Athie's Analysis on Anger (Alliteration!)

The human condition is inherently based on emotions. The things we say, the way we say them, the way we act, the people with whom we surround ourselves, even the way we look is contingent on our emotions. Whether the emotion which fuels us be happiness or anger is what likely determines our general predicament in life's situations. 

It is far from surprising that the "hottest argument out there", the health care debate that is, is facilitating some of the most heated and impassioned viewpoints modern politics has seen in the last decade. 

When an individual holds an opinion, he likely holds it because he feels that it is either the most conducive to society, or to his own predicament. As human beings,  we do not like to be told we are wrong, and can even act out of belligerency when faced with such an accusation. 

This sort of outbreak of an anger pandemic, if you will, is especially expected in such a divided issue. When such extreme lines are drawn (either you're a socialist or you have no soul...give me a break!) there is little room for balance, and extreme opinions and actions are likely to form. 

I find this situation of heightened emotions almost exclusively detrimental to general progress. Although I warrant that the increased passion that comes with anger can at times, inspire the masses and fuel change, it is almost always a fosterer of sensationalism and blind decision making. I would describe anger as the disintegrator of rationality. In fact, studies show that IQ levels drop significantly when one is under the bouts of extreme emotion. 

Overall, this is an issue that surely will maintain its position as the main headline in our newspapers, and thus, I call each of you to use your minds, not your raging and fervent hearts, to form an opinion. 

Assignment: The Productivity of Anger or Why Our Words Matter.

There’s a bit of anger out there, but does it accomplish anything? Yes I’m speaking of the debate on Health Care. I’m not at all concerned about what you think about the issue—so don’t start talkin’ ‘bout “moral imperative” or “socialism.” I want to know why so many people, people from both sides of the isle, are so filled with hateful words and the effect that speech has on the debate. The last time I got the kinda angry I’ve seen and heard about, I made a fool of myself and I didn’t get anything accomplished, in fact I probably damaged some relationships. What we say and how we say it make a difference. Please comment on either the language of this current debate and discuss the effect the angry words are having on our society. Or discuss a time when the words you used dramatically affected a given moment. How did those words create that outcome?

Mallory

So this picture is one I took a while back. Taking pictures of nature is one of my favorite things to do when I have the time. I love driving out into the middle of nowhere and pulling off the road, and enjoying the scenery.

My goals are pretty standard I guess you would say. Go to college, get a job that I actually enjoy (at this point i want to be a psychiatrist), get married and have kids. I don't really like to worry about my future because i try to live in the present.

One thing i learned last year is that you really need to judge people based on their actions not their words. Its a pretty basic piece of advice and something you always hear. But, you never realize how true it is until you are in a tough situation yourself.

This summer i learned a lot about responsibility and growing up. This summer i was given a lot more freedom by my parents to do many things i had never been able to do before. With this came a lot more of responsibility, as do many things with growing up.

My goals for this year are to hopefully learn to manage my time better. Last year my biggest academic problems were rooted in my horrible time management skills. Not relating to school, my biggest hope for this year is to strengthen and grow the existing relationships i have with my friends and hopefully begin some new relationships.

I dont really do much on the internet but my favorite website is http://www.pandora.com/. I am listening to music almost every minute of everyday. I love this website because it is a really great way to discover new music.

daniel kiesling

Last year was a pretty rough one for me. Time management is porobably one of the hardest things for me, its WAY to easy to say, 'I'll do this assignment in a couple minutes,' and then that minute turns into a couple hours. And it doesn't help I have basektball either. And that's exactly what happened to me last year. Basketball got in the way and I didn't manage the time i did have very well. I was tired all the time and I hope to improve that this year. Hopefully get homework done earlier, and get to bed earlier.

Hopefully this time managment will help get all A's. It's a goal I've had for....well, ever. I've never accomplished that, and I hope this year will be different. Outside of school, basketball is my dream. Allways has been, and probably allways will be. I wouldn't love to play D1, and I think it may be possible, but I have a lot of work ahead of me if I'm going to accomplish that.

Six or seven summers ago, when i have nine or ten, my dad received an invitation to bring our faimly to Disney for a wedding of one of his friends. Before this time, I kinda of looked at my mom and dad as a couple people just caring for me and never really being crazy or having a lot of fun. But when we were there, they had this dance competition and my parents compete and I was amazed. I had never seen them do stuff like that I kind of pictured my parents differently after that.

I don't explore the internet a lot, but I would have to say my favorite website would be www.facebook.com It's prolly my most visited website for friends and to talk with family members outside my immediate family. Its what I use a lot to keep in touch with them.

