Semester Essay #9: Future after High School

Some people go right on to college after high school; others take a year or more off to work or travel. Which do you think is the better choice? State your position and support it with specific reasons and examples.

Deciding on your future is the most crucial moment in a high school senior’s life. What do I want to do after I graduate? Am I going to make the right decision? These questions and many more run crazily in a teenagers mind. Everyone has their hopes and dreams they want to fulfill, but sometimes the hardest part is knowing where to start. Do I go straight to college or do I need to take some time off to figure out about myself a little better? I think it depends on the individual. No one can decide for you the next steps you have to take after high school. It’s your choice.

The choice after finishing high school depends entirely on the individual. Some people know what they want to do in the future and already have concrete plan to follow for the rest of their college lives. Others still need more time to decide what they want to do in life. Each has a specific goal they want to reach. Based on each individual’s personality, he or she can find out and explore even further what it is that makes them, them.

No one can force you to make a quick decision. Why do you need to have all of this added pressure? The only person that knows you is you. You have a brain that stores your memories, your logical thinking, imaginative thinking, and your feelings. Some high schools stress the students about the importance of college and gaining a higher education. It seems good but this can have a negative effect on the student. A student needs to be provided with positive suggestions that will help influence an interest to their minds. This is a better method to use than to force an idea on a person.

For me, I believe in gaining a higher education and search for more opportunities that awaits me. I love to explore to different places, countries, and environments because I feel that is what will make me a better-rounded person. Of course, I am not you and I am not them. Everyone has different identities and different circumstances. Life is about exploration and whatever someone does after high school is their choice. What does your heart tell you? Do you want to college right after high school or do you need to spend some time exploring?

Semester Essay #8: Same-Sex Schools

All-girl schools have been gaining popularity in recent years because of the belief that girls learn better when they aren’t competing with or intimidated by boys, who statistically get more attention in the classroom. Do you think single-sex schools are a good idea? Why or why not? Use specific reasons and examples to support your position.

Same-sex schools have been a popular choice for many parents and other educators. When the school has a group of students of the same sex, the student of that particular gender will have a better chance of focusing on their school subjects and not have to compete with another student of the opposite sex. Everyone is in one accord with the goals and objectives needed to be accomplished. The idea of same-sex schools, especially high school, will decrease any competitiveness or sexual tension from the opposite sex and will allow the student to be comfortable to achieve his or her greatness. A same-sex school is a great idea and should be recommended for students who need that extra focus.

Same-sex schools allow the students to focus on his or her studies. Males and females usually compete with one another, which can cause many failures with the individual if one of them seems defeated by the opposite sex. For example, a male student and a female student are both excellent in math. The male student tries to dominate the female student by doing extra work to make him look better. The female student does the same, but after all the pressure the female out beats the male student. As a result, the male student starts to flunk out in his math class and becomes disruptive in all of his classes because he felt that sense of defeat.

Same-sex schools prevent any sexual tensions between the opposite sexes. There are too many incidents where young males and females are having sexual intercourse. Also, someone can become entirely unfocused when he or she has been dumped by the significant other. It is normal for a male to be attracted to a female and vice versa, but especially for teenagers, this is the age where they are many changes that are happening to the human body. With same-sex schools, there is no worry of becoming too attracted to the opposite gender and trying to impress the opposite gender.

Education is one of the major priorities that children need in order to succeed into something much more valuable to them. With too many budget cuts in the United States, schools have become the main victim in our own society. Students need to gain as much education as they can get from the resources that are still available to them. Same-sex schools will bring more of a mental focus to the child and will help the student realize the options they have in order to survive in the working world.

Creative Writing Non-Fiction: The First Time I Went Swimming

The first time I swam was one of my most memorable experiences. I wouldn’t think of floating on top of water or diving into the deepest end. It was a scary moment swimming for the first time. I wore a nice fitting bathing suit and a pink rubber floaty that had tropical flowers and funny-looking dinosaurs attached to it. The first time I swam was the first time I felt like a professional swimmer.

Wearing my two-piece pink bathing suit and matching pink floaty, I slowly took off my flowery flip flops and gave it to my mother. Stepping onto the pool concrete, I tapped my foot onto the cool pool water and then dipped both of my feet limb by limb until my whole body was fully submerged into the water. The water was a little chilly but the hot sun beaming down helped to warm me up. I made little splashes and waded around in circles making donut wrinkles in the water. I did this while anxiously waiting for my instructor.

A fit older woman approached me with a friendly grin. “I guess it is my swimming instructor,” I thought. We moved into a little bit deeper end. Five feet to be exact. I was four feet and nine inches, so I definitely had to learn how to float on my own. Torture. My instructor first taught me how to breathe underwater by blowing bubbles through my nose. I thought, “Wouldn’t boogers escape through my nostrils and contaminate the water?” Answer, “I do not mind that at all.” I took a deep breath and dunked my head into the water, seeing bubbles reaching the surface like I was my own scuba diving air tank. My instructor smiled at my accomplishment. For the rest of my 1-hour lesson, I learned how to kick with two feet. My legs were pretty weak and gentle that I only made quiet splashes. I held onto the blue board and kicked, kicked, and kicked as hard as I could. My legs became a long propeller forcing me to glide forward to the deepest end: 8 feet deep. I held on to the rail bordering the entire pool; so that I didn’t have the urge to accidently drown myself. I climbed the steel ladder and walked carefully and quickly to the diving board. Even the gentleness of the cool breeze struck against my skin with frosty lightning bolts that a human is too blind to see. My instructor told me to step on the edge of the diving board. I felt like I was risking my life for a certain purpose: learning how to not make a cannon ball and splash all the water out of the pool, leaving me stuck at the bottom of the pool. I jumped as far forward as I could and landed safely without becoming a human meteorite. My instructor grinned at my second accomplishment. The first time I swam was the last time I learned my strokes and many diving skills in order to become a professional swimmer.

Semester Essay #7: Public Transportation in Cities

Many cities suffer from serious air and noise pollution—as well as endless traffic jams—because of too many cars. Some people feel that cities with extensive public transportation systems should ban passenger cars and force people to walk, bike, or use public transportation. Do you think this is a good idea? Why or why not?

The idea of a “city” has been known to be a place where people and other living organisms suffer from serious air and noise pollution. The city is not entirely bad; it is a location where people can visit and enjoy the structures of famous buildings, view the great scenery from a certain vantage point, eat the best-known foods, and watch the greatest entertainments in that particular city. Some people feel that extensive public transportation systems, such as buses and cars, should be banned. They think everyone should be forced to walk, bike, or use not so much of the public transportation. This sounds like a good idea but that doesn’t mean it is the best idea to look forward to.

No individual should or have the right to force anyone to make their daily travels in a certain type of transportation. There are people who have jobs much farther away than where they live. Therefore, travelling by walking or biking is not a great idea. If everyone uses public transportation, then it would mean more production of buses and trains in order to prevent from carrying overcrowded people in one station.

