Journal #43

Taking a standardized test to asses mental health would be a hard test to design. The questions would have to be very structured in order to make the results accurate. I think that the questions would have to be very situation oriented. They would ask things such as in this situation, how would you respond or think, and have options that fit. To get options that fit the question, and properly provide accurate information, you would have to either find or conduct research of different mental illnesses and how people with such illnesses act in the situations that the questions are asking about. The test would have to be for the most part filled with those types of questions, unlike the standardized tests that we are used to, consisting of math, science, reading, and English. I feel as though even if you do research, and formulate the questions in the fashion that I mentioned before, the results would not be nearly as accurate as an in person test for a mental illness. What may be a good idea is to have the test, and those people whose results showed some sings of a mental illness then went to a specialist and had further in depth, and in person, tests for the type of mental illness or illnesses that the test suggested they may have signs of. I am not sure it that kind of process is the most efficient way to find and asses the mental health of a person, because by the time you have them take a test, and get the results, and then have them come in for further examination, it may just be easier to have people with signs observed to be those of a mental illness, go directly into the specialist and be diagnosed from there. A big flaw of the test would also be people answering questions dishonestly or incorrectly, this would result in those who do not have a mental illness showing signs, and those who do have an illness not showing signs.  

Journal #42

Once upon a time there was a young girl. This girl was often bullied and called names. She was not exactly the cutest of all of the kids. She had a short dark brown hair, freckles, and big metal framed glasses that hid her light brown eyes. The other girls always picked on her and this continued into middle school. All she wanted was to fit in, but the other girls would never allow her to achieve this. When the girl entered high school, suddenly she changed. She became beautiful and suddenly everyone wanted to be her friend. Shortly after her sudden change, she disappeared. Everyone wondered where the girl went, but no one really put effort into finding her. The girl had disappeared because she could not stand to be around the others who had said and done such nasty things to her, and act like everything was alright. She thought that no one should be treated like this, and decide to do something about it. She decided she would make those girls pay for what they had done by helping the ones who had been like her. She was walking one day as she saw a girl, who reminded her a lot of herself, being called ugly and fat by other girls. She swooped into action and ran to the girls and pushed them away from the other girl. She then began screaming at the bullies, and they were so scared they stood there with bug eyes and their mouths sealed shut. Finally when she told them to run away, they sprinted in the opposite direction. She then turned to the other girl and she told her to never let them get to her, and that she could join her in her movement. Throughout her life she continued finding these allies to help her in her stop to the bullying, but she could never get the thought of those girls out of the back of her head and how she would get revenge on them and all others like them.

Journal #41

A hero is someone that does things above the ordinary person, and does not expect a reward or praise for it. A hero is someone who thinks of someone else over themselves and does it strictly for another person and someone else. Heroes have changed a lot of the years. In the past, heroes were people such as, military leaders. Today I think that society has a distorted view of what a hero is. People see a hero as someone who is famous and is beautiful, but may or may not benefit society as someone else. In my opinion heroes are common people who are very selfless. An example would be in the recent news. Yesterday there were bombs set off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. It was such a tragic event, and some of the runners finished their race, and kept running to the hospital to donate blood. In my opinion, these people are heroes. They did not think of themselves and trying to run to safety to save themselves. They said no, there are people hurting and seriously injured, and I am going to do anything I can to help. These people may have saved the life of a person injured in the accident because they were not thinking of themselves. I think these kinds of people are rare now a day. I also think that the true test of who is a hero is when it comes to things such as the Boston Marathon bombings, or instances such as these for true heroes to come out. The celebrities that people consider heroes did not do these things. Throwing up a tweet saying pray for Boston is nice and all, but that is not heroic. The heroes are people to talk the talk and walk the walk, if you will. I find people such as these, and not just in yesterdays incident, but anytime, not matter how big or small, the true heroes of our world.

