Summer Nights

The days of summer capture every student as they walk outside of class on that final day of school. The heat washes over us and the sun shines upon our smiling faces; the school year is finally over. Now we can enjoy the times with friends on all days of the week, staying out till the latest hours, and not worrying about homework. Summer is the time of every student’s life. It all reminds me of the song, Summer Nights, which premiered in the original Grease Movie back in 1978. It represents how high school students live for the summer and then dread the days when they must come back to classes. If only summer could last forever.

Now that I am just 10 school days from my very own summer, I am beginning to become quite anxious. I can’t wait to bear the 100 degree weather and the endless days of nothing worthwhile to do. Summer opens up so many days to plan events and I am expecting to use every single one with a valuable importance. I have learned in the past to not take advantage of the present and to not wait for the future. I must live every day this summer to its fullest, every single second. All of this extra hanging out with friends causes us all to forget about half of the stuff that we had learned in school. The entire process is pretty funny actually.

As summer approaches, this entry marks the end of my blogging for right now. This kind of sums up my entire junior year and all of the memories that I am going to take from my experiences. The summer will create thousands of more memories that I will take with me into my senior year. It is time for school to take a break so that students can relax and prepare for more education in the fall. Summer only comes once a year and you need to make sure that you take huge advantage of the entire season.

The problem with summer is that students often forget about the consequences of their actions throughout the summer and you see some of your close classmates getting in a lot of trouble. Just remember to stay safe and avoid trouble so that you don’t regret it in the future. Live for the day and as if you were going to die tomorrow. Those are my mottos. Summer nights are about living life and enjoying every second that you have free. And when it again begins to turn colder, that is when you know that summer is about to end.

Junioritis

If I only I was a senior, then I would have just one more day left of high school. I can only wish. Tomorrow is the final day of classes for the seniors attending Kennedy High School and then they officially graduate in just three days after that. They get to have quite the exciting week. This is the same week that makes me sad each year, only because I wish that I could be the one graduating. I have realized the past few days how much I really dislike certain parts of high school, and how I have accumulated a large amount of Junioritis. There is a huge desire to be the one who gets to walk across the stage on Saturday just so I don’t have to deal with another high school year of drama.

In less than three weeks it will finally be summertime and I will begin to enjoy the sunny days swimming in the super hot weather. Until then I will have to work harder than ever, dealing with finals, and the transition to becoming a senior in high school. It doesn’t help that we have an entire week added onto school because of the dumb snow days this past winter. Watching some friends graduate is going to be hard and knowing that I might not ever get to see them again will be even harder. Now it is time for the Class of 2009 to take over the senior bench and the privileges that arise from being the oldest in the school. I am going to enjoy it, but I have to make it there first.

Senior year is going to be better than any of the past three years and the events that are going to happen will be memories to last a lifetime. That is why all juniors wish that they were seniors. It feels like just a year ago when I started high school and I have to admit that it does go much faster than you expect. I can only hope for one year from now, when it is me who gets to leave school early and graduate from high school. Until then I will go from having Junioritis to some serious Senioritis.

True Love...or Not?

True love is seen as the underline of all living things. Although many lovers find themselves once engaged in the scenes of the love birds, they will eventually experience the complete opposite. After being in a relationship for years, people often find it challenging to remain themselves. This causes problems among people of all ages; being even worse in the teenage years. We begin to set limitations on the people that we love because we don't want to loose them in the future. True love represents the need and desire to be together forever, and if only this was true for everyone, the world could be considered perfect. After being in a relationship where you see this love, it is often very hard to glide away from it. True love captures your mind, body, and soul and refuses to ever let go; even after many years.

I find myself in a situation where i am considering if true love is real or not. Does being involved in a true love mean that everything is always okay, and that there are never any problems? I wonder. Although many people say that you can't know what love is at such a young age, there is just no real evidence to support it. Love is a serious emotion, and any emotion can be experienced at any time in life, by anyone. I really think that i am in love. And even though i tend to fight with my boyfriend, i feel like there is still always love prevelant. I think that there always will be, no matter what comes out of our relationship today. The first love is always the hardest to get over because of the strain that it puts on your emotions.

Through all of the arguements and disagreements, there is still a major connection that i have with Brent each and every day. That is the reason that i know i will never be able to get over him. He has been there for me through the hardest times and i have learned to use him for a shoulder to cry on. He is the heart in me, and i feel like many other couples feel this same connection. Through the thick and the thin we have dedicated ourselves to one person and i feel like it is definitely this dedication that holds all relationships together. Trust is also an important aspect to any relationship. You can not love someone who you can not trust in tricky situations. Once you can trust thier every move, then you know that you love them and that they love you back.

All in all, true love is needed in all human lives. We strive to have it and once it is captured we work hard to never let it get away. This is a necessity to the people of the world and it will always be very important. Although, no one is perfect and no relationship dares to get near perfect, love is still acheivable and happens each and every day. I say yes to true love!

Hush Little Baby

If only our parents could still sing a lullaby to put us to sleep like they used to when we were little babies; then we would all live happier. I think that every student would love to get to sleep in the hours of the mid-afternoon instead of having to attend classes. Although the same number of hours spent sleeping is not needed now, we are often more worn out than our bodies can handle. After 7 classes a day, sports practice, and hours of homework my body can no longer sustain itself anymore. I am often so tired during my studying that I have to take a power nap in order to rid of my flickering eyes. All teenagers are turning into these sleep-deprived people who run on only a couple hours of sleep each night.

Many teenagers just wish that they were back in Kindergarten, where they could take naps every single day. We not only got more sleep when we were younger, but we were also less busy and a lot healthier. The entire condition just seems to be getting worse as we grow older and take on more tasks. The problem is that we are still expected to finish all of our homework and to succeed in everything else that we do. How do teenagers manage time and the stress that builds up from the lack of it? All we know is that the days get harder and harder until the first day of summer appears. For the next three months you are able to catch up on sleep, only to get farther behind again in the fall.

Many people are unaware of where the actual problem persists; whether it is to blame on the children or on the teachers who are piling up the assignments each night. Or does it get blamed on the parents who are not controlling their children enough to get more than four or five hours of sleep? Just think if a policy was created where teachers could not give out any homework on certain days of the week. Just one thing to look at is the fact that no sporting activities can be scheduled for Wednesdays or Sundays because of church activities. I don’t understand why homework is not abolished on those days too.

