McCandless Project

Jooho Oh

The experiment I chose to do was leaving my phone at home for a day. I turned it off and put it in a drawer, so I wouldn’t text my friends or family. This experiment would be good because I’m always on my phone. When I did this, the friends that I text and call on a daily basis were confused and curious why I didn’t respond back to them. It was hard because my mom called me and there were times I needed to call her during the day. My moms reaction was usual and she assumed that I was ignoring her calls. When I didn’t respond to my friends through text or on social media, they were surprised and asked me the next day if I didn’t have my phone with me before. During this experiment, I felt like the day went by slow because I wasn’t entertained and didn’t have a lot to do. I was really bored at times and was very tempted to check social media. It was hard to not talk to my friends or go on Instagram, Twitter, etc. because I’m usually always on my phone whether I’m texting or simply listening to music. Instead of going on my phone, I spent the day trying to be more productive and caught up with other activities. Eventually, it felt good that I actually got stuff done instead of procrastinating and being on my phone and I was relieved that I could get something out of the experiment. I spent more time talking to my parents instead of being on my phone. I was not surprised at all by my friends’ reactions or my families’. I knew they’d be curious why I wasn’t on social media or texting because they know I’m addicted to my phone. I knew I was going to be tempted to go on my phone but I held back and so my reaction didn’t surprise me. I don’t think I’m completely free from being conformed by society because social media and technology is so common, but the experiment helped me be more productive so I think it was very helpful in many ways. It was a good way of realizing how much technology has an impact on our lives.

Quote journal

      The quote I chose was by Mahatma Ghandi, "Be the change that you wish to see in the world." I chose this quote because it motivates me to work hard to make a difference in the world. The quote represents me in a way where I do my best to do the right thing and help others so the world can be a better place. It represents my beliefs because I believe if everyone does what they're supposed to do then it will spread and everyone will work together to make the world a better place. If I lived exactly like this quote, everything I do and my actions will be affected where I always do the right thing (could be justified) even if my surroundings don't agree. It would be strict but would help my environment.

If I Stay Choice Book Project Review

Jooho Oh

If I Stay Book Review

If I Stay is a book about a 17-year old girl, Mia who lives in a small town with her family in Portland, Oregon. Mia is in a relationship with Adam, a guitarist and singer in a band called “Shooting Star” and she ends up to fall in love with him. Her dad is currently a teacher at a school and her mom works for a travel agency in town. She has a younger brother, Teddy and a best friend who’s name is Kim. Mia has a passion for playing the cello and is expecting to go to Juilliard after high school. One day, her and her family go to meet her parents old music friends on a winter day as school gets cancelled. In the blink of an eye, her life changes as they get in a car crash. Before all of this occurs, she develops a strong relationship with Adam as they fall in love. Mia is left to choose between life and death and goes through a journey that flashes back and forth from her real life to her “spirit”. Her parents die in an instant, and later on Teddy is reported dead too. So if Mia woke up, she would have to deal with grief and live with someone else. The theme of this book is sacrifice because Mia makes a hard decision in real life whether to sacrifice her relationship with Adam or give up her dreams of going to Juilliard. Another is when Mia is caught between life and death and has to chose either to stay/wake up and go back to her normal life, or remain and leave as a “spirit” forever. I believe Mia wanted to stay because of her future and Adam, but she was scared at the fact that she would have to live without her family and it would be hard for her. I would recommend this book to any teenage girl because it has a variety of moods from love, to heartbreak, to sad and back to happy. The book also has a lot of imagery that helps you imagine the situation in your head well. Also, it has an exciting chain of events that occurs in an organized way so the reader doesn’t get confused or bored. The author added a good amount of excitement and sadness to balance out feelings and emotions. A good quote that explains the theme well is on page 192, “Sometimes you make choices and sometimes choices make you". This is a good example of the theme because you have to make a choice and sacrifice some things in life and everything happens for a reason. The book is filled with many different moods and expressions that makes you want to keep reading and overall teaches you to do whatever you believe will be best for you. Everyone should read this book and find out Mia's final decision in whether to stay or leave forever.

