Opinion Editorial Evaluation

I honestly really enjoyed this essay. I felt like the Opinion Editorial was the perfect assignment to ease us into writing. It emphasized the rhetoric of our writing, without worrying about complex arguments or statistical sources. I felt like it was a very open ended assignment which granted a lot a flexibility and freedom. It was fun writing on something we were so legitimately concerned about and involved in, and interesting to order our thoughts from frustrations to substantial claims and arguments. The short length emphasized the importance of concision and saying what needs to be said in a fewer amount of words. Turning our "complaints" into effective arguments and stating them in a mature manner is a great life skill that we will continue to use throughout the rest of our lives.

Peer Review, Thumbs up or thumbs down...

I thoroughly enjoyed the peer review done today. I found it helpful and a good, step-back evaluation of our papers. Generally, I am not a big fan of this sort of thing, but today I read a very good paper, gave some helpful ideas (hopefully), and received some great suggestions in return! It was nice to see other students approaches. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer_review

the FUTURE!

Life changes so quickly! It amazes me! One minute you feel like you're barely hanging on and the next your on top of the world. We have so many decisions to make every single day, especially at this time in our life. With all these choices I think of Elder Uchtdorf's talk a few conference back titled, "A Matter of a Few Degrees". Even the simplest choice can change the course of our: day, month, year, and life. It's overwhelming but also exciting! What decisions can I make today that will change the course of my life for the better throughout the eternities!? 

http://lds.org/general-conference/2008/04/a-matter-of-a-few-degrees?lang=eng

OpEd continued in more depth...

Okay so some specifics stories and examples I am going to use in my opinion editorial consist of; people packing up early during class, loud music and videos during large lectures or study time, group projects with members not pulling their weight, mass emails sent to thousands of students requesting notes, etc. I know every student at Brigham Young can relate to at least one of those mentioned scenarios. I've seen them vary on many levels, but have a few examples, I personally experienced,  that were on the extreme end which I'm planning on using in my essay. My audience will be all BYU students, particularly the incoming classes, new to expected campus behavior. My argument is that we should be mature enough by now to be considerate of others and their own opinions, schedules, and efforts. BYU is a unique university that excels in almost every aspect, however, even BYU students, it appears, need reminders on common courtesies in the learning atmosphere.

Opinion Editorial Brainstorm

What to write about, what to write about? This is my least favorite part of the writing process. I've had some ideas floating around my head but every time I tried taking them a step further; I lost interest, recognized their lack of depth, or wasn't sure of my own opinion. I also wanted to save some of the larger more technical subjects for later research papers, so that automatically rules out those. I've considered; cannon hours, the inability to do anything on campus, specifically find food, during devotional,  Nutrition awareness in general, common courtesies such as, leaving the room for phone calls, taking care of fussy children, and waiting patiently instead of packing up early from class, etc. So far, I'm leaning toward common manners that seem to be rapidly disappearing in a "me first" society. If anyone has any suggestions don't hesitate to let me know! Thanks!

About myself...

         Hello! My name is Elizabeth Ricks. I am  eighteen years-old and attending Brigham Young University. I have high expectations for myself and generally know what I want out of life. I, first and foremost, want to be happy! I want to be successful on my own terms of; home, family, friends, athletics, and work. I want to graduate from the Y with good grades and in a timely manner, pleased with my academic and athletic accomplishments. I hope to start a family of my own one day, where I'll be able to teach my children the things I've been taught and learned thus far.
         I plan to support my husband in his career, wherever that might take us. I want to travel the world and revisit many of the exotic places I've been, with my own family. I want life to be exciting, spontaneous, and rewarding. I want to meet many new people, travel to new places, make new friends, taste new foods, develop new hobbies, and discover new talents. One of my favorite quotes says something something like, "I want to arrive at my grave, not perfectly manicured and rested, but rather, skid in broad side, out of control, thoroughly used up and totally worn out, proclaiming, Wow, what a ride!" Life is a precious gift that I plan to make the most of!