This I Believe Speech

"Have Hope"

I never really saw myself as someone who could ever do something to change the world. I've always thought to myself that I'm just an ordinary person who won't have the courage to do anything too special that can impact anyone's life. I believe that if we have hope for ourselves, and try hard enough we are able to do something that can impact many people.

Recently, while starting on this speech, I came across an essay in class written by a teenager named Dylan who had thoughts similar to mine. His essay inspired me a lot, more than I would have expected. In the essay, he thought about his situation a lot, then realized that anyone was able to make a change in the world even if it seemed impossible. I then realized that I could relate to his story a lot. I kept on thinking, and asked myself how I can build up the courage to do great things in the world. 

After I read the essay I changed the way I thought about myself. I've learned that I'm not the only one who has dealt with the problem. I now see myself as someone who is capable of making a difference, because I believed I could. 

I know it can be hard to believe you can do great things for the world, but just think of all the positive outcomes it has. Believing in ourselves will make us confident people, and I know it can do good in the future. It has worked for me, and it can definitely work for anyone else.

Final Reflection Blog

            I have learned so many new things in my English Language Arts class this year. One important thing I've learned this year in the class is all the writing rules and formats. Writting is something everyone will use for the rest of their lives, so it is good to have learned most of them before highschool, and other events. Another important thing I have learned this year is all of the new vocabulary words. Using the same boring words while writing isn't intresting, and looks like you put in little effort if you keep using them over and over again. Learning new words each week has allowed me to use a larger amount of different words for writing. Another important thing I have learned this year was how to take notes and analyze a book. Everytime we have read a book this year we have done something a little different to understand the book better. We have learned to write in notes into the book, we wrote down quotes from the book, and wrote down important parts of the book. These techniques have helped me understand the books so much better.

            Something from this year I will remember forever is the class, and the people in it in general. My most memorable times in this school year has been in this class. It has definitely been the class I have gotten the most out of, and I have built a good relationship with everyone in the class. Most of the people in the class have been in that class for two years, like me, and that has given us plenty of time to become good friends. Even though it has been a tough class to be in, I still had a great time with the rest of the students and my teacher.

            The nicest thing someone has ever done for me in this class was helped me understand and catch up with work I missed. Whenever I have missed a day, some of my classmates make sure I know what I have to get done. They have always offered to help before I even asked them. It made me thankful for the great friends I have, and how they are willing to go out of their way to help me. I was then able to get my work done without having trouble doing it. 

           Something my classmates and I taught the class this year was to look at things from different angles. After reading To Kill a Mockingbird and Tuesday's with Morrie we have learned to look at things differently. Many things we have discussed about the book has opened our eyes to think of other things. Everyone had their different thoughts about certain things, and I think it has made us able to think a little more. Everyone views things differently, and sharing those views has made us aware of all the different things people see things as. 

           An area I feel I made my biggest improvements was in my writing. This year I've learned so many different rules, and formats for writing to make the piece better. I have also learned many new vocabulary words so it won't have boring, simple words. I recently looked back at my old blogs from this year and the years before, and saw a huge difference. I think I learned more writting skills more than anything I learned at all this year. In the beginning of the school year I had some trouble making a good piece of writing, but it comes easily to me, since I'm used to doing them. 

           The most challenging part of this year for me was all of the To Kill a Mockingbird work. Out of all the things we have worked on, this part of the year has taken away most of my time. There was a lot of work that had to be completed, and it had to be good quality. There was a lot of work to do after each chapter, and it would take even more time if you didn't understand something. All of the work has made me understand the book so much better, so I think all the work was necessary. Although it was very difficult to do it has made certain things easier for me to do now. 

           The best piece of writing I did this year was my argumentative essay. I think I put in a lot of effort and thought into this unit. While writing this piece, I was able to write what I thought, and was able to back up where I stood in a debatable topic. I also think it was written very formally which can sometimes be difficult for me to do. Overall I was really proud of the outcome, because I knew I put in my best effort, and ended up receiving a good grade for it. 

           Of the books I have read this year, my favorite was Tuesday's with Morrie by Mitch Albom. Very few books have made me cry, laugh, smile, and think so much while reading the same book, and Tuesday's with Morrie is one of them. I think this book has definitely opened my eyes to the world so much. I have also taken so much out of the book and thought about it for a long time. I think the writing in the book has inspired me to live a better life without being upset, or stuck on something I regret. The book has taught me to live my life to fullest, because it won't be long before everything we once had will all be gone. 

