SAT Essay Reflection
Of the SAT essays I read, they all seemed to have clear, consise answers, responding to the prompt with a yes or no answer. To me, they all seemed like good essays, even though they wouldn't get 6's because they didn't talk about both sides of the question like we talked about in class. But I enjoyed reading them because they included good points and first-person examples that I could understand and relate to. They also were very well organized and easy to read. But what impressed me most was the amount they were able to write in the little amount of time we had.
SAT Practice Essay
I definitely need some help with SAT writing. Here's the practice essay I tried to write in 25 minutes:
Currently, people in society today have found ourselves in the middle of a world of the media. This has become such a huge deal that nowadays, people live their lives according to, based on, and by all the different types of media available to us. This abundance of media includes magazines, television, the internet, and many other things. I do believe that these types of media are determining what's important to people in today's society and essentially running our lives. Examples of issues we are influenced by are drugs/alcohol, violence, and self esteem.
First, the issue of drugs and alcohol is probably the most important one in the lives of our younger generations today. There is a growing amount of crimes, deaths, and other things happening today resulting from the use of the wide varieties of drugs and alcohol. I'm not saying that all of this is rooted from one place, but I believe the media has a huge influence on the people in today's society regarding this issue. People today see other people such as celebrities that they admire and look up to, doing drugs and alcohol, which could possibly result dangerously in their lives. For example, the other day I was on myspace.com looking at all the different musical artists' Myspaces, when I came upon the "space" of Snoop Dogg. Lo and behold, the first thing that catches my eye is a huge background picture of him in what appears to be a music recording studio, surrounded by clouds of smoke, originating from his mouth. What is this picture saying to people? That to become successful, you need to "take a hit" once in a while? To me it's rediculous the things being portrayed to the public today, especially regarding drugs.
Another example of the media's influence on the people today is
... and that's where I ended when time was up. I think I really need to start working on SAT writing more, especially since we're taking the real thing less than a year from now. So to the people who write quality SAT essays in 25 minutes, how do you do it? For me, I just can't think of quality examples on the spot. I need some advice.
Currently, people in society today have found ourselves in the middle of a world of the media. This has become such a huge deal that nowadays, people live their lives according to, based on, and by all the different types of media available to us. This abundance of media includes magazines, television, the internet, and many other things. I do believe that these types of media are determining what's important to people in today's society and essentially running our lives. Examples of issues we are influenced by are drugs/alcohol, violence, and self esteem.
First, the issue of drugs and alcohol is probably the most important one in the lives of our younger generations today. There is a growing amount of crimes, deaths, and other things happening today resulting from the use of the wide varieties of drugs and alcohol. I'm not saying that all of this is rooted from one place, but I believe the media has a huge influence on the people in today's society regarding this issue. People today see other people such as celebrities that they admire and look up to, doing drugs and alcohol, which could possibly result dangerously in their lives. For example, the other day I was on myspace.com looking at all the different musical artists' Myspaces, when I came upon the "space" of Snoop Dogg. Lo and behold, the first thing that catches my eye is a huge background picture of him in what appears to be a music recording studio, surrounded by clouds of smoke, originating from his mouth. What is this picture saying to people? That to become successful, you need to "take a hit" once in a while? To me it's rediculous the things being portrayed to the public today, especially regarding drugs.
Another example of the media's influence on the people today is
... and that's where I ended when time was up. I think I really need to start working on SAT writing more, especially since we're taking the real thing less than a year from now. So to the people who write quality SAT essays in 25 minutes, how do you do it? For me, I just can't think of quality examples on the spot. I need some advice.
Rituals/Superstions (Common Place)
Along with my "This I Believe," I also believe in rituals and superstitions. I'm a really superstitious guy and so whenever I'm doing something well, or something good happens to me, I try to replicate whatever I did before 'it' happened. Just today and recently this has been going on for me. Here's a story about my day today:
As I was on my way to my baseball game today, I told my mom (who was driving me) that we had to stop at 7-11 to get this drink that I'd been drinking for the past week before games. In those past games, after had drunken this drink, in my mind I felt like I was able to play better for some reason. But unfortunately today, it was out of stock there, so I left without it, and had to go into the game "dry." Long story short, I didn't do very well, so I was convinced it was because I didn't have the drink. I know it's probably all in my mind, but in my opinion, if something works, whatever it is, you should stick with it as long as it lasts.
