Assignment 20- Eli Wrinn

I always consider myself to be a person with many talents, however they are talents that aren't necessarily unique so this blog is rather challenging. For example, I could probably give a good tutorial on how to shoot a basketball or throw a baseball however there are a few Academy baseball players and Harris Hawkins plays basketball as well. (Although I'm a better shooter than him any day) I guess a relatively unique talent I have is I'm a very strong ping pong player. I have a table in my house right next to my TV, the room in which I by far spend the most time. (While I'm awake) The steps to developing a strong game probably starts with the grip of the paddle. I would recommend holding the paddle as if you are giving a peace sign (or bunny ears) so as to create maximum control and minimize interference on the backhand. The shot I would work on is the backhand as well. With this as your primary shot, it is impossible to get jammed and reacting to a shot on the forehand side is easier than vice versa. It isn't absolutely necessary to have a skill for crushing winning groundstrokes and still compete at a relatively high level, this skill will mainly develop over time. In fact, when the opponent leaves room for a slam, I often hit it much less hard than expected, which almost always effectively wins the point, as it is a great change of pace. The most effective approach to winning points is hitting deep backhands to alternating sides, these points will usually end in a weak shot or an error from your opponent. While these aren't necessarily pretty, they are the quickest way for you to be "that guy who is really good at ping pong."

Assignment 20- Doug Vaughan

How to make pizza.

One of my most favorite things to make and eat is pizza. I usually eat delivery or frozen pizza but occasionally I like to make home made pizza.

First, you make the dough. Get bowl and pour 3/4 cup of warm water. Then add 2 table spoons of sugar, stir, and a dried yeast but don't stir and let it get foamy. After 10 min it should be foamy and add a teaspoon of salt, one table spoon of extra virgin olive oil, and plop on down 2 cups of flower. Mix it with the mixer or a spoon until its all mixed but not to much (have some flower still not mixed in the dough blob).Spray non-stick spray to the dough and but it back in the bowl with a towel over it. Now set the bowl aside in a warm place for it to kneed for about an hour, pass the time by making the sauce.

Now the sauce is a bit tricky because too much sauce is unhealthy and takes away from the flavor of the cheese and the crust. I like to start making my sauce with 6 oz. of tomato paste in a small pot above a medium heat stove top. Then add 3/4 cup of water, along with one teaspoon of basel, one teaspoon of onion powder, half a teaspoon of salt, half a teaspoon of regano, and half a teaspoon of garlic powder. Then whisk it until it looks like pizza sauce sprinkling in shredded parmasian every once in a while.

Now you competed the sauce and the dough is still kneading preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Then get out a 16 inch pizza pan and lightly spread over the pan about a table spoon of cornmeal. Then gently throw down the dough (if its done kneading) and start making it look like pizza by flattening and spreading it like fragile play dough. Leave a small thick lip on the edge for the crust. Then start spreading the sauce with the back of the spoon from the center to almost the edge leaving room for the crust. Then sprinkle shredded cheese across the sause followed by any topping you want. Then its ready to bake. I usually bake it till its nice gold-crispy color which is about 7 minuets. Let it cool and congratulations, you just created some Vaughan family pizza a recipe created by me 5 years ago. Enjoy

Assignment 22- Sam Underwood

How am I unique? 

I'll be honest, on paper I'm pretty boring. 

I come from a middle class, christian family. I do well in school. 

But I feel like there is something to be said for what I am passionate about. 

I love theater. I live for the thrill of standing on stage and putting all of myself into performing. One would think that this would mean I've always been extroverted and loving of the spotlight. Wrong. I was terribly shy as a kid. You couldn't pay me to get my nose out of a book. Whenever I was asked to present in front of the class as a kid, I would panic. Hands shaking, voice cracking, the whole bit. I saw this weakness in public speaking as a challenge. I started volunteering to present and pushing myself to speak more and more in front of others. From doing so, I fostered a passion. Now, as a Junior in high school, I'm on my school's speech and debate team and cast in my eighth production in our theater production. I feel that what make's me unique is my ability to grow, to push myself past weakness. 

Assignment 21- Sam Underwood

A problem I'd like to solve? Sexual Harassment.
Really, Rape Culture as a whole.
I'm tired of hearing inappropriate comments made about myself and the women around me.
I'm a seventeen year old girl. Old enough to drive, have my own job, and stay out late exploring the world. I've grown accustomed to catcalling as I walk down the street or feeling concerned for my safety at gas stations. Walking to my car I hold my keys between my knuckles in fear of what may happen and what has happened to so many other women. It disgusts me. It disgusts me that I live in a world that we teach young girls how to avoid rape rather than teach young boys not to rape. I wish for a world where my friends and I could say that we weren't afraid. I wish for a world where I can walk to my car in peace.

Assignment 20- Andrew Rogers

How to Lead Songs Acapella

I've been Song leading for about 5-6 years now in the main worship service at my congregation. Song leading acapella is one of those actions that is much easier said than done, relatively speaking. It depends mostly on three things some of which overarch with many other types of musical expression. Tempo, pitch, and knowledge of the song. First, is the most important part, your own knowledge of the song. If you can't sing the song yourself there is no way that you can lead other people in the same song. Second, once you have your song picked out, pitching the song is the next step.  Pitching a song is crucial to good song leading. It is recommended to pitch the song on key but you can vary the starting note by a half-step to a full step, for instance lowering a G to an F sharp or F. Tempo is third. You are in a constant battle with the rest of the congregation, fighting them from slowing down.  You have to constantly adjust to make sure time stays steady. These three things are the basis of song leading properly, however, it takes time and practice to become more skilled in this task.

Assignment 20- Sam Underwood

How to have a good day
A Guide by Sam Underwood

Step 1: Wake up early. I enjoy starting the day relatively early so that I can feel accomplished.
Step 2: Have a healthy breakfast. On the weekends I usually eat some eggs and fruit to fuel my busy day.
Step 3: Read. I love to read. It's both relaxing and entertaining and gets my mind away from the stress of school and work.
Step 4: Get some homework done. As annoying as it might be, being productive can be calming
Step 5: Clean your room. I love working and relaxing in a clean and organized environment.
Step 6: Make plans with friends....need I say more?
Step 7: Get home and curl up watching Netflix. Let yourself bingewatch, you deserve it.
Step 8: Online shop a little. In moderation, Online shopping can be a fun activity.
Step 9: Go to bed early. Getting a full night's rest and feeling ready for the next day is the best feeling.

Assignment 22: Elizabeth Piper

Ever since I started middle school there has never been any like me in my classes. I started the accelerated cluster and there are mostly white people and Asians. There has only ever been about one African American person in my classes. Even then, I still don't fit in. Since I am mixed, I don't fit into a box. All white people consider me to be black and all black people think I'm white. I don't fit in anywhere.
I think this sense of not belonging has made me shy and has made me keep to myself. I hope to go to college where it doesn't matter if I "act too white" or I'm too dark to be smart. I think this is why I want to go to the University of Pennsylvania. Everyone who goes there has to be super smart and everyone knows it. It doesn't matter what your skin tone is.

Assignment 21: Elizabeth Piper

When I was around  ten years old, my mom decided to remarry. I was excited at first before I fully realized what that would mean.
It meant I was no longer the center of attention for my mom. It meant I had to share my house and I had to learn to accept an entirely new person into my home. At first, it was terrible. All I could see were the problems. Every morning I woke up to the horrid smell of coffee, I had to share a bathroom, my food was getting eaten.
One day when I had went into the kitchen and all of my chips were gone I had the realization that he was here to stay and there was nothing I could do about it. It was so hard for me to be friendly and accept him into my life. I learned that I just had to live with it. Nothing was going to change so the best I could do was be cordial and only look at the bright side.
I am still living with this challenge, but it has gotten much better. From this I have learned to just look on the positive side of things and take everything with a grain of salt. Nothing good will come of being negative all of the time.

Assignment 20: Elizabeth Piper

How to scramble an egg

1. The first step in scrambling an egg is to gather your ingredients. You will need an egg, salt and cooking spray.

2. Spray a frying pan with the cooking spray

3. Place the pan onto the stove and turn it on to medium heat

4. Crack your egg into a bowl and sprinkle a pinch of salt

5.With a fork, mix the egg and the salt until the yolk is fully incorporated into the white part of the egg

6. Pour the mixture into your heated pan and continue to cook till your eggs are solid and no longer runny, stirring with a spatula occasionally.