About Matthew Rhys Powell

I'm Matthew some of my goals are to be able to do a backflip and to be able to drive and to get all As, become ridiculous at tennis, improve my speed, gradually get rid of the red tint in my hair and to get into a good college and to meet new people and to become fluent in Spanish, make a lot of money, make a rap album (to the dismay of my parents), write a script.  Seeing my report card after freshman year was a hard slap in the face with a cold fish (I didn't do 2 bad, nothin lower than a B, but freshman year was such cake and I basically messed around most of the time until the end of the semester and then o man i gotta get an A in this class i just gotta and i did in some classes, but not all) so then sophomore year i took school a lot more seriouser and i learnt a hole lot but i'm a future-minded guy so i dont dwell on my freshman failures.  the insight that this gives me is that school isnt that hard as long as 1 doesnt mess around and 1 does one's homework at night, and not the morning of the day it is due, which reduces 1's stress by 2 and increases inner peace by 3, i dont wanna get all feelosofical on you, thats just the way it is.  by the way i want to assure you that im not all that weird in real life even tho this might give off such an impression, its just I am not usually allowed to bend and brreak the rules of grammar and so on and so forth in English assignments, so i AM going to do it now- wait where was I- o yeah- what will i do differently this year?  hmm, not much because my performance sophomore year was probably at the apex of what I can do (school-wise) so yeah nada as the Mexicans say.  wow i just put in this penguin picture and i gotta say I really underestimated the size. sorry for any problems it may cause but i thot it appropriate to include a picture of some penguins because they are majestic animals and i appreciate the struggles that they go through that Morgan Freeman told me about.  anyway a summer experience that changed my life, hm changed- no can't think of one- but significantly impacted, yes it would probably be the first time I went to Europe and just got to see how life is lived over there: it stirred up a love of international travel.  i say this wasnt a change because that love was probably in me before i even went on the trip, but how was I supposed to know that i had this love when I'd never travel internationally.  see what i mean?  my favorite website's probably www.facebook.com i know thats really boring and entirely ordinary, but it is the website that i go to compulsorily when i get on the computer so i guess its my favorite.  i love music tho, so i also go to www.pandora.com a lot its a great way to be introduced to new artists...

Devin

That's me on the right. Cool huh? I don't want to use his full name, but you may know the guy on the left. It's Nick S., who is a classmate of mine. We both play paintball for a team named UnderRated, which competes at a regional level in SEPS (South Eastern Paintball Series). We've never been to the finals, but we've done well for our first year as a team. My goals for our team are to win a SEPS event by the end of next season and at some point play a tournament at the national level.

Of course, I have plenty of interests outside of paintball. I love music and I play both the guitar and a bit of drums, and I've been told I sing decently (I actually just learned how to scream, and it's pretty fun). I can listen to just about any type of music, the exceptions being rap and country. A few of my friends and I are attempting to get a band together, but it's coming along slowly. We don't really know what type of music we want to play, and none of us can drive yet so regular practice is hard to do.

I also love roller coasters. I think the source of this interest was an old PC game you might know: Roller Coaster Tycoon. It got me hooked, and now I can name stats from roller coasters across the country. If you comment your favorite roller coaster below I can probably tell you a lot about it. One of my favorite sites is http://www.coaster-net.com/. It's a forum where I can go geek out about coasters and save my girlfriend's ears. One of the career fields I'm looking into is engineering, and designing roller coasters might be a possibility with that sort of education. How awesome would it be to end up designing coasters for Intamin, the company that brought us Top Thrill Dragster, Millenium Force, Maverick, and more?

Anyways, that's just a little bit about me. If you want to know more, just ask. I'm always up for making new friends.

rachel l.

I have many goals for this year and years to come. Besides doing well in school, I really want to learn to become more efficient at getting things done, and to stop worrying so much about everything. This concern for doing well has led me to achieve most of my goals and to do well in many of my pursuits, but it has also made many things more stressful than they should be. I have often been told that it is more important to benefit and learn from an experience, good or bad, rather than worrying about doing something perfectly. This is advice I intend to embrace in the coming years.

On another note, I had some truly wonderful experiences this summer. The first was a two week trip I took to Spain with my family, and the second was attending the Governor’s School for the Arts. Both of these experiences were great learning experiences for me. Traveling in Spain for a couple weeks, I learned how great an experience it can be to immerse yourself in another culture and learn a new way of life. At GSA, I found out how much I truly love music and the art community. Every day, I had to rehearse in multiple ensembles and attend music theory and music history classes. I also had the chance to see multiple performances and attend workshops in other art disciplines like dance, creative writing, and visual art. And although I never stopped running while I was at the camp, I loved every single minute of it. I truly came to appreciate all the art forms and how challenging and fulfilling they can be. I am not positive that I will my make my career based on music, but I don’t doubt that it will always be a part of my life.

I cannot say that I have a truly favorite website, but I often get on http://www.facebook.com/. My sister also introduced me to a great website http://www.stumbleupon.com/ where you can find articles and information on pretty much any topic.

Mary Combs

During my free time, it always seems like I come up with thousands of goals for myself. The problem is that when someone directly asks me about them, they all seem to escape my mind. On that note, I shall use some very non interesting ones that everyone seems to use. School is my top priority this year so therefore, getting good grades is a big goal. I also want to get into a good college and then figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life. Music (cello), astronomy, and art are all at the top of my list, but this has been known to change.

I am going to be quite honest, I struggled last year. I lost sight of where I was going while battling a four month illness, and the effect was dramatic. I barely kept my grades up and I was hardly practicing cello at all. Once I recovered and saw how bad of shape I had been in, I became determined to do better this year.

To be quite honest, I hardly did anything this summer. My family decided not to go on vacation, so most of the time I was stuck at home. The most eye opening thing that I did, was help my dad finish restoring my 1965 Mustang I got for my birthday the previous September. I spent time with my dad, while learning about what makes this car tick. The result was a beautiful Dynasty Green car named Sadie.

