Success

Now it’s the end of the road. The first semester is coming to an end and all chaos is breaking out because its finals week. It’s the most hectic week of the semester, and everyone is trying to clinch those final points so that they may pass the class. However, for me it’s a great time to see all the progress I have done. All semester long, I’ve been working my brain out doing everything to the best of my abilities so that I may get the grades I want. I have to say, it’s paid off because not only have I almost achieved my straight A goal, but also I feel very prepared for whatever college has to offer me next. For example, this comp class has taught me a lot with regards to writing. I can say I have gotten way better at it, and enjoy it a bit more. I learned different techniques to better my writing and found out that I had a severe comma disorder. By this I mean I didn’t know where to use them, and though I still am not the best at it I can say I have improved using a little technique known as FANBOY, which stands for: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet. Wherever these words are a comma belongs. So with this, I can make my grammar a bit better for comp 2. Looking back on my comp class it has gone very well. I am proud of my time management skills, which I have learned throughout the semester, and I know these will be very critical next year being in an even higher-level course.

This is my last blog… Not!! I plan on keeping up with my blog but probably not on a weekly basis just every once in a while and hopefully someone out in the cyber world will comment them. But just letting you all know this isn’t the last time you’ll hear from me. Like Arnold says “I’ll Be Back (in a really strong accent).”

The Battle is Not Yet Over

Coming to an end, I feel I have done a lot. This sustainability challenge has made me more aware of my surroundings, and how I should try to be more respectful towards them and preserve them. Doing acts such as the ones I’ve been doing lately, recycle, ride bike, turn off appliances, etc, have made me feel more connected with nature. Though that sounds a bit corny, I feel I have made a positive impact and contributed to reducing the human carbon footprint. However, now that challenge is just about over, it’s still not complete. I will still continue to do my daily green task that I have been doing and won’t give up on this goal to achieve a greener Earth. I believe it is the determination and perseverance that will win this battle against carbon emissions, and therefore wont give up now just because the ten days are up.

Green In The Works

Starting this project has been quite the experience. All day I think about little things I can do to help reduce my negative impact on earth and replace it with a positive one. Searching through the Internet I've come across extremely interesting and crazy green ideas. For example when you think green you usually think “Hey why not reuse a container, or recycle it” yet, the people at www.ecofriendlyideas.net have thought of every way possible of going green. They even have an eco friendly funeral, which would save 130kg of CO2 a year. To put this in perspective, you can compare it to the CO2 levels of tree. A tree breathes in and converts in about 900 kg of CO2 emissions over its lifetime. However this isn’t the only ideas they have, their ideas range from eco friendly shopping to eco friendly furniture and they even have everyday tips for people interested in helping the Earth.

Though it’s bit hard to accomplish some of these goals especially being in college, I have come across other ways in which I could be greener, and I plan on using these methods during my next ten days participating in the sustainability challenge. Here are some of my ideas:

1) *For starters I plan on riding my bike everyday from now on to campus instead of riding on our campus buses to class, in order to reduce carbon emissions. Though they will continue to run I will feel better doing something that’s better for the environment.

2) *I will unplug all appliances before I leave to class, or when I am not using them such as, toasters, rice maker and my George Foreman Grill.

3) *Try to reduce my paper usage. Only print when needed to hand something in, and use both sides of paper.

4) *Limit my showers. Take faster showers and save water.

5) *Plant a tree. Though I am in college, I have a wonderful campus surrounded with wildlife everywhere where I can plant a tree and add to the lush vegetation. This would help offset carbon emissions and create an even greater habitat.

6) *Last but not least, I WILL RECYCLE! Most crucial of all. All the plastic bottles and aluminum cans from all the parties we have here in COLLEGE will be recycled. J

So with all this set its time to put it to work. I invite everyone to partake in these green activities. Though it wont be easy it’s a task I have set my mind to and will accomplish.

Protect our future!

After talking about the sustainability challenge in class Monday, I started to think about all the thi

ngs I do and their affect on the environment. I thought about where I stood, and if I was doing well, or not. Taking in consideration the actions of others I feel I am at a descent standing because I do take part in “Green activities.” For exampl

e I recycle my water bottles, try to limit water usage and try and limit paper usage. I don’t like to waste paper so I recycle it or use it as scrap paper as many times as I can. Yet, with all this I still am not the greenest of people. I buy groceries and use plastic bags, even though I have the reusable green ones, but this is because I am very lazy. So now that I am doing this challen

ge I will try to focus more on the little things such as try to use the recyclable bags and keep the lights off in a room if I'm not in it. I believe that if I am able to keep doing little “green” activities such a

s these ones I will be able to turn it into a habit and they will build up and in the long run payoff making earth a healthier place for all.

Those Were The Days

I have many memories of when I was a kid, some obviously stand out more than others and the ones that do stand out more all seem to have one thing in common, they all take place in nature. It’s weird because I came down to this conclusion in class Monday when we reviewed E.B Whites reading of his memories when he was a child. All of his memories were also in outdoor environments just like the ones mine were in. These memories all bring back a sense of nostalgia and are the motivation for most of my writing, such as the essay I just wrote, which was about a photograph that brings back memories.

