Our City Tech OpenLab Home

Author: Aliyah Latif

Coffee House #3

Traditional Research;

What I found interesting in the articles is that nowadays we don’t really appreciate what we have. Instead we want everything to be easy on us. Back in the days people used to struggle to find sources for their assignment and would have to go to the library and search textbooks. Where as of now we have it so easy for us to go on the Internet and find so many different sources just in minutes. 

Another thing she points out is that when students research their assignment they aren’t capable of finding correct sources, instead they use sources such Wikipedia. This is because they aren’t taught the correct way. 

The last thing I found interesting is Plagiarism is a key factor, in the article it’s stated that Wikipedia is a reliable source. Many people edit Wikipedia and put false information. Which is why we don’t get good grades on assignments when we use these types of sources.

Wikipedia Research:

What I learned is that Wikipedia makes it easier for us to understand what we’re looking for. The research is based on a summary or a review.

Wikipedia is a breakdown of different types of research, from historical research to documentary research to scientific research. 

What I found interesting is that the word research came from the Middle French which means to go seeking information. 

Coffee House #5

Time Management

Learning online has become so beneficial to us because it’s much easier and convenient. Managing your time is very important when it comes to online learning. You could fall off track easily, managing your time for your work is very important. Managing your time is very important because while being a student you have 100 more things to do in your day, you want to make sure you have enough time for it all. Some helpful tips could be planning ahead; having a planner could be one useful tip. This helps you remember when your next assignment is due. Also it could help you keep track of your virtual or in person zoom meetings. One thing to avoid is multitasking that can easily distract you and stress you out even more. In between you can take breaks so your mind could rest for a little bit. Rewarding yourself is key. I feel like it could help you and motivate you. Learning from home is fun and all but managing your time making sure you do everything on time is key.

Managing my time for me has been kind of hard lately, I feel like I take advantage of learning from home. Just knowing that I have many days to hand in an assignment I take more time. One way I could manage my time better is by planning out my assignment, having a schedule and making sure I stick to my schedule. Finishing all my work at a certain time in the day so I don’t procrastinate at night. This will help me get my work done on time and have me less stressed. Another way is to break down my work, finish the assignments that are due the next day rather than focusing on the assignments that are due the following week. Also something that could help me sitting at my desk rather than my bed, laying down and doing my work makes me lazy and not want to finish my work. 

Conclusion A.B

Throughout my research I’ve done. I learned so much more about my topic, not taking depression as seriously, reading about it made me realize how important it is, and how it has affected so many people worldwide. In today’s world so many teens are falling into depression so easily. I read so much about young teens falling into depression because of school, home problems, relationships, and many more. Our parents not understanding what us kids are going through always affects it negatively. What surprised me while doing my research is how depression is not talked about as much, so many people fall into depression but not many people tend to talk about this topic. It’s very rare. What changed overall is I never knew this topic was so sensitive, at first it didn’t really affect me as much as it does now after reading and learning about it. People should know that depression can be very hard for people, and sometimes telling a person “you’ll get over it, depression is not a big deal, can mentally disturb that person going through that pain. I feel like you don’t know what that person is going through until you feel the same pain, so never judge anyone. Everyone should be aware about this topic, it’s a very sensitive topic that is not talked about a lot, we should really get people to read about how bad depression really is.

Second & Third A.B

Brian Primack, MD, PhD, dean, College of Education and Health Professions, and professor, public health, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Ark.; Nathaniel Counts, JD, senior vice president, behavioral health innovations, Mental Health America, Alexandria, Va.; American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Dec. 10, 2020, online

Noble, Rudolf E. “Depression in Women.” Metabolism, W.B. Saunders, 19 Apr. 2005, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0026049505000363. 


Depression is the leading cause of disease-related disability in women. Women go through so much in their life, in the article it’s shown that women have a greater risk for developing depressive disorders during their “child-bearing years”. Depression during pregnancy is very common, women go through depression during the “different phases of the reproductive cycle”. The author states that pregnancy is one of the main reasons leading to depression because of hormonal change. Us women hide so much pain which destroys us in the end. There are so many people who don’t admit to depression because of the thought of being judged.