My favorite websites are www.facebook.com and www.youtube.com.

Kelly

Siesta Key Sunset--Summer'09

Most of my goals right now are the same as everyone else’s. I want to maintain my 4.0 GPA and get good test scores. I also want to get into a good college. But before I can even think about getting into a good college I have to figure out what I want to study. Currently I’d like to study neurology, however, I have no idea if I’ll want to pursue this as a career a few years from now. I want to find something that I’m passionate about and that will allow me to make a difference. I don’t want to wake up every morning as an adult and dread going to work. Making a difference is one of my other main goals. I want to make a difference in someone’s life; I want a career that will let me help improve people’s lives. This is why the medical field is so appealing to me.

Outside of figuring out what my future career will be my goals include living a happy life and eventually getting married and having children. I’d also love to travel the world. At this point I’ve never been out of the country. My top three places I want to visit are Italy, Australia, and Spain.

My favorite website is http://www.pandora.com/ because I love the variety of music they play. It's introduced me to some of my favorite songs.

Justin

Since I was very young I have always wanted to be a surgeon, and I hope that through college and medical school I can accomplish this. This past spring, I shadowed a heart surgeon at a hospital; As a result of this, I became interested in how our body functions, and more health conscious. Some of my goals for the distant future include competing in an eating contest or setting a ridiculous world record. Last year, I worked hard throughout the grading period, so that I did not have to be as worried about finals, and the effect they would have on my grade. I hope that even though I am taking harder classes this year, I can continue this in order to do well in school.
This summer I went backpacking in Sierra Nevada with Outward Bound. We hiked a couple mountains in the two weeks that I was there. Some of the people who were on the trip were very insightful, and made me think about how we act around other people. The picture is from where I went backpacking on Electra Peak. My favorite website is The Onion because it is where I get all of my news from.

I guess I will entitle this.. Embry?

This is in Garrard County, a beautiful sunset(:
I like to write, but I'm not sure how much I like writing something that everybody will see. I hope this blog will help me out with that.. But anyway, on to the assignment.

I can't really say that I have any specific goals, maybe sort of an internal.. check list. I am an avid supporter of check lists. You will find me making them on scrap pieces of paper, homework, and especially my assignment book. I guess I realized very young that if I don't write things down, I wont get them done. There is nothing better I like than scratching something out that I accomplished. It makes me happy. So these internal goals would be to: graduate high school, obviously, go to college, find something that I am absolutely passionate about, and get married and have a family- after traveling the world of course.

I don't really know what I want to do with my life, if you know me you know that I quite frequently bust out with, "What am I going to do with my life?" I guess I realize that I have plenty of time to figure it out, but as junior year keeps chuggin' along I get more and more nervous about it. If you have any ideas on what I would be good at you should, uh, let me know. And as for starting a family, I love kids. I have been blessed with wonderful parents, who have had a lot of impact on my life, I hope one day I will be able to be an awesome parent to my children. I think it is one of the most important things in life is teaching a child- about anything.. life, algebra, or love.

This summer I volunteered at Lexington's Children Theater. I worked with kids from the ages of 4-15 and I have to say that I absolutely had a BLAST. I did Fancy Nancy twice, a full day with 17 7 year old girls girls is something unforgettable. It was awesome being someone for the girls to look up too- I received lots of hugs at the end of the week. All three weeks I volunteered the kids were adorable and we put on some pretty fantastic performances, included a dance tribute to Micheal Jackson. I had some awesome times and learned a lot about responsibility and some amazing dance moves

I can't say I really have a favorite website..
Most often I visit:
Facebook
or
Youtube (livelavalive)

This summer I went to Spain with my mom for two weeks. We stayed in Barcelona for the first few days, swimming in the Mediterranean and the hotel pool. I’d say that the pool was more enjoyable because there weren’t any old, leathery, naked people there. I was astounded by the looseness of their culture, where pretty much anything goes. When I went to Guell Park and La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi masterpieces, I was greatly inspired and thought that I could do anything I wanted. But wait, I live in America, where industry and special interest groups have total say over anything else. I think that America is sacrificing its beauty and happiness in order to become the most powerful country in the world. Why can’t we learn from “Great” Britain and see all the problems they caused, like drawing lines in Africa and exploiting its own and neighboring people to get some porcelain plates and pretty-smelling perfumes? Ok that’s enough ranting. I’ll save the rest of it for another time.
My favorite web site is http://www.facebook.com/, where I can connect with my friends and family anytime.
I love running cross-country and track, and that’s not going away so.
This is a picture of the cross-country team my freshman year. I’m the one kneeling on the very right. Sorry if i post this picture twice!

Who knows what my goals in life are right now. They are so varied and change so quickly I can barely keep up with them. One minute it's to become a doctor the next minute is to go homeless for a year just to experience it. I guess I do have some goals; both short term - unplug the toilet, and long term - keeping it unplugged. I guess at some point I want to experience the world, whatvever that means. Planning to hitchhike with Justin Simpao through Eastern Europe, and Spain (so we can use our Spanish). MAybe write a book called, On the Chechnyan Road, (eerily similar to Jack Kerouac's On the Road, but set in the Soviet Bloc.) Becoming a writer would be nice, in the long run. This year I would love to learn how to use a, comma, correctly,.
Over the summer, I realized how much more fun it it to learn a language in another country as compared to a classroom. And how much easier it is. Another vague goal of mine, is to learn several languages conversationally, so I can speak to waiters at Chinese, Italian, and French restauraunts ( and visit their countries and get along OK).

