English 111: The Low-Down

The Low-Down

I can't believe it's already time to reflect on my first semester at TCC. Time has really gone by faster than I expected and I feel that I have already learned so much. Having dropped out of this class last winter semester I felt I should say apprehensive about coming back with the same teacher; I have to admit the way Mr. Gasparo introduced the class did make it sound like it was going to be a lot more work than it actually was. Although i was always a smart kid, I lacked the motivation to apply myself all through my high school career; my attendence and grades were the result.

After settling in and making it past the first few weeks of English 111, I started to get the hang of the way all classwork was supposed to be organized and I learned how to used blackboard quite efficiently. This allowed me to stay on track with the assignments that were due and having access to email made it even easier. In my opinion you are either going to enjoy this class or totally hate it, depending on if writing appeals to you. For me, this class allowed me to express my world of imagination in my writing; for example the narrative diagnostic essay allowed me to tell a really cool story on paper.

The way Mr. Gasparo presented the information he was trying to instill was in a sense very logical and it allowed me to clearly undersand the topics. I am happy because I have come out of this class with a much clearer understanding of MLA format(I hope), and with a refreshed sense of writing style.

My favorite assignment to write was definitely the diagnostic essay because it was a narrative for one, which are my favorite because I can express my imagination most easily and I feel like I can easily create a picture using detail in words for the reader to visualize; that allows them to vividly understand my writing. The fact that it was also a true story and the most incredible time I've ever had in my life made it really easy and fun to write about.

I can honestly say that I did not have a problem writing any of these assignments; I guess i was lucky because i was able to choose easy topics to write about because they all applied to my life. The hardest part about this class was writing the research paper because I had never written any type of paper that long nor have I ever had to include and cite images before. Nevertheless I am happy I have learned how to do that and look forward to moving on.

Overall this class was incredibly enjoyable for me and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys English and writing. All you have to do is keep up with your assignments and it's fairly stress free. I recommend Mr. Gasparo to anyone who takes school seriously and can dedicate time and a little imagination into their writing because he makes the class enjoyable to be in with his sense of humor. It's always great to be able to relate.

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Final Diagnostic Essay Draft: The Ultimate Hallucination

The Ultimate Hallucination

It may be difficult for one to recall a particular vacation get away or road trip to a far off destination and until just recently I couldn't think of any particular event that stuck out in my mind most vividly. Little did I know that the lives of four college kids would change forever after just one weekend in a little known town called Masontown, West Virginia. It was the summer of 2009 and we were feeling spontaneous and eager to try new things.

It all started when my best friend Hunter heard about amazing experiences known as music festivals. We had heard of them before but had never considered attending one. He seemed to be extremely ecstatic having purchased his ticket almost a year and a half before the festival even took place; so I guess the idea caught my attention. On the other hand, I was a little skeptical about going to a festival; nevertheless he convinced me to purchase the one hundred and eighty dollar golden ticket. The two of us packed as much camping gear, food, pot, and water that we could fit in my '87 Firebird and eagerly hit the road on the morning of Wednesday July eighth.

The gates of Allgood were set to open at 2pm on Thursday, so our plan was to pick up our good friend Trey from Richmond while on our way to the house of the final member of our group, James. We arrived at his house in Charlottesville around 10pm that night and made sure everything was ready to go for the next morning. Having all of our members of the group together now we were so anxious and excited we could barely sleep that night.

By 9am on Thursday morning we were ready and on our way to Masontown which was only a beautiful four hour drive through the winding back-roads that cut through the mountains. By the time we arrived we were some 3,000 feet elevated in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains on a privately owned farm land. It was then that I knew this was going to be a really great experience. We parked the Jeep, set up our tent, and began to explore. Scattered on the mountains were 20,000 other campsites that made ours look totally insignificant. As the sun set behind the mountains we started to hear the opening band, Seepeoples; it was then Hunter and I took five hits of really potent Greatful Dead acid and the next 12 hours turned into a semi-conscious hallucination. Seepeoples would be the first band to play in an all night concert that stretched until 5:30 Friday morning.

The next morning we woke up to find our tent had collapsed on us from the extreme mountain winds, James and I reconstructed and set off to return to reality while Hunter and Trey slept trying to recover. By Friday evening our gang was ready to go for another night of great music, new friends and great vibes with a little help from some really good pot. We watched some of our favorite bands like Lotus and STS9 jam out all night while the mushrooms and molly took over our senses; I'll never forget the full moon that night.