Journal #40

Today I do not know what to write about. I am now sitting in my chair in Mr. Langley's room freezing my butt off and trying to defrost my fingers. Right now Emily is sitting next to me and Mr. Tadla just walked into the room. It is getting really loud now because I think Connor almost just fell off of his stool behind me. The sound of fingers hitting keys is in the background as Emily plugs in her computer because it once again went dead. I am taking a break and talking to Emily about our soccer game last night. Last night we played North Mac. They were not as good as us, but we just could not seem to score, so the game ended in a tie. It was very frustrating, but that seems to be the theme for this season. During the junior varsity game, I am not sure if I have ever been so sore in my life. I had literal throbbing in my fingers from the could, despite the fact that I had gloves on. I tried to run, and it hurt my frozen feet so bad I had to stop. I even had plenty of layers on, but nothing was stopping that cold air. Hopefully it will heat up in the next few days like it had been before yesterday. I am now starting to warm up from my previous class, and most of the other people in the class have settled in. Now the only sounds are the keys pressing down as we type, a chair slide across the floor, and the occasional whisper. This class should be interesting because we are doing ACT prep. I would really like to know what the letters in ACT mean. I have always kind of wondered that. I am typing this on written kitten, and a very cute picture of a cat hugging a stuffed monkey just popped up. Well, I guess this is the end of my wonderful journal today.

Journal #39

Over spring break I could not really do too much because I had soccer during the week. I had two soccer games and a few practices during the week. I really wish that I was able to go somewhere warm, because until the last couple of days, it was pretty cold. For Easter, I also stayed in town because my dad had surgery a few weeks ago, and did not want to sit in a car and drive to St. Louis to go see my grandma and family down there. So we stayed home and made blueberry pancakes and had a nice Easter to ourselves. Our soccer team on Thursday had an Easter egg hunt at Centennial Park. A few of the girls hid eggs and we all had a race to find them all. It was very fun. Other than that, I worked quite a bit on the weekends and spent some time in the boiling hot nursing home. The elderly people do not like to be cold, so despite the fact that it was seventy degrees outside, we could not open any of the windows. During our soccer games, we tied against the Riverton team, and lost to Williamsville. They were both tough games, but I think that we could have beat Riverton for sure, and possibly beat Williamsville if it had not have been so darn windy. That is the bad part about soccer. The wind can play a huge part of how the game turns out in the end. Overall, my spring break was pretty boring. I really wish I could have gone somewhere in Florida, or maybe to New Orleans to see my cousin. I only have one more year of soccer though, and then I can go to the beach all I want. I can then have total relaxation time to myself and enjoy a break from school. Until then however, I will just have to have boring sring breaks.

Journal #38

For job shadowing I went to Memorial Medical Center and followed a post surgical RN. Her name was Kristyn and she was going to classes to become a Nurse Practitioner, which is what I want to eventually become. During my morning there, I followed her around as she went to each of her five patients as she checked on the, to see if they needed anything, and give them their medicine. The patients had had procedures such as gallbladder removal and skin cancer surgery. It was interesting to me because everyday would be different and it is different than just sitting at a desk and doing the same thing over and over again. When a patient was going to be released, she had to fill out a lot of paperwork, which was what she said the worst part was. Throughout the day, she gave me many interesting points to think about with nursing, such as if you do not like a certain section that you are in, you can just switch. This also goes along with the main reason I like nursing. It can reach so many different areas, so there id bound to be something that you can find that you enjoy doing. I think that nursing would be a good career, but I would like to further my degree, and become a nurse practitioner, because they are more like a physician. It also made me realize that I definitely want to be in pediatrics, because the adults that were there had all sorts of weight problems and issues because of that. It frustrated me because they could have avoided all of those issues by being healthy, but they are not. With children, they have other problems, i know, and it could be very sad with children who have a hard life, but i think i would like it much better. If eventually i find out I do not like pediatrics, I can always switch, because that is the best thing about nursing.

