So we've been watching Dead Poets Society in class for the past few days, and while I've seen the movie before, I always forget how much it makes me think. I always thought that I would go into college with an English major because that's what I wanted to do; I wanted to make art, express my ideas, and help people learn from my mistakes. I wanted to read poetry and maybe write some and just be expressive and have fun and read and that movie just instills are these ideas back in me.
I'm going into college with a major in Communications with a focus in journalism. I did this so that I could still be writing, but still have a steady salary and a way to pay my future bills. I was just going to write on the side and if I was ever successful I could just quit or keep going if I enjoyed it. But now it's just I wanna not major in communications because I wanna learn about literature and art and other cool things and I thought about double majoring in these two things but if I stick with Communications then I want to double with Political Science because that's a good combination and it's just frustrating. Maybe I'll figure it out, maybe I won't. All I know is that being a teenager on the cusp of adulthood is the most frustrating thing ever 0/10 would not recommend.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Growing Up and Moving On: An Obligitatory Post About Going to College
Like most high school students about to take the giant leap into adulthood, I am filled with both excitement and anxiety. However, I like to think that I'm filled with more excitement than anxiety. I've never stayed in one place for more than 4 years, so I'm due for a change. As a kid, you hate moving away so frequently because you're there long enough for you to take root, but there too little to really make any long lasting friends. I'm just excited for the independence that comes with college. I just think that I'm one of those people that's a lot better on their own than with other people.
A little part of me is a little nostalgic about leaving high school, but I'm not really one for spouting bullcrap so I'm just gonna say it: I don't think I'm gonna miss everyone and I think that it's kind of stupid for people to be sobbing over losing their friends. Like the only thing I'd be sad about is the start of the loss of our youth and the end of childhood. I think that I might miss some people in the beginning of the semester, but I'll get over them when I make new friends, like a lot of other people. Also, it's kind of stupid for some people to be crying over their friends when they're both going to UD or something. I don't know, I'm kind of cynical about the whole thing I guess. I was talking about it with probably my best friend from high school, and being such good friends we don't BS each other. We both agreed that we probably won't talk that much when we go off to different colleges. We may talk in the beginning and we'll definitely see each other over the summer, but other than that I doubt if we'll talk that much, even over breaks.
This is kind of sad to read I guess but it's just how it is. I'm a little bit too stone hearted for my own good I think.
A little part of me is a little nostalgic about leaving high school, but I'm not really one for spouting bullcrap so I'm just gonna say it: I don't think I'm gonna miss everyone and I think that it's kind of stupid for people to be sobbing over losing their friends. Like the only thing I'd be sad about is the start of the loss of our youth and the end of childhood. I think that I might miss some people in the beginning of the semester, but I'll get over them when I make new friends, like a lot of other people. Also, it's kind of stupid for some people to be crying over their friends when they're both going to UD or something. I don't know, I'm kind of cynical about the whole thing I guess. I was talking about it with probably my best friend from high school, and being such good friends we don't BS each other. We both agreed that we probably won't talk that much when we go off to different colleges. We may talk in the beginning and we'll definitely see each other over the summer, but other than that I doubt if we'll talk that much, even over breaks.
This is kind of sad to read I guess but it's just how it is. I'm a little bit too stone hearted for my own good I think.
How do you obtain anything worth having?
An interesting and important question. But I think that to answer this question, we must first ask another: What is worth having? Money, power, love? All three of these things are fickle, and change hands quickly. One might be a millionaire one day, a poor man the next. One day a king, the next a corpse. One day husband, the next an adulterer. So are any of these things, or any thing for that matter, worth having? Maybe, maybe not.
Now, how to obtain something worth having, like most things in life, you must work for it. Any thing worth having will never simply come over night. Even a sudden blossom of love doesn't; the seed of love must be tended to and cared for before it may be able to bloom. Also, when one is on a journey to obtaining something with significant worth, they seem to lose other important things along the way. That again begs the question: what is worth having? One might have thought that those things might have had plenty worth, but if they were lost then maybe they weren't. Maybe it's a temporary sacrifice, perhaps you'll earn back what you lost at a later point. But some things can never be regained once lost.
