yorkers” who are “infuriated by a lack of communication and unreliability”, which we can all agree with. Governor Cuomo even went as far as ordering the MTA to address this issue.
The MTA then made this a priority and has tried to better manage its short-term inspection, repair, and replacement schedule for tracks, signals, and subway cars to avoid unexpected disruptions to the schedules of nearly 6 million daily subway riders. However, their side task was to partially repair the damage done by cutbacks to inspections, maintenance, and repairs made in the wake of the 2008 financial and economic crisis. And even as the MTA’s budget for pensions, health care, and debt continued to grow. The MTA also announced plans to deploy medical crews more quickly to passengers in need of assistance, thus reducing delays due to sick or incapacitated riders.
Every month, the MTA reports information to its board on specific areas of subway performance. This includes the percentage of subway trains that arrive at their stop on time; the average distance, in miles, that a subway car can travel before breaking down; the number of “major incidents” that disrupted service for 50 or more subway trains at once; and the percentage of weekday passengers’ journeys that arrive within five minutes of the scheduled time.
The good news is, however, the MTA has stabilized its operations, and at the same time, stopped the declines in performance. Also, Governor Cuomo wasn’t wrong to note that Lhota had “stabilized the subway system.”
However, the MTA has not regained its performance levels of the early 2010s. Despite improvements over the past year, nearly three times as many weekday trains experience delays compared with 2011, when Cuomo first took office. Trains are still almost 30% more likely to break down. The MTA hasn’t stopped the decline in ridership that resulted from its recent declining performance. A month after Governor Cuomo’s declaration of emergency in 2017, the MTA launched a “subway action plan,” promising to “deliver improvements within the year.” The MTA would mainly focus on track and signal-system improvements and train-car reliability, deploying hundreds of new workers toward inspecting, repairing, and replacing track segments. On top of that, they will be ensuring that the system’s early-20th-century signal system did not break down as often.
The MTA has also made changed management. In January 2018, Andy Byford, a veteran of mass-transit systems in Toronto and London, joined the MTA as president of New York City Transit, in charge of subways and buses. In late October, Byford told 60 Minutes’ Bill Whitaker, “I absolutely want New Yorkers to start feeling, by the end of this year, it’s definitely getting better.”
Education Essay Revision
Joshua Stone
5/28/19
Professor Carrie Hall
ENG 1121
Revision
High School Journey
I’d like to start by saying that I don’t have a lot of memorable moments in my life. But if I could name one, it would definitely have to be my high school graduation. Not only was it one of the most significant moments of my life, but it was one of the major stepping stones of my life. This was the turning point in my road to being an adult and choosing. my career. Despite it being a conjunction of emotions, it is still a day that is hard to forget. Many students have endured those difficult four years of high school, whether it was getting grades for your classes, passing the regents, or trying to receive honors for academic accomplishments. In my case, it a little bit of everything. My main focus was perfect attendance, above satisfactory grades, and passing the mandatory regents and then some to receive an Advanced Regents Diploma. After enduring those four long years, I was able to accomplish each one of these goals, as well as a few of my classmates. The feeling of accomplishment was definitely unforgettable and I think everyone who had the same goals in mind would agree. Of course, there were some students that simple settled for a regular high school diploma, but I couldn’t blame them. If I didn’t have the encouragement of my parents, teachers, friends, tutors, etc., I would have the same mindset as them. Fortunately, my goals were set on being an overachiever and showing all my loved ones and friends that I’m different.
I remember my high school journey as if it was yesterday. I hardly believe there’s anyone who could forget this so-called “journey”. Freshman year was the start of it all. I was your typical student on his first day. I struggled to find classes, had trouble making friends, was dog-piled by assignments and homework. Those days eventually turned for the better. Even though I technically had a head start due to taking certain courses and regents early in middle school, everything was still so much to take in. After the first week, I finally started getting some stability. I basically become everyone’s friends, to my surprise, and the classwork started to seem less of a headache. After the first few months, freshman year was basically smooth-sailing. I kept my grades reasonably high, stayed away from the bad crowd, and was always on time. I eventually got used to this cycle and became fully adjusted too high school life. Then sophomore year came around the corner.
