Nigohosian 3: Work Smarter Not Harder

At this time of the year, breaks, holidays, and pretty much anything you could imagine can be distractions in trying to get your schoolwork done. Also during this time, classes get more in-depth and contain more content. Because of this, I find that production levels proceed to go down and completing my classwork may get out of control. To combat this issue, I found a multitude of solutions to become more productive.

First of all, reasonable goals are always a great way to establish a productive work ethic and manage your time. Once you break things down into smaller chunks, they become much more manageable and tend to cause less stress when you focus on completing them. With a lower element of stress, you can have more time to focus on the importance of getting a task done rather than thinking about it. Although you can limit stress, it can not be entirely eliminated. Another way to help reduce this stress is to create a dashboard with important tasks that you have to complete over the course of a week or two. This board will allow you to prioritize your work and become more efficient with the work that has to be completed. Finding your two peak hours of work will also increase your efficiency as well. For many people, their peak hours of work range from 4-7 PM although this number varies from person to person. At this peak time, you would want to complete the most strategic work that you currently have. To further optimize your work ethic, less meaningful work can be done at other times other than your peak hours to save energy and time.

One more final thing to improve your work ethic is to focus on one task at a time. Multitasking will only hurt your efforts to become a more diligent worker. When you multitask, you aren’t doing yourself any favors because you are only skimming the surface for each task that you are completing while wasting energy. This is simply not efficient and will definitely cause more harm than good. Instead, we should work smarter and not harder by sticking to proven methods that will allow you to get more work done in a smaller amount of time. Only then can we become truly productive.

Alora Kutzler 3 "Time & Changes"

                                                   


                                                         Alora Kutzler "Time & Changes"




Since this year is coming to an end, I started looking back at all the memories I made this year. I made close friendships, I fell in love, and I dealt with some very personal issues. Throughout this year I got a job and started saving money, I got my license and matured as a person.

Sophomore year ended and summer came, where I had one of the best summers I have had in awhile. Now it's almost 2020 and everything I once knew is gone. My friendships, my relationship, my personal issues have taken over.

The point of this blog is to show just how fast things can change and time flies. I never noticed how fast time flies and how fast things can change until now. I learned to never take anything for granted and to enjoy every little thing, every moment.

Because you have no idea when it will stop. It's hard to live in the moment and to just enjoy life when you have so many stresses that come with it, but I encourage you to at least try because like I said you never know when it's going to end.

It's never too early to start thinking about your new year's resolutions and it is only a few weeks away, so my new year's resolution is to stop stressing so much about the little things and live my life to the best of my abilities. I have witnessed people go in and out of my life and have watched important things crumble before me in the blink of an eye, so I am not going to take anything for granted. live your best life people!

Megan-Week 3- Some Days Are Hard

Sweet Emma burrowed her face in my lap.

“Hard day at preschool, Emma?” I joked.

She looked up with an expression of innocence and exhaustion, “Preschool was really, really hard today.”

I laughed under my breath. If only she knew; it gets so, so much harder. I sighed too.

Emma is one of the tiny ballerinas in a dance class that I help teach. Every week, she gives me a smile and a hug before we sit in a circle to stretch.  But yesterday she had an off-day. We’ve all been there.

On my ride home from the dance studio, my mind wandered back to what Emma had said: “Preschool was really, really hard today.”

The fact is, sometimes life is hard, whether you’re in preschool or a retirement community. And maybe my life of juggling AP classes, tennis, clubs, dance, church, and relationships is harder than Emma’s playdates and picture books, but that doesn’t invalidate Emma’s experiences.

The reality is, your personal circumstances could always be more difficult than they currently are. Maybe my life is harder than Emma’s right now, but undoubtedly, there are millions of people with lives harder than mine. Knowing this, I used to tell myself to suck it up and put on a brave face. I deeply believed that talking openly about my struggles was a display of entitlement because other people had it harder and struggled more than I could imagine. I thought that by owning my difficulties I was somehow devaluing the hardships of others.

