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.