Final Blog

I think now that we only have one week and three days left is so exciting! We all worked so hard to get here and accomplished so much. This was my first college semester and it has been quite a ride. I got to figure out how much work is actually put in and how much you should be putting in to be passing or to understand the material. I had no clue how this would have went so I learned a lot about college courses. When I decided to go Post Secondary, I didn't know how I was going to handle it all, and I certainly didn't know what to expect from the teachers, other students, and the homework. I wanted to go Post Secondary mostly because I wanted to get away from high school. Lately, high school has just not been my thing. I am so glad I got this opprotunity and got to experience a little of the college life before I go off and be a complete college kid with a high school diploma.

Now that this semester is almost over, I got to register for next semester's classes. I like these Post Secondary classes so much I decided I'm going to do it once more before I graduate. Next fall I'll be taking three classes with RCTC. I've been trying to take the classes that will be basic credits to get out of the way once I go onto get my Associate's Degree. I change my mind all the time about what I want to do once I get to college, and recently I changed it again. I hope to have my own photography business. I've been taking pictures and editing them on my own time for years, and I get positive feedback from friends and family. I've also won a few photography contests.

I've been to a few college visits, and one that stood out to me was the Dakota County Technical College, and if I were to go there I would go for my Associate's in Photography. I've also been to Ridgewater College, but at the moment I have my mind set on DCTC. They were all so kind when I was there for the visit and showed us everything that I would be seeing as a student there in that particular program. I'm scared yet terrified for my future. I wonder how I will survive once I move out and start my life without Mom and Dad, but hopefully they will always be there to help me when I need them.

The Choice of College

I don't like to consider myself a college student just yet since I am only Post Secondary. I see how full time college student struggle and have a harder time than I do. Choosing to go to college is a big decision to make. I know people who have tried college, and failed, but are okay with that since they can still find good work for themselves. I don't think it's something everyone has to do, as long as they have an idea of what they plan on doing later on in their future.

Choosing to go Post Secondary was easy for me. A few of my classmates have been going, and they said how much better it is than high school. The first part of my Junior year was not that great. High school is overwhelming with unnecesary drama. It can get annoying to those who don't want to get involved, and thought Post Secondary would be my way out of it.

I applied at RCTC after all the paperwork at the high school was done, and was excepted. I found out that I was going to go PSEO and was so happy. When I went through all of the paperwork and the STAR session, I got to register for my first ever college classes. It was so exciting. I feel this is my way out of the high school drama and being with people who are less mature than they should be.

Body Tattoos and Piercings

I decided to do my research essay on body tattoos and piercings. It seems most people are quite afraid of people who have tattoos on harmful places or one too many piercings. I think there's a lot of judgement when it comes to this, so I am trying to find out what it is about tattoos and piercings that make people scared of them. I know when I see someone with big gauges in their nose, I get a little creeped out, but that's about it. I think if people have tattoos covering their arms and some on their neck, it seems painful, but it doesn't give us the right to judge their lives and who they are as a person.

I can be a judgemental person at times, but yet I hate when people judge someone by how they look. If someone has a crazy looking tattoo or a gauge in their nose, it doesn't mean that they've had a hard life, or that they are rebellious and are depressed people who are crying out for help. I think people who have tattoos and piercings, get them for a reason. In my community, people will get tattoos when someone they love passes away in memory of them. So when I see someone with a lot of tattoos, I just think they have some stories they have had in their life to tell, and not for us to just look at and judge them.

For my writing process with this essay, I'm focusing more on articles that people write about how they are judged on how people see them. I would like to read a lot more articles written by people with tattoos and piercings to understand their point of view. I hope to find more results on how people react with strangers who have piercings and tattoos, and how many people get tattoos or piercings. It seems they are more popular now-a-days so it's hard to think people judge people who have them even though many people get them.

Logical Fallacies

The biggest Logical Fallacies to me are the infomercials and television advertisements. I think the commercials for shampoos, make up products, and other beauty products are over exaggerated. When you see a commercial for shampoo and you see a woman very happy having the time of her life using that shampoo, you want to buy it because you think that'll be you in her place if you get it. Well, once I get it and use it, I'm not feeling like a supermodel having a great day, it feels like I'm taking a shower. Along with shampoo, make up commercials use celebritites a lot, so people want to look or be like that celebrity so they buy the make up, but they can't put it on like they do. I know when I go shopping for make up, I get the best stuff that celebirites advertise, but when I get home I don't have a make up artist to look like the celebrities do. So here I am with this top of the market brand make up, but am took scared to try and use it because I don't know how to apply it as well as the make up artists do in Hollywood that make the celebrities the way they do.