Though this not my favorite website, in fact I've never visited before now, I like the idea, bringing back the TV show Arrested Development: http://saveourbluths.com/

Rae Staben

This summer I was a teacher in training at the Living Arts and Science Center.  Working with the teachers opened my eyes to how important it is to enjoy what you do.  One teacher I worked with, Melinda Boyer, had been teaching her whole career, and loved all the kids and their artwork.  The people I met at LASC could see and appreciate all of the beauty around them, from the flowers growing by the pond to a colorful scribble drawn by a three-year-old.  The teachers there seemed so genuinely happy in all that they did, I think because they chose to do what makes them feel good. They are not art teachers because it pays well, but because they enjoy encouraging creativity through art instruction.  My goal is to find something that I feel just as passionate about as the LASC teachers feel about their jobs.  I have absolutely no clue what that is right now, but I want to figure it out so I can live my life the way I want to.  I would rather be happy in my career than in one that pays a fortune.  I know that I want to love what I do and make at least a small difference in the world, but beyond that I have no idea what the future holds for me.

 This year, just like everyone else, I want straight A’s, good test scores, and to succeed academically overall.  I also want to learn to balance my academic life with my other interests, so that I have more time to just enjoy myself.  This year, my goal is to keep up with my history reading, because last year I did not read the world history textbook at all.  Therefore, I learned nothing at all. 

Here is a picture of a person using a pottery wheel to throw pots.  This summer, I took a pottery class at Mudworks and learned how to wheel throw pottery, although I have a lot of room for improvement.       

 

I like www.epicurious.com because I love to cook and this website has many great recipes from Bon Appétit and Gourmet magazines.  I have found some of my favorite foods through these recipes.   

Helen Sauer

I've changed my plans for the future more times than I can count, but as of now I'd really love to be a corporate immigration lawyer. People who have this job facilitate the American dream. I'd also like to live in Boston, but pretty much any larger city is okay with me. Mostly I just want to have a job that challenges me intellectually and maybe makes a difference in someone's life. There's so many boring jobs in the world. That's why I always try to push myself academically. I've only got four years to muster an impressive CV and get into a top level college. I'd love to go to Vassar, Boston University, or the University of Pennsylvania, and study law at William and Mary. My short term goals are to reach the quarterfinals in Bickle & Brewer and state, to run a time under 23:00 in cross country, and make straight A's.

Last year I really struggled in chemistry. I just didn't pick it up very quickly, and while i managed to scrape out an A the first semester, I ended up with a middling B the second semester. At the risk of sounded melodramatic, it broke my spirit a little bit. It was the first B I'd received in a very long time, and it took away my perfect high school GPA, something I'd always prided myself on. But after a few months have passed, I've realized that it taught me a very important lesson about life: that I'm far from infallable and that not everything is handed to me. I realized I don't have to let it ruin my college chances, I just have to work harder to overcome the blemish on my resume.

This summer I volunteered at St. Joseph every weekday for six weeks. It taught me a lot about the nature of the work world, especially about working with people in customer service. Avoid it, it's awful.

My picture is of me in Rome during the summer. This picture always makes me laugh. It isn't altered at all, and I still can't exactly figure out why I look so huge and the car looks so tiny.

My favorite website is http://www.nytimes.com/ because it is consistently accurate without being dry.

Jeremy

This year i hope to maintain straight As of course, but my real goal is to do really well on the SAT/ACT/PSAT. I'm actually hoping to get a perfect score on at least one of them. I know this sounds a bit lofty, but i think its possible. One thing that really helps me on those kinds of tests is not to stress out. Don't study the night before and just go in and take the test casually, but seriously. This has worked for me before so I'm hoping I can do even better this year. I also want to attain a score of a 5 on all my AP tests this year, although I'd be happy with a 4 too. Last year somehow I managed a 5 on AP world so i think a 5 on anything is possible. I'm exploring my options, but for a while I've really been thinking about being a veterinarian. It just seems to fit perfectly with me. I love dogs and my best subjects are math and science. Vet school is even harder to get into than med school, so I know I have to have a really good high school career to be able to get in.

This summer I spent two weeks shadowing at a vets office just to see what it was like and everything they got to do. It was really great for me becuase i know a lot of people think they know what they want to do and then when they actually do it, it doesnt end up being the right fit. This showed me how everything works behind the scenes and i still think i want to be a vet. I think everyone before they go to college should have the chance to shadow a professional in the career pathway they are thinking about choosing.

Another one of my goals this year is to do a lot more sports and athletic stuff. I play tennis often and will hopefully get to play on an indoor soccer team this winter. Contrary to what many people think, I'm not really that bad at sports. Academics and other activities like drama just take up a ton of time so I usually dont have a lot of spare time for athletics.

I guess my favorite website would probably be http://www.facebook.com/ just because i go there so much. However i think http://espn.go.com/ will be a close second once fantasy football season starts.

