R3. Mr. Currin

                Is Mr. Currin a big deal or not? Hm… this is a very tough question to answer. If you ask Mr. Currin himself, he will tell you all about how he thinks he a big deal. One of the quotes he is famous for here at Alden High School is, “I’m kind of a big deal.” He likes to tell stories about his hometown, Angola, and how there is a statue of him there. Now I don’t know about everyone else, but I have been to Angola multiple times in my life and have yet to see this statue. If I had to say whether or not I think he is or isn’t a big deal I would have to say he is. I say this as an advisement sista of Mr. Currin that our whole advisement family is a big deal. Really though, I have yet to meet a student that dislikes my advisement sista, which is rare that students don’t not like a teacher. With Mr. Currin you can tell he actually care about his students and what he’s doing and that really set him apart from other teachers. He is very funny and sarcastic and can make a whole class laugh. Although, when I just started freshman year and was in his advisement I was very scared of him. Since then our advisement family has grown a lot and I’m no longer afraid of him. Mr. Currin is a big deal around here. People have shirts with his face on them. There are pictures of his face glued on sticks that people use as passes. The biggest reason that Mr. Currin is a big deal though is because of his coaching ability. You may be thinking I’m talking about football, but I am not. Mr. Currin is a phenomenal girls modified basketball coach!

R2. what i love writing about

There isn’t really anything I ‘love’ writing about. Sometimes I enjoy writing blogs and talking about things that bother me because it takes a weight off my shoulders. Other than that, writing is something I really like to do. I love basketball but I really didn’t enjoy writing about it. Writing about something, and actually doing it are two different things. I did enjoy this class even though I struggled with coming up with things to write about and with getting enough words. Sitting here at a computer writing about stuff all the time isn’t really fun for me. I don’t mind writing in English class, which may sound weird. It is hard to come up with something to say about what I love writing about seeing as though there isn’t anything. I prefer reading to writing. In English I actually enjoy writing research projects. It is easy for me to write when I have information in front of me. It is hard to write an article about things I’m not really sure about. Although, I guess I can’t really say there isn’t anything I love writing about because I don’t really write anything. Other than the blogs and articles I write in here I barely do anything else. In the beginning of the year I wrote about my soccer team, I liked doing that because I knew what I was talking about and it was probably well written since I was there and saw it firsthand. I don’t think in my career I chose I will do anything that involves writing just because it isn’t something I am really good at or passionate about. Overall, I don’t mind writing things; however, there is nothing I really love to write about that I know of. Maybe there is something I would like to write about, but I just don’t know what yet.

R1. Summer

               

What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade.  ~Gertrude Jekyll

I’m a little bit confused about why we are supposed to write about our favorite part about the end of the year. By the end of the year everybody is ready for summer and there isn’t anything good about the end of the year. The end of the year is stressful with exams coming up and it is no fun at all. People are concerned about passing or doing well on their exams. Also, who wants to be locked up in school all day when the weather is so beautiful? I don’t think anyone is having a lot of fun right now. Even the time I’m spending typing this is annoying because I could be outside or doing something more productive. I can’t wait for trig, global, and earth science to be over. The best part about the end of the school year is that it is the end of the year. The best part is that summer is coming up quick, and it is time I don’t have to spend t school. I’m so ready for summer break and since it is so hot and nice out it makes school even worse. I’m counting down the days until I can get out of the place because I really hate it here. Another thing is that I’m only going to be halfway through high school; it is going by so slowly. I can’t wait for this year to be over so I can finally be an upperclassmen and hopefully my last 2 years fly by. I hope the rest of this year flies by!