Sleep deprivation is a huge problem that has increased greatly for teenagers who are becoming too involved in high school activities. Now if we could just get our parents to sing us a lullaby and allow us to sleep for hours on end. We would be hushed like little babies.

April Showers Bring 'AP Tests'?

I can almost feel it now; the joy of finally being able to say goodbye to those dreading AP classes that only seem to take away your beautiful free time. I’m just one day away from the uplifting happiness that is going to sweep over my cheeks as I walk out of the testing site tomorrow afternoon. Finally I will be able to relax a little bit and pay less attention to the terrible college tests that are to come. All AP students experience this same turmoil when the May flowers begin to pop up all around them. It not only means that spring is finally here but it also represents the relative approach of the Advanced Placement tests. This is what it all comes down to. It’s one test; determining whether or not you get the college credit that you have been working towards for the past 150 days.

The tensions begin to build up among all of these students when the first week of May rolls around. No matter if it is going to be your first or your last AP test during your high school career it still means a lot. The hours spent preparing for the multiple hour tests are finally paying off. There will be no more studying, no more anxiety, and no more stress built up over a class. My opinion on these classes has remained the same over the past three years, seriously I see no point. Most colleges have begun to disregard the credits that high school students work so hard to gain and have un-weighed the GPA’s of the kids who are trying to get into college. This is not fair and it proves invaluable to taking the courses in the first place; completely replacing the encouragement by teachers to take them. I just wonder how much time I could waste in taking some of these classes.

For the next three weeks I will be able to relax, well in a way at least. Now I will have to deal with projects and papers that are even more invaluable to my success as a high school junior. At least the tests are over and there will be a little less homework to cope with after school. Summer is finally on its way and the hot breezes are nearing, but for now I will have to deal with school and the classes that I have grown to deeply dread.

The Prom Buzz

It’s the one night that every girl waits for her entire life and it’s the night that prom king and queen are finally announced. The day has arrived and will be full of exciting events, crazy disturbances, and full on nervousness. Some people look forward to the dinner, others to the dance, and even more to the after parties. But no matter what the importance of the day is, it signifies the end and the beginning of something new. Just days before graduation, high school seniors get decked out every year for the marvelous prom celebration activities, despite the slam that it puts on their wallets.

While the night is quite an important one there are times when I feel like it gets a little out of hand. When is the money spent just too much for one night? After hundreds for a dress and tuxedo, a few hundred for the limo, another hundred for hair and nails, and the hundred for the tickets prom begins to turn quite costly. Just think about going through this process a couple of years in a row. But after the money is spent, all good is supposed to arise from the night through carefully organizing and planning. Sometimes these same dream nights turn out in disaster for teenagers who are not prepared to control themselves and their peers around them.

First comes the Grand March, an event signified to simply show off how good each girl and guy thinks that they look. Walking in front of their classmates just to get a scream and whistle out for their pretty dress or tuxedo can prove worthless to some students. That is why more and more people each year just forget about Grand March altogether, using the extra two hours to finish getting all primped up. King and queen are finally announced and the tensions from all of the candidates wear off just before they have to leave for prom. But when its not you that wins, it probably stays on your mind for the rest of the night anyways.

Dinner with food of galore and a beautiful scenery comes second in this long night. It’s the time to sit with close friends; talking about the past and talking about the future. You eat and talk, and every so often your mind switches to the future and what it means for you. The entire dinner concept shows the importance of prom night. It is almost a method of closure for close friends and the people who they will leave after graduation.

The common identity of prom is the dance and the music that is played there. People look forward to this and the excitement that they get just hanging out with their close buddies. Actually some people get a little bit out of control while dancing, but I have to excuse them. They are simply having fun during one of the last few days of high school that they have and I know that I will do the exact same thing.

Other people look to the post parties and the fun that they tend to bring. Some chose the school facilitated event of post prom while still others chose to go and party it up by themselves. Really it is worth attending the school event. You get free food, bowling, and there are hundreds of prizes that you can win. The morning also entertains you with a hypnotist and the enjoyment of getting to laugh at your crazy classmates.

Although prom is costly and it raises the tensions of every single senior, it is definitely worth it to take the jump in. The night is the end of the old days, but it is the beginning of everything new that is going to come into your life. The prom buzz is the one to wait for

The Price You Pay

As young children grow into young adulthood they must travel through a period of extreme danger; one that is best to just be avoided. The increasing occurrence of teenagers using various kinds of substance drugs has caused huge problems with the leaders of tomorrow. This has become an even bigger issue in just the past day because of a huge drug bust among nearly 100 college students. No longer do students focus on just one drug, but now they tend to use many different kinds so that they can feel ‘it’ more. More and more kids are getting involved in various drugs and they are beginning to do so at even younger ages; raising the health risks.

It is a shame to see so many teenagers spending all of their salaries on drugs and the purchases that they are required to make. All of a sudden a student has spent all of their graduation money buying drugs behind their parents’ backs. What a nice graduation present, huh? Just to think of all of the money that is spent yearly by the millions of people who chose to smoke marijuana or snort cocaine. Even with such drugs being illegal, people become so addicted to them that they cannot force themselves to stop, even after being either arrested or kept in jail.

Now we are investigating one of the largest drug busts in history and government officials are having the troubles choosing what to do with these convicts. There were 96 different people arrested in this case, with 75 of them being San Diego State college students. These people will always have to pay the price of their actions; choosing to not only use these drugs but also deal them. Such a drastic event will never leave them along in the future; the memory of their mistake will haunt them forever. This just goes to show that many students are hiding a lot from their family and friends.

There is so much sneaking around and lying involved in such a case. Authority figures have not been able to keep teenagers from getting involved in drugs, and I am not sure if they will ever be able to. With people dying from drug usage there has been a lot of controversy with punishment for getting caught with such substances. We need to preserve the young children today so they don’t grow up with high influences of different kinds of drugs. There is a huge need to do so, immediately. But for now the people who are already involved with always have to pay the price for their actions.

