Revision Revision Revision

I always feel like I am never done revising a paper. There is something always to be done to make it better and better. That is why it is hard for me to really be done with a paper and turn in a final copy. Right now we are working on our SECOND rough draft, and I'm glad. I hate just having one rough draft and then having to rush into a final draft. 

When I begin my revisions, I start by looking at all the comments the person the edited it said. They are so helpful because they are things I don't always pick up on. Then I begin completely just rewriting the entire thing. Not opening the existing draft but having it out in front of me on the desk. I think that starting on a blank document allows more room for change. Whereas if you start from your existing draft, you are just changing certain sentences and adding this or deleting that. Its just easier to get the main points from your first draft and really putting some meat on the bones of the draft the was already existing. That's how a final draft really gets good. by changing and revising and revising and changing. 

Wikipedia??

     Since I have been writing papers, I have never once used Wikipedia as a source. My teachers always told me that it wasn't reliable and the information was normally incorrect. I have never even gone to Wikipedia to search for something. I go to google and type in whatever I'm searching for and normally when I see Wikipedia pop up as one of the options I normally don't chose that one. I just never trust it.

     Because I never went to the site before I didn't know whether my teachers had always been right or not. Now that I have a project about wikipedia and it's accuracy I see that my teachers were right. I am doing my writing project on a Bennigan's article because I work there. Because I already know alot about the subject I thought it would be easy. As I was reading through it there were errors and a negative vibe throughout. They dwelled on certain things for far too long that were not nearly as important as others. I was not pleased with the things I found because of how they were organized and the way they were said.

     I just wish that there was an online encyclopedia that was actually accurate, up to date, and reliable. It would be so much more helpful than pulling out an actual printed encyclopedia; plus it could include more current events and pop culture.

Thank You's

    Thank you notes are something that I feel are going by the wayside. I grew up writing thank you's to everyone for almost everything. My mom always told me that it is always appreciated and shows that you really were thankful. The only time I feel that thank you notes get to be too much is when you start thanking people for thanking you and there is this never ending cycle of thank you's.

    One time in particular when I had to write A LOT of thank you letters was for my graduation party. We had around 300 people show up to it and I had to write that many thank you's. Most people when having to write that many letters write something like "Thanks for coming to my party and thank you for the gift of money". How boring. I switched it up and made each thank you personal and made sure everyone's said something different. After I sent them out, I had so many people telling me what a great job I did with them and how special they felt after reading it and knowing I actually was truly thankful for everything they had done. This is one time that really popped into my head when I thought of a time I was really proud of something I wrote that wasn't school related.

It's Complicated

          I've never really thought of my relationship with my grades being complicated. But I guess it kind of is. I always have paid attention in class and finished my homework on time and just assumed great grades would be handed to me. This happened all through high school for the most part because attendance and homework were a large portion of the grade, plus, doing the homework helped tremendously with the tests. It was sort of a one sided relationship where only one person is putting forth any effort to get what they want. That was me. Until I hit college I always thought achieving good grades was a fairly simple task. Now I have to study more hours than I am in class and actually try to make time for my work.

          Now I know that I need to work hard in order to get what I want and my grades and I are pretty much on the same page for the most part. I try much harder than I did in high school and I feel so much more accomplished. The grades are worked for not just handed to me and it feels good. I know now that grades link to so many other aspects in life other than just the grades themselves. Confidence, parental support, financial support, furthering education, and career paths. It gives my a weird and almost powerful feeling knowing that I hold that much just with how much effort I wish to put forward.