Revised Autobiography
As children we all learn the foundations of writing. We learn how to form words but not everyone is given the ability to translate their experiences and feelings onto paper. Neither of my parents attended college so they were very adamant on my brother and I receiving a good education.
Growing up I was always the quiet one. I can remember being interviewed for enrollment to pre-K in a local private school. The teachers seemed very concerned about my communication skills. I could over hear them speaking to my parents about my inability to express myself through sentences. They took a chance on me and I was accepted. Throughout my first year at that school I began to become more extroverted. My teachers were astounded at my development. I was making friends with my fellow classmates and slowly, but surely began participating in class.
Then there was Kindergarten. My most memorable experience was an activity called “Brown Bear”. Each week one student was given the chance to take Brown Bear home for the weekend. We were instructed to record every single thing that we did with him. We went to the movies, we took a trip to the playground, and we listened to bed time stories today. This is my first experiences with writing. I enjoyed documenting my day. I payed close attention to detail and made sure to write about how I felt on that particular day. When the time came to present my writings to class I gave elaborate stories. I began to develop my own creativity. I enjoyed telling stories.
As I got older I became interested in poetry. In middle school, I met my most influential teacher. Her name was Ms Wesley and she taught creative writing. Being the first African American teacher that I had in a predominately white school, I especially took an interest to her. She worked with me in her spare time. She pushed me to be the best me I could be both inside and outside of the classroom. For once I felt that I had a voice. Before I met Ms Wesley my writing was very objective. There were many writing sessions that I began to cry as I put my joys and sadness onto paper. I gained the confidence that I needed to succeed. My works of poetry resulted in me begin one of the only students in my school to be a published author. Hundreds of people were able to read my poem named “The New York Sax”.
In a sense, today’s society allows for all citizens to be a “published author”. Social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr allow for people to post their daily activities on the World Wide Web for anyone to see. These sites allow for people to express themselves creatively in a new medium through blogging, writing, and photo postings. I myself, am I regular user of these social networks. The internet gives us a great opportunity to write anywhere and everywhere. On the other hand, it is taken away the significance of long hand writing. The importance of hand written letters has been lost. I prefer to send emails and Thank you letters to friends and loved ones. Since the 8th grade I have written a letter to myself every year. At the end of the year I reflect on my achievements, guilt, and future goals. I store the letter until the next year until it is time to open it again.
Throughout the years I have developed a creative sense of writing and before I took the Writing Workshop class i struggled when writing academic articles. Many times in classes, especially broadcast writing I struggle to state clear and concise facts. Because I play close attention to detail I find it objective writing very difficult. Also, I tend to have a lot of thoughts running through my head; this results in disorganized writing. My writing development is an ongoing adventure. This semester, during the writing workshop class, I believe that I have improved. I now feel more confident in doing all types of writing. I have learned the beauty of a rough draft. It is okay to write a mediocre rough draft, write all of my thoughts on paper, and come back to edit it later. I do not feel as stressed out when writing long essays because I have learned how to gather my thoughts in a better way. I am now more open to letting others read my work because it is always beneficial to get a second opinion.
Writing is and always will be a major component of my life. Writing is defined as letters or characters that serve as visible signs of ideas, words, or symbols. In my personal life writing keeps me sane. I tend to have many thoughts in my head throughout the day. Writing allows me to escape reality and gather my thoughts. Rather than keeping things bottled up, pen and paper serve as an outlet that gives me the chance to say things that I am unable to so out loud. Each day I write in my journal. Many of my entries consist of my dreams. Whenever I can remember my dreams I write each detail down and their underlying meanings.
I desire to be a broadcast journalist. This profession requires a lot of writing. It allows me to use my words to communicate with the public current events and important information. Journalists must remain objective but I have learned that I have to compromise my creativity. I preciously thought that being creative was synonymous with being poetic and imaginative. Contrary to my beliefs, being a creative writer means to find unique ways to express your thoughts to a reader.
