Assignment 22-Aiden Beach

I don't have any top colleges yet. However, I want to go to a college that has a good reputation for coding classes. I want to be able to go to a coding class that supports putting personality and emotion into code to make something out of a bunch of ones and zeroes. Coding has always been something that I’ve been good at, as it’s just a project you complete via a huge mathematical logic puzzle. However, coding can also hold emotion, like a piece of good literature, just as long as just as much emotion and interest are poured into it as is expected of it to hold. I want a college that recognizes this, and uses it to their advantage in order to have the best teaching experience of coding. This way, I can have even more fun at a college doing the thing I like to do the most.

Assignment 23- Sara Anderlich

 The Perfect Playlist :)
music makes me happy

Figuring out the songs for this playlist was a little difficult.. I had to scour my favorites on Spotify and go through old scraps of paper where I wrote down songs that I really loved in the moment. I also didn't try to tie the songs together as much as I tried to make them reflect me. So any randomness is just part of my nature, but I still think that these songs work together well. 

Random Music Playlist to play in the car and sing with some friends:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Ur0hRbqcWMUQ99w3vuOe9?si=0092724c2dbd47ad

1. Hakuna Matata- The Lion King

If any song works as a starting song, it's this song. I also don't think that a "Sara themed" playlist would be 100% right if it didn't have at least one Disney song on it. Overall, it's just so much fun and is really wonderful to sing with a bunch of people. 

1. I Need to Know- Barbie as the Island Princess

Now a playlist just wouldn't be a playlist without a Barbie song. I just have a soft spot for them, and this is one of my favorite songs in the entire series. They're also just so much fun to sing with other people, especially if everyone knows the movies and the lyrics and it's blasting in the background (it works with other songs too) 

2. I See The Light- Tangled 

This song is just so pretty and so much fun. It may not be the best to sing along with all the time, but it's still super nice to listen to, and even just have in the background while talking. 

3. Someone To You- BANNERS

This song is so pretty. It gives me a feeling of nostalgia and this weird tense, happy, shaky feeling. It's like a kind of good anxiety- excitement- where I have a lump in my throat and just want to either close my eyes and sing, or fall back in my bed and just close my eyes. 

4. Take Yours- Matthew Mole

The first time I heard this song, I think I just fell apart. It's not really the lyrics, it's just the tune. The way it build makes me so happy and I don't know if I can truly describe that feeling. I definitely feel the need to sing along. It's just so pretty. I love the obvious use of various instruments, especially the ukulele and how they just seem to build off of each other and collapse seamlessly. 

5. Shattered- O.A.R.

Though it may not be my favorite song in the world, this song is super, super nostalgic for me. My mom used to play it all the time in the car and we would sing it together sometimes. Still, it's a really simple and beautiful song and I absolutely love the melody and how it starts.

6. Chasing Cars- Snow Patrol

I really, really, really, really, really like this song. I don't listen to it very often, but when I do it makes me feel super relaxed and happy. Whether I'm listening to this alone or with a group, it's really nostalgic and beautiful. Sometimes, it can become too much for me to listen to songs like these, especially with lyrics (I don't really know why), but I think that, for the most part, I would enjoy listening to this song with some of my friends. I just need them to pick some songs too, so that there will be more variety in the music. That's just something that's really important to me. 

7. Tarir, The Forgotten City- Lena Chapelle

This song is definitely a change of pace from the last few, after all it is an orchestra performance. But it's so cool. I love how the melody flows in and out of parts and how the whole thing just builds from start to finish. 

Assignment 23 - Palmer Lee

Sometimes I get overwhelmed by the most seemingly insignificant things, and it can take me a while to get my mood back up in order to be able to start being productive again. This playlist is designed to speed that process up a little bit. (All of these songs are relatively old, that wasn't intentional, I just thought they mixed together better than some more recent ones.)

Mr. Blue Sky - Electric Light Orchestra
This song is at the beginning of the playlist because there's both a lighter and a darker part - the skies have been gray for who knows how long, and they want to know what they did wrong to make that happen. But, with everything, there's a light at the end of the temple. The upbeat-ness of the song also never really stops, even if the parts where the singer is asking what took the clouds so long to clear up.

We Are The Champions - Queen

This is another song meant to hype up the listener. It's opening ties into Mr. Blue Sky's part about wondering what mistakes you may have made by acknowledging that though bad things happen and mistakes are made, you can get through it. Some things can be challenging, but you can power through it to work on bettering yourself and how your mental state.

Dragostea Din Tei - O-Zone
A lot of people only seem to listen to this song ironically, but I really like the feel it has and how upbeat it is. I have no idea what the words mean, since the whole song is in Romanian, but with music, you don't necessarily have to. I also really like the music video - it isn't overdramatic, it's just three guys on a plane dancing really badly and having a good time.

Take On Me - A-ha
This is one of my favorite songs by itself, it always helps to put me in a good mood. The theme of learning that life is okay and you're ready to take on anything is important in being able to get into a better headspace. I can conquer whatever it was that made me doubt myself in the first place. It doesn't have to overwhelm me if I don't let it.

Don't Stop Me Now - Queen
This is at the end of the playlist because at this point you're in a better headspace than you were when you first started the playlist, this song is to help you get motivated to keep doing what you're doing, especially with phrases like "go, go, go, there's no stoppin' me."

I don't have a Spotify so I can't make a Spotify playlist, but these songs are relatively easy to find on YouTube.

Assignment 23- Ben Belin

 Playlist for being a pirate

-Yo, Ho, Ho! (And a bottle of rum) by Craig Toungate

    Chose this song because its super catchy and perfect for pirating. Makes me feel like im sailing the high seas!

-Drunken Sailor by Storm Weather Shanty Choir

    Had to put this song on the playlist because not only is it a classic but it's incredibly fun to sing too. Also this version of the song is a bit of a different take on it because it adds a guitar.

-I'm on a boat by The Lonely Island

    Although this one isn't a pirate shanty it is one of my favorite boat songs of all time and has T-pain in it so I had to include it.

-Yo Ho (A pirates life for me) by Ukulele Jim

    The songs tells you exactly what to do as a pirate, and like most pirate shanties is incredibly catchy.

-Paddy and the Whale by Ellen Cohn

    The entire song may only be 30 seconds of someone playing the flute but its the best 30 seconds of catchy pirate flute playing you will ever hear.

Jake Walters Assignment 23

 My perfect playlist has to be the playlist I use when I'm trying to relive the glory days. This playlist has anything from old love songs to 2010 hip hop songs that I personally love. This playlists allows me to embellish in the old music and enjoy myself listening to it. First song on the playlist is a must for any club and that is no other than "Time of Our Lives" by Pitbull. This song is a classics throwback and if not the perfect hype song for any occasion and anybody listening as about everyone knows about this song and the lyrics to it. Not to mention Pitbull sings it perfectly as he does with plenty pf songs that I also enjoy. Second is my favorite song of all time "Mr. Blue Sky". The best song of all time, never fails to fill up anybody who listens with joy and its an absolute joy to listen to. My next song is "Cant Take My Eyes Off of You." Another one of my favorite old time songs and one of my favorite love songs. Frankie Valli's solo in the middle is beautifully done and an absolute joy to listen to. My fourth song on the playlist is "Walking On a Dream". This song lives up to its title and does make you feel like you are walking on a dream. Its so well made and just hearing the little beat at the beginning of it gets me hyped every single time I hear it. My final song and my guilty pleasure has to be "Firework" by Katy Perry. Its such an amazing song and Katy Perry kills it. Its only found in two amazing movies, Madagascar 3 and The Interview. Overall a masterpiece and a song you can pour your heart out into singing. This is my perfect playlist. 

Assignment 24: The Future

You're done!  - well almost

Your Junior year (nearly) OVER.

Tell us about it.

Successes? Failures? Lessons Learned? Risks taken? Mistakes made? What will you do in the Summer?  What do you want for your Senior year? How do you plan to reach your goals?

