Smith I

Elizabeth Smith

Dr. David Preston

AP English Literature

7 June 2015

Regarding espoused learning, I think I have been able to learn but also experience it.
Some people experienced learning and connection in Yosemite. Meeting our once only virtual
British friends and getting to hike trails and listen to their music all as one community. For me,
my experiencing learning was sitting in the chair as the salon lady cut off my hair. I had never
"gone so far" for a school project. It actually changed me. My hair yes, but also being able to
have a class where I was able to feel the connection with my real life was impressive to me. Also
I enjoyed Shakespeare! I wish we had more time to go over it in class but I even though we
didn't I have a growing appreciation for Shakespeare as a writer, this is not something I would
have ever said last year.

The trust level in the students has been very high and I feel that sometimes we didn't
deserve it. The one part that sticks out to me is when Preston showed up to class unannounced
and we were not on task. We were doing other homework or chatting with friends. That is when I
feel like we let Preston down. However after that, most of the time the class did do work,
delegating tasks to each group to get the homework done quicker; I mainly remember doing this
with Macbeth questions. As seniors, I think we felt that we earned trust, but Preston might have
not always felt that way but he trusted us anyway. Once we learned our lesson, with Preston
spontaneously dropping in, then we honored the trust Preston had in us and took it seriously.

Smith II

Books that tell the truth to me are Macbeth and Pride and Prejudice. Lady Macbeth is a
root of all evil type of character. I don't want to get into the terrible things she orchestrated in the
play, but I do want to say how it related to me. Evil for Lady Macbeth equals Senioritis for
Elizabeth. It was a struggle for me to study for tests. A pain to open a book and flip through
pages numbly reading. I am very grateful for the outcome of this year and some of it was
possible only because of those late night reading sessions and less than five hour sleeps.
Senioritis is not evil but a huge inhibitor to get things done and is such a good word to describe
my feelings senior year. I kind of wish senioritis doesn't exist just like I would like evil not to
exist. I know both really do exist and will never go away. I know Lady Macbeth was filled with
evil (from the moment she threw away her conscience) and I can most closely relate this to the
seniors who battled through senioritis everyday of school and who now have another three years
until the dreaded but almost welcome excuse of senioritis hits again. Macbeth is the good versus
evil. Macbeth made me feel that there is some original good in everything. His mind tells him the
King really isn't evil or bad, so why should he kill him? I like that he is the character with sense.
Though it is not long before Lady Macbeth brainwashes him into a zombie killer guy, I
appreciate that at first, he doesn't feel the need to agree with killing the king like Lady Macbeth
suggests. He has a backbone and expresses his opinion. I feel I don't always know how my
opinion on something so instead of really thinking about how I feel about it, I listen and follow
what others think. My undecided opinion could be influenced by a Lady Macbeth in real life,
which scares me. From this book I made the decision to try to come up with my own opinions
more and listen to other people's opinions only after I have my own. Elizabeth from Pride and
Prejudice is the next character that it important to me. First, we have the same name! Second,
she is a character who is so witty and stubborn and she always knows what is best for her. She is

Smith III

no nonsense person. Elizabeth turns down a marriage proposal, falls for a rich man and has
no insecurities. I love her personality and my personality is not like hers at all, but I think she
sets a great example as a strong and confident woman.

A passion of mine is medicine and health. Through the class this year, I was able to
donate my hair as a part of my masterpiece. I wasn't directly affecting my medical career, but I
do know I was helping someone who is involved with cancer. The most important part to me is
making others smile and helping make each day better for them. Hopefully one day, it will
impacting a patient's days as a physician, but for now I am happy to do something semi-big (a
girl's hair is important to her) to make a small but bright mark on someone's life. I think I will
keep letting my heart lead me. I usually know when it is possible to make a difference and I hope
I will have the confidence and courage to take chances and change lives.

Something that made me laugh out loud was the story Mile's gave about bagels, cream
cheese and lox. I am still looking forward to watching his videos because that moment from fall
final, I just remember the laugh that just kind of made the whole class roll.

There are always unseen but important details that make up a person's life.The theme
between presentations was an evolution in some way or another that connected people.
Shailynn's is the most illustrative of the examples. She showed us pictures of herself from when
she was little to when she was grown up. To me, I see that everybody has a back story, content
that is not always available to the viewer, only to the writer. I think this connected us in that
everybody had a childhood and pieces of that childhood shaped who we are today. Next most
illustrative in Aaron and Matthew's twin presentation, which I found out after was presented by
Matthew instead of Aaron! Their presentation showed how they grew together and even now,

Smith IV

have a cool "psychic" connection with each other. Jisu and Naomi connected by intertwining
their passions (music and poetry) to create a cool song with Frozen. Side note that many Frozen
lover's were connected to this presentation as well when the Frozen back up music came on.
Next was Noah's presentation, that connected everybody in the sense that we feel constantly
dominated by people who say, Youre too young". It seems like such an invalid
argument because no matter what we do, we cannot change that we are young. Would it make
those people happy if we aged ten years in two days, and maybe then they could take us
seriously! We should tell them Youre too old (and dull minded)" to see the difference we could
make if we were given a chance. And sure we would fail, probably a lot, but at least we are
trying. So sorry for the rant, every teenager has felt the "younger generation is doomed" pressure
and it is absolutely ridiculous. Last but not least, Mellany and Daniel's presentation gave the
class the Its over" feeling but also the, "Wow, we did some great stuff" feeling as well.
It reminisced us with the good times that high school contained, no matter how many times we
tweeted how much we loathed it. It was a tornado of truths. It reminded me of the new beginning
too. With every closed door, there is another peeping open.

I hope I am a hero to some people. This doesn't relate to my hero's journey, but I have
tried my best to set good examples and always be a person with a listening ear. My call to
adventure was probably from Preston's class and life. Preston was the masterpiece and
connecting my passion to a lesson and something I could say I completed. Life called me to an
adventure with college; fall semester grades, college applications, scholarships and picking a
university that be suited me.

Smith V

My mentor was my mom. She is a first generation college student who went on to
complete her doctorate, she traveled the world and then came back to have me and my brothers. I
find her very inspiring and go to her for advice on college and life. She is a permanent mentor to
me, which I am very grateful for.

I conquered the challenge of cutting my hair and also being "done" with college and life
choices for the moment. It was probably one of the most stressful things was tossing colleges
around in my head. Considering the pros and cons, the amazing opportunities at each, I knew I
would have to miss out on because you can choose one college, not four.

I feel I have returned enlightened. I have learned a lot about myself. First, I am
risky because I chopped off all my hair for a (very worthwhile) school project and second that
family is important to me. I was guided to my college choice by following something I grew up
with which is agriculture. It is something that I love and is another passion of mine. I enjoy every
minute being a cowgirl and wearing boots and I feel it is something that I don't display to others,
but it is probably the closest thing to my heart besides family. I am such a country girl and that is
how Cal Poly was able to convince me to attend. They have something special.

Wow, I just realized I am a completed bildungsroman. I just summed up my completed

story. I have come so far this year and am proud to have made it through this journey. During the
moment, it felt never ending, but here it is.