Student Expo

I had to present one of my papers for the Student Expo to get an A in the class. I felt like my presentation went fairly well, and my presentation covered a lot of material on the topic. When I was done presenting the paper to Sweeney and the librarian, I thought it would be cool to walk around and check out the art at the expo. One of the most interesting pieces of art that I saw was the piece named, "Smokey Bear". It was a phone that was sitting in a cup. The phone had a picture of the art work in it. The artist of the work, Cannithy, had a very distinct description of what inspired him to make this said bear. He said the inspiration came from Smokey THE Bear. At this point, I was like okay he stole the idea from Smokey the Bear. However, they are nothing alike. Smokey Bear was about a pot smoking bear and then my interest was starting to peak. He said that Smokey Bear was a Marijuana activist and enthusiast. I was starting to feel like he just threw it together last minute, but once he gave me a plot and story behind the bear, I knew he actually put some effort forth. 

Contribution Essay

So, the in class essay that we had to type up today in class was about our contribution to the class and what we brought to the table this semester. I write about how I contributed to the class discussion topics. I would always give people enough time to answer, but if no one answered in time, that is when I would speak up. I felt like my contribution to my group was also good as well. I made Power Points with very vivid transitions and animations. I also used a very multicolored slide preset that would make the PowerPoint pop a little bit more. However, I did really like it when we talked as a whole group in that class. I was not a big fan of the small groups. I just wanted everyone to participate and have fun in that class. It is an easy class and I know that they are capable to do whatever they set their minds to.

CHILI COOK OFF 2014!!!

The chili cook off was amazing!! Regardless of my girlfriend wanting to exit the mosh pit during my favorite band, it was still fun. A Day To Remember was so good and blew my expectations of them out of the water! Panic! At The Disco was just as good, if not a little better. They put on a show for the chili cook off. They were quite the performers. On the other hand, Seether sucked and I hated them. You can't just stop in the middle of a song just because you are in the wrong tune. What d-bags!! Although I did not get to try the chili, it was still an experience in itself. I loved the fact that the bands were so generous and caring of the fans. The bands were so good, except for Seether. It was so much fun and I definitely cannot wait till next year!

In Class Essay

Next class, we have an in class essay to do. I have no idea what it could possibly be on, but all I know is that I'm not too excited to do this paper. We have not done many in class papers, but I am kinda wondering if it is just another writing process paper. I would love to have an essay in class that is just on whatever we want to write about. that would be nice and sufficient for this guy. If it was on that, I would write about how procrastination is not helpful to a student who needs time to do his/her work. I could write paragraphs on paragraphs of how procrastination is bad. I have been in that situation so many times. This whole week is going to be interesting.

Teaching the Class

Last class, my group had to lead the class and that was okay I guess. I was not up for leading the class on my paper topic, but I had no other choice. I presented my topic to the class and told them a tad bit about the effect music has had on popular culture. They agreed with me some what, but they also had some valid arguments. We struggled to stay on topic that class as well, because I was still heartbroken that the Undertaker lost at Wrestlemania :(  BUT I digress.... We actually made progress that class, especially with that video that I showed the class. It talked about the 90's and how it was one of the biggest impacts on pop culture. The 90's was a dark age for music. A lot of violence was portrayed in the artist's music back then. They talked about shooting, drugs, killing, and sex. The 'Grunge' era was probably the worst due to the fact that they talked about dying a lot and a ton of depressing lyrics. It pretty much made it seem like they had been bullied and suicide was the only way out of this world. But HIP HOP took off with the gang affiliated artists that were coming into the music scene. They talked about killing people and robbing people, and basically how life was growing up for them. All of this is what truly changed pop culture for good.

Third Essay

I would like to share with you the topic of my third paper. The main topic of my third paper is "Pop Culture", but the subtopic is the way that music has an affect on popular culture.

