Test Talk

Today in class all we did was talk about our previous unit quiz. I did pretty well overall, but I did not get a ding. I think that instead of the ding we should use the sound of a screaming goat. I think it would be completely hilarious.

    Everyone yelled at Mr. Schick because of the personal opinion debate. Honestly, I was perfectly fine with my grade. I could have been better, but it could have also been wayyyy worse. I think that people should know that most opinions should be based on facts, like really?! Just write about what you learned in class. It shouldn’t be that hard.

    Mr. Schick. You have a HUGE obsession with Greek culture. I find it interesting, but I mean you could rant for day. I find that awesome, and I’m excited to learn more about it.

Behind the Swoosh: Day 2

Nike Nike Nike. They’re not actually doing anything wrong. Look at the picture, I mean it’s not illegal, it’s just immoral.

I think there is a bright side. These people could be completely broke and homeless. They have jobs, which gets them money, even though it’s not a lot. These jobs do pay for food and a place to live. They could be homeless, hungry, and jobless.

Even if we tried to help, it might not work. It’s a few small human against a multimillion dollar brand. Even if we did anything to prevent what’s happening, it would put those who are barely getting into not getting any money at all. It is better if they have jobs versus not having anything.

The large companies in the world send their factories to Asia because that is cheaper work. The world is cheap. What will these big companies do when rates go up?

Behind the Swoosh

Nike shoes are really popular now-a-days. You can find them anywhere and they can range to costs up to $7,000. I mean that’s completely insane right? Especially because the people making them are only earning $1.25 a day.

    How do these people even continue to survive with such a small amount of pay? Well first of all they live in a slum. A row of 8-8 cement boxes with no furniture. The temperature can range past 100 degrees with fist sized cockroaches scurrying across the ground. At night you can hear the football-sized rats running across the roof and through the toilet to see if you have any food. How disgusting. And if you look outside you see the sewage and feces from everyone. How could one even survive in these conditions?

    You cannot possibly live with $1.25 wage and still maintain human dignity, not to mention feed your children if you have them. People are getting very sick and losing weight, but they must keep working or they won’t eat for the day. They shouldn’t have to work 15 hours a day just to get by.

    If you do one thing wrong you could get seriously harassed or even killed. This is a life or death issue we are talking about people! These people can’t meet their basic needs and they are only used for their cheap labor! Nike sweatshops must come to an end.

Don't Judge

    Racial Discrimination, well yeah, there’s a lot of it everywhere. I personally don’t understand why it’s a thing. Even American girl dolls have different races and they’re AMERICAN girl doll. I had an American girl doll once, her name was Josephina. I think she was Native American. My point is that people should grow up learning not to discriminate.

    In middle school, I had personal experience from discrimination. Somebody told me to go back to Asia. It’s crazy that 13 year olds are telling that to each other. What’s even crazier was the fact that it was coming someone who was standing right next to an Asian, and this kid didn’t even say anything. But that’s beside the point.it was just downright crazy.

    Just don’t judge people, it’s honestly that simple. Don’t judge by color, facial features, or even how they dress. If you don’t judge people life would be so much easier.

Globalization Continued ...

What have we learned today? Well, other than the fact that Mr. Schick has a creepy chipmunk laugh … we continued to talk about globalization.

    Americanization continues to move around the world. For example Levi jeans. These jean started in America for mining, yet they have moved all around the world. Also apple products, they are the largest company in the world.  There are even KFC’s and McDonalds in China. All the way across the world.

    Globalization started a long, long time ago. Over a couple thousand years actually. Even back to the time of the Silk Road. We all know that silk was the big thing back then. Silk dominated the markets all around the world. The Silk Road, and globalization was all about one big exchange.

    We also talked about this thing called Supersize Me. I have never seen this before but it honestly sounds disgusting. Who would sacrifice themselves to such a disgusting experiment? McDonalds is greasy, unappetizing and sickening. Which is probably why it is quickly becoming irrelevant. 

Globalization

Let’s talk about globalization. What is globalization? Globalization is the connection of different parts of the world. It makes the world interconnected. Globalization result in the expansion of international cultural activities, economic activities, and political activities.

    An example of globalization is Americanization. Also known as the exporting of American brands and consumer goods. For example china has KFC and McDonald.

