paper

Ryan Morgan

March 9, 2015

Kirsten Kaschock

The United States offers two main types of school for children under the age of 18, public and private schools. Personally, having gone to a private, all girls, school that required me to wear a uniform my whole life (14 years), I do not know much about public school. Private schools are known for their small classes, liberal arts education and high tuition costs, where as public schools are known for their large classes, bigger schools and basically, free tuition.

Ever since I can remember, my morning routine has been the same until this year. I recall me waking up, putting on my uniform and going to the Baldwin school in Bryn Mawr Pa. I loved everything about it. It was a place where judgments were thrown out the window and I did not need to worry about impressing anyone. I could simply be myself and focus solely on getting the best education possible, not what shoes looked nicer with my outfit.

My graduating class of 52 girls, or sisters as we called ourselves, was an extremely tight knit group of girls. We always sat, ate and hung out in first our freshman, then sophomore, then junior, and eventually senior lounge. The schooling I went through prepared me for college both academically and socially speaking. I was taught early on how to write all kinds of long and short papers as well as stories. I was taught time management and organization skills that I still use to this day. All of my teachers were very dedicated to their student’s success and the subject they were teaching. They were genuinely interested in the well being of their students and wanted them to succeed in every way possible. They were extremely skilled in their fields of learning, even though private schools do not require a teaching certification. I can honestly say that I had a great relationship with every one of my teachers. I still keep in contact with some of them today. Last week one of my favorite teachers, Mr. Kountz e-mailed me as well as my close friends asking us how we all were and to make sure that we all stop in to say hello during our spring breaks. Our small class sizes made way for very close student-teacher relationships; my biggest class being 16 girls. One of my fondest memories was when I was in 9^th grade. I was not expecting the big change in work from middle school to upper school and I was falling behind in my math class. My teacher, Mrs. Loke noticed that I was not doing too well and pulled me aside after class one day. She spoke to me and we set up regular meeting times and soon enough I was back on track. Mrs. Loke could have just let me slip through the cracks, but instead showed how much she cared and helped me better myself. Although I am blindly because I never went to public school, and biased because I experienced so many great things, I would not change my years at Baldwin for anything. I believe any other schooling could come close to the experiences and memories I have from Baldwin. Baldwin taught me to be an independent, strong, confident, women. And, as you can see I can talk about Baldwin for hours.

Now, of course there are many different private schools, college prep day schools, boarding schools, military academies, special needs and art academies, but I will focus on college prep schools. These schools are highly selective and according to an article by greatschools.org, private schools are “by their very definition, selective. They are not obligated to accept every child, so getting admitted may involve in-depth applications with multiple interviews, essays, and testing.” Besides academics, private schools admit students based on their racial and religious backgrounds. Compared to public school, private schools are known for a great deal of things. Smaller class sizes where each student receives attention, large amount of extracurricular activities, high tuition, and most likely a uniform. According to an article in the New York Times, private schools “because of their low student-to-teacher ratios, can focus on each student’s specific needs, helping each child reach his or her potential.”

Public schools, on the other hand, open their doors to everyone who lives within a specific geographical boundary. Teachers that teach in public schools do have to in fact be certified and go through state training to be informed about teaching techniques. Unlike private schools, public schools do not cost any extra money to attend. According to the same article mentioned above by greatschool.org, public schools are “often underfunded operations influenced by political winds and shortfalls. Financed through federal, state, and local taxes, public school are a part of a larger school system, which functions as a part of the government and must follow the rules and regulations set by politicians.” Grade sizes and individual class sizes in public schools are generally bigger, making it hard for students to build good relationships with their teachers. Not all public schools have the means to help students that have special needs or learning disabilities making it hard for students who have these setbacks to flourish.

