Portfolio Cover Letter

May 5, 2015Portfoliojarruda75

Dear Portfolio Readers:

When I signed up for English 101 I was under the impression that I was not going to be doing a portfolio. It was something I was trying to avoid and the reason I dropped my first English class back in fall of 2012. The thought of people other than my professor reading and critiquing my work can be a little overwhelming and nerve racking. English has never been my favorite or best subject but, I walked into class on a cold January morning with a positive and hopeful attitude. Then my professor, Professor Pappas, said we were indeed going to be doing a portfolio. I wanted to slump into my chair and just drop the course right then and there. As you can see, I stuck it out and as classmates continued to diminish, I saw my writing was improving. One of my biggest problems with my writing was run on sentences. I’m the type of person that can just babble on and on and you could see that in my writing. Also, I tend to write without a plan. I kind of just go with the flow and hope it all turns out well. This is something I am still working but have saw to improve during this class. Some of these assignments I had to think about before writing. I am more than satisfied with the grades I received in this class and I hope you enjoy reading the three essays I included in my portfolio.

My opening essay is from our first assignment, CCP (Creativity, Curiosity, and Persistence) Memoir. I chose to write about the persistence of moving forward from my dad dying when I was 11. I am a person who keeps my emotions to myself and I wanted to go in a direction where I could be vulnerable in my writing. I believe this essay shows the type of emotional struggle I went through from this event to the person it’s really helped shape me out to be. I have come to accept that there is nothing I can do to bring him back but there are many things that I can and have done that I know he would have been proud of. I believe the paragraph where my daughter is born really shows my break through moment.

My second essay runs off of my first one. CCP Idea is where I took the topic of persistence and thought of a question. My question was Can Persistence Be Taught? This is essay gave me the ability to give my opinion while backing it up with different types of sources. It challenged me to make sure that I undeunderstood what I was reading when using sources. While writing this essay I had to make sure everything I wrote had a focus on the question if persistence can be taught? This essay also taught me how to do MLA format. It was something I found to be a little challenging at first. MLA is a format I have never heard of before but I find it can be very useful to potential readers.

My last essay was an annotation essay. This essay was most challenging to me because I had to actually stop and think about what I was going to write. I chose to do my questions based off of McDonald’s because I feel this is a subject with a lot of controversy. It allowed me to brush up on my researching skills. I had to make sure I had a clear understanding of each article I was reading in order to answer each of my questions. This is one of the last essays we had to do in class and I believe it ties everything I have learned over the course of the semester together.

I hope you enjoy reading these essays as I have worked hard and spent a good amount of time on them.

Justine Arruda

Preceding To Move Forward (First Essay)

May 5, 2015Portfoliojarruda75

8:51pm on June 8, 2006 my life as I knew it was over. I was sitting on the rocking chair in my living room when my mom came home and blurted out in tears “Dad didn’t make it.” Immediately my eyes filled with tears as I screamed in agony. I could barely catch a breath when my mom came over to try and calm me down. The only person who could comfort me, the only person I wanted to comfort me, was my dad and he couldn’t.

The first week of being “fatherless” was the worst week of my life. My dad died a couple days before father’s day and just 10 days shy of his and my mom’s 30th wedding anniversary. It was a really rough month for all the Arruda girls. I didn’t go back to school to finish the year I didn’t want to be treated any different. My friends who knew about my dad’s passing didn’t really know how to talk to me. I mean how do 11 year olds talk about death? My 2 best friends would try and get me to remember the good times. We would laugh back at things my dad has done like this weird dance he had to a Geico commercial and his perfect impression of the Goofy laugh. It made me feel a little better but then the laughing would stop and I would go back to being sad.

Summer ended and school started back up which meant soccer was starting. This was something me and my dad bonded over. He would bring me to all my games and practices, cheer me on from the side line ( he would literally run up and down the field with us), he was the ultimate “soccer dad”. With my dad gone and my mom to busy with work or cleaning up the house, I really started to resent my dad for dying. I hated being the kid that had no one to support them. All this built up anger in me affected me academically. I began to act out in school and just neglect to do any work. I was suspended 5 times that year for “disrespecting” teachers. It wasn’t until the end of 8th grade where I got a rejection letter from Diman that I knew I had to change something.

