Song of the Week #7

Lately one of my favorite bands has been The Killers. They are very well know for the 2004 hit, "Mr, Brightside." This song goes in the record books as one of my all-time favorites. However it is not this week's Song of the Week. On a recent trip to the library I discovered a stash of Killers CDs and hoarded them all home to download. After listening to them many, many times, I have chosen a favorite to share with all of you. This is, "Miss Atomic Bomb" as a single then later off of the Battle Born album (in 2012). I find myself humming this song without consciousness. I'm posting the official music video because it is very cinematic and tells a great story.

Today's Lesson from Music: Do what makes you happy.

Song of the Week #6

Hey Guys, welcome to week 6 of songs. Today's/this week's song is a lovely pop ballad by a young artist named Haley Reinhart. I have heard this circulating around song for a while and thought I should be part of the commotion. The song "Undone" is a refreshing break from what modern pop is seen as. This song speaks to the heart and the mind along with all the insecurities we have as humans.

Song of the Week #5

Hola Compadres! This weeks song has nothing to do with spanish. I have no idea why I even wrote that. This weeks song is Colours by Grouplove. Before I explain why I like this song let me tell you a little secret. On iTunes, if you've never noticed, there is a free stuff section. They post pilots of tv shows, interviews from movies, and two free songs a week. I purchased this song September 9th, 2011. It sounds... eclectic, to say the least, but the musicality! It sounds like travelling song in between verses and slowly as you listen to it you start screaming along to the listing of colors. Overall I really enjoy listening to it because it shares the idea of loving life. Just like most of my favorite songs, it is fun and builds up to a great climax. Enjoy!


Warning: The music video is a little violent in the beginning but I think it portrays the meaning of the song better than any lyric video.

 

Song of the week #4

This weeks  song is Irrational Anthem by the Plain White T's. This song has always been in my consious but I have never really taken the effort to download it or put it on my ipod. Forever it has been coming up on my Pandora and I think it is quite empowering. In every sense this song is an anthem, I believe, to the mind of teenagers. Or even more so, those who are confused about the future. Give it a listening to if you are desiring motivation.

Song of the Week #3

So about three and a half years ago when I started this blog I did posts called "song of the week." I wanted to share music with my audience and, since music is such a big part of my life, get input and feedback on my selections. I had only done two song of the week posts but I thought it would be worth while to try again. So here is song of the week #3, it is Bluebird by Christina Perri. Below I've posted the cute little lyric video from youtube. I think this song is very inspirational and calming. Enjoy!

A Little Note on Friendship

I consider friendship an achievement. Just as much as grades or trophies, not that I'm saying you should treat your friends as either of the two, its more that friendships require effort and time to maintain. Sadly my health teacher did not feel the same way. We were doing a project on a newspaper highlighting ourselves and he did not find the article on my friendships to fulfill the goal of the 'proudest achievements' section. In order to attempt to repress my anger I shall post it here, in hopes of getting some positive feedback.

(My Name) is one person who really appreciates what she has. She has accomplished many things in her life but the one thing she is most proud of is her friendship with the people closest. She told us, “Friends don’t just come to us, they are earned with trust, faith, and laughter.” She further explained how friends don’t just come to us and that her biggest accomplishment was and still is the friends she has held on to for so long. Though some think that friends are easy to make she says, “Yes they are but keeping friends and getting to know them so well takes time and effort.” Keeping up and keeping in touch is not easy through breaks and vacations but you must do it to keep a friend. (My Name) knows that the friends she has now will last her a life time.

Just to let out my anger on this topic for the last time, I GOT A FUCKING C+ ON THIS NEWSPAPER ASSIGNMENT BECAUSE MY TEACHER DIDN'T CONSIDER MY FRIENDSHIPS OF MANY YEARS ANY SORT OF ACCOMPLISHMENT. Now I will let it go, good night all.

Friendship-- An Original Poem

Friendship

If two do not know a friend

What’s friendship?

