Second Day

Monday 13, April 2009

Today was a good day, I came back to school feeling rested and with the enough energy to conclude this semester, while I’m writing this I realize that today I have an attitude very positive, and the most certain is this would change over time, doesn’t matter because I will enjoy this feeling while it is in me.

In the writing class I was talking with a friend about why we choose our majors, I really enjoyed this conversation because I think that is really important to remind why we love our major and how we notice that we made the correct and the best decision in this important topic that would define the rest of our lives.

I think that doesn’t matter what is your age when you would take an important decision about your future, like choosing your major, if you want to get married or have children, the most important aspects that you have to have and know is that you have the ability, maturity, intelligence and the courage to achieve the goals that you are proposing.

Every human being makes mistakes, because no one is perfect, but the most important part of making mistakes is that we have the opportunity of learn about them, we grow and enrich ourselves when we decide that we can be better persons if we are always willing to change.

I’m really happy studying my major because I think that I have the skills and the outfit to succeed and feel fully accomplished in my near future when I will be working. I make a big effort to learn of my mistakes and not forget them with the pass of the time.

Second Day

Monday 13, April 2009

I didn’t continue writing in the week I started the journal because I had a lot of things to do, that week was very intense I had a lot of homework and exams; I was sleeping around three hours or less per day, I was so tired that I fell asleep in my classes and that is something that I hate.

I always try to make my best effort, especially in the school, even I’m tired and I don’t have enough energy. The Friday before Easter was the worst day of that week, at the end of the day in the only thing I could think is that I was going to sleep the next whole week and the best part of this ugly situation is that I wouldn’t have much homework during the Easter week.

I really enjoy the Easter because I rest a lot, I stayed at home with my family and I watched a lot of TV, specially one of my favorites TV series that is Grey´s Anatomy, I didn’t have enough time to watch all the seasons of this program, I also watched a lot of movies with my family.

I also went to downtown because I had an appointment for my eye exam with my new contacts, that didn’t result as I thought because the doctor picked me up again my contacts to make a new change, since January I’m trying to use them but now a days I still have problems, I concluded that wasn´t a good idea to change my lenses because I have being a lot of difficulties. I thought that the city was going to be empty, but I was very wrong because the downtown was like every weekend, and this was really disappointing.

And I didn’t go to Queretaro because I felt really tired and I didn’t want to spend my money in that trip, I also didn’t regret not going because a friend that went to the practice said me that it was very boring.

Journal

First Day

Tuesday 31, March 2009

Today I had to be at work since 8:00 am up to 6:00 pm and I had a lot of things to do, because I’m putting in order the preliminary information of the investigation job in which I’m collaborating.

Also I had to go to the Botanic Garden to do a topographic survey, this took me longer than I expected because my team work had a lot of complications using the theodolite, I spent 4 hours in the sun.
I returned to my job around 1:00 pm and I didn’t go out to eat with a friend because I hadn’t done any of the work that I have.

The next week I have a practice in Queretaro and today was the last day to pay the insurance, I went too late to do that treated and the list of student was all ready full, I had to talk with the teacher in charge and now I’m in a waiting list. That is horrible because I really want to go to that trip.

I arrived to my home around 8:00 pm and I had to make a lot of homework, I have an exam, a project delivery, a reporting of a practice and a series of exercises for Friday. I hadn’t sleep well in the last days and I think that this is getting worse every day. Now is Wednesday at 1:30 am and I’m still doing homework.

DEAR AMY:

Dear Amy:

I have a big problem and I don’t know what to do. I have a friend and few months ago we had a really good relationship. I had the feeling that she is homosexual, but this is something that doesn’t matter to me because we respect each other.

We went to a party and I realize that my suspicious were true. I think that she felt uncomfortable as I notice her preferences, because since that happen she started ignoring me. I didn’t know what to do so I wrote a letter to her saying that I don’t have any problem with her, and I would support her no matter what and still see her as my friend and that I don’t want things to change between us because I like to spend time with her and that she is a person in which I trust.

The letter didn’t work as I thought and I think it offended her because now she is acting really weird with me, she avoids me and she never answer the letter.

What can I do to change this situation?

