COMMENT TO LITTLECOE4'S BLOG ON "WHERE TO GO"

I commented on Littlecoe4's blog on her post titled "Where to Go"...Here is my comment in case you cannot find it.

I agree with LittleCoe4 about how scary it is to envision myself outside college. My parents remind me every single day about how poor the economy is, and that I have to take advantage of every single opportunity around me, because you never know what can happen. I have just figured out what I want to major in, but I have absolutely no idea what it is that i really want to do. In these times, is it necessary to have a clear idea of what you want to do at such a young age? It certainly seems like it. I feel like I should start pursuing internship and job opportunities pertaining to my major already. This really scares me. Today we live in such a fast paced world and it actually rather frightening. We have hardly any time to enjoy just being college kids and taking interesting courses. It is all about looking ahead as to what our future holds and how we can advance ourselves. I wish society would just slow down and people could breathe and not have to worry so much about what will happen to them 6 years from now. Maybe if we did all relax a bit, the economy and pressure to succeed would not be so horrible and we could possibly even be more successful in life.

Drugs?

While I am very opposed to drugs, and have never actually seen them, I hear a lot of talk about drugs on the SMU campus. To me, this is very disappointing and says a lot about our school. SMU are has a negative stereotype when it comes to money. Some even call it "Southern Millionaires University". It makes us look even worse when drugs are so prevalent on our campus. In no way am I associated with these drugs, however I just hear about people using them and having access to them all the time. It makes SMU look so bad that kids with so much money don't know what else to do with all their time. They are so bored that use their father's money to go buy a horrible, addictive drug to appease them for the time being. It could just be rumors, and I certainly hope so, but I just hear about it so much that I presume it is actually serious. 

Before college, I was never exposed or even heard about drugs ever, so it is simply shocking that people talk about it so much here and act like it is no big deal. Was I extremely sheltered in high school? I am not sure. I am sure though, that it is not normal to talk about drugs as if they are not illegal and as if it is okay to do them. I firmly agree that all SMU students have been raised well enough to know better than to turn to drugs in time of boredom, stress, or whatever the reason may be. It is unfortunate that so many college students with such great potential and access to an amazing education turn to drugs as a way out. I certainly hope that some day, drugs will not be a topic of conversation around me, or anyone at this school. Even if it is all rumors, I would hope that drugs are not something funny enough to joke about.

Twilight

I feel like it is important to address a very popular book in today's world, and that book is Twilight. While I do believe that all reading can be beneficial, I simply do not think that Twilight is a good as everyone makes it out to be. I have read two of the books, and I have tried extremely hard to be obsessed with them. For some reason, I simply do not understand what all the craze is about. It is a nice love story sure, but it is nothing out of the ordinary. The story unravels really easily and I feel like it is weird that the main reason the vampire likes the human so much is because of her scent. To me, that is not true love. Shouldn't he love her for her heart and character? I do not think there is anything genuine about Edward's love for Bella. Additionally, Bella is initially attracted to him because of his face. I think this book is just promoting love for the wrong reasons. They do get to know each other and like one another's personalities, but it is strange to me that everything in the beginning is so superficial and fake. I just wish there would be more hype over a romance novel with more development, sincerity, and reality.

COMMENT TO STANG

COMMENT TO MS. CHANNELL'S BLOG

I commented a few days ago on Ms. Channell's post "Who Cares if Johnny Can't Read?"

FP 3 Reason and Draft

I believe it is necessary to consider all the distractions that are going on around us in the world when discussing today's decline in literacy levels and recreational reading. Now, more than ever, there are ways to go online or see in movies the answers to many things that people use to find in books. If the answer is presented right in front of you, why take an extremely long time to read it in a book? Research is showing that this lack of research and true focus we are holding when reading on something easier, like the internet, is effecting us in very malevolent ways. For one thing, students become less able to focus in long readings, and results show there has been a significant decline in scores on standardized tests. Little effects like this can damage someone's ability to sit down and focus for the rest of his or her life!

Claim: Literacy and Recreational reading is declining in today’s world because of distractions like the internet, news, and movies which promotes conformity amoung the young generation, and discourages individuality.

Reason: Internet allows for quick simple reading and makes us less urged to focus on long pieces of reading, such as a book, causing an overall decrease in education.

Evidence:  “As teenagers’ scores on standardized reading tests have declined or stagnated, some argue that the hours spent prowling the Internet are the enemy of reading — diminishing literacy, wrecking attention spans and destroying a precious common culture that exists only through the reading of books.” (Motoko)

COMMENT

I made a comment on Ms. Channell's blog.