Another major reason leading to depression would be social media. Everything is about social media; from food, to dressing, to makeup, to games. We compare ourselves to people online, seeing them on vacation while you’re sitting at home, or seeing them look so beautiful and then looking at yourself. It’s all about comparing one another, that’s what’s killing us, we can never be satisfied with what we have instead we want what we see. Study shows “1,000 adults aged 18 to 30 who were depression-free at the outset, based on a standard questionnaire”. We spend so much time on social media that we believe everything we see. We may have problems at home and as an escape from reality we go on social media apps to distract ourselves. Instead, it makes it worse for us because we start comparing our lives to other people.

I believe Brian’s article has a good beginning, it shows why social media affects young teens, and how it’s taken over our lives. This research will help us learn about how real depression is, and how we shouldn’t judge, we never know what they’re going through.

Third annotation:

Depression is getting serious in today’s life, many think depressions is a joke, or it’ll go away as time goes. But little do they know if depression is not treated a certain way it can get worse overtime. People can start to have suicidal thoughts. Depression can get so worse till a point where we don’t complain about it, we continue to bare with the consequences. 

An example of a real-life story, I interviewed one of my close friends about her side of the story and how she was going through tough times. She didn’t want her name to be out there, but she was willingly to share her story. Many of us teens start to date at an early age, in which we go through many breakups, we learn from our mistakes, but some relationships/breakup usually led us to a very bad ending. Being so attached to a significant other and then falling apart and becoming strangers again could damage you. 

Based only on my friend’s experience she learned a lot from her mistakes from her past relationship, she finally found peace and settled for one person. “Being in love could be so difficult in the end,” she said. I never really understood what that meant. But she said once you fall in love with someone there’s no going back, getting your heart attached could be the worst thing because at the end you put yourself through so much pain that it’s hard letting go. From my perspective I’ve seen her go through so much, days she would cry nonstop, not eat food, sometimes even end up in the hospital. But she still smiled everyday but behind that smile she was broken apart. She was torn to a point where she could feel pain anymore, she was so used to what was happening with her that day by day it was just getting worse. “Being in love and then getting attached could kill you at the end because of your own expectation” she said.  This clearly shows how teens go through so much pain, but they tend to hide it because they aren’t getting the help they need. 

I believe there’s many different levels of depression, it starts off when you feel lonely, when you don’t want to talk to anyone, lack of sleep, loss of appetite. And at the last level it’s when you start to have suicidal thoughts. We tend to overlook depression not knowing how many people are affected by it on a daily basis. Just looking at a person smiling we cannot guess what they are mentally or physically going through.

A.B #1

Melinda, Smith. “Dealing with Teen Depression.” HelpGuide.org, 2020, www.helpguide.org/articles/depression/teenagers-guide-to-depression.htm. 

Depression is a serious matter, feeling hopeless and lonely all the time is a sign of depression. Teen depression is very serious, we tend to go through so much during our teenage years. Getting angry and sad over the littlest things, crying all the time, or even having sleepless nights. These are all signs of depression; overtime depression can get worse for some people in which teens become suicidal. This happens when you can’t find any solution to your problems, or you just start to feel like everyone, and everything is against you. But at the end of the day, you got to remember no matter how you feel just know these feelings will pass. Teenagers go through so much pressure, that’s what causes depression. They have so much going on they don’t know how to deal with it. On top of that in the new generation, people don’t know how to understand each other. Instead, if someone tells us they’re depressed our response to them would be “go see a doctor”, “it’s not that serious”, “we all go through it”, “you’ll get over it”. We really never understand anyone’s emotions, that’s why many teens suffer because they’re afraid to tell anyone how they feel. Another reason for teen depression would be family problems, that’s a big one that affects most teens. There’s so much drama going on in our household that we get tired of hearing it every day, which we then want to find an escape from. Living in a toxic household could get very frustrating, having your parents fight can have a bad impact on us teens. “It can be hard to open up about how you’re feeling—especially when you’re feeling depressed, ashamed, or worthless, accepting your feelings and opening up about them with someone you trust will help you feel less alone”. This quote caught my attention because it’s true that many people out there don’t know how to share feelings, talking about myself personally I have a very hard time talking to another person when I feel upset or annoyed, because I just think “what can they possibly do to help me feel better nothing”. But talking to someone and letting that person know how you feel can make it so much easier for you, you’re letting go of all negative energy. This can help clear your mind, this is so important because we relieve stress. This will help you connect to one another when you feel lonely.