Another one that gets me worked up are the diet pills. They say at the end that you're probably not going to get the results you expected, and they say that you have to diet and exercise while taking the pills. I think if people are smart enough to see that, they won't waste their money, because they can lose weight without them if they dieted and exercised alone. They get skinny people to say how wonderful it is and show off their bodies and say they lost over 100 pounds with it, but they also had to exercise and diet along with taking the pills.

Medical Testing on inmates

While searching for topics, I found one that stood out a little more than the rest. I think medical testing on inmates who are on death row is absurd. It said it'd be better than doing the testing on animals. I don't think animals should be medically tested on in the first place, unless it has potential to help the animal. I think that the inmates that are on death row, are all ready waiting for their death and that they've been through enough and their day will come to pay for what they did. The prisons and jails have changed so much between today and in the past. They used to torture and would treat the inmates like animals because of what they did. I think it's a good thing that they are in prison and paying the price for their crime, but it doesn't give the right to torture the inmates and treat them like they're not human.

A big reason on how I feel this way about it is because I'm the kind of person who feels strongly about forgiving and forgetting. If someone makes any type of mistake, whether big or small, and they admit to it, apologize and realize what they've done was wrong, they should be forgiven. So even though these inmates have done so much wrong in their life that they are on death row, they should be forgiven if they feel they've done wrong. They shouldn't be treated like they are not even human beings. Even though they've made horrible mistakes, we're still equal and we're all human and shouldn't have these thoughts that they deserve to be tortured.

"The Glass Castle"

The Glass Castle was an amazing book. I don't think it matters what kind of books you're into, this is a great book to read. It keeps you thinking and something is always happening so you want to keep on reading. I couldn't put the book down at times when it would get so good. It deals with topics that interest everyone. It gets very emotional when it brings out the sadder moments in her life. When she talks about the hard times of her life, it makes me want to keep on reading to see how it'll end up. I love how at the end she tells how the children grew up. I was dying to know if the kids would grow up like their parents and their horrible lifestyles or if they would learn from their mistakes and do what they think is right. I was happy to find out that they all turned out more than all right. It surprised me when the parents would come to them asking to stay with them or for money for their wants and wouldn't accept anything else than the money for booze or food. I thought it was very nice how the children turned out to be and trying to help their parents at times, and gave them some tough love like they were treated when they were kids. I consider this a very good book and I would recommend it to anyone who likes to read.

Distracted Driving

Driving us to Distraction, was interesting to read. I was unaware of the new technology of what might be to help prevent calling/texting while driving. It's a serious problem with today's teenagers especially. Social networking is a very big part in the lives of teenagers, as well as texting and talking on the phone. I, personally, know too many teens that have been in accidents and some not surviving because of distracted driving.

About a year ago, the number of teenagers dying on the roads was outrageous. At my high school, we had lyceums, presentations, and guest speakers come to talk to us about this deadly effect on teens. They showed us horrifying videos and shocking statistics of teens getting involved with distracted driving, thinking that nothing will happen to them because they know what they're doing since they've done it a thousand times before.

I think it's sad how addicted this generation is to texting, talking on the phone, Facebook and other social networking sites. It's part of their daily lives, but I am also a Facebook addict. I go on Facebook everyday when I wake up and before I go to sleep. I don't text as much as my friends. I have a select few who I text constantly and that's about it. To teenagers, Facebook is like the morning paper. You see what you missed out on the weekend or the night before.

I would never attempt to go on Facebook and drive at the same time. If I need to text or look at a text, I pull over. I've only done that two or three times though. I either turn my phone on silent when I get in the car, or put it in the passenger seat so I wouldn't even know if someone called or if I get a text. I think it's a great idea to have laws for this. It can easily be avoided, and it's a foolish way to get in an accident, get hurt, die, or get someone else hurt.

It'd be a terrible thing to live with if you were the driver and had killed someone or hurt your passenger. Driving is such a huge responsibility, especially when you have other people in your car. When I have passengers in my car, my eyes are glued to the road, because I am the one responsible for their lives when I'm behind the wheel.