Personal Narrative: Too Bad We Rarely Get Snow Here In Atlanta

She recalls the struggles, the fun, her failures and even her success in the end (Harding, 2011). The personal story shows the real road it takes with decisions we make “when entering college, Harding wrote that she began college because she felt it was expected of her”(Harding, 2011). College students often make choices based on what they perceive as pressure to do so by others like councilors, parents and even society. They enter college thinking this is what my plan should look like and not making choices that are the best for them. Harding said that in the end “ we all become graduates of one of the finest universities in the world- and already, nobody much cared how we got there”(Harding,2011). To me this shows that even if you pass by the skin of your teeth, you can still fail in the end. A diploma is not the end result that maters the most. Students need to choose colleges that appeal to their needs and goals and not just go to get a diploma. If students spend no time studying weather boarded or not liking their studies, then what difference does the diploma make in the end. Students would just have a degree that often goes unused in life but the costs is ever mounting to these students. The financial cost, the cost of failure, loss of energy and time, causes many students to never finish their education or even to avoid going in the

On December 2, 2016, in the opinion editorial, “How to Get In,” Susan Estrich, best-selling author and liberal columnist for the Creators, argues that hard work, not college acceptances, determine people’s future successes, challenging the notion that people’s opportunities and potentials are defined by the colleges they enter. Refuting the misconception that “getting into the right college is a meal ticket for life,” Estrich argues that GPA’s and LSAT’s may decide the difference between rejection and acceptance, but ultimately, tenacious hard work throughout life counts “for more than anything else,” before concluding that the “secret to a good application” is honesty and that, although she understands admissions can be partisan and erroneous through personal experience, in the end, she “did just fine”- an echoing sentiment to all prospective college applicants. Estrich

During high school, I struggled to maintain my grades and focus. I was in a small town, and every ounce of opportunity seemed to slowly be sucked away from the town as the years past with the aid of the downward economic spiral beginning. I felt, like many of my fellow classmates, that opportunity had passed us by. I didn’t dare conjure even the thought of attending Eastern; it would’ve been too similar to the

Galileo Galilei, an Italian polymath, once said, “You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.” After graduating college, many students feel anxious about the new chapter of their lives they’re about to begin. Students are bound by a curriculum since primary school, guidelines they conform to all their lives in order to walk across a stage with a degree in hand. However, these individuals are seldom able to explore the passions inside of them that shape their aspirations throughout their time in the education system. Instead, they reflect on their college years of staying up all night to write final papers. Finals papers students have revised and edited a multitude of times in order to produce a paper that adheres to a rubric and, once again, conforming to another set of guidelines. In Donovan Livingston’s Harvard Graduate School of Education Commencement Speech, “Lift Off”, Livingston uses rhetorical devices such as alliteration, allusion, and metaphor to reinforce his message that students should not be limited by the confines of the education system, but that the education system should be supporting and guiding students towards reaching their full potential by the time they step out into the real world.

Although in the past four years at Roanoke Valley Early College (RVEC) I have grumbled about how long I have been in the program and mentioned being ready to graduate almost everyday, writing this paper almost feels like a farewell. A bittersweet moment that I can safely say I deserve because of how hard I worked towards seeing this year all come together. The best way to describe is stunning. I would almost always hear any and everyone say that senior year comes up fast and I now know that they were not joking even a little. During my time at Roanoke Valley Early College I have evolved into a person that I am proud to call myself through my internship, staff members, career aspirations, and individual improvement.

As a transfer student at Texas A&M, I demonstrate what determination and hard work stands for through staying self-motivated to attend my dream school. Prior to the start of my education, my family and I moved to this country in hopes of escaping crime and violence, seeking opportunities and freedom. I was able to undertake my own opportunities and enrolled at a community college while also working a full time job in an effort to pursue my dream of attending Mays Business School. Every year, thousands of students apply to Mays; however, Texas A&M only accepts 100 candidates to attend their business school. Because of this transfer process, I have become a motivated, persistent and dynamic individual who strives for success.

These hours with Jerry, waiting for a ride home, or the hour we took for lunch, proved to be my favorite time of day. After graduating from Sarah Lawrence College I was desperate to go back to school, I spent hours a day applying to graduate school (for two years in a row), I wrote personal statements and essays about my academic pursuits, I wrote about the importance of an academic community for personal growth without really realizing that I was already enrolled in Professor Jarrell Jackman’s seminar “Tips to live a successful and rewarding

“Gosh, someone's mad,” I said in a mocking voice. We ignored each other for a while, but then noticed he was walking very slowly behind me. “ZAC!” I yelled to get his attention.