7. Serve, and enjoy!

Assignment 22- Luke Taylor

I'm weird. I know that without a doubt. Where ever I've went to school I have stood out. Finding people like me at school has always been difficult because in most of my classes I'm the only African American. In elementary school I went to LCA where there was a grand total of two African Americans in the entire school. Then in middle school, I was separated from most of the school because I was in the accelerated cluster program, and once again there was only two of us. I used to feel insecure about the fact that there are no people like me in my classes, but now I've accepted it and embraced it. I prefer it now to have people with different cultural backgrounds around me because I get to experience different types of cultures on the daily. It's easier now for me to open myself up to and converse with people who are nothing like me.

Assignment 21- Luke Taylor

Time is one of the most annoying things in life, and something that increases its annoyance is the fact that you only have a certain amount of it. I am a person that can get caught up in something and lose track of time and through off the rest of my day. I get to caught up in my sleep and miss the bus causing me to miss school. Me missing school leads to me missing a Physics test which forces me to stay after school to take a test causing me to lose more time. Weeks flash by in an instant, and sometimes it feels like I haven't accomplished anything of importance. There are several solutions to this problem but the best comes to mind is to hire some one as my person clock. The clock will follow me around all day and keep on track with a specific schedule ensuring that I do everything that I need to in the day. The clock will standby and wake me up when I sleep preventing me from missing the school ever again. A personal clock would be paid handsomely because he would make me an excellent student, causing me to do all of my homework at home and thwarting any chance of procrastination. The personal clock would be the greatest advancement to human society in all of history.

Assignment 20 - Luke Taylor

A lot of people say they can't draw, and being able to draw well is a God given talent that only a .0001% of the population is blessed with; I disagree. Drawing can be taught and there are some basic steps you can follow to get to the point to where you can draw well enough to where people complement your artwork.

1. Practice everyday drawing basic things 

most people don't get past the first step because get impatient and give up too soon. Drawing every day is imperative to becoming a good artist and I,right now, am experiencing the backlash of going out of practice. Drawing everyday helps build your hand eye coordination, which is handy down the line in your art career

2. Learn how to draw what's in front of you

One of the best ways to enhance you skill is to just sit in front of a plant, or building, or car, and just draw everything you see. It helps you get a sense of how the world works and realism can be applied to what type of art you try to do later on 

3. Developing you style

I think the best way to develop a style that you want to is to look for artist that you admire and study how they do what they do. Just don't glance at a picture, try to recreate it yourself. When you do this you teaching yourself how the artist does his work. Doing several studies of different artists will eventually turn into you developing your own style.

after these three steps you there's still plenty you can do to become a better artist, it just depends on what you want to do. If you are going to be drawing a lot of people, learning human anatomy would be beneficial. But to see any real progress, you must practice every day.

Assignment 21- Andrew Rogers

Earlier this year I participated in a Walk for Water, helping raise money for wells in Haiti. The program, Walk for Water, goes into the country and builds wells in villages who do not have clean water. Before I participated in this event I had general idea of the lack of access to clean water in third world countries, but it really came to my attention after the event. I realized that millions of people around the world had no access to clean water. If I could fix one problem, it would be the water crisis. Water is the lifeblood of human life, it facilitates agriculture and sustains life. If the water crisis was solved, at least in some part, children will have the time to return to school, adults will be able to spend more time providing financially for their families due to the dramaticly reduced illness levels, and families are able to successfully grow food year round.

Assignment 23: Olivia Klee

Top 8 songs for walking to your car after a long day:
1.) Is This Love- Bob Marley
2.) No Good- Kaleo
3.) Alaska- Maggie Rogers
4.) Right As Rain- Adele
5.) When I Come Around- Green Day
6.) Elastic Heart- Sia
7.) Cheers To the Fall- Adra Day
8.) Lion the Beast and the Beat- Grace Potter and the Nocturnals


1.) Because Bob Marley always puts me in a better mood.
2.) This song reminds me that people are still making good music, you just have to find it. Who would have thought some guys from Iceland could come out with this stuff?
3.) Kind of hard to describe--folk/alt voice overlapping a dance beat--you just have to listen for yourself.
4.) Early Adele + fantastic harmonies.
5.) Teenage angst wrapped up in a 90's alternative rock song.
6.) You need good quality earbuds to truly appreciate Sia's genius. There's so much going on in this song and the way it all fits together blows my mind.
7.) Catchy, warm voice, thick harmonies. Why is this not on the radio?
8.) My favorite modern day female rock singer.


If you have to walk for more than 8 songs you're probably lost.

Assignment 22: Katie Chen

The circumstances that developed my character aren't really that unusual for a child of immigrants. However, it might be categorized as "unusual" for anyone else at our predominately white school.

So my childhood was probably pretty different than most people's. 

I never learned how to properly eat with a fork and knife until I was 14 because I primarily used chopsticks at home. 

Chinese New Year was a better holiday than Christmas for me because of the fireworks and red packets (with cash inside them). 

I started going to preschool at age 2 so I could learn English as I was primarily speaking Chinese at home and my parents didn't know how to teach me English.

My favorite childhood cartoons were a mix of what was on Disney Channel and whatever my mom had on VHS tapes.

My hard work in school to get better grades was often dismissed. People said it didn't matter that I worked hard, I "was Asian, it should come naturally to me."

Putting my "unusual" childhood aside, I am grateful and extremely proud to be a daughter of immigrants. I've been able to travel to China multiple times, each time becoming more and more proud of my heritage. My parents started with the clothes on their back and some suitcases in the trunk of an old car. They had to work for everything, they couldn't take anything for granted, and they transferred those values to me. 

Assignment 21: Katie Chen

When I first started working at Cold Stone, I was immediately overwhelmed. With numerous tasks and skills needed for the job, I instantly felt under-qualified. However, it being my first ever job, I felt the need to be perfect. For the first few weeks, I did everything as perfectly as I could. I made sure all my ice cream sizes were consistent, I always jumped at the opportunity to clean something, and I did everything exactly by the employee handbook. Not to brag, but I was pretty close to perfection.
Well, except for milkshakes.
I could never make a milkshake that came out right. They either came up too short, too thick, or too runny. Everything that could've gone wrong with a milkshake went wrong for me. Once, after remaking a chocolate milkshake four times, I handed it to the customer and they-after watching me fail so many times- reluctantly took it, a grimace on their face. I continued to struggle with making milkshakes. I didn't know where I went wrong. Every single time, I followed the exact recipe posted on the wall: 3 ounces of milk, 5 scoops of ice cream, blender mode 1. After a month of not being able to successfully make a milkshake, I considered quitting my job.
While it might seem dramatic to quit a job over something as meaningless as a milkshake, but I was obsessed with being a perfectionist at Cold Stone. Gradually, as months passed, I learned that by adding slightly more milk led to the milkshakes being the perfect amount. However cliche, practice does make perfect.

Assignment 22: Anne Nombe

I've seen a lot of things. I've been a lot of places. I've felt a lot of emotions.

My circumstances that developed my character would probably be less unusual if it were stereotypical for a person of my background. To give you a key example of this, I have about twenty aunts and uncles and around fifty cousins. And I haven't met ninety percent of them, I'm telling you. That's because I live in America, and the majority of them in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

But that's not so unusual for a child of immigrants. I know of a lot of people who have the exact same story. The unusual thing is despite all the cultural influences around me, for a large part of my life, I rejected them. For me, growing up in America, I wanted nothing more than for people to think that that was where my heritage lied. I didn't like how Americans couldn't pronounce my last name and my relatives talked to me in loud Swahili over the phone. Why couldn't they be normal and speak English, I thought?

Then my grandpa died. I only met him once, when I was no more than two years old. I didn't remember him at all.

My relatives, instead of shouting with glee in Swahili, were now sobbing in Swahili. And I couldn't understand half of the things they were saying.

That was when I realized that my neglect for my culture and my rejection of my own heritage has caused me to be so much more disconnected from my twenty aunts and my fifty cousins that I had thought possible. That was why I started trying harder. I tried to understand, to empathize. That day, I learned the importance of diversity.

It's only a shame that it was too late for me to thank my babu (grandpa) in person.

