Get the Funk Off My Transcript
PALO ALTO COLLEGE
Incomplete transcript on file, official transcript needed thru Spring 2007
I DIDN'T GO TO SCHOOL AFTER FALL 2006. THAT'S IT. I PROMISE.
The message keeps changing, but it's the same idiocy.
ETA: So I called this morning, and got a nice guy instead of the snippy lady I have been getting. He said that it's because they need the transcript from this current semester, but that everything about my admission and relating to the deadline is in place, and I had no need to worry. So, great news on that count!
I also went shopping yesterday, which I probably shouldn't have, but I just couldn't resist. Stef went with me and played Barbie. I bought a pair of wide leg jeans, khaki corduroy, a burnt orange sweater with ivory trimming, and a turquoise striped shirt, mainly because Stef pointed out that I have fifteen black shirts, of varying styles. Everything was on sale for half-off, too. Then we went to Starbucks and got a pumpkin spice latte, then went by Bath and Body Works. They're selling their apple and pumpkin scents again, which I absolutely adore, but I had already hit my limit and I just decided that I didn't need to spend any more money. Still. I love pumpkin and fall scents--anything very earthy.
I mentioned in an earlier post about my speech teacher's "banned words" list that we weren't supposed to use. So today we were supposed to especially concentrate on not using them, and then write a paper on it. This irked me. It seems a way of just obfuscating what you're saying--instead of saying, "I am not coming over," you have to say something like, "I'm staying at home tonight". It's just rewording. I'm not an overly blunt person, I don't think, and I just don't believe that using "just", "but", "no", "not" or any form of not has any effect on how I'm perceived.
This in mind, I started writing the paper, then looked up speeches from literature and history--the "Cross of Gold", "We Will Fight on the Beaches", "Tear Down This Wall", "Friends, Romans, Countrymen"-- and have been highlighting every instance they use a "banned" word, then pointing out there are no inherently good or inherently bad words, but all how you use them. If you're saying, "No, that's not a good idea", then of course you'll sound negative. If you're saying, "I don't have that file", it makes no difference.
So I wrote a complete defense of my position, respectfully including that it does have its benefits, such as making you think about what you're saying, but ending with saying that I don't believe it makes any difference in success.
One of my main examples was William Jennings Bryant's "Cross of Gold" speech, which is one of the finest examples of oratory ever delivered. It's riddled with examples of banned words--the very name comes from the last sentence, which contains two banned words: "You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold".
I agree with the fact that it does make you think about what you're saying before you say it (which should always be encouraged), and you do tend to sound, if not more positive, than certainly more forceful, but I hardly believe that it is a requisite. Some of the examples I gave are Martin Luther King Jr.'s, "... judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character"; John F. Kennedy's, "Ask not what your country can do for you,"; and even in literature, Mark Antony said, "I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him."
So. I put that all in as respectfully disagreeing as I could. I'll let you know how it goes.
....... I think sometimes I'm too opinionated for my own good.
Incomplete transcript on file, official transcript needed thru Spring 2007
I DIDN'T GO TO SCHOOL AFTER FALL 2006. THAT'S IT. I PROMISE.
The message keeps changing, but it's the same idiocy.
ETA: So I called this morning, and got a nice guy instead of the snippy lady I have been getting. He said that it's because they need the transcript from this current semester, but that everything about my admission and relating to the deadline is in place, and I had no need to worry. So, great news on that count!
I also went shopping yesterday, which I probably shouldn't have, but I just couldn't resist. Stef went with me and played Barbie. I bought a pair of wide leg jeans, khaki corduroy, a burnt orange sweater with ivory trimming, and a turquoise striped shirt, mainly because Stef pointed out that I have fifteen black shirts, of varying styles. Everything was on sale for half-off, too. Then we went to Starbucks and got a pumpkin spice latte, then went by Bath and Body Works. They're selling their apple and pumpkin scents again, which I absolutely adore, but I had already hit my limit and I just decided that I didn't need to spend any more money. Still. I love pumpkin and fall scents--anything very earthy.
I mentioned in an earlier post about my speech teacher's "banned words" list that we weren't supposed to use. So today we were supposed to especially concentrate on not using them, and then write a paper on it. This irked me. It seems a way of just obfuscating what you're saying--instead of saying, "I am not coming over," you have to say something like, "I'm staying at home tonight". It's just rewording. I'm not an overly blunt person, I don't think, and I just don't believe that using "just", "but", "no", "not" or any form of not has any effect on how I'm perceived.
This in mind, I started writing the paper, then looked up speeches from literature and history--the "Cross of Gold", "We Will Fight on the Beaches", "Tear Down This Wall", "Friends, Romans, Countrymen"-- and have been highlighting every instance they use a "banned" word, then pointing out there are no inherently good or inherently bad words, but all how you use them. If you're saying, "No, that's not a good idea", then of course you'll sound negative. If you're saying, "I don't have that file", it makes no difference.
So I wrote a complete defense of my position, respectfully including that it does have its benefits, such as making you think about what you're saying, but ending with saying that I don't believe it makes any difference in success.
One of my main examples was William Jennings Bryant's "Cross of Gold" speech, which is one of the finest examples of oratory ever delivered. It's riddled with examples of banned words--the very name comes from the last sentence, which contains two banned words: "You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold".
I agree with the fact that it does make you think about what you're saying before you say it (which should always be encouraged), and you do tend to sound, if not more positive, than certainly more forceful, but I hardly believe that it is a requisite. Some of the examples I gave are Martin Luther King Jr.'s, "... judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character"; John F. Kennedy's, "Ask not what your country can do for you,"; and even in literature, Mark Antony said, "I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him."
So. I put that all in as respectfully disagreeing as I could. I'll let you know how it goes.
....... I think sometimes I'm too opinionated for my own good.