Widener University International Study Center
Chester, Pennsylvania
Fall 2013 Writing Level 1 Portfolio

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  • Dasha Korniyenko
  • Renke He
  • Jiahao Yin
  • Kaili Shao
  • Xiebin Zhao
  • Zheyu Lai
  • Ya Lun Sung
  • Yi Ting Lin
  • Mao Mao
  • Yang Lu
  • Rui Xue
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Xiebin Zhao

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      Xiebin Zhao, who comes from China, is currently pursuing her academic career at Widener University. She has been studying English for eight straight years in China. It had never occurred to her that she would go abroad someday.  Before, she was a young girl who merely enjoyed the surrounding love given by her family and friends. It is a great challenge for her to study without the family accompanying in the United States. 
      Despite the fact that she has never been to any foreign country before, she moved to many cities in China. The new environment reinforces her to be an exceedingly adaptive person, so she has the capacity of social interactions. Furthermore, she is passionate about dancing. Jazziness supports her to get rid of her anxiety and sorrow, forms an outgoing personality, and subconsciously affects her career choice. It is obvious that she will not be a dancer. Indeed, the passion of dance inspires her to be an out-going person. Making friends and communicating with more people from different fields are what she is keen on. The techniques of dance enable her to acquire an acute sense of observation. On account of the outsight and patience, she is qualified and willing to meet with and serve more people. However, those mentioned elements lay a solid foundation for her career choice. 
      She is going to study hospitality management at Widener University. Because of the need of  the hospitality industry , she needs to be involved in a relatively larger and gregarious circle in the United States. Taking part in more organizations is her next step in the period of her college life. However, she will make every effort to find a part-time job or internship. She holds the belief that experience is much more crucial than a thin, light diploma. It indicates that she will find an internship job once she has finished her bachelor’s degree.       
      Wasting time is a waste of life. Time will not wait for every person, and the future is held in people’s hands. If people are willing to choose a promising future, their precious time to experience what they are suppose to experience will be the most ideal to reach their prospective goals.



Dear Readers,

     It is a great honor for me that my writing masterpieces can be shown for all of you. I want to talk about my feelings and the improvements. To be honest, my favorite assignment is Definition Essay because I have written about those who are important for me in my article. I wrote the all the tiny details. Every moment I recalled the most precious memories, the happiness would show in my face. This article gives me sweet happiness, so I love it. Therefore, the most difficult but successful assignment is Analytical Essay. The topic on the stereotype presented many obstacles to me. I have no idea about the structure of the essay, even the thesis statement. Then I turned to my professor for help. She helped me get out of this predicament, and ultimately I got a high score with the help of her. It seemed to be an improvement rather than a kind of emotional feelings. Every time I read my assignments, I will admire myself for the achievements that I have made. Even though they are puny, they are still the symbol of my growth and progress.

To Be a Superman

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      I have dreamed of being a superman in English since I was young, and now I have become increasingly powerful in English. There are four ways to improve my reading and writing. The first way is watching English movies and television. For instance, I have cultivated a habit of watching TV programs after dinner. While enjoying the happiness of my family, I can benefit from news on television. Not only can I expand my vocabulary but I can also obtain the knowledge about politics when it comes to political issues. The second way to learn to read and write is chatting with my friends. We always talk about the latest trends and news from all walks of life and send texts or emails every day. We talk about our superstars while adding my interests in improving my English skills. I even saw my superstar, Beyonce, in America. That is why I have a thick interest in English. Therefore, another method is keeping a dairy. I write almost everything down that happens to me. Those secret words can play an exceedingly important role in writing. Most students are afraid of writing due to their lack of writing exercises. The more things you have written, the more writing skills you will master. Ultimately, listening carefully is of vital importance. I pay attention to whatever the teacher has said, so that I can grasp every point of reading and writing skills. I am not strong in English at first, and then I turned to my instructor for help. She gave me a quantity of advice, and I followed her. Gradually, I became increasingly stronger than before. In conclusion, we should make full use of opportunities to practice using English wherever we can, and follow the instructor’s advice as much as possible. Then we will become a superman in English.


