Connections from the Articles

What I gained, learned and understand from the article is that everything doesn’t always work out, but if you try your hardest at accomplishing something you may find what you’re looking for all along.  

The most interesting connection is that both Brooks’ article “It’s Not About You” and Graham’s article “Confessions of a Quit Addict” are about dreamers.  Both articles talk about expectations and how one is expected to live their life.  Some might think Brook’s article is a little negative.  He talks about college kids graduating and what lies before them. I did get the impression he feels strongly that his generation misleads my generation into thinking that anything is possible, when, in reality, everyone ends up making concessions when it comes to life’s big decisions. 

Graham, on the other hand, openly admits that she not only quit college once, but actually twice.  She shunned the previous generation’s guidance and expectations to go after what she thought would be a better reality. It turns out that she realized the grass never was actually greener on the other side.

Another way the articles relate is that Brooks mentions how young people are often told to “find their passion and then pursue their dreams.” This is a very “abstract” idea. I think that Graham took that idea to the “concrete” level.  She actually did go out and try to find her passion. I did not get the impression that she ever really found it. She did physically go on a quest for it.  It would seem that she feels like she is a better person for it as well.  I liked that at the end of her article she gives the impression that she might still be looking for her passion.

The interesting part about Barbra Graham’s article “Confessions of a Quit Addict” is when she quits college and leaves everything behind and accomplishes what she really wants to do in her life. I find this fascinating- that someone would want to give up her old life and discover her passion on her own. I wouldn’t think of doing that. It would give me anxiety and make me confused at the same time. I would not know what to start first.

The discussion in class sort of helped me understand the articles because most all their thinking was concrete ideas like facts, but some were abstract. For example, in Brooks’ article he says young people are often told to find their passion and pursue it. That is mostly his opinion. In Barbra Graham’s article, she is analyzing her thoughts and sharing what really happened to her. Barbra doesn’t want her elders to tell her what passion to persue, she wants to find it herself. In the end, she found that she wants to be a writer.

In conclusion, I am really fascinated by these articles. They are pretty good. I really like Barbara’s article and looking forward to hearing more about her stories in the future. As for David Brooks, I really enjoy his articles and I hope he keeps up the good work with writing new ones.

          

My Experience with Anxiety and Worries

I have anxiety and worries all the time, I have it when I fail, forget, am late to class, making choices, etc. I even have it by doing homework, which is a big bummer.

The two flavors of worry mentioned in David Brooks’ article “The Epidemic of Worry” are original worry and spiraling worry. Spiraling worry gets me all the time, because when I actually get worried I feel dizzy all the time. I even have to lay down.

There are so many examples of anxiety and worries that I am unsure where I should even start.

Last year in A&M’s PATHS program, the days I had bookwork, quizzes, or tests I would walk back in forth in my dorm to figure the questions. As for tests, I would always bite my pencil or tap it on the table if I didn’t know the question. It was a real pain.

Although you would think video games mean fun, but nope you are wrong. I take video games seriously- can you believe that? I have anxiety written all over when it comes to an online showdown. I’m nervous. When it comes to a final boss match, I am extremely worried. When I have to defeat the villain at max level and I have to do my very best, I’m scared.

Anyway, we all enjoy TV Shows. We think the characters are real people, but they are fictional. There is only one show in which we think the characters are real and we are worried about them, including me. It’s just a TV show. That TV show is The Walking Dead. Oh man if you didn’t catch the season 7 premiere last week, it had anxiety and worries all over it. Even my mother was worried. No spoilers- I promise it’s a good show, though.

In any event, we all have anxiety and worries. Taking the presidential election that’s coming up for example, I am not worried at all about who will be president. Clinton and Trump both have good and bad points. I will be grateful for whoever becomes our president and with the choices they make.

Even David Brooks is having anxiety with the election, but he made an interesting familiar catchphrase at the end of his article: “Hakuna Matata”, which means no worries, from my favorite Disney movie the Lion King.

My High School Years

When I finished 8^th grade, I knew my next year of school was going to get more difficult, like moving up to the final level of a video game about me. In the summer of 2009, my high school journey began at Summit High School in Arlington Texas.

At the end of summer vacation, I had to attend Fish Fest. Fish Fest is a get-together for freshmen that are new to the school. Although I didn’t want to attend, it was required. To be honest, I was very shy, even to this day- I will always be. However, I eventually got over it and started socializing with others.

