Journal #43- Standardized Test Stuff

Taking standardized tests to assess mental health issues is not really a fair way of assessing a persons mental ability.  During World War II these tests were used to determine if youth could join the military or not.  This was not a very fair way of doing it as the graders tended to determine test scores by race instead of intelligence level.  Today, standardized tests are no longer used to assess the mental health of a person, which is a good thing.  Some people are just not good test takers, so you cannot just base a persons mental health on a test score.  Also, mental health is a lot more complicated than physical health.  It is too hard to base an entire person's being on one standardized test.  If I were to take or make a standardized test for mental health, I would cover the topics of common sense and basic decision making.  These questions would not be hard to answer for a person without any disabilities. Question one would ask if the person had been diagnosed with any previous mental illness.  After reading the SQ story, I was surprised at how the insanity problem escalated so quickly.  Dr. Speakie was working with good intentions at the beginning, but fear and gaining power gradually drove him to have alternative motives.  The SQ test was not really a fair way of testing people.  When almost the entire population of the world deemed insane, they should have changed their test.  This topic can also compare to the standardized tests that we have to take for school.  It really is not fair to give one test to test every student the same age, regardless of their ability level.  These tests are also given with good intentions, but their results have been kind of warped in recent years.  It is interesting to see how these problems are the same as they were years ago.

Journal #42- more heroes

In a time many years in the future, there lived a boy that did all the right things for all the wrong reasons.  This boys name was Sassafras.  He was sixteen years old when he encountered his first problem.  In a time of war, both his parents had gone off to fight on a distant planet.  They were declared missing in action after they were lost in a space shuttle battle.  Sassafras was were depressed by this and he believed the evil alien species of frogs was responsible for his parents missing.   These frogs had attempted to take over the earth and he was promised to avenge his parents by scourging the frogs from the planet.  It was definitely the right thing to do as the frogs had been responsible for countless incidents that had nearly wiped out the human race.  Sassafras was determined to become the hero of  the land by saving earth.  The only problem was that  he did this for the wrong reasons.  He was determined to act out of revenge instead of being motivated by compassion or try to compromise with the evil frogs.  He trained long and hard in the obstacle course in his backyard and eventually he was fit enough to take on the frogs.  He was armed with nothing more than pepper spray and a soda for the ride.  He jumped in his brand new sports hovercraft and went out to save the world.  With the help of a few friends, he was able to repel the forces of frogs from the planet and save the day.  In the end, Sassafras was welcomed as a hero like so many others of our time.  He had vanquished an evil foe, but at the sacrifice of his motives.  His great works can be compared to Batman and Ironman of our materialistic world.

Journal #41- Hero

Heroes are the ultimate role models.  They are above the class of normal humans and seem to have superhuman qualities.  In today's society, heroes can be regular people, or they can be the super humans we see on TV.  This includes batman, superman, spiderman, and the list goes on and on.  My favorite fictional super hero is probably batman.  Really he is just a normal guy in a pretty awesome suit and car.  He has all this cool technology that makes him so much better than all the enemies he versus.  The new Batman movies are cool, which is why I like batman the best.  Now off the topic of super hero, and onto the topic of normal everyday heroes.  A hero can also be classified as a person who goes out of their way to help others.  This is a quality that less and less people seem to possess these days.  One normal hero that comes to mind was the pilot of the airplane that crash landed in the Great Lakes a few years back.  He kept his calm and was able to save a bunch of peoples lives with his quick thinking and actions.  Other heroes include members of the military.  They are willing to put their life on the line for the good of the United States.  Heroes in essence, represent something bigger than themselves.  They represent the ideals of good defeating evil even when faced with unprecedented odds.  In today's society most people just think of super heroes when the word hero is mentioned, but it is some much more than this.  Every person can be a hero, just by showing that they care more about others than they do about themselves.  Back of the topic of examples, another group of heroes include firefighters.  They are willing to put their life on the line for the good of the people they are trying to save.  By placing someone else as more important than themselves, they are a hero.

