Post number 51. Going above and beyond. I know this saying is cliche, but it has so much value to it. People who go "above and beyond" tend to succeed. They just have something within them that pushes them. I wrote my first paper about this. It was basically about how through playing basketball my whole life, I became the person that I am and have a strong backbone because of it. I learned to go above and beyond and that it is necessary to do this if you want to stand out and be exceptional. Don't get me wrong, I definitely don't think that I am exceptional or anything, but I try to be. It is my goal and I strive towards it in everything that I do.

Well, this entry completes my required number of blog entries. I guess I'll probably do a few more though so I don't look like I hit the requirement and stopped. This blogging has been interesting. I'm not the type to blog. I don't even have twitter so this whole thing has been kind of painful. I guess it's been good for me though. I can't say that I will continue to blog after this class, at least I don't think I will. You never know though. 

War damn rodeo. Oh my gosh rodeo was so much fun! If y'all didn't go, you definitely need to go next year! It was the most fun I've had in a long time! My sister came in town and I got to show her off and introduce her to all my friends. I think she had a great time and I know I did! Definitely made some good memories this weekend!

I'm so ready for this week to end and for the weekend to be here! I have one test left and it's tomorrow at 8am. For some reason I can't make myself study for it but I neeeeed to! I've got a lot going on tonight and don't want to have to stay up late studying. Friday afternoon couldn't come any sooner!

My group and I's project is coming a long pretty well. We've gotten a lot done and plan on really writing the paper next wednesday. We are mostly still doing research and finding sources that we want to use. We are being careful not to focus too much on just remediation since someone else has that chapter and we have the chapter "remediating remediation." Our main argument is that remediation programs do indeed need to be remediated at the university level.

I really want to knock out this homework before the weekend! I posted my group's questions, but I'm waiting on the other groups to post theirs so that I can do my comments! If y'all see this, please upload your questions! I'm glad that we don't have class tomorrow, but I wish I could skip my lab at 11 so I could leave to go home super early! Oh well.

Class was fun today! I enjoyed working with my group. I usually sit and watch the time click by in class, but it was over before I knew it today! I feel like my group is going to be very good and work really well together. We are all determined to do well on this unit and to work efficiently. This seems very possible with our awesome group!

Today is beautiful day! Too bad I'm sitting in architecture. This class is SO boring! Only a few more weeks though and i'll be out of here! It's crazy to think that we only have a few more weeks of school left! Easter is this weekend, then rodeo, then i'm going to south carolina, then it's exam weekend! It's crazy how fast it has all gone by!

I'm really excited about this group project! I have a great group and can't wait to work with them and get to know them better! I think we're going to work really well together. I'm really bad with technology so hopefully they will be good at that. I'm basically like a 60 year old woman when it comes to technology.  I can learn, I'm just a little slow. It's all good though!

Ahh I really need to finish my paper! I just hate revising! It's so frustrating! I need to buckle down and knock this out so I can relax the rest of the night but I have a feeling I'll still be procrastinating in a few hours. March Madness is my weakness! I'm rooting hard for an upset against Baylor and I'm pretty sure UConn is the team that can do it so go UConn!

My conference today with Ms. Pavletic was very helpful. She gave me a lot of helpful tips to strengthen my paper. Sometimes I really struggle with revising though. Her suggestions seem like they will require me to change a lot in my paper and I'm bad about that. You know that whole thing she said in class about not being attached to your papers? Yeah, that's me. I get to where I just really don't want to get rid of a sentence because I like it, even though I know I need to just erase it. Hopefully this last revision won't take too long though!

I'm about to revise my paper AGAIN! So much fun...not! But on the bright side, it's almost done. Did y'all see that she posted our groups for our next unit on canvas? She also posted the chapters that we are assigned. I'm excited about working with people for the next unit! I hope it's not difficult to get together with everyone though!

My conference was today and it went pretty well. Mary didn't really give me as much feedback as I was hoping for so I think I'm going to revise it again and take it to Ms. Pavletic tomorrow. For some reason I feel like they are going to grade harshly on this paper. I sure hope not though!

I just revised my paper and am ready for my conference. The concept of changing who grades our paper is throwing me off a bit. English for the most part is learning what your teacher wants or expects in your papers. Since Mary hasn't graded any of my papers before, I really don't know what she expects. Hopefully the conference will help. 

I liked the way that we did peer review today. It was a lot more helpful than in the past. I feel like I was being held accountable to provide helpful feedback for my classmates because we had to explain our editing to them face to face after we read their papers. I received a lot of helpful feedback and now feel like I can revise my paper and make it much better before my conference on Wednesday. 

I just finished writing my paper. I kind of feel like I was just blabbing. In a way it was easier to write because I was writing about an issue instead of writing a personal narrative. Ms. Pavletic has graded all of my other papers so i'm not sure how Ms. Dawson is going to grade. If any of y'all have any tips on how she grades, please let me know.

