Cover letter.

Posted on

Dear portfolio reader,

I have never been really good at writing. When I first came to this English 101 class I thought it was going to be just like all the others. Where I would get in trouble for my work not being perfect. I like to have run on sentences and put commas in where they don’t belong. I have always been afraid of writing because I knew my writing was going to be judged or graded. I like putting off writing till the very last minute so I only have to look at it once and I am done. Even though I feel I am not a very good writer, I have been told I am pretty good at it after I have started something. Getting the first sentence on the page is always the hardest thing to do. I enjoy writing things that no one is ever going to read, which I know sounds kind of silly. I have learned that no matter how much I don’t want someone to read my work, it has to be done. So, I hope you enjoy my portfolio.

Writing my annotations essay was hard work. I had to pick a picture and come up with an idea that would have many questions presented. Then I had to choose five questions that would have more than one word answers. I only ended up using four because I felt my questions were strong enough not to have a fifth.  After I chose the questions, I had to answer them. I had to find sources that were text and some that were from the web. I had to know how to do the in text citations along with the works cited page. I had to figure out the order my questions were going to be in. Then answer them, but the question could not be left. I had to find a way to answer the questions I asked without asking my reader, but the reader needed to be able to figure out what my questions were from reading my answer.  I had to use personal experience, along with scientific explanations to answer the questions. This writing assignment shows my ability to use the internet and books for getting research information. It also shows how I am able to use in text citations and works cited pages. I had to go over this research many times to make sure my words were in the right order, along with my spelling and grammar being correct. It also shows my ability of being about to structure my paragraph properly. My paragraphs were supposed to be in a specific order to engage my reader and to make them want to continue reading.

In my Persistence research paper I had to show my ability to use in text citations, works cited and cited a peer’s blog but I will refrain from talking more about that. I chose this essay for my portfolio because I had to use critical reading and the ability to understand of the material. I had to go from blog to blog to figure out which ones I would use, what I used from each one, and how to put I all together into my research paper. I also had to use outside sources and figure out how those would fit into my paper.  I definitely had the hardest time with this paper. What I found difficult was being able to put all the different information together into one paper to make it a good one. Once I started writing it I realized that it sounded harder than it was. If I took the time to sit down and do it then it would come out great.

My memoir assignment made me look back at a time in my life where I showed persistence.  I chose breaking my knee cap because it took a lot of time and work to be able to walk again. I chose it for my portfolio because it shows that I am able to write an essay just from personal experience.  No one could help me write this essay because no one else was there the entire time when I was growing up. Even if someone else had been there, they wouldn’t remember it the same way I did.  I had to use specific details of what happened in the accident. This wasn’t the easiest thing to remember either. I guess I used persistence in wring my memoir about persistence. There were a lot of places for me to go off topic with this paper; talking about my families injuries. I was able to stay focused and complete the task at hand.

Throughout this semester I have grown as a writer. I went from not wanting any one to ever read my work to not minding. Seeing as this class you have to post everything on a blog I had no choice but to become okay with it. It was nice to have some feedback from my peer’s along with my teacher. I look forward to enrolling in English 102 to see the challenges I face and knowing that I can overcome them and become a better writer. I have learned a lot taking this class, I am still working on my commas, but my run-on sentences are much better. Thank you for reading my portfolio I hope you enjoy it!

 

Molly Tribou


Annotations- Drugs

Posted on

 

pills and money_14528965

 

Science does make drugs very expensive, due to the need of the technology, and the need of an answer quickly. Scientists like make drugs expensive “because the science of drug discovery is hard. And it’s just getting harder. In fact purely on a scientific level, taking a drug all the way from initial discovery to market is considered harder than putting a man on the moon”(Jogalekar). When new drugs come out, they have to go through a lot of trial testing which costs money. It can take 7 to 10 years and over  500 million dollars to develop each new drug (Ogbru). Scientists have to do trials on animals and on humans to make sure the drug is safe for the public to use and all this cost money (Simpson). New drugs need to be tested and that is very expensive but some times “Prices are set and raised according to what the market will bear, and the parties who actually pay the drug companies will meet whatever price is charged for an effective drug to which there is no alternative”(Werth). Some drug companies hike up the prices of medication due to so many people needing a certain medication. Patients will pay what ever it takes to make yourself healthy, and drug company’s know this and will make the medication more expensive just so they can make a profit off of the people .

