A classmate that I'm Thankful for...

A classmate that I'm THANKFUL for is Cindy Mei :] She's not the only one I'm thankful for but, she's definitely on the top of my list! What's so special about her?! Well, I'm glad you asked. I met Cindy before we attend Whitney Young. We met in the most awkward place, the train station. She knew one of my friends from my elementary school. We officially met when we were at the movies...I think.... I didn't really like her back then, but that has definitely changed! She helps me with things that I don't understand, and she reminds me when I forget to do an assignment (I'm sure anyone in the class will do the same for me). Besides helping me and reminding me, she's someone I look forward to seeing during the day. She so easy to talk to, very fun and goofy too. Cindy is not only my classmate, she's one of my closest friends. Thank you Cindy! :] <333

I am a Plow

I am a Plow. A plow plows over many things, like snow in the Winter or weeds in the Summer and Spring. In the winter, the snow plow plows the snow into a pile on the side. In this case, I'm the plow that pushes my problems to the side by solving them. Every now and then, there would be a rough patch that every plow will meet. Some plow might blow through it like they're nothing, but others will have a hard time and have to go over that spot a few times. That's like not concluding a problem or issue the first time and trying again. However, in the Summer and Spring, the plows cut the weeds and grass; while leaving the roots. It's similar to life because everything one had or will conquer, there will always be a memory of it, no matter big or small. It can be the first time you've successfully tied your shoes laces to graduating college. Both of those experiences will stick with you, they have become apart of your field.    

A change in the Classroom

I think everyone in our class can agree that there's nothing wrong with in the classroom. When it comes to discussion time, everyone has their own opinion and everyone is heard. One of the good things in class is that every morning we have journal topics that we are to write about. It helps me wake up and it gets everyone thinking. We talk about whatever the topic is, it usually gets pretty heated if it a popular subject. Other than a change in the classroom, I kind of want a change in the school. I feel like in division, other than just sitting around for ten minutes, we can learn about how to pay the bills or manage a bank account. Because not everyone knows how to do that. I scared that if i wait till i grow up to learn, it will be too late.

Modern Slavery

Hmmm...Slavery, Wasn't that over a long time ago? No, not really. There are still many forms of Slavery out there today. Lately, in class we talked about some types of slavery that still exist today. Like sweat shops, Women inferior to men, and slaves of your sibling(s). My teacher was telling us about how brand name stores buy factors in other countries to avoid paying taxes. A store like Nike has kids from 3rd world countries making their product. The class was having a discussion about whether or not they'll still buy/ use the product if they knew it was from a sweat shop. Some people said it depends and others said they wouldn't. I agree with the people who said it depends on what the product is because sometime that certain product might be the only one out there. Women inferior to men would be a mild form of slavery because I grew up learning that women are suppose to listen to what the "men" of the family has to say. I don't totally agree with this, but because I'm a daddy's girl, I usually listen and obey what my dad tells me to do. Not that I'm a slave of his, but I do what he tells me to do. Lastly, Slaves of your sibling. Even thought I'm the youngest in my family, I never experienced being bossed around and being told what to do. They always treated me like someone their age. But I've seen sibling slavery before. Most of my friends that are girls, boss their little brothers around like their some kind of mule. I feel sorry for their siblings because it's sad and they're helpless. However, Sometime I think they deserve it. I swear to never commit any type of slavery because slavery is BAD! :PPP 

Salem, Puritans, House of Seven Gables, Nathaniel Hawthorne...They're all related?!

As one of our Blog entries, we were asked to research and write about Salem, Puritans, House of The Seven Gables and Nathaniel Hawthorne. I didn't realize that they were all connected until I did further research on them.

So the story all started when I learned about the Puritans living in this place called Salem. In Salem, the Puritans worshiped god and feared the devil. That was how kids were born and raised. It was a sin to be happy and kids were punished for have "fun". Also it was a sin to born on Sunday...Yeah, I know right~! For sometime, Salem had "Salem Witch Trials", basically trials that determined whether or not you practiced witchcraft (a Sin). What happened was that a group of girls went around accusing people for practicing witchcraft. They claimed that they felt or saw the person's ( in which they were accusing) "ghost". The girls said they felt them touch them. Later, Scientist suggest that the Hallucinations and itching sensations that they felt were because of a fungi called Ergot. Ergot was found in rye. Rye was in the food in which they consumed.

One of the judges of the Salem witch trial was John Hathorne. He killed innocent people by believing the girls. He is Nathaniel Hawthorne's great grand father. Nathaniel was so ashamed of his ancestor that he changed his name from hathorne to hawthorne, so he wouldn't have any ties with them.

The Book House of Seven Gables was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. There is an actual House called the House of The Seven Gables. It's called that because of the Seven pointed tops the house has. The house is in Salem, Massachusetts. It was built by John Turner, who sold it to Captain Samuel  Ingersoll. When Samuel died, he left the house for lady named Susanna. Susanna turned out to be Nathaniel's Cousin. So he would often times visit her when she was still alive and lived in that house. It is believed that she still haunts the house today.

The Puritan roots still affect the decisions America makes today because even though they want to separate religion and state, there's still going to be a connection/bias behind those decisions. They're always going to be there because that was how things were. That was how things/society started, the background will always be there.  So when people say bad habits die hard, in this case so do bias decisions. 

The Moment I Knew I was an American

The moment I was an American was the moment I took my first breath. Like a lot of people, I was born and raised here. I never really put much thought to why being an American was so special...until I started to go to school and realized that there are people that aren't like me. Some were still applying for their citizenship, which made me question if I've done that yet. After learning that I don't have to "apply", I realized that I have more privileges than others. I have the rights that they're applying for right when I was born. My trip back to China during the summer of 06 empathized how lucky, privileged, and special I am. Going there to visit made me realize that they have to pay for their education. They have very little or no say as to who their ruler is. Also, They don't have the choice of how many kids they want to have. All of these restrictions made me think of how different it would be to grow up knowing that there are people out there that have all of those privileges. But, for some odd reason, I don't have them. I'm so glad that I'm AMERICAN.

Us vs. Them = Us and Them??? O.o

The title makes me think of enemies becoming friends. In most cases, it's possible. But in the Crucible, I don't think it's happening. Actually, I know it's not going to happen because I know how it ends. For example, The people that weren't killed, knew innocent people that were killed. Killed for something they didn't do. So their families are left with pain and sorrow. If I were a family member of one of the innocent people that were killed, I would NEVER forgive those who didn't speak up. I would even want revenge. It could also turn out to be Us and Them = Us vs. Them because in the story Abigail and a few other girls were in the lie together, but because of the lie. They turned on each other. The equation can go both ways. It just depends on how you look at it.