When I started high school I was still bitter at the fact that my dad was really gone. Come sophomore year something clicked in my head. I was motivated to become the person I knew my dad wanted me to be. Someone he would be proud of. I got my A game on and made the honor roll that year. We all know with highschool comes drama and boys something I was never to familiar dealing with. A lot of boys would try to get to know me but I would just push them to the side. How was I supposed to know who was good or bad with out a father to judge? I had been so terrified of letting someone in or allowing someone to care about me that it wasn’t until my senior year that I actually gave someone a chance. Although, after four years things had not worked out with this person, it did teach me a lot of lessons about love.

Senior year ended and on my dad’s 6th anniversary I walked across the stage and recieved my diploma. I could actually feel him there during the entire ceremony. When my name was called to recieve my diploma, friends and family were all there to yell and cheer me on. I flashed back to the moments he would be at my games yelling and cheering me on and for a short while it felt like my dad was never gone. I knew my dad would’ve been so proud of me and it felt good to end this chapter and perceed to start an even better one.

November after graduation I found out I was pregnant. Scared, nervous, excited, my mind was full of so many emotions. I knew if my dad was alive he would have been so disappointed in me, that his baby girl was going to be a teen mom. My mom hardly spoke to me for seven months but on July 31st everyone fell in love. I know my dad would have too. Along with my dad’s passing helping me to push forward and do good for him, Audrey has really helped with getting me motivated to push through any obstacle. Now I didn’t just have a dad to make proud I had a daughter.

Wanting to make both of them proud I went back to school for Medical Assisting in which I recieved my certificate this past October. I paid for school, worked and provided for Audrey all on my own. I am now back in school persuing to become a Registered Nurse. This is something I know my dad would have been extremely proud of.

Now that Audrey is older (1 1/2) it is a lot easier to help keep my dad’s memory alive and not in a place where it only made me sad. Sometimes we go threw old photos of my dad and she can point out which one is her Grampy and she’ll even give him a kiss. We have a stand by the stairs in my house with a photo of my dad along with a small tree that my mom will decorate with lights for each holiday that passes. I live in front of the cemetary that my dad is buried in and in the summer I bring Audrey to go see him and she’ll play with the cars ( he was a huge nascar fan) by his grave and make sound affects. It is such a bittersweet feeling to watch her play by his grave side.

Nine years has past and a lot has changed from being that 11 year old fatherless child to the 20 year old motivated to make her father proud woman. Losing a parent is extremely difficult to over come. There are some days where it is extremely hard especially when I think about the future and how he will never get to walk me down the isle when I get married or how I’ll never have a father daughter dance. I just have to think of all the cheering he did for me and imagine he’s still is doing so from Heaven. When he first past I thought my life was over. It took so much for me to move foward and to motivate myself to do good for him. He may be gone physically but I am determined to build the life he could have only dreamed of for me.

Can Persistence Be Taught ? ( Second Essay)

May 5, 2015Portfoliojarruda75

Can Persistence Be Taught?

I remember when I was about nine years old and picked up my first baseball. My dad bought me my first glove took me into the backyard and proceeded to teach me how to play baseball. We started off with the basic game of catch. Numerous throws and I couldn’t catch any of them. I remember feeling horrible, like I would never get it. I kept asking my dad to go inside but he would tell me “No, we’re going to stay outside even if it takes all night. You’re going to do this, you’re going to get this.” It wasn’t until what felt like the 100th time that I actually caught one! The excitement and joy I felt in that moment was remarkable. After so many failed attempts and begging my dad to go inside, I did it. If it wasn’t for my dad telling me not to give up, to keep trying, that I will get it, I would’ve gave up after the 15th try.

