Goals, Ambitions--Success

Success. What does that word bring to mind? A person becoming powerful and making millions or maybe it is a person becoming the first in their family to graduate. The definition of success varies from person to person. People may aim for it, teachers help us build up to it, but what exactly is it?

It is your goals, a personal bucket list. According to Dictionary.com, success is “the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors” and “the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like.” I like the former because I would feel successful if I fulfilled what I was aiming for.
As simple as it sounds, graduating and going off to college would be an accomplishment for me. While both of my parents went to a Bible college, I am thinking about majoring in dietetics or nursing. I might also decide to take classes to improve my writing so that I can write a book. Rather than becoming a workaholic, I want to enjoy my career and have a life. If I had to choose between being wealthy or not, I would choose not to because it would not last forever. It could potentially steal away what is important in my life.

One of my “bucket list” items is to go skydiving. Would my life feel complete if I did that? Maybe...if I survived. It would be exciting and terrifying and they say that coming out of an experience like that can change someone. Going to Italy would be another goal, or wish, of mine. Traveling is a common desire of many people and going to new places is an unforgettable experience that I want to have.

Also, is there ever a certain time in life when people just stop and think that they have reached success? Is it ever reached? If people reach that point, they cannot just stop living their lives. If they want to get the most out of life they will continue to have ideas of how to improve it. Whether it is personal success or helping others become successful, it is an ongoing cycle. We never know what is going to happen, so it’s better to feel successful even if we don’t have every single goal completed.

People cannot just have a money tree in their backyard that they water every day. What should be watered are goals and dreams. Some of them might not grow, but those little failures, those goals that stubbornly do not sprout are an inevitable part of life. Just as there is no good without evil, there is no success without failure.

I want to grow an entire forest of accomplishments. The goals that do grow allow one to reach that most personal and important ambition, and as the MasterCard commercials say, it’s “Priceless.”  Basically, based on decisions and determination, success is what a person decides they want it to be.

Interpreting Editorial Cartoons

The cartoon above shows how the people in Egypt have used Facebook in the government. Facebook was blocked in Egypt, but it can still be used by people in the U.S.

The cartoon to the right depicts how people in the U.S. use Facebook mainly as a place to comment on what they are doing, what they are thinking...basically anything they feel like telling everyone. People post insignificant things, not exactly things that affect the entire country.

Giffords Shooting

The recent shooting in Arizona has brought sadness and controversy all over the U.S. The cartoon to the right illustrates how Democrats and Republicans are in a constant debate, only stopping when this thought-provoking incident occurs. What will they do after? Go back to their disagreements. Although Gabrielle Giffords is a Democrat, both Democrats and Republicans have been saddened by this act of violence towards her and the other victims. When a tragedy happens, everything stops, everyone thinks, but the question is: Afterwards, what will change?

Censorship: Huckleberry Finn

The cartoon above is supposed to show how censorship should not be used, in this case in the book "Huckleberry Finn", because it is an attempt to sugar-coat the reality of the time. The N-word that is all throughout the book is representative of how African Americans were disrespected. There still was no true equality, and African Americans were still slaves. The first cartoon is saying that even Jim, an African American, thinks that censorship is a bad thing.
The cartoon to the right is showing how in this present day the book has been censored. People should not try to cover up the speech used in the book. What happened cannot be changed, so the book's message and words should not either.

New Year New Goals

This new year of 2011, I have goals that I want to become habits. First of all, I want to manage my time better than I usually do, and I want to be faster at everything. I am a perfectionist in just about anything and I need to hurry up and finish so that I can move on and do more in the day. Secondly, I need to learn to pay more attention to my teachers. When a teacher starts lecturing, I automatically zone out, just to be confused when I finally start paying attention ten minutes later. If I payed attention, I would get better grades, and if I got better grades, I wouldn't have to worry so much about them. That's another thing to change. I don't want to be worried all the time. I want to relax more and stress less . I also should go to bed earlier so I won't be tired the entire day.

My Self Assessment

The skill that I think is my strongest is writing. It is easiest to convey a message that way for me because I can think before I write. When speaking on the other hand, I don't get to process everything in my mind before it comes out of my mouth. I need to work on my speaking and communication skills the most because those are the most difficult for me. When I am around people I know well, people that I trust, it is easy to talk to them. With people I don't know very well, I just don't feel the confidence to say what's on my mind. The best way for me to improve that is to throw myself out of my comfort zone and be around new people. I am too used to being around the same people, in my own bubble of friends. 
Self-confidence is another of my weaknesses. Whenever I do something wrong, I focus too much on it. When I do something right, I brush it off and don't give myself credit; then I tell myself its just modesty.
My interpersonal skills, or working with others, can improve by learning to voice my opinions, especially since my columns are usually my own opinion.
My curiosity and awareness isn't a problem, I am always interested in new things that are going on. My self-directiion can improve; I need to have my own ideas about what columns to write for journalism and find something that I would like to write about.
Both my strengths and weaknesses need to improve, and I think journalism is a good way to start.

Smartphones Take Over

Smartphones are threatening to make 10 businesses practically obsolete. They include PDAs, Flip Video Cameras, MP3 Players, digital cameras, hanheld video games, GPS, PCs, regular cell phones, watches, and even remote controls.
I think some of them can easily be replaced with the Smartphone, and people will probably opt for the newer technology. While it is definitely an advantage to have many functions all in one place, I would prefer to have an actual digital camera as well as the phone. They have made life more organized, more fun, and more informed with internet at our figertips.
The phone is the invention that keeps improving as time goes on. While black and white televisions were the great inventions in the time of our parents, Smartphones are the innovations of today.


PC vs. Mac



Smartphones are threatening to throw bulky PCs out the window, but I think they will always be useful. Someday people will say they are tired of the tiny screens of phones and want to go back to widescreen monitors. I am fine with PC, but seriously? There is no competition, Mac computers are much better.

I haven't begun to replace everything with a phone or computer, but I see the appeal. The only problem is if you lose your Smartphone, what's left? It will seem like you lost part of your life because everything was on that phone.