I think my story turned out great. I had putten a lot of work into it, and it showed off. I still had a few things where I should have done a better job.
The characters and creativity of the story were really personal in my opinion. I could've described the character's personality and feelings more.
I included some details using the 5 senses, but I think that this was my biggest weakness. I got so caught with the story, that I forgot to write more about details and senses.
On narration and description I also did a good job. I also included a lot of feelings, but I didn't really explained that why did the character have these feelings. I think that I could do a better job with that the next time.
Clarity and correctness are really good and I believe that I didn't have much grammatical errors.
The length of my story fulfilled the required length, and went over it. The requirement was 1900 words, and I had nearly 3000 words.
I hope that I will get a good grade, but I know that I do have these things which lowers my grade.

I sent email to Wendy Swift on wednesday, that I would come tomorrow after school. She replied that it was okay. So I went to the writing center the next day. It was located in the upstairs of Humanities. There was one big room, and two smaller offices. In the big room, there was on table with chairs around it and behind the table, there was a sofa. Wendy Swift was in her office with two other students and one student sitting at the table waiting for her turn. She said that she was busy too busy right now and she told me to come back tomorrow on my free period. When I went there the next day, she had one other student whom she was reading a book with. She told her to continue reading by herself, and she came to help me. She wrote my name on a piece of paper. Then we sat down at the table and started reading my story right away from my ipad. I was reading it out loud and she was listening and reading it from my ipad at the same time. After we read the story, she told me that it was really good and grammatically correct. One thing that she noticed that I had written wrong, was that I had written Thanksgiving with a lowercase t. After that we started to discuss the actual story. She helped me in a few aspects, like asking why did something happen or why was my main character thinking that way. For example, when I wrote that my main character would like to know Sookan better, Wendy Swift told me to tell more about that why would she like to know Sookan better. She also helped me by suggesting that I should include more specific examples from the book Gathering of Pearls. In one chapter, I told that my main character told her story to Marci while eating breakfast, Wendy Swift told me to write more about my characters story and about her history. After that she promised to send an email to my English teacher, Jennifer Guarino, that I came there. The visit to the writing center took about five minutes. It was good to get some feedback on my story and to hear that what someone else thinks about it. Wendy Swift was really kind person I was glad to meet her.

Comma splice
This is when you connect two independent sentences with a comma.
    I am the king of the world, nothing can hurt me.

Run-on sentence
This is when you connect two independent sentences without a comma or conjunction.
    I am the king of the world nothing can hurt me.

Sentence fragment
This doesn’t have even one independent sentence.
    All the kids in this school, between 2pm and 5pm.

Independent clause
A Sentence that can stand by itself. It contains at least one verb and one subject.
    I was eating.

Dependent clause
This provides additional information to a independent clause, but it can’t stand alone.
    when it was lunch time.

