Last Project

I am working on my last project for English. Today was the last day of class. It is bittersweet because I didn’t mind the class and some of the projects we had to do were fun. It’s a good thing in a way though that the class is ending. That means this semester is almost over. IT will be good to start new classes and become closer to being done with my freshman year at Western Michigan University. I am planning to major in education. I’m thinking that I want to teach kindergarten. I am keeping an open mind though, because I want to make sure teaching is what is best for me.

Christmas

Christmas is getting closer and I’m excited. I love the Christmas spirit before the holidays. Everyone seems to be peppy, happy, and extra friendly.  I will get a break from school and spend time with people I love. I will get to spend time with my friends who go to different schools. I will have the opportunity to visit family I don’t get to see that often. I already have all of my Christmas shopping doing which is unusual for me. Usually I am running around last minute hunting down gifts for friends and family. When I get home from school I am going to help my mom dip pretzels in chocolate and decorate them.

First semester

This is the last week of classes for the first semester. The next week is the week of finals. I don’t have any finals Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, so I am going to go home Sunday to go home and study. By being at home I can have less distractions.  Also, it will be quiet. The food will be better too. I am so excited that this semester is almost done. It’s not that I didn’t like my classes this semester it’s just that I’m ready for a change. I am excited for Christmas break. It will be nice to be around family and friends from high school.

Weekend

This weekend has been pretty busy. On Friday, I had class and then I went to look at apartments for next year with my mom. I really liked the Copper Beach apartments. They were very nice. I could definitely see myself living there next year. After that I went back home for an eye appointment. Then I got to go to lunch with my mom and my boyfriend. Next we went shopping at Twelve Oaks. It was really nice to see my boyfriend. It is not easy being in a long distance relationship, but it is definitely worth it. Today we went to go see a movie and we just got back from his soccer banquet. Now it's time to relax.

Thanksgiving Break (extra credit)

I had a lot of fun over Thanksgiving break. It started out a little rough. On Wednesday after my last class I went to leave for home. I got to my car in the parking lot and it was dead. I was fortunate to have jumper cables in my trunk. I found someone to jump my car, I was very thankful. Over Thanksgiving break I got to spend a lot of time with my family. It was nice. I also got to spend time with my boyfriend and friends. It was really nice to go home and relax. I am ready to go back to Western though.

New semester

I can't believe that the first semester of college is almost over. It feels like the time has flown by. It seems like just yesterday it was my first day here. I have really liked here at Western overall. I have met a lot of great people here. At first I was a little nervous because I didn't know many people coming here. I was mostly excited. Kalamazoo seemed like a great place to be. I feel like there's quite a bit going on. I also really liked that the school is about two hours is away from my house. It seems like a fair distance.I'm not too far from home but I'm close enough to get there if I or they need something.

Project 3

Project three is actually pretty fun. I feel I am not only learning about my genre by doing the project, but I am learning about others genres through the presentations. To be honest I never really thought much about genres other than whether I enjoyed reading that type or not. I never tried to group common characteristics together or figure out the themes of a certain genre. When I was researching children’s literature I realized that many of the stories incorporated education or a lesson. Also children’s books had many pictures in order for beginning readers to help associate what a word means along with a picture. I liked that I got to learn about the genre I chose and the rest of the class through presentations.

Thanksgiving break

I am really excited for thanksgiving break. It will be fun to have that time off of school.  I will get to spend time with my family and friends. I haven’t seen a lot of my friends lately because we are at different colleges. I am also planning on going Black Friday shopping with my boyfriend. It will be lots of fun. We both plan to get all of our Christmas shopping done that day. I know we will have to get up really early, but it will be worth it. The day before Thanksgiving I will celebrate it with my family. The next day I am going to spend the day with my boyfriend’s family.

For Colored Girls (extra credit)

For Colored Girls was a play put on by Western Michigan students. The play was about a number of girls and their experiences in life. The play started off pretty upbeat. The girls were acting as if they were children. They were laughing and playing games like ring around the rosie.  Then the play started to get serious as one of the girls starting acting like a young women. She was telling the younger girls about her life. Her experiences were not positive. She spoke about her negative experiences as a woman in society. She spoke about her problems with men specifically. Then the rest of the girls read monologues as women who experienced traumatic things such as rape, domestic violence and other struggles. I feel like going to see this show was beneficial.

Children's genre

For project three I am going to write a children’s book. This assignment seems like it will be a beneficial project because I want to go into education. I would like to teach kids around five to ten years old. While looking at different children’s books and writing my journals, I noticed a few common themes. For instance, in many of the books there was rhyming. I understand why means children’s authors did this. I think they did this because it grabs the kids’ attention. I also learned that a lot of kid’s books are educational. Another thing I noticed about this genre is that there are often lessons in the story. Lastly, there were a lot of pictures used in the books, along with a great use of color.

My weekend

This weekend my boyfriend came to visit me. Not only did he come to visit me, he visited the school. On Sayurday morning we took a tour of the campus. He wants to transfer here nxt semester. We are so excited.
It was a blast! Friday we went to dinner at Carraba's. It was so tasty. After the tour on Saturday we went downtown Kalamazoo. He got to me some of my friends here at Western. This weekend was a blast!

Comparing

Yesterday in class we compared the movie Twilight and the television series Vampire Diaries. Before this class I didn’t realize how similar the two were. I always thought they were two very different things. When I think of the film Twilight I think of middle school and younger girls being fans. When I think of Vampire Diaries I think of teens and young adults following the series. I didn’t put two and two together that both of them are about a girl who is not a vampire and a vampire is in to her.  Both media sources show a fantasy about love that many girls want. 

Fairytales

I really enjoyed reading the fairytales written by the Grimm brothers. I had heard of them before, but I had never read one of their stories before. I noticed in the stories there is always a lesson, particularly towards children. For instance, in the story, Little Red Riding Cap, the girl's mother to stay on the path on the way into grandmother's house. Another thing I noticed about the Grimm brother's stories is that God was often talked about. For instance, in Hansel and Gretel, Hansel prays to God to help keep them safe.I found it interesting that these stories are from the ones I have heard with the same name or similar name.

Don't sweat the small stuff...

 The other day my laptop stopped working. I acted like it was the end of the world because I had papers trapped on it and midterm reviews. I got sick and felt really bad. I thought everything was looking down. Then I took a step back and realized it was just a small set back. I have a really good life. I have a great opportunity here at Western to get a great education. I have good friends and a great family. My boyfriend and I are getting along well. I never have to worry about whether or not I will have money to eat. When I thought about it,  I realized I shouldn’t sweat the small stuff.