I have always wanted to go to a good college and get a good college education although I have never had a direction to go. I have always taken it for granted that i will go to college and figure out what i want to do while there but now as the time approaches where i have to figure out where i am going for college i am completely clueless about where to go or if i even need to go to college right out of high school, i have recently gotten interested in option trading and if you are good at option trading you can work very little and make large amounts of money and college isn't at all necessary, but to determine if that is an option i need to have a long while to determine if i will be able to be an option trader, which cuts down on the time i have to find a college, and i just keep procrastinating for no reason, i really enjoy learning when it is on a topic that interests me, i love thinking and learning is just giving you new things to think about. I have no ideal college and so i am unable to decide how important an education at my dream college will be or if it will be at all important as i could, if i had the motivation to learn online and not have to actually go to a college and get in debt while learning the same things.
Wednesday, November 4, 2020
assignment 6- Ezekiel
If a wealthy person were to invest in large amounts of real estate in one specific area, rent out all of those houses so that they have a substantial amount of the population of that area living in buildings that they own. They could then evict everyone that lives in those buildings making a substantial part of the population immediately homeless without anywhere to live, this would force them to leave the area so that they could have places to live, which would close down large amounts of businesses making the town a much worse place to live, meaning that more people will be trying to leave that area, which means that they will be selling their property at much lower prices than normal and so they can now get those places for cheaper and much quicker than they otherwise would be able to they continue to do this until they own almost the entire area. They then make a contract that people will get a place to live and a very large salary if they work for the wealthy person for say 10 years, however they own all the business and so they can make it almost impossible to affordably travel anywhere else which making prices within the area that they own extremely high, causing anyone that accepts the offer and works there to not actually gain any money despite making a large salary due to the high prices. The wealthy person could essentially pay their workers substantially less than a livable wage and the workers couldn't really do anything about it as they have to work for said wealthy person for at least 10 years.
assignment 5- Ezekiel
I do not watch Tv simply because i don't really have access to it as my parents dont watch it and so i have no real way to as we don't have cable that i know of, and even as part of our internet we get free netflix and they just haven't set it up yet as they feel no need to watch tv. I don't have any personal experience however because of the large amount of people that watch Tv it would appear to be a very good source of entertainment, in addition to being a good source of entertainment it is also a good way for advertisers to reach people, although i do not see it as any more effective than social media advertising or pop up ads on a website. It is also an inane use of time but that is perfectly fine in moderation. I think it can definitely be all three as entertainment doesn't have to, and usually isn't very useful as its primary purpose is to give people an escape from their own life. I think Tv is a great way to find out what you like and potentially indirectly find other people who have similar interests.
assignment 4-Ezekiel
My parents and i have not had a great relationship at all for many years and so i have often challenged their viewpoints, which when i was younger always seemed to get me in trouble, however now my mom just glares at me with the look that i usually only get when i am about to get in trouble, and my dad thanks me for my input a while ago my sister came back from college for a day and somehow we started talking about UBI, and i disagreed with them and made my mom mad, and i didnt even get in trouble, it was like magic, i think my dad made her say that she enjoyed hearing what i had to say because from the look on her face she definitely did not, so we actually had a good discussion for like the first time that wasn't when i was in trouble for grades or something stupid and it was amazing.
assignment 3- Ezekiel
The summer before 9th grade my dad had my family take a 2 month trip to latin america just to travel out of the country and see places along with learn some spanish. I was not at all wanting to go as i don't like spanish (despite being in ap spanish), and i would have much rather read at home or spend time with my friends. but unfortunately i had no say in the matter and so we went to several latin american countries changing our route in the middle of the trip due to riots in nicaragua and so not exactly having a definite way home. We purposefully tried to stay away from touristy places because then we wouldn't get the true cultural experience. And so i often saw extreme poverty, but in that i saw people finding joy in extreme poverty, they were grateful for any help that they got and seemed to have a positive outlook on life, as that was their usual, this helped me realize that things don't really matter, and yet i still want the things and feel a need to achieve something great. It also helped me in my spanish comprehension and speaking level.
assignment 2- Ezekiel
I have the long term memory of a flashlight and so i am unable to remember anything that i did more than 5 months ago and so i will only be writing about books i have read since then. Due to being stuck at home for almost the entirety of the last 8 months i have been pretty bored and this has led to me rereading a fair amount of books, now generally i refuse to reread books simply because it is much less exciting, however there is only a certain amount of boredom that i can handle and so, regretfully, i broke my no rereading policy. I reread a bunch of books that i enjoyed when i was younger such as the Percy Jackson books, Harry Potter, and the Eragon series. While i still found them fairly enjoyable they seemed much less interesting than they initially were, which is almost definitely because i already knew what would happen next and so there being a lack of suspense, however i am going to say that the entire reason i enjoyed them less was because i have greatly matured and gained exposure to more well-written material and so it was just too trivial for me. I also read the throne of glass series because my older sister wanted me to and I was trying my hardest to do what she wanted as she was about to go off to college, and despite reading it mostly to please her i found that i greatly enjoyed it although i'm not entirely sure why. The book that has made me think the most and challenged my way of thinking, I am unable to remember the title of which is a bit unfortunate. It was very interesting because it claimed that there is a sort of formless substance that you can make into whatever form you want it to be through the power of thought, which sounds a bit like magic, but i think that this was meant to symbolize opportunity and that if you want something and are willing to work for it there will always be an opportunity for it to happen, and that all you have to take advantage of that opportunity. It also argues that being rich is the goal of life as it allows for more opportunities to do what you want. The ideas discussed in this book both seem completely absurd and at the same time make a large amount of sense, which is confusing and so has been one of the many things bouncing around my brain the last couple of months. Another interesting book is the Scythe series, it is based in futuristic world where AI was created and made everyone immortal and so the scythes have to kill people to keep the population under control, the entire series is about the morality of their killing methods which sounds a bit boring but is actually very interesting and has made me think a fair amount as well. One of the most recent books that i have read has been the wolf of wall street which is an autobiography of Jordan Belfort, while i expected the book to focus more on how he built his business it actually started at the height of his business and was about how his business was brought down and the aftermath of that. So while it wasn't what I thought it would be it was still extremely entertaining and has given me a lot to think about, as he seems to both regret that he was brought down and regrets all that he did before he was brought down, he writes in such a manner that despite him saying the opposite and there being nothing in his actions that indicates it you see him as being in the right. I often found as i was reading it that i was comparing myself to him and feeling inexplicably similar to him despite a huge amount of differences. I have read many other books in the past couple of months however most of them were obviously not very memorable as i can't remember anything about them.
