Blog #5: Some ideas I'd like to expand on
Peaking into my personal essay
The prompt for this personal essay is extremely vague. This vagueness scares me. Like many college students, I’m not very used to being able to write about any topic I see fit, in any format I choose as well. I don’t do very well with little structure, but let’s see how this goes.
My first proposed topic
A possible topic I was considering is the question of What is really of value in our lives? My dad had a ‘97 Chevy S10 white pickup truck when I was growing up. I spent a lot of time riding in the little foldy back seats of it and cranking the windows down with my weak 7 year old arms.
Me hanging on the tailgate (2006)
But as soon as I hit my 16th birthday, I got my license and a job. The only thing needed was a car to make it there. Soon that ‘97 Chevy that stayed parked on the side of the house was mine. Living in an upper middle class suburb, this little truck was definitely not the hottest ride in my high school’s parking lot. Many of my friends were given white cars with big red bows on their birthdays (cars that I’m sure were a little more reliable and safer than my old truck). I definitely had a few questionable hydroplaning, not very reliable brake issues but as my dad would say "You made it home didn't you?". I swear he loves me haha. My parents were convinced there was a deeper reasoning as to why I didn’t need a fancy 2016 model car. Driving that busted truck really taught me some deeper meanings into working for the things you want and determining what’s a necessity and what is not. This experience gave me a good perspective as a 16 year old. Some ideas to further expand on this personal story could be questions like what other ideas and values were instilled in me at a young age.
Another proposed topic
Accepting those around and trying to understand others' situations, regardless of who they are, I think is something most of us strive to hold in our values. As a psychology major, I’ve always been interested in why people think like they do, and therefore, act like they do. I think constantly learning new things in this department has helped build the empathy I have for those around me.
Growing up near downtown San Diego I’ve always witnessed the terrible homeless problem we have here. And holding hands with that homeless population is an array of untreated mental illnesses. But how can we get people to care about an issue that appears to not directly affect them? That’s a tricky situation. Personally, I find an inclination to help these people through volunteering and making donations to organizations downtown. But I’m aware that can be asking a lot of people who have so much already on their plate. I do not have the answers to how to reduce the issue and what additional programs should be in place to help rehabilitate these individuals, not to mention where the funds would even come from. But I do think these questions are important to consider and that as San Diego citizens, we should be aware of the issues at hand. Although I do not have any personal stories dealing with homelessness I know there are a lot of peers that do, some that I have met myself.
My mother is a middle school teacher here in San Diego and has multiple students that do not have stable homes or families. It breaks my heart knowing their situations, especially now with the COVID-19 pandemic. She has shared reoccurring stories with me as I’ve grown up about kids who stay the extra hours in her class room just to have a place to be. Kids that need that cafeteria lunch because they couldn't have any breakfast at home. I’d like to possibly dig deeper into these issues in my paper.
These are just a couple of questions I have proposed to look further into. I’m still not fully sure which direction to head for this assignment, but I would love to hear any guidance or recommendations based on what I have proposed.
Hey Anna,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your topic about how we as humans connect and value things at a young age. I think that will be fairly easy to go deeper in to. I think you could also go so far as to mention if you valuing your truck shows that you are a less materialistic person than the average person would be at 16. I think that would be kind of cool. I think it would help the reader reflect on their values as well!
You're awesome,
Ahmet
Hi Anna
ReplyDeleteI completely understand the struggle of working with a vague topic. I don't enjoy having a lot of control in my writing cause I usually have no idea where to start and what to talk about. Your topics seem really interesting and I think you can take them in a lot of directions. I took a couple psychology classes cause it is interesting to see what motivates people and the thought process behind their actions. I'm sure you could use many personal experiences for that topic and also find some interesting examples online. Great post!
Hello Anna,
ReplyDeleteI think both of your topics are great and interesting. I see that you are more determined to write about trying to understand others' situations, regardless of who they are, which is a good topic because it is something that we see daily. As humans, we tend to judge others without even knowing their situations; we may think that most homeless people are like that because they use drugs or because of the bad decisions they made. However, on some occasions, they are homeless because of injustice reasons; they might lose their jobs, who knows? But one thing guaranteed is that judging others without known someone's story or assuming others' situations are the worst things we can do.
Hi Anna,
ReplyDeleteFor starters, I love your ideas for topics on this upcoming essay we are doing and no matter what topic you choose to write about, it's going to come out great! I also believe that the prompt is vague, and I also found myself wondering and trying to come up with memorable things that has happened in my life, but there's also a beauty in having freedom in our writing. This gives us much more control of what we want our audience to know without any limitations and to grow as writers. Going back to the topics, I was more drawn to the second topic of accepting and understanding at a young age. I believe that there's so many kids and adults out there that judge people right away without knowing what that person went through and is going through. Teaching kids about those situations and letting them know that judging people is not the answer, can help in making this world a better place because there would be a lot more people helping and raising awareness. What if we were placed in their situations? What if we lived a day in their shoes? Would we still think the same thing? Or will we change the way we think to be able to help more people? This is a great topic and eye opening to people that might not feel the same way about it. Good luck on you essay!
Hello Anna,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your honesty about being scared of the vagueness. I hope you see it as a new opportunity to learn, who knows. . . With this assignment you might end up liking having little structure. I really like your topic! What is really of value in our lives? Way to make me evaluate what it is I consider to be valuable. I think you can have a great outcome of an assignment. You are already doing a great job of sharing your experience here with the 97 Chevy. Your second topic sounds like it can get real personal as well. It's your major. . . School is something you have on your mind everyday, this includes your major, these are just both personal things in your life. You are doing a great job connecting both topics to things in your life. I think that even though the assignment instructions might be vague to you, you have good experiences to help you truly connect everything. Good luck ! (: