My Weekend Family Get-Away
Throughout my childhood I liked to escape from everyday routine and be alone with my family or my closest friends. There was the trail in the woods by the old battlefield where I would take my dog for long walks and for a change of scenery. There was the pond where my friends and I would go and throw rocks to see who could get theirs to skip the farthest. These places are vivid in my memory because that’s where I would go to have fun, but the one place that sticks out in my memory the most, the place I know better than anyone, my weekend get-away, was my family’s house at Hidden Valley Ski Resort. While I was growing up I was blessed to have this house to go to on the weekends during the winter. Come Friday I would be so excited because I knew where I would be going, I loved it up there. The sights of the resort, the distinct smell of the house, and the anticipation of the drive up there all contribute to the most vivid and realistic memories I remembered about this place
The excitement that filled my mind was incomprehensible to any person who has never experienced this for them self. The trip up to the house was only an hour but it felt like three or four. Snow would fall on the windshield, then be wiped away by the windshield wipers as we were driving, and every five minutes my mother would scream, “Watch out, Jeff,” as she would grab the handle on the door. As we pass through the tollbooth at exit 9, my Dad threw the change in the container. From the ting, ting, ting, sound the change made, I knew that we were close. “Only twenty more minutes,” he would say, then right after my Mom would say, “Yeah, more like ten the way he’s driving.” Finally, we would make the right hand turn into the resort and drive up the hill. About half way I would get a feeling in my stomach not the feeling you get when your nervous, the one you get when your excited. With the first step out of the car onto the frozen ground the snow would crackle beneath my feet. Sometimes I would get a little in my shoe right between my sock and my pants.
Ever do something stupid to impress someone? Throughout a person’s life they will do something very ignorant or say something very stupid hundreds of times. Most of the time it is because they are trying to impress somebody or change their ways to make someone or others accept them. The story “Haunting of Hill House” has great examples of people changing just to fit in. The author Shirley Jackson, who died in 1965, was one of the most brilliant writers of her time. She was widely acclaimed for her hair-raising stories and novels of the supernatural. Although the “Haunting of Hill House” fits this description perfectly with its eerie description of supernatural tales of the happenings of Hill House; there is a more to it than hauntings. The story starts out with three guests being invited to the house to monitor any out of the ordinary occurrences in Hill House. Throughout the story the guests experience some ghostly moments. However during this one of the guest named Eleanor changes her ways to fit in with the guests. Her actions show that society’s views on a person can lead that person to things they would never have thought of. One example would be when Eleanor told lies about herself and her past. Another example would be when Eleanor went around the house alone having no fear. Finally Eleanor became open and spoke out what was on her mind.
The time spent there became more about meeting family friends and going to dinners. Almost four years passed before I returned to the memory of getting lost in those woods. It was a week before the start to my junior year of high school, and I was visiting my grandparents in Virginia. One morning, after a very early breakfast and a promise to return promptly, I walked outside toward the woods. I walked aimlessly, remembering the similar trips I used to make in the forest upstate. I saw a young kid, eager to dirty his hands with exploration of the tangible world. I was older now, and my summer had been spent exploring a possible career path by interning at a financial services firm. A sudden thought crept slowly into my mind, piecing itself together before my
Throughout this semester, I have seen improvement in my writing. Coming into this class, I was not confident in my writing and was hard on myself. Furthermore, I felt like my writing was basic and didn’t grab the reader’s attention. Despite me being unsure about my writing, I have strengths in choosing good quotes that support my topic. I have improved and learned that it is important to stay on topic and have proper citations. To my surprise, I have learned skills in English 1157 that will help me continue to improve my writing.
Over the course of this fall semester, my development as a writer have transformed positively. I feel more confident organizing my ideas because my literacy development has improved. Specific improvements that I can recall reflecting back to the three major assignments in this course are the thesis statement construction, forming my ideas together and write clear sentences. Another personal accomplishment would be the understanding and implementation of the rhetorical terms. Throughout my years in college, mainly I had struggle writing in English because English is my second language. However, I used all the tools and knowledge available resulting in a noticeable progress as a writer.
The first semester I learned to write more actively, to use vivid verbs, add in dialogue, and not to slack off during the writing process. During the second semester, I struggled with the introduction of sources, organization, grammar mistakes, and transition sentences. In my final capstone essay, I attempted to show off my learned first semester skills and fine tune my recent struggles.
In the summer, the creek bubbles and the leaves are in bloom. In the winter that same creek is frozen and everything around it is blank and barren. The memories for me in this part of the world are unforgettable, even though some are happier than others. I can still remember a particular dreadful event on the farm like it was yesterday. I was walking through the house on a hot summer day. I dare not go outside because I knew I'd die of heat exhaustion. In the house alone were my sister and I. My mother had run into town to do some errands, and my dad was out on the farm doing some chores. The phone rang and I casually picked it up.
