Essay 1 for Portfolio

Heather Howard
Hbhoward2@usieagles.org
English 101.002
Essay 2-Final
1061

Innocence Remembered

It’s not just the wind that blows through my hair as I am jerked frantically on the tilt-a-whirl. It’s not the smell of the fire pits as the aroma of the barbeque makes my mouth water even before it hits my awaiting tongue. It’s every sense a human being has all rushing at the same time. It’s a paradox really, when childhood meets adulthood like the butterfly emerging from the productive cocoon. The true sense of trust and independence foreshadowed by the confidence to do what I was taught right and the foreboding taste of what fun is as well. Bright soft hair, with the pink sticky from the cotton candy that covers my freckles on my face, and plaid shorts; this is me when I was sixteen years old. The urge of independence running through my veins and trying to contain the excitement of the child I still was as I went embarking on the festival without the safety net of my parents at my side for the first time.
My hair fresh with new highlights and the trendiest new style, I was ready in every sense of the word. With friends surrounding me in every direction, this was when partners were no longer competition and significant others did not make a difference. This was a time when a smile actually did mean happiness, not a plastered time of saying I’m sorry. The everlasting noise of laughter, a man shouts directing who can go on the ferris wheel. The sounds of everyone laughing, not just the sounds of adolescence, not the sounds of intoxicated adults but the group of laughter of everyone combined. My days at the Owensboro Barbeque Festival changed the banal of Kentucky living to mesmerizing lights and magic.
Nothing is left to the imagination with my sense of smell at the melting pot. Depending on the adventure I seek, the location will lead itself by olfactory nourishment one craves. The rushes of excitement as I see the long lost cousin, cooking barbeque with a mere hello. The sweet aromas gooey sugared funnel cake and the tart lemonade that surrounds the many booths as I walk past. I could smell lush perfume and heavy doses of cologne as people pass by me. At the time I did not understand the aphrodisiac of harsh perfume but now I know it’s covering insecurities. The smell of Italian, Chinese, and everything in between that lifts spirits and culture. I get lost in my thoughts by all the mixing of many flavors. Then as a car hitting a brick wall, I realize how close I am to the Ohio River by its horrendous stench of dead fish and stagnant water. Nothing can mask this, not even the tempting smell of barbeque chicken and burgoo. This putrid smell creeps into my sense of happiness with waves of nausea.
Money did not mean a status quo, investing was the name of the game. The only thing it meant to a wide-eyed sixteen year old, was a chance to scream my head off on one of the various rides in the carnival, or to buy the ever important meat on a stick, and to throw the hard earned babysitting cash on nothing in particular. Something everyone could talk about; the world wide festival that is known for its taste. I can still taste the barbeque as it rests on my pallet, and the savory sweet juice that comes and goes with every bite. The spicy meat and the sauce everyone is talking about. The cotton candy as it melts in my mouth, and sharing with friends, don’t we all need blue tongues? The way of the crunching with the sound of teeth clasping the candy and shredding to pieces as sugar runs through our blood streams. The taste of pure innocence, and knowing I can probably smile wearing a bathing suit. The smiles when everyone needed to enjoy every taste from the alligator jerky at one stand to the spicy taste of Italian in another.
The sights of new mothers proudly displaying their new bundles of joy hoping for a trophy are astounding. Smiling individuals and laughing surrounds the place. There are many sights of the encountering by old friends meeting again for the first time in years. The look of teens paying for their dates to ride on the ferris wheel, only for a glimpse of pure happiness and the feeling of being on top of the world. Newly engaged couples try to play their luck, and win the woman of their dreams a prize for under fifty dollars. I see my friends, before peer pressure and dismay playing before me, when we were real, not distinguished by clothes and stature. I play as well. I think back then to my mother, standing with my father, as rekindled love stares in my young soul. The way I want to be, the person I want to become, standing in every which way taking care of the ones they love. I could see a father teaching his son baseball in one tent, to a grandmother selling quilts spreading the love of warmth on a cold afternoon in another. A brother taking care of his younger sibling and two sisters smiling as a picture is taken. These are all small acts of love and compassion seen every day that go unnoticed. These acts should not be looked at lightly, for these acts speak much louder than words, even the words “I love you”, cover the picture played before me.
Flashbacks occur when one least expects it, reality takes a hold of the moment to another place in another time. I feel myself somewhat saddened by knowing my childhood is slipping away and the time to leave my security of my parents is nearing. At that moment when hearing the bands or the man yelling for tickets seems novel. The taste of innocence is all too sweet, the chicken all too spicy. I can still smell the Ohio River and the cotton candy drifting side by side, just like my friends and I. Happiness comes and goes, along with friendships and relationships. Yet moments like these, the moments when time does not have boundary, and innocence is felt on many levels, are the moments I thank God for.

