Trevor Gustafson
Revised essay
Eng 101 c
From the youngest baby, crying for attention, to the oldest senior sitting lonely in a nursing home; from the nun locked away in a convent in the coldest section of Siberia, to the glamorous pop star on T.V; from the country redneck, to the city hillbilly, All have one thing in common: they have dreams aspirations and longings. These dreams may not always be easy to fulfill, and the dreamer may choose not to fulfill them, but everyone has dreams. I, too, have a dream. I want to become an architect. An architect is a person who talks with a client; finds there needs; and designs a building for the client. I am enthralled by the concept of having an enormous idea in my head, drawing it, and having it built. One thing I like about the career of architecture is the many different facets involved with the job. There’s sitting down and talking with the client, there’s drawing the blueprints and there’s visiting the construction site to make sure everything is going as planned. I like a job that has varied work environments instead of the same things day after day. The biggest reason I am attracted to architecture, however, is probably my love for buildings. I am attracted to buildings. I honestly have no idea why, but for as long as I can remember, architecture has fascinated me. I love seeing building from the time the foundation is poured to the time the building is one-thousand years old. My parents dread when we drive by an interesting building because I always glue my face to the window to see out, thus leaving breathe prints on the window. Whenever I walk into a building and notice a floor plan on the wall, I am drawn like a magnet to the plan. Those who are with me think I belong in a mental institute; I mean who actually reads those building maps? I do. I don’t know why. I just do. When I go to a museum I tend to be more fascinated by things such as the way the walls meet the ceiling than I am with the exhibits. Sometimes my interests seem extremely weird, even to me. Do I get this interest from a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or a family friend? I don’t personally know anyone who is an architect. So where did this passion come from?I might possibly have inherited this passion from my grandpa. He was a carpenter. However I can’t really remember ever seeing him do much carpentry work. Could it be that interest is inherited? I don’t know. But I don’t want to become a carpenter because I couldn’t stand working out in the rain that we so often get here in beautiful Washington State. I hate being out in the rain. There is nothing more irritating than having to be outside, getting soaked. Buildings were initially built for the sole purpose of keeping out the elements. Maybe I love architecture because I dislike the elements so much. My love of buildings, however, does not in any way keep me tucked inside all day. I am an outdoors person. Hiking, backpacking, and biking are some of my favorite activities. I just like doing these activities when it’s not raining. Out of all the possible reasons that I might have gained this desire to design buildings, I believe the foremost reason I have been given this desire is because God gave it to me. God uses some desires to show me what he wants me to do. God has given me many gifts. One of those gifts I believe is architecture. The gifts God has given me should be used wisely. I don’t want to waste a gift. However I have been given many gifts. Which one should I utilize as a career? Another gift I believe I have been given is the gift of music. I have played the violin for more than half my life. Does God want me to bless others through a career as a musician, or with the gift of architecture? I can also use my gifts besides in a career form. I enjoy playing old-time music at senior homes with my band. There are some gifts that can be used as a hobby instead of as a career. I don’t love absolutely everything involved in architecture. For one thing it takes a ton of school to even become an architect. The pay is also not the greatest. However I still believe that I want to become an architect. I have considered doing another job. I imagine going to work day after day after day and wondering what if? What if I had become an architect? What would I be doing right now? For me, being content in an occupation is more important than having a career that provides a vacation to the Bahamas, a Ferrari, and an eight thousand square foot house. I know that there are many people who would rather take the money and settle for a job that they’re not content with, but that’s not how I am. Contentedness in a career is also worth a lot of work to me. I am willing to go through the five plus years of school required for me to become a licensed architect. I don’t really like school, but I am willing to make sacrifices in order to become an architect. I could take a different occupation besides architecture. There are plenty of other occupations with similar qualities as architecture. Manufacturing, for example, designs and sees things built, but I am not attracted to manufacturing. I love buildings. I could become a general contractor, but I hate the rain. There are many occupations with similar aspects as architecture, but none that I know of are as appealing as architecture. I am open to different ideas. I have taken on-line career assessments, but for the record those are messed up. No I do not wish to become a nuclear engineer. Someone I have talked with about the idea of becoming an architect is local architect, Michael Smith, who works at Zervus Group architects. I believe that it is important to get the advice of others before making a big decision such as what occupation to explore. I asked Michael about what all is involved in becoming an architect, what school to go to, and what classes to take at community college to prepare for a transfer degree. We also discussed his latest project, Bayview Tower, the twenty-tree story condominium planned for downtown Bellingham. Michael is in charge of coordinating all the designers involved on the project. Just to hear him talk about this awesome project made me more exited to become an architect.
