Ellen Degeners: This is How we Live

     This essay written by Ellen Degeneres really caught my attention and I agreed with almost everything that she had to say. The main point she was trying to make was that everything that we use on a regular daily basis, things that don't need to be made easier are being made easier for the main fact that we humans are lazy and try to find the easiest way to do simple tasks. I agree with Ellen when she stated this because if you really think about it, people are always trying to make things easier for them to handle and easier for them to accomplish in a manageable fashion, but sometimes we don't need to make everything easier.
     Modern Life requires barely any if not no physical activity and I personally don't think thats the way that it should be. We are humans for many reasons and one of those reasons is to engage in physical activity for the main reason that sometimes we have to whether we like it or not. I agree with Ellen when she talks about and gives an example about Go-Gurt. She says that people think having "real" yogurt is a hassle sometimes and go-gurt is just an easier way to have it. I think that there is a point where our laziness as humans need to stop. Taking the easier way out, out of everything can be necessary at times but most of the time I believe that people do it because it makes life a lot easier when sometimes something as simple as a yogurt should not have to be made easier for those who want to take the lazy way out.

Hip-Hop Life

       The article, Hip-Hop Life I found very interesting and almost sentimental to the author in some ways. I found this reading intriguing right away because the very first line says "I'm the perfect example of hip hop's influence on teenagers. Right away I could tell that this kid has a passion for hip hop music and it is something that he feels connected to in a way. I agree when he states that "you can come from nothing but still amount to something." That statement is very powerful and I could tell as I continued to read that being someone who comes from nothing, you can still be the person that you want to be through whatever it is that you are passionate about, and in this case hip hop music is what he comes from. I really enjoyed this reading because I think it is important for people and teens out there to know that if you have an interest in something, take that interest on and be successful with it, being the person that you want to be. I also thought it was cool how he gave us kind of a background on where he came from and where he is now. Coming from Richmond, Virginia and making it out of the ghetto with good grades is something hard that many people in that state have to face. Having hip hop in his life had given him hope to those people who don't have any and who have just given up.
       I can relate to this reading in a way that is not through hip hop but through my passion for lacrosse. Taking on lacrosse for the first time as a freshman in high school and have never played before is something that I was nervous and worried about facing. But I tried to not let the nerves get to me and instead face all those fears that I had about playing the game of lacrosse just as this kid did with growing up in Richmond. When you are passionate about something such as hip hop music or lacrosse and you can relate to it, it makes hope so much easier.

Practice Observation

      For my practice observation, I observed the place where I work. I work at the Quincy YMCA gym  and when I'am at the desk it gives me a chance to observe people who are walking by all day long. The things that I had noticed were that mostly everybody was in workout clothes, getting ready to workout for the day. Also many people had basketballs to use on the basketball courts and some even had lacrosse sticks with them to play with their friends. I had also noticed and paid attention to the conversations that people were having as they walked by. The majority of the conversations were about what they were going to do once they left the gym, and others were random conversations about pointless stuff. People that had walked by were mostly middle aged, married with their kids but there were also a lot of of high school kids who go to Quincy high school which is right across the street that come over after school to work out.
       Many of the people who had walked by throughout the hour that I was on the desk, were using technology in the sense that they were all using their cellphones. Some were texting, some were talking on it, and others were listening to their music that they like to workout to on it. Some people even had their laptops that they brought and used at the tables to get some work done.
      This was a very interesting place to observe. At first I thought it would be hard to observe, but it got interesting for me as time progressed and I enjoyed observing especially because people had no idea that I was doing it!

Jon Stewart, Commencement Address

    Ending my senior year of high school and beginning to start my freshman year of college was a nerve racking time for me and I'am sure it was for alot of other high school seniors. I was scared of leaving my comfort zone. I was scared of starting the next chapter in my life. I think this article was spot on when discussing this guys freshman year of college, and so far I can relate to it. Leaving high school, you know that the next step was going to college, and that it would be an experience of a lifetime. I agree with the author when he states that "The entire place is an elective. The paths are infinite and the results uncertain." I agree because now that I am in my second semester of my freshman year of college, I know that there are so many paths that I can follow that will lead to my success, but finding the right paths is something that you have to be careful of and really take into consideration.        Being in college has really opened up the doors for me and for the rest of my life. Completing college in hopefully three more years is something that I look forward to every day, and having success is the best thing that anyone could ever ask for, but you are not going to get there without hard work. The author was very serious when he was discussing success, and I think it is important that high school seniors get a good insight on what to expect during freshman year of college. College most definitely  has many challenges that you are going to have to face, and I have already experienced some myself but I didn't give up and worked hard to push through those challenges. All together, this article was a piece of informative writing and I really liked the way it gave high school seniors the tips that they need to be successful in your freshman year of college. It is true that things are going to change rapidly, but most importantly life is going to get better.

Collage Explanation

     The main idea that I wanted to focus my collage on was family and friends. At first I did not know how I would be able to connect the two ideas of family and friends in a way that people would understand. As I thought more about it, I came up with the idea of also including my hometown of Braintree into it. The title of my collage is Family and the "Tree", which means that I focused on showing how my hometown, family, and friends have all helped shape the person that I'am today. In the top half of my collage I added images of my biological family, which includes pictures of my parents, my younger brother, and younger sister. On the bottom half of my collage I focused on my hometown of Braintree. In the center I have placed an image of the Braintree symbol, which is a Wamp head, surrounded by pictures of the sports I was involved in, in high school and some pictures of graduation and the last day of senior year. To wrap everything together in my collage I had inserted a quote that I had found online and replaced the town they used with my hometown. " I'am a product of Braintree, the love and passion that I commit, always knowing that my friends and family will be proud of me."
       Braintree High School, and the town of Braintree has really helped shape the person that I'am today and I'am so grateful that my family and friends were there with me every step of the way. This collage says a lot about my identity, and how it is mainly made up of  my hometown of Braintree, my friends, and my family.

High Schools Secret Life

Finding a seat at lunch every day and not knowing if you are able to sit there or not is something that I experienced myself during my sophomore year in high school. Freshman year, all freshman had the same lunch and were able to eat together but once we hit tenth grade, things changed and in some cases so did people. I found this reading interesting because I was able to relate to it, and that most of it is true. I was not surprised at the fact that this reading was stereotypical because most high school students  are mean, judge, and will not let someone sit at their lunch table if they didn't think they were cool enough or wouldn't fit in with them. I also was not surprised that the girl who had the second lunch by herself while all her other friends had the third lunch could not find a table to sit at and feel left out, because that happens in high school all the time, well at least at the high school that I attended. I think it is always hard to fit in with a certain group and I don't think it should be that way. But once you find the group that you know you belong with, it was meant for a reason and you should feel comfortable. I think that everybody should be welcoming towards other people, but in high school that is just not going to happen as easily as you would hope. In this reading the girl talks about a sense of loneliness that she felt when she found out she would not be at the same lunch as her friends and I agree with that. I think that no matter what kind of person you are, we both know that if you do not have any friends with you at lunch then you are in that case a loner and feeling that way is not ideal to anybody. The argument in this reading was constructed in a way that was exact and right on discussing stereotypes and trying to fit in, in your school cafeteria. I thought the readings main point was that wherever you sit at lunch and whoever you sit with, that is who you are defined as and those are who your friends are. I do not think that people should be defined by the people they are sitting with at lunch, but instead of the type of person that they are outside of the cafeteria.