Some people cannot afford a car depending on how much money they earn from the jobs in which they work in. So, their only way to travel is by bus and/or walk, if convenient. Everyone cannot go back to simpler transportation if these types of transportation were made so that people can travel somewhere much faster without waking up extra early to travel a long distance. There is technology to help create greener transportation without completely destroying the invention. There are hybrid cars which do not fuel off of so much gas. Inventors can later create a much greener public transportation just like hybrids that will not pollute the air we breathe.

We do not need to reverse ourselves to other inventions that get us around to places but not fast enough. A better solution for this problem would be to remodel the trains, buses, and cars to become environmentally friendly. As long as everyone reduces, reuses, and recycles common material, such as paper and plastic, we can decrease the amount of pollution we create by a larger percentage. Cities will become a lot cleaner and mostly noise free if we tweak our public transportation system without eliminating them completely and let nature do its course. The strong winds can even clear the smog covering the beautiful city of Los Angeles with the mountains as its backdrop.

Semester Essay#6: Computer Communication

Many of us spend hours in front of our computers and communicate more by e-mail or instant-messaging than in person. Some people believe that this is good because it helps shy people communicate more openly with others. Others believe that computer communication prevents us from developing interpersonal skills and limits our ability to have meaningful relationships with others. How do you feel about this issue? Use specific reasons and examples to support your position.

Computers have been one of the inventions of the 21^st century that has become a huge impact on everyone’s lives. It made news and other types of messages pass along much faster than by word from a person’s mouth or sending a letter by mail. People of the 21^st century can send e-mails and instant messages, post pictures and videos, and even chat with another person by using a webcam. Yes, many people believe computer communication has given shy people to become more open to express themselves, but this kind of communication has endangered the human nature of communicating with others face-to-face in order to create meaningful relationships.

People should not spend so much time on the computer to communicate with another person. Staring at a computer screen for a really long time can make anyone’s eyes light sensitive. Next problems it can lead to are laziness, obesity, and other health issues (physically and mentally). No one wants to become unhealthy to the point of possibility of death but computer communication seems like a useful tool for anyone who needs to bring about their ideas a lot faster, especially for writers and soft-spoken individuals. Although, when a person approaches an individual in front of them, that person acts either inappropriately or weirdly towards that individual. That person does not have the ability to socialize with that individual normally.

Another “but” in this situation is people who create spams and viruses and who cyber bully an innocent person. We can never really tell which one is a trustable site or if the person is real or an alias, unless notified by others neither which people to not approach nor which site or link to not click on. Anyone can steal your personal information and use it against you. The computer itself (not just the Internet) is a public place to save or post items that anyone can see. It creates a major question to everyone’s minds: How can we tell if someone I am conversing with is real and not secretly a sexual offender?

Computer communication is one of the best inventions ever formed for the 21^st century, but there are many concerns in terms of safety of someone’s mental health, physical health, and emotional health. This type of communication can damage a generation of youth sociability. Eventually, future generations might not know how to interact with someone they can physically, and not virtually, touch. Also, the future of computer communication can turn against us, believing anything we see in instant messages and anonymous e-mails without taking certain precautions.

Semester Essay #5: Fieldtrips

Dear Mrs. Brown,

Education is the basic tool needed every day for the rest of each individual’s life. Students learn the basic subjects: English, Mathematics, Science, History; and they study other subjects to enhance their learning, such as a foreign language or a performing arts or visual arts course. High schools used to have many electives, internships, and other options to help a student explore a certain interest. Now, since there are too many budget cuts in education in the state of California, there are not enough school supplies or teachers to help provide good quality education. Therefore, if you cancel all fieldtrips for the remainder of the year, the students at City Honors College Preparatory Charter School will not be able to gain a new learning experience hands-on.

Fieldtrips are a good way for students to learn about a particular subject. Students can get the visual idea on the topic discussed in class and will be able to understand fully on any details he or she is unsure about. For example, a group of students in Mr. Washington’s Physics class learned about Newton’s three laws, gravitational force, and the motion of any solid object. One student suggested a fieldtrip to Six Flags because it was fun and everyone will be able to understand the concepts in great detail. At the end of the year, all of Mr. Washington’s and Mr. Harden’s Physics classes went on a trip to Six Flags. The students enjoyed themselves and they had a much clearer idea on what they were learning in Physics for the entire year.

Fieldtrips give students a break from in-class learning. Teenagers have a short attention span and can get easily distracted especially during a long boring lecture. Going on a fieldtrip can not only give the students fresh air; it can open the students’ eyes to an engaging experience. Students love to do something with their hands to create or build something or go on an excursion to see their school-learning brought into life.

Finally, fieldtrips can prevent the troublemakers in the classrooms from disrupting the teachers and other students. Once a troublemaker is able to do something within their interest, he or she will be engaged and be able to tell the teachers everything they know about the topic with excitement. Fieldtrips are good opportunities for troublemakers who barely had any help in their education. They will be able to express their thoughts intelligently with much hope and confidence.

Education is always a number one priority in anyone’s life, since the amount of education students obtain will lead them to the opportunities available. Instead of cutting fieldtrips that will give a disadvantage to the students who need it, we can come up with fundraising ideas to help raise money for those trips. Without fieldtrips, students will be bored of learning and more likely cause trouble in the classroom, which prevents other students from learning as well. Fieldtrips are a method of expanding a child’s learning to a new higher level.

Sincerely,

Alexis Jackson

Setting As The World

When I walk up the driveway, a brown gate is manually opened to reach the back of my house. There is our new garage with lovely brownish-reddish earth tones on the rims of the brown roof supported by white cream walls. There are green, gray, and brown trashcans lining up against the edge of the concrete driveway. I sit across from the trashcans and at a left angle, I see the gigantic house standing firm with our new addition of the backyard deck. The house has the same earth tones as the garage. My mother's bedroom and the house deck stands where a concrete plateau used to be. The concrete plateau was a mini country gathering that stretched across the back of the house. I used to play with one of my cousins at this particular spot doing all kinds of games, such as playing race cars, hula-hoops, and catching a huge tie-died bouncy ball with our dirty alligator hands. The only place that is still in my backyard is the huge forestry green tree that came from the neighbor behind us. My grandmother always sends a gardener to cut it down, but the tree always grows to its bushy Afro size that covers our wired gate. Every time I look back at the tree, I see different figures and draw them in my head: a dog, a monkey, a train, a flower, and a human eye. I close my eyes and breathe in the washed out vegetation with my nose and exhale the taste of freshly uncooked broccoli. I can hear the pigeons cooing to each other ordinary nonsense. My backyard smells like a barbecue pit, but my old memory of the backyard smells like a river-green forest.

A Vegetable I Dislike

There are so many vegetables to choose from. Vegetables are not my favorite food group but most of them I still like. But the particular vegetable that I totally dislike is spinach. UGH! The first time ate spinach! I was probably about 8 or 9 years of age. My grandmother cooked up a pot full of spinach. She poured some on portion of my plate. I looked at this slimy kelp green concoction with great disgust. I took a nibble of this "grody" piece of health and smacked my mouth. I had to force it down in order to get rid of it from my plate. I tried to smile when I faced my grandmother but she knew for sure that I didn't like the taste and gave me a popsicle to get rid of the salty taste of doom.