I organized an interview with one of my roommates, Jessica, and asked her questions about her experience attending public school throughout her life. I first asked her if going to a public high school was her choice and she responded “It was mine, my mom’s and my dad’s choice. I actually considered going to private school for high school but the public school in my area is very good academically so I did not feel the need to switch, pay thousands in tuition, and make new friends.” I listened as the conversation flowed to how many people were in her grade and individual classes and what the pros and cons were to having large classes. She answered “I had 270 people in my grade and there were anywhere from 24 to 30 people in my classes. The pros of having a large number of people in my grade were I would always have people to be with in class or outside of class and everyone lived near one another. The cons being, I didn’t know everyone in my grade personally.” I was curious to see if Jessica’s public school education prepared her for academics in college. She said that her school did not do a great job in this regard, “I took many free periods in the morning so I never had to wake up early for classes. I had never written more than a four-page paper in high school and now I have to write seven to eight pages papers and I find it very difficult.”

Working on this paper, doing research, and speaking with Jessica, have shown the similarities and differences between the two types of schooling. I learned a lot from my interview, as well as the research I did to prepare for it, and found it interesting to see a different side of the argument.

Work Cited

Anonymous. Private Schools: Exceptional Education. New York Times Magazine Oct 09 2005: 74. ProQuest. 26 Jan. 2015.

Findings in Economic Research Reported from Colgate University (The Effect of Private High School Education on the College Trajectory). VerticalNews.com Dec 31, 2014. Education Letter.

Patrick J. Wolf. Comparing Public Schools to Private. Education Next. July 1, 2014. Vol. 14 Issue 3, p52-54. 3p.

GreatSchools Staff. Private Versus Public. GreatSchools: Greatschools.org 1998-2015 

Guarino, Jessica. Personal interview. January 2015.

Read and Response

Read and Response

Week Five

Even though I did not directly mention stereotypes in my identity paper, I do believe that there are. Having gone to private school my whole life, I have just about heard all of the stereotypes possible about it. Although I think people should not stereotype I always look past it because I know what people are saying is not true. I really enjoyed reading the second article I thought the story was very interesting to read about. I believe that everyone in the world is very interested, too interested in what other people think about them or what other people think about what they are doing. I think everyone needs to calm down and focus on making him or herself happy and stop trying to only please others. 

Week Six

Part 1.

I have always had trouble with writing and grammar. When and where to put commas, colons and comma slices have always confused me. So after reading through all of the twenty tabs I was not surprised with some of the ones that I identify with. After reading through my first three paragraphs of my paper I realized that I was missing commas after some of the introductory elements. I also did not put commas into a lot of my sentences but instead broke them a part making my paper sound more choppy than necessary. Sometimes I when I write and re read my papers I go through it so quickly that I forget and read over silly mistakes like the wrong verb tense. All of my paper will be written in the past tense and then all of the sudden there is a present tense verb thrown in there. I also get "its and it's" confused a lot as well. 

Part 2.

I enjoyed watching this video. I found it very interesting. This video relates to the process in which some of us wrote our papers because in a lot of them we needed to "step outside ourselves" and write about something that we were not familiar with. We had to write about other people and their cultures. 

Week Seven

Justin, 

I really enjoyed your intro paragraph. I thought It gave a lot of detail, but not too much detail and I believe it is a good opening to the rest of your paper. As Jake already mentioned it would be a good idea to maybe talk to one or two other people and get their views as well so you could talk about move views other than just your fathers'. You did a good job explaining the questions you asked your father as well as the discussion you both had. 

Jake,

I enjoyed your into paragraph and I believe it is a good start and opening to your paper. However I think there may be a couple grammatical errors. "These religious groups have made the assumption that intermarriages has resulted in a smaller amount of practicing followers each year." I believe it should be... These religious groups have made the assumptions that intermarriages have resulted in a smaller amount of practicing followers each year. For the second quote in the second paragraph I'm not sure if this is necessary but you may want to say where Gene Demby is writing from like the New York Times etc. I think it'd be great to include a little more of what your grandfather had to say back to the interview questions you asked him. I am Jewish and I really enjoy reading more about the culture so this paper was very interesting to me. My mother, not so much my father but my mother and her whole side of the family has always told my brother and I as well as the other kids in the family that we have to marry other Jewish people. That is what I have always grown up with so this paper was very interesting to read. 