Now, how to obtain something worth having, like most things in life, you must work for it. Any thing worth having will never simply come over night. Even a sudden blossom of love doesn't; the seed of love must be tended to and cared for before it may be able to bloom. Also, when one is on a journey to obtaining something with significant worth, they seem to lose other important things along the way. That again begs the question: what is worth having? One might have thought that those things might have had plenty worth, but if they were lost then maybe they weren't. Maybe it's a temporary sacrifice, perhaps you'll earn back what you lost at a later point. But some things can never be regained once lost.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Finished with two minutes to go. Alright.
I'm sorry if I'm my blogs weren't that good! I tried to make them as entertaining as possible! I hope you enjoy!
Running friends are the best friends
No. They are.
I was running with my friend the other day, and it was a pretty intense run. We had already been running for about an hour straight (and neither of us are in our top shape) and we had got to this hill that's right before we start heading back towards home. So basically, it was home stretch. Now, I don't know if you've ever run before, but a whole bunch of bodily functions go crazy when you're really pushing yourself. After you finish a 5K race, you feel like something's gonna come out of every orifice. I realize that this is kind of disgusting, but if you're a runner then you'll get me. Anyways, back to the story. So we're running and we're both feeling our bodies going haywire, but of course we're not going to talk about it because 1) we're too tired and 2) because we both think that the other person will react with revile and disgust. So, we get to the top of the hill and I get there a little bit before she does and a just do a quick to make sure nothing came out of me. I know how this sounds, but you hear tale of people who start to-for lack of a better term-crap themselves in the middle of a run. When I first joined Cross Country, one of the first stories I heard was this girl who was running a race and she had a literal trail of liquid poop running down the back of her leg. I mean, she kept going because, I mean, at that point you got nothing to lose. But something you get a little paranoid because you don't know during a run if it's excrement or just sweat.
Anyways, she asked me what I was doing, and knowing her well enough that she wouldn't really care, I told her. And she quickly agreed with me how terrible it was. This one time, after she had finished a race, her friend went to congratulate her with a hug, and she was just like, "Gotta pee!" so she just went into the nearest port-o-potty and checked to make sure that nothing but sweat had come out of her. But yeah.
In summary: runner friends are great because you can talk about gross bodily functions with them and they will know your pain.
I was running with my friend the other day, and it was a pretty intense run. We had already been running for about an hour straight (and neither of us are in our top shape) and we had got to this hill that's right before we start heading back towards home. So basically, it was home stretch. Now, I don't know if you've ever run before, but a whole bunch of bodily functions go crazy when you're really pushing yourself. After you finish a 5K race, you feel like something's gonna come out of every orifice. I realize that this is kind of disgusting, but if you're a runner then you'll get me. Anyways, back to the story. So we're running and we're both feeling our bodies going haywire, but of course we're not going to talk about it because 1) we're too tired and 2) because we both think that the other person will react with revile and disgust. So, we get to the top of the hill and I get there a little bit before she does and a just do a quick to make sure nothing came out of me. I know how this sounds, but you hear tale of people who start to-for lack of a better term-crap themselves in the middle of a run. When I first joined Cross Country, one of the first stories I heard was this girl who was running a race and she had a literal trail of liquid poop running down the back of her leg. I mean, she kept going because, I mean, at that point you got nothing to lose. But something you get a little paranoid because you don't know during a run if it's excrement or just sweat.
Anyways, she asked me what I was doing, and knowing her well enough that she wouldn't really care, I told her. And she quickly agreed with me how terrible it was. This one time, after she had finished a race, her friend went to congratulate her with a hug, and she was just like, "Gotta pee!" so she just went into the nearest port-o-potty and checked to make sure that nothing but sweat had come out of her. But yeah.
In summary: runner friends are great because you can talk about gross bodily functions with them and they will know your pain.
In Other News
I got wait listed from UChicago! A whole of other people did, as well, and they're all complaining but I'm honestly just happy that I just got wait listed instead of just rejected! This will make it easier to transfer in next year maybe! Like, I would've been super happy if I had gotten into the school, but I always would've felt that I didn't deserve it. Because there's a whole bunch of other people out there who worked their butts off to get where they are and I'm not well of financially at all but I'm better off than a lot of other people! I'm just happy to get what I got!
