Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Journal #1

1. Pretend that you are talking to a blind man and have to describe for him what "red" is. You should use narrative and descriptive writing techniques, and try to appeal to his other senses!

The color red is a very unique color unlike others. For some people it can mean something affectionate or special to them such as a rose or a heart. When they see red maybe that is what comes to  there mind. Somebody who is in love or who loves somebody else can see red and imagine a rose, a heart and romance. For people who are inlove the color red may bring them some romantci thoughts about somebody because red is also the color of a rose and the color of the heart. The color red can symbolize love and romance for people. For others however red can be a very grotesque and gory color maybe because of an awful experience that they may have gone through. An example is that red is the color of fire and blood. Fire obviosuly burn people in contact and scars them, it can even kill peoplem through really severe and awful wounds/ burns. Maybe somebody who has been through that awful experience may hate the color red because they are reminded by that. Red can also symbolize blood for others. Since blood is portrayed with sickness, disease, suffering and death. Blood can be very awful so some people have the reaction of not liking the color red because for some they are reminded of blood. So then if i was talking to the blind man, He can have an image of what red may be. If the man is inlove or has feelings for somebody when they hear red they may be reminded of love and that special somebody they love. But maybe if they had an awful experience either with fire or maybe with blood than for them red can be something brutish and nasty to them. But it will depend on the man and his experiences wether he likes or dislikes the color red based on my descriptions and what he thinks of them.

Journal #2

2. How does competition function in our society? To what extent is it healthy/unhealthy? Offer some real world examples taken from your life, community, culture, state, nation, or world.

What i believe is that competition can both unite people but it divides them at the same time. Because yoy could think about for example in sports. Differen teams dont get together because of distance apart from eachother. But during sporting events teams get together and play for the fun of it. So in a sense competion can bring people togetherduring those events.  Competition can bring us together for a short time but soon different people are divided again and resume their normal lives sometimes not seeing the people thay met at competiion again. When competition is over people resume living being divided because of the end of competition. During competitions there can be bitter rivalries between the groups which will make them remain seperate during and after competition. When groups have a bitter ruvalry between eachother and hate eachother just to win a competition it results as unhealthy and evil for our society. However when they compete against eachother for the fun of it then it is not evil and healthy for the two groups. For example im in marching band. When we perform fieldshow or mach we compete against other schools. Sometimes we can have really fun and perform the best we can to win awards. Its not always that way. One time we had fun was during the veterans day parade as we were waiting to participate in the parade we competed musically against madison high school. it was fun and we got along because we enjoyed doing it. So this battle of  the bands that we had was an example of a healthy relationship since we didnt hate eachother and got along. We were united by the competition of bands but sadly we are now divided because of the end of band competitions.

Journal #3

3. How have you taken something that you have learned in the classroom and integrated it into your nonacademic life?

Some of the things that we learn in classrooms stay with us for a long time and we can use them into our no-academic life. Something that i have taken from my class and integrated it into my life was in my theory of knowledge class. About a few months ago we were on the perception unit and talked about how our senses and emotions influence how we perceive other people and situations. Since i learned that sometimes im blinded by what i feel or by my other senses i may not completely perceive my surroundings nor other people. Its a common ideology to say that sight is the most inportant sense that we have. However this is not true because all of our senses should be of equal value and equal importance. no sense is ever better than anothe sense. But since i always rely on my eyes in my perception i sometimes may not notice my surroundings which could be detected by my other senses. What i sometimes do in my nonacedmic life is close my eyes and try to use my other senses. When i practice my flute on my own i cant really listen to intonation by ear so i rely on a tuner. But when i try to tune myself i close my eyes and try to listeen to the wave lenghts prodeuced by the notes of my flute to determine wether i am flat or if i am sharp. Its still hard for me to determin intonation even by closing my eyes. But i am getting better at it a bit. SPlaying my flute and checking my intonation by closing my eyes is something i took from my TOk class and try to fit into my life. Emotion is another factor which affects my perception. When i am really mad, depressed, or in love my mood influences my perception. I try not to let that happen so i can really observe what is going on around me. Perception, something i learned in my theory of knowledge class is something i try to fit into my normal life and pay attention to more.

