It started out as an english assignment, my reading of "Walk Two Moons". However, I soon became obsessively addicted to the book, and finished two days later. There were many reasons I was drawn into this book, but I mainly loved it because of how it was so masterfully written, and how, while reading, I realized how closely my life compared to Sal's.
The story is one of a young girl, Sal, who travels with her grandparents to see her mother, who left her and her father some years ago. On the long trip, Sal's grandparents request a story, and Sal decides to tell them of her life after her mother left, after they had moved away to her previous home. The unique way the author wrote the story was outstanding. As Sal tells her story to her grandparents, the reader feels as if he/she is with them on the trip, listening to every word, bawling to every sorrow, and jumping for joy in every scene of happiness. Occasionally, throughout the book, the story is interrupted as Sal's grandparents comment on their feeilngs at the moment. Whatever they say, the reader finds him/herself completely agreeing. It is as if Creech wrote the novel, knowing exactly how to make the reader feel the way she wanted. There was one point in the climax of the story, where, again, it is interrupted by a commentary conversation between Sal and her grandparents. Annoyed, the reader would trudge along to find, in joy, that the grandmother insisted on the continuation of the story. I felt a deep connection with Sal and her grandparents while reading the novel because Sharon Creech wrote in such a way that the reader never felt left out, that the reader always felt included in the story.
Sal's life was filled with sorrow at first. She found herself wrenched from her farm home, which she adored, to a city house, with only a small patch of grass in the front. One can only imagine how the young girl, so attached with nature and her surroundings, felt when she was stripped of the willow trees, the singing larks, the sweet aroma of flowers, and the beautiful meadows. Life was good and life was perfect, making a perfect opportunity for something to creep in and ruin eveyrthing. In her new school, her class studies mythology, and Sal is required to give a report on Pandora's Box. If you don't already know, Pandora's Box was filled with all the evil and darkness of the world. There was only one good thing, and that was hope. Sal ponders:
"That night I kept thinking about Pandora's box. I wondered why someone would put a good thing such as Hope in a box with sickness and kidnapping and murder. It was fortunate that it was there, though. If not, people would have the birds of sadness nesting in their hair all the time, because of nuclear wars and the greenhouse effect and bombs and stabbings and lunatics. There must have been another box with all the good things in it, like sunshine and love and trees and all that. Who had the good fortune to open that one, and was there one bad thing down there in the bottom of the good box? Maybe it was Worry. Even when everything seems fine and good, I worry that something will go wrong and change everything."
At this point in the story, I felt the deepest connection between me and Sal. My life was once exactly as hers was. I always had the fear AND hope of being happy, having joy. If my life got too perfect, something would always come along and ruin it.
In conclusion, I loved this book, because of the deep understanding I shared with Sal, and because of the way the novel was written. Sal tells the story as a means of reflecting on it and coming to accept it, and that is what I have to do. You cannot change what life has given you, but you can change what you do with it.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Ender's Game- READ IT
At first I wasn't very interested with this book when my brother became obsessed. But, last week, I guess I decided to give it a shot, due to its augmenting popularity in my school.
I read Ender's Game in two days, spending almost every minute of my time flipping the pages. I love this book. Ender's life often reminds me of mine, because he was a tool, a robot, used for others' purposes. He hardly ever had time for himself because he was doing what others insisted on him doing. When I saw this book on various shelves of my friends, all with a five star rating, I couldn't resist. It has now become one of my most valued and favorite books.
I read Ender's Game in two days, spending almost every minute of my time flipping the pages. I love this book. Ender's life often reminds me of mine, because he was a tool, a robot, used for others' purposes. He hardly ever had time for himself because he was doing what others insisted on him doing. When I saw this book on various shelves of my friends, all with a five star rating, I couldn't resist. It has now become one of my most valued and favorite books.
