Success in School

To be successful in college one must first off go to class. Look at class as a way to limit the amount of studying you have to do the night before a test. Going to class allows you to stay on top of your assignments, which will allow you to be more successful. Working together with other students can be a great way to learn and study. Setting up small study groups in a lounge or in the library are also good ways to learn more. Working ahead relieves the stress of procrastinating till the last second. Working ahead is easier said than done, but it can really help relieve the amount of homework that piles up during the week. It will also allow you to have more free time when others are cramming for tests and papers. Getting aquainted with the various study tools that the campus offers are another great way of boosting your grades. Going to Cards and Copies for old Exams can be a great study tool, as well as using the library as a study area. You can get a lot more done in the library than in your dorm room. Doing these things allows you yo get better grades.

Blogs

I think blogs are a great way of letting people know how you feel about particular topics and ideas. Blogs allow you to portray your thoughts and ideas to people who may not have heard them. They allow to freely write and ponder about the random thoughts come through your head. They let you express yourself in ways that make you feel more complete. Blogs allow you to get your ideas out their. The internet is the fastest growing comminication network. Blogs are just another part of the internet that allow you to write freely. They allow you to let off steam or express how you really feel. Blogs are a great way to write and express your ideas. Blogs are like dreams. Anything can be written, and you can become anyone. The possibilities are endless with blogs. New Worlds can be created, new ideas can be expressed, and your potential reached.

Free Will

Life is a stage and we part of a larger production. Your life is yours to create, but you are still part of a larger plan. Your decisions directly affect who you become. You chose your own path but that path is directly connected to another. You chose who you become. But their is still a plan for you. You are not tied down in the sense that you do not think on your own, but tied down in the way that your life stands for something more than just what you make of it. Your life has a purpose. No one can stand their and tell what that purpose is but you are part of a larger production. We choose our actions but we do not choose how that affects the overall scheme. We are more than just actors. We are the producers of something much larger than ourselves. We are not boxed in. We are free to come and go as we choose. Are decisions directly affect who we become. For it takes a story to create an identity. Without a story we are lost in a world without meaning. Our stories stand for more than just words on a page. They stand for life and freedom. Our experiences create feelings. Feelings lead to discovering ourselves. Discovering our true identies leads to understanding our true place in the overall scheme, where we can feel complete and at rest. Listen for the right voice and that voice will lead to the correct path, where your story is finally completed.

Dreams

Dreams are a way of escaping the present moment into a world where your imagination can run wild. Dreams are where you can accomplish anything. Dreams let you do whatever you want. They let you discover more about yourself and about life. Dreaming lets you explore a new dimension where you can whoever you want. It lets you ponder the finer questions in life. It lets you find out who you really are when you remove all that is around you. It lets you act free and unrestricted by the reality of the world. But what makes a dream less real than life? Dreams allow you to escape and become more than yourself. Lets you become large than life. You escape the tainted light of society to find your place. A place where you can become your real self.
Who are we? Are we just highly developed animals or are we part of a larger plan? Why do we question where we come from? To answer that question we must discove who we really are. We must go back to the beginning to find the answer to who we really are. Dreaming allows us to ponder and dream of how we came to be. Dreaming is an act of our mind. The reality of Dreams are created by our minds. So how does real life differ. What is real and what is not real. What seems real is created by our minds. So life must be created by a higher power. If not what is the point of living. If there is not someone to compare ourselves to, what separates right from wrong. How can we come from nothing? If we developed from rocks and fish why do we search for something more. We should be content with the daily feelings and reactions we experience. We are not content with our position because the right answer is looking for you.

