ACT Hell!!!!!

March and April are considered the month of HELL because English teachers go on an ACT rampage.  Most students scream in agony each and everyday because of this.  They realize that the ACT will only be used when you apply for college.  After that, people will never again ask about your scores, and you will have wasted your time and money. 

Scholarships are the only beneficial aspect of taking the ACT; however, colleges require you to get an impossible score in order to get a decent scholarship, so it's not really worth it.  The average score for Americans is around 22.  If you were to submit this to a college, you'd get a very bad scholarship.  The only way that a person can get a full ride scholarship is to get an astounding, 30 or above. 

Testing dates are another agonizing trait of the ACT.  I mean, who in their right mind desires to participate in a test when it's required of them to show up at 8:00 AM?  This is way to early!  We need an hour just to wake up, and no longer be sleepy.  The ACT, however, doesn't give us no time to do this, so there's a bunch of onery teenagers who blame all their problems on the poor proctors.  That's why it's not uncommon to see a bunch of scattered energy drinks upon the school's lawn. 

Also, the ACT doesn't show how smart a person is.  Instead, it either shows that they're a good test-taker or they're an extremely good guesser.  Usually the ACT people try to trick the students by using related rules that don't apply to the question.  See, most students understand all of the rules, and could write a decent paper that had very few errors; it's when they're tricked into putting the wrong answer that their inner knowledge fades away and becomes useless.

Finally, the ACT is the most wasteful test in the world, but it's required if we desire a college education and a well-paying job.  That's why we must endure ACT HELL and not make such a fuss or else we'll have a miserable life.

Snow!

I stumbled outside, and to my amazement, the mountains had begun to succumb to an enveloping mist.  This thickening mist permeated the surroundings and concealed all signs of life.  It reminded me of a water balloon that expanded until it could hold no more.   I stood there with my fingers crossed and prayed that it would burst its innards out soon.

Whizzing through the air, I nearly knocked over my dad as he went out to warm-up his vehicle. 

“What are you in such a hurry for?”

“It’s going to snow, and I need my coat!” I yelled as I went into the house.  

                My breath lingered behind me as I dashed back outside to witness this wintery phenomenon.  The petite flakes began to fall, and brought back the memory of autumn when the leaves fell gracefully from the trees.  Their lengthened descent prolonged the shrouded light from escaping any time soon.  Excited, I tried to save one of the intricate snow-flakes.  “Where did it go!” I shrieked as I ran with my arms outstretched, hoping to catch it like a football.  Unexpectedly, the icy crystal nose-dived and lodged itself onto my cheek.   The frigid speckle made it seem as though I had been kissed by a pair of cold lips.  Curious to see what it tasted like, I licked away the chilly substance, and discovered that it left an empty feeling in my mouth that made me crave more.  I hurled some up into the air to see if I could catch it in my mouth.  It went soaring up and then came tumbling down, plastering my face to a point to where my vision no longer existed.

                “Mom, come quick!” I bellowed.

                “Are you hurt?” She asked inquisitively.

                Worried, she came galloping through the door, slipped on the newly formed ice, and crash landed onto the soft, blanketed snow.

                “Wow!  Can you do it again?” I pleaded earnestly.

                “One time will be all that you get to see,” said my mom as she glanced over her newly, received battle wounds. 

                “Now, what did you want me to see?” she inquired embarrassingly. 

                Looking like an icicle, immobile and freezing, my mom stood there, and waited for my answer.  Hesitating, I propelled my numb hands into the heap of freezing snow and came up with a spherical mound.  I began to chuckle to myself, realizing that she had fallen for the oldest trick in the book.

                “Ahhh!”  She screamed as a volley of snow splattered off of her back.

                “I will get you back!” She shouted playfully as she chased me around the yard.    

                We went on like this throughout the day until my tummy began growling, telling me that I needed a vigorous meal to revive me.  After dinner, my dad asked me why I enjoyed snow so much.

                “I enjoy it because it provides fun things for me to do and it provides jobs for people,” I replied in my little, seven year old voice.

                “Well, when you get as old as me, you may think otherwise,” he replied as he stood up and showed me how stiff and sore the cold had made him. 

                “Wow, I never thought of it that way, but I guess everyone has different likes and dislikes,” I said.

                “Yes, they sure do,” my dad agreed as we both headed to bed and awaited the next day.

Rough Draft (How I Learned To Write)

My skills pertaining to a writer happened years ago when I was just a little child.  I was near the age of 5, but I had no clue what those little squiggles were on a page.  I didn’t know until my teacher and my parents began reading to me.  I then realized that these little squiggles were actually real things in my life, but were just written as words in a story.   When my teacher taught me how to write my name, I thought that was the coolest thing ever.   At first, I couldn’t write the s in Josh, but she helped me through this by making me draw them as if they were a snake.  Writing my name was the biggest step for me.  After my name, I developed a craving to learn more.