Mourn for the Dead; Hope for the Missing

People often find it hard to relate to natural disasters that take place in foreign locations, beyond their own eyes. The numbers then startle these same people and force them to realize that the truth is taking place right on the other side of their same world. When Cyclone Nargis hit the coast of Myanmar less than a week ago, thousands of citizens were taken by complete surprise without the warning systems that we have developed in the United States. National News Stations are now informing us that around 25,000 are already dead with around 41,000 Myanmarans still missing in the rubble. This kind of destruction is only available to us in the United States through traumatic pictures and the short video clips from newsmen.

Unexpectedness of such a disaster struck a country that was already high in financial deficits. Many citizens live in poverty and have to deal with religious and social restrictions involving high levels of violence. After such a horrendous work of Mother Nature even more citizens are going to be living in poverty. The conditions that Myanmarans are living through currently will end up killing even more people, anywhere from starvation to infection. Now various countries have been sending multiple types of aid to the citizens and their home country so that they can recover from the disaster.

The one problem with all of this is that Myanmar is not accepting any money from the United States. They are refusing any form of aid currently because they would like to prove that they have the capability to support their own citizens and social conflicts. This part confuses me; I don’t have faith that Myanmar has a government that is organized enough to plan out a very cohesive recovery plan. There is a lot of hope to find all of the missing peoples but it is highly known that many of these people are already dead and stuck under the tremendous amounts of rubble on the coast. There is going to be years of recovery that will take millions of volunteers and billions of dollars to repair. There is no way that it can by done without the U.S.

Looking at the pictures of crying mothers and baby boys, I automatically feel remorse for not being able to help these Myanmarans. If a disaster were any closer to the United States many more Americans would be caring about these citizens who are living in torturous conditions. Currently there is nothing to do but hope for the citizens and their loved ones who have either perished or are still undiscovered. Even though we are not directly related to these Myanmarans we must mourn for their dead and hope for their missing. It is our duty as Americans to care and help others who are in need of any type of aid. We must always give what we would hope to receive in return.

The Attack of STAPH

A long lingering trouble among young adults today is the spread of the dangerous and deadly STAPH infection. The disease is very personal, affecting close friends and family of many people across the United States. An even scarier thought can be seen through the increasing number of STAPH cases that have sprouted up among Americans in the past few years. The lives of the survivors around a victim are affected seriously, and through quite disastrous feelings of remorse and lethargy. Methods of preventing STAPH have proved to be inefficient because of the fresh breakthrough that the disease has brought to the world. STAPH has risen in popularity but the treatments have not necessarily improved to go along with it. This is definitely a serious issue that will be prominent in the future American societies.

The symptoms that are visible to the human eye for STAPH infection are really not close to visible at all. There are many victims that fall dead to the disease without ever having a single indication of having the bacterium in their system. Others will get a warning sign just hours before their death. These are the sad stories of the innocent people who lose their lives under terrible consequences. The way that STAPH works with the human body was mystical for many years and it took a lot of researchers a lot of time and money to discover the beginnings of the disease. In teens, most staph infections are minor skin infections.

People are exposed to staph infections from contaminated objects. However, the staph bacterium is always going to be spread through skin-to-skin contact and can is easily contracted from one person to another without notice. This can explain why many college students get STAPH infection; the closeness that the students experience while they are in dorms proves very prevalent for the spread of the bacterium. If a bed linen, towel, or pieces of clothing is infected the bacterium can live for a long period of time, being able to spread to other items and people much later. This is why STAPH has caught many people by surprise.

Knowing a couple of people who have been infected with STAPH infection I have quickly been exposed to the seriousness of the subject. Although there is no way I can completely protect myself from getting STAPH there are still some steps that I think many people should take. Staying healthy and keeping away from the general germs can help eliminate some of the chances of STAPH infection. There are high hopes, for in the future, that STAPH infection and its number of cases begins to diminish. The effects are deadly and the cases are quite scary, but still today STAPH continues to attack!

Late Night Energizer?

Late night after late night I often find myself having to force my eyes open so that I can finish up with homework and studying. There are millions of teenagers across the united states who go through the exact same process multiple times a week; sacrificing everything so that they can pass well through high school. Many different methods have been used lately so that students are able to stay awake into these late hours of the night and many of them prove unhealthy. One of the most dangerous are the Caffeine Tablets, which provide an extra burst of energy to the pill taker. However, there are very dangerous side effects to taking drugs like this.

There are many other methods to getting energy at these awkward times of the day. My favorite would have to be the popular energy drinks that are highly advertised to work on everyone. Even though I am quite doubtful of these drinks actually working I still continue drink them because of the taste. I don’t understand how there is proof that AMP works to energize people when there are no natural products in it. Really I am unaware of the real risks that I am exposed to from drinking such beverages. The energy drink companies tend to avoid advertising the bad effects of energy drinks and focus more on the flavors and sparks of energy that they provide.

The many different flavors that the AMP Company has developed in the past year have gathered larger numbers of drinkers who have since become almost addicted. Now some parents have begun to keep energy drinks like this away from their children because of the problems that they can cause. It is true that these drinks provide energy but the problem is that they only come in short bursts. They can wake you up for an hour but then during the next hour you will have an even harder time trying to stay awake. The drinks are only temporary relievers and still they have continued to grow even more popular.

With less homework to do I would be able to go to bed at an earlier time, but I know that the limits I am pushed towards will only get worse as I get closer to college life. I don’t support the ideas of using drugs to relieve low alertness, but I can not exactly diss on the energy drinks since I am a trendy user. These beverages still are popular in my hands and I am learning to accept the responsibility of taking care of the problems that could occur from this in the future.

The Desire To Belong

While attending high school for four straight years, the personalities of many different teenagers change in order to satisfy not only their own beliefs, but also the opinions of others. I remember my high school principal telling me at the 9^th grade orientation to write down the names of my two best friends. She then said to check and see if those people are still your friends by the time that you graduate. This ended up being completely true for me; my once best friend and I never speak anymore, and neither of us feel the need to do so. This is just one of the stories of how people change while they are in high school.

