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.

Yale Student Held at Gunpoint

"Library Visit, Then Held at Gunpoint", by Charles M. Blow, posted in the New York Times, was a very good article. This text stood out to me in so many different ways. When seeing the title you start to ask yourself so many questions, like "who is being held at gunpoint?" or "why was this person being held at gunpoint?". The article was very suspenseful and it also carried a lot of tension. It had me wondering what was going to happen next. Charles Blow uses the word "accosted" which means when someone was addressed very boldly or aggressively. After seeing the word "accosted" in the first paragraph it made me keep reading to find out what was happening and why it was such a big deal that the officer rudely approached someone. Charles Blow portrayed his son to be a very good kid because he describes in the first paragraph how his son is a third-year student at Yale University. After Charles stated this it makes you wonder what a student from Yale University is doing that he is abruptly approached by an officer. The language that Charles portrays in his article is that he is very upset about what is happening. For example he uses the word "fuming" which means he is feeling great anger on how his son was rudely approached by the officer and how the officer told his son to get on the ground. Charles also portrays how his son was really frightened by what was going on. His son explains how his "legs were shaking slightly" and how he was "really weak". This is a sign of fear and nervousness. I would recommend this article to anyone that likes suspense that keeps you on your toes ready to find out what is happening next. The strength of this article is that the author keeps you wanting to read more about the situation. The author describes in detail very well also about the whole entire situation and that is another good strength to this article. All in all Charles M. Blow is a very good author and his other post in the New York Times is really good. You should check it out!