Response to Alex Noble's blog- Overachievers Reflection.

After reading Alex's blog on his ideal college that he would like to attend, it gave me ideas as to what people prefer to see when entering a college campus and what colleges are the most appealing.

He began his blog by saying two of the most elite colleges in the United States, Harvard and Yale. It was interesting seeing what first two colleges come to his mind when thinking about Ivy League colleges. Many people have high expectations when asking a student where they are attending college, to most students it is very hard to answer that question since they may be enrolled to a college not as well known as others. The colleges that first appear in the mind of people are always UC's, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Cornell and others that don't come to my mind at the moment. I think that colleges label people. What I mean when I say this is that depending on what college you attend it reflects an instant title of intelligence that a student has. Alex writes in his blog something similar to this point,

"When most people hear that someone graduated from an Ivy League school they instantly assume that they are of high intelligence."

This is not always true, I know many people that have been accepted to highly ranked colleges that didn't seem like they would make it. Stereotypes are often utilized when talking about colleges. I believe in the idea that although a student is not enrolled in the best college in the nation, at least they are enrolled in college. That college may be the best choice for them due to financial, environment and intellectual reasons. It may be the college BEST suited for the student.

Later on in his post, Alex talks about his perfect college. He states,

"I would want the college to have courses relating to computers and programming or cinematography. The college would have a good student center to do homework and get supplies for college life."

This is a good idea to add in his "perfect" college since it applies to the profession that he prefers, he also adds to the post by incorporating his hobbies such as being in the snow and skiing.

Elite Colleges. Yes or No?

The debate that has been going on in class is, will you have a better life if you graduate from an elite college? Why or why not? After reading the New York Times's debate on this I came to a conclusion as to whether or not elite colleges are the best choice to succeed in life.

The New York Times did an article titled, "Does It Matter Where You Go To College?" out of the seven responses to the question the least persuasive one was by Martha O' Connell. O' Connell titled her response, What You Do vs. Where You Go. Her main point was that, the college you attend does not affect how your life will turn out later on. Many successful people enrolled in colleges that are not as well-known, yet they managed to become famous. She stated,

"The “oohs” and “aahs” follow as the audience learns that Steven Spielberg, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates dropped out of college, that Oprah Winfrey is an alumna of Tennessee State and that Ken Burns graduated from Hampshire College."

Although her point is very much true in some cases, not every student turns out to be a celebrity mid-college. I can see where she is coming from when she talks about the outcome of successful college dropouts but I do not agree that it is the same for every student that enrolls in a average college. The way I see it is that celebrities are very lucky people. Connections through friends and family allow them to be successful, but without them the likeliness of succeeding after dropping out of college is very slim. What O' Connell is trying to tell her readers is that aspiring actors or singers will be able to succeed even if they are attending a minor college. I am not saying that smaller colleges are pathways to failure, I am just disagreeing with the way O' Connell worded her point. This is the post that I found least persuasive.

The post that I agreed with the most was, "Graduate School Matters More." by David Breneman. In his response, he declared that attending elite colleges for undergraduate school is not as important as attending an elite college for graduate school. He stated,

"If that path [Graduate School] is likely to be chosen, then what matters most is that the undergraduate college is substantial enough academically to give the student a high probability of being admitted to the graduate or professional school of choice."

What he is trying to say here is that if a student wishes to go to graduate school, the college that they attend for undergraduate school can be an average school more well-known than others but not as elite as what people expect. He backs this information up by saying,

"Performing at a high level in a good quality but not highly prestigious college may give a student a better chance of getting into graduate or professional school than being lost in the middle of the pack in a highly selective institution. The quality of graduate or professional school will matter more in the long run to a student’s success in life than the ranking of the undergraduate college."

Breneman implies that being successful during undergraduate school at an average college is more appealing to graduate school professors than failing at an elite college. He also says that the main aim for college is graduate school and if it is an option for a student then they can focus more on the graduate school they attend rather than undergraduate school. This was the most persuasive post.

My thoughts on elite colleges is that they are very appealing when applying for jobs and it is nice to see the reaction of people when telling them where you are enrolled. I would rather go to an elite college because of the many opportunities that will come out of it. Other people may look at it in a different way and I respect their input in the debate of whether or not elite colleges are necessary to succeed in life.

