Writing Assignment 2 (2nd Version)

A Student’s Place

     How do you define a student? I think everyone has different opinions; you can define a student by his or her age, school performance or maybe the attitude toward study. My personal opinions on becoming a student can be divided into three processes.

     Firstly, redefine “being a student.” What is usually meant by “I am a student”? You “become a student” when you go to school on the first day. After graduating from high school, college or graduate school, you are not a student anymore. I believe that is most people think about being a student. However, the meaning of being a student is more than that. As a student, you should do your best to embrace knowledge as well as skills which you learn from school. What’s more, apply what you learn in your daily life is also very important. This is not about the identity but the effort you made.

     The second process is “learn by yourself.” A student does not necessarily have to learn from teachers. Sometimes, learning by yourself you can gain more than being taught by teachers or professors. Thanks to today’s technology, a student can use a lot of tools to acquire knowledge. By the Internet, you can search countless information to do more research on your study. By other resources, such as novels, movies or even songs, they can teach you something your teachers would never tell you in the class. Somehow, those things can give inspiration and influence your entire life. This is about your attitude, whether you have a highly-motivated attitude toward learning new things or not.

     The last process is “enjoy learning.” I think for everybody that enjoy what you have to do in life is the best way to do those things right. For a student, the first priority in the things-to-do list should be homework or something related to study. However, the things that a student needs to do firstly do not mean those things will be finished firstly. If a student cannot enjoy studying and learning, I think that he or she would learn nothing in the end. Therefore, enjoy and love learning is key element of being a student.

     To sum up, “being a student” is not about the identity. It is all about how much effort you made to learn, your attitude toward learning new things and whether you can enjoy and love learning or not.

Writing Assignment 2 (1st Version)

A Student’s Place

     How do you define a student? I think everyone has different opinions; you can define a student by his or her age, school performance or maybe the attitude toward study. My personal opinions on becoming a student can be divided into three processes.

     Firstly, redefine “being a student.” What is usually meant by “I am a student”? You “become a student” when you go to school on the first day. After graduating from high school, college or graduate school, you are not a student anymore. I believe that is most people think about being a student. However, the meaning of being a student is more than that. As a student, you should do your best to embrace knowledge as well as skills which you learn from school. What’s more, apply what you learn in your daily life is also very important. This is not about the identity but the effort you made.

     The second process is “learn by yourself.” A student does not necessarily have to learn from teachers. Sometimes, learning by yourself you can gain more than being taught by teachers or professors. Thanks to today’s technology, a student can use a lot of tools to acquire knowledge. By the Internet, you can search countless information to do more research on your study. By other resources, such as novels, movies or even songs, they can teach you something your teachers would never tell you in the class. Somehow, those things can give inspiration and influence your entire life. This is about your attitude, whether you have a highly-motivated attitude toward learning new things or not.

     The last process is “enjoy learning.” I think for everybody that enjoy what you have to do in life is the best way to do those things right. For a student, the first priority in the things-to-do list should be homework or something related to study. However, the things that a student needs to do firstly do not mean those things will be finished firstly. If a student cannot enjoy studying and learning, I think that he or she would learn nothing in the end. Therefore, enjoy and love learning is key element of being a student.

     To sum up, “being a student” is not about the identity. It is all about how much effort you made to learn, your attitude toward learning new things and whether you can enjoy and love learning or not.

Writing Assignment 1 (Final Version)

Whitewater Rafting

     I believe that every parent hopes their children can be happy as well as healthy for good. Therefore, most parents are willing to try their best and do everything they can to protect their own children. My parents are no exception. After graduating from high school, my friends and I decided to take a three-day trip in Hualien in summer vacation. My parents had no problem with the trip, but an activity we planned to do-whitewater rafting.

     My parents thought whitewater rafting is too dangerous. Actually, all my friends’ parents thought that way, too. Although my parents already knew that I am the person who enjoys exciting activities, such as riding a rollercoaster or a pirate ship in the amusement park. My parents still worried about me and did not want to put me in danger. My mother kept asking me whether I really want to go whitewater rafting with my friends, and my father kept telling me how dangerous that could be. They thought all of my friends and me were inexperienced and too weak to do it. Safety was my parents’ biggest concern. In a word, they did not want me to go whitewater rafting with my friends in the most famous river in Hualien.

     I could understand my parents’ worries and feelings. I tried to tell my parents that whitewater rafting was not as dangerous as they thought and promised them everything would be fine. To be honest, go whitewater rafting was one of the things which I was desperate to do and I felt this might be the only chance in my lifetime to do it. Also, I believed this special experience would be an unforgettable memory in my life. As a result, I insisted on going whitewater rafting with my friends. Without spending too much time persuading my parents; at the end, they gave in and allowed me to go whitewater rafting.

     To sum up, parents around the globe do hope their children can be happy, carefree and healthy forever. No matter how old we are, in our parents’ eyes we always need their protection. However, children sometimes need their parents’ trust as well as support to experience new things and explore this world.

