INTRODUCTION

In this project, I was given the opportunity to give my thoughts some reflection by recording everything I was thinking about throughout a day. Recording my thoughts every half an hour, along with taking pictures, gives me a better insight of who I am as an individual. It showed how my actions and memories can really bring beneficial and detrimental effects to my future.

THINKING IN WRITING

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

11:30: I should start on this eng project

the main character is being stupid

12:00: what time should I leave the house?

Should I lay here and just watch a little more?

12:30: I’m hungry.

This is boring.

I want to play volleyball.

1:00: when should I do this pile of hw?

I’ll do it tomorrow…hopefully.

1:30: my bed feels too good.

I should get up and play some ball.

Nahh…gonna keep laying and watching tv

2:00: I’m craving ramen.

Should I get up to make one? Nahh.

2:30: this show is boring and stupid now.

Should I start to get ready now?

3:00: ok, I’m going to force myself up now

Time to get ready.

3:30: what should I wear?

What should I bring besides my camera?

Do I need a ball?

4:00: should I go to Baruch’s game or Lab’s game?

Why is this train so slow?

I want to play volleyball really badly now

Dam, I’m awake. how did I miss my stop?

4:30: I’m early. I’ll watch the first game

Graphic arts sucks this year

ELRO is beast

5:00: ELRO won.

Should I warmup with Baruch? I will.

5:30: game time. Who’s going to win?

6:00: how did Baruch lose the first set?

6:30: Baruch won second set

7:00: this is dragging way too long

Third set.

7:30: finally finished. Should I go home?

What to do when I get home?

8:00: it’s so boring…I rather be playing

8:30: should I do my hw?

How long should this paper be?

This perspective drawing is confusing.

Which color should I use?

9:00: this is taking forever

I still have other hw to do

10:00: finally dinner time.

SOF vb team bugging me about playing on Saturday

10:30: gonna stall time by eating slow

11:00: should I continue hw?

I’ll just lay around, watch tv and continue tomorrow

12:30: I should shower, I sweat before

1:00: going to watch tv until I fall asleep

Can’t wait to coach Baruch and SOF on Saturday

THINKING VISUALLY

Doing My Foundation Drawing Assignment (Yu, “Foundation Drawing Assignment”)

Spectating Baruch High School’s Volleyball Team’s Time Out Session (Yu, “Baruch High School’s Volleyball Team’s Time Out Session”)

Watching 22 Jump Street (Yu, “Watching Television”)

THINKING RHETORICALLY AND REFLECTIVELY 

How often do every individual actually take the time off their busy schedule to think about their own thoughts? Not very often, nor likely. To think about our own thoughts also means thinking about what connects to them and those connections are just memories, which leads us to be thrown off track about what we were initially thinking about. Confusing? It’s just my own thinking and logic by simply saying that even the process of thinking is a procrastination of our mind. My name is Samantha Yu and I’m an expert at focusing on things that I set my mind to and I’m also very indecisive which leads to me having an unpredictable future. Through this essay, I would be expressing my most important thoughts about my past, present, and future self, not only through words, but also visually through photos. To start it off, the assignment was introduced to us, instructing us to log our thoughts in a day every half an hour, and taking pictures alongside. The most important thoughts, themes, and pictures were then picked out and summarized to narrow down the significance of the day and ourselves. Now, going back to my day of thoughts, I can see that everything can lead to different consequences to my future personal, academic, and professional life. I argue that my thoughts are a procrastination, they’re all over the place, and I need to work on focusing them on the things that matter. From looking at all my different actions in a day, it shows that my thoughts lead to procrastinating actions that can affect my future personal, academic, and professional life.

From the moment I wake up till when I sleep again, there are always the same three thoughts that I think about every day. First, is the mountain load of homework that waits for me to complete it. The sight of my homework instantly gives me thoughts such as, “I should really start on this English project…” and “Should I do my homework? How long should this paper be?(SYu, par.1,39-40)” My mind is all over the place most of the time due to all the different amount of workload and stress given by my professors. With my personality, whenever I start something, I would finish it till the end. But before I start the things, I have moments of doubt, uncertainty, and indecisiveness. For example, sometimes I would say things like, “Do I really want to start this? Will I be able to accomplish it? Do I have the confidence to stay focus all the way?” And when I see all those words on the same assignment sheet, I just end up getting scared and try avoiding it. In the picture “Foundation Drawing Assignment”, I was attempting to complete my Foundation Drawing class’s homework, but all those words on the assignment sheet just looks extremely horrifying to me. Thoughts like these are what throws me off track. Luckily, I do try to remind myself about the significance and benefits of the workload every once in awhile. I would think about how doing and accomplishing these assignments would give me the satisfying grades I so desperately want and determined to get. Sometimes my own reminders work and sometimes it doesn’t work, so when it doesn’t work, I just end up getting lazy. I’m all over the place when it comes to commitment of doing homework and I should work on focusing on it more because it matters to my future academic life.