Science Olympiad 2009
It was the 26th of March. I had to wake up at 6 A.M., and I got home at about an hour before midnight. I had to work hours a week, and I hardly had time for anything else. But it was worth it. What was I working so hard for? The answer is SCIENCE OLYMPIAD. Despite others looking down on us, and despite how much time and dedication we had to have put in to succeed, all the members of our team still pulled through, leading the school to its, once again, state championship.
Science Olympiad was tiring, stressful, and tedious, but the joy we had when we walked up to receive our medals and trophy made it all worth it in the end. We all met at Fairfield Jr. High in the early morning, and traveled by bus to Weber State University. There, we went to our homeroom, and we all went our separate ways, to each of our events. My day was jam-packed, because not only did I have four events to arrive and compete at, but I also had to sacrifice another hour of my time to carry and impound my trajectory device at the Dee Events Center.
Overall, however, it was a fun and exciting experience. Before my fourth event, “Compute This”, I had time to run back to the home room. Once there, I gorged myself and stuffed my pockets with junk food. Now, picture how hyper I USUALLY am, and imagine how much more hyper I would be if I had a thousand cheeseballs, two Twinkies, three ding dongs, a muffin, and four juice boxes in my bloodstream. Luckily, however, that did not affect my partner and my results in the end. We received first place. I had also received two silver medals, and would have received gold in an event that we chose to drop.
Science Olympiad has been a great experience throughout all of junior high, and I have learned so much from it. It’s been an outstanding way to make friends, learn, and have fun.
Science Olympiad was tiring, stressful, and tedious, but the joy we had when we walked up to receive our medals and trophy made it all worth it in the end. We all met at Fairfield Jr. High in the early morning, and traveled by bus to Weber State University. There, we went to our homeroom, and we all went our separate ways, to each of our events. My day was jam-packed, because not only did I have four events to arrive and compete at, but I also had to sacrifice another hour of my time to carry and impound my trajectory device at the Dee Events Center.
Overall, however, it was a fun and exciting experience. Before my fourth event, “Compute This”, I had time to run back to the home room. Once there, I gorged myself and stuffed my pockets with junk food. Now, picture how hyper I USUALLY am, and imagine how much more hyper I would be if I had a thousand cheeseballs, two Twinkies, three ding dongs, a muffin, and four juice boxes in my bloodstream. Luckily, however, that did not affect my partner and my results in the end. We received first place. I had also received two silver medals, and would have received gold in an event that we chose to drop.
Science Olympiad has been a great experience throughout all of junior high, and I have learned so much from it. It’s been an outstanding way to make friends, learn, and have fun.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Crammed
Has your day, or week, or month, or year, or even LIFE ever been SO crammed that you can't have even a minute to yourself? Welcome to MY world! Of course, I exaggerated a bit when I said I didn't even have a minute to myself, but it certainly feels like it! My usual schedule for a normal school day is school, homework, piano, and probably sleep. I hardly have any time for anything else. So, knowing that this probably won't change for a while, maybe YOU could learn from this. DON'T cram your life up with things you know you won't have time for. Every day, I have homework, school, tennis, violin, piano, reading....etc etc etc. Most of the time, I don't even get to half of those things. What does that result in? You can do everything but you can't do anything, if that makes sense. The youth need time for themselves, because rest is vital and stress really destroys them.
In my life, I hardly ever have time for myself. Most of the time I am doing just what my parents insist on me doing, such as piano, or schoolwork. But life isn't just about working, working, and working. It should be balanced between work and play, so one won't feel so overwhelmed. When we get overwhelmed, we do worse on everything, which defeats the purpose of parents pushing you in the first place. A life where all you are doing is what others want you to isn't a life at all. It is like you're a robot, and people program you, giving you no choice or mind of your own. You do what they want you to do, and never finding joy at any time of any day.