Root of Fashion Designing Leads Teenage Fad

       How do teenagers get up to date with the latest style? The latest technology? Well, the world of the idea of "fashion" creates what we see is a teenage fad, such as fishnet stockings with shorts for females.

       Fashion designing is the applied art dedicated to the design of clothing and lifestyle accessories. It uses your creativity to create beautiful clothing for others to be able to express themselves. In the sixteenth century, artists concentrated on bright colors and complicated designs. Today, fashion designers use those artists’ techniques, which inspired them to create designs, colors, and textures for clothing.

       Fashion designers use their imagination to invent creative designs. Their job includes creativity in order to make them exciting and unique. They are able to draw their designs on paper and watch them become a reality as a person (model) wears it. For this career, having the ability to draw and knowing your textiles and fabrics are important skills to recognize.

       As a part of the fashion industry, there are clothing designers. Clothing designers are in charge for creating everything from high fashion to handy sportswear. In order to be successful at this job, you have to be creative, inventive, and hands-on. They should be well-known with past designs and be a fascinated viewer of modern trends, fads, and cultural influences. You need to have creative styles for designs and the wish to get started in order to develop these skills.

       You probably want to know what art education is required for a fashion designer. Well, there are many art schools that recommend fashion designing programs. For this occupation, you should take these art courses in college: drawing, sculpture, painting, design, printmaking, and art history. Home economics, English, and American history classes are also useful. Designing costumes for your school or community theatre and working part time in a retail store can help you gain practice with fabrics and designs.

       You might wonder if there are any specific skills needed to design clothing. To answer that question, fashion designers have at least a few techniques or skills to create their unique designs. Some designers study the human body to help them create best-fitting clothes as possible. It’s important for them to remember that the fashion industry is very competitive. Finally, in order to become a fashion designer, you have to be able to work under pressure and meet severe deadlines.

A Tribute to a Special Grandmother

     My grandmother is a very special person in my life.  She does a lot of things to make people happy.  Without her, I wouldn’t be like I am today.  I don’t know anyone else that is as special as she is.

     My grandmother’s qualities make her a special person.  There are a few I can name.  She takes care of me while my mother goes to work.  She washes my clothes, cleans the house, picks up the groceries and any clothes I need, and cooks.  She helps me to overcome difficult problems. She raised me to be the best I can be and never give up.  She gives away gifts for those in need.  She’s very funny when she tries to make up jokes. What’s most important, she has time for me.

     You might ask how I know this information.  Well, I’m around her most of the time.  I watch her around the house.  I laugh at her funny jokes. My mother told me that after my father died, we moved from West Covina to my grandmother’s house in Compton.  My grandmother retired from her job as a preschool teacher to help take care of us.  I have watched her overcome problems she had to face.  She gives away my old clothes sometimes to others.  I watch her volunteer at events around the church.  I watch her support others.

     For all of the things I have talked about and other special things I know she will do in the future, I would like to give this tribute my grandmother, Earnestine Fletcher.  

Amelia Earhart- An Admiring Individual

from “AMELIA EARHART” ADVENTURE IN THE SKY 

I like to be very active even if the things that I do are boy things…like playing baseball, basketball, tennis, horseback riding, and swimming.  I got a sled like the boys had on Christmas when I was six years old.  I sled down the mountain and it made me feel like I was flying.  On my ninth birthday, my parents had me taken up in an airplane. Parents didn’t like me playing with their girls and getting dirty like boys.  Other children didn’t like me because I was different, so they didn’t invite me to their parties. I set dozens of speed and altitude record.  I was the first woman to fly alone around the Atlantic Ocean.  I was the first pilot male or female to fly solo from Hawaii to California; from California to Mexico City; from Mexico City to Newark, New Jersey.  I inspired thousand of people to take up flying.  As a writer and public speaker, I made millions of friends for aviation.What made me happiest was being in the sky flying.  The advise I would give to your is read a lot of books.  This will help you learn what you would like to do when you grow up.  Never let anyone tell you that you can’t do something, when you know you can.

Animation Mayham-Not Getting Enough Sleep

Having the college experience seems like a dream come true. I can party all night, hang out in the shopping areas, and get whatever I want without my parents telling me what to do. During the past summer, I stayed at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) for a month in the CSSSA/Innerspark Program for inspired artistic high school students. I thought as a young 15 year old student in the Animation department, that I had the freedom to do anytime and anywhere but as it turned out, I was wrong. On the third week of the program, my chairperson of the Animation department, Lori D., assigned our big final project. She was about average height, skinny, wore glasses, and would always carry a clipboard that had her attendance sheet and announcements. The final project was extremely significant since it held most of our college credit. Whenever we were in doubt or our minds went blank for every assignment, Lori D. would always say, “Go crazy!!” After my class ended for the day, I walked to my dorm room and started to storyboard my idea. Creating my own seemed like a piece of cake, but things became a lot tougher. I had only a week to finish my animation and I needed to schedule a time where I could record my drawings/cutouts and sound. Everyday after class, I would come back to my dorm until 9pm to work on my project and stayed up to at least 2am to finish. It was very difficult since I had caught a cold and became extremely tired. Usually about 9:30pm one of my roommates, Tiffany, would come in always say, “What are you working on now?....I feel so sorry for you and you guys always have a little sleep.” After my two restless days, I was to shoot all of my frames in a split second. I was scheduled for about an hour for Saturday and Sunday. It seems like an hour was a long time, but when I attempted to finish most of them, my time was almost up. Luckily, the person who was supposed to finish their project after me wasn’t really ready, so I took that advantage to finish what I wanted to complete. On Sunday after I came back from the Getty Museum field trip, I had only an hour to record sound that I wasn’t prepared for. With the help of one of my tall, proud teacher’s assistants (TA), Melissa, it was a delight that she could direct me to prevent my animation from becoming a silent film. I had to transfer my movie using a flash drive to another computer and download sounds to each section to match my animation piece. Melissa was able to determine what would be best for my movie. When I highlighted to the part where it had starlight colors appear and disappear, Melissa and I went to soundsnap.com to check out some twinkling star sounds. “Let’s see,” hesitated Melissa, scrolling down the list of sounds, “Aw, let’s check this one out….no that’s not the one we’re really looking for.” As Melissa was struggling to find the right sound, my other skinny, calm, and heartwarming TA, Kate, was striking her keys on her xylophone, and Melissa and I looked at each other knowing that it was the sound we were looking for. Melissa asked, “Kate, could we use your xylophone and your keys….it seems perfect for this part.” Kate happily answered, “Sure, no problem…I’m just going to step out for a moment…call if you need me.” As she left, we recorded the sound of striking keys on a xylophone with the microphone. I struggled to duplicate the sound but it turned out fine in the end. Luckily, just in time, I had finally finished my final project and I was able to relax for two more days until our showcase. On the last week, two days before our graduation ceremony, our Animation department had our showcase at “The Bijou” to show to other people. When I came in, a lot of people showed up and my stomach turned upside-down. I was completely nervous because I didn’t think my animation was good enough compared to my other classmates, and some of the parts I wanted in my project wasn’t able to fit in on time. Once the show started, it showed everyone’s projects since the beginning of the class. “Wooaahhh!” the audience praised at our works. Then the final projects came. When my animation came up, I immediately covered my eyes and bowed my head, feeling ashamed of my work. “Please tell me when it’s over,” I whispered with a worried look on my face. Suddenly I heard laughter and cheering from other people, and I remembered that one of the parts was extremely hilarious based on what happened to my roommate, Tiffany. After awhile, I didn’t feel so embarrassed. After this whole experience, I felt very confident in my work. No matter how terrible I believe my work would be, I know for sure that if I work productively then someone would enjoy what I’ve progressed. At first I wasn’t confident that I would be able to finish my project in time for the showcase and that it would be awful, but afterwards, I was able to finish my key pieces, and when my project came up on screen the audience cheered and was able to regain confidence. I realized that with the support of my friends and other people from my department, I was able to have the courage to create a fabulous project that I can show to other willingly interested viewers.