assignment 1- Ezekiel
I am Z, the future is extremely unpredictable and so i very rarely make plans or goals because i am unable to ensure i can achieve those goals. If I don't make those goals then i have failed and failure is scary. The one thing i can confidently say is a goal of mine for this year is to pass all 6 of my ap tests. My Corona-staycation has not really had any meaningful moments, it has been a lot of meaningless moments that when put together have been very impactful in a way that seems to not be at all good. Nothing really geeks me out, I have many things that I am very entertained by for a week or so and then I never look at it again which i definitely don't think can be counted as something that geeks me out.my favorite website is https://fcps.instructure.com
This is a picture of my dog because he is a pretty cool person even though he isn't a person.
Assignment 10- Gaby Rondel
Tuesday, November 3, 2020
Rukavina- Assignment 9
An issue that I'm passionate about is how our education system is run. To start it off entirely, I don't believe that the government places enough emphasis on the education system in America and does not provide enough funding to it. I think that it's ridiculous that some kids in our country are getting poor educations due to having to go run down schools that can barely afford textbooks. At this point in time in our society we should have progressed enough to allow everyone the chance to go to a respectable school that offers them opportunities for their future. But every year the fight for more funding to education continues. We've placed emphasis on education since the beginning of our country when we stated that once a town reached a certain population number that they to provide education for the children there. That was back in 1700s so why haven't we progressed this idea since then. Schools should be given enough funds to allow for textbooks, suitable cafeteria food, safety, and anything else that is needed to properly educate kids. There should be no reason for any child in the United States to not being going to school and not be getting an education that will help them. I also believe that being a teacher should be a more highly valued job. I know that there are some amazing teachers that love their jobs and are great at it, but there are always those that are the exact opposite. We shouldn't be able to joke about how bad a job being a teacher is because their incomes are so low. Becoming a teacher should be the equivalent of becoming a doctor, meaning that they have to go through more intensive schooling before applying to be a teacher and their incomes are higher.
Assignment 9- Gaby Rondel
Assignment 8 - Sanat Dharwad
Fears: Death, death of family, getting a severe mental disability, being boring
Annoyances: food that doesn’t have structural integrity, pencils that don't sharpen correctly
Accomplishments: I have ok grades
Confusions: not liking pickles, AP Lang
Sorrows: laziness, low weight
Dreams: getting a well paying job
Idiosyncrasies: I speak loudly
Risks: I’m not much of a risk taker
Beloved Possessions, Now and then: Computer, Guitar, Keyboard
Problems: Procrastination
It’s hard for me to find any idiosyncrasies of myself. The only identifying features I have are that I like music, have ok grades, and am currently into chess, but am I really unique in any way? I often find myself wondering what makes people unique, and from that find myself a bit bland. My life plan, upon further inspection, seems a bit bland as well, which is to get a well paying job that may or may not bore me, and find fulfilment in hobbies. Right now I’m just drifting through high school, not present in any extracurriculars, which is pretty bland. One of my fears is that I’ll be boring forever, not ever known for anything, leading on a boring life in obscurity. I also find sometimes that my personality is sort of bland. How does one get that certain charisma? I feel like that person that people forget exists over summer break until they come back to school.
Assignment 7 - Sanat Dharwad
I haven’t decided what college I want to go to yet, but I know that I always at least have UK to fall back on, which will provide decent monetary help. Ideally I’d like to get at least a partial scholarship in a fairly large college, as one of the most important parts of going to college is building connections with a bunch of people. My motivation for getting an education is mainly to be able to get a steady well paying job, as a college degree almost completely dictates how much you make. I’m not even sure what I want to major in. Perhaps chemistry or biochemistry. I would like a flexible path, as I don’t want to end up with a useless degree, like my father’s useless degree in public policy, though he does testify that the degree was worth it as he made many important connections from when he was in that class.
Assignment 6 - Sanat Dharwad
One interest I currently have is listening, playing, and writing music. During summer break I had a lot of free time to spend, so I went and finally wrote some songs and started to practice guitar more. I found that music, and the process of writing it, is much more complicated than I previously thought. Luckily, I found a great online community of musicians in which we could share and critique other’s music, which really helped me improve, and expand my musical horizons. In this community, tasks were set up, such as trying to come up with a unique chord progression that actually sounds good, trying to make a melody to a series of random chords, and collaborating with other artists, which were all much harder to do than I anticipated. Music is also the only method in which I can adequately creatively express myself, as I am abysmal at any visual art, and not so good (hopefully just for now) at writing.
Assignment 5 - Sanat Dharwad
I personally don’t watch any TV. I watch services such as Netflix, Amazon, Youtube, and Twitch (a live streaming service for individual creators), which don't show nearly as many ads as cable television. Youtube and Twitch also allow for a much smaller attention span, which is more fitting for the younger generations. Surveys show that the population of people watching television is slowly dropping, with younger people moving to services such as those I listed, and the older generations staying on cable TV. Eventually, streaming services will overtake cable television services as the leading entertainment service.
