Kayley

Kayley June 20, 2012 (Choosing a favorite person in my life is not an easy decision to make. In fact I don't like choosing people who are my favorite because everyone I know are different and all have unique characteristics that make them who they are to me. (this line may be unnecessary) Instead of having a favorite person I mostly have people who have inspired me or who have impacted me in some way that makes them special to me. About three and a half years ago, when I was in seventh grade, a very special person came into my life and without her I don't know where I would be today. That women is Dr. Mancuso. She is a neurosurgeon that saved my life.  In November or December of my seventh grade year, every doctor I went to said I was crazy or the pain I was experiencing was all in my head. I was simply imagining it. Do you know what it is like to be told that your crazy? Do you know how it feels to be told that you need to go to a therapist to sort out the things your "imagining?" Its not the best feeling to have and it defiantly effected my self esteem. I began to question if I really was crazy and if it really was all in my head. However, this one women along with my amazing parents believed me and proved everyone else wrong. I was not crazy or imagining the pain, the symptoms were very real and very much there. That year Dr. Mancuso diagnosed me with Chiari Malformation Type 1. You look at me and wonder what that is and are inclined to ask a million questions. __Well for starters its a crazy thing to think about.__ Chiari Malformation is a painful condition where your brain is too big for my skull. No school or learning didn't cause it. I was simply just born with it and no one ever knew I had it. My brain was literally con caving into my neck causing an insane amount of pressure and pain. Dr. Mancuso insisted I needed surgery but was only ten percent sure that it would even work let alone cure me to the point of where I could survive. On January 26 I was scheduled for brain surger. This is a surgery not very many people can say they survived or have even experienced for that matter which in a way made me nervous. With hair shaven off, stitches, and lots of pain medication that I did not enjoy, I survived the surgery. When I woke up after an eight hour procedure, my mom and dad had great news to share with me that Dr. Mancuso shared with them earlier. My ten percent turned into ninety percent and she truly believed I was cured. I never thought I would ever hear the words that I was cured until that day when they were said to me. On top of that I could suddenly see a little note card saying my room had been cleaned, something of which I could not do before. I could see! Not only did I gain my sight but I could walk. What a miracle everything was truly turning out to be. Dr. Mancuso said she had never seen anything like this before. Once she removed the extra bone on each side of my skull, my brain came alive again. Something I am glad I couldn't see but very glad it happened. __Without her and my parents decision to have the surgery I may not be alive today.__ After all my experiences that I would never wish upon someone else or would want anyone to go through, I can't chose just one favorite person because there are to many people that have changed or saved my life. I don't recommend going through something like that because its not easy and it does change you. Dr. Mancuso saved my life and for that she will always be an important person to me.
 * Favorite Person **

Beautiful writing on athought provoking experience. Please edit the underlined sentences and I shall talk to you in class tomorrow Kayley June 20, 2012 First begin with a pen/pencil and a piece of paper. Draw a fair size circle. On the top of the circle draw eight lines about a 1/4 inch tall. In the center of your circle draw the letter "L." Above the letter "L" draw two ovals on each side of the "L" evenly spaced. At the bottom of the two ovals draw a smaller circle and shade them in. Just below the "L" draw a parentheses where the scoop is facing down and the corners are facing the top.
 * Figure Description **

Kayley June 20, 2012 **Journal Entry #3:** What is on your mind? So today so far it has been a wild, crazy and spastic morning and it's not even nine o'clock yet. I woke up this morning with a crazy migraine at 4:30. No person should ever be up that early because of a migraine. For the rest of the morning or until I had to get ready, I watched the news to find out that it is supposed to rain today. Rain in Texas??? Now I know why I have such a bad migraine that I have still yet to get rid of.