Journal #40- Free Write

This journal I will talk this track season.  Track started way back in November for me.  I started getting back in shape two weeks after cross- country state, and have been running ever since.  Official practice started back in January with the rest of the team.  I knew this had to be my season to succeed, so I can run in college.  I have been practicing as hard as I can in our hard workouts.  At this point I can tell that it has been paying off, because I have already dropped my four hundred meter time by 1.5 seconds.  The start of the season went well.  I qualified for indoor state in the 4x800 and 4x400.  At state, my 4x800 relay placed seventh, but my 4x400 was disqualified.  In my 800 split, I ran a 2:05, so I was pretty happy.  My outdoor personal record was a 2:03 last year.  Then outdoor season started, in which we have had two meets.  This past Monday I ran a 53.6 four hundred meters, and was pretty happy with it.  My goal by the end of the season is to run under two minutes in the eight hundred meter run and under 52 in the four hundred meter run.  These will be pretty difficult goals to achieve, but I think I can do them if I work hard enough in practice and peak at the right time.  I am hoping to qualify for state in all three of my events.  Last year our team went undefeated in the regular track season, so we have a big reputation to uphold.  We have a number of great athletes, so I am excited for the rest of this season.  I realize that it comes down to the effort I put into practice, and my attitude at my races that will determine how I finish this season off.  We have a big invitational meet tomorrow in Pana, and I am ready to run fast.  There is supposed to be a lot of competition in it, so I am excited about what I can do.  Then next weekend is the biggest invitational we attend.  My goal that day is to break the school record in the 800.  This will be a very painful race, but if I can do it, it will definitely be worth it. 

Journal #39- Spring Break

This spring break came at the perfect time.  I needed a break from school for a while to regain my composure and get ready for this last sprint of six weeks.  I am not ready for this school year to be over, and it flew by too fast.  I did have a very good spring break though.  It started out with a movie night at my house where a bunch of friends and I watched Les Miserables.  It was a really good movie.  The next day I just relaxed and did a little chemistry homework.  Then on Saturday I went to a track meet where I ran a personal record in the 400.  It was a pretty good day.  On Easter my family and I made chocolate donuts and went to church.  We also had an Easter egg hunt, which was fun.  That afternoon, I went and hung out with friends and played Ultimate Frisbee.  The rest of the week consisted of procrastinating on my homework and hanging out with friends.  It was nice to get the chance to relax at home instead of running around from school to sporting events.  I also ran everyday, which felt good to get out and exercise.  Over the course of the week I also saw a number of movies that were very good.  This included The Host and GI Joe Retaliation in theaters, along with Taken 1 and Taken 2 at a friends house.  As a whole, I had a great time over spring break, and am not really ready to come back to school.  With just six weeks left, it is hard to stay focused on school work.  This is not good because I have two AP tests coming up and I have to be at the top of my game for them.  Spring break provided a great opportunity to take a break from the craziness of life, but I guess it is good to be back on a regular schedule again. 

Journal #38- Job Shadowing

Last Thursday I went to CMT Engineering for my job shadowing experience.  I learned a lot while I was there, as I was able to go around and talk to multiple types of engineers.  I talked to an aviation, electrical, sewer, mechanical, and civil engineer.  From this experience I found out that all engineers share basic similarities.  This includes good communication skills, being organized, and knowing how to make and read construction models.  During the morning of my job shadow, I went around to all these different types of engineers.  Then I went to the Corner Pub with the person I was mainly following.  In the afternoon, we went out to the Spring Creek Sewer Plant out past the airport.  This has been CMT's biggest job for the past five years, as over fifty engineers had worked on it.  The sewer treatment plant is nearly completed, so it was cool to see just how sewage water is cleaned.  I took a field trip to this location two years ago when it was under construction, so it was awesome to see how it has changed.  Through this experience, I learned a lot about the engineering workplace, and was told time and time again, that no amount of schooling can fully prepare you for the hands on workplace.  The best way to learn is to try and fail, and try again.  After visiting CMT engineering, I am a little more interested in the engineering field.  Sitting in a desk all day is not really what I want to do, but engineers get the opportunity to go and see their projects being built, so I liked this aspect of it.  Another reason why engineering appeals to be is because I enjoy math and science courses.  These two areas are vital for an engineer.  The best part about engineering is that there are so many different types.  I enjoy chemistry and biology a lot, so maybe I will look into Bio-medical, and Bio-tech engineering.  Going to CMT was a great real- life experience.