Unwind Book Post #3

During my group discussion about the book Unwind, a science fiction novel by Neal Shusterman, we talked about the protagonist character Connor being a hero in some ways and a criminal in others. Also we discussed his significance as the Akron AWOL and how many kids looked up to him as a hero. Many other questions were posed from in our discussion.

Connor, the hero of the book retitled as the Akron AWOL was very significant because of his change throughout the story. He was a dynamic character. At the beginning of the book, Shusterman hints Connor’s delinquent ways, by the end, Connor is a leader and takes the place of the Admiral at the graveyard. This is different from before because he was not as intelligent and did not understand his reason for living since he was bound to be unwound anyways. By the end of the book, he knows what his fate is, to be a leader. It was obvious that Connor already had the role of a leader at the graveyard under the Admiral’s control, but once he escaped the harvest camp, it was clear that he certainly was a leader.

Could Connor be considered a holy figure if he had done so many crimes? This question came up in our discussion. At the end of the story, Roland has Connor in his grasp and is so close to killing him, in spite of their rivalry Roland lets go. He could have easily killed Connor but chose not to. Yet in the book Roland is the antagonist, or bad character. Connor on the other hand has caused the death of a bus driver on accident, took down a juvey cop, took a hostage and stopped and entire freeway. There was controversy over this topic but we came to the decision that Connor’s actions were accidents and he was still a hero.

The book Unwind was such a great novel. I recommend it to everybody because it was really good! I’m glad that I chose this book for my final and too bad there isn’t a sequel to it.

Response to Alex T's blog-Forgiving.

After reading Alex Tang's response post about forgiving friends for their mistakes, I agree with what he is trying to say. In his blog he expressed his feelings about how people make mistakes and sometimes accidents happen but you can't blame the person for doing it.

I have mixed feelings about this statement because everyone is and should be entitled to make mistakes because we are humans and everybody knows that no one is perfect. If they did something bad by accident and they owned up to it and apologized then you should forgive them because at least they owned up to it.

I completely agree with what he is saying because not everyone is perfect. Mistakes should not end a friendship especially if it was only an accident. If a close friend happens to do something that affects you, you should not make them feel any worse for their actions. They have already apologized, although if it was something that was terrible, I can see how this person would feel like not forgiving their friend.

Forgiving someone takes a lot of courage especially if what they did was very hurtful. But it also shows that you are the bigger person, for giving them a second chance and realizing that they are sincerely sorry.

Apologizing also takes a lot of courage since it could be terrifying owning up to the truth and confronting the person that is very disappointed in you.

If a friendship is supposed to last then both friends should be able to get over their obstacle and realize that they are still very close friends no matter what. People make accidents and sometimes their actions can ruin a friendship. But it should not be able to destroy it forever.

Alex also adds in his blog,

If so, then have you ever forgiven them or considered forgiving them? If not, do you think did the right thing and do you regret not forgiving them.

If you can't forgive a friend then later on it will get back to you and sooner or later you will miss that friend very much. Losing a friend is worse than the friend hurting you by accident or making a mistake because now it has affected the both of you in many ways. After losing a friendship, it can be very hard to regain. What Alex is trying to say is that people should think twice about hating somebody for their mistakes because later on you will realize that it was a bigger mistake to let your friend go.

Response to Christy's post - Definition of Beautiful

After reading Christy's post about her take on the definition of a perfect girl compared to others I agree with what she is trying to tell her readers.
What most guys look for in "the perfect girl" is based on their body features. Not everybody is perfect, some girls could be really pretty but have really bad attitudes, others could be the other way around. What Chirsty is trying to tell us is that girls shouldn't be chosen by looks, sometimes the prettiest girls can be the most obnoxious girls you will ever meet. The girls that are overlooked as ugly, or not good enough are also the ones that have been through a lot of things. Being judged on the way the look makes them feel insecure all of the time.
Some girls that I know can't go a day without looking at themselves in the mirror more than five times, wearing make up and commenting on how bad they look. These girls are the ones that feel like they aren't good enough.
In Christy's blog she writes:
N

othing about being skinny is bad, but the fact that other than skinny is considered bad. We all know that being overweight is bad as in health problems but I am not here to talk about it. People judge others by their appearance and does not realize that they are not benefiting themselves. Sure you can make fun of someone and feel good about it but really step in people’s shoes and realize what if feels like to be teased everyday.

