Reflection

I know this is late, and the year is over, but I might as well.

This year has been quite interesting. A whole bunch of things have happened to me this year that I never expected them to, some good, some bad. Many of those things I'm not willing to talk about here, so I'll limit myself to Logsdon's class. The year in AP English has been a very intriguing one. Over the year I have gained (somewhat) of a more outgoing personality. The speech I had to give for the first semester final certainly helped with that. And of course, growing to know the people around me even better helped as well. The time leading up the to AP test was surprisingly easy. Unlike most classes (for example, Calculus) we just let it come and go. It was a very relaxing test, not strenuous or stressful at all. And the PSAs at the end of the year gave me insight to my computer and how although however top of the line it once was, I still have no idea how to use it.

It's been fun!

Reflection

This year has been full of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. I gained about twenty pounds, and I’m in much better shape than I was at the beginning of the year. I feel like I’m a more outgoing person than I have been in the past. While this has opened up doors for me in a big way, I’ve also paid a price. I’m at times a much more cynical person than I was last year, and that’s saying something. I’m more confident, which has led to more than its share of missteps. My grades the second semester are mediocre, but I’m starting to look past the grades. I’m starting to focus more on people skills and interacting. I started to open up and it worked out in a big way. With this opening up I have realized that I’m actually going to miss the people who I talk to every day. That being said, I’m looking forward to Senior Year, a fresh start, a new and improved me, and a state lacrosse title are all things to look forward to. For once in my life I don’t have a relevant quote to offer, so I’ll end on an Irish drinking toast. May the roof above us never fall in and may we friends gathered below never fall out. 

Fights

My favorite fight would probably have to be the most common which is the Harry Potter fight. I think personally why i liked that fight so much was the fact that I had become so attached to all the characters in the Harry Potter series because the books were released throughout my childhood and I read them all and saw all the movies. So the fact that I was so attached to both characters Harry especially and I could reflect on everything both characters had gone through to get to that final fight and what it would mean for Harry to final really makes it the one defining fight that I have seen through fiction. I do not have one fight that I can think of that I particularly didn't like. For the most part I find the final fights in most but not all super hero movies to be too long and unrealistic. For the most part during those fights one person or the other will get their opponent in a position in which they could easily finish the fight, but either because the director thought the fight should be longer or the hero can't be killed by the villain the person does not continue to attack for no reason at all and the fight continues. I dislike this mostly because throughout the movie what the makers do a great job of is making the viewer believe that no matter how ridiculous the movie is that it is real and usually they do a good job of that, but when it comes to that final fight it for me at least most times ruins the great image that the makers have made for not only those main characters in the movie, but also the movie as a whole.

Secrets

Being a guy I don't carry around nearly as many things as girls do on a day to day basis. The 3 main things that I carry around all the time are my wallet, keys, and phone. My keys I don't carry around as much as I do my wallet and phone, but I still find my keys very important. I carry around my phone and wallet so much that it has gotten to the point where when I stand up to leave a room or go somewhere and I don't have one of the two in my pocket I can feel that they are not there as soon as I stand up and I immediately look for them. I am not so worried about not having my wallet as I am my phone. During the periods when I get my phone taken away for whatever reason I feel naked not having it. I always will reach into my pocket to pull it out and it won't be there which is the weirdest feeling in the world. I find it crazy that I have lived in a world that has put me in a situation where I am almost physically attached to my phone. I miss my phone not being in my pocket the same way I would miss a finger if I were to loose one. For a while I would continue to use my hands as that finger were there, it would take me a while to get use to it. The same goes for my phone it takes me a day or two before I finally get use to the fact that I am not going to have my phone everywhere that I go. It is also amazing how much different life can be by simply not having your phone. It shows you not only how much you rely on your phone and how important it is for even communicating the smallest things instantly, but it also shows you how harmful it can be when it comes to your experiences in life and the relationships that you avoid due to technology.

Somewhere in the world...

Somewhere in the world right now someone's life is being changed forever. This person no matter where they are going through a life changing experience. It could be that this person has just been given the greatest gift of all in a new baby. This person is seeing their life change with this new blessing being introduced into their life they are also experiencing all the newfound challenges and responsibilities that come with this great gift of life. This person could also be experiencing life change through the taking away of life. This person could have lost someone they care deeply about and are questioning why things are turning out the way they are. This person is seeking answers to the burdens involved with her life everywhere she turns. This person may also be having a life changing experience that they do not know yet is life changing. This person could have just met someone that will greatly influence and create new chapters in this persons life that they will either soon cherish or regret. This person also may of made an important decision that will lead this person down a path that will soon show weather the choice made was a good one or a forgettable one. Many people all over this world are having life changing experiences. This is just a reminder that at any moment in your life that person having the life changing experience could be you. So no in all things you do it is important to think about how that decision will effect you down the road and think about if this decision you are making is right for you down the road and how it will effect you. The worst thing you can do in life is do something that you regret.

100 years

It is scary to think about what the world will be like in 100 years, it's really scary. I believe the world in 100 years will be one that has seen a lot of the problems that we face today be solved, but also many new ones arise. One of the most pressing questions that people have about the future is what our plan is when we run out of oil or the energy resources that we are commonly using today. I believe that this is a question that is already being addressed right now as we speak so in the future when we do reach that point where we run out of energy resources new ones will almost without a doubt of been created. It is simply a matter of time before someone comes up with a great new energy resource that is likely better than anything we have seen before. My questions about what the world will be like in 100 years is one that if changes have been made will effect how this nation and most of the world functions and goes about things. That question is the political structure and system that runs this nation and has a major effect on most of the world. My view is that this political system is one of the greatest in the world, but there is not doubt that there will be quite a few doubters when it comes to how this country is run. The effectiveness of this doubters to get their opinions shared with the general public will be a key to the future of this great nation. I believe that the track record the current democracy has of being a government that looks out for the people the way no other system can is one that no matter what the doubters have to say about it will ultimatley privale over all other alternatives. So yes there are many more interesting questions about what technologies their will be in 100 years and how easy today's grueling tasks will be made, but the key question still remains on if the decisions that effect the wellbeing of the entire nation and most of the world as a whole are still being made by the same people and through the same system.

Education System Changes

My experience with the education system has been a very unique one. I went to private school for the beginning part of my education and new nothing different. Now being thrown into the public school system I can better reflect on both of my private and public school experiences and the few problems I have with both. I can now say that the private school system is a great one and I wouldn't trade my experiences during that time for anything, but I do feel that depriving your child of the public school system is a crime. Going to public school is an experience to say the least. The people that you go to class with and the people you see in the hallways especially is a life experience that has changed the way I look at life. Before my time at public school I had only been around and with people that shared the relative same belief system and lifestyle that I did. Now coming to public school and getting to know people from all different backgrounds and lifestyles has been an experience that I believe has better prepared me for life beyond high school. The one problem that I do have with the education system is a whole is the fact that school instead of being viewed as a privilege it is viewed as something that you are being made to do which you are. I believe that going to school should in fact be mandatory because a nation in which teens who are not yet responsible to make life decisions are given the chance to drop out of school is a scary one. But what should change is the atmosphere that schools create. Having building like Henry Clay in which few classes have windows and some students with the exception of during lunch never see the light of day is crazy. School needs to not be a place that is in fancy expensive buildings, but again it shouldn't be held in jail like buildings either. By trusting students and giving them more freedoms and making school a more welcoming environment for everyone the student will be put in a mood and have a view of school that is not one of just one thing they have to get through and then move on, but rather a key opportunity and privilege that they are given. A world in which the education system was looked upon by the student in a way that encourages learning is a great one.