To Try or Not to Try?

-I've always wondered about this, but even more so now than ever. Why do people give up before they even try? Why are people so easily discouraged and influenced by others who say "you can't"? It seems that everyone is giving up on their hopes and dreams much more easily now. I can't stand it!

My Spanish teacher of last year told us an interesting story. His Spanish teacher in high school told him something to the effect of he would never be able to get anywhere. He was so enraged by this that he went on to do really well in school, Spanish in particular, and is now a Spanish teacher himself. (And a really good one at that.) He told us never to let anyone tell us that we can't do something, because chances are, we can.

Yet I know people who have been told that they can't do something, and they listen and don't even try. It's saddening, because I know that if they tried really hard they could do whatever they wanted to.

Another example that I see often: Let's say that someone really wants to go to Princeton University because it is a prestigious school. They've always wanted to go there, it has what they want to study, and it's in general their dream school. Then, come second year of high school they realize how competitive college admissions are and that school's like Princeton and other Ivy Leagues are extremely selective. At that point, they decide not to even try for Princeton anymore.

The thing is, people are afraid of rejection. I am, too. I don't necessarily want to go to Princeton or Harvard, but I've got some pretty big goals in mind. There's no harm in trying to get into a university like Princeton. Even if one doesn't make it into Princeton, the hard work will show to other good colleges. If someone doesn't try their hardest to reach their goal, they're not going to make it anywhere. There's no harm in trying, especially in a situation like this. And rejection is a part of life. It makes us stronger. It teaches us a lesson.

I don't think that people who work really hard get rejected in any sense because their best wasn't good enough. It was fine, but perhaps they would just be better off with the end result. We don't have total control over what happens in life, but we can control how we end up in the future. Deciding to pursue a dream can be the difference between extreme misery and extreme success. If we don't try, we'll have to live with the question of "what if?" and the regret of lost opportunities. If we do try, we can at least say that we gave it our all.

-Clearly, the mood of this blog has changed...

Of Rain and Snow and a Plague

"When it rains, it pours."

-I write this for a reason. The first is that it actually is raining outside. Another snow day, due to snow followed by rain, which led to icing on the roads and general icky-ness outside, but led to a nice day off for anyone involved with schools. Not only is it raining, it is pouring. It was pouring at 5:30AM when I was outside de-icing and shoveling. It still is, and it won't stop for awhile. So in a way, when it rains, it does pour, at least for today.

-The second reason for writing it was to use it as a metaphor (in that geeky English way of mine). What I mean by that is, when one thing happens that is bad, many more bad things follow until the world seems to fall apart. Now, this happened once before during November and December, though the whole year of 2007 from April onward was involved. This time it's (much) smaller scale, but still aggravating. Start with my mother leaving the country on a business trip, a terrible thing in itself, for a week and a half. During that week my sister gets strep throat and my dad injures his back rather badly. The following week almost everyone in school gets sick with either strep throat, mono, or some sort of fever/cough thing. My two best friends are sick now, one with a weird disease called tonsillitis, I think, and another with mono. In addition to that, because of the mono my birthday plans have been altered. The problem: we're staying in a ski resort with nothing else around it, and she can't ski. The solution: I don't know, but it's somewhere within 30 miles of the resort (or else we're in trouble).

Throughout this plague that has hit our school (or, more specifically, my class), I haven't gotten sick yet, which is amazing considering every single one of my friends has been sick in one way or another within the past two weeks. Nothing ever goes around my school, but this is the first time I can truly say that something is going around.

It's kind of funny to hear someone say "I'm going into school no matter what, even if I'm sick, and I don't care who tells me to stay home" only to be home sick for a week or two. I'm on the verge of a mental breakdown, and I even found myself teaching math. Math is my worst subject, and if anyone should NEVER teach it, that person is me. Luckily, winter break is next week, so the madness will hopefully end then and there.

Funny Teacher Quotes Part 1.75, and Snow Day

-Here's a good few from last year's Religion class:

"I asked my mom when I was younger if I could have an ouiji board and she actually said yes!"

"They used to circumcise choir boys. They'd say, 'I like your voice little choir boy. Let's keep it that way, snip snip!'"

"I think God will forgive you if you do something like stub your toe and go, 'Shit, that hurt.'"

-My school had a "snow" day today. I didn't even know there was a storm. It turned out to be an ice storm. Now the trees look really pretty. And driving is really dangerous. But we get a day off out of it.

Though they might push back report cards...again.

Of Skiing and Midterm Grades

-I went skiing again. I skied all day with my friends, got to the bottom of the hill (and I do not say "hill" to be cool, this "mountain" really was just a hill with trails), stood in the lift line, and broke my skis. Which one does not belong? It was the weirdest thing-I was just standing there and I felt the pressure release from my left foot. I looked down and my boot was out of my ski. The same thing happened to my right foot, almost like my skis were ejecting me. I picked the skis up (after attempting to get back into them a few times with no success) and the back part of the bindings fell off. According to the guys in the rental shop, my new boots were too big for my bindings (odd, because I'd been skiing a few times before they broke). At a ski shop, however, they said the bindings were fine, just not locked in place well enough. Luckily, I will have my skis back in time for this weekend.