Journal #4

4. If you could go back in time and be someone in history, who would you choose to be? Why?

If i could go back and be anybody in history i would choose to be the britsh prime minster from 1940-1945 Winston Churchill. Churchill became the prime minister of great britain shortly after the eruption of world war two. He replaced Neville Chamberline as prime minister. Churchill as well commanded most of britains military forces during the second world war. I choose to be Winston Churchill if i went back to time because he had a very important role in the war in europe against the nazis and the fascist. I believe that he had oppurutnities to win the war before the fall of france in 1940. if there was a window of oppurunity to defeat the germans before their occupation of france, if i was winston churchill id take the oppurunity and fight to keep france free from nazi control. That way france and britain would work together during the war to protect the nations of western europe from nazi control and tyranny. and if the soviets entered the war fighting against the axis as well then germany could be surrounded from the west by the british and the french and surrounded from the east by the soviets. This way World War two wouldnt be as gruesome as it was in history and the u.s wouldnt need any involvement. As well germany wouldnt need as many restrictions as it had during history and there would be no cold war neither not a war against communism. Nor any proxy war that took place during the cold war era. But i wouldnt know how society would be if germany was defeated before u.s involvement, might have been better or worse from the society we live in today. But if I was Winston Churchill id take the chance to keep france free from nazi control

Journal #5

5. If you had the responsibility to decide where $1 million should be spent to improve conditions somewhere in the world, what project(s) would you choose? Why?

If i had the responsibility of deciding where to spend $1 million, i would choose to spend it to save the starving citizens of Africa. People who live in poverty areas in africa dont have alot to eat, if they can; and suffer from disease, famine, and wars. There are some african nations that are torn apart by civil wars and the people of the country suffer and need as much help as others can provide. Mainly by food supplies that they need to live. Every six seconds a child in africa. But it can be prevented by sending money, food, and supplies to the people in africa. Its very sad to see them starvem, suffer from illness, and being torn apart by wars that occur over there. I believe that they need the $1 million more than other people in the world. I want to help the citizens get better and to continue living through their struggles.

Journal #6

6. How have you tried to effect change in relation to an issue of personal, local, or national significance?

In  my experience i had a struggle from eight grade to ninth grade i had an internal conflict wih myself  and i was alone most of the time without anybody. I was isolated, i didnt had many friends, i hated my teachers and my classes, i got my heart brokend by somebody i loved and i just hated that time. That was when i was studying at chula vista. I also kept alot of my issues inside and didnt spoke with anyone not even my own parents or family members. I was just sad, angry, upset, jealous, unhappy and had all these mixed feelings. I wanted to get better by getting involved in school groups. I was in the middle school band, i joined asb in middle school, and i also joined a group called math field day which is a group that competes in the district in math games and math events. But i was just occupied because of that i wasnt happy neither. Then i wanted to socialize with others and make friends but that wasnt very successful. I felt as if nobody liked me and i had to be alone. In high school the first semester of ninth grade didnt get any better. I still had the same issues and had the same problems. the bestthing i did was startover and move to a new school. I wante to move to schools in the east like eastlake, bonita, otay, or olympian but i couldnt because the school year started and i couldnt transfer to those schools. I only had the option of swetwater and castle so i chose castle park. I transferred schools and i became much happier. I made friends, i have great teachers, great classes, and im doing everything i want to do. The only thing i did to change how i was feeling is moving somewhere else and starting anew. Coming to Castle Park was the best choice i ever made. =)

Journal #7

7. If you could introduce one new idea or material thing to a primitive culture, what would it be?

A new technology that is very common here in the united states and other countries around the world that i would like to introduce to a primative culture if i had the oppurutniy would be cell phones. In a culture like africa where most people are seperated from time through because of war, hunting, or any other reason it is difficult for them to reunite again or to find eachother again. And people in africa also done have access to technology. Another example is the incan empire which relied on roads and messangers to communicate with eachother through a long distance. It takes a long time to just send messages over to eachother through messages and it would be much easier and faster if cell phones were introduced for the incans to communicate. Cell phones in my opinion are the most useful technological invention, besides the car that has been introduced. There wouldnt be a need to send people over long distances for communication. By calling somebody it would be easier to have a direct communication with him/her instead of waiting for a period of time to communicate with the person. In war torn countries in africa its very sad that families get seperated because of a war and never get to see eachother again. If cell phones where available for everybody then it would be possible for family members to see eachother again and not lose communication. Cell phones just make communication easier and would help people contact each other. So if i could introduce a new invention to a primative culture i would introduce the cell phone.

Journal #8

8. If you were to describe yourself using a quotation, what would that quotation be? After you have chosen a quote, then write a bit about how it relates to you and reveals what kind of person you are.