Sophomore year is by far the most headache-inducing, stress-giving, and agonizing year of high school by far. The reason I say this is for one reason only: regents. Basically, regents are New York’s variation of standardized testing, and they are much more stress-inducing and difficult than other forms of testing in the United States. Most of the classes I took were hellbent on making sure each student passed each regent with an 80 or higher, and that’s only an understatement. Even an 80 would be considered disappointing in their eyes and that reflected in our class work. We received assignments and practice exams nonstop and my classmates didn’t stop coming until everyone did well. Thinking back to it now, it did work, but only to an extent. To be precise, about 90% of the students benefited from this, and that’s me being generous. I’m more than positive there were more students that couldn’t take it anymore and gave up halfway or just burned themselves out. I was eligible to take some of my regents early (Geometry and Living Environment), in which I passed with exceptional grades. Some of my friends followed right behind, some surpassed me. And of course, there were some who could care less, would rather take it next year, and just flat out bombed it.
During junior year, everything seemed to be more relaxed. We had fewer classes meaning that we got to go home early, which everyone was excited for. We had the same regimen for regents prep but was definitely a weight of your shoulders compared to sophomore year. The same people that I’ve been friends with since day one has matured so much, it was like they were completely different people. Those who could care less about their education did a full 180-degree turn and started to treat their school with more seriousness. One of those students even ended up on the school council. We continued our year like any other. The classes were more difficult but our teachers managed made our lives easier. By this time, we also took the time to start looking for colleges and deciding what career we were interested in. Finally, regents week came and had everyone on edge, since the time to make up for their mistakes is winding down. I managed to graze by with just an above average grade on my Trigonometry regents, above satisfactory on U.S. History regents and passed with flying colors on my Spanish regents. I was just able to survive this storm of regents but I pulled through, and so did a majority of my classmates. For some, time for improvement is dwindling and senior year is their last chance.
And last but not least, senior year, my best year of high school. Not only was our school schedule was even shorter, but our classes were even laxer. On top of all that, most of us have regents out the way so we can all focus on getting our credits now. We were taking college-level classes, so we had our fair share of difficulties. We also had a lot of free time on our hands, so a handful of us took that time to relax and unwind, while others took that time to study or start looking at colleges. For those who are behind, they received special attention to ensure their success and eligibility to graduate. After all, is said and done, we could finally move on to the fun part of the year: senior activities. First came prom, in which in all honestly would be the third best day. Then a field trip to D.C., which was definitely a highlight of senior year. Third came a visit to a fancy restaurant in New Jersey.
Finally, the day has come, June 23. Everything was about to change. This would be the day I become not only be a college student, but a step closer into adulthood. The silly things I used to do during high school days would be memories now. I used to enjoy the conversations I used to have with our friends, the parties, the classes, teases each other, and much more. Those things are no more in our lives. It took place at Adelphi University The day started as a normal one and ended a memorable day in my life. It was a mixture of emotions. The happiness of seeing friends after longtime and sadness of realizing the fact that there are no more high school days in our life. Others cried for other reasons, such as being unable to see my friends and classmates again. But who could blame them? I’d be heartbroken too if I was unable to see the people I spent the past four years with laughing and learning. I sat there with my friends, probably for the final time, and watched as their names were called and as they receive their diploma. Others like me received awards for other accomplishments such as attendance and honor for other subjects like history and science. Finally, my name was called. I heard my parents, sisters, loved ones, and my soon-to-be-former classmates cheer for me. All my dedication and accomplishments have lead to this moment. I walked on stage, shook my principal’s hand as she gives my Advanced Regents Diploma. This diploma that was given to me is not just a paper, it’s the reward for the continuous hard work and dedication. It definitely wouldn’t possible without the support of parents, teachers, and friends. Thanks to my parents, teachers, and friends for being a backbone throughout the phase of my education.
Artist Statement
Feighbe Solano
Professor Hall
Artist Statement
This semester has definitely helped me grow and see “writing” in a completely different way. In my high school they had “majors” that would help them decide what group to section you off with. There was agriculture, RTC, and Center for Writing. My mom immediately put me into the center for writing and for my four years of highschool I took classes like Advanced Poetry, Advanced Writing, Creative Writing, and Shakespeare. Because of the consistency of these classes, I was shaping myself into a writer. I wrote poems and short plays and some of my best essays, but then highschool ended. I flunked my first college semester of English 101 and had to retake it. The professors I had didn’t challenge me at all creatively. One of my professors, throughout the entire semester, had us reading short stories and simply answer his questions in essay format, an entire waste of time. It made me lose my appreciation for writing.