Endless Happiness

      My favorite childhood place full of happiness and fun was my uncle’s farm. Visiting my uncle was the most important thing during my summer holidays. I have a cousin who is five-year older than me. Her name is Jessie, and I spent a whole summer with this optimistic and funny girl on my uncle’s farm. I still keep in mind everything in my favorite childhood area. When I came through the gate of the farm, I could see a lot of fences in this large, green area. There were cows and sheep inside the fences. My uncle spent a lot of time feeding them behind a bucket. I also have fed those cute animals. I felt excited, and I was afraid that they would hurt me. To my surprise, they just looked at the food in my hands wishfully, so that I considered myself a responsible adult!  Moreover, my uncle grew all sorts of vegetables and flowers as well, such as tulips and jasmines. They are on the opposite side of the cows and sheep. I can see this colorful and shining image like a golden garden in the sunlight. On the right side of the vegetables, a log cabin caught my eyes. It was a delicate and beautiful cabin with a cute dome. A lot of toys were stored there, so that it kept my memory of my happy childhood. In the middle of the garden, there was a wooden rocking chair under the oldest and biggest green pine tree in the farm. I always sat on the chair. Under the tree, Jessie and I enjoyed every silent afternoon, and the shadow comforted us for a whole summer. At the back corner of the farm, it had an old wooden swing hanging between the two big trees. Jessie and I always played on the swing after dinner, enjoying the happy laughter and cheerful voices only between us.  My cousin and I smelt the fragrance of the flowers, saw the cute animals, and swung away our anxiety and sorrow. No matter how many years have gone by, my uncle’s farm is always my favorite childhood place which left me a happy childhood in the depth of my most precious memory.

The Most Sincere Emotion, Love

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      Love is hard to define, but sometimes a simple word or an eye contact can be a love experience. As far as I am concerned, love is where our power comes from. There are three ways to define love. First of all, the most primary love is family love. My mother cooked meals every morning, no matter how tired she was. It was love that supported her to do it. She loved our family, so she devoted herself to taking care of us family. Meanwhile, my father played an important role in family love as well. When I was following the latest trend, wearing the short skirt in winter, my father would be angry with me, and finally gave me a pair of thick stockings. These concerns and care are love. However, the second kind of love is friendship. From my perspective, a friend is one that can share joys and sorrows. For example, when I got a bad grade, my friend would tell me not to give up, and encourage me to keep fighting against the bad scores. When I met with hardships, my friend would come and see me. They just sat behind me silently, and listened to what I was complaining about. It is friendship love. The third love is romantic love. It can belong to those who spend their remaining lives completing the lifelong company. For instance, my grandparents saw the sunrise every morning, talked to each other in the afternoon, and walked in the park after dinner. I admire them for their romance. Love is abstract but real. It cannot be touched but we can feel it. Our family love, friend love, and romantic love can be a word and a small but warm sentence. To sum up, it is the warm power of love, which leads us to a better, happier paradise.




The Romantic Love

     Once upon a time, there was an old couple sitting under the ferris wheel in an amusement park. They snuggled up to each other, looking up at the blue and pure sky. Their happiness was revealed on their faces. It occurred to me that this story utterly explains that what romantic love is. It  is different from love. Love can include family love, friendship, and relationships between lovers. However, romance is a deeper emotional and spiritual recognition.  Romantic love is not only a feeling, but also a regard for the value of another person and relationship. This relationship provides a way to give and receive, communicate, and accompany.
      Romantic love means giving and receiving. It is  not possible to pretend to be giving to who we deeply love.  It is that we are willing to contribute to someone from the bottom of the heart, and we want to give him or her everything that belongs to us. We use our most sincere emotions to treat someone. As for me, I want to give my romance to my boyfriend, Boe, who is a talented and handsome boy. He is one- year older than me and we have accompanied each other for many years. We have laid a solid foundation for our romantic love. He always gave me surprises and happiness. When he saw the happy smile on my face, he would be even happier than me. This deep emotion leads us to recognize the significance of romantic love which through giving and receiving.  When I was hungry, Boe would rush out to buy foods for me without any hesitation, no matter how dark it was outside. I even felt that he was my prince. “Castle In The Sky” is my favorite piano music. When I was frustrated, he would sit behind me silently, playing the piano for me. This silent romance overwhelmed and drove away any anxiety and sadness.
      Revealing feelings is one of the most important processes in intimacy. Lovers should reveal their feelings and emotions to the people they love. We can share a majority of information about ourselves with them such as what we like and what we dislike, what we are scared of, and what we take pride in. In that way, lovers can get closer and understand one another better. For example, a girl did not like the smell of the smoke, but she never told her boyfriend. Coincidently, her boyfriend loved smoking. Every time he smoked, the girl just went away instead of telling him that she was reluctant to smell that smoke. If this movement repeated time and time again, no matter how deep they loved each other, their romantic relationship would gradually be destroyed.
      Moreover, listening and supporting are as equally important as communication in romantic love. It indicates that we should listen to others’ opinions, correct what we have not done with their satisfaction, and offer support when they are afraid. If this boy who liked smoking knew that his girlfriend did not like it, and he gave up smoking, their romantic love would be more solid than before. Take it, for example, that a boy’s mom passed away. He felt the whole world was collapsing. What if his girlfriend gave him a warm hug with comforting words? The answer is he will suffer less pain than before because he can realize that he has a girlfriend to love him and support him. This is a significant meaning of those processes of romantic love.
    The furthest degree of intimacy is being with each other forever. At the beginning of the romance, lovers appreciated one another. Then they were absorbed in this romantic environment, feeling that they were the happiest people in the world. After having experienced a series of sorrows and joys, they felt they were getting older. Gradually, they found that they are not energetic and good-looking any more, but what is worth being rejoiced, is there was still a person who was with you, and  never went away. That is the furthest degree of romantic love, no matter what has happened, a person will always be there.  The most romantic love may not be the fiercest. An ordinary romantic love can be the most impressive like my grandparents. They have accompanied with one another for over fifty years. Every morning, they will see the sunrise together and then go to the market. My grandpa combs the hair for my grandma, revealing his romance in his eyes. It seems that they are a new couple, who have just now married. Wherever I go, I will see two figures snuggling up to one another.
      In a conclusion, “Romantic love is a many splendid thing and it lifts us up where we belong ”(Movie Moulin Rouge, 2001). It taught people how to give, reveal the feelings and accompany with one another. Spending a lifelong time being with who we love is real love, no matter how many years have gone by.
 