Journal #37- Blue Monk

Many unique images come to mind when I was listening to Blue Monk.  During the introduction, I was thinking of an old run down western town, with very few inhabitants.  I imagined a person walking down the street and the only noise around was this song playing from a near by saloon.  As the song progressed I changed my opinion and the image of the back streets of New York came to mind.  Since the Harlem Renaissance played an important part of the jazz age, I guess this image makes sense.  In this section of the song, I pictured a tomcat walking down the alley, like an image out of the Aristocats.  The calm sense that the song portrays makes the image seem like it is night time, and all around is quiet.  As the song progresses, I get the image that I am in an empty saloon that has a lone piano player just playing away.  To me, the song almost seems depressing, yet their are many exciting parts to it.  As the bridge of the song plays, I got a picture of an old fashion tap dance show.  Im not sure where this image came from, but the beat of the song makes it fit.  During the quiet, slower section of the song, I saw a cat sneaking up behind a mouse, once again in the backstreets of New York City.  It continues to trail the mouse for sometime as the music stays quiet and in a steady beat.  When the dynamics increased, I pictured the chase getting closer and when the melody comes back, I saw the image of the cat and mouse cut out to credits like at the end of a movie.  For the remaining seconds of the song, I saw an image of the credits rolling down the screen until the music cut out.  I was surprised at the amount of imagery that comes to mind after just listening to a song.  

Journal #36- Being Yourself

Being yourself is an important quality to have, and makes life much more enjoyable.  It seems like high school students struggle with this concept, as following someone else's lead seems to be the popular thing.  I have to say that I struggle with being myself at times also.  It is hard not to fall under the influence of my friends and do what they do or say what they say.  Life just seems to be better when I can relax and not have to send useless energy putting on a "mask".  This time of life is especially important because it determines how we are going to live the rest of our lives.  Being yourself involves more than just saying it.  You can say you are an individual, but if you do not act any different than anyone else in a group, you are really not being yourself.  Many people in today's society have a warped picture of self.  It is not supposed to be perfect, it is simply supposed to be who you are, nothing more and nothing less.  This relates back to Walt Whitman.  In many of his poems, he talked about being oneself and the over-arcing idea of self.  Though I did not fully understand his meaning, he believed there were three essential pieces to self.  All these pieces can be added together to equal Self that everyone is encompassed in.  Though this might be true, it is important to remember that each individual needs to be themselves instead of conforming to one set standard.  Some conformation is not always bad, but it is better to be yourself than to try to change who you are just for the sake of fitting in.  Sometimes it is good to be reminded of this lesson.  It is a necessary part of life to step back and evaluate how we are living, and what we can do to improve what we deem in not up to standard. 

Journal #35- Reflection

My writing style is still very similar to how it was back in September for my blog over the Declaration of Independence.  I was pretty consistent with staying on topic and supporting my opinions with quotes and facts from the book.  One thing I have improved upon is transitioning from one paragraph to the next.  In the Declaration of Independence post, I was kind of jumpy from one paragraph to the next instead of using transition words.  In my most recent posts I have done a better job of making my writing flow.  This is especially true for areas around quotes.  In the beginning of this year I did do a very good job of connecting my quotes to the sentences before and after it.  Now I am focusing on relating the quote back to my thesis a lot more.  I have also realized that I have have been doing a lot better at using literary criticisms as support.  I used to mainly stick with the works the specific author wrote.  Now I try to get other professional opinions into my writing to back up my points and make my writing sound more formal.  I have also improved my vocabulary since the beginning of this year.  I am using larger, and more professional words in my posts.  By looking back on my writing just a few months ago, I have realized just how much I have changed as a writer.  I think the biggest difference is that I can write a lot faster and good information seems easier to put into words.  I guess that a lot of practice can really make a big difference.  In my search for self discussion post,  I did not feel like it was my greatest work, but now as I look back on it, I have realized that even my mediocre work now is better than my writing at the beginning of this year.