I now have realized what a vital component editing is in my writing process, making sure to devote a lot of time into editing. English 102 has allowed me to become aware of my writing mistakes which has given me the opportunity to fix them. This semester I have become more of a conscious writer, I know my essays will never be perfect, but that doesn’t not mean I will give up the pursuit to further improve my
We scrambled for our coats and bundled up as needed. My family and I took in the views around us. The sky was light blue, filled with low hanging clouds. Since we were so high up, the clouds felt the need to come down and kiss us on our face. It was an exceptional feeling: being one with the clouds who usually seem light years away. As we turned to file back into the car, we couldn’t help but notice the snow. My siblings and I were flabbergasted by the presence of snow in July. We sprinted to the other side of the road and began to embrace the snowy mountainside. Our laughs and yells echoed through the valley as we compiled snow and started a war. Less than five minutes later, I ran back down to the safety of my parents and my siblings followed. We continued on our
I was the first person to ski off of the chairlift that day; arriving at the summit of the Blackcomb Mountain, nestled in the heart of Whistler, Canada. It was the type of day when the clouds seemed to blanket the sky, leaving no clue that the sun, with its powerful light, even existed anymore. It was not snowing, but judging by the moist, musty, stale scent in the air, I realized it would be only a short time before the white flakes overtook the mountain. As I prepared myself to make the first run, I took a moment to appreciate my surroundings. Somehow things seemed much different up here. The wind, nonexistent at the bottom, began to gust. Its cold bite found my nose and froze my toes. Its quick and sudden swirling movement kicked loose snow into my face, forcing me to zip my jacket over my chin. It is strange how the gray clouds, which seemed so far above me at the bottom, really did not appear that high anymore. As I gazed out over the landscape, the city below seemed unrecognizable. The enormous buildings which I had driven past earlier looked like dollhouses a child migh...
Living in a small town, out in the country, and with nothing to do, we made our own fun growing up. We used to go on “adventures” and explore my parent’s land. One day after it had snowed a ton, we bundled ourselves up and went walking around. We have a creek that runs through the woods in our backyard. The creek was frozen solid, or at least that’s what we thought. We had been skating back and forth with our boots on, when the ice cracked. The creek wasn’t very deep but compared to my height at the time, it engulfed me. My head never went under but it was a struggle to get me out. But somehow, my brother did it. The walk home that day was so bad and oh so
Being invited to a friend’s house the other day, I began to get excited about the journey through the woods to their cabin. The cabin, nestled back in the woods overlooking a pond, is something that you would dream about. There is a winding trail that takes you back in the woods were their cabin sits. The cabin sits on top of a mountain raised up above everything, as if it was sitting on the clouds.
Steve, P. (1995-2003). Writing Process - Teaching That Makes Sense! Retrieved November 27, 2013 from www.ttms.org
“You are what you eat”, or so they say. In today’s supermarkets, organic foods are everywhere. Not only are there organic fruits and vegetables, but there are also organic dairy products, organic meats, organic convenience foods, organic wine, beer, coffee, tea and even clothes made with organic cotton. All of these choices have made organic foods the “fastest-growing segment of the grocery industry.” The Organic Trade Association (OTA), in its “Business Facts” fact sheet available at www.ota.com, cites Natural Foods Merchandiser, a trade magazine, as measuring organic industry growth at 20 percent or greater for the past nine years. Approximately two percent of the U.S. food supply is grown using organic methods. In 2001, retail sales of organic food were projected to be $9.3 billion (Organic Trade Association [OTA], 2001). That is nearly triple the $3.5 billion in sales in 1998 (Biocycle; Nov. 2004, Vol. 45 Issue 11, p27). Organic foods can be found at natural food stores such as Whole Foods Inc., Wild Oats Inc., major supermarkets, farmers markets as well as through “grower direct marketing” such as CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) or Co-Ops.
Organizational leadership is the balance between what is optimal for the group, as well as, independent individuals ("Key Components of Organizational Leadership," 2015). From a personal viewpoint, it could be described as method in which manager’s foster people, no matter their title, to be a leader. This is because organizational leadership is both an art and science that unites both employees and organizations ("What is Organizational Leadership?," 2014) But who becomes defined as a leader? The following essay will discuss the 3 general factors that define a leader, which include the characteristics of the leader, the behavior or style of the leader, and the characteristics of the followers/situation.
The car moved so slowly among the heavy snow. The curvy road was almost empty of cars. It was dubious looking, a very dark, dreary, and dismal night. I looked at my father who drove so carefully that he could not speak to us, as the situation was so critical. My mother understood the situation as severe weather kept us frightened. I noticed her praying for our safety. All of the sudden the car slid and everyone started to scream. I remember my younger sister crying and asking to go home. I thought it was the end of life. After that horrible moment the silence captured all of us. Fear clutched our hearts. Despite the miserable situation, my father was a strong man, brave, insisting to resist angry nature. However, things became unexpected when he figured out that he took the wrong road. He continued driving until we noticed a light coming from a small place on the side of the road. Luckily, it was an old fashioned gas station. No one was there my father was knocking on the door when a man with a scarf on his face opened the metal door. The man was talking using gesturing right and left, then all of the sudden he and Dad walked toward the car and asked us to go inside that small gas station building. Back then, there weren’t any cellphones, only landlines. He offered us some of his tea, but he didn’t have enough cups so we ended up sharing the only three cups in the place. He kept us there for an hour until the storm settled down. My father filled the