The second thing that I think about every day, are physical activities. As noticed from my first argument, I can’t commit myself to doing homework all the time, and the main reason for that is because I can’t sit still. My body always feel the urge to get up and move around. Whether it be running around the blocks, playing handball, basketball, soccer, or volleyball, I need to do at least one to be satisfied for the day. My love for sports lead me to becoming the assistant coach for the School of the Future High School Volleyball Team and Handball Team. Out of all the sports mentioned, I have the strongest passion for volleyball. I’m so passionate about it that at some points I could play eight hours straight without resting or eating. In the picture “Baruch High School’s Volleyball Team’s Time Out Session”, it shows my main location of that day at Robert F. Wagner Middle School’s Gym watching the Baruch College Campus High School vs. Pace High School volleyball game. The picture brings out a meaning to me that is more important in my point of view than any other’s. It shows dedication, confidence, and most importantly, teamwork. These Baruch girls gave me the honor of coaching and drilling them for a day before their first game and I was more than glad that I could assist them, so I also went to support their first game. During their game, I kept thinking to myself, “Who’s going to win? They have a similar skill level. How did Baruch lose the first set? Baruch won the second set. This is actually dragging way longer than it should. Finally into third set, and Baruch won!(SYu, par. 31-36)” Occasionally, during those thoughts, I somehow start to think back to my stressful amount of homework and where should I go after the game is over. Like previously described, my thoughts are everywhere. Now, to tie back to my argument, volleyball is definitely described as part of me, but it’s also a distraction and the procrastination to my professional future, as my parents would describe it. They think that it’s merely something useless and should just be left in my high school past and memories because playing volleyball all the time would not help me pursue a career anywhere. As much as I don’t want to admit it, I do agree to their concerns because I never was the smartest in academics. The stereotype, Asian parents are very strict with grades lower than A’s, is mostly true. To most Asian parents, they are very strict when it comes to our grades, because they know what hardship is. They don’t want us to experience the same hardship as them because of their low educational status, so they demand more from their kids to have a brighter future. Having my parents and school work in thought, I cut down more on practices and play time this year for work and school, but I know that when next Summer rolls in, I’m going straight back onto the courts and Nationals. Now, unfortunately, the college I attend, New York City College of Technology, don’t have their own volleyball team and that made me a little unhappy. On the bright side, that will keep my mind more on school work and lead me to be focused on the more important matters.

The final thing that I think about daily is sleep and television. It’s obvious, I don’t have much time to think about things like these unless it’s my day off, but it’s actually a constant thing in my head. After the Fall 2014 semester started, I have been pulling all-nighters everyday because of school work and television. True, I have a lot of stressful homework but once I get it done or nearly done, most of the time ends up to be watching television instead of sleeping. The reason I do this is because I have a mindset of having to watch a little bit of TV a day, or else my day would feel completely non-entertaining. And since I have this kind of mindset, this leads me to watch into early morning without even realizing it, and the next thing I know, I have to go to school. In the picture, “Watching Television,” it shows me staying up after homework to watch 22 Jump Street. The most sleep I ever got on a school night was 4 hours and during weekends, I try to sleep in. Throughout the day, I just think about wanting to sleep and being lazy, but I restrict myself of having those thoughts. At night, I would think, “Should I continue homework?…Nope, I’ll just lay around, watch TV, and continue it tomorrow since it’s not even due yet.(SYu, par. 49-50)” Sometimes, in my opinion, I think sleep is not really a complete necessity and productivity is more important. Of course, in order to have productivity, one must have rest and sleep, but my opinion has no logic, it’s just my opinion. I think using every minute of your life to do something productive, rather than sleep, is more important. Like for me, I choose sports and television over sleep, but maybe it’s just because I’m already used to it. Saying this, brings it to how my third argument is about sleep being my third procrastination in life. So continuously being productive means continuously having thoughts and because I don’t sleep much, it gives me a lot of time to think about many things, whether it be important or not. My thoughts about sleep messes with my mind, and I should really change that because sleep is what matters most to every living thing and it would definitely show a detrimental effect to my future personal life.