Q5. Choice

                Have you ever watched the show ‘What Would You Do’ on ABC? I think it is a very interesting show, but very realistic to. They have scenarios that happen in real life and hidden cameras to see how people handle the situations. It is really interesting because there are such different reactions to everything by different people. Here are a few that really stand out in my mind from the show:

In one episode they had a bike chained to a sign at the park and had 3 different thieves, a black boy, a white boy (both dressed in the same clothes) and a blonde attractive woman. People called the cops and were very cruel to the black boy when he attempted to steal the bike. When the white boy tried to steal the bike people walked by and ignored him, or asked what he was doing, but he got less attention than the white boy. I think this is interesting because both the boys were wearing baggy clothes and hats on sideways, yet their skin color made all the difference in the way they were treated. There was a huge difference when it was the blonde ladies turn to steal the bike.  Nobody called the cops or asked what she was doing. Quite a few men came and actually helped her to steal the bike. This was really shocking to me. Why does it matter skin color or gender? Both ways the person is still stealing and it isn’t okay.

Another one that stands out to me had to deal with gay parents and bullies. A gay couple dropped their kids off at a restaurant to eat while they went shopping. There was bullies making fun of them for their dad and it showed how people came about dealing with the bullies. I really liked this one because this is something that really does happen. Each time they did it; adults came and confronted the kids. One time, a man came and yelled at the boys to leave the restaurant. I really do like this show and it does deal with real world problems and how people deal with them.

Q4. icons

I do not really have a favorite pop icon. I know, I know, it’s surprising I’m not talking about Justin Bieber right now. Although I do love Justin Bieber, I wouldn’t consider him a pop icon. Honestly, I don’t even know who I consider a pop icon. A pop icon is defined as a celebrity, character, or object whose fame in pop culture constitutes a defining characteristic of a given society. I can’t think of anyone I’m a really big fan of who defines a characteristic of a given society off the top of my head. I decided to look up some of the biggest pop icons. I found a list that Oprah Winfrey, Elvis Presley, Lucille Ball, Michael Jordan, Princess Diana, and Michael Jackson. I think that a pop icon is someone who everyone knows, and can recognize them easily.  However, what sets a person apart from being famous and iconic? Also on the list I was looking at I noticed Brittney Spears was on it. I don’t see how she is iconic. I think an iconic person should be a good and talented person. I am a little bit confused as to how she is considered an icon. I know she is recognizable, but what society does she represent? There are many people that surprised me on the list of icons. Members of the Osborne family were on the list and I don’t think they are iconic at all. There are also many people I have never heard of on the list, and if they are so iconic how come I have never heard of them in my life? Overall, I do not have a ‘favorite pop icon’ and I think considering someone an icon unless they’ve really done something big in their life is kind of stupid.

Q3. Best English Book

I’ve read plenty of books in English throughout my life. I think one of the best, even though it isn’t a book, is Julius Caesar. It was so easy to understand, not to mention it had a great plot. I liked everything about Julius Caesar and I could go on about how much I loved it all day. I’m just kidding though. It was awful and I had English 1^st block and it put me to sleep every time we read it. To me, I can remember very few books that I read in English and actually enjoyed. In 8^th grade we read The Outsiders and I really liked that book. It was very interesting and was actually enjoyable to read. We watched the movie after we read the book and I really liked the movie too. Nooks from English that stand out to me as being terrible were Johnny Tremain, in 7^th grade. In 6^th grade we read Catherine, Called Birdy which was awful. For 8^th grade the book we read that was awful had to be A Christmas Carol. It was so boring and hard to understand. Last year in 9^th grade we read two awful selections. One of them was My Darling, My hamburger. It was just so unbelievably stupid. We also read Romeo and Juliet. It is just so hard to follow and was just so bad. We also were forced to watch the movie of Romeo and Juliet which was pretty bad. The worst movie was watching the BBC version of Julius Caesar. I really don’t know what person decides what books to read in English, but whoever does has made many awful choices. Although, I do have to say we are reading To Kill a Mockingbird currently. We are only like 70 pages into it so I don’t know if I will really like it yet, but as of now I enjoy it!  

