In this class, I had a lot of fun. I really enjoyed creating this blog and being active on it. I feel I did good in this class with writing my papers. During class I was always really engaged in what we were doing and learning. When writing my papers I put in a lot of effort and really loved doing it. But I’ll have to admit, my biggest challenges was having to write a specific paper where I wasn’t the one to decide what it was about. For me I have always been the kind of writer who has a story to tell. So for me being given a certain topic was hard, but I always found a way to work around that.

If I could rate my performance I’d give myself a B overall, because some of papers weren’t as good as the others. But if it was just were I could write whatever I wanted to write then I’d give myself an A, because then all my papers would be, to me at least, really good.

From this class I have grown stronger in my reading and writing skills. I learned a new way to look at what the author is trying to say while reading their work and what their thought process might have been. I have also learned new ways to write and how to show my thinking process while writing my story.

I’d have to say the area I felt most confident about was my blog post during the final project where I talked about my grandpa. My favorite two paragraphs from that post are: “The way he carried himself with so much grace and kindness was unbelievable. He had an amazing sense of humor, a big heart, and a spirit like no other. But when I was in third grade he got diagnosed with stage 3 prostate cancer. But he never let that break who he was. He was so strong about it. Yes, he tried to get treatment to help cure it or give him at least some more time, but in the end he lost that battle”.
“On January 5, 2011, he passed away. I was in 4th grade at the time, in the middle of snack time, and I didn’t even know yet. But as I was sitting in snack time at 1 in the afternoon, this giant wave of sadness hit me and I started crying. I didn’t know why or what was going on I just knew that I had this feeling that my life has forever changed and not in a good way”. Not too many people out there are able to talk about something like this. But I don’t see it as something sad. I am grateful for the time I spent with him. I am confident about this because he was my everything and still is to this day, and he is forever the person who changed my life. He’s forever my biggest role model.

I’d have to say my proudest post is the week 5 final project post. I’ve never been able to explain what goes on in my head but in that post I did. My favorite two paragraphs are:

My life, if I am going to be completely honest, hasn’t been sunshine and rainbows. As you already know I was severely bullied growing up, and I suffered a major loss as a kid. But, I also struggle in many other ways too. 

For me, I have my days where the absolute last thing I want to do is get up out of bed. No, not because I’m to comfy or I want to sleep more, but because that can be the hardest part of my day. But, I do it, I get up and get ready. Many people think that it’s because my parents make me. When in reality it’s because even tho I don’t have the drive to, I still fight the thing holding me back. WEEK 5: FINAL PROJECT

Id have to say overall this class was amazing. I have learned so much about myself and broke myself out of my shell. The final project was my favorite. I was able to tell my story and share it with out any shame or fear.

For my final project post I’m going to talk about a few things. I am going to talk about how I’ve been knocked down, but got back up. I am also going to be talking about how this crazy life works in certain ways for me.

My life, if I am going to be completely honest, hasn’t been sunshine and rainbows. As you already know I was severely bullied growing up, and I suffered a major loss as a kid. But, I also struggle in many other ways too.

For me, I have my days where the absolute last thing I want to do is get up out of bed. No, not because I’m to comfy or I want to sleep more, but because that can be the hardest part of my day. But, I do it, I get up and get ready. Many people think that it’s because my parents make me. When in reality it’s because even tho I don’t have the drive to, I still fight the thing holding me back.

We all have our demons, but some of them never leave. You honestly just have to find a way to block them out. Yes, they will sneak through that barrier and times will be tough, but it’s all about how strong you mentally are to lock them back up again, instead of letting them take over.

I haven’t had it easy by any means. I mentally beat myself up everyday. People may never see it, because I don’t let them, but it doesn’t mean it’s not happening. But do I let it stop me? No, I put on a brave face and just keep going on with my life. I don’t do it because it’s fun, it’s because even tho things may seem good, to me it’s just a matter of how long. My insecurities get the best of me all the time.

Insecurities suck. No one can deny that. But one thing I’ve always done is, thought to myself “how can I make today a better day?” Or “how what can I do to put a positive approach on the negativity?” Yes, it is the hardest thing to do, and some days you can’t do it, but not trying at all is not trying to fix it.

I believe that life works in mysterious ways. That maybe all the bad things we endure are leading up to the amazing things. For me, being knocked down and having to face my demons in my head constantly, are all just a path leading me to this amazing happiness.

Yes, right now it sucks, it’s hard, and I may want to give up, but all of it is only making me stronger. It’s only setting me up and giving me lessons I can pass on as I get older.

Life sucks sometimes. It really truly does , but I’d rather fight against instead of sitting back just taking it. I’ve learned that no matter what, don’t give up. Don’t let those demons beat you. It’s probably the hardest thing you can do and some days you might really struggle in the fight, but it’s all worth it in the end.