           Advice I would give students who will be in this class next year is to work on your assignments during any free time you have. In eighth grade it can sometimes be hard to find enough time to turn in homework that is good quality, because there are many things, like clubs and events, that can affect the amount of time you have to complete that assignment. Waiting last minute to finish something is only going to hurt you. It can become very stressful having to rush yourself to complete something that could have been finished at an earlier time. It feels so much better knowing you don't have anything to be working on once you finish something. 

Morrie's Aphorisms

"'Dying...is the only thing to be sad over... Living unhappily is something else. '"

Tuesday's with Morrie by Mitch Albom

             The quote said by Morrie in Tuesday's with Morrie, "Dying...is the only thing to be sad over... Living unhappily is something else.'" can have a few meanings to it. One way I see the quote is that dying is just one sad moment. Living unhappily is many throughout your whole life. Living unhappily takes time away from your life, and is just wasting it. Everyone will eventually die, and many people can't accept that. They think they will live forever. Since in reality we will not live forever, Morrie thinks that we should not spend our short life living unhappily. Morrie didn't spend the rest of his life being upset about his illness all the time. Instead, Morrie focused on the important things in his life, and appreciated everything he had. Morrie is trying to tell us to not spend our lives being upset, because we have a short life. We shouldn't be sad over things that won't matter in the future.

            I can relate Morrie's aphorism to a personal expirience of mine. After reading Tusdays with Morrie I have realized that I have been worrying and stressing over things I shouldn't have been worrying about. I have learned from Mitch's book, that we should focus on the important things in life, because we have a short life. Looking back at all the things I have been down about, I have realized that most of the situations don't matter anymore. I don't want to waste my life being unhappy with whatever is going on. All of the moments I have been upset about have built up, and has taken away a lot of time. If I am unhappy about something I should get over with it, like Morrie did, before it gets worse.

            I do agree with the aphorism, "'Dying...is the only thing to be sad over... Living unhappily is something else.'" by Morrie Schwartz. I agree on this aphorism, because I think everyone can relate to this quote. Sadness is an emotion everyone will feel at one point in their life. Sometimes we spend too much time being upset about something, when we could be doing something actually worth our time. On page 40 in Tuesday's with Morrie, Morrie says, "'You take certain things for granted even when you know you should never take anything for granted.'" When people are sad, because of their life it causes them to waste all of their precious time, instead of enjoying the little things in life they could have missed from being sad. Every moment is special, and when people are down it takes time away from that. We think we have all the time in the world, when really we should enjoy all the little things in life, before it is all gone. 

My aphorism: It's good to follow your role model's footsteps, but it's better to take some of your own.

Blog May 4, 2016

Socratic Seminar Morrie Reflections 

Tuesday's with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Prompt: Explain how the past four Socratic Seminars have influenced your thinking about Tuesday's with Morrie and life in general. What trends did you notice with yourself and your personal goals for each seminar? How did your personal goal(s) change and what did you actively do to change throughout our last four discussions? What trends did you notice with the class for each seminar? What did you notice that helped or hindered a specific seminar? 

            The past four seminars have influenced my thinking about Tuesday's with Morrie, and life in general by allowing myself to understand the book a lot better, and to look at different angles on certain topics. Each Socratic seminar was different. The first Socratic seminar mostly just helped my understanding of the book. I kept thinking that Morrie's life was very sad, but then as I read more I learned how Morrie lived a very happy life. The first, and second seminar mainly focused on Morrie, and how he has lived his life so far. Towards the last Socratic seminar my thoughts have changed. I started to really think about my life, and about the things I should really care about. The seminars started to focus on Mitch's life, and our lives as well. The seminars made me aware that everyone has different thoughts. We were able to realize that we can relate to Mitch and Morrie a lot, and even take their advice. 

            Trends I noticed with myself and my personal goals is that I did better with the first and second Socratic seminar than I did with the last two. My first goal was to talk a little more and ask more questions. During the next seminar I think I completed this goal pretty well. My next goal was to bring a person into the conversation. I did ask questions which caused more people to join in and add their ideas, but I didn't ask a question to one specific person. My next personal goal was to share more thoughts while using textual evidence from the book. I hardly talked during the fourth seminar, and didn't accomplish my personal goal. I think I was more interested toward the beginning and middle of the book, so I didn't have many thoughts, or much to say during the last seminar. 