An article called ” Persistence is learn from fathers, says study” states that fathers with more authoritive parenting ( parents that are not as controlling and allow children to make their own decisions based on their own reasoning) produced children who were more likely to develop persistence. Paul Miller, associate professor of Psychology at Arizona State University states ” When held accountable in a supportive way, mistakes do not become a mark against their self-esteem, but a source for learning what to do differently.” (qtd in Conley) This brings me to my niece (5) and nephew (9). There has been many times where I have watched them get down on themselves over a bad grade, especially my niece who has trouble learning. Instead of joining in and talking down to her as she cries over how she’ll never get it someone is always there to support her. Whether it be her mom, my mom or myself there is always someone there encouraging her not to give up. This is something I have saw to be productive. Instead of slamming her and telling her that she’s right that she won’t get it, we support her. We encourage her to try harder or help her find a different way to understand what she’s trying to learn. This really helps her and she usually doesn’t have a problem once she gets in the mode to persist and try again.

In a student’s essay called ” Tough Times” he talks about the struggle his parents had faced money wise. He then talks about how they worked so hard to always be able to put money aside in case of an emergency. When it came time for him to get his own job he learned hard work does pay off. He had broken his ankle and all the money he saved (which he learned from his parents to be persistent about) was more than enough to cover all his bills for the two months he was unable to work. His parents’ continuous effort to put money away despite the difficulty rubbed off on him and he was able to do the same.

Also, found on another student’s blog, Michael, his essay was entitled ” My Persistent Drive To The Top”. He explains how his junior year of high school he broke his fibula, tibia and fractured his growth plate in his left ankle during a rivalry basketball game. He was told by doctors that he would not be ready to participate in any fall sports that following school year because his ankle wouldn’t be strong enough even after six months of physical therapy. Michael was determined to play and be just as good if not better than before. He started going to the gym along with physical therapy and that fall he was MIAA Golfer of the year. When basketball season came around he had a higher points per game, assists per game and rebounds per game compared to the season before. Michael states ” Being persistent is one thing I learned from my mother. She was a single mother raising 3 boys and working 60-hour weeks”. He then goes on to say “She is truly an inspiration to me and showed me that being persistent with your goals and what you want can be obtained.” Michael learned his persistence from his mother’s constant devotion to provide for her three boys. Perhaps his mother had not been a single mom he may not have learned this persistence from her.

Experts define grit as persistence, determination and resilience as said in an article titles ” Does Teaching Kids To Get ‘Gritty’ Help Them Get Ahead?” The Lenox Academy for Gifted Middle School Students in Brooklyn N.Y. has been trying to get their kids to be grittier over the years. Recently students were studying Steve Jobs and were asked to give examples of how Jobs showed grit. One student states “He had failed one of the Mac Projects he was creating.” (qtd in Smith) Another student further explains ” He used his mistakes to help him along his journey.” (qtd in Smith) With not just showing kids how other people have used grit to be better, teachers allow children to experience grit themselves. When students struggle to answer a question, their teachers let them squirm through the silence rather than throwing hints at them. Tom Hoerr lead the New City School in St. Louis that has also been working on grit and says ” If our kids have graduated from here with nothing but success, then we have failed them, because they haven’t learned how to respond to frustration and failure.” (qtd in smith)

As most children follow by example, I believe persistence can be taught if done appropriately. Encouraging children to never give up and to push forward no matter how tough it gets, listening to them rather than bashing them and allowing them to get a taste of struggle are all ways children can be taught persistence. The more persistent children we create will hopefully result in a better future for generations to come.

Work Cited

CFarias23. “Tough Times.” English 101. edublogs., 22 Mar. 2014. Web. 26 Mar. 2015.
Conley, Mikaela. “Persistence Is Learned from Fathers, Says Study.” ABC News. ABC News Network, 15 June 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2015.
mseddon12. “My Persistent Drive to the Top.” Michael. edublogs, 03 Mar. 2015. Web. 26 Mar. 2015.
Smith, Tovia. “Does Teaching Kids To Get ‘Gritty’ Help Them Get Ahead?” NPR. NPR, 17 Mar. 2014. Web. 26 Mar. 2015.