Journal #37

When I listen to Blue Monk by Miles Davis and the Monk Quartet, I see many things. I someone playing a piano in a little jazz club. The club is dark and a little smokey, with people sitting at small tables lighted with candles, sitting on top of dark red table clothes. The audience taps along as the saxophone plays along with the piano, and the drummer begins in. I picture the saxophonist getting very into the song, playing from his heart, and his eyes closed so he can feel the music. Around the room, the people so the same as their heads bob, and their feet tap. As the piano fades out and just a faint drum sounds in the back, the saxophone takes its solo, and the people watch with awe. As the piano rejoins for its solo, I picture the some couples slowly getting up to dance. The men twirl the women around the dance floor, as they feel the beat through their bodies. They slow down as the bass solo begins, and watch the bassist with his glasses on strum as his body moves with the rhythm. He also bobs his head and his body, while the whole room watched him. Everyone soon rejoins as the audience claps for the solos and begin to dance again as the music picks up. Around the room, I picture people at a bar, smoking a cigarette and drinking as the music ends they all stand and clap for the musicians hard work and soulful music. As the musicians exit the stage the people slowly finish their conversations filled with awe and praise for the solos, and wish to come again next week. They put on their coats and gradually leave the smokey jazz club until it is only the bartender left cleaning, and the musicians thanking each other and packing up their instruments. They say their goodbyes and will be back next week to do it again.

Journal #36

It is important to be yourself because if you act like someone you are not, you lose yourself.Acting like yourself can be really hard, especially as a teenager. You fell constant pressure to be something you are not, and that can easily change who you are, how you act, and what you believe in. In being yourself, you must find people that will accept the fact that you are who you are and will like you regardless. You need to acct like yourself because it is being true to the individual inside you, and expressing yourself no matter what people say or think. I like to think that I am myself all of the time, but I know that I act different around different people. Which is okay, but it is how much different you act that really says whether or not you are being true to yourself. Being true to yourself can also help you guide yourself in the right direction. If you stick to what you believe in, and gradually as you get older grow and extend on those thoughts, morals, and beliefs, then you can make yourself into a strong person. Being true to yourself makes you strong, which leads to a life of happiness. I think that it is important that we stay true to ourselves in order to keep our heads above water, if you will. By this, I mean that if you lie to yourself and do the things that you inside know you do not believe in, then your just keep getting more and more overwhelmed in the lies you tell yourself, and eventually you are no longer yourself, but a person the people around you that influenced these decisions have made you into. I try to keep to my morals as best as I can, but it is very hard sometimes to do this. I think if you can make it our of high school proud of who you are, then that is yourself, and you should stick to it.

Journal #35

My writing in The Declaration of Independence Reflection blog was very choppy and did not flow very well.I had very short kind of insignificant paragraphs, and they did not really seem as though they made an essay. Although they did not flow, I used very good examples and support for my arguments. My thoughts were well organized and easy to follow. In my discussion post, I had many topics, whereas the reflection blog there was one focused topic to write about. In the discussion post, I had fewer support examples because I was covering more topics than before. In the discussion post, I had more direct quotations than in the discussion post, and in the reflection blog, I used broader examples and talked about them. I kind of talked about a specific section in the Declaration of Independence, and then made a broad overview of that section. In opposition, in the reflection blog I had a quotation from one of Whitman's poems, and then I went on break down the quote. I did a broad break down, and then related it back to the point I was trying to prove. I think my writing has improved a little bit, but these were hard essays to compare. The kinds of writing were very different because int he reflection blog, I was just telling how the Declaration of Independence had examples of the topic. In the discussion post,I was comparing and contrasting Walt Whitman's writing to the characteristics of Realism and Regionalism writing, talking about how Whitman revolutionized American literature, and how Whitman's poems were showing his search for Self that he believed in. Overall the writing is somewhat different, but also a little bit similar. They were kind of the same in my examples and the support to back them. I had a good post when I  wrote my reflection blog and I had very good support and examples. On my previous blogs compared to now I have improved a lot.