            Not only did I notice trends with myself and my personal goals, but I also noticed trends with the class during each Socratic seminar. After each seminar I noticed everyone really put a lot of thought into their questions. The first seminar, we mainly focused on Morrie, and just summarized the chapters we have read. Toward the last seminars we talked about ourselves, and how our lives changed. Many people shared how they were inspired by Morrie, and that he changed a part in all of our lives. Something I also noticed was how people weren't sharing their ideas, even when they had the chance. I noticed a few people, including myself, who were going to say something but then would get cut off. It seemed like they just forgot about what they were going to say, and waited to say something else. I also noticed how he group would jump into different topics too quickly. A lot of the time, we didn't completely finish what we were talking about, and moved on which sometimes really got off topic.  

Blog April 28, 2016

What Tuesday Has Inspired You?

Tuesday's with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Prompt: Based on the 6 Tuesdays you have read about in Tuesday's with Morrie that has had the most impact on you or inspired you. 

            Based on the 6 Tuesdyas I have read about in the book Tuesday's with Morrie, the Tuesday that has inspired me the most was the 4th Tuesday, which talks about death. I think this chapter has truly opened my eyes to why we should always live our lives to the fullest. We should never take anything for granted, because one day that thing will be gone. To assume that we will never lose someone or something will just make things harder for us in the future. Many people believe it is impossible to have someone being taken away from them, so they don't appriciate the time they have with that person. From this chapter I learned to appriciate all of the little things I normally don't think about. In the book on page 84, Morrie says, "'The loving relationships we have, the universe around us, we take these things for granted.'" A lot of people don't understand that we should be happy for all the people and things we have in our lives. This shows that we should appriciate the loving people we have in our lives. We should also enjoy nature, and everything outside, because we never know when it all can be taken away from us. 

            Another thing that has impacted me was how Morrie said we have to accept that we are all going to die. If we don't accept that we will eventually die, we will have so many things that we haven't done, or said. On page 82 Morrie says, "'Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.'" This means that we have to accept the possibility of our death, before we can truly appriciate what we have on this earth. Anyone can die at any moment, and because of that the things on this earth should be appreciated so much more. If we don't accept that we will die, it will cause us to think certain things will never be lost, but that's not true. We won't be able to appriciate the little things in life, and won't be happy all the time. On page 81 in the book Morrie also says, "'...know you're going to die, and to be prepared for it at any time. That's better. That way you can actually be more involved in your life while you're living.'" Facing the reality of death allows us to see the world and our life at a different angle. We will see the beautiful things we haven't noticed before, and start to feel happier knowing we shouldn't be upset all the time. We should always try and stay positive, because life is too short to be unhappy.

            After reading this chapter it has definitely changed the way I thought. I've learned so many things, and started to look at life differently. I have constantly been thinking to myself about if I were to die today, would there be anything I would regret? Whether it was something I never said to someone, or an action I didn't take, or not appreciated things, they will all add up. I would definitely regret not taking certain actions if I died at this moment. From thinking about all of this, I now know to not be afraid to tell someone something, and not be afraid to take a risk. I appriciate the little things, like having a plate of food in front of me everyday, and the fact that I'm able to go to school, and have caring friends and family by my side. Our lives are truly an amazing expirience, and everyone should learn to make the most of it, before we waste it all. 

Blog April 18, 2016

Bucket List Blog

Tuesday's with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Prompt: What are your initial reactions to what you have read in Tuesday's with Morrie thus far? One of the main themes developing in Tuesday's with Morrie is not to take your life for granted. Based on this premise, what is your bucket list? You can write a paragraph leading up to a bulleted list of what you would like to do/accomplish in your life.

            When I read the first couple of chapters in the book Tuesday's with Morrie I instantly told myself that I would end up loving the book. The thing I liked a lot about the book so far was the way the author wrote. The writing is very descriptive, and I am able to picture the characters and everything that is going on very well. You can also tell what the characters are feeling based on the word choice. From how the author describes actions (especially when Mitch first gets to see Morrie after college) the readers can really tell how their relationship is and how close the two have been in Mitch's college years. It definitely warmed my heart when Morrie was still able to remember Mitch after such a long time. Another thing I like is how the author sometimes goes back in time to Mitch's college years while it still pertains to the book. The author throws in some of his writing he did back in college while he had Morrie as a teacher. The writing tells us a little about Morrie and Mitch's relationship together. 