Reflections of English Class

English has always been a subject that pops in my mind as dreadful. I have never felt very confident about my ability to write. My better talents for school are in science and history. Reflecting back on this semester that has zoomed by me so quickly, I have realized that English is really not so bad. I have actually enjoyed taking this semester of English and being able to express myself through writing. My professor has taught me several techniques in writing such as, the different modes of writing, picking a good topic, and developing a good thesis. I have had lots of practice with the different essays that I have had to write, and practice essays that he has given me.
Looking at the modes of writing there are three different ones that we as a class focused on for our writing purposes. They are to inform, teach or instruct, and entertain. The essay in my portfolio that is titled, Innocence Remembered is an essay that I feel entertains the reader about my adventures through the Kentucky Barbeque Festival. My second essay that is in my portfolio titled, The Rush of Boxing, is more of a way to inform the reader about my passion for boxing. I show this love of boxing by putting a lot of detail into my piece.
When it comes to picking a good topic to write about for me, it can be extremely hard. It seems like I have so much that I could write about and just can’t narrow it down. Then I get all this jumbled thoughts in my head when I do narrow it down and start to doubt myself if it’s the right topic to write about. Taking this English course has helped me to figure out which topics are the best for me by doing pre-writes and different exercises on paper in class.
When it comes to making a thesis statement before taking this course I would just grit my teeth. Now after breaking an introduction paragraph down I realize that it really isn’t that hard. All I have to do is be sure that my Introduction paragraph has one main sentence that can explain the whole essay without reading it. I have learned that the thesis can be in the middle or even the end of the Introduction paragraph. Now, writing a thesis doesn’t even phase me. Now every now and then they could be a little tough but I can figure it out all on my own.
I have enjoyed this English course this semester. I have taken this course one time before and have had no passion for it. But now I really do have a passion for writing and have learned so much more that I can do to become a better writer. My two pieces within my portfolio reflect what I have learned as a writer. I feel that both pieces show me as a person as well. They both correlate with each other in a way because they are both things that I have enjoyed doing. I am really glad that I have had the opportunity to take this English class with an excellent professor that has really helped me in many ways to write and to bring out this ability in me.

Essay 2 for Portfolio

Heather Howard

Essay 3 Final

Rush of Boxing

Everyone has something that they are passionate about and addicted to. It varies from performing physical sports to playing a video game every day. Growing up as a tomboy I have always been into sports and the outdoors. Starting as a young girl I have played softball, basketball, intramural soccer and volley ball. Not until I was a junior in college was I introduced to a boxing club. This was interesting to me at first due to the fact that I had always watched the UFC fights and had been watching wrestling every Monday night for my entire life. It all started when a good friend of the family had saw me one day and told me to come check out the boxers at the gym just to see how it was. So, that first night I stepped into the gym I immediately had that desire to box. So, three nights a week for three hours at a time I was focused on learning and performing the different techniques of becoming a boxer. I was hoping to represent South Paw Boxing Club in Owensboro, KY by doing the best I could and hopefullyhaving my own matches. http://www.southpawboxing.org/

I started about two years ago and absolutely loved it. It gave me an opportunity to get out of the house, lose some extra pounds that I had put on, and get all of my anger out. I would leave the house about five at night and would have these strenuous sessions until eight thirty PM. When I would arrive, I would get prepared by wrapping my hands and pulling a mat out do my work out. After the work out I would go through various stations and then spar after the stations to get prepared for the big fights.

The workouts at the beginning of class would consist of doing some hardcore Abs, pushups, leg lifts, and different exercises to build every muscle in my body. The trainers take this very seriously, so there no room for taking a little rest while everyone is doing the pushups or abs because they are walking around and pushing you to work yourself harder. This warm up would last about thirty minutes and get your heart rate up and adrenaline rushing to move on to the stations.

These stations would be about consist of bag work, mitt work, jump ropes, and round and rounds in the ring. There is always one trainer at each of these stations to direct you and motivate you to do better. At the punching bags the trainer would yell out different combinations to perform on the bag. For example, a one, two, three, would mean that I automatically knew to throw a jab, a right hard punch, and a left hook to the body of the bag. These had to be quick hard movements and it took a lot of practice to get this down. It is non-stop punching combinations for about fifteen minutes straight. I remember my very first day of coming to boxing class and having to do this. My arms were getting very tired and the next day when I woke up I knew that I had worked them out. They were extremely sore and I had never felt any pain like that in my entire life. This bag work gets your mind focused and you are able to just release any anger that you have on it. They would sometimes tell me to think the bag is someone that has made me upset so that I would throw my punches faster and harder.

