I really enjoyed English 2 Honors this year because I made some amazing friends, as you know because we are giggle buckets. I finally became more confident in answering questions even if they were flat out wrong. Even in a class filled with popular people, I wasn’t as quiet as I would’ve been say the end of freshman year. One thing I didn’t like throughout the year was that there was no time in between different projects. There wasn’t really a break period between assignments and I was always stressed about failing. I feel like I would always do bad on essays and there was never clarification on what I needed to fix. There were good times though! If I didn’t have the table group you put me in, I would’ve definitely failed English. They helped me get through the rough times. What’s even crazier is, I didn’t know any of them. Last year I was in a group of people I knew and that’s why I was more talkative last year.

I’m definitely looking forward to being in AP English 3, I heard the teachers are amazing and I hope I can do well in their class. What i’m most excited for next year is being able to drive to school instead of relying on my parents to get me there. I’m still fifteen because I have a summer birthday but i’m super excited to finally be able to drive. I think next year we should try to go back to normal as soon as possible. I feel like a fresh start could be what we need after this situation. I think we should reteach things if they are important for the future. If it’s just busy work I wouldn’t try and cover all of it. As for online school, I feel like we need less work. Every week this week, I have felt so overwhelmed by how much work every teacher assigns. Even during a pandemic, I feel like the teacher didn’t really care how much work we had to do. If I were a teacher I would do one harder assignment and one easy one each week.

There are many themes in this book that I could choose from. If I had to choose one to talk about though, it would be betrayal. Throughout the book Allira starts talking to this guy, even though her dad proved that it was a bad idea. The reason being is because Allira has a defective brother. He has the ability to see hours into the future, and can see what happens. The whole town had been on the lookout for people like Allira’s brother. They even have a place called the Institute to put the defective in if/when they find out about them. Drew, the guy Allira was talking to, seemed really nice and generous at first. Until he found out about Allira’s brother and took him to the Institute along with Allira. Even after trying to tell Drew that they don’t have special abilities, he still hit them and tried his best to get them to admit what abilities they even have. Allira was confused because she thought he loved her and would do anything for her. Turns out he was using her to get to her brother. He betrayed Allira for his job. He went on dates with her, rode the train with her every morning to school, kissed her, and he still did that to her. The whole reason he found out was because at the beginning of the book, Allira saved him from a burning car. The defectves during puberty, have instances in which bad things happen and they are supposed to save other people. Allira thought it was because of her brother, but she was the actual defective one. Which led to Drew’s betrayal to her and her brother.

Throughout this whole Serial podcast, my views have changed on everyone. I’ve thought everyone was guilty at some point during the podcast. But, one person to me has seemed guilty from the beginning. That person is Jay. He’s always mumbling words and changing his story from him being in one place to the other. If Jay knew about the murder, why didn’t he go to the police? Why did he also “help Adnan bury the body?” That just doesn’t make since on his part.

I think the system did Adnan wrong in so many ways. They referred to him as Pakistanian instead of American. But, he lives in America so why would they refer him to anything other than American? I think it’s was very discriminatory to single him out because of his race and religion. Also, why did they give Jay special treatment? Especially how he acted and showed himself. It makes no sense why they would only trust a druggie and not an honor roll student. I definitely think Jay did it.

I love serial so far. I really don’t think Adnan did it though. I truly believe that Jay did it. He’s always mumbling about what happened and it all kind of sounds like a lie. In episode one and two, Jay always talks about what happened that day. Why does he remember that day more specifically than Adnan? I think Jay is definitely the one who killed Hae.

I find it mostly easy to listen in class. Sometimes I’ll get lost on where we’re at but overall it’s not too bad. I think you should definitely do this unit next year. Especially since they got rid of the Forensic Science class. It gives the kids who are interested in murder mystery a chance to actually have fun in a class.

If you are convicted of a crime in the United States, you have to go through the judicial system. The judicial systems job, is to determine whether you are guilty or non guilty. If you are brought to court the judicial system will give you a lawyer if you can not pay for one, or chose not to get one. Their job is to protect your rights and challenge the opposing “victim” to really show that you are not guilty. When you walk into court you are innocent until proven guilty. Which means the opposing side has to prove you are guilty for you to go to jail. If they do not have evidence you did the crime, you are innocent. If they do have evidence though, they can lock you up depending on what crime you commited.

