Task 3

Leon Botstein states in his essay, “Let Teen-Agers Try Adulthood”, that “…the American high school is obsolete and should be abolished” (205). I’m still torn between his essay for the simple fact that I highly disagree with points he makes throughout the essay but their were also some points I found myself agreeing with him a little bit. At one point the makes the statement, “The team sports of high school dominate more than student culture” (Bostein 205). I’ve experienced this first hand in high school. I’ve always been a student athlete for as long as I can remember. I specifically remember my teachers treating me different just because I had a “big” game that day or needed a certain grade in order to play. I know this is extremely unfair and even though I got special treatment I still didn’t agree with it. Bostein’s point has been proven true in not only my case but I‘ve also seen it happen to my friends as well. On the other hand Bostein states “We should entirely abandon the concept of the middle school and junior high school”(206). I highly disagree with this statement. Kids need time to mature and this takes time in order to happen. During middle school is generally when kids start to go through puberty. By eliminating middle school, this would put them behind. Graduating at the age of 16 seems unrealistic. I could not imagine heading into college when I was 16. I would not have been fully ready and mature to handle the“real” world at such a young age.

Do you think your experiences in high school and college are similar or different from other people’s experiences?

No one person is like another. They can be similar but not identical or just completely different. This same concept can be applied to their experiences they’ve been through as well. In my case, I had a very up and down high school career. I lost another friend, my uncle and my grandpa all within six months during my sophomore year. That year was extremely hard for me to over come but I eventually did it. Other people may or may not have had a similar experience with losing people that are close to you but they most likely have lost something close to them. Now education wise, my high school was very wealthy and could afford certain things normal high schools could not. An example would be that my school bought smart boards (huge touch screen computers) that hung up in every single classroom. These I found very effective because with me, I learn better by interacting with what I’m learning and the smart boards made it easier for me to learn. Some peoples high schools may not even be able to afford books and computers. This would make it very difficult and frustrating to learn without the necessary tools needed. I find myself very lucky that I went to the high school I did because I learned a lot not just because of the right and most effective materials but also because we had experienced teachers who knew what they were doing. I’m sure there are other high schools that are better and worse than my high school. I think some peoples experience in high school may be the same as mine were but also could be very different at the same time.

Experiences of college

My experiences of college have been pretty overwhelming so far. The more the goes on the more I get overwhelmed, especially since basketball started. I’ve felt many emotions such as frustration (because of my acl rehab), stress (school work and basketball) and home sickness. I believe I am in college because ever since I was little it was my goal to play basketball in college and also to receive a college degree. Not everyone in my family has finished college and I am the first college athlete in my family. Without any doubt in my mind believe college is worth the time, effort and expense because it will all pay off in the end. Even though college may be stressful, frustrating, overwhelming and many other mixed emotions, I fully believe that my college education will be well worth it in the end.

Task 2 thoughts

What is the thesis for your paper?
The thesis of my paper was how my mom used both what she learned from events from her past and also what she learned in school to make a bright future out of her life.
List the points you make in your paper.
Dads and alcoholic, inappropriately touched, raped, abused, schooling.
What was the most helpful advice you received from your peer evaluation?
The most helpful advice was someone told me to be more descriptive of the events that happened to my mom such as giving more examples of how each event effected my moms life.
What was the most helpful information you received in class for your paper?
The most helpful information given to me in class was to make sure not to get off topic when writing your paper. This helped because since my mom is very significant to me I was afraid of wanted to let the reader know everything about my mom and I didn’t want to get off topic.
How many drafts of this paper do you think you wrote and how/when did you write them?
I think I wrote about 3 different drafts but I wrote them as the rough draft. I did use an outline and wrote a little at a time would take a break and then write again. This helped me avoid writers block.
What would you do differently with this paper to make it more effective, or what did you try to do that you just don’t think you got a good handle on?
I tried to not get off topic but I think in the end I didn’t have enough detail as I should have. I need to find a median in between to much detail and not enough detail and I don’t think I’ve quite found that yet.
What are you most pleased with about this paper?
I please because I think I did well at outlining my moms past and education backgrounds.

Education point

Education can vary meanings from person to person. I believe that a good education can’t be only what someone learns in school. I believe that a person needs to also have schooling from their personal lives. It could be what they learn from their parents or significant events that had happen to them throughout their lives. With their parents, they could have shown them their personal views on issues. Like with abortion or political views. With my parents they were both against abortion but only in certain cases. That’s what I grew up with and that’s also what I believe. Along with my parents teaching views I also take what I learn from things that have happened in my life. I’ve lost people that are closer to me and it makes me stronger as a person because it made me realize that life can be cut off short without realizing it. With both my past, my parents and also what I learn while in school, I think that is what makes up my education and what I’ve learned.