Journal #34-

As explained in the video we watched, there are three parts to self.  I would consider my self hard to explain because I do not always think about who I am.  Like most people, I am normally concerned with what other people see me as.  The three parts to self include the soul, who I perceive myself to be, and who others perceive me to be.  This last part is called the "true self".  When I think the soul side of myself, I think of Christianity.  I am a baptized Christian and have devoted my life to Christ knowing that he has covered my sins and taken my fall.  I can look forward to Heaven after I die because of His sacrifice.  So this part of my self is tied to me being a Christian.  The second part of self is who I see myself to be.  Often times this is not always good.  I doubt my abilities in many areas of my life, and sometimes lack confidence.  Most of the time I picture myself as better than I really am which is not always a good thing.  The activities I do and the people I hang out with are what shape what I perceive my self as.  Family, running, school, and church are a big part of this area of my self.  The final area of my self is what others perceive me to be.  I am not really sure what most people think of me because I have never really asked anyone.  This part of my self is the hardest to personally figure out, because everyone except me holds the answer.  I would like to think that others respect me and think of me as a caring and intelligent person.  When I put all three of these specific areas of self together, I find my overall self.  According to Whitman this self is the self of my friends, my family, people in my state, and everyone across the world.

Journal #33- Reducing Stress

Dealing with stress is a  very important part of life.  Stress is an everyday thing that every person must learn to deal with and persevere through.  I would like to say that my life is stressful, but in reality it really is not that bad.  The things that I stress over right now include my college search, homework, tests, looking for a job this summer, track, and many other pointless little things.  I have tried a few different methods of relieving my stress.  Sometimes I just try not to think about the things that are stressing me out, but this is not always the best method.  My favorite method is running.  Running is a huge part of my life.  At least five days a week I go out and run a few miles or do a workout on the track.  This time allows me to reflect on my life and the things that are stressing me out.  I can actually think about who I am as a person when I am out in nature just enjoying life.  There is just something about exercise and being outside that nothing can compare to.  After dealing with a day of school and putting up with others who are sometimes hard to put up with, it is a relief to reconnect with myself after school.  Even though this is my favorite method of reconnecting with myself, I also use a few others.  Another method I use includes when I am driving by myself.  I turn off the radio and just think about the day and how I think my life is.  The thing that I always seem to worry about most is the future.  I fear the unknown and dislike change so this is normally the base of my stress.  Being in the car by myself with nothing else to do provides the perfect time to reflect upon my day or my life as a whole.

Journal #32- Revolution

Revolutions have played a significant role in the history of the human race.  From ancient Egypt to the modern society, revolutions in technology and society have occurred.  One of the first major revolutions of society was the movement from nomadic life to tribal and town life.  Early people of Mesopotamia started out as a wandering society following their food sources of animals.  Eventually they discover crops that could sustain a permanent civilization.  This has occurred again and again in our history.  The Native Americans also did this, but it was much later in the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries.  This is just one example of revolutions in how humans do things.  Revolutions in thinking are also very significant.  Before the year 1492, many people still believed that the world was flat and if you traveled far enough you would end up falling off the face of the earth.  When Christopher Columbus traveled to the New World, he proved many of these theories wrong.  This discovery revolutionized how humans viewed the world.  Another revolution in human thought was what the connection between the sun and the earth was.  In the medieval age, most people believed that the sun revolved around the earth.  Then a scientist made some observations and proved that it was the other way around.  This revolutionized thought because people now realized that the earth was not the center of the universe.  Revolutions have been a significant factor in the progress of technology and society of the human race.  Thoughts and the way people live are very different today than they were one hundred and one thousand years ago.  This can be credited to the revolutions our society has made.  In order for a revolution to occur, someone must go against what is normal, and stand up for a new idea.  The great people of our history were not the conformers, but the leaders of new movements.  As we look to the future, we must be ready to change some of our ideas because we still do not know very much about our universe.

Journal #31- Gossip

Gossip is a major problem in today's society.  We have become so accustomed to this habit, that it does not even feel or sound wrong to us any more.  Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters is a great example of gossip and its affects.  In school I hear gossip everyday.  Sadly, I take part in it many times.  Sometimes gossip is not always bad, but most of the time it is.  If the gossip is a complement to a person, than it might not be bad.  Most of the time gossip turns out to be false information.  People can get their feelings hurt and be offended by even small comments.  A few words can do more damage than physical blows.  Most people accept gossip as a part of life in today's society.  Most people do not think about the consequences of spreading a rumor.  A person's life can be ruined by the spreading of gossip.  Like is someone started saying that a girl was pregnant and she really was not, her life for the next few months would probably be miserable.  In our culture, gossip is promoted everywhere.  It is in movies, tv shows, commercials, video games, and pretty much every form of communication.  There are entire television shows dedicated to spreading true and false rumors  about celebrities and well known people.  Movies are also full of gossip.  Entire story lines are based on the idea of one little rumor spreading, leading to a whole trail of events that seems to never end.  For some reason, it is in human nature to be eager to hear anything bad about someone else.  People like to find the junk that others are hiding and expose it to the public.  I think our society should try to start caring for other people rather than tearing them down with spreading rumors and gossip.

