May 10, 2009
As a topic for my documentary I went from choosing a ballroom dancing, self-proclaimed time traveler to immigration. It seems like a change from a ridiculously interesting person, to broad, over publicised topic. The first seemed like the perfect person to document and photograph, there aren't many people out there who can have this description attached to them but the latter seemed a lot more relevant and personal. Being the daughter of two immigrants, I had obvious ties to the topic and to people who fall under the category. My mother immigrated from Mexico and my father from Japan. It's difficult to balance out what I believe and what I support of the tons of information I hear about the topic on a daily basis. I feel that, especially living in California, there is a shadow that follows the title of immigrant. Because there is contreversy in authorization and a blur in who is harmless and who is not, it's hard to accept any immigrant with open arms. In my documentary I profiled a women who immigrated from Japan, a student who immigrated from Guatemala, and a man who volunteers as a Minuteman. I wanted each section to show a different "type" of immigrant, beyond the obvious differences in nationality, and finally a type of reaction to the growth of illegal immigration.
Mar. 3, 2009
To qualify for most colleges a student needs background in the study of a foreign language. Most students are taking spanish, french, and even sign language now in high school for the first time. This structure of learning a second language as a teenager completely is more than a few years beyond a child's ideal age to do so. Studies have shown that children learn languages and absorb them more completely as young as 3 or 4. Which makes sense seeing as how by then most are learning their primary language. In my opinion it makes absolutely no sense to expect teenagers to actually become fluent in another language so late in their development, past the years in which all we do is absorb and learn. Being bilingual I can't understand how someone can pick up a language in high school and be able to adapt to its conventions and really be able to speak it fluently without having to remember years of grammar and rules. There are, however, international school that teach multiple languages to kids as toddlers and preschoolers. These are kids that will grow up speaking Chinese and Spanish, or French and Portuguese. Now instead of graduating at 18-years-old only being able to say "Hi, how are you?" and "I'm good thank you" a student is completely bilingual. While this leaves a hole in the foreign language credit department, high schools would be teaching far more advanced classes in every language simply because of the encouragement to teach language at a young age.
April 26, 2009
This year I've been looking for summer programs abroad because I love traveling and going on these types of trips. But the purpose in doing these types of programs has gone from broadening ones horizons to amping up your transcript. Because getting into the college we all want has become increasingly difficult, perfect grades are more a way to categorize students instead of making or breaking their acceptance. Things like community service programs and other volunteer jobs have become more about transcript material than legitimately wanting to volunteer and help your community or that of a different country. There are different things that push students to pay thousands of dollars to travel abroad with perfect strangers, but it is, in my opinion, becoming too much a part of gaining the right image and content for your transcript. The reason these trips can look so good to colleges is because it shows you care about more than just yourself and the bubble of the world you normally live in. To me this is a perfect reason to do this type of social service, but because the material is so attractive to colleges more and more projects and popping up and more students are signing up with the hopes of making it the tilting factor over other applicants.
Feb. 27, 2009
Junior year is the most critical in getting into the college you want. My counselor explained that these two semesters are really what they look at and that my G.P.A. at the close of this year basically is seen as a representation of the past three years. Whether last semester was your worst it overrules sophomore and freshman. In my opinion it’s faulty to put so much value on a single set of months. Getting into college is getting to be so competitive that the factors that play the biggest roles are crucial, whether they should be or not. The SAT’s and ACT’s and all other standardized tests carry so much importance that your year is spent dedicated to learning a test and test taking skills that it’s really not your time to find your niche. Regardless of the myth that art schools look at portfolios with more validity, a $200 test can prevent you from even being able to apply. The standardization in these tests contradicts the individuality each school claims to have when it comes to curriculum and majors. The broadness of it doesn’t really show the specific personality and qualifications relative to the school itself so it’s become more of a comparison factor to the thousands of other anxious students applying.
Feb. 12, 2009
Since middle school I've had some kind of online networking profile, which sounds much more inappropriate put in those terms. In middle school it was Myspace and now Facebook. It was a way to keep in touch with everyone, which wasn't always a good thing, but it was an easy link to friends who had moved or who I rarely saw. I didn't see the harm in it what so ever and I'm not saying I do now, I just think the level it's reached in becoming an obsession and pure waste of time is a little scary. Poking and bumper stickers have never been so popular and where else could you publicly post that you have 3,847 friends without seeming conceited? Teenagers spend hours clicking back and forth between new pictures, or juicy conversations that have absolutely nothing to do with them. And the fact that you can be traced back to pictures you've never even seen before or don't really want displayed to the online world is not a good sign for the future. I like talking to friends or people I normally wouldn't but I can't wrap my mind around how big of a phenomenon it's become. Domestic violence crimes have been commited over a partner changing their relationship status from "engaged" to "single," Teenagers have been arrested or put on probation from being posted in pictures doing or taking illegal substances. I'm not against it or the idea of an online networking system not to do with business but it's really turned into a craze.
