Power Writing- The College of My Dreams

My personal experiences, beliefs, and values are the most important aspects of what college will fit my dreams. Within these ideas lie what I look for, such as the strength of the school in the area I want to study, activities on campus, as well as the presence of the military on campus.
There are questions all students think about when looking at college. Small or large? Urban or rural? Public or private? This are all valid questions, because you obviously don't want to be going to school in the desert, for example, if you don't like the summer heat of Minnesota.
However these decisions alone should not shape college decisions. While important, the point of college is to study, so academics should shape any college search. The strength of academics is very important to me, especially the strength of the science, math, and engineering programs, which is what I plan on studying. I want to have professors who care about me as a person, who aren't so busy with research that they have no time to dedicate to their teaching obligations that leads to a piss-poor effort at best. Also as important in academics are the programs offered at the school or by the school. Special programs not offered by other schools, wide study abroad options avalible to many different locations around the world, and special opportunities in making connections with possible future employers are all important to me. The academic aspect is the place where all collegians make there biggest impact on their school, helping schools develop and gain status as "elite." This is why the Harvard's and Yale's of the world are so famous and elite, and I hope to continue this tradition no matter what school I actually end up attending.
College isn't all about studying though, and all colleges need to have fun activities to partake in in the free time I have. I love sports, so having great athletic teams is a huge leg up for any school, and I want to be able to attend games with national title implications that I currently watch on Saturday nights. However, just as important is the opportunity to be able to play intramural sports with friends on campus. I want to have many other clubs avaliable to me as well, of many different varities, and I want to see many of my fellow students involved on campus. You attend college for four years, and you want to be able to have fun those four years, which are some of the best years of your life, and I want to be able to have some of my greatest memories and friends come from this school.
I am an atypical college searcher however, in that I want to go into the military after college and become an officer. For this reason, I am attracted to schools such as West Point, Annapolis, and the Air Force Academy, even if it means a different college experience. I want to serve my country and continue in the long line of tradition of serving as an officer for this great country, and be associated with amazing Americans such as George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Dwight Eisenhower, and David Petraeus, all of whom were or currently are Generals in the United States Army. If I cannot attend one of the universities I consider the finest in the world, then I want whatever school I attend to have a strong ROTC program, where I can become an officer upon graduating. The military is one of the most amazing opportunities avaliable to any person, and I want to join the great number of people who have served and sacrified in the name of the United States of America.
College is an exciting time, but the search can be very laborous and time-consuming. To find your dream school, you have to look really deeply inside of yourself. You and only you know what school is the right school for you, and only you can get yourself there. I know that the perfect school for me is out there somewhere, and I know that I will find it, but I have to work hard to find that place that fits my beliefs and values, and I know that if I work hard, there is no way they will be able to not accept me to join their great academic community, where I can contribute and impact the world.

Why I Write

Writing occurs in my life everyday, whether or not I think of it as "writing." There are the ideas I think of as "writing" when I hear the word, which would generally be having to do a research paper or an essay in school. This form of writing, with which I associate, makes me often stress about writing, and it is not something I do for fun.
But there is the other useful side of writing used so much more that I barely think about, which is the useful, everyday side. Everyday, I write notes to myself to remember things, I "write" text messages in order to communicate with other people, I write for a multitude of reasons that even I can't list off. But each of these influences my writing and my ideas of and about writers.
I feel like I associate with Orwell, especially from the third paragraph of his essay Why I Write. He talks about some of the "made-to-order" stuff which I produced quickly, easily and without much pleasure to myself." School work is mentioned in this section, as are many of his other "small" works he did. I like agree with his ideas on background influcing work, as I feel that the experiences I have had always show up in my writing, and looking at biographies of other writers, many fiction stories are created because they are influenced by something that happened at a point in the writer's life that gave them a strong memory. I also understand what he is saying about the four motives involved in writing, which include sheer egoism, aesthetic enthusiasm, historical impulse, and political purpose. I feel like reading or producing any piece of writing, you can find the combination of thes motives that influenced the writer to write what they did and how they wrote it.
Writing, whether for fun or for a specific purpose, is about expressing yourself and your ideas to the world. There may be many different forms through which to this, but you have to remember just one thing: It's all writing.

1-0!!!

Packers beat the Eagles 27-20 today, it was a tough day for both teams but the Packers did get it going in the 2nd half and deserved the victory. Next week the Buffalo Bills visit Lambeau Field. Looking foward to it!

Football is Here

School is back in session, the weather is turning cool, and the baseball season is winding down for the year. That can mean only one thing; It's time for football again!
The NFL, which of course is the greatest football on the planet has started back up, and I feel a Packers Super Bowl victory this year! Aaron Rodgers should put up amazing numbers and compete for the MVP of the league, and it only helps when your receiving corps includes players such as Greg Jennings, Donald Driver, and Jermichael Finley. The defense, especially when Al Harris returns from injury, is going to be one of the best in the league. And to all the haters, remember who last year's NFL Defensive Player of the Year was? That's right, it was Charles Woodson, cornerback for none other than the Green Bay Packers. I'm looking forward to the first game Sunday, when the Packers take on the Eagles in the nationally televised second game of the doubleheader on FOX.
And not to forget about college football, which started last week. Alabama is the team to beat right now, considering they are #1 in both major polls. However, I feel like Boise State, with their win over VA Tech, now have a legitimate chance to make it to the BCS Championship Game. Speaking of the BCS, when are they going to get rid of it and create a playoff? It is the STUPIDEST system for determining a champion in all of the major sports. Anyway, back on topic, I would love to see the Texas Longhorns get back to the Championship Game again this year. Garrett Gilbert is now starting and they looked fairly good against Rice last week. This week they get to take on Wyoming in Austin, and they should get'er done fairly easily.
Hook'em Horns and GO PACK GO!

Greatest (First) Post Ever!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello. My name is Erik Sutton, and I have set up this blog for my AP Comp class. So far the class has been really fun! Periodically I will post on this blog for class, but I will also post for fun too!

Before I start describing my life, I will first give you a little background information. I am a junior in high school, halfway done with high school already!! I have will have many tough classes this year, including AP Comp, AP US History, 4x math, and AP Macro. I am also really looking forward to a class I have fourth term, US Military History. I am also actively involved in the school outside of class. I play tennis and swim for the school teams, and I am also in Student Council and YES. In my free time I like to play sports, including those I mentioned above, as well as play Xbox. My gamertag is dawiggy7, if you play feel free to add me. Onto my family, which includes my mom, dad, younger brother, and two younger sisters, as well as my dog.

Another fun thing I do in my free time is play ESPN's Streak for the Cash. Basically, ESPN lists matchups, which may be as simple as "Who will win this match" and can range to the total number of points scored in a basketball game or other complex props. They then give you two choices, and you have to pick between them. The point is to build up the longest streak, and the winner gets $100,000. This may sound easy, but it is not easy at all! My best streak is 12 wins in a row, and the winners generally get like 25 or so. Last night I got a W8, but in the Dodgers-Padres game someone got an extra base hit and I lost that streak. It is fun, and I also compete with friends to see who is the best at the game.

Well, that's about it, until next time, peace out!!!