Oh, and here's my favorite video. It's not all that funny the first time you hear it but the more you listen the funnier it gets.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIRtwBTDp2s

I'm just a simple-minded girl in a big old world

So you're probably wondering where in the world this absolutely huge bonfire took place. It was at a place call Four Seasons Christian Youth Camp, a one week church camp out in the middle of nowhere here in Kentucky. In one of the best weeks of my life, I felt at peace for the first time in a long time, coming away with a new outlook on life, new friends, a tan (though I suffered from a second-degree sunburn in the process), and about a hundred scratches on my arms from when I army-crawled down a hill in Capture the Flag. It was great.

I'm usually an easy-going, outdoor kind of girl. I don't like stress or confrontation, so school can be a real hassle. I don't really enjoy being in a classroom for six hours. Nor is it easy being an athlete, an academic, a musician, and a girlfriend all at the same time. Heh as far as goals go, I just hope to survive the rest of high school and graduate intact. At the moment I'm learning how to be a leader by taking on the responsibility of team captain for the HC JV soccer team and I hope to be a good one. All A's and B's would be nice too. Laziness and an ineptitude for finding information on the internet seem to be the only things standing in my way of the previous goal.

So yeah that's a little bit about me.

My favorite TV show is on the internet. Of course this would be my favorite link: http://www.legendoftheseeker.com/

great bass on this

Some of my personal goals for this year are to maintain straight A's and get a 2200+ on the SAT and a 34+ on the ACT. Also, I am aiming for a 5 on all 5 AP tests that I am taking; for every test that I don't, I have to reimburse my parents for $86. I want to get into some sort of Ivy league school or maybe the University of Chicago, so I'm going to need to have top grades to get into those kinds of schools. I want to get into a business or finance-related career, like my older sister. Another goal I have is to be a millionaire by the time I turn 28; I enjoy making money. Other goals I have that are unrelated to school are that I want to be able to eat 10 townhouse crackers in less than 30 seconds without drinking water. So far this has proved impossible, but I'm going to keep trying. Another goal I have for this year is to gain at least 20 pounds by the time I turn 17. Right now I weigh 155, which is pretty skinny.

This past summer has been full of surprises and new experiences for me. One thing that I did was get a job working for DQ. It's been an eye-opening experience for me, and has taught me many lessons, both about food as well as about people. I have discovered that you really can have too much of a good thing (i.e. soft serve ice cream), and that when they ask you to wear non-slip shoes, you should listen. Also, i have discovered how to deal with extremely rude people. You would not believe the crap that I have to put up with. On the opposite spectrum though, I have learned how to really appreciate the small things in life, like nice old ladies who tip, or nights the manager lets us close drive-thru early.

I really would like for this year to be different than the last. First off, I really want to stop procrastinating as much as I usually do. Last year, I did 95% of my homework at school the day it was due. Every time we had a long-term project, I would tell myself that I would do some of it every day, and have it done at least a day in advance. Then life got in the way, and I ended up pulling at least 3 or 4 all-nighters every month to finish huge projects for my classes. I don't want to do that this year, and so far I have been pretty good about doing most of my homework at home, but I'm afraid of falling behind later in the year.

My favorite webiste is :http://espn.go.com/ because I like keeping up with sports and seeing scores and that kind of stuff.



Great comedian, Mike Birbiglia. Thank you Hayes for introducing me to him.

Chaunce (Andrew)

 My goals for life are to graduate high school, graduate college, get into a good law school, and become a lawyer. I have wanted to be a lawyer ever since i was a wee lass in about the fourth grade. It just seems like it would be a interesting and fun job to do, not to mention it doesn't pay that bad.

I have never really had any major struggle or successes because at this point i don't really feel as though i have accomplished anything in my life because i am only in high school. I think that later in my life i will have plenty of personal experiences to share to show how i became the big guy i hope i turn out to be. However, at this point i just don't feel like i have anything worth sharing.

This year i hope to have my best year in school since i started schooling. Meaning that i ant to have a good year academically(Like a four point o or for all my teachers to actually like me for once) and athletically (which means a repeat of the region doubles and a state championship). In order to achieve these goals i am going to step out of my comfort zone and try for a little bit, this might make things easier because i have never really done this.

My Favortie website is www.espn.com

So yeah, we're not doing anything illegal down there, well, knowing my family who knows. We are an interesting bunch. But yeah, that's me, my dad, my uncle and cousin. If you're wondering why we're in a sewer, well, you might want to ask me later...

Now that the picture is out of the way, a little bit more about myself. Some of my goals are to make it through this football and marching season successfully, and do the best to improve myself in both. Also, due to my love of math I'm taking pre-calculus and AP Calculus at the same time this year, which I will admit, will be a challenging experience. I think putting as much on my plate as I could handle, and then some, last year was a good experience for me. You may think it's taught me to not bite of more than I can chew. Well I'll tell you that is very wrong. It's shown me that to succeed I just need to push harder, and not give up. It's shown me that a very important relationship I currently hold can stand a lot of stress as well, and has only continued to get stronger.

This years goal, hmmm now that I think about it, that's something I haven't really set yet. A big goal that is different from the usual do my best, improve, and generally be the best at what I like. New goal: Find a goal... Nice huh?