Minimum of 150 words - due on Sunday, April 25 at 11:59 pm

May 16 is the last day to make up blogs 23-25

Assignment 23- Church

Playlist for Driving and Vibing

OK ORCHESTRA 

This is the first song because it is overall super hype and fun. It can lighten anyones mood and when the song is on full blast in the car and you're driving down country roads, it really is the best starter song for a car ride. 

Slow Dancing in the Dark

This is the next song I picked, it doesn't follow as well as the first song but the beat drops and background instrumentals really pull through to create a super chill vibe. This would be the song that plays in the background while you are catching up with your friends. 

Good Things Fall Apart

This next song is one of my favorite songs ever. It is also pretty chill and gives me strong Harry styles vibes It can pull as a background song or a sing along song and that makes it perfect for the middle of the playlist.

Don't tell the boys 

This next song is also one of my favorites and it gives me super 2010 vibes which is immaculate vibes. It is a pretty soft song and isn't too fast or too chill but is super catchy. I think this is point where people are singing along but also could be having super deep conversation.

Pierre

This is a super classic summer song. It is super upbeat and is a great windows down and blaring song. This would be the song you played as the sun set and when you are on the way to drop people off but you have to get some good jams in.

Midnight City

 This is the last song because it really has no words but is is super upbeat and uses a lot of cool technical sounds in the background. It really creates a good atmosphere when you're trying to get one last song into the car ride. 

Assignment 22- Koen

     For the most part, my life has been pretty average. With each year passing by, I always look back to see what has changed about me. I have experienced what is considered a typical American childhood with good principles introduced to me in elementary school, transitional and somewhat frantic middle school era and finally, a growing period of finding what to do in the future. But during my childhood, I have developed a deep understanding of perspectives and the power of observation. For most of my life, I have played basketball but now I play golf. As part of a typical childhood, sports play a major character-developing role in one's life. I would pour out my energy, running down the court in basketball, and I would improve swing strokes to get better at golf. With each sport I gained the skills to the game but  I was also introduced to new perspectives. I came to understand two very diverse cultures that gave me a better understanding of the world around me. Being able to be part of a basketball travel team let me compete at a high level while seeing the culture of basketball. I observed the grit and grind of training for hours, running suicides and drills everyday and spending every weekend at tourneys from out of the city. On the other hand, I observed the importance of structure and form playing on the high school golf team, knowing how each situation requires a different skill. My childhood may be typical to everyone else's, but it is how I embrace the perspectives from my sports experience that makes life much more intricate. While one culture may solely focus on athletics and how its their chance to prove themselves, the other will stress the importance of structure and connections with others. While one culture may struggle financially to be able to play, the other may see athletics as a social opportunity to improve their status. Through sports and other opportunities, I have been able to let these cultures influence and shape my character to be more appreciative to each. Whatever new venues these experiences come from, I continue to have sports in my life and always take in the new perspectives from every experience. 

Assignment 23- Katie Taylor

For my perfect playlist, I didn't necessarily pick similar songs, but rather picked songs I believe match a particular mood/scenario. I've entitled it "Songs for Driving on a Road Trip at Night," because I find myself putting these artists and their songs on repeat as I stare out the car window at the passing, dark fields. 

Up first is "Just Friends" by Amy Winehouse. I chose this song because Amy's jazzy feel really reminds me of cities at night (I really can't tell you why). I feel comfort in her voice.

Next is "Fade Into You" by Mazzy Star. This song made the cut thanks to the chord progression and the soft vocals. Overall a great song to fall asleep to.

Third on the playlist is "And I Love Her" by Kurt Cobain. A departure from his band's typical intense instrumental, this is a wonderful acoustic song. Kurt's low register is nice to hear.

Fourth is "1979" by The Smashing Pumpkins. This one is on here not only for the catchiness, but for nostalgia purposes. As mentioned in one of my previous blog posts, my dad would play this song and others like it a lot whenever we were on a road trip and were driving at night.

"The Only Exception" by Paramore is next. Similar to Cobain's song, Paramore tones down their 2000s punk rock sound for a romantic ballad. It's catchy, and I consider Hayley Williams to be one of the greatest vocalists of this century. 

Of course, I couldn't leave out Phoebe Bridgers. Here, she sings "Georgia," another love song with a somber tone.

Julien Baker comes in with the penultimate song on this playlist: "Relative Fiction." This one is tied with "Heatwave" for my favorite song off of her new album, Little Oblivions. I adore the new sound she's adopted, different from her power ballads of her previous two albums.

Finally, Wilco's "Sky Blue Sky" makes it on here. I love a good somber acoustic guitar.

Link:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/59gIhhCnkUa89TuXz59qAU?si=22f74a273c2b4c57 

Assignment 22 - Ethan Scutchfield

I spent spring break visiting several colleges and universities to get a better idea of what I would be interested in for after high school.  I visited University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, Hanover College, Lake Forest College and Butler University.

The past year has been a reflection on my life, staying mostly alone with very few human interactions. I like to be an introvert, so it was pretty obvious and expected that I really preferred the smaller schools.  I really do like to learn, But I struggle to pay attention and in a large lecture hall where nobody is paying attention, that's just giving me a recommendation to stop caring and stare off into space for an hour.

The fact that i just prefer to keep to myself for the most part, despite how loud I am (i know weird), really just makes me prefer a school that's fairly small and doesn't really have all to many people because i enjoy not having to interact with people any more than absolutely necessary because hell is other people and i prefer to just chill out and try to learn.

Assignment 21 - Ethan Scutchfield

 For over a year, the obstacle of online learning has been a huge issue for me.  I was able to coast pretty easily during the non-pandemic high school years, but when everything went online, it was hard to focus for hours a day to an online platform.  Add to that issue, I have five AP classes this year, including Physics and Calculus.

My first reaction was to completely shut down.  I don't like busy work and I felt like I wasn't really learning. All the classes had me completing assignments outside of class time and I didn't feel like it was really helping my education.

I am still struggling, but I am trying to get things turned in on time (or close to on time).  I am slowly getting caught up on assignments that I have let fall between the cracks.  I have learned that I need to be face to face with my instructors.  While looking at colleges, it has also made me realize I need to go to a smaller school and not one with 400 person lectures.

Assignment 22- Sara Anderlich

 "Your Life Isn't Boring"

I really just want to go to UK. I know that may seem short-sighted, or like I could do better.. but I really didn't think about it seriously until this year. I always dreamed about Ivy League, or Michigan State, but I never really had a reason. I thought about schools for psychology too. There's one in Chicago that looked really great, and for a while I considered Berkley too. But, the thing is, all of those dreams came out of confusion. I was just thinking about random colleges and choosing them with no basis. I never really looked into any of them. I've been thinking and thinking... I don't want to be a psychologist, I don't want to be a musician. Yes, I'm passionate about those things, but I've let my mind wander and I really want to be a veterinarian. Just a normal, domestic, veterinarian. I want to be around animals and I want to watch them heal, even if I'll have harder days. I want to feel like I'm helping someone. For a while, I thought that was people... and I do want to help people. In a way, I will be. I'm still interested in music and psychology, and to be honest, I don't have to give that up. I've looked into it, and I can pretty much major in anything, as long as I take the pre-requisites for graduate school (vet school). These include Biochemistry, Microbiology, Physiology, and Communication. Though the University of Kentucky does not have a vet school, they work alongside the Auburn University of Veterinary Medicine (ranks 14th in the nation). Even then, I don't have to go there. For graduate school, I could also go to the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine (ranks 4th in the nation)... and that's kind of where I'm leaning depending on finances. That's also why I want to go to UK. I am very concerned about costs and I know that I can get in to UK without paying much at all. I also live close by, so if I don't qualify for a housing stipend I can easily commute. I don't see it as the easy way out at all. I just want to go though college with as few student loans as possible, so I can have the money to spend on a nice graduate school. 

Ohio will be amazing, especially if I can get in. It's close by, a good school, and I have some family connections to it that can help my chances. The campus is also really pretty and I know that by being so close to home, I'm going to be able to experience life while also having people that I can look forward to seeing.