Cliques are often discouraged in high school, but they still seem to appear quite often in many different forms. There are even names given to each of these groups that are then used to classify individuals through various situations. You might call someone Emo because they are friends with someone who has a boyfriend who dresses in an emo-like fashion. This is completely stereotyping someone and it happens everyday to almost everyone in every high school across the world. Even though these criticisms are often taught to be avoided by teachers and parents, the problem continues to persist year after year.

Sometimes people are put down by these clicks and it can lead them to feel worthless and unimportant to the rest of the world. Of course some people feel so terrible that they end up killing themselves so that they can relieve the pain that they feel from the abuse. Others chose to confront the other students; either through extreme violence, language, or possibly even murder. It makes me sad to hear the stories about school shootings because this is the place where they usually start. After the young man was treated like crap from a certain group of people he might chose to bring a gun to school; killing his teachers, a couple of the students, and then eventually himself. All of the shootings seem to arise from a situation just like this one.

Teenagers now have the deep desire to belong to one of these clicks, or important groups of people. They begin to depend on these same people, all while forgetting about the old friends that they used to have. Sometimes this desire ends in deadly consequences and can ruin the lives of these normal teenagers. If we could just be friends with everyone we would never have to worry about a problem such as this one. The problem actually has continued to get worse and there is a deep need to stop the abuse and desire of teenagers to belong to one specific group of people.

Two Questions

I am finding it quite hard to start talking about this graphic essay, for some reason or another. Maybe because these types of writing are so new to me or maybe because I don’t completely understand exactly what I read. I am not sure. Again I found this essay a quite interesting one in fact. The entire idea of using pictures and words together to form a cohesive piece of informational writing is really beginning to interest me as I read more examples. You can add a lot of humor and different points of view through essays like this all by simply adding a picture and a speaking bubble. That was probably the best part to this essay, entitled Two Questions.

Many of the pictures in this essay were not very well drawn but they still had a very strong prevalence to the entire essay. It seems like there was always the main story highlighted in each section by a box, which contained the author’s views and narrative. Then surrounding the main idea and interconnected with the pictures was extra tidbits of information, including describing words, opinions, and simple connotations. This is a different form of writing and then a very different form of reading an essay for me and many of the other students in my class.

Overall, I thought that this essay was very weirdly written. Again it is probably because I am not used to reading graphic essays and paying attention to their tone. The tone seems to be less formal so that it can be referred to many different types of people. The style of the essay is much less organized and even less formally written. The sentences were not always complete and the ideas from the author seemed to be jumping around from one part of the picture to another. There were words that are considered severe slang words but there actually fit the perspective of the essay. This graphic essay was an insight to another type of essay writing.

I wonder what the possibilities are for producing graphic essays because the only two that I have read included information on the idea itself. They were both simply graphic essays that discussed information regarding graphic essays. Are there limits for this type of essay? How do you start in creating a graphic essay when you have never been expected to write one in the past? How do you incorporate different ideas and visual aspects into a graphic essay without being able to have done it already in the past? These are just a few of the many questions that I have regarding graphic essays. If I have to write one in a couple of weeks I am guessing that I will find myself confused and stressed out. I should start now on learning more about them.

All For The One You Love

“Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em”. This common expression relates well to the problematic issue of long distance relationships, because when your relationship is put through this particular test, its time to decide which of these opposing statements applies to you the most. Every year, millions of teenagers leave their significant other behind, while going away to college. Sometimes they travel 30 miles, 100 miles, or sometimes even 1,000 miles. Either way, they are around a new crowd, with new friends, and knowing that their boyfriend or girlfriend is alone back home. Trust and listening are the key factors in making it through a long distance relationship.

Trust is one thing that will be talked about a lot over the next year or two while the lovers are apart. It will be a topic of discussion almost every week, if not every day. I believe if two people are willing to maintain their strong commitment throughout this what seems to be long time period. They are going to have to learn to trust, and accept many situations that they were not forced to accept before. Such as weekends, of course a college student is going to want to go out with his or her friends that weekend, as well as the high school student. However, one may disagree with the other one going out, and that is just how easy an argument appears unexpected out of thin air.

If a person in the relationship gets back from class, and wants to talk about how they had a bad day, the other person really needs to listen, otherwise the person that had the bad day will find someone else to talk to, and may even begin to get close to this person. Therefore, you should always be willing to talk, and listen whenever a problem occurs, even if you’re not a factor in the problem, or are unable to provide a solution to the problem.

Long distance relationships can be best separated into three categories: remaining faithful, dating loosely to see what happens, or breaking off the relationship altogether. Whichever category is chosen depends largely on which stage of the relationship you are at. Most couples remain faithful until about the third or fourth month into long distance relationships. Dating loosely may come after faithfulness, however, usually beginning once the person has moved away. Finally, breaking up can come at any point in the relationship from the moment information is given about the plan to move away, until the very last day the person comes back from home.

Although long-distance relationships are often hard to cope with, many couples endure the struggles and survive their time apart. This distance only makes the people stronger in the end, and even though they hate the entire process, many are thankful for it eventually. Teenagers have to deal with relationships all throughout high school, but college is much different. It is important to pick your partner carefully, and to try in any way possible to protect, care, and love that person, so that you can avoid ever losing them in the future.

Graphic Essay By: Scott McCloud

Reading the graphic essay about using pictures with essays was a very new and inspiration experience for me. I have never been exposed to the use of pictures with essays, but McCloud easily showed me that not only can it be fun; the process also proves to be very effective. The first thing that I noticed about the graphics is that they can easily had extra humor or emotion to an essay. These images produce another sensation to our bodies and that helps keep us interested in something. I think that it was definitely this reason that I had so much pleasure while reading this graphic essay. I was happy that this essay was about graphic essays because I really don’t know that much information about them; the essay actually gave me insight so that I can read more graphic essays in the future.

I only wish that I was more creative and able to make comics like this one. I think that I would be able to produce a strong essay but that I would have a hard time connecting the visual aspects to it. As McCloud informed us about the different methods of using visuals in an essay, I really learned a lot about different options I could use for my essays in the future. The only problem that I found while reading through this essay was the confusion that sometimes arose with organization. It seems like it would take a lot more work to read through an essay when there are pictures because you have to stop and look at them and you have to follow the words carefully. A couple of times I read the wrong box, out of place, and it completely messed up the information.

