LAST FREAKING BLOG!

Barbara Graham’s article “Confessions of a Quit Addict” and David Brooks’ article “It’s Not About You” relate to each other in some way. In Barbara’s article she mainly talks about her quitting addiction and the struggles she faced until she realized who she really was. In David Brooks article he talks about how he believes kids should live their own dreams and not their parents. They should be able to explore on their own and find their own identities. Barbara Graham realizes that her teen years were a hard struggle for her but without those years of struggle she would not be who she is today. Barbara was someone that was “...tenacious in [her] devotion to the people and the things [she] loved,”  and she wanted to live her life to her expectations as stated in paragraph two. We all go through that sudden urge to quit either stuff that goes on in our family lives or if we are failing a class. Barbara was the same way. She rarely made it to class so she dropped out and, “that was the first time I felt the rush of quitting…” Barbara states in paragraph three. At the end she finally realized what she was worth. She realizes, “it’s impossible to travel deep and wide at the same time” as stated in paragraph nine. She is someone that is worth so much more than being a failure. David Brooks, a writer for The New York Times, is always trying to get his point across. He does not care if people get offended by his articles either. By that I mean in his article “It’s Not About You” he states “...This year’s graduating class has been ill served by their elders” in paragraph two. He was directing that more towards the parents and how the students have to live by their parents ruinous federal debt and the hangover from decades of excessive borrowing. In David Brooks’ article he rants on and on about how the students parents have ruined their lives. He states in paragraph three, “their lives have been perversely structed” meaning they have not been built well. David has a really good quote that I like in the last paragraph and that would be, “The purpose in life is not to find yourself. It’s to lose yourself.” This stood out to me because I think at a young age we should be able to have fun and let life take us where it needs to take us.

Fall 2017 At Blinn College!

Moving off to attend Blinn College was a very big and hard decision for me to make. Being away from my family and friends was something that I had to get used to and as of now I am still trying to get used to being away from them. There has been a bunch of good things about me attending Blinn and a bunch of bad things. Some of the things that have went well at Blinn would be the life-long friends that I have made, choosing a really good reading teacher, and me barely missing any class like I did in high school. The downfall about attending Blinn made me realize that psychology was not an easy class at all, I had to drop a class so I would not mess my GPA up, and being away from my friends at home. Being in this reading class has actually helped me succeed in some of the things I do in everyday life. I understand reading passages better than I have before and my vocabulary has gotten a lot better. I failed by not standing up for what I told myself I was going to do in my freshman year of college. I told myself I would not let my grades slack so I can have a high GPA and I started to not care. I also told myself I would study and that really has not happened yet. I love just being on my own and the teachers not on my back on about what I had to do. In high school the teachers were always trying to find ways just to really irk my nerves. One of the things I hate most about attending this school is how attendance is such a big thing here. I think it should not matter because we pay our own tuition so it should be our own choice to make. Next semester I feel like I will do a lot better because I now know what it is like to be a college student. I know what to expect when a teacher is going to give a test. Some of the classes that I had to take this semester made me realize that I had no care in the world for them. So in the spring I am changing my major to hopefully something that interests me and I will actually attend school and care about my grades.

Kiarra Majae McDaniel

In Kiarra McDaniel's article "Colin Kaepernick explains why he sat during national anthem" by Steve Wyche, the author refers to everyone's right to basic freedoms, and Kaepernick gives quoted explanations of the reason behind his protest. His decision to sit during the National Anthem caused a huge uproar between Trump, the NFL, and throughout all of America. In this article, the author reiterates the idea of everyone's individual rights. These rights include the decision to sit or stand during the playing of the National Anthem. This being said, Colin Kaepernick chose to sit during the anthem, and because of his position in the community, caused a widespread furor all over the country. In the article, Coach Chip Kelly, coach of the Niners, states "Kaepernick's decision not to stand during the national anthem is his right as a citizen." This is arguing how Colin has the right to freedom of choice. Colin had a motive for his decision to remain seated, but no one knew of his intentions when it occurred. The article includes Kaepernick's feelings towards the situation as he claims, "I do not stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color." Kaepernick does not believe in honoring a flag that symbolizes freedom when his own race is being maltreated and stripped of those very freedoms. In Kiarra's blog, she believes that Kaepernick's reasoning for his decision not to stand during the National Anthem is respectable and has a solid purpose behind it. She has a negative perspective towards Trump and his ideas. Kiarra's blog was very well written. She read the article correctly and her essay is smashing! In her paper, she clearly explains her argument in an effectual manner.

Post Malone Rocks!!

                      

Austin Post, or known as Post Malone, is twenty-two years old. He is one of my favorite artist. His songs are always good and sometimes relate to me when I am feeling down and upset. Malone became popular after he released his single called "White Iverson". Malone's song "I Fall Apart" in the album Stoney,  Malone sings, "and now I'm takin' these shots like it's novacane, yeah." The simile here indicated by the word "like" is comparing his shots to novacane. Malone is taking shots with no pain. This means the shots are compared to the novacane shot to put him to sleep. This image is very depressing because he is hurt about the actions his ex-girlfriend has done. Austin's song "Too Young" in the album Stoney,  Malone sings, "When I get that cash it's hallelujah." The metaphor here indicated by the word "is" is comparing when he gets his cash he is extremely happy. Making money makes Malone gleeful. This image is a good and excited image because everyone likes money. Malone's song "Patient" in the album Stoney,  Malone sings, "I know my wrist be dancin' crazy." The personification here is how his wrist are dancing. Your wrist can not dance. You can move your wrist in a circular motion but that is not called dancing. Malone is giving his wrist a human trait. I recommend Post Malone's music if you are ever feeling sad. His lyrics will always hit you to heart and make you feel some type of way. Some songs might be really depressing, but his lyrics go good together.

