Learning Englsih

I understand that for Engkent's mother her culture is vital to her.  She probably felt isolated in a new country and wanted to hang onto her roots for as long as she could.  A huge part of her culture is her native language.  Although I find it beautiful that her love for her language and culture was so strong, I think she should have learned English as well. It is very necessary for a person in a foreign land to adapt to their surroundings and learn the ways of it.  Advantages she could of have had would be the clear ability to communicate with the people that make up her new homeland which would have benefited her greatly.  She could of had a bigger variety of friends and had more possible opportunities for jobs or different experiences.  I really see no disadvantages in learning English.  I realize she felt very strongly for her culture but its not like she would have lost it entirely.  I think it was very foolish of her not to make an effort in learning English. 

For Sunday

I really enjoyed our discussion from Wednesday.  I feel that my class has good flowing ideas and great output.  I very much hate classes where people don't like to contribute to discussions because I then feel obligated to and people think I'm the class pet or something.  But luckily I feel I won't have that problem in this class.  English has always been my favorite subject and I do enjoy talking in class and sharing my thoughts.  I know everybody in class didn't feel comfortable sharing with the class but I hope that eventually they will.  I feel we have a good mix of different people with different backgrounds so their perspectives were very helpful in understanding some concepts I didn't fully grasp.  Although I do wish some more of the male perspective was shared, I know they are scarce but it would have been interesting to hear their thoughts, especially on the "Hey Baby" part of our discussion. 

Excerpt 1 of My Ill Literacy Narrative

In excerpt 1 of the narrative we discussed in English today we  talked about the relationship the author and her brother shared and how that affected her literacy and her perspective of the world.  I feel that I can easily relate to this situation.  I am a proud big sister to my younger brother, Tony, who's seventeen.  I love him dearly and we share a deep bond.  I feel that because we are so close in age and that there is only the two of us our relationship is closer than most siblings.  I completely understand the auothers feelings from this excerpt.  My brother and I would show sibling affection to each other in the comfort of our home but at school we acted almost as strangers toward one another.  "Showing love in public reveals an exploitable weakness." is a quote from this excerpt that I fully understand.  The two of us followed this statement and we had a good advantage over other sibings.  We look nothing alike.  I look exactly like my mother who is Native American and my brother looks exactly like my father who is caucasion.  But I vividly remember the day our siblingship was revealed.  On this particular day we visited the office with our mother for some reason or another  and a boy from my brothers class just happened to be sitting in there and observed as our mother kissed the both of us goodbye.  After that the boy would threaten Tony saying he would slap me if  he didn't give him his lunches everyday.  One day I was sick of it and in my protective state I confronted this boy and to my surprise he actually slapped me.  This then resulted in my brother and I engaging in a fight with him (we won of course =] ) which then resulted in us being suspended.  Even though our sibling relationship was revealed there were no negative outcomes from other peers becasue after that fight, nobody wanted to mess with me and my little brother. 

Side Note♥

Because I can't insert a caption with my photo I just wanted to let those who are curious know that the person with me in my profile picture is my everything.  As corny as it may be, its true.  That's my best friend, my heart, and my whole support system.  Being that this whole college thing is completely foreign to me, having him with me makes him a very special and important person in my life, so to me he deserves his little spot in my blog.  

Where I'm From

                I am from motor grease scented hands,
                From graffiti alley mazes
                I'm from cracked sidewalks that glitter with glass

                I am from Rock n Rye Faygo stained smiles,
                From the vibrations of hard hitting bass
                From dead ends and charred homes
                I'm from the bottom bunk shared with Pocahontas

                I am from "Nanoo Nanoo Time", "You just got Deboed" and
                "143"
                I'm from the coolness of fire hydrant rain

                I am from five living generations
                From the embraces of ink covered arms
                From Coney Island chilli cheese fries
                From the very top floor in apartment 13

                I am from the softness of an animal companions fur
                From collect calls from Jackson Correctional Facility
                From scar painted limbs marked as souvenirs

Introduction

I am Ashleigh Johnson, a freshman at Western Michigan University.  I am from Kalamazoo and live off campus with my boyfriend of 2 years and our two bunny babies; Nala and Obi Wan Kenobi.  I have not determined what my major is but I hope to discover my passion during my journey at Western.