My favorite website... Hmmmm, considering my geeky side, this is a toss up. I would have to say my favorite website is Google. It is a starting place for my online research, and just generally a great site. Anyway, that's a bit about me I guess, but it's only the tip of the iceburg...

Lauren

“Hello, my name is Lauren, and I am addicted to music.” You may laugh at this mock AA introduction, but in reality, it is very true. I have played piano for about 9 years, on and off, clarinet for around 6 years and bari sax for about a year. Pretty much all of my time in the fall is taken up by marching band, and I arrive at school every morning bright and early for jazz band. This summer I had the opportunity to attend Foster Music Camp at EKU, which, while it was not life-changing, was a great reminder of why I love the band setting.
Another major part of my life is horses. I have ridden since I was two, and I plan on going into a career as an equine-specialized veterinarian. Although I do not have my own horse due to costs, I do ride competitively using my barn’s horses.
It is one of my major goals to become one of the marching band’s drum majors for next season when the auditions roll around in the spring. I couldn't choose just one picture, so the picture on the left is from my freshman year marching show, and the one on the right is from a random horseback lesson sometime last year maybe?

Favorite website: www.facebook.com

Oh Snap

I admit, blogs aren't my favorite things to do. You have to keep up with them and share your personal feelings, ew. I tend to be very introverted towards others unless it's family or I'm very close to them. Nonetheless, blogs are a good way to see what everyone else has to say about the topic at hand and what clever things people can come up with.

Goals are very important to me because it gives me insight on what I need to do in order to prepare myself for the future. One of my personal goals is to participate in music in any aspect. Whether an orchestra, or a small band, I want to continue with music for the rest of my life. But with all this education that I need to plan for, personal goals can wait. Hopefully I can enroll in a college that I originally wanted to go to, and pursue an interesting career. When I was younger I thought pharmacy was an excellent job, but during the summer I volunteered at a pharmacy and it was different than what I had expected. I knew pharmacy jobs were boring, but not this dull. Everyday people had the same jobs of putting up different drugs, ordering new drugs and then giving them to a patient. Some don't really care about monotonous jobs as long as the pay is good, but I don't think I could survive for more than a year at this job. So in the future, I hope to find some job I somewhat enjoy that changes periodically.

This year I hope to actually study for tests instead of hoping that I know everything. It didn't work well last year and I ended up getting some horrible grades. I also want to improve my analytical skills because last year my essays were very straightforward. I guess being logical makes me that way, or maybe that's just my ethnicity speaking.

My favorite website is Hulu because I've seen some pretty awesome shows with this site.

Chauncey (Andrew

My favorite tab is the "Pathways" one. it's totally empty. I loves it.

Some of my goals are just to get through high school and college and get a job I'm comfortable with. Just the usual stuff that everyone has probably already posted. But I'm gonna post it anyways. So there. Ha. I hope to hopefully pass all my classes this year. (Ha ha. I said hopefully hope.) Something that I also am going to try to do (This is an eventual thing. Not at all short-term.) is to complete a to-do list that a friend and I made a long time ago. There is some crazy stuff on there. I'm doing it anyways.

My favorite website is, without a doubt, http://staff.fcps.net/mlogsdon/. The structure of the site is absolutely impeccable. The diction and other literary elements help to increase the strength of the overall effect of the site. For instance, the use of white space helps to maintain a calm mood. The white, registering a subliminal peace, helps to keep the viewer chillaxed. When I'm viewing other sites, I often times find myself coming back to this site simply to keep cool. Another thing I like to do on this site is to scroll up and down really fast. Very fun. Try it.

I included a screenshot of the website so you can see what I mean about the white space thing.

Natalie Stigers

Some of my academic goals are to get into a college with a good reputation so that I can prolong my academic career and eventually get a job that I enjoy and something I can be good at. Through out high school it is very important to take things seriously and put the most effort possible so that you learn life long study and hard working skills. More personal goals would be to make a difference in the lives of others. Meaning, volunteering a lot and helping others less fortunate than myself. As well, teach valuable skills and morals to my family so that they can do the same. The best way to make the world a better place is not to just simply talk about it and be judgmental of others but to show people through your own actions. Also, tying in with getting into a good college, it can only benefit others to be in a position to be able to donate money to charities as well as help through giving up of your time.

This summer through having a job as a lifeguard, I learnt a lot of responsiblility. Having some one's life in your hands no matter how cliche that sounds is extremely important. You might laugh at this, but I have had to rescue kids that would have drowned, and it has really opened my eyes. I need to become more of a leader and less of a follower because you can not always rely on people to do your job!

I am choosing facebook as my favorite website because friends are a big part of my life. They have been through a lot with me and shaped me into the person I am today. For this reason it is important for me to keep in touch and contact through this social website. www.facebook.com

Beth Hansen

This picture is from the Keweenaw Peninsula in the Upper Peninsula, and Gratiot Lake during my Ecology class at camp. We lived in a cabin without running water or electricity for a week, and discussed how humans fit into the world around us. It was amazing.

