Talent Show Committee 2015

At our school, there was an annual Talent Show and every year the ones put in charge of pulling it off were the Seniors. Being a senior myself this was a huge deal - how it went was how the Class of 2015 would be remembered. We made up our Talent Show Committee just a few weeks before it went on, and it took us nearly a week to think of a theme, which was titled "The Grand Act".

We then began to give out roles for the seniors to do, from the Tech Team to the backstage crew, the hosts, and even the set and program designers. I was the program designer and the host, and working together with the girls was probably the most fun (and stressful) I've had in quite a while. There was a bit of procrastination that went on, however, and by the time we realized that the talent show would be in a week - we panicked. But you know how they say, "Some people work well under pressure."? Yes. That's exactly what happened. 

In a matter of a few days the entire auditorium was decorated with the grandeur (HA!) theme, the program design was made and sent out to the printing press, and the final revisions for the program and the scripts were completed. It was like watching those time lapse videos, where you could see everything move in a fast-forward motion and it was pretty cool knowing that I was a part of it.  

One thing I've learned, is that pressure and the desire to do good at something, is what brings people together. Amidst all our differences, and our conflicting ideas, we all managed to collaborate and work together to make "The Grand Act" a success.

The Survival Guide to Senior Year

Dear juniors, 

this blog post is dedicated especially for you - coming from a senior graduating with the Class of 2015. Take my advice as a sort of warning for those of you who are especially ambitious and wish to tackle a few AP classes whilst applying for college. Don't even think it. 

I thought taking AP Biology and AP Chemistry my senior year was a brilliant idea since, after all, I went two years taking all Honors classes. Boy, was I so wrong. The first semester was filled with confusion and frustration and dread as I practiced for my SATs, and tried to make all projects due by deadline. Trust me, as ambitious and capable you are, don't. Just don't. Take it from me. I'm graduating in 4 weeks and all my creative juices and motivation have most likely reached the basic scale on a litmus paper. Not good.

When applying for colleges, consider going out of the norms and apply at schools that have your ideal environment. And by "norm", I mean not listening to anyone's opinions of where you should go - be it from your trusted teacher or your parents. You wouldn't want to spend another 4 year trudging your way through the school year just because you chose to follow someone else's choice. Also, a key tip in applying to colleges is looking at who they want. Let's say, if Columbia University were looking for a biology major who could play the trombone because their orchestra lacked a member - and that person sounds an awful lot like you - then there's a great chance you'll be picked. It's all about knowing where to look.

And last, just relax and take it easy your senior year - but do not get lazy and allow your grades to fall. Your last semester grades count towards the college's decision, and sometimes a sharp drop might be enough for them to revoke their acceptance letter. You wouldn't want that. But really, it's your last year.

So have fun. Spend time with your friends because it may be forever until you meet them again, and plans to meet over Winter break and Thanksgiving could be broken. So cherish your senior year. It's basically the last time you'll ever be this free.

Sincerely,
Arielle Esteban

The Life of a Pre-Collegiate - Plans for the Future

College - cue the sound of a million other high school seniors sighing as they sit in a class.

May 1 is finally here, aka it's also the deadline date of college decisions in the U.S. of A. To most people, this date is rather frightening - unless you've been accepted to an Ivy League school or have a generous amount of scholarship money. When you're past that stage, however, it's time for the college dreams to commence. And for me, it's been a good few weeks since I've started. Ahem.

I'll be attending Simmons College, an all women's college in the heart of Boston, MA. I met the girls of the Class of 2019, and talked to them through Skype and Facebook. Speaking of the latter, colleges make making friends so much easier through college Facebook groups. It also makes the decision-making more easy, since you'll get a feel of the kind of people and atmosphere in that particular school. They also let you meet future roomies. Hehe.

I met my roommate through the Facebook group, and we'll both be taking the same major + she likes the same things as me, and she's traveled to Europe a lot. Brownie points! We've already made plans to visit NYC together this summer, too. 

When in college, I'll probably sign up for a lot of clubs and join a language class - Japanese or Chinese, perhaps. I also plan to volunteer at a local orphanage or at a charity organization, since I do like helping people for the greater good of the world. Heh.

But for this summer, all I'll be doing is planning for Move-In Day and shopping at vintage thrift stores and meeting up with my future coursemates and roomie. I can't wait!

Does Your Generation Have Too Much Self-Esteem?

When the term, “millennials” comes to mind, most people often immediately think of the “Selfie Generation” or at least, “The Generation with Too Much Self-Esteem.” While most people think too much self-esteem is harmful – especially when a person used to succeeding at school isn’t coddled like an infant – it’s actually better to have a strong and confident individual rather than a meek and scared one.