As for my uniqueness, I'm determined. I don't think that any one school is going to be perfect for me, but I think that I'll be the perfect fit for almost any school. I know how to make the most out of any situation and I think that being surrounded by friends and family, I'll have the support system that I need to get through anything. In no way am I the perfect student, but I have so much passion that I know I'm going to be happy at UK. Their jazz program is phenomenal, and even if I don't choose to major/minor in music, I know that it's going to be something I enjoy. I'm already excited. 

Assignment 22- Church

Drugs. Well I mean that would change anyone's life right? Don't worry though I'm not talking about me. Not that it makes this any less concerning. Growing up with a family member that does drugs is hard. A family member who battles with addiction so much that you become less of a person and more of a nuisance. When the need for a high is stronger than the love you have for your family. Growing up as someone on the outside of this only changes your entire life. You go from relying on the love from family to relying on self love and making friends that will love you for you. Because forever you feel like you're not enough for your family. Then at the same time you struggle to find friends because as people grow and experience high school they start playing around with drugs, but you already know the consequences. You've watched someone throw their life away for drugs and in return you fight for the chance to be different from them. You endure the hardest of classes and the long hours of works just in hopes to gain the smallest attention from your family but also so that you can have a future where you don't rely on anyone but yourself. The only positive attribute you gain from these experiences growing up is strength and hard work. Since I started middle school this idea of college is drilled into your brain. Good Grades=Cheaper college. and coming from someone who is in a low socio-economic class family, the only future you have relies on your grades and work from the start. I'm not going to say this idea of a family member having a drug addiction defines me. In reality I will never let drugs define me or who I am, but I will say it impacted who I am today. You grow up from a young age and gain an independence that some may never gain in their entire life. This would make me ideal for colleges. They would never have to worry about me dropping out because I would be relying on my college degree to get my life started.  Long story short drugs change your life no matter if it's you being directly affected or If it's a family member. While In some cases like mine it can make you stronger but for the most part it causes negative affects for all parties.

Assignment 20: Adobe premiere cloning tutorial

 https://youtu.be/bB1z14WYUik

Assignment 20 Garrett Peavler

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/10wwTawjJvAIJ968m_xbgO9UFi1Rem37W/view?usp=sharing

Assignment 20 - Jimmy Chen

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jN8LBTfU7kzaAkIEePCUiGIPiDf7U_LN/view?usp=sharing

Assignment 22: Sanat Dharwad

 Probably the only thing “unusual” about my life has been my love of music. Everything else has been pretty normal. I guess my race could be deemed unusual, but I feel like I haven’t really experienced enough resulting from it for it to be deemed so. I’ve been surrounded by music from a young age, as my mother teaches classical Indian dance. I heard songs everyday from my mother’s repertoire, be it her practicing, or teaching. One day my family was eating at a restaurant where a band was playing. After we finished eating I asked the guitarist if he gave lessons, and I eventually started learning from him. I’ve played since then. I’m not sure how this really affects my personality and character though. Maybe this has made me more introverted as a person? Sometimes I’ll spend obscene amounts of time playing and composing pieces. How this affects my college choices? I’m not sure there would be much of an effect, since I’m not a big fan of chill related music. Music is supposed to be fun, and for me,  school strips that from it. Perhaps a club related to music could be fun. 

Assignment 21: Sanat Dharwad

 One dilemma I’ve had for a while is a classic question, The Ship of Theseus. It goes something like this “how many planks repairing a ship does it take for the ship to no longer be the same ship?.” I’ve recently been thinking about this question in the context of people as they change over time. I’ve been asking myself the completely irrelevant question “If I ever experience memory loss, am I really me?” Or have I died and been replaced by someone else? I’ve been mulling this over for a while, and I guess there isn’t really any objective truth. It's more of an opinion based question. Right now I’m of the opinion that any substantial memory loss might as well be death, since the person after memory loss is so different than the one before. So many planks have been replaced that the ship is no longer itself.

Assignment 21 - Jimmy Chen

 Freshman year I applied to two music summer programs, one was with the Colburn Conservatory of Music and the other one was with the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. The application and audition process was very hard and had multiple rounds. They both started with weeder rounds of video auditions, which wasn’t too hard. Then they got to live auditions which were over skype and those were more stressful. But the Colburn Conservatory of Music had a third round of auditions with a panel of 3 judges, which was extremely stressful. I was extremely surprised that I had made it to the third round but sadly I was waitlisted at that point. The studio teacher that I had wanted did not want me. I tried to hopefully wait out the waitlist, but I had already been accepted into the summer program at Oberlin and I decided to go there instead. I ended up getting over the probable rejection and attended the summer program at Oberlin. I had a great experience there. We spent two great weeks there and I had a lot of fun. Then we took a bus to Chicago and spent a really great third week there. They gave us metro cards and we could roam the city freely as long as we got back before the 11pm curfew, of course. We performed with the chicago symphony orchestra and got lessons with the members. We also had the opportunity to perform with Rachel Barton Pine who has a 20 million dollar Guarneri Violin. Of course the Colburn Conservatory program did get to play in Walt Disney Hall, but you shouldn’t dwell on what could’ve been and instead be happy with what you have.

Assignment 22 - Jimmy Chen

 I have a single sibling in my family, my older sister. Although that is very common, the thing that isn’t uncommon is just how much older she is than me. She is 29 years old, which means she is 12 years older than me. This age difference creates a very interesting dynamic between me and my older sister. Oftentimes I forget I have an older sister, my life basically functions as me being an only child. My sister is only present throughout short periods of time, usually Christmas or thanksgiving and the early part of my childhood, she left for college when I was 6. She graduated highschool in 2010! The presence of my sister hasn’t affected me too much except for when I was really little. She liked to pull little pranks on me, I ended up watching many many horror movies with her, namely the most vivid in my memory are It and The Ring. The ring really traumatized me, I was terrified of sewer drains, the TV’s, and the Telephone. I used to unplug the TV and the telephone every night before I went to bed so the scary girl with the black hair wouldn’t come eat me. This eventually blossomed into a love for horror movies and doing weird things like going to haunted mansions. I am thoroughly entertained by tours in large cities where they take you to all the places gruesome murders happened. It’s also the reason I like doing things like skiing. roller coasters, and high places. I think it has probably helped me make friends like with skiing, where like minded people enjoy the sensation of fear and thrill, a stomach dropping sensation of terror and free fall.

Ghazzal Hammad - Assignment 22

 Growing up as a minority in a town that had a 97% white population, I experienced a variety of struggles and challenged that shaped who I am today. Being one of a limited number of Pakistanis in the area, I always felt like an outcast. All my friends were of European descent and shared the same culture, beliefs, religions, and values. They all had similar lifestyles and ideals. However, my family's culture was much different, and as a result, my upbringing was significantly different than theirs. I always felt isolated and I struggled to embrace my culture and family. I often felt embarrassed and even ashamed of my upbringing, and I would try to hide it from other people so I wouldn't get made fun of. Always trying to fit in and neglect my culture was exhausting, and once I got a little older, I learned the importance of accepting my culture and background. Being unique and different from others is a good thing -- it makes you interesting and sets you apart from the norm. I am now very proud of my culture and upbringing, and I think college will be beneficial because it will help me find other unique people of different backgrounds. Learning about other people's lifestyles and ethic upbringings is fascinating to me, and I eagerly await meeting new people in college and learning about their experiences growing up.

Assignment 22 Garrett Peavler

    The idea of a shortened weekend is something that many people would have a hard time grappling with. But for me, it is something that is commonplace. Something that I don't even consider as a negative thing because for as long as I can remember, weekends have always been reserved for family. Every single weekend I go to both of my grandparents' house and spend the whole day there. Fridays I go to my Mom's parents' house; Sundays I go to my Dad's parents' house. The only reason I ever miss it is if I have something else going on, so even then my weekend still isn't free. The only day that is free is Saturday, but on Saturday I have to try and get as much of my homework done as possible so I don't have to do it while I'm there (obviously, the existence of this very blog post is proof that this is not always a working system). Now, after all that I have said, you might be beginning to think that I harbor some kind of resentment to this shortening of the weekend, but the truth is I don't care at all. I've been doing this my entire life, and it has taught me a valuable lesson that will forever impact the way I see the world. That lesson is that time spent with the people you care about is much more valuable than time spent with yourself, and while that might sound like the end to a PIXAR movie, I could not think of a string of words that rings more true in my own life. Giving up my weekend to be with my family has shown me the importance of family and it has taught me how to deal with having less time; for work and for myself, and I really don't think I would change a single thing.

