Reflection

 Persisting

Persisting is an important element to succeed. If successful people didn't persist, they wouldn't have been successful. Persistence should always be practiced when you feel like your going to fail.  I practice persistence when I feel like I'm not doing well, and feel like I'm going to fail.For example, when I applied to jobs; many of the jobs I applied for never called back, and I was losing hope. For a few days I lost hope and didn't persist, but then I started to apply again, and I finally got a job. If I didn't persist and tried again I would've still been broke, and unemployed. By trying again even after you fail you prove others wrong and the doubts you had about yourself disappear. If it didn't work the first time; change the way you did it, and try again.

Applying Past Knowledge to New Situations

When you truly learn something, you are able to apply it to most of the things in life. For example, I can apply what I learned in Biology to Chemistry, Math, and even English. Being able to relate different subjects to another subject can help you understand it better. Another example can be if an English book like "Brave New World" talks about different biology elements, your apply to apply what you've learned and understand it better.

Striving for Accuracy

They say "Be the best you can be", but they never said what "best" is. What defines "best"? To strive for accuracy, doesn't mean to be perfect, it means to be your best, and not someone else's best. If you are able to better yourself throughout time then you have become better then how you were, and that's a reward in itself. I could've used this in one of my essay's, to change some grammar mistakes.  Nobody's perfect, and if we strive for perfection, we will never achieve satisfaction and happiness.

Vocab

1. Pious- adjective

• "I held them personally and individually responsible- the polyestered Kiwanis boys, the merchants and farmers, the pious churchgoers, the chatty housewives..." (pg. 45)
• The synonym is "churchgoers"
• Many children are pious for the elderly.

2. Reticence- noun

• "...his reticence was typical of that part of Minnesota, where privacy still held value..." (pg. 51)
• The synonym for the word was privacy.
• Reticence can disappear after you get to know the other person well.

3. Tedious- adjective

•  "Nothing radical, no hothead stuff, just ringing a few doorbells for Gene McCarthy, composing a few tedious, uninspired editorials for the campus newspaper." (pg. 41)
• Example because it says other stuff he does a lot, like ringing doorbells.
• Going to work everyday becomes tedious.

Hazel's Calendar

To Do List

1. Must do- Math homework, read "The Things that We Carried", and study for art test

2. Should do- Study for math test, write my essay for English, and do laundry.

3. Could do- Clean my room, and catch up on Netflix.

Reflection

In my Life Backpack, the things I carry are tangible and intangible. Some tangible items might seem unimportant to some but for me they are essential. For example, I carry hand sanitizer because I like to keep my hands germ free and clean. And I carry chapstick, I don’t like having my lips crusty and dry. Other things I carry are writing utensils because you never know when you might need a pen, pencil or a marker. I carry my earphones to listen to music anywhere and anytime. I carry my wallet with my ID, cards and cash. I always carry my keys that have important keys, and a mini flashlight. Depending where I might be going that day, I sometimes include my makeup pouch, and lotion/sunscreen. Also, I sometimes carry sunglasses and a hat to protect my skin from the sun. Depending on the season, I carry medicine for my allergies. The intangible items are mostly things I carry in my mind. I carry my lack of self-esteem, my fears of what other people might think of me and my lack of confidence. Furthermore, sometimes I carry the weight of stress on my shoulders, due to school, family life, and work.  I try to carry happiness wherever I go, because I believe that every day is a miracle that God gives us and that I need to appreciate it and live it to the fullest, because others on that day didn’t have that opportunity.  These are just items that I carry.

Vocabulary

1. Wistful- adjective

• “Some carried themselves with a sort of wistful resignation, others with pride or stiff soldierly discipline or good humor or macho zeal.” (p. 20)
• Antonym is pride, we were able to infer it by the transitional word “others”.  
• The soldiers were wistful after long hours of battle.

2. Resignation- noun

• “Some carried themselves with a sort of wistful resignation, others with pride or stiff soldierly discipline or good humor or macho zeal.” (p. 20)

• Logic because the first part of the word is to resign.
• Jessica’s resignation was due to her PTSD.

3. Encyst- verb

• “…they had their lines mostly memorized, irony mixed with tragedy, and because they called it by other names, as if to encyst and destroy the reality of death itself.”
• Synonym because they compare it to the word “destroy”
• The tumor became encysted into his brain.