Monthly Archives: September 2019

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article235293807.html

Immigration, everyone has family that are immigrants. This topic is important to me because my grandparents came from china as immigrants so my parents can achieve the american dream. This article shows that people can now get green card pretty easily unlike the past. My grandparents used to explain how they tried very hard to claim a green card, it took a long process. This is also important to me because seeing immigrants trying to have a life in america without a green card is very hard.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/20/patriots-release-antonio-brown-after-rape-allegations.html

In today’s world it there has been a growing number of Females who have come out and spoken up about how they have been sexually assaulted by actors, artists and pro athletes, majority of the allegations have been proven to be true. As I am looking back on it now many have been made against pro athletes the most more frequently, especially after that athlete has received a new deal that involves lots of money. Antonio Brown, a pro football athlete, was just released by the New England Patriots many hours ago. The reason behind this was because there was an allegation made against him that he had raped by woman who goes by the name of Britney Taylor, she claims that Antonio had raped him. Seeing such things like this makes very biased to believe that he didn’t do such a thing, I don’t care what people have to have say I truly believe he hasn’t done that at all. I’ve never met Antonio Brown at all but something I do know is that he is a father of 4 and supports them all in a very positive way, I also know that he’s been having problems with his former team known as the Oakland Raiders which refused his request of having to wear a certain helmet. That situation alone has caused major tension for him and that resulted for him to get traded to The Patriots where finally that issued was settled. Coming back to the allegation, AB has denied that he’s done this at all to Britney Taylor. The timing of doing such a thing had to be so perfect for her to think that she’ll wait when he’s at his best to bring back down, it’s a common trend that happens to many famous people who are in many well known industry’s. The one goal that they seek to gain from this is ruining the persons career and gain wealth from this, it’s too predictable of a story and it’s very annoying that people do such a thing without realizing how much they could destroy a persons life. I’m well aware that some of these cases are true and the victims intentions are pure to get vengeance for them and for all the other women who’ve been affected by it as well, that’s completely fine to do but there has to come a time to question the people for come forth to speak up about it and ask them “why now and not before”? A well known rapper named Sheck Wes was accused of abuse to his ex-girlfriend, I know Sheck Wes and have met him before and experienced first hand the person he is. He did not do such a thing a to a female at all. Number one, this man is very devoted person in taking Islam very seriously. Number two, the way he respects his mother is so amazing that is foolish for one person to come and say such a thing about him. Finally, he was accused right when he was at the height of his music career where people loved his music and when he was bringing in lots of money from it as well. Sheck has a solid alibi that has proven that he wasn’t even in the country the day of when she reported that he has psychically harmed her. All the stories are way too scripted and planned out to attack famous people when they are at their current best, this is the biggest issue of them all is coming up with a plan to stop people from making such foolish accusations that can impact the persons life in a negative way.

The article, “My Metric for success? Happiness”by Richard Branson addresses something meaningful to me in terms of what success means to me. He talks about how success is not measure by the amount of money of a person earns or by the status of a person.The idea  that he is trying to enforce is that money is not happiness and if it is , it doesn’t create long term happiness. While reading this article I realized that when Branson states, “My family are my greatest achievement. When they are happy, I am happy, and that make me feel so successful.” , he is referring to the fact that the people that we are close to, makes us feel like  we have achieve so much because of the motivation and happiness they give us.He also mentions that doing what you love is what makes you feel that success you long for.I agree with the message he is giving his audience saying that life is too short and that happiness should be in everyone’s list of goals because without happiness , can someone really feel successful?This article made me realize that I should take any chance I have to find out what I’m truly passionate about and eventually find ways to balance the challenges that will come in my life with my goals of becoming successful. Success is not something that I fear but it is something that I want to have with my effort and hard work and something that has been achieved with a good mindset and motives.

Article website : “My Metric for success?Happiness”, Richard Branson

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/my-metric-success-happiness-richard-branson

When it comes to writing many people have different approaches to it. Two authors George Dila and Anne Lamott have two completely different opinions on first drafts, Anne Lamott believed that you should write a shitty first draft and then work ur way into fixing it into draft two and draft three but George Dila believes into being a perfectionist from the first draft. Personally i agree with George because for me i cant personally cant seem to write something free flowing no matter how bad it songs to just write and fix it later, i have to think a lot and if sentences make sense and connect to one another so that my other drafts are easier to edit and correct rather than having a bunch of X’s in the first draft and being left with only a paragraph out of six pages that were written.

