Week 1

Hello to you, reader. My name is Christopher Collins; generally people call me Chris, but genuinely I like Christopher because of its meaning. I am from Jackson, MS, more specifically the Brandon area. I grew up in fairly modest surroundings and had a good childhood and upbringing with a great family.

We were always pushed hard to increase our knowledge in just about everything, whether it be asking questions or being naturally curious. School was valued by my parents, but they were more concerned with my learning than my achievements. I did fairly well anyhow. My mother has her degree in English and actually taught sometime at a community college after she had been a stay-at-home mom long enough. At a young age, her influence was evident in my course work. I took to English subjects like a natural.

My high school had the most impact on my writing. Northwest Rankin High School was known for its deliberate torture of the human brain, or so I thought. Senior Project was the main contender in the battle of wit and academic endurance. It proved to emphasize more busy work and discipline than constructive learning. We started the project the year before and began working on our research paper the first day, this continued into our product proposal, product (community service project), product portfolio, senior project portfolio, and our final presentation. I was less success driven then, so I don't have fond memories of its "benefits." I, however, am thankful for every amount of stress that I have had to overcome in my life, especially in this realm of academics.

I realize that I am elaborating quite an exaggerated amount, but I figured since this is a blog I might as well. I'll finish up with my experience in college and in my major. After high school, I attended Hinds Community College for two years and majored in Classical guitar, but changed my major when I transferred to Southern as an Exercise Science major. I haven't had to write many papers for my major in particular because I am just now focusing on my core curriculum

In reference to writing in particular, I do enjoy writing that challenges me to actually discover some kind of new thing; something I have to dig into like my philosophy papers. I end up taking too long to write looking for particular words that describe what I am trying to say perfectly. I expect that this course will prepare me to write professionally, and I will allow it to do so.