Literacy Autobiography question

What about your present educational story? Is college what you expected? Have you learned or gained anything?  Have your perceptions of learning been changed or challenged?
College is more than I expected.  I knew it would be tough since I have been out of school for so long, I just didn't realize that I would need to adjust my life around it as much as I have.  I no longer have "down time", if I'm not doing something involving family, cleaning house, shopping, or reading my books that I have, I am doing homework or studying for classes.  Now all my work is basically done online and it is up to me to complete it.  When in high school it was done in the class.  I read more now than I did in high school also.  Reading I don't mind, because I have always liked to read, I just feel as though I read more school than I do for leisure.  I hope to catch up on some reading over Christmas break.

Experiences with reading and writing

Before this course I thought that it would be more reading than writing.  I'm glad that we got the chance to write, it prepares you for your future classes.

There was not anything I was unsure of prior to this class.

I read a lot, I have always been a reader.  I enjoy sitting for hours reading a book, most of the time I will stay up till two or three in the morning just because I can't put a book down.  My house is like a library.  I took a writing class in high school, but we never had to write anything on our own, it was always a group story we would write.  I took English 104 in high school also and the only essay I remember writing was a summary and analysis on "Othello" by William Shakespeare.  I'm sure we wrote on other stories also, but that particular one I remember, because I liked it so much.

Self Evaluation for Task Three

What is the thesis for your paper? I am still unsure what my thesis on this paper was...

List the main points you make in your paper.  I describe how I was flunked and compared it to how teachers need to follow through with that instead of passing the students.  Also I explained how it has affected my life today.

What was the most helpful advice you received from your peer evaluation? My grammar 

What was the most helpful information you received in class for your paper? The outline, how my paper should flow.

How many drafts of this paper do you think you wrote and how/when did you write them? I wrote three different drafts over a period of four days.  I kept remembering different things so I'd have to go back to add them.

What would you do differently with this paper to make it more effectively, or what did you try to do that you just don’t think you got a good handle on?  The hardest part was where I had to enter the quotes.  I don't think I had enough.  I didn't feel like the quotes I used went well with the story.

What are most pleased with about this paper?  Writing this paper made me remember to try hard everyday in all my classes so that I don't have a repeat of history.

Task Three Reflection.

I plan to use "In Praise of the F Word" by Mary Sherry.  I can relate to this story, because in a way, my history teacher used the F word on me.  In my Junior year of high school, I failed my history class because I did not apply myself.  As a senior, I applied myself because I knew what the consequences would be.  Even though I past the class, barely, I was called in the day before graduation and was told that I had to take the final to graduate.  I remember at the beginning of the year, he told us, "history repeats its self".  At that time, I really didn't understand what he meant by that.  On my final he wanted me to write a one page essay about what I learned.  I started the essay with, You told us at the beginning of the year that history repeats its self, well here I am back in history class.  A class that I have already taken.  I continued for a whole page explaining what I had learned.  After the final was over Mr. Freiling told me that the only thing in my essay in his opinion that made me pass was my first line, history repeats its self.  I think that because he used the F word with on me and actually did it, made me realize that you have to be accountable for your actions or in my case accountable for the things I did not do my junior year.

Why I decided to come to college

After high school, I moved to Aurora, CO to begin a life on my own.  Yes, I have family there, but thought if I moved away from the comfort and security of my parents I could learn more, be more independent.  I worked at two different jobs while living there that only paid enough to pay my bills due to the higher cost of living there.  One year later, I moved back to St. Joseph.  In the past nine years, I have worked as a nanny, customer service representative at different department stores, worked in factories, and finally working for the state as a counselor for college students.  During the three and a half years of being a counselor, I began to envy them, began to wish that I could somehow afford to go to college myself and pursue my dream of getting a higher education and a job with security.  Once the budget cuts came in this past June, I knew it was a sign to go for it.  I will probably struggle throughout school as I seen most of my clients that I helped, but in the end, I will know that it will be well worth it and I will have the satisfaction of completing my dream.

Self evaluation of task two

• What is the thesis for your paper? How Jay did not graduate and his views on me going to school.
• List the main points you make in your paper. How education can improve your life.
• What was the most helpful advice you received from your peer evaluation? Repeating things.
• What was the most helpful information you received in class for your paper? Capitalization of things that arent suppose to be.
• How many drafts of this paper do you think you wrote and how/when did you write them? For example, did you compose at the keyboard, did you write lots of notes to yourself, did you pre-write or outline, did you write in small chunks of time or sit down and produce an entire draft at one sitting? I had three drafts.  I had notes first, then I wrote on the computer, then made addtional notes on the paper draft, then re-typed.
• What would you do differently with this paper to make it more effectively, or what did you try to do that you just don’t think you got a good handle on? Get more supporting details
• What are most pleased with about this paper? I'm pleased with the fact that I got a chance to talk to my father about his life without education and how beneficial it is to me that I will have one.

Interview Process

I do not have any additional questions to ask him right now.  He really didn't understand why I was interviewing him, once I explained why I was asking these questions he said, "Oh so you want to interview a drop out."  He was just joking though.  I interviewed my dad at his house.   I actually learned a lot from him about his decisions, I've always  wanted to ask but never knew how to.  I plan to explain who my father is and lead into his decisions to drop out and how he provided for his family, then ending with his thoughts on education and how they compare to mine.  The only concerns I have is trying to keep it less than six pages! :)  I will probably leave some of the less important things out, like the stuff he said jokingly.