TOPICS: WHY I WRITE, INFLUENCE, GENRE, USE OF QUOTES
READ (and take notes):
- George Orwell “Why I Write”
Also in WHY WE WRITE PDF (20-37)
2. “Why I Write” by Aaron Barlow in WHY WE WRITE PDF (70-76)
POST:
In 1-2 paragraphs, describe an important moment in time when a teacher, mentor, or family member taught you an invaluable skill or life lesson. Carefully describe both the person and the lesson with close details.
William Blake: “The Tyger”
Link to Coleridge Poem: “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
In high school, I had a SMALL group of friends and then I had other friends that were not apart [A PART] of my friend group. I graduated high school in 2018[;] yes, I’m only 20. After graduatING high school, I decided that I wanted to go away for college even if it was for 2 years [;] I just wanted to live the AWAY-FROM-HOME college experience everyone TENDS TO SPEAK about. ON May 1st 2018, I committed to SUNY Schenectady, a community college, where I majored In culinary arts. When I went away for college [,] I started to notice that as I learned more about myself — what I like and what I didn’t like — I realized that I was speaking to my friends less and less. That bothered me [,] but this generation is so weird. People always expect you to look out for them but can’t do the same for you. I lost a few friends and I was sad but life happens and people outgrow each other. When I approached my mom about MY SHEDDING OF FORMER FRIENDS, she told me [,] “Not everyone is your friend and you’re not going to be friends forever. People change and outgrow each other.” This is a small lesson that she taught me because I useD to care about who was friends with me [,] but as I got older [,] I stopped caring. Now I’m 20 and I got a job, so I’m always busy, with school and work. As you get older the less you worry about small things like that.
EXCELLENT ANECDOTE ABOUT YOUR MOM’S WISE WORDS. REVIEW YOUR COMMA RULES, HOWEVER.
Psychologist agree that social interactions play a major role in the development of AN individual’S personality and behavior. Certainly [,] we learn from our surroundings like family and friends.
I have been living with my mom for 20 years. My mom is always THE optimist, and she taught me that in life there is always a second chance. I like the way she supported me for getting a job back in my country, [;] she also helped me to immigrate to the United States to chase my dream living in a great country. She never hEld me back from anything I likeD to do.
IN ADDITION, my mom always gives me freedom and forgives my mistakes AS LONG AS I learn a lesson from them. The way she raised me had a big influence on my personality. Until now, I feel free to do what I like. I’VE ALSO LEARNED TO take responsibility of my actions and decisions. My mom is VERY religious, BUT I don’t agree with her about taking IT so seriousLY. I’m certain that she doesn’t like my opinion about not believing in that, but I have to believe IN what I think is right. I love my INDEPENDENT personality THAT I GLEANED FROM HER. I don’t give up no matter what about anything I want to achieve.
EXCELLENT DISCUSSION OF YOUR MOM’S INFLUENCE ON YOU BUT REVIEW YOUR PUNCTUATION.
In my senior year of high school, my French literature teacher taught me a MEMORABLE lesson. It was LATE IN THE afternoon after a long day of class. Everyone was ready to go home and the teacher was still lecturing. APPARENTLY, A CHURLISH, IMPATIENT STUDENT cursed him out BUT, AS THE TEACHER TURNED AROUND, he chose me as the CULPRIT. one who did it.Â
I told him I did not say a word BUT he kept arguing how he saw me saying it. I became very defensive and bothered about him accusing me. He said: “ComE on dude, I’m not that old. you can say whatever you want”.
Since I was mad at him, I useD the opportunity to DROP a big “F” BOMB DIRECTED AT HIM. He laughed at me THEN ADMITTED that he knew I did not say the word but he still provoked me. Then he continued, ” Leriche do not ever let anyone provoke you to say what you did not say” I felt stupid for taking the bait but sometimes one needs these moments to LEARN FROM.
AN EXCELLENT LESSON BUT IT DOES SEEM YOUR TEACHER WAS A BIT UNPROFESSIONAL IN HIS METHOD.
