My SELF- Assesment

For my self-assesment, I am not too confident in my communication skills because I studder a lot during pressure. For instance, If i were to be having a presentation where I'm speaking to a large audience, I would began to speak fast and studder which is a big problem.

Listening skills are good on me because I'm usually quiet and observant and with silence I can hear very well and remember the task.

Writing Skills are another of my strongest abilities because I enjoy writing in depth for a purpose to unfold to the reader. I can write legibly and and freely.

Speaking Skills are when you are communicating orally and from what I know, I can communicate well in a group or team. We can get things done!

My Interpersonal skills are like in a 50/50 situation right now. I work well in groups; I can communicate and discuss but if i have one rude or handicap person, I am at a lost. I would not know how to handle the situation on my own.

As for curiosity, I am good in asking questions and wondering about certain things and the reason behind the way they act or serve as a purpose. But as for my awareness, I am good but not 100% good. I can notice things that only attract my attention or catch my eye but other than that things can fly past me and I wouldn't be noticing.

For self-direction,  I am one who needs to hear what to be told or else I will be reluctant to do it. I was once one who would just do the proper things and do as she knew was right until I got in trouble so now, I just wait to be told to avoid any conflicts.

Self-Confidence, I believe, is the key to the future to succeed and I carry a happy confident personality so that others may do the same too.

SmartPhones

Smart Phones seem to be the "Must have" this season and through out the years to come. These phones carry everything from Mp3 to the daily weather report. Though they may sound useful in a busy person's life, I think you we are getting "a little bit distracted" in life. I know my brother who is the owner of the latest HTC smartphone from T-Mobile, does not own a wristwatch because his phone tells him the time but in the end, he is hurting himself by not reading time daily with a clock and often gets in trouble in class for having a phone out. He is many of the millions Americans who ask "What time is it?" while having a clock  in front of them but instead they rely on their phones. In my opinion this is a disadvantage to our learning. Smart phones are not making us smart! Though Smart phones have improved many people's lives. Now one who does not own a computer will have access to the Internet through their phone and be able to E-mail from far away. Improving their social connection with other beings. To me, the most important invention was the Mp3 or ipod. I was in the 5th grade who carried around a bulky cd player and had her collection of cd's with them and honestly it was so much to carry. But in the early 2006 was when i first purchased my ipod that was a 4 GB and held 2,000 songs all in one small handheld device! I was very pleased. But compared to my grandfather, the most important invention for him was the radio that changed his life. Although there were very few stations to hear, he was entertained. Smart phones carry internet very well and are very swift when looking up things, but they are not the same with a desktop or laptop computer. Both the laptop and desktop, carry much more detail when it comes to work, for example essays and test. You wouldn't be able to write an essay through your phone because that would be mind boggling and impossible. I think just because of that reason, computers will still carry on. I, for one, would not stop using my laptop. Its efficient and extremely reliable for important situations. I do have a need for T.V., because I love the show "Smallville" and i must watch it when it is aired on t.v. It is not the same when you view your favorite show on the computer rather than on Tv. You do not get the "full effect."

Appreciate the "real" hero!

This cartoon is for VETERANS DAY. Which is today.  But not all Americans get the CORRECT viewpoint in what a "Hero" really is. A hero is not spiderman or Mr. Clean, Oh No! A true real hero is one who fought and served in the Army for you and me, knowing that they are mortal meaning that at any second they can get killed by getting shot and blood will spill out and they will never see their loved ones ever again.  Thats the true American hero that we NEED to appreciate and acknowledge their courage that they own and show during the hard times of battle.

Thoughts?

On this cartoon illustrated above, It shows that people can vote about their prescription over their anger management issues. It's actually quite funny because it's true; people do actually have anger problems and voice them in a negative harmful way. Maybe this is the government's way of trying to poke fun of the general public by acting as if to help our emotions. It really is actually funny but can be seen insulting. Depends on whatever kind of person you are and your point of view.