———————————————————————————————–

Getting addicted to prescription drugs is a serious issue. Drug addiction runs peoples lives because it “is a chronic, relapsing disease that affects the brain and causes compulsive drug craving, seeking, and use despite harmful and often devastating consequences”(HBO Addiction Project) to the users body and mind. This can happen to anyone, on purpose or by mistake. You may think you can get better with out treatment, but that is not the case. Many people need to hear the horror stories of others to make them selves realize how bad being addicted to prescription drugs really is. Research shows that putting together treatment for the drug problem and some kind of therapy will help a person substantially. Most treatments are “tailored to address each patient’s drug abuse patterns and co-occurring medical, psychiatric, and social problems can lead to sustained recovery and a life without drug abuse. It is important to remember, however, that drug addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease that can be managed successfully”(HBO addiction project). Not many people know  that “Abuse of prescription drugs can be even riskier than the abuse of illegally manufactured drugs” (Why Do people Do Drugs).  Home made drugs are still dangerous because they have not been tested and proven to work for what ever the issue may be but if they are homemade they might not do anything. The prescription medication gets years of testing to make sure it works, and some times it works to good. If you take the prescription medication when it is not prescribed to you, you are in more danger than taking street drugs because prescription drugs are proven to have addictive qualities.

———————————————————————————————–

So many people wake up in the morning and think about their next high, and no one knows how they got to that point. Most people use drugs that were once prescribed to them for an injury or illness then could never get off of them. Some people are just peer pressured into doing drugs, by there friends. A lot of people feel they need the drugs to be able to live a happy life when in reality they don’t. Kids do it to fit in, as an escape from life, to seem grown up or just to see what it is like to try a new drug (Why People do drugs). One drug can have a different effect on a different person “a small amount acts as a stimulant (speeds you up). A greater amount acts as a sedative (slows you down). An even larger amount poisons and can kill”(Why do people do drugs). People don’t understand that even if its your first time trying a drug it can kill you,  “Drugs block off all sensations, the desirable ones with the unwanted. So, while providing short-term help in the relief of pain, they also wipe out ability and alertness and muddy one’s thinking” (Why do people do drugs). After long term drug abuse, you cannot just stop using. For some it is more dangerous to stop using than to continue, the effects of withdrawal can kill you just as using the drug will. If you want to stop, weening down along with treatment is the only way to do it safely.

———————————————————————————————-

Advertisement for drugs makes people want them. Who would not want to get drugs for all their problems? If they didn’t see them on television or hear about them on the radio, would they even think they really had a problem? Almost all advertising  “provokes a subtle shift in our culture — toward seeking a pill for every ill. While there are many for whom stimulants and other medications can be a godsend, the case of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a prime example of how, too often, a pill substitutes for more human responses to distress”(Stange). Doctors just want to make money. They would rather write the prescription then lose a patient, which leads to losing money. Some with serious drug problems will seek out multiple doctors to make sure they get the drugs they need.  People see the advertising and then start to believe they have that problem. The pharmaceutical drug companies believe that “If the industry can convince essentially normal people that minor complaints require long-term drug treatment, its market will grow”(Angell). This will continue to happen until advertisement for prescription drugs get banned.

 

 

Angell, Marcia. “Should Prescription Drug Ads Be Reined In?”  New York Times Room for Debate. N.p., 4 Aug. 2009. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.

HBO Addiction Project.” National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Mar. 2007. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.

 Jogalekar, Ashutosh. “Why Drugs Are Expensive: It’s the Science, Stupid.” Scientific American Global RSS. N.p., 4 Jan. 2014. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.

Ogbru, Omudhome. “Drugs: Why Drugs Cost So Much – Medications: Prescription Drugs and Over the Counter Drugs on MedicineNet.com.” MedicineNet. Ed. Jay Marks, 9 Feb. 2002. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.