Modern Life Without Cell Phones

A modern life without cell phones will bring nothing but tragedy. This will be like reversing the aging process. Everyone would have to resort to old-fashioned telephones. Think of a rotary-dial telephone. When you dial a number, you put your finger on the digit and you rotate to the point where it stops. And then you repeat to dial the rest of the numbers. I think this type of telephone as like time. Time goes in loop. It has a beginning and somewhat of an end, but then it starts back to the beginning. So, therefore, life is never-ending, if that makes sense. In terms of aging, the human cycle goes from birth to death and then, if you believe in the afterlife, the cycle starts back again. Think about it. That is how modern life without cell phones will be. This new found generation may decease but then will renew itself right at the beginning when Morse code was invented in a form of communication.

Outside Lies Magic

It's important to take our time to explore and become aware of the things around you. A person will learn more by observing and digging deeper to the meaning than just seeing the obvious. When we observe and create that connection to the outside world, we raise questions and answers. "Put the things in spatial context or arrange them in time, and they acquire value immediately...even the most ordinary of things help make sense of others, even of great historical movements."

A Luscious Dessert

I see a dessert with Lemon yellow, chocolate brown, strawberry pink, fruity Skittles sprinkles, white whipped icy cream colors. I close my eyes and I can hear the ice cream truck music, the cold swooshing breeze, and choir singing angelic opera. What do I sense? I sense smoothness, calmness, a crave for hunger, and a dream. I feel joyful, calm, happy, and extremely addicted to this luscious and delectable dessert. It is a mouthwatering crispy luscious ice with crunchy gooey, chocolate fruity caramels and sweet cherries.

New Arrival from Another Country

The director of the Los Angeles Times asked me to write an article about someone who is a first-timer to America from another country. I gladly accepted this challenged and went farther out into the world to find out a smashing story. A month later I typed out my articled titled, "Adele Bloch Bauer I- Impressionism or Post-Impressionism?":

            Post- impressionism is an art style after Impressionism in which the artists of that same period added more dimensions to the visual effects of the impressionists. Impressionism is an art form where impressionists tried to capture an idea of what the eye sees at a given moment and the effect of sunlight on the object. We have known French (and non-French) artists during these two art periods, such as Cezanne, Gauguin, van Gogh, Seurat, Toulouse- Lautrec, Manet, Pissarro, Degas, Sisley, Monet, and Renoir, but there is one painting either from post- impressionism or impressionism. The name of that painting is Adele Bloch- Bauer I.

           Adele Bloch- Bauer I was painted by an Austrian artist, Gustav Klimt. Gustav Klimt was born in 1862 in Vienna and received his education at Vienna’s School of Fine Arts. He first had a career in decorating the ceiling of the grand staircase at the Burg Theater. His murals for the theater included a variety of historical references and naturalistic portraits of the city’s most famous citizens. For his great work, he was presented with awards and great fame. Gustav Klimt made sketches of Adele Bloch- Bauer I, which took him less than four years. Later in his life, Klimt created Adele Bloch- Bauer I in 1907 in a rare “gold style”, which took him many months. The clothes of wealthy wives and daughters that had luxuriant patterns inspired him. The canvas was 55 1/8 x 55 1/8 in (140 x 140cm). The portrait of Adele Bloch- Bauer I became one of his best known and unique paintings, in which it shows her as the wife of a Viennese banker and industrialist, Ferdinand Bloch- Bauer.

           There were other paintings Gustav Klimt created besides Adele Bloch- Bauer I. They were Adele Bloch- Bauer II, Apple Tree I, Beech Woods, and Houses in Unterach on Lake Atter. Adele Bloch- Bauer II was made in 1912 and was 190 x 120cm. Apple Tree I was produced in 1911 or 1912 in which the canvas was 109 x 110cm. Both Beech Woods and Houses in Unterach on Lake Atter’s canvas were 110 x 110cm.

           From the portrait of Adele Bloch- Bauer I, there are some facts that you probably had never expected it to see. The first fact about this painting is that the woman formed her hands into a graceful position because Adele Bloch- Bauer I had a deformed finger. Gustav Klimt used different types of media to create different textures for his masterpiece, such as the gold and silver pieces that makes the portrait stand out. If you did not notice, the figures in the middle of her luxurious dress looked like Egyptian eyes. The rare “gold style” makes Klimt’s picture more elegant, graceful, and represents the ideal of feminine beauty. Even though Adele Bloch- Bauer I had a deformed finger, the way her hands were placed gracefully distracts people from seeing or knowing it.

           It is kind of hard to tell which art period this self portrait of Adele Bloch- Bauer I came from. From the information that I had received, it was between impressionism and post- impressionism. When this painting was stolen during World War II, it had to be brought to justice. Luckily Maria Altmann, Ferdinand Bloch- Bauer’s niece, helped solve the case and found it along with four of Klimt’s other paintings. Sadly, Gustav Klimt died on February 6, 1918, at the age of 56, but he is well- known for his best portrait, Adele Bloch- Bauer I.

            Recently, Adele Bloch- Bauer II will probably sell for a $135 million to the Neue Galerie, a small New York museum founded by cosmetic billionaire Ronald S. Lauder. Four other paintings are anticipated to sell for $150 million together. Who knows how much Adele Block- Bauer I will sell for.  