Absurdity to know

Angering to hear

To see one run

To see one hide

To see one cry

To never know a friend

Friendship will not find you

You will find a friend 

There’s a need for

Friendship  

How Things Change

The following is a paragraph I wrote in 8th grade about where I wanted to go in life and what I wanted to do. All I can say is, boy how things have changed.

This is where I want to go…

I want to grow up and go into education discoveries. I want to study children and discover more useful techniques for children with autism. I want to follow in my mom’s steps and work with autistic and disabled children and infants. I want to go to Ithaca or Charleston college and get a degree in teaching and occupational therapy. I want to get into these studies and make a difference in the way they teach children. I hope to have one child and many close friends maybe adopt one. I want to live in a nice suburban area with my family near my parents (not too close). An average life is not what I want . I want to be able to make new discoveries in education and to make a difference.

How the Children Feel-- Original Lyrics

These are the lyrics to a song I wrote in the olden days. Its is about children in the Great Depression. Enjoy!

How does it feel,
When your kids are hungry
When they’re sad
And you can’t help at all

Little huts are going up in Hooverville
We with there would be no need
The shantytowns all around us
Filled with the poor

Kids cry and birds stop singing
You are trying to stop them
The happy things in life
Are hard to imagine, if things were normal, once again

Chores were to be done
Children couldn’t play
Just for fun
Cooking and cleaning were number one

Kids cry and birds stop singing
You are trying to stop them
The happy things in life
Are hard to imagine, if things were normal, once again

We think of one thing, the children
And how they feel
How we put them through this
I think of the poor, poor children

The world is struggling ..
And you feel helpless
Like there’s seems to be no real way to survive
That’s how I feel, this is how we feel.

Just thinking of the children working
Playing never so often
The world has changed
It’s never gonna be the same

Everything is now harder for us
Jobs aren’t busy
Women working
Men at home all day

Kids cry and birds stop singing
You are trying to stop them
The happy things in life
Are hard to imagine, if things were normal, once again

This is how it (quietly)
This is how it
This is how it feels (loudly)
For the world and our children

Kids are crying,
can you hear them today..

Education Essay

This is another oldie from 8th grade. It is on the topic of education and how our nations education system works. I have written numerous papers about this topic but this is the first of my files. Without further adieu:

"Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each." (Plato --BC 427-BC 347-- Greek philosopher.) Plato clearly knew how schools should be organized in order for the greatest success rate. Our schools and teachers are now paying no mind to the joy and uniqueness of the students they have in of their classes. Everything is assessed and/ or graded to the teachers, state government, and federal government's expectations. Today's classrooms are no longer grading and assessing students across the country, in the way suggested by Plato. Today schools seem to be assessing students to defined standards, caring only about grades, and dismissing the idea of fun. Schools are blind to the fun of learning and are focusing on grades more than ever. Every assessment a child is given demonstrates nothing of how bright they are. Students now more than ever need to be seen as more than a grade. In order for schools and students to be victorious schools need to make a change in the way they teach students.

            You have just handed in a test and a week later you get it back, at the top you see C+. The teacher does not know how much effort you put or all the time you spent studying. This is the way that students are being graded, by state and national standards. This is the same with every test, essay, and especially group project. Schools should pay more attention to participation, effort, and involvement in the classroom, and less to any assignment. Many students try very hard but just aren't good test takers. That alone lowers their grade, even though they try so hard. Teachers should look for understanding more than any grade because that will show how productive students are.

            Everyone wants to get a good grade, but is it really that easy? Grades are things that define students and are used to judge them for the rest of their lives. How could such stereotypical and unfair things be so important? Students are overwhelmed by all the grades they need to earn, between homework, tests, and projects. How can they make the grade? As students get more stressed grades go down. Districts need to tell teachers to give fewer assignments. The teachers should talk to each other about their tests, quizzes, projects, and other assignments. By simply planning out these things students would be able to do more and keep up the good grades.

