Weekly Response #2 (Reading & Writing)

Reading:
Book: Hate List
Author: Jennifer Brown
Pages Read: 43-219

     The first thing I want to talk about in this response is a comment/prediction I made. The comment was in regards to this passage from the book, ""Been to Nicks grave?" Duce asked. I looked at him sharply. He was staring at me with hard contempt in his eyes. "Been to anyones grave?"". This if from page 41 of the novel. The comment I made when I read this is that Valerie's good friends blame her (especially Duce) for the shooting, when her name has been cleared and it is public knowledge that is was not her fault it was her boyfriends. Yet people still believe that she was directly involved instead of trying to stop it. I believe that this is a very unfair assumption to make about Valerie because her friends of all people should believe that she was innocent. The prediction I made when reading this passage was that Duce would do anything in his power to get back at Valerie for the pain Nick caused. I thought this because of how Duce is portrayed in the book, he does not seem like the person to just leave something alone and let a person who's hurting be. I am much further along in the book now and my prediction was not true thus far, Duce has just shunned her out from her old group of friends. He has turned her old friends against her, which I guess is a form of revenge and getting back at her but I believed it would have been much worse.
     The second comment I had was how I admire Valerie for going back to her old high school and facing all of her peers who do not particularly like her. She is so strong for having the ability to go back to the place where everything fell apart for her. I do not think many people would be able to go back to such horrid memories. People can change, but Valerie had so many enemies after the shooting happened for her to come back and sit in class with the people who tormented her for years is something very strong. A prediction I made is that she will not transfer schools like she was contemplating, I believe she will start to find groups and get back involved even though she dreads everyday that she has to go back. Not everyone can hold a grudge forever and I believe that she will find groups and finally get to enjoy her senior year instead of counting down the days until she is able to transfer.
   In my last response I had the question of why Mr Kline, the beloved teacher was shot. I had thought it was because Nick (Valerie's boyfriend/Shooter) believed that Valerie was 'too close' to Mr Kline. I was wrong, it was not because of her relationship with Mr Kline it was because he was protecting a fellow colleague. This shows that Mr Kline was a hero in this shooting and protected many children and colleagues instead of protecting himself.

Written:
    Once I finish high school, which is still another year away I want go into nursing. I do not want to go anywhere near working in the emergency room, I want to work in geriatric nursing. I hope to go to University of Manitoba and study there. What I would like to do to achieve my goals by using my blog is to follow blogs that have to do with nursing and start to collect stories about people who have made an impact on nursing. I would like to do some volunteering in nursing homes across the city and get an idea of what I am thinking of doing with the rest of my life. The reason I chose nursing is because I want to help people and I believe that nursing would be a fitting career for me. I know many nurses and what they do is very inspiring for me. I believe that they are essential in society and they do many amazing things. I hope that I am able to find blogs of nurses or former nurses and am able to hear stories and gain knowledge about the job. I hope that I am able to start posting stories soon!