School Rant

Lately I've felt like I am accomplishing very little by being at school. I feel like I could be accomplishing so much more outside of the primary education system. Not that a primary education isn't good, I just feel that the only reason I'm still here is because I have to be. If myself and others like me could just move on to college when we were ready rather than when the state says is okay so much more learning would be done in so much less time. Lately it just seems as if the majority of my classes are pointless and are nothing but busy work. I don't mean to discredit any one or any class, but I HAVE LEARNED NOTHING. Because I took physics last year so far AP physics is all review so far, Econ is just common sense, so far calculus is a review from trigonometry and algebra and there is very little new material. It seems that my English class is the only place I'm learning anything and the things I'm learning aren't typical things one would learn in English. School just seems like a waste of my time, like nothing but busy work. If college would just hurry up and arrive already I could be done with the monotony of school and move on with my life and really accomplish things.

Workload Rant

I felt like I was managing myself fairly well with the whole college thing approaching until English today. It wasn't that English stresses me out, it's that the journal really made me think how I am spending my time and made me realize just how busy I am and suddenly I felt tired and burnt out. Applying for college and scholarships and the stress it causes has concrete research behind it showing that it's overbearing for seniors. So not only do I have that huge weight on my shoulders, but I have the heaviest course load I've had my entire academic career. The classes I'm taking have all seniors in them. The teachers know that I am going through one of the most important processes of life trying to start my adulthood, yet they still assign wayyyyyy too much homework. I have such a long laundry list of things to do it gets to the point where I just have to do them and move not really paying too much attention to quality. On top of this course work load I do a sport that has the biggest time commitment of any other sport. We have four hours of practice and we aren't even in season. On top of this I have to manage my weight outside of practice and even do extra workouts on my own to watch weight. During season we miss a day almost every week for league or tournaments. I have a huge time commitment. I know I put that upon myself and I could just quit, but in reality I can't if I want to stay competitive for college. Wrestling puts me in a leadership position and shows commitment and colleges apparently like to see that. I would busy enough just with wrestling but I also have an extraordinarily heavy course load and the combination of these things is ridiculous, and then college is piled on top of this. Trying to balance school college wrestling and enough sleep is proving to be impossible. The only reason I even have time to write this is because I didn't go to wrestling today. But I wouldn't have to skip if teachers would just back off with the homework and assignments. If all I had was extracurricular activities and college, I would be fine. I would be able to manage and get my sleep. But no. Teachers don't seem to understand what I have to do outside their class for the future of my life. I'm not saying don't assign any homework I'm just saying take it easy until college app's are done. Please

Beowulf Essay

Throughout history every culture has developed values and heroic figures that exemplify these values in literature. As one of the first English stories Beowulf is the first hero exemplifying the values of the English speaking world. The story of Beowulf has many similarities and differences to heroic stories told today. Through literary techniques and common heroic qualities, Beowulf and the modern hero, Superman make for a good comparison.

Written in the second century A.D. the qualities possessed by Beowulf reflect the values of a strong individual during that time. The Chaos, barbarism, and turmoil experienced by people in this time drove people to follow people who were strong leaders and fierce warriors. Beowulf is a good example of this. He is able to single- handedly take out a demon without using any weapons or armor, he is brave and noble. The story uses hyperbole to make Beowulf seem even stronger and fiercer through giving him seemingly super- human qualities, like being able to hold his breath for so long to fight Grendel’s mother. Beowulf is an epic poem, like many stories written in that era around the world. With more than 3,000 lines, the poem is able to tell a complex story and maintain detail and structure throughout.

It was once said that there is only seven types of stories in the world, and all the stories written are just different versions of those same stories. We can compare elements of every story and find similarities and some differences. Take for example Beowulf and Superman. They are both regarded as heroes in their eras of origination. They both have super- human strength and other abilities. There are however some differences. After his victory, Beowulf basks in the glory and accepts his rewards and treasure, while superman tries to stay hidden and avoid the limelight acting as modestly as possible and trying to lead a normal life. The beginning of the story in modern heroes usually begins with the back story showing the hero’s life and reasoning for who they are. Beowulf did this differently to modern heroes by showing who Beowulf’s family was and how great his ancestors are. In that culture you are defined by your family, so by showing who Beowulf’s family was, the author showed who Beowulf was. There are also differences in the media the stories are told through. Superman and other modern hero’s originated from graphic novels and have since become movies, showing great emphasis on visuals and looks, whereas Beowulf originated from oral tradition eventually moving to written text, which focuses more on narration .

It is clear that Beowulf exemplifies the heroic qualities and literary techniques of its time. The war and chaos of the period shows the need for a strong and braver hero. And with English still in early development the epic poem reflects the available literary techniques. The comparison of a modern hero and Beowulf shows how some traits and characteristics of heroes and literature carries over from period to period and others change. Every story has a hero.

Forum App!!

