Brainstorming -- Heather Campbell

first time in OR
talking about hypodontia and how it has changed my life
getting my first job
growing up surrounded by cancer

JOURNAL 2---Jake Ritzert

Hey there class! My name is Jacob Ritzert, but you can call me Jake. I am currently on my second year here at OSUM and plan on attending main campus for the rest of my college career. My family consists of:

• My mother who works as a chef and food service director at a private high school in Cleveland.
• My father who works as manager of sales at a steel company.
• My brother who recently graduated University of Toledo with a pharmacy degree and currently works at Cover My Meds in Columbus.
• My younger sister who is starting her first year at OSUM and would like to become a Physicians Assistant. 
• My dog, "Princess" Scarlet, a 10 year old short hair chihuahua. 
  

I have been working at a small bakery for over 4 years now and have become fairly skilled with the bread baking process. I have been trained in mixing, shaping, and baking the dough and bread, but would like to become more familiar with how the process works.

FUN FACT: I used to be overweight and lost over 30 pounds the summer before my freshman year in high school and every since I have become a 'health nut.' I have devoted an extreme amount of time to living a healthy lifestyle by tracking the foods I consume and working out daily. This has proven to be hard while trying to enjoy the "full college experience" consisting of greasy food and unhealthy drinks, but I manage to stay on track the majority of the time.

I would like to become a health teacher or open my own nutrition company to educate people on the impacts nutrition has on not only staying healthy, but disease prevention also. I find myself to not be attracted to material goods and money, but focused on achieving personal goals and happiness.

PART 2

My favorite profile was "Steam Train" Maury Graham because of the outlook on life and sense of community that he was able to relate and capture in the interview. The main theme that stuck out in this interview was strength in numbers inside the hobo camps and the uplifting positivism that Maury Graham saw in people when they allowed him to work for a meal or some spare change. I feel like this is important to relate to people because as a common middle class white college student I have not been able to receive this viewpoint from an older poor hobo, so being able to see this inside look was a refreshing and interesting idea. I found myself highlighting and capturing important details when it related to things I didn't yet know about the culture or profession and when things seemed to have a significant importance to that profession. For example, I highlighted many points throughout Maury Graham's interview such as; "always have a few pebbles in your pocket" and "It was extremely dangerous-catching trains." These passages seem to help capture what is actually like to be a hobo.
Question: Why do you think the authors decided to use the Hobo's profile as their opener to the book? Do you think it might be because it allows the reader to feel sympathy and provoke emotions that helps establish a connection between the book and reader?

Journal 2-Kayla Troiano

My name is Kayla and I'm a senior here at OSUM majoring in social work. My fun fact is I have a 2 year old son names Waylon (yes he is named after Waylon Jennings). I was born and raised in Marion Ohio and have just recently moved back from Monroe Ohio which is down by Cincinnati. I am a big Cleveland Browns and Indians fan

I have not had the chance to read the book yet because I have had issues with getting the book

Waylon and I at the zoo this year

Journal 2 - Mohamed Jama

Hello classmate,
My name Mohamed Jama. I am majoring CSE. I like coding and my dream is to become a professional software developer one day. I love playing soccer in my free time. I enjoy hanging with my friends on weekends and drink coffee together. I am not big fan of social media because I like to meet people physically. I believe technology makes people less social.

Part II
I haven't gotten the book yet. They don't have the book in the campus. I will try to buy the book from somewhere else.

Brainstorming Homework for Essay One from Mike Lohre

Students-- please use the Comments feature below and share your two best ideas that you might choose to write about for Essay One.  This will help you generate your best ideas, and it will also allow others to read so they can see what topics might be possible for this assignment.

This is due by midnight on Friday, Sept. 1.

All best,

Mike

Post your two best ideas in the Comments section below.