"I have no fear for the future, because i see the light, i see the truth, and it is bright with hope"~~ Herbert Hoover. During the great depression where evrybody was unhappy with the conditions they were living with and sufferred through economic struggles herbert hoover attempted to inspire his people with this quote saying that in the future their situation will get better. And later on the citizens of the U.S were able to overcome their struggle and fix their economic situation. I believe that the quote is relevant to our situation in the school because right now we are facing one of the biggest issues we have ever faced as a school. Our administartion is new, some programs are getting cut, teachers are getting fired, students show little or no descipline and school spirit, our music and sports departments are going down, the media is out to get us, and we are portrayed throughout the county as corrupt and ghetto. I know this is a difficult issue and that it may take a while for us to overcome it, but i feel the same way that herbert hoover felt like during the great depression. He believed that the issues would get resolved in the future and that everything will get better. When i think about the issues concerning our school and reflect on this quot i belive that hoover is right and i do believe things will get better in the future. I also see that the future of our school and of our education will improvein the next few years and there will be hope for us all. This crises we are facing, we will overcome it and we will be able to move on in the future.

Journal #9

9. Given the authority to establish a holiday, what would you choose to commemorate? Why? What would the celebration look like?

if i had the authority to establish a new holiday i would create a day where we value peace and dedicate the entire day to world peacer where there wouldnt be any killing or naything fighting going on for a whole day. Fighting and battles are natural, and it has become normal in our society to see people get killed everyday and for fighting to always happen. But at least if there was just one day in the whole year we dedicate to world peace and stop all violenece in the world. i would love to establish a day to commerate world peace ad there wouldnt be any violence for 24 hours. its very sad to always constantly hear about people dying somewhere in the world and at least if there was one day where all of this stopped it would be something amazing. if there was a celbration for this it would be a fair where everyone gets together at a public park or a public facility, have a fair and a great feast where evrybody in the community is welcomed to attend. there would be peace symbols and fun activities to emphasize the importance of having peace around the world. After the celbration people would go back to their lives and the cycle of people dying everyday will resume. Its nothing somethuing we can stop entirely and it would be unlikely that it would be possible to stop all of this. its just natural for people to die. Their is no such thing as a Peace for a longtime. Peace only lasts for a while. At least the general public would be satisfied if there was one day of world peace.

Journal #10

10. What is the best advice you've ever received? Explain.

The best advice i ever gotten was from my grandma  and she told me over the phone in spanish " Todo nos otros hacemos accidentes en nuestras vidas, algunas sone mas graves que otrsa. yo se que estas pasando por algo muy deficil ahora pero piensa en todos las cosas malas que hicistes. no puedes aborrar el pasado o vaz a poder hacerlo otra vez. la unica cosa que puedes hacer ahora es mover adlelneta y aprednder de tu pasado para no hacer la misma cosas otra vez e tu vida" ~~~~ Maria Arias Luviano. Translated this is what she had said to me: " All of us make mistakes in our lives, some of them are worse than other. I understand your passing through a difficult age right now but you have to meditate on the mistakes you made in your life. You cant erase your past or relive it. The only thing you can do right now is move on in life and use this as an oppurunity to learn from your mistakes instead of reppeating the same thing"~~~~ Maria Arias Luviano. My grandma was 66 she told me this over the phone. Eight grade and ninth grade were both difficult times for me when i was at chula vista. I didnt have many friends, i was confused about who i was or who i wanted to be. there was somebody i had a huge crush on for almost two years who turned me down and made me depressed. I did not like that part that i went through at all. i even did something stupid that i would not like to talk about. But i wasnt happy at all and my grandma called and told me her advice. i know i did some stupid things in my past and wanted to start over and not make the same mistakes again. what i did was i changed school the second semester of freshmen year to castle park; i tried to go to schools in the east like eastlake, otay, olympian, or bonita but i couldnt get in. Other than that i was glad i came to CP i was so much happier here than at chula. I made new friends, have amazing teacher, and continue my pursue for music and education here. And right here i learned about my past and did the best to not committ the same mistakes. But in my opinion coming to Castle Park was the best decision i ever took.

Journal #11

11. Ask and answer the one important question that a university won't ask you, but you wish they would.

One question that universities probably wont ask but that i wish they would ask is "What kind of Extracurricular activities did you participated in high school?" From what i heard by people who applied to different colleges and universities is that most universities do not care about what you were involved in, they only pay attention to your G.P.A and your state/ district test scores. only a few universities actually ask what extracurricular activities have you participated in during high school. But i wish that they would ask them to tell them about myself, my extracurricular activities, and so they know what my interests are. I would tell them about being in a marching band, being in the IB program, participating in academic team, and in other clubs im in or im going to be in. I would respond to the question by answering: "I was very extracurricular in high school and showed my school pride by being active in different clubs and organizations. I developed strong discipline by being part of our school marching band The Castle Park High School Trojan Brigade and developing leadership skills because i was the flute section leader. I was as well part of the Academic team at my school and was partly the captain of the Jv team of my school. The IB program offerred at my school pushed me to work to my best and to develop good study habits to become successful after high school as well as being active in my community too by completing more than 150 CAS hours. i have school pride and i am very proud to come from a school with a rich history such as Castle Park!". "Once a Trojan always a Trojan!"

