PRODUCT DESIGN

This part of the story relates to me because I've taken a class in 8th grade where I didn't know anything about it. Okay so product design is not about designing logos or pop cans or cereal boxes. It was about using things like drills and lathes and welders. It's kind of funny how the subject name doesn't have anything to do with it. I don't know, that's what I think. I don't remember what the class was called but I remember that we had to make things like a pencil holder, a mouse car or other things but I don't remember. But anyways, I passed the class and didn't have to worry about staying back for another year.

This part was very different from all the other stories I've read:

"Honey, you're a freshman in high school. Why are you worrying about college now? I didn't even think about college until I was a junior."

It was different because the first story I read was about Nacie was worried about college as a freshman and how they were nervous and afraid but when I read this part of the story connected to me because I didn't think about college at all my freshman year. Reading about different people on how nervous or prepared they were for college made me think more and more about college and how important it is because it is the key to success.

A WORTHY GOAL

"When I was a baby I was abandoned in an orphanage." to "Education is the key to my success. Without it, I will be an ordinary girl blending into the crowded halls of my high school. I am lucky I know what I need to do. My life may have started out poorly but I have found a way to ensure the rest of my days will be positive. Going to school may be boring to some, for me it's the only way,"

When I was reading the first paragraph of this chapter, my first thoughts were "How could this relate to getting into college?" But as I read more into it I actually enjoyed how one person started out so badly and ended up so good as to where they knew their purpose to their life. It's amazing how they started out with nothing and ended up with more than something. But I guess life is full of surprises right? I guess when it all comes down, I know that God is in the middle of our lives. I don't know but I thank God for everything that I have. I don't know what I would do if I started out with nothing, being abandoned by my parents. I don't know the feeling but I think wait no scratch that, I know that God helped each and everyone of us to get through our times of trouble. I know there are some who don't believe but I believe. And I hope some of you will believe. Reading this story made me realize how important we are to God and how we need to be thankful for everything we've got. It's interesting how this person had nothing and in the end they got everything.

THE WAITING IS THE HARDEST PART

Reading the chapter "THE WAITING IS THE HARDEST PART" is very true. I thought that this part interested me the most:

"I've been waiting since the fifth grade. At the age of ten, I decided that Yale was the college for me, and anyone who disagreed wasn't even worth talking to. When someone asked me what I was going to do when I grew up, I would smile and reply that I was going to Yale. "Oh! They'd exclaim, that's a very good school. What do you want to study?" That question always stumped me. "I don't know," I wouldn't reply," but I was going to Yale anyway."

This interested me the most because it explained how ready and confident a ten year old was. I don't remember saying I was going to college when I was ten. Its very funny and cute in a way how young kids have their minds set on what they want to do and yet some people I know including me don't have a clue about what we want to do. I can use this a motivation because if a ten year old can know what they want in life I know that I can do it too.

GETTING INTO COLLEGE

Chicken Soup for the Soul Teens talk, Getting into college book is very interesting. This book helps me get over my fear of applying for college and scholarships and just because school is almost done, for me. Reading the story of Nacie Carson of how her fears of college started at her first year of high school really surprised me because when I was a freshman, I never thought about college, at all. Thinking back to my freshman year, I've never thought about college because after failing my classes, getting my grades up was the only thing I focused on and college never popped up. Nacie Carson talks about how she could of been doing other things besides worrying about college because it was her freshman year but no, she worried about preparing for college, and getting over the fears of not being accepted anywhere. She felt so much pressure because maybe her family worked so hard to get her into a private high school and expected her to go to a great college and live a fabulous life. From reading about Nacie Carson it makes me think more and more about college and how prepared I need to be because time goes by fast and I need to think about what I want to do. Her life story is so different because I've never really had the motivation about getting into college until my senior year this year. Of course my parents would tell me, "be good and pass all your classes, graduate and get into college". Yes they tell me but they've never really pushed me to where I could have been prepared to apply to colleges and scholarships. But regardless of what they haven't done to help me they try their best for me to succeed. So reading about Nacie Carson and the obstacles she went through in her high school years and now that she is in college, she truly believes that college is wonderful and a life changing experience. I think that this book is very helpful for students in high school who are scared getting into college or others out of high school who are thinking about getting into college. Hopefully, the fears that I have right now about college, I will overcome them. I will use this book as a motivation to get over my fears and help me to figure out what my plan is for my life. This book is not boring at all, it helps me a lot and teaches me how to be more confident and prepared.