Writing Assignment 1 (2nd Version)

Whitewater Rafting

     I believe that every parent hopes their children can be happy as well as healthy for good. Therefore, most parents are willing to try their best and do everything they can to protect their own children. My parents are no exception. After graduating from high school, my friends and I decided to take a three-day trip in Hualien in summer vacation. My parents had no problem with the trip, but an activity we planned to do-whitewater rafting.

     My parents thought whitewater rafting is too dangerous. Actually, all my friends’ parents thought that way, too. Although my parents already knew that I am the person who enjoys exciting activities, such as riding the rollercoaster or the pirate ship in the amusement park. My parents still worried about me and did not want to put me in danger. My mother kept asking me whether I really want to go whitewater rafting with my friends, and my father kept telling me how dangerous that could be. They thought all of my friends and me were inexperienced and too weak to do it. Safety was my parents’ biggest concern. In a word, they did not want me to go whitewater rafting with my friends in the most famous river in Hualien.

     I could understand my parents’ worries and feelings. I told my parents that whitewater rafting was not as dangerous as they thought and promised them everything would be fine. To be honest, go whitewater rafting was one of the things which I was desperate to do and I felt this might be the only chance in my lifetime to do it. Also, I believed this special experience would be an unforgettable memory in my life. As a result, I insisted to go whitewater rafting with my friends. Without spending too much time persuading my parents; at the end, they gave in and allowed me to go whitewater rafting.

     To sum up, parents around the globe do hope their children can be happy, carefree and healthy forever. No matter how old we are, in our parents’ eyes we always need their protection. However, children sometimes need their parents’ trust as well as support to experience new things and explore this world.                

Writing Assignment 1 (1st Version)

Whitewater Rafting

     I believe that every parent hopes their children can be happy as well as healthy for good. Therefore, most parents are willing to try their best and do everything they can to protect their own children. My parents are no exception. After graduating from high school, my friends and I decided to take a three-day trip in Hualien in summer vacation. My parents had no problem with the trip, but an activity we planed to do-whitewater rafting.

     They thought whitewater rafting is too dangerous. Actually, all my friends’ parents thought that way, too. Although my parents already knew that I am the person who enjoys exciting activities, such as riding the rollercoaster or the pirate ship in the amusement park. My parents still worried about me and my friends. My mother kept asking me whether I really want to go whitewater rafting with my friends, and my father kept telling me how dangerous that could be. They thought all of us were inexperienced and too weak to do it. Safety was my parents’ biggest concern. In a word, they did not want me to go whitewater rafting with my friends in the most famous river in Hualien.

     I could understand my parents’ worries and feelings. I told my parents that whitewater rafting was not as dangerous as they thought and promised them everything would be fine. To be honest, go whitewater rafting was one of the things which I was desperate to do and I felt this might be the only chance in my lifetime to do it. Also, I believed this special experience would be an unforgettable memory of my life. As the result, I insisted to go whitewater rafting with my friends. Without spending too much time persuading my parents; at the end, they gave in and allowed me to go whitewater rafting.

     To sum up, parents around the globe do hope their children can be happy, carefree and healthy forever. Children sometimes need their parents’ trust as well as support to experience new things and explore this world. Both parents and children need to keep learning how to love each other in their own ways.

Short Takes - Playing House

1.      The question in the first paragraph is “Do the chances of a successful marriage improve by cohabiting?” Leight’s answer to this question is “Not necessarily true”

2.      The characteristics of a cohabiting couple and a married couple are very different. Cohabiting couples lack both specialization as well as commitment in their relationship. They generally live more financially and emotionally independent of one another to allow themselves the freedom to leave. On the contrary, married couples pool their money, time, and other resources, creating a higher quality lifestyle.

3.      Leight thought that cohabiting does not necessarily lead to a successful marriage or a tragic end of a relationship. In the last paragraph, Leight said “If a couple wishes to have a successful marriage, they should show their commitment to each other from the beginning. If they trust each other enough not to cohabit before marriage, their marriage already has a higher probability of success.”

4.      I think it is very sufficient, because those references did support what the writer said in this essay and her ideas about cohabiting.

5.      I haven’t thought of any loopholes yet.   

Short Takes - Living on Tokyo Time

1.      The examples that Butler gave are very effective to support her statement. Butler said that Japanese people are unbelievably busy by saying they work ten hours a day, and often come in even on days off. Also, the Japanese rarely take a vacation of more than three of four days. A straight week is a hedonistic luxury. Students in Japan have less than a month for summer vacation, and they have all kinds of assignments to do.

2.      Butler raised a question that why doesn’t this cradle-grave, manic scheduling bother the Japanese people. The answer to this question is that the Japanese people grow up with a sense of time as a communal resource, like the company motor pool.

3.      The Japanese attitude toward time is that time is a communal resource, like the company motor pool. However, the American toward time is that time belongs to individuals.

4.      I think Butler prefers the Japanese attitude. Because in the last paragraph she said all the convenience of life and the richness of culture are invaluable that she would not trade for a lifetime of free hours.

5.      She pointed out that most of the Americans take it for granted that their spare hours are none of their teachers’ or bosses’ business.