My father was a very patient man. He would always take his time with any project and he paced himself extremely well. [NICELY STATED] On the other hand, I always rushed what I did and always got ahead of myself. ONE DAY, I got my first job my senior year of high school and I was super excited for my first check. I’m pretty sure like most people, I calculated my hours and did the math to see how much my first check would come out to be. My dad told me I was being impatient and that “I shouldn’t count my chickens before they hatch.” Of course [,] I did not listen because it was my first time getting money on my own and I expected my check to be around $500. BUT TO MY SURPRISE, it was only $300. THIS WASsn’t too bad, but I was pretty disappointed NONETHELESS. So ever since that moment, I’ve decided to HEED MY FATHER’S WISDOEM TO never get ahead of myself.
AN EXCELLENT LESSON, WELL-TOLD.
To never give up IS an invaluable lesson I ACQUIRED in my adolescence. DURING My senior year of high school, I was over MY STUDIES ENTIRELY. Neither the classroom ITSELF nor the curriculum was the problem. I just lost sight of the task at hand. Personal troubles clouded my better judgment AND I JUST COULDN’T CONCENTRATE. Still [,] my mom encouraged me to keep going. She let me know that “time waits for no man.” I took her advice and continued on PERSERVERED. DUE TO MY RENEWED DILIGENCE, SURE ENOUGH, Many doors opened for me after high school. MOST SIGNIFICANTLY, I was able to fly out to Los Angeles and live a FUN AND independent lifestyle. This SMALL LESSON TO BREAK FROM MY WALLOWINGS OF DESPAIR provided me with a broader scope, on the world around me.
Well-written anecdote Cassandra.
A lesson that I learned from my mother will probably sound familiar to all my FELLOW Spanish speakers [:] “ponte las pilas”. The literal translation OF THIS PHRASE has nothing to do with its actual meaning [WHAT IS THE LITERAL TRANSLATION?}. This phrase is used to basically tell someone to work harder. I don’t recall exactly the first time I was told this by mother since it is kind of a common phrase WHERE I COME FRON. One of the moments that sticks out to me when hearing this WAS around my senior year. It was around thIS time wheN I was studying to take those 4 exams that I spoke about in my previous homework post. There was a lot of material that I needed to study and cover and I felt like giving up and not studying anymore. But my mother would say that phrase and it would make me think about how if I DIDN’T study and pass to earn my spot in fifth year [,] THERE WERE hundreds of other students that WERE going to study and take my spot. Hearing this from my mother gave me that motivation to continue studying. I wanted my spot in fifth year to make her (AND MYSELF) proud.
Well-written anecdote, Alex. Keep on “ponte las pilas”!
Sometimes a simple WORD OF advice can become a life lesson!
Not too long ago, my best friend (also named Max) AND I had a very simple, everyday routine conversation DURING WHICH he was talking about MAKING some kind of change. I don’t really remember what exactly we were talking about, but I do remember that he was saying that any change in life MAKES US better. Basically he meant that I SHOULDN’T “fear change.” Since then, those words HAVE BROUGHT my life to a different level.
At the beginning of my college career[,] I was taking biology classes which were frustrating and complicated but at the same time I was scared to change my major. Eventually THOUGH, I TOOK ACTION TO change my major to Engineering. Now, classes IN THIS MAJOR STIMULATE ME AS I EAGERLY ANTICIPATE what we will learn in the next meeting.
THE Same CONCEPT APPLIES TO EMPLOYMENT. About eight month ago, I had a pretty good job AND I ENTERED A KIND OF comfort zone in MY daily life. JUST THINKING about LEAVING my job for something else would bring a thought of “I am not doing that”. But we have to move on and improve ourselves. In this case “improve” means “change,” so I decided to get a job in a completely different field and it ALLOWED my salary TO BECOME 4 times HIGHER in less than eight monthS.
To sum up, changes are some kind of portals to a better life and this was a life lesson given by simply LISTENING TO friend’s LESSON DRAWN FROM HIS OWN life experience.
EXCELLENT LESSON AND FINAL LINE.
