My Motivation

            My motivation has not changed at all which is not a bad thing, It’s still as strong

as my first day of class. In fact It’s still as strong from when I was in prison, while I was incarcerated I did a lot of thinking of what I was going to do with my life when I get released. I had received diploma after a couple months from the day I got arrested, I from then I planned on going to college but wasn’t sure how I was going to pay for it. When I told my girlfriend about my plan she was thrilled to hear it she always wanted to me to go to college. After she had passed away I made a promise to her that I will start and finish college and get to where she was at last which was at a Master’s Degree. My probation officer wasn’t to happy about me going to school, he wanted to find a job so I made a argument, how it was damn near impossible to find a job as a ex-con that a degree or working on a degree was the best option to get a job. A friend of mine that we call the blue eye devil showed me everything I need to do to get the money for schooling. Going back to prison doesn’t bother me at all, its not keeping my promise to my ex that would kill me. I keep my word all we have in this world is our word not that I care about pride or anything to me pride is Mans greatest weapon and greatest down fall, I just don’t want to let her down again.  This is what keeps me going everyday, that pushes me to do good in school and to do good in life. I just wish that she was still alive to see me working on achieving this. I want her to be proud of me once again.

My Goals

Long-term goal: Earn my masters degree (no major decided yet)

Mid-term goal: Complete all requirements for my long term goal


Short-term goal: Work hard in my class, I would like to be an A student to recieve scholarships


March 13, 2012
　
Dear Dad,
I know we had never seen eye to eye, but I always respected the things you were
trying to teach me. I have learned alot from you and I know I have said before that I wasn't
going to attend college, that I had other plans in mind. Never thought that I needed college
to get where I wanted to be in life , I was wrong and you were right as you always were. I
have been attending college for the past year now and I am going to earn a A.S. degree in
Automotive Technology soon, I also plan on achieving my Masters degree one day but first
things first. It took me a little while to get my self on track, it was a long and hard road but
now I am finally doing it right, I'm even speaking japanese now can you believe it? My grades
can use a little work, which of course I dont have to tell you how I hate doing homework, my
first semester was a little harsh seeing I had alot to handle with my P.O. and my random
testing and all my oter legal problems. But I haven't given up Ikeep playing all the lectures
you use to tell me about how smart I am that I can do anything that all I needed to do was try.
I even got me a tutor after my first semester of school so I can bring up my math skills, they
were terrible at first guess that tends to happen after about 10 years of not using math. Now I
am going to be taking trig next semester, I wont stop learning this time. I couldn't have done
this with out your teachings, tank you for all you have done for me. I am sorry that I didn't
listen to you the first time, if I had then mabye you might have been able to see me
acomplish this.
         
        Your son,
                    Salvador

Vocabulary#5

Exploited–verb (used with object)

 

 

1. to utilize, especially for profit; turn to practical account: to exploit a business opportunity.

 

 

2. to use selfishly for one's own ends: employers who exploit their workers.

 

 

3. to advance or further through exploitation; promote: He exploited his new movie through a series of guest appearances.

 

 

Pg.

 

 

Own logic. I have herd this word alot throught out my life on the news, movies, prison mostly though.

We are all hostages, and we are all terrorists. This circuit has replaced that other one of masters and slaves, the dominating and the dominated, the exploiters and the exploited.... It is worse than the one it replaces, but at least it liberates us from liberal nostalgia and the ruses of history.



Pacification-noun

1. the act, process, or policy of pacifying


Pg.


Own logic I herd this being used when i was in court by the prosecutor at the time I didn't know what he ment by it so I looked it up when I got back to my cell.


It could be clearly proved that by a practical nullification [by the South] of the Fifteenth Amendment the Republicans have for several years ... - MORE It could be clearly proved that by a practical nullification [by the South] of the Fifteenth Amendment the Republicans have for several years been deprived of a majority in both the House and Senate. The failure of the South to faithfully observe the Fifteenth Amendment is the cause of the failure of all efforts towards complete pacification. It is on this hook that the bloody shirt now hangs.




Futile–adjective

 

 

1. incapable of producing any result; ineffective; useless; not successful: Attempting to force-feed the sick horse was futile.

 

 

2. trifling; frivolous; unimportant

 

 

Pg.

 

 

Own Logic I have herd this word mostly in movies and books i have read never reall used it my self.

 

 

Worrying is as futile as boredom, but harder work.

 

Vocabulary #4

1. Salvaged (n) To save from destruction.

He watched the young soldier wading through the water, bending down and then standing and then bending down again, as if something might finally be salvaged from the waste. pg. 173

Your Logic, I know what the word means and the way it was used in context, you can figure it out.