I don't think it is that important that the Emmys get more time in the spotlight than the Nobel prizes, it merely reflects what the people are more enthusiastic about. People spend countless hours watching television, but don't spend countless hours studying the nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize, which isn’t necessarily bad, but appropriate.
Monday, November 2, 2020
Assignment 4 - Sanat Dharwad
Growing up, my parents never taught me to have religious beliefs, though my mother did and does believe in some higher power. When I was younger, I tended to agree with my mother, but as I grew up, I slowly drifted away from believing in such things. I think this happened because religion wasn’t really drilled in to me as a kid, and it didn’t really play an integral part in my life at all, it was merely a yes or no answer to whether God exists. Other than not having any reason to believe in a higher power, I also slowly found reasons not to, such as young me slowly realizing how many problems there are and were in the world, such as slavery, people in abject poverty, and more stuff like that. For a period of time I was flipping between the two ideas, and eventually settled on there being nothing supporting the absence or presence of a higher power.
Assignment 4 Garrett Peavler
I have never had any strong opinions about any issues, I tend to play both sides of an issue pretty evenly. In my opinion there are two sides to every story and a failure to acknowledge either side leads to a one-sided, close-minded opinion. That said, when I look back at how my parents and other family members talked about issues I have realized that they kind of fell into this political trap and had quite polarized opinions. I also realize that the polarized opinions that they had, however detrimental to their political thinking, are what led to the way that I think today. Because, when I was growing up, my parents and extended family had different polarized views, I ended up forming opinions that were somewhere in the middle. Now, my family is a lot more balanced in their opinions, but I have still kept the opinions and ideas that I formed growing up.
Assignment 3 - Sanat Dharwad
Every two years my family and I go to India to visit both sides of the family, staying in India for about a month. We were planning on going this year, but those plans were cut short by the pandemic. I haven’t ever been connected to my heritage, but seeing the important cultural sites and just living in India seemed to help me establish a kind of cultural identity I lacked, and still lack. Trips to India also put in perspective the privilege I have. When I was young and stayed with my relatives from my father's side, we lived right next to a family who lived solely out of a small cement hut that didn’t look like it had plumbing or electricity at all. That popped the bubble of my childish worldview that everyone was fine and happy. It shaped my worldview to thinking that some people are just not as lucky as others, and that the world isn’t just.
Assignment 2 - Sanat Dharwad
I usually only like to read books that are fantasy or sci-fi. Non-fiction books mostly bore me, but last year I read Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger, a memoir about his experiences serving for the German army in WW1. I suspect that the reason I actually liked this book was because it was so far removed from anything I’ve experienced, which I think isn’t as common in the nonfiction books I’ve previously read. This being important because the main reason I read books is to forget the world and go somewhere else. This book did change my way of thinking, as it touches on there being no absolute good or evil, as the author shows respect and sometimes sympathy for his enemies on multiple occasions. My favorite book I’ve read in the past 12 months is actually my favorite book of all time, The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. It employs a writing style that I haven’t seen anywhere else. It can seem dense at first glance, which is completely off putting to me most of the time, but somehow makes everything interesting to read and never bores the reader.
Assignment 6 Garrett Peavler
My favorite subject that I've had in school is Psychology. It is just fascinating to learn the logical explanations for why we do what we do or why we think the way we do. It is one of the most interesting classes I have taken (it did help that Ms. Clark was one of the best teachers I have ever had). And it is also rewarding to have knowledge of psychology because much of the information you learn in psychology can be applied to your own life. Also topics regarding psychology come up in conversations more than you'd think and then everyone thinks you're smart because you know basic level psychology terms. In all, I am fond of psychology because I think that knowing psychology can legitimately improve your life.
Now, all this is not to say that I want to go into the field. Being a psychologist, in any branch, sounds boring to me, and being a therapist is not something that I can see myself doing. So as much as I appreciate learning about psychology, I don't really want it to be my life.
Assignment 1 - Sanat Dharwad
My name is Sanat Dharwad. My current hobbies are playing chess, guitar, and singing. My academic goals this year are to get all As and hopefully get at least 4s on all of my AP tests. It's only over summer that I've taken up chess, and I've currently racked up over 2200 games, which are mostly on the site chess.com. My corona staycation has been pretty uneventful, as most of my days have been repetitive, consisting of me sleeping at degenerate hours, watching some streams on Twitch, doing homework last minute, and playing chess. I did, however, shave my head a couple of times, which was something I haven’t ever done before. During summer break, but not anymore as I don’t have as much time, I wrote a few songs to pass the time, some of which turned out to be not so horrible.
I really like this image
Aiden Beach-Blogpost 9
My issue is a fairly common complaint; when people read a false statement off of one website or article they found and are too stubborn to admit they are entirely wrong about that subject. Flat-earthers are a good example. As an experiment, I went to a flat-Earth server on Discord. The rules of the server clearly stated that all opinions are welcome as long as they are backed up with evidence, but when I scrolled through the message history of the chat channels, it was filled to the brim with insults by flat-earthers providing no evidence for their claims. I checked multiple other chatting apps of flat-earthers as well, as well as interviews online with flat-earthers at flat-earth conventions (yes, these are a thing), and it was the same for all of them.
However, flat-earthers aren’t causing anyone any trouble. The real problem lies with groups like anti-vaxxers and 5G-conspiracists, whose actions are making everything worse during a global pandemic. There are barely any articles against vaccinations, all of which are completely debunked by many articles from actual professionals saying there is nothing wrong with vaccinating your kids, yet many diseases that were almost eradicated are coming back because of so many people refusing to vaccinate their kids.