Week 8

Karen Swallow Prior argument is that reading makes people more relatable to one another. She makes her argument by citing many other people with quotes that they have said. The sources that she used and cited all helped make her point. She used quotes from articles in the New York Times as well as Time, essays, and studies. All of the sources she used in her article had the hyperlink there to make everything clear to the reader. I really enjoyed when Prior said, "Reading is one of the few distinctively human activities that set us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom." I actually really enjoyed that whole paragraph. I think what she said here is very true. Prior discussed how reading "must be taught" and that it "might be considered one of the most spiritual of all human activities." I think Prior did a great job introducing all of her sources and describing all of the quotes she put into her article. In comparison to the article we read in class last week by Said, I think that Prior did a better job at making her argument clear to the reader. I found it a little difficult to understand fully what Said was saying throughout his article as well as what he was actually arguing. Prior explained everything she was saying and I found her argument clear to define while reading. 

Prompts

Prompts

Week Five

/

You are in the car waiting in line, watching the crowds of girls walk up the stairs and up the grass into the building that looks like a castle or Hogwarts, scared, nervous, and excited. You are happy to be back at the place you have spent almost your whole life at and to see the people you have spent that time with. You are excited to go back to your everyday routine. Happy to put your uniform back on. Although going here is old, this next step is something new, a big change. 

/

You are the youngest one again. You have so much more freedom and not nearly as many rules as you have had previously. You get a choice of the classes you can take. You are scared, nervous, and excited. 

/

When you arrive you see familiar faces mixed with a bunch of scared and unfamiliar faces. You are scared, nervous and excited for those new people. Your teachers will be warm and happy to meet you but will give you much more responsibility that you have had in the past. 

/

When an unfamiliar face asks you to help her out you welcome her warmly and bond about first day gitters. She is lost and very confused about where everything in this only building with new features inside of it. 

/

You are about to start class with a teacher you have always seen walking around in the hallways and in the cafeteria but have never met and never thought you would ever be old enough to be sitting in her class. You are scared, nervous, and excited. 

/

Week Six

file:///Users/ryanmorgan/Downloads/private%20vs%20public.pdf

Week Seven

I was asked to re read my whole paper and look for grammatical errors. 

The United States offers two main types of school for children under the age of 18, public and private schools. Personally, having gone to a private, all girls, school that required me to wear a uniform my whole life (14 years), I do not know much about public school. Private schools are known for their small classes, liberal arts education and high tuition costs, where as public schools are known for their large classes, bigger schools and basically, free tuition.

Ever since I can remember, my morning routine has been the same until this year. I recall me waking up, putting on my uniform and going to the Baldwin school. I loved everything about it. It was a place where judgments were thrown out the window and I did not need to worry about impressing anyone. I could simply be myself and focus solely on getting the best education possible, not what shoes looked nicer with my outfit.

My graduating class of 52 girls, or sisters as we called ourselves, was an extremely tight knit group. The schooling I went through prepared me for college both academically and socially speaking. All of my teachers were very dedicated to their student’s success and the subject they were teaching. They were genuinely interested in the well being of their students and wanted them to succeed in every way possible. They were extremely skilled in their fields of learning, even though private schools do not require a teaching certification. I can honestly say that I had a great relationship with every one of my teachers. Our small class sizes made way for very close student-teacher relationships; my biggest class being 16 girls. Although I am blindly because I never went to public school, and biased because I experienced so many great things, I would not change my years at Baldwin for anything. I believe any other schooling could come close to the experiences and memories I have from Baldwin. Baldwin taught me to be an independent, strong, confident, women. And, as you can see I can talk about Baldwin for hours.

Now, of course there are many different private schools, college prep day schools, boarding schools, military academies, special needs and art academies, but I will focus on college prep schools. These schools are highly selective and according to an article by greatschools.org, private schools are “by their very definition, selective. They are not obligated to accept every child, so getting admitted may involve in-depth applications with multiple interviews, essays, and testing.” Besides academics, private schools admit students based on their racial and religious backgrounds. Compared to public school, private schools are known for a great deal of things. Smaller class sizes where each student receives attention, large amount of extracurricular activities, high tuition, and most likely a uniform. According to an article in the New York Times, private schools “because of their low student-to-teacher ratios, can focus on each student’s specific needs, helping each child reach his or her potential.”