Assignment 22 - Grace Barnett

 I have grown up with two amazing parents who have loved me unconditionally. Now I know that this is not unusual, but the way my parents raised me is what I think makes me unique. My parents are polar opposites. My father is a lawyer who favors punctuality and commitment, he has the same routine every day and loves to plan ahead. My mother, on the other hand, is an art teacher who loves adventure, goes wherever the wind takes her, loves to try new things, and is most likely going to be late for her own funeral (sorry mom.) But with such different parents, I have been able to see things through multiple perspectives and they push me to try new things and to be adventurous. They've taught me that hard work is crucial to succeeding in life but to enjoy things and find that balance between work and play. My parents are the main reason why I am so self-motivated because they inspire me to do great things and they recognize that I have it in me to be successful. I owe everything I am to my parents. 

Assignment 22- Ben Belin

Something unusual that happens to me is that I am great at getting along with strangers. Now I know this might sound strange at first, but let me first give you an example. A few months ago my friends and I went to a pet shop to look at all the different animals there. When we got there we immediately went over to the birds (they are the most fun to pick up). However there was another person who I had never seen before picking up the birds. Needless to say I ended up talking to this stranger for an hour about birds and how he lived on a. farm. Talking to people who I've never meant about things I don't know much about has always been something I enjoy, and hopefully this will come in handy in college since I'm bound to meet tons of new interesting people there.

Assignment 22:David Butler

If i'm interested in a subject i'll do as much as i can to get as good as i can at it. That's the way I feel about film and deep down that's how I've always felt. I've been making short films(of varying quality)since 3rd or 4th grade and I've learned a lot about them. However, I am someone who is never too good, or special, or egotistical, that I believe that I can't always improve or learn from those around me. I want to go to film school, preferably in California due to their obvious high film standards, however, I have other priorities as well. I will be moving either in the same general area as my girlfriend(we will have been dating for about 4 years by the beginning of college), move in together or other options. You can get a good education almost anywhere you go if you just apply yourself and your own happiness matters as well so I am much less picky about where I go to college than I used to be. In addition, many of the film producers never even went to film school because there isn't anything there that you can't learn with experience and you will get noticed if you put out good content on your own. It's hard to tell what's to come

Assignment 21 Garrett Peavler

    The problem that I would like to solve is the drug abuse problem that plagues many communities that society tends to forget about. And, while it may seem counter-intuitive, the best way to deal with this problem is to legalize the drugs that are commonly abused. Now, when someone says they support legalizing drugs, it tends to be the kind of statement that silences rooms, as all the "upstanding" and "good-natured" citizens look on and listen in quiet judgment. I ask you to bear with me and hear me out before you make that judgment. 

    When I say that I support the legalization of drugs, I don't mean it in the hippie sort of way that most people assume. I don't support it so that a bunch of rowdy teenagers can have irresponsible fun legally.  I support it because of the lives that it could save. In fact, I don't even believe that drugs should be legalized for average people, only those who have developed a dependency; I want to solve the concrete problem of overdoses, not the moral dilemma of whether or not drugs should be normalized. Legalizing drugs would decrease overdoses, as the government would be able to control the outflow of these drugs, so someone who is addicted can get just the amount needed to keep them from withdrawal while they receive the help they need; help that would be easier to administer if those who are suffering from addiction come right to an organization that seeks to help them, instead of a street dealer seeking to make a profit. 

    Many people speak against this because they feel that the system would be abused by money-hungry people. My response to this? Of course, the system would be abused! But the point is that people with addiction would have a legal, organized place to get these drugs, which would keep them from overdosing, winding up in prison, or getting a disease from unclean needles. People who want drugs are going to get them. Legally or illegally. All we can do is make it safer and stop the needless waste of life that comes from an overdose.

    I have been to the funeral of someone who died of an overdose, and it is the most heartbreaking thing you will ever see. Not only do people who overdose tend to have an early death, but the last image their family gets of them is a disturbing, discolored body. A ghost of the person they once loved. When it comes down to it, people who have an addiction are not hardened criminals; unworthy of salvation. They have families and children who love them, and they should not be brushed aside and left for dead because of the mistakes they have made. Mistakes that, if given the chance, they would take back in a heartbeat.

Rukavina- assignment 22

 While I don’t think that having siblings a lot older than you is that uncommon, a lot of people are surprised between the age differences between my brother, sister, and I. My sister and I are 10 years apart and my brother and I are 8. I think having them besides me while I was growing up was a major impact on who I am today. First off, I was never babied or talked to in a soft voice the way some adults do to their kids. I was a very sarcastic 5 year old and my mother would yell at me all the time that I was too young to be talking like a teenager. I also just was always around kids who were a lot older than me all the time. However, I think that this predicament has helped me in a way because I watched my brother and sister stress through high school and college, so I sort’ve know what to expect a little. 

Assignment 20: Sanat Dharwad

 https://youtu.be/n56ulGyHxCA

Assignment 20 Eleanor Badgett

 https://youtu.be/umZd4NeJFx4

Assignment 20 - Grace Barnett

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D2NWicFN9wt4znM0BjW3Qu9a1S14_L-7/view?usp=sharing

Assignment 21 Eleanor Badgett

 One problem I'd like to solve or seen solved is how long it takes and how expensive it is to travel. There are really very few things I enjoy more than getting to go somewhere for the first time or getting to do something new. While I am lucky to get to go places and do things, I don't get to do so as much as I would like to. This is due to many things. The first is school, I really prefer not to miss too much school, and with only two days off at a time it is pretty hard to go places. Another reason it is tough to go places is how long it takes, sometimes it ends up taking longer to get somewhere than the actual thing you went for does.  Also, if traveling did not take so long, it would be easier to go places on long weekends, or even just normal weekends. Finally, travel is expensive, meaning that when I get to do so, I want to make each trip the absolute best it can be. All of these issues could easily be solved by an inexpensive, high-speed, underground, train system spanning all over the globe. Not so easy. However, if anything to the effects of a system like this were to come to fruition I would love it. The system would revolutionize everything for everyone and solve many problems surrounding travel for many people. 

Assignment 22 Eleanor Badgett

 I know being a middle child is not unusual, but I would say being a middle child has had an unusually large impact on my life and who I am. My house is a family of three girls who are all very close to one another but, each bond is very unique from the others. My older sister and I are only 18 months apart meaning we have a lot naturally in common in our every day life, and have a more friend like bond. My little sister and I are four and a half years apart meaning we have, while still just as strong, a more sisterly like bond. It may sound like I am just saying this, but the most conflict in our house comes from my two sisters, due to what I think is there large age gap and challenges with seeing each others perspectives on things. Being in the middle of the two, I often find myself left to deescalate their conflicts and communicate between the two. This role has most definitely shaped my character and has made me aware when making decisions on how I say things or act. Having never been the center of attention, I have learned to make the best of the situations that I am in even if they are not what I would like to be doing or have chosen myself. Generally, I would say I am a very go with the flow, versatile person, a characteristic  which I also believe spurs from being the middle child. I also see this versatility in my life through my differing bonds with my two sisters. I think this versatility and adaptability could be beneficial in a college situation because every thing in college will be new, and maybe not ideal. I think with these qualities, I will be able take the obstacles in stride and enjoy myself. 