The next thing would be the mitt work. This is where the trainer would put on a pair of the mitts that had big white circles in the middle to help you with your punches and stance as well. Doing this I could throw different combinations, foot work, and bobbing and weaving. This was probably my favorite out of the stations. I got to do my jabs, shuffle my feet, and duck when the hand was coming right for my face. I had to learn these techniques real quick because if I didn’t move that head to the side or duck, BOW, was the noise the sound of the hand made when it hit my face. Just to let you know this does not feel too good at all. It would definitely prepare me for what I needed to look for in my opponent.

The jump ropes was my next stage to go to. These ropes are quite heavy to work with. This station was designed to help getting your heart rate up and to get some blood flowing through the body. This was my least favorite station because I was just standing in one place for fifteen minutes and jumping. My calves would start to hurt after a while. There was a certain way of jump roping, that is called the “boxers jump”. It requires some switching up and hopping on one foot.

Then the ring works is where you get in a squatting position and cover your face with your hands and go round and round. The bell starts and there is no resting or stopping. When the trainer told me to go the other way Iwould have to shuffle my feet really fast. When he says in, I had to throw a jab and a right punch. This definitely got my legs toned up real quick. I liked it for the simple fact that it was fast paced and got my legs really toned.

Sparring made me and a lot of other amateur boxers real nervous. Before stepping into the ring I would have to put my head gear on along with my gloves. Then, another person would grease them up with Vaseline to make the punching go through smoother. I believe the part that gets me most is that everyone is watching me and talking about mymovements and whether they were good or bad. I always stepped in and waited for the, DING, DING, DING, to sound. Then the match was on for three rounds and when I was done I sure was worn out and ready to get out of there. It takes a lot out of you in which I didn’t expect since there are only three two minute rounds of sparring. I always sparred guys because there was only one other girl boxer and she was in the low one hundred pound weight range. Just because I was a girl they didn’t take it easy on me.

At the very end of the night we had what they called squat thrusts. This was very hard to do because it worked out my whole body and I had to put my all into it or the trainer will yell at me and call me names. There were sometimes up to twelve rounds of it. I believe that this was the hardest task to perform because I was already tired.With boxing, I could do something that I love, take my anger out on the punching bag or the person in the ring and get fit at the same time. My trainer worked me very hard and always told people that would come to watch, “I guarantee you that she can hit harder than most of these guys in here. She’s got a mean right arm.” These were the things that helped me to keep going, not give up, and to feel like I was actually decent at boxing.

Well when my freshman year of college came I had to quit boxing because I moved up here to Indiana and had classes, homework, and work. There was no time to do the one thing that I was happiest doing. Coming to college was definately a sacrifice that I had to make on this. I look at it like I had one of the greatest experiences of my life. As well as the feeling of rush, control, and ease all at the same time. It is an experience that I would hope that everyone would get one day whether it is some other activity that is loved. For me, boxing made me stronger and some how more persitant with everything that I do. Eventually one day, I hope to go back and perform in the ring.

