Unfair Treatment

                One thing I don’t like is unfair treatment in classes. Sure it’s okay for teachers to have favorites, but when it is blatantly obvious that some kids are favored more than others, it upsets me a lot. I understand that there are some kids that don’t work in class, have a bad grade, or disrespect the teacher, and this puts a bad label on the kids making the teacher dislike them. But when there are students that are nothing but nice to teachers, work hard, and continue to get an acceptable grade in each class, they should not be discriminated against for other factors that shall remain unmentioned. It seems to be, in most classes at least, that some teachers tend to favor certain kids, although some (not all) should not be.

                I have ran into multiple situations where I feel as though I have been treated unfairly with our supervisor contradicting themself because they allow certain things with some students more than others. I have never been one to disrespect a teacher, talk back, or not follow rules, and I feel somewhat insulted when some teachers don’t take the time to notice this, and go off their first impression and what they think they know about my character.

                The majority of high school students are talkative, have friends, and like to socialize. This is just a regular part of being a teenager. When you have a friend in a class, you may be tempted to get a little bit more talkative than usual, and typically not to the teachers liking. I understand a teacher’s position when they ask students to quiet down or not to talk at inappropriate times but I would appreciate if it was applied to everyone and not singling out a select few. I know it is hard for teachers to contain classes of high school students but I would like if teachers would look at students the same.

Why take AP Lang?

           When I first heard about AP Lang last year during class registration I immediately thought people must be either completely crazy, or have way too much time on their hands. I rejected the idea right away. After giving some thought, and looking into my schedule and future ambitions (college) I started to consider what good and bad would come out of taking this class. I came to the conclusion that not only will this class help prepare me for college and boost my GPA, but it will also help me in ways I would have never imagined.

            A common myth about AP Lang is that it is a heap-load of homework, reading, and huge essays. This is not true. Yes, there is a lot of reading involved, but the majority of the reading isn’t homework, but reading in class. We read a variety of essays in this class, some long, and some short, from different authors and writing styles. Although many are boring, there are many interesting essays as well.

            Many people also complain about the analysis or synthesis essays we have to write in AP Lang. The essays may sound hard, but come pretty easy when you take the right notes on our readings, and properly analyze. Each term we have a few class discussions over excerpts we read in or out of class. These discussions help a lot to maybe catch things that you didn’t notice in the excerpts, but your classmates did, and also to ask questions you may have to clear up before writing your own analysis essay. I think this is the thing that has helped me most in this class by preparing me for reading college level essays, and learning how to construct my own advanced analysis essay.

            As with every other AP class, there is, of course, the dreaded AP test at the end of the school year. Although I haven’t taken the exam yet, I have heard that it is extremely challenging to many people. This could be a potential “turn-off” to people considering this class, but if you look at the big picture of the things that you will learn from this class, and also use in college, it is worth taking the class.

            I have learned a lot of writing, analyzing, and synthesizing techniques, as well as other things not involved in this class. One of these is time management. I have had to learn how to manage our homework assignments in this class, along with each term’s reading pages and blogging numbers, and also other class work. I would highly suggest anyone with college aspirations to take this course.

Learning Foreign Languages Should Be Required

The United States is becoming more and more diverse every day and every year. Along with this diversity come different races, religions, beliefs, and languages. Our nation is constantly working toward equality and acceptance of people of all sorts. But how are we supposed to accept without the ability to communicate? This is why foreign languages should be a required course in high school.

            Communication with those of other nationality, who may not know English, is used in everyday life. When working in jobs involving interacting with customers, it is a necessity to be able to communicate with all kinds of customers, even those that may not be fluent in your language of preference. Being capable of communicating with an assortment of people is very beneficial in most professions, and can sometimes be used on job applications to impress your employer, giving you a larger variety of job options.

            Studying abroad and exploring other countries is a great way to learn more about other cultures and discover alternative ways of life. Knowing foreign languages can give you greater opportunities when going to places unfamiliar to you, where you would in other cases not understand the native language. When travelling to other countries and continents it is required that you must communicate to get around in a foreign country.

            There are many advantages to being multilingual, and I think this should start at a very young age, when teaching languages is more effective, and children absorb languages with ease.

 http://www.buzzle.com/articles/benefits-of-being-bilingual.html

Make It or Break It

                Make It or Break It is a teenage hit television series that started about 2 years ago. This series is about a group of 4 elite gymnasts training in a gym with one goal: to go to the 2012 Olympics, and win. The Rocky Mountain Gymnastics Club, or “The Rock”, is a high-class training facility that also has some high-class drama. Each girl is completely different in their own way.