At some point in my life before going to college, I had a friend in high school, older than me at the time and he just came from a foreign country, he got accepted to one of the best colleges in New York City which was Columbia. He was 23 when he came to the US and started going to college at Columbia but after one year he dropped out and went to a community college. Very intelligent person, had one of the best test scores in his class without even trying but he dropped out of one the most difficult colleges to get into.
One day we went out for coffee and he told me his story and at the time I was confused and I asked him why did he dropped out ? He told me that “it doesn’t matter the college you go to, as long as you have good grades nothing matters, if I went to Columbia and got a 1.5 GPA it would be less impressive than if I got a 3.8 GPA at a community college, the place doesn’t matter, only putting effort In to it does”. That was a moment in my life where I took his advice seriously because in the future when I’ll have a career, it would be my goal to master my craft to the best of my ability as possible.
When I was in high school [,] a friend of mine went got accepted to one of the most ELITE colleges in New York, which was Columbia UNIVERSITY. But for some reason, he dropped out the next year. My friend was a very GIFTED student, an A+ student IN FACT without even trying. HE SIMPLY WAS NO MATCH FOR OTHER KIDS COMPETING WITH HIM ACADEMICALLY. When he dropped out [,]I asked him WHY and he replied, “THAT IT’S not about the place you are or how WELL-KNOWN it is; its the effort you put inTO youR craft. If I went to Columbia and got a 1.5 GPA, it would be less impressive than having a 3.8 GPA at a community college, [WHICH IS FAR LESS EXPENSIVE]” I took his advice seriously because when I do have a career in the future [,] I WANT TO LOOK BACK AND KNOW THAT I ALSO SOUGHT TO master my craft IN EVERY ASSIGNMENT I COMPLETED.
EXCELLENT ANECDOTE.
When I was in middle school [,] I had a particular “friend group” that I spent most of MY time with. For being “friends” [,] I found MY RELATIONSHIPS quite demanding and stressful. Most of the time [,] I felt I was trying to TOO hard and I was not BEING TREATED WELL WHICH MADE ME UNCOMFORTABLE. WITH MY SO-CALLED FRIENDS, I felt as though I was never really myself. Out of the blue [,] I felt as though they were treating me differently. They would often make plans without me and talk about me behind my back. After a while they cast me out ENTIRED and started to somewhat bully me. AT that time, I often questioned why they did that and why me of all people? I remember finally telling my mom about the situation and she sat me down and said [,] “Sarafina, sometimes girls are just PLAIN mean”. She said they are not true friends if they chose to make me feel that way. She made me realize that the situation was a blessing in disguise. In the end [,] I was able to get rid of thIS “toxic” group and found some real friends who I still have to this day.
EXCELLENT ANECDOTE BUT REVIEW YOUR COMMA RULES
I’ve always been someone who suffered from panic attacks and breathing problems. It got worst WORSE as I got older [;] THE doctors said MY CONDITION was caused by the stress of school and other personal problems. When I was only in form 3 9which is 9th grade in the US school system0, I had the worst panic attack I ever EXPERIENCED. It had the whole school in shock. When I finally returned to school, I RECEIVED AN EYE-OPENING LESSSON. Before returning to my normal classroom, my form master called me into the office AND introduced me TO AN art teacher. She heard about me and my panic attacks and wanted to help me teach me TO control it. She looked extremely young and had such a soft baby voice. She used to have them herself, so she wanted to help me. I loved art growing up but never thought it would be the thing that would help me control my panic attacks. For over 3-4 months [,] she taught me how to use the form of abstract art to express my feelings and inner thoughts. She was such an amazing lister, [;] she listened to all my problems and talked me through a lot of negative thoughts. She was very patient with me and showed me how to use different colors to express different emotions. I learned how to use different art techniques SUCH AS how to blend certain colors. Throughout my high school life, she really and truly saved my life. I did not have a panic attack in months of starting to paint. Now I paint abstract paintings as a form of a side income.
