¿Qué es la escuela perfecta?

What's is the perfect school?


The perfect school is one of equal opportunities and abundant resources. Ideally, the single perfect school would encompass a combination of a library and a tutor center; it would have any text book or book, and every type of specialty tutor. This school would only have learners 16 or older and would be open twenty-four seven.
     From personal experience, I have come to believe people learn best by choosing how they learn. This perfect school would put learning in the hands of the learner, and it would become a matter of choice. To clarify, every individual would go through the regular curriculum until the age of 16. This regular curriculum, however, is not today's curriculum, as it has an equal focus on a vast majority of subjects, not only the core four. Further, children would be given quarterly classes on most careers, including careers in the arts. After all introductory courses are given, children can then choose to continue schooling. I feel people learn best when they actually want to learn and receive more knowledge. I also feel life should be a compilation of things you want to do with full consent. Therefore, school would be optional, but always available. Having learned the areas they want to study, students can join any 'class' simply by walking into scheduled lectures, reading the multitude of books, or applying themselves through the extensive technology. Further, they can utilize the on sight tutors for help and guidance. Regarding jobs, students can begin at any point. The job hirers themselves can discern whether the student/learner is ready for the aspired job. If not, the student can return to being a student. Full-time students exist, and these students spend their whole lives simply gaining knowledge. Now by this time in the future, hopefully, science has found a way to integrate technology into the jobs no one prefers to do. For example, all those that clean bathrooms can be robots. If one truly wants to clean bathrooms, they can still do so. Tutors in the school can be robots as well. Everyone receives the same opportunity, yet individuals can still excel over others, to facilitate natural competition and ingenuity.
     I think I made up this school in my mind, because currently, I feel as those half of my days are pointless. I do not learn anything (okay that's not entirely true) and most of it is composed of busy work. Yet, I know I want to learn, but I am exhausted by the time I have my own free time. I don't like this negative pattern. Also, I don't know if I want a job. Ideally, I'd have enough money to major in everything. Analyzing my aspirations, I've come to the conclusion I just want to learn enough to master a skill. So for now, my perfect school allows just that. Hopefully one day, I will learn to apply myself in a grander scale, for a betterment of the world, but for now, I'll remain feeling clueless.

Numero Cinco - ¿En caso de que la sociedad moderna se criticó por ser demasiado materialista?

Should modern society be criticized for being materialistic?

I'm gonna make two arguments for this because as usual, I can't decide.  But pretend they're two different entries:

No, society should not be criticized for being materialistic.  Society is an ever evolving entity.  It changes with the ideals and the available technology, and the available materials in history have formed the thoughts of society.  In the prehistoric ages, stone and clay allowed neanderthals to worship fire and jotting down events on the walls of caves.  The printing press, invented around the 1500s, brought the movement of ideals, and science and knowledge became a value in the society.  The industrial revolution brought a time of work and business. In today's society, the ingenuity of humankind has created technology that allows material goods to be a prominent part in society, and something so inevitable cannot be criticized; the materialism of our current world is only a side effect of the beauty of creativity, and the appropriate use of human and his ideals.
      Naturally, humans seek to invent and create.  Both bored and curious, humans make things they believe will make life easier or more fun; thus, the current generation and society came into the world immersed with materialism.  Society cannot criticize what it has created.  Current society values center around what is available.  Instead of being criticized for valuing the material goods, society should be appreciated for the use instead of taking what is available for granted.

OR

Yes, society should be criticized for being materialistic,  Surrounded by technology and celebrity, society has learned to value things as opposed to people.  We have heard countless stories of the typical teen, stuck in bed staring at electronics instead of cherishing the family around the.  In this way, materials block society's ability to form strong relationships and realize what is truly important in life; therefore, society should be criticized for being materialistic.  The materials will one day perish as they cannot stay attached to the owner, but people can love each other in a much better bond than any other.

 

Numero Ocho - Escribe acerca de algo en las noticias que te interesan

 Number 8 - Write about something in the news which interested you

   

