FIRST IMPRESSION: ON SELF-RELIANCE

My first impression of the article "On Self-Reliance" was that i thought it was speaking many truths that we don't really talk about but we subconsciously think about. I like the way the author worded the essay because it wasn't simply straight forward it was more complex but that is what made it more understandable.

STORY OF MY LIFE

About two years ago in summer I was invited to go to a six day training in Florida for an organization I am in. The time is different over there than it is here in Santa Maria because Florida is three hours ahead of us. Since I was not used to the time there I would usually fall asleep around two in the morning. On the third day I was in Florida my room mate and our friend decided to explore the hotel we were staying in so we took the elevator to the highest floor. When we got there it seemed as if someone else had just gotten there too because the elevator in front of  us had barely opened as soon as we arrived to that floor. We though nothing of it so we just walked out of the Elevator and walked down the hallway. We kept hearing the elevator beep as if someone kept pressing a button for another floor. After we explored the highest floor we decided to go back down so we went back to the elevator and as we walked closer the sound of the elevator was still going on. So when we got to the elevator we tried to take the other elevator that was in front of the creepy one but when we pressed the button for that one to open the elevator that had been acting weird opened instead. My room mate and our friend got scared so we decided to take the stares but we got scared at how creepy it was. We ended up going back to the creepy elevator and tried to go down back to the lobby but for some reason  the elevator wouldn't move. On every floor that we presses the elevator would close then open back up. We tried one last time and it was finally going down. As the elevator was counting down from eight to one the elevator went farther than one and went one more floor down. At that point I was thinking that I was in a scary movie but when the elevator opened all we saw were two more elevators in front and things crashing into each other so we went back in and presses the help button in the elevator and told security that we were stuck on that floor. We didn't want to wait long for the security to come so we decided to go to the other elevator and try to go back to floor one. We finally got to the first floor and as we were walking to our rooms the security guard stopped us and asked if we were the ones who got stuck . They ended up asking us questions and we were all scared because we didn't want our advisers to find out that we had been wondering around at two in the morning. This whole experience was scary but at the end we all laughed it off and ended up sleeping on one bed since we were tired and our friend didn't want to go back to her room.

THE VALUE OF MY TIME

For me ever since my freshman year I have enjoyed volunteering not because it looks good for colleges but because I am able to meet new people from everywhere and create new friendships. Community service relieves my stress and gives me a sense of success because when I come straight home after school everyday I always feel like my life is a depressing routine that goes on forever, but whenever i'm volunteering i feel good because i'm usually always doing different things that are fun and at the same time I am helping and fighting for our community to be a better place for everyone.

INVESTING IN ME

Honestly I don't know how I will start fundraising for my life after high school. I'm hoping that I will get scholarships to be able to pay for college or university (whichever one I go to). For now I am looking for a job to be able to save up for college and hopefully I am able to still be working while I am enrolled in college or university.

LETTER TO A MENTOR DRAFT 1

Dear mentor,

I'm pretty sure that I already know who you are and I want to say that I am great full that you are my mentor because of what you push me to do with my life. Although I am currently confused on what I want to do with my career I hope that you are able to keep encouraging me to do my best and focus on what's really important.

Poem Recital for THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyVQd9Zaf3A

LET ME WALK YOU THROUGH THE PEDESTRIAN

Leonard Mead in the short story of The Pedestrian  by Ray Bradbury was put in a situation in which he had no control over so he feels many emotions towards that police officer that had stopped him from walking. The police officer questioned Leonard for walking at night he knew that causing a scene would do him no good so instead he chose to write about his experience of being seen as a mentally ill person. Through the usage of tone, plot, and character Leonard is able to convey all of the emotions he felt when he was being interrogated by the police officer for a guiltless act.

This story starts off with Leonard taking a walk late at night and minding his business. This time frame is in 2053 a time where everybody is is consumed in their technology. A random police officer finds him taking a walk abnormal so he stops him and forcibly asks him what he's doing and why he's doing it. In the plot of the story a man doing a simple thing, but the police officer finds the man suspicious since literally no one in that time frame takes a walk just to breathe or to see. Leonard uses this plot to make his readers feel confused as to why he is being stopped and interrogated by the police just like how he felt.

Through the usage of tone Leonard is kind of like an outcast because he describes how the streets are quiet, and how he how in almost every house the lights are flickering from the home owners TV. Leonard is different from the others because instead of being at home and watching TV or being on his phone, he's instead taking a walk something that no one else does in that time period. In a way some people may relate to walking out at night just to calm themselves down, but others find it weird because they are always on their phone. To further show that he is an outcast a police officer stops Leonard for his odd behavior and ends up taking him to the Psychiatric Center

Leonard Mead is indeed a very interesting character because of how different he is. In his time frame everyone is always using some type of device, but he doesn't it and it is considered odd if he isn't using it. Like for us it is considered odd to be using a Nokia phone or to dress up with gowns from the 1800's. This shows that in his time it is reasonable to consider the thought of walking outside alone just to breath air is weird but of course to us now it confuses us because we're still not to the point of always being stuck to our devices.

Overall, this short story is very interesting because Leonard made this story to make us feel what he felt throughout his experience. Leonard was able to convey his emotions into writing. Through his use of tone, plot, and character he was able to get his readers to think the same thing he was while being interrogated by the police officer.