Interview response

What questions still remain?
Questions that still remain after my interview mostly are ones about my mom giving examples of cases when she missed classes due to being hungover from drinking so much the night before or examples of how she overcame dealing with her hurtful past. 
How'd it go?
I felt like it went pretty well overall. There were some parts during the interview where we got a little off topic but i expected that because my mom and I get along so well. I found out specific details about her past that I hadn't known before I interviewed her. The interview not only gave me a good base for what I was going to write about in my paper but it also gave me more of a background on my mom and what she went through. It made me realize that it was her past that made her who she is today.
Where did you conduct it?
Since I do live about 13 hours away from my mother, I was impossible to conduct my interview in person like i would have preferred. Instead we conducted it over the phone and I typed everything she said on my laptop. I went back after the interview and picked out the things I specifically wanted to use in my paper.
What did you learn?
Before being assigned this paper, I had never interviewed anyone. I have however, been interviewed but it was always for basketball. It was difficult for me to narrow down what type of questions I wanted to ask at first but I learned as I started my paper which ones to keep and which ones to throw away. I also learned alot about my mom's background.
How do you intend to transition to the writing process?
I intened to make my mom's answers to my questions flow into my paper and make sense effectively.
What concerns do you have?
Grammar and structure are always my top two concerns whenever I am writing a paper. For this specific paper another concern would be that my quotes flow effectively throughout my paper.
I expect to reread my paper and also have others read it was well to get alot of feedback to make sure my paper is effective and makes sense.How do you expect to overcome them?

5 questions

1. Why did you decide not to go to college right out of high school?
2. Who influenced you the most in high school? What made them so special to you?
3. What provoked you to go back to college? What steps did you have to take to be able to do so?
4. How did you decide what you wanted to major in?
5. Good or bad what events stuck out the most during your high school career?

These are just random five questions I have chosen. They aren’t in any order right now. I want to ask these questions because I feel they will give me good information to put into my paper to make it interesting and organized. My mother went through a lot as a high school student and up into her college career. These questions will help to understand more about what she went through and what she had to over come in order to achieve an education. Also it will also tell me who helped influence her in her decisions and also who helped her out through her tough times. Along with these questions I have other questions as well. These are the most important ones in my opinion. Hopefully these questions will also give me the information I need to write an interesting paper that keeps the reader interested, as well as shows my mother’s education experience throughout her life.

childhood memory

When thinking of a childhood memory, a lot of different events throughout my childhood comes to my mind. When narrowing it down to one specific event it would have to be when I fell from a tree. This may not seem like the most happy memory, but its definitely the most memorable. I was in the second grade and my brother and I were playing tag outside of a friends house. We stopped for a brief moment because my brother decided to climb a tree which in my mind was a form of “cheating”. We argued over the issue for a while then I decided to “show up” my brother by not only climbing the tree but also hang upside down from the branch that stretched outward. I didn’t think this through at all. The branch snapped and gravity pulled me down with great force. At the bottom of a tree there was a stump that stuck up and came to a sharp point. This stump cut into my the skin on my back from the top of my tail bone up to the top of my spine. I screamed with pain and sprinted home with blood leaving a trail behind me. When I finally got home, my mom laid me on my stomach and put a towel and other cleaning stuff on my back. I cried consistently until there was no fluid left in my eyes. My brother and father went and got burger king to surprise me with. This seemed to make everything better at the time.

Task 2 Ideas

I am interested in interviewing my mother. Even though her education might not be as different as many people would think due to her age I beg to differ. At first she did not go to college right out of high school. I think she would be interesting because she overcame a series of events in her life that had prevented her from going to college but, she was strong enough to complete college and become a nurse. I would ask her alot of questions about her high school experience as a whole, what things she did for fun, how she got along with others, what was sociallably exceptable. Also I would ask her what kinds of things went through her mind after high school and what made her finally go back to college. Problems I may have would be getting off topic a little bit because she is my mother/best friend and I do tend to babble on about her.

Response to Labels and Stereotypes

Labels and sterotypes made up by random sorts of people in different communities influence the way others around them think. If a person says “that sweaters is out of style” majority of the people that hear them will make sure they don’t wear something similar to that specific sweater. Most of the time people only listen to either their friends, the trendsetters, or some celebrity. When stereotypes are created and people choose to follow them then it takes them away from being different or an individual. A prime example of a stereotype is that a lot of people judge a person by appearance at first glance. If a guy wears tight jeans and a tight shirt a lot of people around him may stereotype him as a “fag”, “queer”, “douche”, or “homo” without even knowing if he is gay or not. If a guy is called gay using these labels most people around him would view him differently. Guys would most likely be mean to him just because of the way he dressed when actually that just may be his sense of style. People shouldn’t judge others just because of their appearance and what they choose to wear. A guy that is straight may wear the exact same thing as a guy who chooses to be gay. Either way it shouldn’t be stereotyped to be a big deal. Labels and stereotypes in my opinion are over rated. Like I said before it keeps people from being their own individual person. Instead of labeling something or someone in my opinion you should keep those thoughts to your self.