Journal 2 by Brent Bennett

Hello my name is Jackie Bennett, but I go by Brent. I am from Lexington North Carolina and moved to Ohio about 4 years ago. My fun fact that I shared with the class is ha I know how to play piano I learned how to play when I was 12 yrs old. I continued to pursue learning how to play piano until I was 15 then sopped I can still play but not as well as I used to be able to play.
 I found that Steam Train Maury was the most interesting profile in the book so far. I didn't know about hobo culture other than I have seen them before. What stood out to me in this profile is that he mentions that they were different then bums he didn't want to be classified among them. So the theme for me was that even as a hobo he had dignity. I feel this is important because we may not see this as something to be proud of but some people find the simple life like being a hobo something to be proud of. I thought highlighting the part were he talks about the difference between a bum and a hobo was important and that they were higher than the bums. Why do people have such a negative opinion of hobos now?

Journal 2 from Chuck Robinson

Greetings, my name is Charles William Robinson. However, I prefer the moniker Chuck. I am a Biology major. I was born in Chicago ,Illinois. Shortly after I started to attend school, my family moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. About a year after that move, we relocated to Winchester, Tennessee, around two hours south of Nashville. Then there was a lateral move to a neighboring town, Tullahoma, a couple years after the move to Winchester. During the start of middle school, we moved to Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, which is about one hour south of Harrisburg, the state capitol. We moved back to Winchester around the start of high school. Before my senior year, my parents split up , so my mom, my sister, and I moved to where we now reside, Ashley, Ohio.
  So far I am enjoying Holding On. I would have to say that my favorite profile so far would be Moreese Bickham. I admired his determination in the face of the great adversity in his life. One of the best passages in my opinion would be the description of the prison. the description was  It reminded me of the the prison in the The Shawshank Redemption. The question I asked about the profile was, " what was the reason the Governor signed the commutation?". It seems nobody knows why he pardoned Mr. Bingham.

Journal Two- Aziz Hamid

     Hi! My name is Abdulaziz Hamid and I simply go by Aziz. A fun fact about me is I was born in Kenya. English is my third language. Swahili is my first language and Somali is my second language. I took five years of Spanish and I am currently learning Arabic.  I am currently a senior majoring in Biology. My goal is to attend medical school and become a physician.  Attending medical school will give me the knowledge and tools to give back to my community and my people in East Africa who suffer from lack of resources. After I become a physician I would like to work for a non-profit organization and volunteer my time to serve the poor, needy, and forgotten people.

     My favorite profile in Holding On so far is "Steam Train" Maury Graham. The theme that stood out to me in this writing is resilience and adaptability. Maury Graham went through many struggles and hardships yet he preserved.  Graham first went on the road when he was only thirteen years old when he lost his home. Graham picked up the little belongings he had and spent many years traveling around the country and working as a hobo. This is extremely important to me because as a student pursuing a career in medicine having resilience and adaptability is one of the most important personal competencies required to be a successful physician. Graham could have not done anything about the situation he was in and complain that life is not fair but instead, he made the most of what he had and never gave up. 

The passage where I thought the writing was at its best is the passage in which Graham talks about the difference between hoboes and bums. "They told me the difference between hoboes and bums, and they said: " You go in those bum camps and you might not come out of there, 'cause they'll rob you and they'll hit you in the head.  But if you stay around the hoboes, they'll look out for you and they'll treat you nice"  (19). This passage does a good job capturing the difference between hoboes and bums. Hoboes look out for one another while bums only care about themselves. 

One question I have is what made Graham want to live on the road working as a hobo? 

Journal number two by Valerie

Hello everyone my name is Valerie Engwall. My fun fact about me is that there is going to be a twenty two year difference between me and my youngest brother. My step mom is currently pregnant with him. I know its so exciting. I was born and raised here in Marion. I don't think that I will ever leave. I am a social work major who hopes to help people with addiction. One of the profiles I like was about Steam Train Maury Graham. I liked how he viewed himself. He seemed to me to always be a positive person. I liked how to made it clear about the difference between a bum and a Hobo. To me it was crazy that he started this life at only thirteen but he made a living by traveling and always found work that needed to be done. He made sure to show us that hobos are good people. They have respect for others and clean up after themselves. I liked that he told us the history of hobos, it really shed some light on the subject. who would have known if it were not for this passage. Even with Lawrence W Happy Davis I learned some cool things. I had no idea that there was such a thing as the Pullman company. I liked how he stayed with the company until he retired. That shows it was a great company to work for and he loved the work he did. It was also a good thing to hear that it was an African American company, you did not see much of that during those days. Holding on has been a good read so far cant wait to read more peoples stories.

 this was a picture of me before I chopped off almost ten inches from my hair. It s a typical selfie of mine. Its rare you will see me smile in pictures. Still like the picture though its one of my favorites. 