     On Yahoo news, I briefly skimmed an article on Kelly Clarkson and her inability to find work.  The fact that Kelly Clarkson could not find any collaborator did not interest me; rather, it made me think of dreams and their expiration dates.
     Many artists like Kelly Clarkson have made it.  They've worked hard and started with nothing to end up with all they could imagine.  After they've made it, what happens next?  Maybe that's the foil of reaching your goals.  It'd be bittersweet but maybe the best time to die is a short while after you've had it all.  You have the chance to enjoy the loveliness of it all, but it you leave it all before it get's old.  Maybe that's why they say the rich are unhappy.  They have so much yet it never seems to be enough, ironically.  So in this sense, maybe happiness comes from continuous achievement.  Maybe we intentionally hold ourselves back because we are afraid of what comes after the prize, what comes after the absence of challenge.  
     I'm trying to decide which is scarier between reaching a goal and looking for a new one or never being able to reach a goal.  Because on one hand, you have success, but in ways it's empty because the great feeling can only last for so long.  On the other hand, there is no success, but there is no feeling of grief over a lost passion.  It's probably really pessimistic to say, but after you've achieved something, what's the point of doing it again.  Maybe repetition brings affirmation to the skill, but after so many times the special feeling floats away.
     We seem to be a people of continuous movement, looking for something to stimulate the vast capacity of our brains.  My favorite moments, in this chase of continuous achievement and success, happen during the inbetweens.  The moments during the cycle (working towards a goal, achieving a goal, finding a new goal) following the temporary success are the moments that I feel I have it all.  I feel satisfied, and I am not chasing for anything new or anything more because I don't need anything more in the moment.  Kinda cliche, but they're the moments I'd be okay if I died in, the moments without a pull or obligation to something else.  But undoubtedly, the moments pass, and I again look for a new challenge.
     

-People seem to be adding pictures, so I'll add one too. (I searched flower shop on Google images and all the pictures made me angry for some reason, so it's a painting)-

Numero Cuatro - ¿Es Necesario Limitar la Libertad de Pensamiento y de Expresión?

Is it necessary to limit freedom of thought and expression?

     It is in no case necessary to limit freedom of thought and expression.  If anything, it is cruel.
     Freedom of thought and expression shapes the character and diversity of people and the world.  With limitations, monumental changes in history could not have occurred.  Frederick Douglas, a freed black save, wrote journals expressing his resentment toward the slavery system.  Formerly limited by the white man, he could not advertise his abolitionist thought.  However once freed, his thoughts and expression through writing kick started a long fight against enslavement of people.
     To limit freedom of thought and expression would be an act of fear.  In the book Fahrenheit  451, citizens cannot read books as the government fears it would instill dangerous thoughts in the minds of the people.  The government acts as this limitation.  However, as the book unfolds, readers find those who still read books are peaceful and only yearn to remember the stories.  The government banns book despite the fact books will do no harm in the society.  Banning books proved unnecessary.
     For me, and many of my friends, I know freedom of thought and expression allows us to survive.  Without the diversity in thought conversations would be boring; curiosity and interest would not exist, only apathy, which would result in an unmotivated world.  Without all possible forms of expression, there is no appreciation, and again no drive to impress others or do better.  I have a friend who draws and paints beautifully.  The arts give her an outlet to create the beauty she wishes to see more of in the world.  If someone limited this freedom, she would no longer have an outlet, but only a cruel world in her eyes.  Her life would lose it's meaning, as she would suffer having a talent she could not use. 
     People need the chance to express their thoughts as fully as possible.  One cannot put any restrictions or limits on the vast possibilities of the human mind, as it would risk shutting down thoughts or arts that can help people survive or help movements arise.  Don't limit others.

Numero Seis - ¿Puede el Conocimiento Sea una Carga Más que un Beneficio?

     At times, knowledge can be a burden rather than a benefit.  At times, knowledge can bring more pain and loneliness than happiness and insight.  With the classical example of the know it all, one knowledgeable person tends to over correct others and is bored with peers because they are not as intelligent as him.  Competitions are never a challenge.  In this extreme example, the knowledgeable only experiences loneliness despite his intelligence.  Further, knowledge can bring fear.  In 2012, many thought the world would end in December.  Because of this incorrect insight, many began to fear the end, and took drastic measures to avoid this.  This knowledge brought stress.  Without it, many would have continued their happy, simple lives.
     Knowledge, brings a lack of surprise and wonder.  While it does fulfill curiosity, it ends curiosity as well.  And ending curiosity is equal to the death of a new soul.
         

Numero Nueve - Escribes Sobre Algo Que le Interesa

Honestly, I love reading blogs.  Well, more specifically, I like reading the current blogs we have to do.  The blogs on commentary and analysis lost me at times, but the blogs that answer the questions really interest me.  It gives me a chance to read the opinions of my close friends on things we normally wouldn't talk about.  A few of my friends chose the question where you write about your thoughts, and to me, those were the most interesting questions.  A while back, I used to constantly ask my friends what they were thinking or say penny for your thoughts, but I've lost that habit (along with many other things I've lost during high school..)  But the blogs gave me a chance to fill the curiosity I forgot I even had.  The current questions make us think about things we rarely talk about.  I just love the chance of perusing through the brains of my peers on my own pace.  That is, they can say everything they'd like to without my interruption or feedback so it's totally unbiased. 

