Entry 33: Free Write

Write anything you want. Make it at least 200 words and use proper grammar, usage, and mechanics for standard written English.

• I'll be going to Beijing very soon for Model United Nations! And because of this, I am very, very excited! But, I am not prepared at all! I started my research on my issue topics already and I even found my solutions for my resolutions, but I haven't started writing my opening speech and resolution yet... Also, I didn't start to pack yet, and I also didn't go to the bank to exchange for the currency yet. The other thing that I am worried about is the amount of homework that I have to finish beforehand, as well as the amount of homework that I have to catch up when I return from my trip. I already know that I have two chapters of outlining to do for my AP classes... For the trip, we'll be in Beijing for five days. The first two days will be touring and registration (which means that these two days are the "relaxing" days). The remaining three days are the conference. After the conference ends, we'll leave immediately. It's going to be extremely tiring because the day we leave we leave extremely early, and the day we come back we come back extremely late. I am so going to collapse from all the running around I'm going to be doing.

Entry 32: Use Valid, Credible Sources for Information

Just because you have located a book, article, website, or other resource on your topic, does not mean you should automatically use it in your paper or project. You need to choose your resources carefully to make sure you get the best and most useful ones.
How can you tell if the book, article, website, or other resource you located is a valid, credible source? It may be helpful for you to ask yourself six questions:

1. Who? Who is the author? What are his/her credentials?
2. What? What information is available from this resource?
3. Where? Where did the author(s) get the information? Are citations provided?
4. When? When was the resource produced? (For books, check the copyright date. For articles, check the publication date. For websites, look for a "created on" or "last updated on" date.)
5. Why? Why does this resource exist? Is the purpose to entertain, persuade, inform, etc.? Is the resource biased?
6. How? How comprehensive is the resource? Does it go into the depth you need?

Pick one of the sources you chose for your issue essay and describe it (include the citation information). Then answer the six questions above for that source. After answering the questions, do you still think it is a good source?

• The citation for one of the sources that I chose is ""Sea Species Get a Move on as Climate Change Encroaches; SOME MARINE CREATURES MAY HAVE TO ADAPT FASTER," Western Mail (Cardiff, Wales) 9 Nov. 2011: 19, Questia, Web, 23 Feb. 2012." This source is written by Western Mail from Cardiff Wales. The information from the source allows me to write about the things affected by climate change, and it also allows me to prove that climate change is not only influencing humans, but also other organisms as well. There are citations at the end of the source, as well as citations within the source itself. The source was published on November 9, 2011, and it was taken and used on February 23, 2012, through Questia for use. This resource is produced as an informational text because it is informing people about the situation with the global climate changes and its effects. The resource is very comprehensive because it goes in depth concerning the topic, giving a very diverse point of view concerning the topic and its related areas.
• The other resources are very similar in terms of the six questions - who, what, where, when, why, and how. Therefore, it can be concluded that the other sources are also quite credential.

Entry 31: How to Impress

In your last journal entry you wrote about your extracurricular activities. Some of them might be impressive to university admissions officers. Some might not. Remember that some of the values that admissions officers are looking for in candidates are: ability to learn from mistakes, accountability, concern for others, creativity, defined goals, dignity, discipline, ethics, goal-orientation, honesty, humility, introspection, leadership, lucidity, maturity, positivity, self-awareness, team-orientation, uniqueness, and vision. Qualities that they aren’t looking for are: anger, arrogance, bad writing, blind ambition, ego, entitlement, immaturity, mediocrity, perfectionism, poor judgment, prejudice against race/gender, and vanity. Pick a few of the activities you wrote about before and write about which desirable values they might demonstrate. Are there any undesirable values associated with your activities?

• Basketball: Writing about basketball helps convey to others about my ability to work with others, as well as leadership when playing the game together. Both of these are necessary for a team to be able to play a game without having any negative feelings. It also teaches the important lesson of how important cooperation is. One can also learn from his or her mistakes when playing basketball. For example, when you lose the ball to the other team, you think back and try to find out why you lost the ball, and then you devise new strategies to fix that problem. Playing basketball also helps with one's discipline because of the necessary large amount of constant practice to maintain one's level of skills. Basketball, however, can show one's poor judgment when one is making a move. This may cause the team to loose the ball to the other team, and eventually even lead to the loss of games.
• Dancing: Dancing is an activity that helps to discipline oneself because to be able to dance well enough to perform, there must be a lot of effort dedicated to practice. It also shows that one has a defined goal, as well as show the uniqueness of a person because each person has his or her own unique dance style. Dancing, however, may show one's tendency to perfect everything, which is sometimes a bad quality.
• Community service: Community service helps one define his or her goals and discipline oneself. It also shows others that one is dedicated to society and is contributing one way or the other. The bad thing is that community service is sometimes done just for entitlement in order to show colleges that you actually did it.
• Model United Nations: MUN allows one to practice his or her creativity and discipline. It also helps one to define his or her goals as well as help him or her learn from the mistakes made. MUN, however, sometimes results in being too egoistic and too arrogant because of overconfidence.

