Most persuasive response and the least persuasive

Throughout the week, students at ASTI read seven responses that answered the following question, "Will you have a better life if you graduate from an elite college or university?" We were to decide which was the most persuasive and the least persuasive out of the seven of them.


After reading the responses, I thought that the  was "Merit and Race" by Luis Fuentes Rohwer. His main point was that going to an elite college  is better than going to a "weak" school. He says that going to a elite school would place you in a spot where you have a higher graduation rate and a higher probability of going into graduate school. I know that more people tend to graduate elite colleges and universities more but I thought that the probability or graduation depends on your effort at college/ university. Luis also states that if a person goes to an elite college, they have lower divorce rates and a better health. That was extremely random. I do not even know how those two are even related to education. He didn't even put evidence to support his evidence. The most terrible thing that he said was that quality in a college or university does not matter. This ticked me off because quality is one of the most important things in colleges and universities. Would you go to an elite college that contains bad teachers and a dirty campus? I wouldn't.


 I believe that the least persuasive response was called "Graduate School Matters More" by David W. Breneman. His main point of his response is to communicate to others that the ranking of a college does not matter but the importance lies withing the students capabilities of attending elite schools. He says that all those that are college ready and created a goal for themselves may go to an elite college sooner and continue to move on to graduate school to achieve their goal. He notes that the students that are not ready to continue on to a elite college or university after high school graduation. He says that they would have a higher chance of being lost in the institution and the probability of graduating and/ or going to graduate school is much lower. He suggested that those who aren't ready should attend community colleges where it focuses on student development towards a college environment. Finally, he notes that elite colleges tend to have a high intuition so the family might not be able to afford it. David W. Breneman's response convinced me the most because it changed my mind about whether going to an elite school is important. The response made me think, "If I'm not even ready to attend an elite college or university yet, what is the point? It's going to be hard for me to stay alert if I'm not adjusted to a new environment. I should be patient and use more time to prepare myself." 

Re: "Ms. Valdez" by Vy Truong

Last year, the freshman class had a different English teacher. We addressed her has Ms. Valdez. Many of us really miss her and wish that she was still here. She left a big memory in ASTI history. I found a blog post that described her on Vy Truong's post posted 2 weeks ago and I would like to respond to it: 

"She was one of the most mmm..interesting teacher ever. Ms.Valdez always had to have it her way and be right no matter what. She even said “when I’m right I’m right and when I’m wrong, I’m still right,” that was Ms.Valdez... We read many books in her class... She made reading more understandable and always found a deeper meaning in everything we read. Her essay’s were a pain to write but it got easier as the year goes on but Ms.Valdez never gave out A’s, it would be rare when she did... I have to admit she was an amazing teacher. I have learn so much in her class than I learn in all my years of middle school. She would always make class interesting and keep the class predictable. Also she was able to interpret the reading very clearly and lets us say whatever we want about the reading. She just wanted use to express ourselves as a student and help us find the bigger meaning in everything" - Vy Truong

I do have to agree with everything Vy said in her blog post. She was a strict and tough teacher. She usually gave us a lot of reading each night ranging from 10 pages to 56 pages and it usually took me 2 hours to read it while annotating. Everyday after we read, we would have a small quiz that tests what we read. She says that this makes sure that the student actually reads instead of skipping it and pretend. By the way, the questions' answers are rather specific so you really actually have to read word for word. Her essays were specific prompts that we would have to answer and provide a deep analysis for it. She usually gave a short period to brainstorm, write the essay, and edit it for mistakes (about the total of a week to a week and a half). Her standards for grading essays are very strict because she wants our essays to be college bound so essays in her class doesn't go above a B.

Yes, she is a very strict teacher, the strictest that I have ever experienced but she does have a good personality. Before, she allowed us to eat in class because she does herself and it would be unfair. She allowed us to randomly talk about the book and allowed us to express ourselves freely in Socratic Seminar and in our writing. She is a nice person to talk to especially when you are sad. She may look mean but she is kind. She only wants us to learn and be successful in college.