Veeti Heikkinen
English
Jennifer Guarino
6.12.2015



Next week I will start my college. I'm going to Finch College, an all-girls Catholic school. It is located in New York, which is about two hours away from my home. I've been going to the local schools for all my life, and all my friends have lived nearby me. I don't know anyone from the school I am going to, and I don't know what to expect.
I arrived to the school one day after everyone else. When I arrived to the school, Sister Reed came to greet me. She told me everything that I had to know for the first couple of days, while she was taking me to my room. She told me to leave all my stuff in the room and hurry to the ceremony going on in the assembly hall. I left my stuff in my room and started heading towards the assembly hall.
When I came in the assembly hall, I was a little late, but the ceremony hasn't began yet. Everyone looked at me as I walked in. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know anyone there and nobody knew me. I didn't know where to sit, but then one of the girls told me to sit next to her. She seemed nice, but a little bit lonely. She asked my name and we started to get to know each other, before the assembly started. Her name was Marci.
After the assembly Lauren asked me to come to her room. I told her that I needed to unpack my stuff and get some sleep. I promised her that I'll see her tomorrow morning. So I got to my room and started to unpack my stuff and decorate my room, but I was so tired so soon I went to sleep.
    I woke up and went to the dining hall to have breakfast. The dining hall was huge and old fashioned. Marci saw me and waved to me. She was sitting alone in a round table, covered in a fancy white tablecloth. I got some cereals and went to sit with Marci. She asked about my past. After I briefly told my story and finished my breakfast, she insisted to come with me to my room.
    Together we finished unpacking and decorating my room. It was beautiful. Marci gave me a few flowers to put on my desk, that filled the room with a fresh odor. I had two posters on my wall. Marci showed me around the school. The campus was stunning. It was like a big garden that had constantly been taken care of, with castle like buildings.
    In no time, it was already night and we had to go to another ceremony. I sat with Marci again. In the middle of the ceremony, an asian girl walked in with a weird looking dress. She seemed very nervous and uncomfortable, just like me yesterday. Everyone stared her for a while, until one girl asked her to sit next to her.
    The first month went by. Much faster than I thought. I had a lot of homework to do each night, but still had time to spend time with my friends. Usually I spent time with Hannah and Isabella. Marci was still my good friends, but she had started to spend time with the Korean girl, whose name was Sookan. I didn’t know her much, but she seemed the kind of person that I would like to know better.
    Hannah and Isabella are both new to this school. They were more social and outgoing than Marci, which I liked. Hannah was tall and thin with blond hair. She was one of the most beautiful girl in our school. Isabella was also very pretty, she was kind of the leader of our group.
    I had 6 classes, so I had some free time besides school. Usually I had to do homework for about three hours a day, but sometimes even longer. Even though I had to study a lot, I didn’t think that it was too much for me. I still got to relax and spend time with my friends. The Korean girl, Sookan, has to spend all her time studying or doing scholarship work. I’m glad that that’s not me.
    In a few weeks, me and Hannah are going to Isabella’s house for a few days during the thanksgiving holiday. Also other people from this school and elsewhere. Her parents are away so we are she’s having a little party. I’m not such a party person myself, but I’m still excited to go. It seems that everyone else is going to drink alcohol, except me.
    It was almost Thanksgiving break. I was going home, after three nights at Isabella, and I was really excited to meet my family again after a long time. I have become even better friends with Hannah. She was very similar to me, so we had a lot to talk about.
    The last day was finally over. I packed my stuff for the thanksgiving holiday yesterday, so I was ready to go right away. We got a ride to Isabella’s house from her parents. Their house was in the middle of our school and my home. Isabella’s house was huge compared to mine. They had two water fountains on their front lawn. I was stunned.
    Isabella took me and Hannah upstairs where her room was. Then she showed us around the house, while her mom was making dinner for us. They had three floors and a lot of useless rooms made into libraries. Isabella had never told me that she was from a wealthy family.
    The dinner was ready. You could smell the delicious turkey already from upstairs. The food was pure luxury. Candles gave the final touch to the perfect setup. We never had this fancy food in my home. I was almost a little bit jealous for Isabella. After dinner, we went to Isabella’s room and soon to sleep.
    The next morning when we woke up, we made some breakfast for us. Isabella’s parents had already left, and soon other people would come. We cleaned up a little, and made the downstairs more suitable for a party. That didn’t take long, and soon the first guests started to arrive.
    The party was going on, and I tried to have a good time, but actually I was very uncomfortable being almost the only one who didn’t drink, and not knowing many people there. I had promised my parents that I wouldn’t drink alcohol when I’m underaged, and I wanted to keep that promise. Still the time went by fast and soon we went to sleep.
    The next morning, I was the first one who woke up. My parents were coming to pick me up in a few hours. I started to make breakfast for the three of us, and soon Hannah woke up and after that Isabella came down too. They both had a hangover while I was happy after a good night’s rest. After eating the breakfast and cleaning up a little, my parents came to get me.
    After spending a while at home with my parents, I went to meet some of my old friends. I was really glad to see them after a while, and to share my experience soon my new college. We had good time, and ate a traditional thanksgiving dinner with my parents, but soon it was time to get back to school. My parents drove me back again.
    The time between thanksgiving and christmas, I spent doing my schoolwork, which I had a lot.

Dear Diary, today me and my five friends drove to our summerhouse, the trip was awful. I was so exited before we left, even though we do this many times a year. When we were supposed to leave, one of my friend overslept so he was going to be late. We didn't let that bother us, but decided to leave already and meet him at the shop on the half way. After a few miles my friends motorcycle broke, and he hopped on my bike and we continued the trip still trying to be happy. After a while my friend, who over slept, called me and told us to wait. We waited for about ten minutes and he came. And once again we continued the trip. I was already getting a little anxious. We drove really fast on the wet and curvy roads, so we would catch up on our schedule. When we arrived to the shop, it was already getting dark. We twent to the shop to by food over the weekend, which took some time. After we were done with shopping, we had to stuff the food to our bags, which were already full. I was just getting more annoyed, but tried to keep the good spirit up. When we left the store, it was really dark and cold and wet, basic Finnish weather. You still could see something with your front lights, but after half an hour, we couldn't see anything. I was the first one driving with my friend on my bike. It was really scary to drive when you actually couldn't see the road. Some times it just disappeared in fromt of you and you didn't even know if it went right or left. After a long and scary trip, we arrived to the dirt road. That was even harder to drive with my street bike. Anyhow we managed to get to our summer house, we were all wet and covered in mud. We went to put the sauna on, and couple guys started making food. Even though the trip was awful, the feeling that we got when we arrived, rewarded the painful journey.