I left my house at the same time as my dad; 7:30, just to end up pulling off the side of the road about five minutes later because I could feel something wrong with my tires. Is it normal for your car to feel like its going over a cheese grader every time you turn? I called my dad to let him know what was going on because I was a little freaked out, Ive never had to deal with that type of a situation. He gave me the okay to continue on in which I later found him pulled over at Walgreen's to make sure I was okay and to ask me more questions about what I thought was happening with my car. Needless to say I still managed to keep going. Due to all the rain I was lucky if I were to hit twenty-five on the highway. Did I mention I am the most impatient person and I hate traffic with a fiery passion! Don't people know how to drive in the rain? Its just a little water and it wasn't even raining that hard. While on my way to this writing camp, I was almost in a car accident. A total of at least six cars were hit and maybe to the point where their cars are totaled. I along with several other cars were hit with reminisce from the other cars. Now I have a cracked windshield. Needless to say I am a little shaken up from my current events and feel as if there is some power working against me today. I hope I can make it home in one piece.

Kayley June 19, 2012 Together as a class we were given an assignment where we all participated in reading a very long and intricate paper written by a teacher about an assignment that she assigned to her class and her worries about a specific student. Have you ever been in a situation where you know someone's response may cause confrontation? As a teenager I cant say I have experienced a whole lot of issues similar to the one presented in the article from today. Something not as dramatic as the one we were presented with that I have personally experienced is a misinterpretation of something said. English is not an easy language, and this is coming from a person who has spoken English her whole life. You may say one thing and because words have so many different connotations one may interpret what you mean in a different way. In some cases this may come off insulting to the other party involved. I may be interpreting what I am supposed to be writing about right now. I know that even though if it is wrong I am giving my thoughts to the person that reads this based on what I was thinking about when I was reading the article given to me today. Everything we do is interpreting and there can always be a lose of communication, but we as people need to think rationally and stand in the other persons shoes if we don't exactly agree with them. //Yes, we need to learn to diffuse issues in a civil way because we are bombarded with confronting ideas all the time. Please write longer responses by rereading the article or the source material.//
 * Tolerating Intolerance: **

Kayley June 19, 2012 How would you feel if you were forced to go to another country all by yourself and live there? For me, this concept is one that stretches my mind to a thought unimaginable. Although I believe there would be many benefits with spending time in another country let alone living in another country, I believe there are negative aspects that go along with this type of circumstance. Learning about a different type of culture would be a rather fascinating experience because not everyone shares the same beliefs or values in life. Knowing and even understanding another persons culture can help an individual realize what others process and maybe these ideas can change your own beliefs and values. Exploring the world is something that sounds like an amazing experience but not to where I would want to live away from the people I love. Not a lot of people can say they have been to another country, so being able to see the scenery of other lands would be a blessing in its self to for hold and see other than in pictures or on the TV. Living in another country can present many issues for an individual especially if they are like me and get extremely home sick. I could not imagine being away from my family and not being able to physically see them. Most children my age would think differently and want to leave and get out of the house as soon as possible. I am different in the way of, I have been away from my family and friends. Although I was not gone as long as planned, it made me realize how much I need them and being an ocean away would break my heart. I could also be at a disadvantage due to the fact I don't speak a lot of languages, in fact I only speak English and American Sign Language, so needless to say communicating in a foreign country would be rather difficult for me much like the character we read about in a book today in class. I am not the type of person that would want to go anywhere without my family members or a friend by my side. In this society I believe most people would feel the same way or maybe that is just the type of people I hang out with that makes me feel the way I do about this specific situation. Ultimately, everyone is going to have their own opinions about living in a foreign country. They may have the same advantages and disadvantages as me, but they also may have many different kinds other than the ones I believe. That is what makes us human though. We believe in the things we know we have grown up and we tend to friend and love the people who share the same beliefs and values of our own. Much like the book where the women is only truly happy with a man she can communicate with and relate to while also sharing the same beliefs and values and not the man that her parents wanted her to marry.
 * Picture Book Reflection: **