McDonald’s Controversy (third essay)

May 5, 2015Portfoliojarruda75

Mcdonalds started off as McDonald’s Bar-B-Q in 1940 in San Bernardino, California. Ran by Dick and Mac Mcdonald it was your typical drive-in with a large menu and car hop. In 1948 they altered their restaurant to a self-service drive-in. The menu reduced to 9 items including burgers, soda, milk, chips, pie and coffee. In 1958 Mcdonald’s sells their 100 millionth hamburger and in 1959 they opened their 100th restaurant In 1962 they became the first restaurant with indoor seating. Toledo, Ohio opens the 500th restaurant in 1963. Ronald Mcdonald made his first appearance on Tv in 1966 with a one minute “flying hamburger” commercial on NBC and CBS networks. IN 1971 Hamburglar, Grimace, Mayor McCheese, Captain Crook and the Big Mac joined Ronald in McDonaldland. Philadelphia Eagles’ football player Fred Hill led to the first Ronald McDonald House when his child was being treated for Leukemia in 1973. in 1978 the 5,000th restaurant opens in Kangawa, Japan. In 1983 McDonalds was now located in 32 countries around the world. November 20, 2002, McDonalds claimed to be World Children’s Day aka McHappy Day. McDonalds has raised more $170 million during the McHappy day events. As of 2011 McDonald’s now operates in 119 countries. (Our History)

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McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson recently suggested the company would support President Obama raising the federal minimum wage from 7.25 to 10.10 an hour. But such an increase in wage still wouldn’t satisfy some of their workers such as the ones found in Oak Brook Ill. who swarmed their headquarters demanding $15 an hour. Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), says “It’s time for the McDonald’s Corporation … to stop pretending that it can’t boost pay for the people who make and serve their food” (qtd. In Bertlein). Thompson who made 9.5 million in 2013 while the $9 an hour worker only made $19,000. A worker would have to work two month just to make what Thompson makes in one hour ($3,200). Thompson sees the effect of poorer customers not having enough money to buy stuff and national minimum-wage spike could put more money in the pockets of low-wage workers across the country. This will indicate more money for people to spend at McDonald’s. The conversation side complains though. They think raising minimum wage would cause companies to lay off workers and jack up menu item prices which would initially hurt the economy. According to the McPoverty Calculator created by The Daily Beast the Big Mac would have to increase by 22 cents for a worker to make $15.23 an hour ( $31,671.83 a year) (Gongloff).

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Between the years 2004-2011 McDonald’s used Lean Finely Textured Beef also known as “pink slime” to numerous customers. This beef was treated with ammonia which gave it that pink slime look. Today all of the beef is USDA inspected and meets or even exceeds USDA standards. It is 100% ground beef which is formed into patties and then flash frozen. Although the beef does come from cattle who are treated with added hormones to promote growth. This is a common practice for farmers. None of their burgers are made until you order it. They grill their patties as needed throughout the day, seasoned with salt and pepper, which then are placed in a warming cabinet for up to 15 minutes (Burgers & Sandwiches).

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Brad Haley, chief marketing officer for CKE Restaurants states “We don’t make what we want to sell.” He then continues “There’s a reason there are so many successful hamburger chains in this country and so few successful salad chains” (qtd. in Ferdman “Why It’s Not Enough”). Companies like McDonald’s , Burger King and Wendy’s are amongst the top of the burger chain. Customers don’t go to a fast food burger chain and order salads which makes it not as easy for chains to sell healthier food. After customers begged Burger King for their chicken fries back, the company recently began selling the fries since discontinuing them in 2012. But even so, Chipotle has shown customers will go to a restaurant that has certain values like high standards for their meat suppliers (Ferdman “Why It’s Not Enough”). Marion Nestle, a professor at N.Y.U. says “Food companies aren’t inherently bad,” then continues “But they respond to demand, and people don’t always want what they should”(qtd in Ferdman “Why It’s Not Enough”).