The big day came: my first year of High School begins with not my parents taking me, but my sister. She goes to Summit as well, but this was her senior year. This is not the first time my sister and I went to the same school at the same time. Back in elementary school, I attended 1^stgrade while she attended 4^th grade in the same school. It was like Déjà vu that entire year.

Anyway, my first schedule that year, and pretty much every year, was the same: reading, math, and history. I got good grades, but the real fun was my elective classes. My favorite classes were art, theatre arts, TV production, and getting to be an Office Hall Assistant, which is a delivery boy around the school.

During 9^th grade, I decided to try theater. I auditioned for the comedy Harvey, but I was unsuccessful.  As time moved on, I got lucky in other plays like Romeo + Juliet and Aida. I did a good job playing the apothecary in Romeo + Juliet- I won an award for best supporting actor.

During my 10^th and 11^th grade years, I did a cool class called TV Production.  I got to create cool videos and work in the school’s newsroom. I made some nice videos like “11 Words That Describe Me”, which was my favorite assignment in the class.

During the last semesters of 11^th and 12^th grade years, I did an interesting class called Ready Set Teach, which was learning how to teach kids. At the beginning of the semester we would learn the basics of being an assistant teacher, and then we would go to an actual elementary school and help out. It was really a fun experience.

The most unforgettable moment I had in high school was being part of the high school sprit squad at football games and pep rallies. We were called the “Blue Crew”.  We dressed crazy for the games. We would run onto the field with the football players and do push-ups every time our team would get a touchdown or goal. We would sit at lunch together. I even got to appear on the Jumbo-Tron which was a little scary.

 In conclusion, high school was a fantastic time in my life. Some people say they don't like it at first. I don't blame them. When you first start, it is kind of scary. You don't know what you will experience. Overall, it is what you make of it. My high school experience ended with a big graduation party that I was not expecting. That was a lot of fun! 

Mike Rowe Interview

I just watched an interview of Mike Rowe about the high cost of college and here is what I found out. To start off Mike explains what he sees as the real problem that the cost has cropped up over the past 40 years in America and its not working. The amount is a trillion dollars in debt on the students’ loan side and a large skills gap.

Mr. Rowe also explains all P.R. campaigns go too far.  P.R stands for Public Relations which means the practice of managing the spread of information between individuals or an organization.

Mr. Rowe has created a campaign called “work hard and smart”. He is against the idea of the taxpayer supporting loans going to college. He gets a little curious, when the debt gets to a trillion dollars. He is suggesting we’ve gone around the bend a little bit.

Mr. Rowe mentions the cost of a degree has increased over 500 times the rate of inflation since the mid- 80s. I actually found this really interesting.

As the interview continued he is asked how he creates better work ethics in people. He said that he thinks it has something to do with being suspicious of anything that is too easy, being suspicious of anything that doesn’t hurt a little bit. It has something to do with the willingness to find and take the reverse commute.

The interviewer asked Mr. Rowe if schools should be more in the business of doing tech stuff? Mike says they probably shouldn’t do it. He also stated if he depended on a skilled workforce then he would not depend on a public education system to provide for him.

While continuing to watching the video the interviewer discusses why men have lower rates than women. Technically he doesn’t know, but he does say there is probably some obvious crossing over.  More opportunities have been made available and more women can avail themselves to them.

About 32 minutes into the video the discussion turned to explaining if technology was the problem. Mike says it’s not a problem. The displacement theory is interesting. He actually read it in his own industry. Like the idea was the newspaper would displace the telegraph, and then movies would displace books, and TV would displace movies. I was really intrigued.

Mike mentions jobs are vanishing and people need to somehow recalibrate in this world of hyper efficiency. I will always remember that because I myself am looking for a job and I need to start looking fast before they run out.

In conclusion I have never heard of Mike Rowe he is an amazing guy, and he gave good advice. I loved at the end when he said “is real education is reality TV?” I will sometime watch an episode of Dirty Jobs it sounds really good.         

             

The Constant Connection

Social Media allows us to stay in constant connection with our world.  Now that we have smart phones, tablets, and high speed laptops, the ability to stay in contact is endless.  My device of choice is my phone. 