Doing all the things I do really puts on a lot of stress. For example, this last week, there was the science olympiad state competition, and I spent the whole previous week calibrating my trajectory device. I didn't have ANY time to practice piano, and I had barely enough time to even do my homework. Now, if your time is taken up THAT much, then something is really wrong. It shouldn't be like that. You should be able to rest as much as you work, because without rest, your work will be meaningless, and unaffective. If you rest occasionally, or frequently, you will actally do much better than if you worked tediously non-stop.
So, I hope you can take my advice when I say, don't put to much onto your shoulders that you can't carry, because it will really bring you down. Do not cram your life and push your own time out of the picture. Find time to rest, because if you don't, the stress will build up more and more until you feel like you can't take it anymore. There should be an equal balance between hard work and rest, and we all need to understand that.
In my life, I hardly ever have time for myself. Most of the time I am doing just what my parents insist on me doing, such as piano, or schoolwork. But life isn't just about working, working, and working. It should be balanced between work and play, so one won't feel so overwhelmed. When we get overwhelmed, we do worse on everything, which defeats the purpose of parents pushing you in the first place. A life where all you are doing is what others want you to isn't a life at all. It is like you're a robot, and people program you, giving you no choice or mind of your own. You do what they want you to do, and never finding joy at any time of any day.
Doing all the things I do really puts on a lot of stress. For example, this last week, there was the science olympiad state competition, and I spent the whole previous week calibrating my trajectory device. I didn't have ANY time to practice piano, and I had barely enough time to even do my homework. Now, if your time is taken up THAT much, then something is really wrong. It shouldn't be like that. You should be able to rest as much as you work, because without rest, your work will be meaningless, and unaffective. If you rest occasionally, or frequently, you will actally do much better than if you worked tediously non-stop.
So, I hope you can take my advice when I say, don't put to much onto your shoulders that you can't carry, because it will really bring you down. Do not cram your life and push your own time out of the picture. Find time to rest, because if you don't, the stress will build up more and more until you feel like you can't take it anymore. There should be an equal balance between hard work and rest, and we all need to understand that.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Around the dreadful age of teens, the youth do not realize that violence is not the answer! (Well, the guy teens anyways..the girls have their own type of fights XD) You hear stories of some kid insulting another this other kid, and how this other kid punched the first kid, which got the first kid mad, so the first kid had the latter kid in a headlock!! All for what?? Just some dumb insult! Is a mere insult, "Yo, you suck!", an excuse for a bruise, a scrape, and a weeks suspension from school? We need to realize that violence is not a good way to solve problems because it results in even more anger and the problem is worse than it was when it first started out.
In school, it's not that rare to hear someone say, "Dude, I hate that kid. I wanna beat him up." What sense is that??? I mean, would beating a kid you hate up solve anything? Never have I heard of a case (I would bet anything that anyone else has either) where some kid beat another kid up and the next day they were best friends! It just doesn't work that way. If you hate a kid, why don't you go and talk to him? It's save a lot more time, and it would be so much more effective than punching their nose into their brain. Golly, common sense, people! Whenever you get into a fight, your relationship with the other person or people just gets worse! Why would you go and do something that didn't benefit you? Sure, you get the pleasure of seeing them with a huge, bulging, pulpous eye the next day, but the only thing that will come out of it is anger, which may lead to even more violence and aggression. In my life, I haven't really HATED anyone. There were only a couple times where a kid annoyed me, but I didn't really think of starting a fight mainly because I knew the consequences would be a lot worse than if I just ignored him when he turned all obnoxious. Turns out, a couple years later, it all has passed. The kids moved on. The consequences that came out from ignoring the annoying, obnoxious kid are so much better than if I had slammed my fist into his face.
So, in conclusion, remember to think about what you're doing the next time that little dork of a punk comes and annoys you. It's better to ignore him than to get overly angry with him and start a fight. Let it pass, and you'll see that it doesn't really matter in the long run.
