The Smartest Things I've Ever Said. @rhetoric101liceaga - Tumblr Blog

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Listen to this: Remembering Sunday by All Time Low

Read this: Looking for Alaska by John Green

Watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SjbHJ28iec&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Play this: Teradactyl

Eat this: Nutella. Lots of it.

Do This: take as many pictures as you want.

Click This: http://anasomnia.com

Go here: Pheonix, Arizona. you won’t regret it, I promise.

Always, and I mean always, remember this: let go of the things that no longer serve you.

Research Paper Presentation

These pictures tell the story of the day I went to the Spring Fever Tour...

As soon as I walked down the stairs, stepped foot into the pit, and walked to the front of the barricades, I knew I was in heaven.

Before I knew it, the floor was packed and if I left there was no way i was going to find my way back.

Throughout the next 7 hours I felt like I was going to burst at any moment...

Very few people actually like standing up and talking to a room filled with staring eyes; those who hate giving speeches and presenting usually have high levels of anxiety and stress just thinking about it. As for me, I don't freak out about presentations but I'm also not a huge fan. I visited a website called QuickSprout to find helpful tips to make presenting a lesser burden and looked up one of Steve Jobs's older presentations to see if I could learn a thing or two from him.

Tip #1: The first point from QuickSprout was not overusing visuals during the speech. Looking at the Jobs video, he did use photos during his entire presentation, but there weren't a lot of words on each slide which the article said to avoid; the people there are supposed to be listening to you, not read words on the screen behind you.

Tip #2: One of the biggest tips I gathered from the website was to show your personality. A monotone voice can make any subject sound uninteresting and dull. Jobs gave the audience character and definitely kept them intrigued and attentive by sharing his passion and excitement with everyone.

Tip #3: Another important note is watching what you say. The article says that you may not notice your usage of filler words ("um, uh, ah") but the crowd sure will. Take your time and go through every sentence in your mind before you even say it. Although some may think it's not that big of a deal, the presentation given by Jobs wouldn't have been nearly as good if he used filler words every other sentence.

I Survived...

I finally turned in my senior research paper on April 11, 2014. For the past 6 weeks I've been dreading that day because I felt like what I had written was complete garbage. I didn't feel as if it was really me talking in my paper; it was like I was just typing words and I had no idea where they were coming from. The night before we had to turn it in, I added the little I had left, looked for any mistakes to correct, and once finished, I sat there and wondered what was I was staring at.

Throughout my entire time writing the paper, I didn't think I had enough quotes, I thought I wasn't explaining my points right, and I felt as if I wasn't making strong connections. In my mind, I knew exactly what I wanted to say about how strict parents are enablers of disobedient kids, but I couldn't write an entire 2,500 word paper about it. At 12 a.m. the day it was due, I reluctantly forced myself to reread my paper in it's entirety and was actually surprised with myself. The paper turned out to be better than what I thought I wrote.

At the end of this grueling process I finally figured out the type of writer I am. I know that sounds dumb regarding the fact that I've been writing papers ever since the 5th grade, but it's true. If someone were to ask me what type of writer I am before the research paper, I wouldn't have known what to say but now I would tell them that I'm unorthodox because of the way that I write whatever comes to mind first and put it all in order once I'm finished. Even though I'm happy with how my paper turned out, I would change it by adding more quotes from my sources that may have helped proved my ideas more.

P.S. When we finally turned it in during class and I realized it was all FINALLY over, i think I might have done something similar to this:

Effects of Strict Parenting

Looking at my generation, it’s becoming clear that my topic is a pressing issue for families everywhere. As parents are becoming more aware of the dangers that lie in our world, they are becoming stricter with their children in order to keep them out of harm’s way. When the kids reach their teenage/adolescent stage, they are trying to find out who they are through the people they surround themselves with. However, parents are locking down and trying to control the kind of person their kid will be and so the youth is finding ways to work around it. Although some teenagers will only use little white lies here and there, those little sparks of rebellion can lead to more serious problems once he or she realizes what they can actually get away with. Teenagers everywhere challenge their parents to see how far they can push the limits, get punished for it, and then start the cycle again.