            When I first started reading the book I did not expect it to be so sad and overwhelming to think of. At the same time it is very heartwarming and thoughtful. The books makes the readers think a lot about our choices in life, and how we should be greatful for everything we have now. The book so far has been full of different emotions. You can see the different pain Mitch and Morrie feel so far in the book. While Mitch talks and spends time with Morrie, he feels awfully sorry for him. While on the other hand every movement that Morrie takes causes him physical pain. Those emotions that the people in the book feel move into the readers own emotions, and I love when books are able to do that. At one point you will be smiling about Morrie's personality, then the next moment you will want to cry at the fact that Morrie is going to die and is constantly in pain. I think Morrie is very strong to still be living with a bright personality in his condition. Mitch is also as strong as Morrie. Personally I get very overwhelmed when I'm with someone who is very ill, and can barely help themselves. Mitch is able to sit in front of Morrie, watching him suffer for hours just to talk with him. The fact that Mitch is able to do this without having an emotional breakdown shows how he is strong. It is tough for both of these characters, but they still try to keep a positive attitude. 

            Based on Morrie's life the readers can see how Morrie doesn't take life for granted. In the book Morrie  says to Mitch, "'Accept what you are able to do and what you are not able to do.'" This shows how Mitch's disease really affected him and the way he acted. He is always happy and says we shouldn't be sad about living an unhappy life. In many people's eyes Morrie has an unhappy life, but that doesn't stop him from keeping the great personality he has always had. Morrie doesn't want to be sad for the rest of his days, so he remains happy. This had me thinking about what I wanted to do with my life before I pass. Here is a list of things on my bucket list. 

- graduate college 

- walk the Golden Gate Bridge 

- complete a marathon 

- inspire someone 

- get married

- meet all of my favorite band members

- speak fluently in another language 

- learn how to drive

- go sky diving or scuba diving 

- visit at least one of the seven wonders of the world 

- go exploring and get lost 

- learn how to play another instrument 

Blog April 8, 2016

3rd Quarter Reflection

Prompts: In what area do you think you made your biggest improvements in English Launguage Arts?

What is something you accomplished this quarter that you are proud of? What has been the most challenging part of 3rd Quarter for you, and what did/can you do to help overcome this?

            An area I think I made my biggest improvements in English Language Arts is my researching skills, and knowing my strengths and weaknesses. Before this quarter I usually picked a website that looked like it had a lot of information to help me with my work. During the argumentative unit, I learned to pick reliable sources, so I don't have false information in the argumentative paper I wrote. Knowing how to find reliable sources is a very helpful thing to learn, because you can use the skill for the future. Now I can easily tell if I can trust a certain site, or if I shouldn't use the information it has on it. Another improvement I made 3rd Quarter was knowing what I needed improvements on and what I can move forward on. Knowing what I can move forward on helps me, so I'm not doing the same things I am good at all the time. 

           Something I accomplished this quarter that I'm proud of is reading a lot. I think the third quarter has been the quarter I have read most. Usually I don't have a lot of time to read at home or during school, but I somehow managed to read a lot. This school year I have been in Battle of the Books, so that has impacted how much I have read. I can be very indecisive when choosing a book that I am interested in and it's good to be in Battle of the Books, because you can discover new genres you haven't read before and maybe see if you like it or not. For the fourth quarter I definitely want to read even more books. I think it will get me more prepared for highschool. Mystery books are usually not books I will pick out for fun. For Battle of the Books I read a mystery book called The Boy in the Burning House. I was very interested in this book which surprised me. I'm glad I got the chance to read this book, because now I can look for more books in the same genre. Also it has taught me to go out of my comfort zone when I comes to books, so that I know if I really like them or not. I'm proud that I have read a lot even when the quarter was been a little stressful with other work. 

           Something that was challenging 3rd quarter was keeping myself focused and trying my best for everything in my English Launguage Arts class. This class is the most important to me, because I know that everything I learn in this class will benefit me in the future a lot, so doing my best in this class was and still is my top priority. In the previous quarters this school year I didn't have much trouble finding time to complete all of the needed assignment. This quarter has been a little more stressful, because I have been involved in things like Best of Berwyn, and Battle of the Books, and other activities. This took away a lot of my time to do homework or make up work. To overcome this I have been working extra hard and staying focused and not getting off task or distracted.