Blog Post #3: Memoir Prewriting-Setting the Scene

The People:

1. My mom. She helped me through the entire ordeal and pushed me to attend college, but never forced me to do anything.
2. My dad. He had a slightly different view on college, but still pushed me to attend college in his own way. He took a more objective approach to the situation.
3. My brother. He had a similar view as my dad, and went through the exact same thing as me. He had more knowledge on the whole college thing that my parents didn't have.
4. My friends. They were much more blunt than my parents, but had good intentions.

The Scenes:

1. My home. This is one of the biggest reasons why it took me so long to leave. I took everything I had here for granted and was not used to going out in the world on my own. I lived in my house from 2002 to 2011. It was very isolated and surrounded by trees, so there was not much interaction with other people unless I went out.
2. College. It was a reality check for me because of how different it was from my home. I had to do everything for myself as I had no one to lean on for help.

The Dialogue:

1. My family and friends always were supportive of me, but they did not sugar-coat things. They told me like it is without sounding too cold.

Blog Post #2: Memoir Prewriting-Complication

I graduated from high school a semester early in 2009. I hated it so much that made up an imaginary job (kind of) to get work release and never even attended my grade's graduation ceremony. I thought "I'm going to take a semester off to gather my thoughts and figure out what I'm going to do."

A semester turned into a year. I contemplated going to my local community college to boost my GPA, but I backed out last-minute.

That year turned into two years. My parents said they would support me no matter what I do, but I could feel they wanted me out of the house. I was actually getting tired of living there too, but every time I would think about leaving for an extended period, I would get home-sick.

I eventually gave in after about two-and-a-half years of ruminating on the subject of college, and am now a freshman majoring in Computer Science at Old Dominion University.

Introduction

Hi, my name is Steven Smith, but you can call me Steve. I'm majoring in Computer Science to hopefully make a lot of money.

Some other assorted things about me:

• I'm from Scottsville, a very rural area in Central Virginia. I was born in Charlottesville.

• I make sample-based music using a computer program titled FL (Fruity Loops) Studio. I've been doing it since 2007 and have worked with some rappers from Charlottesville, but it never really came to fruition.

• I'm a huge Oakland Raiders and U.S. Men's National Team fan.

• I'm also heavily into video games and kung-fu movies.

I've created this blog because it's mandatory for the class, but I'd also like to be able to write about things I'm interested in. I'm sure it will improve my writing skills as well.