The most important things in my life all show a beneficial and detrimental effect to my future whether it be personally, academically, or professionally. School work, volleyball, and sleep are all very important to me, but what I need to learn to do is how to control my thoughts of each thing in order to live a less-stressful future. Having my thoughts all over the place every second, leads me to take my mind off the things that actually matter in life.

 Works Cited

1) aznsam366 [Samantha Yu]. “Re: Project 1: Thinking in Writing.” OpenLab. ENG1101 D346 English Composition 1, FA2014, 24 Sept. 2014. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.

2) Yu, Samantha. “Baruch High School’s Volleyball Team’s Time Out Session.” Flickr. 24 Sept. 2014. Web. 13 Oct. 2014

3) Yu, Samantha. “Foundation Drawing Assignment.” Flickr. 24 Sept. 2014. Web. 13 Oct. 2014

4) Yu, Samantha. “Watching Television.” Flickr. 24 Sept. 2014. Web. 13 Oct. 2014

Introduction: 

In this project I was able to share what controls 90% of my thoughts. It helped me to know how my thoughts are, and how I can control them. This project kind of help me open up more about my thoughts, and let people know who I am.

Thinking in writing:

-Thinking about my dreams so eager to achieve them all
– Thinking about my life
-Thinking about school really want to do good even though i hate school so much but i want to be educated.
– My boyfriend home coming game is next Saturday and I hope me and my brother could make it.
-Just came from Church and I enjoyed it.
-Watching 12 years a slave and this movie inspires so much to be an actress (one of my dreams)
– I really hate being shy! It holds me back from so much opportunities!
-I took speech class junior year of high school and it helped me a lot but i wish i had finish speech club my senior year of high school ill probably be more brave.
-Thinking about my plan B which is to become a psychiatric nurse practitioner. I love psychology! Before i wanted to be a psychiatrist but people made me change my mind which is kind of a good thing.
– Writing in my writing book. I love writing..it’s a gift I’m bless with. I write about love, life, things that’s on my mind. I know my writings can do a lot for this world..
-Reading quotes
-Listening to music it takes me to my fantasy world and I’m believing my fantasy world will come to reality.
-Talking to my best friend and Diary they’re so stressed out about college..trying to help them feel better and not to give up.
-Tumblr i love tumblr it inspires me so much and also takes me to my fantasy world. My dream world.
-I’m such a dreamer…i have so many things i want to be in life and accomplished! I know i can do it…but the work that comes with it will drive me crazy, but i know God will guide me through it all and help me.
– Looking at a magazine oh my always wanted to be a model since 3rd grade, would always use to watch America’s Next Top Model.
-I have so many dreams and its mostly celebrities dreams and in my head I’m like Rebecca how are you going to achieve this all? Sometimes it seems so impossible for me….but with a willing heart anything is possible! And if people can do it so can I.
-I feel like giving up on my dreams sometimes but something is telling me not too!
-Going to work hard for my dreams and my plan B! you always need a back up plan
-I have to many things to offer to this world….i just hope my ideas and talents don’t go to waste.
– So happy i only got one day of school this week…..hopefully during the weeks I’m off i get to hang out with my boyfriend, have fun and finish my college work.
-I hope JC Penny hires me to work for them…i really need a job! i want to make my own money! You can’t have fun unless you have money that’s my opinion. I want to spoil my boyfriend and mom.
– I really love my mom i swear when i get a job she’s the first person getting paid from me! She deserves the whole world! I really look up to this women(sometimes)

Thinking Visually:

Psychology

12 years a slave

Magazine 

My Writings

Thinking Rhetorically and Reflectively

My name is Rebecca Anansa Moore.  I was born June 17^th 1996, in Brooklyn, NY. Both my parents are from Guyana. I am a freshman at City Tech College majoring in liberal arts. I am planning to change my major to nursing in the coming semester. I love writing, food, traveling, and visiting Manhattan.