Introduction

Depression

Is depression real? Why do people have depression? What causes people to go through this pain? Does depression affect your mental health? Depression has become a serious matter in today’s world. You may not see it but depression is real. Everyone goes through a hard time in life where you might just fall into depression. Women are more affected by depression than men. “Depression negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act”. There’s not a single cause of depression, there’s many reasons, for many people it may vary. The main reason would be abuse, a major conflict. Depression may not seem harmful but it is. We tend to take depression too lightly, not knowing the real reason behind it, and also what people may go through. The US and China are known to have the highest rate of depression. Those that have depression feel overwhelmed, they tend to be sad all the time. Feeling sad sometimes is normal but feeling sad on a daily basis is a real problem. Depression is considered to be a serious condition. People often joke around when they hear about depression, but depression is a serious matter and we shouldn’t judge one that goes through it. Depression may cause mood swings, change in appetite, sleep patterns may differ, and you may not be interested in anything.

Aliyah Latif

English 1101

Essay Draft 1

Intellectual Home 

An intellectual home is a place where you feel comfort, a place you find peace in. A place where you could focus and not get distracted. Everyone has a different place they can find peace in. It may not always be a place but it can be a person you can go to for reassurance. My intellectual home would be my room, it’s very quiet and peaceful no one to distract me. My intellectual home has changed ever since the pandemic started. Before when everything was normal during my highschool years my intellectual home would be the computer lab that’s where I would stay focused and get all my work done. 

In “Where I learned to read” by Salvatore Scibona? It talks about Scibona struggling to find his comfort zone, a place where he could find peace. Scibona describes his house as “ singing like sirens in a crowded house”, where the tv was on all day long. Scibona loved to read but he struggled because he never found a place where he could focus, he lived in a very noisy house.  During his senior year he came across a place “St. John’s college” where he found peace which was known as his intellectual home. First I will tell you about my intellectual home and then I will compare how it relates to the Scibona intellectual Home. 

Finding peace at home is very hard sometimes when there’s always something going on. Everytime I’m around my family I’m unable to focus, there’s just so much noise. My current intellectual home is my room, that’s a place where I can stay focused and not let anything distract me. My room is very quiet, no one comes into my room to bother me, the atmosphere is very peaceful. I put my phone away and focus on my work, my phone tends to be a big distraction. That’s one thing that helps me. In the excerpt “Where I learned to read” by Salvatore Scibona, it was a life changing experience for Scibona when he received the college brochure in the text it says “ I would scrap everything and go to that place and ask them to let me in. It felt like a vocation. It was a vocation”. Scibona never found a place where he felt comfortable, and also he had the motivation to learn how to read but never had a quiet place. This college was his intellectual home where he pushed himself to go, this gave him the motivation to read and do what he enjoyed. This is similar to my experience because I could never find a right place in my home to focus. There was always a distraction. And I never had the motivation to push myself until I found the right place which was my room.