My Autobiography
As children we all learn the foundations of writing. We learn how to form words but not everyone is given the ability to translate their experiences and feelings onto paper. Neither of my parents attended college so they were very adamant on my brother and I receiving a good education.
Growing up I was always the quiet one. I can remember being interviewed for enrollment to pre-K in a local private school. The teachers seemed very concerned about my communication skills. I could over hear them speaking to my parents about my inability to express myself through sentences. They took a chance on me and I was accepted. Throughout my first year at that school I began to become more extroverted. My teachers were astounded at my development. I was making friends with my fellow classmates and slowly, but surely began participating in class.
Then there was Kindergarten. My most memorable experience was an activity called “Brown Bear”. Each week one student was given the chance to take Brown Bear home for the weekend. We were instructed to record every single thing that we did with him. We went to the movies, we took a trip to the playground, and we listened to bed time stories today. This is my first experiences with writing. I enjoyed documenting my day. I payed close attention to detail and made sure to write about how I felt on that particular day. When the time came to present my writings to class I gave elaborate stories. I began to develop my own creativity. I enjoyed telling stories.
As I got older I became interested in poetry. In middle school, I met my most influential teacher. Her name was Ms Wesley and she taught creative writing. Being the first African American teacher that I had in a predominately white school, I especially took an interest to her. She worked with me in her spare time. She pushed me to be the best me I could be both inside and outside of the classroom. For once I felt that I had a voice. Before I met Ms Wesley my writing was very objective. There were many writing sessions that I began to cry as I put my joys and sadness onto paper. I gained the confidence that I needed to succeed. My works of poetry resulted in me begin one of the only students in my school to be a published author. Hundreds of people were able to read my poem named “The New York Sax”.
In a sense, today’s society allows for all citizens to be a “published author”. Social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr allow for people to post their daily activities on the World Wide Web for anyone to see. These sites allow for people to express themselves creatively in a new medium through blogging, writing, and photo postings. I myself, am I regular user of these social networks. The internet gives us a great opportunity to write anywhere and everywhere. On the other hand, it is taken away the significance of long hand writing. The importance of hand written letters has been lost. I prefer to send emails and Thank you letters to friends and loved ones. Since the 8th grade I have written a letter to myself every year. At the end of the year I reflect on my achievements, guilt, and future goals. I store the letter until the next year until it is time to open it again.
Throughout the years I have developed a creative sense of writing, but when it comes to writing academically I struggle. Many times in classes, especially broadcast writing I struggle to state clear and concise facts. Because I play close attention to detail I find it objective writing very difficult. Also, I tend to have a lot of thoughts running through my head; this results in disorganized writing. I believe that I can be more effective by making outlines before I begin to write. I should highlight the core information and begin from there. I hope to improve in this in the “Writing Workshop” class.
Writing is and always will be a major component of my life. Writing is defined as letters or characters that serve as visible signs of ideas, words, or symbols. In my personal life writing keeps me sane. I tend to have many thoughts in my head throughout the day. Writing allows me to escape reality and gather my thoughts. Rather than keeping things bottled up, pen and paper serve as an outlet that gives me the chance to say things that I am unable to so out loud. Each day I write in my journal. Many of my entries consist of my dreams. Whenever I can remember my dreams I write each detail down and their underlying meanings.
Unfortunately, my desired profession does not allow for much creativity. But, communication is very important if I want to succeed. I desire to be a broadcast journalist. It allows me to use my words to communicate with the public current events and important information. While I am not given the opportunity to write fiction stories, I am still given the opportunity to write stories that can evoke emotions in its listeners. In today’s society, broadcast journalist must be well rounded. They must know how to operate cameras, speak properly, edit video, and write.
The Corruption of Intercollegiate Athletics
Over the past years there has been an ongoing debate about wether student athletes are adequately compensated. A south park episode struck my interest, which led to my final research paper.
“They have begun to exploit the athletes. Once college athletes sign a university contract they are given strict obligations and are denied of many Constitutional rights. The corruption that has manifested itself as a result of this athletic culture, has lead to huge profits ,of the NCAA and other institutions, off of free labor. The best way to eliminate this NCAA corruption is by paying student athletes.”