Public schools, on the other hand, open their doors to everyone who lives within a specific geographical boundary. Teachers that teach in public schools do have to in fact be certified and go through state training to be informed about teaching techniques. Unlike private schools, public schools do not cost any extra money to attend. According to the same article mentioned above by greatschool.org, public schools are “often underfunded operations influenced by political winds and shortfalls. Financed through federal, state, and local taxes, public school are a part of a larger school system, which functions as a part of the government and must follow the rules and regulations set by politicians.” Grade sizes and individual class sizes in public schools are generally bigger, making it hard for students to build good relationships with their teachers. Not all public schools have the means to help students that have special needs or learning disabilities making it hard for students who have these setbacks to flourish.

I organized an interview with one of my roommates, Jessica, and asked her questions about her experience attending public school throughout her life. I first asked her if going to a public high school was her choice and she responded “It was mine, my mom’s and my dad’s choice. I actually considered going to private school for high school but the public school in my area is very good academically so I did not feel the need to switch, pay thousands in tuition, and make new friends.” I listened as the conversation flowed to how many people were in her grade and individual classes and what the pros and cons were to having large classes. She answered “I had 270 people in my grade and there were anywhere from 24 to 30 people in my classes. The pros of having a large number of people in my grade were I would always have people to be with in class or outside of class and everyone lived near one another. The cons being, I didn’t know everyone in my grade personally.” I was curious to see if Jessica’s public school education prepared her for academics in college. She said that her school did not do a great job in this regard, “I took many free periods in the morning so I never had to wake up early for classes. I had never written more than a four-page paper in high school and now I have to write seven to eight pages papers and I find it very difficult.”

Working on this paper, doing research, and speaking with Jessica, have shown the similarities and differences between the two types of schooling. I learned a lot from my interview, as well as the research I did to prepare for it, and found it interesting to see a different side of the argument.

Read and Response to Peers

Read and Response to Peers

Week Five

Nick,

I like how you did not just talk about older kids in school but you also incorporated younger children as well (kindergarten). I like how you went back and fourth between the two as well. You went from older kids with new technology and speaking in a more grown up manner to younger children playing with toys on the playground and their spider man backpacks. 

Jake, 

I enjoyed reading this because I am too Jewish and this really relates to me as well as I believe it is very accurate. Although I would only attend synagogue on the high holidays as well as Bar and Bat Mitzvahs it is good that you are very dedicated to your religion. This is very much like your paper as well as your thesis and I believe you did a very good job constructing your prose. 

Justin, 

I like how each paragraph is a different thing that happens when stereotyping the Jewish religion or just about the Jewish religion in general. I too am Jewish and have hears the term "JAP" many many times and also wonder why that type of person is just automatically thought of as Jewish. It does not make much sense to me. 'Oy gevalt" as well as "shlep" are also used in my house but mostly only when my grandmother is in town. To me those things are regular to me and I forget that others, like my friends do not know the meanings. So when they come over they always look confused when those things are said. 

Week Six

Nick,

When looking at the pictures you chose I am confused but also have somewhat of an idea of what your paper is about. There is a mix of different things on this paper but I can tell that it has something to do with being loud and out there. There is nothing dull about your paper and the items you chose to put in this really represent that. I was very clear with the pictures I chose. I like how you were not as clear and made this more mysterious.

Parth,

I like the pictures you chose. When I first look at them it makes me think of new beginnings and a fresh start. It is clear to me when looking at these pictures what your topic is or an idea of what your topic is for your paper. I really enjoy the quote you used as well. I do remember what the topic for your paper is from a previous assignment and I believe this goes along perfectly with it. 

Week Seven

Justin,

Although you did not add an additional interview I believe you have made really good improvements in your paper. I believe with the corrections you made your paper moves in an easier way and allows the reader to get a better understanding of what your paper is all about. 