Many times I live inside my fantasy world, which will be reality someday. I’ve been reflecting on my thoughts, and what mostly control my thoughts.  My celebrity dreams are to become a supermodel, writer, entrepreneur, and an actress, and my plan B dream is to become a nurse/psychiatric nurse practitioner.

My argument for my essay is that my current thinking is focused on the things that will enable my future and success.  In my days of thoughts I am going to use several examples from there to support my argument. The first thought I am going to use is “Thinking about school, I want to do well in all my classes although I hate school.” I want to be educated because education is mandatory in our world today. While I am thinking about school my next thought connects to it which is “Thinking about my plan B which is to become a psychiatric nurse practitioner. I love psychology. Before I wanted to be a psychiatrist, but people made me change my mind, which is kind of a good thing. ” (rebeccam24par.4). This thought would support my argument, because I’m thinking about things that will enable my future success. This thought enables my Plan B success.  Also, I’m taking a psychology class to see if I really want to do anything that involves psychology in my career.  I took a picture of my psychology class text book to represent my thoughts. (Moore, “Psychology”).

Another thought that supports my argument is “Watching 12 years a slave.” (rebeccam24par.5). This movie inspires me so much to be an actress (one of my dreams). I love watching this movie because I love the acting by the characters. The acting brings out the story making it seem real and that is motivating. Since I am taking Black theater this semester in college, the plays we read I act them out at home. This thought enables one of my celebrity dreams, watching movies to get inspired, watching award shows, taking a black theater class and basically training myself.

These thought about being an actress reminds me of a time when I had to do this monologue in speech class junior years of high school. We got to choose our own, so I chose this movie call “Girl Interrupted”, and I did Angelina Jolie part. I did so good that my teacher gave me a 91. I remember everybody was surprise at my performance; I was also surprise too about my acting. That was the first good grade I got from that class. The reason why I did so well is because I did not have my glasses on. But that’s when I started to like acting. I took a picture of the movie to represent my thoughts. (Moore, “12 years a slave”)

Talking about speech class brings me to my next thought that supports my argument which is being shy.  “Being shy holds me back from so many opportunities”. I took speech class junior year of high school which helped me over come my shyness about 75 percent, but I wish I had finish speech club my senior year of high school which would of probably made me braver.” (rebeccam24 par.7)  This thought enables another one of my celebrity dreams which is being a supermodel. The real reason why I took speech class is because I wanted to attend this modeling agency but I did not because I was so scared and shy.  I remember when I had to do my first speech for speech class, it was so horrible. I was very nervous my voice, legs, and hands were shaking.  Just thinking about it makes me upset and embarrassed. But now my hands and legs do not shake only my voice shakes a little.

Talking about modeling I have a thought that relates to it which is “Looking at a magazine.” Since the third grade my dream was to become a model. I would always watch America’s Next Top Model.” (rebeccam24 par.8)  I always wanted to be a model because of Tyra Banks.  Every time that show aired I would catwalk in front of my mom in her room with her high heel shoes.  I used to train myself with YouTube modeling videos magazines, watch modeling shows for help like “The face.” I am still working on becoming a model. I took a picture of a magazine I was reading to represent my thoughts. (Moore, “Magazine”)

A fourth thought that supports my argument is “Writing in my writing book. I love writing. It is a gift I am blessed with. I write about love, life, things that are on my mind, basically everything that inspires me. I know my writings can do a lot for this world.” (rebeccam24 par.9)  This thought will enable my future success, because I want to be a writer, and a writer for anything. I love writing, I’ve been writing since I was in seventh grade. At first, I used to write poems only, but as I grew older my writing expanded. I’ve been thinking of sending my work to New York Times and let them publish it, but if they do that no other magazine can’t publish my work. But I’m still figuring ways to publish my work. I took a picture of my writings to represent my thoughts. (Moore, “My Writings”)

“I am such a dreamer.” I have so many things I want to be in life and accomplished. I know I can do it but, the work that comes with it will drive me crazy, I know God will guide me through it all and help me. I feel like giving up on my dreams sometimes but something is telling me not to.  If people can do it I can do it too.   I have too many things to offer to this world I just hope my ideas and talents don’t go to waste.’’(rebeccam24 par.10) As you can tell in this thought, I have this thought every second, minute and every day. My argument is correct, because I’m still and always will think about things that will enable my future success. It’s hard to believe in your dreams sometimes when you think it is impossible.  But I try every day, because the only way things can be achieved is if you believe, but mostly if you work hard and put God in everything you plan to do.