While looking through “Rate My Professor” I found Doctor Carrie Hall, she was rated very high and received so many comments on how she’s a great professor. I had to take her class, and I even rearranged my schedule multiple times in order to make this class fit. I’m not sure what I expected this class to be but it wasn’t what it turned out to be. By this time I only thought we’d be reading more books and short story’s but it was nothing like that at all. The projects that were presented to us through the units truly helped me get back into the hang of writing but not just through pen and paper, by using more creative outlets (Instagram) I was able to use my voice in a more effective way. My Instagram page on homelessness, MPNYC_ (Mission Possible NYC) is in my top two best works I’ve done for this class. I had never taken a writing project and customized it through an outlet where many people would be able to see and interact with it. Many writing projects simply get graded and put aside, for no one else to see and this is the complete opposite of MPNYC_ it is a public page for anyone to visit and read through and comment on, and the amount of productivity that I received on this page through likes, comments, and even followers, in the short amount of time that I had to put it together, was remarkable. On top of everything the subject that it’s based on is a REAL problem, while it doesn’t affect me personally it does affect the thousands of people who are of may become homeless, this project was dedicated to those people and in order to do that I had to step outside the box, remove myself from the equation, and instead think about the victims to this problem. This project shows my growth as a writer, from my first group project of the semester that was based on the education system, where I only had one slide and about two lines to say, which was also my least favorite project, unit two was definitely my best.
As I mentioned before MPNYC_ is in my top two best works of done for this semester, the second project that’s also up there is my Bob’s Burgers project, this was unit three. What makes this project one of my best and favorites is the way that I took my all time favorite animated TV show, and I completely gutted it for its misconception on transgender women and men. When I say that this is my favorite show, I mean that I literally watch this almost everyday and have rewatched the series multiple times. In the beginning, unit three was a little hard for me to get on track with because we weren’t given the source, we had to look for it and choose for ourselves. I had gone back and forth between two ideas that I cannot remember right now, but in the end I chose to do it on my favorite show. The drawing that I did for this project was fun, but you can only see my growth through the artist statement that I wrote for unit three. I wrote about my process for this unit and I feel like any reader can see my side of the story whether they agree or not. It was a fun project to draw a Bobs Burgers scene and remake it into what I thought it should’ve been instead. Now, looking back at both of those projects while they are completely different because one is a drawing and the other is a Instagram page, they have one thing in common which is that they were both made to fight for a cause. A REAL cause that has absolutely nothing to do with me, but for the people around me. This is why these projects are my top two, because I didn’t do it on me or my story, they were made based on other people’s stories. The fight for equality for transgender people is still a real one, and the fight to end homelessness is a real one too. Never in my entire high school and college years had I done a project made for such important causes as these were and that’s where you can see my growth in Doctor Halls class, my page on homeless will stay active.
Instagram Page
https://instagram.com/mpnyc_?utm_source=ig_profile_share&igshid=15g7za1m123x6
Unit 4
https://www.instagram.com/pcnyc_/
Bobs Burgers Artist Statement
Me As A Writer – David Wu
David Wu
5/22/19
Prof Hall
Eng 1121
Me As A Writer
I don’t believe there’s such a thing as a perfect writer. Everyone has their own set of writing skills. I believed that I was a horrible writer for a long time since elementary school. I had to take ESL to learn how to write. Till now, although I feel my writing has improved a bit then before, there is still a lot for me to learn as a writer.
Coming to this class at the beginning of this semester, I expected it to be another regular English class. I expected us to just be given research papers and regular writing assignments to work on, just hand it in to be graded, and not learn on how to become a better writer. However, the assignments given to us by Professor Hall were something I wouldn’t have expected from an English class. The assignments given to us were assignments to help us find our “inner voice” in our writing and to be able to express our ideas on topics. I felt as if these type of assignments of being able to incorporate one’s point of view or ideas on certain topics is what makes the writer interested in writing and readers being able to see and read what the writer has to say.