For everyone it’s different and hard to find a place that satisfies them. Ever since the pandemic started I’ve become much lazier before I had a routine that I followed everyday but now it’s just different. I don’t have that motivation to get up and do anything, staying inside for the longest time has made me become lazy.  In the excerpt “Chronicles of once pessimistic college freshman” by Bilal Rahmani I could relate to Rahmani when he says “I’m in, and then I’m out. I don’t feel like I belong here”. This is how I felt I didn’t know what I was doing. Everything was so weird to me. I could never focus on one thing. I took the fall semester off and did feel motivated to start the spring semester but lucky I pushed myself and I’m here today. I came a long way because the decision I made was the best decision. Now that I’m more focused and I have a place I feel safe and comfortable in, this changed me overtime. 

Having an intellectual home is a part of life. Everyone goes through this phase where they have a place where they could get their work done, a place where they go to at the end of day to relieve their stress. I found my place which I go to every time I want to be alone. This is much needed because we can take out all the stress we have. It doesn’t always have to be a place but it could also be a person you go to, to share your thoughts with, someone who listens to how you feel and understands you. 

My future intellectual home I imagine would be a place where it’s quiet but pretty. A nice warm room where there’s a comfortable couch to sit on, and I would want a desk area where I could go sit when I get tired of sitting on the couch. I don’t like staying in one place for too long. I get annoyed and frustrated by it. My future intellectual home and my current intellectual home are kind of similar. It’s just that I want a bigger room and more space so I could move around when I need to.

Aliyah’s Coffeehouse #2

A meaningful learning experience I had would be not giving up so easily. This has been a problem for me, we tend to give up so easily instead of just trying. The thing about me is I try until I know I can’t do it anymore and then I just give up. But when I put my heart into it, I make sure I don’t give up. My close family members motivated me and told me whenever I felt like giving up, always say “I got this” this has been my go-to phrase ever since. There was a time when I was 16 years old and I was so motivated to get my permit, that I would do anything and everything just to learn how to drive. Once I got my permit I was learning to drive but I was so nervous to take my road test. There was a point where I gave up practicing my turns, how to park. I was so annoyed by it that I just didn’t want to do it anymore. How much I wanted my license I just gave up practicing because it was so hard and I just knew I would fail my road test. I would see my parents drive so good and wonder why couldn’t I be like that. After practicing almost everyday I finally built the confidence to book my road test. The day finally came when I went to take my road test. Everyone had high hopes of me passing my test. I practiced one last time before, once I sat in the car I started to panic. I was so nervous I didn’t know what to do. At the end I finally ended up getting my license first try. I was so happy. This was a meaningful learning experience because this was such a thing for me, this was something I was really looking forward to. Throughout my life I didn’t put so much effort into anything, even after giving up at a point I still managed to motivate myself and get up again to push myself into getting better. Once you put your heart into something, nothing can stop you no matter what. You just need to have the right motivation and it will all work out at the end. 

Aliyah’s Coffeehouse Post #1

Intellectual Home

In the article “Where I learned to read” by Salvatore Scibona published in New York, on June 13 & 20, 2011. Scibona started off by telling us how hard school was for him and how he was failing all his classes. He worked at kfc so he could make money and save for the future, while he was working at kfc he burned his report card in the sink where he worked scraping carbonized grease from the pressure cooker. One thing he wanted was to get out of Ohio. 

 

He says  his house is very crowded and how the tv was always blasting. And he had no peace at home. Salvatore did not like to read, he spent his nights in the derelict shed “swinging his eyes over the pages of library books”. He didn’t really know how to read but it made him happy. 

 

In college he met a girl that gave him a brochure, “ the college curriculum was outrageous”. 

 

This was the moment his life changed, St. John’s college was his dream college”no grades, no electives, not a single book, no textbooks”. He finally found his dream school and would do anything to pursue it. 

 

His dream finally came true, he started to learn how to read French, he started solving math equations. He was getting a different aspect of life. This was something he dreamed about and he finally overcame his loneliness. 

 

In conclusion, Salvatore’s life was a bumpy ride, he went from not having a quiet place to read and write to finding a place where he loved. His past was very harsh. He was a “sad little boy” until he went off to college where he found his intellectual home a place he could actually call home. A place he was comfortable in. “ Every year since has been more intense and enigmatic joy” he found a place he called home.Â