There is a fine line between having too much confidence and being arrogant - or in other words egotistical. A confident person is looked on positively, and I completely agree with that. An egotistical person on the other hand, is often regarded as annoying and a bit aggravating. So to restate the question, instead of self-esteem, I believe the question should be: Is Our Generation Confident or Egotistical?” The song by DJ Khaled, “All I do is Win” can best describe a few kids I know at school who’ve crossed the fine line between being confident and egotistical, where getting an A on a test for which they didn’t study is a guarantee that the tests they do study for and fail is entirely the teacher’s fault because they made it too hard. Now that is egotistical. Studying till 2 A.M. for that A.P. Chemistry test the following morning and feeling like you’ll be able to do it, however, is confidence. And I believe that my generation is a generation of confident people.

Confidence is the ability to believe in oneself – that you are able to achieve things through your own ability; It isn’t about impressing others or showing just how good you are – its to simply give what you’ve got to the thing you’re good at. My generation is the generation of high schoolers winning Grammys and Oscars, and starting up their own magazines and even achieving Nobel Peace prizes for global activism and for standing up for our human rights. I highly doubt it’s egotistical or “too much self-esteem” but rather, I think it’s a more vibrant confidence that every person ought to have – and I think most people my age have that. After all, who do you think is more likely to start a business and try again despite failing once? A student fresh out of college or a retired citizen? I vote for the former.

Works Cited

1.      Bekore, Lynda. "Are Millennials Too Big to Fail? Why Self-Esteem Is Blocking Our Kids From Success." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 5 Jan. 2015. Web. 9 Mar. 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lynda-bekore/are-millennials-too-big-t_b_6416502.html>.

2.      "Does Your Generation Have Too Much Self-Esteem?" The Learning Network Does Your Generation Have Too Much SelfEsteem Comments. 3 June 2010. Web. 6 Mar. 2015. <http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/03/does-your-generation-have-too-much-self-esteem/?_r=0>.

The Glass Menagerie - A Review

"I didn't go to the moon, I went much further—for time is the longest distance between two places" - Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie

I've been reading a few plays by Tennessee Williams the past few weeks in our American Literature class, and one that has left quite a "mark" on me is "The Glass Menagerie". 

The Glass Menagerie is a quick and easy read as a play, but is memorable at best because of how the characters are written so intricately and of all the deep and beautiful quotes. The characters are also quite easy to relate to, in a sense, from the ever so anxious and shy Laura, to the realistic dreamer Tom and even the strong and proud Amanda. 

The story is a memory play, from the perspective of Tom Wingfield, who is stuck working at a shoe factory for most of his life trying to support his mother and sister in their St. Louis apartment after his father left. However, his picture still sat on the fireplace mantleplace and is often mentioned in the play during climatic moments. Tom is a man who often goes to the movies a lot, and notes that "people often go to the movies instead of moving" and yearns to leave the life he has behind, which he eventually did but cannot bring himself to forget the guilt of leaving his family behind and so he is stuck trying to "find what in motion what is lost in space" showing that he is still trapped.

Amanda Wingfield is reminiscent of Blanche from Tennessee Williams' Streetcar Named Desire, who once had gentleman callers from every corner of the state lapping up after her for her hand in marriage and also came from a prominent family in the South. Alas, she gets married to a man who "fell in love with distance" and that was the last she heard of him. I found her quite ironic as she, like Tom, yearns for another time and place - a time where she was a southern belle. She often scolds Tom for "living in a world of manufactured illusions", which ironically, is where she lives as well. 

And then we meet the sweet and very shy Laura, a pretty girl who finds comfort and refuge in her glass collection. She is painfully shy, and it was a noted aspect of hers throughout the whole play, where she once vomited during a business class in college. Later in the play, after a successful attempt of her mother to get a "gentleman caller", per courtesy of Tom, she falls deeply in love with Jim - a boy she knew in high school. But later gets her heart broken when Jim reveals that he is engaged.

I liked The Glass Menagerie because the characters were realistic and one could see that each character is noble in a way, because while Amanda Wingfield may seem annoying to the point of always pestering her son to get a gentleman caller or accusing him of being a dreamer, she has rather good intentions for her children. Tom Wingfield is a character I admire and at times, relate to - with his dreams and yearnings of travel; Laura is also a character I grew attached to, rooting for her when she meets Jim and finds love and despair when he reveals his engagement. 

In short, The Glass Menagerie is a memorable play and I would not probably grow tired of reading it. Or any of Tennessee Williams' plays for that matter.

"Good fences make good neighbors."

Do good fences make good neighbors? Or so to speak, do fences make good neighbors? In Robert Frost's poem, "Mending Wall", we see two sides of the story where one side is adamant about having a wall between them, repeating the phrase: "Good fences make good neighbors." Metaphorically speaking, the wall can represent a sort of misunderstanding between two people, or the communication barriers that go between them.