As I’ve matured, I’ve come to realize the importance of openly owning my struggles. Only through honesty about my failures can I heal and grow from my shortcomings. I refuse to allow my mistakes to define who am I, and by sharing my difficulties I take the power away from my inadequacies. It’s no longer about what I’m not, but who I could be. In owning my struggles, I have found freedom and hope.

So, sweet Emma is right after all. Sometimes preschool is really, really hard. And that’s okay.

Madson 3- Penguins!

Everyone has a favorite animal. Whether it's because they have a special meaning or they're just adorable, it still makes them someone’s favorite. When I was little, I loved pandas and koalas. I thought they were the cutest creatures. As I grew older, I grew out of the “animal phase” and did not think much about them. Well, a few summers ago I went to Mystic, Connecticut. There, I visited the aquarium. I instantly fell in love with African Penguins. And when I say in love, I mean obsessed. And not just any penguins, African Penguins. They are so playful and adorable, how could I not?

My obsession started at this aquarium and grew even more in 9th-grade biology when I had to pick an animal for a project. From there, my friends and family began to learn about my love for penguins. Now, for every birthday or holiday I get penguin gifts. I have five pairs of penguin socks, two stuffed animals, two sets of pajamas, a necklace, and bedsheets. I know, it is a bit excessive.

While doing research on African Penguins, I learned a lot about them. The most important thing that stuck with me is how they are endangered. Humans have been destroying their habitat and stealing their food source. That is the primary reason why these penguins are so popular in zoos. It is to protect them and grow their population. The Maryland Zoo has the largest colony of African Penguins in North America. Here, they are protected and cared for until they are able to be released into the wild.

To me, this makes these creatures even more lovable. Like most endangered species, there is an opportunity for someone to “adopt” an African Penguin. With this, they are given a certificate of adoption, a picture of their penguin, and they receive updates on their penguins well being. The proceeds from this go towards the research and preservation done for African Penguins. I have been begging my parents to let me “adopt,” so maybe this year for Christmas I will get my wish!

Caleb Johns 3

I woke up ready to go to school a couple days ago, completed my usual routine and was about to head out the door when my mom stopped me. She told me she had submitted an application to adopt a dog from an animal shelter. Now I’m going to sound like a terrible person, but I do not want a dog. This has been the stance that my dad and I have taken for months now, but something changed this time. After my mom announced her decision, I shot my dad a look hoping he would resolve the situation, but he came out in support. “What?” I was officially outnumbered. Before, my dad was the one keeping the sanity within the household, but now it has gone to madness. I find this whole situation extremely hilarious because usually it's the other way around, the child is the one who wants the dog and the parents don’t want the dog. So why do I not want a dog? Well I believe there are a number of factors involved. We had a golden retriever earlier this year that passed away at the age of twelve, and for one thing this memory probably still has a lasting impact on my decision to not want another dog. Also I know the amount of time a dog takes and I don’t want to be anchored at home caring for it because I know that the responsibility of the dog will fall onto my shoulders. For example, a couple of years ago my mom adopted two oranges cats that were twins, and now I’m the one that feeds them. Now don’t get me wrong, I love my cats, and if we do end up getting a dog I’d love it too.

Anyways, I’m writing this not to complain about getting a dog rather a recent change of heart that I’ve had. It was in english class when I watched the commercial with the puppy and the horses and realized “I think I do want a puppy.” I may be the one that has to take it on walks, feed it, clean up after it. I may end up being constrained to my house after school and over the weekends because my parents will insist that I stay and deal with the dog. But in the end, the absolute adorableness of this dog will make up for it (at least I’m hoping!) Also my mom’s wish for a dog was never up for discussion, so it was either accept getting a dog or find a new place to live!

Alicia Zhang 3- In the News

  Though it seems strange, I enjoy reading the news, and it has become part of my daily routine to sit down and check to see the latest on trusted news websites like Reuters, NPR, BBC, NBC, etc. Yesterday I took a bit more time digging through the news, and I discovered that a Maltese journalist who had been reporting on government corruption was assassinated in a hit ordered by a rich businessman, who has been linked to high-ranking members of the Maltese government. Her death had occurred over 2 years ago, and yet I had never heard of it until now. This concerned me, because I have long held the suspicion that the news has become saturated in politics and the drama that sometimes comes with it, and has led to less attention being paid to just as important news like the article concerning the journalist's assassination.