Over thanksgiving break I did a lot of things. Mostly I just met and spent time with my friends, and partied almost every night. The best thing over the brake was when me and my five friends drove with our motorcycles to our summerhouse and spent a few nights there. We went to sauna and just relaxed and talked together. When we were driving there, one of my friend broke hos bike and he had to come on my bike. It took some time so it was getting so dark that you couldn't even see the road, which was scary. It was also cold and raining, but it just made the arriving better. When we left after a couple days, we left early so we wouldn't have to drive in the dark, but one of my friends ran out of gasoline so we had to bring him more. After that I broke my front tire, so I had to drive with a broken tire in the wet and slippery roads. The trip wasn't a total succeed, but at least we'll remember it.

Veeti Heikkinen
English
Ms. Guarino
18/11/2015

I read a novel called ”Gathering of Pearls”. It was written by a Korean woman named Sookan. She wrote the book from her own experience about moving from Korea to the U.S. and being here for the first year.
The book started when Sookan was moving to the U.S. and when she arrived to her college, where she would spend the next few years. Then it was mostly about her basic day routine and letters from and to her home. The book ended a little after her freshman year ended and when she heard that her mother died.
    I did not like this book. It was really boring to read about some Korean girl who was trying to get along in the U.S.. Usually good books have a continuous plot and the events are followed by each other and the reader is motivated to read more and wants to find out what happens next. This book was almost the opposite. The book didn’t have a plot, but it was just single normal day events written together. She compared the weird Korean culture to the U.S. culture, which was annoying. It was hard to read a book that wasn’t interesting. If I didn’t have to read this book for my English class, I wouldn’t have read it to the end.
    I would not recommend this book to anyone.

The ending of Peter Pan was a typical happy ending. The bad got what it deserved, and the good won and got back home. The bad in this story was Captain Hook, who jumped out of the ship's window into the water. It wasn't really clear to me that why did he do that. Also I'm not sure that what happened to the lost boys who stayed on the island. The children flew back home, where their mother was missing them, and reunited with their mother. I think this was a good ending which revealed their mothers feelings and that how much she missed her children, and they joy that ghe children brought as they returned.

Peter Pan

Veeti Heikkinen
English Period G
Jennifer Guarino
11/15/2015

    Today I went to watch the Peter Pan. It was a theater played and created by students and faculty members in Cheshire Academy. It took place in the Black Box Theater located in the Field House.
    The background decoration was well suited for the play and it was changed as the play went along, which helped the watcher to realize that where the play took place. There were a lot of people who changed the settings fast between the scenes.
    The actors and actresses all did a very good job, even though they weren’t professional. The characters were really personal and modified well for the individual actors and actresses. All the actors and actresses knew their lines and showed their character’s emotions well, so there weren’t any distractions. They knew how to make these little things that really brought this play alive. You could see how much they have rehearsed the play and how much they’ve putten effort in it.
    The plot was really interesting and easy to follow. There were a lot of different things going on even at the same time, but still it was very clear to realize what was happening at each scene. The scenes were well organized and followed by each other. The comedy in the play made it even better. I have never seen or read the Peter Pan story so I had nothing to expect, but still the play was a positive surprise. It took the audience into the story and made it a pleasure to watch.
    This was a well produced and organized successful play. I would recommend this play if it was still on. I want to thank the cast and everyone who was making this possible. It was a fun way to spend a Sunday!

Words

Mannequin:    A small, black velvet purse hung on the shoulder of the mannequin.
     -A doll for clothes

Second-hand:    To save money, I had purchased second-hand textbooks from upperclassmen at a fraction of the original price, and I was careful not to use too many notebooks.
     -Used, not so good quality

Animatedly:    Many of our classmates were there, with drinks in hand, talking animatedly.
     -full of life

Faltered:    "Marci"—Mrs. Gannon faltered—"I just want you to look pretty for your formal dinners at the dining hall.
     -talking unclearly

Impulsive:    She would acknowledge that I had done something impulsive, but would say that it was okay.
     -something great and impressive

Constrained:    But maybe that was why I had wanted to leave home for a while; I had always felt constrained there.
     -forced to do something

Gregorian chant:    A Gregorian chant program is scheduled for June, and students will be coming from around the world.
     -song type that is usually religious

Pearl:    The pearl necklace and wishbone pin would really stand out against the black velvet.
     -small round "ball" that is usually made by clams and used in jewelry