Q2.Summer Plans

This summer will hopefully be a lot of fun. Number one on my list of things to do this summer is to work as much as possible and save for a car. I know it will be hard but I want to save a lot for a car so I can get a good reliable vehicle, not a $1,500 piece of junk. Other than spending a lot of time working I want to spend a lot more time than I usually do helping my parents out and cleaning the house. They both work full time jobs and always complain about the house being messy and since I have all summer off I should probably help them out and keep the house clean. I want to go to the beach a lot this summer. I love being out in the sun, it is so relaxing. Also I will make sure I wear sunscreen because I don’t want to get skin cancer! I don’t really have plans set in stone for this summer. I am not going on any vacations anywhere. I guess I’m just going to try and have fun and spend a lot of time with my friends, because after all, I only have two summers after this one until everyone is going to be going separate ways! I am so excited for summer! I am already like done with school. I have no motivation for the rest of the year and I’m just ready to have two months off. One of the things I’m most excited for this summer is getting my driving permit. I want to get it right away so I can get my drivers license as soon as possible! I am so excited to turn 16 at the end of July. This will hopefully be one of my best summers!

Q1. Drunk Driving

                One issue that has really been standing out in my life lately, and I’m sure many others lives, is drunk driving. This is one thing that continues to cause me so much anger. Just recently in Lancaster when a 13 year old 8^th grader was struck and killed it really hit home for many people. It is such a sad thing. He was a young boy and was supposed to have his whole life in front of him, but instead it was robbed from him. I don’t understand why people are still getting behind the wheel when they are not in a state to drive. It makes me so mad. What does it take for people to learn? You can’t drink and drive. It is as simple as that. I feel like it takes a person to get in an accident to realize they can’t do it. The thing is, by the time they do get in an accident it is too late anyways. You hear about people getting their 5^th DWI or even more. Why are they getting their license back? They continue to put innocent people at risk and obviously can’t learn. Maybe it takes an accident involving someone close for them to learn that they can’t, but either way no one gets away with it. I think after your second and maybe even 1^st DWI your license should be taken away for good, no questions. It is such a dangerous and scary thing that’s taken so many lives. I don’t feel any sorrow for people who injure or kill someone while they are driving while intoxicated. You really must be an idiot if you continue to drive drunk after hearing all these stories. I understand “you never understand until it happens to you” but in the case of drunk driving people have to understand and put an end to these countless deaths.

p5. Choice

                I can honestly say I’ve never had any idea of how money works until recently. I’ve never been the kid who gets everything handed to me and gets money whenever I want, but my parents have always provided me with everything I need. Now that I have a job I realize the importance of money. Whenever I had a birthday or Christmas and got money I would always spend it right away. Now when I get my paycheck I still spend it all but I know I need to start saving. My parents aren’t going to buy me a car, so if I want one I need to start saving. It is so hard though because when you only make $90 a week it seems like I goes so quickly. I honestly can say that last weekend I spent over 30 and I have nothing to show for it. In 30 days more than one third of my paycheck for a week of work was gone and I really don’t even know what I spent it on. Now I realize why my parents complain about money. Now it makes sense why a few dollars here and there really does make a difference. I really do enjoy having my own money! The only downfall is you realize how much is taken away from taxes and it really sucks. I would be making over 100 dollars a week but taxes take about 13 dollars out of my paycheck. It is really frustrating to not be getting that extra money but it has really made me appreciate everything my parents have ever done for me. I am looking forward to saving a lot of money and being able to say a bought a car all by myself. Hopefully I can save a lot and be able to afford a car by next year!

P4. Choice

                I’ve reached the end of my sophomore year and I still haven’t got the slightest clue what I want to do after high school. This is the one thing that really bothers me. Why are kids expected to know what they want to do for the rest of their lives when they are only 17 or 18 years old? My sister changed her major while in college because she realized she didn’t want to major in biology like she had thought. My brother had is heart set on being a police officer and was attending Canisius College, but now he is going to go to ECC next semester for criminal justice but he still doesn’t know what he wants to do. All throughout middle school I really wanted to be a lawyer. Now being a lawyer is pretty much at the bottom of my list. Criminal justice is still something that interests me, but how am I supposed to know I want to do that forever? I’m going to Harkness for spa specialty but I can’t see myself doing nails and working at a spa for the rest of my life. It is kind of scary that in a little over a year I’m going to have to make the choice if I do or do not want to go to college; and if I decide to go to college I’m going to have to make a lot more decisions from there. I do believe that there are kids who know what they what they want to do for the rest of their life, but I think most kids have no idea. I really hate being forced to know what I want to do. I hate it when adults ask me what I want to do. I feel obligated to have a whole live plan, but I really have no idea.