Journal #34

My self is something interesting to think about. It is a very deep concept that Whitman describes and uses in his poems. There are different versions of your Self, how you see yourself and how everyone else in the word sees you. I see myself as someone who is very private, and I like to deal issues by myself and not talk about things very much. I am friendly to most I think and I try to do so to everyone, no matter how my feelings towards them are. I think that I do so to everyone and I would hope that others feel I am nice to them. I revolve my world around what is happening now, and occasionally think about the future. To other people I think I may either come across as very shy, or rude. I have a very soft voice and I think people do not hear me sometimes, which makes them think that I am not listening. I think most people think I am friendly to a, and try to be funny, but sometimes people do not understand my humor. The concept that there is also a third self is very interesting. The third self is your spiritual self. I am not entirely certain what this is meaning, but Whitman believed that there was a circle, if you will, that things revolve around. He says that we represent ourselves and we represent our world, they represent us, and we are spiritual, and the spirits are us. This is a very very deep concept that Whitman uses in him poems, which would definitely explain why many people thought he was a little bit crazy. To think that we are the world and spirit, and ourselves is just downright odd. When we stop and think about it, it is true, we are everyone, and everyone is us. It honesty sounds pretty darn crazy if you ask me. I am me, they are we, he is me and we.

Journal #33

To reduce stress I have to do certain things to take my mind of whatever it is that is stressing me out. If I have a lot going, or a big thing to do, I often become stressed. To get myself out of this mind set, I do one of a few different things. One of the main things I do is go to my room and watch a short television show on my laptop. This gets my mind off whatever is stressing me out, and it allows me to clear my mind and come up with new ideas. Another thing I do is to watch a show on television in my living room. This way I do not get to comfortable like I do on my bed, and allows me to be able to get up and keep going. The third thing I like to do is go take a drive somewhere. Turning my music up and being alone makes me fee much less stressed out and makes me calm myself down a little bit. I often go to Walgreens and buy myself something sweet. Treating yourself is a good way to make your mind come back down to earth. I think that when we get going in the week and start getting busy, it is very hard to calm down or slow your pace down, and it easy to get stressed quickly. When we take it step my step and think about the importance of the thing we are doing in the long run, it usually is insignificant to be putting so much pressure and stress on yourself. Although the things I mentioned before are great stress relievers, sometimes we have to just push through the hard and stressful times. You just have to get through it and if you think about it it makes it easy to do so. Just say to yourself that it will be over soon and it is not worth getting worked up about.

Journal #32

Revolutions on the way we think and the ideas we have change every day We are constantly thinking of new ways to view a topic and form an opinion on it. As the world develops, we get more and more new opinions and idea of what is right and wrong. An issue from the past would be the civil rights movement we discussed in a previous journal. It used to not be acceptable to think that African Americans were as equal as white people. As the would changed, and ideas were revolutionized, we slowly but surely started to think that it may not be right to no include people who are humans, just like us, from the rest of the world. Today this is pretty much no longer an issue We have completely regularization an idea, and made it an accepted thing. A current issue that is very similar to the civil rights movement is the issue of gay rights As it is right now, gay people are only allowed to be married in very few states. This is pretty ridiculous considering that as African Americans are human, so are gay people. We have taken their rights away and that is one idea that needs to be changed. The only way that that change will happen is if we keep speaking up and out on what we believe and getting the revolutionary idea out there for other people to consider. To this can be very beneficial to you as well. To change someone's mind, or open their minds to a new idea that they may not have thought about before and now consider something that should be changed. This is what revolutionizing a thought is about, it is about making your voice heard d=so others can think about is, make their decision, and then in turn voice their own opinion. This is how revolution happens and the way to start is is to start with yourself.

Journal #31

Gossip is a very hurtful, but very real thing. Every single person has gossiped or has been talked about. In our world, gossip plays a huge part. Girls are so mean to each other, and it is only each other that really knows how hard it is to be a teenager in today's world. We are constantly picking on each other about anything from looks to boys to economic status. If you think about it though, the media does not help this one bit. For example, Miley Cyrus is labeled bad names about how many men she has been with and how she acts. In reality, yes she dresses a little scandalous, but she has been with one man for several years, while Taylor Swift has had so many boyfriends, but because she dresses cute and  has sweet songs. This is because of gossip. People judge both of these girls on their appearance, and not for who they really are. This is very real with our peers. Girls take one look at each other and in a split second decides what kind of person they are. This can be so hurtful to the person being judged or talked about, more than we may every know. You never know what people are going through, and so when we make the decision to talk about someone or make up a rumor, you could have such an affect on them. Maybe that person is going through a hard time and just needs a friend, but they can not make any because of a rumor someone started, or because of the snap judgments that others make. Girls are not the only ones guilty, however. Boys start rumors too, and hurt both girls and boys with their words or actions. By calling guys names, although they may not show it, it can really hurt them. This is also true with girls. It can almost hurt a girls feelings more when such mean words come from a guy than a girl.