    Globalization can spread religion too. It can spread religious faiths far beyond their origin. For example Roman Catholicism was spread all the way to the Mediterranean.

    Different languages are becoming more prominent around the world. English and Mandurian increasingly become more popular where as other languages are becoming extinct.

    Because of Globalization different cultures come into contact with each other every day.

Did You Know

    Today we watched this video with epically spacy music, called Did You Know? 3.0. The video was filled with many interesting facts and we were told to choose three and explain them.

    One of the facts I chose was that the top 10 in demand jobs in 2010, did not exist in 2004. Imagine all of the possibilities for the future. There could be new jobs filled with new technology. We could have flying cars mechanics and air thin phone engineers. The more jobs we have, the more possibilities we have for the future.  

    Did you know 1 out of 8 married couples met on the internet? The internet is filled with endless possibilities. Who knows what they will make next? Will you meet you next grandchild or see the future with the blink of an eye? I guess we won’t know until it happens.

    The internet is a huge place. So big that if Facebook were a country it would be the third largest, behind India and china. I think that it is absolutely insane that that many people can connect through a simple website on the internet. You can meet almost anyone around the world on Facebook.

    Basically technology is such a big thing in the world that it can only improve.

First Human Geo Test

    Today we had our first test. It was really stressful for me because I have not done very well on my other tests in other classes. It’s been a busy week and it’s hard to study. I always get extremely stressed during tests no matter what though. Although I have realized that in high school you have a test like every day. I guess I will just have to get over my anxiety, oh well.

    In the test I totally forgot the word agora and I think I might have wrote the word agrio. I don’t even though why I wrote that. It might have been because there’s this new game called agar.io and that was the first a word that came to mind. Other than that I also forgot what year A Message to Garcia was published, whoops. There’s nothing to do about now so let’s just hope for a good grade.

All About Socrates :)

    Today we learned about Socrates, and his life. As a young man he worked at a stone mason. To work here he had to be powerfully built. He had a lot of hard, dirty work. He fought, heroically, in the Peloponnesian war. In this war he was a hero because he saved many people and had valor in battle. Socrates background shaped his whole world view.

    After all of his hard work, he moved on to being a teacher. He met with students outside of the agora and taught them to ask questions to determine their underlying beliefs. This led to the creation of the scientific method. You had to ask, what do you know and why do you believe it?

    Back then Athens was the place for good people. Some came to share their knowledge. Knowledge on things like medical procedures, meteorology, and farming.

    Socrates was charged for two crimes, the corruption of Athens Youth, and not believing in the faith everyone else believed in. His defense was, “it’s my job to be the gadfly to the lazy, sluggish horse that is Athens”. He did admit to the crime in the end. 500 male citizens found him guilty and he was sentenced to death. He drank the poison hemlock, and was dead within an hour. 

9/11 and Midnight Ramblings ...

                Before I begin to talk about our class today/ yesterday, since I am typing this at exactly 11:50 pm on Friday night, I would just like to say something. I was told by a certain Mr. Schick that these composition notebooks are “nearly indestructible” but one day in my book bag, and it’s all bent which makes me very angry. *sigh* the struggles of being a perfectionist …

    SO, today in class we talked about 9/11. Most adults have their personal, and individual 9/11 stories. But, what I did not realize was that there are so many influences to 9/11.

    One of these influences were Americans. Believe it or not, Americans are not innocent. Americans are basically “energy controlled”. Most of us, not including children, use oil for cars. America only holds 5% of the world’s population, and yet we consume 25% of the world’s energy.

    It is crazy that an action of a couple people can change the look of a whole race? Most Muslims are kind, peace-loving people. It is hard for people to believe this because of the actions of people like ISIS and Osama bin Laden.

    Now, I have this crazy random thought, because it is 12:32 in the morning. If you live in a stereotype for a long time, will you become said stereotype? If you are known as the “basic white girl” will you become the basic, pumpkin spice loving, legging wearing, white girl? (If you don’t believe me, it is a thing, look it up.) when others think of you as one thing with you think about yourself about this one thing too?

ARETE :)

            Arete, weird word right? Well the Greeks defined it as excellence of any kind. It could also be known as the act of living up to one’s full potential.

