Ashly : day 6 question.

Nathanil Hall is an obstacle in may ways in the novel True Notebooks in many ways. He comes into Marks program automatically thinking that he is way better than everyone else. At one point in the book he turns in a paper. The top of his paper reads:
"DEEP THOUGHTS
(My Arcane Beginning)
by Nathaniel Hall
Writer
Actor
Producer
Entertainer
Athlete"

when he wrote that on his paper it made me take a step back and think wow, this kid is a little to into himself. I think it threatens the other boys because he is such a good writer. It does become an obstacle for them because i think that they feel like their writing isn't as good as his. I think the character Francisco is the only one who will say things back to him. He always seems to be saying things back to him which i think helps Fransisco with his writing.

I have felt like I've needed to be better than people in a lot of situations, the one that sticks out to me most is cheerleading in high school. There was this girl who always tried to be better than me. She thought she was too and it just made me so mad. It made me so mad to the point where cheerleading became my life. I would go to school everyday practice for three hours and go to the gym for four or five hours after that. I would be in gymnastics classes everyday and I would take private lessons, all because I didn't want her to be better. It worked out for me in the long run because I moved on from high school cheerleading and went to an all stars team. It was really hard to make the team and I made the highest level. I competed nationally and my team won states and every competition we competed in, in Michigan. We were ranked top 10 in the nation for our level. Her team couldn't even make it to districts. I think she was my obsticale but I overcame it and became a way better cheerleader because of it, it also helped me realized how much I can do if i set my mind to it.


Carmelo question:

I think that the boys in true notebooks are becoming more positive from this class. I think mark helps them realize the potential that they all have. He help them all find a talent and a way to release their feelings. I think this does make the boys more positive, I also think the boys have changed significantly from this writing class. I think they have all made friends with each other, which is probably a hard thing to do in jail. The all feel comfortable enough to read what they write in front of each other. I dot think any of them would ever even think about doing that with out the class. I think that they take the negative and try to turn it into positive through their writings, and I think the writings help them all see things in a different way because they all have different thoughts.

I think I have defiantly been a part of a group. In high school I always hung out with the same people and they were my group. My high school had a lot of cliques so I think everyone was in their own little groups. I think they have shaped me someone into the person I am today. They have all been with me through a lot of things. It has been a mostly positive thing for me, of course there's been times when it was negative. We've all gotten into trouble together which was bad, but I learned from it.