Final Essay

Family, place and events all affect ones voice. Childhood experiences, parents, cultures, and soul flights affect each and every ones voice in a different way. No one voice is the exact same. Voice develops from ones interactions between people and place. It can not be tied down, or eliminated, for one’s voice extends beyond the physical interaction between people and place. Dreams can also effect how one views the world and therefore can change their own voice. Voice is the ever changing extension of ones personality, whether it in reality or in a dream. The inner personalities of ones soul helps nurture and develop their own specific potential. Voice is the reactions and feelings one experiences throughout their life. Voice is derived from the inside reaction to the outside events of ones life. Soul-flights, dreams, or journeys can have the greatest affect on ones voice.
In both “Smoke Signals” and “The Toughest Indian in the World” a journey changes the attitudes of the main characters. The interactions with people and place change their voice. The journey changed their attitudes and opinions. They view the people and places around them in a different light. The journey altered the way they viewed life, and their place in it.
In “The Toughest Indian in the World” the main character experiences a life changing event, when he pickups a hitchhike and spends the night with him in a motel room. He feels stronger, more independent than he did before. He also feels closer, more comfortable with his past. His experiences had changed the way he felt about his life. He has experienced the hardships and disorder that life has presented him with. He found his true place and identity in life. The questions he has had about his past and about himself become more clear and visible. He finally understood his culture and heritage by learning more about himself. In the end of the story he realizes that his life has come full circle.
The main character, Victor, in the movie “Smokes Signals” experiences a change in the feelings he has for his Father, and a change in the relationship he has with Thomas. Just like the character in “The Toughest Indian in the World”, Victor’s voice changed. He views the events that have affected his life differently. The journey of getting his Father’s ashes allows him to understand why his Father left, and allows him to complete the morning process. Originally, his soul was a burning fire that was full of anger and hate for his father and his past. Throughout his journey, he learns about himself and his past that allows him to come to a sense of peace about his life. His voice changed. He had allowed place and people to affect his voice.
Chris McCandless, the main character from “Selections from into the Wild” also takes part in a Soul-flight to discover his voice in the world. Krakauer, the author of “Selections from into the Wild”, voices the effect the wild has had on the imagination. McCandless’s imagination led him to Alaska where he could be alone. Finding out what is on the inside of ones heart, allows them to find their inner voice. McCandless tried this by fleeing the dangers of society and traveling into the heart of the wilderness. By living in the wild, McCandless searches for his place in life. For a Soul-flight is the extension of one’s voice. Krakauer in the end of the story writes about the effect McCandless has had on his own personal life. Krakauer will never know why McCandless fled to the wild and died, but he begins the process of understanding when he compares McCandless’s life to that of his own.
Cynthia Ozick, the author of “North” and “The Seam of the Snail”, writes about the affects that place and her family has had on her life. Voice is the reaction one has had with the places and people they are surrounded by. No one is affected the same way, allowing for the development of many different voices that contain many different opinions and reactions. One’s voice, approach, and outlook all extend from one’s interaction with family, friends, and place. Interaction with people and place allow for one’s voice to be stirred and sculpted into a unique mind-set. People and places do not have the same effect on someone; each interaction molds and shapes people differently. Interaction spreads new ideas and outlooks, just as bees spread pollen from flower to flower. Voice originates from the effects one has had with their family, friends, and place.
Family affects people in many different ways. One can be heavily influenced by the actions and words of their parents, or they can be repulsed. One way or another, voice is derived from this interaction. Family molds and shapes one’s character. Family influence sets the stage for future interactions and reactions to other voices and opinions. Voice is the extension of one’s family and family influence has a lasting effect on ones voice whether it is positive or negative. Family helps plant the seeds of character and personality into the inner voice. The type of flower that comes from this seed nobody knows, for no voice is the exact same as another.
Place is the setting of one’s voice. Place, unlike Family, does not lay the foundation, but instead cultivates its character. It opens one’s mind to other voices around it. Place affects voice, through its characteristics. It helps build and strengthen one’s character into a distinctive shape and attitude, unique to that place. It effects one from the outside, spreading its own voice and personalities on those enveloped by it. Everyone is affected by place. Place surrounds and molds ones voice, causing it to reflect its own characteristics and voice, for no one can avoid the presence of place.
Overall voice is a delicate thing. It is affected by everything even that of the unknown. While family, place, and life journeys may have the greatest affect on voice, voice is derived from even the smallest events and interactions with one’s surroundings. Everyone has a unique voice that is developed from the interactions with those around them. Voice is an ever changing expression of ones personality and character.
Dreams though, are the extension of ones inner thoughts and personality. Dreams allow for one to escape the grip that society has on them. Dreams provide temporary relief from reality. It allows for the escape from society and the hardships that it brings. What is reality? Reality is the moment. Reality can be no more real than the present moment combined with the effects of the past. There is no tomorrow only the present moment. These specific moments of both the present and the past make up ones character. Life is a continual stream of moments, one right after another.
What separates a dream from reality? Dreams allow for one to extend past the present moment and explore the unknowns of the future, present and past. Dreams let one discover more about life and their place in it. It lets them stray from the feelings of reality or their current life to find out more about themselves. Dreams allow for one to accomplish anything they want. Dreaming lets one ponder the real meanings of life, while discovering more about their own individuality. These moments in the dream world directly affect their personal voice. The moments of life also make up the greater plan for ones self. They create ones sense of moral fiber and potential. If life is a dream does it really change anything? The moment of reality or that of apparent actuality still exists, whether it is in a fictional dream or in real life. The possibilities in dreams are endless. Why are the possibilities in dreams endless, while they seem to be on hold in reality? Living life to the fullest, whether it is in a dream or in life, allows one to ascertain their true identity. Discovering ones true voice leads to their genuine identity and their actual potential. Potential is the product of ones surrounding and inner makeup. Living life to the fullest allows one to discover who they really are, allowing them to accomplish anything they want to. Voice is the product of ones inners ability and personality. Voice is the inner potential in everyone, so wake up and dream.