”
In ESPN’s Michigan Fab Five documentary, Jalen Rose explained his intercollegiate basketball experience at University of Michigan as, “I didn’t feel like a college student anymore, I felt like a professional athlete that wasn’t getting paid”. (“30 for 30”) The only joy the players were able to get out of the NCAA profits were playing the video games that they were featured in; however, they received no profit from them.”
Read More by clicking on this link: NCAAEssay .
Business Letter
1805 N 18th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19121
April 10, 2012
Jayne Appley
1755 N. 13th Street
Student Center, 219M
Philadelphia, PA 19122
Dear Ms Appley:
My name is Charnee Smith and I am news reporter. I am writing this letter on behalf of
local news station, CBS 3. The annual National Pan Hellenic Council Spring fling
Step Show is coming up on April 18th, 2012 and with your permission our station would
like to film the event for a feature story .
We would like to arrive to the show about an hour early with one or two cameramen and,
if possible, take some shots of the participants preparing for the show. During the show
cameramen will be filming sections of each organizations performance. It would be great
if we could interview a few students about their reactions to the show. Once the show is
over I will do a few stand ups for the package to complete the package that will be aired
on television.
The entire Greater Philadelphia area will be able to view the story on the Spring Fling
Step Show. It would be a great way to bring positive light to historically black Greek
letter organizations. Also, this would be an opportunity to advertise Greek life on Temple
University’s Campus.
I am available to answer any questions you may have. You can email me at
charnee.smith@temple.edu or call at 610-299-xxxx. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Charnee Smith
Awkward Black Girl
My favorite Webseries is called the Mis-adventures of Awkward Black Girl and I am absolutely addicted! The serious follows the main character J and her friends as she explores love, life, and experiences extremely awkward situations. Here is my attempt at writing a script for the series:
INT. J’S CAR
J is jamming to some vulgar rap lyrics (trying to take her mind off of WHITE JAY) when CECE abruptly turns down the music.
J!
J continues to rap as if she did not hear CECE.
J
Bouncing in my booty shorts, booty shorts…!
CECE
(Screaming this time)
J! Just call him. I refuse to listen to your pathetic cry the whole ride.
J
Fine. Fine, Cece give me the phone.
J calls WHITE JAY’S cellphone but he does not answer. She calls him a second time and he finally picks up.
Hello? Hello?
J
JAY! It’s J, I’m so glad you answered.
WHITE JAY
I’m sorry, who is this?
J
This is J, I mean Jamie. This is Jamie. Actually, you know what funny story I think I called the wrong number.
CECE
Well, that didn’t go the way I expected.
J
You think? I can’t believe how awkward that was.
CECE
Forget him; soon we will be at the beach with tons of hotties. Shakin’ our groove thing girlfriend!
EXT. GAS STATION CONVIENENCE STORE
CECE AND J
(frantically yelling)
Excuse me, move! Coming through!
CECE
I vow to never drink three milkshakes on a road trip ever again!
CECE is the first to run into the single stall bathroom.
J spots WHITE JAY at the cash register with an unidentified woman.
J
(peeking through the potato chip rack)
Holy…What is he…Oh God can he see me?
J bangs on the bathroom door and pulls CECE out of the store.
CECE
What’s is your problem J? Can’t a girl use the bathroom in peace?
J
No! Not when WHITE JAY is standing 5 feet away from me in the store with someone else! Some stupid girl with her long luscious hair and long legs, laughing at his jokes. You are not even funny WHITE JAY.
J looks over to CECE
J
He’s not even funny!
CECE
I know, Lets just get out of here. You know, we are becoming masters at avoiding our coworkers.
INT. J’S CAR
CECE
STEP ON IT!
J, eager to get away puts her car into reverse instead of drive, crashing into the car in front of her.
J
Shoot!
J and CECE stare at each other with their mouths hanging open in shock. Without speaking they both get out of the car to check out the damage.
J
Oh…my…gosh!
