Journal #38- Job Shadowing

Last Thursday I went to CMT Engineering for my job shadowing experience.  I learned a lot while I was there, as I was able to go around and talk to multiple types of engineers.  I talked to an aviation, electrical, sewer, mechanical, and civil engineer.  From this experience I found out that all engineers share basic similarities.  This includes good communication skills, being organized, and knowing how to make and read construction models.  During the morning of my job shadow, I went around to all these different types of engineers.  Then I went to the Corner Pub with the person I was mainly following.  In the afternoon, we went out to the Spring Creek Sewer Plant out past the airport.  This has been CMT's biggest job for the past five years, as over fifty engineers had worked on it.  The sewer treatment plant is nearly completed, so it was cool to see just how sewage water is cleaned.  I took a field trip to this location two years ago when it was under construction, so it was awesome to see how it has changed.  Through this experience, I learned a lot about the engineering workplace, and was told time and time again, that no amount of schooling can fully prepare you for the hands on workplace.  The best way to learn is to try and fail, and try again.  After visiting CMT engineering, I am a little more interested in the engineering field.  Sitting in a desk all day is not really what I want to do, but engineers get the opportunity to go and see their projects being built, so I liked this aspect of it.  Another reason why engineering appeals to be is because I enjoy math and science courses.  These two areas are vital for an engineer.  The best part about engineering is that there are so many different types.  I enjoy chemistry and biology a lot, so maybe I will look into Bio-medical, and Bio-tech engineering.  Going to CMT was a great real- life experience.

Journal #37- Blue Monk

Many unique images come to mind when I was listening to Blue Monk.  During the introduction, I was thinking of an old run down western town, with very few inhabitants.  I imagined a person walking down the street and the only noise around was this song playing from a near by saloon.  As the song progressed I changed my opinion and the image of the back streets of New York came to mind.  Since the Harlem Renaissance played an important part of the jazz age, I guess this image makes sense.  In this section of the song, I pictured a tomcat walking down the alley, like an image out of the Aristocats.  The calm sense that the song portrays makes the image seem like it is night time, and all around is quiet.  As the song progresses, I get the image that I am in an empty saloon that has a lone piano player just playing away.  To me, the song almost seems depressing, yet their are many exciting parts to it.  As the bridge of the song plays, I got a picture of an old fashion tap dance show.  Im not sure where this image came from, but the beat of the song makes it fit.  During the quiet, slower section of the song, I saw a cat sneaking up behind a mouse, once again in the backstreets of New York City.  It continues to trail the mouse for sometime as the music stays quiet and in a steady beat.  When the dynamics increased, I pictured the chase getting closer and when the melody comes back, I saw the image of the cat and mouse cut out to credits like at the end of a movie.  For the remaining seconds of the song, I saw an image of the credits rolling down the screen until the music cut out.  I was surprised at the amount of imagery that comes to mind after just listening to a song.  

Journal #36- Being Yourself

Being yourself is an important quality to have, and makes life much more enjoyable.  It seems like high school students struggle with this concept, as following someone else's lead seems to be the popular thing.  I have to say that I struggle with being myself at times also.  It is hard not to fall under the influence of my friends and do what they do or say what they say.  Life just seems to be better when I can relax and not have to send useless energy putting on a "mask".  This time of life is especially important because it determines how we are going to live the rest of our lives.  Being yourself involves more than just saying it.  You can say you are an individual, but if you do not act any different than anyone else in a group, you are really not being yourself.  Many people in today's society have a warped picture of self.  It is not supposed to be perfect, it is simply supposed to be who you are, nothing more and nothing less.  This relates back to Walt Whitman.  In many of his poems, he talked about being oneself and the over-arcing idea of self.  Though I did not fully understand his meaning, he believed there were three essential pieces to self.  All these pieces can be added together to equal Self that everyone is encompassed in.  Though this might be true, it is important to remember that each individual needs to be themselves instead of conforming to one set standard.  Some conformation is not always bad, but it is better to be yourself than to try to change who you are just for the sake of fitting in.  Sometimes it is good to be reminded of this lesson.  It is a necessary part of life to step back and evaluate how we are living, and what we can do to improve what we deem in not up to standard. 