But does having fences really make good neighbors? One can look at it two ways: it either does or doesn't. Fences are there to protect or sort of set a boundary between areas of land. Dictionary.com defines it as "a barrier enclosing or bordering a field" or "used to prevent entrance, to confine, to mark a boundary". So a fence, really, is there to prevent people from getting in; to prevent one's neighbors from getting in or knowing about one's business, setting off a sort of mysterious aura. 

Mystery thus, leads to curiosity and like the cliched saying goes: curiosity often kills the cat. So having a fence does not necessarily bring a positive result, as oftentimes people with too-high-a-fence end up having nosy neighbors who want to know everything about their neighbors. But at the same time, a fence gives a person privacy, that little bubble of comfort everyone ought to have. And so I think having fences gives each neighbor a sense of protection and they learn to respect each other's spaces and remain civil and friendly to each other. A fence is there to mark a boundary and by doing so it indicates how one shows respect to each other's property, giving them a mutual understanding.

And so I think that fences make good neighbors because it gives each person a sense of mutual understanding or camaraderie through their fences, because indirectly, they respect each other's property.

Tourist Hotspot: Green Island

In the outskirts of the bustling city of Taipei, Taiwan, lies the ever sunny island known as: Longdong Island (a.k.a. Green Island). It's an hour boat ride off the main island and is a hotspot for snorkelers and hikers, and all kinds of nature lovers in general.

The island's rocky terrain is a great place for rock climbing and hiking, and from the picture above, is a great place for taking pictures once one reaches the summit. The island is also perfect for sightseeing, as there are bridges built upon the rocks that help one reach the top, and provides stellar views of the overall island and the sea.

Another favorite pastime for Green Island fans is snorkeling in the clear, blue waters of the seas. There are three zones to snorkel: Nanliao,Dabaisha and Chaikou. Nanliao is the best place to snorkel for beginners, but Dabaisha provides the clearest and prettiest views of the coral reef below. However, Dabaisha is only for the experienced snorkelers and wetsuits should be worn as the corals can be sharp and can cut through skin.

   Green Island also has natural saltwater hot springs for those keen on relaxing on the island, and costs NT200 and is open 24 hours in March to October. It's recommended that one soak in the hot spring at night to get a good view of the stars.

Food in Green Island is also just as good as the place, with their specialty being deer meat stir fried with vegetables. They also serve shaved ice in clam-shaped bowls, and there is a 7-11 and Family Mart nearby for those who feel like they're not up to trying deer meat.

The Truth and Emily Dickinson - Second Quarter Readings

In the second quarter of our American Literature class, we read a few poems by the renowned Emily Dickinson, and one in particular caught my attention: Tell all the Truth but Tell it slant.

I liked it because the poem's telling us that truth should be approached in a sort of indirect way, and at a gradual pace rather than to approach it directly and all at once because, as I interpret it, humans have a weak "perception" and truth is such a big thing to reveal and so if approached directly, we wouldn't be able to fully understand or even begin to fully comprehend it. In the same way, a slant truth is like to explaining what lightning is to a child to appease their fear; it's "kind" and can sometimes be a bit far-fetched. After all, when children ask where babies come from don't most adults tell them the overused story of having a stork deliver them to the waiting parents? It's far-fetched and it doesn't make sense - to an adult, that is. To a child however, the story is instilled in their minds until they are older enough to fully understand just where or how babies are made. 

Thus, Emily Dickinson's "Tell all the Truth but Tell it slant" is a poem that focuses mostly on "truth", and how it should be introduced in a gradual process and approached in an indirect way, because it's either too disturbing or deep for a simple man to understand. 

What is Success?

Oxford Dictionary defines success as an accomplishment of an aim or purpose, and that is true in many cases. In some cases, success is more of a feeling of accomplishment, like a sense of fulfillment. Success to some is finally being able to ride a bike without the training wheels, or it can be qualifying for the Olympics. or even getting an A for a test on a subject one's been struggling with for so many weeks.

To me, success is being able to achieve one's goal and the process of going through to achieve that is what is most important to him/her. It's quite like building a habit; you have to push yourself and force yourself to do that one habit so that it becomes one. If you want to train your dog, you can't just quit after one session when your dog sits. No, it doesn't work that way. You have to sacrifice your own time and effort, and keep training your dog until it becomes a habit. Or until he sits every time you command it to. 

Success is sacrifice; it's being able to appreciate every single sweat or tear made that got you to where you are now. For me, it was getting all As at my new school as a new student, and it took time and lots of effort to catch up with all the work but that is where I am now, and as I look back on it, it gives me a sense of fulfilment, and that is what success is to me.  

Parsons: The New School For Design

It's in New York City, it's where renowned fashion designers like Donna Karan and Anna Sui went to, and did I mention? It's in New York City. Yes, it's Parsons The New School For Design. It's strategically located in one of the liveliest cities in the world and would you look at their building? Doesn't it just scream, "Look at me. I'm fashionable." Ok, I might be exaggerating a little but hey, going to a university like it is bound to take you to places. I mean, look where Alexander Wu is now. 

