Assignment 16: The Journey

     I woke up this morning in a cabin, that's located in the middle of a beautiful meadow. When I first opened my eyes this morning the sun was barley coming up, and the cabin was still a little dark. The room I'm sleeping in was huge. My bed is a queen size and is located underneath the giant window. Then to my right my dresser and vanity are sitting there with pictures of friends and family. To the left of my bed in the corner is a smaller couch, then next to that is the door. My bedroom is the color of light blue, and the sheets are white covered with many different colored flowers. The giant window behind my bed, has dark blue curtains. When I wake up in the morning it is always dark with hardley any light.

     When I wake up and walk out of the bedroom, immediately to my right, there is the hall bathroom, and then a long hallway. Coming out of the hallway opens up to the large living room. When you first walk into the living room there are three couches. The smaller couch is against the window, the long couch is facing toward the television, then next to that is a rocking chair. The window that is in the living room is a picture window, this way you may see beautiful wild life, and the occasional deer grazing. The living room and kitchen fun into each other. There isn't really anything that divides these two. Behind the large couch is the dining table with a chandelier hanging low to the table. The kitchen is small but big enough to cook meals for a small family. Next to the rocking chair that's located in the living room is the fire place, and the front door. The cabin that I'm waking up in, is make out of wooden logs.

     Walking out the front door, is the porch with a swinging chair to the left. When you walk to the right there are a couple of stairs that will lead you to a huge meadow. The meadow is full of many green colored trees, and the full of grass. The meadow that I walk into is about a mile long. The second I walked outside I could smell the overwhelming aroma of the sweet grass that lies ahead. As I start walking across the meadow I can hear the birds playing the the threes above. I spot a few squirrels chasing each other around the meadow. About halfway across the meadow I can see a heard of deer grazing on the grass. Everything outside is gleaming with the excitement of a new day, the sun is shining bright and warms my skin as I walk through the meadow. I hear the cracks of the leaves as I step on them. I hear many sounds as I walk, I can hear the small animals running around enjoying the sun, and also the shy ones hiding in the back round. Even when I take the chance to stop and really listen to the sounds surrounding me, I hear the wind slightly blowing through my hair and the silent words of wisdom they are telling me.  

     As I get to the end of the meadow, I come to a small river,and cross it by the small bridge that was built there many years ago. I am now standing at the base of a small mountain. I am getting ready to climb over it, and see Blue Jays sitting on a branch that lies next to me. Small bushes are spread out along the mountain side. As I climb the mountain, there are rocks everywhere. There are not many animals on the mountain that I could see, but the environment is full of wildlife. I can smell the aroma of pine trees and wet dirt, like it was raining. On the mountain the sun is brighter then it was when I was walking through the meadow. I can physically feel that the sun got closer, and the feeling of its Vitamin D soaking into my skin.   

     I have completed the task of climbing over the mountain, and now standing at it's peak. At the mountain peak there is a spiritual structure that is called "The Grotto". This is made of stone and cement, and stands about 15 feet high. The Grotto is described as Virgin Mary with a peasant kneeling and praying to her. There are Rosary's strung around her neck and praying hands. There is a large stone table that must have taken 20 men to carry, to get up there. The Grotto is there so that family members of lost loved ones, can come and pray to them. All along the stone wall, there are small cubbies that you can put money, jewelry, and any other special items there. The environment that the Grotto is surrounded by is wildlife, which is the giant pine trees that grow there. As I stand there, I can hear the birds chirping to the beat of Earth's heartbeat, and the wind against my skin gives me goosebumps.

Assignment 15: Multiple Intelligence Essay

     After listening to the story about the hot dog, I believe that there are great wisdom teachings within the story. The old grandpa's were teaching the little boy that he must not take life for granted and to not be selfish. The boy was being selfish, when he didn't want ti make dinner for his very old grandpa's just because he was tired from working all day. I believe that the teachings that were within  the story was to not take life for granted because he was very lucky to have that hot dog. He should also be able to think about others before he thinks of himself. When the old grandpa took the time to prepare the hot dog, he gave it time and love. Then he shared the hot dog with his grateful brother. You should always take the time to put love into your makings, even if they are the simplest thing, like making a hot dog. 

Assignment 14: Persuasive Essay: Uniforms

     I have just been called to the principal's office, to share my thoughts on what I think about school uniforms. The principal has just informed me that they are considering school uniforms, and I think that it will be very bad if they continue with their considerations. School uniforms are hardly used in high schools anymore. From the information that I am aware of, all public schools do not wear uniforms. There still are school that do wear uniforms, and those are the schools that are not public, and are usually catholic schools. All high schools that are APS are non-uniform schools. 