By midday on Saturday Trey had found himself a girl and his presence was a surprise for the remainder of the trip. Meanwhile, Hunter, James, and I found ourselves locked in the clutches of the magic mushies and ventured down to the main stage to catch Soja and Umphree's McGee. The trip couldn't have gone any better, we felt totally at one with each other and everyone around us. After the mushrooms wore off, I ended up falling asleep under the stars on the side of the mountain wrapped in a fuzzy blanket; I'll never forget how calm and collected I was.

Sunday was to be our final day there. We spent most of the morning wondering where Trey was since we had no means of contact with him. After we packed up the campsite we decided to go catch one or two more shows before leaving so we hiked down to the stage where coincidentally we found Trey. We were all mentally and physically anguished from the extremely overwhelming past couple of days and we knew it was time to head home.

On our way back to Charlottesville I recall James saying there wasn't one day that went by where he didn't think of how fun it was to be there. By the time Hunter and I got back to the beach the feeling of complete refreshment had begun to set in. Now over half a year later I can honestly say there won't be a day where I don't think about Allgood. All in all it was the most fun I've ever had and I developed a strong friendship with my friends because of it. I will have my golden ticket for the rest of my life to remind me of my Allgood experience.

Diagnostic Essay

Diagnostic Essay

It may be difficult for one to recall a particular favorite vacation get away or road trip to a far off destination and until just recently I couldn't think of any particular event that stuck out in my mind most vividly. Little did I know that the lives of four college kids would change after just one weekend in a little known area called Masontown, West Virginia. It was the summer of 2009 and we were feeling spontaneous and eager to try new things.

It all started when my best friend Hunter gained knowledge of amazing experiences known as music festivals. We had heard of them before but had never considered attending one. He seemed to be extremely ecstatic having purchased his ticket almost half a year before the festival even took place. I on the other hand was a little skeptical and nervous about going to a festival, nevertheless he convinced me to purchase my one hundred and eighty dollar golden ticket. The two of us packed as much camping gear, food, and water that we could fit in my '87 Firebird and hit the road on the morning of Wednesday July 8th.

The gates of Allgood music festival were set to open at 2pm on Thursday, so as we were on our way we stopped in Richmond to pick up our good friend Trey and headed to Charlottesville to our friend James' house. We arrived in Charlottesville around 10pm that night and made sure everything was ready to go. Having all of our members of our group together now we were so excited we could barely sleep that night.

By 9am on Thursday morning we were ready and on our way to Masontown which was only a four hour drive. By the time we arrived we were some 3,000 feet elevated in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains on a private farm land. It was then that I knew this was going to be a really great experience. We parked the car, set up our tent, and began to explore. Scattered on the mountains were 20,000 people who did the same thing we did, we were just one dot out of thousands. As the sun set behind the mountains we started to hear the opening band, Seepeoples. They would be the first of an all night concert that stretched until 5:30 Friday morning, at which point we finally fell asleep.

The next morning we woke up to find our tent had collapsed on us from the mountain winds, James and i reconstructed and set off to get our minds right while Hunter and Trey slept trying to recover from the night before. By Friday evening our gang was fully recovered for another night of great music, new friends, and great vibes with a little help from the herbals. We watched some of our favorite bands like Lotus and STS9 jam out all night while having mind blowing experiences under a full moon.

By midday on Saturday Trey had found a girl and disappeared for the remainder of the trip until it was time to leave Sunday afternoon. Meanwhile, Hunter, James and myself found ourselves locked in the grasp of the psychedelics and ventured down to the main stage to catch Soja and Umphree's McGee. The trip couldn't have gone any better, we felt totally at one with each other and everyone around us. I ended up falling asleep staring at the stars outside of the tent that night, I'll never forget how calm and collected it was.

Sunday was to be our final day there. We spent most of the morning wondering where Trey was having no means of contact with him and packing up our campsite. We decided to catch one or two more shows before leaving so we hiked down to the stage where coincidentally we found Trey. We stayed and wached a couple more bands, none of which i was very interested in. We were all mentally and physically anguished from the extremely overwhelming past couple of days and we knew it was time to head home.

By the time Hunter and I got Trey back to his house in Richmond and returned back to Virginia Beach we knew it was the trip of all trips. On our way back to Charlottesville I recall James saying that there wasn't one day that went by where he didn't think of how fun it was to be there. Now, almost two months later I can honestly say there won't be a day where I don't recollect my thoughts of Allgood and get myself excited for next year. I kept my golden ticket and framed it on my wall; I plan on having it for the rest of my life. All in all it was the most fun I've ever had and I developed a relationship with those three friends that won't be like any other, it is and was all good.