Journal #30

This month, February, is lack history month. In accordance to this, I am going to talk about civil rights. As we all know, America was at one point in time not an equal opportunity place. African American people were at this time not considered the same people as whites. They had to have separate restaurants, bathrooms, water fountains, schools, and anything else you could think of. This time was not one that America should be proud of, but it can actually be compared to something we still have today. In today's world, although African American people are now considered as equal as anyone else, we still do not have that for gay people. These topics can be easily compared, as they are both issues of civil rights, for a modern example. Back to African American civil rights, however, we are now all equals because of people such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Harriet Tubman. These people help aid their fellow African American people to keep fighting for their rights to be free and equal, as the Constitution states they have the right to. Martin Luther King Jr. it the most notable person from the civil rights movement. I am sure we have all heard at least the beginning of his I Have a Dream speech, which is very inspiring. It was because of his persistence, refusal to become upset, and inspiration of a peaceful fights that helped the African Americans to not give up until they had their rights. We remember people such as Martin Luther King Jr. in this month because they have done something extraordinary, that does not really ever happen in history before. We should all be inspired to fight for what we believe in and not give up. If they can fight for their freedom and get what they wanted. We can manage to do somewhat of the same thing on a much smaller scale. This month we should all remember the struggle and fight for what you believe in.

Journal #29

Nature is in control during natural disasters. During things such as hurricanes, tsunamis, or tornadoes, we as humans have absolutely no control. There is nothing we can do to stop them from happening or make them less powerful. The only thing we can do to have any hint of control is to protect ourselves and our homes and belongings. These disasters can do whatever they please with the world, and it is a scary thing that there is nothing anyone can do in order to prevent this. This is why many people are very afraid of these kinds of situations, when the power shifts from us to nature. Not only to natural disasters have total control, but when you think about it, nature in general has control over nature. We cannot prevent the rain or snow from happening. We must mold our lives around the weather, the weather does not mold around our preferences or feelings. When we refuse to conform to this mold, it presents a challenge we as people of a greater control must deal with the consequences for. This is a part of what makes nature so beautiful. Humans cannot change the weather and make it better or worse as we please depending on our moods, as we do with many things in our lives. We need to respect the way it is and think of it as a constant. As they say the only thing that is constant is change, and this is very true while making this point. When we are constantly changing, it is good to have some constants. Nature being in control of itself gives us that opportunity. Natural disasters and weather have such an influence on our lives, and I think that it makes people afraid to think about such an abstract thing having a greater control of our lives. It is like God,  only we can see and predict weather, but alike God, we have no influence or control over it.

Journal #28

In sociology, we just did presentations about different cultures and the things that they believe and do. Through listening to the different presentations, I found some of the aspects interesting and some very odd aspects as well. If I were put into the place of some of the cultures we discussed, I could be very uncomfortable. Many of the cultures were hunter gatherers. As we live, we go to the grocery store buy our packaged meat and berries, and go home and eat them. In the hunter gatherer societies they have to go out and pick berries and kill and animal each time they want food. Although this is a bit extreme of a difference, there are other situations that would be different. For example if I was put into a very wealthy society, I would probably act how they would consider inappropriate. Although I am not an inappropriate person, Some of the behaviors that we would consider normal would be rude or inappropriate. For example, if you are put into a wealthy society and you were to not dress as nice or make a joke they thought was a child's joke, you would be deemed rude and the odd one of the group. In our culture we have a certain definition of what is normal to us. When people are put into our society and do not act like how we do, we automatically think that they are odd or do not associate with them because they are different. We all have a certain type of person that we all are, and is a part of each of us within our culture, and each culture itself has one. When put into a different society, we must either choose to conform and act as they do, or act as we think our normal is and accept that they may not include you as a part of their culture or society any longer. If you think about it there are so many cultures in the world and each of them is its own.