     I have gone to a school where I have had to wear uniforms, and I hated it. I didn't like that everyone there looked exactly the same. The school that I went to and had to wear uniforms, they colors that we had were blue, or white shirts, and black or tan pants. The only days that we could dress down was on special occasions and picture day. There were little games that the administration would have for us, and the main one that they had was if we had perfect attendance for six weeks, then we would win a pass to dress down. I didn't like that they would want to bargain with us just so that we would have a dress down day. The subject would come up all the time with the students and the principal, "Why do we have to wear uniforms?" The reason she would give us was "Because we don't want to have any conflicts between the students, just because of what they wear." She would constantly tell us that we would pick on each other, or get into fights because someone liked what the other wore. The school that I went to was a charter school, so they weren't apart of APS schooling, but got all funds and cafeteria food, from them. This school was kindergarden to 12th grade. I think that since they were an all grades school, it should have been divided with the uniforms policy. Kindergarden to 6th grade, have to wear uniforms, and 7th to 12th grade had the choice to not wear uniforms. Along with the certain color of shirt and pants policy, we also HAD to have our shirt tucked in and a black leather belt. If you were caught "out of uniform", even if you didn't have a belt in, then you would get sent to the office. There you would get written up, and have lunch detention. 

     I think that this whole uniform policy is ridiculous. I am so glad that public schools don't have to wear uniforms, and still that is usually only in high school. I think that when we are being forced to wear uniforms, then they are not wanting to see the real us. The adults are always telling us that we need to be ourselves, and to not follow in anyone else foot steps, just make your own, but when they are forcing us to wear uniforms, they are making us look all alike, and that isn't helping us. Making us look all alike, is like not taking us seriously as a person, and not making us individuals. I personally don't like uniforms, would like to see the use of uniforms not being enforced among schools, especially not in high schools. 


     There are good and bad sides to every argument. I think that having uniforms enforced among, high school students bring bigger problems, because they are more rebellious, and will have the courage to go against the rules. For littler children who are still in grade school, it isn't so bad because they don't really care, and pay attention to what they or anyone else wears. I, as a high school student, is grateful that we don't have to wear uniforms, because I don't want to look like everyone else, and blend in. The good side to why there are and should be uniforms, is because it does reduce the chance of arguments between others for what they are wearing, and being made fun of. There still are those students who like to pick on others because they don't like what they are wearing, and those are the ones that are making the enforcement on school uniforms. The bad side is that when kids do wear uniforms they tend to rebel more often, which means more students in the office. 


     I don't like the fact that there are school uniforms, especially in high schools, and I could say this out of experience.  If I were to be called into the office to speak my thoughts on if there should be school uniforms or not, I would proudly say that I would be against them.

Assignment 13: Halloween Haiku

A cold spooky night, It is all hallows eve. Empty souls wander about .Black cats cross your path. With the harvest moon shining, Upon your scared face. Scared to go around a dark corner, Fear of whats laying behind it.

Book Report 1: The House of Night: Hunted

     The book that I just finished was called House of Night: Hunted. This is the fifth installment for the novels. The book is about a girl named Zoey Redbird. Zoey is a seventeen year old girl who got "marked". By becoming marked she then turned into a vampire. In this book she had to join together with her friends to defeat a creature named Kalona and his army of Raven Mockers. Zoey has been going through a lot in her life. Throughout the book their has been many incidents that have made her friends and her move out of the House of Night, Towards the end of the book Zoey gets hurt by a Raven Mocker and is forced to go back to the school, in order to get better. Zoey moves back to the school and she then figures out how to defeat Kalona. At the end she and her friends defeat the Raven Mockers, and Kalona and send them back to where they came from.

     I have enjoyed reading this book, and look forward to read the rest of the novels. The book has a lot to do with religion and culture. The main character Zoey Redbird is part Cherokee, and really respects it. She deeply loves her grandmother, who is the lady who taught her everything that she knows of her culture. Once Zoey changed into a vampire, she has become trustworthy to her new goddess, Nxy. While reading this book I started thinking about my own life. I am not a very religious person, but reading made me think about my culture and how I want to learn more about it. Zoey and her friends are very trustworthy and honored towards their goddess,which is why I think Zoey is becoming more of a vampire and is able to control things such as, air, fire, water, earth, and spirit. The House of Night novels are very much surrounded by the Native American myths and legends.   

     I enjoyed reading this book and look forward to read the future books.

Assignment 11: The Concrete Rose

 Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete?
Proving nature's law is wrong it learned to walk without having feet.
Funny it seems, but by keeping its dreams, it learned to breathe fresh air.
Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else ever cared.

     After reading this poem from Tupac Shakur I think that he means that anything great can grow from something bad. I believe that he had a rough life while growing up, and trying to become a great rapper was hard. He was and will always be a legend, and a great rapper. I think that he was trying to reach out to people by this poem. He was trying to tell people that no matter where you come from, you can always do great things, it just depends on how you look at things.