Who Am I and What's My Future

I used to be considered as a shy person who didn’t really talk that much, but now most of my friends and the people I’m close to see me as this sarcastic and somewhat outgoing character. When I just turned sixteen, I had the feeling that the day of my birthday would be the start of a new life and some big changes. All throughout my life, I had experienced some huge changes. I live with my mother, grandmother, and stepfather. My father died when I was about three months old and my uncle had always been my father figure for about twelve years. My mother married to my stepfather when I was 13 years old and I was excited on the day of the wedding because it was the first time I tried on makeup and designing my own matron-of-honor and bridesmaid’s dress. When my mother had to go to work, my grandmother would always watch over me and keep me company. My grandmother mostly raised me at home and my mother helped me in terms of school and other extracurricular activities. I even remember that my grandmother taught me how to write in print and in cursive when I was about two years old, since she used to be a kindergarten and pre-school teacher. My stepfather is what I consider a “handy-man”. He is always working on something to improve our house and has a career in construction management. In the future, I want to have a career in graphic designing, animation, and/or anything else in the art field. I have been taking art classes that showed me some drawing skills, painting skills, animating skills, and other crafty skills. Last summer I attended to a summer arts program at the California Institute of the Arts, which is very difficult to get in, since I had to compete with high school students in California and all over the world. This program guaranteed that I had the foundation that I can use for college and my future career. It was a whole month of being on my own and my mother missed me so much that she called me almost once or twice a week. My grandmother and my cousin teased her, since she saw the youth usher board of our church walk down the aisle after prayer and offering, and she cried because I wasn’t there. I knew then that my mother wasn’t ready to let me go yet, and when I came back home, she hugged me real tight, knowing that she really missed me. After high school, wherever I go to college and start my career, I will always remember my family and my childhood memories, and I will make sure that I will never lose touch with the people I am close to.

Childhood Poem: Holiday Breaks

On Thanksgiving we gathered

together.

We ate turkey and

lots of other foods.

We played all day.

I won so many games.

Some of the TV shows

were pretty funny.

It was a beautiful

holiday to celebrate

our day.

What a fun and exciting

holiday!

The Child Am I

I am smart.

I wonder if I could try learning Spanish.

I hear music.

I see the classroom.

I want to be a teacher.

I am intelligent.

I pretend to be a dancer.

I feel the wind.

I touch a flower.

I worry about my right or wrong answer.

I cry when someone hurts my feelings.

I am wise.

I understand math.

I say what I like to say.

I dream of being a princess.

I try my best.

I hope I could believe in my self.

I am courageous.

The CSSSA Experience

When was there a time that I had found a new realization about myself? Think about this. At what time did I start to realize that my life was beginning to take a new course of direction? Last summer, in the year of 2008, I had attended a program at the California Institute of the Arts (Calarts) for one month taking a course in animation. This program that I was a part of was called the California State Summer School of the Arts (CSSSA). I was staying in a dormitory with two other roommates and three other suitemates away from home and figuring out how to take care of myself. The obstacles I had faced in this program had given me a wake-up call on what is expected for college and life. During this program, I learned how to prioritize my time in finishing all of my assignments, and I was able to adapt to the people I was “living” with. Every day, there was a new assignment that had to be due by the next day, and I would stay up until 2am to complete them. Therefore, I didn’t really get that much sleep every night. Luckily, I didn’t have roommates and suitemates that were a complete distraction from finishing my work. Having considerate roommates allowed me to have a good relationship with them and a better understanding of their different personalities. In the middle of the CSSSA experience, I had caught a cold that made me feel very weak and tired and almost prevented me from doing my projects. Even though I had a cold, I still kept on going and never gave up on the things I was attempting to accomplish. Keeping myself well and hydrated allowed me to recover from my sickness state much quicker. The advantage of my miraculous recovery helped me; as a result, create a successful Final Animation Project. After the CSSSA experience, I found out certain characteristics about myself. I already knew that I had the potential to become a future artist, but I realized something much deeper. I realized that I am an independent worker and I have my own ways of supporting my talent, such as taking art classes and experimenting different mediums to expand my artistic skills. I also realized that the things that I do in life can affect another person’s life. Recently, one the younger members of my Girl Scout Troop became interested in the arts just from watching and hearing the things I do to pursue my career in the arts. I didn’t realize this until now and I learned that everyone is watching you whether you notice them or not. What it matters is that you keep a positive image of yourself, so that you can receive a positive feedback later on.

Volcano Poets

Lava and magma...  

...it’s a big difference

Lava outside

Magma inside.

Even if they’re both

red hot liquid

it’s a big difference.

Lava flows slowly

like Pahoehoe

it comes out of

a nonexplosive volcano

that is a simple

fact.

Large amount of silica

which also slows enough pressure

can cause a volcano

to erupt.

When volcanoes erupt

it’ll explode like crazy,

it’s too much to see

smoke and hot liquid

If you get too close

don’t say I warned you,

you’ll be burned and

melted to death.

The Sun

The Sun is a main sequence star which means that it is one of the largest & brightest stars. The sun is approximately 500k on the surface & about 15,600,000, k stands for Kelvin which is absolute zero water melts at 273k & boils at 373k. It is about 1, 390,000 km in diameter & 1.989e30 kg, e stands for sexponential notation ex. (123.e4=1.23* 10 to the fourth power, which makes it the largest object in the solar system. The sun also contains more than 98.8% of the mass of the entire solar system. The sun is personified by many mytholigies Greeks called it Helios & the Romans called it Sol. The sun is about 70% hydrogen, 28% helium, everything else is mostly metals is 2%.  The suns outer layers exhibit what scientist call differential rotation, at the equator of the sun it rotates every 25.4 days; near the poles it’s as much as 36 days. The defferential rotation is caused by the fact that the sun unlike earth is not a solid body it is mostly gas & molten metals, similar effects happen in the gas planets like jupiter & saturn. The suns’ core is 15.6K & the pressure 250 billion atmospheres & its density is  more than 150 times that of water. The sun produces 386 billion billion megawatts which is produced by nuclear fusion reactions. Each second about 700,000,000 tons of hydrogen are converted to about 695,000,000 & 5,000,000 tons of energy  absorbed from from gamma rays. The surface of the sun is called the photosphere. The photosphere is about 5800k. There are cool regions on the suns surface called sunspots. Sunspots measure at about only 3800k. Sunspots are darker than surrounding regions of the surface & can be as much as 50,000 km in diameter. Sunspots are caused by interactions with the suns magnetic field. The chronosphere is a small region above the photosphere & the region above that is called the carona. The carona extends millions of killometers into space but can only be seen during a full solar eclipse. Temperatures in the carona are over 1,000,000k. The suns magnetosphere is called the heliosphere. The suns heliosphere extends far beyond pluto. In addition to heat & light the sun also emits a low density stream of charged electron & ptotons otherwise known as the solar wind. Solar wind flows through the solar system at about 450km/sec. The solar wind has large effects on the tails of comets.The Sun is about 4.5 billion years old. Since its birth It has used up half the hydrogen in its core. It will continue to radiate peacefuly for another 5 billion years or so.

Mercury

Mercury is the closest planet to the sun & is the eight largest. Mercury is smaller but more massive than the two moons Ganymede & Titan. Mercury is 4,880 km in diameter & has a mass of 3.30e23 kg. Mercury was the believed to be the Greek god of commerce, travel & thievery, the counterpart of the Greek god Hermes messenger to the gods. Mercury most likely got its name because it travels so quickly across the sky. Since mercury is closer to the sun than earth it is harder to see it with a telescope. Temperatures on mercury rang from 90k to700k which is why scientists say that no life can be supported there. Mercury, like the moon, has many craters & no plate tectonics. Mercury is the second densest body major body in the solar system after earth. The only reason earth is denser than mercury is because of its gravitational compression. Mercury has a large iron core that dominates its interior structure; this core’s radius is about 1800-1900km & its crust is about 500-600km thick which is analogous to earth’s core mantle & crust. Mercury’s atmosphere is very thin; it is composed of atoms blown off the surface by solar wind; because it is so close to the sun these atoms are quickly blown into space; this makes the atmosphere unstable. Mercury has a magnetic field 1% the size of earths. One of the largest features on mercury is the Caloris Basin which is about 1,300km in diameter. The Caloris Basin is thought to be caused by an impact on the surface during the history of the solar system. In addition to the craters on its surface there are places on mercury with relatively smooth plains: scientists say this may be the result of ancient volcanic activity.