A learning writer's quandry
Okay, okay, so I really, really, REALLY hate being told how to write something. Or to not being a sentence with a conjunction. Because I will do that all I like, thank you very much. It just really irks me when people tell me how to write. A lot of English teachers tell their students that there is only one way to write if you wish to write well. And it bugs me because that's nOT TRUE AT ALL. Write which ever way that pleases you and the way that you think most brings out what you're trying to convey. I mean, all the great authors barely adhered to these silly, superfluous rules. And that's what usually makes their work so good. Like, I've had to edit some people's papers over the years and they know that I'm an adequately good writer, so they expect me to just write their paper for them???? Like, I will edit and help you as best as I can but I'm not writing the paper for you. Like, when a sentence or part of a sentence is awkward or doesn't sound right I'll put "Rephrase" and then maybe put a suggestion if I can think of one in like 10 seconds. But then they're always like "Y DID YOU NOT JUST GIVE ME NEW SENTENCE?!!?!?" and it's just like "b/c i really don't know what u want/how you write." It bothers me, I'm sorry. I don't know, people should just always be able to do what they want however they want to. I curse the toes of anyone who says that someone isn't writing correctly! Unless they're wrting lyk this bcuz then thats axeptable.
Labels
We live in a society where everything and everyone must have a label. Young. Old. Popular. Loner. Intelligent. Stupid. Straight. Gay. Empathetic. Apathetic. Just plain pathetic. We like to put people in their little boxes and we like to organize them. I like to think that this gives people a sense of control over others. If we know something about someone else, something that when talked about is like a shooting a bullet into their soul, we use it to our advantage.
Have you ever thought something when you were younger? And then all of a sudden you read something like it in a book, or see it in a movie or on T.V.? That happened to me when I started to watch Game of Thrones. In the series, there's this family of nobles: the Lannisters. All are said to be rather blessed with good looks, wits, golden hair, and they possess a vast fortune. However, one was born that didn't get much of anything... well, except for the wit as sharp as any sword. Tyrion "The Imp" Lannister. Born as dwarf and having his mother die birthing him, he was an outcast. His noble name saved him from a worse fate, but he was still scorned by society; especially by his own family. During a conversation with Jon Snow, the bastard son of the Lord of Winterfell, he gives him the same advice I gave myself as a young child, he just puts it a lot more eloquently. "Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you." In other words: embrace you what makes you different. Don't hide from it. People will always try and use it against you, but if you turn their weapon into your armor, then they can never harm you. I think that this is an important lesson for people to learn, especially young people. Shame that this is in an "adult" book.
Have you ever thought something when you were younger? And then all of a sudden you read something like it in a book, or see it in a movie or on T.V.? That happened to me when I started to watch Game of Thrones. In the series, there's this family of nobles: the Lannisters. All are said to be rather blessed with good looks, wits, golden hair, and they possess a vast fortune. However, one was born that didn't get much of anything... well, except for the wit as sharp as any sword. Tyrion "The Imp" Lannister. Born as dwarf and having his mother die birthing him, he was an outcast. His noble name saved him from a worse fate, but he was still scorned by society; especially by his own family. During a conversation with Jon Snow, the bastard son of the Lord of Winterfell, he gives him the same advice I gave myself as a young child, he just puts it a lot more eloquently. "Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you." In other words: embrace you what makes you different. Don't hide from it. People will always try and use it against you, but if you turn their weapon into your armor, then they can never harm you. I think that this is an important lesson for people to learn, especially young people. Shame that this is in an "adult" book.
Unbelievable: a Belated Post
Sorry, that I never really made this blog post for the assignment, but better late than never.
There's a lot of unbelievable things in this wide, wide, minuscule world of ours. One of the most unbelievable is that there's so many people on this chunk of space rock. I mean, there's about 7 billion people on this planet. That's 7 billion who are falling in love, out of it, being born, departing this world for the next, going to work, begging on the street, and just doing things that humans do. I just think that it's amazing to think about.