Better Photos

For taking better photos, I am good at looking my subject in the eye. You really try to capture their features and press click. I really didn't know we had to use flash outdoor when the sun is out (it makes a difference). What I need to work on is my lighting, locking the focus and knowing my flash range. I would have to practice with simple things outside and inside and take the pictures. In journalism, when you are assigned to take pictures, your pictures will not be posed unlike the ones they have on the Kodak examples.

A Classic Must watch! My Favorite movie!!

Roman Holiday. Filmed in 1953.
Is my favorite classic movie! I am a classic fanatic and I absolutely LOVE this movie. It stars Gregory Peck and In her first major motion picture, Audrey Hepburn. Both of them are magic. This movie is about a princess (Hepburn) who is tired of the royal life so one night she plans to escape and see the real life of a commoner. When she escapes and discovers a bar she drinks till she is drunk. Then a news reporter (Peck) discovers her and decides to write a story about her knowing he would get a huge amount of money for it. It is comedy/romance. A must watch if you are a classic movie lover.

Editorial cartoon

This cartoon was taken by Stephane Peray who is from Bangkok, Thailand.
To me, this cartoon shows a couple of coal minors that are stuck under a mine and their rescue is a man in red at the very top who is waving hi to them. To me it seems like the coal men seemed desperate to seek help and now they are happy because they found a person to help them out of their problem.

Feeling Safe in the Valley

As a person who has lived in the valley for 17 years, I say i pretty much feel safe in the valley. I'm from San Juan and once in a while the cops patrol my neighborhood and check if things are going normal. It makes me feel relaxed. Also, my neighbors that live beside my house are very kind; they invite my family and I to parties, offer us extra groceries since they pick out onions and tomatoes. Their actually really awesome people! Now I know people think that the Valley is right by the border and that their is drugs and violence but I say it depends on which part of the Valley do you live in to determine your safety. Pretty much over all it's a safe place to be in and the only negative is that it's very FLAT land and VERY HUMID!!!

What May a "Junior Moment" be?

Being a junior in high school, there are many "moments" to have happen to you. But as for me my "Junior moment" would be the pressure of college. For instance when I was a sophomore last year, I would constantly hear on the intercom, "All Juniors and Seniors go to....blah blah" and now as i am a junior i heard the announcement about the college fair in the gym and of course when they announced it, I heard "Only Seniors and Juniors!" It brought me to reality and i felt my "Junior moment" when I was exempt from class to go speak to these college sponsors all around Texas and New Mexico or Florida. It felt different and thats when I felt the pressure was on for college.

Are we raising a generation of nincompoops?

 Now a days technology is the prime source in children, teens, and adults; smart phones, kindle, ipods.
We all use this technology and we have never really stopped to think about how life would be with out these tech and gadgets helping us. Things now a days are just by a push of a button, or a device that reads you commands by reading your voice. We are not using the ground labor or the hard thinking that should be being done because we are starting to depend less on human minds and more on machines and devices. If you think about it , you will realize that more teens of the generation now have never seen an ice-cube tray or don't know how to use a can opener manually. To be honest that is sad because even when i was a kid i was told that if i wanted to eat soup, that i had to grab the can opener from the drawer and manually open it myself. And i was probably 5 or 6 and i knew about this. You may even see moms who carry their 5 year old kids on a stroller at the stores and you wonder "Why is she doing that?" "That kid is big enough to walk, why isn't he walking? It all makes sense in the technology on how things are being done faster and becoming easy that it is slowly shutting off our minds on thinking straight and not making help on enough to process on what we are doing. I believe it is true and that in the future it just might get worse. We should really fix this by starting out on the parents talking with their kids and getting them familiar on how to wash their clothes with the right soap and the right soap amount  and use teach them to use an ice-cube tray and maybe that can repair the future generations to come.

A Must Watch!

Pretty Little Liars is on  ABC Family every tuesday at 7 pm. It had it's first season in the summer of 2010 and the season finished with high ratings, so it is being asked to do a second season. It is about a group of friends who lost their popular friend who was the leader of the group and is now haunting them by via text messages and through people. She goes by the name of "A." This show mainly attracts teenagers and it is all mainly suspense mixed in with romance. It is a reproduction of the book series by the author Sara Shepard. Tune in for season two coming in early of 2011!