Simpson, Stephen D., CFA. “It’s No Accident That Drugs Are Expensive.” Investopedia. N.p., 30 Aug. 2013. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.

Stange, Kurt C. “Consumer Drug Advertising Should Be Banned.” New York Times., 16 Dec. 2013. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.

Werth, Barry. “Pay with Your Fingerprint.” MIT Technology Review., 22 Oct. 2013. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.


Research paper on persistence

Posted on

Persistence comes from many places. It can be learned as we age, or we can just be born persistent. I feel that as we age our persistence changes. When we are little we are persistent about certain things like riding a bike, but as we get older what were persistent about changes. To become more persistent in the work place to get a better position or in school to get better grades or to finally get a degree in some thing.You have to be persistent in anything and everything to get what you want. Some things come easy and don’t but whether or not something is easy you have to work your hardest to get the best outcome.  I think that persistence come from us humans striving to be perfect. Trying to have everything we want no matter what it is, or how hard it is going to be.

To become persistent you first have to  “List down all your desires and wants, no matter how impossible they are to achieve in the moment”(Macabasco) because “Before you can develop persistence and eventually achieve success, you need to first identify your wants or desires” (Macabasco). This shows that any one can begin to be persistent. You just have to plan things out, do what you say you want to do. If you never attempt it you will never know if you could have done it your self. Once you figure out what it is you want to do, tell everyone. this will help because no one wants to see you fail, well I am sure some do but who cares what they have to say. If you say it out loud and people ear you, then they wont let you forget it.  There will be tons of people looking to help you in any way they can.

 

Edit from here.

Any one can be persistent you but you need to take intuitive. Any one can do anything no matter how hard something may be “I’m starting to think it’s not even worth all of this work” (Pinto). Sound familiar? I say it all the time but when you take the time to actually figure it out, to really do something the right way it is so worth it. Most thing are hard when they are new and can still be hard once you know what you are doing; but “If you know why you’re doing what you’re doing, it gives you more energy to keep moving” (Macabasco). Its hard to get used to things, it happens to every body. No one is good at everything when they just start.” Every little bolt on this car tried my patience and continuously had me cursing at my car as if it were an actual person” is what Pinto said when he was trying to fix his car. After he had done it many times before, it was still hard for him to do. he also says “All those hours spent banging my knuckles against metal as I tried to loosen a bolt in a tricky spot and all those shirts that went in the garbage from being covered in grease all seemed worth it” (Pinto). This in itself goes to show how being persistent can make anything happen.

Persistence does not have have to be something that you physically work on either. Persistence can happen with feelings too like over coming a fear or phobia. Whether it be public speaking or spiders persistence can make you be able to do anything. Jason say he knew he had in issue with his anxiety when “I was unable to force myself to ask for help, and I quickly fell behind” (Davis). He knew he had to take action and when he got to college “Group work in classes forced me to face my social anxiety head-on, and it caused more problems with performance in class than it helped me open up” (Davis). He has taken the steps to know what he wants and know how to get it. Its hard for him as it is for many other people but he has been persistent and is constantly working at it. He now pushes himself  “to talk to others more when I can, just to make it easier to talk when necessary” (Davis)

So just to recap here. You can do anything! You just need to have the persistence to do it. No matter what it is or how how much you think you cant do it, you can. From fixing your car to over coming fears. Just do something completely new, how are you to know if you’re good at it or not if you never try? We strive to be perfect, and that’s impossible but we can accomplish all of our wants and needs and dreams if we just try and do whatever it takes to get there. “There will be countless times you will be faced with defeat and failures that if you are weak, you’ll be succumbing to negative thoughts of fears and doubts” (Macabasco), but don’t, if you do not continue to try you will never succeed. Failure is how you get success, if it was easy everyone would be doing it.

 

Davis, Jason. “College Writing.” College Writing. N.p., 18 Feb. 2014. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.

Macabasco, Lou. “6 Effective Ways to Become Persistent.” Lifehack RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.

Pinto, Dillon. “English 101 » Grease Monkey 101: Making Money – Revised.” English 101 » Grease Monkey 101: Making Money       Revised. N.p., 18 Feb. 2014. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.