     Arete involves all abilities and potentiality available to humans. Things such as cooking and dancing are all abilities potential for greatness. Although all of the abilities are great, the highest potential is knowledge. The highest possible human knowledge is knowledge itself.

Knowledge is simply superior. Knowledge is what separates humans from dogs. For example we know we will die, while they have no care in the world. They don’t know about injustice, they don’t question, they just live their love happy dog lives.

We also had to define a few things in class:

·        Agora- a gathering place/ assembly in ancient Greece

·        Polis- a tight knit small community

·        The importance of the year 508 BC to Ancient Greece- foundations of Athenian democracy was formed

·        Socrates- a classic Greek philosopher

·        The death of Socrates- he was sentenced to death for the corruption of the youth, he drank hemlock

·        The Socratic method- based on asking and answering questions to simulate critical thinking

·        What it meant to be called an idiot in ancient Greece- you did not care about politics  

Understanding A Message to Garcia :)

Today in class we continued to discuss A Message to Garcia. I thought the most important thing we discussed was the cartoon. The essay can be interpreted in many ways but we discussed how the cartoon was wrong. It was simply misinterpreted. The point of A Message to Garcia was not to show the difference between people now and then, which is what the cartoon interpreted.

            I believe life is not any easier now, even though things are improved by technology, life is not easier. But, this is not what A Message to Garcia was about. The true meaning of the essay, was to tell people around the world to get motivated. They need to take the initiative. They need to take control.

            Without understanding the true meaning of A Message to Garcia people will not understand the inspirational effect it can have.

Freshman Year Goals :)

BRING IT ON FRESHMAN YEAR!  I have specifically 5 goals for freshman year that will make it the best it could possibly be! You may ask how you can make your freshman year that good. You need to set great goals so you can achieve greatness!

                My first goal is to be in the school musicals. I am not auditioning for Curtains, because I was not mentally and emotionally prepared for the auditions, but I do plan to audition for my first high school musical, The Adams Family. This is a great first musical because it is my favorite musical and I have seen it about 6 times … and I have no regrets. By joining the school musicals it will be a great way to up my social skills and make new friends.

                My next goal is to join a couple clubs. Since I have to wait a whole hour for the bus afterschool, school clubs will be a perfect time consumer. I would really love art clubs or environmental clubs. I never did any clubs in elementary or middle school so I think that this is the perfect way to have fun with my afterschool time.

                My third goal is to have fun in marching band. This may sound a little strange, but marching band is filled with great people and a lot of fun. I need to take advantage of the positive energy and have a great time. Marching band is a big family that I am proud to be a part of.

                My next goal is to do as many service projects possible. Doing thinks such as helping in a soup kitchen interests me because these people are less fortunate then us and they deserve the same kind of treatment we do. I just enjoy helping others because it gives you this feeling of happiness that cannot be replaced.

Lastly, I want to get straight A’s in all of my classes. I know that Mr. Schick said to go beyond academics but I am very proud of my grades. When my grades are up I feel a lot better about myself then when I would have a C. The best way to get through high school is with good grades. This can lead to great colleges and a great future. 

A Message to Garcia Day 2 :)

Today in class we continued to talk about A Message to Garcia. The topic that really grabbed my attention was technology in modern society. The essay could relate to people not being able to do their work because of all the technology today. Some people believe that others don’t even work anymore because of their use of technology.

I do not agree. Even though the work is easier, more can get done with the use of technology. This makes technology relevant. Without technology research would be harder, making materials would be more difficult, and creating energy would be time consuming.

Reading A Message to Garcia taught us that we should be doing things for ourselves, and not relying on our parents or teachers. As said by Mr. Schick, you need to “take ownership of your education”. You need to give yourself a kick and work for your own education, if you want it to be a good one.

A Message to Garcia

                In class today we read A Message to Garcia. Reading something that old, included a lot confusing words that I did not understand. I have researched these word and found out their meanings. For example a perihelion is “the point in the orbit of a planet, asteroid, or comet at which it is closest to the sun” and rapacious means extremely greedy. Words such as these makes the story more in depth and interesting. Now that I understand these meanings the essay makes more sense.

                 In A Message to Garcia Hubbard was trying to say that we need more people in this world like Rowan. People who don’t ask questions and just do their jobs. I agree with Hubbard because I think people ask a lot of irrelevant questions and if people just did their jobs the world would be a much better place.