As most of us have experienced that freshman year of college is one of the toughest things to do. Either commuting or living away from home it can be hard and sometimes unbearable. But you just have to keep working hard and know that your family and friends believe in you and want you to succeed. That is the same kind of relationship that I have with writing. Not always knowing how to explain my thoughts and what I am trying to say writing as never really been a strength of mine. As I was reading the syllabus at the beginning of the year I said to myself “This can either help me or tear me down”. I was not going to let it tear me down, I wanted to overcome my writing problems and be the best writer I could be.
A writing that really stuck with me was when we wrote a professional biography. Before class, I had no idea what you had to write for the Bio. I learned so much how to write professionally and how text, picture, and your words can impact your readers. Just a font size and color and how your picture in the bio is can either have you considered for the job or put to the side. These are the little things that I would have never know if I never took this class and didn’t put in effort in the writing that we did in class. A professional biography will help me down the line for my future when I go to apply for jobs! This writing stuck with me because he was teaching me how to be a grown up in the real world and what I have to do to get noticed and potentially get closer to earning my job in my career.
This was my epiphany moment when I realized that writing should not be seen as a weakness but as something I can work on to help me down the road in my future. My writing blogs every week has made me a better writer. In the past, I never wrote every week and I was not used to the different types of writing and the rules of writing. Since writing the professional biography I have realized that I should want to write more so that I can become a better writer and learn it to become a better writer. If I didn’t put an effort into the class then I would have not have learned all of the writing tools that I have learned and probably not have had my epiphany moment!
Don’t you think a building from 1974 should be rebuilt? I think the answer to my question is a “yes”. Wakefield Memorial High School in Wakefield Massachusetts has been kicking around for about 44 years now. This building contains mold, bugs, ripped ceiling, gross old bathrooms, and an awful gross smell. For many years the school system has been putting new technology and devices into the high school but the new exciting innovative technology won’t work if the building is falling apart left and right. There can only be one solution, to build a new school!
The problem here is that the building is too old and is gross and many students feel that the wifi is slow and not every student can connect to the wifi at a time which takes time out of learning because teachers are implementing technology into the classroom. Due to the old statue of the building, it gives off a poor connection for wifi. Since the wifi is not always consistent some teachers ditch the idea of technology and technology is the new modern way that students will learn. But in today’s society, they are preaching teachers to use technology in the classrooms and for students to be using technology to expand their knowledge.
Due to the old building can lead to the sickness of the students from the mold that was spotted by students in the classrooms and bathrooms as well. If students are sick and missing school then they are missing out on their education and losing time to study and learn because they are sick. Students missing a certain of school days can lead them to failure or expulsion from the school. But if the school is making them sick then shouldn’t they be excused due to the school’s condition. My friend Julia who has cystic fibrosis which causes a production of abnormally thick mucus. This affects your breathing and you need to have clear lungs and respiratory system. With this condition which can lead to respiratory infection, Julia had to go to another school due to the gross school air. If this doesn’t scream problem then I don’t know what does.
Many students over the years have also seen my bugs like ants and roaches in bathrooms, classrooms and in the hallways. This is not good if there are bugs in the building because that means that the building is not clean and there’s food on the ground that is attracting the bugs to it. Bugs also get in due to the poor windows that the high school has and doors. Many students have sat in classrooms with broken windows and windows with cracks in them.
The easily feasible way to deal with this is to build a new school. The need for a new school especially a high school in Wakefield is a must. Recently the middle school was built over and it is beautiful, hopefully, the high school can get the same respect and drive for a new school as the middle school. A new school will attract all Wakefield residents to attend the high school instead of attending prep school which is happening a lot in Wakefield. More students attending the high school will bring in more income to the town and people will want to live in Wakefield because of the strong education programs. If the Wakefield community come together and all come on board then it will be easy to start the movement towards a new high school.