                Payson Keeler is the hardworking gymnast that has always been on top, and was projected to win the 2012 Olympics without contest. This all changed when Payson had an accident at the national meet, breaking her back and threatening to end her career for good. After a big-time back specialist developed a new procedure that could heal Payson’s back, she expected to come back better than before, but was held back when she found out that she must pursue a different kind of gymnastics, a more artistic approach.

                Kailey Cruz is the national champ. She had always been an underdog until Payson’s accident resulted in her winning the national championship. With all of the pressure with staying on top Kailey changed her entire attitude, training non-stop and almost over-focusing on her goal.

                Emily Kmetko is a girl from “the wrong side of the tracks” that was discovered at a nearby YMCA and brought to “The Rock” for her raw talent. Along with her struggle for being on the National team and trying to go to the Olympics, her single mother is also trying to make ends meet. Emily is the underestimated girl that will blow your socks off on the gymnastics mat.

                Lauren Tanner is the gym snob. She has extreme talent and is a definite contender for the 2012 Olympics, and will do absolutely ANYTHING to be on top. Along with her millionaire dad, that controls “The Rock”, the father-daughter duo intends to be on top no matter what it takes.

"Movie Moments"

      

There are some scenarios that people consider “Movie moments”, or moments that you think only happen in movies. Today I had a terrible experience with one of these moments. I was walking innocently down the hallway with my dearest friend Emily having a nice chat while walking to the bathroom, when BAM!!!!! I was completely thrown off the ground and on my back. Completely in awe, I stand up and realize a teacher had viciously opened the door to her classroom and hit me with it. I won’t go overboard and say I needed medical attention, but this blow definitely wasn’t something I was expecting on my peaceful trek to the restroom.

Another example of a “Movie moment” is the infamous pouring milk on the head in the lunchroom. You see it in every teen movie, with the nerdy girl who finally builds up the courage to stand up to the mean girl. Typically, the mean girl will be wearing a white shirt, or brand new expensive outfit that will be completely ruined. Let’s get real; this would never actually happen in real life. There would either be a throwdown-actually a wimpy girl fight- involving a lot of hair pulling, or a whole lot of clawing. (Note: this scene may also happen with any messy food, preferably a type of pasta, like spaghetti, that will make the scene even more dramatic)

            My final-and most ridiculous- movie moment I will mention is the in-sync singing that takes place generally in musicals. We’ll use High School Musical as an example- please take note that I have absolutely nothing against this movie, it is one of my favorites-, although there are multiple scenes where the cast breaks into song I talk about the very first classroom soon. While in homeroom listening to the drama director talk about the spring musical, Troy Bolton spaces off looking at the ticking clock with 1 minute left before summer. The students all start chanting quietly, gradually getting louder, “summer”, “summer”, “summer”… and as the bell rings, they all break into song! WHAT TIME IS IT, SUMMER TIME! And so on with the song. This isn’t the only part that bugs me, but also the way that every dancer seems to know the same routine dance. Again, let’s get real; this would never actually happen in real life.
            Not saying that these are bad things to have in a movie, but it does make the movie way less believable, as well as unrealistic.

Texting While Driving

               Texting while driving should be illegal. Not just for minors but for everyone. It is one of the most dangerous things that you can do while you are driving. Your chance of being in an accident is increased. You are more distracted and you are a hazard to the people around you.

                While you are texting and driving you are not fully focused on the road. According to CNET’s Jennifer Guevin, “Texting while driving took a drivers focus away from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds- enough time… to travel the length of a football field at 55 mph.” In that 4.6 seconds you can swerve across the lanes, hit pedestrians, be unaware of certain signs and stop lights, change speed drastically, hit other cars, or go off the road. You can also be mistaken for a drunk driver.

                Accidents are increased while texting and driving. Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that truck drivers who are texting are 23 times more at risk of a “crash or near crash event.” People stop paying attention to the road because they are more focused on the text that they are sending or reading. People may think they can multitask on the road and their phone but they cannot.

                I personally realize I cannot text and drive. I am a hazard to myself and others around me. I tend to swerve around in my lane and almost into others. I speed up without even realizing it. That could cause me to run into people in front of me because sometimes the distance between my car and the car ahead of me is not always realized.

               Texting while driving is hard to resist. Almost everyone does it at least once. Even that one time can cause an injury, a car that is wrecked, or the loss of a life. All of those are proven so it should be illegal. It is not worth the risk.