Last Free Write--Future

This weekend is going to be a crazy one! After this school week is over with is when all the fun is going to begin. This Thursday I have a hug lab practical in my biology class. I cannot wait until this is over because then it’s all downhill from there. The rest of the year will be so much easier. After taking that test, I am going to come back to our apartment and clean with my roommate. On Friday, my cousin, grandma, and aunt are coming down to Evansville for my cousin’s orientation here at USI. I am going to meet up with them after my one class on Friday. Then I am going to drive the hour and a half back home to pick up a purse I ordered about a month ago. After that I will probably go grocery shopping with my mom, and possibly tanning. On Saturday I might go walk five miles at a local park. That evening we are going to take pictures of my brother and his girlfriend at prom. The “grand march” starts at 7 and goes until 7:30. After that, parents and family members leave and the dancing begins at prom. Her dress is purple, which is my favorite color. I cannot wait to see them together once they are dressed and ready to take pictures. After taking pictures of them during grand march, I am going to the movies with my best friend and her boyfriend. We are going to see The Lucky One which is a Nicholas Sparks book made into a movie. The trailers on TV make the movie look so good. I just it’s as good as they say it’s going to be. I cannot wait to see this movie! When my brother and his girlfriend are at post-prom, I will be sleeping. They are thinking about staying up all night because they make their confirmation in the morning. After going to church and watching them make their confirmation, I will probably do some homework. I cannot wait until school is done for this year. Summer is going to be so relaxing. I will be working all summer and hanging out with my friends. Next school year is going to be so much different and enjoyable. This freshman year has been chaotic and stressful. I will be living with my current roommate, my cousin who is going to be a freshman, and a friend from work who is transferring. Next year will be calmer and less stressful. I will be around people who I can actually talk to and be myself around. It will be so much better and we will all go to events on campus together. I am looking forward to this weekend, this summer, and next school year.

Mercury Reader-Black Men and Public Space-Response

It is crazy how so many people accuse innocent ones each year of committing crimes and doing horrible things. I know they may mistake some for ones who actually do it, but people need to stop judging people just because of the way they dress or act. Not everyone is a bad person and it is hard to tell the difference between the innocent and guilty. People need to stop racial profiling, being racist, and stereotyping. Just because someone looks like they could commit a crime, does not mean they are going to. People should be cautious and aware of their surroundings, but not to the point where they accuse everyone they see of doing something bad in the future. Some people cannot afford brand new looking clothes and fancy things. People are too quick to judge others, especially ones wearing certain clothes. People fear some things they shouldn’t just to be safe. I guess it is better to be safe than sorry. Some, however, take it a little too far. They judge immediately upon meeting or seeing a person and they do things to avoid them. Some people need to just get to know people before they should be allowed to judge. Innocent people should not have to sing classical songs just to show the rest of the world they are not bad people that will commit a crime in the future.

Mercury Reader-Me Talk Pretty One Day-Response

The teacher in this reading was very sarcastic and harsh to the students. I believe the teacher wanted the students to learn the language and keep up with the work in her class. She just wanted her students to do their best and make sure they learned the language in the country as soon as possible. The sooner the students learned the language of the country, the faster they would be able to communicate with others in the country. The students, however, took this as an insult and didn’t care for the teacher. I believe the instructor’s way of teaching these students caused them to work harder. They knew this was the only way to get by in this class; therefore, they began to fulfill the teacher’s expectations and work harder to learn the language. If I was put in this situation, I do not think I could go to college in a different country unless I knew someone from back home that was going with me. That person would also need to speak the same language as me so I could have someone to talk to in our native language. I believe, however, that if one person goes to another country by themselves they will be forced to learn the language even faster so they can communicate effectively with instructors, students, and other people in the country. If I were going to school in another country, I do believe I could learn the language. This would be the only way to talk to everyone, especially if everyone spoke that language. Some students would think the teacher is rude, but everyone has different views on how people should act. The teacher may have been raised different from the students. This could be her way of getting the students to work hard and learn the language.

Debate: Are Tough Interrogations Necessary?

Initial thoughts about topic:
I believe tough interrogations are necessary in today’s world. Under pressure, most guilty people break down and tell the truth. It shouldn’t bother innocent people because they shouldn’t have anything to hide. Tough interrogations show the interrogators certain things to look for in people who lie or tell the truth. Ones who are guilty usually don’t make eye contact and are really fidgety. The more pressure you put on a guilty person , the more they will feel the need to break down and tell the truth.