Assignment 21: Anne Nombe

There's a lot of problems I'd like to solve. To give you an idea of how many, here's a list:

• Poverty world wide
• Power corruption in my parents' home country and across the entire continent of Africa
• The US justice system
• The Venezuelan economic crisis
• School shootings
• Should the death penalty be legal?
• Double standards when it comes to harassment
• How to stop terror groups like ISIS
• Treatment of criminals

As you can see, a lot of the problems I want to solve are beyond myself. Because I spend so much time reading the news, I also spend a lot of time thinking about how to address world-wide crises. Our world is not a perfect place, and it probably never will be, but that doesn't stop me from wondering how we can makes steps towards improvement. Sometimes, I wonder if the reason I can't overlook these problems means that my career "calling" (if you believe that semantic) is somewhere in the realm of policy. After all, if I became a politician or a lawyer I could begin making steps to combat a lot of the problems I've listed. In the end, though, I wonder how much help I'd be.

Assignment 22: Maggie Anderson

A while back I read an article about how well people know themselves and each other. The conclusion: your coworkers know you best. You are obviously biased, as people either think they can do no wrong or constantly second guess themselves. Your significant other and your friends are in a similar boat. They chose you, and so they want to look more favorably on you, as that proves they made the right choice. But your coworkers didn't choose you and while life's better if they like you, they don't have to. It even benefits them to know your shortcomings, as they are also hurt if you do badly.
I don't have the advantage of coworkers to ask who I am. My fellow students, though similarly attached to me through no fault of their own, either barely know me or are my friends. The decline in group projects means we aren't on the same team, and they don't benefit from knowing my weaknesses. Even if they do, they probably wouldn't tell me if I asked, in the name of politeness.
The point of this rather long digression (sorry) is that I really don't know myself. My circumstances, only child, good student, etc. aren't done forming me. And what I want both out of college and life, is something I am thinking about more and more as applications loom closer. But I find my wants more inconclusive every time I think about them. There's either nothing that fits what I want or I have too many options. The problem: I don't know what I want. It may take somebody else to figure it out for me.  

Assignment 21: Maggie Anderson

A problem I would like to solve is recycling in schools. You might assume from the recycling bins in almost every classroom that the problem is solved, that recycling thrives. But a brief study of human action belies this notion. So many students drop papers into a trashcan, right next to a recycling bin. They don't care. And if you ask them, I'll bet almost every one would voice support for recycling. One of the strongest examples of this is Physics. While the trash can sits in the middle of a central location, the recycling bin, by virtue of its size and shape, is half under a table a yard away, but still clearly visible. It kills me when I walk past it to put my paper in the recycling, seeing the trashcan filled with papers and watching my classmates throw more papers into it. I don't know whether they don't want to take the extra two steps or haven't bothered to notice, or actively look for, the blue bin. This class is the worst, but this happens to some degree in every class. Sustainability and stopping deforestation are very important to me and I know that schools by definition consume tons (literally) of paper every year. A while ago, people tried to solve this problem by putting recycling bins in schools. I'd like to solve it by putting recycling in schools.

Assignment 20: Maggie Anderson

How to Make Bread

How you make bread depends on the type of bread, any flavorings or filling, and many other variables. But the basics go like this:
1.Measure bread flour into a large bowl.
2. Add salt and yeast. There are two ways to do this but both involve separation. The first is to put the yeast on one side of the bowl and the salt on the other. Other recipes tell you to make a bowl in the center of the flour and put the yeast in that, placing the salt anywhere else.
3. Add warm water, too hot it kills the yeast, too cold the yeast won't activate. It should be body temperature, some people can tell by placing their wrist on the water. If you, like me, lack this talent, use a thermometer.
4. Mix the ingredients into a dough with you fingers, but be careful where you stick your hand it. Nothing feels worse than running your fingertips into a pile of wet salt.
5. When a dough has formed, turn it out onto a tabletop that has been dusted with flour, lots of flour, and knead until it becomes smooth.
6. Let it rise in a warm space, an oven works if it is off and your kitchen is cold, until it has doubled in size, about one hour.
7. Knead again, knocking out air. This is the time to work in any flavorings.
8. Shape the dough however it needs to be, or put it in its baking pan, then let rise for another hour, until doubled in size. NOT in the oven.
9. While it rises, preheat the oven.
10. Put the dough in the oven and bake for however long the recipe says.

Assignment 20: Anne Nombe

I'm not really exceptionally talented in anything, but I like to think I can make and give a good presentation, so I'll go with that. These are just going to be guidelines rather than a how-to.

• Everyone who took Seminar last year know about the whole "use a dark background and bright text" thing, but that doesn't restrict you to simply using black and white. Add in a pop of color to attract your audience's eye. Use browns and greys as backgrounds, and whites for regular text, using a complementary color for words you want to emphasize.
• Don't overload your slides with words. Imagine the mental groan everyone in the room would have if they saw your paragraphs on the screen. Instead, condense your paragraph to a main idea, and talk about the entire paragraph orally.
• If you're going to give a good presentation, you need to put in the work. This means practice is ESSENTIAL. Practice until your voice hurts. That's when you've done enough.
• You need to practice without looking at your laptop screen. Get up and stare elsewhere to make sure you actually have everything memorized.
• Bring no more than one note card. That way, all your important facts are on one card, you don't have to rely so much on your card for your speech, and you won't risk your cards being out of order or falling out of your hands.
• When you get up to speak, the worst thing is nerves. Some people shake. Some people stutter. Public speaking is hard. Something that helps me is to keep in mind that everyone is just as nervous as me when they present, and that they aren't judging me anymore than I judge them. No one will remember you stuttering on one word in your presentation forever. It's okay to make mistakes.

And there you go!

Assignment 22: Olivia Klee

Last week I took the infamous Myers-Briggs personality test. I tend to be skeptical of those online pyschology tests that tell you if you're a sociopath or give you the eye color of your soul mate, but this test blew me away with its accuracy.

It spit out the personality INTJ, commonly known as "The Architect." The letters stand for Introversion, iNtuition, Thinking, and Judging. So I read the profile.

"It’s lonely at the top, and being one of the rarest and most strategically capable personality types, INTJs know this all too well. INTJs form just two percent of the population, and women of this personality type are especially rare, forming just 0.8% of the population..."

And so I'm thinking "Okay, cool so it's pretty rare, let's see if this is legit."

About thirty minutes later, I realized I have read through the entire 10 page profile, learning about every aspect of myself from my work habits to how I will function as a parent, and I feel high. For the first time probably in my entire life, I started to understand why I act, feel, and learn the way I do. I wish whoever sponsors this online test was there to record my facial reactions when I read some of my strengths and weaknesses:

Strength:
"If something piques their interest, INTJs can be astonishingly dedicated to their work, putting in long hours and intense effort to see an idea through. INTJs are incredibly efficient, and if tasks meet the criteria of furthering a goal, they will find a way to consolidate and accomplish those tasks."

Weakness:
"A recurring theme with INTJs is their analytical prowess, but this strength can fall painfully short where logic doesn’t rule – such as with human relationships. When their critical minds and sometimes neurotic level of perfectionism...are applied to other people, all but the steadiest of friends will likely need to make some distance, too often permanently."

Mind=blown. Every part of the desciption fit me to a tee. Now that I've had a week or so to think about all of this new information, I have found this awareness extremely useful. As far as my decision for college, it has helped me realize that I need to pursue something that really interests me and that I will excel in an environment where I can bounce my ideas off of like-minded individuals, such as in an honors program. I think a large research university would be the best fit for me because there I will be able to study as hard as I want and also have lots of opportunities to meet people that share my passions.

Assignment 21: Olivia Klee

The other day I gave what I thought was a fascinating presentation on E Coli in my microbiology class, and to my dismay, when I turned to address any questions from the audience, almost a quarter of the class was sound asleep. There were no questions, of course, and as I scurried back to my seat, I even saw my teacher yawning.

I concluded that I am a horrible presenter.

However, I don't think it was just me causing this all-too-common scene in the American classroom. It seems like every time I ask my friends "Hey, how are you?" their response is "tired." People are falling asleep left and right--in class, on the job, and perhaps most frightening, at the wheel.

Sleep is the obstacle I would like to conquer, a question that when solved, could be the next massive milestone for the human race. Imagine the increase in productivity, job satisfaction, and overall health if everyone knew the secret to reliably getting a good night's sleep.

Assignment 23: The Perfect Playlist

A Blast From the Past

"High Fidelity" (2000) was a film that was remarkably ahead of its time. The film tells the story of Rob Gordon, a washed-up music junkie (played by the fantastic John Cusack) who spends his days creating perfect 5 song playlists. There's his playlist for his worst break up ever, his playlist of the top 5 soul tracks released between 1955 and 1965, and his playlist for his ex-girlfriend's dad's funeral.

