Eat, Pray, School

Thankfully, education is a top priority for children in America.  Sadly, that isn't true everywhere else in the world.  However, it is really hard  to be grateful for everything when school is so awful!!!  I'm not saying the institution of school is bad or that I hate going to school; in fact I love going to school because I get to see my friends and learn, it's going home that I don't like.  School is almost 7 hours a day, but when I get home I add 5-8 HOURS OF HOMEWORK!!!!  How am I supposed to go to bed at a normal time and grow to be a healthy adult?  Here's a fun fact: I haven't gone to bed before 11 a single time this school year and before you ask, of course I procrastinate, but not as much as some people.  Public education is on average 6% of someone's life, why not make it enjoyable?

 To be successful in school I would say that studying is a necessity, but homework is not.  Why can't teachers just cut out homework?  It just doesn't seem fair that we have to ruin the best years of our lives doing busy work.  It is really a win win situation, if there is no homework than students would be happier and livelier in class as well as participate more.  Also, students won't fall asleep in class because they would get at least 8 hours of sleep every night.

All of that being said, there shouldn't be homework because it puts a strain on our family lives.  Every night my parents want me to hang out with them or play with my brother, but I can't because I have an ungodly amount of homework and it is drilled in all of our heads that we are failures if we don't get into our first choice college.  Every morning my mom wakes me up and asks how late I stayed up when I struggle to climb out of bed.  I usually just reply with "not too late actually" or "I don't know" even though I am usually always working to see 1:30.  I just feel like I am growing apart from everyone because I am so stressed.  I can't sit with my family to watch one more episode, I can't go to the movies with my friends, I really just can't relax.  This is literally child labor without pay.  We don't have a choice to go to school and we work essentially 12 hours a day.  Some might say "It isn't all that bad you get weekends off," but that is so false.  There hasn't been a single weekend during my high school career where I haven't had to sacrifice something in order to finish my homework.  It's just so sickening how teachers and the government can enjoy their lives while we, the students, hate our lives because we have so much work.

I am not saying I hate school, I love it.  But homework has to go.

Twisted Time Reflections

The Politics of Life

Hetherington, the director of Restrepo, did not decide to create the film in order to set a political line.  He made the film in order to touch everyone differently and have them pick their own idea of war.  When Hetherington says "Everything we do is political," I would have to agree because our values help make our political.  But, I would like to point out that he says the film doesn't give you "easy political answers."  When people view the film they expect to be told how to react to the disturbing images but they are left on their own.  In life everyone has their own opinions.  An easy political answer would be to ban abortion or weaken immigration laws, but that isn't how things work.  Politicians have the pain-staking task of recognizing these decisions and creating an answer and that is what I feel when he says the film doesn't have "easy political answers."  The viewers of Restrepo are forced to take the role of politicians by putting all of their past experiences to discover an opinion.  Therefore when he said that "everything we do is political" he simply means that by putting all of our past experiences together we are able to make our own final political views.

As everyone I too have to have an opinion on the film.  Hetherington was able to choose what we witnessed in the Korengal Valley; He chose scenes of firefights and death, but he also showed the fun that the soldiers had and that is what I believe the political statement is.  He is saying that if the soldiers can find the beauty in war, than we, the public, thousands of miles away, can too.  He shows that yes it can be ugly at times but the final outcome is beautiful.  This is truly beautiful, he creates a film where people believe that they are supposed to conclude that war is ugly, but its not.  War is like brotherly fights, people become closer at the end.  I don't know how he was able to create this masterpiece, but I thank him.  This film has truly touched me and everyone else who has watched it, without it my perspective on war would be totally different.

My Little Brown Dog

As children we never understood the hidden meanings of objects, we only saw things for what they were, literally.  As time has gone on and years become shorter I now realize that my life can be summed up in my scruffy brown dog.  He comforted me on my sick days and played with me when I was lonely, but now when I look at him I see days gone by.  I feel a sense of emptiness where my love once was.  I see him sitting on my bed, pleading, begging me for one last play, as my high school career comes to a close.  I want to.  I really do.  But, I am no longer 6.  I am 16.  My life is consumed by endless nights staying up until three trying to finish homework.  I miss the days where I would go to bed at 8 and wake up with energy.  I see, in my little brown dog, the happy days that I need to hold onto in my life.  I think that is why I leave him, sitting there watching me with those big brown eyes, as if he understands what I am going through.  Growing up has given me some of the best memories anyone could ask for.  Growing up given me friends and an appreciation for everything that has happened to me.  I believe that is why I can't remain six forever.  When I was six, I didn't have an appreciation for what I had, but now I do.  Growing up makes me realize how lucky I was to have a beautiful childhood.  I will forever cherish those memories as I look towards the future.  I may have to struggle to finish all of my school work at night, but I am happy.  I can't finish this blog; because, I am not done growing.  I shouldn't look at the past as if it was my glory days, because it wasn't.  I am still a child.  I believe the past that I am reminiscing about is still happening.  It is my present.  So, I can't say that I have learned very much.  I have just learned to appreciate every moment of my life and to not fear the future or try to speed it up.  I'm going to love every moment and not dwell on the past.  I can't wait to see what the future has in store for me.

Shoes

At the start of Freshmen year I picked up my first pair of running shoes and joined the cross country team.  I was slow at first and got better and better as everyday went on.  I never compared myself with the other runners, I always looked at my personal achievements and I was always proud, no matter how small they were. This is how I grew as not only a runner, but also an individual.  With the right mindset I knew my shoes would make me stronger.  Eventually I was getting faster and faster and after two years of hard work and dedication I finally got to where I wanted to be.  I was so happy.  I felt like nothing could bring me down.  I was on the top of the world.  Then injury struck.  I was devastated.  Betrayed.  I lost all hope and motivation and got slower and slower.  I thought of myself as worthless and I considered giving up on running forever.  Then I remembered my belief from freshmen year, "As long as I have have the right mindset, my shoes will make me stronger."  I then became more motivated and as I am writing this I am thinking about how great I can become.  I may still be injured, but I am getting better.  I need to remember to stay motivated, because my shoes will never let me down.  They can't.  My shoes have become part of my being and I can't even begin to thank them for what they have done for me.  My blue shoes carry me through the long painful days and remind me that I can go farther where as my orange shoes carry me through the fast races.  They help me forget about the pain and they just let me feel free.  They changed my life by leading me in the right direction towards a healthy lifestyle.  I'm no longer the short chubby eighth grader that I once was.  I am now content and I look forward to the possibilities my shoes bring me.  Even though we won't be together forever, because you will have given me everything that I could possibly imagine.  For giving me the chance to fly, I thank you.

Happy

Depth is something that defines a person and makes them interesting, fantastic even!  However, I do not possess this quality.  I am an open book and I have the same interests as everyone else.  Whenever I have to say something about myself I say "My favorite color is blue" or "I like dogs" just like almost every person on this planet.  Therefore, this blog won't be deep; I'm not going to make myself appear to be some amazingly talented person on the Internet.  All that said, I am happy.  Happiness is my favorite quality in a person, it shows that they can come out of even the hardest moments smiling and I find that admirable.  I am one of those people.  My sole purpose in life is to make myself and others happy.  When I die, I want to know that I made someone's life better.  So, I will use this blog to make people happy; it won't be some BS inspirational quotes that anyone can get from an app off the iTunes store.  I want to touch people's lives...