True Passion Final Draft

Everyone needs some activity where they can zone out and do what they enjoy. For some people it’s running, watching TV, or reading. My real stress reducer would be art especially painting. When I was younger, I always enjoyed coloring and when I took a junior high art class, I realized I really enjoyed everything about the subject. Even though I took a break from art for awhile, I came back and realized how talented I really am.

I took my first real art class my freshmen and everyone in my class was the same age as myself. All my projects turned out pretty good at first and by the end of the year I was an excelling student and I even won many awards at the annual end of the year art show. I figured that since I had been such a stand out, if I took another class during my sophomore year I would be just as talented. This was not the case in my class full of mostly seniors. All my new classmates were very talented and had taken years of classes as well as taking two or three per semester. I felt as if I were too far behind.

I ended the class with a decent amount of good work but I never felt this way about my pieces because the older students were so much more advanced than I was. Struggling to keep up with the seniors’ abilities, I often spent hours at home working on my work as well as at school. I become very stressed with it and art wasn’t much fun for me anymore. I regretted taking the class because to me, my art work did not even compare to the others. I won maybe two awards in the art show that year. Quite a difference than the year before and my confidence suffered greatly. So much that I didn’t take another art class for the next three semesters.

By the time of my senior year, I had most of my credits and only needed to take electives. I thought about taking a few art classes because I really did miss the stress relief it had been for me my freshman year. My parents advised me against signing up for the class because they remembered how much I struggled my sophomore year but I signed up for it anyway. It didn’t take me long to step up to show how good I was and I realized I was even better. The ability to draw and paint matures over time as you do. You develop more patience which helps this ability. For me, this definitely had happened.

Art was fun for me again and I looked forward to class. I even came to work on my latest piece during my study hall and took my projects home at night but not because I was behind and stressed. I worked on it so much because I realized I really loved doing it again and it wasn’t stressful. Painting and drawing turned out to be my favorite hobby to do in my free time. At the end of the year, I produced an art display of my pieces as did my fellow seniors. My display lacked quantity because of the semesters I had missed but it made up in the quality. I won an award for every one of my pieces with more than half of them receiving first place ribbons.

Painting really became my passion. During the summer, I continued to paint and I produced many more pieces which actually hang all over my house. Now that I am in college, I do not have much time to paint or even draw. I did not even bring any of my supplies to USI with me except a simple sketchbook which I rarely have the opportunity to draw in. My high school art teacher stated that with time, your talent matures even more so I’m hoping that even though I am not able to do any of it right now, by the time summer comes, I will still be just as talented if not more.

My Revision Plan

After reviewing all my peer review sheets, I found out that all my peers knew my general purpose the audience I was targeting. They all also agreed that I grabbed my audience’s attention as well as making sure each of my paragraphs contributed to my overall essay. I did not add my pictures to my word document; therefore, Kelsee and Cortney did not get to see my pictures and see if they were relevant to my essay. Jessica really enjoyed my pictures and thought they did a good job of displaying my talents. Although Cortney thought I needed to add hyperlinks, I do not think I will. I feel as if it does not go with my essay. I talk about how I do art for me. I do not aspire from some other artist. In my opinion, my pictures of my artwork are what I really needed on my essay.

When I read over the comments my peers posted on my blog, I realized I forget to add my title to my actual blog post and they commented on this. They all also really loved my pictures and thought they were very useful in describing my essay. Because of this, I might add more to my final draft for Friday. One other thing they agreed on was that my essay once again flows together well.

For my final draft, I plan on changing the minor errors my peers found in my first draft. I also will make sure I remember to add my title to the blog post this time and possibly add more pictures. Jessica suggested I talk more about why it is my passion and how it makes me feel. Before Friday, I will attempt to add this into my essay. Lastly, I will add my pictures to the word document because I did not realize I was supposed to do that for the first draft.

Extra Credit Opportunity

Last Thursday, I attended one of the Rope Walk Reading Series programs featuring Lili Wright. She read a collection of her essay. After she read, she then answered questions from audience members about her writings as well as her career. I found the program very interesting and I feel like I really learned about her through her writings.