I am exploring this topic because this is extremely relevant to me. For as long as I can remember, my parents have always been very controlling of my sister and I. Some may see it as them trying to put us on the right path that would lead us to the most success, but that's not always the case. They aren't dictators by any means; my sister and I do get to make most decisions for ourselves. However, there is one thing that they do have total control over: when and who we get to hang out with. In order for my sister and I to go spend time with friends my parents must know where we'll be at, who will all be there, what we will be doing, and how long we will be out. If they don't like the answer to any one of those questions then we spend the rest of the day at home. When I really want to go out but I know my parents are going to disapprove, my best bet is lying but even then it's hard to come out successful because they suspect it now. Most of my friends are free to take their car and leave their house whenever they like, so they say that my parents are ridiculously strict and of course I agree with them just because I hate the fact that I'm hardly allowed be honest with my parents and get to leave at my own will. This is how I came up with the question of strict parenting and if it forces kids into doing things behind their parent's backs

In this paper I will investigate whether overly strict parents are the driving force behind insubordinate teenagers or is it based more off of the peers of the individual. In the research I have completed so far, I have found articles about authoritarian style parenting and how it results in more internalizing and externalizing symptoms in kids versus authoritative and permissive parenting. I plan to do more research dealing with how kids with strict parents are obedient at first but then begin to change as they grow older. I am hoping to find some evidence of top reasons why “good” kids go rogue, but if I can’t find sufficient information through the databases then I’ll set up interviews. I won’t focus on the difference in treatment boys and girls receive, along with differences in someone’s culture and heritage because that would open up the paper way too much.

The perspective of the teenagers is first and foremost because they are the ones who are directly affected by the actions of the parents. Second in line is the viewpoint of parents because they are the ones who first decide what limits are set, and then are subject to the consequences afterward. They parents are then followed by other authority figures that the teenager may encounter. Authority figures, such as teachers, counselors, and the police constantly deal with delinquents and are targets of defiance so it is important that they get a chance to voice what they believe starts the problem and what they think can help relieve it.

My sources will consist of information found in databases, along with interviews with some adults and teenagers. So far, my sources consist of researchers differentiating between different parenting styles and the effects they have on the children, teenagers explaining why they feel the need to do what they want instead of abiding by their parents, and professors sharing their reasons for the youth rebellion. For my interviews, I will have a set list of questions each person will be asked and I will record it on my phone, then upload them to my computer. I will interview teenagers who have strict parents and those who don't, along with their parents to see the perspective of the same "story" from both sides. I plan on interviewing a teacher and my uncle who is a Will County judge to get their perspective on delinquent kids and who they feel is to blame for the insubordinate behavior. These interviews will be the focal point of my paper because they will reveal whether teenagers lash out as a result of being too restricted, or if they do so for reasons separate from the way their parents treat them.

What is there to be afraid of?

In Chapter 5 of the book Freakonomics, Levitt and Dubner pose a question to the audience: What drives parents to try and be perfect? On page 149 the authors write, “Fear is in fact a major component of the act of parenting.” They go on to say that the parent is in charge of helpless newborn’s life, which causes most parents to be terrified of messing anything up. Thinking about my future always leads me to wonder what kind of parent I’ll turn out to be. Most kids my age usually say that they’ll be a “cool parent” by letting their kids have the freedom to do whatever they want, but when the time comes, I don’t think they’ll feel the same way. Talking about how you’ll raise your kids and actually raising your kids are two completely different things. Yes, I admit to being one of the teenagers who says they’ll let their kids live their life the way they want but when I picture myself years down the road with my child, I know I’ll try to force them into making the choices that are in their best interest. When I was growing up, my parents forced me to try all types of different things so I could find a hobby or sport that I really enjoyed doing; they never forced me to do something that they wanted me to like. It’s obvious that I chose sports as my favorite, softball in particular. Once I made that decision, I felt like they were trying to control everything I did. There were endless amounts of lectures on why I couldn’t, shouldn’t, or had to do certain things and why I wasn’t allowed to go certain places with certain people. I didn’t understand it and I hated it more than anything. After reading Chapter 6, I looked back and realized that they were so afraid of messing up my potential future so they only way they could protect it was to make the decisions in my best interest, even if I hated them for it. Now I realize that I can’t be mad at my parents for being afraid because I know I’ll be the same way with my kids.