Assignment 21 - Grace Barnett

One problem that I have that I'd like to solve would be my insecurities. Especially my insecurities surrounding school. I often feel like I am not as smart as my peers or that I don't deserve to be in the academy. It's not because I don't meet the requirements or that I am behind in any classes but I feel like everyone around me is just so smart so I put a lot of pressure on myself. I guess I have an issue with perfectionism. If I get less than an A, then I will feel guilty and bad about myself. I think this is worse for academy kids because everyone tells you how smart you are and how you are going to go far in life which while appreciated, puts a lot of pressure on you to meet their expectations. I struggle immensely with feeling like I am not doing enough. You know I have never gone into a test or even a quiz thinking that I have done my best to prepare? I could have studied for weeks but my brain will always tell me that I could have done more and that I should have studied more. To be honest, I am unsure of the steps that I could take to solve this issue just because I have struggled with it for so long. If I could solve this problem I think not only would I be happier but more confident in my intelligence. 

Assignment 22 - Palmer Lee

I've always wanted to be a veterinarian. That much isn't particularly groundbreaking, and I'm sure there are thousands of other people out there who would like to go down that career path. But, I think I can safely say I'm one of the only ones my age who's actually gotten to have some experience in the field. When I was twelve, my next-door neighbors owned a horse farm, which we visited every once in a while. One day when we visited, one of the horses happened to be heavily pregnant, and the veterinarian happened to come take a look at her and make sure she was healthy before going into labor. The information eventually came out that I wanted to be a vet, and he asked if I wanted to help him draw blood from the horse. I don't think he was expecting me to say yes, but he let me. He told me where to place the needle, and I did. That moment is what really solidified and validated what I wanted my future to look like. The horse ended up giving birth five days later - both the foal and the mother were healthy.

Assignment 22 Jake Walters

It changed me forever. We were on vacation to a small like for 4th of July. It was my family and the family of one of my brothers friend. We all wanted to go on a pontoon boat late at night and enjoy a peaceful dinner. It started off as so until we saw a speedboat in the distance. We didn't think anything of it, its a lake on the fourth of July weekend, there's going to be other boats on the water even at night. Its when we noticed it was coming straight for us we started to worry. We had out boat lights on and we were holding up flashlight waving it down at them. There was no way they didn't see us. They didn't slow down. The realization hit all of us at seemingly the same time we were going to need to abandon ship. Everybody took off to separate parts of the boat or either jumped into the water. The boats then collided. The horrible sound of metal being ripped out of its place and the unknown of what was to come was one of the worse feelings I've ever felt. These moments forever scared me. It was later found out the driver of the speedboat was drunk and yet still operating. This horrific event forever changed me and how i viewed alcohol and other substances. I feel like a lot of kids when they were younger said they would never drink, but later break that. Me, I meant it. After seeing it first hand I would never want to get to anything close of causing an event like that to anybody. During those tragic moments too, I tried to remains calm as the other family had kids younger than me. Seeing them cry and lose it hurt me and i just felt like I couldn't do that. I had to comfort them and make jokes to them to try and lift them up. This is when I realized i wanted to be there for anybody. This is what eventually sent me down the path of wanting to become a psychiatrist and to help anyone in distress whenever I could. 

Assignment 23: The Perfect Playlist - My favorite prompt!!

A Blast From the Past

"High Fidelity" (2000) was a film that was remarkably ahead of its time. The film tells the story of Rob Gordon, a washed-up music junkie (played by the fantastic John Cusack) who spends his days creating perfect 5 song playlists. There's his playlist for his worst break up ever, his playlist of the top 5 soul tracks released between 1955 and 1965, and his playlist for his ex-girlfriend's dad's funeral.

Today, thanks to Spotify,  Apple Music, YouTube, and Pandora, creating a "perfect" playlist has never been easier.

On the other hand, Rob probably would be appalled by the slapdash way some of us throw together any group of songs above a certain tempo before we head to the gym, or take all those below a certain tempo and thoughtlessly label it “chillaxxx.” As Rob forewarned, “The making of a good compilation tape is a very subtle art. Many do’s and don’ts. You’re using someone else’s poetry to express how you feel. This <beat>  is a delicate thing.”

So for this blog assignment, create a "perfect" playlist for something. It could be your perfect playlist to listen to at the gym (boring!), perfect playlist for a rainy day, perfect playlist for anything. . . be as creative as you can. Once you have chosen a topic, select 5-10 tracks for this playlist, noting the song and artist, and write a few sentences explaining why you chose this song, what this song adds to your playlist, why you put it where you did, and how it works with the other songs you selected to create a cohesive perfect playlist.

Then create that list in Spotify (if possible) and share the link with mathhugh@aol.com 

In all honesty this is my way to crowd source interesting music so don't be a dolt and make a joke list please.

Minimum of 150 words - due Sunday, April 11 at 11:59 pm

May 16 is the last day to make up blogs 23-25

entry inspired by former Academy student John Cowgill

Zent-Assignment 22

I have been very fortunate to grow up with a stable household with two parents who both work at home. For most of the year both of them are home and able to help out with anything my siblings and I need. However, for my parents to be able to live this unique lifestyle of being able to work from home, they do have to go to in person meetings and trainings for a couple of weeks at a time. For example, my dad works for a company that produces and sells coffee and for most of January and February he has lived in Costa Rica helping his company prepare for the coffee season. Likewise, my mom spends most of January on in person business trips and meetings like the LA Auto Show. With all of that being said, ever since I was little during this time I have taken on the responsibility of taking care of my siblings and I while my parents are gone. This has taught me a great deal of responsibility in anything from making sure we all get to school to having food in the house to eat. This trait impacts my aspirations because it makes me think of how and what I can do to help other people. This makes a college with a real community feel a good fit for me because I will be able to help and contribute to the community.

Assignment 21: David Butler

 The great feeling of being injured and sidelined in your sport. It's a feeling known to almost every athlete whether they are a linebacker, runner or swimmer. I run cross country and Track and for the last 3 years i've been in and out of injury almost constantly. Whether that is shin splints, stress fractures, tendonitis, knee problems, or my current injury(bad hip flexors), its been problematic. In summation, I will have arthritis at about 25. Anyways, not until my current injury did I ever take them seriously, I simply tried to push through them so I did not look weak but in the long run it only furthered my injuries. Due to this long process I have finally figured out how to take care of my injuries and for the first time in 3 years they have gotten better. I thought that if i took time off from running then I would get behind but I have found ways around that by swimming in the mornings, doing a mile at track(less than the rest of the team, only the warm up), then going to the trainer to work on mobility and hip flexor strength, and then biking in the afternoons. Plus what was truly getting me behind was not being able to run from destroying my body and putting myself out of commission for longer periods of time. This has taught me to be patient in my progress and to be smart about what I throw myself into, physically and intellectually.

Rukavina- Assignment 21

 An obstacle I have faced is my inability to not laugh in serious situations. This may sound like a joke, but you try laughing when your mom is yelling at you. It’s not very fun. This also applies to any sad situation or anytime laughing probably isn’t the best reaction. I think I developed this habit when I was little and my older sister would start crying and yelling, and being the good sister I was, I found it hysterical. I mean watching my 15 year old sister throw a fit over where she could drive to was like SNL to my 5 year old self. Anyway, I believe that through her excess amount of teenage drama I conditioned myself to laugh when people get mad. I was able to overcome this challenge by practicing composing myself in serious situations. So I now, after 17 years, am able to maintain a mature stance, so the annoyed person does not turn to me when I start laughing at them. 

Rukavina- assignment 20

https://youtu.be/LkrUKRCk-Gs

Assignment 22- Katie Taylor

Well, this is an awful hard question to ask someone like me. I grew up (and still am growing up) in a two-parent, stable, happy household. I am incredibly grateful for how conventionally "normal" my life is. And for that reason, I don't have a particular circumstance of mine that separates me from the rest, besides trivial things like lactose intolerance. 

I guess my unusual circumstance is that my dad has an awesome taste in music. (Yeah, I know, my dad is kinda cool. Who would've thought?) Thanks to him, I've gotten into artists like Courtney Barnett, Wilco, Uncle Tupelo, the Smashing Pumpkins, Gillian Welch, Joni Mitchell, Amy Winehouse, Radiohead, and Frank Ocean, as well as the entire jazz genre.