Family History

from Fifty Questions for Family Interviews...

1. What is your full name? Why did your parents select this name for you? Did you have a nickname?
2. When and where were you born?
3. How did your family come to live there?
4. Were there other family members in the area? Who?
5. What was the house (apartment, farm, etc.) like? How many rooms? Bathrooms? Did it have electricity? Indoor plumbing? Telephones?
6. Were there any special items in the house that you remember?
7. What is your earliest childhood memory?
8. Describe the personalities of your family members.
9. What kind of games did you play growing up?
10. What was your favorite toy and why?
11. What was your favorite thing to do for fun (movies, beach, etc.)?
12. Did you have family chores? What were they? Which was your least favorite?
13. Did you receive an allowance? How much? Did you save your money or spend it?
14. What was school like for you as a child? What were your best and worst subjects? Where did you attend grade school? High school? College?
15. What school activities and sports did you participate in?
16. Do you remember any fads from your youth? Popular hairstyles? Clothes?
17. Who were your childhood heroes?
18. What were your favorite songs and music?
19. Did you have any pets? If so, what kind and what were their names?
20. What was your religion growing up? What church, if any, did you attend?
21. Were you ever mentioned in a newspaper?
22. Who were your friends when you were growing up?
23. What world events had the most impact on you while you were growing up? Did any of them personally affect your family?
24. Describe a typical family dinner. Did you all eat together as a family? Who did the cooking? What were your favorite foods?
25. How were holidays (birthdays, Christmas, etc.) celebrated in your family? Did your family have special traditions?
26. How is the world today different from what it was like when you were a child?
27. Who was the oldest relative you remember as a child? What do you remember about them?
28. What do you know about your family surname?
29. Is there a naming tradition in your family, such as always giving the firstborn son the name of his paternal grandfather?
30. What stories have come down to you about your parents? Grandparents? More distant ancestors?
31. Are there any stories about famous or infamous relatives in your family?
32. Have any recipes been passed down to you from family members?
33. Are there any physical characteristics that run in your family?
34. Are there any special heirlooms, photos, bibles or other memorabilia that have been passed down in your family?
35. What was the full name of your spouse? Siblings? Parents?
36. When and how did you meet your spouse? What did you do on dates?
37. What was it like when you proposed (or were proposed to)? Where and when did it happen? How did you feel?
38. Where and when did you get married?
39. What memory stands out the most from your wedding day?
40. How would you describe your spouse? What do (did) you admire most about them?
41. What do you believe is the key to a successful marriage?
42. How did you find out your were going to be a parent for the first time?
43. Why did you choose your children's names?
44. What was your proudest moment as a parent?
45. What did your family enjoy doing together?
46. What was your profession and how did you choose it?
47. If you could have had any other profession what would it have been? Why wasn't it your first choice?
48. Of all the things you learned from your parents, which do you feel was the most valuable?
49. What accomplishments were you the most proud of?
50. What is the one thing you most want people to remember about you?

Parents

           

Parents are protective,

Parents are caring,

Parents are the ones we

can trust.

They help you with problems,

They love you very much,

They will always be a

great and safe parent.

            

Life of a Favorite Famous World-Life Figure

Bessie Coleman was born January 26, 1892 in Atlanta, Texas, the tenth of thirteen children.  Her father, a Native American, and her mother, an African American, were sharecroppers.  Early in her childhood, Bessie and her family moved to Waxahachie, Texas, where she grew up picking cotton and doing laundry for customers with her mother. Because of a lot of segregation and difficulties in the South, Bessie’s father decided to move the family to “Indian Territory” in Oklahoma where he believed he could have a better chance for his family.  Bessie’s mother didn’t want to live on a reservation and stayed in Texas with Bessie and many of her sisters. Bessie walked four miles to school when she went.  Most of the time she borrowed books from a traveling library and learned enough to graduate from high school excelling in math.  She went to study at the Colored Agricultural and Normal University (now Langston University) in Langston, Oklahoma.  She couldn’t afford to pay, so she only finished one semester. In 1915, Bessie moved to Chicago with her two brothers.  She attended beauty school and became a manicurist.  Her brother, John, teased her about the women in France being superior to women of Chicago’s South Side because they knew how to fly.  After his teasing and seeing films and reading of flight, Bessie wanted to be an aviator.  She tried to get into flight school, but they wouldn’t take her because she was Black and a woman. After being turned down by all American flight schools, she met Robert Abbott, publisher of the African American newspaper the Chicago Defender and one of the first African American millionaires.  He told her to move to France where she could get a pilot’s license. Bessie quit her job as a manicurist and managed a chili parlor to make more money.  She also studied French at night. With money she saved and additional money from Abbott and his friends, Bessie Coleman sailed to France.  She attended the Caudron Brother’s School of Aviation in Le Crotoy, France.  On June 15, 1921 after seven months Coleman got her pilot’s license from the Federation Aeronautique Internationale.  She trained some more and then returned to the United States in September 1921. Bessie Coleman again tried to get into American flight schools, but they rejected her. Her goal at this time was to start an African American flight school.  She had to make money to do this, so she returned to France in February 1922 to learn how to be a stunt pilot. On September 3, 1922, at Glenn Curtiss Field in Garden City, New York, Bessie flew in her first air show.  It was sponsored by the Chicago Defender and made her a celebrity.  She then began to tour the country giving exhibits, flight lessons, and lectures.gates. While preparing for a show in Jacksonville, Florida, Bessie Coleman was thrown from her plane and killed. Her funeral was presided over by Ida B. Wells and attended by many very important African Americans of that time. Since Bessie Coleman’s death Bessie Coleman Aero Clubs sprang up throughout the country.  On Labor Day, 1931, they sponsored the first all-African American Air Show and each year they fly over her grave.  In 1990 mayor, Richard Daley renamed Old Mannheim Rd to Bessie Coleman Dr at O’Hare Chicago airport. In 1992 a commemorative stamp was made in her honor.

How to Choose the Right College

There are many things to consider when choosing the right college for you. When choosing the perfect college for you, find out what are your basic interests when finding the right institution? What do want to major in? Minor? Double major or double minor? Even if you are undecided on a particular major, what is something that you are totally interest in? What are your hobbies? Once you figure that out, pick the colleges within your interests. After that, choose the type of environment with the possible colleges you have chosen. Do you like hot weather or cold weather? Rain or shine? Long winters or cool springs? City or rural? Once you know exactly the type of environment you want to spend the next few years in, then you consider the benefits of graduating from those particular colleges. Do these colleges guarantee you an education that will help you get a job? Do they offer internships or possible part-time jobs to gain some extra money? Finally, once you narrow it down, find out if there are any clubs, special activities, sports, or community service opportunities. These things will help you become active in your community and gain special skills that you will eventually need in the workforce.

