About Blow's article ' Library Visit, Then Held at Gunpoint '

To be honest, I am not familiar to any of the writer of three authors: Blow, Rouner, Steinbash. I did not read articles in English before, nor books. However, from now on, I think I will remember one of them, Charles Blow. I like his writing ‘Library Visit, Then Held at Gunpoint’. He share his son’s story and claim about what Yale security officer done to him. Then he cites that the method of solving problem was unacceptable.

First of all, I like the way he develop the story. He explained us what happened in his son’s viewpoint. It starts from “This is how my son remembers it:” He noted down exactly what his son commented, such as “I did not pay him any mind, and continued to walk back towards my room. I looked behind me, and noticed that the police officer was following me.” And this way of writing can make reader think it is about their own experience – indirect experience. Of course it made me more likely to agree to son’s emotion – confusion, scared.

Blow wrote down the climax part at the very first paragraph. “He had been accosted by a campus police officer, at gunpoint!” Also he inserted his emotion – outrage - to the sentence. This writing strategy aroused our curiosity and interest. Moreover, he used the word ‘Gun’. By using this provocative term, he snatched our attention and made us focus on the essay. I have short attention span, but I could finish reading this story with full attention.

For last, I like the way he wrote down with expressing his anger in the middle period. “Why was a gun drawn first? Why was he not immediately told why he was being detained? Why not ask for ID first?” He pointed out the problem one by one in outraged expression. And this kind of writing reduced my fury and stuffy mind which occurred while reading the article. I kept nodded my head while reading this part and I felt like Blow is my spokesman.  

The article ‘Library Visit, Then Held at Gunpoint’ involves personal opinion, but it also has emotional expression – it looks more likely human being. That is the main point why I like this story and Blow. 

About Exam 1

This was my very first test of Reading class. Unlike computer programming and math – which I am attending this semester – I did not have any ideas how to study and what to study for Reading test. Of course, I need to spend more time than I expected in preparing the test. In contrast with computer programming – I prepared about three days – or mathematics – I did not prepared at all for this subject - , it took about a week for studying reading. I studied average 2,3 hours a day.

           First, I focused on the vocabulary in the paper which Mr. Still handed out. I looked over my notes and textbook to find the meaning and wrote it down on my note. I already knew some words in Korean but it was difficult to explain in English. After that, I went over my notes. There were three big things that I have to know in notes. 1. Meaning of Leisure reading and Academic reading, and difference of these two. 2. Some activities we have to do while reading. 3. Some kind of punctuation and when do we use it. My goal was memorize all of it, however I just finished ‘Leisure and Academic’ and ‘Activities while reading’. The last thing I studied was (I thought this one is the most important) reading and summarizing articles we did in class. In Korea, professors used to make questions from here, so I worked on here mostly.

           The most good I did was reading my notes. Almost everything in here came out exactly on the test. It is funny because most I regret while preparing test is I did not focus on my notes. So from now on, while I prepare for the test, I will look up more in notes and print which professor handed out, and do not study article a lot.

           My score will be terrible, because what I thought most important was not on the test. Moreover, I confused the meaning of two terms, subjective and objective. Through this test, I learned what to study. Next time, I will make my study plan differently and receive better score.

Something I can teach others.

           Do you like to start a new instrument, or are you interested in learning new languages? If you are, than you can come and see me.

           First talent that I can teach somebody is Korean. I was born in Korea and lived there over 20 years. I got highest level of subject ‘Korean’ in SAT, and received few certificate of award when I was in school. I am not an expert of it, but I know how to teach basic of the language. By learning other languages, you will get more diverse chance in your future and improve your knowledge. If you are afraid or nervous on learning new languages, try Hangul. Hangul – it is Korean alphabet – will be a great choice because it can express every sound and language easily. Also if you get used to Hangul, it is so comfortable when you type on the laptop. Most of all, Hangul is very easy to learn. You can learn it in less effort than Chinese or Japanese and of course, it does not take long time to learn basic. By learning it, you can get more point if you want to enter Korea famous company –Something like Samsung, LG, Hyundai, or Kia. It might help you to get some unexpected meeting. I will make some notes and card for who want to learn from me and prepare some media that can help you listening and speaking. I will be great fun.

             I have one more talent. I know how to play cello. I learn it since when I was second grade and I was member of orchestra in church for almost three years. I took time out about two years because of military service, but I still know how to play and knowledge to learn basic of cello. Cello is an instrument with most similar sound with human’s voice, so you will feel relaxed while listening. By learning cello, you can join any chats about music: someone who major in Classic music or people in band.      

             Learning something new could be nervous, challenging. However it is also fun and improve your skills might help you in some unexpected situation. Try something new! 

Introduce my self

Hello. My name is JongJin Kim. I was born in South Korea and I came here Texas in this January 7^th. I have a mother, a father, and a little sister. They are all in College Station now. My father works at Texas A&M as exchange professor and this is the reason why my whole family moved to Texas.

There are so many things I prefer to do in my free time. Play board games with friends, sing songs in karaoke, play my cello the whole day, go skiing…etc. There are too many to write down. However, my favorite activity among these is listening to music. Whenever I go shopping, have dinner, read a book, or even when I study, I wear earphones and listen to music. I like to listen to pop, j-pop, CCM and K-pop. If you had never tried k-pop before, I recommend you search ‘As I say’ by Yoo Jae Suk and ‘For thousand days’ by Oak Joo hyun in Youtube. Those are my favorite songs.

As most of students in college, I have experience of working. Before I went to military service, I tried many kinds of part time jobs, such as working at bakery, serving at the wedding center, working as staff at board game café and assistant for broadcasting. Assistant for broadcasting was the most impressive part time job to me. I had to hang a wireless set (it was about 60 pounds) whole day and ran through golf field in very summer!! It was a disaster.

After graduating college and university, I hope I become a professor. I want to teach them not only computer but also some wisdom I've learned through my life. I chose to be professor because I found two big advantages when I get a job in university. One thing is I receive chance to meet several new students every year and communicate with them. It will be great fun share divorce of ideas of each of them. More than anything, professor has time to spend with family or friends, such as vacation. These two features made me go crazy and motivate me to study hard.

As I wrote above, I came to U.S.A this January. Moreover, my English grade in Korea wasn’t outstanding. My speaking is inexact and listening is also same. So I might looks unfriendly at first look, but I really like to talk with friends. So it would be happy if you say a word to me. 

(Picture on the bottom means Happy new year and I bless you luck this year!)