When I was younger and my family was on a long car trip (this happened frequently, with yearly visits to the beach, Minnesota, and Washington, DC.) my dad would get to turn off the Top 40 playlist that my sister and I requested once the day turned to night. He would put in his own CD of his music, including artists like those listed above. I would fall asleep to these musicians playing. I know that sounds like I was bored by them, since I would go to sleep once they came on, but no. Their voices would always be a comfort to me. Hearing Amy Winehouse sing about a failed relationship or Gillian Welch singing a folk tune would assure me that my parents were there, and I was safe. 

Now that I'm older, I listen and enjoy these artists on my own accord, and silently thank my father for introducing me to them when he did. Thanks to him, I have a greater appreciation and love for music that goes deeper than whether a song sounds good or not. Music provides me comfort, thanks to him.

Duncan Wingfield Week 21

 A problem I struggle with a lot and need to work on is my bizarre obsession with the idea of normalcy. At some point I got this idea in my head about what a normal person is like, and since I didn't match that I let it completely destroy my self esteem. Despite me knowing that this image of a normal person was completely arbitrary and even not wanting to fit my own standards of normal it still greatly effected my self esteem poorly for whatever reason. I eventually developed this mindset that I've dubbed the "lame matrix phenomenon" where I felt so alienated from everyone else that it almost felt like I was trapped in some sort of simulated reality where I was the only real person and everyone else was a construct created by whoever had imprisoned me, but my captors were not very good at creating these constructs so I could tell something was wrong because of how different I felt from them (please note I didn't actually beleive that it's just the analogy I used and I think it's funny). I eventually was able to recognize a cycle of how my fears and stuff about my social shortcomings were also the cause of said shortcomings and I have begun to break myself out of that loop. I still have a way to go but I am much happier with myself as a person.

Assignment 21-Aiden Beach

Instead of talking about one specific problem I have solved, I would like to talk about a big group of problems I’ve solved. Not every single problem, just the group altogether. I’ve been very good at solving problems when it comes to computers. Many times when there was a complex problem, I would solve it, and then when there was another problem similar to a previous problem I had, since I solved that problem, I was able to solve that current problem. These problems have ranged from making computer access to applications more convenient to creating an easier way to access all my school related sites and easier to submit my homework. I first got a laptop in my freshman year. Before then, I barely knew anything about computers, as I only had a tablet and a TV. Since then, however, the problems I’ve faced have helped me learn more about computers.

Assignment 21 Jake Walters

 A problem I need to solve in my poor time management skills. It seems like I always have so much planned for the day but hardly get anything done that I wanted to get done or spend too much time on one project  and none on another. Another issue I have with my management of time is that I'm late to literally everywhere. I always plan to be at the location I'm supposed to be at on time and having it all planned out but one way or another I always end up at least five minutes late to my destination. Whether it be a practice, picking someone up, or going anywhere at a specific time. I am always late. This is a large problem with me that I need to fix especially with school going back in person tomorrow. I wont have the luxury of getting to school late because I need to be able to get a parking spot so I don't have to walk to school. In order to find a solution, I need to start mentally telling myself I need to be there at a specific time earlier than what was planned so that if I'm late to my imaginary time, I'm on time for the real time, if that makes sense. 

Ghazzal Hammad - Assignment 21

 One big obstacle I have had to face - especially in high school - is juggling activities and managing my time well. Over the past few years, I have taken on a lot of various activities, including tennis, clubs, debate, and my schoolwork. Having to balance all of these and get everything done on a timely manner has definitely been very challenging for me. It has negatively impacted my mentality and has made me feel overwhelmed, stress, and exhausted (mentally and physically). Through these challenges, though, I have learned that the older I get, the more things I will have to juggle. That being said, it is important to use my time well, give myself chances to relax (but not procrastinate) throughout the day, and divide up my workload to prevent myself from being overworked. I also learned to appreciate other hardworking people, especially my parents. Between taking care of my siblings and I and working a job, neither of them have much time to relax; however, they do everything in a timely manner, they don't overwork themselves (usually), and they work hard to make sure everything gets done correctly.

Assignment 22: Your life isn't boring. (College app)

Another personal reflective question, yes I know.  This time I want you to focus on connecting your uniqueness directly applies to your college.  So you’re gonna have to be thinking about your top colleges and why you are the perfect fit for one another. 

Unusual circumstances in your life:  This may be something you feel is essential to a deeper understanding of you. Discuss the unusual circumstances that provide a better context to your life experience. Consider what this experience(s) reflects about your personal qualities, personality, and character. How do these circumstances influence your perspective and aspirations? How might this background make college a particularly good fit for you?

Minimum of 150 words - due Sunday, March 28th at 11:59 pm

March 28 is the last day to make up blogs 20-22

Assignment 21 - Palmer Lee

One obstacle I've faced - and continue to face - is procrastination. I've always been bad about waiting until the last minute to get something done. I would always find something that I thought was more fun to do and do whatever task it was that I actually needed to get done at the last second - in 8th grade, I would often do my math homework (6th period) when I had some free time in 5th period. I always got it done on time, but it was a strain on my mental health. It had gotten worse when covid first hit. I had much more time to do things, but I still would wait until right before it was due to get something done. Eventually, I started setting goals and rewards for myself to help with the problem: Do your math homework that's due Monday morning by Saturday night so you can play more Animal Crossing on Sunday. Do your AP Lang assignment due next Wednesday over the weekend and then watch a movie. It's helped me to get things done earlier, and my overall mental health has improved to at least some degree since I've stopped procrastinating as much. Working on breaking the habit of procrastinating has helped me to learn not to pile things up and do them all at once so I don't get overwhelmed.

Zent-Assignment 21

There are tons of problems in the world so it's hard to choose one. But, if I had to choose one to solve it would be one that directly affects me and the people around me. I think a problem that we could definitely solve and that is close to home is not being able to recycle paper in Lexington. We do have recycling and we recycle many things, but being able to recycle paper would help our community out so much. Before this past year, I had so many different hand outs and worksheets form school that I wasn't able to recycle. I know that with everything being online and digital for the past year I and many other people in my community don't have as much to recycle, but every bit helps. I think that this could be solved just by simply allowing people to recycle paper again. 

Assignment 21- Sara Anderlich

    (OB-STA-KELS)

    Previously, on Blogpost 20, it was discovered that Kyle Hart, a student at Henry Clay High School had managed to find a way into Sara Anderlich's personal World of Warcraft account. Of course, this wasn't a big a deal- after all they were friends- until he made the choice to do something despicable. On Saturday, February 28th at 9:59pm, Mr. Hart, while sitting in his room with his dog, took this opportunity to delete one of Sara's fine creations. It was a stunning, young, Undead Mage with beautiful bronze hair and shining green skin, by the name of Leverie. Though only existing in the World for a few moments, Leverie had shown great potential for the Horde. She was strong, powerful, and knew exactly what needed to be done. Her absence will not go by unnoticed. 

    For this problem, there is only one solution. Revenge. 

One may say that Sara only need scold Kyle and change her password, but no, that is not nearly enough. Though Mr. Hart may have meant little harm, his action was murderous and he must pay the price. 

    For the past few weeks, Sara has been thinking things over, deciding what would be the best thing to do. She finally has an idea. In the coming days, Sara has decided that this must be settled over a duel. Yes, a duel. A duel to the death. It will not be fair. Sara will have an obvious advantage, but that is justified seeing as nothing Mr. Hart chose to do was fair in the slightest. So we'll see who's laughing after all of this is over. 

    Let the battle commence. 

Assignment 21- Katie Taylor

I suppose one problem I've always wanted to solve is flour. Yes, the ingredient. I'm sure this sounds dumb, but I have a personal vendetta against flour. I can't stand its texture, especially when being rubbed on a rolling pin. Even typing this out gave me the chills. If flour were to be abolished, I would not shed a single tear. I hope that eventually we can eliminate flour from our diets. 

I've done research, and unfortunately we have not yet developed the technology to replace flour. I've searched flour substitutes, but they were all just various versions of flour (eg bread flour, quinoa flour). 

