My Improvement Process

After having written three essays already, I can say I have noticed some improvement in my writing. The first one was not that great, the second one was much better and I hope the third one continues the cycle of improvement. Now, it is time to focus on the next type of essay we have to write. On this one, I will try even harder. For this, I will go over all the comments the professor made in my three past essays so I can locate the problem and work on it directly. Now that I clearly know the basis of writing an essay, it is just a matter of adding the new tricks and tips from the professor so I can reach that almost perfect writing style that I have been waiting for since the beginning of the semester. Writing was not exactly my favorite thing when I started the semester, but when you start seeing improvement on something, you just want to continue working on it until it is perfect or at least close to it. My professor always says that there is always way to improvement so I know, no matter how good the essay can be, it will never be perfect, mostly because there is not such a thing. However, I will look for the way to get as close to it as I can.

My Daily Rituals

   My alarm clock is set for 6:30 in the morning, but I ussualy wake up before it sounds. Once your body gets used to it, it becomes an unconditioned reflex. However, I tend to wait for the time it is supposed to ring to get out of bed. Then I start getting ready to go to work. I put on my uniform, fix my hair, brush my teeth, get my lunch from the fridge, get a zip of juice and get going. This usually lasts no more than 20 minutes. The fact that I like to sleep to the last minute, makes me be really fast to wake up as late as I can and still make it to work on time. The traffic at that time is horrible but I have the advantage of living close to my work and it definitely makes it less annoying. When I get to work, I leave my things in my deks and go straight to get my morning coffee. I would be nothing without it. I also fill my water bottle on my way back. Then, I start my work duties. I work in the Accounting department of a cargo airline in Miami International Airport. There is so much to do that it keeps me occupied for the entire eight hours of my work day. Around 3:25pm, I start getting ready to leave so the last five minutes are mostly to accomodate in a well organized way the tasks I already have for the next day. Mondays and Wednesdays are the days I have school in the campus so those days I go from work directly to my house, take a quick shower and go to the MDC parking the school arranged in the International Mall while they build a new parking building in the West Campus. The rest of the days, I basically dedicate them to my online courses, which I am taking two this semester. It might sound easier than coming to school, but they demand a lot more of your time, in my opinion. However, it is still comfortable to me since I kind of got used to it already. After that, there is not much time left, so I try to distribute it in a way that after taking a shower, having dinner, and doing a few house chores, I still have some time to watch TV and clear and refresh my mind. In adittion, my husband and I always also try to make some time to go to the movies and maybe a dinner out during the week days. On weekends, we ussually get together with the family and do some outdoors activities. Sometimes picnics, concerts at night, barbecues, maybe go for a few drinks at a bar, every once in a while some clubbing and things like that.

How Do I Relate With These Two Stories

  "Watching My Back" narrates the story of a couple that gets into a confrontation with a drunken man in the street. It is not actually based on the altercation itself but in the fact that it was his wife the one that took the initiative to fight the attacker. He had not been in a fight since he was a kid and had no idea how to react when they walked into it. He found the fact that his wife knew how to defend herself and even him very attractive. After that, he decided to take the same self-defense classes she had taken and found that many of the men in there, were there because they had gone through something similar than him. It is definitely not smart at all to wait for a bad moment to step in our way to realize how important it is to know how to defend ourselves, whether it is a man or a woman. Fortunately, I have never had to go through any uncomfortable or dangerous scene that would require me to act right away and defend myself from an attacker. However, this story helped me see how useful it is to really know how to confront an assailant in any type of confrontation that one might step into. The fact that especially a woman knows how to defend herself is more than advantageous. Nonetheless, if I am with my significant other in the wrong place at the wrong time, I think my first instinct would be to wait for him to take the initiative. It is not the fact that he is a man but actually the fact that I feel secure when I am by his side. At first, I know I will be so in shock that I won't react, or maybe I will. Maybe what I do is run and run or maybe I start throwing punches every where. I think you do not know how you will react in a bad situation until you are in it.

  "Coming To Black America" tells the story of a black woman that comes to the United States of America and has to suffer racism in several opportunities. She grew up in Africa with her mind set to black Americans being basically careless, dependent and criminal so she always tried to stay away from groups like that. However, she was judged like one of them in several times just because of the color of her skin. It was not fair at all because her, even being black, tried to always do the right thing to show everyone and herself that she was not like them. I can proudly say that I have never been racist in any of its ways. We have progressed so much in other fields; however, this one specifically, continues being part of some people's nature. I have to say I was not comfortable when reading this story. I felt very bad for her; racism definitely hurts the victim's feelings and there is no reason for it. You do not have to be black to suffer from racism. It is not only related to the color of the skin. For example, in my case I have suffer it not many but a few times because of my nationality. Even though a big part of this country population is Cuban, there is still racism against Cubans. I do not know exactly why it is, but I can notice when some one discriminates me because I am Cuban. It is definitely a horrible feeling and no one should feel with the right of doing this to anyone.

Learning Experience With My 1st and 2nd Essay

    Formal writing has never been my strongest skill. However, after writing the first two essays of my writing class, English Composition, I feel I have somehow improved it. There is still a lot to learn. We are just half way in the semester, so I know it will eventually get better and better. I was very difficult for me to write the first essay, which was a descriptive one. I had to go back to the book and to my notes from the class to grab the idea every once in a while in order to apply it to my manuscript as I was writing. To read the descriptive lectures the book offers was very helpful. I used to look for as many descriptive adjectives and phrases as I could find in the readings of the chapter, and use the ones that better suit my subject.

When the professor gave us the new subject for the next essay to write, this time a narrative style, I started gathering as many ideas as I could and writing them down so later, it was just a matter of putting then together. Since the topic was to write about the closest and the farthest person in your life, I did not find it too hard. I chose my dad and my brother and everything flowed smoothly from introduction to conclusion. This one was a lot easier for me. With this said, I found the narration style much simpler than the descriptive one because even though narration requires some description, it does not demand the same amount of descriptive terms. It is more like a story and obviously, if it relates to you, it outflows faster. Of course, since the two persons I picked were related to each other and with me at the same time, it did not require too much effort to transition from one to the other. So far, I have learn how to organize myself before starting to write. The first thing to do is to think about the topic and all the views that better accommodate what you want to write. An outline would be a very useful tool in cases like this. Then, it is all about putting everything together while satisfying the rules and formats of the type of composition you are using to write the manuscript. I am looking forward to my next essay so I can continue improving my writing skills.

My First Week in Miami Dade College

   Well, this is just the beginning of my study journey but I am really excited about it and will definitely put as much effort as I possibly can to get the best out of it. I have to admit that this first week was a little overwhelming for me since it is my first semester taking College level classes. However, I know it is just a matter of time before I get accustomed and settle down. I am sure that anything that may seem complicated or difficult at this current time, will motivate me to become better and improve my studying skills and strategies. I am currently enrolled in three classes, two of them online and one at the West Campus, mostly because I work full time and sometimes it does not leave me too much time free. Nonetheless, I have noticed that virtual classes can consume even more time than on-campus classes and that is another reason why I really need to take advantage of all the free time I have and intelligently use it towards my studies. In addition, it is always good to know that I can count with any of my professors’ help in case I need it. My top priority right now is to finish my classes with outstanding grades and to earn my Associate in Arts degree with a higher GPA. Then, I will focus on the two year endeavor towards my Bachelors in Accounting.