Descriptive Easay

Descriptive Essay: Winter Break

​It was the last few minutes of class and everybody was anxious to get out of class for it was the last day of first semester. As the bell rings, everybody rushes out of class saying their farewells to each other and the teacher. I hurry out of the building and meet my friends at the tree by the stairs. Once everybody was there, we all headed towards the bus stop and everybody was chatting with one another. My two friends and Idecide to go visit our elementary, Third Street Elementary, while the others go play pool. As my friends and I approach the school, old memories start popping up and we talk about the “old days”. We get off the bus, still talking about our days at the elementary, and head towards the front entrance. As the three of us walk in all excited and anxious to meet our past teachers, we stop by the office where we are greeted by same staff from years ago. We see them with their pleasant smiles for they were happy to see us once again. We chat with them for a few minutes and leave to meet our other teachers. As we walk around, we run into one of our teachers. We greet her and she is surprised to see us. We then enter her classroom and she treats us with leftover pizza from the party they had. Sitting in that room made me remember my days at that school. All the materials in that classroom were mini-sized which made me feel big. As the four us sat and ate the pizza, we chatted about the old days and caught up with one each other. Without knowing, three hours passed by, and sadly, we had to leave because we had made plans with our other friends to meet and eat. So we said our good-byes and left. Before we left the school, the three of us took a few pictures in front of the school. Then, we headed for the bus stop. We got on the bus and went to go meet with our other friends that went to go play pool. All of us met at a KBBQ restaurant on 8th and Ardmore. We ate dinner together for about two hours. After dinner, I had to go home because my mom didn’t want me to be too late. However, my other friends went somewhere; I’m not too sure where they went. I returned at around eight.

​ My memory of what I did on the next day is not clear. I have no idea what I did on that Saturday. If I did do anything, Imost likely went to go play sports and exercise with my church friends, for that is what we do almost every Saturday. If that Ididn’t do that, I probably didn’t do anything and just stayed home and played games all day. On Sunday, I went to church and that is all I remember.

​On the first Monday of winter break, I hung out with a few of my friends because it was one of my friend’s birthdays. First, we went to a sushi place and ate for a few hours. We went to a sushi place because that’s where m friend worked and her dad owned the restaurant, so we all got fee food. After we ate, we went to a karaoke place called Young Dong. We sang our hearts out for about an hour. By the time we were done with karaoke, it was about seven o’ clock. The next thing on the list was to go bowling. So we got on the bus and headed for Shatto 39 Lanes. When we got there, the place was almost packed, but luckily, there were a couple of lanes open for us to play on. We played two games which took us about an hour. After bowling, we were all hungry, so we decided to go to a Thai restaurant. The bus took too long and the restaurant was not too far away so we just walked there. On our way, we found a small cart on the sidewalk and one of my friends wanted to go in it so she got in and my other friend pushed her all the way to the restaurant. When we arrived to the restaurant, we parked the cart in a hidden area so we can get it back after we were done eating. When we arrived at the restaurant, it was about nine. The food we ordered was delicious and savory, but it was way too spicy. At first, it wasn’ttoo bad, but as we kept eating, it got worse and worse. Our mouths started to burn and felt like they were on fire while our faces were sweating. Because it was so spicy, we couldn’t finish everything; instead, we to-goed the leftovers. When we left the restaurant, it was about ten o’ clock. We went back to retrieve our hidden cart because my friend wanted to ride in it again. Luckily, the cart was still there, just as we left it. My friend got in the cart again and the same person pushed the cart, and we all headed towards my friend’s house because she wanted us to drop her off, so we did that. When we were about half way to my friend’s place, we ditched the cart because it was getting too dark and the sidewalk was cracked to point where we couldn’tpush the cart anymore. We were also afraid of getting caught by the police. When we arrived to my friend’s place, it was around ten thirty. I called my mom to pick me up knowing that she would get mad at me for coming home so late. Either way, I had to call her so I did. When I called her, she sounded angry and mad and told me to wait. So a few minutes later, she came to where I was and picked me up. On the car ride home, she nagged at me telling me to come home earlier next time and so on. I got home at around eleven that night. 

On Tuesday, I didn’t do anything. It was just a typical vacation day. I had nothing to do so I woke up late and stayed in my room pretty much all day and played games, watched movies, and etc. The only times I went out was to use the restroom or to get something to eat. I got out of my room around five thirty to pretend to work because that’s usually when my mom comes home. For the remainder of the day, I didn’t really do much. The next day, I didn’t really anything either. Just stayed home and played games. Around dinner time, I went to church because it was Christmas Eve and we were celebratingmass. When I got back home, I just went to my room and played some more games and watched a few movies until I fell asleep.

On Christmas day, I went to church again because we were having a Christmas/ End-of-the-Year Party. We had a lot to prepare so I went a bit earlier to help out. We were all busy and the place hectic trying to get everything ready. Slowly, people started to fill in and more and more people came. Eventually, everybody arrived and we started the party. The air was filled joy and laughter. There was also a talent show where people danced, sang, played instruments, and played out little skits. My friends and I were one of the performers; we danced to a Koreansong. Once the party was over, everybody started to head to the main chapel to celebrate the birth of Jesus in mass. The mass was about an hour and a half long. Many people were tired and sleepy; some people even dozed off a little bit during the mass. After the mass, everybody went home to spend Christmas with their own family. When I got home, my mom, brother, and I had a little celebration of our own with wine, chips, and Koreandramas. After an hour or so, we all went to sleep.

Abigail Adams Esay

During the 1780s John Quincy Adams went traveling aboard with his father and brother to France. While they were traveling, John's mother, Abigail Adams, wrote a letter to him on January 12, 1780. She wrote to him to give him advice about his travels and to encourage him. In the letter, Abigail uses rhetorical devices such as flattery, historical references, and tone.