I walk into the classroom where English 101 is about to start. I sat down in my comfortable fluffy seat and sign my name into the laptop that is built into the desk. The professor rolls in which is Mr. Smith. He projects the objectives onto the board which is now a television screen with his arm. There is no scamming this new professor because the robots can outsmart the humans now. This is how it will be in the year of 2107.
Right now we have human beings that are professors but now in the year of 2107 professors will have to be a robot. The only human authority is the Dean and a few of the other high up people that work at the University of Southern Indiana. These robots are extremely smart but are a lot tougher than the professors that we have now. They have everything in there head and when papers and homework assignments are due you have to send them straight to their email address which is figured and done in their software saved in their hard drive in their head.
Parking in the USI parking lot is just ridiculous and dreadful to even think about. If you are a commuter you have to drive through rows and rows of parking places to finally find one in the back which is the farthest away from the school. Then as you get out of your car and check your self phone you realize that you are five minutes late to class already. Not to mention you still have to walk all the way through the parking lots to get to the building to where your class is. But now in the year of 2107 you will no longer have to worry about that difficult parking because now cars are hovercrafts and you can park right up front without any delay to your class. There is even robots that are like valet parkers that way if you are a little late to class then you pull right up to the building you need to be at and they park your for you. Very bizarre I know but true.
The campus right now as we know it has very bright scenery with lots of landscaping like trees, flowers, fountains, and concrete sidewalks. This is a very amazing campus compared to a lot of different universities. I feel so comfortable walking from class to class. In 2107 the campus will be covered with a bubble to protect it from the outside world. There will be a thick plastic covering over all the buildings and parking lots of USI. There will be only three entrances to get in and out of the campus. The once great filling of the wind when you are sitting outside a building on a bench is gone. It is like you are inside everywhere you go. This is not a very good feeling at all. Plus it is costing a lot more money to keep this bubble cooled and heated. It also costs a lot to keep it lite up during day and night.
Inside of the buildings now have stairs and elevators. They are very cozy and have a little bit of computers available to you. There are some rooms that are smaller than others. There is also beverages and snacks in every building to help you get through the day with your classes. Class sizes range anywhere from twenty five to one hundred people. Now in 2107 the buildings will be totally different. All will be operated like you have to have an eagle access card to even get into the building. It will just take a swiping of your card to the door. Inside each building there will be elevators only. No more stairs that most people take to get to their classes. In every classroom their will be at least one hundred twenty five desks. Each desk will have one high tech computer built into it for note taking and for turning in assignments. No more small class sizes. From now on each class will have to have at least one hundred people attending. Now there will be no more of the students getting on the internet and goofing off during lecture because now the robot professors will be able to detect when someone is not paying attention. In each building there will be double the amount of beverages and snacks. They will now be served to the students by a robot machine. The food will also be better.
The university center now has Burger King, Pete’s Arena, Sub Connection, and the Loft. It is all alright and tolerable food that can sometimes take forever to get if you come to get food right around lunch or dinner time. No one wants to wait that long for their food, especially when they have class to attend soon. So now in 2107 there will be new and improved restraints that will be ran by robots as well. There will be a total of fifteen different places to choose from now so that it cuts back on you waiting time. Not to mention the robots will be so much faster to get the food out.
Security is a big ordeal and they like to drive around in there SUVS protecting the students that live on and off campus. They are not so bad at what they do but at the same time they can’t be everywhere at one time to make sure that the campus is running smoothly. In 2107, security will be robots walking around with badges and guns. There will be approximately fifty on duty at a time. They so not need to drive because they are powerful robots that can walk forever without getting tired. There will also be cameras set up everywhere. Robots will also be watching the cameras and if they see something wrong going on they will teleport it to another robot by transferring to their hard drive in their brain. So now nothing bad can happen because USI is now in a bubble and also has robots on duty at all times to ensure safety.

Owensboro Ky Is a great place to go

The City

My home town is about 45 minutes away depending on which way you take to get there, I have lived in Owensboro, Kentucky all of my life until I came to college. Owensboro is smaller than Evansville but is also considered the 3^rd largest city in terms of population in the state. Also is the industrial and cultural capital of Western Kentucky. While it is this big it is still “small town Quality” and a very friendly place to live. It is originally known for as "Yellowbanks" in reference to the color of the soil along the Ohio River banks, it was first settled in 1797. By 1810, David Morton had opened a general store and population of the settlement grew to 100 by 1815. An 1817 Act of the Kentucky Legislature incorporated the town as "Owensborough", later shortened to "Owensboro".

Location

Owensboro is the county seat of Daviess County, Kentucky, and lies on the southern banks of the Ohio River, one of the nation’s major waterways, in the western Kentucky coal field region. Owensboro is located 32 miles southeast of Evansville, Indiana, 123 miles north of Nashville, Tennessee, and 109 miles southwest of Louisville, Kentucky. The William H. Natcher Bridge is the new bridge that everyone has been waiting for that goes from Owensboro into southern Indiana, provides a direct route to Interstate 64 in Indiana, providing a link from St. Louis to Louisville. The Natcher Bridge opened in October of 2002.]

Communications

The Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer provides daily newspaper service to the residents of Owensboro and the surrounding counties, and sponsors a website at www.messengerinquirer.com. We have nine radio stations in the area. The area is also served by the four Evansville-based television networks (WEHT, WTVW, WFIE, and WEVV). Cable television service is provided by Adelphia Communications.

Research

The Owensboro-Daviess County Library is a new attraction that was just rebuilt onto the main road. There is a collection of over 150,000 books and 13,000 audiovisual items.

Entertainment

There are a total of three huge festivals annually in Owensboro. Each festival is unique and designed for the whole family. The biggest and main event being the International Bar-B-Q Festival. This is hosted during the month of May and is thrown the same weekend as Mother’s Day. It’s located on the Ohio River front and usually goes up and down a few blocks. We have over 150 years of barbecuing experience and boasts of being the Bar-B-Q Capital of the World. The Bar-B-Q Festival is packed with food, music, dance, and more food. This is an amazing event to attend I recommend that everyone attend this.

