My discourse community

Paola, as my best friend in the world, I know you don't always understand my nerd terms sometimes but, you have to realize I'm part of a very interesting discourse community including scientists and engineers. A discourse community is like a group of people with whom I share a certain 'inside language'(kind of like an inside joke), I guess I should explain myself like that more often. Between my science classes and english classes, I'm learning how to become a better researcher. There's not much writing involved but when there is, it's tough. Lab reports, pre-lab reports, explaining how a certain equation is applied to a problem to find missing values, research papers(my favorite), and such.

As you may know from experience, there's plenty of language in my field that is difficult to comprehend outside of the community. My favorite being the concepts of theoretical mathematics, the study of how the world should work in a perfect universe. It does take a while building a perfect universe in your mind, mine is still under construction(hopefully I won't take as long as UTEP construction!). Most of my skills in this community were handed down to me from my older brother, whose spark ignited the flame of scientific curiosity in my mind. The first works of literature I dove into were mostly sceintific journals, articles, and blogs. The more I learn though, the more my curiousity grows, leading me to more complicated and abstract works of writing(sometimes leaving me more confused on a subject than when I began, leaving me to wander around my own mind like a labyrinth). Over the years I've learned that there is no such thing as a bad theory or idea; because  no matter how dumb or ridiculous it may seem, what you are doing is laying the foundation to reaching the right conclusion. Look at the astronomers of the enlightenment age that theorized of a helio-centric universe(revolving around the sun) as opposed to a geo-centric universe(revolving around - you guessed it - the earth). Or Christopher Columbus, ridiculed for believing in a spherical-shaped earthed, who in 1492 sailed the ocean blue and ran into, not India, but The Americas.

I feel my writing skills have increased greatly in the sense that I am better at explaining certain concepts to those who do not understand, rather than just droning on and on about something I completely understand but others may not. Next time I geek out on you and you don't understand something, just ask. Because there is no such thing as stupid questions, only stupid answers...

My writing process

Well I wouldn't consider myself as much of a writer, I'm more of a thinker. I spend most of my time brainstorming for days and days until maybe one or two days before the deadline. The longer I spend thinking, the more I feel like my ideas are mature and I can write in a more flowing manner. I tend to form ideas, sentences, and paragraphs in my mind, rather than on paper or on a screen. Kind of like 'marinading' my mind with ideas until, finally, I stumble upon a great starting point and I build on it. Finally I am ready to turn thought into text. Usually, I start typing and I don't stop until I am completely done, then I read and re-read my composition, edit, and revise. My strength when it comes to writing, is that I don't have trouble with the fluidity of my sentences, they usually come out pretty good the first time. I hate to brag but this blog belongs to the Polk Elementary 5th grade Spelling Bee 1st place runner-up, so grammar is no challenge for me. Rough drafts are always highly encouraged in school and sometimes for a grade, but rough drafts are not really my thing. I believe that with today's technology all you need is one Word document, and that can be edited and revised to make a single and final copy of an essay. Another obstacle for me when it comes to writing is probably the very last paragraph, the conclusion. I don't even understand why, but I just cannot come up with a signature way to end an essay. My conclusions are usually boring and generic, and uhh yeah... the end (haha kidding, just poking fun at myself)

Oh and give my fish some food if you get a chance, all it takes is a click :)