Idea Exploration

 Writing Discussion 

    Just last night, I was reading a book titled "Life on Earth" by David Attenborough. By reading this book, it made me not only learn interesting information about life on planet earth, but also I was thinking about different ideas to write about. 

    Writing about things that you find interesting is one of the joys that comes with writing (sometimes). Creative freedom can both be a playing field of ideas or it can be a hinderance. But to start with the good things (and to what I was think about when reading), someone's own creativeness when they have something in mind, has no bounds. Free-writing is a great way to get ideas down onto the page. Sometimes I will write down things that may sound interesting and I build ideas off of that. However, as I have said, it can also be a hinderance. With all of this freedom to formulate ideas and write about those as you please, coming up with them can be a frustrating task or a time sink if you're trying to write something down on your own. Many might call this a "writer's block". 

Yet, everyone is different. Everyone has their own way of formulating ideas. Take the microtheme for example. While coming up with my topic, I was torn between choice A and choice B. Both proved themselves to be things I would be interested to write about. So, where do I go form here? Well,  I used what I like to call my "map planner" or "idea map". Using the central circle as my big focus, I started to write out and list subpoints that could be used in my microtheme. Then, by using elimination, I managed to differentiate the two topics from which one worked better (it was very slim and took too much time).  However, as I said before, not everyone is the same in how they approach these things. These were just the way that I generate ideas for myself. 

 

Writing Discussion

 Microtheme Ideas 

    When starting to write just about anything, I like to sit down and brainstorm ideas that would seem relevant to me and to my audience. But, when I go and submit something, it is never always correct in its delivery. What I mean is that there is always something missing when it comes to writing about something I care about and/or making that subject resonate with audiences. 

Resonating with audiences is only half of what makes something good. The story or the paper has to have sustenance too. I think that is one of the main driving forces of the microtheme project. The other is making sure that the problem you are presenting affects those around you too. Something that people can relate to is important when the writer want to use pathos, ethos and/or logos in their writing. By using a subject that people can relate to and emotion or logic or ethics or a combination of the three, the writer can take the audience anywhere if they have them hooked. 

In essence, this project is about expressing ones view on a subject, but, leaving the subject open to different expressions/interpretations. Conclusions are a nice way to end a essay or a presentation. This is not a conclusion which, for me, is one of the hardest things to not write. I like to express my points and then wrap them up in a box; sending it on its way. But, with the microtheme project, one has to be open to further questions about their topic as all the point has been left up for interpretation. 

Knowledge Getting versus Knowledge Making

 Eyes Down, Head Down

    In the first two years of high school, I was never really challenged all that much. Sure I was academically challenged with material that was increasing in difficulty but I was still getting A's and B's on all of my tests. So, my apathy meter was off the charts. It also did not help that the second half of the second semester sophomore year was online/at home. But junior year, was when all that changed. 

    At Benet, we had students A-K in school and L-Z at home. Then on Tuesday, it would be the reverse and so on. My first class of the day was intermediate algebra with a teacher who did bot like the high school system of rote memorization. Rather, he taught the class like a college would. Homework was not to be turned in or graded but you would be so confused if you didn't do it; and there were only four tests in the whole year. So, off the back of an easy second semester sophomore year and the fact that I didn't have to do any homework in a math class was beyond easy. I was unequivocally wrong. By the first test a month and a half into the semester, I realized that I needed to change my studying habits. For the first half of my high school career, I mainly focused on knowledge getting. Or just doing the motions just to get by and move on to the next quiz or test ( it wouldn't work out so well on the finals). It was not until I stepped back and asked myself why does this equal that; or why is that graph like that.  

However, It wasn't just about asking questions myself and immediately understanding it. I would be lying if I said I did not go in a see my teacher almost everyday and called my friends up on hour long phone calls just to hear how they were doing their homework. Yet, the lessons I learned in that class have not left me and probably wont as long as I am doing school work or work in general. I like to think I got this far because of the lessons I learned in that math class back in junior year. 
  

The First Of Many

 All About Me

    Hello all, my name is Jack Covey and currently I am a freshman majoring in biological sciences. Most of what I wanted to say had already been said on the initial introductions. So, I want to take this time to elaborate on the subject I brought up there. 

  

Firstly, I wanted to explain one of the biggest things in my life; education. And because of the education I am reviving at North Central College, I am confident I can earn my masters and eventual PhD. College in it of itself is all about goals. Whether it is small or big, that is the main drive of college/most students. An example would be getting through the week with semi-good grades because you did not prepare well. or ending the semester on the deans list. Yes, everyone has the end goal of graduation and perhaps internships and a nice job; but with it is with these small goals for me at least, that I am able to be where I am and to be able to obtain the degree I wish to get. That degree is biology. Biology was not a career I wished to go on when I was younger (though I did think it was cool). However, once I got into high school, biology and science was the one subject that really just clicked for me (history was a close second). I really enjoyed getting to know life on earth because the essence if biology is the study of life. The sub-categories are just the size and time of that life. 

    Secondly, I want to explain more of my personal life. I think the biggest thing that dominated most of my younger years was tennis. I started playing tennis with my two older sister when I was around five. Then I quit after a year and a half of playing. Then, I picked up the racket again around nine because I started to get bored over the summer. Ever since then, I have loved the sport. Once I got into high school, I was on the jv team freshman and sophomore year and the varsity team junior and senior year. Freshman year, I played first doubles and my doubles partner and I won the conference championship. Sophomore year was cut short after about a week of play because of the pandemic. Junior year nothing interesting happened as we did not make it into the finals. But then senior year our team got second in state. Although I am currently not playing tennis at North Central, I do continue to play it recreationally. Thank you all for taking the time to read this and I hope we have a great semester of writing. 

                                                                                                                                    Jack Covey