Thoughts after hearing debate:
I was speechless after watching the whole debate. I didn’t know all of that was going on. When I read the topic of the debate I figured it just meant interrogators talking intensely to the subjects. I didn’t realize they were doing other things to figure out the truth from lies. I don’t even know which side to believe now because they both brought up good points. Some facts seemed sketchy and I don’t know if I believe what some of the debaters said. Some of the things were harsh and needed to be said. Now, after hearing the whole thing, I believe tough interrogations are necessary but not ones that are torturing. This torturing that they say is going on is very cruel. I cannot imagine those things being done to my family or me. If these things are true, something has to change. We cannot torture human beings just to get information out of them. I believe there should be another way to receive information from people who may know things. Killing innocent people just to find out the truth is horrible to hear and watch. I cannot believe these things are going on throughout the world today. This info could be life-saving as one of the debaters said, but I do not think it is worth the harsh punishment and torture. People should not be allowed to abuse the interrogation rules. The side for tough interrogations didn’t exactly have real facts like the opposite side did. The debaters who were against the tough interrogations had many more stories and facts in their speeches. People listen to these facts and assume they are real. I just hope these things they said were true. I don’t know who would lie about that, so hopefully they were all being truthful. In the end, I believe all of the debaters came together and decided they all wanted some sort of effective means of receiving crucial information. Some of the debaters for tough interrogations didn’t seem to care that those harsh things were going on. They seemed to brush it aside and divert the conversation to something else entirely. This is one reason why I changed my mind in the end. I didn’t feel like they had enough information to persuade me that tough interrogations were okay in the world. One person for it stated that people were tortured in every single war. I believe this should not happen anymore. It should end right now. I believe you do learn as much from lying as you do from the truth. The studies that one debater talked about showed that innocent people are dying because we want to find out who is lying. Some people are good at lying; therefore, we don’t get anywhere and innocent people are dying because of it. I believe this should stop since interrogators, in the end, cannot determine which ones are lying and which ones are telling the truth. One debaters against tough interrogations talked about extreme measures and how it is not effective. He stated that we haven’t seen the worst yet—revenge. This could come back to haunt our country. We need to stop the torturing and find a more effective way for interrogators to decide between truth and fiction. Tough interrogations should not be allowed anymore. They are not necessary and do not accomplish anything except killing more innocent people.

Free Write #2 Week 12

This picture is of my best friend Kaci and me after our high school graduation ceremony. We met and started hanging out together on weekends towards the end of sophomore year in high school. We were on the softball team together so we spent a lot of time together and slowly got to know one another. We have always been there for each other through the past 2 or so years. During the summer after sophomore year, she had a job but I didn’t. This meant we hung out whenever she didn’t have to work on the weekends. When she wanted to hang out with her boyfriend, though, we either all hung out or it was those two by themselves. I hated not doing anything on weekends because it was so boring. We eventually started moving apart once senior year rolled around. In between work and her boyfriends she didn’t have much time to hang out with her best friend anymore. We didn’t have many classes together senior year, but we were still best friends. Once graduation came, we knew seeing each other every day was not going to happen anymore. Near graduation, she started dating my brother’s best friend for the second time. She knew I didn’t like this especially since they met each other at my house. It made it awkward and we hardly hung out on weekends because we had so much going on then. Graduation came and went. We both went to different colleges about two hours away from each other. We still kept in touch, but I felt it just wasn’t the same anymore. We still hung out some weekends when we were home and weren’t busy. She began dating this guy I didn’t exactly think was good for her so we began talking a little less because she was busy with him. Since then we have been closer. One day she told me some information that would change our lives forever. Now we have been hanging out almost every weekend and texting almost every day again. I feel like so many things have changed with each of us, but yet everything is the same. We still know each other’s secrets and that has brought us closer together since college has started. I can finally call her my best friend again. I just wish she would choose better guys. She deserves so much more and her parents even agree. No one wants to see her keep getting hurt by this guy, but apparently there’s nothing we can do. She’s going to date him again and there is nothing I can do about it. The last time they broke up I was there and witnessed it. I hate how much he lies right to her face and wish she could see that he’s not worth it. I’m just glad we are best friends again and hope that no guy comes between our friendship ever again.

Free Write #1 Week 12

Today I am meeting with my advisor about scheduling my classes for next semester. I cannot decide if I want to change my major or not. If I do change my major, the thing is I don’t know what I would change it to. Right now I am majoring in Radiology. I want to stay in the medical field, but I don’t know what would be good for me to major in if I change it from Radiology. One of the reasons I am thinking about changing it is because the anatomy and physiology classes I am taking are very difficult. I already have to re-take the first semester of it because I got a low grade. I am in the second semester right now, but I do not have that high of a grade and I am afraid I will have to re-take this again too. This means I will be behind in where I wanted to be with my classes and credits. If I do decide to stick with this major, it will be hard. I will have to work extremely hard if I re-take those classes so that I can pass them and move on. I have to have a C or higher in them and they are difficult. Every week you have lecture and lab. Usually you learn almost the same thing in lab and lecture, but lab goes more in depth with the labels and identifying things. Lecture is more of just information. I am doing okay in lecture, but lab is killing me. I just wish I could be done with this class and have a high enough grade to move on. I want to learn the stuff and be able to know it in the future very well, but there is a lot of information to take in all at once. To get a good grade I need to study more and prepare myself better. It would also be easier if I had a study partner or a friend in the same class. One of my friends from work is coming here next year and majoring in radiology, too. Hopefully we can get in the same class and help each other pass it if I decide to stick with this major. Hopefully my advisor can help me and give me some tips, too. I know I should go to a tutor or something for this biology class but I hate knowing I need help from someone else. I don’t like relying on other people too much, especially if it is a one-on-one situation. This is why I don’t know what to do right now. Hopefully, I will know soon. I hate not knowing what is going to happen with this situation.