Highlight. Right Click. Synonym.

If you have read one of my previous posts, you have most likely gathered that I enjoy writing. One thing you may not know is that my joy for writing, is limited to the first draft. After I have written something, I tend to want to move on to the next thing. I do not like having to go back, read, and find my errors. For some reason, it is not as interesting as it was the first time I read it. It is safe to say that my first draft is usually pretty thorough and well done, so during peer review, people generally don't have much to say. This paper that we are working on right now, I got some pretty helpful reviews. The one thing that will never change though, is my love for the synonym tool on Microsoft Word. I generally don't use "mature words" and now that I am "mature" I need to use those words naturally. When I fail to do so, this button never fails me. This button can get you into trouble though, so if you plan to use it, I would make sure you know exactly what it means. Anyways, the synonym button is just one simple way to making a paper sound more mature while keeping your argument the same.

A Round of Applause for Wikipedia!

Many people would not find it suprising that I started this assignment thinking that Wikipedia was not a good source and that it should not be trusted. I could make a whole list of reasons one would come to this assumption. To my suprise, my article turned out to be basically flawless. It has sources, explanations, organization, and excellent information. The only thing that was ever wrong with the post was taken off within 2 minutes. Even though I am writing this essay to convince my audience that Wikipedia is a good source, I believe that it is only fair to show its flaws as well. Unfortunately, using my article, it is impossible! I guess in a way... thats good. All I'm trying to say is, I'm having problems with my article being TOO perfect.

A Little Piece of Me

One thing that I love to do is writing. Unfortunately, the things we love are not always the things we are good at. When I moved from Alabama to Michigan, I experienced a lot of emotions that I did not quite know how to handle. This was the time that I discovered my passion for expressing myself in written words. For a while I wrote non-stop, but eventually the phase calmed down. Occasionally, I did write something great for school or church. The piece that stands out to me the most was a "sermonette" that I wrote for church last spring. It was basically the story of what I did on a mission trip, and how it changed my life. I spent my time on it and put my personality into every word. I felt extremely proud of this because although I was nervous to speak in front of A LOT of people, I conquered that fear and shared something from my heart. Following the service, everyone talked about how much they loved my speech and even encouraged me to go into public speaking. (Which will definitely not happen!) Two people even asked me for copies of it which made me feel so good inside. Although I do not always have the creativity to back up my passion for writing, when I do something great, I am always proud! I have no doubt that writing will always be a little piece of me.

"The surest way not to fail is to determine to succeed."

I used to be extremely disappointed in myself even though the grades I got were exactly what I had deserved. Getting a report card was always hard because it would remind me that I was not working to my full potential and that my academic chances were pretty much going down the drain. Now, I am always excited to see my report card. Last semester, my GPA was a 3.87 and I can’t possibly be more proud of myself. I am committed to getting good grades from here on out and for the first time in my life I truly see the results of hard work. I am not sure why I did not do better and work harder in high school, but I have decided to focus on the future and my classes now. Hopefully, this hard work will pay off and I will be able to accomplish my dreams for the future.