Response to what do u remember of your own grandparent of importance to your family

For as long as I can remember, my father has been nothing but a shadow in my life. He’s been around very little in my journey of growing up which made it very difficult on my mother. My grandfather witnesses his daughter’s situation and stepped in. My grandfather was nothing extraordinary to others but to me he was a superhero. He became my father figure when my real father would choose to go to the bars and create a different image of himself. He taught me how to ride a bike, how to shoot a basketball correctly and other things that a normal father would do. Countless laughter spilt out of my mouth from his jokes whether they were not funny or not I laughed. I thought that’s the least I could do for all he’s done for me. My mother greatly appreciated his help as well. She no longer would have to stress on how much a baby sitter would cost or be worried about how my brother or I would turn out without a father figure in our lives. He relieved a lot of pain and stress in all of our families lives. When I was about sixteen and a sophomore at Grand Haven High School, my father attempted to slide his way back in my life like nothing had happened. He thought that going to one basketball game would make up for his decisions in the past. As much as it hurt me I told him to look at my grandfather who was isolated in his corner at the top of the stands. The only one next to him was my mother whose look on her face was very worried. I told him that my grandfather took his place and that he was the one who was there for me when I really needed a father. To this day I still consider my grandfather as a father and I love him with all of my heart.

Task 1 Thoughts

At first when given the assignment for task one, I was overwhelmed with ideas that had popped into my head. I have thought of many people, places or events that are in my life that I could easily write about. For people i've narrowed it down to my mom, my grandpa, my first basketball coach, my brother, my friend who had passed away when I was in 8th grade, my father or my best friend. For places i've narrowed it down to the outdoors, my room and a basketball court. For events I have the first time I touched a basketball, playing varsity as an underclassman, or my childhood. Ive narrowed it down to those things and even though I have alot of ideas its because as of right now thats all i can narrow it too. All these ideas all mean significance to me in some way, shape or form.  Problems that i'm worried about would be that sometimes when i write about certain events I have a tendency to get to into the emotion. I anticipate that hopefully I will not do this when writing for task 1. I don't really have any questions for this task.

A Little About Me

My name is Paige Wilds. I was born in Muskegon, Michigan which is about 20 minutes away from Grand Haven. Grand Haven is where I grew up all my life. Its right on the beach of Lake Michigan and is where I spend a lot of my time in the summer. The only bad thing about living on the beach is having to deal with all the tourist that come along and take up space. It gets very frustrating to deal with and somewhat annoying. I graduated from Grand Haven High School this past spring with athletic honors and over 430 classmates.


I have one brother who just turned 20 this past summer. His name is Bishop and he’s like my best friend. Most siblings do not get along for one reason or another however, our relationship is very different. We hardly ever fight and when we do its usually because we take each others basketball shorts or shoes. Those fights don’t last long at all. I know he always has my back no matter what. For as far back as I can remember we’ve always been the way we are today. I mean we’ve had a couple rough patches but we always mended them together. As well as my friend I like to think of him as one of my coaches as well. This is because ever since I was old enough to understand how to play basketball and soccer he’s pushed me to become a better athlete. Most of the time we’d play against each other or he’d rebound for me and sometimes worked out together. I like it when we played 1 on 1 because I always played my hardest then because then I'd get bragging rights. He made it so I wouldn’t be afraid of anything whenever I played and he’d also invite me to play with his friends who just happened to be guys. He’s been there for me all my life and he means a lot to me. Along with my brother being a huge part in my life, my mom is as well. I could talk about her all day about everything she’s done for me but I don’t know if anyone would appreciate that except her. Her name is Tami and she is ultimately my Best friend. I can turn to her for anything I need. She’s always there for me to support me, push me and guide me in the right path. She is the reason I am the way I am today. Everything I do or say is because of her. I consider myself very lucky to have a mom like her because I know some children don’t even have parents nonetheless have one who’s as special to me as she is. I love her and I would be completely lost without her.

Like I mentioned before I love playing basketball. I used to play volleyball and soccer and run cross country/track. I gave all the sports up so I could focus completely on basketball. I’ve played since as far back as I can remember and played year round. I’ve had four knee surgeries on my right knee and an elbow surgery as well all from playing sports. Four of them are from basketball. Graduating from high school all my hard work paid off because I accomplished my goal of getting a scholarship to play in college. In my free time besides being active in sports, I like to listen to music, hangout with friends, run and do anything artistic. (draw, paint sculpt, exc.)

I’m not a huge fan of reading but if I do find a good book then I will have no trouble reading it. I do like to write for the most part depending on what the subject is about. I believe a lot of thoughts and feelings of the writing come out in the way they write. it’s a way of expression. Whenever im upset about something I usually will right about it in some way. Most of the times I write poems to express the way im feeling.