In school, it's not that rare to hear someone say, "Dude, I hate that kid. I wanna beat him up." What sense is that??? I mean, would beating a kid you hate up solve anything? Never have I heard of a case (I would bet anything that anyone else has either) where some kid beat another kid up and the next day they were best friends! It just doesn't work that way. If you hate a kid, why don't you go and talk to him? It's save a lot more time, and it would be so much more effective than punching their nose into their brain. Golly, common sense, people! Whenever you get into a fight, your relationship with the other person or people just gets worse! Why would you go and do something that didn't benefit you? Sure, you get the pleasure of seeing them with a huge, bulging, pulpous eye the next day, but the only thing that will come out of it is anger, which may lead to even more violence and aggression. In my life, I haven't really HATED anyone. There were only a couple times where a kid annoyed me, but I didn't really think of starting a fight mainly because I knew the consequences would be a lot worse than if I just ignored him when he turned all obnoxious. Turns out, a couple years later, it all has passed. The kids moved on. The consequences that came out from ignoring the annoying, obnoxious kid are so much better than if I had slammed my fist into his face.
So, in conclusion, remember to think about what you're doing the next time that little dork of a punk comes and annoys you. It's better to ignore him than to get overly angry with him and start a fight. Let it pass, and you'll see that it doesn't really matter in the long run.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Free to Bars
I was reading the news on my Wii the other night, and, unfortunately, in my point of view, any public person can now walk into a bar without registering.
In my opinion, I absolutely do NOT think this is a good idea. Before, people who wanted to enter a bar had to sign some papers and other stuff like that. But now, papers don't have to be signed, which means ANYONE can go into a bar!
Now there is a bigger chance of bad things happening. Do we really need the extra risk?
In my opinion, I absolutely do NOT think this is a good idea. Before, people who wanted to enter a bar had to sign some papers and other stuff like that. But now, papers don't have to be signed, which means ANYONE can go into a bar!
Now there is a bigger chance of bad things happening. Do we really need the extra risk?
Passion for Piano
This is an essay I did for a requirement for honors english:
Whenever I answer the question, "Hey, can you play today?" it always seems to be "No, I need to play piano." When hearing that, people always give me this look that means, "Wow, get a life!" They don't understand why I practice so much. I love producing music because it is a way to express myself, it is a form of communication that everyone understands, and it is a skill that will last forever.
Stress balls, meditation, and rest, are some of the many ways people use to control anger. But does music work as well? Absolutely. Having experienced much stress in my life, I have found that music is a fantastic remedy.
Being of Asian heritage, many peers ask me to translate something into Chinese. Wouldn't the world be a better place if we all spoke the same language? Music is that language, the one thing that ties this whole world together. when one plays piano, he or she knows that those listening will listen and understand. It is great to know that.
IPods, computers, and cell phones have dominated the world. But these things break: they cannot last forever. A skill, such as playing the piano, will stick with you for the rest of your life. It is something that you cannot break or lose.
Playing the piano is my passion because it expresses my feelings, can touch anyone of any background, and will stick with me until death. Music can touch one's life forever.
Whenever I answer the question, "Hey, can you play today?" it always seems to be "No, I need to play piano." When hearing that, people always give me this look that means, "Wow, get a life!" They don't understand why I practice so much. I love producing music because it is a way to express myself, it is a form of communication that everyone understands, and it is a skill that will last forever.
Stress balls, meditation, and rest, are some of the many ways people use to control anger. But does music work as well? Absolutely. Having experienced much stress in my life, I have found that music is a fantastic remedy.
Being of Asian heritage, many peers ask me to translate something into Chinese. Wouldn't the world be a better place if we all spoke the same language? Music is that language, the one thing that ties this whole world together. when one plays piano, he or she knows that those listening will listen and understand. It is great to know that.
IPods, computers, and cell phones have dominated the world. But these things break: they cannot last forever. A skill, such as playing the piano, will stick with you for the rest of your life. It is something that you cannot break or lose.
Playing the piano is my passion because it expresses my feelings, can touch anyone of any background, and will stick with me until death. Music can touch one's life forever.
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