Today, thanks to Spotify,  Limewire, iTunes, the "genius" Itunes feature, and Pandora, creating a "perfect" playlist has never been easier.

On the other hand, Rob probably would be appalled by the slapdash way some of us throw together any group of songs above a certain tempo before we head to the gym, or take all those below a certain tempo and thoughtlessly label it “chillaxxx.” As Rob forewarned, “The making of a good compilation tape is a very subtle art. Many do’s and don’ts. You’re using someone else’s poetry to express how you feel. This is a delicate thing.”

So for this blog assignment, create a "perfect" playlist for something. It could be your perfect playlist to listen to at the gym (boring!), perfect playlist for a rainy day, perfect playlist for anything. . . be as creative as you can. Once you have chosen a topic, select 5-10 tracks for this playlist, noting the song and artist, and write a few sentences explaining why you chose this song, what this song adds to your playlist, why you put it where you did, and how it works with the other songs you selected to create a cohesive perfect playlist.

Then create that list in Spotify (if possible) and share the link.

In all honesty this is my way to crowd source interesting music so don't be a dolt and make a joke list please.

Minimum of 150 words - due Sunday, April 8th at 11:59 pm

May 6th is the last day to make up blogs 23-25

entry inspired by former Academy student John Cowgill

Assignment 20: Katie Chen

How to: Work at Cold Stone Creamery

So I've been working at Cold Stone for a little over a year now, and I like to think I'm pretty decent at what I do. Since there's a large variety of tasks involved with working at Cold Stone, it'd be nearly impossible to explain everything here in detail. So, here's a simplified version of the basics of Cold Stone: how to mix ice cream.

1. Decide what flavor you want.
At Cold Stone, you have two choices when it comes to what kind of ice cream you want. You can create your own, picking any flavor and choosing whatever mix in you want, OR you can choose from our Signature Creations menu. This menu provides a list of pre-decided flavors and mix-ins that go together for each of our most popular ice creams.

2. Decide what size you want.
There are three different sizes for ice cream: Like It (5 oz), Love It (8 oz), and Gotta Have It (12 oz). I usually opt for a Like It size, since it's pretty filling just on it's own.

3. Start pulling ice cream.
The signature "Cold Stone way" of getting ice cream isn't by using an ice cream scoop. Instead, we use spades. By using spades, it allows us to roll the ice cream into perfect balls that we can toss and do tricks with. Dig your two spades about 1/4 inch into the ice cream, starting from the end of the pan furthest away from you. Slowly start pulling ice cream towards you, while also using your spades to roll it into a ball as it comes towards to you-similar to rolling a large snowball.

4. Make sure you have the right size.
Before transferring the ball over to the stone for mixing, make sure you have the right amount of ice cream to fit into the cup. A Like It size ball should be a little bit smaller than your fist, a Love It size should just be slightly larger than a tennis ball, and a Gotta Have It size ball should be obscenely large.

5. Put your ice cream on the stone.
Before you start mixing toppings into the ice cream, put your ball onto the stone to make sure it stays cold and not melty. You can do fun tricks with it, such as tossing the ball in the air, throwing the ball from spade to another, etc. Scrape away any excess ice on the stone to make sure your ice cream stays put while you're mixing.

6. Add your mix ins
Flatten your ball so it creates a small divet as a place to put the mix ins. Depending on what toppings you got, there are thousands of combinations that could be mixed in. However, there is a general order of how mix ins should be placed on the ice cream. First, liquids (such as fudge or caramel), then dry toppings (chocolate chips, sprinkles, almonds), and finally chilled toppings (fruits, cookie dough, brownie pieces).

7. Put it in a cup (or waffle cone)
After mixing everything together, re-roll the ice cream into a ball and position it onto one spade. With your free hand, grab the appropriate cup size and place your ice cream inside it. Add whipped cream on top if necessary, and stick a spoon in it.

Voila, there's a general guideline as to how to make ice cream creations at Cold Stone.

Assignment 20: Olivia Klee

How to: Sing Harmony

A lot of my friends have been asking me lately "Can you teach me how to sing harmony?" And so I've tried, and either I'm not a very good teacher, or they are all terrible singers, but let me just tell you it wasn't pretty. It really boils down to practice, but here are some general rules to get you started.

1.) Pick a catchy, 4-chord song that you know really well. Most catchy songs are extremely repetitive, which means that once you won't have to remember so many different notes at first.

2.) Listen to the song once all the way through so you can get the key in your head.

3.) Hum the first note of the chorus.

4.) Hum one note higher.

5.) Hum one note higher. This is called a third. This note will sound nice with the first note of the chorus.

6.) Hum the second note of the chorus.

7.) Hum two notes higher.

8.) Keep working your way through the chorus until you have a feel for the third interval. You may need to use a piano/guitar/Garageband to keep track of the third intervals for every note, but eventually, you will be able to hear a note and immediately recall the third interval.

9.) Once you've worked through the chorus, trying singing the third on the bridge or the verse. It may work, it may not. It just depends on the song. But the more you practice, the more you will be able to tell what works and what doesn't.

10.) Play with other intervals such as the fifth and the third below. Develop your ear to pick out harmonies in any song.

Assignment 22: Your life isn’t boring. (College)

Another personal reflective question, yes I know.  This time I want you to focus on connecting your uniqueness directly applies to your college.  So you’re gonna have to be thinking about your top colleges and why you are the perfect fit for one another. 

Unusual circumstances in your life:  This may be something you feel is essential to a deeper understanding of you. Discuss the unusual circumstances that provide a better context to your life experience. Consider what this experience(s) reflects about your personal qualities, personality, and character. How do these circumstances influence your perspective and aspirations? How might this background make college a particularly good fit for you?

Minimum of 150 words - due Sunday, March 18th at 11:59 pm

March 25th is the last day to make up blogs 20-22

Assignment 21: OB-STA-KELS – oh Brother Where art Thou (College)

We love obstacles.  When other people are facing them that is.  But where and who would our heroes be if they didn’t face any obstacles.  The same can be said for us.  Our obstacles shape who we’ve become and who we are becoming.

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

OR

Describe a problem you've solved or a problem you'd like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma - anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution

Minimum of 150 words - due Sunday, March 4th at 11:59 pm

March 25th is the last day to make up blogs 20-22

Assignment Twenty – Jessica Ewing

How to: Write Poetry

As you can probably tell, I'm in a creative mood right now, and all I can think about is writing and, more specifically, poetry. So here's a step-by-step process to write some modern* poetry!

(DISCLAIMER: This is not a perfect guide. You will not get perfect poetry out of this. I admit my own faults and I am not claiming to be a master poet. These are just some tips and tricks that I follow when I write my own poetry)

*"Modern" in this case means pertaining closer to the styles of Atticus, Rupi Kaur, and Amanda Lovelace, those being styles that do not depend upon a rhyme scheme or other common poetic techniques such as iambic pentameter.


1. Think about a topic that interests you.

This is usually the hardest part, as this can pertain to a wide variety of topics. It can be anything from a physical subject, such as a hobby you enjoy or a movie or a sport, to a more abstract concept, such as emotions or philosophical questions. But in all honesty, anything can work to make a poem.

2. Narrow down your topic.

Now that you have your main subject, try to think of something specific within that subject that you could write about. If you're talking about a hobby, such as acting, what about it would you like to write about? Maybe the feeling of camaraderie you share with your cast mates, or that thrill you feel just before walking onstage on opening night. Try to make it as specific as possible.

3. Use figurative language to explain your topic.

What can you compare your idea to? Something to help your reader relate to your idea. Use imagery, similes, metaphors, whatever you want to your disposal to help explain your idea in simpler terms. For example, with the camaraderie idea from earlier, comparing your friendship with your cast mates to the strength of a pack of wolves.

4. Write out your comparison plainly.

The thing with a lot of modern poetry is that will come across as very obvious and straightforward until you look at it closer. In this case, you want to write down your idea as bluntly as possible. With the camaraderie idea from before, the easiest way to write it out would be to say "The friendship between me and my cast has the strength of a pack of wolves."

5. Simplify it.

This is different from writing it out plainly. This is now turning to use as few words as possible to convey your idea. Conciseness is key. You're writing a poem, not a novel. Verbosity is unnecessary (I mean, unless it's the style you're going for in your poem, which, by all means, go for it). To continue with our example, simplifying it could be shortened to "Our friendship is as strong as a pack of wolves." Feel free to make it more convoluted, too. It'll only add to the "mystery" of the poem.

