Symptoms of Math Anxiety

3. I can completely relate to Tobias, the math graduate student. I believe that almost every mistake we make throughout our education can be learned from. Now, in college, i'm having a hard time adjusting to the bigger workload. I must know more for tests, read more, study more and take better notes. In Psychology, I am learning a lot at a time because it is such a large topic with many branches. We learn many different terms and have to know almost all of them for tests and quizzes. I wasn't doing so well at first but I started using flash cards to get the terms down and it has been working. After I started doing better in the class, I started to enjoy the new interesting information. I also started using flash cards to remember terms in other classes as well. I learned that my mistakes will make me a better learner.

Chapter 3: ADHD: The Cloud Lifted

2. I believe that the way this essay opens is very effective and an appropriate way to grab the reader's attention. My first feeling is a feeling of guilt because I feel bad for her. I also have a brother with ADHD and can only wonder all he's been through with it. I know he hates being in the small special education rooms, resource room, which Gilbert touches upon right away. This connection between my brother and her makes me feel more accepting to her situation right away. I also like that her opening to this essay starts right where her story begins. It's great chronological order but more importantly, a very personable and memorable experience she had. This makes me feel closer to her already because she gives much away about herself in only the beginning of the essay. I feel that when you learn about someone's personal life, it naturally makes a story more interesting, opposed to listing facts of what the average child feels or goes through.

Making Connections

2. One day, in Middle School, I was hanging out with my friend, Dana, when she started to talk badly about our other friend, Anna. What she was saying was true and I definitely agreed so I joined in and said mean things behind our friend's back. The next day I felt really bad about what we said. I went to Dana and asked if we could not do that anymore because it didn't feel right. She said I was being ridiculous and that it was harmless. Every time Dana would talk badly about anyone, I would just say "yeah" but not actually join in on the conversation. I started realizing that I enjoyed hanging out with Anna more than I did Dana. Anna was a sweet girl and never talked badly of peers. I solely but surely stopped hanging out with Dana. I made sure to get my distance from her negativity. A couple of weeks later I heard that she was talking badly about me to her other friends for "ditching" her. I concluded that people willing to talk badly about other people to you will easily talk badly about you to other people. I know that Dana is just an unhappy person and likes to judge others so that people wont get a chance to judge her. I also realized that talking badly about people does absolutely no good for me and is so not worth it. Blowing out somebody else's candle won't make yours any brighter.

Making Connections 

1. A time when I received mixed messages is when I was "together" with this guy. I really liked him and I thought that he really liked me. We would talk a lot but mostly text. He told me all of the time that he didn't want to be in a relationship but I knew I wanted to be his girlfriend. It would hurt to hear that but I understood when he would explain that there is too much drama within a relationship. However, he still wanted to hang out and see me. I didn't understand why he wanted to continue talking and hanging out when he didn't want a long term relationship. He definitely sent me mixed messages. I have learned much from this experience. I understand now that he didn't actually like me, like the way I liked him. My boyfriend now would do anything to be with me. I can see it by the way that he treats me. I can tell the difference between someone who really wants to be with me and someone who just wants a few things from me before they leave. When someone really wants to be with you, you'll be able to tell and will never have to question them. It's definitely nice and helpful to have learned this.

Earning and Learning: Are Students Working Too Much?

4. Enjoying a good book has definitely seemed to decrease lately with students. It doesn't seem like students like to read, mostly because in any free time they have they may not want to do more "work." Students want to rest on their  down time because their days are over-scheduled. We are forced to read in school, we have extra curricular activities and then a job. At the end of the day, we're tired and don't want to do something that's associated with school. For me, I like to sleep whenever I can. To be honest, I would like to read, it just seems like I don't have time. Also, it just seems that there are far better things to do. 

Thesis: Students are working too much, producing an over-scheduled day for themselves. However, working may be the only loophole to their college debt.

"Some students deal with the self-help dilemma by working more because they want to borrow less."

Universities Seeing a Gender Gap in Enrollments

3. I do think Albert Cruz's reasons for not attending college are legitimate. I have a job now, while beginning my years of college. I need a job because otherwise I wouldn't have any money to spend and not to mention the high cost of college now-a-days would be hard to pay off. Having a job at such a busy educational time for me is definitely a struggle. I find myself so tired for classes that I can't pay attention. This scares me because education is really important to me and I have high expectations to do well in school. However, I understand that I need to continue working. If Cruz makes more money than those in college and enjoys it, then that's a job well done in my book. I believe that your career should solely be based on something you enjoy. At the same time, a job is done to make money, so it seems that he's doing his part. Getting back to the high cost of college, Cruz is missing out on the financial debt of college. That, to me, is a HUGE reward. The debt of college, in which mostly every student goes through, is a very brutal reality. Almost nobody can afford the high price of college and it's only becoming more expensive. Even though his argument is very persuadable and personable, I would still advice him to go to school. For me, I love going to school. It gets pretty hard sometimes, but I love to learn and would hate to see it end after high school. I believe that he should take this advice because learning is such a great aspect to life. We learn every day, no matter what we're doing. School is a great place for this to happen. Maybe because of his great job, he could find an even better job because of the knowledge he might retain after college.