Mrs. Belden Rough Draft short story

Jooho Oh Oh 1

Mrs. Belden

Honors English 1

4 October 2014

One Of A Kind

I was looking through the attic in Dad’s house during Fourth of July weekend with Lillian and the kids, and I found a journal called One Of A Kind, written by me from the end of high school to the beginning of college written March 24th, 2006. Weird I thought as I opened it slowly dusting off the pages as I read: There was a hard pounding on the door, and it was Dad. When I woke up, there were birds chirping really loud out the window. The bed was like a magnet and I couldn’t get up. As I looked out the window, it hit me that it was the middle of August, and the leaves were changing colors and falling. After I got ready, I jumped in the car and picked Dan up for school. It was still pretty hot and humid outside, we lived in Indiana. Dans been my friend for a while now and he’s the only one who had my back when my mom passed away. When we got to school, the bell yelled as I ran to class. After school, I left to go to therapy with Dr. Jenkins to talk about depression and my one and only problem. There was a note on his door: “Collin appt. at 3:15”. It was weird to admit it but after I had gotten depression, I found something that I really enjoyed and it was to dance and perform in theatre class. Only a couple of my friends knew, and they still called me gay for it, however I was straight and was currently in a relationship with Lillian Seline. I didn’t like telling people I was in theatre because they’d make fun of me. Lillian didn’t really know I did theatre. She was on the volleyball and basketball team and so I never really brought it up to her because all we would talk about is basketball. I

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didn’t know how to deal with the problem and was thinking of quitting dancing. I don’t think dad would’ve liked me performing, because he only likes football and he would consider dancing or acting childish. Before mom died, when I was five I used to dance with her in the living room all the time, but now that she’s gone and I’m seventeen, I act and dance at a studio by myself. I’m also on the varsity soccer team and dad doesn’t know I dance and do theatre. At therapy, Dr. Jenkins said it was good that I was doing soccer and dancing and it wouldn’t be bad if I was open about it, but I didn’t want to be thought of as gay. Since college was coming up and I still didn’t know where I wanted to go, I kinda forgot about applying, but i’ve started to think about going to an art school for theatre. I know dad wouldn’t be pleased with my choice and I couldn’t stay in close touch with Lillian. We were both planning to go to Purdue University to pursue our dreams of going to medical school. When I got home, I decided to call Lillian and get dinner and I left to pick her up.

The sunset was light pink, blue, purple and orange with flat clouds and water droplets formed on the windows as rain started to pour down. When I thought of telling Lillian about plans for college, I got kinda nervous because we’ve both had thoughts of going to Purdue, but I thought it wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted to go to The College of Arts and Sciences in Washington D.C. When I picked Lillian up, I flat out told her I wanted to go to an art school. She looked at me confused, but since I had to choose quickly, I was up and open about it. She never knew I danced or acted but she didn’t seem to mind because she couldn’t do anything about it anyways. After dinner, I got home and dad was waiting in the living room watching TV.

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I walked up to my room and shut the door carefully. I fell asleep to Two Door Cinema Club playing in one ear through headphones as I grew more nervous.

The next day, I sat at my desk and decided to email the school for auditions. It was two weeks away in D.C. and I couldn’t be more excited to join the arts program. I shut my laptop and went to talk to dad about it. When I had first told him, he was laughing as if I was telling a joke, but then he got quiet and confused. After an hour long discussion of college, he was furious and stormed off. He disagreed to letting me go to an art school and said it wouldn’t get me anywhere in the future. I also called Lillian and since we didn’t have school on Monday, we decided to drive to Purdue and check out campus, and I could tell Lillian more about the school I wanted to go to. I’d gone to a dance studio after school for a while to practice, but I felt guilty to see dad mad. On the car ride, I had told Lillian I was auditioning soon she seemed disappointed that we wouldn’t be going to college together anymore, but put in a lot of support. After the long weekend, we drove back home. and it hit me that auditions were a week away. Nothing else was really on my mind then.