p3. Teacher evaluation

In some cases I think it isn’t fair to judge a teacher based on their test scores. There are many kids I know who just don’t care about school and never do their work or care about their grades. So for kids who have bad grades because they don’t do anything, it shouldn’t reflect on the teacher. However, I feel there are many teachers who just teach for a paycheck and don’t really care about what they are doing. I don’t think grades could show that they are not passionate about their job and really don’t care. Some teachers are good teachers if you pay attention and study, but for the kids who struggle with that it will show in their test grades. Normally teachers like that are also the ones who don’t care whether you pass or not because those students have to take the class again not the teachers. There are so many different teachers and that makes a difference. I also feel like there is a big difference in subjects. Of course teachers who teach college math compared to an easy elective are going to have lower grades. Although judging how effective a teacher is based on their grades sounds like a good idea and that it would make sense, but it really doesn’t. I have had many teachers who I thought were really good and just because I didn’t get in the high 90’s on that subject exam doesn’t mean they didn’t teach well and put a lot of effort into what they were doing. Overall, I think every teacher has a different teaching style and has very different students and all this makes a big difference in test scores. You really can’t judge a person’s teaching ability based on the grades their students receive, unless all of the students fail.

P2. sophomore accomplishments

My second blog I wrote about what I would want to accomplish during my sophomore year. Looking back on it makes me laugh not only because I have only accomplished two goals on that list this year, but because it shows how much I have changed as a person.  My soccer team and I won more games than we lost, and this was one of my goals. The 2^nd goal I accomplished this year is that I joined my first club! I am a member of the newspaper club. However, there were many goals I didn’t accomplish and I am completely okay with that. I’m not planning on becoming a class officer for next year; I don’t know why I ever thought that was something I would like to do. Another thing I didn’t do was community service and things to prepare for National Honor Society. I don’t want to be a part of NHS. I feel like the only reason I ever told myself I would join clubs on be on NHS because I wanted to follow in my sisters footsteps and I felt like I had to. My brother however was never a part of any clubs or NHS so it just showed me it’s okay to be my own person and not have to try to be like anyone else. Another one of my goals was to get about a 90 on all of my Regents Exams. I don’t think this is going to happen. I work hard in all my classes but even on tests I rarely get in the 90’s so I don’t feel too confident about my exams.  I also never took the PSATs for math like I thought I was going to. Overall, I didn’t accomplish most of what I wanted but I still feel as if I have had a successful sophomore year.

p1. TV

I personally barely watch any television. After school I usually have sports or work and when I get home after I go on Facebook and Twitter and finish my homework there really isn’t time for TV. If I ever do watch TV during the week it is normally something on MTV or E TV. My favorite shows are anything that has to do with the Kardashians, and Jersey Shore. I realize both of those shows are really stupid, but I don’t want to watch educational TV or anything boring, and Jersey Shore is very funny and entertaining. There are 4 TVs in my house. One in my living room, my parents have one in their bedroom and both my brother and I have a TV in our room but we don’t have cable. I don’t think there is anything wrong with watching a moderate amount of television.  However, some people watch too much TV and that could have a negative impact on them. First off, if you are spending too much time watching TV chances are you aren’t getting enough exercise. Also if kids are watching a lot of TV it could affect their homework and grades in school because they would rather be watching TV than studying and doing homework. On the TV in my room I basically only watch my favorite DVD, Love and Basketball. Sometimes I bring the Wii from our living room into my bedroom so I can watch a Netflix movie. On the TV in my brother’s room he just plays Xbox and watches Netflix. I don’t think I ever would want cable in my room just because I don’t think having a TV in every room is a good thing and TV is a waste of time for the most part. Overall, I don’t spend a lot of time watching TV.