Entry 30: Extracurricular Activities

Use this journal entry to brainstorm on your extracurricular activities. First, just list as many different activities that you have taken part in that you can remember. Include any clubs, volunteer work, performances, community service, sports, hobbies, jobs, and so on that you have done, including as far back as when you were in elementary school. List current activities as well as ones you don’t do any more. Once you have exhausted your memory, go over your list and begin to narrow it down. Write down which ones you think might be appropriate for your essay and why. Also write why you think others won’t work. Which of your final choices do you feel most strongly about? Why?

• Basketball team
• Dance club and dance performance
• Community service
• Model United Nation (MUN)
• I believe that the options that would work the best when writing a college essay are the dance club and dance performance and Model United Nations. Writing about dance club and dance performance shows that I am not a student that only concentrates on academics, but also one who values exercise. By performing on stage, it can also help express myself and show others that I have the confidence to actually perform in front of others. It also shows that I can put in effort to practice something enough to perform. Model United Nations is an educational activity. It also shows to others that one is very involved with current events and international news. It also allows a person to express themselves when they are speaking at the podium. When one is at the podium, one must work hard to improve their public speaking, as well as increase their confidence.
• Basketball team is also a possible topic. It tells others that one has engaged oneself in exercise and is not just one who focuses on academics. On the other hand, community service might not be such a good idea because the community service that I did was either because of club at school, or because of my mother telling me to go to community service with my brother.

Entry 29: Valentines

What does the word "love" mean to you? It's a big idea, and it carries very different meanings for different people. What is your personal definition of love? Does this definition change for the many relationships in your life – your family, your spouse, your children, your friends? How do you express your love? How do you want others to show you they care?

• The definition of love differs depending on a person's feelings and point of view towards love. My definition for love is that it is a feeling where people feel warm towards the person they love, where people feel happy when they are with the person they love, where people feel hurt when the people they love are hurt. Sometimes loves brings other negative feelings with it, such as jealousy and hatred. For me, the definition of love above accounts for every person that I believe that I "love".
• There are several ways that I use to express love. Generally, it means that I care for others. I will help them when they need help. I will comfort them when they need to be comforted. I will be there to listen to what they will say when they want to talk. And the list continues on. Sometimes I will also do some things that may seem cruel at first, but they are actually things that may benefit the people I love (so basically this is like sacrifice because they may hate you if the things you do appear to be really cruel).
• Similar to how I express love, I believe that if people care for me, then they are expressing a type of love. For example, they enjoy their time, being with me and doing things such as chatting. I also would like people to respect me. For example, they will give me time and space alone when I need to be alone and they will comfort me and listen to what I have to say when I need to talk to someone. The last way may be that they will give me advice that benefits me, and help me when I need help.

Entry 28: Sources?

Consider the issue you are writing about. Your decision to write about that particular issue shows that it has some importance to you, and probably to others as well. But how much do you really know about the issue? Can you write intelligently about it? Can you convince your reader that you really know what you are talking about? One way to increase your knowledge about your subject is to do some research. For this journal entry, write about the possible sources of information you might use to learn more about your issue. Try to write not only about general media types (like “newspapers” or “TV”), but try to think of specific publications or programs that might be helpful. Speculate about which sources might be more useful, and which might not be.

• I believe that I have adequate information on my issue topic. I say this because of several reasons. First, there has been many news on the television concerning the disasters caused by the recent climate changes as well as the geological changes. Also, my own experiences concerning the weather has notified me and made me aware of what's going on. Second, the internet has been a wide source of information concerning the climate patterns (you know there are these websites where they give you the statistical information concerning temperature, humidity, etc.) and geological changes such as earthquakes. I am especially aware of the frequent earthquakes that have been happening recently because many of them are close to where I live (which is Taiwan), for example, the devastating earthquakes in Japan that caused a chain reaction of tsunamis and extremely cold weather.
• If I were to conduct even more research on my topic, I would most likely go on the (all-knowing) internet and research. Questia, the online library that was supposing our school library, may also help me with research. The last option would be the easiest option, but also one of the most useful and efficient option, and it is just watch the television.

Entry 27: Personal, But Not Selfish

When talking about your issue topic a number of you expressed its importance to you in terms that, on the surface, might seem a bit selfish. Remember that the goal of the issues paper is to impress the college admissions officer that you are an engaged person who is aware of the world around you and concerned about other people. Use this journal entry to try to extend your interest in your chosen interest beyond simple self-interest. How can you use it to show that you care not only for yourself, but for your fellow human beings?

• The issue topic that I expressed during class was actually both personal and international. It can seem selfish on some certain levels, but it can also include the international world. My issue is not directly concerned with global warming and its effects, but mostly with the climate patterns of the last decade and exactly what is happening in the present day, and how people are reacting to it. It is personal to me because in the future, I might be one that has to go to these places that are strongly influenced by the weird, irregular, and unpredictable climate patterns. I do not want to be influenced by the climate then because one) it is very cold and I will have to wear lots of clothes (maybe layers of clothes that will make me look like an oversized onion) and 2) it would be extremely uncomfortable not only because it is very cold (or actually, it can be very hot), but also because wearing that many layers of clothes when it is extremely cold is hard to move in. This does not only apply to me, but also to others internationally. For example, the currently trend of snow in Japan is making it hard for the people in Japan to move about through their own neighborhood, and they also have to wear large amounts of clothing and shovel the snow away so that transportation and communication is actually allowed. Therefore, even though this topic may seem to be on a very personal or selfish level, it is actually also on a very international level since many people in the world are affected by it.