When school started, it was a long week before I headed down to Washington D.C. to do my audition on Saturday for the arts school. I walked in a large room with bright lights and three judges and I saw a big X marked in the middle of the stage as they welcomed me. When I was done, it would take a month to see if I had got into the school and so I headed back home. When I called Lillian, I had found out she got into Purdue University with a scholarship for basketball. I was cheerful, but we didn’t want to think about our relationship if we went to different schools. At school, I told Dan and others that I auditioned for an art school and they started laughing, and called me gay, but I guess it was okay because I knew I wasn’t and I was doing what I liked. Dad

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accepted the fact that I wanted to act and dance at a performing arts school and Lillian forgot about it. As soon as I had forgot all about the auditions, I came home to find an envelope sitting on the kitchen table and I ripped it open. It was from the Art school and I had gotten in. When I told Lillian the news, she was thrilled. The school year was almost over, and we met up to discuss plans for college and I waited so long to graduate and to start a new beginning.

On August 26th, 2005, I started college and moved in a dorm with a couple of people and I called Lillian frequently. Our relationship was still going okay and I agreed to meet up with her soon, dad was okay and doing well. Dan went to Notre Dame, and I walked to class with Andrea, a friend I made. I got to perform, learn lots and I figured this was what I wanted to do and was glad I didn’t let anyone get in the way of it. Life was starting to change in a good way and I was excited to see what would happen in the future.

I closed the book, went down stairs and showed Lillian and our kids what i’d written in a journal for a project in college nine years ago. To see Lillian and I got married and had kids was wonderful because we doubted it when we were young. Looking back, nothing really changed a whole lot, I performed a lot as I wanted, got a good job, married Lillian and dad was still doing okay. Reading the journal made me realize that I didn’t let others get in the way of what I wanted to do.  

Metacognitive Blog: And Then There Were None

            In my previous draft on the And Then There Were None essay, I didn't include how the character felt when handed the exam, while taking the exam, and after the exam (reaction). I also didn't compare the character to myself as to how we would both react. When I was given feedback from my peer editor, they underlined what I did nicely and what I forgot to include. I tried to attempt to have a similar writing technique as Agatha and make my character (Vera) act like themselves like in the actual book. I didn't feel comfortable with the conclusion, so I went back and tried to rewrite and add more to the end to explain what writing styles I chose. 

            The written feedback on the essay helped me the most, and so did the peer review checklist. I liked having the essay read by another person to see if they understood the concept that I was trying to present. I didn't share my essay with an adult, so I don't know if that would of helped, but I tried to make the essay so anyone reading it could understand it. The review checklist was most help full because I could go back on my own, and read the essay and check off the steps that i've already done. Then, I could go back later on and see what I was leaving out and add it in the essay. Written feedback on the timed writing helped me a lot too because it showed me what you were looking for, and to have it reviewed by an actual person was nice. 

            Over the year, I will try to make myself a checklist if it's not provided and go through and proof read my essay to see if I included everything needed. Looking at a rubric would also be very helpful and writing the essays slowly would help because I would take the time and see for anything i've missed. I will try to see what others are doing to see what their strengths are as writers and learn from my peers. I will definitely read it to an adult to see if they understand the point I was trying to get across. Hopefully over the year, I will improve as a writer and find new ways to write an essay to the best of my ability.

           Some of my weaknesses are that I tend to state the same thing over again in an essay to try to get my point across. I don't add a lot of commentary and have a hard time finding quotes that match what im trying to say. I could try to mark important quotes while i'm reading so later on, I will have an easier time understanding the story. One important goal I would like to achieve is to use bigger words and improve my vocabulary so the words would flow better when i'm writing. Again, I hope to set high goals and achieve them and improve  as a writer and reader this year.