            In school you sit in a desk for six hours every day, week by week, month by month, until a day off. Wondering how they make it, students no longer have a recess or cardio, let alone enough time for gym. It has been proven that if you amuse students it will make it easier for them to learn. To help teachers could make up game shows, have contests, and relate topics to everyday life. To just do activities, go outside, or even have funny limericks to help memorize information would make students a bit more enthusiastic about school. Students are given facts to memorize, then to be quizzed on but, small steps towards a change in education will make all the difference.

            When put into perspective, it is understandable that education needs to make a change. Having schools assessing students to what is known and nothing else, making grades incredibly important, and not recognizing how much fun school could be. These things are easy to do. Once in my science class we used to sing to help memorize information. It went to the tune of other popular songs, and was a lot of fun. If education wants to move along with technology it better catch up. We need to make a change in grades and assessments so we stay in touch with the rest of the world. We'd make these changes so everyone is educated properly and is ready for the real world. Without the precise way of teaching that we need, schools and students will not prosper to be the "genius of each," (Plato).  

Now that I'm finishing highschool and have 4 more years of experience with the education system some of my opinions have changed. But those won't be revealed until the future...

Haunting Video Shows What Syria's Civil War Would Look Like in the West - PolicyMic

This is a seriously alarming video focused on how a war would look in a developed country. It is based off of the events of the civil war in Syria. This simplistic video shows a side of life those living in first world countries have not seen in many years. It is totally worth the minute and a half to watch.



Haunting Video Shows What Syria's Civil War Would Look Like in the West - PolicyMic:

Another Music Essay

This is a paper I wrote in 8th grade for my English class. Today I made a few modifications but the original is preserved on my computer.

Descriptive Essay

I can hear the music as I walk through the white-walled hallway. I feel the excitement in the air from all of the students. Entering the heavy brown doors there is a crowd of people who look like they should be at a town meeting. The crowd covers the whole room, everyone looks different even though they are all dressed in black and white.I run to get my instrument on the wooden rack in the back of the classroom, but it slows into a slow trot winding in between friends and strangers. Once getting my violin tuned by the best teacher in the school, I know the night is about to begin!
We stand, waiting for what feels like forever to leave the cramped orchestra room. We begin to play simple scales and daily warm-ups, they are the worst part of the night. Then our teacher starts the sixth grade songs. This year they play Believe, Jazzy Old St. Nick, and Frosty the Snowman. A rather simple repertoire, but in comparison to the elementary school music they played just a year before it will be a knockout. I remember how lovely we played Believe in sixth grade, it will forever be a favorite piece of mine.
Then the seventh grade plays their songs, I was too thrilled to concentrate. Con Brio plays the beginnings of their songs to us, if they played they’re entire selection we would be late for the concert. Fine, good, that’s all I could say but now its our turn, the eighth graders. Since the sixth grade we’ve looked up to the eighth graders. Now were on top, but only for a measly year. We begin with Ukrainian Bell Carol, and ooh’s and ahh’s float around in the air. It sounded like we were professionals. Then we play Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire, Festival of Lights, and Christmas Time is Here. To finish we play Babes in Toyland our hardest song that will surely take the audience’s breath away.
There are butterflies in my stomach by the time we line up to leave. Even the violins are whispering how energized they are. We walk to the back of the cafeteria. We sit and wait, this is a calm and dull time for any student that isn’t performing. I felt like a sloth except for when I had to change seats when the grades switched. An hour and a half later I hear the end of the last Con Brio song. It’s the last orchestra, the eight grade.
Trying not to smile as I walk upon the small wooden stage, that is covered with  black stands and seats. I try but its hopeless, but I can’t stop smiling. Then I feel the heat on stage from so many lights. There is applause throughout the cafeteria, I still wonder why to this day because we haven’t played anything. I see the music in front of me for about the millionth time. The conductor puts her hands signifying for us to begin.

As we play our songs I think of how many times I’ve played on this stage. Were done, its over, and I can’t wait to get out from under these lights. The audience claps like the angry roar of an starving lion. It was truly our finest winter concert and most definitely, the finest feeling in the world.

College Essay

This was my first attempt at a college essay. It is not the one I used to apply to any schools.