6. Put it in a cool format

Now that you've got the poem down, it's time to put it in an aesthetic format style. A lot of modern poetry likes to split up the formatting to just a few words a line, so your poem could end up looking like this:

Our friendship
is as
strong
as a pack of
wolves.


And there you go! How to write 21st-century poetry in just 6 easy steps!



**If you want a real example of some of my actual poetry (sort of as an example that it doesn't have to be super short), here you go:

i wanted to
learn
how to
fly.

but you
clipped my
wings
and now here
i am,
stuck on the
ground
while you're off
soaring the
skies.

Assignment Nineteen – Jessica Ewing

"Don't do something because someone else loves it. Do it because you love it." -Jess Maichel

When I first started writing full-length stories, novels, if you will, in sixth or seventh grade, none of my friends were very interested in anything I had to write. A lot of my encouragement came from one or two friends I met online through my writing, and that was about it.

Around eighth grade, my enthusiasm had begun to die out. I didn't feel as inspired, as motivated to continue writing my stories, though I'd already become too invested in them just to give up. I didn't know what to do, so I consulted my friend, Jess, who was a senior in high school at the time and enjoyed writing (and still does) more than I do. 

I told her I felt discouraged, let down that no one was interested in anything I was writing. It felt like no one cared about my talents and that if they weren't valuable to anyone else, I should just give it up.

She told me that was ridiculous, first of all, and that I should do something not because other people tell me they like it, but because I enjoy doing it. That's what a hobby is. Something you enjoy doing. If you don't enjoy it, don't do it. But just because you aren't getting the encouragement from your friends that you want, doesn't mean you should just give it up.

Assignment Eighteen – Jessica Ewing

1. What is the number one item on your bucket list before you finish high school?

Before I graduate high school, my main goal is to finish the current poetry book I'm writing and write and complete another one. I started in December, and my end goal is to have 208 total poems across the two books. As of right now, I have 58 written, so I'm a little over a quarter of the way done. This doesn't seem like a huge accomplishment in comparison to other bucket list items, such as starring in a school play, but it's a personal goal of mine as writing is a very large part of my life and poetry is something that I've become rather attached to, particularly over these last couple of months.

2. What is the number one item on your bucket list before you finish college?

Before I finish college, hopefully I will have gathered up the courage to finally come out to my family. I'm not listing this as a goal for the end of high school, because I simply know as a fact that that's not going to happen (it's just not safe), but once I'm out of the house and taking care of myself, I believe I'll feel at least a bit more comfortable with the idea of coming out to my family.

3. What is the number one item on your bucket list before you finish living?

Before I die (wow, that's a really weird thing to think about, I don't like thinking about dying), I hope to publish a full-fledged novel. This is sort of the second stage (well, probably more like the third or fourth) of my writing life, following the completion of those aforementioned poetry books. I haven't made a lot of progress on this one, mostly just outlining and sketching ideas, but I'm determined to complete this goal within my lifetime. Leaving behind a legacy of fiction that other people will enjoy in future generations, that's something that has always inspired me, and I really hope that comes to fruition.

Assignment Seventeen – Jessica Ewing

My review of Lady Bird (2017):

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/user/id/977107596/

Assignment 17 - Ben Sanner

Had trouble with Rotten Tomatoes so here is my review of Thor Ragnarok.:

I was really disappointed with this movie as well as eerily satisfied. It went too fast, throwing in way too many new components in too little time. Loki didn't seem to even have a point in the movie- I was highly disappointed seeing as he is one of my favorite characters. They portrayed him as an idiot who is easily defeated, and predicted. Not to mention the idiocy of the Lord made of fire- I don't even see fit to know his name. Thor easily beat him in the begininning of the movie, yet somehow the creature was powerful enough to defeat the goddess of death. Besides all of my nit-picking about the plot and character development the kid in me loved this movie and loved seeing Thor and his band of partners win in the end with an almost satisfyingly un-satisfying ending.

Assignment 18 - Ben Sanner

1. The thing I would most like to accomplish before high school is done is a combination of two things, with the first being academic and the second being athletic. Relating to the former I would like to gain my goal score on the ACT of a 32 (I a currently at 31), and relating to the latter I would like to see our soccer team at Henry Clay win the state cup in my senior year.
2. Before college the thing I would like to cross off my bucket list is a very big deal. I would like to find a major. Now I know I still have time but that deadline is fast approaching and I do not know for sure what I would like to do. I am open to a career in aviation but I do not know if I want to pursue  it or not.
3. Become a Billionaire and have a wife and babies.

Assignment 19 - Ben Sanner

The best piece of advice I have ever received was from Michael Scott from "The Office" when he uttered the phrase K.I.S.S. or Keep It Simple Stupid. This may seem shallow from the outside but it can be used in almost every situation by just stepping back and keeping it simple. No need to over complicate something when a much easier outcome is attainable by doing the simple thing. To be more specific sometimes high school can be stressful, whether it be with drama or difficult classes. The reoccurring phrase continuously pops into my head and I know all will be okay if I take one step at a time and not get caught up in the hype. This also can help when socializing with others for example, it is easy for one to deaden a conversation by rambling on and on about who knows what, when instead you can peak the conversation by getting out quick points to liven  the conversation up.

Assignment 19: Katie Chen

I consider myself an artist. I'm also pretty messy when it comes to creating art. So that means when I'm painting I tend to rush and work fast. As I was working on an oil piece I accidentally reached for red instead of blue for the sky. Without paying attention to what my brush just dipped in to, I immediately applied the red paint to the sky. I then realized I had made a huge mistake. What started as cool, serene painting now had a large blob of red in the sky. Thinking that I had ruined the painting, I got ready to start over. My art teacher told me to continue with the red and add more vibrant colors to it, instead of just starting on a new painting. So I added yellow and orange and turned the tranquil scene into a dramatic, dynamic piece. This painting is one of my favorites. If my teacher hadn't told me to continue, even if I had made a mistake, I wouldn't have created that painting.

Assignment 19: Olivia Klee

"Are you mad? Well, you've got the same pants to get glad in."- Papa Klee

While this may be the most annoying, redneck line my dad ever repeats to me, I have to admit it's true. It usually comes in the times when I'm tired, frustrated or angry about something insignificant.  Most often it gets blurted out when I've been asked to do a bunch of chores around the house or when someone has inconvenienced me enough to make me want to scream. I think what my dad is really trying to say is that you are in charge of your own happiness. You can let the little things nag at you, or you can brush off the minor problems and fix your eyes on the bigger picture. He's not saying that you should act as a doormat, rather that a person should worry less about temporary unpleasantness. If you focus on the "end result", another phrase he likes to employ, then you will feel less threatened by the bumps in the road.

Assignment 19- Doug Vaughan

"The past is the past its unchangeable you just have to accept that and carry on" this was advice was given to me after the death of my Grandpa. It was a few days after he died, I was so sad I didn't want to do anything that is when my dad told me this advice. He made me realize that bad things happen in life all the time but everything else keeps going. At the time he told me I had two options one continue sulking and grieving or overcome the depression and live my life. This advice has helped me with depressing tragedies as well as dumb mistakes I've made, sports losses, things that break, and stuff just not going my way. Instead of reliving and depressing in the past have been more focused on how I can make the future better and more enjoyable for me and everyone else.

Assignment 18: Katie Chen

High School: My main thing I want to do before I finish high school is to create a series of artworks that fit together. While I have been creating art for years and probably have dozens of paintings and drawings lying around, none of them really go together. Most paintings and drawings are done with the purpose of practicing a technique or experimenting with new mediums. Before high school, I would like to create multiple pieces that are cohesive and tell a story.

College: In college, I want to figure out what I want to do with my life. Currently, I have a pretty vague idea of what I want my life to become, but I'm not 100% certain. So in college, I want to be able to know what I'm doing in my future.

Life: My life goal is to learn how to read and write in Chinese. While Chinese is my mother tongue, and I grew up speaking it as a kid, I never learned how to read and write Chinese characters, and that remains as my biggest regret to this day. So as a goal in life, I want to be able to read and recognize characters so that when I do go back to China, I can read and write to my family.