A Typical Day Of My Life- A Childhood Memory

My life has always been a blur to me. I can never remember anything significant in my life until several years later. It is as if my mind doesn’t want me to remember the present but only the past. So let me backtrack for a minute. When I was an elementary school kid, I always had weird dreams at night. Most of my dreams end up repeating itself like twice a year. I once had a dream of going to an abandon hotel apartment with a group of people. I walked inside with the rest of the group and all I saw was complete darkness. I noticed that every time I look away, a few people are missing and I’m in a different setting but still in the same building. The entire scene reminded of the TV series Goosebumps, where I walk through the creepiest places and end up running for my life to get away from the mysterious voices. I was petrified yet excited at the same time since I always go back into that building. My dreams could be classified as nightmares, but I consider them to be my greatest childhood adventures. In the real world, I was always the shy, smart, neatly dressed girly girl that never really got dirty, neither bruises, scrapes, or broken limbs. I tended to be extremely reserved and was always afraid to take chances, since I tried to be the “perfect child” that any mother can ever have. The day I turned eight changed a little bit in the course of my childhood. Two months after my birthday, I attended to this summer camp that looked like an old valley ranch with salons, cabin homes, and a bunch of countrymen. I remembered playing a whole bunch of games like tag and tetherball; making crafts (creating lanyards was a huge hit, since the only way to be in a cool group is if you make one); making our own homemade beef jerky; and doing many science experiments (especially making fuel for our paper rocket). After a week of fun, the other kinds and I (along with our counselors) rode back home on the big yellow school bus. My mother told me that the time I first came back from summer camp, my grandmother stood firmly on the pavement of the parking lot in front of the bus making sure I was on that bus in one piece. When I came out, she looked at me with a little smirk on her face and told me, “Ooh! Let’s get home so you can take a bath.” My mother, on the other hand, thought to herself happily, “YES!!!” since she knew if I get dirty then it means I had fun. The time I turned thirteen was a huge part of my life. I felt much more different than when I was twelve, and I knew then that my kid days were over. Few months after I turned thirteen, my mother got married the second time. I felt all grown up with my hair done in a fancy hairdo, my face splattered in airbrushed makeup, wearing my handmade maid-of-honor gown, and wearing a pair of my one-inch heals. I haven’t felt more like an adult until my mother’s special day. As I look back on these childhood memories, I realized how those events shaped my life now. It’s not that I have never been independent, but now I feel more confident in my independency. I know I am allowed to express myself through the eyes of my mind, but I never knew how powerful my ideas could be. Now that I think of this, I never thought my dreams could influence my creativity level in my artwork. I am usually inspired by the adventures I have had in my life. I love to explore to many places whether it’s across the street from my house or all the way to Tokyo, Japan. Just look around your “world” inside and out. You’ll be surprised what secrets your “dream world” can reveal.

Community

In order to create a better community, we need to understand what is going on in our American economy. What is economy? The idea of economy has no definite meaning since it can refer to many different concepts. I think of economy as a network that branches off into different categories. If any category fails or lowers its standards, then the network will eventually collapse or fall temporarily. In Walden, Henry David Thoreau describes his own definitions of economy based on his insight of the mid-nineteenth century American economy. His ideas of economy are relative to the contemporary and the future American economy. Economy can branch into 7 different categories: trading, house living, supply and demand, religion, fashion, environment, and the means of production. Trading is used to exchange ideas and goods to different continents so that one country can benefit from the other. One way that trading was an issue is the exchange of germs where one group of people suffers from another ethnicities’ microorganisms. In the beginning of “discovering of America”, the Columbian Exchange was a disadvantage to the Native Americans since it wiped out a huge number of them from not being prone to European diseases. House living is based on the different class ranks: upper class, middle class, and lower class. The upper class in today’s American society is considered people who work for the government that have high paying occupations and CEO’s of corporations. The middle class can range to many jobs that are classified as the second highest paying jobs. The lower class can be referred to the everyday people with low paying jobs such as a factory worker or working at a sweatshop. The idea of supply and demand greatly influences the economy in terms of trade. For example, if more Americans want corn, then the companies who make or provide corn will lessen the supply of corn and create a higher price for it since there’s a high demand of this crop. Religion is another aspect of the American economy; there are Catholics, Christians, Protestants, Muslims, and etc. Each religion has a different way of worship but the idea of religion remains constant. Fashion ties into economy in such that whatever is the latest design becomes something that everyone must wear. For example, skinny jeans were a top fashion in 2008 and every teenager in America wore skinny jeans as if they had to wear that particular fashion to ensure that they are a part of the “in crowd”. Environment takes another huge part of our economy; a place can have a clean environment or a polluted environment. It just depends on us to create those types of environments. Lastly, an aspect of economy is the means of production. A city, state, or town can be either industrialized (city life) or urbanized (farmland). Depending on the place where you work, an industrialized state will mostly have factories to produce goods while urban states mostly have farmland to make the crops. Either way each type cannot function alone without the other. In conclusion, economy varies between nations, cities, and continents. A nation’s economy is based on their geography or nature. Nature affects how our economy runs and we wonder how a nation becomes more successful than the other. In a weird sense, it’s based on geographic luck. The more resources you have, the greater your economy will flourish. In another sense, economy is used as the structure of human life, where we have to think, act, and dress a certain way in order to become a perfect human race; but again this concept of economy relies on the availability of what nature is able to offer.

Impulse Buying

Question: What is the most dangerous place that my mother and I should never go to? Answer: Anywhere that can cause us to buy out the whole store (e.g., Nordstroms, Target, Staples, and etc.). Every time my mother and I needed something from a well-known store, we end up buying more stuff that aren’t really necessary. I remember when I needed a memory card for my Pantech Duo (the newest cell phone from AT&T in 2008). I wanted to be able to store more memory in my phone and be able to transfer pictures to any computer. As usual, my mother tries to make sure she looks decent before going out anywhere, even in her “off-day clothes”. My mother would fix her hair like it just had been done in a beauty salon; make sure her makeup is on correctly; and checks if she color-coordinates her wardrobe. I am the person she goes to ensure that she looks good. I always wonder what she is going to do without my expertise. My mother drove in her purple Honda Civic to Best Buy, which is only less than a half a mile away. Once she parked in a spot closest to the store, we looked around to try to find the memory card that I needed. My mother asked the guy who worked there by the section where there were cameras, and he directed us to all various types of memory cards that stored up to 2 gigabytes (GB). I grabbed the memory disk that fitted my Pantech, but then my mother strolled into a section where there were printers. I followed behind her. Once I caught up with her, she stared at the printer that seemed to blow her mind. It was a HP printer that can print photos, send and receive fax, scan pictures and/or documents, and much more. I stared at it too, as if my mother used her telekinesis to lure me to this valuable product. We both stared for about a few minutes, examining the printer inside and out with our X-ray vision. After I took my eyes off of that printer, my mother was already standing with another guy who can describe to her about this particular printer. I just stood there impatiently just ready to leave; my eyes rolled to the back of my head waiting desperately to reach the cash register. “I just can’t wait until I drive,” I thought grumblingly. After a few long minutes, she decided to buy it, and along with the printer she picks up an extra pack of ink cartridges just to make sure we don’t run out of ink. It was a pain but at least she didn’t buy anything else. I hate it when we stay in a store for hours; it seems so endless that we might as well stay overnight to indulge in the items she wants to buy. I can tell from my mother’s eyes that she really wanted something else in Best Buy that she liked. I did too. Going out to places is one of the things that we do to create our mother and daughter relationship. I thought my mother is bad at buying out almost the entire store, but I think I might be the next worst case when I am a little older.