College Essay: Personal Statement

I am a flawed person. In my life I have found so many errors in my method of thinking. I am not the type of person to deny this. I am not close to perfection, but I am on the road, on a trip that’s end is indefinite. This journey started in a train crash sixteen years ago, but I knew my ride could only get better. I have the tendency to forget big things but remember small details. I have the skill to take control of group activities but often choose to be passive when confronted. Yet every minute I discover something different that can lead me to my future. I have learned that I am inclined to encourage optimism in the people around me, even on my worst days. I understand now that just because you can do something, does not mean you should, and have based many decisions off this rule. I have realized that the world is not a perfect place and that in order to succeed, it’s necessary to be determined and work hard. Facing my weaknesses has only led me to improvement. I have grown as a person from all the problems I have dealt with or even caused. I know now that sometimes it’s better to ask, rather than assume. I know I can be a leader without taking control. Instead I will motivate the people I work with and only insert my opinion when necessary. Through all I’ve learned about myself, I have engraved in my head a picture of perfection, my own image of success. The key element in my image of success is furthering my education, in order to pursue a career I am thoroughly interested in. Attending your educational institution would be the next step in achieving my goals. I will continue to admit my weaknesses in order to turn them into strengths and I see college as my opportunity to continue to paint the picture of perfection that I strive for.I know that the knowledge college provides will advance my journey and as I progress through this broken highway they call life, I know I have to face what’s in front of me and not regret the past. I am on a one-way road to self-discovery and there’s no turning back. 

Just Another Essay

The following is the essay for my NHS application. I honestly don't remember the essay question but I did get into NHS. Enjoy!

National Honors Society Application Essay

“Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.” This concept may not apply to everyone but it is something I have believed for a very long time. Throughout middle school I never really understood how people could be so busy as to miss homework or have to sleep in late. I didn’t do much after school then so basically everyday I’d take the bus home and have hours to do homework. Then I got to high school. I never imagined how many opportunities I would be presented with within only a year. It just seemed as though slowly and steadily I was creating an after school schedule to go along with my normal schedule. By this, my junior year, I have begun to book lunches for things I have to accomplish. Looking back I really don’t know how the first couple months have gone by so fast. The only thing I can say is that I really do take things one day at a time. Prioritizing is such an important aspect in controlling all I have to accomplish. Certain things, of course, rank higher than others. First and most importantly are my grades, tests, homework, projects, they all need to be complete or have a planned time to complete them. I know my parents wouldn’t have it any other way but more importantly, I cannot purposely not study for a test and just hope for the best, I cannot let other people do an entire project for me, and I especially cannot be the person who forgets their homework consciously. Maintaining my GPA is built within me, I will find every way possible to keep it stable.  If I were to be accepted as a member of the (School Name) Chapter of the National Honors Society, my responsibilities as a member would be next in line. I understand that being a member means dedication is required. I realize that by taking on this responsibility can and will mean missing other activities and social events. I believe that as a member I would be able to make a positive impact in my school and community as well as encourage others to do their best at all they wish to achieve.

Quote by Anne Frank.

Things Said To Or About My Adopted Daughters--Article Link

Things Said To Or About My Adopted Daughters | Bored Panda:



Lesson of the day: Learn what you're talking about before you say anything.



'via Blog this'

Music Essay

The following is an essay written for a musical lesson scholarship by moi. I did not win it but I did come to terms with my relationship with music, the following is that analysis.

Music. Music is such a broad topic. There are different styles, coinciding with different time periods. There’s the conductor and how they choose to add drama to a piece. And there’s the musician who plays the music.  The role of music in a musician’s life is necessary, it may be the urge to hum constantly, take out their instrument when they’re bored, or simply listen to a favorite piece. I am a musician. Music is, for me, something to wake up to and fall asleep to. It is part of my daily schedule whether its orchestra every morning, practice during lunch, or rehearsals after school. Music is what keeps me going some days and other days, it opens my eyes. I don’t know where I would spend my time without having music in my life. 

A View to Think About