YOU HAVE A TERRIFIC STORY HERE AND TELL IT VERY WELL, DANA. [REVIEW YOUR COMMA AND SEMICOLON RULES HOWEVER]. THIS WOULD MAKE AN EXCELLNET OUTLINE FOR OUR FIRST FORMAL ESSAY.
By Stephanie Torres
Have you guys ever had a person impact you so much? I’ve had many changes my life [,] but the one person who has been very significant was my middle school teacher Mr. Collins. Back then I use[d] to go to Russel Sage in Forest Hills [Captitalize Names]. I remember HOW ON summer days I would get up around 7 O’clock in the morning and walk for 30 minutes from my house to school. As I walked down Austin street, the smell of hot coffee and pastries hit me as I crossed Martha’s Bakery [TERRIFIC SENSORY DETAILS]. Since school opened around 8:30 am, I useD to love taking advantage of the extra time and playing basketball with my friends. My homeroom teacher was Mr. Collins. I remembered we useD to sit in groups of FOUR. WE ALL came in with different energy BUT everyone in the class seemed bored. Michael would yawn[;] Melanie would talk, and funny thing is I was the one, she was talking with. IN A LOUD BOOMING VOICE, MR. COLLINS WOULD SAY, “everyone wake up; you guys want to know something”? As he continued to speak about how important school is, there was a phrase that remained in my thoughtS for years even until this day. He said[,] “ while I was in college studying day and night[,] all my friends would go out and party. And I always wanted to[,] but I knew school was going to get me even further, so I stayed back and now all those friends have regular jobs and I AM the only one that has an actual career. I will forever keep that in mind when I attend any class and will always prioritize school above all ELSE.
One lesson I learned was in my junior year of school when the science teacher encouraged me to form a group of students to participate in the science fair. As part of the course, I felt stressed and a little excited because it was my first time doing it. The teacher was always a straight-thinking person, that is, he focused on details and procedures. Something that characterized the science teacher is that the classes were dynamic and easy to understand, for example, most of the examples that we developed in class were activities of daily life. What each person did every day. My group classmates were eager to know about the experiments we would be conducting. So every time an experiment failed. The teacher encouraged us to continue. The dedication and perseverance that I instill in myself and my classmates, encouraged me to go to college. He encouraged us to consider that path. College life.
Strong post Christina. I really like your concluding lines.
These past years helped me realize the path I once walked would have led to my destruction. This path was one many have walked before me. It is one where school is just a means of studying, and doing homework is not so important. I was not always like this. Before my sophomore year of high school, I believed succeeding in school was more important than anything. I would study and strive for high grades, but as the year progressed, I started slacking and taking school less seriously. Junior and senior year finally came along, and my mindset had not changed until that fateful day in early November.
Wednesday, November 6th,2019, was the first day my teachers had one to one conversations with me. That same day when I first woke up all I could remember is trying to stay home from school by saying I was throwing up and had a stomach virus. When that didn’t work I remember knowing that today was gonna be super cold, so I put on my cozzy jacket with a Nicks sweatshirt, as well I wore a Brooklyn Net black beanie, then I put on my black tims(timberland). When I finally got to school I remember while walking outside the breeze of the wind feeling chilly, like the breath of a frost giant breathing down my face. When I finally escaped the outside world, and walked into school the place of hell, all I could see was the school band playing a song getting ready for their next performance. The music was loud it was like my ears were gonna be blown off. After this I just continued walking to my first class what I saw was kids screaming at others straight off the bat right in the morning, that same day I later found out there was 6 fight in the matter of 3 periods. I kinda sad I missed all 6 of them but my friends videos made me feel somewhat better. In one of the videos I remember seeing someone I knew from middleschool who just graduated 8th grade, and was now a freshman beat up a senior. She grabbed her hair threw her on the floor and slammed,slammed,slammed her head on the ground till the cops came and broke up the fight. That was such a crazy vidoe in my mind, because in a million years I would have never thought I would have seen her get into a fight.Then finally the unexpected had really come to pass. As my teachers saw me slacking, failing and not complete my work to my fullest potential. They took an interest in me and coached me and helped me get back to myself. I felt my teachers wanted me to succeed and fulfill my potential. At first, I would brush it off and then go back to doing my own thing, but then these conversations started to become more frequent. Teachers from my freshman, sophomore, and junior years started talking to me, and I soon realized that my teachers cared about me and my success. This event sparked a flame in my heart,I started studying and taking school as seriously as possible. I told myself if I ever want to be anything in life I must try my best to succeed, failure isn’t an option.
