btm4

2005-11-28T12:42:00.000-05:00

After returning from Thanksgiving break yesterday, all I can think about now is Christmas break. Only a couple more weeks of classes, then finals, then home for a month. Anyway, I got my 5th paper back yesterday, and was mostly pleased with how I did. Grade-wise, I did just as well as my 4th paper, which was quite well, so I was very happy about that. However, after reading some of the comments I got on it, I feel like I definitely could've done a lot better than I did, and that I didn't do as amazingly as I first thought I did.

Which leaves me at a difficult crossroads, because now I'm really unsure which paper I want to revise for the final assignment. I did really well on both of them, but they also both had a few glaring problems with them, so I really could work with either one. I'm wondering what I could change with either of them to make a significantly better paper.

In any case, now that the due date for the "draft" of the final assignment was pushed back yet again, I can have more time to give this a little more thought and decide which paper I will ultimately work with.

2005-11-18T12:36:00.000-05:00

Finally finished the 5th paper last night. It took awhile, but having the extra time for not getting my last essay back was definitely worthwhile, because I was able to put more thought and effort into the 5th assignment. I feel really good about how it turned out. Most essays I write I seem to have trouble sticking to my thesis, or really coming up with a substantial argument for it, and sometimes I even feel like after writing 3 or 4 pages of a paper, that I've basically said absolutely nothing. However, I feel like in this essay, I came up with a plausible argument, and sufficiently backed it up. It feels like I actually said something in these 4 pages.

Those are just my thoughts about it though, so we'll have to wait and see what Prof. Schacht thinks about it. After all, professors are the ones actually doing the grading here. I can't wait to get it back though, because I'm eager to see if I did as well as I thought. And, hopefully I won't have to wait as long as last time either =P.

2005-11-17T11:26:00.000-05:00

I got my fourth paper back today with a rather uplifting e-mail, along with the best grade I've received on a paper in a long time. I've never felt my writing was anything to really write home about, or that it was exemplary in any way. I've always struggled with writing papers and essays, so to me, it's a big deal when someone compliments it, haha.

However, these good grades will be for naught if I don't fulfill the other requirements of the course, so it's time to step up the bloggin.

2005-11-16T12:36:00.000-05:00

Upon entering class today, I heard the Trans-Siberian Orchestra playing, which to me was pretty exciting. I was introduced to the band last year, and really liked some of their songs. I wanted to eventually send the same song that was playing today in to Prof. Schacht for his collection of Christmas music, but apparently someone beat me to it, haha. I could probably find some other songs from TSO to send in. It would be nice to have some really good music playing as we all sit down for class =P.

2005-09-09T12:46:00.000-04:00

Writing the first draft of our first paper was somewhat of a difficult task for me. Since my family does not have many traditions for Christmas to speak of, especially nowadays, I had trouble writing enough detail about one of my smaller traditions to cover the paper requirements. It's not that my family had terrible Christmas experiences, or that there was something fundamentally wrong in what we did or didn't do to celebrate the holiday. It's just that while we've done things as a family together, it just never seemed to have the spark that other families had. We had a few things that we all did when my brother and I were young, but those are all but gone with the coming of college. Since we're both in college now, winter and summer break are about the only times theres even a remote chance of us getting together as a family. When you factor in spending time with friends, working for spending money during the year, and everything else that comes with coming home after a few months away from home, there really isn't much time at all left for family.

To add to that, in the recent years, my extended family has moved to all corners of the country, making it nigh impossible for us to get together at all during the year. So it isn't to say that none of us think it would be worth it to make the trip to see eachother during the holidays, but more that since we all have ties to our areas now, trying to fit everything in and make everything work is, once again, nigh impossible.

I'm being cut off right now, but I'll continue later.