ajaelena

[ajaelena]

English 101 Midterm Reflection

What has been difficult for you so far this semester (academic or otherwise)? Why?

-Trying to balance life school, work and motherhood. As well as working with Canvas.

What has been easy for you? Why?

-Writing. When I am able to actually find the time to sit down and write, I thoroughly enjoy it.

What has surprised you? Why?

-How much college has changed since I last attended. So much of the work is online now so its extremely frustrating because at times its confusing.

If you could start the semester over, what would you change? Why?

-I would try to understand Canvas a little better, and try to be more efficient and organized with it.

What are you looking forward to for the second half of the semester? Why?

-That much closer to being done with another semester, because it means I'm only one semester away from Law School.

What changes have you noticed about yourself so far? What have you learned about yourself?

-I am not as organized or as good at studying as I used to be.

#English101 #homework

[ajaelena]

[ajaelena]

[ajaelena]

MMA

A laxed writing piece on a topic I love:

Something I have always been extremely passionate about it mixed martial arts. My love for the sport has gotten me through many hardships throughout my life. Before I became a mom, I was a trainer at Title Boxing Club and at a studio called iLoveKickboxing. Whenever emotions take over, whenever I'm sad or frustrated or even happy, training is always my answer. For this piece, I'll explain why MMA is a topic I could talk about for hours on end.

Growing up, I was always different from all the other little girls my age. Instead of wanting to be a princess, I wanted to be a fighter. I grew up with brothers who taught me to be tough. We always acted like we were wrestlers in WWE Raw. And my brother never took it easy on me, despite my size and despite being his little sister. But I am grateful for it.

As I got older I got more intrigued with fighting, maybe a little too intrigued. As a little girl, I heard my dad tell my brother "men don't cry" so of course, in an attempt to make my dad proud, I tried to withhold my tears. I became uncomfortable with sadness, so I turned my sadness into anger, and this is what led to me foolishly picking one too many fights.

I started studying martial arts, I watched every fight I could, I watched replay clips on YouTube and tried to prefect my right hooks and double round house kicks. I dreamed of being a Shaolin Monk *insert sarcasm*, or at the very least, fight under contract with UFC. When I was in high school, my brother got a boxing bag before he left for the military- which would have collected dust if I hadn't have gotten my first pair of gloves and wraps. And years later, I finally got a job doing the one thing I always dreamed of. I became a trainer and had weekly kids classes and I absolutely loved it.

What I taught the kids is exactly what I would talk about in this hypothetical hour lecture for class. I would first talk about discipline and boundaries. You shouldn't go into training with the intent on wanting to hurt someone. Self defense is just that, its the very last thing you should want to do in conflict, but knowing it could save your life or even someone else's some day. Then we would start practicing wrapping hands. This is extremely important to protect your hands. Without learning to properly wrap your hands, you could cause permanent damage to your nerves, bones, tendons and/or muscles. Then we would go over proper stance, perfecting your stance will give you the power behind your blows. After that we would go over the proper way to throw a punch, for example, you never tuck your thumb into your fist, unless you want to break/dislocate your thumb. Then we would go over the basic punches and kicks; jab, hook, upper cut, round house, axe, etc.

Going over the basics and fundamentals of boxing and kickboxing will lay a great foundation for beginning your training in boxing and MMA. The love I have for the sport will last for my entire life, even when I am unable to train, just like when I found out I was pregnant, I will never stop loving this contact sport.

[ajaelena]

Writing process

blah blah blah

For the most recent writing project, we had to select either a genre of music or film-then an artist or film-then a specific song or scene. I decided to write about science fiction movies, and the particular movie I had in mind is called Arrival. I love interstellar and alien type sci-fi movies. I have always been fascinated with space. And if I weren't going to law school next year, I would be studying astro-physics. So far I have learned about the history of science fiction.

2. Surprisingly, this writing project is kind of fun. At first, I was anxious because I didn't think I would be able to find much to say about all of this. At first, I was going to select a genre of music, but the thought of having to stretch it out into a 2-3 page paper was a challenging thought. Thinking about movies, though, that seemed do-able. This time around, I decided to brain storm by putting pen to paper, instead of just jumping into typing a rough draft.

3. Using the phases of the writing process from our textbook, write about which phase is the most difficult for you and why. Include a quote from the chapter that reflects something you learned about the writing process and explain how you will use that information in writing your essay. (10 minutes)

For me, the very first phase "understanding the assignment" was the most difficult. I have ADHD, so comprehension of prompts, especially on topics I'm not overly enthusiastic about, is very difficult. Even when the prompt is clear and precise, for some reason I get extremely overwhelmed. This paragraph from the textbook Rhetoric Matters really helped me to understand the writing process in a different way;

"What is the process we [writing instructors] should teach? It is the process of discovery through language. It is the process of exploration of what we know and what we feel about what we know through language. It is the process of using language to learn about our world, to evaluate what we learn about our world, to communicate what we learn about our world. Instead of teaching finished writing, we should teach unfinished writing, and glory in its unfinishedness."

#rhetoricmatters #English101 #writing #author #creative writing #scifi #writers block

[ajaelena]