Extra Credit Post: Greatest Achievement this Semester

This semester my greatest achievement was in my public speaking class. I learned to deal with my shyness and to talk in front of an audience. This class has taught me to overcome my fear of speaking in front of a crowd and also taught me to have better listening skills. I learned to be very attentive of others and give them feedback on their speech. This class will help me with my future career of becoming an occupational therapist. I will be able to talk to patients without stuttering and learn to listen to the patient instead of telling them what to do. In this career field listening and patience is big and so I am glad that I learned these skills in my public speaking class. I did very well on my speeches. We may think that we may never need public speaking skills, but in reality we use it for many things in our daily lives. When we associate others we need to know how to approach someone and speak to them confidently. We may use these skills at work, for a presentation, or even at your friends wedding. Taking this class has increased my self confidence, made me more comfortable in front of other people, and prepare me for the workforce. I learned a lot in a short amount of time. It was also very fun, a lot of speech topics were very fun and enjoyable to listen to. I would take the class again if I could or another communications class to improve my speaking skills.

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#9: Reflection

This past semester I have learned to keep track of my assignments better with this blog. I remember when I have one to do and I stay consistent with it. What I liked about having a blog this semester was that I had the choice to customize my site and make it special to me. My experience was great, getting to explore the site and read my other peers blog posts interested me. If I were to do a blog again, I would write about my daily life, the things that I do everyday, my hobbies, advice on lifestyle, and talk about the trips that I go on. I would make it connect with my life more. I would like to write about fashion, traveling, and food. I would design my theme to match my topics more. I think I would put more effort into my writings if I had a larger audience that views my posts. Knowing that it is not that easy to go big with these types of things, I would most likely not keep track of it as well as I did when taking the class. This class help me stay on tasks and stay up to date with the posts. I tend to get bored with things if I am not that into it. Sure, I like to write, but if I am only writing to myself I don’t see a point. I would probably never keep a blog again after this class ends. I cannot envision myself doing such things.

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#8: How Technology Impacted Has Impacted How I Read and Write

Technology is definitely big in our society today. It has a big role in our lives everyday. Technology has definitely made me more lazy with writing. I have not wrote a letter to anyone in over ten years, the closest I have gotten to a formal letter is a birthday or thank you card. Now, we can just type our birthday and thank you messages in an email, instant message, text message, or on social media. Technology is very efficient and quick though, it helps us communicate with each other quickly instead of waiting a week to receive a letter. In the near future I believe that any form of writing will just be electronic. Technology has impacted me both positively and negatively, but I believe that there is a middle ground to many things like technology. I am so dependent on technology now that I do not think I can live without it. I barely read anything anymore if it does not come from my phone or an electronic device. I do not think that technology has made me forget how to write because in school we still have certain assignments where we have to hand write things. I hope that in the near future my children will still learn to read and write efficiently without the use of technology. Although it is a great tool to use and assist us in our lives, learning how to do things manually is important. Because what if your laptop or iPad breaks? Then how do you know how to write things out.

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#7: A Letter to My Grandfather in Heaven

Dear Ong Noi (Grandpa in Vietnamese),

I miss you dearly. There was so much that I did not get to tell you about. After you fell and had brain surgery, you were in a coma for three years. You recently got called to heaven, I’m sure god is taking good care of you. Grandma must have been anxious to see you. Ong, you were what brought our family together. Without you the connection is not the same. My heart wrenches every time that I remember the time when you told me “I don’t think I will be alive to see you graduate high school”. You are a strong man to have lived until 93. I just wanted to let you know that I met my boyfriend the same week that you fell, you never really got the chance to meet him but I assure you that he takes good care of me. I know you probably won’t approve that your youngest granddaughter has a boyfriend, but he is a good soul. I know how much you care about education. I may not have graduated high school with honors, but i’m trying my best in college for you. I am determined to graduate college with honors. And when I do it, I hope that you will see. You are not only my grandpa, but you are my role model as well. I look up to you, you performed so many good deeds in your life. You are the kindest person in this world, I aspire to be like you. Sometimes I think back and I wish that I had more time to bond with you. If only I could drive before you went into a coma. I wish I could have grandpa and granddaughter bonding days with you. I would take you out to eat your favorite foods and take over dad’s place in taking you for your haircuts. You would always give me the little things that you had, whether if it was cookies or twenty bucks. When you laugh it’s so cute because you don’t really have teeth and you just look like a little kid. I know you don’t find that funny as I do, but seeing you laugh made me laugh. You were so strong, you never wanted help with anything that you did. Even if something was difficult, you would always figure it out. You were so involved with the Vietnamese community and everyone knew you. You would always give to charities in Vietnam and when someone was in need of help, you would offer to help. I wish that I understood formal Vietnamese more, so that I could take the time to read the book that you wrote about your life. You are such a well rounded man, each and everyone of your sons, daughters, and grandchildren holds a special characteristic from you. You make us who we are. We love and miss you dearly.

Love,

Sophie

#6: The Greatest Impact on My Life

My parents are the ones that have gotten me to be where I am today. Growing up in an asian family education is the top priority. It is a stereotype that asians are “super smart”. I on the other hand, did not fall into that stereotypical category. I did not get the best of grades as a kid, but I did not do poorly. I was just your average kid. As I got older, I realized that you did not have to be super smart to get good grades and I pushed myself to perform better to show my true ability. Things started looking up for me in my last two years of high school, I stopped getting C’s and I had more A’s than B’s. My parents never really got upset with me though, they encouraged me to do better. They know that things can get hard and since they do not know English well they could never help me with assignments in school. Some parents shame you for your bad grades, my parents never did. My parents always gave me support mentally and physically, what more could I have asked for. Everything I do from here on, is for my parents. I want to make them proud knowing that their “not so perfect” daughter is doing big things and becoming successful in life. Although my parents played a big role in making sure that I am where I am today, my boyfriend also played a big role in supporting and helping me.