Overall, I really liked this essay by McCloud, it was not only informative by also very entertaining. The pictures could almost tell the essay’s points without any words at all, but having a few extra words enhanced the messages. Hopefully we will be able to read more graphic essays like this because they really have a different way of putting information down on paper for readers.

So Under Pressure

Once teenagers hit their junior year, the excitement of graduation begins to hit and the walls seem to close in. Now that it is spring, these juniors wish that it was them getting to walk across the stage in a couple of weeks. They want the stress and pressure to end and the pleasures of enjoying summer to come quickly. However, these people still have another year of high school, and its anticipation will prove to be even worse than the years before. Junior year is the hardest year for most teenagers because they have to maintain good grades for college applications and they must still try very hard in all high school aspects. All of these dimensions seem to cause many juniors serious stress and anticipation for their senior year to come rapidly.

Junior year is the year when teachers begin to ask you where you are going to go to college. Teenagers are pressured to challenge themselves so that they can get into a satisfactory school; relying on the standardized tests required. We have to take the ACT, SAT, and multiple AP classes so that we can not only get accepted into a good college, but so we can already start getting a head start on college credits. Call us crazy, I know. Some teenagers can withstand the pressure, others are geniuses and simply don’t have to try, but some try their hardest and find themselves crumbing as the walls come down.

Lately, I have found myself doing exactly this. The homework just continues to add up and before I have finished with my two history projects, I have two more papers to write. Teachers are worried about not fitting everything into the school year, so they begin to throw in assignments in huge bundles. Not only do the students suffer from this homework, it just proves ineffective in teaching us anything at all. For me, I feel very pressured to keep my grades high and mighty. As the work adds up I still need to make time for studying for my AP tests and working on my newspaper jobs; I just wish that there was more than twenty four hours in a day. Being able to turn the clock back a couple hours, once or twice a week would be very beneficial in helping thousands of teenagers across the United States.

Coping with a situation like this is not very easy either. I won’t be able to relax until the first day of summer hits and the final bell has rung. There are still 32 days of turmoil left to live through and it seems more and more impossible to do so as days go on. Next year, the juniors will be seniors and it will be their turn to graduate from high school. Their year will be filled with excitement and the common concept of senioritis. But the new juniors will then be up for the stress and pressure of the eleventh grade. The cycle will continue, junior year will always be challenging, and there will always be people who tend to crack under all of the pressure.

Oops! She Did It Again!

The popular song lyrics of Britney Spears will forever be engraved in the minds of American girls, who were either fans of lyrics or not quite so. Her name has always been popular, ever since her first days in the Mickey Mouse Club to her days as a single, beat down mom. At one time I was in love with Spears and the music that her labels produced; containing beats that got my heart racing and my little body jumping up and down. But as I grew older, so did she; and as I grew more mature, she just lost it all. That is why Britney Spears is no more than just a person to me today.

First there was the creation of quite prerogative lyrics that were pitched out to young preteen girls who not only didn’t understand what she was saying but also thought that her ‘sexy’ dancing was cool. This is where the problem should have stopped. Don’t send out negative messages to young girls, but instead get other age groups to find interest in yourself. Parents had to censor the songs that their children were listening to because they were depicting messages of alcohol and sex, something that ten year old girls don’t need to quite understand yet. Britney Spears began her downward path here, and because no one did anything to stop it, she has now hit rock bottom.

Lately we have heard more and more about the ever-so-popular Britney. However, now we are not hearing about her latest album or television show, but actually her recent encounters with drugs and alcohol. There are also the stories of Britney shaving her hair suddenly and the pictures showing off the hilarious scene. Oh, let’s not forget about Britney’s children; the boys who are constantly being bombarded into the Hollywood news because of their mother’s stupid decisions. I would have to say that these poor little kids will never grow up to be normal all thanks to Britney.

It is hard to say where she will go from here, only because no one knows if her behaviors can get any worse. Some may say that Britney has just had some really bad luck the past few years, but many others simply have no sympathy. Her popularity has not yet begun to diminish and it will probably stay that way up until her death and well after it to be exact. For me it is hard to see such an important pop icon turn into a disastrous mess over such a small period of time, but I do hope for improvement in the future.

Britney Spears has always been referred to her lyrics of Oops! I Did It Again! because of her actions that she has performed lately. I hope that her behaviors can change so that we once again have a positive star to look at. I only blame her for falling into the Hollywood trap of drugs, alcohol, and complete stupidness.

On The Leash

While growing up in a family where rules are questionable and curfews are late, I have learned to be thankful for the ways that my parents raise me. Ever since I got my drivers license two years ago, my freedom has increased greatly and the trust between my parents and I has grown. I now consider myself lucky for being able to stay out late on the weekends and being able to drive two hours to see my boyfriend. However, there are still thousands of teenagers, and even adults, who are constantly kept on a tight leash by their parents. These people are unable to live life to its fullest and they find themselves having to lie in order to have any fun at all. I only know what it is like my the experiences that I have been exposed to through my close friends, and even though it is not a personal experience, I can really say that controlling parents can ruin lives.

Eventually, parents need to realize the importance of letting go of their children. The longer that they have control, the more it will affect their initial relationships in the future. Current adults who allow others to control them do so because of their immaturity and insecurity. These people are afraid to stand up for themselves and take control of and responsibility for their own life. This technically abolishes the term adult, because as adults we are to be our own person; under our own control and direction. Having a friend who is under this control is hard not only on themselves but also on the people who are really close to them.

Controlling parents come in all shapes and colors, often trying to camouflage their initial remarks and actions around other people. There are eight main types of controlling people described below which can combine to account for practically every teenager or adult who has been kept too tight on their parent’s leash.

Smothering Terrified of feeling alone, Smothering parents emotionally engulf their children. Their overbearing presence discourages independence and cultivates a tyranny of repetition in their children’s identities, thoughts and feelings.

Depriving Convinced they will never get enough of what they need, Depriving parents withhold attention and encouragement from their children. They love conditionally, giving affection when a child pleases them, withdrawing it when displeased.