I really like this topic, because I love talking about music and how I can relate to the life situations of the artists and try to make you truly think about the purpose and images that they try to portray. In this case, I am writing on how music has the biggest impact popular culture. Without music, we simply would not have as much technology as we have now. They were trying to make it so that everyone could here the music world wide, and the only way to do that is to update the technology so they can spread the music to everyone. Also, so they could put on bigger and better concerts and put out albums. Music has developed so much that the fashion develops with it as well. The 70's brought new clothing and also new movements of uprisings and which eventually was later called, 'The Hippie Movement'. Everyone hopped on that bandwagon at least once in their lifetime back then. They wore clothes like the artists that they listened to as well. It consisted of raggedy clothes, tight shirts, boot cut jeans/parachute pants, and headbands. Then when the 80's came about, the Hippies started to die out and the disco era started to take over. Thus started the, what I like to call, the 'suit' phase of music. Everyone wore the ugliest suits in the 80's. Then the 90's came up and it was all about baggy clothing, and that was in affect for about 15 years. Now today, we wear a lot of clothing that has made it here from the UK. Its just us trying to stay up to date. We, as a whole, just need music, and if we did not have it, we would probably not be where we are today.

Spring Break!!!

For my spring break, I went to Massanutten, VA and it was a blast! I was able to go skiing for the second time ever in my life, and I was falling pretty hard. Regardless, we went skiing in 70 degree weather, but it was still fun!!! I loved skiing and would definitely do it again in a heartbeat. I just wish I could carve instead of just going straight downhill, but hey, at least I learned how to stop! We rented out a town house for a whole week while we were there, and it had the best view of the mountain. I could not have asked to spend it with better people though; they truly made the trip worth it.

We also played Taboo as well, and all I could think about was Sweeney's class when we play Taboo in there. I always get so competitive when it comes to games, but especially Taboo. I want to win!!!

To sum it all up, my vacation was great, and I had a blast with all my friends. I cannot wait to do it again!

Second Essay

Our second essay for class was on family, and I could really relate to this paper. I have had some problems with my relationship with my father. I am not going to really get into the details of the problems, but I will just say we do not get along that well, but we are working on it. My topic for this paper was on the relationship between a father and his son. It is proven that a father and son and/or a mother and daughter only get along but so much. However, when it comes to a daddy's girl and/or a momma's boy, they get along superbly. I saw that same sex relationships between parents and children do not tend to end so well when it comes to relationships between the two. They tend to fight more, tell each other less, and drive each other away. I do not fully understand why this tends to happen, but it does not happen to everyone; just the majority. I found the only way to bond with my father was through racing and sports in general. That was the best way for us to get along. I love him very much, but I feel like he does not understand where I come from. Everyone tells me that my dad speaks so highly of me, but when it is just me and him, I do not understand what I am doing wrong. I have not really been there for my family lately either, and I think all that is doing is adding fuel to the fire. Needless to say, DO NOT neglect your parents or family. They are what got you to where you are today and without them, you would be nothing.

First Essay

The first essay was on Crime and Punishment, and my subtopic was on drugs in public schools. I felt like it was a necessary topic to talk about considering everything that recently happened with Chesterfield County Public Schools. They now have drug dogs that roam the hallways everyday, and if you suspected of being high, you will be drug tested. First of all, the parents of these students should really pay attention to what they sign at the beginning of the year, because that is an invasion of privacy. The school systems themselves are getting out of hand in general, and it is like they are turning into concentration camps. Second of all, you should not have brought drugs to school in the first place. Deal with that crap outside of school! It's not worth getting written up over.

I was not sure if I should have done my paper on that topic, or if I should have done it on the topic of the death penalty in Texas. I found a lot of information on that as well, but I figured I could relate to this one so I went with it. However, it was a little difficult to extend out into 5 to 6 pages. I was struggling really bad with finding more info on this topic. Other than that, I love my paper on Crime and Punishment. It pretty much summed up how happy I am to not be in high school anymore.

Topic Choices

In class, we talked about what topics we would possibly want to do for our papers, and it was a terrible idea to let us take a majority vote to choose what we are going to write about. Some people in our class have a lot of mixed views and feelings, and we also have the people who could care less about picking topics, because they were going to have to type the papers regardless. I, on the other hand, am satisfied with our topic choices, but I also fell under the 'could care less' group of people. I thought of it as a way of learning new things about some of the topics that I have never wrote about before.

We ended up choosing 'Crime and Punishment, Family, and Pop Culture'. I am OK with these choices and I look forward to writing these papers. Some of the people in my class are not cool with the topics we chose, but those are also the people who never come to class. I have read a couple of people papers on these topics before (just in general, not within our class), and they have given me an inspiration to write the papers now. I have not started on the Family essay yet, but I will be starting on it soon. I enjoy this class and want to get a good grade, but I really need to start focusing more on getting these papers done so I can get the grade what I signed up for....an A.