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#5: My Significant Other

Have you ever met someone who has changed your life? I met my significant other when I was just fifteen years old and now I am nineteen. My significant other is a person that I can trust my life with. He doesn’t get jealous, he trusts me, he supports me, and most importantly he loves me for me. I don’t know what I would do without my significant other. He is what motivates me to do better. When I was in high school my grades were not terribly bad, but I did not do as well as I wanted in my first two years. After I met him, he encouraged me to do better and now here I am with a 3.7 GPA in college. I have never met someone like my significant other, he always knows how to cheer me up on any bad day. I was going through a bad time before I met him, I was a completely different person and I wasn’t myself. As time went on, he brought the old me back. He brings out the best of me and I appreciate him. My significant other is tall, he has pretty brown eyes, he’s funny, he is smart, creative, and most importantly he has a big heart. When I see my significant other, I see my other half. We get along so well and we have a bond that is unbreakable. Even though he lives an hour away and things can get difficult, we manage to look past it because we value our relationship so much.

#4: The Joys of Summer

Summer is when school finally ends and when you finally become stress-free. I love summer because I don’t have to wake up for classes or stress about exams coming up, but sadly this summer I am here taking this course. What I really love about summer is getting to dress cute, going out with my friends, and staying out late. When it is summer the sun doesn’t set until nine o clock, so I can stay out longer. Summer is when I get to travel and go on vacation with my friends and family. I love summer because I can go to the beach or go swimming, but really I just want to tan. The past few years in the summer I have traveled to, California, Chicago, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, Maryland, and so much more! I also love summer because I can eat ice cream without feeling guilty. This summer I am going to be traveling to France with my mom to visit my aunt and grandmother. I will be going to the beach and to Paris. What I don’t enjoy about summer is the bugs, creepy crawlers coming into your house, biting you when you’re outside, or just the sight of them creeps me out! Summer’s and humid weather also makes me sweat, I don’t know if I should feel happy that I’m burning fat walking around in the hot air or sad because I feel gross and sticky. Summer is a time to have fun and enjoy yourself. I love summer so much because it gives me so much energy!

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#3: Something I Am Passionate About

I am passionate about music. Music is unique, it can come with different pitches, beats, rhythm, melody, voices and so much more. I find music to be like art, artists get very creative with their style of music. Music has helped me with so much in life and I cherish it. I grew up with many different forms of music. My dad plays in a Vietnamese band and I was introduced to sing when I was just three years old. I believe that is why I love music so much and because my dad loves it, he is the first person to introduce me to music. In Asian culture, when you turn one years old, they give you a plate filled with different items like a microphone, a mirror, a pencil, or other things that the parents want to add. Whatever the child chooses will determine their career or interests in the future. I chose a microphone and a mirror and that is why i believe I love to sing and I love music. The mirror was not very relevant, but I do look at myself in the mirror quite a bit.  I find every type of music to be unique, I may not like all of the genres, but I consider them to be interesting and unique. I cannot live without music, a day without music is like a day without water. I am always listening to music whether if it is to study, to workout, or to help me fall asleep. Music has also helped me coped through hard times like a heartbreak, I find myself to relate to certain songs. Listening to a certain song that I really connect with

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and relate to gets to me, and I usually end up crying, but after all of the tears I feel better. Music can help you, music can make you happy, sad, music can even motivate you.

#2: The Happiest Moment of My Life

One of the most happiest moments of my life was meeting my best friend in 5th grade. I have never met a friend that I could connect with so well or a friend that would stay my friend until now. She is a kind, considerate, and beautiful person. I am glad that I met her. We have grown up together. We have also traveled to Maryland, Atlanta, Florida, New York, and Texas together. Our adventures are always filled with fun and unforgettable moments like finding places so that we could take aesthetic pictures, searching yelp for cute desert cafes for an Instagram worthy pic to post, gossiping, talking about cute boys, getting lost in New York, getting yelled at on a school trip to Cedar Point for being late to check-in times, attending weddings, long car rides, staying up late to catch up on everything, and so much more that words cannot explain. After we graduated, we attended different universities and hanging out and communication became difficult with all of the school work. Even though we are growing up and have a lot of things to worry about, when we meet up we still catch up and have our laughs. We’ve seen each other cry, laugh, and we’ve even seen each other fall to our weakest points, but we are always there for each other. My best friend is a friend that is irreplaceable, my best friend braids my hair, my best friend is weird and so am I, my best friend is like my sister, my best friend is the best. I just hope for the best of everything for her. I love my best friend.

#1: Me as a Writer

I am not much of a writer, but when I do write I like to put my thoughts and feelings into it. I used to be a weak writer, but as time went on I improved a lot. I still have weaknesses within my writings, but I expect that taking this course will help with that. I currently do not consider myself a writer. What I consider to be a writer is that someone who loves to write, is passionate about writing, and writes on a daily basis. My goals for my writings this semester is to improve on my weak spots in writing and become a better writer, while also obtaining good grades on the papers. Keeping a blog this semester will encourage me to write because it is a fun and creative way to write, while keeping me on task with my assignments. My goals for this blog this semester is to keep up with my posts, make my blog interesting, make my site easy to access, and to read my fellow classmates blog posts. My expectations for keeping a blog this semester is that it will be well organized and to never miss a post. The anxieties that I have for the blog posts is that I will forget to post, my blog posts will not be entertaining enough to the audience, I will bore myself with it and not have fun, and that other people are looking through my personal posts on my blog. Even though there are some cons that come with keeping a blog post, I think that it should be fun and enjoyable for the whole class and the professor herself because she gets to read all of the posts and critique them.