Benefits of a new school will bring money towards the town due to families wanting to move into Wakefield because of the nice schools and the education that their children will receive. Better schools will lead to a better learning environment like wifi that actually works for the students. More money towards the school system can also pay teachers more than they are being paid and we could even higher more teachers which will create more jobs in Wakefield.
Another benefit for the high school is that students will not sick from the mold and bugs that are currently in the building which means a higher attendance and more students will want to go to the high school instead of paying for private schooling. This could mean higher test scores because students will be missing less class time and learning more information. Healthy students can lead to a happier learning environment and better test scores and students completing their homework on time could go up as well. A healthier school will lead to happy students and happy faculty and a principle which will make the community happy and healthy.
A better school building can lead to better technology inside of the building which will expand the learning and knowledge of the students. A lot of teachers are using technology in the classroom but if there is poor internet then the teacher will be limited to what he/she can use. Technology is a big factor in expanding students knowledge and having them research things they don’t know and also to learn more about the subject they are learning about.
Overall, a new high school will make the community happier and improve the education that Wakefield High School students will receive and make the school more desirable to attend rather than attending private schools. The new and improved high school will attract more families and save the town money, due to not always putting money in to fix the school constant then have it break again!
With the access to every new social media site and every new app on the smartphone, we are slowly destroying personal communication because we have become more reliant on technology than on each other for social interaction. In the Washington Post by Masuma Ahuja explains how teens are spending more time consuming media apps on their devices than having human interactions. Social media apps like snapchat and Instagram are used for communication between people rather than a phone call or face to face conversations. Social media apps are destroying human interactions and their communication skills. Social media apps are destroying our social skills because people are not lifting their faces from their phones and actually looking someone in the face.
According to Masuma Ahuja, a writer in the Washington Post says that “According to statistics today’s teens spend more than 7.5 hours a day consuming media.” Social media is dominating the lives of teens during the years most crucial for learning social skills that will prepare them for the real world. Bingham high school psychologist Clinton Thurgood said: “I do feel that technology is having a great impact on teen’s social abilities.” There is a lot less face to face interaction than in past generations and teens choose to spend time with computers and video games instead of out with friends. Teens are becoming uncomfortable with in-person confrontations of any kind, even talking over the phone.
The use of social media especially on young adults is ruining their communication skills that you need to practice an obtain for your future and the real world once you gain a job. The main issue what social media is that it is changing the way people communicate with each other and the youth are gaining that confidence with using eye contact and how to talk to adults. Especially for young adults in college and with all of the technology at their hands sometimes it can be very distracting and take them away from my school work. Social media is destroying human communication and interactions.
Are we hiding behind selfies and social media behavior instead of promoting human interaction? For example from The Reporter by Nalia Lauzurique at student at Miami University shared that “I first noticed this issue when someone I grew up with failed to have a proper conversation with me. We were neighbors, but we used to call each other cousins. When I moved away, we stayed in touch through text and Facebook. Later, we ran into each other at a family gathering and he couldn’t look me in the eye.The only words he uttered were “hello” and “goodbye.” He lacked the ability to speak to me in person, but the next day he texted me and managed to have a full conversation with me.” This story shows that people will lose their ability to even have simple conversations if social media is not limited to people. I am not saying to ban social media but for people to notice and realize how much they use their phones to communicate when you could do it face to face.
However, there are currently 2.8 billion social media users worldwide, this means that over a third of the world’s population is using some form of social media to communicate. Social media has changed the way we communicate because now instead of getting highlights about the news and issues around the world we are getting the full story. Social media has created a way for people to constantly update and share content with their friends with little effort. Whether it is posted forever on a timeline or a couple seconds in a Snap, a picture is worth a thousand words and social media has created the perfect medium to share these visual stories with friends. From Pew Research Center for Technology and Internet by writer Amanda Lenhart says “Text messaging is a key component of day-to-day friend interactions; 55% of teens spend time every day texting with friends.”
