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GRATITUDE

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I do not like English. I really do not. I’ve always struggled with reading comprehension. In elementary school, they put me in an ESL class because my reading was so poor. My reading was always my lowest grade on the ACT and SATs, and I never got an A in English until the pandemic. I feel like I have improved greatly as a reader and writer and I am able to express myself better. I have also learned a great deal about society and different philosophies. To Mrs. Valentino, for teaching me how to write and think on the fly with your weekly in class essays. AP Lang really helped develop me into a better writer. To Mrs. Feldkamp, you have my deepest gratitude as my teacher. Thank you for exposing us to literary classics and teaching us to enjoy reading. I learned a lot about myself and English in this class and that is thanks to you. To all the vast literature we read which enriched my thinking and broadened my perspective of the world. From Oedipus, to Waiting for Godot to Medea, we were e...
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A case for school

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  As this year closes, I’ve had a lot of time to contemplate my education. Was it really worth it? Did I waste all my time grinding APs and SATs? Maybe. To be honest, like everyone, I’ve dreaded my educational experience. It all just seems like monotonous work that didn’t seem important for the future. While probably 90% of it was, whether I like it or not, it has really shaped who I am today. Obviously I got smarter because of education but also I’ve learned to be a better person and care more about the world.  But I think something that I won’t take for granted is how education has enlightened me on important topics of our world. I really did not start thinking about things like climate change, inequality, or even politics before I was educated. The way I view important topics were drastically changed by my education. For example in AP Lang, I learned about the racial segregation that was occurring right now in our cities through housing inequality and policing. In ninth gra...
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Experiencing Poetry

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Kendrick Lamar Duckworth was born on June 17, 1987 in Compton, California. He is known for progressive music styles and a lot of his lyrics touch on social issues and the oppression of minorities. Truly some of the most memorable moments of my life have been screaming Kendrick Lamar’s lyrics at the top of my lungs without actually knowing the meaning behind it. It is extremely ironic that I rap lyrics like “All my life, I has to fight, Hard times like, yah! Bad trips like, yah!” at the beginning of Alright with such passion while I drive through my safe neighborhood and hope I do not show up late to school.  Obviously I’ve always liked listening to his music and how it sounded hype, but as I entered high school, I was more conscious of listening to his lyrics and actually understanding what they mean. In his recent album Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers , he delves into deep topics of his life. There were elements and themes similar to his other albums like oppression and police br...
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There is not always a Correct way to enjoy something

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  In class, we read a poem about a student who would much rather look at the stars than studying them. Our table group tried to find sophistication in the piece. We found that what makes this poem complex was that neither studying or enjoying stars are necessarily wrong. They both offer benefits to people. It’s up to us to interpret what gives us joy. This can also be said about poetry. I know a lot of people love analyzing its complexity and dissecting the meaning of poetry. And though I do occasionally like doing that, I personally mainly enjoy poetry because it sounds good. Similarly to me, the author in the poem we read in class enjoys the stars without actually comprehending why and how they are there. I love listening to rap music which is basically modern poetry. Yet occasionally, I do not actually comprehend what the rapper is saying or understand its deeper meaning, I just simply listen because I enjoy it.  I think there are many things in this world that are left for...
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Stepping out of My comfort Zone

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I actually can't believe I’m halfway done with my senior year. It’s been a crazy 4 years with the pandemic. It's kind of cliché to say but it really felt like the time went by so fast. I feel like I never really had much time to sit back and reflect on my own growth. Now that I’ve had more time to discover my own passions and reflect on my time throughout high school, I feel extremely regretful for not pursuing my passions or pushing myself more throughout high school. For example, I always thought I was too stupid to take harder classes like AP Chem, APUSH or any AP English class. I always looked at my friends taking those classes thinking they were insane. Then my sister during my sophomore year forced me to take AP Lang and AP Physics C and while those were stressful, I learned a lot from them and I was able to learn how to manage my time and stay on top of my schedule. Obviously, taking too many APs isn’t necessarily a good thing, but I realized through Junior and Senior y...
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Why Do Stories Exist?

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              At the dawn of humanity, we have been telling stories. From the pictures drawn on tablets to a summer blockbuster thriller today, humans have not stopped writing and creating worlds in our heads. For generations, we have been engaged by worlds and conflicts that do not exist.  If you think about it, it is kind of weird that we enjoy stories. Why do we watch movies or read books? Why do we connect ourselves to these made up worlds? Why do we spend hard-earned time and money to consume these stories that will ultimately have no effect on our lives? At first glance, stories seem like a waste of time and money, but they would not exist if they did not benefit us greatly somehow. Whether we create stories to learn more about the world or just for pure escapism, the existence of them fulfills the innate human yearning to seek conflict and spectacle, in turn, highlighting the importance of stories to the human race. One of th...
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Love and Death

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       In class we read Othello and during the reading, I could not help but wonder why many of Shakespeare’s “love” stories result in so much death (I mean my sample size is small because I’ve only read Romeo and Juliet , Julius Caesar , and Othello ).  In Romeo and Juliet, it is the love that they have for each other that blinds them to reality. It is love that causes Romeo to kill himself because he thinks Juliet is dead and can’t bear to live without her. Then Juliet does the same and both of them end up dead over people that they met like a week ago.  A story about jealousy and deceit that led to a husband strangling his wife to death. His intense love for his wife and his own insecurity leads to both of their deaths. Also, it is Desdomona’s love and devotion to her husband that makes her go to her bed even after Othello calls her a whore. Unlike Romeo and Juliet however, this is a fully married couple who truly “loved” each other.  What does t...
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