This is obviously not my hill to die on, but I wanted to talk about something light. It gets sad talking about serious issues all the time (of course I believe serious issues must be talked about, but sometimes it gets depressing). Okay, the end.

Assignment 21- Church

 When Covid hit I lacked a lot of motivation to do anything. This was not uncommon for people my age as we were being kept from our friends and we had to start learning how to do school online, but at first I didn't realize that I was lacking motivation because I saw it as a fun vacation and school was so much easier. After a few weeks of being quarantined I was able to see two of my friends again, as well school was pretty much over at this point. Then I spent the summer hanging out with my two friends but that was it. I never really saw anyone else besides them. Then I got a job and became super close with my friends there. I mean I saw the people I worked with for 8 hours a day 5 days a week. I mean its hard not to be close with them. However I started to lose friends at school. I just never stayed in touch which is really my own fault looking back at it now. Now that school has started again this year and it was online, my motivation has gone down even farther, it's hard to understand and have motivation to ask questions and learn when school is online, and besides that I see all these people who are successful without college and it just makes me wonder, but also I know I need to go to college. Now finally next week, we are going back to school in person, this is really overwhelming as I am a person who likes routine and have been so use to my routine with online school. On top of the physical change, I'm going to see people I haven't seen in over a year and haven't said a single word too. I almost feel like a kid moving schools even though we all know each other. In a way I think quarantine has changed us all for better or worse. In the end to solve this problem I have downloaded an app to start getting myself on a new schedule and have been trying to focus it like it would be if I was at school. As well I have been reaching out to people just to see how they have been. I am hoping that this will make going back to school easier, but I guess I could update this blogpost next week when we go back.

Assignment 20- Church

 https://youtu.be/GAjTnByiDhM

Assignment 21- Ben Belin

 I think one of the biggest setbacks I've ever had was not getting into the academy on my first try. When I was in middle school I already knew that I wanted to go to Henry Clay and wanted to be in the Academy because my sister was in it and I had heard such great things about it from her. When I first took the test though early in my 8th grade year I didn't make the cutoff which was devastating to me. I then found out that I would have another shot at making it in 6 months later in June so I decided to do as much as I could to ensure that this time I would make the cutoff. Luckily it paid off and I made it in on my second try, but it was a really eye opening experience for me and taught me about not giving up.

Assignment 20- Ben Belin

 https://youtu.be/b4cJnunlhJA

High School- drivers license, go skiing, get a fish

College- study abroad, meet a famous person, learn to spell

Life- go skydiving, get ok a chess, be on a game show

I am terrible at spelling, and it is a problem that I've had my entire life. In 6th grade my teacher took off points on our test for every word that we spelt wrong on our test, and in order to get the point back we had to write the word correctly 5 times. This caused me to have to write almost a thousand words after each test. Of course since school is now online my spelling isn't as much a problem but I still want to fix it. Imagine how impressed everyone would be if I could spell words that were 10 letters long! The problem is that learning to spell is no easy thing, and that's why I plan to wait until college to fix it. Also it will probably be more important in college so I'll have more of a reason to fix it. My mom was an English teacher, so maybe if I learn to spell I could even become the favorite child.

Assignment 17- Ben Belin

 The director I picked was Steven Spielberg and the two movies I decided to compare were Back to the Future and The Goonies. Both are incredible movies that are still rated years after they came out.  The movies themselves are similar in the sense that they are about young people or a young person going on an adventure. In Back to the Future Marty McFly has to go to the past to save his parents marriage while in the Goonies a group of friends goes on an adventure to find hidden treasure. One of the biggest differences between the movies are the main characters Marty is a cooler kid white the kids from The Goonies are considered losers by their siblings. Both movies also have an incredibly satisfying ending. For back to the future Marty's parents have their lives turned around and their marriage saved, and in The Goonies right before losing their house they find gold in one of the kids' jackets and save it.

Assignment 19- Ben Belin

 The best piece of advice I have ever received is to stay positive. A lot of the times when things don't go our way we just give up but if you are able to stay positive in situations like that then you can turn it to your advantage. I remember when I was in 7th grade my friend and I were driving with his dad to his house and the car ran out of gas and we ended up being stuck on the side of the road for 3 hours. Usually I would have been frustrated but instead I stayed positive and invented a new game I called (drumroll please) KICK THE ROCK! In this game you find a rock and kick it up a road for as long as you can, and we ended up having a lot of fun. This might be an extreme example but it still shows how being positive can make everything much more exciting.

Duncan Wingfield Blog week 20

 https://youtu.be/y-wp5hKUZJo

Assignment 21- Koen

       One challenged that I faced during this year was NTI learning during the early weeks of online school. I was disappointed that we couldn't come back during the beginning of the year, but it was expected as the COVID situation wasn't getting better. I knew that I learned better in person because I valued in person experience. I valued in person learning because it didn't feel disconnected with the classroom and it wasn't just typing answers on a worksheet. In the beginning of the school year, I mentally prepared myself to be able to sit in front of the computer for long periods of time just to type worksheets for different classes. One of my classes was especially difficult because it taught a whole new subject where getting the fundamental basics was key to be successfully in that class. My confusion with the subject and how it was taught through zoom instead of in a classroom led to me being frustrated with the teacher. Though this challenging experience was frustrating, I believed it was necessary for the next step for my education. Through this experience, I was able to reach out to teachers more frequently so that I was able to get clarity and succeed in my class. With this lesson, I will always find ways to persevere in unfamiliar and unfavorable situations.

Assignment 20- Sara Anderlich

 How to create a character in World of Warcraft Classic!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mu3aR5VCj8 

Ghazzal Hammad - Assignment 20

How To Upload An Assignment To Canvas - Tutorial

https://docs.google.com/document/d/12rP_DUkKM0WR854tI7QOPVmgI-WAbOMeFreQNwYIbps/edit?usp=sharing 

Assignment 20 Jake Walters

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjI1nvqrGX4

Assignment 21: OB-STA-KELS – oh Brother Where art Thou (College app)

We love obstacles.  When other people are facing them that is.  But where and who would our heroes be if they didn’t face any obstacles.  The same can be said for us.  Our obstacles shape who we’ve become and who we are becoming.

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

OR

Describe a problem you've solved or a problem you'd like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma - anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution

Minimum of 150 words - due Sunday, March 11 at 11:59 pm

March 28 is the last day to make up blogs 20-22

Assignment 20- Katie Taylor

https://youtu.be/YtbyD-hUp-Q 

Assignment 20 - Palmer Lee

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QP5AOTQXt5ZCuJ5tkonWYadWN1Fl19oX/view?usp=sharing

How to play checkers

Zent-Assignment 20

https://docs.google.com/document/d/103qMc8KCOskQEOcgJ1R03__h7lMVPG9W_wxLUfLRAlU/edit?usp=sharing

Asignment 23- the prerfect playlist- Henry Adams

 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ip6E2IMyU2F-0aydR_4r7W2hB9CLyVtcKa8kzcH8KAk/edit

Assignment 20- Koen

 How to effectively clear the driveway full of ice.

https://www.amazon.com/photos/shared/wC-pJI7yQ6GMbvxzCamBZA.f8b2S1VIk_ce-ZAhL1pkZU

Assignment 20- Emma Snyder

This is basically a how to cooking video I made with my sister a couple years ago. It's from our YouTube channel called Into the Grape Vine (shameless self promo) so go check us out and subscribe, we're hilarious.  

https://youtu.be/36rN4FUWJGA. 

Assignment 18- Emma Snyder

 These are three items on my bucket list before high school ends:

1. Get good grades so I can get into a good college on a scholarship
2. Figure out what profession I want to go into cause right now there are a lot of options
3. Go on a family vacation to the beach, cause I’ve never been and if I’m not out of high school yet, my parents still have to pay for me...

Three items on my list before college ends:

1. I wanna try and find a stable job sometime before undergrad so I can have money to pay for whatever is after undergrad
2. Have a plan on where to find an actual job and where I’m going to live.
3. I’m thinking about getting married between undergrad and the one after that (don’t remember what it’s called because I’m professional like that), depending on how things go but that’s the current plan even though yeah it’s far away judge me if you want.

