Benoit11

Lost in the Crowd

Since I was a little girl, my parents always told me that writing and reading was something I needed to learn. They said writing was a way to relax, and a way to get your feelings out, about anything. They said that reading was a way to escape the world in which we live, an opportunity to take an adventure to a far away place and let our imagination explore. I never really knew what that meant until I was about 12-years-old. I was in middle school by this time, and it was quite the discovery.

In middle school, I had two primary teachers for reading and writing, Mrs. Hess, and Mrs. Tillotson. I started to realize at a young age how important a teacher’s job was, and how they are there to help me learn new strategies and make reading and writing more fun. I loved the way they taught me. This opened the doors for my reading and writing experiences.

During this time I started to find my love for reading and writing. Through my teachers, but mostly through my sister who helped me find a passion for it. My sister loved to write poems, and through her, I found a love for it too. Her poems made me feel better about life and myself. They revealed truth, love, and hurt. Her poems held meaning and she could make them come to life, the detail she used was incredible to make them seem more realistic, and capture you.

She would tell me that her inspiration was her teacher Mrs. Tillotson, and her other inspiration was a poet named Edgar Allen Poe. My sister influenced me so much throughout my entire life, but the biggest thing she did for me was give me a love and passion for writing. I loved to watch her create a poem right then, there, she was just that good! She also earned some honorable mentions for her poems, as well as some writing awards for her poetry.

Through school and my home environment. I have learned to love writing and have gained a passion for it and an understanding of how it can change us in many ways. It can impact how we view other people, and the world around us.

Writing has been the one consistent thing in my life that I could always fall back on, and it has become a passion for me, I might not be the best at it, but the fact that I can write everything down and then look back on it a couple weeks, or even years from now, has really impacted how I deal with problems that impact my day to day life.

Standardized Testing

What is standardized testing?

If asked by an adult they would say its “A form of education trying to tests kids knowledge on what they have regurgitated throughout their years of school.” If asked by a kid they would probably say something like, “Its torcher,” “We don’t like it,” “It doesn’t actually help us.” Just cause they really don’t want to do it.

When thinking about a topic to choose from I wanted to make sure I looked at statistical facts first so I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. When looking through the statistics I found some intriguing

information that really stumped me. One website quote that Frederick J.Kelly who invented standardized testing said “These tests are too crude to be used and should be abandoned.” Another article read that most of these curriculums that are made up to teach us kids are made by policy makers who never taught once in there whole life, but they think bubbling in a multiple choice will determine my success.Is that really fair?

I am smarter than any test will show, and I have more knowledge than anyone will ever know!

Looking at other kinds of statistics I directly asked some High School kids what they did on tests. The mass of the few I asked said they were never sure what they were going to get on a test. Some said “When I think I did really well, it usually turns out I failed the test.” That’s outlandish. You should never not feel confident in your answer, if the teacher is going to give his/her class a test that teachers should be aware of what kids are ready for it, and what kids may not be. Some kids don’t feel confident in there answers and use cheating as there tactic, “Cause who cares if I know the information, as long as I am able to get an A on this test, and pass this class, I’ll be fine.” and that’s not the case at all. Standardized testing has progressed and evolved since later times when we used it. A ton of people nowadays understand your not going to do your best on a test, that you don’t think is fair. Most colleges want to know your SAT or

ACT score, but that’s not the mass of what they look at.

What is standardized testing? Do we really need it anymore?

The ways for standardized testing long ago, was for comprehending, and recalling a fact you learned a year ago that you probably don’t remember anymore. They broadly used it for understanding different kinds of literature. But we need to progress, no more standardized tests, lets focus on what we need to for the future, so we aren’t prone to repeat the past.

Why do we need standardized tests? So you know how much I have or have not learned, or so you can call me dumb? But its ok cause that what your test scores show.

I am smarter than any test will show, and I have more knowledge than anyone will ever know!

Supporting Illegal Immigration

Daca prewriting-Personal Commentary

Is is worth it?

It’s not fair for an immigrant to have a say in this country because they came here for whatever reason. They came to a free country, they shouldn’t have a say in what happens in the U.S. It’s not their home country, they came here for a chance to start over, for their families so they could live a better life.

Illegal immigrants aren’t real U.S. Citizens and yet we give them the opportunity to attend school, and college. While some Americans don’t even have that opportunity.

Why should people who didn’t help build the foundation of this country, get better taken care of than our own?

They can come here and not work to have asylum handed right to them. Asylum means they are legally allowed to live in the U.S. without a green card. After a year of receiving asylum they are eligible to apply and become a legal resident. Why should they not have to do anything and get free stuff handed to them? After 4 years of being a permanent resident they can petition for immigrant rights,

and they could qualify for financial benefits.

So immigrants get free benefits through U.S. residents taxes?

Money that people have worked hard for and need for their families is being taken away from them and given to immigrants at no cost. Most people get as much as 13.30% of their hard earned money, taken away from them so the government can help those who aren’t supposed to be here.

Immigrants are given a substantial amount of opportunities when they come to the United States. Not only does it give them a chance to start over their life, but they also get benefits that most others don’t. If you are an immigrant, you are eligible for SIJ which is special immigrant juvenile status. Meaning they get “Babied” for bad things happening to them. If an American had both of their parents die, or their parents didn’t want them when they were first born they are put into the foster care system, but with immigrants that’s not what happens. They are given an immense amount of help.

If people don’t want immigrants here, why do we still give them benefits?

Is it worth it?

All About Me

Hi! My name is Brittany Benoit. I am 17 years old and am currently a senior at Custer County High School. I have 3 sisters, 2 older and 1 younger. My older sister Alysha lives in Arizona with her husband and 2 daughters. My other older sister Kirsten goes back and forth between Westcliffe and Colorado Springs because she is currently in her 3rd year at UCCS. My younger sister Miranda is currently in the 4th grade. I also have 3 pets. My 2 dogs are Sadie and Scout which are Chesapeake Bay Retrievers. My cat’s name is Bubba and he is a little black fur ball. My hobbies include: Volleyball and Basketball. When I’m not at school I’m either at home preparing for my future or at one of my 2 jobs. I work as a waitress at our small town restaurant, Rancher’s Roost Cafe. I also work as a lifeguard at the local swimming pool.

I don’t have specific plans for after High School, however, I’m currently looking into a few different colleges. I’m thinking about majoring in Kinesiology. Some of the things that I am thinking about doing include the following: Sports medicine, athletic trainer, or becoming a physical therapist. The colleges that I am looking at currently are: Adams State University (which has the top program in the state for Kinesiology) or the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (which is also a top college in the state). Coming up here soon, I have a tryout (or audition) for the Adams State volleyball team. The reason why this is so important is because it gives me the opportunity to not only continue in a sport I love throughout college, but I also have the chance to get a volleyball scholarship which would be amazing since I’m going to be putting myself through college.

My purpose for this blog is to post required entries that relate to my College English Composition class, and to get first hand experience on how to write a blog.