The writer first talked about the prologue of her book which was about her parents at the ocean in Maine. This part was mainly about her parents’ relationship and how they took annual trip to the ocean here since they were married. Lili Wright also read about a difficult topic and that was her mother’s battle with breast cancer. She then went on to tell the many reasons she did not at first want to have children. I found this to be a very entertaining part. Then she went on to explain that once she married she found herself wanting kids and always wanting what you can’t have she discovered herself to be infertile. She eventually did “accidentally” get pregnant and became obsessed with having more children. Wright continued to go on with a very graphic and detailed account of her and her husband’s struggle to become pregnant again. The details about her miscarriage were a little graphic but to make it a good writing, she had to do it. After that her family went to live in Spain for six months. Stories from this trip were what she finished her overall reading with. I am currently taking a Spanish class and did so in high school so I found her story about her opportunity to learn Spanish humorous and understanding.

I’ll admit that I was a little shocked of how interesting I found this reader to be. Her writing was about her real life and she included so much detail I felt as if I knew her very well afterward. It amazed me that she was able to read such hilarious material and still not show any emotion while doing so. Overall, I found this program to be very entertaining and interesting.

Everyone needs some activity where they can zone out and do what they enjoy. For some people it’s running, watching TV, or reading. My real stress reducer would be art and especially painting. When I was younger, I always enjoyed coloring and when I took a junior high art class, I realized I really enjoyed everything about the subject. Even though I took a break from art for awhile, I came back and realized how talented I really am.

I took my first real art class my freshmen and everyone in my class was the same age as myself. All my projects turned out pretty good at first and by the end of the year I was an excelling student and I even won many awards at the annual end of the year art show. I figured that since I had been such a stand out, if I took another class during my sophomore year I would be just as talented. This was not the case in my class full of mostly seniors. All my new classmates were very talented and had taken years of classes as well as taking two or three per semester. I felt as if I were too far behind.

I ended the class with a decent amount of good work but I never felt this way about my pieces because the older students were so much more advanced than I was. Struggling to keep up with the seniors abilities, I often spent hours at home working on my work as well as at school. I become very stressed with it and art wasn’t much fun for me anymore. I regretted taking the class because to me, my art work did not even compare to the others. I won maybe two awards in the art show that year. Quite a difference than the year before and my confidence suffered greatly. So much that I didn’t take another art class for the next three semesters.

By the time of my senior year, I had most of my credits and only needed to take electives. I thought about taking a few art classes because I really did miss the stress relief it had been for me my freshman year. My parents remembered my trouble sophomore year and although they advised me against it, I signed up for the class anyway. It didn’t take me long to step up to how good I was and I realized I was even better. The ability to draw and paint matures over time as you do. You develop more patience which helps this ability. For me, this definitely had happened.
Art was fun for me again and I looked forward to class. I even came to work on my latest piece during my study hall and took my projects home at night but not because I was behind and stressed. I worked on it so much because I realized I really loved doing it again and it wasn’t stressful. Painting and drawing turned out to be my favorite hoppy to do in my free time. At the end of the year, I produced an art display of my pieces as did my fellow seniors. My display lacked quantity because of the semesters I had missed but it made up in the quality. I won an award for every one of my pieces with more than half of them receiving first place ribbons.

Painting really became my passion. During the summer, I continued to paint and I produced many more pieces which actually hang all over my house. Now that I am in college, I do not have much time to paint or even draw. I did not even bring any of my supplies to USI with me except a simple sketchbook which I rarely have the opportunity to draw in. My high school art teacher stated that with time, your talent matures even more so I’m hoping that even though I am not able to do any of it right now, by the time summer comes, I will still be just as talented if not more.

The Right Path

I have always enjoyed working with kids for as long as I can remember. This may have started at a very young age because of my three younger brothers. Because there is such an age gap between my youngest brother and myself, I feel as if I have played a large role in helping to raise him. My decision may also be based of all my volunteer experience with children as well as my nearly three year job at the town library. Any of these could have contributed to my choice of major and career as an elementary education teacher.
This decision to teach is not exactly a new one. Since I was young, I have admired my elementary teachers and wanted to be just like them. Therefore, I have always considered teaching as my career path but it was not until my junior year of high school that I made it official that teaching is what I wanted to do with my life. This occurred after I had already been working at the library for several years and had been coaching soccer for even more as well as my time spent teaching bible school. It was not until my senior year that I began spending a large amount of time in the classroom of the elementary school I had attended.
Once I do earn my degree in elementary education, I hope to find a teaching job someone similarly close to where I grew up. I loved the town I grew up in and wish to maybe move back after college. I know it is a huge dream, but I would really love to teach in the school I actually went to. I’m from a small town and still see my old teachers all the time. Also, I grew up in such a wonderful school corporation and I would really just love to be a part of it. Not only is the whole system great but also the students that are from my area. My elementary school is now only for kindergarten through forth grade although when I went, it went all the way through sixth. This may also be a determining factor of whether or not I can teach there. I would really feel most comfortable teaching in my own hometown.
Over the years, I have spent a large amount of time helping children and I believe this has played a large part in my decision to become an elementary teacher. Although it will be difficult, I really hope to teach at my elementary school I attended and for more information on them click here: http://www.sedubois.k12.in.us/~ferdelm/. I want to be a teacher because I want to have a large impact on my students’ lives. I want them to remember me for great things just as I remember all my teachers at Ferdinand Elementary for the great things they did as well.