 


Learning How To Walk Again.

Posted on

Everyone has that one thing that was hard at the beginning but got easier over time right? When I was little I loved running around and playing sports. I was outside every chance I got, taking my dogs on walks around the neighborhood or playing in the back yard with my brother and sister. That all changed when I was nine years old. What I loved to do was taken from me. The doctors said I would be lucky if I could ever walk again.

A snowy day, February 23, 2005 was the start of a new beginning. It had just stopped snowing, a break in the action as I was heading to my best friend’s birthday party. We were all in the car Mom, Dad, Judd, Madd’s and I. The car in front of ours stopped short so my dad hit the brakes, and we slid across the yellow lines right into oncoming traffic. That was it, I though my life was over along with everyone else around me. Once I finally came to, back to consciousness, I realized I was very wrong. It was a screaming silence, and a blinding darkness, like things were in slow motion. I did not know what just happened, when i figured it out, I also figured out I was stuck.. With every one running around who would hear me yelling? My dad had to pull the whole driver seat out of the car for me to be able to get, but that was the least of my worries. When I was finally out of the car I fell to the ground I couldn’t walk. I was carried to the ambulance and taken to the closest hospital for them to send me home with a fractured knee cap, and the other one twisted.

A week later I was wheel chaired in to an orthopedic for them to tell me it would be a miracle for me to walk again because of all the damage I have sustained to my joints. I was horrified, no more running around like a normal kid no more playing sports no more anything. Moving either of my legs I was in serious pain. I didn’t know what I was going to do, there was no way this could have happened not me, but it did.

I started with a cast that I could put on and take off depending on how I was feeling that day, that was a chore in itself. I had to do all these little things, bending my knee and straightening it out; my dad would have to help me and force me to do it because of how bad it hurt. The doctor had me stretching out my legs, forcing them straight. I had to put weights on my ankles starting at one pound working up to five pounds to strengthening the muscles in my legs back up from not being in use. I had to sit on the couch for hours at a time watching TV. rotating between ice and heat for comfort. I would wait for my brother to get home from school so I had someone to play with. When I wasn’t on the couch I had to just sit in my wheel chair. I had nothing to do, my dad would try to play games and get me to go back out side. I wouldn’t what was the point of going outside if I couldn’t run around and have fun?  After the first 6 months in physical therapy I was able to put some of my weight on my legs. I had to stand with a walkers or crutches, and always had someone right in front of me in case i started to fall. While I was standing I would have to bend my knees like I did sitting down before that was no easy task. Words cannot even begin to explain what it felt like. Three months after that I was able to hobble around with the walkers and crutches and I amazed my doctors.

I was determined that I was going to walk again nothing was going to stop me. No matter how bad it hurt or how bad I wanted to stop I didn’t. I had to go on in pain, with the crutches till I was confident in myself to walk without them. A few times I thought I was able to but I was mistaken, I fell and I cried, but I got back up. Three more months went by, I was using the crutches full time and my knees were feeling a lot better. I was able to return to school, and it was nice to get out of the house. One day I was at my physical therapist and the doctor had me stand up with one of my crutches and had me stumble around for over an hour. I was so nervous I was going to fall but he walked with me, and made sure I wasn’t going to. At the next visit he had me do the same thing, this lasted over a month. After that month was up he had me stand up without my crutches. He stood in front of me with his arms out to catch me if I fell, which I didn’t do, I did stumble and trip a little but I did not hit the ground. Then all of a sudden he let go, I was taking my first steps all over again. I couldn’t believe it and neither could he. He yelled for my parents and they came running thinking i had fallen again, and to their amazement I was walking. I was able to walk over to them, I had to sit right away but I was still walking.

Till this day I think about how lucky I am that I am up and walking around. Due to this injury my growth plates were damaged in my left leg making my legs to be two different lengths and causing me have problems in my hips. Especially when everyone including myself thought it was never going to happen again. I still have an occasional issue with my knees, when its cold out or raining I am in pain and I am still in physical therapy. No matter how hard it is, I continue to get better.