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Bibliography
Luhrmann, B., Baron, F., & Brown, M. (producers), & Luhrmann, B.
      (director).  (2001).  Moulin Rouge [Motion picture].  USA and Australia: 
      Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.
 




The Tweens, Nightmares and Night Terrors

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      As is known to all, a nightmare is a sleep disorder, and similarly, a night terror is a sleep disruption as well. There are three ways to compare and contrast nightmares and night terrors which are different in movements, memory, and sleep cycles. First of all, they happen to the young groups of people. Nightmares are more likely to occur in children.  Likewise, a night terror has the same possibility to happened to children, too. Secondly, they present in different movements. A nightmare is just a horrible dream while people are sleeping. On the other hand, a night terror is a far more dramatic presentation than a nightmare. Children may scream, cry, and shout out when they are having a night terror. When they are having a nightmare, they just silently present. For example, Tom, who is an eight-year-old boy, suffered from night terrors. One of the mothers claimed, “ I must accompany him when he is sleeping ”(T. Claire, personal communication, September 18, 2013). Thirdly, people have different memories on nightmares and night terrors. They could still remember the nightmares for many years, but they had no mental images to recall when they had a night terror. For instance, I always wake up suddenly, feeling scared. Actually, I am at a loss as to what has happened. I could only remember my sudden actions when I woke up. Meanwhile, Jennifer, who is a friend of mine, always feels that there are monsters moving around her because of a nightmare about being killed by a monster. Last but not least,nightmares and night terrors are different in sleep cycles. Night terrors often happen in the first two or three hours of sleep. However, nightmares always occur at the end of the sleep. People usually wake up suddenly as soon as they have a nightmare, and they hardly go back to sleep. In contrast, they usually go back to sleep soon when they wake up after a night terror because they have just slept two or three hours. However , both of them are likely to happen to children. To sum up,  movements, memory , and sleep cycles are the three ways that can compare and contrast nightmares and night terrors.