This summer I went to engineering camp. I guess this really makes me a nerd. I spent my summer learning about how triangles are stronger than rectangles and that cement is not the same thing as concrete. But I had fun. I had more than fun…it was actually pretty mind-opening. Not really with what they told us (frankly, the construction of federal highways is only so exciting). It wasn’t actually what I learned about the math and science I liked so much. Watching my teachers was the interesting part.
These “inspirational role-models”…well, inspirational was up to debate. I had trouble picturing myself with the life of most of the engineers. One man came to give us a speech from Kimberly Clark. His entire job was putting more air in toilet paper so the company could make more of a profit. When asked why he wanted to be a chemical engineer, he told us it was because he was okay with math in high school and chemical engineers have the highest start-off salary of any other engineers.
Well, okay. He seemed to like his job okay. He had a wife, and a kid, and seemed moderately happy. He was an average guy.
This summer, I realized I want to be more than average. I want to be significant. I want to find something I’m really passionate about, and do it. My biggest goal this school year isn’t to kill the SAT or get straight A’s (though that would be great, too). My biggest goal is to keep looking for something I’m really passionate about that I can make a career out of it. Maybe it will be engineering. Or maybe it will be architecture. Or psychiatry, or naturopathy, or high school education, or just maybe motherhood. I don’t really know. I just know I want to love what I do. Howard Thurman once said, "Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who are alive."It may be cliché, but… I want to be alive.
I don’t think I’m cool enough to have a favorite website. But if I had to choose one, I would probably sayhttp://pbskids.org/ . It brings back some good times.

From Anna...

This is my family's lake in northern Wisconsin, and probably my favorite place on Earth. I actually did most of my summer homework sitting on the dock.

I think my hopes for high school are probably the same as a billion other students; I hope to get good grades and test scores, and learn as much as possible. I want to be able to get into a college with big ideas, because so far I've only experienced my own environment. I think college is like a shove into the real world, and I want to be able to experience as much as possible. I also hope I can find things I honestly love to do. Sometimes I feel like I discover something, and then I wonder how I could've been so dull before. I hope to be as genuine and enthusiastic as I can.

My overall life goals are much more vague. Somebody told me once that there are three big things in life- love, money, and freedom- and you can pick two. I chose love and freedom. This probably sounds naive and really fake from somebody like me; I've never had to seriously worry about money. Still, I never want to be a person stuck doing something I don't love just for the salary. I want to do something meaningful. I think for someone who has always had support and a bright future, there's nothing more tempting than seeing somebody who doesn't. I would love to be a doctor some day, especially in a developing area where the help is really needed.

I had an incredibly mind-opening summer, but I think the thing that had the biggest impact on me was spending a week in the northwoods in a cabin without running water or electricity to learn about ecology. I had so many new experiences, but I mostly realized how little I actually know.

Lastly, my favorite website is probably www.pandora.com. I've found some really wonderful songs thanks to it.

Zane

Well……
My personal goals seem to be married at a reasonable age and have no more than 3 kids. I am one of a ton myself (Actually 7 through step-siblings and what not). Academically, I want to attend the University of Michigan through a scholarship be able to walk on to play for the baseball team. Although this sounds farfetched, I really think it is a possibility. Professionally, I don’t count on being a major league baseball player because the odds are definitely against me, but it would be amazingly awesome. More realistically, I aspire to be a business major and weave my way through the realms of the business field.
Last year I felt like I had great success through a couple aspects of high school. Academically, I received straight A’s all year and I think what helped me do this was I had to finish all of my homework at home due to my zero hour class I had to take every day. This allowed me to study and prepare myself for quizzes and tests as well. I learned from my success last year and plan doing the same this year. In baseball, I made varsity last year, although I didn’t play much, and was very pleased. I believe it was not missing a day of conditioning last year that contributed to my placement on the team. I plan on working out as much as I can this fall and winter to prepare myself for the spring season.
This year, I hope to start for the varsity baseball team and receive straight A’s once again. The only thing I will do differently this year is not being so complasive with mediocrity. I need to aim for the stars and not settle for average, both on the field and in the classroom. This summer, something that changed my life was that I got to see my dad play in his band for their 20th year reunion. It changed my life because it allowed me to see my dad shred and understand more about the type of music he used to play. It widened my music selection and made me appreciate different music to a further extent.



My favorite website is thewolverine.com
It updates me on my beloved Michigan Wolverines athletics. I check it everyday and its important to me.

I hope this entry isn't too long...

As far as professional achievements go, I see myself, in the future, as a wealthy pharmacist. I’ll do anything to get into pharmacy school once I graduate from high school because I am a person who likes to fulfill his dreams (I don’t know who doesn’t).

Last year, I had an amazing discovery. I learned that I could absorb 75% of the information taught in class while half asleep. Along wit

h this observation came the knowledge that I could take in 100% of the material if I stayed awake. Of course, I discovered this near the end of the year and didn’t have a chance to utilize the technique. I hope to be able to use it this year to achieve the “Holy Straight-A Status”. To translate, I’ll stay awake for the whole year.

This summer of ’09, I attended the Governor’s School for the Arts. The program opened my eyes to the possibilities in life. I met many creative young artists and the atmosphere of the 3-week boarding program inspired me to better myself in not only my musical work but also in my academic studies. The next best thing of this summer experience was the soft serve ice cream machine in the cafeteria. I had ice cream for lunch and dinner every single day of the week for 3 weeks. I managed to lose three pounds in this time period. I have no idea how.

And here's a picture of me enjoying food in my native habitat.