As I was on my way to my baseball game today, I told my mom (who was driving me) that we had to stop at 7-11 to get this drink that I'd been drinking for the past week before games. In those past games, after had drunken this drink, in my mind I felt like I was able to play better for some reason. But unfortunately today, it was out of stock there, so I left without it, and had to go into the game "dry." Long story short, I didn't do very well, so I was convinced it was because I didn't have the drink. I know it's probably all in my mind, but in my opinion, if something works, whatever it is, you should stick with it as long as it lasts.
This I Believe
I believe in sleep. We all spend a great amount of our lives sleeping, but really, it's for a good cause. Sleep is probably the best thing we can do for our bodies to recover it from all the different kinds of activities we put it through each day. We all have something to do between periods of sleep whether it's going to school or work, playing sports, or even something as simple as eating. It's what keeps us energized and alert during daily activity, and what prevents us from losing focus and doing things lazily. I think we all know what it feels like to try to function during the day, having gotten minimal sleep the night before; it's not the greatest feeling. You're not able to focus on the task at hand, and the only thing on your mind is getting home, and going to bed.
During my life, I've definitely encountered way to many of these days, and I guess i really haven't learned my lesson yet. I guess it's a procrastination kind of thing. Like even when I don't have anything important to do at night, I stay up late sometimes doing pointless things that I forget about the next day. I think when I'm awake at night, I don't really ponder the next day, and realize how I'm going to feel and function doing things if I don't get enough sleep. I really pay the price of being deprived of sleep when I'm at school. It's really damaging to me because schoolwork becomes unimportant, I can't think straight sometimes, and socially, I become a bit more inactive. I also feel the effect of sleeplessness when I'm at a baseball practice or game. The thing about baseball is that it requires your undivided attention and focus, as well as hustle, so it's really difficult to play to your full potential when you're tired. So sometimes when I try to play when I'm tired, I make simple mistakes that I would otherwise not make had I got more sleep the night before. I want to be awake and energized during the day, so I guess I am learning little by little that if i get sleep now, I'll really appreciate it later.
As I go on in life, I know I will encounter many more important occurrences and events that will be important to me, and I can't be zoning out or showing sleeplessness. Things may have to go just right, and if i can't concentrate or do things to my full potential, I'll just be limiting myself to how far I can go in life. So the bottom line is sleep is more important than people think and it really can affect your life. So if you have the chance to, get to sleep early.
I'm still having trouble getting the voice recording off of my iPod. Does anyone have any thoughts or ideas on what I can do?
During my life, I've definitely encountered way to many of these days, and I guess i really haven't learned my lesson yet. I guess it's a procrastination kind of thing. Like even when I don't have anything important to do at night, I stay up late sometimes doing pointless things that I forget about the next day. I think when I'm awake at night, I don't really ponder the next day, and realize how I'm going to feel and function doing things if I don't get enough sleep. I really pay the price of being deprived of sleep when I'm at school. It's really damaging to me because schoolwork becomes unimportant, I can't think straight sometimes, and socially, I become a bit more inactive. I also feel the effect of sleeplessness when I'm at a baseball practice or game. The thing about baseball is that it requires your undivided attention and focus, as well as hustle, so it's really difficult to play to your full potential when you're tired. So sometimes when I try to play when I'm tired, I make simple mistakes that I would otherwise not make had I got more sleep the night before. I want to be awake and energized during the day, so I guess I am learning little by little that if i get sleep now, I'll really appreciate it later.
As I go on in life, I know I will encounter many more important occurrences and events that will be important to me, and I can't be zoning out or showing sleeplessness. Things may have to go just right, and if i can't concentrate or do things to my full potential, I'll just be limiting myself to how far I can go in life. So the bottom line is sleep is more important than people think and it really can affect your life. So if you have the chance to, get to sleep early.
I'm still having trouble getting the voice recording off of my iPod. Does anyone have any thoughts or ideas on what I can do?
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