Another thing that interested me was an article over what helps sore throats.  Apparently, the sap in marshmallows, although not scientifically proven, sometimes helps sore throats.  And my throat hurts big time right now.

Numero Siete: Debemos Decir la Verdad

     Since I can remember, my mom always enforced that "honesty is the best policy".  Through my middle school and high school years, I still hold this to be true.  To lie someone would be to commit a grave crime.  However, withholding the truth without lying can act as a great savior.  Telling the truth surely depends on the circumstances of the situation.
     Many children anticipate the mounds of gifts they will receive from Santa on Christmas Eve.  The children's hearts are filled with hope and wonder as to how Santa can travel the entire world in one day.  It would seem like a murder to kill the innocence of these children.  In these circumstances, telling the truth would not benefit the morals of the children who believe in Santa.  Instead, it would crush a childhood so longed for by many adults. 
     To give an opposite situation, let's pretend a dear friend has an adulterous husband.  One cannot lie to the friend, especially if the friend suspects the affair.  Under this circumstances, telling the truth would be the best route, even if one becomes a carrier of bad news.
     Altogether, however, lying, not simply with holding the truth, is a selfish act.  People lie to save themselves from explaining, or to save themselves from the trouble of getting in trouble, and in this case lying is always unacceptable.

Numero Dies: Yo creo que...

     As a teenager myself, I can loosely represent the teenage population.  My teenage brain thinks about tomorrow and now and my favorite song and tiedye pair of gym shoes. I think about what happened just now and what happened a long time ago.  I think about myself.  I think about how indecisive I am, and therefore I spend a lot of time thinking about decisions I need to make.  I think about what would benefit me and I think about my appearance.  I think it's definitely personality over appearance any day though.  I think no one thoroughly reads through posts to comment on each other, so I end up acting like no one's reading at all.  I spend the most time thinking about people.  I think our family friends are the most wonderful people to spend holidays with.  I think Christine is magnificent, and I think Curtis is growing, and I think they're some of the best people that exist. I think I don't really know what best friends means.  I think Grey's Anatomy is one of the best show's suggested to me. I think I can go on forever about what I think, and I think I need to right now because I need to clear my thoughts a little.  I think I get stressed so easily and I want so much for myself. I think teenagers worry about feeling ordinary and insignificant but I think I've came to the conclusion that in the grand scale we're pretty insignificant but we can make the biggest impact on one person's life and it's great.  For now, that's what I think anyway.  I think personal project is a waste of my time because of my topic and I think I don't know what I'm going to do next year.  I think growing up and all that is disgusting because I'm afraid growing up means growing apart.  I wonder if anything I'm doing right now matters because I really don't think it does.  I wonder if being Catholic is worth the time, effort, and feeling of judgement.  I wonder if the friends I've made this year find me as lovely as I find them.  Well I honestly don't care too much if they do because they're lovely regardless.  I wonder if they'll try to stay in touch. I wonder how people can lie to people.  I think girl code is flexible but serious.  I think blogs are pretty cool because they're like journals and you can write whatever you want freely but there's the fear and hope someone will read it.  I think of death and I think everyone does.  I think it'd be okay if I died rather than someone I cared about because if I died I wouldn't have to live without them which is pretty cliche and selfish and I think I'm so selfish. Not self absorbed but just selfish and I don't want to be.  I want to do good. I want a life like FRIENDS and I want to know everything but if someone gave me the opportunity I wouldn't take it. I wish I could dance or draw or be creative.  I'm thinking about how Emma almost fell today during practical writing and how the librarian got mad and it was so funny at the moment. Now I'm thinking about the coin Katya gave me.  I think the library is the most wonderful place at summit.  I think it's weird to have a favorite color and I should really stop trying to force myself to find one.  I think if you tell a teenager to think, they can go on and on about anything and everything because truthfully teenagers haven't given up yet, and I think everything I've said was pointless but also meaningful and I really don't know anything and I realize there are a lot of thoughts I'm afraid to admit or share because thoughts are the only things that can just be mine and no one else's and that's pretty cool.  I don't know when to end this and I don't want to because it kind of makes my thoughts clearer but it also makes it look messier. I think there's so much more and I think this will never end if I don't end it right now.  This skirt was way too long but I don't want to hem any of it for some reason, even though it took an extremely short time to sew up