Did Someone Say Food?

All teenagers are in search for somewhere they can go to hangout with friends, go on dates, and even just to eat out with the family. Panera just so happens to be the place where you can successfully do all three! If you and your friends are anything like mine, you guys are always up for going out to eat but not necessarily looking to spend too much on a meal. My friend Joy and I went to Panera expecting the same experience we always have but came out feeling a little differently about how we saw the restaurant previously.

Initial Overview

The Panera we decided to evaluate is part of the Louis Joliet Mall so there is an entrance inside the mall and also one on the outside. It's location is very convenient because you can grab a bite to eat, go shopping, run some errands, and even catch a movie (in whatever order you choose of course). I would give the curb appeal a 3 out of 5 stars. On the outside, there aren't any obnoxious signs or posters; honestly, there's isn't much of anything. If someone who isn't from Joliet was driving their car around the mall looking for a place to eat, Panera wouldn't be a choice that jumps out to them because of it's plain face. However, if that person was driving around at night it would be a completely different story... The entrance is merely a few walls and doors made entirely out of glass so the place lights up and transforms into a beacon of hope for anyone who's waited too long for dinner!

A Look on the Inside

We felt the warm and cozy vibe almost everyone experiences the moment they step into the restaurant. The set up is the same to that of an urban coffeeshop joint; there are small tables scattered around the dining area, accompanied by booths for more comfortable seating. The downfall of the tables is their tiny size which makes it a little difficult to sit with four other people and their meals. You would think that because of the small tables there would be a lot of room to walk around, right? Well that's wrong. Navigating around the dining area proves to be challenge because there are so many tables and chairs everywhere. If you just so happen to go eat there during their busy hours, good luck trying to get where you wanted to go.

The decor consists of banners promoting their different kinds of soups, salads, sandwiches, and drinks. I thought the banners were an appealing touch that is actually very useful. When a customer walks in they are able to see any new items that they could try instead of ordering their normal meal. Even though the decorations play a big role in the appearance, there's one thing that really sets off the mood of the entire restaurant: the lighting. Instead of the bright white lights that you'd find at a Wal-Mart or other store, Panera's lighting isn't extremely bright and doesn't strain your eyes. The room is lit in a golden glow which makes it so laid back. The relaxing atmosphere makes it a great place to unwind by yourself after a long day, hangout with friends, and even a potential spot for a date.

Food

You can order anything from bagels, to sandwiches, to salads, to soups, and dessert. Of course, I ordered my favorite thing, cream of chicken and wild rice soup in a bread bowl, and Joy ordered her favorite soup, broccoli cheddar with a cinnamon bagel. The service is some of the best you'll encounter. The workers make sure to get your meal to you as fast as they can so there's virtually no wait. When we got to our table, we shared our soups and they were both absolutely perfect for the cold weather. The warmth of the soups helped warm me up faster than the heating in my car did. When ordering a soup, there's the option of a regular bowl or a bread bowl (which is basically a huge circle of bread with a hole cut out at the top and bread ripped out of the middle) and a side of chips, bread, and an apple. I absolutely hated the chips. They're hard, way too salty, and hurt to swallow. The bread was perfect with the soup, and my strawberry smoothie helped soothe my throat after the fiasco with the chips.