   The medium in general gives me a mixed feeling, despite the fact that it is such an integral part of my day. I have heard that for a time, you could receive the news and accept it at face value, without considering whether the reporter twisted the facts or straight out lied. However, that is not true today, and I have found it hard to find good, unbiased news that doesn't try to push a perspective or spin on what should just be the facts period. On top of that, the rise of fake news has further blurred the line between truth and falsity in a field where doing so can be dangerous to our very democracy. People can simply ignore news they do not like from a source that doesn't espouse their views, and label it as fake news now. They continue to receive news from "favorable" sources that don't challenge them, and never have to actually stop and think about what they support. Though none of the reporting on the assassination felt slanted, and it was not "fake news," I still harbor such worries because of just how much I have seen of it over the years. I just wish I knew of it sooner.

   The journalist's name was Daphne Caruana Galizia, and she was a shining beacon who continued to investigate the illegal dealings of politicians even after receiving death threats. She was finally silenced Oct. 16, 2017, by those corrupt ones whose deeds were revealed by her. She was no doubt a loving mother and wife, and even after her untimely death, she continues to influence Malta, and the world, for the better. The Daphne Project, a collective of international journalists, carries on her work on corruption, and her death in the supposedly "safe" European Union gives further evidence that the news industry is in a very precarious position as it is now. We live in a democracy, but it is a democracy only made possible by the continued existence of the free press, and the idea that it carries not lies and slander, but the unblemished truth.

Nathan Schmidt 3: Too Much?

Too Much?

Nathan Schmidt

I know I am not the only school student who takes on a lot of responsibility, so when I list off the activities I am in, I am not doing so to brag about how much I am involved in, but rather to provide context for the rest of this post.  I am currently involved in three AP classes: psychology, English language and comp, and calculus.  So far, I have been doing very well in my classes, at least by my standards.  By far the biggest obstacle this year, though, is not the classes themselves, but the other activities I chose to do.  Now the other activities are not more difficult than my AP classes, but my involvement in them alone makes completing work for AP classes much more difficult.  The activities that I am involved in after school include debate (Mondays, 2:30-4:00), mock trial (Wednesdays, 2:30-5:00 plus competitions sprinkled in throughout the year) , the play (Mondays, Wednesdays, and some Fridays, 5:00-9:00), and the musical (who knows what the schedule for that will look like but it will be much more extensive than the play schedule).  I also have vocal lessons after school on Fridays but that is not involved with the school.  I should point out that the play has ended recently and debate will be over after this coming Thursday, the 12th of December.  Mock trial has just started up and the musical will be kicking up shortly.  And while semester two gets nearer, I get to look forward to picking up honors anatomy as an extra challenge.  I will also be met with comments from my parents who say that I should drop anatomy.  My answer has remained consistent despite their numerous attempts, "no."

Am I taking on too much, though?  That is what I continue to ask myself.  I know that I will be able to handle it but will the work be worth it.  I will have to do homework before 5:00 on days that I have musical rehearsals to avoid staying up super late.  Today was the day that I was going to prove to myself that I could do it.  I was going to come home and finish all of my homework before 5:00.  It is 6:54 p.m. right now so you can probably tell that that did not go as planned.  Instead, I got home and slept on my couch for a few hours before waking up feeling like absolute garbage, which tends to happen when I take naps.  So maybe I am taking on a little more than I should.  Why do I, though?  Well for starters, I do the activities that I do because I enjoy them, but I think that there is another reason as well.  When I was in eighth grade, I hated history class.  It was my hardest class and my lowest grade.  At the end of the school year, though, I looked back and said, "what an incredible challenge.  That was my favorite class!"  Perhaps this is no different.  Hopefully, I will look back on my high school experience and say, "I really killed it in high school!"  I am completely aware that my grades could be higher if I didn't do theatre, mock trial, or debate.  But if it makes me happier, then I am certainly willing to suffer the small grade drop.  I would not have always said this.  For many years I had put grades on top of the list, more important than any other aspect in my life.  I have since changed that view.  I am not going to look back on high school as the years that my life was sacrificed for high grades.  I am going to enjoy my high school years, I will only get this experience once.

