After receiving peer review feedback in class on Wednesday, revise your first road map paragraph as a separate file (remember to “Save As” and append “revised” to its file name), and copy-and-paste your revised paragraph into a comment to this blog post before our next class.
Over the weekend, your task is to continue writing your Project 1, Part 3 essay. A draft of your completed essay is due for peer review next Wednesday (giving you one additional class meeting than what is on the assignment sheet). Refer to the assignment sheet for further guidance and email me with your questions.
Attending college will be beneficial to me. College is my main challenge at the moment and it will be my main challenge for the next three years. However, attending college plays an important role in my preparation to be a Coast Guard and it gives me a better chance of success in the future. To become a United State Coast Guard Officer, I need to attend college for at least four years and maintain a good Grade Point Average (GPA). The GPA proves that I am well educated, dedicated and I am willing and capable to serve my country. The reason why the recruiters are interested in people who attended college for at least four years is because college is a tough process. If someone was able to accomplish college with a good GPA, the Coast Guard thinks they will be a good candidate since it proves that the person is ambitious, strong, a fighter and someone who does not quit during hard times. While attending college reduces my time for personal activities and I am overwhelmed with homework. I ensure I study in order to get good grades. Before college began, I was able to exercise (especially swim) daily, hang out with friends and sleep. Unfortunately, it is the other way around now. I do not exercise and spend time with friends as much.
Lack of confidence was my main issue years ago. I’ve always had a bad habit of questioning myself on whether or not I would reach my goal or if what I’m chasing for really worth it. It was so many obstacles that my past self has faced that kept me thinking this way which started to hold me back from actually going for it. There were a lot of issues but the main issue was my family financial status. This really made me want to push myself even harder to achieve my goal to have the best for my family. I couldn’t just keep sitting around debating on whether I should keep trying or not, I should just stick with the goal I’m aiming for and keep fighting. I started to notice that I had less and less doubts then I usually did and I started to gain more confidence because I really wanted this goal to become my reality for the sake of my family. It’s best to not doubt or question yourself and to just go for what you really want in life because you never know the outcome until you actually try and succeed.
Starting college in the first place was pretty hard for me.“ Ehh ill do it tomorrow”. That is probably the number one phrase I use say when I got lazy. That kind of mindset has to change from now on. Stay focused on your future. Surround yourself by people that not only want to be successful but also want to see you become successful. Remember those thoughts you had on train about maybe taking advantage of the long train ride and doing some homework? “Maybe I should do some homework since i’ll be on this train for more than a hour…nah”. Those little moments like that really affected myself in the long run. It becomes a bad habit and leaving things for last minute just became a natural occurrence. This is your chance to stop all that. Planning ahead and getting things done before they even have to be done will really save yourself a great deal of sleepless nights. Think about the big picture and become serious about life. You are not in high school anymore and life at home is not pretty right now, I remember. To change This brings up another point I would like to share with you about the things you waste your money on.
In order to ensure success five years from now, I feel I should think of my family more. My family and I are not the closest, but I want to be able to change that. The picture I took to represent this thought is a cupcake, which symbolizes my niece. I always call her a cupcake and whenever I say the word, she is the one who comes to mind. Family can be stressful occasionally, but they are still an important factor of one’s life. I noticed how in my thought log, any thoughts concerning my family were short lived. This was shown where there are only thoughts about any responsibilities I have towards my family, like picking up my niece from school every Tuesday or making something to eat for the little ones. If I were to think of my family more often, I would feel like I at least have succeeded as a family member and would have a support system to succeed in all other aspects. As of right now, I put my friends before my family. This is shown how in my thought log, I am thinking of my friends every few minutes. This is usually because I am either talking to them on social media websites like Facebook or I text them throughout the day. Although I feel like it is ok to think of my friends, I feel I should think of my family just as much if not more than I think of my friends. As my mother used to always quote to me, friends come and go, but family is forever. Therefore, instead of thinking only of my friends, I would like to think more of my family in order to help me achieve what I want in my life. Therefore, for my future self to achieve this, my current self has to focus more on spending time with her family rather than on Facebook or out with friends all the time.
