Entry #7 Blogs... My Final Thoughts

Now that class is ending, it is time to say goodbye to my English 101 blog.

 I can't believe I am saying this, but I actually had fun doing it. In the beginning of the semester I was reluctant about writing a blog because I thought it would be kind of boring and uninteresting. However, once I got started I realized that it was fairly easy and really interesting. 

Writing blog posts gave me a chance to be creative. They also gave me writing practice and warmed my mind up to writing my essays. I especially learned how to identify my audience and use tone/voice. Creating my posts didn't even feel like I was doing an assignment because I was able to speak my mind. My favorite part about blogging were the free-topic blogs, which gave me an outlet to express what is important to me along with letting my audience get to know me. 

I feel that blogging is a great, fun new way to learn how to be creative in writing. I appreciate the experience and knowledge that I received from these assignments and I hope to use them again. 

Entry #6 Something Meaningful to me

Something that is meaningful to me is my first accounting book. This book has great significance to me because I am an accounting major. This book symbolizes my interests and dreams. 

Since I can remember, I have always loved working with numbers. In grade school and high school I was 2 years ahead in math and taking honors courses. I was the type of kid that created math equations just to solve them for fun. I even remember going to the dollar store with my mother in the summer just to pick out a bunch of Sudoku books.

I also consider this book as representation of my dreams to be a CPA. By the time I started thinking about my future career, I wasn't too sure of what would be best for me. So, I decided to ask my teachers and parents for advice. To my surprise, everyone told me that I should be an accountant because of my love for numbers, math, and equations. At seventeen I enrolled in college; I now have about two semesters left until I graduate with my Associates to transfer to ASU for my Bachelors. Now that I am starting to get my prerequisites out of the way, I am taking accounting and business courses; which I absolutely love. 

 Every time I think about my very first accounting book and the very first accounting class that I passed, I get even more motivated to accomplish my dreams.

Entry #5 Food Inc.

In class we watched a motivating, yet disturbing documentary, Food Inc., in opposition of industrialized farming. 

Every time I eat fast-food, I think about all of the chemicals and additives that may be in my food; as a result, I am always hesitant about eating it. It wasn't until I watched Food Inc. that I started questioning what's in the food that I am purchasing at the grocery store to prepare for my family and self.

I never considered that almost all of the packaged foods that I buy contain corn. I'm sure most people don't realize this because these products do not contain corn in its pure form. According to Food Inc., corn is actually being processed and mechanically engineered to create High-Fructose Corn Syrup; which is a sweeter that is found in most flavored drinks and processed foods.

Another interesting and definitely disturbing fact that I learned from watching Food Inc. (and doing a little more research), is that 99% of the farmed meat in America are raised in "factory farms". Now, these aren't anything like traditional farms that we instantly picture in our heads when we think of farmed animals. They are small areas of land containing big metal "barns" with very large amounts of only one species of animal, such as: pigs, cows, or chickens. The windowless barns have so many animals that is hard, and sometimes impossible, for the animals to even turn around. Alongside these cramped barns, there are silos containing feed made of grain and corn. (which cows, chickens, and pigs aren't naturally designed to consume).There are even drains for animal waste and sewage that lead directly into lakes.

Throughout my experience of watching Food Inc, I had many different emotions about the information that I was receiving. I was upset that these animals were being treated so poorly; I was disappointed in my government and the American food system for not giving me this information; and I felt ignorant for not knowing or trying to understand where my food was actually coming from. Until this movie I never considered how much food contained Genetically Modified Organisms, how much pesticides were being sprayed over my produce, or how many growth hormones and antibiotics were being pumped into the meat I am eating. Food Inc. really shined a light of knowledge on the dark ways of the food industry. This movie definitely made me want to do a lot more research on this subject along with changing my own eating habits.

Entry #4 Changing Majors

Before starting college, I remember being told that most college students change their major a few times before they graduate. Of course, my response was, "I won't be changing my major because I'm sure that I want to be an accountant." What I didn't realize is that there are a few different programs offered for accounting.

When I first enrolled at Phoenix College I chose to major in Accounting-CCL; which is a certificate of completion in accounting. I chose this major because I wanted to get out of school as soon as possible and start making money. I figured that since a certificate of completion only takes about 23-26 credits to complete, I would be out of school in no-time and I could just jump into my career. Once I took some time to research the requirements for most entry-level accounting positions, I noticed that I was expected to already have some experience in cash handling and account managing. What stuck out to me the most wasn't the job experience, it was the fact that most of them required at least an associates degree. 

At my earliest convenience, I went down to the enrollment center and changed my major to AAS in Accounting; I now wanted to earn my associates in applied science.

After two semesters at Phoenix College, I decided to move out of my parents house and move further up north. As a result, I transferred to Glendale Community College. 

In my first semester at GCC I  decided to take my first accounting course, ACC111 Intro to Accounting. I loved it. I had an amazing professor that gave the class lots of advise on which path to take in order to become a Certified Public Accountant. He informed us of the ASU pathway program that is designed for GCC students that would like to transfer to Arizona State University to earn a bachelor's degree in accounting. He also showed us a statistic stating that 61% of students that graduate from ASU with their Bachelor's of Science in Accountancy receive a job in that field right out of college in 2013-2014. That is pretty high compared to other majors. 