The memories that stand out the most are the ones of me as a kid just being wild. When I was younger I remember running around behind my house with a group of friends and we used play cops and robbers which always ended up with me covered in dirt because I would hide in the most unusual places I could think of. For example, once I hid between a huge bush and my neighbors shed and just sat there till the game was over. However, to get in that spot I had to crawl in all sorts of dirt and my jeans would just be annihilated, and yes I would get in tons of trouble, but now I can sit here and say these were the best days of my life and the memories that I will never forget.

Triumph

After hours and hours of reading and writing about Three Cups of Tea finally I have finished, and received a good grade for my essay on it. It took a lot of effort to put such work together but I can say I am proud of the time I put into writing this paper. I went to the writing center, something I never thought I would do, and I feel like that was a key point in my success. I learned that I needed to focus, and develop more certain areas of my essay such as connecting my statements back to my thesis and supporting them. The supporting details added to my statements help strengthen my writing. I also learned to expand on my writing; make it lengthier not just a few sentences cause that’s not a paragraph. However now that I have successfully completed my first paper and received a good grade I have set my next paper to have even higher goals. I plan on achieving an A on my next essay and to do so I plan on attending a workshop or two and going to the writing center. Though now I have a solid plan to do good on my next essay I wont achieve this goal if I don’t push myself so that will be key.

Polishing my Work

“Writing, Writing, Writing!” With all this writing I have to do in college I am beginning to see my flaws and what areas I need to work on. I have certain areas that I feel are weaker than others, and I plan to better my writing techniques by the end of this semester. For example I would like to enhance my writing by developing more my topics and not just stating them. Expanding upon my examples would make my writing stronger because it allows the reader to see that I can back up what I say and I'm not just making something up. To fix this I plan on attending writing workshops and/or the writing center. These two places will provide me with the tools I need to develop my writing and help me show what I'm saying to the reader and not just state it.

Can you Sense What I’m Saying?

The bumpy old yellow rocky road, surrounded by miles of lush green vegetation, covered in fog that left the night. You look left then right and all you notice is mountains towering high above what the eye can see. The smell of ripe oranges engulfs your nose and within seconds you can practically taste the sourness in your taste buds. And as the day passes your body shivers as night approaches. With dogs howling into the darkness you get a sense of loneliness out in this vast farmland your in, and all you do is cuddle into your warm feathery sheets and drift into the night waking up the next day to experience it all again.

A scenario like this one is one that I brainstorm about for my next essay because it represents where I come form. These are images are important to me; they show who I am and my heritage. Though it will be hard to describe, and allow the reader to feel as if he were there I am able to give more and put in a piece of me because I have been there and know how it feels to be in this environment.

Just Do It

“Call a fool a fool, it is what it is, mean what you say. “ In other words be direct and straight to the point. It is crucial to avoid phrases that go around what you are trying to say. You have to be concise with what you’re saying, use a really “get in, and get out” approach. Readers want to know exactly what you’re trying to tell them, they most certainly don’t like when the author skips around the point and bores them with irrelevant information that seems to be nauseously repetitive. Though we are all guilty of such an act we should try to avoid this by deleting all the extra words we put in to just say one small phrase. In my up and coming essay on Three cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson I plan on just telling the reader what I want to say instead of writing the same thing over and over just to take up words and pretty much “…Say Nothing in 500 Words." So take the advice and just write it!

The novel Three Cups of Tea is flooded with many different themes. The themes range from patience and hard work, perseverance and acceptance. However, there is one idea that all themes seem to revolve around and that is knowledge is power. With this in mind, I have created a theme for my essay and it is that education is the key to progress. Progress towards a healthier more understanding and peaceful world. Words such as equality, opportunity, knowledge, and shared understanding help to describe this idea and are expressed throughout the novel in many different situations. On page 209 Mortenson says “Girls stay home, become leaders in the community, and pass on what they’ve learned.” Quotes such as this one will help me enforce and support the central theme and purpose of my essay. The quotation also clearly emphasizes that with education, impoverished places in little corners of the world, ones such as Korphe can improve hygiene and further health care standards. Those two facts alone can drastically reduce the problem of infant mortality. The ultimate underlying whisper and lesson to be learned from this book, is that education is the key to combating terrorism, which in turn leads to a safer and above all, more peaceful world. My essay will highlight this central theme and explain just how powerful and vital knowledge, gained through a simple education, can be.

Blogging

Some might think of blogs as jargon from people who just spend their time on the internet with nothing to do, but in reality, blogs can be very interesting, when well written. They can range from politics and food to movies and sports and even to just about how people feel about everyday issues. Blogs are about voicing your opinion on any issue and being straight forward, writing about what you truly feel and think. However, not every blog on the internet is a “good” blog. Blogs are good when they are short simple and straight to the point, straight to an interesting point that is. Readers tend to skim blogs and only want to read things with a purpose, so including facts and sources will attract the reader because if not they will get bored quickly and move on. Therefore, to fellow readers I say write short, efficient, and purposeful pieces and you will be on your way to blogging.

Introduction to my Blogs

My name is Carlos Rubiano and I am writing blogs to share my ideas and opinions on different topics that are presented to me in my comp 1 class.