Journal Two- Heather Campbell

The fun fact I wrote about myself was that I have worked at a doughnut shop for two years now. I'm in school to study chemistry as a pre medicine student. Becoming a surgeon for orthopedics or cosmetic plastic surgery is my ideal end goal. I'm only a freshman in college however, I took almost all of my classes at Columbus State as a senior in high school.

This is me a couple days after I dyed my hair blonde,
I still don't know if blondes have more fun.

What I like the most about Holding On  is that everyone in the book is holding on to something about society whether it's something people are genuinely starting let slip away like face to face communication or something else. The way some people are holding on to something important and other people are holding on to something that isn't big but leads you to think about things in a different way is really interesting to me. The story about the hobo stood out to me the most, even though it was the first one I feel that it shows how certain people value different things. The way he talks about how he would throw jewels or pretty rocks on the ground around some groups of "hobos" and not others was really interesting. From his story I saw the way he talked about working for what he wants the most. From the worlds longest diary I know the main point wasn't necessarily about time however, it showed me how time slows and speeds up to whatever you're doing or talking about and so on. It showed me how valuable time is with certain things or people and how not to resent it.

A word that I feel truly stood out that we also discussed in class was dignity. The thing I find the most intriguing about it isn't just the way dignity feels but also how it can easily be taken away. Another word I liked was attraction. The man was talking about the hula girl and how it became an attraction. The way people find things so interesting like a board that looks like a hula girl and it can bring people together is almost strange to me that we, as humans, find some sort of comfort in things that can be taken away easily.

Why do people reminisce in what they feel is slipping away from the reality of society?

Journal Two - Justine

Hello! I am Justine Savage. I am a sophomore here at OSU Marion and I am majoring in Business Management. A fun fact about myself is that I am a piano teacher. I have been playing the piano for a little over 10 years. I've been teaching for nearly 9 months. For the last two summers, I have been traveling to Bardstown, Kentucky for Kentucky Music Week. KMW is a week full of classes for all kinds of instruments including but not limited to, dulcimers, guitars, banjos, fiddles(violins), Native American Indian Flutes, dancing, and jams.

 

While I was reading Holding On for today's class, the historical theme was what stood out to me. History is crucial for every ethnography; it shows how a culture was shaped and how an individual was shaped. In the Lawrence Davis ethnography, the Pullman Company and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters shaped Davis' life, views, and experiences since he was eighteen. After reading his ethnography, I came up with the questions: "What was the influence of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters during its time? What was its impact in the Pullman Company? What was the Pullman Company's Impact? How was the Pullman Company "stronger than the United States government? As in Davis' case, both the brotherhood and the Pullman Company was a couple of the major influences in his life. I'm curious of how these influences impacted other areas of Davis' life and others in his generation.

Journal 2 from zach

Hi, my name is Zach Smith and I have lived in Ohio all my life. More specifically Powell Ohio. I have a twin brother but we look nothing a like. This is my second year at Ohio State Marion. In high school I ran cross country and track. My fun fact was that I work for a race timing company.

In holding on my favorite profile so far was "steam train" Maury Graham. The theme that really stood out to me the most in this was showing what it really means to be a hobo and what values hobo's have that separate them from bum's. This is important to me because before I read this profile I never truly understood what it meant to be a hobo. I found it really interesting how the name hobo came about and I also liked the fact that it explained how hobos will never just ask for money without working for it. Where I highlighted the writing the most was when it was explaining the difference between a hobo and a bum. The reason that I highlighted this was to me it was a very crucial part to the overall theme of the profile with explaining what the true values of a hobo are. My question that I was left with is, what kept you going threw all of the hard days of living this kind of life style?

