Kate_LeAnn

Katelyn Barker

ENG 131.01

Professor Lucas

4 May 2016

 

Dancing Our Way to The Top

 

 

Ever since I was a young girl, I have absolutely loved dancing. My mom would always say to me, “Dance like nobody’s watching” and I did just that. I would do my own thing, and I never cared what others thought. Dancing put me into a state of mind that allowed me to express my feelings truly. When I was three years old my mom enrolled me into dance classes and I was the happiest little girl on Earth. The dancing that I once simply did, was now on a stage for an audience.

 

After a few months of taking dance classes, I decided I wanted to cheer as well. I had watched my cousin who was three years older than me cheer at competitions and I loved the atmosphere. I could dance and do so much more at the same time. I had a dilemma when it came to making a decision if I was sure I wanted to cheer or not. Solely on doing competition, I had a fear of going to the wrong spot, messing up on counts, forgetting the routine, and preforming in front of thousands of people. After taking time to think about it, I came to the realization that I needed to let my faith be bigger than my fears. I needed to have faith in myself, that I would be just fine. So, I did!

 

Cheerleading was a lot different from dance. It wasn’t as easy, and sometimes it wasn’t very fun either. I had a hard time picking up on the new skills that were required for cheerleading. Tumbling was always the strongest battle I had to fight. The practices were extremely intense and the coaches pushed us to our max. Through all of the tough times there were some good and fun times as well. As a team we would have sleepovers and team bonding activities. I loved the relationship I had with my teammates. They were like family to me.

 

My most memorable competition was in Jacksonville, Florida. After long practices and many other competitions; we had finally made it to nationals. Its crazy to think that now my college team just got back from the colligate nationals in Daytona, Florida.

 

The annotated bibliography that follows indicates writers who are former cheerleaders who try help girls like me. These girls give us key ideas to remember on and off the floor and also give us tips on how to perform and be a better cheerleader over all. My coaches read us different articles very similar to the ones Cofield and Mag wrote; before our competition, just as a small pep talk. Articles like Roenigk helped me a lot through my college experience. Sometimes I would get down and stressed out over certain problems on the floor, but after reading articles like hers, I was more motivated to continue fighting through.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annotated Bibliography

 

 

Cofield, Caitlin. “Leading Your Team to Nationals.” 5 Mar. 2016. Print.

 

Cofield is a former cheerleader for a competition team, Westmoore. She has been a cheerleader for her high school, competition, and college. In her article, she tells cheerleaders to not get distracted or caught up in all the chaos. A few months before competition can get very chaotic. Coaches are stressed, cheerleaders are stressed, and that causes parents to be stressed too. Also in her article, she brings up how we know the routine better than what we think. We might get caught up and forget minor parts, but overall, if we don’t think too much about it, we will rock it. helped.

 

 

Mag, AC. “Mental Readiness.” 8 Feb. 2014. Print.

 

Being positive is very important. When we have a positive outlook on ourselves we tend to perform better as an individual. In this article, Mag speaks of keeping our confidence level up. Judges are quick to catch on the difference between confident girls and the insecure ones. Having a positive attitude will always catch their attention and help you on the score sheet. She also reminds us that “if we don’t feel stupid, we aren’t smiling hard enough”.

 

Roenigk, Alyssa. “News and Commentary.” 7 July 2014. Print.

 

Roenigk is a former college cheerleader. She cheered through competition teams, school teams, and finally made it to college. After cheering a few months at the University of Florida, she realized that everything her coaches had put her through only prepared her for the Colligate teams. In college, everything gets harder. The education is more challenging as well as the sports and that is what she explains in her article. College sports can be mentally and physically draining. Practices pick up, competition gets tougher, and the coaches expect much more, but in the end it’s a memory and a goal met.