Just like everyone else, I have an aspiration. It is not a perfect aspiration, nor will it be easy to fulfill, but I feel that it is worth a little work to reap the rewards of an occupation that I am exited about. I believe that the pros for following this dream will outweigh the cons. Not everyone will feel that way about their dreams, but I do.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Revised essay
Following My Dream
Trevor Gustafson
[Intro]
An architect is a person who talks with a client; finds there needs, and designs a building for the client. I am enthralled by the concept of having an enormous idea in my head, drawing it, and having it built. One thing I like about the career of architecture is the many different faces involved with the job. There’s sitting down and talking with the client, there’s drawing the blueprints and there’s visiting the construction site to make sure everything is going as planned. I like a job that has varied work environments instead of the same things day after day. The biggest reason I am attracted to architecture, however, is probably my love for buildings.
I am attracted to buildings. I honestly have no idea why, but for as long as I can remember, architecture has fascinated me. I love seeing building from the time the foundation is poured to the time the building is one-hounded years old I love buildings. My parents dread when we drive by an interesting building because I always glue my face to the window to see out, thus leaving breathe prints on the window. Whenever I walk into a building and notice a floor plan on the wall, I am drawn like a magnet to the plan. Those who are with me think I belong in a mental institute; I mean who actually reads those building maps? I do. I don’t know why. I just do. When I go to a museum I tend to be more fascinated by things such as the way the walls meet the ceiling than I am with the exhibits. Sometimes my interests seem extremely weird, even to me.
Do I get this passion from a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or a family friend? I don’t personally know anyone who is an architect. So where did this passion come from?
I might possibly have inherited this passion from my grandpa. He was a carpenter. However I can’t really remember ever seeing him do much carpentry work. Could it be that passion is inherited? I don’t know. But I don’t want to become a carpenter because I couldn’t stand working out in the rain that we so often get here in beautiful Washington State.
I hate being out in the rain. There is nothing more irritating than having to be outside, getting soaked. Buildings were initially built for the sole purpose of keeping out the elements. Maybe I love architecture because I dislike the elements so much. My love of buildings however does not in any way keep me tucked inside all day. I am an outdoors person. Hiking, backpacking, and biking are some of my favorite activities. I just like doing these activities when it’s not raining.
Out of all the possible reasons that I might have gained this desire to design buildings, I believe the foremost reason I have been given this desire is because God gave it to me. God uses some desires to show me what he wants me to do. God has given me many gifts. One of those gifts I believe is architecture. The gifts God has given me should be used wisely. I don’t want to waste a gift. However I have been given many gifts. Which one should I utilize as a career? Another gift I believe I have been given is the gift of music. I have played the violin for more than half my life. Does God want me to bless others through a career as a musician, or with the gift of architecture? I can also use my gifts besides in a career form. I enjoy playing old-time music at senior homes with my band. There are some gifts that can be used as a hobby instead of as a career.
I don’t love absolutely everything involved in architecture. For one thing it takes a ton of school to even become an architect. The pay is also not the greatest. However I still believe that I want to become an architect. I have considered doing another job. I imagine going to work day after day after day and wondering what if? What if I had become an architect? What would I be doing right now? To me being content in an occupation is more important than having a career that provides a vacation to the Bahamas, a Ferrari, and an eight thousand square foot house. I know that there are many people who would rather take the money and settle for a job that there not exited about, but that’s not how I am. Contentedness in a career is also worth a lot of work to me. I am willing to go through the five years of school required for me to become an architect. I don’t really like school, but I am willing to make sacrifices in order to become an architect.
I could take a different occupation besides architecture. There are plenty of other occupations with similar qualities as architecture. Manufacturing, for example, designs and sees things built, but I am not attracted to manufacturing. I love buildings. Why not become a general contractor? Because I hate the rain. There are many occupations with similar aspects as architecture, but none that I know of are as appealing as architecture. I am open to different ideas. I have taken on-line career assessments, but for the record those are messed up. No I do not wish to become a nuclear engineer.
Someone I have talked with about the idea of becoming an architect is local architect, Michael Smith, who works at Zervus Group architects. I asked him about what all is involved in becoming an architect, what school to go to, and what classes to take at community college to prepare for a transfer degree. We also discussed his latest project, Bayview Tower, the twenty-tree story condominium planned for downtown Bellingham. Michael is in charge of coordinating all the designers involved on the project. Just to hear him talk about this awesome project was an encouragement to become an architect.