As my senior year progressed, my teachers started to see I was making an effort and taking school more seriously. I gradually worked on raising my grades, and they were proud of my hard work. My teachers started to tell me how proud they were, how they know I could succeed if I put in the effort. It was in these moments I realized something, I did not believe in myself, and my friends did not believe change was possible, but I did it. Looking back, I am not only grateful my teachers took the time to motivate me and push me in the right direction, but that I did not waste their time and unlocked my potential.
My father in his youth was a very good student. Due to his difficult financial situation he could not go to college. He had to work from the age of fifteen. One day I asked my father if he resented his grandfather because he had not taken him to college, but had introduced him to work? And his response was epic. He said: “No parent wants to see their child badly or in difficult conditions. Every parent tries as much as possible to provide the best conditions for the child. My dad had no money or a permanent job. I never got angry about something he could not fulfill me. I really appreciate what he has done for me.”
I was surprised. My childish mind thought that if the parent did not sacrifice for the child’s college then they should hold a grudge against it. And from this I learned something. Appreciate the things we have. Appreciate our parents even if they do wrong in something.
I now believe that no parent would hurt their child, perhaps by not being able to offer the possible benefits, makes them err in some things.
In the future I will become a parent myself, and I know that even though now the economic problems are much smaller than in the days when my father was a child, I will make mistakes or something unpleasant to my children. Thinking of myself in that position, I would never want my child to create hatred or resentment towards me.
That conversation with my father helped me a lot, because I managed to understand the importance of having parents, I managed to appreciate the most important things, and most importantly I learned that hatred and anger should not be planted in my heart. Maybe this conversation will help me in my formation as a parent in the future.
An important moment in time when a teacher taught me an invaluable lesson was my junior year. This was with my U.S history teacher, who was speaking to the class regarding a unit in our class; slavery. I was already beginning to involve myself in politics and controversial conversations, and learning so much more than what was being taught in public schools. She was a young white female, and she told us the loopholes of public education and their way of working around racism. She explained to us that such an important and crucial time in history is skimmed through in schools, and only showing up as one question on our regents, therefore making the unit of that part of history- extremely short. She made us aware that things like this is stemmed into everything, even the education we’re given in school. She explained to us her privilege, and the ignorance that hides in plain sight. This was an invaluable lesson because it pushed me to advocate more, and has pushed me into my major today- Human Services, with hopes to create awareness on details like this, like she did with me.
One important life lesson I learned was to never rely on men. I learned this from my father and past relationships. Growing up my father came in and out my life, sometimes I wouldn’t see him for years. He is a functioning alcoholic which essentially means, he’s a complete crazy person with a regular person job. He can work every day dressed as an office person and keep his real insane self-hidden. I grew up very poor because my mother relied on him even though he was extremely unstable. She was raised to follow her mom’s steps and become a housewife. I went from relying on an angry abusive man and being raised to be someone’s housewife, to fighting my journey to independence. Relying on my father emotionally and financially ruined my childhood. I remember months of just crying and being sad and mad at the world. Then once I got to high school I started dating. Psychology states you subconsciously pick people to date that remind you of your parental figures. Which resulted in two highly mentally and physically abusive relationships with dominant men. Now I’m in college pursuing my dreams without any support from my father whom I rarely speak to. And I’m celibate, I realized you attract what you project. What I was projecting wasn’t what was healthy for me to attract. The lesson I learned is you don’t ever need a man for anything. You need yourself. And you don’t need anyone to make you whole, you’re whole on your own. And if you’re not, you have quite a journey ahead.