"The Art Of Being A Neighbor" by Eve Birch

     In her essay “The Art of Being a Neighbor” by Eve Birch, she found herself homeless and alone after a lifetime of working towards the quintessential American dream. With her truck and virtually no money she located an abandoned shack over the Potomac River in West Virginia. With only the bare necessities Birch began to work to distract and heal herself.  Her neighbors, who knew nothing about her, began checking on her and dropping off goods and teaching her essential skills. Her belief in what the American dream began to change. She learned “The Art of Being a Neighbor” and understood that her relationships with her neighbors were her most valuable possession. Ultimately, her belief in what the American dream was changed from individual success to what we can all get together.

"I Am Still The Greatest" by Muhammad Ali

     In his essay “I Am Still The Greatest” by Muhammed Ali, with help of his wife Lonnie Ali and their family, due to the late stage symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, he describes the confidence and pride that was instilled in him and his brother as young children by their parents. This confidence carried into high school where he predicted his Olympic gold medal and world heavyweight championship in boxing. Muhammed Ali’s stated his will was tested more after retirement with his diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease than it had been tested in any of his boxing matches. He described the lighting of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games cauldron in Atlanta. He advised with the Olympic torch raised high above his head, the tremors of Parkinson’s disease took over his body. At that moment he heard the deafening applause of the stadium, he remembered his past Olympic accomplishment and that “Nothing in life defeated me. I am still the greatest.” The qualities instilled in him as a child, carried him through his life, bringing him full circle.

"Finding Freedom in Forgiveness" by Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald Cotton

     This essay, written by a pair of people, Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald Cotton, who you would never have believed could come together for this purpose. Ronald Cotton was identified by Jennifer Thompson-Cannino in a lineup as the man who had raped her. After spending 11 years in prison for rape, DNA cleared Ronald Cotton of the crime. This essay correctly titled “Finding Freedom in Forgiveness” talks about the initial hatred the two felt for each other, but eventually how this hatred gave way to forgiveness, and that forgiveness set the two free and allowed them to heal. Not only were they able to forgive each other, but the two, "victims of the same injustice by the same man" where able to forgive him also.

The Six Secrets That Every Freshman Should Know

After reading the six secrets that every college freshman should know it was clear that the secret that I will need to follow to be successful is secret number three. Secret three is that you need to work even harder outside the classroom. Although working hard is not my issue, included in the advice of secret three is putting things off until another day. Procrastination is definitely the number one item that could lead to academic disaster for me. Although I have retired from my full-time job, I feel that I am busier now than I was before I retired. Creating intermediate deadlines for long term assignments and scheduling frequent blocks of study time in my calendar is great advice that can help me. Juggling my personal responsibilities and time management will be the keys for me to follow so that I do not procrastinate on school work and I am able to be a successful college student.    

What I Hope To Get From This Writing Class

I have wished for most of my adult life that I would have learned to write better. During my career I have written many reports. It took a lot longer than it should have to write these reports, and often the reports did not convey what I was trying to say as concisely as I would have wished. I inconvenienced my friends and family by asking them to help me with my writing. I hope to improve my writing skills for many reasons: to express myself more effectively, to increase my productivity and be more valuable at work, and to be more influential and promote myself.

First Blog Entry

I would like to introduce myself to everyone. My name is Harold Smith and I am 50 years old. I was raised in Northern California. After high school I went into the army and was stationed at Ft. Benning, GA. I spent four years in the army as a infantry soldier. Upon discharge from the army I used my college fund to attend college at Southern Union in Opelika, AL. I attained my paramedic license and worked in the medical field for about 10 years before going to work for Russell County. After 25 years of working for Russell County I retired.  I am currently going back to college at Chattahoochee Valley and hope to become a registered nurse.