Journal #12

12. Your life is a movie. Describe the first 15 minutes.

Journal #13

13. Write a letter to your future college roommate introducing yourself and your background.

December 3rd, 2011
Dear Future College Roomate....
My name is Eduardo Ramirez Arias. I am an eleventh grader in my local high school in san diego county on the southwest side of california. A little bit about me is that im sixteen right now as i write this letter to you. My birthday is on june 9th. Im able to speak both english and spanish fluently in my houshold, in school, and in my social life with my friends. My mother immmigrated here from Acapulco in 1990 with my older sister and her uncle. Out of four children, one daughter and three sons i am the youngest one. I wish to get acepted into Ohio Stated Unversity because of their marching band which is on of the top marching bands in the country. I have been interested in music since i started learning in sixth grade. I play the piano, the flute, the piccolo, and the trumpet. My strongest instrument is the flute since i practicie it the most and i always play it in a concert band and in marching band. The one i need to work on the most is the trumpet because i am recently new at it, only had it for six months and dont get time to practice it as much as the flute or the piano. Ive been playing the flute and the piano the longest since they were my first instruments to begin with. On piccolo i started in 9th grade and this is my third year, its almost the same as the flute only higher in pitch, but i prefer to play flute since they have more oppurutnities to play in ensembles. I plan to play the trumpet more often if i join a jazz band or become part of a drum corps which is marching band without woodwind players. But thats enough of my interests. What i look forward to in attending OSH is that marching band, the making of music, and the fun of all that because i love making music and playing it. After graduating i plan to seek a career in music either in music education with students in elementary, middle, or high school. Probably start as an assisstent band director and then move up to band director. Or my other option is being able to perform with symphonic ensembles and play proffessional music. I even hope i get to conduct those ensembles. Well i guess thats enough of me. I look forward to seeing you and working with you in college. See you in two-five years maybe.
----Eduardo Ramirez Arias

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Journal #14

14. Please describe your reactions/ideas to the following quote: "He does not possess wealth, it possesses him."

What i interpret the quote to be is that when people become wealthy and obtain power that they start becoming corrupt and only focusing on their wealth. They devote everything to the money they have that they lose sight of other importances in life such as family and become intergrated into their wealth that they no longer possess wealth but rather they are bing possessed by wealth and grow a stong sense of importance and dependency to it that they literally cant live without it because they let themselves be corrupted by their riches. Then when he loses all his money, his investments, and his organization or company he is left in poverty without anything and does not contain any knowledge or experience to start over from scratch after losing what he had before and does not know how to work in today's market because he was intergrated heavily in his wealth in the first place. Because of this he has lost verything and cannot do anything or does not know how to do anything after he lost everything. When people let their riches contorl them they eventually can lose everything they have because of corruption. Some may even committ suicide after losing everything because they may not know how to cope with their loss and do not know how to live after that or what to do next. It is very sad and drastic when this happens but it is partly their own fault for letting their riches control them instead of them controlling their riches.

Journal #15

15. What is the most valuable contribution you could make to a college campus? Explain.

Journal #16

16. Explain a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dillema you have faced and its impact on you.

Journal #17

17. Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.

An issue i struggle with and am worried aout is about my mothers health. My mother is the most  important thing to me in this world. If it wasnt for her i wouldnt be born, i wouldnt have a house, i wouldnt have an education, i wouldnt have none of the things i have now and i wouldnt even be here. My mother was born in Acapulco, Guerrero on March 5th 1966. She was the fourth oldest of her 11 siblings. When she was little her father passed away and her family was living in poverty. She didnt have access to alot of mateirals, she had to get a poor education and had to work during her childhood a poor payed job. When she was fifteen she migrated to the united states and lived in idaho but then returned back home when she was eighteen. She was first married when she was eightten but her first husband died, and my oldest sister was born in 1984. In 1990 my mother came back to the united states with her brother and her daughter. In 1991 my oldest brother was born in the U.S. Than it was my brother oscar born in 1994 and i was born the following year. When she came to the U.S she didnt know how to speak english, didnt have a job, a home, and was considered illegal.  She was strong enouygh and was able to find a way to overcome all this and become a citizen of the united states. My mother struggled all these years and she always wants whats best for us. I love my mother what im scared of is that shes getting old and her health is in danger because of age, stress, and other issues she has to focus on. This issue is very important to me because i dondt want anything to happen to my mother. I love her and if she was not here i wouldnt have anything and i wouldnt know how to continue living because i wouldnt have her in my life. I love my mom and i always wish the best for her.