The Little Things

Just as everyone else, I have many pet peeves that bother me. Most of them are little things but they still get to me. Two of these little things that really annoy me are when people chew gum, especially with their mouth open, and when they talk louder than they actually need to. I also have a few other little pet peeves as well.
One pet peeve I cannot stand is when people chew gum. It is even worse when they chew the gum with their mouth open. First off, I think chewing gum makes you look not so intelligent. I feel even more this way when the person is actually talking in front of a large group of people or even giving an important speech and they have a big wad of gum in their mouth that they are showing everyone. All I can focus on is them chewing that gum and it’s disgusting. This relates to people chewing with their mouth open as well. I also find that very disgusting.
Another pet peeve of mine is when people in general talk very loud. I am a quiet person and even when I try to talk loud, I still am not. Also, since I get migraines very easily, I am even more irritated with the loudness. It bothers me so much when people talk excessively loud without reason. I have three younger brothers that consistently yell and it is one of my biggest pet peeves.
Although it is kind of strange, I cannot tolerate watching an old movie. This is not just because the slang is out of style or even the personalities and attitudes have changed. The main reason I am unable to watch it is because of the style. The whole time I watch a movie with really outdated clothing, I am nonstop thinking about how horrible their clothing is and I will not even pay attention to what is going on with the rest of the movie. I find it very distracting.

My brothers are just a very annoying pet peeve themselves. They are constantly getting on my nervous with many various things. My brother, especially the oldest, has horrible bathroom habits. He is such a slob. He cannot pick up after himself even when it’s not the bathroom. His dirty underwear are always everywhere. Another problem I have with him is that he can barely take care of himself and when it comes to school he can’t at all. My parents miss me going to the same school as him because I always made sure he was going to do what he had to do. He is just so irresponsible and even though he’s seventeen, he can’t take care of something things for himself and he defiantly cannot handle cleaning up after himself. He is the complete opposite of me and that makes him a large pet peeve to me.

One last pet peeve of mine would be people talk down to me and i have a problem with this in one of my classes. It is an easy class and I understand everything without even having to pay attention but because there are so many no so smart people in my class, our professor talks to all of us like we are not understanding a simple concept. What really annoys me I guess is that he just assumes the rest of us are that far behind and we are all slackers. I feel like I am in elementary school again with the way he talks to us in that class.

Everybody has their pet peeves that annoy them and they change with every individual. Some people have many while others have only a few. My biggest pet peeves are little things. They can sure get on my nerves quickly though.

True Passion

Everyone needs some activity where they can zone out and do what they enjoy. For some people it’s running, watching TV, or reading. My real stress reducer would be art and especially painting. When I was younger, I always enjoyed coloring and when I took a junior high art class, I realized I really enjoyed everything about the subject. Even though I took a break from art for awhile, I came back and realized how talented I really am.
I took my first real art class my freshmen and everyone in my class was the same age as myself. All my projects turned out pretty good at first and by the end of the year I was an excelling student and I even won many awards at the annual end of the year art show. I figured that since I had been such a stand out, if I took another class during my sophomore year I would be just as talented. This was not the case in my class full of mostly seniors. All my new classmates were very talented and had taken years of classes as well as taking two or three per semester. I felt as if I were too far behind.
I ended the class with a decent amount of good work but I never felt this way about my pieces because the older students were so much more advanced than I was. Struggling to keep up with the seniors abilities, I often spent hours at home working on my work as well as at school. I become very stressed with it and art wasn’t much fun for me anymore. I regretted taking the class because to me, my art work did not even compare to the others. I won maybe two awards in the art show that year. Quite a difference than the year before and my confidence suffered greatly. So much that I didn’t take another art class for the next three semesters.
By the time of my senior year, I had most of my credits and only needed to take electives. I thought about taking a few art classes because I really did miss the stress relief it had been for me my freshman year. My parents remembered my trouble sophomore year and although they advised me against it, I signed up for the class anyway. It didn’t take me long to step up to how good I was and I realized I was even better. The ability to draw and paint matures over time as you do. You develop more patience which helps this ability. For me, this definitely had happened.
Art was fun for me again and I looked forward to class. I even came to work on my latest piece during my study hall and took my projects home at night but not because I was behind and stressed. I worked on it so much because I realized I really loved doing it again and it wasn’t stressful. Painting and drawing turned out to be my favorite hoppy to do in my free time. At the end of the year, I produced an art display of my pieces as did my fellow seniors. My display lacked quantity because of the semesters I had missed but it made up in the quality. I won an award for every one of my pieces with more than half of them receiving first place ribbons.
Painting really became my passion. During the summer, I continued to paint and I produced many more pieces which actually hang all over my house. Now that I am in college, I do not have much time to paint or even draw. I did not even bring any of my supplies to USI with me except a simple sketchbook which I rarely have the opportunity to draw in. My high school art teacher stated that with time, your talent matures even more so I’m hoping that even though I am not able to do any of it right now, by the time summer comes, I will still be just as talented if not more.