I don't plan on pursuing a fashion degree, but if I ever planned to in the near future, Parsons is definitely on my list. It has a good reputation, and look at their building. I would love to go to a school that looked like this. Even the building itself is fashionable and trendy.

While most people think of Parsons as a school for future fashion designers, the school itself offers majors like BA in Fine Arts to Environmental Science. Parsons also has extensive, state-of-the-art facilities readily available for students 24/7 because, according to their President, Parsons, like New York City, never sleeps. That would be great, especially for students who have a tendency to cram everything at like, 2 AM in the morning. 

Satirical Cartoons

This satirical cartoon is about "Halloween" for American adults, and while kids find beings like ghosts or headless horse riders scary, some Americans find the idea of paying more for things like Obama-care scary. You'll find this cartoon here. 

The Fountain of Youth and other misc. magical things

So a few days ago our American Literature class read the story of Dr. Heidegger's Experiment by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and it was an amusing story because of how the "test subjects" responded to the water from the fabled "Fountain of Youth". In the story were four friends of Dr. Heidegger's: Widow Wycherly, Mr. Medbourne, Colonel Killigrew, and Mr. Gascoigne. All four of them were once at the height of their glory days, though soon became obscure and infamous from all their deeds in their youth. 

But back to the point. The point is, Dr. Heidegger used this experiment on the four elderly friends to see the extent of the power of the water from the Fountain of Youth and just how a typical human being would react when given a second chance to relive their youth. The water was proven quite powerful when the 50 year-old rose magically returned to its former bloom when it fell into the water; it also turned his friends back into their youthful and beautiful selves. The funny thing is, while the four friends had turned young, the mirror showed a different aspect: they were the same old people in the mirror. 

Anyway, the four "test subjects" didn't exactly use the water wisely because almost instantly, they began to squabble and fight over Widow Wycherly. Just like old times. Amidst their struggle to gain the upper hand, they had knocked over the table, and with it, the vase containing the water from the Fountain of Youth. BAM! Just like that, they slowly felt their old age coming back to them and they were mostly horrified. 

The four foolhardy friends then planned to find the legendary Fountain of Youth, with vain hopes of becoming young once again. The lesson of this story is how human nature is quite weak, because when given a chance to relive a time in their lives, they would make the same mistakes.

bubble trouble

You might get the impression that I'll be writing about either bubbles or witchcraft. Wrong. Then again chemistry might go along the lines of those two things, since it's all about mixing the chemicals right and some reactions are bound to release fumes or bubbles. But I'm getting off track.

I'm going to write about my science fair project, which is due in about 6 weeks and I still haven't the time/motivation to do anything about it. Whoops. Anyways, I'll be doing an experiment on the intelligence of fish, or if goldfish can actually learn to memorize things. It's kind of like B.F. Skinner's on the concept of "reinforcement", except the fish are going to have to discern which colored cup has the food after a week of repeated exercises. I'm using this experiment because biology's a science that I find really interesting, though I think chemistry is just as interesting. But anyhow, I picked biology this year because for the past two years all my projects were chemistry-related so I thought it'd be good to change it up a little bit in my senior year.

So here is where you can read about how my experiment works and I'll most probably write about it when the time comes.

The Tale of Olaudah Equiano

So in our American Literature class, we've been reading a short excerpt about a former slave: Olaudah Equiano. Interestingly, the excerpt is actually an autobiography of his. You can read more about him on this site, but for the most part, Oluadah was a normal 11 year-old kid growing up in West Africa when one unfortunate incident led to his kidnapping into slavery. He had a good life as a slave in his continent, but that all came to an abrupt end when he was sent onboard a slave ship (where he experienced and saw many unspeakable things). 

From then on Oluadah worked in a ship, a barber shop, and then went on to become a free man with all the money he saved in those 3 years! He also learned how to read and write along the way, and spent 20 years travelling the world. Oluadah was also a prominent figure in the movement to abolish slavery, which influenced later African-American movements. He published his autobiography, 'The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano' in 1789 and had a family before passing away in 1797.

food + Italian is love

Hello fellow bloggers! I'm Arielle and today I'm going to write about one thing that I absolutely like to look at: blogs featuring food and anything Italian. Italy is probably one of my top countries to visit and it's mostly because of the Lizzie McGuire movie I saw when I was 6. One blog I really like is Parla Food. The posts on that site are so lovely to look at and read. 

I've always found Rome (aka the City of Love) so interesting because of their historic background and the fact that most of their buildings date way back into the times of Caesar Augustus and the gladiators. And their food is just so appealing to look at, even more when one tastes it. Sadly, I have yet to visit the city and taste what the "originals" are like but hopefully that'll change this summer.