As if being a freshman wasn't hard enough, Alexis had to start school after moving just a week before. Because of her father's job, her entire family had made the long trip from New Mexico to Wisconsin. This meant that Alexis was going to know no one at her school. She was nervous about her classes, but she knew that she at least could sit silently and listen to the teacher talking. She was most worried about her first lunch. Alexis had always been a very shy, awkward, and lanky girl. At her old school, it had taken her years to warm up to all of the kids in her grade. She had finally had a couple best friends when her dad told her about the move. She cried for months, but when August 20th came she packed up the car and drove the 20 hours to Wisconsin.
After a week of unpacking, it was time for Alexis to go school. She picked out her first day of school out fit, which consisted of a new tank top and shorts (a bribe for the move) and got on the bus. When she got to school she received her schedule and saw that lunch was her first class. Even though she was not sure if she would talk to kids in her classes, she had secretly hoped that some girl would try to talk to her knowing that she was the new girl adn they could sit together. So after a very stressful homeroom, Alexis made her way towards the cafeteria.
After Alexis got a stale bagel, a brown banana, and some delicious tator tots she got an ice cold chocolate milk and turned to where the students were sitting. On the right she saw fancy booth looking tables. She saw an open table in the corner so she tried to make her way towards the blue booth only made for two people. As she entered the cut off section, a couple of larger football players ran right into her screaming "Seniors only...Stupid Freshman." Alexis had never been so embarassed in her entire life. As she looked into teh section again she now saw that not only were all of the students staring at her but they were all broken into their cliques...one table was obviously the play kids, then there were the jocks and the sluts, and then the nerds. Alexis felt so stupid for not realizing that these kids obviously knew each other.
When Alexis was finally able to feel her legs again, she tried to go right next to the booths. She decided that it might be smart if she observed the people before she sat, but she didnt want anyone to think she was staring at them. She decided to go next to the tables where she could get some ketchup and just pretend she was going to use it on her potatoes. As she pumped the ketchup Alexis observed the second section of tables. She saw the same cliques that she had seen in the senior section only younger looking. She didn't know if they were Sophomores or Juniors, but she knew they were not Freshman. Then, while she was still looking at the tables she heard a girl's voice behind her, "Do you think you have enough ketchup?" Alexis looked down to realize that she had poured too much ketchup and it had fallen right over the sides of the cup in her hands and was now pouring down her arm. She turned around to face the girl and could feel how red and hot her cheeks were. Then she realized that the girl was 4 foot 8 and had huge curly brown hair. She was wearing a sweatshirt, jeans, and docs. The girls friendly eyes and big smile somehow made Alexis feel more comfortable in the situation. "Trying to figure out the cafeteria? Are you a Freshman?" said the girl. Alexis just looked at her. Finally, she replied "yes and yes. I'm so confused." The girl smiled again. "I'm a Freshman, too. My name's Lucy. You can come sit with me if you want. My sister is a senior here and she told me where the Freshman are supposed to sit." Alexis finally felt relief. "That would be so great. My name's Alexis." Luct replied "Here. Follow me!"
When Lucy walked Alexis over the Freshman section (the complete opposite side of the cafeteria), Alexis was introduced to two girls named Holly and Mary. They were from Lucy's middle school and were very friendly to Alexis. Looking back, Alexis is still embarrassed when Lucy brings up the ketchup incident, but now that Lucy, Holly, and Mary were her best friends and she sat with them everyday at lunch, she could see how it was funny and she now appreciated it because if she had not made embarrasing accidents she would have never asked to sit these girls who are now such important parts of her life.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Past Writings
The one thing that I hate about English is writing. It is not that I am a bad writer, it is just that hearing about an assignment that I will have to write or present to a class makes me so nervous. Some of my past strengths that can be seen from my grade and high school writing is that writing comes naturally to me, that I have a very wide range of vocabulary, and that I have had very excellent teachers. I consider myself blessed that I have been given the gift of writing without trying very hard. I am definitely not an amazing writer like John Steinbeck or Jane Austen, but I have always been able to write without struggling. After I pick a topic or research, the rest of the paper seems to flow very smoothly. My vocabulary is another aspect that has always come easily to me. Since my grade school and high school english classes required us to learn new vocabulary most of it has stuck with me. That leads me to the last strength which is that i have had some pretty awesome teachers. My eigth grade teacher really pushed myself and the other kids in my grade by making us write more thatn we ever had including my first research paper. After him, my freshman and sophomore teacher seem mediocre, but Mrs. Simzak, my junior and senior year teacher, was awesome. She pushed me to write and expand my vocabulary on every paper I wrote. She also prepared me for the AP exam by making me write about 20 essays in the month of April. In April I was not too thrilled, but the results were very rewarding so I now am okay with all the work.