 

 

 

Katelyn Barker

ENG 131.01

Professor Lucas

4 May 2016

 

Dancing Our Way to The Top

 

 

Ever since I was a young girl, I have absolutely loved dancing. My mom would always say to me, “Dance like nobody’s watching” and I did just that. I would do my own thing, and I never cared what others thought. Dancing put me into a state of mind that allowed me to express my feelings truly. When I was three years old my mom enrolled me into dance classes and I was the happiest little girl on Earth. The dancing that I once simply did, was now on a stage for an audience.

 

After a few months of taking dance classes, I decided I wanted to cheer as well. I had watched my cousin who was three years older than me cheer at competitions and I loved the atmosphere. I could dance and do so much more at the same time. I had a dilemma when it came to making a decision if I was sure I wanted to cheer or not. Solely on doing competition, I had a fear of going to the wrong spot, messing up on counts, forgetting the routine, and preforming in front of thousands of people. After taking time to think about it, I came to the realization that I needed to let my faith be bigger than my fears. I needed to have faith in myself, that I would be just fine. So, I did!

 

Cheerleading was a lot different from dance. It wasn’t as easy, and sometimes it wasn’t very fun either. I had a hard time picking up on the new skills that were required for cheerleading. Tumbling was always the strongest battle I had to fight. The practices were extremely intense and the coaches pushed us to our max. Through all of the tough times there were some good and fun times as well. As a team we would have sleepovers and team bonding activities. I loved the relationship I had with my teammates. They were like family to me.

 

My most memorable competition was in Jacksonville, Florida. After long practices and many other competitions; we had finally made it to nationals. Its crazy to think that now my college team just got back from the colligate nationals in Daytona, Florida.

 

The annotated bibliography that follows indicates writers who are former cheerleaders who try help girls like me. These girls give us key ideas to remember on and off the floor and also give us tips on how to perform and be a better cheerleader over all. My coaches read us different articles very similar to the ones Cofield and Mag wrote; before our competition, just as a small pep talk. Articles like Roenigk helped me a lot through my college experience. Sometimes I would get down and stressed out over certain problems on the floor, but after reading articles like hers, I was more motivated to continue fighting through.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annotated Bibliography

 

 

Cofield, Caitlin. “Leading Your Team to Nationals.” 5 Mar. 2016. Print.

 

Cofield is a former cheerleader for a competition team, Westmoore. She has been a cheerleader for her high school, competition, and college. In her article, she tells cheerleaders to not get distracted or caught up in all the chaos. A few months before competition can get very chaotic. Coaches are stressed, cheerleaders are stressed, and that causes parents to be stressed too. Also in her article, she brings up how we know the routine better than what we think. We might get caught up and forget minor parts, but overall, if we don’t think too much about it, we will rock it. helped.

 

 

Mag, AC. “Mental Readiness.” 8 Feb. 2014. Print.

 

Being positive is very important. When we have a positive outlook on ourselves we tend to perform better as an individual. In this article, Mag speaks of keeping our confidence level up. Judges are quick to catch on the difference between confident girls and the insecure ones. Having a positive attitude will always catch their attention and help you on the score sheet. She also reminds us that “if we don’t feel stupid, we aren’t smiling hard enough”.

 

Roenigk, Alyssa. “News and Commentary.” 7 July 2014. Print.

 

Roenigk is a former college cheerleader. She cheered through competition teams, school teams, and finally made it to college. After cheering a few months at the University of Florida, she realized that everything her coaches had put her through only prepared her for the Colligate teams. In college, everything gets harder. The education is more challenging as well as the sports and that is what she explains in her article. College sports can be mentally and physically draining. Practices pick up, competition gets tougher, and the coaches expect much more, but in the end it’s a memory and a goal met.

 

 

 

 

 

When the World Turns Dark: Think Before You Speak

 

In 1951, an author by the name Paul Muldon was born in Country Armagh, Northern Ireland. (Paris Review) His first published poem was Hedgehog. Armagh talks about about a hedgehog keeping to itself even when they want it to come out.

After reading his poem, I didn’t quite understand what Muldon was trying to tell the reader. Nothing stood out to me. The words didn’t make sense, and it was very confusing. I chose to read the poem a few more times to see what I could gather and finally, words, phrases, and stanzas, started clueing me into more than two insects.

