How does Outliers connect to MY life?

While I was reading Outliers by Malcom Gladwell, I was thinking about how it is so irrelevant to my life. It was still interesting though, for the most part. As I thought about it more, I realized I can relate to the book more than I'd like to admit. Gladwell makes some really  good points throughout the book.


"By the time they had their first burst of success in 1964, in fact, they performed live an estimated twelve hundred times." (50) I can relate to The Beatles' dedication to doing what they love, and practicing an extreme amount of time to get better. I have my own theory, that no one is particularly born with talent. As I like to say, Jimmy Page didn't come out of the womb improvising the solo to Heartbreaker. I think that people are just born with passion. An old friend of mine, Rachel Gingrich, is a fantastic artist. I was so jealous of her, and I had always envied people who could draw well. I'd always ask her how she became such an expert, and she'd just tell me that she would practice constantly. She showed me the amount of sketchbooks she had gone through, and I completely understood. This also relates to me learning guitar. When I got my first guitar, I didn't play it much. Mostly because I had no idea how. "We got better and got more confidence. We couldn't help it with all the experience playing all night long." (49) The Beatles, as well as myself, were very committed to get better. Once I learned all the basics, I practiced every single day. It's the truth, practice does make perfect. I believe that's one of the main ways to success in anything. Now, like The Beatles were, I am extremely confident, and so proud of myself for coming so far. It feels so good in the end knowing that you've achieved what you thought was the impossible, such as playing all of Stairway To Heaven! Also when I'm done learning a new song, I play it over and over until it's perfect. You have to really love something to be successful at it. I can also relate this to playing lacrosse. I used to love sports a lot more when I was younger. I had played softball until the 5th grade. My brother is very athletic. He plays lacrosse, football and basketball. Lacrosse always seemed like a fun sport, so I gave up softball to attempt to learn. I played youth, and to be honest, I was horrible. I was shy, I had no confidence and my skills and knowledge of the game weren't the best. Eventually, I pushed myself, and I ended up making the modified team both years, as well as the JV team last year. 


"Parents with a child born at the end of the calender year often think about holding their child back before the start of kindergarten: it's hard for a five-year-old to keep up with suspects, think that whatever disadvantage a younger child faces in kindergarten eventually goes away. But it doesn't." (28) My birthday is November 4th, 1996. I'm young for my grade, but I'm before the cut-off date so it's okay. My parents decided for me to attend kindergarten instead of holding me back a year, which would make me 16 years old right now. I know plenty of people in my grade who are born in the fall and are already 16, so I guess it was normal for parents to hold their kids back. Anyways, I had difficulties in elementary school. I was mature enough to attend, but some of the material threw me through a loop. I wasn't a good reader at all. I got special help until about third grade. Also, my parents read to me when I was younger all the time, so I always enjoyed reading. I was just having difficulties. Same with math. Math has always been a weak subject for me. I got help with math all the way up until fifth grade. Eventually, I got better at the subjects, and ended up become a really good reader. I still struggle with math sometimes, but I've come a long way. "The small initial advantage that the child born in the early part of the year has over the child born at the end of the year persists." (28) I'd like to believe I am at the same level as people as people who are a year old than me, but it's hard. It may just be my self-esteem. I feel like I process things longer than other students. I get decent grades, but I have to work hard for them. Unlike some of my friends, who blow off school, everything comes natural for them. I don't feel the brightest at times when I'm with them. I'm not sure if it's the month I was born in, the age I was sent into kindergarten, or if that's just how I was born. 


