Obama's Apology to the Special Olympics

Obama on the "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno,"made a comment about being a bad bowler. He told Jay Leno his score and sarcastically Leno told him "good job," and the Obama said "It's like the Special Olympics or something." This comment offended many people, not just the mentally challenged. However Obama made every attempt possible to apologize to them. He knew he was wrong and was able to admit to his mistake, and this is what made his apology sincer.

Apology

The word sorry can be used in various ways, in the sense of messing up or out of sympathy. Sorry has the power to change everything or even ruin everything. If something bad happened and you are in the wrong, an apology could probably fix the mistake or problem, however if you didn't apologize that problem would probably still be there. All because you couldn't admit to your faults and say the word "sorry". The word sorry though also has limitations, you cant take it for granted and use it for every time you mess up and think that it will fix everything. There has to be sincerity behind your apology. People get so used to just saying sorry that there is no meaning be hind it anymore and the word has no effect coming from there mouth. "Actions speak louder than words".

Wal-Mart

Before watching the movie in class I was always pro for new Wal-Marts to go up in places. However, I never really knew all that I know now about the people behind the doors who make everything, and also the effect these building have on communities. Such as when they leave, there is a huge empty box building that is not very useful for anything else! I am not to sure as to what side I am going to take for my essay. Where I live there is nothing, no big market or clothing stores. Its a little one horse town called Acton, and its a very small community. There was a time when they wanted to open a Albertsons up in our community, and the entire community fought it and won. I never really understood why, i wanted a market i hate having to drive thirty minutes to go to a market. But i also realized that if wewould have let that pass, more and more would have gone up and soon our one horse town would turn into a little city. People who live in Acton live out there for a reason; to get away from the busy city areas around them. So i can see why some places are just not for the building of another Wal-Mart. So all in all I still am not sure what side I will be taking for my essay!

Critical Thinking Within My Own Studies

To be completely honest my High School was not very hard in the academic department. It was not as if they did not care, there was just no motivation. So that being said critical thinking was never really taught at my high school. However I feel critical thinking is something you should already know by the time you hit High School, so maybe that is why it was never taught to us at our High School. I think critical thinking is something that can either come easy to someone, or its something someone really has to work hard on. For those that critical thinking does not come easy to I think it would help them if it was still taught to them through out their education. If it can not be taught, at least come up with a way that helps it come easier to people!

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is something that we can either accept or reject. Its thinking deeper and finding things about a reading that is not the obvious when first read. Its almost like taking something apart and putting the pieces back together. In my opinion i think comprehension is the most important part to critical thinking! I personally am not good at reading comprehension, i never have been, it's not something that came easy to me. It was something that could not ever be taught to me, I just was not good at it. However I do think critical thinking can be taught to an extent. Comprehension was never taught to me at an early age, maybe if I had learned it earlier it would have been easier. If you can learn things at a young age and be able to practice the skills, it will become easy and like a second nature to you. I feel the best way to teach critical thinking would be to introduce it to kids at a young age.

The Acton Park

The public place I decided to observe was a park in a little town called Acton. Acton is a small community where I have grown up; there is not much out here at all. The Acton Park is very new to the community, they are actually still building it. Here at this park there are: basketball courts, baseball/softball fields, a play ground, and a lot of open space for any other sort of activity. There are bathrooms, benches, tables, and barbecues for everyone to use. This park is not limited to any one, considering the fact that there are no homeless people in Acton. Out here we don't have a problem with homeless people trying to sleep on the benches. The Acton park is surrounded by a little white picket fence, with a parking lot big enough for ten cars. The park is never over crowded and almost everyone in the community uses it. They have held candle light ceremonies for people of our community we have lost, had movie nights, and have held practices. As I am sitting here the Vasquez High School Varsity softball team is practicing. When I was in High School we used to have Competition Cheer practice here on the open grass. Over the summer the little league football team used the open space for their practice. The park is used by everyone in our community and it is such a safe environment. There is no security or no need for security for that matter. Everyone who is anyone is allowed at the Acton Park.

My Successful Writing Process

When I am about to write a paper I find it easy to make a outline first. It helps me narrow my thoughts, and makes it easier to form a organized paper. Another process I like to use is a bubble chart, so I can branch off other ideas of certain topics with in my paper. I then always write a rough draft first and then go to the TLC lab to have a tutor over see my essay. After they have made their changes I go back and fix my mistakes and add any additional information i want. I find this process to be very helpful. I have always liked writing, but I really learned how to enjoy writing about different topics in English 091. In high school we always got to write on topics we wanted to write about so it made it easy. However, in English 091 they were topics that i knew nothing about. This helped me with my writing skills tremendously. I am usually very successful with my writing and I feel very confident when it comes to turning in the final draft. In English 101 I hope to enhance my writing skills even more. I also hope to continue to write on interesting topics that are new to me in writing.