There are many different types of social media. Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, and Snapchat are the few that I have the most experience with.  Even with just these four types, it is amazing how connected I can be with my friends, their friends, and the world around them. I really get a kick out of sharing photos, videos, and, of course, posting what I am doing.  I think it is just as cool to see what others are up to as well.  One of my favorite things to do is to go to YouTube and look for videos that I think are hilarious and then share them with friends on Facebook.  I find it amazing that the friends of my friends can see the same videos that I have posted.  One of the policies that I learned about the hard way is that you cannot use footage that has a copyright in a video you make and share.  One of my personal policies is that I don’t post any videos that might contain foul language.

Sometimes Social Media can hurt.  Cyberbullying is what I am talking about.  Cyberbulllies feel like they can get away with being hateful and mean on Social Media.  They often times post mean comments or uncomfortable pictures intended to hurt someone.  I have never been cyberbullied before, but I have heard stories on the news.  Those stories seem very sad and unsettling.

Overall Social Media is a great way to stay in touch with friends and share memorabile moments.There are many ways to stay connected and that is electronic devices, such as phones, computers, iPads, and more.

People use their phones all the time. Brook’s article “Intimancy for the Avoidant” mentions that people check their phones on average 221 times a day- about every 3-4 minutes. I only use my phone to listen to music, call, text, or if my iPad is out of juice.   

Sometimes my Devices like to glitch. For instance, my phone likes to lose juice more quickly by just being in my pocket doing nothing and when I charge it back up it goes back to normal. As for my iPad, it just likes to go slow or buffs. My computer also makes mistakes like freezing once in awhile, but that’s probably when I go to YouTube.

There are a lot of electronic device policies such as school, camps, and in the workplace. The number one policy that everyone should remember is not using your device at all. You can lock it and put it in your pocket, unless if your teacher, boss, or advisor wants you to use it for important reasons.

In conclusion, electronic devices can be really helpful. I love using them even though we can end up breaking them. We just need to give them tender, loving care.    

My Past Summer

My past summer was awesome! Well to start off I graduated from the PATHS program at Texas A&M in May.  It was a fun experience. All of my aggie family came to see me. It was the first time I attended a 4 year university.

During the first week of summer I really wanted to celebrate my accomplishment by going to Atlantis in the Bahamas. I have been wanting to do that for the past seven years. It’s a really cool resort that has waterskiing, which I have never done in my life, a huge waterpark, swimming with dolphins, game rooms, and a casino. But unfortunately it was unable to happen. My family decided we should go visit my sister in California instead.

Going to California was fantastic.  It was my second time being in LA. We got to go to Universal Studios and ride Jurassic Park, visit Harry Potter world, and much more. Then we head to Malibu to go to the Beach which took my breath away with the sunset over the ocean. And finally my Mother and Sister and I got to go to Disneyland. Sadly my Father had to go back to Texas for job situations. We rode Star Tours, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, and Indiana Jones.

I get the impression that we are mostly going to visit my sister all the time every year. One thing I left out, my sister works for entertainment tonight.  When I call her from home I tell her if she sees a celebrity to take a picture or get an autograph, you know its Los Angeles there can be a celebrity anywhere.

Through-out the rest of my summer I was at home trying to find a job. But no luck. I still have my fingers crossed. When I was not looking for a job I played Call of Duty or Battlefield to entertain myself. I also enjoyed laying out by the pool if it was clear skies. I would listen to an audiobook.

When my summer was ending I knew that we had to do are usual vacation trip and that was the Hyatt hill country in San Antonio with a lazy river and miniature water park we went there for my dad’s birthday. We swam in the lazy river, ate a lot of junk food, played in the arcade, made s’mores, and to end the trip we hung out at the bar and played some pool. All and all I didn’t get to go to the Bahamas but I had a great summer by doing a lot of fun things.  I would have to say my favorite time I had through-out the summer was Disneyland its truly the most magical place on earth,.           

my expectations on my first exam at blinn

 At the risk of this being read negative, my expectations of my exam were not that promising. I am not good at exams. To be honest I am very nervous when I take any kind of test. You know the saying “I have butterflies in my stomach”? Well when I take a test I think those sweet butterflies have hand grenades. I find myself taking deep breaths the whole time the exam is going on. As you are reading this you might be wondering if the exam met my expectations. Well I was nervous just as I expected. And in all honesty there were questions on the test that I expected. However when I take a test there always seems to be questions that I don’t remember studying for. When I was writing my answers on the test I felt I was going to explain the wrong answer. Don’t get me wrong I studied and prepared for this test. I went over my notes from class at least five times. I also read the chapters again. I feel like I did not do that well on the exam. So next time I will switch it up by looking over my notes ten times instead of five. My study skills are not the greatest. But I have a great attitude and I am going to keep moving forward. When I take exams it’s always a challenge for me whether I pass or not. I usually don’t do writing tests that often, and in reality I would prefer multiple choice questions. But hey it’s a writing class what can you do? Here’s a good tip if you go by any of the statues on A&M campus and place a penny on it, it will bring you good luck on any exams or tests in the future.

