Weekly Calendar

MUST Do:
1. Thesis Statement for English essay
2. Do vocab words for blog
3. Go to job interview at Kula Sushi Bar

COULD Do:
1. Do laundry
2. Apply for more jobs
3. SLEEP FOREVER.

SHOULD Do:
1. Study for Music Theory quizzes
2. Do Japanese speaking assignment
3. Visit Kyle on Thursday

Blog Entry #5: Building Momentum

Although we are at a time where majority of the students become lazy and lose motivation, my life is taking a turn and my motivation is stronger than ever. All throughout high school, I have been slacking off on school work and careless about my grades. I wasn't necessarily the ideal student growing up, and it has taken me up until recently to realize that things needed to change. I had hit rock bottom where I didn't know what I was doing with my life, and it was a wake up call telling me to do things differently that will benefit me in the future. I'm done with my rebellious phase, and have been working my ass off trying to prioritize my education. I will admit, that it is still very difficult to willingly attend my classes and do my homework, but I am working on improving my work habits. My parents have not been nearly as strict about my schooling as much as I wish they would have been (surprisingly), and my older brother was never the older brother I'd look up to for motivation. I really never had anyone to push me to do better in school, so I never bothered to... But my boyfriend has completely changed that for me. He wants what's best for me, and he's there to push me to do well in school and achieve greater things. I had realized that the way I was living my life was not beneficial for my future, and if I kept it up, I would be dealing with greater consequences along the road. I no longer feel content with failing grades or skipping classes; I feel guilt and disappointment in myself if I do. I plan on keeping my education as a priority in life, and stay motivated to achieve a lifestyle that I am happy with.

Vocab #4

Indefinite (adjective): Not clearly defined or determined; not precise or exact.
Source Sentence:
Context Clue: By looking at the word, it is simple to know that vocabulary has to do with something that is "not," because it includes "in-" at the beginning of the word. It also includes the word "definite," which should be in most people's vocabulary, so the two combined creates a meaning of "not definite" or not precise/determined.
Sentence: The professor's indefinite answer left the students dazed and confused, unable to fully understand the lesson.

Ebullience (noun): High spirits; exuberance.
Source Sentence:
Context Clue:
Sentence: The crowd at the concert created an ebullience of excitement as the bands put on an amazing performance one after another.

Weekly Calendar

MUST Do:
-Go to the dentist
-Do laundry
-Clean & throw out old stuff in room

COULD Do:
-Attend bonfire
-Visit old friends
-Paint nails

SHOULD Do:
-Visit boyfriend
-Start pre-writing for English essay
-Hang out with Lillian before she leaves for SB

Blog Entry #4: Goals

Long-term goal: Go to a school of beauty/cosmetology
Mid-term goal: Get my Associates Degree
Short-term goal: Get a part-time job

One year later...
March 28, 2013

Dear Ms. Henderson,
It has been a year since I sat in the lab to type up a reflection blog post based on my short, mid, and long-term goals. A lot has happened since then, and I have been working my hardest to attain the future I had planned out for myself. This time last year, I was stuck in a hole that I had created by making poor choices in my life. I decided to quit playing games and really focus on providing myself a stable future as an independent woman. I had gotten in a car accident and totaled my car, resulting in being dependent on my peers and was having difficulty adjusting to the inconvenience of not being able to have a source of transportation. I had not gotten a job, and it made it more difficult to job-hunt without a car. But a few months later, my dad was able to find me a cheap, ugly car. As much as I hate the lime green color and down grading from a more modern vehicle to an old, manual car, I am thankful for my parents to be able to provide me with another car after carelessly totaling the first. I immediately went searching for a job in order to support myself rather than depending on my parents. I am now supporting myself with a stable part-time job, and am currently working my way up to earning my Associates Degree so I can finish up my courses with good grades. I had previously planned on transferring to a 4-year university in San Diego, because I enjoyed the campus and wanted the "college life." But I had realized that I would probably be better off giving up the "college life" to pursue beauty school- something that will get me where I want to go, rather than wasting my time and money on education that I don't necessarily need to become a beautician. I am making sacrifices for my future and I have learned to accept them. I have reached a turning point in my life and I hope to stay motivated to attain the lifestyle that I have been longing for.
Sincerely,
Amy Kawakami

To Do List

MUST Do:
1. Find advertisement posters for English essay
2. Read for Reading 96
3. Go to Michael's to return items