Journal #30- Civil Rights

Looking back at the history of the United States, civil rights have been a reoccurring argument for various ethnic, religious, political groups.  The first group to fight and win civil rights in this country were lower class white men.  From the beginning of the nation in the late 1700s, a group of rich white men held most of the power.  This stayed true until the 1820s and 1830s when Andrew Jackson became President.  He represented the "Age of White Democracy" and in these years, lower class white men gained the right to vote.  The next major event in the United States civil rights movement was the Civil War.  Even though  African Americans did not gain all their rights following the war, it was a major step towards it.  The Jim Crow Laws of the southern states and discrimination kept many blacks from the voters box and denied them their rights as citizens.  It was not until the twentieth century when women were finally given the right to vote. For decades women had been pushing for this right, and time and time again women proved they were worthy of it.  African Americans did not fully gain there rights until nearly half way through the twentieth century.  The fight and attainment of civil rights in America have been major events that have shaped our nation.  It took nearly two hundred years for everyone living in the United States to gain their civil rights; whites, African Americans, Indians, women, and immigrants.  The United States Constitution, the Supreme Court, and Congress have all played a role in shaping American rights.  The right to vote is just one of the most basic of civil rights.  We are so blessed to live in a country that protects our civil rights.  We need to remember the price that was paid to attain these rights and look forward to a better tomorrow.

Journal #29- Natural disasters

One of the most obvious times when nature is in control is during huge storms like tornadoes or hurricanes.  The most recent occurrence of a hurricane that I have heard of was hurricane Sandy that hit New England in 2012.  This was a pretty large storm that did massive damage all across the coast including large cities like New York City.  The damage that buildings and trees received was the worst since the hurricane that hit New Orleans years ago.  This natural disaster left thousands of people with damaged or lost houses and caused much destruction.  I remember hearing about the problems of getting gas to the area.  This caused much chaos because people could not rely on vehicles without gas to run them.  This natural disaster was all over national television.  It also played a significant role in deciding the election.  One candidate chose a more helpful approach to the struggling citizens while the other had had some comments earlier that had offended some people.  As always when an area of our country is in need, the rest of it comes to its aid.  Millions of dollars from charities and churches were sent to help the people of New England recover from this natural disaster.  Then a few years ago in August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.  This was probably the worst natural disaster that has ever occurred in the United States.  It devastated the area of New Orleans and pretty much leveled the city.  I went on a cruise a few years after that left from New Orleans, and the city had still not fully recovered.  Many buildings were still in pieces and the city did not look like it had recovered yet.  As with Sandy, hundreds of thousands of people donated money, supplies, or food to help the people.  Thousands more traveled down to Louisiana to aid in building houses.  It is always cool to see the country uniting after such a natural disaster.

Journal #28- Cultures

Going to a foreign culture and spending time with others of different social statuses can be a very interesting experience.  Many years ago when I was in the Dominican Republic for a missions trip.  The area I was in was a very different culture from my own.  Everyone in the nearest town I was staying by lived in shacks of metal scraps and other types of material they could find.  The nicer houses were made out of concrete and every floor was a dirt floor.  The people there lived the best they could with the resources that they had.  Most of the kids did not have shoes and had to walk quiet a distance to get to school.  This trip was very eye opening for me.  I got to experience a foreign culture and realize just how blessed I am.  I also helped teach Vacation Bible School while I was there.  The kids loved to laugh and play games.  They came from up to a mile away on foot to celebrate with us.  We just set up in the middle of a dirt road and played our games there.  One of their favorite games was kind of like ring around the rosy.  I had a great time playing with them.  The culture of the children was so different than what I live in here in the United States, but many things were still similar.  The children like to have fun in very similar ways as we do here.  Another difference in their culture is the food.  Down in the tropics, fruit is a lot more common and I had many different types of fruit that I had never previously had.  When it comes to social classes, the area I stayed in seemed to have only one.  The lower poor class was the area we were helping out.  It was amazing to me to see that people can have so much joy even when they have so little physical gains.

