Pre-Write

Congratulations you've survived High School and decided to give college a chance. I guess I'm the one whose going to welcome you to Stairs and Hills University. Wrong place you think? Nope I have never had a tighter butt in my life. So if you see one of your classes are in Founder's Hall pray you learn the shortcuts my friend or don't be late. If you do need a good work out wait until your class starts in five minutes and see how quick you can make it. Never tried it myself and I sure as hell don't plan too but knock yourself out freshie you never know.

That's not important though I mean first you have to get there. Don't book a plane flight on your way up here you could miss the beautiful scenery of Highway 299. Who wants to get to your college in half the time. Two hour flight to a 12 hour drive sounds so much worse! Unless you want to cough up the money for a ticket you're going to be in my shoes. So you can get car sick and spend the trip sitting in the backseat eating goldfish and drinking water and trying desperately not to puke orange. At least your parents can enjoy the view while your backseat spot is crammed with stuff for your dorm.

Unless your lucky and get a single you're going to get to share a small room with one or more people. Don't worry you'll be good friends and joke about how much you hate each other and how much they stink when they haven't taken a shower in two days. That is what air freshener and febreze is for people! Personally I never go past the two day limit and I load on the deodorant. I mean who has time for that when we need to catch up on all the television shows we've missed over the past couple of months? You can also do your homework which college is famous for. Working on your big paper the night before it's due. At least you get it done!

I could do a better job if I had more experience with college because I don't think saying I've been in college three months is going to gain any respect. Too bad because if I took this class next semester I could tell you all about my month winter break that comes with the happiness of college. Sadly the fact is three months beats your zero expirence makes it a little bit worth it. I have your intentions in mind though so don't worry. You don't have to be that freshman who had there nose stuck to the map on the first day (guilty) or getting the wonderful culture shock on arrival

Unfortunately from the academic side of the picture it's hard. Procrastination foils the best of us and staring at your Beta fish sounds a lot better than writing the paper but it needs to be done. Find a nice place to study and no that doesn't mean in the lobby (especially if they adorn a ping pong table) where people come in and out and it's extremely distracting. Don't worry though one place is the third floor of the library. Dead silent and you have the honor no the PRIVILEGE to study with the bats that live there.

The social scene is always alive especially on the weekend at 3a.m when you hear screaming and see figures running up and down the street. People are up and about during the wee hours of the morning whether you like it or not. A favorite past time of mine is singing "Build me up Buttercup" with my friends a couple minutes before quiet hours are upon us. Not a person who likes to social with other people? No worries! There is nothing like sitting in you dorm watching Sci-fi and knitting a ear flap hat for a friend. Or even dying your hair at 2am, because it's that important to ask everyone in your suite if the color suits you or not.

I've personally heard a lot of opinions about what they call the 'food' here. I mean there is the J which provides enough Half Baked for eternity if you get there before 7pm when they close. Don't worry though! They have the grill opened until 9pm and there is nothing like grilled cheese every Tuesday and Thursday night for three months. Thankfully there is the Cupboard which is open until late at night. If God could reincarnate himself into a store it would be the Cupboard. Need whipped cream? You can get it here! You can even get Scooby-Doo fruit snacks! There is nothing like heating up your frozen dinner and making the place smell like chicken Parmesan and spaghetti.

Something that everyone thinks when they come is that you need to know what your going to do for the rest of your life. Nope, take your time you have a couple of years to decide your fate. If you do want to change your major all you have you do is walk up Mount Sinai, jump up and down on one foot and.... talk to your counselor. You might have to fill a couple papers but it's so simple a caveman can do it! Your counselor is easy to find, mine randomly sent out emails about his choice for 'best hangout.' After I met with him I conveniently stopped getting the emails from him. Coincidence? I think not.

You hear this everywhere but it is a good tip that you should at least consider... join a club. I'm in a club which is also a class and it's so much fun. You meet a large amount of interesting people that you would've never hung out with otherwise... though you would be surprised. You can watch me marching during football season in some field show that was made up the night before. I'm the one with the giant base drum waiting to trip and eat it.

Or you can always take up a hobby if that's more your area. On rainy days when you can't really go outside you can raid Michael's and make sock animals. I made a cat and embroidered his face and dubbed him Carl. If not there is always something you can learn. Someone juggles in the grass area all the time, you can play Frisbee or have a BBQ (that always smells heavenly). Take a walk in the forest and see how many banana slugs you can take pictures of (silly roommate). You can find something to do here even if it's stupid like stomping on bubble wrap from the latest package you got.