Once I looked into this a little more myself I discovered that the average salary for a CPA is between $50,000-$75,000; which isn't too bad at all. 

As you might expect, my next step was enrolling in the ASU Pathway transfer program. I am now focused on finishing my associates and general transfer requirements at GCC as soon and effectively as possible, in order to get started at ASU with my bachelor's degree. 

I can't wait to see where this journey takes me. I'm determined to stick to my major; I think this is the one.

Entry#3 Wall-E's Future Technological World

After watching the Wall-E clip about the future world and humans, I had a shifting reactions. At first I was shocked and kind of humored by the laziness and dependency on technology. But once I started making connections between the fictional future world and the world we are living in today, I realized that Pixar's version wasn't so far off from reality. 

The very first thing that I noticed was a bunch of obese people riding around on some sort of futuristic electric wheelchair, with their faces literally stuck in a screen. As the video continued, I read the electronic billboards (giant t.v. screens); all of them were talking about buying things. "Buy-N-Large, everything you need to be happy." is what the giant screens were saying as the people rolled through; taping away at their keyboards, holding conversations through their personal chair screens and eating their lunch through a straw. I can quickly make a connection between our own reality and this animation. For example, many people come home and pop a snack in the microwave, open a bag of chips, or pull one of their many snacks from the pantry. Then, with snack in one hand and cellphone in the other, they sit down on the couch in front of the television. All throughout the t.v. program there are "commercial breaks". What are most of these commercials about? Adverting products for people to buy. 

One part of the clip that stood out to me the most was in the very beginning. There were these two fairly large men riding through the city alongside each other having a conversation with each other. Now, I'm sure that we all would expect them to be looking at each other, speaking face to face, right? 

Not in the very least, they were actual speaking to each other through the screens (something like advanced Face timing) although they were only about two feet away from each other. 

Surprisingly, this seen wasn't as shocking as their conversation. "...Roll over to the driving range and hit a few virtual balls into space." said the first guy in a dull voice. Then guy number two said, " Nah, we did that yesterday. I don't wanna do that."

"Well, what do you wanna do?"

" I don't know, somethin'."

They sound so completely bored and unmotivated, that it is almost depressing to watch.

Another part of the clip that stood out to me was the daycare seen. Their was a classroom full of babies, sitting in chairs similar to the adults, staring at large screen as the robot-teacher spoken. Like most young children, they were learning their ABC's; but not the typical alphabet. "A is for Axiom, your home-sweet-home. B is for Buy-N-Large your very best friend" said the robot teacher in a monotonous voice.  

This scene shows that the society of the future is being taught only to depend on technology and that buying material things is happiness.

I enjoyed watching this clip. While it is obviously a fictional, animated over-exaggeration of what the future looks like, it isn't too far off from what is actually going on today. It kind of makes me wonder whether our society is becoming a little too dependent on technology in our everyday lives and whether consumerism may be getting out of hand.

Entry #1: Blogs...My Thoughts On Them.

I have to admit that I've never read blogs until taking this class. Of course, I've heard about them (mostly on t.v. shows) but I was never interested in actually using my spare time to check them out. Honestly, after reading a few blogs, I am still not interested in them. If it wasn't for my assignments, I wouldn't be reading them now. Well, for this assignment I read TMZ, Post Secret, and Google Operating Systems. These three blogs are very different. For example, TMZ focuses on celebrity news, Post Secret focuses on anonymous secrets, and Google Operating Systems focuses on news about Google. The most interesting of these blogs is TMZ. I didn't even know that their website was a blog (I still don't believe it); They post the juiciest gossip about celebs and they always have the news first. My favorite thing about TMZ is that the posts are humorous; they are so funny. Don't believe me? Check out this link, http://www.tmz.com/2015/06/02/ariana-grande-niall-horan-one-direction-dating-concert-london/. I also found Post Secret semi-entertaining because it had some humor and the posted secrets were relatable. A good example of a funny, relatable post is the picture of an old couple with the caption that reads, "I'm afraid I'm going to get paranoid and weird when I'm old (like my parents)". Although I liked those blogs two, I definitely did not find the Google blog interesting to any extent. Google Operating Systems is very informative, but very boring. The post are very descriptive but the tone is dull and there is no voice. I don't see myself incorporating any of those attributes into my writing but I am taking a few notes from TMZ. I not only want catch my audiences attention, but I want to keep it. I also plan on setting a postive and upbeat tone for my blog while still making it sound like me. I think I can accomplish a lot with my blog and progress along the way; I'm very excited to see where this goes.

A Little Something About Me

My name is Jada. I am a mother of two, an accounting major, and a full-time customer service representative. A few of my hobbies include cooking, styling nails and hair, and watching TV. For instance, I absolutely love finding recipes online, creating new hairstyles, and watching the Vampire Diaries. Although I have many interests, I rarely have time for them because of my busy schedule as a college student. I've decided to make such sacrifices in order to insure my future academic success. I am attending GCC because I would like to gain knowledge in running a business, but my main focus is becoming a CPA. As a result of my passionate pursuit of a degree, I am enrolled in a few summer courses. I can't wait to see how much I will accomplish in just five weeks.