I had never tried one of their bagels before so I didn't know what to expect. I grabbed a piece and it was soft and moist which is a good sign for bagels. And so when I ate it, I decided it was one of the best bagels I've ever had and it would have went perfectly with coffee.

After dinner, we went over to the bakery. I was sadly disappointed when I looked over everything because usually it's full of treats but there was barely anything to choose from. On top of that, what was left didn't look too appetizing. I ended up going with a chocolate chip muffie and Joy got a red velvet cupcake. Her cupcake was a little stale and the all of the frosting just fell off the top unexpectedly, so needless to say that wasn't the best cupcake. On the other hand, the chocolate chip muffie was decent; it was hard on the outside but soft in the middle with a good amount of chocolate chips.

Overall experience

At first, we thought we were going to come out satisfied like always and have nothing bad to say. However, after close inspection we discovered that there were crumbs on most of the tables and some of the booths, which I find disgusting, and the second disappointment was the poor dessert selections at the bakery. Although we didn't love everything about that night, our time at Panera was still well spent.

Every four years the biggest and most reknown sporting event occurs: the Olympics. The most competitive athletes all around the world spend years training for the Games in hopes of coming home with the gold and making their country proud. However, what happens when the people want a specific game to be featured in the event but the Executive Board of the Games says no? The problem is that the Olympics doesn't offer a spot in the program for every sport that has been played; there is a certain criteria each sport must meet to be considered an Olympic sport.

Karen Farquharson wrote an article in July 2012 titled, "What makes an Olympic sport?" In this piece she includes a diagram constructed by sociologist Kieran Healy which can help decide whether or not a sport is good/bad and whether it belongs in the Olympics or not.

The diagram was just something she found funny but it did make her think about the real regulations for an Olympic sport. She started off with the basics and explained what makes up a sport, which included being organized/having set rules, using skills of the body, and having a winner and a loser. Everyone agrees with those simple requirements and most would say that it's an extrememly accurate list.

Now, for it to be considered for the Olympics a sport needs to be institutionalized, have a broad following around the world, and also needs to comply with the criteria set by the International Olympic Committee. Although the criteria is very specific, there are huge amounts of controversy surrounds the sports that aren't included or have recently been removed from the Olympics, such as baseball, softball, skateboarding, and ballroom dancing.

Farquharson suggesting skateboarding and ballroom dancing as Olympic sports may throw a lot of people off but she provides the evidence that snowboarding is very similar to skateboarding and ballroom dancing can be compared to synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics. The author sets a detailed criteria for what it takes to be an Olympic sport and gives insight as to new sports that could possibly become events in the future Olympics.

Spring Fever 2013

I remember waking up being more excited than I've ever been in my entire life. I woke up and thought, "Today's the day I will witness my two favorite bands play at the same concert on the same stage. Today's the day I've been waiting for for months. Spring Fever is finally here." I got out of bed, went to school, and waited for the clock to hit 12:25. The worst part about going to a concert is the wait. Waiting for my call slip was torture, the drive to Sears Center seemed like 10 hours, the wait to get inside the venue felt like six instead of just 3, and waiting for the 2 opening bands to finish their sets was like waiting an entire lifetime. But when Pierce the Veil's stage props were set and the opening song started playing, the energy in the arena was almost palpable and I could feel goosebumps rising as a chill went down my spine. The crowd (which was 7,000+) screamed back the songs to Pierce the Veil and still had the energy for All Time Low's set. Throughout the entire night, the bands and the audience fed off each other and powered through about a 6 hour show. I can't even put into words how excellent the concert was; it's one of those things that you have to experience in order to fully understand. Despite being crushed against the barricades as thousands of people behind were trying to push to the first row, holding my pee for 7 hours (I have no idea how I pulled through. I almost decided to just pee right there because I wasn't giving up my front row spot), going home with the worst headache ever, feeling extremely dehydrated, and being nearly deaf afterwards, that concert will be a night I remember for the rest of my life and I would happily do it all over again.

