College is essentially 4 years worth of quests. Some are completed in a day and others span the entire duration of the 4 years. The most important and obvious quest contained in the college experience is getting a degree. However, the quest that I will focus on almost just as much as graduating is to actually experience college. College is special for many reasons, and some of which are meeting new people, trying new things, and having a good time. The people you meet are likely the ones you will call your friends for the rest of your life, and I intent to meet a lot of them. I make it my personal goal to be friendly and remember everyone I talk to. They say its not about grades you make but the hands you shake. The second aspect of truly experiencing college is trying new things. I plan on getting involved in as many things as possible. Finally, having a good time is important too. This will be the last time that you have an opportunity to go out every day of the week (besides Sunday), and I don’t want to let that slip away without making the most of it.
Monthly Archives: August 2016
Daily Write
There are many common themes between Alexie’s “Flight Patterns” and Adiche’s Ted Talk. In Adichie’s Ted Talk, she speaks about what it is like to live in America as an African. She mentions several different examples of Americans misunderstanding who she is based on the place she comes from. This is also apparent in “Flight Patterns”. William sees this ethiopian taxi driver and immediately writes him off as unintelligent and uneducated. However, once he finally gets to know the cab driver, William finds that he not only likes the man (whereas at first he didn’t want to talk to him), but he is impressed by his intellect and past. In Adichie’s Ted Talk she also mentions how she is ashamed of how she was shocked to see how people of Mexico are not as she imagined them based on media coverage. This shame is similar to the shame William felt once he actually took the time to get to know the cab driver.
Weekly Response 1
After my first week of college I have made several realizations. One reality that hit me hard was the fact that my parents aren’t around anymore. I don’t have someone to wake me up for school every day anymore, I don’t have a warm breakfast waiting for me in the kitchen, and I don’t have someone to do my laundry anymore. This list of changes due to the fact that I’m living away from my parents goes on and on; however, there have also been good changes. I have nearly all the freedom in the world to do whatever it is that I want to, and I find myself with much more free time than ever before. These two positive changes together is a recipe for trouble, but also for a lot of fun. Another realization I had was the fact that it is very important to keep up with my work. I can’t let all the fun distract me from my school work, and I need to manage my free time efficiently. Once I can master that I believe many of the problems I have had will be resolved and college will be a much more enjoyable experience.
Lawyer’s League v Notes from a Native Speaker
In Lawyer’s League by Sherman Alexie, the protagonist, a half African American and half Native American, seems to be only hurt by his ethnic background. His genetics are nearly flawless, except for the fact that his skin color seems to get in the way of his romantic life and political career. In Eric Liu’s Notes from a Native Speaker, he emphasizes assimilation and the various meanings behind it.
The different viewpoints of the two men is interesting for many reasons. The man in Lawyer’s League felt a strong attraction to a woman who was white, but refrained because of how society would negatively view the couple. The man in Notes from a Native Speaker was not affected by this because he sees himself as already assimilated to western culture and goes as far as to say he sees himself as essentially white.
The different points of view of the two men are particularly interesting. The man in Lawyer’s League knows his true blend of ethnicities and embraces it fully. The Chinese American from Notes from a Native Speaker doesn’t see himself as any different from a white person at all. This may be due to the fact that the man from Lawyer’s League wants to pursue a career in politics and needs to be very careful of how other’s view him.
Perfectionism v. Shitty First Drafts
In “Shitty First Drafts” and “Perfectionism”, both written by Anne Lamott in bird by bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, she emphasizes the importance of persistence when it comes to writing. Nobody will have a perfect written piece on the first try. Not even the best authors. A perfectionist will see this and have a very difficult time accepting it. It seems the author tries to convey that the key to writing comes not in the writing itself, but in the revising over and over again.
“Shitty First Drafts” seems to have been written with more of an intent to give advice on how to successfully write. It focuses on persistence when it comes to writing and constantly mentions how even the great writers are only great because of their will power to keep going. “Perfectionism” on the other hand seems to have the intent of helping the writer let go of his or her OCD tendencies and just let the writing flow.
“Perfectionism” seems to be more focused on the mental approach to writing, while “Shitty First Drafts” seems to focus more on the actual writing process. “Perfectionism” is all about how to clear your mind and not allow the perfectionist you to prevent you from writing poorly and revising.
Daily Write 2
Often I feel as though I am supposed to be someone other than who I am. Coming from my background, I often feel an excessive amount of pressure to succeed academically. My parents had attended this university and struggled. My sister had even attempted to attend college, but it was not meant to be. I have never had much trouble in school, and gotten honor roll every semester at a very difficult high school in Memphis. Because of this, my family has always had such high expectations for me and unintentionally applied a lot of unwanted pressure to my success. This makes me feel somewhat out of place.
Daily Write
Ever since I have been able to remember, my family has gone down to Oxford from Memphis almost every fall Saturday to watch Ole Miss football. Both of my parents went to school here and even met here their freshman year, so the decision of where to continue my academic career was a no-brainer for me. However, I was by no means forced to go here by my parents. My dad encouraged me to branch out and find the best fit for me as I left high school. But none of the other universities compared to the comfort this one gave me.
Welcome to your Commonplace Book
Welcome to your brand new Commonplace Book hosted by UM Edblogs .
To get started, simply log in, edit or delete this post and check out all the other options available to you.
Visit edblogs.olemiss.edu/help for support, or talk to your instructor.