Closing
Trevor Gustafson
[Intro]
An architect is a person who talks with a client; finds there needs, and designs a building for the client. I am enthralled by the concept of having an enormous idea in my head, drawing it, and having it built. One thing I like about the career of architecture is the many different faces involved with the job. There’s sitting down and talking with the client, there’s drawing the blueprints and there’s visiting the construction site to make sure everything is going as planned. I like a job that has varied work environments instead of the same things day after day. The biggest reason I am attracted to architecture, however, is probably my love for buildings.
I am attracted to buildings. I honestly have no idea why, but for as long as I can remember, architecture has fascinated me. I love seeing building from the time the foundation is poured to the time the building is one-hounded years old I love buildings. My parents dread when we drive by an interesting building because I always glue my face to the window to see out, thus leaving breathe prints on the window. Whenever I walk into a building and notice a floor plan on the wall, I am drawn like a magnet to the plan. Those who are with me think I belong in a mental institute; I mean who actually reads those building maps? I do. I don’t know why. I just do. When I go to a museum I tend to be more fascinated by things such as the way the walls meet the ceiling than I am with the exhibits. Sometimes my interests seem extremely weird, even to me.
Do I get this passion from a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or a family friend? I don’t personally know anyone who is an architect. So where did this passion come from?
I might possibly have inherited this passion from my grandpa. He was a carpenter. However I can’t really remember ever seeing him do much carpentry work. Could it be that passion is inherited? I don’t know. But I don’t want to become a carpenter because I couldn’t stand working out in the rain that we so often get here in beautiful Washington State.
I hate being out in the rain. There is nothing more irritating than having to be outside, getting soaked. Buildings were initially built for the sole purpose of keeping out the elements. Maybe I love architecture because I dislike the elements so much. My love of buildings however does not in any way keep me tucked inside all day. I am an outdoors person. Hiking, backpacking, and biking are some of my favorite activities. I just like doing these activities when it’s not raining.
Out of all the possible reasons that I might have gained this desire to design buildings, I believe the foremost reason I have been given this desire is because God gave it to me. God uses some desires to show me what he wants me to do. God has given me many gifts. One of those gifts I believe is architecture. The gifts God has given me should be used wisely. I don’t want to waste a gift. However I have been given many gifts. Which one should I utilize as a career? Another gift I believe I have been given is the gift of music. I have played the violin for more than half my life. Does God want me to bless others through a career as a musician, or with the gift of architecture? I can also use my gifts besides in a career form. I enjoy playing old-time music at senior homes with my band. There are some gifts that can be used as a hobby instead of as a career.
I don’t love absolutely everything involved in architecture. For one thing it takes a ton of school to even become an architect. The pay is also not the greatest. However I still believe that I want to become an architect. I have considered doing another job. I imagine going to work day after day after day and wondering what if? What if I had become an architect? What would I be doing right now? To me being content in an occupation is more important than having a career that provides a vacation to the Bahamas, a Ferrari, and an eight thousand square foot house. I know that there are many people who would rather take the money and settle for a job that there not exited about, but that’s not how I am. Contentedness in a career is also worth a lot of work to me. I am willing to go through the five years of school required for me to become an architect. I don’t really like school, but I am willing to make sacrifices in order to become an architect.
I could take a different occupation besides architecture. There are plenty of other occupations with similar qualities as architecture. Manufacturing, for example, designs and sees things built, but I am not attracted to manufacturing. I love buildings. Why not become a general contractor? Because I hate the rain. There are many occupations with similar aspects as architecture, but none that I know of are as appealing as architecture. I am open to different ideas. I have taken on-line career assessments, but for the record those are messed up. No I do not wish to become a nuclear engineer.
Someone I have talked with about the idea of becoming an architect is local architect, Michael Smith, who works at Zervus Group architects. I asked him about what all is involved in becoming an architect, what school to go to, and what classes to take at community college to prepare for a transfer degree. We also discussed his latest project, Bayview Tower, the twenty-tree story condominium planned for downtown Bellingham. Michael is in charge of coordinating all the designers involved on the project. Just to hear him talk about this awesome project was an encouragement to become an architect.