Ferdinand, Indiana

My hometown of Ferdinand, Indiana is a very small town of only about 2,500 people. It is a very rural town right of the interstate. Ferdinand is one of those towns where everyone knows everyone else and everyone always shares a smile. Not only is it a great place to visit but also a wonderful place to grow up in if you are considering moving into the region.
Ferdinand’s biggest attraction would probably be the Convent of Immaculate Conception where the Sisters of St. Benedict live. This castle is a wonderful place to tour and it was also just recently renovated. Maybe you’ll have a chance to learn a little about it’s history and how it once was an all girls’ academy not too long ago.
Two other great attractions to visit would be the Ferdinand State Forest and to go shopping at Tin Lizzie's. Just the drive out to the forest is very scenic. At Tin Lizzie's you can find many items for your home and it is even located right on Main Street also. Even just driving around on one of the many back roads would be scenic and interesting especially during the fall and spring.
If visiting during the summer during the second week of June, be sure to stop in and visit he Heimatfest which is the local town fest. Here you can see many performances, attend many activities, and play the multiple games to help raise money for local organizations. My favorite would be the Barbecue Contest held on the first Saturday. You could also run in the 5K right before that raises money for the high school track and cross country teams. Another great thing to do during the summer would be to drive over to Santa Claus only 10 minutes away and enjoy a day at Holiday World and Splashin Safari.

Another great time of year to visit Ferdinand would be the week of November 21-22, 2009 when they host our annual Christkindlmarkt. This is a big deal in Ferdinand because it goes back to our German heritage. Anyone who can make crafts, bake, paint, or sell antiques set up their owns booths in one of the three locations of the YMCA, high school gym, or the community center. Everything is Christmas related and it is a very enjoyable event.
When you develop an appetite and begin to look for someplace to eat, you can eat at the typical Wendy’s or Subway located right off the interstate. You could try any of the family owned restaurants too. Homestead Pizza is right on Main Street or you could try The Ferdy Flyer which dates back in history to when trains passed through town. Oasis Bar and Grill serves some excellent fried fish. Flieg’s is another historical bar and restaurant that actually originated from my own family name and still carries my family name.
Ferdinand has two options when it comes to where to stay. Either you can stay at the Comfort Inn which is also located right off the interstate or you can drive more into town on Main Street and find Harvest Moon. This is our small but adorable Bed and Breakfast.

http://www.ferdinandinchamber.org/index.html

If your considering moving into the area, Ferdinand has wonderful academic programs at all their schools as well as the high school excelling in athletics. Athletics especially basketball are a big deal in Ferdinand and this past year we won eight total sectionals in different sports. For more information about Forest Park, the high school, visit: http://www.sedubois.k12.in.us/fphs/fphs.htm#ginfo

Ferdinand was an exceptional town for me to grow up in and it is a good place to consider when looking for a vacation destination or a place to live. Not only is Ferdinand scenic with many places to visit but the surrounding area of Dubious County also has a lot to offer.