Journal #35- Reflection

My writing style is still very similar to how it was back in September for my blog over the Declaration of Independence.  I was pretty consistent with staying on topic and supporting my opinions with quotes and facts from the book.  One thing I have improved upon is transitioning from one paragraph to the next.  In the Declaration of Independence post, I was kind of jumpy from one paragraph to the next instead of using transition words.  In my most recent posts I have done a better job of making my writing flow.  This is especially true for areas around quotes.  In the beginning of this year I did do a very good job of connecting my quotes to the sentences before and after it.  Now I am focusing on relating the quote back to my thesis a lot more.  I have also realized that I have have been doing a lot better at using literary criticisms as support.  I used to mainly stick with the works the specific author wrote.  Now I try to get other professional opinions into my writing to back up my points and make my writing sound more formal.  I have also improved my vocabulary since the beginning of this year.  I am using larger, and more professional words in my posts.  By looking back on my writing just a few months ago, I have realized just how much I have changed as a writer.  I think the biggest difference is that I can write a lot faster and good information seems easier to put into words.  I guess that a lot of practice can really make a big difference.  In my search for self discussion post,  I did not feel like it was my greatest work, but now as I look back on it, I have realized that even my mediocre work now is better than my writing at the beginning of this year.

Journal #34-

As explained in the video we watched, there are three parts to self.  I would consider my self hard to explain because I do not always think about who I am.  Like most people, I am normally concerned with what other people see me as.  The three parts to self include the soul, who I perceive myself to be, and who others perceive me to be.  This last part is called the "true self".  When I think the soul side of myself, I think of Christianity.  I am a baptized Christian and have devoted my life to Christ knowing that he has covered my sins and taken my fall.  I can look forward to Heaven after I die because of His sacrifice.  So this part of my self is tied to me being a Christian.  The second part of self is who I see myself to be.  Often times this is not always good.  I doubt my abilities in many areas of my life, and sometimes lack confidence.  Most of the time I picture myself as better than I really am which is not always a good thing.  The activities I do and the people I hang out with are what shape what I perceive my self as.  Family, running, school, and church are a big part of this area of my self.  The final area of my self is what others perceive me to be.  I am not really sure what most people think of me because I have never really asked anyone.  This part of my self is the hardest to personally figure out, because everyone except me holds the answer.  I would like to think that others respect me and think of me as a caring and intelligent person.  When I put all three of these specific areas of self together, I find my overall self.  According to Whitman this self is the self of my friends, my family, people in my state, and everyone across the world.

Journal #33- Reducing Stress

Dealing with stress is a  very important part of life.  Stress is an everyday thing that every person must learn to deal with and persevere through.  I would like to say that my life is stressful, but in reality it really is not that bad.  The things that I stress over right now include my college search, homework, tests, looking for a job this summer, track, and many other pointless little things.  I have tried a few different methods of relieving my stress.  Sometimes I just try not to think about the things that are stressing me out, but this is not always the best method.  My favorite method is running.  Running is a huge part of my life.  At least five days a week I go out and run a few miles or do a workout on the track.  This time allows me to reflect on my life and the things that are stressing me out.  I can actually think about who I am as a person when I am out in nature just enjoying life.  There is just something about exercise and being outside that nothing can compare to.  After dealing with a day of school and putting up with others who are sometimes hard to put up with, it is a relief to reconnect with myself after school.  Even though this is my favorite method of reconnecting with myself, I also use a few others.  Another method I use includes when I am driving by myself.  I turn off the radio and just think about the day and how I think my life is.  The thing that I always seem to worry about most is the future.  I fear the unknown and dislike change so this is normally the base of my stress.  Being in the car by myself with nothing else to do provides the perfect time to reflect upon my day or my life as a whole.

Journal #32- Revolution

Revolutions have played a significant role in the history of the human race.  From ancient Egypt to the modern society, revolutions in technology and society have occurred.  One of the first major revolutions of society was the movement from nomadic life to tribal and town life.  Early people of Mesopotamia started out as a wandering society following their food sources of animals.  Eventually they discover crops that could sustain a permanent civilization.  This has occurred again and again in our history.  The Native Americans also did this, but it was much later in the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries.  This is just one example of revolutions in how humans do things.  Revolutions in thinking are also very significant.  Before the year 1492, many people still believed that the world was flat and if you traveled far enough you would end up falling off the face of the earth.  When Christopher Columbus traveled to the New World, he proved many of these theories wrong.  This discovery revolutionized how humans viewed the world.  Another revolution in human thought was what the connection between the sun and the earth was.  In the medieval age, most people believed that the sun revolved around the earth.  Then a scientist made some observations and proved that it was the other way around.  This revolutionized thought because people now realized that the earth was not the center of the universe.  Revolutions have been a significant factor in the progress of technology and society of the human race.  Thoughts and the way people live are very different today than they were one hundred and one thousand years ago.  This can be credited to the revolutions our society has made.  In order for a revolution to occur, someone must go against what is normal, and stand up for a new idea.  The great people of our history were not the conformers, but the leaders of new movements.  As we look to the future, we must be ready to change some of our ideas because we still do not know very much about our universe.