Journal 2 Cameron Ward

My name is Cameron Ward. I am 20 years old, a sophomore and a Communication major. I have my private pilot license and am co-owner of a small plane with my brother who is also a pilot. I also like to shoot guns on the range, and play tennis.

No, this is not my plane. I wish it was. This was taken at a flying convention in Wisconsin.
Everyone camps out under the wings of their planes!

My favorite profile in Holding On so far would have to be "Steam Train" Maury Graham, the hobo. As I read the profile, one word kept popping into my head: freedom. Being able to travel wherever you want and living off the meals people gave you after you provided them with a service like hoeing a garden or splitting wood and carrying it to the fireplace was how hoboes made a living. Seeing all fifty states and simply riding the rails is, in my opinion, an adventure that only a small few are cut out for. The romanticism of drifters and train riders sleeping under the stars in makeshift shelters and camps may sound repulsive to some and attractive to others. I also liked how Maury insisted on making the distinction between a "bum," a person who mooches off of others and does nothing to earn his keep, and a "hobo," a person who travels the country and does odd jobs for their meals. He has a certain amount of dignity and enjoys being called a hobo, and is willing to set so one straight about it. He has pride. What I would like to know more about, however, is his travels. Were people generally receptive of hobos back in the "glory days?" Why? What changed to make them so unwilling to help hobos now?

Aaron Jacoby Journal Two

My name is Aaron Jacoby. I am a sophomore here at Marion and am going for a degree in civil engineering. I hope to transfer to Cincinnati next year. I have a huge family and my parents have taken me on many vacations while I have been growing up. This has made me have a huge passion for traveling and seeing new places. I want to continue to not only travel the rest of the United States, but also the rest of the world.

So far, my favorite reading in Holding On is the profile of Maury Graham. I like this one the most because I never knew that there was so much history to the term "hobo". I could really tell that Maury took pride in being a hobo and that he wasn't ashamed of it. It was his way of life and he respected the code of others living that way of life. I highlighted the passage, "And a picture of an old top hat like Lincoln used to wear, that meant: "There's a good man living in here, and he's got work for you."" I highlighted this because I am very interested in history and this was a very interested fact to me. If I could ask Maury Graham a question, it would be if he ever got into a bad encounter/situation with any bums.

Journal Two from Annie

This was taken this summer after attending
a Reds and Cubs game in early July

Hello, I'm Annie.  This is my second year at OSU Marion and I'm majoring in dental hygiene.  I grew up in Marysville and graduated from Marysville High School in 2016.  My junior year I took a health technologies class and got my STNA (State Tested Nursing Aide) license, which I currently utilize at an assisted living community in Marysville.  Also in high school I participated in the color guard, where I have continued to be apart of the marching band (color guard) staff.  Other than spending time coming up with flag work, I like to spend time with my family.  We are big sports fans; baseball (Cincinnati Reds), football (Bengals and Ohio State), and on occasion, Ohio State wrestling.


My favorite profile would have to be of "Steam Train" Maury Graham, I think the author, Isay, did a good job at portraying Maury's difficult life.  One thing Maury believed in was a good work ethic.  I highlighted the paragraph that Maury went into detail about this quality and how it is what separates bums and hoboes.  He felt pride in working for what was given to him rather than just begging.  I think work ethic is important because it's what drives a person to do a quality job on a task, and/or achieve a goal.  My question is why did "Steam Train" Maury never have the desire to settle down, get a steady job and maybe start a family?

Journal Two - Lexi Patterson

My name is Lexi Patterson! I am a sophomore here at Ohio State Marion and I am majoring in Zoology. I currently reside in Carey, Ohio. My fun fact is that I plan to apply to The Ohio State's College of Veterinary Medicine to pursue a career as a small animal vet, and open my own animal clinic in my hometown.

One of my cats, Baxter, and I.

