Hawthorne's Blog

See Ya!!!

Although I had no one to write to, it was a nice let off for me or rather an outlet to talk about college life and where I’m struggling and where I’m succeeding. It gave me a sort of realization of where I was and what I really liked about the college I attend. Anyway, if anyone wants to read this, I wish you all well and hope you have a great, and successful life.

Thanksgiving

Hey there!

Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving, as did I. I went to my cousin's house to enjoy an enormous feast. I usually go to my aunt's house, however this year she took her family to Florida for the holiday. It was different not seeing half of my family for the great T-Day, but it was nice to see the family I usually wouldn't have. It's always fun to enjoy family and friends for any holiday, especially this one becuase you get to eat so much with them. How was your Thanksgiving? What did you do? What did you eat? Was it good? Anyway, just something to think about.

Schoolwork

If anyone wants to know about schoolwork, chime in. Over the past weekend, I have had so much homework that I'm going insane. I am in an analytical film class (which means you watch movies and write papers). This class I had to write a major essay in which I had to rent a foreign film, watch it shot by shot and anylyze the meaning of it. This was a five page paper. It was very difficult to complete. This was due monday. I had another five to six page paper due today, and a Math exam also. Oh yea, and I had another psychology test yesterday as well in which you had to read a chapter in the text book that was fifty (text book) pages long. All in all, it was not a fun weekend. I had no time to do anything else. I guess this is just the teachers getting in what they need to in time for the semester to end. It is not fun. Its somewhat ok though, because I have a bit of a break now.

Good Student Tips

Some tips for being a good student are as follows:

1.) Do all of your homework right after school. This is a great tip that I didn't learn until the last few years of grade school. If I had learned this earlier, I probably would have been a better student than I was. When I found this out, I was so excited to do this that I did it everyday and life was so much easier. After your homework, you can do anything you want.
2.) Actually study for tests. If you don't study and want to do better, this one's for you. Ten minutes a day is profoundly helpful and was significant in my getting better grades.

Second Round To Lincoln

I am writing about two interesting aspects of college life.
1.) You can come and go as you please. For some classes at the U, the teachers don't care if you are in class, but rather that you know the information that will be on the exams and that you turn in all your work. There are many things that you are expected to do for class but many and sometimes most them are not checked daily. This means that you can push assignments off until you have time to do them, but this is not necessarily a good thing to do.
2.) There are many things to do at the U. If you have an interest, chances are there is a club or an organization that corresponds to it. For instance, I play the Scottish Highland Bagpipes, and I looked around and there is actually a Bagpiping Club at the great University of Minnesota. I think that because of its size and diversity, there are a greater number of people that like and do different things. This adds to the overall feeling of comfort and likeness of the U. You can connect to different people and make it feel like the university is much smaller than it actually is.

About Essay #2

I started out thinking that this essay was going to be extremely difficult. I didn't know how we were going to formulate and execute such a broad subject into one essay; on that note I didn't know if we were even going to have enough info. on our students to fill this essay. When Jerry told us that the time was nearing and we still didn't have very much needed contact, he reviewed the essay assignment and told us it was to be more of a factual essay, especially the first draft. I was immediately relieved, and it became less of a stress producing machine. I just kept reminding myself that I like writing essays, or that's what I told myself anyway. I was still sweating it until I wrote my last blog entry. This relaxed me and provided a way for me to prewrite before I prewrote. This helped me a lot and I am very comfortable now with begining to write this essay.

Comparison to Lincoln

This is a comparison or rather, contrasting aspect between the education and school life of a Lincoln student and me.
As one of my brainstorming activity points, I selected the fact that in all probability, the students at Lincoln did not feel as comfortable as did I. Firstly, let me make the point that I was educated in a private Roman Catholic primary and secondary school, so the experiences were probably more extreme (in that they were at more opposite ends of the spectrum) than that of a public school student would have been. This causes for some very interesting comparisons in that of my education and theirs (Lincoln students).
I wore a school uniform for thirteen years of my life, and loved every minute of it. It gave us a sort of subconscious security, in that there was less you had to worry about. You didn't have to wake up two hours earlier just to decide what you were going to wear. You didn't have to go out and try to buy the newest and best shoes or sweatshirt to outdo anyone. You all looked the same; yes, ugly, but the same. It was often a point of conversation--the uniforms. A very light one at that.
The school was a predominately white, upper middle-class setting. The teachers as well as students were in this category. We usually never had to worry about paying for lunch (unless you forgot to bring money that day) or field trips or anything over tuition. It was never a point of concern.
I felt safe at school. Nothing was ever going to happen to me. Even though we were in the inner St. Paul city, and there were no guards or officers on duty, I felt extremely safe. It was a very comforting, warm feeling. There were never threats of sexual offenders on the loose or even close to us, like so many of Lincoln students I'm sure are worried about. School was a safe, fun environment and one I wish everyone could feel, and experience.

Three Observations About Lincoln

Firstly, I think the most obvious thing about the school in general is the race and the percentage of minority students who go there. It is 70% African American, 26% Asian American, then whites following with 2% and finally, Native American with one percent. This is a major difference from the school I attended. I could count on one hand the number of black students in my grade which was heavily white. Secondly, the scores on the yearly exams are much lower than the State average. Lastly, the number of children on the free or partial payment lunch program is staggering. This is a major flag here about the income of the families who send their children to Lincoln.

Shitty First Drafts

Nor do they go about their business feeling dewy or thrilled.
I don't know why she said this about writers. I think if they have to get up every morning, and force themselves kicking and screaming to write something then they shouldn't be doing this. When I have to write for English class or something other, this is what it is like for me. I hate it. I cannot stand writing. This is why I am not going to be a writer. If this is what Anne Lamott thinks all writers go through, I don't know why anyone would put themselves through that to make a living.

Shitty First Drafts

Introducing Yourself

1. I live on the East side of St. Paul, MN. I live very close to Harding High School which more are familiar with.
2. I liked the relationships I had formed throughout my tenure as a student. I disliked how quickly my high school career seemed to move.
3. I am not going to say--this would be unfair to both parties.
4. Excellent. The teachers I've had seemed to be more of a mentor to me and really cared about the individual more than anything else.
5. Very early on. The lawn crew I held a summer job with in which its entire work force had not yet gotten their high school diploma. It was very hard work for little pay and very long hours (14 hour days at some points).

I play the Great Highland Bagpipes (of Scotland) and have been for six and a half years. I play in a pipe band in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are Grade One (top grade in the world). We rank in the 6th to 10th in the world on a yearly basis. I've gone all over the world with this talent and take it very seriously. I am very grateful to have an outlet such as this.