The Dawg with a Blog

 In class today, I spent a lot of time doing research and developed a thesis for my rational argument essay. I decided to to only focus on the benefits of naps, rather than discussing any controversy. My thesis states: Contrary to what many people think, naps can be very beneficial if done the right way.  I decided to only focus on the positive side of naps after having a long conversation with Dr. Kyburz. While talking, I discovered that I really enjoy naps. I take a nap almost every day, and they are usually good. Because of this, it will be much easier to argue for the benefits of napping rather than arguing both sides.  My argument will be much more genuine, making it more enjoyable to write and read. I will also be able to get deeper into the topic because I'm only arguing one side. For each source I quote, I will have a deep dive into how in contributes to my thesis. I will also discuss some challenges with naps, but I'll write about them as challenges to overcome in orde

 Last week, we got the prompt for our final essay in CARD 101. This essay will be a rational argument, and is due at the end of the semester. Because of the late due date, I've spent most of my time brainstorming ideas that will be the most interesting and fulfilling to me. This essay is a lot like the microtheme that we wrote, but instead of one page, we are to write 4-7 pages. This is because we will be using sources to back up our arguments. Similar to the microtheme, we will be discussing both sides of the argument, however, the sources will make more of an appeal to reason and credibility. I wrote my microtheme about procrastination. There are definitely pros and cons to procrastinating, so the topic worked well for my microtheme and I have the option to write about it for my rational argument as well. This could be interesting, but other students in the class are already writing about procrastination, so I want to be original. Although the microtheme gave me experience creati

 During our CARD class yesterday, we went to the library for a presentation. We learned where we can find sources, which ones we should use, and how to cite them. After this class period, I felt a lot better about choosing which sources I should use for my final essay. The essay is due in December, but in order to have a well structured and in-depth paper, I need to start finding credible sources now. Our first option for sources is provided by the North Central library. All students can go to the library website ( here ) and find a menu offering multiple options for research. From that menu, we can search for journals, articles, books, and other references. There are thousands of sources already available, but if we can't find what we need for our topic, we can request more sources. This will be extremely helpful for my essay.  When choosing a source, it's important to determine which ones are credible. Credible sources need to come from a trustworthy study. Studies that we ca

     Contrary to the title of this blog, I am not getting a haircut. This is due to the many bad haircuts that I've had in the past. 99% of these bad haircuts happened when I went to a new barber. Since my last bad haircut, I've learned my lesson. As of right now, I have decided to not go to any barber but my own in my hometown.       However, because I'm so far from home, it's been over 3 months since I've had a haircut. This leads me to ask the questions: How much longer can I wait? At what point does the bad shaggy look of my hair outweigh the risk of a bad haircut? Other factors need to be considered.       First of all, this is college. I'm focused on school and wrestling. I'm not really trying to impress anyone. Does that fact contribute to the haircut or no haircut argument? I'm not sure. Secondly, it will be beanie and hoodie weather soon. A beanie will completely cover my head, whether my hair is long or not. Finally, how will the length of my h

 I've already blogged about the food at Kman, but the food we keep in our dorms is also worth discussing. It's necessary to keep food in the room in order to survive. This is due to the fact that Kman closes at 8:30 every day, the cage and ABP close every weekend or holiday, and food in downtown Naperville is always expensive. For example, the nearest fast food place is Five Guys, which only has 10 dollar burgers. Left with no options, we need to have food in the room. Because my roommate and I are both from across the country, we don't have cars. We've walked to the nearest grocery store, the jewel, only once. Since then, we've ordered our groceries on Instacart. Instacart is like DoorDash for groceries. We pick out our stuff, then someone shops and delivers it to our door. This is really convenient and the delivery fee isn't very expensive. We usually order from Costco so we can get everything in bulk. This ensures that the CPD (calories per dollar) are up on

 Now that October has started, the winter sports are right around the corner. This means wrestling season for me. We've been doing preseason work since the school year started, but our official practices start on Monday. Soon after that, we will start to compete.  After my high school career ended, I had a few knee injuries to deal with. I had two surgeries on the meniscus in my left knee and one surgery on my right knee. Because of the long recovery process, I haven't competed since my last season ended in March and I just started practicing again recently. Because this has been my longest break from competition and is also my freshman year, there is a lot of anticipation going into this season.  There is also a lot of excitement going into this season for the team as well. Last year, North Central finished 3rd as a team at nationals. This year, almost everyone is back along with a good freshman class, so we are ranked 2nd in country. This isn't bad, but we expect to win t