Dear Reader,
I am currently recording the works that I have completed this year. I have done this in hopes that you will get to know me better and experience what my progress in High School has been like. During my course as a fresh man, I feel that I have most improved my skills in writing essays. The very first essay I wrote for honors got a B, but it deserved it. I had made a last minute attempt to try to fit scrambled words together. It made no sense at all and I was surprised at the grade I had gotten. if a college teacher had looked at it, I would have flunked that paper for sure. I am glad though that Mr. Burke realizes that in the beginning of the year, all freshman start out the same. Most are unsure of what to expect, afraid that their work will not hold up to their teacher’s expectations. Soon though, most get over it and as the year progresses, they become more comfortable with the writing style and learn to write in a way that lets the words flow with a sense of organization.
It has been tough living up to the expectations of a high school honors course, but I have learned a great deal from it, The project that has best shown what I can do was a recent assignment, Lord of the Flies. In it, I wrote the tale of a beast unleashed within the children’s memories. I feel that this project has best shown my work in it’s greatest perspective because I was now comfortable with my writing at this time. I was able to capture the feeling that I had inside, that I too was this beast. I used this to create pictures with words on paper. It has inspired me to become more creative with my writing and take it to a whole new level. I feel that this piece also was one of the more difficult, challenging pieces to work with. Nevertheless, I pulled through and went beyond the directions given to me. Some teachers would have given me a lower grade because I did not stick with the original guidelines. However, I feel that sometimes, expressing creativity can be even more useful than staying within the lines.
My most memorable book this semester would be the one I read outside of class. Stephen King’s book Fire Starter was the one that inspired me the most. I found it extremely fascinating. I do not know why, but the telekinesis powers that were used in the book was the whole reason behind why I liked it so much. I guess just thinking about what could happen in the future is very inspiring.
Still on the subject of books, my least favorite would most likely have been Harvest, a book that I found interesting, but the language used made me picture what was actually happening in the book, and this scared me. I thought that the book was extremely visual, especially since the words were not too pleasant. I do not mean to say that this was a bad book, but trust me; it is not a good book for young children.
This year has been a mountain and I mean that literally. In the beginning of the year, when we had just arrived, we were given ropes, chains and mountain boots (the tools to succeed). We were shown direction and were given a push upwards. We were instructed on how to use our materials to climb up the mountain. If we needed help, we were given extra tools, but that was all. No one would help us to climb the mountain, we were only showed how to do it ourselves and this made most of us stronger, because we learnt how to climb on our own. Now that we have reached the top, we all look out over the horizon and see three other mountains, each a little steeper than the other. These will represent our next three years at Burlingame High.
I would like to thank you for your time and consideration. It has been a real pleasure being able to share the experiences that I have had over the course of this year with
Respectfully,
J.K.
Burlingame High Student