O1. Texas Killing of Innocent Mother

Recently in Texas a 30 year old nurse shot and killed a mother of 3 in broad daylight in a parking lot. After she shot the 28 year old, Kayla Golden, she kidnapped her 3 day old infant. She said she kidnapped it because she had a miscarriage and wanted to tell her fiancé it was hers. However, the baby was white and both 30 year old Verna McCain and her fiancé are African American. McCain wants to be released on bond because she has three kids and her attorneys say she won’t pose a threat to the community. I think them asking for bail for her is ridiculous! There is obviously something wrong with his woman if she thought it would be okay to kill a mother of 3 just to kidnap her baby. She should not be involved in our society and should be locked up for the rest of her life. Any child needs their mother in their life and Kayla Golden’s children were robbed of their mother. McCain’s attorney said this was an “isolated incident” and McCain pleaded not guilty. There is no way that McCain should ever be allowed out of jail. They said there was no reason to kill her, she was just randomly targeted. Even if this is the case it makes no difference. McCain took so much away from both Kayla Golden and her family. McCain is expected to plead insanity for this case. I personally believe she has no reason to and she is probably just an evil person. If she is a nurse with 3 kids and killed someone I don’t think that sounds like she is mentally unstable. I really couldn’t imagine having my mother taken away from me and I feel a great amount of sympathy toward Kayla Golden’s children.

o2 college

                I think college is a very good choice for many people and it going will really benefit them. However, college is not for everyone. My cousin tried going to college twice since she graduated in 2010 and each time she had to leave because he faces a lot of anxiety. Though it is likely she won’t make as much as someone who has gone to college, I don’t think she will be living paycheck to paycheck. People can go to trade schools or something like that. I think this article makes it seem like if you don’t attend college you won’t make it anywhere in life, which I don’t agree with. My dad didn’t attend college and he is a construction worker and he makes an okay amount of money. Honestly, I don’t know if college is something I want to do. It really doesn’t appeal to me and to be honest I don’t even know what career path I want to take. I know time is running out to decide what I want to do, but it’s kind of tricky to be expected to know what you want to do the rest of your life as a high school student. Another think about college is, there a quite a few people who go to college and have trouble finding a job. College is a good thing if you know exactly what you want to do. If I go to college I will probably end up going for general studies until I find something I’m really passionate about and want to spend the rest of my life doing. I have no doubt someone who attends college makes more in their life than someone who doesn’t, but life isn’t all about having a lot of money. If what you want to do all your life doesn’t require a college education it is better to do something you love than something just to make you money.

O3. Choice

                I think that everybody has at least one person in their life that is not related to them, but they consider family. In my life that would be my brother’s best friend, Jake Stockweather. I have known him for a very long time and we have a brother-sister relationship. He is always at my house. Even on Christmas day he was at my house eating Christmas Dinner with my whole family. Jake is also such a nice kid and even sometimes I’m really mean to him because he annoys me, but he is always nothing but nice to me. Multiple times late at night he would pick me up from places and take me home or back to my friend’s house if we needed a ride no matter what. A few weeks ago on a very early Friday morning Jake was driving to work when he got hit by a drunk driver. Jake sustained life threatening injuries. Everybody always says you don’t know what you have until its gone, but no one ever takes that into consideration until something impacts their life. Not knowing and waiting for Jake to get out of surgery was the scariest thing. Everybody close to Jake felt such anger toward the man who hit Jake. Of course, the drunk driver was barely hurt at all and he was a 44 year old paramedic who still lives with his parents. It makes me sick to think someone who helps other people when they are hurt and has seen so much would even think to drive drunk. The first time I saw Jake in the hospital was the day after he got into the accident. His mom told us that we should talk to him because he might be able to hear us. The next day Jake was able to nod his head and open his eyes. Now Jake is finally home and doing much better. With a lot of physical therapy he should be able to walk again in 3 months. Words cannot even describe how thankful I am to still be able to see Jake and have him be alive. I really despise the man who did this to Jake. I have no respect for people who drive drunk, they really ruin peoples’ lives.