Adams encourages her son to stay strong and to keep his head up by flattering him in the first half of the letter. she starts the letter off by saying "My dear son", which shows that she wants to comfort her son and gives a positive connotation. She then writes about her worries to make John feel emotional, which is an example of pathos, to lure him into the advice that she is about to give him, In the second paragraph, she flatters her son by mentioning his language skills, then saying that he needs to improve. She uses the metaphor that the author she met with said to make her explanation easier to understand. Her mentioning that it was from an author is an example of ethos because the author is much wiser and smarter than John so the message coming from the author should be taken into consideration.

In the second half of the letter, Adams uses historical references and implies a sense of patriotism in her son to give him a sense of responsibility. In line 27, she implies that he is a genius and uses a historical reference to back it up, "Would Cicero have shown so distinguished an orator if he had not roused, kindled, and inflamed by the tyranny of Catiline, Veres, Mark Anthony?" (lines 30-32). The compliment flatters John while the reference gives and example to strengthen her argument. Adams implies a sense of patriotism to call her son out to action, "Yet it is your lot, my son, to be an eyewitness of these calamities in your own native land, and, at the same time, to owe your existence among a people who have made a glorious defense of their invaded liberties, and who aided by a generous and powerful ally." (lines 43-48) Adams also tells her son that as his mother, she has done so much for him, and if he didn't take advice to heart, her life would be meaningless,",,,that you have a parent who has taken so large and active a share in this contest, and discharged the trust respond in him with so much satisfaction as to be honored with the important embassy which at present calls him abroad." (lines 52-56). She does this to make him feel guilty. Adams closes the letter with a strong and affectionate motherly tone, stating her hopes for him.

While John Quincy Adams was traveling aboard with his father and brother, his mother, Abigail Adams, wrote a letter to him encouraging him of his travels and giving him advice. She uses a variety of rhetorical devices such as tone, historical references, flattery, pathos, and ethos to convey her message.

Academic Autobiography

I know this is supposed to be an "academic" autobiography, but I never really liked the academic subjects. English, math, history, and especially science; they were all my weak suits.

The only time I actually enjoyed going to school was during my elementary years. While attending Third St. Elementary, I thought my life perfect. I would get almost all "4's" and some "3's". These were the years where I actually like school and thought learning was fun, but even then, I liked sports and physical activities better. I was always so eager to go to recess and lunch so I can play handball, basketball, or other activities. My favorite years were second and third grade because I had the same teacher for both years, Mr. Han. He is the one that introduced me to sports, for he was a huge Cowboys fan. He would give out collector's cards to kids as a prize for doing good in class. He would plan kickball games with other classes, this was probably the best part of the day. Then came fourth and fifth grade. I couldn't play as much because I had a lot of work to do and I procrastinated a lot, so my teacher would keep me in during recess to finish all my work, shortening my time to play. Fourth grade is when started to dislike education and slacked off a lot. This is when I would start to get "2's". Then my fifth grade year happened. I shaped myself up and convinced myself to do better, and I did. my teacher was awesome and I had a really great time.

However, everything came crashing down as I entered middle school, John Burroughs Middle School. Everything was so new to me and I didn't know what to do. The difficulty level of everything just increased dramatically, at least for me it did, and I was just lost. Sixth grade was when I got my first "F's". I really tried to do better but it was just too hard for me. But my grades started to get better my middle school years passed by. My "F's" slowly disappeared and I started getting used to middle school. Then came eighth grade. This is when I officially decided that I HATED science. Not only did I hate science but I was absolutely horrible at it. My math skills also slowly deteriorated because my teacher was just plain weird. But through all these struggles, I had one thing I really enjoyed doing, P.E. I had the best P.E. teachers and they made P.E. fun for me. Other students call me weird for liking a P.E. but I think it's fun. 

Once I graduated middle school, I moved on to high school. I am currently attending Fairfax High School. When I started high school, I knew it was a new beginning for me. Everything was new and it was a fresh start, this is where everything happens. Before I actually began high school, I thought it was going to be fun and exciting, like how the shows on TV show it. Unluckily for me, it wasn't. It was the total opposite. I still hated science, began to dislike math, and English was a joke for me. Just like middle school, the only subject I liked was P.E. In the ninth grade, I had a great P.E. teacher, making my ninth grade P.E. incredible. However, I couldn't participate in the activities we did for the first few weeks because I was injured. But even with the injury, I pushed myself to do the things the class was doing, I mean its boring just sitting there watching the class doing all the fun things. My freshman year is also the year I ran the Los Angeles marathon. I joined a club called S.R.L.A. (Students Run LA). It was a great experience and one of the greatest goals I have achieved in my life so far. 

After I ran the marathon, I decided what I wanted to do, and that was to run, but not long distances like the marathon. Instead, I joined track during the second semester of my sophomore year. At first, it was really tiring and hard but as time went by, it became easier and fun. I would always be excited to go to my track meets and run, but I was not the best or even close to the best. But being good was not my goal, it was about just trying my best and beating my own record. I usually ran the 1600m (one mile) and 800m (half mile). The 800m was always the hardest for me but that's what kept me going. I would always tell myself, "my pain is my determination ad inspiration." Then one day, I broke my record for the 1600m with a time of 5:50. Although this is not that fast compared to other people, I was really happy and proud of myself. 

Now I am currently in my junior year and school is not so easy. My classes are more difficult and am not able to get that much time to exercise or play. But I my interest in math is slowly coming back. I am currently in math analysis/ trigonometry. My teacher is great and his class is the reason to why my interest in math is returning. Hopefully by the end of the year, I will actually have an academic subject that I actually like.