Closing
Monday, December 3, 2007
The Tight rope between bias and interest
The Tight rope between bias and interest
Trevor Gustafson
To me, what makes a good essay? Whether it is an essay that I have read, or an essay that I have written, to me a good essay is one that is on a subject of interest to me, and is also presented in a convincing, minimally-biased way. That can be hard. Interest quite often creates biasness. But it is when I walk that tight rope between interest and bias that I feel that my writing and my understanding of what I read is the best.
This class has helped me see that preconceived ideas can cause bias against something that I have read when I may not really disagree with it. One way I form a bias for or against an essay is through a preconceived idea from what the author said somewhere else. In his essay, The Owl Has Flown, Sven Birkerts writes that “wisdom has nothing to do with the gathering or organizing of facts.” In answer to this essay I wrote a reading response which is a short, informal writing in which the author critically examines the points presented in an essay. In this reading response [artifact A] I stated that I assumed throughout the rest of the essay that Birkerts was saying that no facts are helpful for gaining wisdom. However, now, looking back on the essay, I believe that Birkerts may have been saying that it’s not just the amount of facts that we gather, but also the quality of the facts that makes us wise. I also believe that the quality of facts is more important than the abundance of facts. While Birkerts and I might disagree on several things, we may not disagree on quite as much as I assumed we did at first.
Sometimes my preconceived ideas cause me to believe that the author is speaking against a subject when all along he is just making his readers aware of a subject. In his essay, The Loss of the Creature, Walker Percy examines expectations. In my reading response [artifact B] I stated that I believed that he was saying that all expectations are bad, but now I believe that he might have been more trying to make his readers aware of expectations then proving them wrong. I think he did still have a slight bias against expectations, but he probably wasn’t as against it as I had thought him to be.
Are there times when pre-conceived ideas are good? Sure there are. My worldview is a preconceived idea. Without a worldview, I would be wandering blindly without knowing what to believe. My worldview is what creates passion for a subject. I have a great passion for architecture so that’s what I wrote about in my personal analytical essay. A personal analytical essay is an essay where the writer gets to tackle a subject of great interest to him and discuss it from his or her own perspective. In my original essay I chose to talk about trying to decide weather being an architect was worth the challenges, but after I turned in my essay I chose to revise my essay into only talking about the pros and cons of the occupation instead of the pros and cons of getting into the occupation. I love writing about what I am passionate about, but sometimes I have a problem putting passion into an essay without making it biased. What is biasness and why is it bad in an essay? Biasness is the lack of coherent thought. It is the ignoring of facts from the other side. I may believe that the reasons for becoming an architect outweigh the reasons not to become one, but there are also those reasons for the other side. To ignore the reasons for the other side, and even say that they don’t exist, causes my readers to believe that I am not smart enough to see that there are two sides to every coin. Biasness causes me to abandon reasoning of both sides of the evidence for ranting about why my side is right and the other side is wrong. It quite often leaves out important facts and illustrations. Susan Willis once wrote an essay entitled Disney World in which she took a very biased opinion against consumerism and in so doing left out many key examples to back her claims. In my reading response to this essay [artifact C] I made it clear that the author had lost my respect. Biasness will cause my readers to loose faith in my ability to be trusted as a thinker.
This class has taught me is to find a balance in-between interest and biasness. I realize now that maybe I let my bias get in the way of understanding what the author is trying to say, and it can also cause me to write a one sided paper. Why is finding the balance important? Because to tackle a subject of no interest to me will be boring and the result will be boring. However to tackle a subject that I am passionate about, but allow biasness to get in the way of clear reasoning will turn out unconvincing. It is important to harness interest into examining all the facts not just spouting out my opinion. The readers will loose interest either because I am not interested in the subject as a whole, or because I am not willing to be interested in addressing the other side. When I loose the interest of my readers, what good is an essay?
How do I find the balance in between biasness and passion? Do I? Unfortunately not always. This is a work in progress in my life, but I am now more aware of it. In my reading response to Willis’s Disney World [artifact c], I ranted against, of all things, ranting. However this class has helped me make progress in this area. In my personal analytical essay [artifact D] I gave a two cited argument about becoming an architect. I did show the readers why I thought the pros outweighed the cons, but along the way I also mentioned the cons and the reasons I thought the pros outweighed the cons. I now realize that to rationally discuss all the evidence is far more convincing than dogmatically stating my view. This does not compromise my views; rather it allows me to share them in a far more convincing manner. Walking that tight rope between biasness and passion makes for a far better essay.