SHOULD Do:
1. Pre-write for English essay
2. Finish annotations for Content Area Project
3. Come up with interview questions

COULD Do:
1. Do laundry
2. Go thrift shopping
3. Paint my nails

Vocab #3

Rapture (noun): A feeling of intense pleasure.
Source Sentence: "The wilderness seemed to draw her in. A haunted look, Rat said- partly terror, partly rapture" (100).
Context Clue: I looked into this word thinking that it would have a meaning that's rather negative than positive, because the context around the word included "haunted look" and "terror," but I was wrong. Instead, two very opposite words were used to describe this "haunted look," which I found a little peculiar and caught off guard.
Sentence: She felt undescribable rapture in painting as she discovered her love and passion for art.

Digressions (noun): A message that departs from the main subject.
Source Sentence: "The sound. You need to get a consistent sound, like slow or fast, funny or sad. All these digressions, they just screw up your story's sound. Stick to what happened" (102).
Context Clue: I distinguished the meaning of the word by re-reading the passage and breaking down each sentence to find a definiteion that will best fit well into the sentence. Digression is described as something that would mess up a story's tone, which is something that is a distraction from the main subject.
Sentence: Kilbourne's essay bounced from one topic to another, resulting with degressions which causes readers to lose focus and interest in her initial message that she was trying to percieve to her audience.

Impassive (adj.): Without emotion; calm; serene.
Source Sentence: "All this was said without drama, as if to herself, her voice slow and impassive. She was not trying to persuade...then she turned and moved back into the gloom" (106-107).
Context Clue: I had a general idea of what impassive meant, by noticing that it started off with "im-" meaning "not" passive. I then skimmed through the passage including the word; making sure to include all important sources in the 'source sentence' because I believe all of them contributed to find the meaning of the word. Her actions were described as very subtle, calm, and insensible. I used visionaries to try to understand the setting in this passage.
Sentence: The students' unenthusiastic and impassive expressions gave the teacher a very unassuring feeling.

Blog Entry #3: Keeping My Word

In the past week, I kept a few short-term academic goals in mind. I wanted to make sure that I do my assigned homework assignments and not procrastinate, because I had quite an amount of reading to get done for my English and Reading class. I also set a couple personal goals, such as cleaning my room and doing laundry. To my surprise, I kept my word and followed through with my plans! As for reading strategies and study skills, I was able to adapt the skills I have been practicing in Reading 96 in my English reading assignment. I used the SQ3R and annotated twenty pages worth of reading to further my understanding of the passages for my class discussion, because I hate feeling lost and helpless when I procrastinate and don't read the assigned pages. As for my personal goals, I decided to make the mature decision of passing up a party, and get my chores done at home. I didn't want to leave it off until the next weekend, because I don't think I could have been able to keep up with my extremely messy and unorganized room, and neither could my large pile of laundry that needed to get done.
Throughout this week, I don't think I necessarily have any adjustments I have to make from last week to this week, because I believe I did a pretty good job keeping my word. Rather than making adjustments, I hope to keep following through with my plans and make it a habit. I am trying my best to make education my priority, and to do well in my classes. Therefore, I must stick to a habit of finishing my homework first before making other plans. A few goals I would like to set for myself for the following week are to go job-hunting, and do a little shopping for an outfit for Beyond Wonderland, which is coming up in a week and a half... a lot sooner than I thought!

Blog Entry #2: Car Accident

What was meant to be a birthday surprise roadtrip to Santa Barbara, turned a tragic incident in a split second. Three friends and I decided to go visit our friend and Santa Barbara City College student, Lillian, for her 19th birthday. We spent long  hours in heavy traffic, and the car ride gradually became tedious and exhausting. About an hour into the ride,  I heard my loud shout, "Amy!" And the tail lights of another truck collide into my vision. In a split second, heavy impact and traumatic change. My feet slammed on the brakes screeching against the asphalt, but there was no stopping, it was too late. My body jerked forward slamming into the steering wheel, after that, blank. As I finally gathered me senses, I looked around me to make sure my friends were okay. Thankfully they all were. We all shared a moment of reassurance and gratefulness that we survived such an incident with minimal damage. It reminded me that life happens in flashes, and that things happen in instants, and to be grateful for the small miracles in life. I am lucky to be breathing and alive, sometimes such a simple concept gets lost in the daily chaos of life.