Jake, 

Right away I believed this interview would be a great addition to your argument. Andrew is a perfect candidate for your argument, being raised in a Jewish and religious household and having his parents wanting him to marry a Jewish girl but ends up marrying a catholic girl. 

Week Eight

Jake,

I agree that the way that Prior presents her citations makes the essay more fluent. I enjoyed reading the essay and not having to wait until the end or scroll all the way down to see a source. I think this made the essay flow nicely and made it more easy to read. Although I disagree that Prior's piece was a better argument than Said's, I do think that you made some good arguments for why Prior's was better. Said's piece was challenging to read, but I could understand most of it even before the analysis. As you pointed out, Prior used a lot of research to get her point across. Her piece relied much more on ethos and logos than Said's.

Justin, 

You are correct; well I believe you are correct when you said that you think Prior's argument is that reading makes people more relatable. I think by her adding in the hyperlinks to the sources she cited allowed her readers to feel more informed and made them understand what she was saying easier. I too like the idea she mentioned about putting someone in someone else's shoes. This allows people to see how others view the world around them. 

Identity Paper

Ryan Morgan
Kaschock
English 102
February 4, 2015

In the United States the two main types of schooling in high school, middle school and lower school are private and public schools. Having gone to a private, all girls’ school with a uniform for my whole life (14 years) I do not know a lot about public education but a lot about private education. Private Schools are known for their small classes, high education as well as high costs. Where as public school is known for their large classes, bigger schools and free tuition. 

Ever since I was little I can always recall me waking up, putting on my uniform and going to The Baldwin School. I loved this place. It was a place I did not need to worry about impressing anyone but instead I could be my true self while getting basically the best education possible. My graduating class of 52 sisters were very close to one another and everyone was friends. The schooling I went through prepared me for college very well academically as well as socially speaking. All of my teachers were very dedicated to their student’s success and what they were teaching. They were genuinely interested in the well being of their students and wanted them to succeed in every way possible. They were extremely skilled in their fields of learning even though they did not need a teaching degree to work at a private school. I had a great relationship with every one of my teachers, my biggest class size was 16 girls and I believe having small classes really allowed this to happen.  Although I did not know any different, I would not change my years at Baldwin for anything. I believe I had the most amazing experiences there that I never would have gone through at any other place. I became an independent, strong confident woman there and I could go on for hours talking about my experience at The Baldwin School.

There are a couple different types of private schools, college preparatory day schools, boarding schools, military academies, special needs and art academies. I will be talking about college preparatory schools. This type of private school does not just admit anyone. According to an article Greatschools.org by the GreatSchool Staff, “Private schools, by their very definition, are selective. They are not obligated to accept every child, so getting admitted may involve in-depth applications with multiple interviews, essays, and testing.” Besides academics, Private schools admit students based on their racial and religious beliefs. Compared to public school, private schools are known for a great deal of things.  They are known to have smaller classes where the teachers give the students great personal attention, a large amount of additional things to do outside of attending classes (clubs and sports teams), a high tuition, sometimes a uniform, sometimes single sex schools, and according to an article in the New York Times, Private Schools: Exceptional Education by Anonymous, “because of their low student-to-teacher ratios, private schools can focus on each student's specific needs, helping each child reach his or her potential.” 

Public Schools on the other hand do admit anyone who lives in the area of the school district and, for free. Teachers that teach in public schools do have to in fact be state certified and go through state trainings to ensure they are informed about teaching techniques and about their topic they will be teaching. Unlike private schools, public schools do not cost any money to attend. According to an article Greatschools.org by the GreatSchool Staff, Public schools are “often underfunded operations influenced by political winds and shortfalls. Financed through federal, state, and local taxes, public schools are part of a larger school system, which functions as a part of the government and must follow the rules and regulations set by politicians.” Grade sizes and class sizes in public schools are generally bigger making it hard for students and teachers to build good relationships. Not all public schools have means to help students that have special needs and or learning disabilities so it may be hard for students who have these things to flourish in this type of environment.