"But Renee persists. She experiments. She goes back over the same issues time and again. She thinks out loud. She keeps going and going. She simply won't give up." (245) I believe that I am similar to Renee. I hate giving up. It doesn't make me feel good about myself. I like to try new things, and experiment, and learn something. I've had Photoshop for some time now, and I've always wanted to make gifs. Gifs, or .gif images, are moving images. My mom always seems to think that they're videos, but they repeat themselves. One day, I decided to learn. I downloaded KMPlayer, a video hosting program, and figured out how to screen cap part of a video(in my case, a movie). Screen capping takes every frame and puts it into individual pictures, which make up the scene that you're capping. I imported the frames into the animation section, made the .gif without really putting any color, curves or contrast in it. I tried saving it, but when I opened it, it wouldn't play. I was already pretty frustrated to begin with, but I didn't give up. I realized that you have to go to import for web & devices. Once I did that, I saved it, opened it, and it played perfectly. I even made the coloring look really good. So I decided to upload it to tumblr. Once it was uploaded, it wouldn't move again. A few hours had already passed, but I just wanted it to work because I spent so much time on it. Then, I looked at the tumblr rules for .gif images, and they have to be under 500KB. That destroyed me, because it's really hard to make gifs look nice, when they have to be under 500KB. I made it under 500, and made it look the best I could. I'm still learning, but that's something that stuck out in my mind about me not giving up.


I learned a lot from Outliers. It had a lot of interesting theories, some that I agreed with and related to my life, and some that seemed a little ridiculous. It must have taken Malcom Gladwell an extremely long time to write the book, because of all the research he must have had to do(assuming he didn't know all of that before he wrote it). He must have been really determined. I actually prefer non-fiction over fiction, so I enjoyed reading this book.

Perspective Poetry Prompt

The building, no longer standing tall. The people who have passed in and out, and the tragedies it has seen over the decades. It's odd, trying to describe the changes. Part of you sees it how it used to be, and the other part notices it's new flaws. The sound of protesters surrounds you, as you stare into the building. The second window from the left, on the fourth level. You remember what it was like looking out of that window. Together.  This is all you have left. From the moment you saw him get on the plane, to the moment you received the news. You take off your cap, and reminisce. 

Microfiction: The ringing phone filled her with dread.

She knew who it was. She just didn't want to face them. She'd been driving for days, but for what reason? She had to leave the small town, where she had just been completely humiliated. Not even her best friend, her soul mate, could help her with this one. She had been trapped for years, and now it was all over. She had planned for it to be a bit more elegant.

She gave into the phone call. Her Amy Whinehouse ringtone wasn't helping the situation.

"What, Britt?"

"San? San is that you? Where are you? Hello?"

"Yes, it's me, now what do you want?"

"Hello? San?"

She looked at her phone. Call dropped.

She should have expected that. She didn't even know what state she was in anymore. She saw bright lights in the distance, and realize she needed to stay at a motel for a few hours. Then maybe she'd pick up the courage to find her way back home. 

She pulled into the motel and checked in. It was awkward, she didn't have any bags with her. She really didn't even think about packing, because she figured she'd be home right now.

She turned on the TV, and flipped to channel 31. It was fuzzy. She turned it off, washed her face, and got into bed. She didn't have enough money to stay here for long.

She woke up to sound of the door creaking. It was freezing inside of the room now, so she got up to close the door and decided to take a hot shower.

All of a sudden, her vision blurred and her knees went weak.

"Santana? Santana?"

She woke up, an IV attached to each arm. 

"What happened?"

"You passed in the shower, hit your head, and lost a lot of blood."

"Of course...what state am I in, again? And do  my parents know?"

"You're back in Ohio, and yes, they're just outside."

Santana turned her head, only to see Brittany asleep in the chair next to her.

She would, Santana thought. She giggled at the blonde and slowly fell back asleep. 

TU Tuesday - Editorial

http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/EDITORIAL-Smoking-ban-at-Lamar-Institute-of-2393386.php

I have a lot of family members that smoke, mostly on my dads side. My grandpa, who I've never met, died of lung cancer. My dad, his brothers, and his sisters (their are 7 of them total) all smoke cigarettes. The editorial suggests that "smoking shouldn't just be restricted at other places; it should be non-existent" after stating that the Lamar Institute of Technology has banned smoking on campus. First off, I agree that smoking should be non-existent, but sadly, it exists and there is no chance of getting rid of it. There is really no point of banning smoking on campus, because people are smoking, even though they know the consequences. That doesn't stop a majority of people. They should just put a smoking section somewhere. "Efforts like this will protect the majority of people - non smokers - from secondhand smoke." Maybe people just shouldn't inhale a bunch of smoke where someone is smoking if they're against smoking! Go create a little gazebo, like they do at amusement parks, where the smokers can smoke without being harassed. 