Located in downtown Owensboro is also Goldie's Best Little Opryhouse offers shows on Friday and Saturday nights year round. The shows offer a blend of old and new country, comedy, bluegrass, gospel, and old time rock and roll music.

If you like walking and love to hear about true ghost stories then there is a tour of the downtown Owensboro that is approximately 1 ½ long. It covers some of Owensboro's favorite ghost stories and sightings. Sights include Trinity Center, home of Theatre Workshop of Owensboro, the Area Museum of Science & History, the Daviess County Courthouse, and others. Tours begin and end at the Executive Inn Rivermont. Usually about 30-50 people attend this on Fridays and Saturdays and the ironic thing about it is that my Uncle is the one who owns the business.

Every year in the third weekend of October there is The Apple Festival which is Located at Reid’s orchard. There are several booths set up with stocks of homemade apple cider and pies, relishes, fruits vegetables, and other seasonal goodies. You can also have a little more fun picking your own fruits and vegetables.

The River park center is bustling Regional Performing Arts and Civic center that hosts more than 1,000 events each year, including professional Broadway tour performances, Owensboro Symphony Orchestra concerts, a summer Bluegrass Music Series, and made-in-Owensboro festivals and different productions. There is also a place to ice skate outside and eat and watch old Christmas stories on a big outside screen TV outside of the center. It’s located on the river front and is called, Winter Wonderland.

The Executive Inn is the biggest hotel in Owensboro where people visiting stay as well as the residents wanting to enjoy a night away from their house. There are always concerts with the new up to date country and rock singers there.

Pubs

For those people that are of the legal age to drink there are about fifteen to twenty different bars, Varying from smaller to bigger ones with grills. These are good places for the young adults to hang out with friends and for the older adults to get away from the kids for a night. One of the favorites that I hear of is the blind Parrot and the Boiler Room.

Education

In Owensboro there are a lot of different schools from Daycare all the way up to College. I went to one of the four high schools in Owensboro. So, there is never a problem with schooling. There is a variation to choose from. My graduating class had 240 students. There is also three different colleges. One is Owensboro Community College which is just a two year program. The other being Brescia University which is kind of like OCC but you can get a BSN there. Finally Kentucky Wesleyans College is very popular; people from around the world come to Owensboro to attend this very expensive private school that is known for sports.

College Life

This semester will be my third semester in college at USI. I love it here the campus is great, professors are well educated, and the on-campus living is extremely nice. Not to mention, my major is nursing and USI has one of the top nursing programs in the state. Being at USI makes me feel comfortable because they offer so many different programs, like academic skills, writing help, career services, financial help, and the list goes on. Also my comfort comes from the fact that my home town is about 45 minutes away so it’s a great feeling to know that I can go home for any kind of emergency. It’s been really easy for me to make friends, especially since I lived in the dorms last year and I live in the on-campus apartments this year. I really haven’t had any trouble with anyone here; it seems to me that everyone is really friendly and for the most part easy going.
I have definitively learned a ton of lessons from being here. For one while I was in high school and of course had strict parents. So, I was always doing homework and not really doing much of anything else. Well, when I went away to college where I had no supervision and no one to tell me what to do I was kind of a little too relaxed. I was always out all hours of the night my freshman year because everyone else was out and I was having way too much fun to miss out on anything. It is really easy to forget about homework and stay up with new people just talking and having fun. Be careful about doing this, it tends to happen a whole lot. I wasn’t really getting much sleep or much homework accomplished. Big mistake, this is how you fail!!!! So my suggestion is to set free time dates rarely that are not going to cut in to a big test the next day. It is very hard to do so but in the same sense you have to remember why you are here. College costs way too much to be blowing off your school work to do things that really aren’t that amazing.
Another thing I found myself doing was Procrastinating on everything. Even if Wasn’t doing anything with my friends or partying I was sitting in my room, eating, being fat and lazy and not even taking the time to study and hour or so. Then what really sucks is when you realize that paper or test that you found out about two weeks ago is due tomorrow and you haven’t started so you start to get really stressed and sometimes just say forget it and give up. It’s like man where does the time go!!
There is sooo much more to find out about college but this year so far has definitely been a good year starting out. So hopefully is stays that way. I have planned certain times to work, study, and spend time with friends. Don’t get me wrong I have procrastinated on a couple things this year but I got myself caught up and have definitely learned a lesson from my first year in college.