Shooting?

Yesterday, there was a gunman on the Queens campus. He was wearing a George Bush mask, black hooded sweatshirt, and carrying a rifle. No one knows what his intent was but the thought was terrifying. I'm glad the school was able to take control of the situation and arrest him. They also locked down the campus to keep the students safe. In this article, it states how security was able to unarm the suspect without harm. It also has a quote from the gunman's father saying he is on heavy medication from back surgery and he has been acting strange ever since.
Knowing that I go to St. John's University, my family and friends were worried. I got phone calls throughout the day making sure I was ok and that there was no disturbance in my area. The only person that didn't reach me was my mother, who I would have thought to be the first person to contact me. When I asked her reason for not calling, she said she didn't want to worry me. That was humorous to me because I was hesitant to inform her due to the same reason. One of my closest friends text me to see how I was doing because she says that on the news they didn't even varify which campus this event occured on and she prayed that it wasn't mine. When events like this happen, you realize how important your life is and how it can be gone in the blink of an eye because it easily could have been St. John's on Staten Island.

Literacy Autobiography

I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. Throughout the years I’ve gotten better but I’m still not at the plateau I would like to be. The reason is probably because writing is not one of my interests or strong points.
In the first grade is when I wrote my first book. It was about five pages long with about two sentences per page. Filled with mostly colorful drawings and large hand written font, it was my biggest achievement at the time which took me about a month to complete. I was excited to share it with the class and have my family and friends read it.
Since then, writing has been a more of a burden than an enjoyable task that I have had to accomplish to get through the education system. I don’t have much writing experience because I would always find ways to avoid taking classes where writing would be a major part of the curriculum. But we all have to take English for four years to graduate high school. And those research papers are mandatory to pass the class. So gritting my teeth and biting my nails, I would fight through it. Writing has become slightly more placid through the years but it is still not my idea of fun. I am always open to learning new ways to better improve my skills so writing will be more pleasurable.
Hopefully I will soon come to the point in my writing career where I can say that I take pleasure in composing assignments.

Pressure

There is always pressure in life. The pressure to be a good daughter, friend, and student are my biggest ones at this point in my life. Now that I am in college, it is my duty to keep in touch with thoses that are still at home. Friends at different schools, friends that moved away and new friends on campus. Parents put pressure on me to make the good decisions while I am away. They count on me to be the perfect role model for my neice and always do the right thing. Staying out of toruble and doing well in school are their major concerns for me. Professors have high expectations for new college students and want to see them succeed.
Pressure is what gets me through life. Without pressure there would be no motivation to move forward and get ahead. My strive to do better comes the pressure that everyone puts on me and the pressure that I put on myself. I know the goals that I wish to achieve and pressure helps me reach them.

Transition

The transition into college is smooth so far. There are only a few major changes. One being that I can't see my family as often as I used to. I've decided to go home every other weekend so I don't get too homesick. I speak to them on the phone frequently to cath up on current issues at home but this is not the same as coming home from school and seeing them after work. Cooking is another major obstacle that I have to face. None of my roommates or myself can be considered chefs. So we feast on snacks and fast food. The cafeteria is a safe haven to get something more nutritious, but they don't have a wide variety and their weekend hours are not as convienent as I had hoped. Sandwiches, salads, snack wraps, and burgers with fries get tiring after a while. I can't eat the same thing for too many days in a row because I get fed up with food very easily. Another thing we all have to get used to is cleaning. No one is around to tell me to tidy up or wash the dishes, so everything becomes a mess after a while and the task becomes more and more of a pain. Managing my time is one more thing I have to get used to. Classes are longer than in highschool and they are not held everyday. So I have to know when to do each subject's homework and keep up with the classes so I don't fall behind. There aren't a lot of consequences when you are out on your own so you have to learn to deal with a lot of things by yourself and make wise decisons. Knowing that everyone around me is dealing with all the same stressful changes makes it a lot easier to cope with my transition. That's why I know this new chapter in my life will be a successful one.