Valentine's Day

Saint Valentine was a roman priest who defied Claudius and performed marriages for young lovers in secret. Once Valentine was caught he was sentenced to death, but while in jail he fell in love with the jailer’s daughter. Before his execution he wrote her a love letter and signed it “From your Valentine”  

 This past Thursday was February 14, Valentine’s Day. All week long I listened to people talk about how Valentine’s Day is not a really holiday and how it was invented by the card and candy companies to make more money. How people should not have one day to tell others that they love them and give them gifts, it should be a daily thing. And finally, how it’s a waste of money.

                I cannot say I agree with these people. Valentine’s Day is simply a fun holiday that gives everyone a chance to celebrate love. Even though over the years Valentine’s Day has become centered on couples, it’s really about telling everyone who is a part of your life that you love and appreciate them; such as parents, grandparents, siblings, and close friends. The gifts given on Valentine’s Day don’t have to be extravagant or pricey. Homemade gifts and cards are a great way to show love and express creativity. I have a hard time understanding why some people hate Valentine’s Day so much, it’s fun!

my frist eglish paper

I worked on my English paper this week. I had the hardest time picking a topic and sticking with it. First I was going to write about how America’s prisons were less harsh then China’s prisons, but I had a hard time finding information. Then I decided to share my opinions on the new gun laws. Unfortunately my opinions on the topic differed from both my parents and my boyfriend and caused a big fight, so I dropped the topic. My third topic idea came from a classmate during a class discussion about crime and punishment topics.  I was going to write about how it’s wrong for celebrities to get special treatment when it comes to the law and lesser sentences from breaking the law. My main force was Lindsay Lohan, however finding a creditable website was so difficult I decided yet again to find a new topic. I called my sister in law for some advice, because she is in college too. Having been born and raised in Colorado she suggested looking into the legalization of marijuana in her home state. I was able to find several creditable websites and great facts on fourth topic choice. All that is left is to add more of my opinion into the paper.       

Monday: During the first English class of week three my professor handed out a list of eleven topics. From the list my classmates and I had to unanimity selected three of the topics, in which we would be using to write our research papers for this semester. It took the whole fifty minutes of class time for my peers to agree on “pop culture” over “sexuality.” In my opinion sexuality fits into the category of pop culture. 

Wednesday: I was given the chance to get to know some of my classmates better, burning our first quiz. We were randomly broken up into groups and asked to talk about the questions given. I got to hear the different opinions of the five students in my group and to overall opinion of the other three groups. The best part was receiving a 100%

Friday: Class was held in the liberty at the end of the week. One of the Liberians taught my class how to properly use the data bases. The information she provided answered all my questions regarding the research paper my professor assigned.  At the risk of sounding like a nerd, I am looking forward to the paper. The topic is, Crime and Punishment, and I have decided to compare the USA and Chinese prison system.   

First Week of Class

Last semester I took English 100 B with Professor Mitten; I fell I love with her teaching style. Professor Mitten had a way of making English easy and enjoyable to learn. When the time came to register for spring 2013 classes I had hoped to enroll in English 101 with Professor Mitten as the instructor. To my disappointment she was not teaching English 101 and I was forced to pick a new professor. I haphazardly selected Professor Sweeny class, and even though the semester has just begun, I am quite taken with his original teaching methods. This class is shaping up to be just as enjoyable as my past semester.

On the first day we started by playing two ice breaker games. The first was a name game where someone would say their name then the next person had to say their name and everyone’s name that was said before them. The first person to say their name has it the easiest and the last person has it the hardest, I was last! :/ I have never been the best at remembering names. The next game was answering silly questions about yourself.

We were assigned to read “The Question of Originality” for homework that night. In the following class Professor Sweeney told everyone to write two questions based off the reading; once everyone had their questions he put them in a pencil cup and had everyone form a circle with their desks. Then the pencil cup was passed around for the students to take a set of questions, not their own, to read aloud and discuss.  I think that Professor Sweeney’s idea to form a circle during the class discussion was smart and productive; I felt more involved when facing everyone and it was I nice break from the usual.