Elliott's English Blog

 I haven't had to study this hard up until my junior year of highschool. Throughout the year I've been trying out many different studying methods and I've found that one works better than all the rest for me. Flashcards are the best way for me to study, I don't know why but it just seeps into my brain better and I can remember what's on the card for longer periods of time.

I think the part of Informational writing that I struggle with the most is the brainstorming and formatting of my writing. I find it hard to organize my writing in a way that makes sense to read. While I write I constantly think of new things that I could add to my writing to make it better, so it takes me a while to really get into my writing and have it be good and readable.  

 I find near death experiences really interesting. I think its really cool how people from many different places and many different ages can experience the same "symptoms" from a NDE. The most fascinating in my opinion are out of body experiences and the fact that people can recall things that happened in the real world while they were under or dead! 

 Expanding and mastering vocabulary can impact your daily life and academic success in many ways. A large vocabulary can help you score better on the SAT and if you have a good score on the SAT it can get you scholarships and help reduce your student debt. Another way it could effect you is in the way that you write emails or speak to higher-ups. Speaking with a more diverse vocabulary can help you stand out against job/school competition.

  I would prefer city life. Any time i have stayed in the city in a hotel room or ive lived within walking distance of stores/restuants, the proximity to them has been my favorite part and the suburbs don't really have that. While the suburbs are quieter, i really dont mind the buzz of the city at night.

Based on the information that I've learned over the week i've thought about ways I can avoid student loan debt. Ideally I get a scholarship that covers the majority if not all of my tuition by upping my SAT scores and volunteering more. If I really need to I am lucky enough to have well off parents that could pay my tuition for me and I would be able to pay them back without interest on my own time, rather than have to deal with interest and have minimal monthly payments.

  The word “ never ” is important to me because it reminds me of promises I’ve made to myself, like never giving up even when things get hard. I remember when I was little, I fell off my bike over and over, but I told myself I would never quit annd after a few more tries, I finally rode without falling. But if I had given up I would have never figured out how to ride it!

I would not be willing to pay more for something made in the U.S. because I would rather save money. While supporting American jobs is important, I think it’s more practical to buy what’s affordable. For me the price is usually the most important factor when shopping

 One time that I had to fail in order to grow happened on my STN trip just a little while ago. While we filmed and edited for the competitions, we would constantly find out about new rules that put a halt to our film making process. We ended up not being able to submit that first film but the next one we made we used what we learned from the first one and ended up submitting it on time and within all the rules!

Looking at students who have gotten into good colleges, I see a pattern of hard work, consistency, and resilience. They set clear goals, stayed disciplined with their studies, and made the most of extracurricular opportunities to stand out. I can learn from this that consistency is key and if i want to get into a good college i have to prove that i can stay motivated and work hard.

The word maelstrom means a powerful and chaotic situation, like a huge swirling whirlpool that pulls everything into it. It can describe an actual whirlpool in the ocean or a really crazy and out-of-control situation, like a big argument or a disaster. Knowing this word helps improve my writing because it makes descriptions stronger and more interesting. Instead of just saying “a big mess” or “total chaos,” using maelstrom creates a more intense image or feeling for the reader

Between Daylight savings time and standard time, I prefer daylight savings time. I love how early the sun sets during daylight savings time and I don't mind how early the sun comes up because either way by the time I leave the house the sun is already up! I do enjoy how late the sun stays up sometimes during the summer but If I had to pick one to stay forever I would have to choose daylight savings time.

 The best cook in my family is my mom! She has made me pretty much every meal I have ever eaten at home. One of my favorite meals she cooks is pork medallions. Pork medallions is a bunch of cut pieces of pork with a cream sauce over top.

When ate the worst food ive ever tasted, it wasn't on any sort of special occasion I was just out to dinner at a restaurant I eat at pretty frequently when I wanted to try a new desert. So I ordered the fried banana and salted ice cream. It wasn't even all that bad but a i cant think of anything I've eaten that has thrown me off as much as that has. Everything I thought it was gonna taste like I was wrong about, the banana was runny because it was fried, and the ice cream had already melted down and mixed with fried pieces of banana  making the texture all weird.

 I think my favorite word right now is "right". I like it because of how versatile it is, like is someone is explaining something to me or telling me to do something I can respond while they're explaining with just "right" to convey that I'm listening and understanding. I use it multiple times a day!

 I don't really think that my cultures foods are important to my day to day life, but I do enjoy eating them from time to time. I think my favorite food from my culture is croque madame. Its a very heavy sandwich with ham, cheese, cooked like a grilled cheese and an egg put on top that I used to eat a lot when I was living in France.