I completely agree with what she is trying to say and I think it is very sad when a girl feels that they aren't pretty because people have different ways of being beautiful, sometimes those characteristics are just overlooked.
Later on she states:

Yeah you get the point but what do they say to a non-skinny girl? Nothing except negativity. What this whole post is about is to explain what I meant about skinny girls being referred to as pretty.

My take on this is that there are skinny girls that are also considered "ugly" but at the same time skinny girls have a weird advantage. This is true and false at the same time. I think the real issue with the definition of the "perfect girl" is their personality. Everybody has somebody out there that will accept them for their looks, but sometimes their personalities can make them look ugly.

Unwind Book Post #2

In the science fiction novel, Unwind by Neil Shusterman, three kids that are scheduled to be unwound at a harvest camp struggle to survive until eighteen to prevent their bodies from being taken apart. Throughout the story, Risa, Connor and Lev run from juvey cops to save their body parts. Later on, Lev a tithe, becomes rebellious and runs on his own. Risa and Connor now have only themselves to fend for. Until they are eighteen years of age, their only reason for living is to be unwound.

In my group discussion, we talked about the differences between Roland the antagonist of the novel and Connor the protagonist. Roland’s strive for leadership has made him look to Connor as the biggest obstacle he must overcome to obtain the role as the leader. Another topic that we discussed was the confusion between Tyler and Cyrus’s parents living next to each other.

After Lev turned Risa and Connor into the juvey cops, he finds a new person to tag along with. Cyrus claims he is a “run-to” instead of a runaway. He must go to Joplin, Missouri to take care of business that he doesn’t know what is. When he was younger, he was hit by a car and had part of his brain replaced by another kid’s. As Lev and Cyrus get closer to their destination, Cyrus begins to act differently showing a presence that isn’t the same as the one he gave off before. Cyrus was being possessed. When they get to Joplin, he sees his two dads outside of their house, a couple houses down is the parents of Tyler, the part of Cyrus’s brain. We were confused about how Cyrus’s parents could be in Joplin at the same time as Tyler’s because if Cyrus was a “run to” wouldn’t he be leaving the place he started out from? If this is true then Cyrus would be leaving his home running to Joplin. Although this part of the story isn’t as important, it still leaves our group questioning how this could happen.

Roland’s troubles with Connor has gone on since they have met. When Connor is accepted by the Admiral, Roland finds his power lowering. Now Connor is in charge and people look at him as a leader.

For the last part of Unwind, I am excited to see what happens to Connor, Risa, Roland and the many other Unwinds as they get caught by Juvey cops.

Unwind Book Post #1

After reading the first section of the book Unwind by Neal Shusterman, the many questions that struck me were based on the beginning adventure of Connor, Risa and Lev. A question that I had was, although Lev grew up knowing he was going to be unwound, why didn't he ever question how his life would be if he wasn't a tithe? Throughout the book Lev is compelled to be unwound, thinking about it his entire life never made him doubt that he was going to stay in one piece. When Connor, Risa and Lev are hiding in the bathroom he devises a plan to sneak out and tell an adult that he was being kidnapped. Right when he was free from being unwound, he still felt that it was his destiny to be unwound. Somewhere in the book he talks about people not knowing their reason in life, he feels that he is higher than Connor because he knows what his purpose in life was, to be unwound.

In our discussion, Ebone Qualls made a point that Lev was brainwashed when he was born. Since before he was born his parents knew that he was going to be unwound. As he grew up the fear of being unwound turned into realization of his fate. Another reason as to why he was brainwashed is because he grew up with his close family friend Pastor Dan, obviously he was a pastor that reassured his future of being unwound. I agree with what Ebone was trying to say because Lev had no choice but to live up to the expectations that were set for him before he was even born. Lev's destiny was not fair.

A quote that I shared with my group was about Lev saying that although he was going to be unwound did not mean that he was an Unwind. I asked Tony on his feelings toward this statement because I was uncertain about what Lev meant when he said it. Tony Lin commented that what Lev was trying to say was that even though he was going to be unwound did not mean that he was a juvenile or misbehaving kid, this set him apart from being referred to as an Unwind.

My discussion with the group helped me understand the book better because my group mates clarified many questions I had about the book.