-Schools should not do two things around the time of midterms (other than host a strike): delay the distribution of report cards and not give out midterm grades until the report cards are distributed. This annoys me. Teachers are not allowed to give us our midterm grades until we see them on our report cards. Our report cards, due to a delayed midterm exam, were pushed back a week.

Now, sometimes teachers break the rule, but not for everyone. In my history class for the past two years, the teacher (I've had two different teachers) both told kids when they got a 100 (it was only one kid per grade, interestingly enough, but two different kids). My Spanish teacher last year told me that I got the highest grade on the midterm of everyone taking the course (a 98). And if you ask a teacher whether you passed or failed, they will usually tell you. My history teacher has given out numerous hints, such as "you'll all be happy".

Then there's my math teacher, who gives the class average. My Spanish teacher, who said something to the effect of "This class had a high percentage of good grades. I'm proud. But, this class had a high percentage of failures or just passing. I'm not so happy." My Chemistry teacher was comforting: "Some of you will claw tooth and nail to pass this course...and some of you won't be happy with your grades, but they are pretty satisfactory." The only one who did not say anything was my Religion teacher, who said, "I am not allowed to disclose that information. School rule" (a change from last year's, who told me during the test, "I'm sure you did fine" and gave out the grades "secretly" ahead of time). Clearly, teachers are bad at keeping secrets and probably don't like withholding the information.

Students like it even less. Why is that even a rule? It doesn't seem dangerous to know our midterm grades ahead of our report cards-after all, we know all of our test grades ahead of time, and some teachers even give students the class average right before report card time. It's one of those school rules (and there are a few) that don't make much sense.

Of Funny Teacher Quotes Part 1.5 and Writer's Block

-This week is midterm week, and yesterday I was taking the English midterm. The proctor is (usually) another teacher, and they are supposed to write the time on the board. Well, our proctor, maybe half an hour before the end of the test, wrote under the time, "The end is near..."

Fifteen minutes later he added to the sentence: "The end is nearer." Ten minutes to the end he wrote, "The end is nearer than you think." At five minutes he ran out and erased half the sentence, so it became, "The end is". One guy asked, "The end is what?". The teacher replied with, "Exactly."

-I'm supposed to be writing something to submit to a...well, I don't know how to describe it, but two teachers have already approached me about it. Anyway, one already submitted a story of mine, and I'm supposed to write...something...for the other teacher (who is actually my teacher currently) to submit. The problem is, the guidelines are so vague. I'm trying to write about love, but it's hard to go about it. I'm not sure if I'm writing an informal essay or a story. My other submission was a story, not written for this in particular, but it was submitted anyway. Now, I have a day off today and a day off Monday, with the deadline being January 30th. I should be writing...

Here's my other issue. I want to write something, but that's not it. I don't know what I want to write, exactly, I've just been having this feeling that I need to write something. I've heard people say that writers should write every day. I've written a lot in the new year. It's just not...that thing. Maybe there's a full story I want to write and I'm just not finding it yet... It's such a weird, restless feeling. I like it, yet I don't. Luckily, February isn't too busy a month, so I'll probably write a lot.

Of Funny Teacher Quotes (Part I)

Chances are, you've heard a teacher say the funniest things while you were in class. It's quotes like that that make class entertaining sometimes, or else break the ice. So here are some I've heard. (This is a part one because, well, there's probably more to come.) For privacy I've refused to use names.

Teacher: (of a sick kid) He looks bad.
Student: I'm going to tell him you said that.
Teacher: No-I meant-he looked-never mind...

"I like to give infractions to freshmen just for fun."

"For now, I'm Mr. (teacher's name) and you're not."

"I did not smack him! I only tapped him!"

"'You're gay'. Haha, very funny. I should show this to my 'boyfriend' when I get home."

"The deepest relationship with God is a heart-to-fart faith. Wait-did I actually say that?"

Teacher: (watching students kiss) That is not right.

[student does not hand in assignment]"Thanks for nothing, (student's name)."

"He actually thought I was going to throw golf balls at him."

"Who said, 'um'?"

"Oh, yeah, I got so mad I killed my girlfriend in revenge. Who do you think I am?!"

"I only found out who Hannah Montana was last week."

[when a login page pops up, so does the username and password] "I just love the security on this computer!"

"How about this: the students strike instead of the teachers. Then everybody would be happy!"

Student: That dictionary is huge!
Teacher: It's the unabridged version. It has everything, including all those "dirty" words.

"I'll ask my professor. Believe it or not, if you think I'm dorky, he's twenty times that!"

"Christmas doesn't start until twelve o'clock!"

"I'll be right back. Don't burn down the classroom or anything."

