Sources in College vs High School

Writing using sources is very important in both high school and college, but misconceptions and differences exist between the schooling levels. One big difference between college and high school writing is the formatting of sources. In high school, I only used MLA formatting, but in college, I have to use all different types of citing depending on the class.

Additionally, in high school I never realized that there are different types of citing and I thought that everyone used the same citing style. At college I realized that everyone uses different citing styles, from English to History and Political Science.

Another difference that I found from high school to college is the use of annotations in a paper. In high school, all of my papers focus on one or two sources, and my teacher told us to put the citations at the ends of paragraphs or at the end of multiple sentences from the sources. In college this will not, work because you are using lots more than two sources and that is not correct citing.

Finally, another thing that I learned in college writing is that when you are paraphrasing authors writing you must significantly change the wording and truly makes the authors words into your own, because if you just change a few words you are really plagiarizing that authors work. In college, you must learn to cite in different citation formats for different classes, use annotations correctly in your paper, and learn how to paraphrase authors’ words correctly.

Second Life Scavager Hunt

For my English 103 class we had to complete a scavenger hunt with two other classmates. My part of the scavenger hunt was to go to all the landmarks that involved shopping these included Milky 9, The Garden Center, Sarah Nerds Freebie Paradise, and NMC orientation.

The first place that I went to was the Milky 9. When you visit here you can get free clothing and accessories. I went here when I first created my avatar and changed its clothing and hairstyle to personalize it. Thus, my first impression of Milky 9 was a very positive one because they provided everything an avatar needed to get started in Second Life. Because everything is free you can "buy" as many clothes as you want and you learn how to but them on without ending up with a box on your head.

This is a picture of me in Second Life at Milky 9:

The second place I visited was the Garden Center. At the Garden Center you can buy anything from potted plants to a sky box. I really liked the Garden Center because all of the flowers in it, but I was surprised how expensive everything was, like 99 dollars for a potted plant. But if you had a house or store in Second Life these things would be very useful. I really enjoyed the time that I spent and the Garden Store because everything was so interesting to look at, like all of the waterfalls. Here I learned that you could really spend a lot of money on things like plants in Second Life.

Here is me at the Garden Center:

The third place that I visited was Sarah Nerds Freebie Paradise. Here you can get free clothing and hairstyles like at Milky 9. What surprised me here was that the store was under construction. I previously thought that nothing could be under construction in Second Life. Here I learned how to "buy", everything here is also free, and put on things that I buy. Also, like Milky 9, Sarah Nerds Freebie Paradise is a very good place to start when you first enter Second Life.

Here I am walking into a building at Sarah Nerds Freebie Paradise:

The fourth and final place that I visited was NMC orientation. Here an avatar can get orientated with basic Second Life functions, like talking and flying. This is a very good place to start when you begin Second Life or if you ever have any questions about basic functions of Second Life. At first this place looked pretty basic but as I walked around I realised that this place could be very informative and helpful.

I am standing in the center of the NMC orientation:

All of these places involve shopping and getting started in Second Life, thus it is very important that people just starting out in Second Life go to these places. Also, all four of these places are great places to practice things like talking and flying. Also, these places are excellent places to get started in Second Life because they do not look like the real world, thus providing a stepping stone to new avatars into Second Life. Because new avatar see that this is a virtual world before they realise how really Second Life actually looks, After the scavenger hunt, I realised how many things you can learn by going to places that involve shopping.

Avatar in Second Life

For my English 103 class we recently had to create an avatar in Second Life. This was a completely new experience of me and I did not know what to expect. When I created my Avatar I gave it the name Jordyn. I chose this name because I really like the name Jordan but that name was already taken, so I chose the next best version of that name. Also, with Second Life you can make your avatar look as close to the real you as you want. I did not do this because I feel like there is only one me and there should not be a copy of me online. However, I did change multiple things about my avatar, this include its eye color, I changed it to blue, its hair color, I changed it blonde, and its clothes, I changed them to things that I like but would not wear in real life. Overall, I feel like the avatar is a good idea for the class but I don't think I will use it after this class is over, and I am not sure of how I feel having an avatar, even though it does not really look like me, online.

Will a Typical Writing Process Cut it in College?

I just finished reading the Transition to College Writing by Keith Hjortshoj and found it very interesting. It talked about the writing process of most students transitioning from high school to college. And how students shorten that process to fit their needs or time schedule; the typical writing process of a high school student going into college is:

1. Think about your subject matter, you can or cannot use an outline
2. Write your paper
3. Edit the paper
4. Turn your paper in (Hjortshoj 67)

In my experience this is the way that most high school students write, my classmates would come into school the day the paper was due and ask “what time did you finish your paper last night” or be printing their paper in the study hall right before our class. It is the fastest way to write and can be accomplished at the last minute if you procrastinate. Even I have completed a paper this way before, and I can tell you what I get on my papers when I use this writing process, a "C" at best. Thus, to be successful in college writing you must expand that writing process to include drafts. This can be hard because it takes up time, but in order to get the best paper and grade it must be done. A thing that I find very useful is if I am writing a paper is I will complete my first draft and turn off my computer and go do something else that has nothing to do with my paper for at least an hour. Then I will come back to it and start editing. I find that this lets me see my errors clearly and rework the awkward sentences or paragraphs. If you incorporate something like that into your writing process it will help you write a better paper. For me it is the first step in developing my writing process that will start with thinking about possible topics for my paper on the day I get the assignment, not the day before its due. Also, I am going to add more drafts and editing into my writing process so I can get the best grade possible. Then, hopefully, my writing process will enable me to write better and more effectively and get good grades on all my papers.