Deck The Halls (with Holly)

The idea of writing a personal essay is both exciting and daunting. I like structure and who doesn't like clear and obvious instructions? But this assignment gives us the option to write through a creative lens and express our feelings and personal discoveries. There isn't a specific question to answer which leaves a lot of room for our minds to lead us somewhere incredible and new. I tend to get overwhelmed working on these types of assignments, so it wasn't easy for me to come up with ideas and topics to write about.  I am unsure whether I want to keep my personal essay light or dive into heavier topics. After spending days, moving into weeks discussing the rapidly evolving global Coronavirus pandemic I decided that was not the topic I wished to write about. But consequently, the free time I now have has helped me consider possibilities. A few topics I have considered include spirits and afterlife, political ideologies, stress and depression around the holidays, and th...

Since being 16 years old in high school, I have always chosen to work on top of going to class each day. I love working, I love making money, and I love meeting new people along the way. I've started a new job or volunteer position about fifteen times total in my life yet somehow each time I still have high nerves and anxiety before walking in for my first day. For me it is nerve-racking to begin a new job or position because you are being trained to do something you have never done before and you are walking into a group of people you have never met before. There are coworkers, management teams, and customers coming in and out all day, people you do not know but need to work closer with. In James Paul Gee's introduction of   "Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics,"   I learned the term "mushfaking," something I know now that I have done, but did not know there was name for it before reading Gee's work.  After a short job search, and a very low press...

The person I am today is much different from the person I was when I came into college as a freshman in August of 2017. I've learned a lot about myself, grown as a person, and experienced a lot of new things in just a few short years. Not only have I grown as person, but I believe I've grown as a student as well. And a lot of that comes from trial and error, finding out what works best for me, and what I can do now that will be the most beneficial for me in the future. Basically what are the best investments to make in myself, my education, and life in general. After reading   "Secrets of the Most Successful College Students" by Annie Murphy Paul  , I can certainly think of my own pieces of advice to add on to examples she provided. Skills, behaviors, and ways I have learned over the years that work for me and they may work for you too. First. STUDY and TAKE NOTES. When I began college I honestly had no idea how to properly take notes or how to sit down and t...

I am from Humboldt County. I am from a special place many have heard the name, but few have seen firsthand. I grew up in a small town where everyone knew your name. From five years old and on through adulthood we grew and learned together, one family with many last names. I am from a beautiful place, one way you can find redwood trees, another an ocean or lake. A land with great mountains, and incredible views. New territory to explore, not only for the traveling through, but a local as well. I am from the ma and pop shops, the businesses of our neighbors, supporting one another to keep a thriving culture. We do what we can with limited means, a days drive to the large city we don't care. I am from a place I will always cherish, memories galore. My first and forever home, I will always visit to reminisce. I am from a place I love, but a place I have outgrown. A Little Bit of Analysis: In creating my poem I began by of course reading through Lyo...

Growing up I was the baby, the youngest child, and in my opinion, my mom's favorite. Kidding!! I spent years and years of my childhood being the youngest out of my siblings and cousins. Often the one to get told "no way" or "get out of my room" when I asked the older kids to play with me. Being the youngest had its perks though, extra attention from my grandma and having a very laid back mom. Having already raised two teenage daughters, she was naturally much more lenient by the third and I tended to get away with quite a lot by the time I reached high school. The hardest thing about having siblings eight and ten years older than you is they move out of your family home before you are ready for them to leave. I watched my sisters graduate college, get married, and buy homes while I was still too young to drive a vehicle. It was tough on me because I missed them so much, luckily they live in the same town as me (before I left for college), but it was still hard t...