The Will Power to Change

I think that every student once in awhile thinks about the negatives of school and says that if they were given an opportunity, they would change "this" or "that" and you often wonder, what if you REALLY were given that chance? What would you change? If I were given this chance I would say that I would change class time. Meaning when class begins, instead of 8:30 AM it should start at 10 AM. That would be genius for me! Honestly I am a morning person but everyday waking up early can be very stressing. I'm pretty sure other students would agree on me about this issue too, so hopefully it could happen. Who knows?

Thought of Political Cartoon

There is huge controversy over the United States constitution of the fourteenth amendment. People are concerned about the amendment getting abused since the amendment is about citizenship and that if you are born in America then you are an American. But since many people are crossing over and delivering their babies in America they are now forced to stay in America and get all their benefits. I for one am NOT COOL with this. Those babies that are born in america are their "Anchor Babies" meaning they are their milk ticket for the parents getting all the benefits such as food stamps from the hard working people who work for the money being used for those food stamps and spending it like crazy! It's a crazy thing to see considering that i live right by the border and Im witnessed to many illegals coming and delivering babies. Then those babies, as they grow, usually start to continue the pattern on the family and get into gangs, or sell drugs. They mainly become delinquents. I know not ALL follow this path but the majority do. I am a proud american of the constitution and advise not start to change things around with constitution but if it means it can fix this big problem in the U.S. then by all means do.

Friendly Freshmen Advice

Alright freshmen, High school is not a nightmare, it's actually the opposite of that. High school is like your fun place to learn, join and discover new interesting things in life. My advice to you guys who are freshmen or are going to be freshmen is that you start to carry a planner to record all your homework for your classes. A planner is so sufficient it will make your life easy on deadlines and assignments for your teachers. Next would be choose your friends wisely. For example if you want to succeed enough to pass and graduate, then you don't want to hang out with the noisy group of kids that will not push you to study for your tests or keep you updated on new activities such as clubs. Look for a nice friend or group of friends who you and that person have common interests with and still help each other out on home work and update one another on tips to help you out for your classes. You can still be friends with the big group of kids that play around but not as much as you would normally do to prevent distraction for your studies. Also, in high school your growing up and maturing so you must act mature and responsible towards your friends, teachers, and your parents. You will be surprised by how much respect you will earn by just saying "Yes sir/ma'am." And when your maturing you will also be experiencing feelings for others in a strong way. For example you will find yourself liking a boy or a girl and you will start to daydream about that person and that causes distraction for you and your grades. Having a boyfriend/girlfriend is a lot to handle among with classes and maintaining your GPA. Many freshmen tend to get a partner and get distracted and regret it later in their sophomore or junior or even senior year. And mainly just have fun; enjoy yourself and don't stress out or put stress on yourself. I know being a teenager is hard and a lot to handle but it's easy going through when you have your friends and family by your side!

School Jitters!

Okay, well i'm a junior now at Beta Academy in Edinburg, Texas and I must admit i was feeling a bit nervous with a mix of intimidation entering my first day as a junior from high school. Questions swarmed my poor feeble head about "my new teachers" like are they strict? Are they fun? Do they assighn alot of homwork? Typical tennager questions and overall the teachers were pretty cool! I know, I'm amazed! I always thought "oh no, junior year thier going to be hard on you, thier going to add more stress to my life with thier expectations and assighnments" but no. In fact they were friendly happy people who want the best for me and the students that attend BETA. Everything was going great; I saw almost all my friends from last year and we talked amongst ourselves about our summer. Everything was great except till  the whole student body got news about the new lunch schedule. OMG!! now the school is following this "A" lunch and "B": lunch thing because the school grew with more kids but it's mostly more freshman. Not cool. Thier so loud and obnoxious. Ever since i was a freshman , it was always a one lunch period because the school was so small in kids so it was fun to have all your friends together for lunch My friends and i were so upset about the new lunch schedule because now we got splitted. I was mortified till i noticed that two of my friends had the same lunch as me so i felt okay. It's going to be a new, rigorous year with fun and new things to discover and become. I'm excited and ready (but not so excited about the lunch!)