My friend was throwing away her chair, but I salvaged it.


2. Profound (adj) Showing deep thought or insight; intense; deep.

Down inside I had important things to tell her, big profound things, but I couldn't make the words come out. pg. 229

Example, the reading says,"I had important things to tell her."

What came out of her mouth was profound.


3. Formaldehyde (n) Toxic gas used as a disinfectant and preservative.

A technical mistake: like they'd pumped her too full of formaldehyde or embalming fluid, or whatever they used. pg. 241

Synonym, it says embalming fluid.

The smell of the formaldehyde made me nauseous.

Reflection#3

As I look back last week and forward to the next, I haven’t made any plans really.

I focus on what is going on now and plan my life according, if my school needs to get

done then that’s what I work on, if I need to see my probation officer then that’s what I

need to do. Everything else I play by ear. With this kind of planning I get everything I

have to , need to, and want to do done. I know it sounds like a bunch of bull…. But hey it

works for me. As for my study skills and reading strategies are concerned, I still need

work on my study skills but my reading isn’t all that bad, I usually read ahead in my

books even if I have to read it over again. That SQ3R is a little aggravating at times.

seeing that this is my first time in school in a long, long, time I’m re-learning how to get

back on track, I always have room for improvement. The thing that effects me more then

anything is that I don’t have a computer, so most of my time is spent in the skill lab

trying to get all my work done at once but even that gets really tiring. Once I get my

situated and get the hang of things all this will be to easy.

Vocabulary#3

Credibility–adjective

1. Capable of being believed; believable: a credible statement.

2. Worthy of belief or confidence; trustworthy: a credible witness.

Pg71.  In many cases a true war story cannot be believed. If you believe it, be skeptical. It's a question of credibility. 

Own logic- I heard this word more often with my experience in the legal system.

The defense lawyer and the prosecutor both question the witnesses; there credibility determines the out come of the trial.

Definitive–adjective
1. Biology . fully developed or formed; complete.

Pg 76. In a way, I suppose, you had to be there, you had to hear it, but I could tell you how desperately Sanders wanted me to believe him, his frustration at not quite getting the details right, not quite pinning down the final and definitive truth.

Own logic- This is another word I heard a lot among the inmates in prison, talking about there case.

It is preached a lot in church, that the word  is the definitive truth of god.

Grotesque–adjective

1. Odd or unnatural in shape, appearance, or character; fantastically ugly or absurd; bizarre.

2. Fantastic in the shaping and combination of forms, as in decorative work combining incongruous human and animal figures with scrolls, foliage, etc.

–noun

 3. Any grotesque object, design, person, or thing.

 Pg80. The truths are contradictory. It can be argued, for instance, that war is grotesque.

Own logic- Again another word the lawyers try using in there arguments in the courtroom.

I envy people who can just look at a sunset. I wonder how you can shoot it. There is nothing more grotesque to me than a vacation.

War Stories

  I got to here a lot of war stories in prison, in fact prison it self is war zone that never ends. Sure there’s
peace every now and again, on the yard all you here is noise, yelling, swearing and that’s a normal daily life.
The quietness, that’s when you got to worry, looking over your shoulder, back to the wall. But I made it, I'm here free well sort of anyway. There was this guy I worked with for about 4 years in the kitchen, old man Cook. I have a lot of respect for him, he never talked about or mentioned why he was in prison but I found out on my own. Murder was his charge in 1967; he served in the military and did 3 tours in Vietnam. He gets drunk one night and kills 7 Native Americans (most people call them Indians), but they only found 3 bodies. Now his crime is not the reason why I respect him, in fact he should have never went to prison. He did something that any man would have done and for this he gets life in Federal Prison. The Feds and State Prison systems are very different State Prison you can get out early, real early you see it a lot on the news. Were in the Feds you don’t, you do at least 80% of your time, and he got turned down for parole before I was getting out of prison. Not everyone likes talking about Vietnam but he didn't mind talking to me about it, he always told me "Stay the fuck out of prison, don't fuck up and get yourself more time." He was the kind of guy, who liked war, fighting, it was like second nature to him. One day this youngster (think he was 18-20 years old) didn't mind his business and got cook heated, poor kid got fucked up, broken nose and jaw and a busted eye. I looked at his file while cook went to the whole well the stories were true bout Nam, it was all there even his charge.His family was attacked, now the one thing I can't stand as well as the convicts is rapist, child predators. All that stuff you see on TV. about them being the bad ass on the yard all bullshit there the ones who die first. That’s what happen to Cook 7 Natives raped his wife and daughter. Now what would you do if this happen to you?