my relationship with words

     My relationships with words are not that great. Because I have trouble pronouncing words. How I felt about words is kind of ironic that I am writing a blog about words. Words make me feel frustrated, unsure, and confused. And yet here I am writing a blog about them. My own usage of words. I have to tell you, that I had to choose between having a conversation with someone or making a post on Facebook I would choose Facebook. It’s because it gives me more time to think my thoughts and what I am going to say. No one can interrupt me in the middle of my post. Consider the good and the bad. When have words failed me. Some of the time I don’t know what some words mean.  And even worse I may not know how to use a word the right way.  It is not only hard when I am speaking but also when I am listening to others.  I guess for me words are a necessary evil.  I have to use them but they can make me uncomfortable. What made me proud of words is when people recognize my accomplishments by saying things like “good job” or “way to go” that always makes me feel proud.  When I received my letter from the Texas A&M PATHS program telling me that I had been accepted I felt fantastic.  Those words really meant a lot to me. When words hurt me. Well really words don’t hurt me but they hurt my feelings.  In high school there were some very unkind people who would say curse words and mean things to me.  My word for them would be bully. While their words hurt my feelings I worked my best to ignore them.

       The times that I think of most when I have used words to the benefit of someone else is my words of encouragement for my family.  I always tell my sister how proud I am of her and what she is doing in California.  But just between you and me, I am a little jealous that I am not living in California myself. What I want words to do for me is to make me feel like I am a better person. Words that inspired me greatly was when my dad always says to me “You’re a good man Gunga Din!”  or “you’re the man, you’re the man with the Midas touch!” While those words might seem silly to others, to me I feel happy.  I know my dad really feels like I am a good man. One artist that blew my heart away with words is actually a coach from one of my favorite movies in “We Are Marshall”.  I love the line that Jack Lengyel says to his team:  “When you take that field today, you’ve got to lay that heart on the line, men.” To me those words mean that a person needs to do their best to achieve their goal.

About Callan

  My name is Callan Mannion I was born on September 1st 1994 in Arlington TX. I was born with cerebral palsy. At the age of ten i started having weird feelings in my body like seizures, Charley Horses, and brain headaches. but i eventually got use to them.

       What you should also know about me is I like to act in theater. I have been in nine plays from 6th grade to 12th grade.  my favorite play was being the apothecary in Romeo & Juliet. I eventually took a break from theater after High School but after College I will like to continue the experience.

      One of my hobbies is to collect Movie, TV shows, and Video Games merchandise like t-shirts, collections, and posters. Right now i am collecting posters such as Star Wars, Walking Dead, Jurassic Park, and more. for Movies and TV I am collecting every marvel cinematic universe Movie and TV show that ties in with the story.

      Things I like to do when there is no school work that needs to be done. Is to play Video Games Online, Watch Movie or TV show marathons, listen to an audio-book, and hangout with my friends.

   My favorite year of High School was 12th grade my final year. Because I tried out for Blue Crew that is a spirit team. for Summit High School. I made the team, what we had to do was to be on the field for football games and be on the court for pep-rally's the goal was to cheer on our team and help the crowd cheer on as well. Basically like a cheerleader but different we got too wear jumpsuits during the events. 

  Last Year I was a part of a program at Texas A&M. It was called the PATHS program A program for students with disabilities that want a brighter future. They can help students get jobs or practicum. I chose to be a child care provider which allows me to work with pre-kindergarten children. I got to work at a daycare which was called Kinder care it was a fun experience I got to read to them, play and get their snacks ready. Sadly this program was only one year but it was worth it.

My goal this year is to do my very best and learn a little more in College one last time. I always wanted to live in NYC to be an actor but with me being a child care provider I will have to start somewhere else. My main goal after College is be the best I can be. Every night I say to myself to never give up.