Displaced Fairytale

Babu Mohammed the II and Rebecca Zawerii had fallen in love. When they were not together they dreamed of being together for the flame of love had been lit in their hearts. Even though these two had a burning desire to be with each other, their family and friends burned of hate for one another. For Babu’s Father was a chief member of Islamic Terrorist Movement in Lebanon and Rebecca’s Father was the head of the DOCT, Defense of Christian Territory. Both the Christians and the Muslims had been jockeying for control for hundreds of years. Many wars had been fought and great resentment had formed between both sides. Their families had been fighting over the rights to sacred lands for years and each side had suffered many casualties.
To avoid major conflict and the disapproval of their families, they would sneak away late at night to an abandoned hut at the top of a hill to meet. During the day, they would leave notes in a crack in the wall on the east end of town were the fighting and disputes were less prevalent. While their relationship blossomed so to did the conflict between the Christians and the Muslims. In September of 2004, the Islamic reform movement had managed to take control of the government in Lebanon. They called for the complete removal of Christian influence in Islamic holy places.
This sparked immediate response from the DOCT. All out war had been declared on the Christians in Lebanon and the Christian people were not ready to back down. With both families fighting, Babu and Rebecca’s relationship was in danger of falling apart. Rebecca’s father had assigned her a body guard and it was impossible to meet up with Babu at the abandoned hut due to the various checkpoints and blockades around the city streets.
Babu began growing very tired of not being able to see Rebecca and decided that they would flee the grip of their families and start their own life together. When Rebecca found the note stuffed into the crack in the wall talking about running away together, she thought about her life with Babu and the current life she lived. In her room she spent hours writing responses to Babu’s notes asking him how they would escape and how much she loved him.
One day her brother Peter, an officer in the DOCT, found one of these notes that had fallen behind his sister’s bed. He immediately recognized the name and reported to his Father that Rebecca had been having and affair with a Muslim terrorist. This enraged her Father and she was forbidden to see or communicate with someone whose family had killed her cousins and Christian brothers. This devastated Babu, he had to meet with her to discuss his plans of escape.
Outraged by the actions and plans of his daughter, Philip sent Peter and his four best officers to dispose of Babu. Philip gladly accepted the task and wanted to seek revenge on the Muslims for killing his cousin, Timothy, in a car bombing incident. At midnight Peter and his fellow officers began their mission and headed across town under the cover of darkness. When they reached the compound where Babu was staying they drew their weapons. Searching the compound proved to be difficult with several guards patrolling the grounds. Peter did not dare storm the compound for they were out numbered 8 to 1. He decided instead to wait for Babu to come out in the morning for a drink of water at the well. Peter and his officers then fled across the street into another building to wait for their target. Peter left the four other officers downstairs to guard the door and warn him about approaching Muslims as he climbed to the top of the roof and hid.
At day break, the compound looked desolate. No guards could be seen from where Peter hid on the roof. Suddenly, a man walked to the center of the compound. Peter could not quite make out his face but bore down on his gun anyway. Peter then heard a truck barreling down the alley way in front of him. He looked up at the truck only to hear bullets whizzing past his ears. He ducked for cover and yelled at his officers to fire back. As the Muslims soldiers climbed out of the truck, Peter and his officers fired back. Surrounded by the enemy, Peter tried to think of a way out. They fought with furry as the Muslims closed in on the compound. Unexpectedly, the Muslims stopped firing. As Peter poked his head above the wall, a flash of light and fire overcame him. Two RPG’s hit the building, killing both Peter and his fellow officers.
Hearing upon his son’s death, Rebecca and her Father were overcome with grief and sorrow. Burning with hatred her Father blamed Babu, and vowed he would get his revenge. Knowing that Babu would never kill her brother, she snuck out of her Father’s house and put another message in the crack of eastern wall warning Babu of her Father’s intentions. As soon as Babu found out about Rebecca’s brother’s death and Rebecca’s Father’s plot for revenge, he knew he had to reach Rebecca in order to save their relationship. After reading Rebecca’s note, he planned on meeting her just outside the city early in the morning to run away and escape their war torn lives. Rebecca’s body guard caught Rebecca leaving notes in the wall and notified her Father of her actions. Her Father again fuming by situation formulated a plan that would end this situation once and for all.
The next morning Rebecca snuck out of the house and fled to the eastern side of the city. Little did she know she was being followed? Avoiding all contact with people she reached the eastern edge of the city and waited in the designated spot. Babu, like Rebecca, snuck out of his Father’s compound and headed off toward the eastern part of the city. When Babu got about a hundred feet from the building he was suppose to meet Rebecca at, he saw masked soldiers storm the compound and grab Rebecca. He tore off towards them in hope of stopping their actions. He tripped and hit the dirt hard. While dust clouded his vision, he saw Rebecca being pulled into a car. He again ran after the car this time drawing a hand gun. As he ran around the corner, a massive heat wave followed by huge flames knocked him backwards. When he regained his spinning head, he saw that the car he had been following had been destroyed by a car bomb. His knees became weak and he fell to the ground for he thought Rebecca had been in the car. Knowing no one could survive the burning tangled mess of metal and plastic, Babu’s desire to live left him. Overcome with the yearning to be with Rebecca, Babu pulled picked up his gun and shot himself. Watching from a window in the top of a neighboring building was Rebecca. Held back by her capturers she screamed at what she saw. She cried and screamed with terror as the men unmasked themselves. It was her Father and her bodyguard. When released by her Father she ran home and cried out for Babu all night.
Still full of the pain and grief she experienced over Babu’s death. She found a vile of poison used for killing rats in the basement of her house. As she retreated back to her room, she could not take the sting of not being with Babu. She longed to be with Babu. She then raised the poison to her lips and drank it ending her life. The flame of love between Rebecca and Babu had once burned bright in both their hearts. Now, no flame remained. It had been extinguished by the darkness of the World.