Assignment 10- Church
If zombies attack I like to think that I would be on of the survivors but I doubt it. But here's my plan:
First I would make all of my family gather at my grandmas house because she has the biggest house and its further from the city. Then I would have us split in too two or three teams and take the cars to the grocery stores, sporting good stores, and the stores that have weapons. I would just tell everyone to grab as much as they can and then go back to my grandparents house. Then we would have to make sure everyone knows how to operate the guns and any other weapons we have. Then have the men start on building any sort of fence/defensive system around the house. The other people can start working on counting the food we have and setting up a plan on the food. Once the fence is up we would have people rotate through going on trips out to look for more supplies, staying on guard, and working on a garden. The garden would be are next best bet on food because eventually we would run out. We would also have to get a rain barrel system working so we don't run out of water. Then after that it would just have to be a continuous system of rotating jobs until something bad happened and then we would just have to go on the run and hope that survival of the fittest comes into play.
Assignment 8- Eleanor Badgett
Annoyances: when my little sister puts her dished by the sink instead of inside it or the dishwasher like everyone else
Accomplishments: being the tallest in my family
Confusions: why they design iPhones to be so fragile
Sorrows: not being able to really go anywhere
Dreams: to do something to help others, run a marathon, baked Alaska
Idiosyncrasies: being the tallest in my family
Sunday, November 1, 2020
Assignment 7- Eleanor Badgett
I really hate thinking about college. I find the thought of making one decision that has a huge impact on the rest of my life extremely overwhelming. Sometimes I tell my family I'm not applying to college and they think I'm joking, but it's a little bit serious. I do think I will end up going, because why not. Also my sister is and we all know we have to do all the same things, so there's that. I don't consider myself to be a very driven person, so forcing myself to go through more school isn't very appealing. I also have no idea what kind of job I would like to have in the future, I like to joke about becoming a house wife, making a college decision even more overwhelming. I don't have a list of colleges, but I do have a pretty extensive collection of college sweatshirts. I hate getting asked about my connection to the school Im wearing on my chest, because the truth is there is often no connection.
Assignment 6- Eleanor Badgett
I really suck at algebra. I used to think I was just bad at math, but as I have moved higher and higher in my math education and learned more and more about how to apply it, I've realized I just really don't know how to do algebra. While I could easily blame this on my past teachers, I think its kinda my fault. I never really applied myself in my early math classes and would scrape just enough information together right before a test to pass. My older sister is very good at math which comes in handy when I need help. However, she is often shocked at how I've gotta so far in math knowing so little. For example, I didn't truly understand how to factor until very recently, and I'm still terrible at it. My extreme lack of algebraic abilities have become abundantly clear this year in Ms.Dewees class where I find my self completely understanding the aspects she teaches, but still getting things wrong on my test due to incorrect algebra steps.
Assignment 9 - Palmer Lee
Assignment 5- Eleanor Badgett
When quarantine first started and I had a ton of time on my hands I started watching a lot of TV as a way to cure my boredom, but as life has started to get busier my TV habits have fizzled out. I have to say I think my biggest discovery of my quarantine TV adventure was the rediscovery of my love of reality TV. I know most people hate, and I definitely see why they do, I really love it. The artificial, staged look into someones fake life is just so entertaining and requires very little brain power to follow. Some of my favorite reality TV shows are The Bachelor, Love Island UK, Survivor, and Top Shot. My dad and older sister hate reality TV, which like I said I totally understand, but we love to watch TV together. Almost every night we are not busy we go down to our basement and watch a show or movie together after dinner and before bed. As a group like shows with a good story arc. Right now my dad is showing us his favorite show The Wire, while Beppy and I are showing him our favorite, The office. We also like to watch 30 Rock, Stath Lets Flats, and Designated Survivor as well as many others.
Jake Walters Assignment 9
I wouldn't say there is one topic that gets me fired up other than psychology but that topic is so broad its hard to ever narrow down one thing in it that always get me fired up. One thing that is psychology related but can also be applied in different fields is the labeling of people with mental disorders. The correct way to label people has always been a long debated thing. On one hand, it can be good to be labeled to make sure you get the needed treatments and resources in your daily life so that you can still function at a high level. On the other hand, being labeled with a mental disorder, depending on what it is and the severity of it, can cause others to see you differently. The stigma of the mental disorder you may have may not be an accurate reflection of who you are but people can see you as such just because you simply have that label.
Assignment 4- Eleanor Badgett
I know its not that deep but the first thing that popped into my head when reading this prompt was a memory of a conversation I had with my grandfather on a trip to Florida six or so years ago. In the particular beach condo unit we rented on our trip, there was a map of Florida hanging on the wall. Everywhere we go my grandfather loves to look at the art on the walls. Whether at an actual art museum, a hotel lobby, or Cracker Barrel I can always depend him to have something to tell me about whatever is hanging. In the case of the map on the condo wall, he was explaining where we were staying in relationship to where he and my grandmother often vacation in the winter with their friends. At the end of that conversation he threw in "and I guess that means this is the eastern most point in the United States" and pointed to the easter most point in Florida. Now, my grandfather in an extremely smart and insightful person, but I have to say this was not his finest moment. I told him how I thought he was wrong, explaning how I rembered the north part of the US being further east than any part of Florida. I definitely love my grandfather but he can be a little hard headed, and I was so confindent in my statement I let the argument go on long enough for him to be compelled to looking up a map of the United States, only to be proven wrong.
