OE in 600 words

I really have no idea what I am going to write my paper about. But since I am forced to pick something to write about for this assignment, here goes.

We are getting fatter. Statistically as a nation, almost every state has had rising obesity rates over the last few decades. Here at BYU, we are given opportunities to try to reverse this process. For example, intramural sports is a great way for students to get together and exercise while having fun and enjoying each others company at the same time. But are we doing enough? For new students here at BYU, the weight gain that occurs even has a universal name: freshman fifteen. So again we have to ask ourselves the question: is BYU providing adequate opportunity for freshman to maintain a healthy lifestyle? Upon consideration, one realizes that by providing better opportunities for exercise and a healthier selection of food, BYU could be doing a much better job of giving freshman students a healthy environment to live in.

Let’s pretend that I want to go running. Being from Helaman Halls, one option could be to run around the dorm buildings in a big loop. However, this presents a problem. Because of all the snow, the walking places soon become densely packed ice-ways. One bad footfall and you can crash and burn, I know because I have done so on several occasions. It can be especially dangerous if you run at night. A better solution to this problem would be to go down to the track that is right next to Helaman Halls. However, this track is usually locked to the public, so one would have to hop the fence and trespass if he or she was looking to exercise. As one can see, it becomes difficult for a freshman student to find a place to exercise. My solution to this problem would be to simply open the gates to the track near Helaman Halls, so that students can have open access to come and go as they please to exercise.

Another problem here at BYU for freshman students is nutrition. A large part of this problem comes from two things: cafeteria food and vending machines. The problem with the cafeteria food is that in the serving lines, they often serve foods like greasy chicken, French fries, and other meats that no one knows from which animal it came. If you want fruits and vegetables, you usually have to go to a different place in the cafeteria, rather than making them conveniently accessible in the serving line. If they would serve the fruits and vegetables in the serving line, students would be more likely to choose them, and their meals would be healthier.

Another large problem for freshman students is the vending machines. Towards the end of last semester, I was usually eating at least one meal out of the vending machines everyday, because my schedule was such that I often didn’t have time to go to the cafeteria. I am fully convinced that this was one of the reasons that I gained weight the first semester, because the foods that were offered in the vending machines were often greasy and unhealthy. I propose that the vending machines in the student dorms, like the ones in the testing center, offer things like sandwiches for students to eat. This might not sound like a huge deal, but a turkey sandwich is much healthier than a half pound pepperoni meat hot pocket. Also, if the vending machines offered fruits such as apples and oranges, students would have a healthier variety of things to choose from. If BYU made these changes, students would have a better chance of having a healthy lifestyle and an overall happier freshman experience.

What I hope to learn in English 150

What do I want to learn from English 150? That is a question that even God might not be able to answer. Coming into this class, there were no specific things that I wanted to learn. Like most students in this course, I am taking it because it is required, and not because I am particularly interested in the subject. In fact, when people ask me what I am majoring in, one of my typical answers is “not English.” Despite this fact, I realize that this course is geared toward teaching me how to become a better writer and critical thinker. With that in mind, if I happened to learn something along the way to the end of this semester, I think some of the items that follow would probably be of help to me in my future.

I would like to learn different techniques to make the reader of my paper more interested. This is extremely general, I realize, but I would like to write in such a way that monotony and eye-rolling never go hand in hand with my papers. In other words I would like a divorce from these issues, and in the process gain custody of my readers. I would also like to become more proficient in writing my papers. It seems like every time I have to write a paper, I die at least several times. Perhaps if I were better structured in my writing (and didn’t wait until less than 12 hours before the paper was due), the task would not seem so tedious. I highly doubt this to be possible, but like science I am an open book and I am willing to listen to suggestions.

There is another thing that I would hope to learn, and that is why we use the APA format instead of the MLA. We are not in a science course, nor are we in a psychology course. And yet, for some reason, we are using APA. To be honest I don’t really want to know the answer to this question. This was more just ranting after having to learn how to do APA last semester in my human development class, after four years of MLA in high school. Maybe I should be upset at my high school instead for not teaching it to us. Better yet, I will take the pessimistic route and be angry at both. Either way it’s not a big deal and I am still just ranting for ranting’s sake.

I am sorry that I wasn’t able to come up with more things that I would want to learn in this course. My plan of attack is to roll with the punches, take time to smell the flowers, cross my fingers, close my eyes and hope to come out on top. I really don’t particularly like English. Dare I say that English is the bane of my existence. However, at the same time I do realize its immense importance and that if I am to become a competent member of society I need to know its essentials. Better yet, to become a persuasive, intregral and important member of society I need to know and understand its details. Even though I have not mentioned many specific things, I do hope that this class will prepare me to be a better writer and critical thinker. I know that response is incredibly cliché, but so is this assignment.

My life in 250 words or less

Rather than telling you boring information such as where I am from and when I was born, I will instead share a few anecdotes from my life that hopefully one would find interesting. When I was about three, my parents told me that the green M and M's were mosquito repellent pills. After seeing how devastated and distraught I was upon hearing the truth, my parents resolved to never lie to their children, even in fun. When I was a freshman in high school I had the opportunity to play in a varsity volleyball tournament, to hopefully show that I could compete at a high level. I played so poorly that I would probably consider it the most embarrassing moment of my life. However, the story does have a happy ending in that I played three years on varsity following my freshman year. Last semester I started the year by missing my very first college test because of a time deadline whose existence somehow bypassed me. I missed the test again when I failed to check my email to learn that the test had been extended to the next day. Needless to say I felt very foolish. However, this story also has a happy ending in that my professor dropped the lowest test score and I finished the class with an A.

These are just a few experiences that have affected my life, and because I am out of words the rest will have to wait for another day.