Feb. 6, 2009
7:00 A.M. I walk out the door with a cup of coffee almost every morning. The sad part is that now it's more to avoid a headache sitting through zero period. At the same time my mom is enjoying a cup herself at home as are thousands of early workers across the country. Coffee has become so strong a part of the American morning routine it's seen as almost a necassary part of every morning regardless of whether it even takes effect anymore. The drink offers an accelerated stream of energy when I have slept far below the recommended 8 hours but when I think of its subsequential side effects it may not be worth it. I get tired by lunch and most likely have a headache if I skip it in the morning. It sounds a little bit of an exageration to claim these as coffee's own withdrawl symptons but after months of a morning cup by clockwork, its more than understandable. Uncoinciding to the early schedule, I am the opposite of a morning person and so a cup before trig. class sounds reasonable but I'm starting to question whether it's the best quick fix.
Jan. 30, 2009
In our society the circulating conventional wisdom has come to trigger almost instant reactions and opinions about the track our life is following. Recently we read a chapter in Stevin Levitt's Freakonomics analyzing the impact parents have on their children. Years of constantly changing philosophy about upbringing and the anatomy of a perfect parent have shown little results. Levitt's studies show that those countless hours of Mozart and years of piano class do little to improve their future success. Just as the millions of books printed yearly of baby names and their effect on the new addition to the family hold no validity. Trying to find the best methods to follow is a cause long over due as the biggest factors in a child's future success are determined in how parents build and carry out their lives. Surprisingly a detail usually overlooked is how old the parents are or the point in their lives when they have kids and how the parents are as a couple. What neighborhood a child grows up in tends to be less an indicator of their future than the amount of books they have in their homes. The main thing to acknowledge is that many of these things are indicators more than causes. Names for example, can reveal much more than previously thought. Parent education, ethnicity, and socioeconomic pressures can be predicted just by choice and spelling.
Jan. 15, 2009
In an EAP practice test the subject was the idea of offering money to low-income and minority students for taking and passing AP and other advanced classes. The deal was a promised $100 for a passing score on the test at the end of the year. In my opinion it's surprising this kind of program is even put on the table. There's a difference between motivating students and motivating teenagers. I acknowledge the fact that enrollment would undoubtebly go up, but how many would really have the epiphany in the end of going beyond their old personal boundaries? Students who already take the coursese promising money wouldn't exactly see this as fair if other students are being pushed to take their class they take for free. As a plan to encourage "minority and low-income" students, paying off students of these qualifications not only would lead to a bigger motive to cheat, but also widen the gaps in the typical highschool dynamic.
Dec. 19, 2008
Break is finally here! No more cramming, or trying to make myself study. But finals really do make break seem so much better. I definintely had days of slacking off and avoiding work that easily could've been avoided. There's no way it was worth the lazy days so hopefully next time will change. See you next year!
Dec. 12, 2008
Finals are next week and what's stressing me out more than just the fact is that I'm not more worried. I can't make myself sit down and study, regardless of how much I'll regret it. It keeps getting harder and harder to get things done and ignore how boring they might be. My math teacher openly admits I'm never going to use 90% of what I write down and cram into my head. Everything somehow connects but aren't we supposed to focus on what we actually want to do? It's stressful knowing there are so many little requirements and tests to pass when they really shouldn't carry as much pressure and expectations as they should.
Dec. 4, 2008
I managed to lock my keys in my car for the second time in the past two weeks and even though it's almost twice as old as me breaking in is a lot harder than I thought. I never really believed in bad luck but a ticket, locking my keys in my car twice, and two flat tires all in a month is making it a little more debatable. Of course most of these could have easily been avoided and it's avoidance to just blame it all on luck. A lot more is based on our state of mind and control. Pressure and stress especially around finals or school in general makes it harder to focus and concentrate when I need to the most. Some days I can somehow make myself sit down and crunch out what I need to do, or ussually make up, but other days the unavoidable thing is to just sleep. I just wish there were more of the first and much less of the second. Whatever excuses our parents make for lack of interest and drive are just as pointless when it's so based of perspective and state.
Nov. 24th, 2009
I know this one's coming a little late but making up my animatic seemed more important. I still don't really know if I even like it but we'll see how this whole animation thing turns out. I can't believe this whole time I've been dying for it to be winter break I never realized finals were coming up. For some reason I can't make myself study or plan or anything for them like I did Freshman year. I kind of regret being so caught up in school that year as much as everyone encourages it. My teachers openly admit I'll never use the confusing, time-consuming formulas or theories out in the "real" world but if it's part of my education it's still just as valuable. If education's so priceless why do we make thousands of kids hate it by cluttering it with things that only tell you what letter to bubble and then they're just discarded.
Oct. 20th, 2008
Having experienced dozens of last minute word vomit-like occurrences due to creeping deadlines the one thing I’ve tried to understand is want for faulty, extremely pressured writing. It’s completely true that if it were not for procrastination I could’ve easily avoided resorting to Sparknote summaries and writing so carelessly I have sentences five lines long. The ability to convince myself that simply avoiding it is clearly the better decision is even more ridiculous and I have to admit it’s improved a lot over the past year. For some reason I remember being able to just sit down and get every little thing finished without too much complaint my freshman year, but now it’s easier to think of an articulate schedule for fitting it all in during class the next day. I’m sure most teachers can distinguish between a paper I calmly wrote over a few hours, (as more than a day early can never be achieved), and a scattered, sporatic result of multitasking in 1st period. It should really be incorporated as a lesson in studying to be a teacher.