Elope:    I just want to elope and get our lives started now!
     -run away

Taciturn:    I would write to each of my taciturn brothers, even though they had never written to me.
     -silent, doesn't talk much

Sobbed:     I pulled the covers over my head, and sobbed until I fell asleep.
     -breath hardly

Pouch:    In a silk pouch that Mother had made was her thin, white gold wedding band.
     -bag

Listlessly:    As I stared forward listlessly, little Sarah snuggled up against me, and whispered into my ear, "I love you, Sookan."
     -not interested

Hymn:    I was comforted by their high-pitched hymns reverberating in the domed chapel.
     -religious song

Fainted:    You fainted two days ago and you've been here ever since.
     -Pass out

Veeti Heikkinen
English, Period (G)
Jennifer Guarino
11/05/2015

Sookans Future

     I think that Sookan will stay in U.S. at least until she graduates. She is struggling at school for the first year, but later on, she will do better.
     The reason why she struggles at her studies is that she hasn’t got proper education in Korea and she doesn’t speak good English, so she needs to spend more time to study in a foreign language, than she would send on her native language. Once she starts to learn the language, she will get better grades, and she doesn’t have to spend so much time on her studies. This allows her to spend more time with friends. The more she has free time, the more she starts to enjoy and appreciate life in U.S..
     She will stay friends with Ellen. They don’t become better friends, because their natures are so different. Ellen is really outgoing and likes to talk all the time, while Sookan is a little quiet and likes to have deeper conversations. With Marci she becomes even better friends. Marci and Sookan decides to be roommates for next year. Ellen and especially Marci helps Sookan to get through her studies. Ellen helps Sookan more with the American culture, getting along with other people and speaking English. Marci gives her help more with the actual studies.
     I believe that Sookan will find one more friend that she becomes really good friends with. I think that her new friend is probably putting a lot of effort in her studies. She isn’t very social and doesn’t get along with other people so well, but she isn’t bullied. This girl probably doesn’t talk much, until you get to know her better. She might have strong and good opinions about everything, but she is just too shy to share them. Sookan might help her to get along, like Ellen and Marci helped her.
     The more Sookan starts to get along in the U.S., the more she starts to forget about Korea. Her mother is a little upset about the fact that Sookan doesn’t miss Korea, but her sister gets really angry at Sookan, for not worshipping Korea and its culture. She reminds Sookan constantly, that Sookan needs to become a nun in Korea. Her sister thinks that it is really important to help the poor through religion. She doesn’t want to become a nun, but she is afraid of telling it to her sister, because she is afraid of her response. Sookan feels sad for letting her family’s expectations down, but she is happy to get to live in the U.S..
     She continues to babysit Bennett’s kids. She spends a lot of time with their family, and this helps her to get through the homesickness she is having. Sookan doesn’t think that the Bennett family is some kind of replacement for her own family, but it is relieving for her to know, that there is someone who cares and looks after her.
     Even though she misses her family and many things in Korea, she starts to like America more and more when time goes by. She kind of wants to go back home, but she prefers to stay in U.S. and later on she might even want to stay in America after she graduates from college.

In Korea, people were poor.                                       In USA people are wealthier than in Korea.

In Korea, I wasn't allowed to do much anything.                  In USA there's more freedom to do stuff.

In Korean school, I didn't learn much anything.           In here, I'm learning much more useful things

In Korea, I had my family with me.                           Here, I don't have my family, but I have friends.

In Korea, I was sad and lonely.               In USA, I'm happier and I  can hangout with my friends.

A lot of words:


Melancholy: adjective
                     I felt melancholy after reading Mother's letter.
                     Sadness, depression

Imposing:  verb
                  I knew how Mother hated imposing on her children.
                  Rule,

Stroll:  noun
           I drew in a deep breath of the deliciously fragrant air, picturing my stroll along the stream with Sarah and Jimmy.
           Walk

Transformed:  verb
                       What a grand surprise to see our neglected greenhouse transformed into a lovely little garden.
                        Change
Greenhouse:   Noun
                        What a grand surprise to see our neglected greenhouse transformed into a lovely little garden.
                       Room or house where you grow plants        

Neglected: verb
                   What a grand surprise to see our neglected greenhouse transformed into a lovely little garden.
                   Not taken care of

Mixer:   Noun
            All the other girls in the dorm were still fast asleep, recovering from the excitement of the mixer the night before.
            Party

Invigorated:  verb
                     I was shocked to hear Marci say these things, but strangely invigorated.
                     Exited, energized

Oddball: noun
                I feel like an oddball wherever I am.
                 Different