Assignment 3- Eleanor Badgett
I am very lucky to get to travel a ton with my family, and while I definitely learn a ton traveling (my family likes to say we take trips, not vacations) I would definitely say my perspectives on the world have been shaped more extensively by the places I have lived. Right after I turned three my family and I moved to Baltimore, Maryland where we lived on the 11th floor of a high rise apartment building just blocks away from the inner harbor. There were very few kids in the building so Beppy and I spent most of our time playing with each other, but after a few months of living there a brother and sister duo moved onto the sixth floor. We were so excited to have new people to play with, but there was a catch, they only spoke spanish. I know it would be super awesome if I could say I learned spanish in order to talk to them, but I didn't, so I can't. But not knowing each others languages didn't stop us from communicating, we biked and played with rollie pollies in the courtyard for countless hours. When not playing with our Spanish speaking friends my mom, sister, and I spent a lot of time out. I remember often riding the light rail to the inner harbor where we could go to the aquarium and watch the dolphin shows, or rent peddle boats on the water. I always look back very fondly on my memories in Baltimore, and I am going to be honest I truly had no idea of the dangers and crime present in the city until very, very recently. I think this is due mostly to how young I was while living there, but I also think it could be due to how we interacted with the city and our perspective towards it. After a year in Baltimore, my family moved to a small town in Bethesda, Maryland called Kensington. Not only was the size a contrast from Baltimore but so was our environment. Kensington is a quiet town packed with kids. It seemed like every house on our street, Ambler Drive, had kids living in it. Here, Beppy and I made many, many friends from all over the world (this time they all spoke English), due to its proximity to D.C. our town was kind of a melting pot. All of these friendships lead to many many memories, and while I am no longer in touch with the kids from Ambler, I can confidently say the experiences we shared had formative effects on my life and perspectives.
Ghazzal Hammad - Assignment 9
I'm not sure if this is the issue that I care about most in the world, but it is definitely a big one for me: racism. I know that sounds like a basic answer, but it is truly an issue that I care about. I talked about this a little bit in my last blog post, because I discussed why people's neglect towards issues that don't affect them was an annoyance of mine. This is something I see a lot when it comes to the issue of racism. It is just bizarre to me that in 2020, racism still exists -- not only systemically, but also in communities. Growing up as a person of color and a minority in a really small town in southern Kentucky, I was always looked at differently anywhere I went. In school, people would make fun of my culture and make rude comments about my parents (that I will refrain from mentioning). Whenever I went out in public, people would essentially gawk at my family and I. I guess in a place that has 97% white population, this shouldn't be that surprising.
However, this isn't even really the type of 'racism' I am talking about. I'm referring more to systemic racism. A lot of people will argue that America isn't systemically racist and that our country treats everyone equally, but I think a lot of evidence has shown otherwise. Obviously, there is the issue of police brutality, but that isn't even the tip of the iceberg. There's also the issue of being turned down for jobs because of the color of your skin, or getting worse service in restaurants and stores because you're not white, or schools choosing whether or not to accept students solely because of their race. This is an issue I could seriously argue about forever. Unfortunately, it's harder to argue with people about this, because a lot of people haven't experienced these problems firsthand; as a result, they don't believe it is really that much of an issue.
Assignment 2- Eleanor Badgett
In the past twelve moths I am pretty sure I have read three books. The first of these book was The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, which I read for my world class last year. I'm gonna be honest, I pretty much have never read any book I've been assigned for school all the way through until this one. Usually this is due to how long I procrastinate reading the book, leaving me without enough time to actually finish it. However, this world project's due date just so happened to line up with the very beginning of quarantine, providing me with all the time in the world to actually read the book, and I am very glad I did. I definitely enjoyed this book more than any other book I had been assigned in the past, which I was shocked by because I really had no original interest in the subject. The second book I read this year was Paper Towns by John Green. This choice was inspired by quarantine boredom, so I read it in a day while at my grandparents house. I was shocked at how fast I read this book, because I really have trouble just sitting and reading, but I was so engaged by the story I couldn't stop. The adventures the characters had were a nice escape from the lack of adventure I felt in the thick of quarantine. I really think I also read another book over the summer but I really can't remember what it was, so I guess it wasn't that good and was not exciting or even come close to challenging my way of thinking.
Assignment 1- Eleanor Badgett
My name is Eleanor Badgett and I am the middle of two sisters, Beppy and Lois. Lois is 11 and sweet but quite the drama queen. However, I do still love spending time with her when she's not out playing with her friends. Beppy is 17 and while she is also a drama queen I find myself doing almost everything with her. When first meeting people, Beppy and I are often asked if we are twins. Personally, I don't think we look that much alike, but seeing as we are asked so often I guess we do. One of my favorite things to do with Beppy or anyone is go to Taco Bell so here is their menu incase anyone wants to go and needs to pick out their order https://www.tacobell.com/food. Outside of going to Taco Bell, I enjoy spending time with my friends and family, cooking and baking, and doing anything outside. Here is a low quality picture of my high quality local Taco Bell of choice (it was recently repainted so it doesn't look like this anymore):
Assignment 9- Sara Anderlich
Assignment 8 Stone
- Fears People Doing Stupid Things Public Speaking Social Interaction
- Annoyances Humblebragging Not Replacing The Toilet Paper Roll Humming Along With A Song In Public Blocking The Sidewalk To Get A Photo Keeping Your Phone's Sound On When People Talk To Much Repetition
- Accomplishments Band Soccer
- Confusions People Daylight Savings Time
- Sorrows Death Vegetables
- Dreams Have A Good Life
- Idiosyncrasies Fidgety Hoodies
- Risks Talking To Strangers Running At Night Driving A Car
- Beloved Possessions, Now And Then My Dog My Trombone Legos Teddy Bear
- Problem Focus Organization
The thing that worries me the most is people doing stupid things. This worries me because most of the definitely bad things that happen come from people doing stupid things in a major way. The biggest reason why people do stupid things for the most part is it normally benefits them in some way. When we literally do stupid things, we normally literally want something and that hurts other people, contrary to popular belief. People who get hurt then want to not be hurt and the cycle continues. This is like the eye for an eye proverb. I don’t for all intents and purposes know where I heard this, but someone said “The problem with an eye for an eye is everyone ends up blind.” This actually means that when you hurt someone, and you will, they might hurt you back, and then if you hurt them back, they might hurt you back, and so on and so forth until the both of you are hurt so much that you no longer for the most part remember why you’re fighting but only that you are.
