Journal Entries

Zachary Windsor

Journal Entry #5

Passing Time While Time is Passing


I spent pretty much all of my summer working at Worlds of Fun. Six out of the seven days of the week, I would work. It was tiring, but I got over myself because I was getting paid, and I would have all the time to myself between shifts, and on that one day off. Then the school year began. On the weekends, I would still work at Worlds of Fun. During the week, it was all school. I got one day off between when school started and the Worlds of Fun season ended. When it did, I was finally able to rest for more than one day in a row for the first time since March. Still, the seemingly chronic exhaustion did not wear off. Even after thanksgiving break, I have still felt like I am constantly busy. I wake up in the morning, go to school for seven hours, and then do homework for what feels like the entire rest of the day. On the weekends, there is still homework to do. It certainly has felt like my entire life has been slipping into to terrible routine. Anxiety has pushed me to keep pressing on and ignore the fact I can’t find rest now. As long as keeping up with my school work pays off in the end, it will be worth it. On the other hand, I have wondered if my life is destine to be a set routine with no down time. That’s how our society seems to function. You work and work, looking forward to the next down time, and the that down time has suddenly passed and it back to the routine. But instead of just moping about it, I want to take action. I’ve begun to analyze what I do in my down time, and have found that I’ve increasingly spent more and more of it on the computer. Mostly pointlessly browsing the internet, or playing games. Now, these are seemingly valid ways to spend my down time. After all, am I not doing what I enjoy? It’s just that no tangible result comes from these activities. I do not improve myself in anyway. I do not experience anything new, learn a new skill, or otherwise be able to say that I am truly affected by them. Sometimes, doing these things might distract from doing my best in school. I might suddenly found that I’ve spent two or three hours on homework, but then stayed up until midnight wasting time. Before I know it, my grades (although not terrible yet) are harder to hold on to even though I feel more busy. So I want to challenge myself. An pre new years resolution: spend only one hour a day browsing or playing games.
Nothing comes from them but a way to pass time. I could be studying. Or learning a new skill. Or exploring new hobbies. Or going outside. Or exercising. Or simply experiencing life. That is the reason I feel exhausted. Life experiences are slipping away as I just try to pass time. I will experience.


Zachary Windsor

Journal Entry #4

A Glimpse At The Future

I wanted to get a picture of what life will be like at Mizzou, and my sister, a student herself, gave me a tour. Our first stop was the recreation center. It was more a less a very fancy gym. Any activity one could think of is provided, from swimming in the olympic size pool to lifting weights. I could see myself trying the rock climbing classes. Later, we headed to the library. On one floor was the expected books. Upstairs was a extensive computer lab. My favorite feature was the silent study rooms, which would be great for my habits. Along the way, my sister pointed out the dorms, and classroom halls. We visited the engineering building. It was under construction, and Ironically had the most confusing layout of all. Wanting to major in engineering, I could imagine myself spending a lot of time there. The final place we visited was the student center. This building was grand central for student activity. Students ate from the the indoor restaurants, studied in comfortable couches, and shopped at the spirit store. I bought myself a Mizzou jacket, and browsed the extensive selection of study materials. The campus reminded me of a summer camp, with activities and fun around every corner.

The idea of attending college is surreal. Visiting campus gave me an idea to how student life might be, but it is still hard to imagine my entire life being moved across the state, and spending all of my time on campus. I should be excited to be going to college, and I am. All of my hard work in high school has paid off, and I am moving on in life. At the same time, going to college is frightening. I’ll face new challenges and pressures to do well in class, and this time, whether I do well will determine the Job I will have for the rest of my life. The campus amenities will certainly help, but it is still up to me to find success. Still, I look forward to new opportunities and experiences.

Zachary Windsor
Journal Entry #3
An Excerpt from "A Modest Proposal" By Jonathan Swift
A Pen Pastiche

    The first paragraph from "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift : "It is a melancholy object to those who walk through this great town or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and cabin doors, crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags and importuning every passenger for an alms. These mothers, instead of being able to work for their honest livelihood, are forced to employ all their time in strolling to beg sustenance for their helpless infants: who as they grow up either turn thieves for want of work, or leave their dear native country to fight for the Pretender in Spain, or sell themselves to the Barbadoes."

   Here, Jonathan Swift's style is characterized by drawn out, descriptive sentences, as well as an erudite and bitter tone. The following is my attempt to recreate that, using the same subject of my last journal entry: pens.

  Is is astonishing to anyone who realizes dozens varieties of pens can be found in any grocery store, corner shop, or any peculiar gas station that only gets one or two customers a day. Each variety of pen came from the extended efforts of a research group studying what a good pen has, a design team that decides the precise combination of metal, plastic and ink, and the manufacturers who must devise a way to quickly and efficiently mass produce them. This process has happened a hundred times over, and now every store is littered with a multitude of cheap writing utensils that required hundreds of man-hours and huge investments to develop, just so that a customer may still buy the cheapest and simplest design available.

I believe my pastiche does a fairly good job of mimicking the style of Johnathan Swift's, but it is not exact. The subject material and my imagination has limited my ability to make each sentence as detailed and descriptive has his, though the tone of my paragraph is very close, in my opinion. This was pretty challenging, considering is so many elements of Swift's example that must be included in my own paragraph in order to be an exact match. I do not believe I included all of them.



Zachary Windsor
Journal Entry #2
The Beer Can Exercise
Just Pens

    I do much like pens. Each style, each shape, each kind. Pens can come in a lot of forms. Each is it's own. Each has its own soul and life. Some come from far off lands. Each has a story to tell. Yet still, just one pen can write all. No tool can match that of the pen. Their ink last for life, As they will in my heart.


Zachary Windsor
Journal Entry #1
"Journal" By Henry David Thoreau
Laying Eggs of Ideas

    In Henry David Thoreau's "Journal", written in  1852, says about journaling: "Each thought that is welcomed and recorded is a nest egg, by the side of which more will be laid". Thoreau expresses how one idea or though can lead to more ideas and thoughts. Any observation or clever pondering opens the door to any amount of further writing and pondering exploration. That, in turn leads to more. I admire this technique of writing. It as both natural and free flowing as it is effective at creating new material to work from. I have never been as thorough as Thoreau, simply because I hardly ever take the time to journal, and when I do, it's much more focused and doesn't encourage new ideas. I aspire to journal much more like Thoreau; to let my creativity flow and ideas blossom.