"Toughest Indian in the World"

“The Toughest Indian in the World” is a short story about the Narrator’s journey back to his roots. It all starts when he is young, when his Father picks up Indian hitchhikers. His Father never picked up anyone except Indian hitchhikers and the Narrator follows in his footsteps. The Narrator loved the smell and experience of cramming into a car loaded with Indian hitchhikers, it made him feel like whole, as if he was giving back to his heritage. His journey back to his roots was realized when he picked up his last Indian hitchhiker.
When the Narrator picked up his next hitchhiker his journey back to his roots began. During the ride, he finds out that the hitchhiker is a fighter, who fights all over the various reservations for profit. The Narrator, throughout the ride, is in awe of the fighter. In fact he enjoyed the fighters presence so much he decide he stay with him in his motel room that night. The experience of spending the night with the hitchhiker changed the Narrator’s heart forever. He eventually feels stronger, more like a warrior. His experience with the fighter made him realize that he had separated himself from his true culture. This begins his journey home to find his true place, where he can revive the true Indian in himself.

Potential

What is potential? Potential is performing at your best. Potential is the ability to succeed in different areas of ones life. Success though is harder to define. What makes someone more successful than another. Is success determined by doing better than others or by doing your best? Success is defined by doing the best you can. When you try your best to succeed you are successful no matter what the outcome is. When you try your hardest to succeed you find out who you really are what you can really do. Ones potential is endless. The physical contraints of the world make it seem like your potential is limited. In dreams on the other hand, your potential is endless. You are outside the physical restraints of the world. Anything can be accomplished in a dream. But what is stopping us from accomplishing anything we want to in the real world. Potential is not limited by what people think or say, it is limited by what you think and say to your self. When you step outside the box and realize that you are not limited by others you can accomplish anything in your life. It may be easier to accomplish what you want in your dreams, but when you discover who you really are and what you can really do, you can accomplish anything no matter what the circumstances.