Reflection Week Five

March 10, 2011

Dear Prof. Henderson,

Here were my goals in the previous year: Long term goal was to get a masters and my mid-term goal was to transfer to Cal Poly or a UC school and my short term goal was to do well in the spring semester. A year has passed and I feel like I'm closer to achieving my mid-term and long-term goals. I was very successful in my spring semester as I've received mostly A's and did not have the unfortunate experience of failing a class. I've also gone to my counselor and spoke about my academic goals and I am very well on-track to transferring to a UC. I took the time to do all my school affiliated work before personal matters and I've started to study outside my home as I believe it helps me focus more. Going to the school library helps me get my work done and I also visit the bookstores and Starbucks for a little study session also. I think the most important step I've taken this past year is to sacrifice my habit of procrastination. As I started to do all my work as soon as possible, I feel as though my life becomes less stressful due to the fact that I don't have to stress about school work being finished on time because I proactively finish the work before it is due. I think the productivity of my work habits became much higher and because of that I think I can continue striving to receive great grades and hopefully be able to transfer to a university of my choice.

Entrench

Entrench (verb) to dig trenches for defensive purposes around (oneself, a military position, etc.).

Source: TTTC page 174. The others stood in a circle, watching the water, then after a time somebody said, "We can't just leave him there," and the men nodded and got out their entrenching tools and began digging.

Context Clue: Logic and parts of word. Trench would be a defensive line in war and to "en"trench would be like to create a trench. Also, the men began digging with their entrenching tools and it was to get kiowa out so it would be logical that to entrench is to create a trench.

Original sentence: In World War I, most of the soldier's time was spent entrenching their positions to fortify their position and waiting for an enemy attack.

Wade

Wade (verb) to walk through water, snow, sand, or any other substance that impedes free motion or offers resistance to movement: to wade through the mud.

Source: TTTC page 173. ACross the field Azar and Norman Bowker and Mitchell Sanders were wading alongside a narrow dike at the edge of the field.

Context Clue: Logic. One can assume wade would have to do something with the field being very muddy and wet.

Original Sentence: I waded through the muddy pools of water after a big storm.

Bearing

Bearing (noun) the manner in which one conducts or carries oneself, including posture and gestures

Source: TTTC page 171. No sense of direction, though, and the field seemed to suck him under, and everything was black and wet and swirling, and he couldn't get his bearings, and then another round hit nearby, and for a few moments all he could do was hold his breath and duck down beneath the water.

Context Clue: Logic. Text says no sense of direction and everything was swirling and he couldn't get his bearings. That would suggest bearings would have to do with swirling and with all the chaos and explosion, it would seem it would be something like balance.

Original sentence: As I was going down the hill on my bike, I forgot to brake so I was losing my bearing and was about to fall.

Reflection #3

This is my first semester of college and I've been enjoying the schedule of going to school not 7 hours everyday and I've been enjoying a lot of free time but I don't really spend that time on school related things like homework, essays, projects, and etc. I've already not done a project in my Speech105 class and I don't really know why I didn't do it because it was suppose to be something fun and easy. I've also been neglecting the reading portion of studying and I haven't read textbooks and books much lately and I've been very lazy about it. Also, I haven't committed much to my English class and I know I should be because there aren't that many assignments in that class and I don't think I can afford to miss any assignments from now on but I don't really feel the pressure to. Basically, my academic status is in peril and I need to get myself together and work this out because I don't really want a low GPA that will hinder me from transferring. Although school feels hectic, my life outside school seems a bit peaceful even though I'm going through the stage of buying my own car and that is bit stressful but once that is done, life would feel a bit more at ease.