A big thing I’ve learned in my life is values, but the biggest value I’ve learned is the value of family. This is what I am going to talk about on this weeks blog post.

I come from a very big family on both my mom and my dads side. If we’re talking about my family as just me, my parents, and siblings, then it’s just the five of us. I have two loving parents who have been married forever, and two big brothers, who yes are annoying and mean, but also love me more than anything.

My brothers are a few years older than me. My oldest brother is 28 and the other one just turned 25. So growing up with them was fun, but because I was so young I never got to really hang out with them and join in. I did however, get beat up a lot and picked on. Yes, it made me sad but at the end of the day I know they’d do anything for me.

My family, above all, is the most important thing to me. They always come first no matter what. This includes my aunts, uncles, cousins, you name it. They all mean more to me than anyone ever could, because they will always be there. I mean, they kind of have to be.

I’ve learned that people will come and go in your life, but family is forever. No matter what they will stick by you, hold your hand, and be your shoulder to cry on whenever you need it. If you fight, the fight won’t last long because they still have that unconditional love for you.

Family is like this giant built in support system. They’ll be there in hard times, they won’t let it scare them away. Whereas with others, when the times get tough they run in the other direction instead of standing there by your side trying to find that light at the end of the tunnel.

In my opinion, the greatest gift we have all received in our life is the gift of family. Family is probably the most valued and cherished gift of them all for me. This is a very important value I have learned in my life growing up and I can’t wait to pass that on as I get older.

On my last post we talked about my past going to school at PEM, but on this post I am going to be talking about the major trama in my life.

We all go through tramatic events in our lives some may not seem like they’d be so awful to anyone except the person it happened to, kind of like mine. But for me, this will forever be the absolute worse day of my life.

Growing up I wasn’t really close to my grandpa on my moms side like I am with my grandma, and I wasn’t very close to my grandma on my dads side, like I was with my grandpa.

My grandpa on my dads side was my absolute everything. He was my bestfriend, my role model, my inspiration, and my grandpa all in one. I spent so much time with him as I was growing up, I even told him that I want to marry someone just like him someday, and that him and my dad were going to walk me down the isle.

The way he carried himself with so much grace and kindness was unbelievable. He had an amazing sense of humor, a big heart, and a spirit like no other. But when I was in third grade he got diagnosed with stage 3 prostate cancer. But he never let that break who he was. He was so strong about it. Yes, he tried to get treatment to help cure it or give him at least some more time, but in the end he lost that battle.

On January 5, 2011, he passed away. I was in 4th grade at the time, in the middle of snack time, and I didn’t even know yet. But as I was sitting in snack time at 1 in the afternoon, this giant wave of sadness hit me and I started crying. I didn’t know why or what was going on I just knew that I had this feeling that my life has forever changed and not in a good way.

After school I went home, as I walked into the house pretending I was okay I saw my mom at the top of the stairs holding my guinea pig and baby blanket, my two biggest comforts when my grandpa wasn’t around. I kind of knew something was off.

As I walked up the stairs everything was quite, but then I saw my dad and one of my older brothers sitting on the couch crying and then I knew something awful must have happened because my dad never cries. I knew it was either my other older brother who was in Colorado on a snowboarding trip or my grandpa who has been in the hospital for two weeks fighting a deadly disease.

My mom had me go sit by my dad on the couch as she told me that my grandpa passed away at 1 in the afternoon today. I remember sitting there and just breaking down completely. I knew nothing was ever going to be the same ever again, I lost my everything that day and nothing will ever feel worse than that did.

We went to the hospital to see him one last time and say our final goodbyes. When I walked into his room and saw him sitting there I prayed so hard “Please wake up, this can’t be real. You can’t be gone”. I remember feeling like my heart just got ripped out of my chest. I couldn’t believe that I would never get to go on mini adventures with him again, hug him again, or hear his laugh.

As the days went on that lead to his funeral, I remember feeling so numb. I didn’t want to do anything, I had no drive except to write my speech for his funeral.

On the day of his wake over 200+ people showed up because thats how many lives he touched. I had my speech all perfected and my aunt threw me up onto a table where everyone could see me and hear me, because I was so small and only in 4th grade. I started my speech and before I was halfway through it I broke down. I gave myself sometime to calm down before I finished it. I still remember that speech by heart to this day, along with the day he died, his wake, and his funeral.

We all go through tramatic events, some worse than others and some that don’t seem that tramatic, but that day will forever be the hardest, most tramatic day of my life. He may be gone though but he will forever be with me.

When you think about your life you see the truth that no else sees or knows. Whereas when someone else who knows you through school, work, and who doesn’t know everything about you sees you as this perfect person. I know I was that kid growing up, but for me is was more of the girl who just didn’t fit in and picked on.