My favorite profile from Holding On, would have to be Lawrence Davis. The main theme expressed was how strong the Pullman Company was and how much their employees enjoyed the work that was made for them. I felt this theme showed us how hard African Americans had to work to make a living, even if they were doctors or lawyers. In this profile, I had this quote highlighted: "Every day was something new. Every time you get on a Pullman car you was coming out for a different experience. You didn't know who you was going to meet, you didn't know what was going to happen" (Isay and Wang 24). This idea just explains that the workers always had an open mind to the places they were going, and to the people they would meet. The one question I would bring up would be to ask what Lawrence Davis did after he retired from the Pullman Porter.

Journal Two: Jeremy Johnson

Hello classmates, My name is Jeremy Johnson.  I am in my third semester here at OSUM, in hopes to get my bachelor's in Business Management.  Later, i hope to achieve another degree in Psychology.  As for me, I love to play and coach basketball.  I actually played for our school here at OSUM with the Scarlett Wave, in 2007.

Me and my Fiance Miranda at Lake Erie.

As i read our novel, Holding On, by David Isay, I really took to the profile on Moreese Bickham.  I couldn't imagine being locked up in prison for as long as he had been for what I saw as self defense.  Racism hit me right from the start in this interview in hearing Moreese's story.  I found a passage very stressful and full of hate for me on page 36, where Moreese describes how he was to have his sentence reduced and was denied later.  Moreese states, "In 1984, the pardon recommended my time be cut to forty years. It stayed on the governor's desk-- that was Governor Edwards-- his whole term and he didn't sign it."(36).  The whole paragraph just left me in awe.  I saw nothing but racism and hate crime for Moreese and his story.  As in today, we have these uprising's of hate crimes all around us, and not many will stand up to revolt against what is right and wrong.  It leaves me to question if we are heading back down the same road we were on in the early sixties.  The writing at its best for me is the ending.  Waiting until the end to acknowledge the release of Moreese is very powerful.  It shows that it only takes one or two strong people to make a change for many.  No one had to put their career on the line for a man they didn't know well, but they rose up to defend Moreese and his rights.  That is true American society and what we came to this nation to do: stick up for one another and live a life in peace.

Journal Two by Tyler

Tyler Beers
English 2367
August 28, 2017

Journal Two

     Hi my name is Tyler Beers.  I am a sophomore here and I am majoring in business.  I am originally from Dubois Pennsylvania.  I have moved a few times in my life.  I have lived in Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania/ New York state line, Indiana, and now Ohio.  Even though i live in Ohio i still root from the Pittsburgh sports teams.  My fact was after college my goal is to open a sports bar called Beers and Friends.

     In the reading in the book Holding on my favorite profile is the interview with Steam Train.  The theme that stood out to me was how he has been homeless since the age thirteen.  I feel this is important because Steam Train has basically been homeless his whole life.  At the the age of thirteen most kids are living at home and getting some sort of education.  The section that i had highlighted is on page 20.  It is in the section of the page where Steam Train talked about the difference between hobos and bums.  And my question is when Steam Train is talking about the hobo camps, I wonder why the hobos didn't want him around even when he was a hobo.

Journal 2 by Jonikka Shepherd

My sister and I on the Disney Fantasy cruise ship.Pictured with Anna and Elsa

Hello Fellow classmates! My name is Jonikka Shepherd. I am an Educations Studies major here at the Ohio State of Marion, Ohio. My "Fun" fact is that i like to go on Disney Cruises once a year. Each year my sister and I go on a Disney Cruise, and we see some interesting places along the way that is out of the United States. The most resent one we went to was St.Thomas, Tortorla, and Disney's private island Castaway Cay in the Bahamas. My sister is two years older than me, and she goes to Ohio State as well as a sociology major. Most recently within the last five months i had two deaths in the Family. My mom died from the infection in her lungs, and my dog Brandy died from the fluid in her heart.

