Saturday, October 13, 2012

3 Words




My daughter had an assignment in her AP Lit class in which she was required to ask people who knew her to describe her in 3 words and provide a short explanation for the words chosen.

My response to this was as follows:

Word 1: Courageous – because my daughter’s not afraid to ask people for anything and can take no for an answer without being discouraged.

Word 2: Curious - because as a third grader she asked me, “Mum, why do teachers address the class saying ‘Boys and Girls’.  Why don’t they say ‘Girls and Boys?’”

Word 3: Problem Solving – because as a fourth grader, when I complained to her about how hard it was to back out of my apartment parking space safely because of the hummer-like battle-ship of a car parked next to me, she said “I know - Maybe you could back into your space, or…. if you can’t do that, you can park so the back of your car is lined up with the back of their car”.

So here’s my question to you, readers….

If you had to describe the people close to you in 3 words, what 3 words would you choose and why?

Get thinking…

Word 1:

Word 2:

Word 3:

And don't forget to say why for each.

Warning: If you select 3 words and then wake up in the middle of the night with some completely new ideas, don’t be surprised!

P.S. Speaking of 3 words, I came across a thought-provoking article by Salman Khan of Khan Academy in which he talks about the 3 different  ideas that are in people’s minds when they talk about education (Learning, Socializing and Credentialing) and why these 3  different ideas should  not be mixed up or linked. You can read the article here.

P.S. 2: What is the best 3 word phrase in your opinion? Is it “I Love You”? Look at this list of the 100 Best 3 Word Phrases and decide.

P.S. 3: ABC Good Morning America launched a program with these words: “If one word can convey a lot about your state of mind, just think how much three words could reveal. Tell us how your week was. From the sublime to the ridiculous, nothing's too big or too small to send in. Write your three words on your palm, cut it out in letters, paste it (strategically -- and tastefully) over your body. Shoot it with your digital camera, webcam or cell phone, and upload it here”. Want to see what ABC viewers came up with? Check out this link.

P.S. 4: Thanks to Santa Teresa High for providing material for yet another post. Santa Teresa high school assignments have been featured in these earlier posts:

On Writing Well by Shantel Chavez

On Writing Well by Gursharan Summan

On the Importance of Language Arts by John Paraskevopoulos

The Colors of Life by John Paraskevopoulos

Feet Planted by Gursharan Summan

P.S. 5: Also, the Santa Teresa Girls Golf Team was covered in The She Victories and the Starbucks preferences of a cross-section of Santa Teresa High students in What Your Starbucks Drink Says About You. 

P.S. 6: I have been featuring Santa Teresa High students starting March 2011, when I wrote Move Over Michael Burry (whom I learned about from reading the book The Big Short written by Michael Lewis of Blindside fame).

P.S. 7: As always thanks for reading and have a great day. Actually, let me rephrase that ….have a stupendous, amazing, awesome day.

3 comments:

Ajay said...

Another well wrirren thought provoking piece, Minoo. Keep 'em comin!

Ajay said...

Sorry, 'written'....

Anonymous said...

Landline was out of order for a week. Probably it was Divine intervention to keep me away from being online.

While reading the post I was flabbergasted because last week I was trying my best to substitute ‘excellent’ and played around with 'stupendous' and 'amazing’ the same words found in your post. Remember I was not even looking for them online.

‘3rd grade’ has something in it…The kids of 3rd grade usually pose such questions ( as mentioned in the post) and I feel their answers will be thought provoking as well.Mine answered in a much matured way…

Coming to 3 words it’s-
Entertainment!*
Entertainment!
Entertainment!

PS:* Courtesy Vidya Balan’s 'The Dirty Picture'.
And Salman Khan hasn’t got anything to do with this.
A/A/A/A