Of Differences and Prep Talk

-I never knew people could be so different when they're so alike. I have a group of friends, and we're really close. People call us "preppy", though I myself have been described as less preppy and more "lax" (speaking of, see next topic), which in normal English means "relaxed". Anyway, put us in our school and on the outside we are pretty normal. If someone joins us for a bit, they might think we're a little strange, but what group of close friends isn't when you get "inside"? Now, I've been with other friends groups on the outside looking in, and they can be a little strange (usually due to inside jokes) but they're not outright weird. Today I experienced my first "outside looking in" experience with a friends group not from my school, or even state. I knew one of the girls, but the whole thing wasn't just a little strange, it was abnormal. Maybe this says something about schools: whole schools (and school regions) are pretty alike,but once out of that school/region things get very weird for the "foreigner". That's the only way I can explain this phenomena.

-Here's one thing that gets me: the shortening of words and certain terms often associated now with being "prep". I can list a few off the top of my head, and they are pet peeves of mine: "probs", "deff", "lax", and anything similar. Why can't we just say the whole word? Now, I do a lot of what my friends do, seeing as I talk with them and see them almost 24/7, but the actual talking like that is one thing I cannot, and refuse to do. Perhaps I'm a bit of a grammar dork (and admittedly, I want to major in English). Does that mean that those who aren't don't need to talk properly? It's only something that happens with females, really. I've yet to hear any guy say it. I think it's more out of habit, then anything else at this point. But we shouldn't shorten words. It's just odd.

In addition, typing like you have had no education in the spelling of words and formation of sentences is not cool. I'm not saying that using "gtg" or "u" is wrong, but when a sentence is unrecognizable it's gone too far.

Of Snow, Writing, and Lefties

-It's winter, and yet I feel each year that winter is becoming less-and-less like winter and more like a cold spring. I remember the years when there were snow storms leaving us with two or three feet. Now it's a foot, at most. And people could drive cars on the lakes. Now you can't even walk on the lake. This is not good. Some call it global warming, some say that we're having mild winters here in the northeast (but this many in a row?). However you put it, if you love winter like I do, this climate change needs to stop.

I like to ski. Anyone who likes to ski or snowboard knows that the terrible winter conditions experienced in the eastern US can create icy or slushy conditions, and no snow can cause limited openings of mountains. I skied once this year in December and conditions were terrible-too icy. I'm going again this weekend, and hopefully, because it's been cold and there was some snow, conditions will be better. Skiing on ice is not fun. It's tiring, and it makes you either crash hard or go down a majority of the trail sideways.

-Does anyone have commitment problems when it comes to writing? I try to write a lot, but I can never seem to finish what I've started, unless it's a short story, and journals (or blogs) don't count. I tried to participate in National Novel Writing Month (http://www.nanowrimo.org/, if you're interested) and it didn't work out so well, do to many distractions. This time I'm writing a story in a notebook, instead of on the computer. So far it's worked to a certain extent, but I keep changing the plot and/or certain passages of the story. Last night I might have written something that will change the whole thing.

One of my New Year's resolutions: to finish writing. I've got free time today (even though I should be doing Chemistry, but I'm also a procrastinator), so I'll try and write something of substance.

-Left handed people are pretty outnumbered by those who are right handed. Has anyone ever seen the Lefty Notebook? It's bound on the opposite side (right side) and has interesting facts about lefties on it's blank pages. I got mine in Alaska, in a small bookstore, so it may be rare. I've gone through several uses of it before figuring out what I wanted to do with it. It's not too big, about the size of a regular notebook, but it doesn't look like one, and the paper is not lined. At first it's confusing to write in, since it's like writing backwards, but it's easy to get used to. I have yet to see a The Lefty Notebook in another bookstore yet.

Of Rent, Teachers, Random Books, and Notes

So life is unpredictable, and I need a place to write about the random stuff I think about each day-the stuff that's not really deep in any way (if it was, I wouldn't write it here-I actually have another blog, and notebook, for that). So, here is what is currently on my mind:

-Rent is closing July 1st. It's my favorite Broadway show, and I've seen it four times. The last two times were the best performances I've ever seen, so I think they were also the last two times.

-Teachers. They influence our lives so much, for better or worse. The bad teachers can make you hate a subject you thought you loved. The good ones can make you want to learn. The best ones can change your life. I'll write about this more, because I've had the pleasure of having several influential teachers of the good variety. The one thing I can say, though, is that they hate when students don't care...

-Caring. I hate it when people don't care as well. It's your life, you should care about every aspect of it. Not caring can lead to nowhere good.

In a way, this blog will be for me to write about all the things I think about that don't fit into the categories of writing a story, writing in a journal, ect. Essentially, a random blog of sorts. I'm pretty sure many people have had a random book of sorts to write it. Probably an innocent looking notebook filled with jokes, really odd thoughts, and the occasional insulting of another student or teacher. Also, they're great for writing (and preserving!) notes during class, if you have the patience to pass a notebook back and forth. This works before high school, but not after. My friend and I found a new solution-pass notes in code. The teacher who saw the note did a double take, and then laughed because he realized he couldn't read it.

The code itself wasn't hard to make up, or learn. It's weird that we could learn that code within 42 minutes (of math class that morning) and yet it takes us forever to learn Spanish. But think about it-if your teachers don't know another language (or don't know it well), a note written in the language you've been learning can be just as good as one written in code. And can be used in that "real world" they keep telling us about.