That is true though, I didn’t fit in and I was bullied. Growing up my nickname was sharky because my nose is big and I guess it looks like a shark fin. I was a very upbeat bubbly child. I was also a very big hearted child. I always made sure to be kind to people even if they weren’t to me until I got beat up for being nice. Yes, you read that correctly. I got physically beat up in the hallway for trying to be nice and pick up a kids phone after he dropped it.

It didn’t just stop there, I was shoved into lockers, I was told to kill myself, I had rumors spread around about me, and I got threats. I don’t know what I did to my classmates to make them dislike me so much. I was always nice to everyone.

There was a point where I just didn’t want to be nice anymore. I thought, why be nice to the people who make me so miserable everyday for their own satisfaction? But then I’d remember that, that’s not what my grandpa would’ve wanted me to do. That’s not how him, and my parents raised me. So I put a smile on my face and kept being nice.

I am from a small school where my graduating class was the biggest one with 165 students graduating, but it didn’t mean they all knew me and my life story. Kind of like now in college, none of you guys know my story and what I’ve been through in my life. You only know the me in school, thats the reason for this idea for my project, to help people understand not only my story but other peoples stories as well instead of just what you see them as.

As these post go on you will get more of a glimps into my life and who I am and what I’ve been through. No, this isn’t for attention or pitty or anything like that at all. This is so you guys get to know the real me and how I became the person I am today.

For my finale project I will be writing about my life. It’s not easy for a lot of people to put themselves out there and share their life story, but it’s also a great way to show who you are and how you became that person. It also allows people to see the real you, not the person they think they see, but be able to see who you are completely.

I have picked four mentor blogs that i think really taught me alot about why they decided to share their story. Now they aren’t all the same or have the same reason for why they shared it, I didn’t base off picking my mentor blogs on who is writing about their life has the same story as me. I based them off of who is willing to put their personal story out there instead of hiding. They aren’t ashamed of their life story and what they have shared. They are proud because it is who they are and how they got there. I picked them because they have courage.

My first mentor is a blog called The Era I Lived In. I picked this blog because of how the writer teaches life lessons throughout the blog. It’s not entirely a story or just their story. I like how the writer teaches life lessons throughout the blog that they learned throughout their life.

My second mentor blog is called Story of My Life. I picked this blog because the writer talks about how they have changed and how they want to get back to the person they were. This is something that I relate to so much, I think we all relate to it in our own ways. We all have grown and changed, some of it good, and some bad. We all have apart of us that we miss.

My third mentor blog is called Thanks for Reading. I picked this blog because the writer finally decided to be who he really is after keeping it to himself for so long. He used blogging as a way to let out what he was feeling.

My fourth mentor blog is called Gendermom. I picked this blog because this mother is not ashamed of the life her child is living. She is not ashamed of her life story. She shows incredible strength, not only in her writing but in the way she lives her life.

All of the blogs have taught me a lot with both how they write the blogs they post but also through their stories they share. Yes, I could share with you on what I learned from their technique and how I’ll use it while writing my blog posts these next few weeks, but I’d rather share what I learned from reading their stories and how they didn’t hold back while sharing them, and that is the main thing I learned and what I’m going to use these next few weeks for this finale project.

Does social media really bring out the best in people? Some might say yes, and others say no. It all depends on how you look at it. I’m in between, I think it does for some people, and others I think abuse it. Social Media is now the most common form of communication. For example, Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter. These are all the most common kinds of social media people use today, but is this a good or bad thing? 

Yes, this is a fun, easier way to communicate with people and share events of your life, but it is also making it a lot easier for kids to bully other kids. Way back before any of these social media sites were a thought, kids used to be mean to one another in person, now they are able to hide behind a screen and do it over social media.

Teenagers can now post a video, picture or comment to bring someone down. They can put it out there for everyone to see. To some it’s all just for entertainment. Now why is that a thing? If you don’t like the person then go tell them in person. 

It’s not fun being brought down just to make someone feel better, i’d know. Throughout my middle and high school experience I was bullied. In middle school before everyone had social media, it was in person. I actually physically got beat up for trying to be nice and pick up a kids phone after he dropped it. I don’t know if he was having a bad day and I got caught in the crossfire and he decided to take his anger out on beating me or not. But later on I forgave him for what he did. 

Then came social media. I remember not wanting to check the things the kids from my school were saying about me, but I did. There were so many untrue comments about me just because they wanted to hurt me and say it to my face.

Yes, bullying is real, and yeah it sucks. But one thing people need to learn today is that it’s not the end of the world. It all depends on how you react because that’s all they are looking for, but don’t let it hurt you as long as you know who you truly are. That’s all that matters.