My T-Shirt Vote

The one that says "Every year, 30 million Americans are teenagers. Together, we can find a cure through education." 


Oatmeal raisin!

Creative Contest I Blog

M = Manchester Terrier

Breed Description: Lively, sharp witted breed that is eager to learn. They're loyal, and good watchdogs. 

Appearance/Size: They are black and tan, and have a short, sleek coat. The average size is about bigger than 12 pounds, but less than 22 pounds. They're slightly longer than tall.

First Source

Diet: It's best for them to eat food made for smaller dogs. 

Second Source

Temperament: The Manchester Terrier is a high-spirited, powerful, agile, very intelligent, cunning dog which is eager to learn. They display the true terrier nature, are independent, and faithful. Extremely lively, sporty, alert, keen and vigilant.  Discerning and devoted, it is loyal and a good friend to its master. The Manchester Terrier likes to please its handler and learns quite quickly. Without enough exercise, mental stimulation, and or, if the dog is allowed to be pack leader to the humans, they can get upset when left alone. Becoming bored, hyper, destructive, and bark excessively when alone and ignored.  


Shedding: The short, shiny black & tan coat is easy to care for, requiring almost no grooming. They are an easy-care breed. The Manchester Terrier is an average shedder, while the Toy Manchester Terrier sheds little to no hair.


Health/Allergies/Vaccines: Some lines are prone to a blood problem called glaucoma. Also some are prone to a bleeding disorder called Von Willebrand's disease, but this is rare and wounds heal quickly. If left out in the sun for long periods, heat bumps may appear along its back.
Third Source

Creativity Breeds Creativity

I chose this short film by Ashley Lendzion and Heather Morris. These two girls are comical geniuses, and are the ones who first inspired me to first pick up a video camera. This is one of their newer films, The Elevator.

Small Poetry Prompt

To all the thumbtacks,


It's hard to see you most of time
Especially when you're hiding on the floor
You can be likable, or you can be hurtful
You can puncture my skin, or you can hang up my posters
and rest peacefully on my cork boards


Don't get offended when people get mad at you,
and toss you to the side after stepping on you
I know it's not your fault
People may use tape after your incidents,
but that's okay, because in my opinion,
you're a thousand times better than tape.

TU Tuesday Guest Speaker

Poise

Mrs. Barlette seemed comfortable speaking to our class. When she talked about how she used to be shy and couldn't even talk to a group of 10 people, I was surprised because she was not shy with our class at all. I thought she connected with the audience well. When I asked her a question, she made eye contact with me the whole time. You could tell that she was trying to communicate with the person who had asked the question, but at the same time directed her answer towards the audience. 

Clarity

I think Mrs. Barlette pronounced her words carefully, but she did talk fast at some points, like when her answers started to become lengthily. Sometimes she would stutter when she was trying to think of what to say, but overall  I could understand her.

Volume
Mrs. Barlette was a loud speaker. I could hear her perfectly from the back row. She probably could have spoke a little softer and I would have still been able to hear her. Her volume definitely helped keep me engaged in the conversation.

Information
Mrs. Barlette provided a lot of detail when answering a simple question. Sometimes the detail was unnecessary  like when she was talking about her blog and all of the anonymous hate she kept receiving, and the story about Billy Fuccillo, but I think that is just my opinion.

Organization 
Mrs. Barlette did not make it difficult to follow her thoughts. For the most part, the discussion was well organized and didn't go off topic. I think she started to go off on a bit of a tangent when talking about how people disliked her, and the anonymous hate on her blog.

My Role
I think I did well in the discussion. I asked questions that I was truly curious about. I was trying to think of more interesting questions for her to answer. Not everyone participated in the discussion, and it was mostly the same people asking her the questions. I don't understand why not a lot of people asked questions when we did the blog assignment and brainstormed question ideas. Some people were a little rude during the discussion. Even if they weren't extremely interested in what Mrs. Barlette was saying, they should have at least been more respectful. It was kind of embarrassing because she took the time out of schedule to speak to us about her job.

I think it would be a good idea for a journalist to come in and talk to your class next year, whether it is Mrs. Barlette or someone new. It seemed that Mrs. Barlette was better at talking to college students rather than students in high school.