So the forum that Jacob and I created is compatible with an app (thanks Henry!)

The app is somewhat difficult to get going with but once you are in and signed up it's pretty simple.
1. Download the app "tapatalk"
2. Create an account
3. I makes you chose at least one personal interest to progress form a list
4. Next it forces you to follow three forums based on the interest that you chose (don't worry you can unfollow them later)
5. Once you're through to the page labeled "feed" click on explore and search for "open source learning" and a forum should pop up with a warrior logo as the emblem. Click "add"
6.You can now return to the "forums" tab down at the bottom and unfollow the forums you originally signed up for (if you want)
7. You can now view the various boards and posts we put on the forum from your mobile device and reply and start conversations

College Rant

Today I was asked to find a scholarship I qualify for as an assignment and it made me think, why should I need to do this? Why should I to go into so much debt for education? What is wrong with our society that education is for a select few in relativity to the masses of the uneducated? In much of Europe the equivalent of college is free for those with the grades, no matter your income. I could avoid the thousands of dollars in debt by not going to college and not advancing my education. Doesn't that seem like the better option? Why should I put myself into debt when there isn't any guarantee of employment either way? Trying to get to college has become an extraordinarily stressful feat. Colleges focus on so much more than grades. It's already extremely difficult to maintain my over 4.0 GPA, and now if I want to go to a good school, I need to play a sport, be in clubs, have a ton of volunteer hours, and present myself in less than 1,000 words to someone I've never met, and convince them to admit me. Also, colleges are looking at things that are out of my control including race, sex and my parents income. Why should someone of Mexican ancestry or African American ancestry with the exact same qualities as me be admitted and I'm white and I'm declined. I understand that colleges are trying to make their campuses more diverse, but by trying to "not be racist," they are being racist. Why should the fact that I'm male influence whether I'm admitted or not? Why does the fact that my parents make more money than someone else influence the admission officer? Because I am a white male from an upper middle class family I am not going to get any favors from the admissions officer. To get admitted I have to be the best of the best instead of just the best. It may just seem like I'm some spoiled privileged brat who doesn't realize what he has, but my parents make to much money to qualify for financial aid and not enough to pay for college easily, and because I'm a white male from the upper middle class, if i get admitted, I'm not going to get much money from the school. While my family may be better off than others, the fact that these "less well off" families get  tons of financial aid is really an equalizer because I will graduate with debt.  How is this an equal opportunity? The American Dream is to take whatever circumstances you begin with and improve them, not backtrack because of debt from trying to better yourself through education.

Will Study For Food

MCS- Middle Class Scholarship
http://www.csac.ca.gov/mcs.asp

Provides undergrad students who's parents are in the middle class income range to got to a UC or CSU, it gives no less than 10% of the system wide tuition and fees.

Vocab 2

Accoutrement- additional items of dress of equipment, or other items carried or worn by a person, or used for a particular activity

The fishermen arrived with all their accoutrements.

Apogee- the highest point in the development of something

Many people say the apogee of their education is high school graduation but I think that’s wrong.

Apropos-very appropriate to the situation

It is very apropos to have students use vocab in a sentence when trying to learn in it.

Bicker- argue about petty and trivial matters

Shailynn and I bicker constantly

Coalesce- come together and form one mass or whole

The crowds in Ferguson coalesced to try to show their discontent with the police.

Contretemps- an unexpected and unfortunate occurrence

Dropping his phone in the pool was a contretemps.

Convolution- a coil or twist, especially in a confusing way

Our DNA is a convolution of amino acids.

Cull- select from a large quantity, taking away non essential elements

He culled the herd

Disparate- essentially different in kind, not allowing comparison

Open source learning is very different to other classes but not completely disparate.

Dogmatic- inclined to lay down principles as incontrovertibly true

He was dogmatic and ignored everyone else at the conference.

Licentious- promiscuous and unprincipled

Many may call someone who is licentious a pioneer others call them rude.

Mete- dispense or allot justice, a punishment or harsh treatment

The judge mete the criminal.

Noxious- harmful, poisonous, or very unpleasant

Tear gas is said to be noxious.

Polemic-a strong verbal written attack on someone or something

I don’t want to have to give Dr. Preston a polemic, but it doesn’t seem like he’s helping Jacob and I get the word out about the forum very well.

Populous- having a large population; densely populated

New York City is populous.

Probity- the quality of having strong moral principles’; honesty and decency

Heroes are supposed to exemplify probity

Repartee- conversation or speech characterized by quick witty comments or replies

Robin William’s standup comedy is characterized by repartee.

Supervene- occur later than a specified or implied event or action, typically in such a way as to change the situation

It’s annoying when events are supervened

Truncate- shorten by cutting off the top or end

Some people truncate shotguns to make them more lethal.

Unimpeachable- not able to be doubted, questioned, or criticized

People have always viewed teachers as unimpeachable which I think is stupid.