Make friends with cars, I know it sounds conceded but it's something you should do. Don't be obvious and ditch them if they don't but keep your eyes out. The dollar store and Safeway aren't two steps away from your dorm. If you can't try the bus because it is free with your I.D. card if you can't find someone with a vechile. The dollar store is great for decoration like wrapping your door with Snoopy wrapping paper and a big white bow all for under four dollars. Safeway is great for those snacks when your hunger pains hit hard. You can get snacks on campus but finding them at the dollar store for a buck is so much more satisfying.

College has it's ups and downs, some are better than others but overall it's a cool place. Not a big fan of walking back to my room after my shower or remembering which dryer is useful for actually drying your clothes but i'll live. At least your free from your parents... but sadly they can't make you dinner and you have to go find it or even microwave it if your that good of a cook. Don't be scared you don't have to know everything about college when you come. You never know, turning all your clothes pink on accident may get you some friends and laughs.

R.I.P Zachary Headden

Yesterday I went on facebook to check some things before my next class and was devastated as to what I saw. My Drum Major for the 08 season, who helped me grow into a leader for my own team, who brought the show to life, and helped create the best summer died. That morning at around 3am he fell asleep at the wheel to crash and leave us. Pacific Crest is a family, a large family and no matter what I felt tears spring to my eyes.

I never knew him very well but I will NEVER forget him. He touched thousands with his actions as Drum Major and taught me so many lessons. My heart is empty for the man that was taken way to soon from us. Ave Maria is playing in my head and will never waver.

I remember once I went to a 09 show to see my Corp in action because I had injured myself earlier that year and couldn't march. At the end the World Class Pacific Crest asked all Alumni to make their way down. Many of my old friends joined me in being presented with a silver necklace with the Pacific Crest emblem. My heart was filled with joy at being with my family again and feeling like I belonged.

Thank you Zach, I will always remember my family and they will always have a place in my heart. I've cried for you in hope you rest in peace and wonder why you are gone. Zach you've touched a lot of people in your lifetime and I'm proud to say I'm one of them.

You better get some rest! We have a show in seven months. :) You better be ready because every single member is doing the show for you.

Goodbye Zach...
Always,
Becca: 'o8 and (hopefully) '10 Pacific Crest

Know it All

I found this article to be very thought out and well presented. The comparison between Britannica and Wikipedia left me astounded and a little taken aback. How can a website that had no credentials boom into a source for millions of people to look through daily? The Internet is a huge place and no one controls it all. It reminds me of real life where you start from scratch and work your way up the ladder. Some sites like Wikipedia become extremely popular while some are just left in the shuffle. The people are the deciding factor of what happens to sites. Everyone has a right to an opinion and some people don't like Wikipedia. Personally I do enjoy reading things and getting a feel for certain subjects just for the heck of it. There are some people out there who are very intelligent and have a say in Wikipedia. Not everything in the site is bad and a lie. One thing I found interesting also was the paragraphs on the history of Encyclopedias. I wasn't sure how it tied in to the point of the article but it was intriguing how the concept of it grew from so long today to Wikipedia. It seems the author agrees that the new age of Encyclopedias is Wikipedia and how it's starting out bumpy but can create great things in time. It reminds me of cell phones, when they were first made they were huge and bulky. What happened next? Did they just think it was ok enough and leave it? No they WORKED to make it better. Now cell phone are a communication God in some sorts leaving the past behind. Wikipedia is young and hopefully will soon turn into something great. Knowledge is a great power and should be shared to the community.

Chapter 2 and 3

The first paragraph I read made me a little aggravated because the author is obviously contradicting her own statement. The author wants you to learn summarizing but uses big words that aren't needed. Is this some way of giving us a chance to summarize her own chapter on how to summarize? I also find it interesting that she finds summarizing an art or if she is just being sarcastic. She could be using the word very loosely for all I know. I wasn't sure I understood her point because in one paragraph she says that some people are self conscious about giving their own opinions and later she says that your opinion shouldn't be in the summary. I do agree though when she says that list summaries are pointless and boring. You should be at least a little bit creative when putting someones words as your own. The author points out that "a good summary, in other words, has a focus or spin that allows the summary to fit with with your overall agenda while still being true to the text your summarizing." (Birkenstein 31-32) She pretty much summed up what a summary is and what it is supposed to do. It is valuable to go on in detail about what is right and what is wrong but she spoke all the basics needed in that very sentence. The last paragraph was my favorite by far about how in college you don't just summarize you put your own opinion and protest for good measure. The templates were added to the usefulness of the chapter. Even though she sums up her own chapter with one sentence in the middle of the chapter she added more than what was necessary and puts how to summarize something in perspective. A long and annoying read but useful none the less.