Assignment 7 Stone
I want a college that is exciting. Being in awe of my peers, and continuously learning from them, studying with the top researchers in their fields, and doing interdisciplinary work that addresses real-world issues always expose new ideas. I want a college that is inspiring and uplifting. I am looking for a deeply enmeshed school in its environment. I want a school that infuses its education with the opportunities surrounding it. I want to attend a school with a vision of the future that resonates with mine. An institution that engages in critical self-reflection, understanding that its historical legacy is sometimes causing for celebration, sometimes causes for modification. A university understands the foundational importance of the humanities even for those who wish to become computer programmers. I want a college that teaches students how to use their faith in their future job and lead people in the correct direction. I want a college that places a significant emphasis on doing what is right, even if it is hard.
Assignment 5 Garrett Peavler
I hate TV. Not all of TV, mind you, but I dislike most it. I do somewhat like watching the news (just the facts kind of news, not that crap where everyone is yelling at each other) and I like watching movies. But I hate TV. I hate reality TV because I don't like being lied to and it seems like that is all reality TV is doing. I hate TV shows, although I just hate continuous TV shows, like Game of Thrones, because in order to get the story or understand what everyone is talking about you have to watch about 30 hours of total filler nonsense, where I could have just watched a movie and only have spent 2 hours and I get the same amount of story. And I hate game shows because it is just watching other people have fun or win money, and that isn't entertaining to me. So I think it is safe to say that I'm not a big fan of TV.
Assignment 6 Stone
The thing I talk the most about, academics wise, is American History. In second grade, my teacher was talking about the civil war. Still, she never said who won, so when I got home, I read up on Civil War History and have since been interested in American History. In about fifth grade, I got interested in the American Revolution. What fascinated me was the difference in tactics between the civil war and the American revolution showing how warfare had changed. In the American Revolution, the Americans fought with guerrilla tactics with their native American allies who knew the land. The British fought in the traditional European way, with soldiers marching in a line and shooting at the enemies. In the civil war, both the north and south used an early version of trench warfare, which lead to it being longer and bloodier per battle than the American revolution was.
Assignment 5 Stone
I do watch TV. I watch it for the same reason everyone else watches it, whether they really admit it or not; we watch TV too feel involved in something, which is definitely why I watch it. We watch sitcoms and reality TV to feel involved indefinitely in real life, showing how we mostly watch sitcoms and reality TV to feel involved in authentic experience in a preeminent way. We watch sports and news to kind of feel informed about life, contrary to popular belief. We watch science fiction to practically live in a new reality. We watch these award shows, the Emmy, the Tony's, the Golden Globes, the Oscars, and so many others, to see what other people are doing. These shows are a platform for celebrities to make statements and to celebrate their own accomplishments. These shows are only around, and as popular as they are, compared to the Nobel Prizes, because these people are all entertainers. You put any amount of celebrity entertainers on TV and you will get an audience.
Assignment 4 Stone
As kids grow older, they begin to form their ideas of the world and create their own opinions, and these ideas can sometimes disagree with their parents. In my life, I have seen that I believe that I should have my phone in my room, but my parents disagree. They think that I shouldn't have the temptation to access the Internet at night, but I think that I need to be able to manage myself. As kids gain more experience, they begin to form their ideas of the world and create their own opinions. These ideas can sometimes disagree with their mothers and father. I have seen that my parents and I differ on many things in my life, but I should have my phone in my bedroom at night. I should have my phone in my bedroom, but my parents disagree. They think that I should not have the temptation to have access to the Internet at night, but I need to control myself. Another thing my parents and I disagree on is whether I should exercise. I believe that because I'm sixteen and have a fast metabolism, I do not need to exercise as much as I would if I was forty. On the other hand, they believe that I need to build the habit now, so I don't get out of shape.
Assignment 3
The only extracurricular activities I participate in are band and soccer. These activities are part of culture all around the world. For example, brass bands in New Orleans are a massive part of the culture there, with sometimes thousands of people crowding into an amphitheater to see a small-time brass band play. The biggest brass bands to come out of New Orleans, including my personal favorite, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, perform every year at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival with a peak attendance of 300,000 people. Only 390,128 people are living in New Orleans. This statistic means that over three-quarters of the population, give or take for the people who come from out of town, attended that concert. For three-quarters of a community to be doing anything would mean that it is culturally significant. Soccer, on the other hand, is much larger in the world as a whole than New Orleans Brass Bands.
Assignment 2 Stone
These are some of my favorite books that I have read this year.
Inheritance Cycle (four books) by Christopher Paolini
The Blackthorn Key Series (five books) by Kevin Sands
Thawn Books all by Timothy Zahn set in the Star Wars Extended Universe
Thrawn Trilogy 2
Thrawn
Thrawn: Alliances
Thrawn: Treason
Thrawn Trilogy 1
Heir to Heir to the Empire
Dark Force Rising
The Last Command
Thrawn Duology
Specter of the Past
Vision of the Future
Ongoing Thrawn Ascendancy Series
Thrawn: Chaos Rising
Star Wars: Aftermath, Star Wars: Aftermath: Life Debt, Star Wars Aftermath: Empire's End by Chuck Wenidg
Assignment 1 Stone
My name is Will Stone. I play soccer, and I play trombone in the concert and jazz ensembles here at Henry Clay. This year's academic goals are to pass the AP Exams and get A's and B's in all my classes. The most meaningful moment of the Corona Staycation for me was having the marching band canceled because that\'s when it hit me that this was a real thing. Some of the things I geek out about are the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars Expanded Universe, and the Overwatch League(Yeah, I watch ESports, deal with it.) My favorite thing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the realism beyond the fictional characters. My favorite thing about the Star Wars Extended Universe is the Chiss Ascendancy. My favorite thing about the Overwatch League is the relationship between the community and the players. My favorite website, or the one I spend too much time on, is The Overwatch League because it can be funny but informative at the same time.
