Introduction

This project hasn’t been just any essay but instead it has given me a chance to reflect better on my thoughts and think deeper than just going along with my days blindly. From writing down a day of thoughts, to taking pictures, and finally to writing an essay about each and its meaning, has helped me better understand where I stand as of now.

Thinking in writing

6:45 am: I am really tired; I wish I could sleep earlier.

7:30 am: Oh I need to leave the house now before I’m late and write this down.

8:30 am: I should study for a few, but for some reason I seem to not care.

9:40 am: Wow that test was confusing, I should make some time to study next time

10:30 am: Finally time to go home, I like long train rides I get to think.

11:00 am: I really dislike school but I know without it my future wouldn’t look so good.

11:30 am: I should try sleeping so I’m not tired for my next class.

12:00 pm: Can’t sleep I’ll just go out and eat with my sister.

12:30pm: It’s crazy how my sister and I are so close yet we think so differently

1:00pm: Next semester I need to make sure my schedule is good so I can have time for a job.

1:30pm: Happy I ate well so I should be good for class now.

2:00pm: Just thinking about class makes me lazy to go but…. I have to.

2:30pm: I like writing down notes.

3:30pm: Yes! Class ended a bit earlier today.

4:00pm: Almost home

5:00pm: Time to nap

7:53pm: Just have to type this up and I could go back to sleep if I can.

Thinking in visual

School books

Exercise

My sister

Thinking rhetorically and reflectively

A lot of people aren’t aware of their thoughts and how they either shape you or influence your future. Up until I actually wrote my thoughts down on a piece of paper I was able to read it over and reflect deeply into what were the causes for these thoughts. Does some of my thinking contribute to my future success? or are they just random irrelevant thoughts that should be pushed aside for things that matter and need to be focused on. After these observations I was able to link my past experiences along with recent conflicts, then to the corrections I’ve made and finally to my way of thinking now. Although my thoughts seem to be all over the place I know that each one of them has a purpose in making my life including myself better. Overall I argue that my current thinking is focused on the things that will enable my future success.

A sad memory I think will always be engraved into my mind is my childhood days when I just started school. I remember these days perfectly well because they often replay in mind especially at this time since I just started my first year of college. When I was younger I didn’t have my parents to share all these activities I did in school like my classmates did, so I always thought “What’s the whole point of trying”, with this thought in my head I hardly cared about school and was quickly discouraged. I got accustomed to people constantly reminding to do my work; even then I saw that putting a little bit of effort was good enough to go to the next grade and didn’t bother to try harder. As the years went on school wasn’t as simple anymore but on the bright side I was reunited with my mother. She has helped me a lot in making sure I improve in school. Although I have made it far, I often think back and just feel like giving up because all this college work isn’t something I am used to doing. As I walked to class I remembered of my first college test, after remembering that I thought to myself “I should study for a few, but for some reason I seem to not care” (Lopez, par.3) I still have this sense of carelessness in the back of my head so I usually think to myself “I really dislike school but I know without it my future wouldn’t look so good”(Lopez, par.6) I think a lot about the future as well so I can focus on the things that will be important later on and should be worth putting my time into. I wouldn’t want to disappoint my mother who cares so much and has bought me all these supplies to see me succeed in school (Lopez, “School”). School is stressful but I always remind myself that it will be worth it in the end. I am also content that I have been putting a great amount of my time and thinking into different ways I can accomplish my goals of obtaining a degree.

To start off I been thinking a lot on practicing to overcome my shyness. I look up to my older sister (Lopez, “My Sister”) who is much more talkative and knows exactly what to say when it comes to having a conversation. She’s had every job she applied for and I believe it is because she’s outgoing. We went out to eat on a Thursday morning and as she was talking I started to think “It’s crazy how my sister and I are so close yet we think so differently” (Lopez, par.9), why was this? After taking the time to think I figured it was the different ways we were raised and how the people we were surrounded by influenced our personalities. She grew up with my aunt who is cheerful, talkative and outgoing meanwhile I grew up with my grandparents who focused on hard work and only did what was important. Not having anyone to talk to especially not my parents has made it difficult for me throughout the years to express myself and feel comfortable around new groups of people but this is something I have to change. School will require a lot of presentations, meeting people and even working with them and it is why I have been thinking on ways to improve my way of presenting myself, being more confident, less shy, and improve my speech. One method I’ve tried was going out more and trying to meet new people, ask questions and be friendly. I’ve also met up with a couple of my old friends and caught up on a couple of things that’s going on with our lives. They were willing to share their personal experiences which made it easier to talk to them and made me realize that talking to new people isn’t so bad, you can even relate to them in many ways or share the same experiences. This is something I have been working on really hard on because I know it will benefit me both as a student in city tech and in the future especially with the business career I am going for.

After reading the book by John Medina Brain Rules I learned the importance of getting a good night rest, along with exercising. Almost every morning I wake up with this thought “I am really tired I wish I could sleep earlier” (Lopez, par.1). Therefore I’ve been putting an effort in trying to sleep early so I could be more attentive in class, understand more and perhaps remember better. Exercising is as important as getting a good night sleep but I do not play any sports or do any type of activities. I figured that by not exercise I wasn’t doing any good to my health but I never really had anything or anyone stress the importance of it until reading this book. Finding out exercise both benefits your physical and mental health I decided to try a sport, soccer.  From all the games or tournaments I have been too I noticed this sport requires a lot of running and really good ball control, so I thought soccer would be perfect. Well another reason would be that everyone in my family including my friends play this sport so I could have more than one person to practice with. On a Friday morning I decided to stop lying around and asked my friend if he can teach me more about this sport. Arriving to the park I took a good look around at a beautiful sight and thought about the things I have been missing out on. As I was waiting for my friend to prepare himself I remembered to take a quick picture (Lopez, “Exercise”). If I continue exercising it will not only help me at the moment but will also help me in the future physically and mentally.

These past weeks my thoughts have been mostly focused on school and on ways to improve my academic skills. Your thoughts are very powerful especially at this time of your life were you will be choosing a career or if you even decide to continue with school. Given the chance to reflect on my thoughts and write about them I can see clearly on what I am doing in life. I do not wish to change these thoughts but instead find even more ways to develop better habits, enhance my writing, and be more productive.

 Works Cited

 Lkatherine11[Katherine Lopez].”Re: Project 1: Thinking in Writing.”Openlab.ENg1101 D346 English Composition 1, FA 2014, 2 Oct.2014.Web.14 Oct.2014.

Lopez, Katherine. “Exercise” Flickr. 3 Oct. 2014.Web.14 Oct.2014.

Lopez, Katherine. “My Sister” Flickr. 15 Oct. 2014.Web.15 Oct.2014.

Lopez, Katherine. “School, Books, Stress” Flickr. 4 Oct. 2014.Web.14 Oct.2014.

Medina, John. Brain Rules: 12 rules for surviving and thriving at work home school. Seattle: Pear Press, 2008.Print.