Gianna 3: Dreams

Have you ever had a dream about losing all of your teeth, or maybe a dream about flying? These common dreams all have real-life psychological connections to our daily lives. Our dreams are fostered by our experiences, life events, fears, hopes, etc. I have always had pretty vivid dreams. A lot of my dreams really stick out to me, and even the less memorable ones will weigh on me for a whole day or more. I can recall dreams from when I was as young as six years old. My dreams tend to be at least mostly realistic, as well as quite vivid. Nightmares sting when I wake up, and the good dreams can hurt even worse when I come back to reality.

Recently, my dreams have been especially extreme and leaving a long-lasting impression in my thoughts. Just last night I had a dream about one of my dogs getting lost, and I woke up panicked in tears. For the past few months, I’ve had this recurring dream where I’m driving, most times backward, but my brakes don't work, and I can't park. I knew that dreams are based on your subconscious thoughts, so I decided to look up my dream and see if anything really made sense. 

According to Ian Wallace, a Psychologist and self-proclaimed “Media Dream Expert,” he says that dreams about driving backward can quite literally represent us moving backward and not be able to achieve the high goals we have set for ourselves. He also said of a faulty brake dream can represent a feeling of not having control over our lives. This mostly makes sense to me in my context. For most of the school year so far, I’ve been able to keep it together and stay focused on my goals. However, I know that I’ll always have strong underlying thoughts to doubt myself and my abilities. I can see how this dream I keep having really symbolizes some major subconscious fears I have. 

Now obviously not all dreams have some deep underlying meaning that’s trying to tell you to get your life together. A lot of dreams are just meaningless jumbled messes of random people, things, and experiences from your life. I find it fascinating, though, how some dreams can really represent or symbolize some major things going on in our lives. 

Gabe 3: Bill and Ted and Paradoxes

Recently, I watched Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey, the sequel to Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. A certain scene really made me scratch my head and I wanted to share it with you all. In the finale of the movie (spoiler alert), Bill and Ted are facing off with the main antagonist, the evil Chuck De Nomolos (see picture). In order to win, Bill and Ted use time travel… in the future. Basically, Bill would say somehing like “After we win, I’ll remember to go back in time and hang a sandbag from the rafters,” and at that moment a sandbag falls on Chuck’s head. They do this a few more times in different ways and ultimately win the fight.

The part that makes me scratch my head is that their time travelling allowed them to win the fight, but in order to time travel then they would have to win the fight in the first place. It’s very confusing. As it turns out, this is actually a well known paradox called the Bootstrap Paradox. The most common way of explaining it goes something like this. 

Imagine you are a time traveller, and you’re also a huge fan of Shakespeare. You go back in time to meet Shakespeare, and you bring with you a copy of Hamlet. The thing is, you go back in time to before Shakespeare wrote Hamlet. Then you give him your copy of Hamlet, and you leave. Shakespeare goes on to read it, copy it down word for word, and publish it as his own work. That brings us to the paradox. Where did Hamlet actually come from in this scenario? Who wrote it? It’s pretty mindbending stuff, but I thought it would be interesting to share. Let me know what you think.

Muskan Week 3 - Tree Decorating

Today after school, I get to finish decorating my Christmas tree and my house. I do the tree and decorations by myself every year, but because my schedule has been busier than previous years, I roped my mom into helping me at least put up the tree. I love decorating the tree and having others help is a fun way to bond. 

Decorating is one of my favorite things to do, so when Christmas time rolls around, I get excited to put the tree up, put the lights out and wrap the gifts to put under the tree. There is one thing that keeps my other family members from helping me decorate for Christmas. When I get in the zone, I become this crazy perfectionist. No two of the same ornaments can go next to each other, there has to be the same number of each ornament on every side of the tree, and all ornaments, lights, and tinsel have to be evenly spaced. It drives my mom and sister crazy, so they usually just leave me to do it myself. This year, I especially got annoyed when the lights I put on the tree every year wouldn’t work. It threw off my entire plan to decorate the tree.

