End of Semester. Phew!

Now that the semester is coming to a close i am looking back on all i have learned in english 1031. I feel like i have improved a lot on my writing and now i don't dread it as much. Mostly because we were able to write on a topic that we were really interested in. I really enjoyed that part and learned a lot about my major. I have definitely improved as a student considering it is my first semester as a college student. I have learned to adapt to due dates and am now adjusted to the life of a college student. I am not sure about reaching goals that i set for myself yet, but i am hoping to make all A's in my classes. I still need work in the area of procrastinating. I always put things off until the very last minute and it has come to bite me in the butt. This is something that i hope to improve on next semester. I also plan to set new goals for myself next semester like higher grades and take more classes. 

Should high school students take a year (or more) off before entering college? Should they enter college the summer after graduating (i.e. as soon as possible)? Or something else? Please explain/defend your stance.

I believe that you should go to college as soon as you can, like right after graduating because if you do that all that you learned in highschool will be fresh on your mind. If you take a year off you will forget a lot of what you had learned. Also if you take a year off you are less likely to actually decide to go to college because who wouldnt rather be at home than at class? It is best for you to not take a break because then you will be done with school sooner if you get started sooner.

Why is/isn’t it important to vote in the presidential election? Take a stance and defend your position.

I think that it is very important to vote in the presidential election. Many people dont see the use in voting but i believe that it is something that you should do. We all make up the United States and therefor i think we should all put for a say in what we want for our country. If you don't vote i believe that you have no room to complain about presidents that are elected. If you didnt give your part then you dont get to complain about the person you wanted to win not winning because you could have done something about it. I think that every vote counts and if we all had to mindset of not caring to vote then nothing would ever get done. and if everyone votes we have a greater chance of achieving what majority wants.

Why do you think rules (or following rules) are good or bad? Please elaborate.

Rules are very important in society. Rules provide structure, and are the guidelines for daily living. Without rules, there would be total chaos. People could do whatever they wanted to do, whenever they wanted to do it, without any consequences to their possible dangerous or harmful actions. Rules are necessary in order to live in a civilized environment. I believe that people, for the most part, are generally good and civil. It would be interesting to see how people would behave without rules, however, rules prevent the not so good people from doing every bad thing that pops up in their heads. For example, without laws against murder, and consequences for breaking those laws, there would be no reason for someone not to kill every person that they had a problem with. The law, or rule, set in place against such actions and the consequences for breaking that rule is what keeps people from doing whatever they please. Rules are the backbone of society. They protect our freedoms, keep us safe, and help us interact with one another on a daily basis without conflict.
One example is that one time my parents gave me a certain rule to follow and i didn't listen and ended up getting into more trouble that i had expected. If i would have followed the rules that were in place for me i wouldn't have ended up having to deal with consequences.

Are today’s children and young teens (both male and female) overly concerned with their physical appearance? Why? How so? Please elaborate.

I believe that children and young teens are overly concerned with their physical appearances. Social media is one of the main influences on teens perception on what is "attractive." When young teens see that their bodies don't necessarily match up with the bodies on the covers of magazines, low self esteem becomes a factor. According to social media, young girls must have the right curves and a skinny waste in order to be pretty. It's really sad to hear young teens already talking about getting plastic surgery when they're older because they are unhappy with their appearance. Young boys are pressured to fit that magazine cover physique with big muscles and six pack abs. They spend hours in the gym trying to improve their bodies and spend hundreds of dollars on those "miracle products" to gain muscle and burn fat. Overweight people want to be skinny, skinny people want to have more curves, it never ends. No matter what people look like they will never be truly happy with their appearance unless they realize that nobody is perfect and striving after the perfect body is pointless because there will always be someone prettier than you and there will always be someone who is more muscular than you. Once you are comfortable with your own appearance then you will be happy.

Do social-networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace enhance a young person’s social life or serve as a substitute for a real social life?

Social networking sites have become such a major way of communicating and staying in touch with old friends in today's society. I believe that social networking sites may have an effect on the social development of a child but not to the extreme that they do not know how to interact with one another anymore. I think that over time we have become more susceptive to just communicating behind our cell phones or computers rather than actually calling someone or talking to someone in person. I think that people who are consumed with spending their time on social networking sites are missing out on the benefits of one on one communication. I don't think that it ever takes away their ability to interact with people and definitely doesn't substitute for face to face interaction.

Should there be a dress code in places such as school, restaurants, places of business, etc.? Why or why not?