Perfectionistic Paranoid about flaws, Perfectionistic parents drive their children to be the best and the brightest. These parents fixate on order, prestige, power and/or perfect appearances.

Cultlike Distressed by uncertainty, Cultlike parents have to be "in the know," and often gravitate to military, religious, social or corporate institutions or philosophies where they can feel special and certain. They raise their children according to rigid rules and roles.

Chaotic Caught up in an internal cyclone of instability and confusion, Chaotic parents tend toward mercurial moods, radically inconsistent discipline, and bewildering communication.

Using Determined never to lose or feel one-down, Using parents emotionally feed off their children. Hypersensitive and self-centered, Using parents see others’ gains as their loss, and consequently belittle their children.

Abusing Perched atop a volcano of resentment, Abusing parents verbally or emotionally bully — or physically or sexually abuse — their children. When they’re enraged, Abusing parents view their children as threats and treat them accordingly.

Childlike Feeling incapable or needy, Childlike parents offer their children little protection. Childlike parents, woefully uncomfortable with themselves, encourage their children to take care of them, thereby controlling through role-reversal.

After having to be home before 10 pm on a summer night, my friend has finally realized that his parent’s control is beginning to get kind of ridiculous. I just don’t understand how he can do it, having to be constantly watched through his credit card uses and gas mileage tracks. The restrictions that his parents are placing on him almost directly force him to lie over and over again. It has become a pattern to ignore their rules and completely go against them, but the problem is that this lying could easily become a come problem. Parents will need to learn when to let loose of their children so that they can experience the world on their own. I think that it is the job of the kids to discuss the rules that their parents make; they need to stand up for themselves and need to try to teach their parents that they are trustworthy. All in all, controlling parents only hurt their children in the end; making the tight leash completely worthless from the beginning.

Follow the Leader

Names are often very important to a society so that they can identity differences and define significances. Not only are the names of humans important for these purposes, but also the names of appliances, objects, and places. Without the naming of various objects our world would be dysfunctional and out of order because of the confusion of meanings. The prominent uprising of clothing styles has led to the various methods of naming certain brands of clothing, such as naming them after the artist. One thing that I have found to stand out in high school is the meaning of wearing name brand clothing. Not only is it the shirts and jeans, but also the sunglasses, purses, and shoes that are worn to show wealth and prosperity. Sometimes this can cause controversy in the high school scene.

The real problem with these name brands in high schools is that they often encourage others to conform, a concept that is typically shamed among individualists. I cannot help but notice the various trends that have been spread around Kennedy High School so far this school year. First it is the plaid short shorts, then the tights, Uggs, Coach Purses, and then high rise jeans. These styles didn’t necessarily stay popular for a long period of time, but they definitely impacted how many people dressed. When a style is developed, it usually comes apparent very quickly as you see half of the school wearing the Uggs Boots. All of a sudden these new and ever so popular styles are beginning to fall behind the lights because of their overuse.

One of the newer fashion icons this year was the use of Coach Brand items, such as Coach Sunglasses, Purses, and Shoes. The most popular in high school and among adult women are the Coach purses which come in many different sizes, designs, and colors. Early in the school year one or two girls at Kennedy had their own personal Coach Purses that they confidently carried around from class to class. But now, close to the end of the year, every 1 in 7 girls have to have had a Coach Purse in their possession. This is a typical example of conformity among teenagers and their desires to fit in with the rest of their classmates. It bothers me to see these purses blown out of proportion, and my instinctive response to the sight of one in school is a grumpy scowl.

One other large problem with these Coach Purses is the fact that almost 50% of the purses at Kennedy are only fake replicas of the real, name brand items. It bothers me to know that these people are only pretending and that they are simply wasting money to look “cool” or “rich”. These fake lies are a disgrace to our generation and the lack of individualism will definitely impact our lives in the future. Although the sunglasses are a little bit less popular, girls will do whatever they can to show of their new shades to classmates. Some even wear shaded glasses during class, when the rooms are perfectly lit and comfortable. This is simply an example of how people try too hard to fit in with others. Many people have learned to ignore the usage of name brand items, such as these Coach products. Hopefully in the future, Americans will be able to once again life in a society with more individualism than conformity.

"Let's All Get Drunk"

With growing up comes the responsibility of taking care of yourself in millions of situations and through thousands of different decisions. No longer are parents constantly watching your back and keeping an eye on your every move; now you are doing what you want to do. Slowly you gain more and more freedom by getting to stay out until10, then 11, and finally 12am on Friday nights. It is all based on the measure of trust that your parents have in you and the decisions that you are going to have to make. The more truthful that you are towards your parents, the more likely that they are going to trust you out late with friends.

However, there are some problems that arise as kids begin to near adulthood, including sex, alcohol, and drugs. The most prominent problem is alcohol which affects around 20% of teenagers in the United States who are between the ages of 12 and 17. This causes even more extensive problems with growing up into a healthy and successful adult. Drinking alcohol has become a social activity and an event where teenagers can meet new friends. Even though these events can be both entertaining and fun, there are still many serious consequences that teenagers often take for granted while inducing. These can vary anywhere from having sex, to driving drunk, to getting poisoned, to getting in trouble by the law, or to possibly even getting so drunk that you end up dying.

Within the past few decades the number of teenagers who drink frequently, and illegally, has increased greatly. Thousands of teenagers wake up regretting something that happened the night before, while they were too wasted to control themselves. An even scarier piece of data is the fact that the average age of boys who have their first drink is 11, while for girls it is around 13 years old. High school commonly consists of drinking both before and after popular sports games, and by having multiple parties each weekend night. This results in many teenagers getting in trouble by the school and developing bad habits that will probably stay with them for the rest of their lives.

Many parents fail to recognize the waning signs that their children are drinking alcohol at such young ages. However, even by realizing the mistakes that their children are making, there is still a high probability that these kids will continue to drink. Eventually almost 100% of teenagers will be involved with drinking alcohol because of the influences that we are constantly receiving from various advertisements. I think that it is now too late to stop this illegal activity and that it would almost be smarter to just lower the drinking age so that kids are not so eager to drink.