Thanks,
Astrid

"MY TREASURED POSSESSION"

Did you ever receive a present from a person you love, that means a lot and you want to preserve for the rest of your life? In my case, it is a useful object, but that is not the main reason why I treasure it; it is the sentimental meaning what matters the most.

The gift was from my cousin. She gave it to me even though it wasn’t a special occasion. I was around seven years old and my cousin was one year younger than me, I rejected it because it was her toy and there wasn’t any reason in that moment to accept it. Finally I said yes and I went home with the toy.

A few months later, my cousin got sick all of a sudden and she was hospitalized. Two days later, she passed away due to a hearth disease. I was really sad and angry because my parents wouldn’t let me see her at the end. I remember that I had her toy and whenever I saw it I felt better. I remember that she gave it to me because she loved me, and I thought that if I preserved it, she was going to be with me.

This toy I’m talking about is a little green compass, and when I was a child I thought that the arrow showed me where her spirit was. I still have the compass and it is an object that I treasure because it reminds me of the love of my cousin, and her love for me.

I think that even if my cousin hadn’t passed away, I would treasure the compass in the same way, because it reminds me of happy childhood moments, and of a person that I love.

Average: Mechanics (1.5), Language Use (4), Vocabulary (3), Organization (4), Content (3)

My Profile

I would like to tell you some things about myself, at first I will describe my academic history and situation, I’m in my last advanced course at CELE, I’m also studying to be Civil Engineer, I love my major because there is a lot of interesting things to learn and the labor market is very broad, I’m in the last year of the studies and this is changing the way I see things, because in a very short time I’ll be an independent person who has to work and the responsibilities that I must take are different from those of being a student.

Something about my personality and what I like and dislike, besides school, is that I like to be with my family and friends, I try to spend as much time as possible with them because I think that the relationships are very important to grow as an integral person, and you can learn a lot of things from other persons, you can have a lot of fun with then and live really good and bad experiences; if you learn the lesson of the mistake it also is very productive. Without being self-centered I consider myself a nice person who is honest and has good principles and feelings, I’m also intelligent and friendly, not everything is good and beautiful, I’m also a little grumpy and sometimes when I have a lot of things to do and I’m stressed I’m not very sociable, I hate it when others push me a lot.

I like playing and watching soccer and my favorite team is PUMAS, nowadays I don’t have a lot of free time so I don’t play soccer in a formal way, two years ago I was in the soccer team of my school and that was more formal. I also like to swim and I go to the Olympic pool at CU whenever I can. Something that I don’t do to much when I’m in classes is watch TV but I enjoy it very much because I’m relaxed and if the program that I watch is a documentary I learn new things about a lot of different topics, the kind of programs that I watch are American Series, documentaries, movies, cartoons and music videos. I also like to read novels and try to read as much as possible.

"LETTER TO A CANADIAN VISITOR"

16/February/2009

Dear Visitor:

Hello, my name is Astrid Hollands, I’m writing you because I’m taking an advanced course of writing at CELE, that is a foreign languages school at UNAM, I want to improve the way in which I express myself, I would like that you make comments about this letter to learn from this exchange.

I want to introduce myself to you so you know who you are reading, I’m also studying to be a Civil Engineer, I love my career because there a lot of interesting things to learn.

Now that you are in this beautiful city I want to give you some tips to get the most out of your stay, at downtown we have a lot of tourist attractions, like museums, historical buildings and archaeological ruins, merely to go for a walk in that area of the city is a good way to learn a little about Mexico.

Here at CU (Ciudad Universitaria) we have a cultural zone, with museums, and orchestra halls. The magnificent architecture that we have in some of our buildings of the central university campus gave us the world heritage title by the UNESCO, so here is also a good site to start your tour.

Mexican food is absolutely tasty and there is a huge variety of flavors, but be very carful with the spicy food, because maybe it is extremely hot. I recommend you to taste the tacos al pastor, you will love them.

I hope that you have a lot of fun being in Mexico City and that you have the opportunity to know other cities like Queretaro, Guanajuato, Oaxaca, Michoacán, and other more tourist oriented like Acapulco, Cancun, and Los Cabos, just to mention a few.

This is a short summary of my city and my country; I hope you enjoy it, and that you have not found a lot of mistakes in this letter. Thank you very much for reading it.

Love,

Astrid Hollands