#springfevertour #spring fever 2013 #pierce the veil #all time low #chicago #concert #searscentre #mayday parade #you me at six

Remix

For my remix, chose my Multiple Source Analysis which dealt with the benefits and problems that came with competitive youth sports. In my paper, I argued that positives the children could gain out of the sport outlasted the negatives, and that as long as the parents and coaches kept the game fun there weren't going to be any huge negatives for the kids. For the remix, I instead focused on the negatives and argued for the opposing perspective being that most kids who play competitive sports will experience many detrimental outcomes.

#sports #baseball #basketball #soccer #football #mental #game #remix #intense #negativity #news #injuries #medical

Multiple Source Analysis.docx

This is what I believe to be my best paper so far. I was really interested in my debate because I, too, am a trophy kid. In my mind, I was able to relate to both sides of the argument and had experiences I could compare them to, which is mostly likely why I think this is one of my strongest essays. When started off the paper, I was trying to capture what the true essence of being a child was and then add to that what it would be like with all the positives that could come with playing sports as a young kid. Of course, with almost every positive there is a negative and so I had to also address what could happen if things went wrong. I mixed my sources pretty well and overall very happy with my work.

Liceaga Literary Analysis.docx

The literary analysis was a little challenging for me. Adding a title wasn't the challenging part (I just forgot to add one); what was hard was tracking the same theme throughout the entire short story. When I initially created my thesis, I thought that I had a strong thesis but it was too strong in a sense. As I continued writing, I found that it was difficult to talk about different aspects because I didn't want to stray too far away from my thesis.

Compare Contrast Analysis.docx

This paper was one of my favorites this semester. When first seeing the Great Gatsby I fell in love, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that there were some significant things missing in the movie. That's why I chose to use this movie as the focus of the paper; I wanted to hear about both sides of the spectrum and not only compare them to each other, but also my own opinion.

I feel as if this was not only my favorite paper, but also one of the best ones I've written. I found the formula and set up for each paragraph was fairly easy. With my interest in the movie, writing it became even easier because I was able to agree with both opinions of the critics.

Single Text Analysis

Liceaga Single Text Analysis

From beginning to end, this paper gave me nothing but stress and problems. We were asked to pick out a magazine article and write about how well the article did its job. It took me forever to find an article that I thought was worth writing about, but even after I did that I totally misunderstood the concept of the paper. My writing was focused too much on what the paper was saying rather than how well it was conveying the message.

When I was writing this, I was really crunched on time so all that was going through my head was, "Just get this done. Just finish this paper so you don't fail." Everyone knows that when this goes through your mind the odds it won't be the best paper you've ever written.

Annotated Bibliography

Liceaga Annotated Bibliography

The annotated bibliography was probably the easiest paper we had to write this year but of course, I made it a lot harder than it needed to be. None of the topics were particularly interesting to me, which made it very difficult to concentrate. I ended up writing almost the entire paper the day before it was due so I rushed through the entire thing and was surprised that I got a good grade on it.

The hardest part for me was concentrating on my sources and making sense of what they were saying because, like I said, it wasn't interesting at all. Once I finally did that the rest of the paper was fairly easy. If I would have used my time wisely, I would have gotten an even better grade and I would have saved myself a lot of stressing over getting this done on time.

Literacy Narrative

Liceaga Literacy Narrative

This paper was the hardest one for me in terms of what to write about. Part of the reason why I was lost was because I didn't understand what the paper was supposed to accomplish and the other half was that even after I knew what it was supposed to be about, nothing really stood out for me because I had such a huge literacy history. Then it finally hit me that I should write about where it all started, hence my title: The First That Led to Many. While writing this paper I was brought back to that very day and all of the emotions I experienced. I did a good job on describing how I felt, but the paper didn't really do what it was supposed to do. It focused too much on how the book made me feel rather than how that experience changed my views.

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