Assignment 18: Eli Wrinn

To be honest, my main goal until the end of high school is to figure out where I want to go to college, and my main goal until the end of college is to figure out what I want to do for a living, so those two aren't very interesting. Although, another goal is to continue either my sports career or my music career for as long as possible. The only real interesting one is my life bucket list. And honestly, I don't really have a clue, this question sort of caught me off guard. I definitely want a family, although I might want to wait a little longer that usual to start raising it, I want to spend my twenties and probably even my early thirties doing things that are on my bucket list...which I am coming up with right now. I don't have any specific travel goals although I would be happy with a job that requires travel. Actually, I'm sure space travel or some form of it will be much more easily accessible at some point in my life, so I might like to do that:to escape Earth'sgravity just one time. I guess I would also like to continue learning things as long as possible, through reading books or some other method, but by the time I am old, I want to have such an understanding of the world that when I pass away, I won't be hungry for knowledge, I will be at peace.

Assignment 18- Doug Vaughan

1. My number one item on my bucket list getting out of High School is creating as many memories and friends as possible. Everyone of my friends and family members that are in college tell me multiple time to enjoy High School. Most adults tell me it was the best time of their lives. Many tell me about how they regretted not doing things in High School, I don't want that to be me. If these are the best days of my life I want to live them to the fullest.
2. In college I would liked to have interned at Disney World. All my life I have wanted to become a Disney World Cast member. When I found out I could intern there over a summer I got so exited as I could extend my knowledge through a college internship while fulfilling a childhood dream of mine.
3. I would like to retire early and relax. I would love to spend my final days of life with my family watching Netflix, playing video games, jamin' to early 2000's hits, all while snaking on some scrumptious pizza and cookies. All this with out a care in the world.

Olivia Klee: Assingment 18

1.) Before I finish High School, I want to go to Haiti. Not because I particularly enjoy the smell of raw sewage or find piles of trash appealing, but because I want to bring the Good News to Haitian students my own age in the form of games and loud music. My friends who have been to third world countries say they always get more than they give, and maybe selfishly, I want the same to be true for me. I want to be broken in a way that makes me appreciate the things I have and the people I am surrounded by more than when I left.
2.) In college, I want to use my knowledge to actually discover something. I am sick and tired of performing the mundane experiments to gain lab experience only to confirm the conclusions of one thousand other students who have taken the class in previous years. Right now I don't understand enough higher level biology to design my own experiments in the areas that interest me, but by the time I graduate college I will have a first-author paper if it kills me.
3.)  This may sound cliche, but I want to save a life before I die. Just one, really. I've got some movie worthy scenarios formulated in my mind where I walk right out of med school and perform surgery that repairs a kid's heart or resuscitate a homeless person on my way to work and still make it on time, but I don't really care how it happens.

Assignment 17: Megan Meadors

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/user/id/977106205

Assignment 17- Doug Vaughan

Over the break I saw Star Wars the Last Jedi here is my review.
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/user/id/977106143/ratings

Olivia Klee: Assignment 17

Review on Rotten Tomatoes:

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/user/id/977106153/

Assignment 19: Eli Wrinn

"Question everything." I have heard this advice from many places and honestly, I can't confidently say where I first heard it exactly. I know for sure it was in "Cosmos" with Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and that may well be where did first hear it. All I know is that it represents a mindset that I try to take with me throughout my life. It applies to so many things, for example, in Seminar last year, I learned to vet sources. If you've seen a study that says a product is really useful for many different reasons, chances are, the company that makes the product funded the study. If you see something that's low fat, it's probably high sugar. Also, something that greatly affected me and my "question everything" mindset was my world history class with Mr. Wise last year. It was really influential and showed how much we take for granted because all in all, in the world history lens, our civilization is such a small period of time. When Mahatma Ghandi was asked in the 1900s what he thought of Western Civilization, he said, "I think it would be a pretty good idea." You can always find someone to support an idea, question everything.

Assignment 18: Megan Meadors

High School: Among several things on my bucket list for high school, I would say the biggest goal I have before I finish High School is to pass all of the AP exams I take. I’m not planning on taking the exams for every class I am taking, but for the ones that I am taking, I want to be able to pass it.

College: On my bucket list for College, I hope to be able to study abroad for a semester. I participated in an exchange to France over this past summer, and I hope that I can go back one day. I really want to improve my French skills and continue to use them later in life.

Life: Also in life I would like to run a marathon one day. I hope that one day I can train and work up to being able to run long distances again and reach that goal.

Assignment 19: Megan Meadors

For the past three years, I’ve been a part of the Henry Clay theatre department. Though I wasn’t sure of my abilities as an actress, I found that my favorite part of being in theatre is working as the Stage Manager. I’ve never exactly thought of myself as being good at what I do, but I’ve always tried my best to give helpful notes and to carry out my responsibilities to the best of my ability.

Recently, during the award show season I got a text from a friend about how there’s not many good female directors and encouraging me to stick with directing. Now for most people, this probably doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it’s really stuck with me. It gave me a little more confidence that I was doing something right and has helped me figure out what I wanted to do with my mentoring project and it has helped me figure out what I want to major to be in college.

Assignment 19- Brennan Cegelka

“Happiness is the ultimate goal” -Dad. I don’t know if my dad stole this quote from anybody but he’s the one that told me so I’m going with it. This advice changed my outlook on my life. Happiness: true fulfillment, is so difficult to attain. So often people are seen going to jobs they hate or partaking in something they don’t enjoy but why? We are so fortunate to have a blank canvas. Our chance to create whatever we desire. We have an abundance of tools and brushes to mold our creation. Because of the Internet we have an abundance of information to pursue our desires in whatever field imaginable. If we are in a career simply for the sake of money, we will work to keep on living in order to keep on doing something you don’t like doing. Which is absurd. You will become trapped in a cycle of simply surviving, not living. Pursue your happiness whatever it may be.

Assignment 18- Brennan Cegelka

1. A year and a half. That’s how much more time we have of high school. How do we make the most of it? Before I finish high school what do I want to accomplish? I always hold fun in the highest esteem and I tend to have the most fun competing. So for my high school bucket list I want to make it to the regional championships in “Not one, not two” -Lebron James, but three sports. First, baseball. I’ve defiantly spent the most time perfecting my game in this sport and if the baseball team were to compete for a regional championship, it would speak volumes of the hard work we’ve put in over the past seasons. The next two sports are individual. Swimming, and Golf. I was one second away from making the Regional Championships this year in my first year swimming and I intend to continue to improve. Golfing is a relaxing sport where I can put my mind at ease. If I am able to enjoy myself and be successful at the same time, that is a good high school experience.
2. College. College seems to loom over the heads of Juniors as we make our final push into adulthood. My focus has been geared at getting into college not what to do when I actually get there. I guess what I look forward to the most about college is the chance to study abroad. I have never been across the atlantic ocean and the opportunity to immerse myself into another culture sounds exhilarating.
3. Finishing life? I’m sixteen Mr. Logsdon. What will I be known for? Being adventurous. I want to go to every continent in the world. For the majority of human existence we barely go outside where we are born, but thanks to modern technology and the “luck of the draw” to live in America, we as Americans have the unique opportunity to travel the globe. If I can say I’ve been to every corner of the world, I’d say I lived a pretty cool life.

Assignment 17- Brennan Cegelka

Quentin Tarantino. A controversial director to say the least. Known for the abundance of blood and gore in his movies, this director has a distinct presence on the screen. The first films I saw by this director is the classic film “Pulp Fiction” arguably the most popular movie he’s made. The second film I saw was “Inglorious Bastards”
Comparisons: Both movies have a clear Tarantino mark on them. The violence is evident in the first scene of the movies. Pulp Fiction’s first scenes conclusion is the beginning of an attempted robbery of a restaurant. While in “Inglorious Bastards”, the more tense scene ends with a jewish woman running for her life. Both movies don’t roll any punches back with main characters dying in pulp Fiction (Vincent), and in Inglorious bastards. However my favorite part of Tarantino films is the full circle call backs to the beginning of the movie. For example, in Pulp Fiction the opening scene is in fact the final scene with the two main characters of Vincent and his partner stopping the robbery discussed. In “Inglorious Bastards” Brad Pitt’s character gives a call back to the beginning of the movie discussing “scalps” of the Nazis killed.
 Contrasts: Although the movies both have the same director, they are full of differences. For instance, “Inglorious Bastards” is more of a fantasy period piece, while Pulp Fiction is a modern piece that challenges the traditional formula of movie making. “Pulp Fiction” jumps from story to story and shows how they intertwine throughout. And it is not until the final act where the loose ends wrap to make a true present of a movie. “Inglorious Bastards” however, follows the typical movie arc but set during WWII. The two films although starkly different satisfy and entertain.