I mostly am a perfectionist because I want Christmas to be this perfect day for everyone in the family, especially since the holidays are a stressful time of year. I guess I just want everyone to have one perfect day to relax and enjoy with the others in the family

Hayden Berner 3 "I Am Stressed"

So, as the title obviously states… I am stressed out. For a multitude of reasons, however a few of those reasons stand out among the sea of “things Hayden has to worry about.” The list consists of, but not limited to, school, sports, and my social life.

Now, I am not ranting. The point of this blog is to prove that I am not the only one that feels this way. I have various people from many different friend groups that all say the same thing… That they are stressed out. I mean I have witnessed some of my closest friends go through breakdowns, and me being the anxiety ridden over thinker I am, usually have multiple throughout the week.

                           
I do not think it is healthy to be this stressed on an almost regular basis. Unfortunately with the rigorous schedule I have formed for myself it is hard to find time to decompress and just relax. As a quick fix to calm my irritated anxiety, I make lists, go for a run/workout, or more often than not, I clean. These are quick fixes and really the only way to cure my anxiety for certain things is either to just do them, or rationalize that it is something out of my control.

I know I am not the only one that struggles with this, and I know it is not something that is easily overcome, but it does say a lot about someone's character if they can grow as a person even just a tiny bit and say, “I am happy today.” As my mother always says take it one step at a time, day by day, and you will be fine.

MaryJo 3: District Band

It’s not an exaggeration to say that countless hours of my life so far were dedicated to music. The clarinet, and all the dedication and Squidward jokes that come along with it, has been a part of my life since I learned how to play “Hot Cross Buns” in fourth grade. Combining years of marching band practices, years of being in concert band with the addition of various other ensembles, pit orchestra practices, and the scarce but equally as valid time spent playing at home, it’s likely that I am pressing the keys of my clarinet at any given point of my life. It’s even stranger to think that if my mom never found the permission slip to play an instrument that I, hoping to never see it again, shoved away in my book bag in third grade, these hundreds of hours of my life would have been spent elsewhere. What began as a forced opportunity to get involved with an extracurricular activity slowly matured along with me into one of my biggest hobbies and talents.

As many things do, playing the clarinet changed drastically once entering high school. I became challenged with difficult pieces that I could never think of playing in middle school. I became more involved with music by joining many more groups since playing the clarinet was all that I knew I was comfortable doing. I kept following the same routine that I have been repeating since fourth grade of joining anything band related, making it the only path I know how to follow. When I decided to audition for district band, I realized I went too far.

At first, I was fairly excited to be auditioning. I have never auditioned for something so formal, and the music we got wasn’t like anything I have ever played before. At this point it was May, and I had nearly 6 months to get my music perfect and my scales memorized. As I am typing this, it is Monday, and I have until Saturday of this week to get my music perfect and my scales memorized. Out of all the deadlines I have procrastinated in my entire life, this is by far the worst one yet. It is honestly embarrassing how unprepared I am, yet every time I attempt to practice I get a sinking feeling and feel anxious just looking at everything I need to get perfect with just a few days to do it. I’m finding it impossible to get motivated, and getting into district band isn’t even something I want anymore. I am not looking to continue playing the clarinet after high school, but I still find stability when actively becoming involved with as many band related activities as possible. Maybe getting into districts would be the validation I need for the years I’ve dedicated to playing clarinet. It would make me feel as if all the work I have mindlessly put in was worth it, but what if I never get this? If I am unable to label myself as one of the best clarinet players in the district, were the past 7 years of my life pointless? Playing the clarinet has always been nothing more than a fun pastime, but suddenly I’m projecting my self-value on how well I am as a player, even when it won’t have any relevance to my future. As for my audition, I don’t want to quit so suddenly, but I don’t want to stress myself out for an entire week for something that isn’t even that important to me. The least I can do is try my best with the time I have.