Ashley's English Blog

 I have many things that I have always been curious about, but the top thing that comes to my mind is what space really is, and when I say space I do not mean the space between 2 people, but outer space. I am aware that it is nothing, but I cannot truly comprehend that. To me the concept of nothing, especially infianitely large spaces of nothing is so hard to wrap my head around. Today in class we took the final. I am very proud of myself for ending the class with an A, and I am very hopeful that I can keep that high grade up next semester. 

 I have a very large family, and part of that is having a LOT of holiday traditions that control everything from what we wear, to how we cook, to how we worship. To me, I don't have one specific holiday memory that is the best, but instead I have aspects to all of them that I love. For example, still to this day I sit on the stairs at 5am on Christmas morning waiting for my parents to tell me to come downstairs and see what I got for Christmas. Everyone in my family always wears the same pajamas, and we have a ceremony when we make the coffee cake in order for it to rise. I love Christmas a lot.  Today in class we read and analizized letters 26 and 27 in The Color Purple. In full honesty, I thought the assignment from yesterday and today were the same because I read it super fast, but I am quickly finishing it now. 

I have received many amazing and special physical gifts in my life, but I think that the best gift I have ever received was theater. I know this is not something that I can open up under the tree at Christmas, but theater is so important to me for many reasons. First of all, it gives me an opportunity to express my creativity, both in my performance and in my choreography. Secondly, it gives me a chance to be a leader and a teacher. Finally, I get to entertain hundreds of other people a night, and I truly believe that theater is a magical thing that can help people escape.  Today in class we read and analisized The Color Purple letters 20-25. This helped me grow in my reading for comprehension skills, and it helps me better understand the novel. I am very scared for the exam, because I really want to keep my A in the class, but I am very excited for the break. 

One fear I have overcome was the fear of heights. When I was little I was terrified of heights, but it all ended one day in third grade. I was at six flags, and me and my mom were standing at the entrance to acrophobia. This is a drop ride, where the entire premise is that you are very high up, then suddenly fall down very fast. At the time this was terrifying to me, but I still rode it for a very comical reason. I heard a group of about 20 college aged boys who were so scared to ride it that they were shaking. I decided I wanted to profit off of their fears, so I went to them and said whoever screams louder has to get candy for the other person. After riding it, I had overcome my fear of heights, and I had earned myself 20 bags of candy.  Today in class we worked on our presentations. I struggled with keeping a straight face when recording the animated character, but I am very proud of the work I produced with my final product. 

 One thing that I believed as a child, was that wishes really would come through, especially at Disney World. Our family was very lucky, because my father's company was a corporate sponsor of Disney, so we would get free travel there multiple times a year. Because of this, Disney felt like a second home to me growing up. I have distinct memories of seeing the parades, meeting the characters, and especially making wishes at the wishing well. I know now that the wishes for unlimited candy, to have magic powers, or to never leave the park were all never going to happen, but I do believe that by wishing, I made my trips better, and still to this day I always make a wish at the wishing well that my trip will continue to get better and better.  Today in class, they read more of The Color Purple, then took a group quiz. I am still home with food poisoning, but I am hoping to be back for the full day on Friday. I am very sad because after working so hard all semester to reduce my abse...

 One time I could not stop laughing, was yesterday in class when I was recording my video introduction. I was locking in and figuring out the software, but then after every take Carter would make a fart noise to ruin my take. Yes, I am painfully aware that this is not something that an 18 year old should sit in class laughing about, but alas I have the humor of a third grade boy. I was in fact laughing so hard I started to cry.  Today in class everyone did their presentations, but I had to stay home because I have a really bad case of food poisoning. 

 I had a thought the other day that I cannot get out of my idea. How do dogs think? Like, do dogs think in barks? Also, if they think in barks are there dog accents? Like I would imagine that a poodle has a very different voice than a lab, but do they think the same? I really wanna know! Today in class we reviewed how to do a multiple choice test, then we had a pop quiz. After that, we read more of the novel, and compared it to the film adaptation. I struggled with the quiz, but I really enjoyed reading the book, and I am intrigued to learn what happens next to all the characters. 

 One time I had to find strength despite feeling weak was right after my grandfather had passed away. I was really struggling, because I had lost someone who was close to me, but I had to find strength for my cousins. I was in 5th grade, but they were in 3rd and 1st, so I had to find strength to take care of them. This was very difficult for me, due to the fact that I was grieving, but I am very glad I did it, because it made me stronger.  Today in class we began reading The Color Purple . I was not expecting the shocking moment in the beginning of the novel, but I am very intrigued to see how this book continues.  

One conversation that changed me was at the end of my 8th grade year. I was transitioning to high school, and with that I was transitioning out of my old theater to Lakeside theater company. Most people at my old theater were not supporting my leaving, especially my directors. This was really hard for me, because it made me feel bad about leaving. I had one director though, who said that she supported me and was excited to see me thrive at my new theater. I had a new found confidence about the transition, and I am glad that I have been able to thrive after it.  Today in class we learned new vocabulary words to prepare us for college. I was fascinated to learn new words, but I struggled to find synonyms and antonyms for some of the words.