My first long-term goal is to become an Air Force officer. In order for me to qualify for the Air Force, I would have to accomplish my small-term goals. I have to re-take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test and meet the score requirement for the branch. The ASVAB consists of ten tests, although four tests are scored and combined to compute the final score. I have heard from many veterans that out of all the military branches, the Air Force is very hard to qualify for, mainly because they require a high ASVAB score. When I heard that, I remembered the photo I took of Forrest Gump’s quote on his bench and my thoughts on it. I thought “life is actually not like a box of chocolates, because you know what you are going to get, you are just not prepared for it”. The photo made me think that I always have to be mentally and physically prepared of any obstacles I face in life. Therefore, my obstacle in this situation is passing the test. I would have to be mentally prepared for the test by studying very often and taking a lot of practice tests.
Perseverance is a major thing in my life. In my past I have given up when things got hard. I would revert back to the easy things I knew which were always negative. It is very important for me to persevere when things get tough. When I did stick things out,although they were very minuscule,I always achieved what I wanted. To achieve the things I want in life for the future such as; cars,a nice house,a lot of money and a righteous life. Perseverance,determination,patience and hard work,with my education now and my bbusinesses later,will be the aspects I need to succeed. These qualities will benefit me now and later. In one of my thought logs”I said I have come a long way and I changed a lot”. I made this statement because I was faced with a situation,where if I did not persevere in my life to control my anger, and to change how I deal with circumstances I do not like,I would have handled it differently in a bad way.
My goals for the next five years is to join the military after I get my bachelor’s. The military has many different offers such as schooling and traveling. The idea of traveling and seeing new things is very exciting. I want to pursue a career as a military doctor. Helping and taking care of other’s has always been a passion of mine. “If it does not challenge you, then it will not change you”. I hear this quote constantly and it helps me a lot in my daily life, because life comes with a lot of challenges and it is a preparation for the future. I feel the military is a big challenge and will eventually form me into a better person because you do not have to only be physically strong you also have to be mentally strong.
After serving in the military, I want to further my education to become an Obstetrician. Going into the military is that extra push I need because, I will come out with more hands on experience as a doctor. However, I want to go to medical school to gain more insight into being an Obstetrician, because it is way different than a military doctor. My family is my main prority. I just want to make them proud of the person I am becoming because if my future is bright I will always do my best to keep them happy.
To be able to persuade my past to achieve my goal that I had achieved today, I would have to first change my sleep schedule. Even though I get up well during mornings, I tend to look for more sleep at around one to three o’ clock in the evening. This can be because I spend too much time thinking about my work. From my day of thoughts, I complained to myself that I was falling asleep at two in the evening. I also mentioned that I can still do physical activities but my brain feels it is in a comatose state and it is difficult to stay awake. Thinking about my work, I always worry that there might be a chance that I do not meet a deadline for my paperwork. It is not because my boss would penalize me from doing such action, it is due to the fact that I try to strive to push my limits. I believe pushing my limits is good, if not the best way to improve, not only in your workplace, but generally your lifestyle. I have always been a “night owl”, I can never commit to a time for sleep so my brain can rest.
Many people say you sleep because you are physically incapable of doing tasks. I believe that is not always the case. In my understanding my physical body can function very well throughout the day, but only the physical part. “Mind over matter” a quote that tells one that it is only in your head. I stand by that quote when I started to adapt it to my lifestyle, and I feel that now I think way too much. I believe due to my overly analytical mind I try to find more sleep in those hours, according to a book authored by John Medina called, “Brain Rules”, Medina mentioned the meaning of “Nap Zone”. “Nap Zone” is a term used for a range of time, specifically in between two through five in the evening, where people generally feel sluggish and wanting to sleep more. The best thing for my past self is to set a strict sleep schedule. Although that is unlikely to happen, I learned that having a great sleep at night can improve your cognitive skills, in comparison with less sleep. By a chance, I could have been further in my career if I had more sleep, and should be thinking more on less stressful things, other than work all the time.
