Journal 39

My spring break was great! I feel like this was just a taste of what my summer will be like. Over spring break I celebrated Easter with my family. We held a party at my house for one side of my family, and I went to my aunt's house to celebrate with the other side of my family. I had a good time at both parties and I was glad to see my family. Not to mention, there was some delicious food to eat at both gatherings. I did not really go anywhere on my spring break, but I had a good time nonetheless. Many times I would hang out with my friends. A couple times during the week I went out to eat with friends, which was a lot of fun. Over spring break I also saw the movie The Host, but I only thought that movie was alright. I had a lot of homework to do over my spring break. I had an packet of history homework to do, but that was not a big deal because I had a whole week to do it. I also had to read the book The Jungle, which I actually enjoyed reading. After I read it, I then head to write a book report over it. Another thing that I did over my spring break was sleep. The week takes a huge toll on me and I am always tired. With my extra time I was able to sleep in which was very nice. I also got to spend a lot of time to start reviewing for AP Biology test that I am going to take. It was a little daunting, but it felt good to start the process so I can do well on my test. I really enjoyed my spring break because I got to do  all the things that I wanted to do with plenty of time to spare. I needed the break and now I cannot wait for summer.

Journal 38

I had a truly awesome job shadowing experience last week! I loved being there. I job shadowed a judge and  it was everything I hoped it would be. I really enjoyed being there and I definetly think that a job in law is something that I would really enjoy. I think I would love to be a judge. When I was at the courthouse I was never bored and I was fascinated with the workings of the court system. The judge that I shadowed was really nice and was able to answer all of the questions that I had. She really gave me some valuable information about the field. For example, I discovered what kind of schooling is needed to become a judge and what kind of degree I will need to receive. While I was at the court I was able to observe order of protections cases. Some of the cases were very interesting. Some on the other hand mostly consisted of paperwork. I think that it was helpful to see both the sides of being a judge. Another reason that being a judge would be fun is because I would be able to do different types of cases every day. This way I would have something new and different to look forward to every single day. I do not want to spend my career doing the same thing over and over again. When I went job shadowing I was able to observe the court on the day that it was doing of order of protections. Some of the cases were really dramatic , and others were not. If I were to become a judge, I think that I would really enjoy both a relaxed and an excited atmosphere. Judges also have to sometimes make hard decisions. You cannot please everyone and it is the judges responsibility to make sure that justice prevails. Overall, I really enjoyed my job shadowing experience and I think that this career is something I should definitely look into.

Journal 37

When I hear this song I see Barnes and Noble. This is due to the fact that at Barnes and Noble they always play jazz music much like the song we listened to in class. It is super classy music and makes you feel more sophisticated by hearing that sweet music. Since I think of Barnes and Noble when I hear this song I am happy because I really enjoy Barnes and Noble. Barnes and Noble is a happy place that smells like the delicious mixture of coffee and the paper of the books that fill the shelf. As an avid reader this smell is very appealing to me and is relaxing. The song makes me think of when you go to the book store and run your fingers across all of the spines of the book. Every book that you touch contains its own little a world. Worlds of magic, science, and so much more. Every book has its own story and that is what makes it unique. Another thought comes to mind when I listen to this song. I think of some classy speakeasy in the 1920's. It's full of smiling happy people that laugh as the spin around the dance floor. Maybe they even break out into the dance known as the Charleston. I picture a live band in the corner playing this song with all of their heart. This song has the ability to transport me into another time and that is truly special. This song reminds me of a better time when life was so much better. I never expected that a song that did not have words would give such clear and vivid images to my brain. I am very glad that I listened to this song today in class and that it was able to provoke so much imagery. Overall, this song made me think of another time and it also made me think of Barnes and Noble.

Journal 36

One of the most important things in life is to be yourself. You have to be true to yourself. I believe that if you are not, you will never truly be happy. By being yourself you are able to be the person that you were meant to be and not the person that others want you to be. If you are not yourself than you are fake, and living a lie takes a toll on your whole life. Why live your life trying to be somebody else when there is only one of you? I always try to be myself because I have only one lifetime and I want to make the best of it. An example of me being myself is coming up with my own ideas. Some people follow others blindly and just agree to whatever they say. I try my best not to do this. I try to research the topic and come up with the best conclusion for me. I always also doubt everything I hear a little bit especially when it comes from the media. Everyone has their own agenda and sometimes they are not giving you the message that is best for you. I like to come to my own conclusions, but I am also open to what other people think. I think that creating your own ideas are important because it is something no one can take from you. They can never make you believe something if you do not want to believe it. Forming your own ideas makes up part of you that is an individual and not just a part of the masses. Your ideas are a part of you and when you follow in what you believe in you are being true to yourself. Overall, I think being yourself is very important. When you are true to yourself you are able to do the thing that is right for you, and you are able to live a happy and successful life.