As a second year student at the University of Texas, I have encountered many circumstances than I have both grown from. When you are first dropped into the large pond of a university, you are constantly warned to take your academics seriously, because a college course load is much more rigorous than high school. However, I feel that you are not warned of one important fact that I had to learn the hard way.

I took it, but before I got to glance at it, I got called outside the class. The owner of the center appeared before me and, with a serious expression, told me to go to his office. My heart dropped in my stomach, and, with a final gulp, I went to his office with him following close behind. My writing teacher was waiting in the office, holding a cold, accusing expression. She then looked me dead in the eyes and told me to look at my essay. My eyes slowly looked down and scanned the paper. There was a note written by my teacher: "this paper is

Stop. Please. Stop. You have changed. I am at a loss for words. I thought that you – you wonderful university – would forever be the all-important, unchanging, institution of learning that would make me amount to something. Wait, what was that? You have not changed? Oh, that’s right. You haven’t changed, and therein lies the problem – according to Gideon Burton. “Dear Students: Don’t Let College Unplug Your Future” talks about how the Internet is becoming an essential tool for our lives, and that colleges and universities are not adapting in sync with the web. Using repetitive and colloquial diction, real-life examples, and a sarcastic voice, Burton effectively convinces college

Coming into college, there was an internally made promise that no opportunity provided would be squandered, that every obstacle, challenge, and struggle would be relentlessly tackled head-on in an attempt to help further develop myself as an individual, and an academic. Though it has been made very apparent through my on-campus engagement that part of the agreement to grow as an individual has been held up, the latter half remains unsatisfactorily unfulfilled. Though there have been many professors to which I hold an abundance of gratitude and praise for their hard work and dedication to teaching students, I have yet to find the truly deep satisfaction of being personally and intellectually challenged by a course.

Three years ago was one of the biggest snowstorms Atlanta has ever seen. This was a very traumatic experience for many people because people were trapped in there cars with no heat, food and place to stay. At first it was for me, too. I was lucky enough to make it home, unlike others. Atlanta received about 3 inches of snow,which is more than anyone expected.

Last week we had quite a lot of snow and Madison, the great lover of snow, couldn't wait to go out and play in it. Living my earlier years in the Caribbean, I'm still a spring/summer person at heart, but I tolerate the snow for my kids. Having lived in NYC for most of my life, you would however think that I'd love winter and the snow. That, unfortunately couldn't be further from the truth. I detest it! While fresh snow looks lovely for those who live in states and countries where there is none, the next day or two becomes a nightmare. Slush is by far the dirtiest thing, next to mud, you'll see in the winter, but kids love it all. So, with Madison out in the snow making her snow angels on the lawn, I grabbed my camera and started taking a few photos of her. I'm all about creating memories to last a lifetime and having photos of your kids during the stages of their life, photos that you can look back upon when they're older. It's also a good idea to also get in-front of the camera with your children as well. I have quite a few photos of my mom with my children but very few with us together since I was always the one taking the photos. It's also the same with my own children. Besides the professional sessions we took together, very rarely, there aren't a lot of photos with me in the picture. I know a lot of other parents can relate.

I could hear the sound of something creaking off into the distance. Someone was climbing up the stairs, dragging their feet. Soon after, I heard a knock on my bedroom door. Reluctantly, I pushed myself off of my bed and opened the door. It was my mother, holding a package in her hands. Informing me that it was mine, she handed it to me and walked back down the stairs. Hastily, I opened the seal, excited to see its content. It was this package that contained the acceptance letter that started my journey here at the University of Oklahoma. When I arrived at the University of Oklahoma, I was unsure what to expect in an academic setting. I had so many questions about classmates, professors, and the different terms that were unfamiliar to me. However, after experiencing several discussion sections of varying classes, I developed a better understanding of how language played a role in academics. Although I knew various things about language, it was not until I took English Composition that I was fully able to understand the significance that language plays in education. Because of my experiences at the University of Oklahoma, I now comprehend that, in an academic setting, patience and professionalism are all necessary forms of language that must be used through various interactions in order to fully grasp elements of education that are not written inside of textbooks.