In the third chapter the author comes out with the purpose of it and even adds some humor to lighten up the mood. I think it's interesting that quotes don't always mean what people assume others to think it means. If someone quoted another for an essay they should explain what the quote means so the reader is on the right track on what your trying to say. Another useful thing is to find quotes that are relevant to your writing. Not just picking random quotes for the heck of it. Something that we talked about in class is how to introduce quotes in a sentence and not leave them "hanging" as the author likes to put it. We need to learn to introduce the quote and explain the meaning and how it connects to the essay we are writing. More templates are introduced to help accomplish this feat and to push the reader to pursue what the author intitles. Another thing she does is gives examples and explains them to the reader to engage them into the disscusion. I enjoyed this chapter much more than the other one and felt that it really captured the interest of the reader and made opportunites for them to practice.

Chapter 31

Using sources and avoiding plagiarism makes you scared to ever use someone else’s work unless you are positive you know what you’re doing. I understand the jest of it but I never took it as seriously as the book is bringing it up as. After it scares you, it offers to help you and shows you tips for not copying while it shows you examples of people who did do it and how different it may seem but all in all it is plagiarizing. What were helpful were certain things that aren’t considered plagiarism and are common knowledge which was interesting because usually I would quote everything I didn’t know and thinking back was really unnecessary and pointless. It hard to separate your own thinking and someone else’s, how do you know they didn’t think of the same thing somewhere and you just weren’t careful enough? Another helpful part was how to incorporate the quotes into sentences. I was taught this in high school but haven’t really mastered it. Brackets were something that I was never quite clear on but they have almost a page of explaining how to do it right and change the sentence without changing the idea. They show examples and guidelines to write well thought out summaries and what is wrong and unacceptable. Last but not least they have a box full of words to use to put together quotes, paraphrases and summaries which I find extremely helpful. The paragraph was long but it was full of information that was extremely useful and not full of filler advice that doesn’t help me.

Chapter 30

Researching the web wisely was a chapter that in cooperated our discussion into it and developed it farther. It was a short chapter but it taught a lot about not looking at the surface and deciding whether it is an appropriate website or not. In the first section it answers why and convinces me to be more careful when looking for sources. I enjoyed the pictures and gave me a sense of understanding what they were talking about instead of blindly following them trying to figure it out. Not only were the pictures helpful but the use of Google which is something we can all relate to and understand shows that they are connecting with us as an audience which incorporates their own book into their work. They have a checklist to evaluate the reliability of a web site which is helpful to pinpoint the pros and cons of a webpage. Inside the checklist they have written a little paragraph explaining which each point means. I think it was a really short chapter and have a feeling there is more to it than they put. I wish they could have an example of a website and using the checklist so we can see firsthand what it entitles.

Chapter 28

Developing a search strategy was the chapter on starting your paper and getting everything you need. Unlike previous papers we’ve done you can’t just start writing the rough draft, first you need to get everything together and then you can start writing the paper. I’m glad they told us the difference between different sources and how to get them. I used to get really confused with the difference between a primary source and a secondary source was. Not only does it tell you what the difference is but how to attain it. What was interesting is a primary source can be questionnaires and interviews because you’re asking people firsthand about their opinion. Not only that but you can observe people and what they are doing if it has something to do with what you’re writing about. There are many different types of documentation styles which is ironic because in high school they prepare us for college and in college we don’t really use MLA that much. I’m really horrible with bibliographies because I always do it wrong so I feel I can improve that part of my writing with the help of the section and the paper. I’m glad I got refreshed on what an annotated bibliography was just in case for the future. This chapter is filled with information that makes you a better writer but not only that it goes above that. It gives you tips to take the information to a whole new level and get the best out of the tip. I found the chapter interesting and will definitely hang on to this book for a long time. If you have any questions it tries to answer them, I find it more helpful than a person for the fact that I can have it to my disposal.