The profile I will be writing about will be on...

The person I will be doing my profile background on is the De Anza women’s basketball coach Arden Kragalott. The reason I chose her is because she’s my strength development teacher for this quarter, but also I’ve never gotten the chance to talk to any coaches on campus. I took a class with the current head of the physical education department Colleen lee-wheat and one of the coaches for the De Anza football team Dan Atencio, but never had the chance to talk to them. This is my last quarter here so this would be a great opportunity to talk to one of the coaches and get to know their background story before I leave this school.

She is my strength development instructor for this quarter and she seemed like a very relaxing instructor. If I were to take another PE class, it would have to be with her.

I hope to learn anything during the interview. Her past education goals, past sport accomplishments, why she’s coaching at De Anza, if she came here as a student, what would she be doing if she wasn’t a coach or a PE instructor at De Anza, and a lot more.

In order to capture interesting quotes I’ll probably ask interesting questions, which I will come up with prior to the interview. If I can’t think of any creative questions before the interview, I better come up with ones on the spot during the interview and write them down before they go unrecorded.

I am looking forward to writing the profile because I’ve never written about anyone except myself for prior school assignments. Plus I’m interested in how I’ll be molding their profile and what kind of theme I’ll be twisting with it.

A cup of tea that isn't for me

Going into this assignment, I went in blind, assuming that I could think of a topic that is somewhat interesting to me, do light research, and then write it. After reading “What is Enterprise Reporting,” it helped me dig deeper with researching my topic. I felt that the “why” aspect helps me explore areas of my topic that I wouldn't have noticed unless someone mentioned it to me. I also have to keep being a little skeptical about the information that I’m giving since it can be biased to a certain degree, which is something I don’t want to have in my story and in future write-ups.

At first investigative reporting didn’t catch my attention and I still don’t find it appealing. I did learn to be more analytical and not believe everything that I hear without doing more research on whatever topic is brought up because of investigative reporting. However, I’m not really the type to be too focused on things that may/may not concern me or my future nor look deep into a certain subject because it might be information I won’t utilize in my daily life. I’m glad that I’m getting exposure in investigative reporting, but it’s an ice cream flavor that I won’t ask seconds for.

Foundation is important, and I'm not talking about makeup ladies

The blog I thought was the most helpful of the 3 was JPROF: The grammar. Spelling punctuation and diction study guide because it deals with the fundamentals of writing. People might want a really nice car or a nice home, but if the foundation isn't solidified, if the bolts, nuts, and screws aren't tightened enough, the nice car turned into a nice pile of metal. Without the proper foundation, the million dollar home can’t even stand a gust of wind or it will disassemble itself due to the fact that the ground it was built on was sand instead of concrete. The tips I found helpful were grouped up in the “Sentence errors” and “word choice,” and the reason why I just grouped them all in one instead of nit-picking certain tips was not because I make all of the mistakes with each example given, but more of polishing what I know and trying to change how I write because I get a sense that sometimes when I write, it sounds the same as how I talk, which is pretty much redundant and filled with errors. The way I would apply it is by practicing and polishing these weak points in my writing, and once these specific areas have been improved, then I will just apply them right into my writing like a painter would add paint to their portrait, in their own creative way.

Here is the link to the blog: "http://jprof.com/editing/gspdguide.html"

Plain, yet ambiguous

The blog I chose to critique was the dbqp visualizing poetics blog. Now the second I saw this blog I was already engaged not by the blogs, but the layout itself was connected to the title. The blogger enabled the blog layout to be changed if the viewer wishes to with the tool/tab bar on the top of the page. With the tool bar on top, it helps viewers navigate the home page, as well as other links related to the blog. I feel that the blogger enabled this feature because poetry and art can be seen in different ways, so why not make the blog where viewers can look at them in various layouts. There isn't a background and that’s probably because each blog already consists of an image in relation with a post/poem that is posted with it. I actually like that because some people have a hard time trying to visualize certain objects or sceneries, but with an image it helps others see the picture. There’s not much that I dislike about the blog, although some of the posts are pretty lengthy. However, within the long posts are ambiguous visualizations from the bloggers poetry, which might be something I’ll utilize in future blogs. Yes, talking in a poetic format and/or structuring my sentences to paint a picture instead of getting a point out. 

Here is the link to the blog: "http://dbqp.blogspot.com/"

Not your average love letter

*Disclaimer: this love letter is towards dancing, not a person. I've been dancing for 6+ years and have established a relationship where if I’m not able to do it, then I feel as if I've lost a part of me. This had actually happened due to multiple injuries this past year. Pardon the cheesiness in this letter, but it’s how I truly felt without dancing.

Dear Love,

This past year hasn't been the same without you in my life. As I listen to music, I have the urge to bring you out, but I hold myself back because of what hurts most. The things that hold us back from being together resulted from making irrational decisions such as dancing without proper stretching or playing basketball tipsy. Ever since then I've only been able to feel your cold shoulder (in reality, an ice pack) and the sorrow growing within my soul. I now know what I've done had damaged our relationship and kept us apart this whole time. If I had made smarter decisions, then we would be dancing the night away, however this isn't the case. Whenever I see people dancing on the internet, the television, or even when I’m out with friends, I feel a sharp pain in my heart and my moral drops faster than water flowing out from the sink. Every time I think of you I feel like I’m dying inside because I can’t dance. You were there before any of my girlfriends, you kept me in shape after high school while everyone else put on some weight, you were my stress reliever, and you were the gateway to making new friends for me. You've also been the reason why I've been confident, original, and a little cocky and arrogant at times. Now that you’re restrained from within me, I’m a shy guy always looking down because there’s nothing worth bringing my head up for. It hurts when I try to be optimistic that I’ll be fine the next day, but my smile turns into a frown once I feel the pain in my shoulder and toe as I wake up to the morning sunrise. I've got to be more positive because there’s a saying “Pain is temporary. It may last for a minute, an hour, a day, or even a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place.” One day my depression and sorrow will be replaced with joy and happiness. One day I won’t have to feel the cold ice packs on my shoulder and toe. One day I won’t have to hold myself back from dancing when I hear music. We will be reunited and I will feel completed once more. The difference between you and my past girlfriends is that no matter what stupid stuff I do or if I’d rather spend my time elsewhere, I know you’ll always be there for me, even when I die. So until the day I am able to dance comes, I’ll be waiting for you.

Your first love,

Allen Matsumoto