Here is a fact for you from Jeff Bullas an advocate for the digital world. “Apparently there are 600 million more people that own a mobile phone compared to those who own a toothbrush.” Social media brings people together and connects them internationally so we can have that connection and expand our knowledge. When the youth population is exposed to social media it can help their learning and help them grow and help them towards their goals in their future.
Social media is a destructive way to lose sight of communication and interactive skills with others. It is losing the face-to-face and eye contact that young adults must obtain to be successful in their respective fields. It’s a sign of disrespect when you don’t make eye contact when talking to someone and shaking their hand and not interrupting them when they are talking. These skills you need to have can be delayed due to the overuse of social media apps and games. Social media is distracting us from our lives and taking over our time.
At the first sight of this movie, you will think how can a sci-fi adventure epic comedy in the 80s that features time travel to be a hit of the 80s. Well, you can say that Back to the future was a hit for the century. Who doesn’t love traveling in the future and having a rebellious teenager as the protagonist? Marty McFly a cool rebellious teenager who is the second person to time travel. One of the best actors of all time Michael J Fox stars as Marty McFly. This was Michael’s jumpstart to his very successful acting career. Back to the Future starring, Michael is nothing less than inventive and an exciting piece of the acting world that is impossible to forget.
Back to the Future is directed by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale. The main protagonist is Marty McFly, who accidentally travels back in time to 1955, where he meets his future parents and becomes his mother’s romantic interest. Christopher Lloyd portrays the eccentric scientist Dr. Emmett “Doc” Brown, inventor of the time-traveling DeLorean, who helps Marty repair history and return to 1985.
Back in the 80s, Marty is a 17-year-old is a friendly and easygoing but accident-prone character who can sometimes lack critical thinking skills. He is nevertheless brave in the face of danger and can be very quick-witted and intelligent. He has shown some good and basic street fighting skills and often throws punches in hand-to-hand confrontations. He is loyal to his family and friends, regardless of whether or not he is estranged from them. His major character flaw is his pride, which causes him to take unnecessary risks to show others that he is not a coward.
According to IMDb, Back to the Future was released on July 3, 1985, and was worth $381 million worldwide. It won the Hugo award for best dramatic presentation, the Saturn award for best science fiction film, and the Academy Award for best sound effects editing. It also received 3 Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe award nominations.
Michael J Fox’s acting career skyrocketed after his performance in Back to the Future Michael also appeared in Stuart Little, Disney’s Atlantis, The Lost Empire, Designated survivor and many more. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991 at age 29 and disclosed his condition to the public in 1998. He partly retired from acting in 2000 as the symptoms of his disease worsened. He has since become an advocate for research toward finding a cure.
Wakefield’s historic First Baptist church located in Wakefield Massachusetts was recently burned down by a lightning storm that struck the top of the church steeple. The lightning strike was due to a storm that occurred on October 23, 2018. The church is located right off of Wakefield’s town commons.
First to the scene of the accident was Wakefield’s Fire Chief Michael Sullivan stated “The church was lit up like a Christmas tree, you could see the flames for miles. The structure of the church was a total loss, and the damage is estimated to be noted of $20 million in repairs, the good news is that there were no reported injuries on the scene.” The flames of the fire drew dozens of people as witnesses to the scene. Wakefield resident Keith St. Clair stated “I was in the building attached to the rear of the church for a meeting and shortly before the fire alarm went off around 7 pm.” Mr. St Clair also stated, “I walked outside and saw a bright orange glow and pieces of the white church crashing towards the ground.”
The Congregational church served home for a concert band with their instruments that got destroyed inside, a 4-H club which is a mentoring organization and nursery school. A worker at the church Bob Levesque who also lives in Wakefield said “I completed multiple projects on the church and I started working on this church in the 80s, One of the projects consisted with working on the steeple and the tower from the top to the bottom, Levesque finished building the steeple with his dad.” “I was very sad to see the steeple fall and all the hard work my dad and I did on the church”.