I organized an interview with one of my roommates, Jessica and asked her questions about her experience attending public school throughout all of lower, middle and high school. I first asked her if it was her choice, her parents’ choice or all of their choices to attend public school and why was this decision made? She responded and said, “It was mine, my moms and my dad’s choice. I actually considered going to private school for high school but the public schools in my area are very good academically so I did not feel there was a reason to switch, pay money and have to make all new friends.” I listened and then asked her how many people were in her grade as well as her individual classes and what were the pros and cons of having a large class? She responded and said, “ I had 270 people in my grade and there were 24 to 30 people in my classes. The pros for having a large number of people in my grade were I would always have people to be with and everyone lived near one another because the people attending my school all had to live in the area. The cons were I didn’t know everyone in my grade personally.” Next I wanted to hear if her education in public school prepared her for college academically. She responded and said, “Negatively, I took a lot of free periods in the mornings so I never had to wake up early for classes and in college I do. I had never written more than a four-page paper in high school and now I have to write 7 to 8 page ones and it is very difficult.

Writing this paper made me realize the differences and similarities between the two types of schooling. I learned a lot from my interview as well as the research I did to prepare me. I really enjoyed hearing about Jessica’s experience in public school because it was so different than mine.

Work Cited

Anonymous. Private Schools: Exceptional Education. New York Times Magazine Oct 09 2005: 74. ProQuest. 26 Jan. 2015.

Findings in Economic Research Reported from Colgate University (The Effect of Private High School Education on the College Trajectory). VerticalNews.com Dec 31, 2014. Education Letter.

Patrick J. Wolf. Comparing Public Schools to Private. Education Next. July 1, 2014. Vol. 14 Issue 3, p52-54. 3p.

GreatSchools Staff. Private Versus Public. GreatSchools: Greatschools.org 1998-2015  

Responses to Peers

Week One: Parth P,

I believe someone who can adapt to changes and to the different situations they find themselves in with ease is a great thing to be able to do. It shows they can work in any situation comfortably and that is a great thing to know how to do. I completely agree with your definition of adaptability and this was very well written. 

Meru,

I believe that lying does have its perks or seems like it has its perks at the time the lie is being told but after that I believe the lie will either eat away at the person who told the lie or it will somehow come out and backfire on the person who told the lie. I think that lying, sometimes is temporarily a good thing but in the long run it is not. having said this, i am still a little confused as to why you put all of your qualities down as lies and not truths. 

Ryan 

Parth B,

I really enjoyed how you wrote about ambition. I believe ambition is an amazing quality someone can have. It shows that they are dedicated, hardworking, and really know what they want. I completely agree with what you said about people being jealous of others who have ambition. I really enjoyed reading this paragraph, it was very good.

Ryan 

Nick, 

I completely agree with your definition of an artist. I also believe that an artist is not just someone who draws, paints or sculpts something. I enjoyed how you included imagination into your response as well. I enjoyed this because i believe one of an artists greatest qualities is their imagination. 

Ryan 

Neha,

I do agree with you when you you discussed how very famous people can be monsters as well. Overall I agree with your paragraph that defines what a monster is. However I am confused as to why you think you are a monster. Have you done something evil, bad or selfish? Although I basically do not know you at all and I have only bet you one time (our first class period) you do not seem to be a monster in any way, you seemed very nice and kind. 

Ryan 

Week Two: Parth, 

I too went through a similar experience you went through. Growing up I had to go to Hebrew school once or twice a week. I was always forced to go and constantly wanted to know what everything actually meant. I was learning a language that I could only read as well as recite aloud but not understand. Reading your response to the prompt made me happy for you that your parents were so accepting of the questions you asked them. 

Nick,

My first job was similar when talking about the hours but when it came to the actual work I loved it. It was long but I worked in fashion and that is something I love to work with. Maybe you just hated the job as well as the hours because you did not enjoy what you were doing. 

Week Three: Nick,

I really like the topic you chose to write about. I also like the way you plan to go about interviewing the children and agree with your plan of action. I look forward to reading more about what will happen with your topic.