Assignment 17: Eli Wrinn

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/user/id/

Assignment 19- Elizabeth Piper

"Every minute you waste in doing nothing just remember that someone is getting smart somewhere else"

This quote is hanging up in my grandmother's quilting room. One day when I was smaller I asked her about it. I wondered why she put it up. She told me that it was to remind her that you can't just sit around and wait to get better you have to actually do it yourself because there will be people everywhere working hard and you just have to work harder.
Now that I am in high school and I am constantly competing to get into the best programs and set myself up for success in the future, I am always thinking of this quote.
I used to always blame my situation or I would come up with every excuse in the book for why I wasn't doing as well as others. Now because of this quote and what my grandmother told me I know that only I can change the outcome. This quote has made me more determined and more motivated to try and get things done. Now I know that the only way I can achieve my goals is to work out and just work harder than the competition.

Assignment 19- Sam Underwood

Assignment 19. 

Theater has always been a big important part of my life. I adore it. Every part of it. So it wasn't a hard decision for me to decide to audition for GSA. The thought of spending all of my time for three weeks performing is exciting, so it isn't surprising that I was incredibly nervous the night before I had to turn in my audition tape. I was sitting in my room pouring over the video of myself acting. I texted my friends asking what they thought of it. One of my close friends, Erica, told me to "let my passion show not my nerves." It immediately calmed me, helping me focus on showing them what I love and thinking less of the competition. Since then, I feel that her advice has come to mind in multiple other areas of my life. I'm a rather nervous person, so putting that aside can be hard. 

Assignment 18- Sam Underwood

Assignment 18. 

The number one thing that I want to do before I finish high school is write something I'm proud of. My mentoring project consists of me writing a book of poetry and prose. I'm excited by the idea of getting to sit down and write everyday, so I hope that the product is something I am proud of. What I hope to do by the end of college is study and become more knowledgable in Biology. Ever since I was a kid, I have enjoyed Biology. I'm excited to study and really push myself as a student in college. I also hope to become a more confident adult. I want to learn to be independent. In life, as cheesy as it sounds, I want to be happy. If that means settling down and having a family so be it. I want to feel truly content and happy before I die (an idea shared by many others.) 

Assignment 17- Sam Underwood

I did a review of "Lady Bird".
the link for this review is:
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/user/id/977105974/ratings

"Over Winter break, I went to see the wonderfully funny and thoughtful movie Ladybird. It tells the story of a young teenage girl and how she navigates her rough relationship with her mother. I feel that this was a part that made the movie very relatable to it's audience. Ladybird was an amazing movie! I loved every second of it. A beautiful, sentimental, commentary on what it is like to be a teenager. I loved the portrayal of Lady Bird and her mother. The entire movie was wonderfully shot and directed, very pleasing to watch. I was not surprised when this movie won several Oscars, it was very deserving of these awards. I feel that this movie is a wonderful movie for any age. I had both my parents watch it they both thoroughly enjoyed it. If you are contemplating seeing this movie, I urge you to watch it. Watching this movie will be a decision you won't regret." 

Assignment 19: Luke Taylor

People often tease me for being in high school band, I can see where they are coming from. We're easy to pick out with instrument cases or the huge flock of us in the yellow hallway in the morning. But one the best pieces of advice that I've ever received was delivered to me in band class. On the board every week the directors and student leaders put inspirational quotes on the board, one week an aphorism stood out to me. It was from Thomas J. Watson, a successful business man from the early 20th century, that read "If you want to achieve excellence, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less-than-excellent work." This hit home with me because I am guilty of getting lazy and not putting all of my effort into what I am doing. This can be applied to anyone's life, if you are tired of getting sub-par results, stop giving sub-par effort.

Assignment 19: Anne Nombe

This isn't really a piece of advice that was given directly to me, but while I was surfing Quora I came across this really good thing to keep in mind that I bookmarked.

Basically, it says that we shouldn't be so judging of others, especially for the things we don't judge ourselves for. For example, when someone is late to class, we might assume they were skipping, when really they were late because they had a flat tire or had to bring their sibling to school. And as another example, when someone says something stupid we might attribute it to their stupidity, when really, it was just an honest mistake. I always like to keep in mind that you never really know what's going on inside a person's life, and a single mistake doesn't say anything about them. We're all human, and we all do these things. It's best not to judge people when you don't know the whole story.

Assignment 18: Anne Nombe

The one thing I'd like to do before finishing high school is figure out how to write Swahili. I can speak it, but whenever my relatives text me, I can read a lick of it. I know it'll be hard to do, but with my trusty DuoLingo app, I hope I can recognize the written words better. I also want to learn German through it as well, as I have a friend in Germany who I'd love to send a letter to in her native tongue.

The one thing I'd like to do before finishing college is get a dog. I know that's a weird thing to say, but I've always wanted one, and once I move out of my parents' house (well, if they let me actually leave) I'd love to get one.

Lastly, the one thing I'd like to do before dying is learn how to play piano. I already play an instrument (viola), but my whole life I've only wanted to play violin and piano. Violin isn't that hard for me to do if I take time to actually go over the notes, as they're in a different clef, but I have no clue how to piano.

Assignment 18- Elizabeth Piper

High School:
My main priority for high school is to get accepted into the University of Pennsylvania. It has been my dream to get into this school since freshman year. I have been working at it for three and a half years now and I would love to get that acceptance letter. I hope my dream comes true and hopefully I will be able to cross it off of the bucket list.

College:
My number one item for college is to find my specific path in life. I have a rough idea of what I want to do, but I want to figure out exactly what I want to do for the rest of my life before I graduate from college. As of now, I know that I want to go into international business. However, I'm not sure what I want my specific career to be. Hopefully I will figure it out before graduation day.

Life:
My number one item on my bucket list is to travel to every francophone country. There are around 30 countries spanning from our neighbor Canada to Europe and even Africa. I would like to visit all of these places and stay there long enough to learn about the culture and really see what it is like to live there.

Assignment 18- Andrew Rogers

1. I really would like to receive the Medallion at the end of my high school career. I have worked so hard in the Academy and I would really appreciate something to reward all of my hard work. I want to successfully deliver my AP Research paper and get a very good scholarship to Freed Hardeman University.

2. I would love to go study abroad before I finish college. I've never been outside of the country so going to Europe with friends while being able to continue my studies would be an incredible opportunity. As someone who is very interested in world history and the connections between North America and Europe,  I would love to travel and see those effects first hand.

3. Before I die I want to travel to the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi is one of the most unique cities in the world. In my endless conquest to find the fastest and tallest roller coaster to ride I have conquered almost everything in the United States from the tallest and second fastest roller coaster in Kingda Ka to the tallest giga-coaster in Fury 325. However, I have yet to ride the fastest. That title belongs to the Formula Rossa roller coaster at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi. With a top speed of 149 mph, I've been dying to go ever since it opened, and hopefully, I'll make it before I die.

Assignment 19- Andrew Rogers

Whenever someone asks me what the most influential piece of advice I've ever recieved my thoughts first go so a small, relatively unimportant portion of advice. "Don't put your hand in your pockets." Yep. That's it. Don't put your hands in your pockets. To most of you that seems increadibly stupid and a useless piece of advice, but it matters where the advice came from. One of my Dad's best friends for many years, Brandon Rader (a name that means nothing to you) is who it came from. He travels multiple times every year around the world doing mission work in foreign countries. I don't talk to him alot and this conversation we had is the only one I'd had with him in the span of about 7 months. He told me to never put my hands in my pockets because around the world that usually signifies untrustworthiness. I had never thought about it before, that something so simple and innocent for us in America, had implications that I had no idea about. It allowed me to step back and consider how every culture interacts and the careful consideration we must all take in dealing with people. This small piece of advice changed how I percieved the world, and I am thankful that I can now understand other people's culture better than I did before.

Assignment 18 Luke Taylor

High School
1. Graduate High School and Get Into college
2. Become Decent at coding
3. Become swole like Nathan Boshard
4. Figure out what I want to do in College
Graduating High School and Getting into a pretty good college will always be on the top of my list while in high school because that has been a goal of mine since starting school. I'm not shooting for an Ivy League or anything, but I would like to go to a pretty good school so I can network and meet the a lot of people which is important in the Tech industry.

College
1. Find out what I want to do for the rest of my life
2. Meet a lot of new people
3. Become extremely good at piano
4. live in somewhere besides Lexington Kentucky
The whole point of going to college is to discover who you are as a person and figure out what you want to do for the rest of your life. Once I figure that out, I will try to put myself in the best position possible to accomplish my purpose.