Some of my weaknesses in my writing have been that I can be very self-conscience, I hate my writing, my writing is very informal, and I have a hard time choosing a topic. Ever since I was very young, I have always hated my writing. My least favorite part is having to read my writing out loud, but it has gotten so bad that I will not even proofread most of my papers because I know that I will be negative about it. My next weakness of being very informal has hurt me in many of my classes in high school, especially my two year history course. Though the teacher loved me, she could not get past the fact that my writing was not the style a history paper could be, and after a lot of trying, I still could not change my style. The last weakness of choosing a topic is one main reason why i hate writing courses. Many teachers think that they are being nice by allowing students to choose a topic to write about, but for me that is torture. I need some kind of direction or guide to help me or I will think that any topic I want to write about is stupid.
I would like to improve to a place where I can be secure in my writing. I wish that I could speak my mind and feel free to write how I feel, but I am very self-doubting. I hope that soon I can become comfortable enough that I will be able to write what I want and say what I want without worrying about what other people think. Some things that I can do or learn to make this improvement are to keep practicing. I know that I will never be comfortable speaking or writing for others unless I continue to speak and write. Hopefully, the more I practice the better and more comfortable I will become. A book that inspire me to become more comfortable in my writing and speaking is The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Some quotes from the book can be found here http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/569.Khaled_Hosseini . The book is very easy to read and also has a very deep meaning. It makes me want to be able to make a difference in the world with my writing. Another example is in the movie "The Princess Diaries". Many quotes found here (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0247638/quotes ) may seem stupid to a lot of people, but "The Princess Diaries" is my childhood (I am actually watching it right now. That's why I thought of it). Without "The Princess Diaries" I would never have sang "Catch a Falling" or quoted "get off the grass" in four different languages. The songs in the movie are also very inspirational. Overrall, I think the movie is great for people of all ages. This inspires me because it has been seen by so many people and so many people can quote it. I can not even imagine walking down the street and hearing people quoting my writing, but it would be epic.
I would say that I think this class is going to be my favorite or I will enjoy every assignment, but the truth is every time I get a new assignment I will be very sad. I am hoping that once I find out how you grade papers I will find my groove and hopefully I can then make this a pain free first semester.
Some of my weaknesses in my writing have been that I can be very self-conscience, I hate my writing, my writing is very informal, and I have a hard time choosing a topic. Ever since I was very young, I have always hated my writing. My least favorite part is having to read my writing out loud, but it has gotten so bad that I will not even proofread most of my papers because I know that I will be negative about it. My next weakness of being very informal has hurt me in many of my classes in high school, especially my two year history course. Though the teacher loved me, she could not get past the fact that my writing was not the style a history paper could be, and after a lot of trying, I still could not change my style. The last weakness of choosing a topic is one main reason why i hate writing courses. Many teachers think that they are being nice by allowing students to choose a topic to write about, but for me that is torture. I need some kind of direction or guide to help me or I will think that any topic I want to write about is stupid.
I would like to improve to a place where I can be secure in my writing. I wish that I could speak my mind and feel free to write how I feel, but I am very self-doubting. I hope that soon I can become comfortable enough that I will be able to write what I want and say what I want without worrying about what other people think. Some things that I can do or learn to make this improvement are to keep practicing. I know that I will never be comfortable speaking or writing for others unless I continue to speak and write. Hopefully, the more I practice the better and more comfortable I will become. A book that inspire me to become more comfortable in my writing and speaking is The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Some quotes from the book can be found here http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/569.Khaled_Hosseini . The book is very easy to read and also has a very deep meaning. It makes me want to be able to make a difference in the world with my writing. Another example is in the movie "The Princess Diaries". Many quotes found here (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0247638/quotes ) may seem stupid to a lot of people, but "The Princess Diaries" is my childhood (I am actually watching it right now. That's why I thought of it). Without "The Princess Diaries" I would never have sang "Catch a Falling" or quoted "get off the grass" in four different languages. The songs in the movie are also very inspirational. Overrall, I think the movie is great for people of all ages. This inspires me because it has been seen by so many people and so many people can quote it. I can not even imagine walking down the street and hearing people quoting my writing, but it would be epic.
I would say that I think this class is going to be my favorite or I will enjoy every assignment, but the truth is every time I get a new assignment I will be very sad. I am hoping that once I find out how you grade papers I will find my groove and hopefully I can then make this a pain free first semester.
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