Pollution? Visitor from Another Planet

"What is pollution?" asked the alien.

"Pollution is yet a problem in this world. Anything that is gross and harming the earth is considered pollution," I answered, "What is your opinion on this Henry David Thoreau?"

"One is constantly reminded of the infinite lavishness and fertility of Nature -- inexhaustible abundance amid what seems enormous waste. And yet when we look into any of her operations that lie within reach of our minds, we learn that no particle of her material is wasted or worn out. It is eternally flowing from use to use, beauty to yet higher beauty; and we soon cease to lament waste and death, and rather rejoice and exult in the imperishable, unspendable wealth of the universe, and faithfully watch and wait the reappearance of everything that melts and fades and dies about us, feeling sure that its next appearance will be better and more beautiful than the last," Henry spoke poetically.

"Bleep-bloop-blap. Ahh I see," said the alien.

"Ditto!" I agreed.

I Am Special

Observation is a human being’s sixth sense. My sight, taste, touch, sense of smell, and ability to hear are the basic senses needed for someone like myself to be aware of the environment that surrounds me. When I was younger, I would notice every speck of detail of the things around me that other people cannot even see. I remember going outside in my backyard to just be around the fresh air. I would lie across the grass to look at the white fluffy clouds in the sky and sit on the concrete porch to look at the huge forest green tree that always linked against my wired fence and the neighbor's house across the back of my house. I saw clouds that formed into a train, a loaf of bread, bubbles, flowers, a dog stretching its back, and even a human eye. In the tree, I saw formations of pencils, bow ties, a smiley face, an anchor, a megaphone, and so much more. No matter where I am, I find the most unique details that really catch my eye.One of the things I observe once a year are hummingbirds. These bird-like insects hover in one place, move side to side, and glide forwards and backwards. I have never seen a bird do that! My eyes follow its extraordinary zigzag patterns making many Z’s, O’s, and a few loopy-loop U’s. These little hummers fly in supersonic speed, creating their own invisibility cloak to mask their wings as if they are hiding a secret to their flying magic trick. I am so amazed by its colorful feathers, its needle-like beak, and its flight pattern. Exploring the ways of the hummingbird not only gave me more independence, but a realization of the talents I acquire through observation.

College Admissions Test

What is up with these college admissions tests? Yes, these tests are supposed to see if you have retained and fully understood the materials needed to succeed in your college courses. There are tests like the California State Testing and the SAT and the ACT. They test to see if you will be able to survive your first year of college, but you know what they are a waste of time and money for a child's education. What is the point of them? My only advice for others to achieve a passing score for college admission tests is to STUDY, STUDY, STUDY. If you study the material, you should be able to pass the test with decent flying colors, but of course it depends on your studying methods. To pass with a decent score, you definitely need to either have a tutor or attend a college admissions test workshop so that you are familiar with the material that will be on these exams. Make sure you practice on the materials whether it's English, Math, or a foreign language. Remember these college admissions tests test you on what you have learned all of those times when you were in school from Kindergarten until your senior year of high school. Don't sweat it! Just wet your face and get some sleep so you can sleep, sleep, and be REFRESHED!

New State of the Art Computer

I want to buy a new state of the art computer. What should I buy? I need a computer that will last a long time. I need a computer that has the basic features: Microsoft Office, Games, Adobe Acrobat Reader, a photo gallery, a media player, a movie maker, a wireless...there is so much to name. I need a computer that has INTERNET! What is a computer without Internet?! But the major thing my new state of the art computer should have is a video camera. I want to be able to talk and converse with my distant friends and family memebers. Now how do I obtain this new state of the art computer? First I will save up some money to pay for this new state of the art computer. But before i make this knid of decision, I need to know what kind of computer I want to use. I have a DELL laptop but because of the things I do, I would need to upgrade to a new kind of laptop. I need a MAC. It doesn't matter what kind of mac as long as the mac has these basic features and much more. Overall, as long as I make about $20 per week, I will be able to pay for a computer and its warranties in about 6months or less.

What is my Favorite Season?

What's more calm than the season of Spring. Spring is a special time where the weather is just right with a slight April shower, May blossoms, and June moons. Spring is a special time where every living being becomes born or reborn. I was born in may; Every time day Eight comes, I rebirth to a new age...a new person. Spring is a special time when I could really create something new. It has more colors to present itself. More pinks and blues, greens and purples, silver and gold, and colors of galore. Spring is the place and time where I can develop such grand creativity. Spring helps refresh my mind of old venues in order to grow new venues. I would pick up my soft pastels from my bedroom and draw anything i observe or makeup in my head. In other words, Spring is a peaceful time and moment that I can ABSTRACT.

Education is Key

It is important to realize the important priorities in life. People choose necessities, such as money and clothes and shoes, as their top priority, but are those “idolatries” truly worth it or will it last for the rest of your life. Each year I create a new list of priorities to focus on, but the two items that never change are God and education. In the human world, education is the only thing that will guarantee us success in life. Even a high school diploma can guarantee a slightly decent job. Education opens doors and windows to new opportunities beyond imaginable. My mother, for example, graduated from pharmacy school at the University of Southern California (USC), and immediately worked as a licensed pharmacist. She worked as a pharmacist for over 30 years and is still continuing to work at her profession. Even today, other companies offer her higher job positions because of her excellent work in the field and the education she holds in her mind and on her record.

Pride in One's Work

Have you ever felt proud of yourself for something you have done or accomplished? How does it feel? When you feel accomplished for that something you have done, do you seem a bit more confident than ever before? This is what you have: pride in your own work. When you have pride in your own work, your posture seem to stand very tall. No! You do not slump down and feel ashamed. You stand up with your head held up high and your chin pointing straight ahead as if it is growing out of your face. A person who had pride in their own work has the ability to express themselves in  the most distinct of ways. The person has a voice as deep and moral in a realistic point of view. The person has a new realization... a new venue. This person has his or her feet stuck firmly to the ground. The ground more in one with the person. What is it like to have pride in your own work? There is a certain breath you take to keep yourself all in one..as a whole human being. You are more focused than you were yesterday..a few months ago..a few years ago...a few minutes ago. Now that you have this known from an unknown confidence, you are able to explore and experience new adventures. You are a refreshed and a new individual.