In my opinion, the hedgehog is symbolic to a person’s feelings. When times get hard, our world turns dark and we like to keep to our self. We don’t let anyone in. In stanza 2, Muldon says, “Hedgehog, come out of yourself and we will love you.” Our friends and family want us to open up and express how we feel, but sometimes that’s more challenging than hiding in our shell. I also believe Muldon uses the Hedgehog to show how when we are afraid we don’t only hurt ourselves, we hurt people around us. A hedgehog has spikes that are impossible to touch and can leave bruises on others. A human has a tongue and sometimes we bark at flesh and blood nearest to us. We aren’t trying to make such a crime; sin has formed us that way.

In the last stanza, I came to the realization that Muldon is telling us, there is a God. He has already suffered the pain for us, “under his crown of thorns” (2) Sometimes we forget that we don’t have to say anything to anyone.  “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; Knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7 We should turn to him instead of using our defense mechanism against our own flesh.

 

Paul Mulden: Hedgehog

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/185747

Letting Your Inside Voice Out

Anne Lamott, a graduate from Groucher College, published an article, Shitty First Drafts (2005) Lamott speaks to the reader about how first drafts are never written well. They are horrible in fact. She mentions that pro writers don’t even have the perfect paper on their first draft. Lamotte uses the vulgar word for the title because that is how bad the first draft should be. In her article, she gives us the strategy to just write it down. The first draft should be the “down-draft”, nothing more than words explaining our thoughts, feelings, questions, etc.

Writing can be challenging. Our head is filled with many thoughts and sometimes it can be difficult to fully get our point across. When I first started writing, I would get so frustrated with myself because my paragraphs never flowed. I had so many thoughts and feelings jumbled up; I was unable to unfold my thoughts and make something out of them.

Back in high-school, I had a teacher tell me to just relax. Take time and ponder about how I feel. After trying this strategy a few times, I could really see a difference. I didn’t get as frustrated with myself; however, I still felt like I couldn’t write. Anytime I would take some sentences to her, she made it look so easy to turn them around, add new words, and make a remarkable paragraph out of my few sentences.

Finally, I got it. “Writing is the painting of the voice”. –Unknown After I realized the obvious, my words started coming together. My writing was and still isn’t perfect, but it has come a long way. Looking back, I realized that I was trying too hard. I wanted to be like my English teacher and just take a few sentences and make a “wow” story.

Lamott gives splendid examples for how she writes. She never goes right into the “food reviews” she simply takes notes and writes whatever is on her mind. Then a few days later, she goes back and puts more focus and makes herself a rational story/summary to publish.

After reading this article from Lamott, it really opened my eyes that first-drafts don’t have to be perfect. They just have to be written. It also taught me that not everyone is perfect after the first try. Even the professional’s. I used to believe that writers had a part of brain that I was missing. My words never made sense like theirs, but now I believe I have figured out where that part of my brain is!

 

Click to access 1-Shitty%20First%20Drafts.pdf

 

 

 

 

Communication: Helping or Hurting Us

Garrison Keillor published a journal entry in the book, “They say, I say” discussing the issue of communication. In todays society, communication isn’t always through letters or by word of mouth, it is by social media, texting, Facebook, etc. Keillor speaks of both the good and bad traits of digital communication and raises the question of, “Is Digital Communication Good or Bad- or both?”

 

Communication is the foundation of connection between people. It is simply the act of transferring information from one person to another. Without forms of communication the body is deceased.

 

People often get confused by different types of commination. It is not always by word or by mouth, but sometimes by jesters and body language. Through out the years, an abundance amount of communication has evolved. Some examples of this are texting, emails, and social media accounts. With these new types it has made communication much easier and faster. Instead of waiting days for a message we can receive it in seconds. Along with the many great traits of new communication, there also comes some bad ones.