J throws a baby temper tantrum.
CECE
You do have insurance right?
Silence
CECE
…Right J?
J
No, I mean yes I have insurance. But, I just crashed into WHITE JAY’S car.
CECE
Look at the scratch at the baby. Quick hand me your purse!
CECE rummages through the purse and pulls out some black nail polish.
J
What are you doing?
CECE
Shh, I got it. This is just a little something I saw on TV. Finish painting the scratch and I’ll go inside to distract him.
J
(talking to herself)
This is crazy, why do I do this to myself?
The scratch is almost covered up and J is feeling optimistic that she will get out of this situation.
She looks down to see a man’s foot on the ground beside her.
WHITE JAY
What in the world. J?
J looks up to see WHITE JAY and her coworker NINA in beach attire.
J
JAY! I…I can explain.
Dancing with the stars (News Story)
Dancing with the stars is ready to kick off a new season and they have
announced their contestants.
The all star line up includes TV star Jaleel White, Sherry Shepard from “The
View”, and singer/songwriter Gavin Degraw. !
The show hopes that this will give them a boost in ratings.The dancers have been working hard and will be Fox trotting and Tangoing all the way to the stage on Monday, March 19th for the two hour season premiere.
Dow Jones (News Story)
Americans are feeling more hopeful about the economy.
A private research group says that people are gaining confidence in the
decreasing unemployment trends and people are spending more money.
This increase in consumerism has benefited Wall Street.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 13,000 on Tuesday which
means stock is at its highest since the year 2007.
T.J Lane shooting
A seventeen year old boy in Ohio may be tried as an adult after a school shooting rampage.
T.J Lane entered Chardon high where he allegedly shot and killed three innocent students with his .22 caliber gun.
He has been charged with three counts of aggravated assault, two counts of murder, and one count of felonious crime.
Authorities are still deciding if Lane will face life in prison.
The next court date is set for April 3rd.
The Biography of Peter Jaroff
Society says that family is a group of people that are bonded together kinetically. You cannot choose this group of people you are born into and many not like them very much but will always have a common bond. What I have found to be true, is that family is there for each other no matter; it holds itself together with love and affection. It does not matter if one is blood related. What matters is that there is a shared unconditional love. Through the good and bad times , family remains constant. Peter Jaroff has lived a journey filled with lessons and life changing experiences. He knows the importance of family very well.
His journey began with a dream to be just like Mickey Mantle. He was the second shortest boy in his class, but like all of the other fourth graders, he dreamt of being one of the greatest baseball center fielders in the MLB. Peter was born in Detriot, Michigan. He and his family moved back and forth quiet a bit, but by the time he was in fourth grade they had settled down in a suburb of New York City.
Peter grew up as an only child with two sisters and one brother. His mother was a current events aficionado and his father a journalist for Time and Life magazines. His father covered the Kennedy campaign in 1960, when Peter was only four years old. His mother took him to watch his father covering the story. Peter did not get to shake Kennedy’s hand and his only reasoning for this was that he was not wearing a watch. All of the older politicians were wearing expensive watches and Peter was simply too young and unestablished to be worthy of shaking the future president’s hand.
Three years later, President Kennedy was assassinated. His parents, especially his mother, were the ultimate “Kennedy supporters.” Peter’s younger sister was born three days before the incident. His mother was so heartbroken by Kennedy’s death that she spent many of her days in the darkness. The Kennedy event was “wrenching for a lot of families”, so monumental that one could compare its effect to the tragic events of September 11th. Peter, too young to understand, couldn’t help but wonder if the former president had been burried naked.
Peter’s parents divorced when he was ten years old. It was jarring and Peter could have never prepared himself for this event. His parents felt it was important for him and his siblings to spend adequate time with their mother and father. Even though his parents were not together, he and his siblings were still able to develop a strong sense of family. Peter has experienced the hardships of divorce more than once in his lifetime. He and his college sweetheart went their separate ways eleven years after they tied the knot. The marriage left him with two beautiful sons.