I have a plan for my thinking, and it is to have positive thoughts. If I do not have positive thoughts my life will just be miserable. In moving forward with my thinking I have to just take my time thinking. Just think one thought at a time, not all thoughts together. When I think about everything together it makes me over think, angry, and makes me want to give up on everything. Another plan for my thinking is not to let failures over take my mind. There are many celebrities who have failed and still became successful.

Also my thinking have to accept the fact that things are not going to go my way sometimes and if things don’t work out for me is, because God has a different plan for me. It will make me sad, and angry, but everything happens for a reason. But deep down inside I know my celebrity dreams are for me, I have talents, I have gifts, and those special things should not go to waste. But it takes time for things like that to come true, especially if you need more training, all I need is patience, and I lack patience.

Work Cited List

Rebeccam24 [Rebecca Moore]. “Re:Project 1: Thinking in Writing.” OpenLab. ENG1101  D346 English Composition 1, FA, 2014, 21 Sept.2014.Web.6 Oct.2014.

Moore, Rebecca. “12 years a slave.” Flickr. 3 Oct. 2014. Web. 6 Oct. 2014.

Moore, Rebecca. “Magazine.” Flickr. 3 Oct. 2014. Web. 6 Oct. 2014.

Moore, Rebecca. “My Writings.” Flickr. 3 Oct. 2014. Web. 6 Oct. 2014

Moore, Rebecca. “Psychology.” Flickr. 3 Oct. 2014. Web. 6 Oct. 2014

Introduction

These past few weeks I’ve worked on a paper about my thoughts. I was given the opportunity to take the time to reflect back on my thoughts. After doing this, I have a better understanding on how to use my thoughts to think more about my future.

Thinking in Writing

9:30 – Just woke up, thinking why am I up so early if I don’t have class today
10:00 – Still in bed contemplating whether to get up or not
10:30 – About to take a shower
11:00 – I’m really hungry and I want a bagel now
11:30 – I should get dressed so I won’t feel lazy
12:15- trying to remember to write every 30 min is really hard
1:00 – I’m going to take my dog to the park
1:30 – realizing that my dog is getting old
2:15 – I don’t feel like going out anymore
3:45 – yay friends is on tv!
4:30- maybe I should do homework tonight since I’m not doing anything
5:00- I feel like taking a nap but I know I shouldn’t
5:45- I’m hungry again
6:30- Yay my mom made cheeseburgers
7:00 – full and now more tired than before
7:45 – my best friend came back from college for the weekend! Maybe I’ll see her later
8:15- I’m too lazy to go out..
9:00 – my room is messy I should probably clean
9:45 – im really sleepy, maybe I should go to bed
10:30- already in bed now I can’t seem to fall asleep
11:00 – I don’t want to go to work tomorrow morning
11:45- I really should put my phone down and try to sleep
12:00- okay I have to be up in about 6 hours, it’s time for me to sleep

Thinking Visually

Lilly

Textbooks

My Job

Thinking Rhetorically and Reflectively

It is very important to reflect on your thoughts every once in a while. As a freshman in college I’m entering a very important part of my life. These next four years will determine my future. It is now my time to make sure I achieve the goals I want. Taking some time to reflect on my thoughts and actions is important to help improve and better myself. Last week I took the time to write down my thoughts for a day, every thirty minutes. After a few days had gone by I went back to look at what I had written down. As I went over my thoughts I noticed that I didn’t really write down anything important pertaining to my future. Instead, I decided to break down what each thought actually meant to me. After doing so I’ve come to an argument that even though I am not constantly thinking about my future, my thoughts show that all of my actions reflect to my future.

After writing down my thoughts for a day I noticed they were not on the right path. I barely took the time out of my day to actually think about my career and future. My thoughts seemed everywhere and weren’t focused on a specific thing. But even though my thoughts weren’t on a specific topic, I came to the realization that everything I do is a factor to how my life will end up. One thought I had during the day was about my dog (Martinez, “Lilly.”) Clearly dogs are not relevant in nursing careers. I will never work with dogs once I get my job under my career. My dog is very important to me; I’ve had her for about 7 years now. I think about how old she is quite often. Thinking about it gets me really sad; I can’t remember how my life was before I had her. Many people probably just think “oh dogs are just pets” but I’m sure other dog owners can relate. She is very energetic and friendly to everyone. Like I said before I can’t remember not having a pet, she has a very important role in my life. It must have been boring before I had her because now I have something I’m always occupied with, whether it’s her wanting to play or taking her on walks.