Looking For Alaska redo: summer reading choice book essay

Looking For Alaska redo

For my choice book, I read Looking For Alaska. Throughout the book, Miles (the main character aka Pudge) develops a strong relationship with Alaska, The colonel, and Takumi which ends up to be his closest friends at Culiver Creek. The theme of this book represents love and hate, more so you should appreciate something before it’s gone. The first detail that explains the theme is when Miles tries to find individuality at Culiver Creek and so he manages to start over. When Pudge decides to go to boarding school (high school), he searches for “The Great perhaps” and to “escape the Labrynth”. This means Pudge is confused with his life and he doesn’t know where to go. Pudge doesn’t fit in, so he tries his  best to fit in with the other people at his school and truly find himself. This is significant to the story because it shows Miles personality and where he is in the beginning of the book. When Miles gets to Culiver Creek, he meets his roommate, Chip, but Chip prefers to be called the Colonel. Then Miles meets “the hottest girl in all of human history”(Green 14) which is Alaska. Lastly, he meets Takumi, a Japanese friend of The Colonel and Alaska and their friendship starts there. When Pudge says he meets the hottest girl, Alaska, it is important to the story because it shows he likes her and his opinion on her before they become close friends. Miles tries to find individuality, so he hangs out with them to see if he can find himself or who he really is. Mainly though, he tries to meet new people and fit in, so this is another reason he hangs out with them. This ties in with the second detail which is building a bond and pressure from society. Miles starts smoking and drinking because his friends (the Colonel, Alaska and Takumi) do it. He’s being pressured into doing things he wouldn’t consider doing and he feels the need to do what they’re doing because he wants to fit in. Alaska states that the Colonel, Miles and Takumi smoke to enjoy it, but she “smokes to die”. This quote is important because this shows that Alaska is a deeply unhappy person and maybe inside she feels suicidal everyday but acts fine on the outside. She’s unhappy because of her moms death and regret is building up inside of her. This also portrays that Alaska has the courage to tell her friends she’s a deeply unhappy person because she trusts them and this shows how close they are. This is also when truths, secrets and the past starts to come out slowly. The third detail that explains the theme is how lives affect you and guilt/depression. Alaska’s mom passed away from a seizure when Alaska was little. They were at home and her mom passed out on the floor. Alaska didn’t do anything about it until her dad came home and her mom was already dead. Alaska feels a lot of guilt and bashes on herself because she thinks it was her fault that her mom didn’t survive and she would still be living today if Alaska saved her. In another sense, Alaska starts to impact on Miles life and changes who he is, his life and his way of thinking. Alaska said she regretted not appreciating her existence until she died. The last detail is when it all ties in together and it is heartbreak and love. During Miles time at Culiver Creek, Alaska bursts at 2 in the morning, crying, she drives off while Miles makes sure she doesn’t get caught and she gets in a car accident, and dies. She was also awfully drunk but Pudge, The Colonel and Takumi felt there was a stronger reason than just being drunk to die so easily. At the end of the book, they find out Alaska forgot about her moms death date, passes it and gets incredibly upset and drives off trying to go to her grave while her friends distract the Eagle (principle). Miles feels it was his fault she died and he let her go even though she was drunk and out of her mind. He feels guilt and heartbreak because he loved her so much. There was a quote at the end of the book by Thomas Edison that Pudge said and it was, “ It’s very beautiful over there. I don’t know where there is, but I believe it’s somewhere, and I hope it’s beautiful.” Thomas Edison’s quote was significant at the ending because it ties everything in the book and shows that even if Alaska is dead, Pudge will still pull through and everything's a new beginning everyday. When Pudge says “there” as in “I don’t know where there is, but I believe it’s somewhere, and I hope its beautiful.” Maybe he was talking about heaven and how Alaska went “there” after her death and he hopes it’s beautiful because he loved her so dearly. All of these details summarize the main theme which is to appreciate something before it’s gone. Pudge had a talent, knowing people’s last words before they died but he’s sad and regretful that he will “never know Alaskas”. This quote was important because Pudge knew every last words of a lot of people and yet he will never know Alaska’s which says he’s regretful and sorry that he let her down and couldn’t save her nor be there when she got in the accident to know her last words. This is because he loved her and wanted to cherish every moment left with her.