Those Invisible Angels

      There is the sound of cheer among every family because of the coming Thanksgiving. People celebrate Thanksgiving in order to thank what God has given them. However, God is not the only invisible angel that people should thank. There are three things people should not take for granted which are health, the environment, and education. Therefore, people need to thank doctors, cleaners, and those who give children rights to be educated.
      First of all, people should be grateful to doctors for their dedicated working spirit. Surgeons work day and night, and they have miserable work shifts. For example, a surgeon can have been working for 23 hours due to an operation. They must concentrate on what they are doing every second, but they never give up curing people. My friend stated, “ I will contribute my entire life to cure those who need help” ( L. Jermmy, personal communication, October 23, 2012). It is essential for people to thank them because their good healthy condition is given by these angels in white.
      Moreover, the clean environment is not endowed by God. People should be grateful to cleaners. They clean the streets for people. They seem to never mind how dirty their working condition is, and they just hold their belief of making the earth better. For instance, cleaners sweep the fallen leaves in the fall and clean the snow in the winter. They work so hard, and they do not mean to be praised by anyone else. When people enjoy in a clean environment, they do need to thank the cleaning angels who have given this priority to them.
      Last but not least, people should thank the person who gave children rights to be educated. It is a universal knowledge that people must study, but there are still many children who cannot go to school. For example, some areas cannot support the education to the entire children such as South Africa. The children are desperate to learn knowledge, but they are poor. Conversely, we have access to education because of the relatively successful economy and policy in our countries. That is why we should thank the education angels at Thanksgiving.
      To sum up, health, the environment, and education are given by the invisible but real angels in our life. They gave people opportunities to live better, and it is essential for people to use their sincere heart to appreciate and thank them at Thanksgiving.


Are All Teenagers Drunk?

      Jessie and Tommy are good friends. One day, they sat on a stone bench in the park after school. They held a cup of iced tea in their hands, and cheered because Jessie had won the first prize in the math competition. The people passing by looked at them strangely, gesticulating to them. After a while, the police came and said to them, “Someone called us and told us you teenagers were drinking alcohol here. Do you know it is harmful to you?” Jessie and Tommy looked puzzled. Then the anger appeared in their eyes. “How can you identify that what we are drinking is alcohol?” Jessie asked. Then the policeman sipped the drink. “I am sorry. It is iced tea,” the man replied. This story indicates that many people always think every teenager drinks alcohol. Adults are always sensitive when teenagers are drinking. They always think teenagers drink too much, even  though in this instance, they just drank the iced tea. There are three ways to introduce this stereotype that all teens drink alcohol through the background information, the causes and effects, and the resolution of the stereotype.
      It is a common belief that most teenagers always drink alcohol as much as possible. On account of this irresponsible behavior, much more cases on drunk teens are reported wherever we can read. Many reports and TV shows aim at teenagers who drink alcohol. They consider it a major problem in the United States. For example, according to newspapers and television,  people understand that car accidents occur and sometimes some young women are raped when they are drunk. Gradually, those horrible images leave a bad impression on adults, and they invariably consider that most teenagers are drinking alcohol. However, this manner of thinking most teenagers drink alcohol can be harmful to them, and even have a negative effect on their mental health. Similarly, teenagers will have a psychological burden due to this stereotype. As for me, I am a teenager, but I never drink alcohol. One day I took part in a party where we were all absorbed in the enthusiastic atmosphere, drinking the tea and juice. Suddenly, it occurred to me that if the police came, they may misunderstand that we were drinking alcohol. I felt upset and anxious. I was afraid of their possible misunderstanding. I could not help myself imagining those people’s odd expression on their faces, though I am innocent. It hurts teenagers because of the dismissal of trust. When it comes to drinking, many teenagers cannot get rid of the burden on their heart. In conclusion, it is convinced that this stereotype does harm to other teenagers, and it will affect their psychological
developments for a long time.

      Moreover, there are some reasons that cause teenagers’ drunkenness. Primarily, the family environment plays a significant role when teenagers are growing up. It is
reported that there are a lot of divorces in the United States. Some are single-parent families, some have never been married. Those families cannot supply a wholesome education to the children. For instance, nearly half of all 16-19 year olds have seen their parents drunk, which was researched by alcohol education charity Drinkaware (Stubbs & McDonaph, 2013). It indicates that many parents are not able to set themselves as a good example for their children. For this reason, the number of teenagers drinking is increasing. Secondly,