Journal #27

If I was miles from home defending my country, I would feel lots of emotions. I would feel scared first of all. Being in an unknown place so far from your home is enough to be pretty scared, but put the fact that you are fighting in a war, it makes it even scarier. I cannot even imagine being in a war type situation, with guns blasting, and shots being fired every which way. I imagine it is overwhelming and life changing. You could never erase the image of people being shot and killed or wounded from your mind no matter how hard you try. I would be scared everyday and every minute that I could lose my life and never see my family again. Family brings me to the next emotion I would feel, home sick. I do not usually get homesick if I am away from my parents for a few weeks, but I cannot even imagine being away for years on end. I would miss them so much, and even though there are ways to contact them, it would not be the same at all. I am sure I would cry a lot, and from a result of crying probably get sick . Sickness would also be something I would be concerned about. I feel like that big of a change in your diet and atmosphere would probably make you very sick, adding to all of your other emotions. I feel like if I was away and my family remained at home, I would feel like I was missing out in so many things. I would miss my little cousins growing up, possibly marriages, and deaths. I would hate myself for missing such important events, even though I knew I was doing something for the good of the country. Overall I really cannot even imagine what people fighting in the war go through, and are truly heroes. They put themselves through so much and do not get nearly enough appreciation as they should.

Journal #26

One time when something did not turn out as I expected was on my birthday. In December, my friend had texted me saying that I should come over on the night of my birthday and we would watch a movie and I could open my present.  I had to come over later in the night, eight o'clock I believe, because she had to work late. She also said I could not spend the night because she had to go to church in the morning. I was fine with that because I had taken the ACT earlier that morning and was exhausted. After dinner, I was going upstairs to grab some things before I left for her house, and my mom asked if I was wearing that, a sweatshirt and sweatpants. I said yes not thinking anything of it, but I later decided that i should probably put jeans on and I threw on a new shirt. When I got to her house, which is just down that street from mine, I parked my car and knocked on the door. She greeted me, but I took a couple steps inside when some of my other friends popped up and yelled happy birthday. I was very surprised and not expecting it at all.  my friend later told me my mom was on her way with pizza and that she had helped her plan it for a couple of weeks. My other friends had just found out about a week ago, and somehow all managed to keep it a secret. They had parked their cars down the street, just in case I saw them. They had also been there for about an hour, because I am know for being early for everything. It ended up being a super fun night, and we all stayed the night, but spent most of it talking. I think what made it so fun was that I was not expecting that at all.

Journal #25

Giving is a very important thing to do. Giving can be sometimes even more fun that receiving something. Christmas was recently and giving is a huge part of the holiday season. People say that Christmas is not about receiving, but is all about giving. I actually really enjoy giving gifts. Gift giving is fun for me because if I know that they are really going to like it, I get excited to see their reaction. I look for a long time to find a gift that I think that they will enjoy, and it is very rewarding when they like it as much as I had hoped that they would. Giving is not all about gifts however. Giving can be all kind of things. You can give love to people. Your can also give your appreciation for people. Giving appreciation for people plays a huge role in building relationships with people. People enjoy being complimented and praised, and when you do so, they tend to like you. If you think about it, most likely you will realize that many of the relationships in your life have started from some sort of giving. Giving is a trait that people look for in a person. When you describe the type of person that you would like to either be friends with, or to date of marry, a common trait is often giving. No one wants to be with a selfish person. Selfish people are often perceived as rude or mean. No one wants to be rude or mean! Giving is a trait that if we do not have we should look into developing if we do not have. We should all be giving people because that would make the world a better place to live in and it could solve a lot of the power problems in the world today. People get greedy with power instead of giving the choice to the people as our country should be, and it causes problems.