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>> I think assignments that make me think critically overall
were the most important ones.
They make me think about
and analyze how something works together,
all the elements that it includes.
Maybe if I was to answer a philosophical question
from John Locke, I would have
to understand Thomas Hobbes' point of view.
And when you think critically about a subject,
you have to understand everything
that applies to the subject.
>> In my English class, I was asked to keep a journal.
And I kept the journal, and it helped me because I was able
to write the things down that were going through my head.
And it helped me to actually leave it where it was.
It also helps me by taking notes in class of our assignments.
And when my teacher is explaining our class work
or when she's telling us our next assignment,
it also helps me to keep it in my memory that,
OK, you have to do this.
It helps me to go back to my notes and see
that this is the assignment I have to finish.
And this is what was said in class, and I keep it with me.
>> For my classical mythology class, what helps me remember is
when I use note cards.
I write down the character on the front
and then what their main part or description is on the back.
And when I'm studying for exams, I just flip through my cards
and then that helps me remember too.
>> I've taken a lot of online courses.
And my favorite part is writing responses because I learn better
when I'm repeating the information back to the teacher.
The teacher already knows the information.
But for me to repeat the information and kind of get
into details and, like I said, personalize it
to your own writing style, helps me learn the information.
>> In my psychology class,
our teacher e-mails us the PowerPoint.
And for us-- what I like to do is I
like to print out the outline.
And while she's giving her lecture,
I like to write side notes.
That helps me remember when I study for tests, you know,
some of the main points that she talked about.
>> Using a connection to what you learned and writing it
down really helps memorize and just soak
in the information better.
>> Yeah, I think about the whole situation, then writing it down.
I got it planted in my head, the reason.
>> And I even do that in my math course that I'm taking.
I write step-by-step in writing how to do it.
I don't do it by numbers.
I do it by physically writing step one and writing it
out in sentences, so that really helps.
>> People always say essays are hard but they're pretty easy.
It's not even that much writing when it comes to school
because I've done so much on my own time.
>> Usually when I write an essay, I just keep writing
as much as I can, you know, for at least 30,
40 minutes without worrying about grammar or spelling.
And then I go back and refine it.
And I usually add more to it as I'm refining it.
And that's how I usually do an essay or a writing assignment.
>> I feel like that's what Hunter S. Thompson was trying
to say, write drunk, edit sober.
You don't necessarily have
to be drunk just don't inhibit yourself.
Don't edit yourself until the very end.
Don't worry about anything, something [inaudible],
that creative juice will just start flowing.
>> Though we did a personal essay last semester,
and it really helped because it helped me kind of express myself
and get to know myself as an individual and kind
of just get used to writing
because I didn't really like it as much.
But when you're doing a personal essay it's, you know,
your own personal experiences.
And it really gets you familiar with writing
so I really like that.
>> One thing I learned about math is it helps me
to talk logically and to think logically
and to write English more frequently and more effectively.
I was a guy who cannot write any sentence in an essay,
and now I can write like five pages essay.
And it took me a long time, but I was good at math.
And I kind of got an idea that even if I can solve the problem
in math, I can also write a sentence in English
because the way I think in math is kind of similar
to the way I think in English.
Like, I solve the problem.
I find this problem.
I find the solution.
So in my writing I was like what can I write in a sentence?
Like, what is the beginning
of a sentence I should write and stuff like that?
So I think it's better to have writing in math
and so also in business classes.
>> And I say that even though I have a powerful idea.
My grammar is not good enough.
And I know what to fix it-- to my professor point it out to me.
>> Maybe in class writing, I really don't want teacher
to grade my grammar mistakes.
But in take home class, take-home essays, yeah,
I would like to have a very decent feedback from the teacher
and professor so that I know that I still have this kind
of problem so that I can have a better solution
for myself in the future.
>> When we have a what if situation, she asks us in class
to explain what would we do or write down what would we do.
We also-- it's according on the subject that we have.
For that day, we have to get with different groups,
and we have to explain to them what it means,
like the Mens Rea, it's a guilty mind.
We have to explain what that means to other students.
And we have to write it down so we can keep it.
>> Group writing is like a seminar.
You share your ideas with other people.
You get their feedback.
And then you form more ideas.
And then you combine your ideas
and then just group working together is really good.
>> It was in a history class I took.
Essentially, we were covering the French Revolution,
starting the semester.
At first I'm like, OK, we're going to be going over dates.
We're going to be going over wars, when this happened,
when that happened, when this person got offed.
However, what I was surprised was--
class, we're all going to get into a line.
Basically, I'm going to divide everyone up.
So two people were selected to be the king and queen of France.
We have people being selected to be the nobles, the aristocrats.
And 50%, half the class, were the peasants, the peons.
And basically, every weekday, day after day, basically we had
to write our-- a journal of what we have to do.
And basically as we would go on through the history book,
we'd also cover like what our characters were doing,
what our people were doing in the time during those events.
My character was a pub owner.
He was a tavern keeper.
And basically, I'm like, oh God.
I've got to keep [inaudible].
So I was like reading the book like everything
that happened during it.
And I'm like, OK, I got it.
So then I came up with this,
what I felt was this great thing.
And I was just so into like this character that I created.
And it was like one of the most funs I had in learning.
>> Writing in all of my classes, actually, help me learn a lot
because I get to expand not only on my creative ability
but my knowledge about the subject as well.
>> I don't define myself as an artist, but I do make things
that beautiful like writing,
like videoing, those kind of thing.
And I find my power in it.
In writing and in making script for the video,
and making it-- it is there.
It makes my eyes bright when I say it.
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>> Creative writing kind of just opens the doors to other things
that I love to do that has to do with my creative side.
Right now I am a business major, but I'm hoping
to do maybe marketing or fashion or something
where I use my creative side.
So writing really helps me, you know,
just get into more of a creative mode.
>> For my future job I plan on going into education.
So I want to be a high school counselor.
So I'm going to be having to write reports
and student academic profiles and stuff like that.
>> I'm aiming for game design or animation.
And it would definitely have a lot of writing.
>> Well, I'm currently aiming to get my teaching major.
>> My major is definitely going to be business, but I want--
my goal is to become a lawyer.
And that's all writing so that's--
writing is definitely going to help me in the future.
>> Well, I'm probably going to be writing may be just like,
I don't know if I'll be writing in the future.
Writing a book would be nice but like--
>> I think in any job you have, you're going to have to write.
You're going to have to do e-mails.
You're going to have to write procedures.
You're going to have to write things that people can look
at and, you know, respond back to you.
>> I'm also thinking about getting into criminal justice,
so I would have to keep writing on the clients
that I come [inaudible] to.
So that would be part of my job.
And it seems like-- very much great part of life to write.
>> You know, so writing is very important.
It's given us a lot of--
it's one of the biggest inventions of civilization.
And we do it every day.
It doesn't have to be in the form of our word processor
on our laptops or on a whiteboard in a classroom.
We do it every day, especially
if you're the average American college student,
through texting.
And that's all it really is.
All it really is-- is expressing our thoughts in symbols.
>> Every single person in this school has their own story.
And that story have to put into word.
And there's many interesting story
that we haven't heard before.
Just because they don't say it doesn't mean
that it doesn't happen.
It's just there.
We have to create an opportunity for them to show it.
>> Striving and persistent to be something--
somebody, to be someone that can write
and can write well and then do well.
So I just keep trying.
I never give up because
who knows what I'll be in the future.
You can be somebody in the future.
You can be someone that everyone would remember like [inaudible]
like Shakespeare, William Shakespeare.
Those famous people.
They are very inspirational people
that you should be look at.
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