     The line that says "Proving nature's law is wrong it learned to walk without having feet", meant to me that to prove that one person who is telling you over and over again that you cant accomplish anything, is wrong when you take the steps to accomplish your dreams. This poem is using a lot of metaphors, because when you really read the poem, it is telling a story about yourself. This isn't just a poem telling people about his life, he is telling a story about every person who has struggled through his or her life, to become something greater.

     When you are reaching out to your goals, and dreams, there is usually that one special person who is there through everything and cheering you on. The one's who having to learn and grow in their own, are the one's who know which roads to take to have a successful life. Throughout your whole life there are going to be good times and bad times, but when you take those bad times and learn from them, they will help you through the bumpy road ahead.

Assignment 9: Alien Contact

     It all started on a warm summer night. I was laying outside in the middle of the lawn. The moon was out, and giving just enough light where I could see the stars. There had been shooting stars all over the sky tonight, and I was enjoying watching them. Then that's when it happened. The biggest shooting star that I had seen that night seemed to not die out. Usually the shooting stars that I would see, they would be there for a split second then fade away. This one was different, it shot all across the sky and still seemed to be there. Then when I was trying to figure it out, it suddenly went away. I forgot about what I had seen that night, and continued on watching the stars, when it started to get late I gathering my things and went inside. 

     The next morning,it was quiet all through my house, and I thought that it was still very early. I walked out of my room, to find that my parents were gone. I looked at the time and saw that it was 7:32 in the morning. Since it was just a regular day of summer vacation, I decided to fall back asleep for a little while longer. When I was suddenly woken up by a strange noise coming from the backyard. I got up and went to check what the noise was. My dog was standing by the back door barking at something I couldn't see because it was laying behind the trees. I opened the door, and my dog ran inside. Still barking at the trees, he was obviously afraid of the thing that was in my backyard. After seeing how my dog reacted to this "thing", I was afraid to go see what was the matter. I sat in the den for a few minutes contemplating weather or not to go back outside. My dog  finally calmed down, and I decided to go back outside. I slowly opened the door, to hear a noise still coming from behind the trees. I slowly and quietly walked across the lawn and looked behind the trees, but nothing. All this time I thought that there was something behind the trees, but there wasn't. For a second I thought that I was dreaming, but then the thought came over me. What if it was aliens? If it was aliens, the the thing that was behind the trees, either disappeared, or flew away so fast that I didn't even notice it. 

     All throughout the day I couldn't stop thinking about it, and didn't want to stay home, just in case it came back again. So I decided to go for a walk to the park, and I took my dog with me. I was thinking all about what happened and couldn't believe it. I tried to forget it, and threw the ball for my dog. He was running around playing, and had already forgotten what had happened. I was wishing that I could have forgotten about it that easily. I started to walk back to my house when it was getting closer to the time that my mom would be home. When I was on my way home, I was thinking about how I was going to tell my mom so that she would believe me. When I suddenly got the feeling that I was being watched by something or someone. My dog wasn't freaking out, so I thought that I was just freaked out by everything that happened and continued walking. I kept looking behind me to see if there was someone there. I started to get really scared and started to walk home really fast. I reached my house, and was glad I was finally there. I still had a half hour until my mom got home, and I was trying to keep myself busy. The time seemed to be going really slow, and I was staring at the clock. I heard my mom pull up to the driveway, and I rushed out to her. I told her in panic that I had to tell her something. When she came inside, I sat her down to tell her everything that had happened that day. She was giving me a confused look, and I had to break down the story for her. She told me that I had a wild imagination and that I must have been dreaming something weird that night. I knew that she wouldn't have believed me, and I thought twice about what I told her. I forgot for the rest of the night. 

     That night when I was getting ready to fall asleep I heard the weird noise again. I got out of bed and went to the back door. This time I wasn't going to think about going outside, I was going to go outside. I opened the door and walked towards the noise. Then I saw this, what looked like a car sitting behind the trees. I looked at it for a few seconds, and decided to see if anyone was in there. I opened the door to find that no one was in the car. I slammed the door shut and went back inside. I laid down, and looked up to my ceiling. I screamed and got out of bed. There was this green looking blob hanging from my ceiling. It started to come down and it shaped into an alien. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't scream , so I just stared at it. I looked scared and seemed like it didn't know what to do either. Then we both ran separate ways. It went through my window and I ran to my parents room. I woke them up, and took them to my room. It wasn't there anymore, so my parents went back to bed, and I ran outside to see if the "car" was still outside, which it wasn't. I went back to my room and tried to go back to bed. I laid there awake for hours trying to convince myself that I didn't see what I thought I did. 

 

     The next morning I talked to my mom about what I saw, and she said that she didn't see anything when she went to my room. I thought that I was just dreaming and got scared so I got my parents, but there was something telling me that what I saw last night was true. Throughout the whole day I was thinking about the night before. When it was time to go to sleep, I didn't want to fall asleep because I wanted to see the alien again, but it never came back. I had only seen the alien, that one night and it never came back again.