Among the flames and the smoke, there were about 100 firefighters that responded to the scene. Captain Tom Purcell of Wakefield fire was one of the first to the scene “I have never seen the flames of orange glow so brightly and the smoke and the big pieces of the church falling left and right from the building” Purcell and his team along with many others fought the flames as many Wakefield residents gathered around at the scene. Longtime resident Mr. Burke stated, “It was so sad to see such a beautiful church burn down, my kids went to the nursery school and I wanted their kids to go as well, the church will always hold a special place in our families heart”.
The historic church will sadly not be rebuilt in Wakefield because of funding problems. The church was said to be an icon for the town and the citizens of Wakefield are disappointed that it is gone. The white steeple of the church that rose high above the town will always be remembered and the scene of it burning down will never be erased by the minds of the people standing at the curb watching it burn down.
We tend to gravitate towards binge watching when we experience more stress in our lives. But if you’re wondering why we crave fictional drama to replace the drama in our own lives, our brain chemistry has the answers. When you get home at the end of a crazy day or hang up the phone after an argument with your parents, whether you realize it or not, you still crave just the tiniest bit of stress. And what’s the perfect solution? Streaming television. Binge watching is a way for people to release their stress and watch other people’s lives. Just think about it, you’re watching your favorite show and your favorite character. You are taking a step into another person’s shoes besides your owns. It is a way to escape your real life and have no responsibilities. Binge watching is a drug for your brain.
According to Wayne Friedman in Media Post states that “Nearly three-quarters — 73% — of Americans said they binge-watched, according to a survey by Deloitte, including 90% of U.S millennials. Some 38% of those millennials also said they binge-watched every week.” Binge watching is taking over and reality tv is on a decline in society. Why watch one episode a week on tv live when you can sit down and watch 3-4 episodes. The most common reason for people to binge-watch is that they have free time. They are so addicted to watching the shows because they have “free time” no one really has this much free time even if they are a student or have a job because you should be focusing on your job or school work. This shows that people are lacking in their jobs and are wanting to watch shows instead. This relates to how binge-watching is like a drug because of the addicting sense of non stop watching of the shows. Like a drug addiction, a great TV show will become the center of your life. You will always be thinking about when you can watch the next episode. You try and fit them in throughout your day, and are always worried you won’t be able to watch enough. The fear of not having access to your show due to poor, or no WiFi, a dead battery, or any other reason will cause a great deal of anxiety.
According to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American spends around 2.7 hours watching TV per day, this adds up to about 20 hours per week in total. As for the amount of binge-watching we’re doing, a Netflix survey found that 61 percent of users regularly watch between 2-6 episodes of a show in one sitting. A more recent study found that most Netflix members choose to binge-watch their way through a series versus taking their time — finishing an entire season in one week, on average. A good TV show can start to affect your life and usually not for the better. You begin to weigh everything you do against watching an episode. Should you go to class or watch “Game of Thrones”? A factor in this decision is always time, as an episode of TV is conveniently the same length as the class. Or if you have decided to go to class, usually because of clicker questions, should you take notes or get in an episode?
When binge-watching your favorite shows your brain is constantly producing dopamine, Phil Newton in psychology today says that “dopamine is a neurotransmitter, a chemical that is responsible for transmitting signals between the nerve cells of the brain.” Binge watching too much can affect your brain. You can still watch your favorite Netflix shows just be careful on how long and how often you watch your shows.
Binge watching is like a drug because it affects your brain and the decisions you make and the way that you think and see the world. This will manipulate your brain and can mess with you and affect your job. Remember that addiction changes the brain.
The family is like a pile of stones. Remove one, and the whole structure can collapse. Your family is the building blocks of your life and if you remove them then you will be a different person. If one stone and in this case family member falls you have to be there for them to build themselves back up to be a rock again. You have to wait for them to figure out how to join other tiny rocks to make themselves a stone again. Which means you have to help them but let them learn from their mistakes and failures. You will not be a pile of stones with just one rock you have to be in a pack of stones. You also have to know that every stone is different and everyone is different and that is what makes a family.