However, an unfortunate thing that is unbelievable is the way that people can treat others. I know that this sounds rather cliche or something that's over said, but it's true. We have this amazing club at our school: Blue-Gold. It's devoted to helping those born with disabilities and to make them feel like there's nothing at all that makes them negatively different from everyone else. This is true, and our schoolmates carry our their duty with nobility and integrity. However, sometimes their nobleness is limited to only being kind to those that they do actually deem-albeit subconsciously-"lesser humans". I'm not saying that this makes them a terrible person. I mean, we all kind of do it. And it doesn't matter what we think subconsciously-in my opinion-as much as it matters what we say and do concerning that subject. Getting back to the point, some people don't treat everyone with the same respect and kindness that they show their buddies. They say that we are all equal, then doesn't everyone deserve that same kindness? Being nice to someone with Downs, and then being rude to someone who acts a little differently or likes weird things just isn't right. It's a bias. If you're rude to someone for days on end, and then do one nice thing for them, your heart shouldn't swell with pride. It's a lot easier to make the cuts, than to heal them. I just think that we all need to think about how we define "equality" and be more careful with how we treat others.
There's a lot of unbelievable things in this wide, wide, minuscule world of ours. One of the most unbelievable is that there's so many people on this chunk of space rock. I mean, there's about 7 billion people on this planet. That's 7 billion who are falling in love, out of it, being born, departing this world for the next, going to work, begging on the street, and just doing things that humans do. I just think that it's amazing to think about.
However, an unfortunate thing that is unbelievable is the way that people can treat others. I know that this sounds rather cliche or something that's over said, but it's true. We have this amazing club at our school: Blue-Gold. It's devoted to helping those born with disabilities and to make them feel like there's nothing at all that makes them negatively different from everyone else. This is true, and our schoolmates carry our their duty with nobility and integrity. However, sometimes their nobleness is limited to only being kind to those that they do actually deem-albeit subconsciously-"lesser humans". I'm not saying that this makes them a terrible person. I mean, we all kind of do it. And it doesn't matter what we think subconsciously-in my opinion-as much as it matters what we say and do concerning that subject. Getting back to the point, some people don't treat everyone with the same respect and kindness that they show their buddies. They say that we are all equal, then doesn't everyone deserve that same kindness? Being nice to someone with Downs, and then being rude to someone who acts a little differently or likes weird things just isn't right. It's a bias. If you're rude to someone for days on end, and then do one nice thing for them, your heart shouldn't swell with pride. It's a lot easier to make the cuts, than to heal them. I just think that we all need to think about how we define "equality" and be more careful with how we treat others.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Warning: Stereotypical teenager blogs about family. Read at own risk.
Over winter break, my mom had decided to take us down to Sunshine State Florida. We spent a couple days in the Universal and Disney theme parks. It was all very good and magical in the most wonderfully childish of sense, but my both my sister and mother said some things that just irked me.
So we're standing in line for a ride, and being a major theme park during the holiday season, there are naturally people from many other countries other than English speaking ones.I believe it was my mother who made a rather crude remark about how "this is America, you should know English". Like, what? My sister quickly agreed with her and I was absolutely flabbergasted. First of all: they're speaking to their own family and friends; not to you. Second of all: Would you learn French to go and visit Paris? I don't think so. They're here to have a good time and enjoy themselves. They were acting like we were the only English-speaking Caucasians in the entire park.
I don't know, it just really bothered me and I just keep thinking about a lot of Americans' sense that everyone should know English so that we can understand them; as opposed to us learning other languages. Many non-English countries learn English as a second language starting at a very young age. I know several Germans who know German, English, French, and Spanish and can speak the three languages that are not their native one rather well. I didn't start learning Spanish until the ninth grade and most of my sentences are very illiterate and literally the only phrase I use from my three years of learning that language is:
Donde esta?" Even when I am not asking where something is, I will still use it.
Donde esta?" Even when I am not asking where something is, I will still use it.
If I had a knack for languages, I would love to learn a bunch of them so as to break down the language barrier that separates me from gaining so much more knowledge. People from other cultures can teach us so much by just how they talk. My dream is to someday travel the world (or at least as much as I can of it), and learn and experience as much as I can. I want to be a writer someday, and I personally think that for me to be a better writer, I need to go out there and experience the world for a bit.
One final complaint about how I think my family is secretly racist: my mother hit an elderly Hispanic woman over the head with her suitcase (accidentally) as she was getting it out of the overhead compartment on our plane the other day. She apologized, seemingly sincere, then did nothing to help the fallen woman out and quickly exited the plane. I'm just really done with my family.
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