Trevor Gustafson
To me, what makes a good essay? Whether it is an essay that I have read, or an essay that I have written, to me a good essay is one that is on a subject of interest to me, and is also presented in a convincing, minimally-biased way. That can be hard. Interest quite often creates biasness. But it is when I walk that tight rope between interest and bias that I feel that my writing and my understanding of what I read is the best.
This class has helped me see that preconceived ideas can cause bias against something that I have read when I may not really disagree with it. One way I form a bias for or against an essay is through a preconceived idea from what the author said somewhere else. In his essay, The Owl Has Flown, Sven Birkerts writes that “wisdom has nothing to do with the gathering or organizing of facts.” In answer to this essay I wrote a reading response which is a short, informal writing in which the author critically examines the points presented in an essay. In this reading response [artifact A] I stated that I assumed throughout the rest of the essay that Birkerts was saying that no facts are helpful for gaining wisdom. However, now, looking back on the essay, I believe that Birkerts may have been saying that it’s not just the amount of facts that we gather, but also the quality of the facts that makes us wise. I also believe that the quality of facts is more important than the abundance of facts. While Birkerts and I might disagree on several things, we may not disagree on quite as much as I assumed we did at first.
Sometimes my preconceived ideas cause me to believe that the author is speaking against a subject when all along he is just making his readers aware of a subject. In his essay, The Loss of the Creature, Walker Percy examines expectations. In my reading response [artifact B] I stated that I believed that he was saying that all expectations are bad, but now I believe that he might have been more trying to make his readers aware of expectations then proving them wrong. I think he did still have a slight bias against expectations, but he probably wasn’t as against it as I had thought him to be.
Are there times when pre-conceived ideas are good? Sure there are. My worldview is a preconceived idea. Without a worldview, I would be wandering blindly without knowing what to believe. My worldview is what creates passion for a subject. I have a great passion for architecture so that’s what I wrote about in my personal analytical essay. A personal analytical essay is an essay where the writer gets to tackle a subject of great interest to him and discuss it from his or her own perspective. In my original essay I chose to talk about trying to decide weather being an architect was worth the challenges, but after I turned in my essay I chose to revise my essay into only talking about the pros and cons of the occupation instead of the pros and cons of getting into the occupation. I love writing about what I am passionate about, but sometimes I have a problem putting passion into an essay without making it biased. What is biasness and why is it bad in an essay? Biasness is the lack of coherent thought. It is the ignoring of facts from the other side. I may believe that the reasons for becoming an architect outweigh the reasons not to become one, but there are also those reasons for the other side. To ignore the reasons for the other side, and even say that they don’t exist, causes my readers to believe that I am not smart enough to see that there are two sides to every coin. Biasness causes me to abandon reasoning of both sides of the evidence for ranting about why my side is right and the other side is wrong. It quite often leaves out important facts and illustrations. Susan Willis once wrote an essay entitled Disney World in which she took a very biased opinion against consumerism and in so doing left out many key examples to back her claims. In my reading response to this essay [artifact C] I made it clear that the author had lost my respect. Biasness will cause my readers to loose faith in my ability to be trusted as a thinker.
This class has taught me is to find a balance in-between interest and biasness. I realize now that maybe I let my bias get in the way of understanding what the author is trying to say, and it can also cause me to write a one sided paper. Why is finding the balance important? Because to tackle a subject of no interest to me will be boring and the result will be boring. However to tackle a subject that I am passionate about, but allow biasness to get in the way of clear reasoning will turn out unconvincing. It is important to harness interest into examining all the facts not just spouting out my opinion. The readers will loose interest either because I am not interested in the subject as a whole, or because I am not willing to be interested in addressing the other side. When I loose the interest of my readers, what good is an essay?
How do I find the balance in between biasness and passion? Do I? Unfortunately not always. This is a work in progress in my life, but I am now more aware of it. In my reading response to Willis’s Disney World [artifact c], I ranted against, of all things, ranting. However this class has helped me make progress in this area. In my personal analytical essay [artifact D] I gave a two cited argument about becoming an architect. I did show the readers why I thought the pros outweighed the cons, but along the way I also mentioned the cons and the reasons I thought the pros outweighed the cons. I now realize that to rationally discuss all the evidence is far more convincing than dogmatically stating my view. This does not compromise my views; rather it allows me to share them in a far more convincing manner. Walking that tight rope between biasness and passion makes for a far better essay.
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