Sex Through the Years

Last Friday we found out

that our first draft of our research papers is going to be due at the end of this week, containing 1200 to 1500 words. There is a slight problem with this entire assignment, however, because I have not yet even started writing my paper. Even worse I do not even know for sure what I want to talk about in my paper. This is called unorganized; I just cannot decide which direction I want to go with my paper and how I want to address the entire issue of sex. There are a couple of ideas that I would like to think out by analyzing the different facts that I could include and discuss. Hopefully by the end of this blog entry I will be able to have a better idea of what I want to base my entire paper on. I know that it is going to involve teenage sex rates, but I need a much more specific topic so that I can have a strong paper.

One idea that I am considering is comparing sex rates today from the rates that took place in the 1960’s and 1970’s. This would be kind of hard to find good and reliable information from the earlier time period so I am almost afraid of continuing with this idea. I think that this would provide a lot of valuable information that most people are unaware of and would open up a large group of options to what I could talk about. This would involve a lot of research and I am not sure if I really have the time to work on such an extensive topic.

I could also analyze why the United States is becoming even more open to the ideas of teenage sex. This has changed over time greatly, even during the past decade. These also vary between cultures so I could compare how different nations deal with teenage sex and then contrast it with that of the United States. I know that there are many different practices in various countries that the United States would find completely irrational. This would be interesting to see how teenage sex stands out in certain world powers and the influence that it has on us here in the United States. This would require a lot of research also but I think that I could find some very interesting information that could keep my readers very captivated by the topic.

A third method that I could use to write my research paper is discussing different anecdotes that are related to teenage sex. Many things are said to scare teenagers who are thinking about having sex but many are really not true at all. I would like to access a couple of these different ideas and I would enjoy being able to inform others of the interesting scandals by sexual education teachers. This could also involve how American teenagers feel when they are talked to about sex. Why are so many teenagers afraid of talking to their parents about having sex with a boyfriend or girlfriend? I think that this would be hard, since there is not that much information but I feel that it would be the most interesting of the three.

A final topic that I am considering is how many teenagers lose their virginity while under the influence of either drugs or alcohol. This could include date rape, which is the idea of spiking drinks in order to get a person to agree to sexual activities. I don’t know how common this is among teenagers but I do know that there are increasing numbers of teenagers who lose their virginity before they even turn 18. Much of this is related to alcohol and I think that it would be very interesting to see the correlation between the two topics. This is probably the topic that I am going to end up choosing.

The Troubles with Ronald McDonald

Every since I was a young girl I have been friends with Mr. Ronald McDonald and his business McDonald’s. Being one of the most popular fast food restaurants, McDonald’s is depicted as the king of American hamburgers and French fries in more countries than expected. However, even the king can be quite mean and cause some problems. McDonald’s sells food that has been drenched in calories, sodium, and fat. There are now large problems arising from kids whom have been exposed to McDonald’s for many years. The younger that kids are when they start eating the food, the harder that it is to stop eating it in the future.

Now I am not going to lie by dissing on the quality of their food, but I would say that it is not necessarily the healthiest place to eat every single day. Actually this was proved through the movie Supersize Me, as Morgan Spurlock gained weight and built up a high blood pressure from only eating McDonald’s meals. The French fries are drenched in oil and the hamburgers are grilled to a crisp, almost an open invitation to heart disease. And this is exactly what foods like this can do to your body. From the time that that first McDonald’s was opened in 1940, it has created more and more varieties of the same unhealthy sandwiches and desserts.

It is just amazing to me that people continue to shop at these stories that are proven to kill them slowly. The entire process is a disgrace to the American society and the idea to which our culture has grown to accept it. Maybe it has to do with the advertising that the company displays across millions of televisions, billboards, and magazines. But, even so, families should realize that such foods can be a real health problem to their young developing children. Some people are actually responding to this astonishing discovery by not eating the fattening foods that can be found on the menu. This is then providing some terrible problems for the McDonald’s companies, by making them lose money.

There is so much more that can be assessed about the effects of McDonald’s on its customers and the impact will be felt for many years to come. In the future I would enjoy spending more time researching this topic but I feel like I have discussed some very interesting facts. Since I was a young child my exposure to McDonald’s has been felt in my family. I don not want to have to loose a close friend or family member to such a disgraceful sin of eating fat fried food. In the future McDonald’s will continue to suffer from their deadly measures and the food that they continue to cook for hungry customers.

Growing Up Online

It is the teenage generation today that has traveled in the footsteps of a rapidly changing technology branch. As babies we were automatically introduced to the color television and as we grew through our childhood years we were exposed to the good life, full of high tech products. It is our generation that has never had to live a day without a refrigerator, shower, or car. I guess that you could just say that we have been pretty lucky and that the generations to come should get off even easier.

One of the main technology inventions that have really changed our lives was the computer. Not only the computer, but the laptop, internet, high-speed Wifi, and the webcam have also really impacted our lives. No longer are we limited to the phone for communicating with friends. All we have to do is jump on the computer and head to Facebook, where we can talk to hundreds of people all at once.

We are digitally connected to millions of people through the use of computers; and we often fail to realize that this is a huge change for the generations ahead of us. Parents often find themselves confused with the concepts of searching the web and being able to find personal information of almost anyone. However, they too are learning how to run these computers and their products and are, in the same way, becoming addicted to their uses. Along with the amazing wonders of being able to connect to multiple sites within seconds, there are many dangers that face teenagers while online.

As our generation has grown up online we have been exposed to various dangers that were not at all present before the use of the computer. Children get kidnapped, raped, and abused through the use of the internet by mistakenly letting out a little bit too much information to the wrong person. Teenagers often become friends with older strangers and find themselves regretting their actions after loosing their virginity to them. Others are encouraged by unknown people to hurt themselves in order to relieve their pain. All of these instances have hurt kids and it is all to thank from us growing up online.

We have grown to not know what the truth is and what is slightly twisted to sound more appealing or interesting. The internet really follows this idea, completely distorting the line between fake and real. While searching the web we will find facts, stories, and pictures that are inappropriate and often unreal. This is another consequence that we have to live up to because of our exposure to computers. In the future more and more developments will be made among computers and their products, but in order to save our young generations we must find a way to protect them first, before it is too late.