I did big event this morning and it was so much fun! Doing yard work and helping my mom out around the house is one of the things I miss most at home. Being able to go out in the community and do work for people was great! I wish we had opportunities like this every weekend! I guess if I looked hard enough I could find them. 

This week flew by! I'm so glad. I really thought the first week back after break was going to be rough but it was actually pretty fun. I'm not looking forward to doing this paper this weekend, but hopefully I can knock it out early on Sunday and get it over with! This rough draft is going to be pretty rough. Woo woo good luck y'all!

I went and met with Ms. Pavletic today about the format for the paper because I was really confused about it. I feel a lot better about it now. If any of y'all are worrying about it, don't! She's going to explain it all in class tomorrow and then we should be good to go for the weekend. At least I hope so.

I got my interview knocked out! It feels good to have it done! I just hope that the information that I got is going to be sufficient for writing my paper. I'm really confused about the format of this paper and how we are supposed to write it. Hopefully she will give us some guidance on it in class tomorrow.

I just started working on my interview questions and it's not going too well. My ethical issue is the illegal buying and abuse of Adderall. I'm interviewing a friend who buys Adderall but is not prescribed it. My "field of study" is the medical field though and I'm not sure if this exactly applies because I am interviewing a student and someone who knows nothing about this. Is this too much of a student ethical issue or is it still a medical ethical issue? What do y'all think?

I'm so not ready to start school back tomorrow. I can't even imagine getting up for my eight AM in the morning. EWW. I haven't done anything in preparation for our interviews or papers so I hope nothing is due. I hope I'm correct in remembering that our interviews aren't due until Wednesday. Who knows? It's too late now. Hope all y'all made it back safely and make it to class tomorrow.

We made it back to Auburn. It's pretty much a ghost town here. I can't believe they aren't opening the dorms until 12 tomorrow. Thank goodness I live off campus. We've got 4 girls staying with us tonight because they can't get in the dorms. I think it's pretty ridiculous of the university to do this. They should have opened the dorms today since most vacation rentals are saturday to saturday and most students came back to Auburn today. Oh well though, I hope no one is stranded.

It's our last night at the beach. I'm not quite ready to leave, but we get kicked out at 10am so I guess we don't have much of a choice. We're just watching a movie and taking it easy tonight, enjoying each other's company the last night. I hope y'all are having a great break!

I just got back from a twelve mile bike ride! It was absolutely amazing. I'm thinking about dropping out and just moving down here? Y'all in? Haha just kidding! I wish I could! This would be the life. Maybe one day I can retire down here for something. Hope y'all are having a good break. 

My friends and I are down in Destin and yes, I am blogging. Haha I figure if I can remember to do it once a day while I'm down here, I can knock some out. The weather is beautiful tonight! A friend and I went on a run and it was perfect! Nothing better than a good run on the beach.

HAPPY SPRING BREAK Y'ALL! I'm so glad that she said she is 99% sure she is going to move the interview due date to Wednesday! Score! Good job y'all haha but I hope y'all all have a good spring break! The year will be over before we know it! 

Who wants to beg her to move the interview due date to Wednesday? She's pretty cool and I feel like if we all ask her to move it, she'll at least consider it. Soooooo tomorrow in class let's ask! Maybe she'll be in a good mood from the cookies too! I know I will be at least! Let's unite and get this date changed so we can relax over spring break!

I'm starting to worry about getting my interviews done on time. We have to turn in the notes from them the Monday after spring break and there's no way I have time to do them this week and I'm leaving town for the break. Hopefully my people can come through for me on Sunday. I wish she would at least move the due date to Wednesday to help us out.

My topic is the illegal usage of Adderall. I am going to interview a friend who buys Aderrall from friends even though she is not prescribed it. I am having a hard time finding the other person to interview. It needs to be someone who has no connection with the issue so I guess I'll need to find someone who is not aware that the illegal buying and selling of Adderall even occurs.

Check out this youtube video on how kids today abuse Adderall. Adderall Abuse. The doctor says that Adderall is like a steroid and that it alters test scores. He considers it cheating if you are not prescribed it. It's also dangerous. It pushes the brain, yes, but it also pushes the heart. The statistics of how many kids take the medicine without being prescribed it is stunning.

It's kind of crazy how once you choose a belief or an ethical issue to write about, it seems to surround you. Over the past week I have heard so many conversations about selling Adderrall and about how "cracked out" someone was on Adderall. Hearing all of this only fires me up more about the issue.

Class was actually kind of fun today. When Brett said that he sees standards like Mike Rose mentions in Ms. Pavletic's class, he was so right. How many other classes do you have right now where you can sit around and have small group discussions like that and joke around with the teacher and have fun but still be learning? I know that that and my spanish class are the only classes that I have like that.