Having a dog comes with a lot of responsibility. It’s sort of like having a child. They have to be fed, bathed, groomed and walked. Also, just like us and our checkups, they also have to get their checkups and shots at the veterinarian. I believe having a dog is beneficial. It teaches a person a lot about responsibility which is very important for the future of a person. Not that I wasn’t responsible before but I have definitely become better at taking care of somebody other than myself. I believe a person is more likely to do better in certain things than those who are not responsible.

Another thought I wrote down was about my homework. I’m pretty sure that I’m not the only one who debates on whether doing their homework or not every once in a while. Most people like myself don’t like doing work once they’re at home because they feel like it’s time for them to relax and they just get lazy. In the middle of the day I thought “maybe I should do my homework since I’m not doing anything, (betsymartinez par. 11.) You would think that of course I would want to do my homework to get it out of the way. But it was the opposite; I just stared at my textbooks (Martinez, “Textbooks.”) I didn’t feel like doing anything because I knew I had so much free time available, I was thinking that I should just do it later. But I finally encouraged myself to stop being lazy and do something productive. After I did my homework it felt great knowing I had done all my work. I didn’t have to worry about not having anything done on time. I should try to remind myself that getting things done earlier is better than procrastinating and rushing to do things.

I don’t think I really pay mind to how little things like homework affect my future. I mean I know it does, but at the moment when it comes down to actually doing it I don’t have the energy or motivation to do so. But reflecting back on my thoughts, I know that homework is essential to my education therefore to my career. If I don’t do homework then that will obviously affect my grades. However, I simply remind myself that just a little bit of my time isn’t going to hurt me, because it will be worth it in the end and put me where I want to be.

The last thought I chose to write about was about my job. I wrote down “I don’t want to go to work tomorrow morning,”(Betsymartinez par.21.) I’ve been working in a bakery for almost three years. This is something I’m quite proud of because I know for many people it’s hard to balance work and school. I think I’ve done a pretty good job at accomplishing that. It was a lot easier to balance it out when I was in high school because I got less work. But now that this is my first year at City Tech, I’ve had to cut back on work so I can focus more on school.

From this job, I’ve developed a lot of skills that I didn’t have before. I was a very quiet girl who really didn’t like talking to new people, but since I work at a bakery I’m constantly helping customers and talking to them which have helped me a lot. Like every worker there are going to be a few customers that you come across with that might give you attitude or are just simply rude. Patience is key, because as a worker you should always remember that the customers are important. I don’t think I really come across people that give me problems at work but every once in a while I do. I’ve learned that you can’t get mad over everything and you have to try to be understanding towards other people. My future goal is to have a job in the neonatal nursing field. Working in a bakery obviously isn’t the same environment as a hospital but I’ve learned so much that I feel it well help me in the future.

Everything that I think about right now has a role in my future. Even though at the moment my thoughts might seem irrelevant to my future they aren’t. After reflecting over some of my thoughts, I’ve come to realize that everything I’m doing in the present is helping me prepare for the kind of person I want to be. Thoughts about my pets, school work, and my job have all impacted my life in a better way. I’ve learned how to be responsible from all three of those things. My dog has taught me how to take care of somebody, while on the other hand my school work has taught me how to be determined and motivated. My job has given me skills that I think are important in a working environment and has prepared me to be a better and responsible person in the future. I don’t have to be thinking about my future every minute because I’m self-consciously doing it. Thinking about little things like work is me thinking about my future without realizing I am.

Works Cited

Betsymartinez (Betsy Martinez). “Re: Project 1: Thinking in Writing.” Open Lab. ENG 1101 D346 English Composition 1, FA 2014, 21 Sept. 2014. Web. 5 Oct. 2014.

Martinez, Betsy. “Lilly.” Flickr. 26 Sept. 2014. Web. 5 Oct. 2014.

Martinez, Betsy. “My Job.” Flickr. 26 Sept. 2014. Web. 5 Oct. 2014.

Martinez, Betsy. “Textbooks.” Flickr. 26 Sept. 2014. Web. 5 Oct. 2014.

