Author: Emily Lisner

With my birthday quickly approaching a week from today, I have been bombarded with questions about what I want to do and what I want.  I never know how to answer this question. There is not a particular gift that I want or need, and I am unsure of what I really want to do on my birthday.  I unfortunately have a final exam on my birthday, and then I either have the choice to stay at school or go home until my next exam one week later.  The majority of my friends will be busy studying and I do not want to make them feel obligated to celebrate with me.  Truly, my ideal birthday may just be catching up on all my TV shows and getting a great home-cooked meal at home.  What was your favorite birthday and why?

Anytime I think the world is ending and I call my parents hysterical, they always calmly remind me that everything happens for a reason.  While I am not sure I believe that there is a reason behind me failing an exam, I do believe there is truth behind these words.  Do you believe that everything happens for a reason or is this simply something that we tell ourselves so we can live with our mistakes? I am curious to discover why or why not you believe what you do, and would love to hear some examples to support your position.

I was recently with a friend who is crazy about iPhone apps.  Personally, I am not very into downloading apps on my phone unless it has serious practical use, or is something that I think everyone has such as instagram.  However, my friend showed me some really cool apps that I would never even think to download.  I would love to hear what your favorite “unique” app is and why. Convince me why I should download it!

After seeing most of my Facebook mini feed blown up with copy and pasted statuses about privacy laws, I decided to do some of my own research.  I found a useful article on Forbes that explains the truth behind Facebook’s new regulations.  As expected, it explains that the status is useless in protecting us from the privacy laws of Facebook. The article argues that people posting status like this shows that users are untrusting of Facebook in general.  After thinking about it, I guess I am.  I try to keep my Facebook appropriate so that it won’t infringe on future jobs or internships or cause a fight with a family member, but maybe having a Facebook in general is the real issue.  While I do not think I can live without my Facebook, I do sometimes wish it did not exist at all.

Check out the article here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/2012/11/26/why-you-cant-protect-your-facebook-privacy-with-a-wall-post/?utm_campaign=forbestwittersf&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

Whenever I go from school to home or vice versa, it takes me a few days to get back into the swing of things.  I know that it is totally normal to have to adjust, but coming back to school today from Thanksgiving break has been harder than usual.  I feel unfocused and unable to accomplish the work I need to do, because I am still in home relaxation mode. I keep staring at my school planner and counting the days till winter break, which is anything but productive.  I just realized that there really is only 2 weeks left of class, CRAZY right? With that being said, I really cannot afford to slack for two days while I am “adjusting” like I usually do.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how to  handle this?

Growing up, I always enjoyed reading an assortment of books purely for enjoyment. As I got older, I was assigned much more reading for school so reading for fun unfortunately was not a priority.  Recently, I have tried to read books that I enjoy before bed instead of watching TV.  I find that it is much more relaxing, and I have an easier time falling asleep.  The book that I am currently reading is called Kasher in the Rye: The True Tale of a White Boy from Oakland Who Became a Drug Addict, Criminal, Mental Patient, and Then Turned 16 by Moshe Kasher.  So far it is really hilarious and entertaining, and is a good change of pace from my rather “dry” assigned reading. Now that I am writing so much in my classes, it is interesting to read different kinds of books to take note of unique styles and tones.  Not only is reading fun, but it is also extremely important when focusing on my own writing.  I am curious what the last book (or current book) that you are reading for fun is? If you need an excuse to get a book for sheer enjoyment, “Cyber Monday” is tomorrow and the deals on Amazon.com may be hard to pass up!

I am curious to hear why each of you decided to become a writing minor.  Personally, I did not know the program existed until second semester of last year when a student in one of the writing minor classes came to speak to my English 225 class.  I was really excited that there was a program available that lined up so well with my interests.  While I am unsure of what my future career will be, I would like it to incorporate writing in some way. I was actually very disappointed to find out that The University of Michigan does not offer a journalism program.  I mean Michigan State has one…..come on! After that realization I decided to combine the Communications major with the Writing minor in hopes that it would be somewhat comparable to a journalism program.

I think the skills I am developing in the gateway course are applicable to nearly everyone of my classes, as well as my general thinking.  For the first time in my academic career, I am focusing on the process of writing, not just the final product.  This class certainly raises the bar for writing classes. In your opinion, what has been the greatest skill that you have developed in the Writing 220 gateway class?