The first assignment given to us, we had to write a specific event that impacted us in learning something. For me, I just wrote down lessons I learned from basketball from the top of my head without giving any details or explanations. Most professors would just read it, grade it, and hand it back, but Professor Hall read the paper thoroughly and had a lot of comments on it. She told me there was nothing in the essay that makes it me, there’s no specific details to my claims, and there was a lot to write about. Hearing the feedback from her showed me on how my writing can improve than before. Given the third assignment, a revision on any of the previous units, I decided to rewrite the education essay. This time I took the feedback I heard and incorporated it into the writing. Improving this essay by going into detail about my claims and showing how it makes it me by including my point of view and ideas. I felt the revision I wrote is definitely a lot better than the first essay I wrote.
This carried on to the following units and assignments. Every unit I would incorporate my point of view and ideas on the topic. For example, the final unit which was another revision, I decided to revise the second unit which was an essay about pop culture and social responsibility. Given what I learned on how to improve my writing, I did the same for this unit, incorporating my ideas and thoughts onto the assignment. I analyzed the Kendrick Lamar video “DNA” in depth and went into detail about lyrics and scenes in how I viewed it. This made me confident and interested in writing this essay knowing I am able to incorporate my thoughts to this essay for readers to read on what I think about this topic.
To sum it all up, I feel my writing has definitely improved through the semester. Before I would struggle to write a 500 word essay and feel my essays aren’t great because I wouldn’t know what to write or to know to go into detail in my essays. But this course showed me how to improve my writing by expressing my thoughts and ideas and going into detail on topics. This course definitely helped me find my “inner voice” in my writing. To me, I feel Professor Hall has made me a better writer than before and I would take her for my future English courses if possible to learn on how to improve my writing even more.
Artist Statment
Name: Tohuratun Chowdhury
Class: eng1121
Me as a writer
I think I never considered myself a writer. To me, writing is not much to be enjoyed but is a necessity. When I came to the U.S. as a new immigrant 6 years ago, I did not know any English. In 2 weeks after I arrived, I started to attend classes in high school. The moment I stepped into the classes, I realized how important the English writing is! Even in the classes such as us history or Chemistry, good writing skills were still needed to come up good science reports or essay.
Although I knew writing is extremely important for my studies in school, I still tried to avoid it most of the time. After I got any writing assignments, I always wrote many outlines, lists of idea, themes, everything I could, but except the actual essay or report. Sometimes, I could even sit in front of my desk for hours before I actually started to write. The main reason I tried to avoid writing is because I knew there were going to have many errors in my paper such as grammar, spelling, and vocabulary. Until toady, I am a little bit afraid to make these mistakes when I am writing my paper.
When I write I come across a few problems that always tend to slow me down. Finding the right words is the hardest part. While I write, I try to picture what words will follow the writing I have already completed. I can rarely find the words I want or make my writing sound the way I would like it to. When I first started writing my main problem was, and still is, writer’s block. I’ve learned to overcome that by coming up with every way I can to say what is in my head and put it on paper. It may not always work how I would like it to but it allows me to state my mind to the best of my abilities. In the end it is all about getting what is in your head onto the paper. That is one of the main factors that can affect my opinion of my writing.
In order for me to have a good opinion of my writing, I have to like what I am writing about. If I am not interested in the topic I am writing about I will get bored of it and my disinterest will be obvious in the end result. I enjoy being able to state my opinion and write how I feel. My best work is on a topic I enjoy and includes what I think and feel about it. From past and recent experiences, I have learned that I am more proud of work I have enjoyed writing and researching for. In the past, I have enjoyed writing short stories and assignments on subjects that intrigue me or are on some of my personal interests.
I always hated my English class for all the writing assignments. But I tried my best to improve myself as a writer. My creative project essay was one of my favourite essay. I found myself being more creative and analysis the pictures on my own way which I never did before. On our group project homelessness, I made a flyer to help the homeless people. I learn so many things when I was working on the project. One of the best things I experience in my English class is a group project its help us to communicate with our group members and help each other to be a good writer. Now I feel proud that I improve myself a lot as a writer in this class, now I like my English class.