Three things for life:

1. Be happily married and have children (probably one maybe two) and some dogs
2. Figure out how to be happy with life
3. Get a good job and house so I can live comfortably and help support my family

I guess I’ll elaborate on the most important thing to me. It’s kind of mentioned a couple times but what I really want is a family. I love my boy friend and I love how happy he makes me and I wanna feel like that forever so I just wanna be with someone and be happy with them for the rest of my life. And then possibly have children but I really just wanna have someone to hug me and help me when I’m scared and someone to keep me from being lonely and that’s all that matters to me. You know being able to be independent would be nice but actually I don’t really care because I’m much happier with someone else. Yes I’m cheese I know.

Assignment 17- Emma Snyder

    I chose the director Taika Waititi to do this post about and watched the movies What We Do in the Shadows, and Hunt for the Wilder People. The first one is a mockumentary comedy about vampires and the second is another comedy about a “bad egg” that gets lost in the wilderness with his new foster dad.  The premise of both films are pretty different, but I think Waititi has a distinct style so you can still tell he directed both movies. I don’t know how to describe it but the comedy in his movies is really effective. The first time I watched both movies coincidentally, my parents had to force me into watching it with them and I came in determined not to enjoy the movies just to spite my parents, but by like five minutes in I was laughing my butt off. I don’t really know what else to say other than I know he directed Thor: Ragnorak or whatever it is and even though I really don’t like superhero movies, based on all the movies I’ve seen directed by Waititi and not just those two I think maybe I’ll give it a try. 

Assignment 17-Duncan Wingfield, Option 2

 The Lighthouse is an absolutely wonderful movie. The atmosphere is so wonderfully built that I genuinely will not be able to look at lighthouses the same way again. The cinematography is so cool and distinct that throughout the movie I kind of stopped noticing that it was in black and white, which the movie being in black and white is a very interesting decision. While the movie definitely would have worked in color something about it being in black and white really helps it build the foreboding atmosphere. The lack of any calm blues takes all the comfort out of the seaside vistas, making it feel much more uneasy and isolated. What really makes it all work though is the fantastic performances from both Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, the way you get a feel for the tension slowly rising and falling between them feels so real and they both completely sell their characters. I'd also like to give a special mention to the sound design. 

Assignment 19 - Grace Barnett

A couple years ago, I had taken an important test and it was the first time that I had felt like I had completely bombed a test and I was so angry at myself. I got home and I was angry and disappointed in myself for the remainder of the day and that is when my parents pulled me over and told me frankly that there was nothing that I could do about it now and that it was pointless to stress about it. I know that does not sound like life-altering advice and it seems like common sense but it helps when I get worked up over the little things. I tend to worry a lot about the mistakes I have made in the past, and as minuscule as they might be, I still fret over their effects on me and I play the “What if?” game quite a lot. But their advice helps to center me and bring me back down from my anxiety and it just grounds me. 

Assignment 18 - Grace Barnett

1. Go on a trip with one of my best friends before college starts, get into a good college, get good AP scores and a good ACT score

2. Find a major that I am happy with, study abroad, and make good friends 

3. Travel the world, learn at least 2 other languages, find a job that makes me happy in a profession that I am passionate about

 

• Out of the 9 items on my bucket list, finding a job that makes me happy in a profession that I am passionate about is the most important item to me. Everything else on my bucket list is appealing and are things that I want but all of those other items are things that I could live without if it meant that I was happy in my life and with my job. I have this fear that I will go through life trying to meet everyone's expectations and settle for a decent job and then one day wake up when I am in my 30s and realize that I hate the life I am living. I want a career and job that brings me joy and I never want to settle for anything less just to appease others and their ideas of what my life should look like.

Assignment 17 - Grace Barnett

I recently sat down and watched the movie Knives Out. I had heard about all the hype from my friends and even my family members, so I decided to give it a try. I love to watch movies, I sway heavily towards movies rather than a show/series. Regardless, I have to say that the movie did not disappoint. First off, I thought that they had a fantastic cast and it was exciting to watch such great actors work together. It was fun to see James Bond with a southern accent as well. One thing that I really enjoyed was the color scheme of the movie, especially in the house which is another thing that I loved and it is now my dream home. It is definitely a movie that I would recommend to someone who likes the chase of a mystery but can also appreciate humor, I think Knives Out does well incorporating both of those things. Overall, I would rate this movie a solid 9.5/10.

Assignment 19-Aaron Falk

 I’ve always been a fan of the phrase,”You get what you work for”. There are some people that put in little to no effort and do nothing but complain when it comes back and affects them. This phrase has been the thing to model my work ethic as when my work affects others (work, or group project) then I put forth all my effort so those around me aren’t affected. Sometimes I don’t always apply this effort but this is only in the cases where it strictly only affects me (individual work). But this especially comes into play in the workplace as I really don't like to be around slackers in the workplace because that makes me do more work for the same pay. Therefore, I do my job 100% so nobody has to be the one picking up on my slack because i'm too lazy to do my own job.

Assignment 18- Aaron Falk

 

1. Go to a Denzel Curry concert, Bring a group of friends (~10) to the lake house, and buy myself a car in full (completed)

2. Leave the country, purchase an apartment, scuba dive

3. Get a stable career, get a house, go to Japan

Out of all of these, purchasing an apartment is like the closest, but also most important one  for the reason that I know i’m gonna have to start off college in a dorm. However, as soon as I have a stable group  and income to get an apartment its gonna happen. This is because of my strong sense of independence and i'm just so restrained currently living in a family household. Of course im appreciative and love it right now, but as soon as I can get to college and appease this sense of independence I feel like ill thrive even more. Living my life with little children always around a break from that would really do me good. Plus I already spend most of my time outside of the house with work etc. So overall I am really excited to the chapter of my life where I get to move in with a friend and pay for my own rent.

Assignment 17-Aaron Falk

 The movie that I decided to watch was Blade Runner (1982) as I heard it is pretty important in order to watch 2049.Overall I was very impressed by most of the cinematography and for 1982 everything looked really good. However, I was really put off by just the general basis of the movie. I really did not like the villains as they were just disturbing people and their objective wasn’t really explained well. It was one of those movies where it seemed they threw you into this story expecting you to know all of the backstory and never taking time to explain it. The very few action scenes were stale and either very short or way too long for the result. The ending was very dry and it took too long to get to such a conclusion. Overall I appreciate it for solely the reason it sets up the universe for 2049, but overall a not great movie. 

Rating:2/5

Assignment 19- Will Stone

The most valuable piece of advice I have ever heard was, "'Don't be an idiot', changed my life. Whenever I'm about to do something, I think, 'Would an idiot do that?' And if they would, I do not do that thing." (Dwight Schrute, The Office) But all jokes aside, it is actually good advice. Many of the world's problems would be solved if some of our leaders didn't act like idiots. In my life, it has helped me to lower my procrastinating (lower, not eliminate) and keep me focused on what matters in life. It has helped me to think before I act and consider the consequences of my actions. This has kept me from doing stupid things and has kept me out of trouble I otherwise would have gotten in. I know it was meant as a joke, but it has real implications that apply to real everyday life. 

Assignment 17- Will Stone

Wonder Woman 1984 was an interesting movie that my family and I watched while in quarantine. It doesn't have many of the elements we've come to expect from The DC Extended Universe. For instance, WW84 has more jokes and humourous moments than some other DCEU films. The actors are less restricted than other installments in the franchise. For example, Chris Pine's improvised reaction to a breakdancer was something that probably wouldn't have been allowed in earlier films. However, the plot was a little confusing, and there were some continuity issues between this and Justice League. For example, why didn't Wonder Woman have some of the abilities she demonstrated in this film in justice league, which happens nearly 30 years later. In Justice League, Batman says that she had been in hiding for almost 100 years. Still, he would have caught something about this film. Another thing off about this film is the villain's motivation. We never hear why he's doing this, except to make the world better for his son, whom he neglects for the entire film, until the last 5 minutes.