Journal 33

Sometimes life becomes stressful and you just need to take some time out of your schedule to reduce stress and reconnect with yourself. There are many activities that help me do this. My favorite thing to reduce stress is to read. I love reading because it takes me to a whole other world where I do not have to worry about what is going on in my life. For a couple hours I get to be in the mind of someone else and not mine. For me reading books is like going to see a movie. Except with a book my mind creates the whole world and if I do not like it I can visualize it differently. Another way that I get rid of stress and reconnect myself is by taking a nap. Sleeping is the best thing in the world after a long week. Sleeping helps me feel refreshed and relaxed. In some ways sleeping also lets me reconnect with myself. It does this by giving me a look at my self conscious through what kind of dreams I am having. Sometimes dreams help me to evaluate myself and realize what is really bothering me in the real world. I also like to be with the people that I love when I am feeling stressed. They make me feel better by just being around. I also feel like I can just be myself with them and not the person everyone thinks I should be. Being myself just takes the weight of the world off of my shoulders and lets me get back to who I really am. Another thing that helps me to relax is meditation. At first when I meditate I am a little bit bored and restless. Yet, as I continue to do it I feel better and better. Meditation really helps me to think in that it clears away all of the thoughts that are concerning me. Overall, I do many things to get rid of stress and reconnect with myself.

Journal 34

When  many people think of Self they just think of maybe one or two aspects that make them up and not their whole Self. For this journal I am supposed to describe my Self like Walt Whitman did. There is one problem with this though. I do not think that I know my whole Self. I believe that you discover a little bit about yourself everyday. I learn things about myself when I face the obstacles of everyday life. Maybe it will take me a lifetime of soul searching to find out who I am. Also, what happens when I change? Everyone changes. So, my Self is something that is constantly forming and reforming. This makes it hard to pinpoint my Self at this specific period of time. Self is supposed to be all the different parts that make up you, but what if one day I am feeling a certain way towards something and then the next I am in someway influenced. My whole perspective on a certain topic may have changed just in little over twenty four hours. I, however, will try to explain my Self, as I am in exactly this one moment of my life. I think that part of my Self right now is focused on doing what I believe what is right and what is wrong. This is very important to me. Sometimes I do something without thinking and I always will try to do my best to fix this in whatever way that I can. It is important to me that I lead a life that I can be proud of and not regret doing something I should not have. Another part of my Self is that I am a dreamer. I think that it is so very important to dream big. Sometimes you fail to meet your goal, and that is alright as long as you tried your best. By aiming high I also set myself to a specific standard in which to lead my life.

Journal 35

When looking back at the blog I did all the way back in September, I noticed that my writing seems to be much different. I would not say my writing is better or worse now, but just different.  One of the differences that I noticed was that my writing seemed to be a lot more formal when writing in the blog format. Now that we use a different website for posting our assignments, the post seems much more relaxed and a part of a discussion. I really like this because now my writing is not as dull and stiff as it used to be. I also like commenting on other people's posts in theory because I think it helps to see the way that they see the answer to the question. In practice though the comment box is super annoying and freezes. This makes me mad. My writing also used to have both an introduction and a conclusion, which is a consequence of the more relaxed discussion posts that we now do instead. I also noted that I had a lot of quotes. My writing still uses many quotes to support what I am trying to say. I have also noticed that I use a lot more support for my statements    then I used too. This is one way that my writing has changed for the better. Now I use literary criticisms more, which uses the thoughts of experts. Since I am using the thoughts of experts, this supports what I am trying to say. This has really helped me improve my writing. I also think that I have gotten better at citing my sources than I used to be. I am much more comfortable with using parenthetical citations because I now have to use them in every single thing that I write about.   Overall, only some aspects of my writing has changed. Some of the change is good like how I am comfortable using citations.