Kayley June 19, 2012 Today I am wondering about today's writing class.How much did I miss yesterday because I only signed up for one session? How much do I have to make up because I am not taking the afternoon session? Will I learn anything on a way to improve my writing techniques? Yesterday was not exactly what I was expecting and I am not sure if that is a good or bad thing at this time. I hope today I can figure that out for myself. When I came into this I was expecting excessive amounts of writing and/or learning how to improve my skills; if you would say I had any. I don't believe I am that great of a writer but my teacher suggested that I do this camp because I have interesting stories to share and she believes I have the capability of being a good writer. I am not sure where to take this, but hopefully my teachers advice follows through even though I will probably never see her again to tell her how it went because well I am no longer a sophomore and she doesn't teach juniors. I hope today goes by like yesterday where time flies to 11:30 and maybe learn some new and interesting information about the people in my class. Maybe today we will even watch another rather interesting video where I can't understand what even half the words mean. __Luckily I am not the only one who didn't understand all the scientific words that we were introduced to in a video about the human brain.__ The video was not to learn about the scientific vocabulary, but to understand the way our brain works. It was an introduction to how we have among us different kinds of learners that Howard Gardner talks about in multiple intelligences. Also, any writing a student does in class helps the students improve writing skills. We are writing heavily on a variety of topics because standardized tests require you to process information from a variety of texts. Please keep writing and I will underline all the problem areas so you can rethink and rewrite.
 * Journal Entry #2: ** What is on your mind?

Kayley June 18, 2012 Today we were asked to learn about a person in our classes name. At first I didn't understand that there could actually be a background to a persons name or even just a fascinating story behind how their name was given to them. My partner was a girl I chose, who happened to be sitting right next to me. Her name is Kara. As I began asking my questions I found that every answer she gave me answered another one of my questions in some way or another. Her first name comes from a Celtic/Irish background while her last name, not to be mentioned in this entry, comes from a Native American background when they were taking over territory which also means watery area. Kara likes the name she was given because it is not a common name, not a long name, and its just simple. Although she loves her name she sometimes imagines herself with a more elegant, fancy, or royal sounding name like Anastasia. I found that how she got her name had a very interesting story behind it. Her mom enjoyed the movie //Gone With The Wind.// Originally, her mom wanted to name her Tara, after a character in the movie, but her dad said NO! Simply changing it to Kara, and behind that name a very interesting person that I got to know more about.
 * Name Game: **

Kayley June 18, 2012 The mind has many functions and processes it goes through everyday and is constantly making changes based on our experiences. Different areas of the brain control different things you do and the way you do them. The brain is a difficult thing to figure out and there are new things to learn and discover everyday. It is a never ending process; finding a way to control it is not an easy task at hand. // Too brief //
 * Reflection: **

Kayley June 18, 2012 **Journal Entry #1:** What is on you mind? I have a crazy summer ahead of me. Every week until July I have sectionals for band to get prepared for Grand Nationals in November. Starting July 30 we begin our marching and music camp for a month, five days a week, about eight hours a day. Although I don't know what our marching show is going to be about. I know it's going to just as exciting as last years. The music we have received thus far reminds me of a mysterious and dark dark show that we have ahead of us and a fast moving one at that. I am especially excited about this years marching show because I am an officer for this years band program. During May I went through a difficult interview process with multiple tasks to apply for the position of Vice President of Administration. Knowing that I made this position is especially rewarding because I am the only junior officer while the rest are seniors, so I am really excited to be apart of a great team!

Movie Questions Kayanna - In the airport, did the officers search him because he was distracted or because he was of a different race? Why was Khan's brother against the marriage even though they were raised by an accepting mother? Aristeo - What you think Khan really wants to tell the president of the USA? Why do you think the other muslims did not pray with Rizvan on the bus? Aubrey - Why do they presume that Khan is a terriorist? Why did Khan give $500 to a different religion(christian only event)? Augusta - Why does he have such a hard time talking to people? Why are people so amazed by the way Khan prays? Ivy - Why does he want to fly all the way to DC to tell the president that he was not a terrorist? Why was Mandira mad at her sister-in-law? Julianna - How does autism affect someone's ability to communicate? Why was Khan willing to go through so much pain/struggle to tell the president that he was a not a terroist? Why was Mandira so mad at Khan after the killing and why does she leave him? Josh - What is he playing with in the airport? Will khan be with his wife Mandira again? Jonah - Why does Khan want to meet the president? What happens to the kids who killed Sam? Alyssa - Why didn't Reese tell the cops about who killed Sam? Sydney - Will Reeses ever tell the truth and regret?