Journal #27- Far away

It would be an honor to serve miles away from home defending my country.  I probably would not enjoy it very much, but it would be necessary.  In a time of war, if our country were to call on its citizens to take up arms, I would not be one to volunteer for service.  I love my country, but being in the military is not how I could best serve this nation.  Hypothetically if I was far away from home fighting in a war I would be scared.  Waking up every day and knowing that it might be my last is not a great thought.  Besides the fear of the unknown, living conditions would probably not be very nice.  There is a good chance that I would constantly be on the move, so permanent structures would not be where I sleep.  The food would be the worst part though.  I would not get the home cooked meals I do at home, no chocolate chip cookies, and definitely no ice cream.  Fighting for my country in a time of war would mean sacrificing my safety, my way of life, and possibly my life.  I would be willing to do it if I had to, but it would not be an easy choice to make.  The lack of family support would also be a hard part of being far from home.  I would not have anyone to rely on except my fellow soldiers.  It would get pretty lonely without family support.  Life would never be the same if I survived such a time.  The brutal training that I would first have to endure, and then the bloodshed that I would see with my own eyes would leave me a different person.  I cannot even imagine what life would be like living and fighting away from home for my country.  My motivation that would keep me ffocused would be that I was fighting for everyone back home. 

Journal #26- Unexpected Turn

I time in my life that an event turned out differently than I thought it would was this past year's cross- country season.  I came into the season in the best off-season shape I have ever been in.  I was hitting my paces and keeping up with our number one runner.  The first week of practice went great.  I had high hopes for myself and the team in making it to state.  The previous cross- country season I was number two in the conference, only behind my teammate.  We were the fastest in the area and we both had brothers that are currently freshman.  After the first week of the season I began to have tendon pain in my Achilles tendon.  After a few days of practice it did not go away so I visited the doctor.  They told me that I had developed Achilles tendinitis.  It was not yet severe, so I would only need to take two weeks off of running.  I took those two weeks off, but was falling behind in my conditioning.  I made it back in time for the first meet, but I was out of shape so I did not finish well.  About a week later I was having trouble breathing.  I thought it was just because I was out of shape so I ran through it.  Soon even the easiest workouts would bring me to exhaustion.  Finally I went to the allergist and found out I had running induced asthma.  I had also developed an iron deficiency during this time.  When I started taking an inhaler and iron supplements, I began to feel a little better.  This was one week before regionals. I trained hard the next three weeks and was able to recover enough to run well in sectionals. My breakthrough along with my teammates successes brought us to the state meet.  At the state meet I ran within eight seconds of my sophomore best time so I managed to overcome opposition and finish strong.  I was happy that I chose to push through the pain instead of give up.

Journal #25- Giving

Giving is an important part of life.  I have heard the popular saying many times that giving is better than receiving.  The longer that I live, the more true this seems to be.  I have realized that I do not get that much joy getting things because I will eventually get bored of it and want something more.  Giving on the other hand, gives a sense of satisfaction.  You feel good after doing something for someone else.  Thanksgiving is a holiday dedicated to this action.  For centuries giving gifts has been a demonstration of friendship and love.  The Indians and Pilgrims of Plymouth Plantation showed their friendship by sharing food and methods of agriculture.  Then, when Abraham Lincoln instated Thanksgiving as a holiday, the entire nation began celebrating the act of giving.  Every year we get together with our families to remember everything that we have been blessed with.  Sometimes we forget the true meaning of this holiday.  We get so caught up in the food and not being in school that we forget what really matters.  Giving is an important characteristic to have.  Many people get caught up in receiving and only think about themselves that this concept is becoming rare.  I  hope that our society comes back to the practice of giving to each other and those in need.  This past Christmas, I was not that concerned with what I was going to get.  Instead, I was happy to see my family receiving my gifts. There is just something about giving that makes people feel more alive.  This is apparent in all types of occupations like missionaries and doctors.  These people give their time to help others.  This is also true for firefighters and paramedics.  They even put their life on the line to help other people.  Giving is so much better than receiving.