Ryan 

Parth,

I think your topic is very interesting. I love hearing about these kinds of experiences from different people. One of my best friends in high school moved to America from Australia when she was in fourth grade and I really enjoy hearing the differences of cultures and similarities as well. I think the questions you came up with will be great for your paper. 

Week Four:

Nick, 

Your intro does a very good job of explaining clearly what the rest of your paper will be about and the topic you chose. You also did a good job stating your opinion about your topic.

Ryan  

Parth,

I liked how you talked about how you interviewed the person you interviewed for the paper. I think that is a good idea that I did not think to do in my rough draft of my intro. I think this is a good way to start your paper. 

Ryan 

Prompts

Week One: I am a girl. I am a woman. I am a strong woman. I am an athlete. I am a sister. I am a daughter. I am a stepdaughter. I am a squash player. I am an innovator. I am a writer. I am a fashion lover. I am Jewish. I am a TV watcher. I am an avid on line shopper. I am a movie watcher. I am tired. I am a reader. I am an artist. I am 19. I am hungry. I am a college student. I am a student athlete. I am in a sorority. I am white. I am from the suburbs. I am an accomplished woman. I am a freshman. I am cold. I am assertive. I am a vegan. 

True: I am a girl. I am a woman. I am a strong woman. I am an athlete. I am a sister. I am a daughter. I am a stepdaughter. I am a squash player. I am a writer. I am a fashion lover. I am Jewish. I am a TV watcher. I am an avid on line shopper. I am a movie watcher. I am tired. I am a reader. I am an artist. I am 19. I am a college student. I am a student athlete. I am in a sorority. I am white. I am from the suburbs. I am an accomplished woman. I am a freshman. I am assertive. I am a vegan. 

False: I am an innovator. I am hungry. I am cold. 

What does it mean to be a sister? Do you have to be related to someone to be their sister? Can you only have a certain amount of sisters? Do all of your sisters have to know one another?

I love family and strongly believe that family does come first. In my opinion you do not need to be blood related to someone to necessarily be their sister. I am an official sister to two brothers but I am also a sister to 8 girls as well. I consider my best friends to be my sisters. I spend so much of my time with them and tell them everything. There is nothing they can do or say that will make me like them any less and they all feel the same way as well. 

Week Two: Although my family is not strongly religious, my parents still go to synagogue on the high holidays and abide by some of the rules of Judiasm. One rule they are very keen on is the "no piercings (except the regular ones) and no tattoos" rule. I wanted my cartilage pierced so badly when I was in seventh grade. I thought it was the coolest thing at the time and believed it would look so great on me. I asked my mom about twenty times if I could get it pierced and of course she said no every single time in a rude voice. So of course I acted out and got it pierced without her. I hid it from her for a great three days but when she finally saw it was furious at me. I went against not just her beliefs but our families' beliefs as well. Although she eventually got over it because I still have it in and never took it out I still did something that our culture does not believe in. 

Week Three: My topic is private school education vs. public school education in America. For my interview I will be interviewing one of my roommates. I am interviewing her because she went to public school. I would like to get her opinions on what she thought about it compared to my discoveries online as well as my own knowledge having attended private school my whole life (14 years) up until college. I will be interviewing her in person and I will be taking notes on my computer. 

1. Was it your choice, your parents choice or both of your choices to attend public school?

2. Why was this decision chosen?

3. Did you ever want to transfer to private school once already enrolled in public school?

4. How many people were in your grade?

5. Did you know everyone in your grade?

6. How big were your classes?

7. How were your relationships with your teachers?

8. How do you think high school has prepared you for college, academically speaking?

9. How did you feel going to a coed school?

10. Were all of your teachers genuinely engaged and did they enjoy teaching their classes?

Week Four:  In the United States the two main types of schooling in high school, middle school and lower school are private and public schools. Having gone to a private, all girls’ school with a uniform for my whole life (14 years) I do not know a lot about public education but a lot about private education. Private Schools are known for their small classes, high education as well as high costs. Where as public school is known for their large classes, bigger schools and free tuition.