Rios 1
Alejandro Rios
Prof Dodge
English 1A
February 27, 2013 Brightening the People of Tomorrow
Being a senior in high school and about to enter the real world can frighten anyone. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 68.3% of 2011 high school graduates were enrolled in colleges. Today, we can help raise that percentage by focusing on some key elements their senior year. English is definitely a key subject to focus on. First, we need to focus on grammar and reading comprehension. By the end of their senior year they should have read 4 books along with a critical analysis for each of the books. Also, They need to have proper grammar in each of their analysis. Along with eight grammar quizzes testing them on their grammar and punctuation skills. I have made the mistake of not taking my reading comprehension in high school, seriously and for that I struggled though job interviews and barley got the jobs I wanted. Grammar and speaking eloquently are like two peas in a pot, you equally need them both to get your point across. Unfortunately, I also had to find out the hard way when I had trouble speaking to people. Seniors are graduating each year and a lot of them don’t know how to properly construct a sentence. That is why we need to emphasize more on grammar. I can personally relate to this because when I was in high school for the longest time I couldn’t

Rios 2 tell you where a comma or an apostrophe went. I sat in class while the teacher would be lecturing about proper punctuation and being as hard headed as I was I didn’t want to listen. I barley passed my English class but it wasn’t until I entered the real world where I found that my English skills were lacking. I would apply to all sorts of jobs and not get one call back. After that I went to a career center at my community college in they told me to prepare a resume. I had no clue what a resume looked like or how to do one for that matter. I had only worked a couple part time jobs while I was in high school and that wasn’t enough for type of economy that I was in. When it came to write my resume I didn’t know how to properly state my “objective” or what my primary goal was. Sure I could say a couple words but when it came to putting it on paper and making it flow so that an employer would be wowed by it, no way. That was when I decided to go to college and take an English course to sharpen my skills. It’s imperative that a high school graduate knows how to properly write and convey what they’re trying to say. It can benefit them from a business standpoint and can make them that much more ahead if they choose to go to college.
When it came to an actual job interview, I would get really nervous. I woke up knowing that today I had an interview for a sales job. I made sure my attire was pressed and ready to impress anybody who looked at me. I was in the waiting room waiting to be called into the hiring managers office. My palms became sweaty because of how nervous I was. The questions the interviewer would ask me would all run through my head at lightning speed. I tried to prepare myself as best I could by answering the possible questions in my head. Finally, I’m called in, “Alejandro!” She gazes at my resume and asks me, “Tell me your strengths and weakness please”. I stuttered out my answers. Looking back at it, I think my communications skills lacked due to my poor grammar Rios 3 writing skills. I went back to college and took a communication’s course to try to perfect the way I talk but I later found out that it wasn’t the way I spoke, it was the context I was using, it was wrong. Good grammar can lead to many other writing endeavors. Knowing how to properly use grammar can not only help you out with writing a resume, but can also sharpen your communication skills. Next, high school seniors that plan on directly transferring into their field and don’t know how to analyze and comprehend everything they read may