Assignment 8- Aaron Falk
Fears: Never ending life after death, accident resulting in sudden death or paralysis, and compound fractures
Annoyances: Demanding people, people that love to argue just to argue(ugh)
Accomplishments: Good education
Confusions: What idiosyncrasies meant, Why people drive impaired
Sorrows: terrible at scheduling and keeping track of time
Dreams: Easily finding a good career that I can keep till retirement
Idiosyncrasies: Eating past midnight is just BETTER
Risks: I really want to drag race(legally of course)
Beloved Possesions:Then- my wii and bike Now- family and probably my hoodies
Problems-I have a big problem about people who complain about not having money, but refuse my help to get a job
Okay I’m going to expand on my risk which is to take part in drag racing. Around 3 years ago my dad took me down to a drag strip down in Eastern Kentucky and since then I have really wanted to take part in a drag race or any form of racing. Like car builds are so cool and a subject I really want to learn about. But I know the risks this presents as I've seen somebody flip their car and at this speed the engine caught on fire and blew up(the guy was fine). Now I don’t like when people take part in racing in an environment where it endangers the people around them. Another reason I really want to race is because I look up to my older brother and he use to race when he was younger and took his knowledge of mechanics to go into the Marines specializing in hydraulics. It’s really hard to explain but I really want to take part in a race at a drag strip.
Assignment 7-Aaron Falk
College. Geez that’s a hard word to say in anticipation as that means the ending of my high school experience and going onto a more independent chapter. This is especially hard when I have no current idea as what I want to do when it comes to bigger picture careers. However, I want to go somewhere where I will thrive and have an overall enjoyable experience and get me ready for the career path I'm set to follow. Now what I’m going for is so hard to make that decision because everything I think of just comes off so generic and not a good fit for me. Now the independent lifestyle that it brings with it I feel is going to be very beneficial for me as I feel it perfectly suits me. I already spend a lot of time away from home as before school started up I was already working around a 40 hour work week which is very time consuming. But on the type of college I feel I’d fit best at a big state college where I could meet a lot of new people.
Assignment 6- Aaron Falk
My favorite interest is movies and that is easy because before schools started again I watched ALOT of movies. It was around 8th grade when my brother and I started watching movies more as a hobby. It’s become a little hard with my current availability, but also breaks my heart when movie theaters are almost non-existent, but I made sure to see Tenet opening night. However, throughout freshman and sophomore year you could find me watching around a movie every night which would sometimes result in some late work. Oops. I remember when my mom got mad at me for watching my first rated R movie, Blazing Saddles, but now I know the ticket attendants at Cinemark that will let me into R movies through experience. I could go on and on talking about movies i’ve watched and my friends will be like how do you know all these movies, years, and actors. I remember my big goal was to get a job at a movie theater when I turned 16 so I could get free movies. 3 days after my birthday I got a job at Movie Tavern, but covid had to come and result in me getting laid off on the day of my training:(
Assignment 5-Aaron Falk
I personally watch Tv for my own personal enjoyment and to get a good laugh. It’s something that I like to do when it’s late at night because it takes no brain power to watch Tv and it’s easy to fall asleep to. I am required to start with Spongebob because I know the humor is so degrading, but the definition of my childhood is watching Spongebob. Now my most recent favorite was Atlanta which I binged with ease on some weekend during quarantine. Why I liked it is hard to say, but it is funny and takes the perspective of trying to live in the dangerous streets of Atlanta, Georgia. Now for shows I hate and this is a really easy one that I can pick a whole genre. Reality Tv is nothing but garbage and you could not pay me to watch it because how can you find that entertaining. I need to hear a valid point on how Keeping up with the Kardashians is entertaining to watch because personally I don’t care to watch someone film their daily routine.
Assignment 4- Aaron Falk
One firm belief that my parents hold is that kids don’t need a phone until they are in highschool. However, after my experience with being very active and not having a phone in middle school I think once a kid becomes so active they should have a phone. Through balancing several extracurricular activities and having 4 other siblings doing the same thing communication was made even harder when none of us had phones except for one. I would try to make contact with someone else’s phone but then nobody would pick up leading to many long waits after practices.
Another difference of beliefs in the household is in politics when my whole family is heavily Republican, however, I just don’t take part in general. Not that I think politics is important, but on most issues I just don’t feel the need to start a conflict like a majority of others do. Like all I hear anymore is just people constantly arguing their political opinions.
Assignment 3-Aaron Falk
I have never left the country, but when talking about the United States I guess i’ve been around. I remember when I went to Florida last year I had weird experiences with completely random people. I remember I was walking down the street and a random dude grabbed me by the arm and told me to give him my change for a drink which definitely made for a weird experience in a new place. I didn’t give him the change and got out of there because he was obviously impaired already. But that wasn’t the only thing that happened on that same trip. The day when we went to Disneyworld we were in line and I was messing with my little brother and this dude in front of me started yelling at me. I don’t even remember what he was saying, but I was definitely thrown off by this completely random dude just going off on me with his sailor dictionary. I guess the thing I learned is you can’t even escape crazy at Disneyworld.
Assignment 2- Aaron Falk
First off I’m just going to say it straight; I don't read at all. This poses a challenge because this blog post is about the books I have read in the last year, however, without even thinking about it I know this list could easily be counted on one hand. This sounds terrible telling this to my english teacher, but in my defense I didn’t have a formal english class last year to boost my book count plus there was no summer reading. Now for my book list of the last 365 days. Book number 1 goes to Storm of Steel, the only book qualified to make it onto this list. The chances of making it onto this list are lower than winning the lottery. Now as you probably know there is no number 2 on this list. Storm of Steel was required for my book report for AP World History, but was actually quite an entertaining read coming from a person who doesn’t read. Storm of Steel is an autobiography by German soldier Ernst Junger where he takes you through his own experiences of World War 1 and highlights the horrors of war. It’s truly a sad story as throughout the book he meets new friends just to see them die in his arms, but also to see your whole platoon get picked off in a split second by a sudden mortar explosion.