My approach to writing would have to be agreeing with  Lamott. Writing everything down, all of my thoughts and revising later. This method is the best one I think because it puts all your thinking caps on and shows what and how you think. Like she said, maybe what you’d wanna write about comes in the 6th page of your draft. I feel like just revising everything as soon as you write down slows you down and doesn’t show what you really wanna write about and makes it easier for you to lose your thoughts throughout the paper.

Anne Lamott’s take on the phrase “shitty first drafts” is one that resonates with me heavily. I do feel as though she reflects my way of writing quite well. The most obvious reason being that I believe in the first draft being just a flow of any thoughts of the prompt that one has. I don’t relate to George when he said “In fact, I cannot even allow myself to write a shitty first sentence” because I do believe as Lamott suggested that almost no person can casually pour their perfect all into a piece of writing the first time. I believe Lamott connects with a more realistic part of my writing that although I wish was different I cannot change. My college essay for example was drafted about four to five times before I was comfortable submitting it. And that’s okay. My writing was just not where I wanted it to be but by started at my shitty draft I was able to build upon my original thoughts. That’s why I relate more to Lamott’s piece rather than Dila’s.

After reading both articles I found that I wrote my first drafts according to both authors ideas. However when it came down to the key ideas and storyline I was sure to make it as clear as possible, which is why I would choose George Dilas philosophy of writing over Lamott (generally speaking). Lamotts ideas I would only follow for the nitty gritty; punctuation, spelling, order, etc. It helped me to keep my writing to flow. It also allows me to get my ideas out on the paper before I forget them. Then I would find myself unable to go on without being sure that my idea, what I wanted to say, is exactly what I wrote. So in the end and for the sake of simplicity I would side more with George Dilas idea of writing as opposed to Lamotts.

I really cannot say I am like one writer or the other. I believe that everyone is different in their way of writing you cannot expect people to all write the same way. The way of writing is not a one size fits all but instead the concept that everyone’s body is different. For me my writing process I always have had and that’s because I find that is what works best for me. Anne Lamott and George Dila both have their own way of writing but that does not mean one is right or the other is wrong. Lamott wants to get everything on to the paper and that is understandable because we often times have so much to say, and the way I do that is by creating a brainstorm paper in which I also pour all my ideas onto. After that I begin to show the same strategies as Dila by wanting to have the first thing I write be well thought out but that to me is when I write an organized collection of my ideas. For example, if I am writing a paper about my childhood I would first have all my ideas written on paper and observe patterns, after this I would create an organized outline of what are my main points and work down to the other points. And at the end of this I start to right with a good idea of what I am writing. Everyone is different and so are their way of writing.

After reading Anne Lamott and George Dila’s side on their approach to first drafts, I believe I am the type of writer who is a lot like Anne Lamott. The moment I begin to write, I try to be organized with my thoughts and my writing has to be structured, but I write so much about a particular topic, there is a never-ending imagination of writing coming off of me. I really related when Lamott says, ” There may be something in the very last paragraph on page six that you just love, that is so beautiful or wild that you know what you’re supposed to be writing about …” To me this doesn’t mean to be a messy writer just like Dila tries to put it, to me this means that your imagination is running on high speed and you can’t cut the thought process because your mind is working on a masterpiece and you don’t even realize it. That’s the type of writer I am, I let go, be free, and fun with my thoughts.

It’s hard for me to start writing. I stare at the computer for hours and hours until I find just the right opening line. Once I find the right line, my other thoughts just flow through. This idea of “pouring” your thoughts out was mentioned by Lamott. She talks about how it’s ok to have a draft that is “shitty” because at least you have something on the paper. However, I tend not to agree with everything she said. I think it’s a good idea to stare and think about what your writing and do a free flow like she mentioned but at the same time it’s good to have a well developed first draft. That draft is going to help you to have the masterpiece that you wanted. So my writing approach is not just sitting and pouring my words on a piece of paper or the computer screen, like the way Lamott mentioned. It’s similar to what Dila mentioned. Dila talked about not having a weak first draft and instead having a strong “foundation” so that you can build up on it later. I feel like, I tend to write like that more. When I do my first draft, I like to start will a strong start and edit it throughout the way so that my piece can be something I’m proud of.