Worst Years

Fresh Princess

10/26/14

The Worst Years of Our Lives

            The way humans have searched for joy and entertainment has changed throughout history. Back in the ancient civilizations, the Greeks would put on plays, or the Romans would have chariot wars as a source of thrill. Over time, these different forms of entertainment have changed. Our grandparents most likely were raised without a television, or any kind of “advanced” technology we have now. The statement made by Barbara Ehrenreich is relatable to everyone’s lives. We have disconnected ourselves from the real world, only to be integrated in a false world in which real-life situations are not as common.
          Our source of entertainment now is most applicable to technology. We yearn for the consuming distraction given by the social media. Chi ldren that are the age of seven have cellular devices and own multiple social media pages such as Facebook and Twitter. These are the prime examples of why things need to change. At the age of five or even ten, I never even thought of owning a social media page, all that ran through my head was what snack I would get once I would arrive home, or if my neighbor would come out and play with me. Most of the innocent thoughts a child has at this age are being crushed and brushed aside with the new thoughts such as "how many likes with this receive?" Children and even adults do not understand the concept hidden behind social media and it's negative aspects. As we continue with our daily routines, we do not even realize we are stuck in a never ending cycle. We tend to go home after work or school and eat and watch television or check our Twitter, all while eating. Instead of interacting with her family members during this time, we have lost most of the significance of eating at the dinner table as a family. The things we lost our hard to earn back again. If our mother speaks to us during a meal but we are too busy at Miley Cyrus's new scandalous act, we lose our connection eventually.  Television and social media we're not meant to disconnect us from the real world, on the contrary, both were meant to connect us to the rest of the world.
            Barbara Ehrenreich is giving a valid point from my perspective. We have lost most of her family values, that we never even witness the fake television characters doing what we do, because it is such a waste of time. What is aired on television television is only the juicy entertain about things people want to see, or listen about.  No one is interested if you watch the entire season of Grey's Anatomy. That is not something that is going to be aired because it won't attract the attention of anyone. The media only wants to get our attention and money. That is its sole purpose.
          While we continue to waste your money and time the business companies continue to feast on our boredom and search for new forms of entertainment. We will not be able to watch a video of ourselves watching television for three hours straight. No one would be able to and if we tried, we would ''change" the channel. So if we ourselves cannot do it, why should we waste this amount of precious time doing so? Hopefully over time we will seek a new form of entertainment that will that will reunite us to our families and the world once again. With luck we should be able to become a productive world once again. There's hope, we just need the motivation  and inspiration to do so.

Locavore Essay

Source A: Encourages being a locavore.
Source B: It's not necessary to be, but better.
Source C: Against? Threatens business of others.
Source D: Red meat has most greenhouse gas emissions.
Source E: It is the revival of small farms.
Source F: Some live thousands of miles form centers of food production.
Source G: Some are unable to go far.

A, E; C, F, G; B, E

Maintaining a healthy diet can be quite difficult for most people. While at supermarkets, you have to go through chips, soda, ice cream, and chocolate before you get to the salad section. This obviously tempts almost all of us, and, of course, this is a good thing for major food corporations. Locavores have decided to take the more healthy side of life and create local food markets. With these local food markets, our local economy also has its benefits.

Local food shops have shown to be more nutritious and delicious. According to Source A, eating locally means more money for the local economy. It was also shown to have more benefits than processed food and shipped around the world, so less harmful contamination. Source E also mentions the revival of small farms, encouraging the economy again. Small farmers also get 75% of their costs reimbursed. Another, Source B, didn't say it was necessary, but it was just better.

Me?

Fresh Princess

09/09/14

Period 4

Autobiography

    Nothing is ever handed to us in a golden platter. Not success, nor happiness. I learned this first hand the summer of sophomore year. I grew to accept that sometimes we need to fail in order to succeed. One of the most challenging things I ever had to do was build and program a robot. I had never felt so accomplished once I finally did succeed. The experience from that summer was honestly the most rewarding thing ever. 

    During freshman year, I joined this program called Upward Bound: Math and Science.  I would attend classes every Saturday and once summer rolled around, I would also take summer classes. The summer program was probably the most enjoyable since we were able to dorm on USC's campus for five weeks. Thanks to living with my other classmates, I was able to meet some of my closest friends. On the more serious side, the Robotics class was really challenging. Our teacher pushed us and would try break us at times, all in the cause for us to give it our all. We learned to make our goals clear and to make sure we believed we could achieve them. Mr. Santos, our Robotics teacher, teamed us up and we started doing challenges with our robots. I can not emphasize how difficult this was. We had long nights trying to figure out the programming, and numerous headaches from these challenges. Tears were even shed.

    It may not sound so hard, but a robot is like a blank baby. We had to make sure every single step was included in the programming. When we built our robot, we had to do it within a time frame. No one in the class finished during the time frame. My group and I were the first to finish. As we ran back to our seats with giddiness and smiles, our teacher said we still failed. We looked over and told him that, yes, we did indeed fail, but we were the first to fail. Out of all the challenges, my group was the only one that succeeded with most of them. We failed HUNDREDS of times, but once we finally did accomplish them, it was the most rewarding thing I had ever done. If you fail and fail, but learn and grow, that itself is rewarding.

    That summer, I could say was very productive. During our end of the program banquet, our teacher surprised us by giving us an honorable mention. My group was absolutely stunned. All the groups worked just as hard, but he said our determination allowed us to achieve what we strive for. After leaving the summer program, all the things my Robotics teacher told us stuck with me. I have not forgotten what he told us. He genuinely cared about all of us and wanted us to see the best we had to offer. I can honestly say the experience changed me. I learned that in order to succeed, you will first have to fail.

    My thoughts on myself also changed. I tend to feel pressured and stress out. After that, it happens less often! I try to just take it and make the best of the situations now. Nothing can stop anyone from getting to their goals. Barriers are only barriers. We can overcome any obstacle if we set our mind to it. I am glad I was able to learn this and accept it. Goals are goals, and they are mine. I will achieve what I set my mind to. It is just a matter of a bit of failure, but that's okay. As long as I do.