I believe that there should be dress codes in public places. It would not be appropriate to show up to an upscale restaurant with no shirt on an flip-flops. I agree with the idea of "No shoes, No service" i think even if your running in somewhere just to grab something you should have the decency to put some shoes on, plus thats just really gross if you don't!
On the other hand i think that sometime the dress codes in schools are a little extreme. I know that at my high school in Deer Park the dress code was extremely strict, but the regulations seemed to be different for each individual. I started to realized that the overweight individuals did not get told to go change if they were wearing something not school appropriate. I don't know if this was just coincidence but i think that if you are going to have strict dress codes they should stay the same for each individual.

Can television and/or video games influence behavior? How and/or why?

I very strongly believe that television and video games are influencing the action and behavior of people today, especially in young children or teenagers.

Action movies and action games i think have had a great influence on kids and the way they act and treat each other. Kids know all the stuff about killing people from the television shows and video games that they are constantly exposed to. Now more than every there is violence in elementary through high school aged students. Kids bring guns or knifes to school and threaten people, because that is what they are allowed to do on the video games that they are playing at home. This is very scary to me, that these young people are so comfortable with watching this stuff and don't take there eyes off of the computer or television screen for hours and hours at a time.

Also i believe that the movies that are coming out these days are slowly but surly getting worse and worse, and now you can't even watch a PG movie without it having a cuss word in it. I believe that television and movies can shape and influence ones behavior without them even realizing it. If we watch things on a movie we may decide that it sounds like fun and end up making decisions we never would have made in the first place.

Think about it next time your playing a video game or watching a new TV show.

Should students be required to learn a second language in school? Why or why not?

I think that students should be required to learn a second language in school. This is easy for me to say now, because i am out of high school. But if i had been required to learn another language i would feel very accomplished and thankful that my school required that. I think it would be extremely helpful to find a job, being a bilingual person. Today, it is very hard for anyone to find a job, even a blue collar job. So you would increase your chances of an employer hiring you if you have the ability to speak to languages. Even outside of the work field. Knowing a second language would be very helpful. Living in Texas i feel like it would benefit everyone to know the spanish language. We should be able to practically speak it since it is already everywhere. I think that it would help us communicate and know our spanish speaking neighbors better. This is something that i have always wanted to learn. I think it is awesome when you hear someone just switch back and forth between languages like it is nothing. This is something i have always dreamed of being able to do, so if students were required to learn it in school it wouldn't seem like such a huge task because you would have so much help and know that you have to do it for a grade. This is my opinion on whether or not students should be required to learn a second language in school.

Who or what has had a strong influence on your life?

I would say that the person who has had the biggest influence on my life is probably my dad. My dad was raised with parents who made him work for everything he ever had. He attended A&M university and paid his whole way through school himself, by working three jobs. This seems almost impossible to me considering how much trouble i have with just keeping up with my homework during the week. He has always been a hard worker, and always does his best at anything he is doing. He told me a story one time that one of his jobs was to pick up trash from four in the morning until one in the afternoon. He made such little money that when he went to the corner store to buy himself lunch he has spent all the money he had made working hard that morning. This story made me realize how easy i have it and it motivates me to do my best at everything. My dad is very successful in his civil engineering job now, and is constantly getting promoted.
My dad has influenced me by all of this by showing me how much hard work can pay off. I know that if i work at anything that i will be able to achieve my goals. I strive to do my best at everything i do because i know that's what my dad would do. This motivation I'm hoping will help me get into A&M next year.

How has my hometown shaped me as a person?

When i first saw Professor Mannon write this prompt on the board, my mind began to think... how am i supposed to write about my hometown when i have moved so many times in my life? But then i realized that this could be to my advantage. Since i was eight years old i have had to pack up my things and move with my family all around North America. My dads job requires him to relocate every two years. So although i was born in Beaumont, Texas, I would not consider that my hometown. But Rather Deer Park Texas, where my dad told his company we would stay for five years so that i could finish up high school in one place.
Deer Park Texas is a small town on the south side of Houston. Most people have never heard of it, and nothing interesting really happens there. I always joke and say that all the cops have to do Deer Park is save cats who climb up in trees, Because if something little goes wrong in this town every single cop is there in a heart beat. Although i don't believe that Deer Park, the place, has really made me the person i am today. I think that the people i met there and the uncomfortableness of trying to make new friends when i moved there has changed me. When i arrived in eighth grade, everyone seemed to already have there own group of friends, as it would be in any small town. It took me about a year to meet people and make some true friends. This has made me more outgoing over time. I think that the main way that Deer Park Texas has changed me is by making me less shy when i am in new situations. This is something that has helped me through all these changes of moving off to college these past few weeks.