journal #18

18. If you could choose two things to change about our high school campus, what would they be and why?

The two things i would like to change about our school campus if i could would be school pride and also i would like it if students were allowed to create a mural in some of the walls of the school. i do not want the events that had happened since july concerning the new administration, the teacher's, and the sport department to discourage our students and make them feel ashamed of being at Castle Park. I want to be proud of the trojan tradition of our school and the rich heritage of it. Every school has its ups and downs, this year has not been good for any of us and instead of feeling shame and embarassment to be part of the school. I wish that everything would go better and that students learn to take pride in their school and being apart of it. School Pride is something we need as a school to unite and become stronger. For example some of the students boo at their own sports team and their bandjust because. instead they should show pride and respect to different organizations and groups of the school. At least if they did with the encouragement the groups would perform and do alot better because they have respect and pride from their peers. If the students show school pride than different groups would do alot better and the school would be more united through school pride. Another thing about the school i thought would be very creative and other people would agree with is if we were able to paint murals around the school in buildings. This would show school pride as well, and could even unite student through this project and also make the campus be more attractive and would earn more attention.. I just like the idea of having some painted murals that were painted by students shwon around the school it would remind students and staff about school pride, unitestudents together on this project and would make the campus seem more attractive and can show the media that we do have school pride and we will stand for our school and take a stand.

Journal #19

19. Should school attendance be mandatory? In your answer, be sure to explore what the function of education is, and what our nation would look like if the masses were less educated.

School attendance should be mandatory! Unless there is a resonable excuse and show evidence of their excuse for not attending and confirm it with the authority of the school which they attend. Education is a very valuable tool for people that they will undoubtly need in the future to perform well in college and in their own personal lives later as an adult.  Everybody deserves the right to a free education in the united states. A right to learn different subjects or materials in an environment and in a classroom. People who ditch and cut their classes do not realize that they are throwing away their oppurunity to a great and rewarding future where they can be successful and happy. But then there are times where a student is not able to attend school because of a certain condition in which they are in. The condition should be varified by the school and would be determined wether it is a reasonable excuse for not attending school. And they must have a certain piece of evidence to varify their absence and must be signed by their legal guardian a well as another source (doctor, lawyer, etc. depends on the excuse). There should also be the signature of the other source that can varify the absence because if there wasnt than students can convince their guardians to sign the slip to show proof of absence and then would be able to skip school but not because they have a legible excuse. if they do that than its another form of ditching school. I see that the function education as a great key that can determine the future of each student and to their life. If people were less educated than they wouldnt have any klnowledge for example in the field of politics they can blindly give their votes to any candidate just because of a certain appeal that the politician may contain instead of their experience in politics or their goals in a high positions (mayor, governor, president). Also there would be struggles for low paying jobs because the majority of the people would noot have the proper education to work with ighr paying jobs. So in conclusion education plays a very important role in the lives of many and could even shake the nation. That is why we stress the importance of education and make school attendance mandatory.

Journal #20

20. If you had the ability to talk to one species of animal, which animal would you choose to communicate with? Why?

If i could talk to any species of animal i would choose to talk to birds. Birds are very common and have the ability to fly to far away places. I could use their flight skills to my advantage by attaching notes and use them for messaging. I would be able to cointact some of my friends in chula vista and even my grandmother and my other relativies in Acapulco. My father buys bird seeds to attract birds to eat in our backyard so at times when i see a lot of birds i would be able to talk to them and tell them to stay before they fly away. i would have to earn their trust first and prove to them that i will not hurt the birds by offering them some more bird seeds as well as other food such as crackers or bread. After that they would be convinced that i wont hurt them and the birds would be ableto stay and i would have a conversation with the birds. I would befriend the birds and then i would ask them if they would be willing to become my messanger birds. if they accept then they would be welcomed back to my backyard anytime they are hungry. In return i would be able to attach notes with the picture of the person i want to send the note to so that they can travel throughout the city and stated and we would then have communication through bird messaging. And then if the other person writes a response or messages me back the bird would come back to my backyard and then i would read the note and write a new one to send back. In the winter time or whenever large stocks of bird migrate i would attach notes to the birds to on their way to the south visit acapulco and be able to send messages to my family over there. Then they would come back after sending the message over there. I find that bird messaging is very productive and does not realy on technology, plus i could use it to contact other people. So if i could talk to any species of animals i would choose to talk to the bird species.