Introduction

            During project one, I have allowed myself to admit some things out loud that I probably would have not if it wasn’t for this assignment. I also have a different way of viewing my current situation and things are finally starting to turn around. I am learning how to better deal with problems and using those strategies in my everyday life.

Thinking in Writing

MY DAY- FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2014

9:30am Woke up and got ready to go do laundry and food shopping.

10:35am Sitting in the laundry mat thinking about my boyfriend and all the things we’ve been going through lately.

11:02am Thinking about all the h.w I have to do this weekend plus I gotta go to Manhattan with my friend at 3pm today

11:15am On my way to the super market with my brother.

11:45am Just got back in the house to put the food away then going back to the laundry mat to bring the close home.

12:19pm Finally home with all the laundry and food…decides to go make bacon and eggs

12:25pm The thought of cooking was too much I just settled for cereal

12:55pm Thinking about my boyfriend again…

1:27pm Decides to go post my homework on OPENLAB since I have time to kill and it means I have less homework to worry about.

2:12pm finally finished with my English homework.

2:55pm About to leave my house.

7:58pm Just got back home, brought candy from a candy store in Manhattan!

7:36pm Calls my boyfriend.

10:39pm Got off the phone because his phone was dying.

10:47pm Decides to go take a shower.

11:21pm Calls my friend Allison.

4:09am Decided to get off the phone because we were both tired.

4:32am Decides to get off Facebook and go to sleep…my sleep schedule is still not back to normal and not having school two days out of the week from Monday to Friday doesn’t help. I’m not obligated to go to sleep early everyday because I don’t have school every day.

Dumbo Park

City Tech College

Where I Meet My Boyfriend

Thinking Rhetorically and Reflectively

Relationships & College

     College and relationships is a hard thing to balance. How do I make sure that I’m not spending too much time on college work? How do I make sure that my relationship isn’t interfering with my college work? Multitasking is easy for most people including myself but ever since I started school in a new environment, I can’t seem to wrap my mind around the thought of balancing college and my relationship of 4 years.

I attend City Tech College (Francois, “City Tech College”) and I still haven’t gotten the hang of college yet, which makes me overwork in my opinion. If it is not school related, it is hard for me to say yes to other activities when I have homework even if I just have one left. This has its advantages and disadvantages. On one hand, I’m getting all of my homework and studying out the way. On the other hand, I’m stressing myself out and not making enough time for myself and fun activities to make the most out of my freshmen year. My boyfriend has told me about twice that ever since I started college I haven’t been making much time for him. I do believe that it’s true, but I just can’t seem to find the time for play when I have so much work that needs to be done. Do I make more time for my relationship? Do I continue to solely make my life about dreadful college work? How will my decisions now affect my future?

Being in a relationship is great, I always have someone who is encouraging and supporting me even when I don’t believe in myself. Recently, I’ve had thoughts of leaving college. One of the things stopping me from doing so is the fact that I know that I will never return. I want to go through college all at one time so that I can close that chapter of my life. My boyfriend been helping me a lot actually. I haven’t even really told him about how college is making me feel, he just knows that I’m not really feeling it right now. He has helped me out a great deal since I started taking my summer class with studying and homework. Even math, which we both hate!  He doesn’t get frustrated when we both try to figure out how to get the answer. He tries to understand it first then helps me understand it. He doesn’t even know how that makes me feel. It feels good to have someone willing to go through it with me. Especially since my mom can’t really help me because she doesn’t remember a lot of the work I’m having trouble with. She has offered to get a tutor for me but for right now I’m declining.

Being in a relationship also can be stressful at times. When I have so much going on in school, I don’t want to have any extra weight on my shoulders. When my boyfriend and I are not getting along, it becomes difficult for me to focus on anything else. I’m usually sad for a little while, then I’m okay but I still can’t seem to focus on getting anything else done. Before, it used to take us a couple of days to get back on good terms but now, we are usually on good terms the same day or the next day. Although this doesn’t happen a lot, I’m trying to find better ways to deal with this specific situation. I’m thinking maybe making the first move in addressing the situation so that way it can be squashed sooner. The funny thing is we are two totally different people in general but when it comes to emotions we are very much the same. In general, he’s more outgoing, likes to talk about problems he is having verbally. Me on the other hand, I am shyer, and when it comes to talking about problems, I’m a writer. It’s hard for me to begin to talk verbally about a problem. I usually write a letter to start off and ease into verbal conversation. One thing I can say about our downs is that it definitely broke me out of my nonverbal approach shell. Eventually I started talking about what’s bothering me. When it comes to us not talking, we both want to end the problem sooner rather than later but i don’t think either one of us is comfortable with making that first move. We both just wait around until either the other person calls or we can’t take not talking anymore. Thinking about my boyfriend again… “Day of Thoughts” (Kayla Francois, par.8) When I’m thinking about him I think it would help to just call him, seems like all I do is think about him and I don’t do anything about it.