And one of my favorite sites of all time is www.addictinggames.com because the site provides many fun games to play that are addicting.

A Little Piece of Me

There are a few main things I want people to know when they receive their first impression of me. I'd like them to know that I'm a happy, open-minded, and simple person, and that's usually how I'll act before people I don't really know.

I'd like to think I'm very ambitious. I have many professional goals, but to be honest... they were only made due to the pressure of being professional. Personally, cute, simple goals have always been the most tasteful to me. A goal of mine that falls into this category is this: I'd like to find and obtain an official highway map from 48 of our 50 nifty united states. (Being as simple as me, I don't want to go as far as Alaska or Hawaii just for a simple map.) I've already got Kentucky; only 47 more to go.

As professionalism goes, I've been committed to reaching a certain level of artistic fame on an online art community. This brings me to an important part of my life: art. Okay, so I don't want to gush on and on about how much I love drawing or singing or whatever, but it all comes down to this: if I had no drawings or music, I wouldn't be me at all. There's my gushing for the day.

So. Remember that online art community I mentioned earlier? This is it. Or you could manually type in the address: "http://www.deviantart.com/"
(If you're curious to see my art, click here. I'm shamelessly advertising myself, yes.)

The starting gate of our long journey together.

Our first class blog of the year, how very momentous! 

As meaningless as a lot of homework tends to be, I look forward to the establishment of this blog in earnest. I hope that it lends itself to be a means of un-censored(to a point...no repeats of Freshman Biology, ahem) expression and if all goes as expected, a facilitator of the already close bond we share as Academites. 

Now, all of that aside, time to talk about myself, I suppose. Four commas in the last sentence, yikes! Haha, that’s what English class is for. 

My goals are mainly academic, 4.0 GPA, high ACT score, all of the things a High school Sophomore is generally concerned with. I have personal goals as well, although those are more abstract and intangible. In my life, I want to be happy and I want to be free. Free from the figurative “ladder of success” we often create for ourselves. Working our lives away to reach the next level, in hopes of finally attaining some arbitrary point that society deems as successful. When we’re in high school, we are being trained in order to reach and succeed in college. From college, we are prepared for “the real world”. Then in our careers, it is an endless climb towards that next salary raise, promotion, or higher client count. Is there ever truly a point when we lean back, and say... “Yes, now I’m done. I am successful!” ? And by that point, is it too late? The point is: we can never get back the days that go by. I feel that many a person wastes his days preparing to reach a point which may not even exist. I am just as guilty as anyone, and revising this is an extended goal of mine. 

I feel that this year I will experience appreciable growth, and gain insight into the person I would like to become. ALso, clear up several uncertainties in my future. (What do i want to be when I grow up??)

I apologize sincerelyyyy for my long-windedness, it is simply my style. 

Here I have attached a link to, that’s right, the Infinite Campus Website. Boring, I know! But I don’t have a favorite recreational website and I find IC to be extremely helpful, and it’s the only website I check frequently. 

Also attached, a photograph I took in Greece this summer. I love photography.

https://infinitecampus.fayette.kyschools.us/campus/fayette.jsp?status=login

Now that I stop to think about it...

...this was actually our first homework in English so far. Uh...It looks like I'm the first poster. I hate being the first one!

Some of my goals...Some little voice in me is pushing for 4.0 GPA, probably for scholarships' sake. Another goal...Travelling the world is a goal of mine. Maybe more of a dream. "Goal" makes it sound more tangible, though, more achievable. Making a difference in some career. That's important to me. I don't know if it's likely, but I want to.

If I do anything differently this year, it sure won't be procrastinating less. Not because I don't procrastinate too much. No, it's more because I know that even though I could resolve until I'm blue in the face to stop procrastinating and I wouldn't stop. So that's out. I'll probably try to stress less over assignments and little things like that.

I don't know if I've done anything in a long time that "changed my life." Not many daily experiences tend to change lives - it's more the big events that you just don't get in a middle-class Lexingtonian neighborhood.

I'm not sure what else to say, so...I leave you with a picture and a hyperlink. Actually, two hyperlinks. I couldn't decide.

Picture of me taken in a state park in Colorado called "Garden of the Gods." Pretty landscape, yeah?

http://www.oddee.com/: This site is great. It's a little strange, but what it is is a compilation of all these "top 10 _____"-themed lists. For instance, "10 Hilarious Homeless Signs" or "10 Most Unusual Last Wishes and Testaments."

http://www.sporcle.com/: Surprisingly fun when you're bored. It's a bunch of stupid little quizzes about the most random things, ranging from the top-earning athletes of 2008 to four quizzes about advertising slogans. Give some of the quizzes a try.

Assignment: Well howdy pardner.

Share a bit about yourself. Here are some ideas to consider in your 150 word post. What are some of your (not your parents or your friends) goals (personal, academic, professional). What are some personal experiences that led to your success or struggles last year and how might this insight help you this year? What do you hope to accomplish this year? What will you do differently this year if anything? Discuss a seminal summer experience that changed your life (this is not "what i did on my summer vacation"). For full credit you must insert a picture or a video and a hyperlink to your favorite (appropriate) website. This post must be completed by August 21st by midnight-- that's Friday. All other posts will be due by midnight Friday.

Also, when you set up your profile please use your first name and not a nom de plume.