The Best of Taylor Swift

1. The Best Day- Fearless Album. Although most of Taylor Swift’s songs are about relationships and break-ups, this song is actually dedicated to her family and mostly about how much her mom means to her. Although she mentions her father and brother, she really talks about what an inspiration her mom was to her when she was growing up and how much she looked up to her. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1lTWXa0oyA

2. I’m Only Me When I’m with You. This is another song that is different than the others because it is not about relationships either. The song can actually go both ways. Some may think it’s about a boy when they just listen to it. After watching the music video and seeing her with her friends, you notice the song fits as in the way that she has the most fun when she’s is with her friends. It has a goofy music video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_VI2cIgqwc

3. Love Story- Fearless. This song was a very big hit for her. It turned an overly heard about Shakespeare story into something modern and gave it a new interest. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wRkoGKQ8qQ

4. Change. Change was actually a promotional song for the 2008 Olympics. It is an inspirational song about how one person can be strong and make a difference. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEy-4q3-M0E

5. Tied Together With a Smile. This song came from her first album and she actually wrote it about of friend of hers. Her friend seemed like the happiest person on the outside but it later was found out that she was a very depressed person. Taylor Swift write her own songs and about experiences she has personally gone through. That is why so many girls like her music because they can relate to her. http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/taylorswift/tiedtogetherwithasmile.html

6. Fifteen- Fearless Album. Fifteen is about going into your freshmen year and it inspires girls not to get too caught up in boys and fitting in and peer pressure. This is another song she wrote from experience and she hopes to get the message out not to get caught up in all that because someday you’ll realize you wasted it. You’ll realize you could have became so much more.

7. Tim McGraw-- This was Taylor’s first hit as a singer and it is what made her so popular. This song led to her millions of albums sold. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUQIV-PCb28

Change in Influence

I have a brother nearly a decade younger than me. Because of the larger age gap, the commodities we have had growing up differ as well as the interests. He has a larger media influence on him and while I rarely ever watched television when I was younger, my brother watches it nearly all day and every day. Not only has the amount of television being watched changed but also the shows and their story lines.
When I was younger, I enjoyed watching shows such as Barney, Sesame Street, and the Wee Sing Videos. All of these shows and movies incorporated a special message or meaning in each plot. While watching Barney, I learned about the importance of friendship. My favorite Wee Sing videos also taught about sharing and kindness. Sesame Street taught me about colors, numbers, and the alphabet. As I became a little older, I enjoyed shows like Little Bear, Franklin, and Arthur. All of these had a lesson to be learned as well as being educational.
My favorites to watch were Wee Sing movies. I watched them so often I can still remember the dog that thought he had no friends because he only wanted to do what he wanted to do. He didn’t care about anyone else. This dog learned about sharing and making friends. I can even remember other lessons I learned from these particular movies.
When my brother was younger he watched Blue’s Clues but his time watching this show did not last nearly as long as I watched the shows mentioned before. Before long, he was watching shows such as The Suite Life of Zack and Cody as well as SpongeBob. SpongeBob has very few shows with meaning behind them. With shows such as The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, a young child is already learning about relationships, kissing, and crushes on the opposite sex. I never watched a show like this when I was younger.
Most children’s shows now are not extremely bad influences but they have changed a great deal in the past ten and more years when I watched those shows. The fact that first graders are watching shows like Hannah Montana is just different than what I watched. Hannah Montana is about a teenage girl and the shows I watched were specifically aimed for younger kids and they dealt with and talked about the things younger kids actually knew about. Young children do not need to watch something about a teenage girl.
Another difference I have noticed about my brother and I, is the rate at which we began to develop crushes on the opposite sex. I did not have my “first boyfriend” until I was in the fifth grade and even then I had a rule of staying at least ten feet away from him. We never talked to each and were too scared to. When I was younger, it was more just cool to say I had a boyfriend and to just not associate with him. My brother started having “girlfriends” when he was only in first grade. He is only in fourth grade now but he has already kissed a girl on the cheek and held hands with another. This is quite a difference than when I was the same age. This may not only be because of the influence of television but I do believe it has played a large role. When he watches shows as the ones I mentioned, he is being influenced to act like them and be like them. It does not matter if they are actually supposed to be older than him; it is what he is being influenced by.
My brother and I grew up in different decades and many ways changed during that time. While he watches shows with the influence of relationships and crushes, I learned about sharing, friendship, honesty, and other worthy messages and lessons. During my time, I did not watch as much television and when we did it had a positive influence on me. The shows I grew up watching were much more beneficial than the ones my brother watched or watches now.

About Me

My name is Abby Luebbehusen and I'm a freshmen at USI and in an LLC English class.