I've been keeping an eye out for an ethical issue to write about pertaining to the medical field. I went for a run yesterday with a friend and he was talking about how his roommate just got a lot of money because he sold his Adderall. This happens so often these days. The abuse of Adderall is a serious ethical issue that needs to be acknowledged.

I've been googling ethical issues in the medical field for about an hour now and I'm stumped. One that has stood out to me is eithical issues in care for the elderly, but that deals with healthcare. Healthcare is important and certainly an ethical issue today, but it is a little to common for me to write about. I want to find something more specific. My field of the "medical field" is pretty broad so if y'all have any ideas, I'd love to hear them!

This is a manifesto that I found. I really what this one says. It's all about living life to the fullest and taking advantage of every opportunity that you are presented with. To me, it says a lot when someone loves life because it really is a gift. One of my favorite quotes is by Shauna Neiquist, "I want my everyday to make God belly laugh, glad that he gave life to someone who loves the gift." 

I wasn't sure what to expect for the midterm, but that wasn't too bad. Here's a link that deals with my belief that interracial dating is not a bad thing. The guy speaking challenges the reasons of why some people believe that it is wrong. Check it out if you have time! Why is Interracial Dating Wrong?

Finally submitted my paper! Woohoo! It feels good to have it finished! I feel like I learned a lot through writing about my belief that racism, more specifically intolerance of interracial dating, is still a problem in our society today. This is a topic that I feel very strongly about and I am proud to have written my manifest on it.

I've been working really hard on my paper and I think I'm ready to turn it in. She's really pushing me on the reflection part so hopefully I took that as far as she wanted. I just find the reflection kind of difficult for some reason, but I went to Miller Writing Center and they helped me a little so we'll see! Hope y'alls papers are coming along well!

My conference went pretty well today. She gave me some things to change that I think will make my paper a lot better. I'm really determined to get an A on this one so I'm going to work my butt off and revise it tonight. One thing y'all might want to watch out for is specificity. Make sure you're very specific and your belief is narrow.

The two people who read my draft today liked it. I didn't really get any helpful feedback except that they liked it. I'm looking forward to my conference so that I can see what I should change about it. I enjoyed reading a few of y'alls papers today and can't wait to hear more of y'alls beliefs.

Got my paper all finished up! I kind of wish that I had spent a little more time on it but hey, it's the first draft. I'll polish it up and use y'alls feed back for the final one. Hope y'all got your papers done and don't have a stressful night tonight!

So I calculated it up and I'm pretty sure that if we blog five days a week, we will 50 by the end of the semester. Heads up if you haven't been blogging haha you still have time but should probably get started now! Good luck writing your papers this weekend and hope y'all have a good weekend!

I've started my paper and I like where it's going. I have to finish it today because I'm going to Mardi Grass this weekend! Just gotta knock this out and then it'll be time for the weekend! Hope y'alls papers are going well and hope y'all have a good weekend!

I'm changing my topic. Defining joy is more difficult than I thought it would be. I think I want to write about segregation. Even though we are post-civil war and America isn't supposed to be segregated anymore, it is. I believe that segregation still exits in America today. What do y'all think about this?

I'm really just writing to get another blog done haha but I'm still conflicted about what topic to write about. I feel like she really wants us to choose a simple belief so I'm working on coming up with one that I have an experience with. Can't wait to get this thing done. First draft due Monday...woohoo.

Alright so I think I have finally decided to write that I believe that joy can be found through God even when we are in the deepest pain. One of the options on the assignment sheet is to write about when your belief has been challenged so I guess I'm kind of going off of that.  I have a specific example that I am going to use of when I endured this emotional pain. My question I guess would be how to write the whole paper about this one pain? I guess that I could use examples of when I find myself in this pain and when I simply find joy even though it hurts? It's kind of confusing and hard to wrap my mind around. I think it will be good for me to write this though.

Well it's time to write assignment two. I have been trying to think about something to write about all weekend but I just keep coming back to my faith. I realize that this may not be what she really wants us to write about, but I feel like I need to do this for myself and I feel like I have an experience that is powerful enough to bring the large topic of faith to a more specific topic. Thanks for the help!

Well I still can't decide on a topic, but I guess it would be productive for me to try to list some of my beliefs. I believe that working out makes a person happier. I believe that technology has polluted our generation. I believe that money cannot bring happiness. I believe that happiness is found in the small things in life. I believe that it is important to not let other people influence who you are. I believe that I have too many beliefs and can't decide on one!

I don't know about y'all, but after today's class I decided I definitely need to change my topic. Originally I was going to write about my faith because I thought that it would help me to discover and explore my faith more through writing about it. Now I kind of want to write something a little more fun and something that's more light-hearted. What do y'all think? Deep or light-hearted?

My name is Mary Anna Caldwell and I'm from Chattanooga, Tennessee. I love to play sports and spend time out doors. I also love traveling. Number one on my bucket list is to travel to all fifty states in the U.S. I love to have a good time and enjoy spending time with my friends.