Reading Assignment #2

Saving Max #title (87) I wonder if Maitland is actually helping Max or if being there is just making him worse? #comment 

Danielle met a guy at the hotel bar, there’s #romance in the air. I definitely think they’re going to hook up #foreshadowing 

The doctors accidentally overdosed Max; I sense a fighting coming soon between Danielle and those specialists #mammabearsnothappy 

The #writingstyle of this book is great. Reading from the mothers point of view gives insight into the hard decisions mothers must make. 

Danielle has been to focused on succeeding in her career and hasn’t always been there enough for Max.#timetochange#comment

Reading Assignment #1

Saving Max(29) takes a look at the hardships some people must face, it definitely opens your eyes to how lucky we are in life. #intro

?- What is Danielle going to do to help Max? As her final hope to save him, will it work? #question 

I have sympathy for Danielles character, shes sweet&selfless but is having a hard time as she struggles to rescue her son.#rufflife #comment

! - I can see Danielle&Marianne becoming close friends, connecting over their life struggles, as their sons receive treatment. #prediction

This book has made me think of how easy I have it. Has anyone else ever read a novel that makes you think about how lucky we are? #discuss

Mid Semester Reflection

Six Word Memoirs

    My six word memoirs would have gone splendidly… key word being “would have” if I hadn't procrastinated and not gotten them finished. It was and easy enough assignment and I know I could have done a great job. Yet they are still not all handed in, I have 2 out of 6 memoirs posted, and I still need to find four photos for the rest of them. My self-given mark would be an incomplete. I know I could do better but my stress levels at the time this project was given was at an all-time high, making it difficult for me to focus not to mention my procrastination skills got in the way.

Ignite Presentation

    The ignite presentation has been a bit difficult to do. Choosing the topic was hard for me, I couldn't think of something that I truly loved to do. I would throw around thoughts of spreading information on puppy mills then change my mind believing it was too dark of a topic to talk about in front of my class. Then I’d think to talk about soccer, but I didn't know how I would talk about it and to be honest although I love playing it, it’s not something I’m very good at or am passionate about. Then I thought about writing a story and making pictures to go on the slides or just talking about something inspirational such as happiness. None of the topics seemed to fit. In the end it was my indecisiveness that threw me off and made this a lot harder than it should have been. Finally a week or two after getting this assignment I chose the topic of volunteering, but I chose it only a few days before having to present. I was unable to complete it in time making it late and am still trying to complete it now. My overall mark for myself is an incomplete. It was my brain that stopped me from succeeding in this project, as it usually is. For my perfectionist ways will throw me off and make me believe that what I've got so far isn't good enough.

Blogging

    My blogging throughout this class has definitely not been up to standards...  I have not been posting personal additions onto my blog like I should have been, nor have I been posting my assignments or even completing them in a timely manner. When it comes to posting on my class mates blogs I have posted one comment but have not looked at fellow classmate’s blog since. I have only added one “personal addition” to my blog, and even then I’m not sure whether it is actually considered a personal addition. Overall the grade I would give myself in this category is a zero, a D, an incomplete. I doesn't matter how you say it but my actions of posting personal additions and assignments onto my blog have not been up to par.

Connecting and Engaging:

    My connecting and engaging in class is not as high as it could. I have not commented on my class mates blogs as much as I could have nor have I even visited their blogs. This I plan to do a lot more of, I would love to see how my fellow class mates have been designing their blog. Additionally, I believe that even though I didn't read to the grade three Thompson class or speak with them directly, I was still engaging in the Skype call by listening, watching and laughing along with them. Another thing is that I have made sure to regularly attend classes. Overall I give myself a B in is category, I haven’t been perfect with my connecting and engaging in class but I have still been participating this is why I have given myself a B.

3 Course Goal

1)  Improve my mark:

    My most important goal for the rest of this semester is to greatly improve my mark.  A 63 is not a good enough mark for me, especially when I know I can do a lot better, my mark should be an 80 at the least.  It is my list of uncompleted assignments that have my mark so low, and to be honest I don’t even understand how I’ve gotten so far behind in my work but I am determined to get fully caught up.  I will accomplish this by focusing all my class time into the assignments given, asking for help if I’m stuck on what to write about or on what to do, and I will make sure  to not give into my procrastinating ways.

2) Improve my work habits

   I believe that I started off this semester working great, I was handing in all assignment in a timely fashion and paying very close attention to everything being said by the teacher. It was a few weeks in that my work started going downhill, a friend had joined the class and I got distracted big time. My class time turned into nonstop talking, and telling myself I’ll finish this later, each time I said it I always had full intention to do so, but life would get in the way. I would have work; volunteering and I constantly made the wrong choice of choosing to hang out with the boyfriend instead of doing homework. Now, for the rest of the semester I am going to improve my work habits and my work ethic.