When my mom went to England for work for a few days, let’s just say that the structure collapsed a bit. She is the backbone of our family, she is the organizer, the leader and the biggest supporter of everyone in my family. Not having a piece of your family is like waking up late in the morning. It is an awful feeling that no likes to experience. I felt like my world was collapsing and it was hard to do things. Having the feeling of the unknown is also a scary thought that I am sure everyone has felt at least once in their life.
Your structure is your family and when your structure of stone is being messed with it could make you fall and possibly break. But you must find a way to get back in the pile and back with your others stones to make a pile. Once you’re in the pile you have that security back in your life and you have the feeling of safety and trust in the other stone (family members) that you will not fall, but if you do they will be there to catch you.
The stones represent your family members and when they are in a pile that represents your family as a whole. With them not in a pile your family is out of sorts or if one stone is missing it doesn’t make it a complete pile. Also, that means that your stone could collapse and fall apart, then you have to find a way to fix the pile and restore the stones. Overall, your family should be your pile of stones and never fails to collapse.
Kimberly Ann Dziadyk a determined woman who persevered in college and was the first person in her family to attend and make it through college. The status of kids attending college is going up and up as every year goes by. Back when my mom was a kid not a lot of people went to college. Granted she was a commuter but she still went to college and had a job waiting for her after her classes. She would work so hard day in and out on school and her job. In the end if you want to go somewhere in life you have to take things into your own hands and do it yourself.
Every day she would wake up at 5am and drive an hour or so to her classes. She would stay there everyday then after her classes she would drive straight to her job then back home and do homework until 1 in the morning and do it all again the next day.“Some days were extremely long and tiring, after work I would have to go home and do homework and study for exams, she said”. Somehow she got through it, got a degree and now has a great job.
She never really got involved in the campus like she wanted to and never really could go for extra help so she did not do as well as she wanted, she passed but was never really on the high dean’s list which was her goal. She knew she had to pay her own way to college because she had a sister and brother that her parents had to provide for. They both didn’t go to college. She was determined to go to college and get a good job and live in a house and have a family. She worked so hard with her studies and at her job which paid for school.
Caffeine was her best friend, some days she would drink several cups of coffee just to stay awake in class and in her job. “I remember when she used to come home exhausted with bags under eyes and very worn out, exclaimed Marilyn”, which is my grandmother. Her eyes would be bloodshot and black bags under eyes sometimes. My mother never complained and just kept working hard, my grandmother was very tough on her to keep good grades and keep pushing because her education was so important. “My wife is the hardest worker that I have been around and she would do anything for her company and her family, no matter the task. And in a way you know somehow she will get it done, said Glenn Dziadyk” At this time they were dating and my dad only saw my mom on the weekends after her weekend shift was done with work. My mom whenever she saw my dad had the biggest smile and a positive attitude.
She was the hardest working person in the family and was a great inspiration to watch. She would talk no as an answer and did the unthinkable. Strong, determined, unstoppable are only a few words to describe her and even to this day. Some people say that being a college student is a full-time job, well she had two jobs then. Working in the busy city of Boston and being a commuter of Umass Boston then transferring to Salem State was no short of a challenge. Going from class to class and work and not knowing if you will have time for a meal that day because your so busy is something unbelievable and still to this day I am proud to call her my mom.
Butterflies jumbled up inside my stomach. Waiting for the call and not knowing the result behind it was like being in a horror film. The not knowing when the scary creature was going to pop out. That was like the call I was waiting for.
Thinking to myself “This can either be a good day or a not so good day”.