Spring Break Fever

Again it was Monday and students had to return to the cold state of Iowa so that they could again attend classes at 8 in the morning. Spring break brought these students relief by allowing them to leave the Midwest and fly down to the hot beaches of Florida and Cancun. I agree that we need a break like this to help us relax and catch up on our lost sleep, but really spring break on these beaches consists of the exact opposite. Influences surrounding teenagers today commonly encourage spring break as a time period of partying, sex, and huge regrets.

One interesting idea, teenagers cannot stay here in Iowa for the planned parties during break, but instead travel thousands of miles to a foreign destination. It is here where the real party begins, as you can see from the popular MTV Spring Break shows. The beaches, clubs, and hotels are where the kids get wild, waking up in the morning to regret many of their past decisions. The problem with all of this is that spring break would probably occur a bit differently if shows like MTV hadn’t had such an important stamp on the teenage generations. I think that there would be less trouble without the constant pressures of drinking and sex that are felt by various Hollywood events.

Now that I am back at school, I have been hearing about a fair number of incidents that took place outside the ‘safe’ Iowa boarders, and I would really have to disregard some friendships. I don’t understand how people can be so stupid, partying 9 nights in a row and getting a little bit too close with the natives. One main obstacle that these teenagers are able to overcome is the fear of getting in trouble for underage drinking. Why else would they spend the thousands of dollars to fly down into a country of poverty? This, however, will only be the first of many dumb decisions that they make over the next week.

I feel proud to know that I didn’t take place in these questionable acts. As a teenager being influenced by these same ideas of sex, drugs, and alcohol, I am very aware that it is hard to always stay ‘safe’. However, I know that there are many people who question the real purposes of spending thousands on a spring break trip with friends. I think that there is so much more to a break from classes, besides the partying and regrets that come along with it.

Good girls go a little too far and get arrested for indecent exposure, two guys get a little bit too drunk and rape a girl, and high school sweethearts quickly end their lives after deciding to get behind the wheel while under the influence. All of these scenarios happen every year, during the same time period, and in the hot beach cities in the South. My hope is that in the future these problems decrease and improve to a more satisfactory concept of spending spring break with the ones you love, in a healthy and safe environment.

Research Galore!

As time has gone on, I have continued to research on my topic, knowing that I will soon receive the final assignment and due date. I was having a little bit of a problem deciding what to do with the two different topics that I wanted to connect but I am working on that today. I would love getting to talk about both teenage sex and eating disorders but there just is not a very prominent connection between the two of them. It seems like the more I search on teenage sex, the more interesting information I find that is really easy to relate to. For this reason I am going to write my research paper on the initial influences that increase teenage sex and the results of these cases. There is a lot of information that I feel no one my age has even heard of so I would write the paper in order to inform my peers about the influences our bodies receive regarding sexual acts. I want to learn myself and teach others through this process.

There are a lot of points that I would like to cover in my research paper. One that I found very interesting is the findings that suggest raunchy lyrics increase the likelihood of teenagers engaging in sexual intercourse. I want to talk about this study and about the results that were discovered because I think that I could provide really good information for other teenagers. One really interesting fact was that teenagers who listen to sexually explicit lyrics are twice as likely to have sex within the following two years. This is definitely some serious stuff here.

I also would like to discuss how sexually active teenagers are affected because of their actions. You can refer to this by talking about depression rates and suicide attempts. I found a really good site that talked about the differences between sexually active teens and non-active ones in reference to how many had became depressed or had attempted suicide. This is valuable information and I don’t think that many people realize how much sex can impact our lives. We worry about pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections but fail to think about the lesser symptoms that can result.

A third section that I would like to talk about is some basic facts about teenage sex rates. These numbers have been increasing rapidly over the past years and I think that these little facts would be able to tie into the story easily. Many of these facts are not known to very many teenagers and I feel that they are important. There are many different advertisements that increase sex rates and the outcomes that can result. Contraceptives are becoming more useful, but there are still some teenagers who avoid them. This then results in increasing rates of pregnancy and STD’s among the teenage generations.

There are still some other aspects that I would like to include in my paper but I still need to do some more research on them. I want to talk about popular advertisements for clothing that encourage sex, such as Abercrombie & Finch and Dolce & Gabbana. These are very popular name brand clothing stores for teenagers and these ads do have an effect on the people looking at them. I think that this topic could create a really nice research paper and I think that I will be able to learn a lot about myself through the process.

Lose 30 Pounds Today!

Oh yes of course by reading this I will be informing you on the quickest and most up to date method in losing your next thirty pounds. Yeah right, I am seriously just kidding. The problem is that many people would turn towards such a headline like this. Our society has grown to depend on the marketing of products and the inventions of new and better ideas. Words such as instantly and fast try to persuade us even more that these new diet tips will help slim down our bodies.

One of many problems involved with this is the fact that most of these methods simply do not work at all. The health problems and side effects end up causing more harm than the innocent obese people believe is possible. These fast programs are really just ridding you of your muscles which then slow down the process of burning fat calories into energy later on. An even more surprising health problem that can happen is the slowing of your metabolism. These so called amazing diet plans simply are making your later years even harder by making our bodies believe that we are constantly starving ourselves.

Another huge roadblock to these diets is that many of them simply base their entire plan off the idea that you need to stop eating when you are full. This is almost impossible. It is human nature to eat food when they are bored, lonely, or stressed out, and a diet cannot stop that. However, we still go and follow these links and advertisements. Continuously Americans and other people around the world have grown to believe that the only pretty people are the skinny ones. This is so not true.

There are few diet programs that simply limit the entire plan to eating healthy food. We must eat healthy, exercise frequently, and obtain from excess alcohol and drug abuse. All of these factors are oblivious to many Americans but we still don’t find our obesity rate dropping one measly percent. I wonder now what will happen in the future to these same Americans.

Negatively our future adults are growing up in a generation that is completely surrounded by the news of celebrities and stars. We tend to believe that they are always right and that they are the ones who are the most beautiful. This affects our opinion on how we look; it completely ruins our once positive self concept. Now we need to look past these catchy headlines and hyperlinks; we need to look towards the future and the generations that will be affected by our actions today. Diet plans are supposed to be healthy but in the gist of it they are nothing even close to that idea.