Attending college is becoming a rare occurrence and in particular for males that just don't see the point in school after High School.

"At Broward Community College, only 35 percent of the students were men last fall."

"Cruz had planned to earn a degree in business administration, but found out sometimes its not what you know, but who you know."

We're Lying: Safe Sex and White Lies in the Time of AIDS

1. Yes, I agree with Meghan Daum's point. The more you hear about AIDS and how bad it is to catch, the more likely it will be that you are interested in breaking "the rules." Sometimes breaking the rules can be exciting; it seems that spreading the idea of how bad this disease is may actually be driving teenagers towards catching it. Woman are being taught to believe that men are always dishonest when they say they're healthy. This just shows that these teachings are a little dramatic in the way that they're ruining young souls. Women cant even make guy friends because they always have to be on the defensive side. Now, you have women that want to protect themselves so they ignore men and don't make friends like they should. It really is a corrosion of the soul.

Thesis: Teenagers are not taking safe sex as seriously as they should be. It's hard to teach rebellious teenagers about the risk of getting AIDS in a time when they just want to have fun.

"Maybe there’s something secretly energizing about flirting with death for a night and then checking six months later to see if we’ve survived.”

Drinking Deaths Draw Attention to Old Campus Problem

4. Students are completely responsible for the amount of drinking that goes on and around colleges. It's impossible to change anyone unless they want to change themselves. If they are the ones binge drinking then they are the ones responsible. The best people for students to listen to are students themselves. It's easy for a student to just ignore an assembly on underage drinking than it is to ignore a friend. It would be best to find advocates at the University of Colorado that are also students and train them to go out and try to persuade others to be careful. The school itself can enforce Police patrol. The more parties found out about and broken up, the less likely it will be for alcohol poisoning to occur.

Thesis: Binge drinking is occurring at colleges and universities. This drinking is causing deaths to occur due to alcohol poisoning and its very hard to convince students to stop.

"Brian Lane, 22, who stopped at the store on a Friday morning to buy an 18-pack of beer or himself and friends that night, said that his own drinking had decreased from when he was a freshman and that more restrictions would not solve the problem... 'I think its more individual responsibility,'"

Could Your Facebook Profile Throw a Wrench in Your Future?

4. I believe the person posting the information is completely responsible. People should be aware that the internet is open to anybody and because of that they have every right to do research on social networking sites. If someone is not comfortable with information they post on the internet being open to everybody, they shouldn't post it. I think employers are unethical if they hold something, they have seen on social media, against a possible employee that has to do with things like: religion beliefs and hobbies. I think this is unethical because this is someones personal preferences and should not interfere with a job. Students are being naive when they post illegal activity or careless activity on social media like: drinking and doing drugs.

Thesis: It is so easy for employers to look at someones Facebook and see everything one posts; everyone should be extra careful of the information they give out. The internet is open to anyone and everyone so putting personal information on social media is not smart because it can affect a future career.

"In order to sign up for Facebook, all employers need is an e-mail address ending in '.edu'-meaning that anyone who is a recent college graduate or who has an alumni e-mail address can sign up."

"The employer 'said he wanted to see if his profile supported what he thought of this kid'"

Focusing on Friends

3. I have known one of my close friends, Alyssa, since kindergarten. There have been times when we didn't talk for a while but soon after got back on track with each other like we never stopped talking. Those were the times I realized she was a really good friend of mine. Not too long ago, her uncle unexpectedly passed away. When she told me, I asked if she needed me to be with her at the wake and if she needed someone to talk to at all. She said "Thank you, but no. My boyfriend is coming to the wake with me." Even though I had offered my help and she didn't need it, I still felt really bad. I checked in on her day after day to make sure she was doing okay. Soon she contacted me to tell me that her boyfriend didn't show and that they were fighting. On the bright side, it was nice that she came to me when she needed someone to talk to. I also felt good about the situation because I offered everything I could have to her. I think both of these acts were acts of love. Yes, I tell her I love her but times like these prove our friendship has love beyond words.

When expressing your feelings, it doesn't always have to be with words. As a matter of fact, the less you tie down your emotions with words, the more capable you are of holding onto the enthusiasm of your emotions.

The first quote describes this thesis because it show that words can be detrimental to the emotions in a relationship. The second quote shows that actions prove love more than words can.

Quote 1: "But since I told them, something stopped. The emotion was nailed down, but, with it, the enthusiasm and the energy to prove it was nailed down, too."

Quote 2: "And just because I could never be sure they understood exactly how I felt about them, I was forced to look for ways to prove it."