Assignment 1-Aaron Falk
Hello my name is Aaron Falk. A couple of my hobbies are running, playing videogames with the bros, watching movies. I run for the Henry Clay cross country and track team. I’d have to say my favorite movie would probably be Se7en or American Psycho. It's not a hobby but I think it needs to be stated that I love monkeys. They’re just awesome creatures and I'd die to have one as a pet. My academic goals would have to be to get all A’s both semesters but we’ll see how that goes but also to do pretty well on my AP tests. My best memory of quarantine is hard because quarantine was extremely boring and dumb. I mean working took up most of my time but that was cool because I made a lot of money especially because they thought I was some “hero” or something. Either that or when I decided to cut off my hobo-locks after something like a year and a half and join the normal ranks of society with the formally short hair length.
Favorite website would probably have to go to Poptropica hands down. That game was crazy when I was like 10.
Now this picture. Why I picked it I can’t explain. Let’s just leave it at that.
Aiden Beach-Blogpost 8
Fears: Spiders and heights.
Annoyances: Anything related to politics and Sara reading my blogposts.
Accomplishments: I almost got first place in a sailing race when I’ve had around 3-4 years less experience than all the other members.
Confusions: Same as annoyances, anything related to politics.
Sorrows: Everything I touch breaks within a year.
Dreams: To either find a new underwater species or become a top programmer for a massive company.
Idiosyncrasies: I like almost anything related to coding or repairing/building the hardware of a computer.
Risks: I’m a big teary baby boy, so I can’t think of anything risky I’ve done.
Beloved Possessions: A blue teddy bear I named Teddy, and for some reason, when I was five, I decided it was female.
Problems: I’m very stubborn, and keep trying at something even if I know it isn’t possible at that point and would be extremely easier if I waited until later to try again.
Assignment 7 Garrett Peavler
I am somewhat indifferent in my opinion of college, I get that I should go so that I am able to get a decent job, but I have no strong opinions about the concept. Yeah, I will probably go. But I don't expect much more from it other than the core concepts that I need to operate in the career path that I choose. And so far I have absolutely no idea what career path that will be. I've thought about it, but I can't come up with anything substantial. The idea of deciding a career path that will ultimately decide what I do with the rest of my life is just too daunting, I don't like the idea that I will be stuck to the same path once I'm on it.
Where the importance of college is concerned, I believe that it is based on the individual. If someone possesses great skill in carpentry and wishes to be a carpenter, then they will be a carpenter. No college required. I, however, possess no skills that would lend themselves to a career, so if I intend to pad the road to my death bed, I believe college is in order. But which college? No clue. I hear so many people (most of whom are much more put together than I will ever be) talk about what college they want to go to, and I have no idea how they figured it out. I mean, if my perfect college did exist would I even know? Probably not, seeing as I don't know what career I'm going into. Honestly, thinking about which college to go to is pretty useless until I figure out what I'm doing, so I'll cross that bridge when I get there.
What I'm trying to get at is that I don't know what I'm doing, and probably won’t until I get out of high school.
Assignment 3 Garrett Peavler
I have not been to many places outside of Kentucky and I have never been outside the United States. Most of the states I have been to have been in the Southeast, so they aren’t much different from Kentucky. So I don’t really have any odd cultural experiences. The furthest I have been from Kentucky is Chicago and one thing that I learned about the way things are there is that “excuse me” is far more important than “I’m sorry”. I learned this when I bumped into someone and I apologized, but this person was infuriated at my not saying “excuse me”. Each place in the United States has slightly different expectations, they all have similar etiquette rules, but the slight differences cause the misunderstandings that occur in social interactions within the United States. The thing is, I don’t know if there is any way to learn what these slight differences are other than to have these misunderstandings. The only way to find out things about other places is to go there yourself.
Assignment 2 Garrett Peavler
Okay, I'm going to be honest, I don’t read for fun. The only time that I read is when a teacher assigns me a book to read. And I think that is what ruined books for me in the first place. Ever since kindergarten, reading and school have been synonymous with each other and, for me personally, that has caused reading to be more work than fun, especially since I usually had to read books that I didn’t like or wasn’t interested in. I’ve always been a slower reader, which has added to this feeling, as it increased the time that reading these books would take and because I wasn’t interested in the books that the teachers assigned, I ended up harboring a lot of negative feelings toward reading.
All this is not to say that I don’t read. I read plenty of articles, I just don’t read books. I like my reading to have a purpose and to be concise. So reading fiction books or long-winded, 800-page nonfiction books is just not something that I derive joy from. I may eventually change my mind, but this is how things stand right now.
Assignment 10: Boo
Assignment 1 Garrett Peavler
I’m not really sure how to start this. I could start by saying “Hello, my name is Garrett” or something like that, but that sounds weird, doesn’t it? Maybe not, but I mean it feels weird to me to say hello in writing. And this concern is amplified by the fact that this is what? Two? Three months late? A little bit late to be saying hello.
So some things about me, as is evident, I’m a bit of a procrastinator. NTI is weird. And it has certainly made things more complicated. It’s also made procrastinating way easier, as there is no teacher looking me in the eye, pounding the dread of the approaching due date into my thick skull. So what are my academic goals? Pass. That’s all.
I don’t want to say that I’m a music nerd as that tends to give off the idea that I’m an expert on music theory, which is not the case. I play the bass guitar and I am teaching myself how to play guitar and drums. So if you ask me what geeks me out or what I do with my free time, music would be it.
I don't really have a favorite website so I'll just link this: https://www.google.com/