3) Get caught up & have everything completed.

   I realize that throughout this semester I have not been putting my full 110% into this course, and to be honest it saddens me. I could do better than I have been and I would really like to show that.  So my third and final goal for the rest of this semester is to complete every assignment that I have not completed and use my class time wisely for the rest of the projects we will be given. I am determined to finish the goal of mine, and I know that I am stubborn enough to make myself do it.

Memoir #2 - The Past

    I chose this image because I thought that it was a great representation of "the light at the end if the tunnel." Meaning that no matter how ruff or challenging your past may have been the future is wide open and full of possibilities!

       I made the writing for this picture grey to fit with the black & white photo, and seeing as I am talking about the past i was hoping for it to seem as though the words were simply fading into the background similar to how moments of your past fade in your memory.

     Additionally i believe that the bricks can represent the good and bad actions of the past. The light bricks being the good, and the darker bricks being the bad. My rationalization of this analogy is that not everyday we have is strictly good, or strictly bad. We have many mixed days, which is why, in my opinion the brick n this image greatly portray each point of time in our lives. Seeing as there are a few stones that seem to be in between, showing those mixed days we have. All in all, my thoughts are as I've mentioned, that this picture is a great way to symbolize the previous days of our lives.

Memoir #1 - The Future

    I chose this photo as a representation of the future because the white walls of the hall remind me of how clean and fresh our futures are.The walls are like a blank sheet of paper waiting to be written on, similar to how the future is waiting to be played out. What the future will look like is completely up to us. 

   Another way this hallway is symbolic of the future is in it's size, the skinniness allows you to look back for only a second before you must return to looking forward, in order to make sure you do not run into another person. Much like how in order to build a successful future you must look into your past, but you cannot dwell on it. The length, also is a reminder of the future seeing as the future is long and unknowing.

  The reflection of the lights on the floor can also symbolic of reflecting upon yourself, as you move through life, you must also reflect back, acknowledging what you use to be and how you have changed for the better. 

   I decided to make the writing white as a way to make it blend with the background and not stand out to much, While I used the filter fade, to make the whiteness of the walls pop more. 

Reading Assignment #4

1 - My one night stand with a married lawyer ended in a pregnancy, never doing that again #lessonedlearned

2 - Just found out that the high end doctors I am paying to help my son, overdosed him. They don't deserve to be called doctors #pissed

3 - I miss the old days... back when Max was little everything was easier then, it was so simple.

4 - I don't know what i would do without my best friends, Georgia is my family. I would be lost without her help and dedication #loveher

5 - I wish my mother and father were still here... I need help, I dont know what to do for Max #confused #wishfulthinking

6 - Met the absolute best guy last night at the bar, I really want to see Ted again. #crushinhard

7 - Ted asked me to have dinner with him tonight.. I really want to go but my life is just too complicated to bring him into.. #conflicted 

8 - I have worked way to hard to get this partner ship my firm and if they give it to that ass kisser Matthews I'll be mad #Ideservethis

9 - The partnership at my firm is without a doubt a mans club. I hope they can look past my being a women and see the great work I've done #hopefulthinking 

10 - My son attacked another patient today, their trying to tell me that it was unprovoked but I don't know what to believe.. 

11 - I have to get this partnership! If I don't then I'm out of a job, I don't know how I'd support Max's medical bills.. 

12 - Oh I could kill E. Bartlett!! He left me out to hang in the breeze throughout all those patronizing questions!! #donewithguys #fueltomyfire

13 - Just left the partners meeting.. I have no idea how I should feel about the way it went #nervous

14 - I'm done with all of the fancy doctors never giving me a straight answer! If I can't get what I'm looking for from them, I'll have to find it myself. 

15 - I'm taking Max out of Maitland! They call themselves a high end facility yet they are the worst of the worst. I advise never to go there 

Reading Assignment #3 Text Connections

Saving Max, 95

One connection that I've made while reading Saving Max, is a text to self connection. Throughout the book Danielle's love and devotion to her son as never wavered. No matter what obstacles we thrown in there way, she was always there to support Max and help him through the dark times of self loathing and depression. Always making sure he had the best doctors, that's why when Max's thoughts switched to suicide, they went to Maitland, the highest ranked psychiatric hospital in New York. Danielle would go to te ends of the earth for the people she loves. It's in that quality that we are the same, although the hardships my family has been through are completely different then theirs. I would do absolutely anything to protect and help my family. Danielle and I would sacrifice everything to help our loved ones out of whatever trouble they've gotten into, and we would do it in a heartbeat.