            In the following days that past, I couldn’t wait for kindergarten to begin so I could learn more writing concepts.  When the day finally came, I was ecstatic!  My dream came true, and I could now make up my own stories and end them however I wanted.  My hopes, however, were soon crushed when I found out that we would be only learning the abc’s.  The abc’s were a big improvement on my writing, but they weren’t the concept that I expected to be learning.  With my hopes devastated, I could only wish that first grade would be better. 

            The start of school was an exciting day for me.  Feeling all sorts of emotion, I walked into class and waited patiently for the bell to ring.  The teacher began her boring speech, and all I could do was sit there and listen.  Her syllabus stated that we would be working on spelling, grammar, and sentence fluency in that portion of the year.  “Yay!” my emotions were screaming throughout my body.   This enthusiasm slowly disappeared as we worked less and less on writing.  Eventually, she realized that we were avid writers, so her attention was focused on other subjects. 

            In second/third grade we worked mainly on language arts skills.  There were some books that we were forced to read and then above that, we had to write a summary.  Once we completed them, my teacher formed a group for excelling students.  We worked on advanced concepts.  Some were hard and then others were easy.  This group helped me with my writing skills.  It has always been easier for me to learn the concepts ahead of time, and then discuss them in class.  I wrote many little kid books in these grades.  They didn’t meet the requirements for a decent paper; nonetheless, it’s the effort that counted.  I continued to write splendid novels.  I really enjoyed writing sequels to the books that I had read.  My least favorite books were the ones that required me to write about things that I didn’t enjoy.

            My next influential teacher was my fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Jones.  Her beliefs on teaching allowed me to learn the most.  She let the excelling students move forward rather than hold them back.  Once we had shown her that we knew the material, she permitted us to move onto more advanced material.  I learned plenty in this class.  I still made mistakes, but at least I understood the majority of the concepts. 

            San Rafael Junior High was where I learned a large amount of my knowledge.  Mr. Gilbert modeled his teaching on stuff that I had previously learned, so seventh grade wasn’t beneficial to my education.  Mrs. Card, on the other hand, was one of the best teachers that I have had.  After having her as a teacher, sentence structure finally made sense to me.  I could now write a complete sentence with very few errors.   Punctuation has always been confusing for me.  Mrs. Card made punctuation a priority in her teachings.  I am not saying that I am perfect with punctuation because I’m not.  I still make mistakes, but the mistakes that I make are on concepts that I don’t know or have forgotten. 

            Now that you, the reader, have an idea on how I became the writer I am today, I will tell you about my enjoyments, downfalls, habits, and everything else related to my writing. 

            Enjoyment is a substantial part about my writing.  I tend to turn in a mediocre paper when I don’t have a pleasure in writing it.  I enjoy writing papers where I can pick the topic.  I must be permitted to write on something that I do as a hobby, have a passion for, or I know a few things about it in order for me to enjoy the assignment.  Also, I like papers where you can use artwork and technology to make the paper more expressive. 

Downfalls are important too.  Once you have your downfalls identified, you can work on fixing them so you may become a better writer.  I know a few of my downfalls with writing.  Lacking voice is a major problem in some of my papers.  I also struggle in turning in a paper that has sentence fluency, correct punctuation, and correct grammar.  Conveying my ideas in a text form is another thing I struggle with.  My papers always have mistakes in them.  In the ACT prep test, my language arts score was in the 60%.  I hope that I can learn a considerable amount in your class, so I can improve my language arts skills.  Over the years, one could judge me and see that I have improved, but I would like this improvement to be extensively greater. 

After seventeen years of writing, you develop habits and certain things that you need to do every time that you write.  To begin, my main habit is typing my paper in one sitting.  This I do because I forget my ideas and points that I am trying to prove if I wait a few days to finish.  The room has to be extremely quiet in order for me to fully concentrate and write my paper.  My room is the only place that I can produce a paper that is “somewhat excellent.” Surroundings amongst my room make me feel like it is my utmost sanctuary to escape to.  These surroundings are comfortable for me to type my paper.  Another thing is that I absolutely do not tolerate writing my assignment with a pen and paper.  A computer is what I desire to use.  The computer setup that I have consists of a laptop, a desktop with dual monitors, and a computer chair that is relaxing to be in.  When I type my paper, I reread every sentence a few times and change things until it sounds fluent.  My work habits produced a drastic change on my school work.  Some of my work habits are the following: I don’t stop working until the job is done, I always give it my all, I act professional, and I try to make very few mistakes. 

To this day, I consider myself an average writer.  I would take pleasure in working on getting better at language arts this year.  There are things that I need to work on getting better at, but I don’t really know what they are.  The most important thing that I know of is making the paper fun to read.  A boring paper will be put down instantly, so a good writer needs to have a voice that makes the paper enjoyable.

Finally, this paper has made me realize that I need to improve my writing skills.  Writing is constantly being used in this world to further one in life.  If you don’t have this skill, you will greatly suffer.