Pretentious:  adjective
                     She had once told me she thought the dress code and the formality were "ridiculously pretentious" and a waste of time.
                      Useless

Fulfilling:  verb
                Ever since I was little, she has told me that she wants me to work alongside her, and lead a worthy and fulfilling life as she does.
                Satisfying

Rambled:  verb
                 It's so pretty," Ellen rambled, "and I want to show you off."
                  Say

Frankly:  adjective
               I think it is because your culture encourages people to speak openly and frankly." I looked at Ellen helplessly.
               Honestly

Horrified:  adjective
                I was horrified.
                Scared, worried

Demerit:  noun
               I had never gotten a single demerit before!
                Official note

Humility:  noun
                Here, they do not place so much emphasis on patience, humility, family harmony, and silence as we do in Korea.
                Humble

Harmony: noun
                 Here, they do not place so much emphasis on patience, humility, family harmony, and silence as we do in Korea.
                 Pleasing  agreement,

Ambassador:  noun
                       You have become quite an excellent ambassador for your country, and have made lots of friends, I hear."
                        Liked, popular

Farmhouse: noun
                    The next day, Ellen and I took the train to her parents' farmhouse in New Jersey.
                     House in a farm

Acres: noun
            We have sixteen acres here.
            Measurment of area

My experience on coming to USA was not really similar with Sookan. I wasn't worried like Sookan was. I didn't have troubles coming to this school from the airport. Also she had trouble speaking English, but for me it was easy right from the beginning. I think that Sookan was scared of going to that school and afraid that no one would like her, while I was more exited and not worried. But we also share some similarities with Sookan. Boht of us have a different main language than English. Neither of us are from USA or have lived here before.

Why did marci look so sad when sookan told her that she will go to a job placement office alone?

How did Marji and Sookan meet?

How did sookan feel when she received a letter from his mom?

Did Sookan feel homesick after reading the letter?

What's her daily life like after she signed up for the world literature class?

Gathering Of Pearls is a book written by a Korean woman. The book is based on a true story of the writer's life. It tells about the writers experience moving from Korea to United States.

Writing is hard

 
    I have always been bad at writing. It is really hard for me to write and try to come up with ideas for

writing. It has always been like that for me, and nothing has made it easier. I have been to a lot of

extra help but it hasn’t helped at all. Before I wanted to learn to write but since nothing has worked, I

have lost my interest in it. So therefore I don’t write a lot outside of school.

     One time when I had to write a memoir, it was really easy to write. I wrote about an important

situation that happened to me a little before I wrote the memoir. I think it was easy for me because I

wrote about my own feelings and facts so I didn’t have to come up with anything.

      I also don’t usually read a lot. Reading is easier for me than writing, but I still don’t like reading.

When I was younger I read more books by myself but now all the books I read are the books that I

have to read for school. I like to get smarter and learn about new things so other stuff that I read are

news and wikipedia. Other than that I don’t read voluntarily.

    My favourite book that I’ve read in English class is Persepolis. It is my favourite book because it

was much easier to read since it had pictures that made the plot easier to follow. But I liked it also

because it told about living in a communist country and how terrible it was.

    From all books that I have read, my favourite is this Finnish comedy book. It tells about this over

40 years old guy that lives in Helsinki and drinks a lot. I liked it because it was really funny and it

had a lot of stuff happening all the time, so it didn’t get boring at any point.

 
    I have always been bad at writing. It is really hard for me to write and try to come up with ideas for

writing. It has always been like that for me, and nothing has made it easier. I have been to a lot of

extra help but it hasn’t helped at all. Before I wanted to learn to write but since nothing has worked, I

have lost my interest in it. So therefore I don’t write a lot outside of school.

     One time when I had to write a memoir, it was really easy to write. I wrote about an important

situation that happened to me a little before I wrote the memoir. I think it was easy for me because I

wrote about my own feelings and facts so I didn’t have to come up with anything.

      I also don’t usually read a lot. Reading is easier for me than writing, but I still don’t like reading.

When I was younger I read more books by myself but now all the books I read are the books that I

have to read for school. I like to get smarter and learn about new things so other stuff that I read are

news and wikipedia. Other than that I don’t read voluntarily.

    My favourite book that I’ve read in English class is Persepolis. It is my favourite book because it

was much easier to read since it had pictures that made the plot easier to follow. But I liked it also

because it told about living in a communist country and how terrible it was.

    From all books that I have read, my favourite is this Finnish comedy book. It tells about this over

40 years old guy that lives in Helsinki and drinks a lot. I liked it because it was really funny and it

had a lot of stuff happening all the time, so it didn’t get boring at any point.