Brandy

My mom

In the book Holding on my favorite profile so far is "Steam Train" Maury Graham, the Hobo. He brings the important issue of the realities people face once out in the streets. Maury explains the differences between a Hobo and a bum. Personally I didn't know there was a difference between the two because i thought they were all the same, homeless. Apparently there is a difference through this one quote in the passage. " You go in those bum camps and you may not  come out of there, cause they'll rob you and then hit you  on the head. But if you stay around hobos, they'll look after you and treat you nice" ( Roth, pg.19). Makes me wonder if classifying the difference between a hobo and a bum is how we classify social class? ( ex: Poor, middle, Rich). Where does the term hobo first originate? According to the book "Ho" means Hello, and "Bo" means man. I thought this profile was interesting and brought to my attention of what it means to take what you have and be content with it.

Journal Two from Jo Leienberger

My name is Jo Leienberger! This is my second year at OSU Marion and I'm majoring in agribusiness. I live in Ashley, Ohio. A fun fact about me is that I live on a grain farm. I really enjoy helping my family when it comes to spring and harvest times. I have one younger sister who is looking to go to OSU next fall and also major in Agribusiness, we are very similar.

This is me posing with my 4-H project , Harold.

My favorite profile in the readings so far would have to be "Steam Train", a hobo in Logansport, Indiana. The theme in the writing is the difference in a hobo and a bum. This was fascinating to me because a hobo and a bum are the same thing, but they aren't. Well at least back then they weren't. A quote that stood out and outlines the whole passage is, "If you bum people and beg people for something for nothing, that's a bum. Now, the hobo would never do that" (Isay & Wang 20). This tells me that hobos are perfectly fine with having nothing but just enough. They want to work for what they have. This passage is important because some people are bums, this points out how bums are bad and that we should act like hobos. But it comes off so weird, nobody wants to be a hobo or a bum. Lastly, I'm curious why Maury Graham was persuaded to leave his hometown and become a hobo.

Journal 2- Mohammed Baseer

At Columbus Airport from last summer when I was going back to India

 Hi there, my name is Mohammed Baseer, I am a Junior and my major is Biology. I also plan to attend pharmacy school in the future. One fun fact about me is I love cooking.

My response to the reading has been pretty good so far, the book is about extraordinary dreamers and eccentrics and how rough their lives were. My favourite was "Lawrence Davis." The most important theme that stood out to me in this was the formation of Brotherhood of Sleeping car Porters, a union of black workers. I felt this is very important to show us how the relationships were between the African-American workers and the rich American customers of the Pullman Palace and how these workers came up very strong to stand for themselves. I highlighted at the place where it says, "The Pullman company was stronger than the United States Government, tell you the truth!"

The one question I will ask is, why did Lawrence Davis threw his uniform in Potomac River?

Journal Two from Sam

Hello fellow 2367 students! My name is Sam Fox. My last name comes from Germany where it was originally spelled Fuchs. The story I heard is that my Great Great Grandfather changed it to Fox because he got tired of people pronouncing it wrong.

Steam Train Maury, was my favorite profile in the first assignment. The main theme that Steam Train expressed in his profile was that their was a right way and a wrong way to live your life as a drifter. He gave us many examples of the differences between the hoboes and bums. You could also tell in his story the pride he had in being a hobo and doing things the right way. I think this is important because no matter what you desire to be or do in life, a person with pride want to be good at it. My favorite line in this profile was, "You didn't have to trade work for money then. There wasn't any money. You'd rather get a meal for the work, or you'd rather get a pair of pants or an overcoat or a blanket" (Maury Graham pg. 20). This excerpt from the profile really describes the times and helps you understand the logic in the hoboes life.

Another reason I liked this profile was because it was extremely similar to a story I was told at the age of 15. I had been working on my neighbors farm through the summer and had the luxury of hearing many stories from John McNamee. John was in his eighties and often talked about his younger days when he first started the farm. He said it was tough times back then and no one had much. It wasn't uncommon for hoboes to stroll by in search for work, so he and his wife Martha would always keep a warm pot of beans on the stove. He remembered watching one hobo leaving the farm and seen him put a rock on top of the fence post. John said that was a sign that they were nice people and had a hot meal.

At the end of Steam Train story he says, he doesn't mind sitting at home in the easy chair. The only question I have would be, where is home for an old hobo?          

.