Life
1. Live long enough to see all the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies and the Star Wars remakes
2. Figure out a way I can give back to the community
3. Have set foot on all 7 continents (6 if Antarctica melts)
So, through out my life two things have been consistent: my love for Star Wars and Comic books. So if i can manage to see all the new Star Wars and Marvel movies that come out, I'd consider that a life well lived. But I might be here for a while because Disney is gonna milk both of those franchises dry.

Assignment 19: Sam Clark

Perhaps the best piece of advice ever bestowed upon my grateful figure was to “blow harder.” My middle school band teacher, Mrs. Begley, was a canonized saint, fully endowed with miracle-making abilities. Her simple, yet beautiful, instruction molded the minds of middle school musicians, turning disjointed notes into resounding symphonies. We played all the classics: “Ode to Joy,” “Fanfare to Power,” “Trombones on the Housetop.” Such notes still ring in my ears, reminding me of a time not yet forgotten. The whole school loved Mrs. Begley. We still do. Her cry to “blow harder” grew ever-louder as the years passed, urging us onto greatness. Mrs. Begley’s advice was not just a musical appeal; it was an instruction to try harder, to reach onward into the limitless possibilities.

So yes, Mrs. Begley, I’ll blow harder. I’ll do it just for you.

Assignment 18- Sam Clark

High School:

Chief among my wishes for high school is to have the truth of the Star Wars franchise revealed to the general public. And what is this truth? This stunning flash of insight? Namely, that Kylo Ren will turn to the light and Rey to the dark. Now, though I saw not the latest installments of the series, notable Star Wars experts (Luke Taylor and Christopher Beebout, P.H.D), believe fervently in my claim. I believe this is a modest request to ask the universe, and hold confident that it will be fulfilled.

College:

As for college, my opinions remain a bit more murky. Considering the high level of uncertainty as to my university, I chose not to stride along the personal route, but upon the national. My bucket list goal is to help turn the Senate blue in 2019 and 2020. This is the only way environmentalism will ever be sustained, and thus the proper way to go.

Life:

I aim to see the Star Wars franchise (at least in its current, zombified-mouse form), come to an end. Sometimes we must let go.

Assignment 19: Maggie Anderson

The most memorable piece of advice I have ever gotten was to get the bad things, like chores or homework, out of the way first. My mother taught me this when I was a small elementary schooler, just starting to have homework and chores, and it has stuck. this does not mean I always follow this advice, however. I often intend to, but then I'm lazy. I cite every time I have stayed up doing Cornell notes or key terms the night, or early morning, before they're due until I could no longer read the textbook. The one way I have consistently followed this advice is with respect to dinner. Though I no longer have a child's distaste for vegetables, I rarely like them as much as the main meal and I still despise a few. This has led to them being the first things I eat at any meal, before I've even touched the main component. This manifests itself the most with salads. I don't hate salads, but it seems like my family has them with at least five dinners a week. I usually go into the kitchen after the salads have been made but while the rest of the dinner is cooking and eat my salad with my hands then. This drives my father crazy. But hey, I'm just following my mother's advice.    

Assignment 18: Maggie Anderson

High School:
1. Get my driver's license.
2. Go to a school dance.
3. Get into a good college.
4. Get a summer job.
5. Figure out what I want to do in college.
   Getting my driver's license comes first because it's the sort of thing that won't happen if I don't constantly think about it. Activities that require travel and effort tent to get put off. I say I'll do them soon and suddenly it's been months. For this reason, I had my father take me out of school early on my sixteenth birthday to get my permit, because I didn't want to delay it and I knew if I put it off at all, school would be out by the time I actually got around to it.

College:
1. Figure out what I want to do after college
2. Make friends.
3. Study abroad.
4. Improve baking skills.
    Figuring out what I want to do after college is on the top of my list because it's something I really need to know before I finish. Right now, I'm bouncing between multiple careers. I also need to find out what I want to study, and those things should go hand in hand.

Life:
1. Go to Arnaud's Restaurant in New Orleans and order the dessert Strawberries Arnaud.
2. Own a house.
3. Dedicate a room of said house to being a library.
4. Learn about making glass.
   Strawberries Arnaud costs $3.95 million. It has multiple, expensive components, including wines and fruits. It also comes with a sort of happy meal toy: a 7.09 carat pink diamond.
 One reason I want to get this is that I believe I will be the first (it's the worst selling dessert in New Orleans) and because I want to know if they actually have a diamond on the premises. I find the idea of the busboy sprinting to the nearest jewelry shop hilarious. This is also my least probable goal.

Assignment 17: Maggie Anderson

I watched All the Presidents Men and The Post. They both portray the Washington Post’s coverage of major news stories during the presidency of Richard Nixon. The former is about two reporters covering Watergate and is based on a book written by the reporters directly after. The latter was made recently and tells the story of the Washington Post’s coverage of the Pentagon papers.

            The biggest difference between the two movies is the focus of the movie. During All the President’s Men the entire movie is spent following the two reporters as they write the story, talk to editors, or interview people. There is no time spent on other people or other situations. In The Post, however, the focus is more split. Part of this is due to the separation of the main characters. Woodward and Bernstein work together throughout their move, but Kay Graham is more removed from the newspaper, causing the movie to have to shift back and forth. This provides for more interactions with other people as well as a variety of events and situations.

             The cast is also larger in The Post, as the plot revolves around an effort by the entire staff, particularly at the upper levels. All the President’s Men revolves around an effort solely by Woodward and Bernstein, and the rest of the staff, with the exception of Ben Bradley, barely make appearances, and they hinder as much as they help. There is also absolutely no mention or appearance of Kay Graham in All the President’s Men even though it is set less than a year after The Post. This could partially be due to her being less involved in Watergate than she was in the Pentagon Papers, as the paper didn’t seem to care about that coverage at the time as much. The decision to run publish the Pentagon Papers was a potentially illegal act that required judgement calls by anyone with any power at the Washington Post, as the New York Times had already been to stop by a federal judge. The coverage of Watergate was much less contested, partially because the White House was denying involvement, partially because nobody but Woodward and Bernstein thought there was anything worth reporting, and partially because the newspapers had won their Supreme Court case after the Pentagon Papers, giving them an assured legal right to print whatever they felt it necessary to print.

            Smoking also play a large role in both movies, but movies, but I perceived it in a different way. As both movies are set in the late 60s/early 70s there is a great deal of smoking, realistically portraying the behaviors of the time. However, I found that it came more naturally in All the President’s Men. There was definitely more casual smoking, which is a shock to somebody living in today’s anti-smoking culture. But it seemed to fit perfectly and didn’t continuously stand out. This could partially be due to the fact that it was made at the time, so the actors and director didn’t have to try so hard to insert it. They probably smoked throughout the making of the movie, on and off camera. The Post, however, doesn’t achieve this level of nonchalance. There is less smoking, but every time it seems to stand out more and seems artificial, like it was put into the scene by somebody trying to make a point about how much people smoked then. It probably was. One part of The Post that seems most realistic is a scene in which the editors have met at Ben Bradley’s house to go over the recently acquired Pentagon Papers. After having spent the morning isolated in his closed off living room, Mrs. Bradley comes to bring them lunch. She opens the door to a gray cloud made by about five people smoking throughout several hours. It is an extreme example, and is mostly in the movie for laughs, but it seem like the most natural, and realistic, evidence of smoking in the movie.     

            Overall, I preferred The Post. It was aimed more at the modern public. As All the President’s Men was created shortly after Watergate, it doesn’t hold up as well, though I found both movies to be quite excellent.

Assignment 20: How to …

Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade?
--Benjamin Franklin

Ben makes a good point. For this week, put your gifts and skills on display by developing a "how-to." Choose something that you have a level of expertise in and explain step by step how it is done.

No repeats though! If two people are both really talented at making ice and one beats the other to the post on "How to make ice..." then, second person - you need to reflect upon your other talents.

So, stop standing in the shade and astound us!

Oh, this can be a video blog that you create.

Minimum of 150 words - due Sunday, February 18th at 11:59 pm

March 25th is the last day to make up blogs 20-22

Assignment 17: Sam Clark

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/user/id/977088095

Review of Wonder Woman

Assignment 17: Luke Taylor

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/user/id/977043158/

Caution Spoilers
But if you haven't seen the movie yet that's just disappointing (Sam Clark).