         We all have someone important to us. Someone who touched our lives in a way that no one else can. Someone who is our biggest role model. Sometimes it is just one person and other times it is multiple people.  For me, it is my parents, and my grandpa. My name is Olivia Amos and I am a student at Rochester Community and Technical College.

         I grew up in a small town in Minnesota called Elgin. I have three older brothers, and two loving parents. Growing up I was picked on a lot for not being able to learn as well as the other kids and for how I looked. I wasn’t raised in a house where we never had to worry about money. There were multiple times where we didn’t have much to eat because my dad was between jobs before he got his job at Minnesota State Highway Department. Then later on found out I have a learning disability and was diagnosed with ADD my sophomore year of high school. I saw how hard it was on my parents.

My mom decided to go back to school to get her nursing degree, while working at night and raising three little kids. It wasn’t easy on her, but she did it to create a better life for us. She didn’t go through all this work on her own. She had a lot of support from my dad, and my dad’s father.  My dad and his father were always really close. My grandpa made my father into the man he is today. He also made me into the person I am today.

We all face a hard time in our lives that stays with us forever. That hard day for me was the day I lost my grandpa. He was my best friend, he was supposed to walk me down the aisle someday with my father at my wedding. He taught me a lot during the time I had with him. He taught me what it is to be a good person and how to help people and make their day better.

         Everything he taught me has always stuck with me, and because of that I have done a lot of volunteer work. I have volunteered at the Gift for life transplant house, multiple community events, and Cancer Telethon. He and my parents taught me that nothing in life comes easy. You work for what you earn, because of that lesson I have three different jobs. I work at a residents house, the college I attend as a Student Ambassador, and at Spring Creek Motocross.

I want to be a person who impacts other peoples lives in a very positive way, like my parents and my grandpa have. I am currently going to school to receive my Nursing degree. This way I can help the people who feel down and like their life isn’t fair because they are sick, have some positivity and hope in their lives. To let them know there is someone who cares about them and will bring some sunlight into the dark times.

Continuing my education after High School gives me that chance. It provides me with the knowledge and skills I need to be able to provide future patients of mine with the right type of care, while being a person they can trust and put a smile on their face. I couldn’t have done this or even be the person I am without my three role models.  I want to make all three of them proud, even if my grandpa is not here to experience it with me. I know he’s there every step of the way.

I am continuing my education not just for the love and passion I have for my degree, but also to show that people can make a change in your life. It doesn’t matter how or who it is, all it matters is that they have and made you see the good in people and this life we live, just like my grandpa and my parents have done for me.

To be able to read like a writer means being able to get a full image of what the writer is saying and to understand why it was written in the first place. When you are reading you should be able to picture what is written down on the pages in front of you. This being said you should be processing every word to understand the story or the purpose.

            The way writers create their work is by making their piece come alive in its own way. This isn’t just with authors creating a story, it’s with any type of writing. For example, articles you read in the newspaper or political blogging sites. Even with that type of work the writer gets all the facts they need to be able to piece the story together to make a clear picture, kind of like a puzzle in a way.

            A way to be able to understand the process is to think about what was maybe going through the authors head while they were writing it. Being able to read like a writer is trying to think what the writer was thinking that way you know you are processing what they are saying and get a better understanding why this topic is so important. You should be able to put yourself in their shoes, see what the plan or idea is. 

            This to me is how you read like a writer and this is what I got out of the article. To be able to read like the writer and doing these steps, makes the process of reading a lot easier, and more interesting. This way you’re learning more about not only just the story, but also how the process of this story went and how the writer did it all.

   What is a blog community? That’s a good question. A blog community is basically like a town community if you think about it. In a blog community you have all the basic essentials that a town community but in it’s own little way.

         Like a town community, a blog community has people who come together and support one another. In a blog community people know your work and become close to one another. They can also have quick access to each other’s work and comment on it to help each other out and show that they care about what they have to say and about their work.

         Blog communities, like a town community, have their different things each person does. In a blog community you have your journalist who talks about politics, the journalist who talks about celebrity gossip, the journalist who talks about what is going on around the world, and more. Every single journalist or blogger who has their own blog has their own certain theme they stick to.

         If you ask me, the best part of the blog community is they talk about the truth behind their topic. They don’t write their own version of it because they are rushing to get the story out there. They take time to study the topic and really get to know it to make sure they match the facts. This in its own way makes the blog community closer. It helps them know that they know everything that’s going on in their tiny community is the truth. That they are being truthful to one another, kind of like in a small town community. In both the truth comes out or is told right away, no one makes an effort to hide it.

         In conclusion, if you ask me to have a little blog community or even a big one it is like having a second little family, or even a group of friends. It is also a better way to keep up with whatever else is going on in the world around you. In my blog community, I trust their information more than I trust the news or any other top gossip site because this way I know I can trust the same peoples information like they would trust mine.