 

When people have digital technology at their fingertips they often lose the face-to-face social connection and writing skills. They count on obbvrevations and autocorrect to fix mistakes for them. Many times people don’t read over what is being put out, they quickly hit send without checking for any errors. In Kelliors journal entry, “The critics, retort that, far from making us smarter, online technology are actually making us dumber, even in our capacity as writers.” (168)

 

Jada Pinkett Smith once said an honoring quote about communication. “My belief is that communication is the best way to create strong relationships.” Without the verbal type of communication things are often miss interpreted and tones are misunderstood.

 

I believe that communication should be like the “Old-times” We should write letters and make phone calls so that we will be able to keep our writing and speaking skills fresh. Although sending a text or email is easier, it makes us lazy in the long run. When we write a letter we are more likely to use our mental and grammar skills knowing that we don’t have a computer to rely on to catch our mistakes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Work Cited

Keillor, Garrison “Is Digital Communication Good or Bad-or both?”: “They Say/ I Say” Ed. Garrison Keillor. 3^rd ed. New York: Norton, 2014. 167-172 Print

Katelyn Barker

ENG 131.01

Professor Lucas

22 February 2016

 

Who I got Stuck with: Rooming with A Stranger

Anna Altman released a blog Post to New York Times discussing the importance of rooming with a stranger. She cited numerous writers and research findings on the importance of rooming with a stranger. I personally do not live on campus; however, I have heard many stories about roommates and how tough life can be when they get put with someone random.

Living with a stranger can be quite a learning experience. Everyone has habits and morals that they believe is true to this life while others might disagree with those beliefs. College is a journey. Some days are up and some days are down, but to make that journey the best it can be, having a good roommate is a good start.

We pick roommates by common hobbies, teammates, and even common majors. We try our best to pick someone who we think we could get along with the best and who would have the same respect for us, but often students who go to college get stuck with a random roommate; they meet these students on move in day. I’m not saying all cases are bad and picking always works out, but having someone you have never met before and know nothing about can lead to lots of stress, hard feelings, and a rough college experience.

Though not every random roommate situation ends badly, I have heard many stories that do not end in happily ever after; best friends. I had a great friend that went to a UNC-Charlotte, picking two roommates and doing a random pick for the other two. In the middle of the semester, she found herself picking her head off the floor after she was attacked by one of her random roommates. The roommate vigorously came from behind and pounded her head on the corner of a wall until she was knocked unconscious. I’ve heard other stories from friends who came back from the weekend to find that everything they had was destroyed because the random roommate through a party.

In Altmans research, a reporter writes for the Atlantic that “many colleges are offering single rooms to freshman. This strategy removes the need for a roommate all together” I believe sometimes this is the best route if a student can’t live on campus. A bad roommate can quickly drown someone out of college. College should be a place where students enjoy hanging out with their friends, meeting new people, learning to be an adult and of course to study and improve all the skills they’ve been taught throughout life.

In life we get to pick who we want to live with. No one is forcing us to be in a tight space with someone we don’t know and expect us to adapt to their lifestyle. Random roommate shouldn’t be a time for students to learn how to handle other people, we wont always like who we have class with or who we work for but in the peak of the moment is when we will learn. It wont be when we are forced to.

 

Works Cited

A College Education Should Include Rooming with a Stranger. Anna Altman. September 7,2014.

Bill Collin expresses his feelings of a snow day in the poem “Snow Day”.  He gives a vivid image on what he sees outside his window; kids “darting and climbing and sliding, (34) girls plotting the revenge on the neighborhood boys, Collin even states that “for now I am a willing prisoner in this house” (16)

As I read this poem, many pictures float through my mind. It takes me back to childhood memories when the neighborhood kids all got together and would find the biggest hill to sled down; however, it also brings me to reality, I am no longer sledding down the great big hill. Now I am that prisoner in the house, drinking hot tea and watching the youth sled down the same hill I once rode. This poem brought me to realization that we do grow out of things that we believe we never will.

The word “prisoner” may be a harsh, saddened word, but I believe it explains a snow day well. We no longer are able to go out and about, we are fearful of the outcome.

 

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/176051