The first thing I want to think about is my future, my successes. I am Connor Kempf, Computer Engineering Technology student at New York City College of Technology between 2014 and 2019. I know was a person I have some imagination/ thoughts(Insert Pic). I know I am interested in computers and technology in general, I have been for quite a while. As for hobbies, these relate to my interests, illicit sometimes but still my hobbies; Gaming, Hacking and things of the like. I like to test boundaries whether it be online or in person. My future (after 2019) is likely a job in the engineering field, my first real job. Switching to my future self, five years from when I wrote this, a few questions come to mind. What could I have done differently? I asked myself three questions during the writing of this essay, why am I me?, Who am I really?, What is next for me? I am Me, Myself and I, take it or leave it this is who I am. I’ve always attempted to pursue my dreams, to do what is possible. A message to my 2015 self; be who you are, keep it up, succeed, future, be yourself, and how bad will this all hurt? In 2015, I am me, in 2020 you are me five years in my future. Looking Forward, I wonder what that year holds for me. As a person both you and me are part of history, by part I mean small snippet. Take what is given or allowed and run with it.
To attain the future i set myself five years from now I need to focus more on school. There are a lot of distractions that are hindering my ability to devote more time into my studies. Video games are the one of the major distractions that is holding me back from focusing more in school. Although it is a good way to distract myself from college work and not stressing myself a lot I need to regulate the amount of time I do spend on gaming. If i were to make a set amount of time during each week that I do spend playing video games I feel that it would help me focus more time on school. The City Tech logo I took a picture of is what I want my thought about spending more time being involved with my school assignments. Participating in class can help me be more involved and show my professors that I do want to succeed in their class. Spending time in the library would also help me read to stimulate my brain. In the long run this would be the first step to being able to achieve the success I myself five years from now. It is a challenge but I have overcome a lot of difficult situations that held me back from attending college but I manage to overcome them and I am a student at New York City College of Technology. If I want to be someone with the bright future I set myself in focusing more on school is the perfect way to start
I had to sacrifice a lot of stuff to get to this position and one of them was time with my family. Back then I was so caught up with my studies and my career that I barely got to spend any time with them. In the “Thinking Visually” part of this project I posted a picture that I took of the family photo wall and I remember how I used to look at it when I used to miss my family. They have supported me in every possible way they could and they also have helped me so much to reach to this point today. I regret giving them really little time because now sometimes it feels as if they’re so far away from me even though they’re right next to me. I had such a strong bond with my sisters but now we barely sit and talk. As you grow older and go towards your career you have more responsibilities, no one is going to do anything for you, you would have to do it yourself. I still miss them and now since I’m all settled in my job at Deloitte, I usually visit my mother and father in Brooklyn. I’m working on getting the bond back to where it was five years before. My family has done so much for me and I couldn’t love them any less. Not only did they support me financially but they have always encouraged me to go on further. Every memory I have made with them I still remember those moments and smile, they’re so precious to me and that’s what I will do now to make more memories with them.
To be able to communicate better with people I need to have a personal opinion. I noticed this when I thought “I am still worried about how I am being viewed by them”. This thought showed me that if I was confident in whatever I had said at that moment. I would not be second guessing myself. If I know the answer to obvious questions (whats my favorite color, food, place to hangout etc.) then they will find me interesting to converse with. If I could be better at communicating the I would be able to handle any verbal dispute more easily thus it is important to have better communication skills.
April 13, 2012 is the day I received my bone marrow transplant at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. Spending 27 days in the hospital was the easy part, seeing I had a 24/7 medical staff at my beck and call. The medical staff was very compassionate, attentive and supportive throughout the entire process. The difficult part was getting discharged from the hospital. On one hand, I was eager to leave. Being confined to half a hospital floor for almost a month, I had missed the feeling of the sun on my face and the breeze of the wind. But, on the other hand, I was terrified. I would no longer have my medical team by my side 24/7. What if something happened and I was not able to get medical attention fast enough, will I die? Will my immune system reject the transplant once I leave the hospital?- REVISED