He is now married to Becky, who he met while working at ABC. Becoming Mickey Mantle wasn’t quite in Peter’s ballpark, so he decided to get a job in news. As a child he always watched NBC nightly news, after all news ran through his blood. But, he never imagined that he would be working at ABC. As an English major at Grinnel College in Iowa, he developed excellent broadcast skills. College is a time to explore and get involved and Peter was very involved in being a disc jockey for his school radio station. Peter admits that he has “a little pang of regret” because he did not fully take advantage of his opportunities. He would have liked to do more exploring.
Taking advantage of all opportunities that are given in college can open many doors. The activities that he did partake in were what led him to his first job. His first communications jobs took place at a look radio station after he graduated and he quickly moved on to television. His first day in the newsroom was very nerve racking. He had never worked in television before, nor did he go to school for it. There was chaos and Peter did not understand why producers and writers were preparing for the 6pm news at 9 in the morning. In addition to getting used to the chaotic atmosphere, he also had to edit videotape, which he had never done before. Peter described it as a “huge editing desk, with zillions of buttons that looked like an airplane cockpit”. He drew out a detailed map of all buttons on the machinery, took it home, and memorized each part. He was determined to learn everything that he needed to advance in the field. His hard work paid off and about five years after his college graduation he became the morning show news producer for WPVI-TV in Philadelphia in 1982. He spent 25 stressful but exciting years working in news.
Peter and his wife Becky have set forth on new journeys in their lives. They enjoyed their time working in television but wanted something more. Becky, who left a few years before Peter, went back to school to earn her masters and PhD. She quickly got a job upon graduating and now teaches English at Ursinus College. Peter, has been teaching in the BTMM department at Temple University for the past few years. He now feels that his job is less defined. Working as a professor, much of his work is done outside of the classroom. His job does not end when he leaves the office. He teaches on campus and then goes home to grade papers, email students, and review projects.
Switching from television to teaching has filled up time in his life; especially since both of his sons have left the nest. They now live in Los Angeles and New York. Having them gone has been tougher on Petter than it has wife. He built his entire life around them and now that they are gone. Peter has devoted so much of his time to raising the children, that he says now he “is unsure of how to organize his life.” Peter told me that “One thing I miss about not having the boys around when they were younger is that children can find joy in the simplest things, as we get older we forget about that.” Even simple trips to the laundromat were exciting for them. He admired the bliss and innocence of his children and in a way, he wishes that he had grown up a little less anxious and lived a little more. He still has many goals that he is trying to accomplish. For instance, he wants a job that will make him feel happier. He has learned that “a job isn’t going to give me everything, its still work.” Granted, he is generally in a better mood now that he has left television. He is still searching within himself and wants to become more accepting of what kind of situation he finds himself in day to day and be able to derive more joy from the things that he does.
One thing that he has found joy in is his family. When the day doesn’t go well he is able to focus on family. He is able to rest on the fact that he raised his sons well. He grew up with a crazy family but they were always a big part of his life. Like many families, Peter’s experienced hardships. Growing up, his parents went through a divorce and in his adulthood he went through a divorce. I believe that there is a lesson in everything and ironically, in Peter’s life, divorce brought him closer to his family. Because he had a fractioned family it made the importance even stronger.
Hank Carr (News Story)
Two Tampa Police have been shot today after arresting fugitive, Hank Carr, who shot and killed his four year old son with a rifle.
The conditions of the officers are still unknown.
In a disturbing radio interview, Carr revealed that when he went to stop his son from playing with the gun a bullet discharged and went through his face.
He says it was only an accident.
After a 30 mile chase, Carr is currently holding an innocent woman hostage in a nearby gas station.
He stopped there after escaping a police car.
Carr says no harm will come to the woman, but she will not be let go until he sees his wife one last time.
This interactive site includes coverage from the incident up until Day 5. It also includes follow-up coverage, audio clips of Hank Carr, and a map of the shooting.
http://tampabayonline.net/reports/shooting/carrday1.htm
Charneesmith's Blog 