Weekly Calendar

TO DO List
1. Blog entry #2
2. Buy Wilber a birthday present
3. Read English assignments

Vocab #2

Province (noun): Territory; region.
Source Sentence: "Stupidly, with a kind of sug removal that I can't begin to fathom, I assumed that the problems of killing and dying did not fall within my special province" (39).
Context Clue: This word is a noun, so I looked at the text around it where it was described as 'special' and where people are killed and dying within. These words supporting the word makes it easier to grab the meaning of it.
Sentence: The province of the land was destroyed due to the Vietnam War.

Jingo (noun): A person that professes his patriotism loudly and excessively.
Source Sentence: "Ifthey needed fresh bodies, hy not draft some back-to-the-stone-age hawk? Or some dumb jingo in his hard hat and Bomb Hanoi button, or one of LBJ's prettydaughters, or Westmoreland's whole handsome family..." (40).
Context Clue: I had no idea what this word meant, but in the passage, jingo is supported as being 'dumb' and hard-headed, therefore, gives off a meaning of obnoxious and not so mature.
Sentence: Because of his constant jingo attitude, it gave an encouraging and uplifting vibe to the soldiers.

Smoldering (adjective): Angry, displaying repressed feelings.
Source Sentence: "I remember the rage in my stomach. Later it burned down to a smoldering self-pity, then to numbness" (40).
Context Clue: Observing the sentences around the word, it gives off a very angry sense. Terms such as 'rage' and 'burned down' ad 'self-pity' determined the meaning of this vocabulary.
Sentence: The band's smoldering energy gave out an intense vibe as the crowd became aggressive.

Vocab #1

Shrouded (verb) : To be  hidden from view; disguised.
Source Sentence: "The very facts are shrouded in uncertainty: Was it a civil war? A war of national libertion or simple aggression? Who started it, and when, and why?" (38).
Context Clue: This word was revealed by the sentence structure used; looking at the words around it as reference.
Sentence: Lieutenant Cross shrouded from the truth about Martha's true feelings towards him, because he was in denial.

Monotony (noun): Lack of variety; repetition of something; over and over again.
Source Sentence: "I remember the monotony. Digging foxholes. Slapping mosquitos. The sun and the heat and the endless paddies" (32).
Context Clue: I learned the meaning of this word through a group discussion, and Nick was able to explain it to us. The activities they list in the passage are things that they do daily and repetitively, therefore, concluding to the fact that monotony means something happening over and over again.
Sentence: I do not like to live my life in monotony, because I often like change and variety.

Zeal (noun): Eager desire or endeavor; enthusiastic diligence.
Source Sentence: "Some carried themselves with a sort of wistful resignation, other with pride or stiff soldierly discipline or good humor or macho zeal."
Cotext clue: The word is being compared to good humor and pride, and they some what relate to each other.
Sentence: The professor approached the topic with a rather zeal attitude, whereas the students thought otherwise as they groaned and complained.

Blog Entry #1: The Things I Carry

         Behind this undeniable smile, beneath the positivity, and  deep inside this warm heart, carries a heavy weight of guilt and disappointment. I'm not the ideal daughter, sister, or student that I wish I could be. There's been unforgettable mistakes that could never be taken back. Throughout the years, there has been countless road blocks that has kept me from maintaining a steady life. Although I do my best to get through each day with positive energy, there's definitely those bad days that makes me want to breakdown. I associated myself with negative influences. I was young and naive, so I'm bound to make bad choices. I've grown since, yet I make my way around to stupid decisions and subconsciously continue to disappoint the ones I love around me. I carry guilt within my heart, as I begin to regret letting down my peers. I recently realized that I carry a huge load of disappointment as well. It hit me like a brick wall... When I've come to notice that I've never heard the phrase, "I'm proud of you" from my parents. Majority of the time, I am being lectured due to the mistakes I make. Therefore, I carry around a sort of escape from negativity.
          I carry around my earphones and iPod wherever I go. This is my escape method from trouble and keeps me sane. Passionate about music, it calms my nerves and relaxes tension. Music releases me from stress, pains, heartaches, and emotions. My earphones block out all the sounds and ruckus of my surroundings, and lets me clear my mind of insanity. It lets me forget about the feeling of being negative with guilt and disappointment. Maybe I'm being too hard on myself, or maybe I'm just being realistic.