Las Vegas Disaster!!!

The article I have chosen is called “After Las Vegas Shooting, a Tight-Lipped Sheriff Faces a Maddening Case”. The Las Vegas shooting was a terrible experience that Sheriff Lombardo had to deal with according to Mitch Smith, Jennifer Medina, and Timothy Williams of the New York Times. On Sunday, October 1, a mass shooting at the country music festival in Las Vegas has changed so many lives. This shooting killed 58 people and wounded over hundreds more. Sheriff Lombardo is known to be very moderate and the best police officer there is in Las Vegas. That being said Sheriff Lombardo has dealt with a lot of cases but nothing compares to this one. Sheriff Lombardo states, “this is one of the most frustrating criminal investigations in memory” meaning that he can not find a reason the gunman did such a thing while leaving no public accounting for his actions. Sheriff Lombardo is a very “plain-spoken” man so he is going to be very blunt in his interviews about anything the speaker will ask him. Stephen Paddock, the shooter, smashed out his hotel windows as he started shooting with a semi-automatic. Devastating the whole urban town of Las Vegas. Sheriff Lombardo states, "I do not think Stephen could have done all this shooting on his own. Someone else had to be apart of the crime but escaped before anyone saw him." Sheriff Lombardo does not like to speak out in public about crime scenes which is causing a lot of frustration with some people but he is the most down-to-earth person. The authors discussion about the topic had some very good points. The authors talked a lot about how awesome Sheriff Lombardo was at his job. They also made it clear that this massive shooting has been the worst shooting in the United States. I clearly saw there most subjective opinion when they stated that Sheriff Lombardo thinks that Stephen Paddock was not the only one that caused this. This is a huge opinion because he was the only one seen. Another opinion is that the authors make Sheriff Lombardo seem like the best officer around when the people around Las Vegas can have a different opinion. The authors stated that this investigation was very frustrating for Sheriff Lombardo and as this being a factual misconception I agree with them. I agree with them because they do not have reasons on why Stephen Paddock acted the way he did, they do not know if he was alone or not, and this shooting killed 58 people and hurt a lot more.

Mr. Still Hurry Up With the Exam Grades!!

Test taking has not always been a good skill that I acquire. Today I realized that I actually had the skill of taking a test and I actually felt good about it after I took Major Exam # 1. The major exam today in reading was actually pretty easy. I actually thought the exam was going to be way harder because Mr. Still made it seem like it was going to be hard. Studying has always been something I have not been good at. In high school I would tend to study as I was walking into the class and I would still pass the test because the review was just like it. In college I have realized that it is a whole other ball game. So last night I finally told myself “taylor you need to study, it is worth it.” So to prepare for this major exam I turned my phone on do not disturb and I studied. Turning my phone on do not disturb was really helpful because it did not distract me. Honestly I feel like I did really well on this test and there is nothing I would do different to prepare for another exam. The most difficult thing about this exam was relating critical thinking to recognizing bias. I did not know how to put it into words or really how to connect them together. The easiest thing about this exam though was the vocabulary. When it comes to words I just use context clues to figure out the definition and it becomes really easy. If a youngster was to come up to me and ask “how are Mr. Still’s short answer/ essay test?”, I would simply tell them they are easy if you study and to follow the instructions because some can be very tricky. The night before a test I like to sit in a hot bath and watch netflix. It helps my mind just relax and not worry about anything. After a test, if I do not have work, I like to simply come home and take the best nap possible. After all I think I did really well on the exam and I cannot wait to see my results.

ALL ABOUT ME!

My name is Taylor Ashtyn Johnson. I have blonde hair and blue eyes. I am also 18 years old. I was born in Orange, Texas on November 21,1998. I grew up in Bridge City, Texas for 10 years of my life until hurricane Ike came through and destroyed my house and the whole town. In fourth grade I move to Port Neches, Texas and that was a dramatic change for me. I graduated from Port Neches-Groves High School. As I was growing up, I only had one parent in my life at a time, and both of them were extremely inconsistent in being a part of my life. This caused a lot of stress and made me feel extremely small and unwanted at times. I needed a way to cope with all of the anxiety and stress that this caused and that's when I discovered basketball. Basketball was something that got me out of my stress and kept me relaxed as I was playing that game that I absolutely love. Durning high school, I played basketball and I was a four year starter on varsity. Basketball has always had a huge impact on my life. Growing up I was always known as as the kid that did not really care for school and I was always trying to find the easy way out of hard situations. Basketball changed my perspective toward situations like this. It made me actually want to go to school and pass because if you did not pass you did not get to play. Since of this new found desire, I achieved my goals and graduated to go to college. Right now, I am attending Blinn College to major in Dental Hygiene. I really want to try my best and achieve this goal so I can be more successful than my parents and make something out of myself. The absence of my parents gave me the motivation to become better than they ever were. This goal of mine requires two years of college possibly three years. I am going to achieve high grades in all of my classes and actually show up to school. Friends are a big part of my life and so are my grandparents. I hope and pray my friends will be along this long journey with me. My friends and grandparents encourage me to do my best in my everyday life. My grandparents pretty much raised me when my parents were not around so I hope that my grandparents are still around to see me graduate from college and achieve my goals. All I am trying to do is make them proud.