I do wish that he was more understanding. We went to the same school for middle school but for high school, I remained in the same school and he went to another. During this time we would meet each other downtown (Francois, “Where I Meet My Boyfriend”) when we wanted to see each other, then we would go to Dumbo Park (Francois, “Dumbo Park”), walk the Brooklyn Bridge, or other fun activities. The school he went to actually allowed him to graduate in three years. So while I was in 12^th grade, he was starting his first year of college. I personally decided to give him a little more space. My reason for this was because I didn’t know how it felt to be a college student, I didn’t know what he would have to go through during his first year and I didn’t want to put him under any more stress than what he was going to have. When I would call him, we would talk a lot less on the phone because he either had work to do or he was extremely tired. I understood that. Sometimes I would wait for him to call me when he had down time. Me going into my first year and him going into his second year, I expected that he knew how it felt to go through college for the first year. Although we are in different majors and everyone’s experience is different, I can imagine our work load is pretty much the same. I feel like he wants me to still be available as much as I used to be. I would love that too but college is a lot different from high school. I didn’t have to do all my homework; I didn’t even have to study. I went to school the same time everyday in high school. Now I have late classes, early classes, every assignment I get I have to complete if I want to pass my classes and understand what I’m being taught.

Thinking about the problem I’m having and doing nothing about it is not going to actually get rid of the problem. I have to go through trial and error. I know that I can’t just do one thing and not worry about the other. Maybe it would be easier to set days where we see each other, days where homework gets done, days where I relax and not worry about anything. College is about being organized so why not try to ease my situation with organization? I think it would be a great help. I think that once I find the right balance, it will be easier to deal with my current situation. I’m a person who likes challenge and doesn’t become overwhelmed easily. At the same time this is all new to me. Also from the very beginning of college, I told myself that all my college work was going into one spiral notebook. It may seem unorganized but I find that when my stuff is all together in one, it’s easier to manage. I have a file folder where I keep all my papers. I don’t have to worry about which notebook I have to bring to my classes for the day, I don’t have to worry about if I forgot a paper at home, everything is always together.

My sleep schedule is still not back to normal (Francois, “Day of Thoughts”). This is also affecting both my school work and relationship. If I’m not getting any sleep, I don’t have the energy to get things done. I usually make myself get out of bed to do my homework. When that’s done I just want to go back to sleep, not making time to make sure I even call him to let him know I’m thinking about him and missing him. I believe that my choice will be to continue school, and organize my social life to mingle with my college life so that everything doesn’t feel like a chore to me. I think that right now my mind is looking at everything as a chore wheel; everything is the same week after week. I have to try to gain something out of everything I do so that I stop thinking about everything as a routine.

As for my future, I do want to get into the culinary business maybe even own my own restaurant. I do need to get through college but also make connections and become very social. Hopefully as time progresses, I will become more comfortable with going up to people and making friends. College is just the door to success, being social is the key that I need to open the door and get through!

Work Cited

Francois, Kayla. “City Tech College.” Flickr. 12 Oct 2014. Web. 12 Oct 2014

Francois, Kayla. “Dumbo Park.” Flickr. 12 Oct 2014. Web. 12 Oct 2014

Francois, Kayla. “Where I Meet My Boyfriend.” Flickr. 12 Oct 2014. Web. 12 Oct 2014.

Kaylaf54 [Kayla Francois]. “Re: Project 1: Thinking in Writing.” Openlab. ENG1101 D346 English Composition1FA2014. 21 Sept 2014. Web. 12 Oct 2014.

Introduction

In this project I was given the opportunity to get to know myself better. This project gave me a sense of my inner thoughts and what my brain is more focused towards.  I also got to know what should I focus on more to get where I want to.

Thinking in Writing