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psychological inversion is a part of the reason why teenagers drink alcohol. It exists because teenagers are in limbo. They are in a transitional state from children to adults. They want to be more like adults, and treated respectively. As for my friend, Amy, she was 18 years old and did not like people calling her a little girl anymore. She wanted to prove that she could be an adult, so she imitated adults’ drinking and smoking. She seemed to be the only one acting like an adult in our class, and she was proud of that. She  claimed, “It is just a sense of superiority,” (A. Joe, personal communication, October 3, 2012) and she could feel that she was an adult. This reason  illustrates what causes teenagers to drink alcohol. This issue is caused by the lack of education when they are young. Likewise, the transition of growing up causes teenagers to drink a lot as well. It can be seen that teenagers should not be blamed for being corrupt from the beginning to the end. 
      Generally speaking, people think most teenagers drink alcohol because it has some bad effects on them. First of all, drinking too much can cause car accidents. It is generally acknowledged that the greatest risk of traffic crashes is among teenage drivers (U.S. Department of Health& Human Services, 2006), and sixty percent of them are drunk teenagers. This study showed that teens who had a crash would have persistent problems, and suddenly developed anxiety and other symptoms. What is more, drunk teens will have the possibility of losing their rights and become physically disabled. For example, one of my teachers had stated, “On one occasion, I drove to pick up his mother from work when I was a teenager. My mother sensitively observed that I drank the alcohol, and yelled at me. Then my mother called a taxi and seriously gave me a lesson not to drive after I drank,”(G. Johnson, personal communication, October25, 2013). 
      Therefore, the second effect of drinking is being taken advantage of, even being raped. As is known to all, many young women are forced to have sex with other people. “Most children want to do things they are not supposed to do, or they want to impress their friends by drinking too much,” (T. Harris, personal communication, October 26, 2013), stated by the person surveyed in one investigation. Consequently, many young



girls lost their virginity. It was reported that a young girl who was 16 years old, joined a drinking party. When she was drunk, she was forcibly dragged into the basement, and then the photos were taken by her classmates. In the morning of the following day, she had no idea what had happened (Morgenstern, 2013). It can be supposed that this case will leave a lifelong shadow on her entire life. That is to say, car accidents and being taken advantages of are the exceedingly bad effects of drinking. Teens should avoid these accident incidences whenever they can.
      Meanwhile, there are some measures that should be taken to discontinue the progression of this stereotype. Firstly, schools can put educational programs into classes such as videos and speeches. Teachers can arrange at least one class per week to educate children, teaching them to know about alcohol. Teachers should give a specific concept of alcohol, and teach them the harm of drinking. A study shows that 63 percent of schools have set up the alcohol classes (W. Griffin, 2001). Unfortunately, some students are still absent from class, and were not aware of the importance of this education program. Meanwhile, family education is equally important. Parents should teach children at home how to drink or avoid being drunk. A majority of parents lead their children to be aware of alcohol from a young age, and lead by example to be a well-educated person. For this reason, there are still many teens who drink properly, or even do not drink. One of the professors claimed, “When I went to parties, I did not drink too much because I had received the alcohol education by my parents, so the bad things never had happened to me,” (C. Lake, personal communication, October 25, 2013). Last but not least, self-awareness is of vital importance. Teenagers should warn themselves not to do these irresponsible behaviors, and remind themselves of the bad consequences of abusing of alcohol. It can be obviously seen that with the education given by schools and families, most teenagers actually have the common sense of quality and quantity about how much they should drink. 
      To sum up, people’s stereotype of teen drinking too much is no more correct today. Although the information on drunk teen is reported wherever can be seen, it is merely an over-concerned social issue. As a matter of fact, drinking too much is just popular in a very small group of teens. Most of them are living in the poorly-educated families, and they are in their extremely isolated adolescence. This can cause them to drink. Meanwhile, what may happen is car accidents and being taken advantage of. These will leave negative effects on teens permanently. On the other hand, schools, families, and teenagers have taken steps to discontinue the progression of this stereotype. They have taught teenagers how to drink and avoid the bad things happening to them. Decreasing numbers of drunk teenagers is the best proof to show that the stereotype of all teen drinking too much is wrong. With the development of our society, teenagers are becoming increasingly conscious to grow up in a healthy, prospering pathway.




Bibliography:
California Department of Motor Vehicles.  (2011). Young drivers.  Sacremento, CA:  U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved from 

        http://www.dmv.ca.gov/teenweb/more_btn6/traffic

Foxnews. (2013). Ohio high school football players found guilty of raping 16-year-old girl. Foxnews. Retrieved from 
     
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/03/17/teens-with-immunity-testify-on-girl-intoxication-level-in-ohio-rape-trial/

Gilbert J. Botvin & Kenneth W. Griffin& Leigh Z. Gilchrist. (2013). Drug and alcohol abuse - SCHOOL, COLLEGE. Net Industries. Retrieved 

      from http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1923/Drug-Alcohol-Abuse.html

Stubbs, D. & McDonagh, M. (2013). Is it harmful for kids to see their parents drunk? The Observer. Retrieved from
     
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/26/harmful-kids-see-parents-drunk-british-drink



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