My five-minute interview could have gone two ways. The company saw that I would be a good worker and only needed a 5-minute interview, or they knew I was not cut out for this sort of job. The bakery is no piece of cake…. Get it! There will be tough times with orders and preparing the desserts and food but I was anxious for my first real job. A newspaper girl is not really a full-time gig. Sweat was pouring off my forehead and my shirt was starting to get moist, my palms were sweaty and no matter what I did could not think about anything else. Every time the phone rang I had a panic attack and of course the day I was expecting a call the phone rang 20 times. Not even my nana’s pasta could take me out of this phase and distract me from the call.
Still waiting and by this time I knew they forgot about me. Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock is the only sound that I could hear. Actually, I heard some pretty suspicious noises from my stomach because I have not eaten all day long.
Its quarter to four and “Ring, Ring, Ring” “that has to be it”.
Gingerly I rose from my couch and inch over towards the home phone. I slowly bring up my hand over towards the phone. My hand was shaking like maracas. I lunged towards the phone,
“Hello” I said. “Is this Hannah”, “yes” I replied. “We wanted to call and congratulate you on being apart of the Farmland family you start next week, I will contact you with more information, have a good night”. “Clank” Oh my god what just happened. “I got the job”!!
I screamed this around my house for at least 20 minutes. There was a ceiling of excitement that I could reach. My cheekbones were burning and I think I ripped the phone off the wall by excitement from the call. I know that I would sweat, get burnt, have angry customers but I was ready for the challenge ahead. Sometimes you have to go for things in life and there can be a light at the end of the tunnel. Putting yourself out there for things you want can make your life better and sometimes with more money in your bank account.
In Kelly Wallace’s article “When will women’s sports get the same attention as men” she is comparing women’s sports collegiate and professional to men’s sports. This is ultimately concluding that the attendance and support of women’s sports are substantially lower than the men’s sports. Structuring her essay to give her life experiences and what has gone on recently in the women’s sports world. This article is meant to call all female athletes and the few supporters of women’s sports to speak up and advocate for equal pay for professional sports and the same exposure of collegiate sports that men teams receive. Wallace is trying to advocate for women so they can have the same attention in sports because she feels that women are being disrespected in their sports. Wallace effectively convinces her audience that women sports should be equal with men sports collegiate and professional.
An example that Wallace brings up is about a collegiate team, the Princeton women’s basketball team. “.. did something no other Ivy league men’s team has done before, racking up 30 wins and zero losses during the regular season and beating the Ivy league season record of 28-0 held by the 1970-71 Penn men’s team.” The team earned national recognition but Wallaces point she says is that she wants “equal numbers of fans, TV right, marketing endorsements, etc.” Wallace wants women to have the same opportunities and not have to do once in a while accomplishments to gain headlines.
The biggest issue in professional sports is salaries. In the article Wallace states that “The average salary for a WNBA player is $72,000, which doesn’t include bonuses and benefits, while the average salary for an NBA player is around $5 million, or about 70 times what the average female basketball player makes.” Wallace hit it home when she mentions salary because not just in sports but in the world, today money salary for women is still not equal. Wallace has devoted her career to the advancement for girls and women in sports. If women are playing the same sports, going through the same training and having the same success.
Wallace goes into detail about polls and stats about women and how she will never stop advocating for women and their rights as athletes. Wallace’s main focus is to get female athletes to get them to play the sports that they love and gain equal pay for their passion and hard work. In the article, it states that “…. girls have more than 1.3 million fewer opportunities to play sports than boys do in high school and about 63,000 fewer participation slots at the collegiate level”.
Wallaces wording that she uses in her writing are words like “equality, women, men, sports, and attention. These are strong words that she repeats over and over in her writing to emphasize the importance. Overall, Wallace completed her message by sharing many stories and experiences about women’s sports and backs up her statements by stats and also facts about sports. Wallace talks about a serious topic and me being a female athlete I love that and I want to be an advocate for women’s sports.
Wallace’s message is for all women and not just athletes are to stand up for yourself and to have equality which includes pay and your job. She wants women to gain the same opportunities and it should not matter what gender you are. She effectively convinces the audience that women should gain the same equal opportunity as men in sports.
Travel with Hannah 