*****

McDonald’s has partnered with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation to increase customer’s ability to choose fruits and veggies. Along with that they have provided customers the choice when choosing a meal to have a side salad, fruit or vegetable substituted for the fires. Their Happy Meals are only promoted with water, milk and juice. They use in-store and external advertising that ensures 100 percent fun nutrition or a children’s well-being message that produces excitement for fruits, veggies and low-fat dairy within the Happy Meal. They’re also limiting the amount of calories shipped to schools. President Bill Clinton says “We’ve seen voluntary agreements with industry have profound impact — including our work with the beverage industry to limit the amount of calories shipped to schools. Those agreements resulted in a 90 percent reduction in total beverage calories shipped to schools between 2004 and 2010” (qtd in McDonald’s – Official Global Corporate Website). McDonald’s will continue to take these actions in 20 of their major markets representing more than 85 percent of their global sales. ( McDonald’s – Official Global Corporate Website)

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There is one thing McDonald’s offers that people tend to lack to think about, what goes in their fries? McDonald’s has 19 ingredients in their fries, these include, citric acid, tert-Butylhydroquinone also known as TBHQ, potatoes, canola oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, natural beef flavor, hydrolyzed wheat and milk, dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate, salt, canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrohenated soybean oil, and dimethylpolysiloxane (Ferdman, “There Are 19 Ingredients”). Former “MythBuster” co-host Grant Imahara says “Dimethylpolysiloxane: it’s a long word. It’s the longest word on this list. And I know it sounds scary, but it’s actually an anti foaming agent” (qtd in Ferdman “There Are 19 Ingrediants”). Their potatoes travel on a conveyor belt and then are shot through a high-pressure water tube at 60 to 70 miles per hour. After they are shot through the water tube they are then dipped (Little). Koko Neher, a production planner at Simplot states “This is the ingredient dip, where we control the color, and we’re adding dextrose – all natural sugar – to make sure that we get a consistent color no matter what time of the year it is,” he then adds that it also puts in sodium acid pyrophosphate to control “graying after freezing” (qtd in Little). In just a kids’ French fry there is 101 calories. If you were a 35 year old female who is 5’7” and 144 lbs, you would have to walk just for 26 minutes to burn those calories off (How Many Calories in McDonald’s French Fries).

Work Cited

Baertlein, Lisa. “UPDATE 3-McDonald’s Workers Protest Low Wages, More than 100 Arrested.” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 21 May 2014. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.

“Burgers & Sandwiches :: McDonalds.com.” Burgers & Sandwiches :: McDonalds.com. McDonald’s, n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.

Ferdman, Roberto A. “There Are 19 Ingredients in McDonald’s French Fries.”Washington Post. The Washington Post, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.

Ferdman, Roberto A. “Why It’s Not Enough for Fast Food Companies to “give Consumers What They Want”.” Washington Post. The Washington Post, n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.

Gongloff, Mark. “McDonald’s CEO: ‘We Will Support’ A Minimum Wage Hike.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 4 June 2014. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.

“History of McDonald’s Restaurants :: AboutMcDonalds.com.” History of McDonald’s Restaurants :: AboutMcDonalds.com. McDonald’s, n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.

“How Many Calories in McDonald’s French Fries.” Calorie King. CalorieKing Wellness Solutions, Inc, 2015. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.

Little, Katie. “What Are McDonald’s Fries Really Made Of?” CNBC. CNBC, 20 Jan. 2015. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.

“McDonald’s – Official Global Corporate Website :: AboutMcDonalds.com.”McDonalds. McDonald’s, n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.

“Our History.” :: McDonalds.com. McDonald’s, n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.

essay 3 final draft

April 22, 2015Uncategorizedjarruda75

McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson recently suggested the company would support President Obama raising the federal minimum wage from 7.25 to 10.10 an hour. But such an increase in wage still wouldn’t satisfy some of their workers such as the ones found in Oak Brook Ill. who swarmed their headquarters demanding $15 an hour. Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), says “It’s time for the McDonald’s Corporation … to stop pretending that it can’t boost pay for the people who make and serve their food” (Baertlein). Thompson who made 9.5 million in 2013 while the $9 an hour worker only made $19,000. A worker would have to work two month just to make what Thompson makes in one hour ($3,200). Thompson sees the effect of poorer customers not having enough money to buy stuff and national minimum-wage spike could put more money in the pockets of low-wage workers across the country. This will indicate more money for people to spend at McDonald’s. The conversation side complains though. They think raising minimum wage would cause companies to lay off workers and jack up menu item prices which would initially hurt the economy. According to the McPoverty Calculator created by The Daily Beast the Big Mac would have to increase by 22 cents for a worker to make $15.23 an hour ( $31,671.83 a year) (Gongloff).