Journal one-Nuh Issack

                                                          Introduction




My name is Nuh Issack. I was born in Somalia and Brought up in Kenya. I have lived in Kenya for a lot of time and here is where I first started my nursery school and finished my high school. right after my graduation from high school, I decided to teach the young kids in my community. I love teaching, still love and will always love it. currently my major is biology but that will not change for my strong love for teaching. it is a service that will be a great gift that every should leave behind for the people that he lives with. one other skill that is worth mention is my cooking skills of varieties of recipes which I love and will improve through out my life.

Journal Two from Lexia Wilson

Hello! My name is Lexia Wilson and I am a third year Biology student at The Ohio State University at Marion. I live in Cardington which is only about fifteen minutes from here. I have two younger sisters. Laynee is 16 going to turn 17 in October and my youngest sister Sydnie just turned 13 a couple of months ago. I am majoring in Biology for my undergraduate degree and then after I graduate I am planning on going to medical school to become a doctor. A fun fact about me is that every summer I go to 60 county fairs all over the state of Ohio and take bets on harness races. I really enjoy this job because for one it is different and no one else can say that they have done this job and secondly I get to travel all over the state and meet a lot of different people, some of which are very interesting.

This is me at Grandpa's Cheese Barn because who doesn't LOVE cheese!

This is me and my younger sister Laynee. I decided I would add this picture too because I mentioned her and because people say that we look alike. 

From the reading in Holding On my favorite profile was the one on "Steam Train" Maury Graham. I chose this profile rather than the one on Lawrence W. "Happy" Davis because it seemed more exciting to me. The theme is that this person is holding on to their life as they know it and they don't want to give it up. Even though Steam Train is a Hobo he likes it and he enjoys his life this way and he doesn't want it to change. I think this theme is important because shows that you don't have to have a perfect life that most people would think of to be happy in life. Maury Graham was happy to be a hobo because they are better than bums. The writing that I thought was the best was on page 20 in the first paragraph when he describes why they are called hobos or how they came up with that name. I like this writing the best because it was interesting and it answers my question. My question is how did people come up with the name hobo?

Journal Two from Brooke

One:
My name is Brooke Voisard, and I am eighteen years old. I have two older sisters, one that also attends OSU, and one that is a nurse at Riverside Hospital. This pertains to my fun fact, which had to do with me being the youngest and our closeness in age at 20, 19, and 18. I have two dogs, a German Shepherd, and a Chorkie puppy that I actually just got yesterday. I work at Steve's Dakota Grill in Marion, but I will be starting a new job at Starbucks September 5th.

This is a photo of me standing underneath Niagara Falls.

Two:
My favorite of the three profiles we read was the one about Steam Train Maury. Perseverance was a main theme that stood out to me, and the will to prosper. Maury had the will to prosper, so he left his broken home at thirteen with no plan or means to survive. Despite never really prospering, he persevered, finding work, making connections with other hobos, and just living his life. This was hugely important to me because it really captured the spirit of the American Dream- To keep going, even if things are hard. I thought the writing was its best when David would capture Maury's vernacular. It makes it super authentic and even more informative to read because it lets us become familiar with Maury himself. Is Maury still alive today? Where is he now?

Welcome to our Blog! from Mike Lohre

Hello students, and welcome to our blog.

You'll learn a lot about me as the semester continues but I'll remind you my fun fact was about travel down under.  I'll share a picture of my better half at the end of the post too. 

Now, for this first blog: 

--For your first post, write a paragraph where you introduce yourself, tell us some things that help us know you more, and remind us of the fun fact about you.  Also, please post a simple photo of yourself, so we can always come back to this and associate your name with your face and introduction.  Again, the blog will just be for our class and I will adjust the privacy and search settings.

--In the next paragraph, respond to the reading in Holding On so far.  Use these prompts as needed:

• Which profile was your favorite?  Why?
• What theme stood out to you in this group of readings?  Why do you feel this is important? 
• Where did you highlight the writing at its best? Vocab? Questions? Share your active reading. 

My wife Irene and I moving from Columbus last year.  Yes, I had some hair.