In our society, people like to assume you are guilty even if you did not commit the crime. We are so caught up on believing what we want to believe, to actually look up the facts and evidence. I believe you are innocent until proven guilty because people have been locked in jail for their entire life, without committing a single crime. I think without our judicial system, our economy would go crazy trying to figure who did what. Also, if we didn’t have lawyers we wouldn’t be able to prove anything about anyone. People would be able to get away with murder, which makes crime rate go up. If we did not have a judicial system, everything would be anarchy.

Death is an touchy subject among the majority of the human population. I, for one, am not scared of the idea of death. I wonder what death is and why we continue to fear it as a society. When it comes to my situation, I would with no doubts, lay down my life world peace. I feel like if every country worried about their own struggles and didn’t involve each other, we would be better off and not fighting with each other. I know it will not happen just because of how far the world will go to destroy “the enemy.” People are dying because a bunch of world leaders had a petty argument. I think its stupid for thousands, maybe millions, of people have to live in fear of dying, instead of living their life.

If I could stop people from living in fear twenty four hours a day and seven days a week, I would. I would be willing to give up my life for thousands of other people who may not get the chance to live their life to the fullest. I feel so strongly for other people, that sometimes I forget about myself. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not, but I think it’s better than what I could be like. People around the world will choose something different they’re passionate about, but for me I definitely feel the most passion for World Peace. If only people could stop believing everything they see on the internet about foreign affairs, and realize how bad things have gotten. Most people wouldn’t give their life for others, and I can respect their decision, but I feel that if I could help someone I would.

I think I did well in most my classes this year with a few exceptions. I did extremely well in World History Honors, and Geometry. There where a few classes though that I felt I really struggled though. Spanish and Med. Term. seemed to kick my butt this semester, but eventually I found better ways to study and do well in the classes. In specifically English class, I loved the time we got to pick our own book to read. I think it was cool to finally pick a book we wanted to read instead of one we had to. A Separate Peace wasn’t bad I just felt like I didn’t want to do it more just because the school assigned it.

I think World History Honors is easier for me because my dad teaches part of what we’re learning right now and he can give me tips on how to test. I’m in Geometry regular because I didn’t realize you could take algebra in eighth grade, so I took it in ninth not realizing everyone already took it. Since I’m older than most my class, I think I feel more confident to answer questions because I don’t care what people think. When it comes to Spanish and Medical Terminology though, I think it’s harder because it’s a different language. Medical Terminology is basically a new language when it comes to new words. So I think its tough to comprehend what’s going on.

One of my favorite toys growing up was a stuffed Elmo. I used to love Elmo growing up, now I can’t stand it. I would drag that Elmo doll everywhere I went; at the dinner table, my bedroom, the living room, the kitchen, etc. Everywhere I went it went with me.

I loved the show Elmo so much to the point where, when my dad would play hide and seek with me, he would yell “La La La La, La La La La” and I would scream “ELMO’S WORLD.” Immediately giving away my spot. If that wasn’t bad enough, I would even take the Elmo doll out of town with me, even if I was going someplace fun, where I wouldn’t need the doll. Now that I look back on it, I’m embarrassed that I brought it everywhere and probably got yelled at my parents because I wouldn’t let go of it. I think every little kid has a favorite toy, it just depends on the kid and their interests.

In my family voting is a big part of what we bond over. We talk about politics all the time and often criticize the side we believe is wrong. When I am able to vote, I will definitely vote for who I think is honest, responsible, and is a good leader to our country. If they don’t fit those qualities I won’t vote for them.

It seems to be nowadays that you vote for the person, that you think is better than the other candidate, instead of who you think is best fit. I think that politics have become so broad that you can’t necessarily pick one person you completely agree with. If I had to chose one person to agree with completely they would have to fit certain characteristics that I agree with. They have to keep their promises, tell the truth even if they mess up, and be friendly with people even if they’re on two different ends of the spectrum when it comes to politics. I think a person like that would be amazing to lead our country.

One of my favorite movies, I’ve ever watched, is a movie called Divergent. I think it changed my view on people and their actions when it comes to how they chose to live their life.

The main plot of the book is a girl named Beatrice (Tris), and how she changed her faction to a different one than her parents. At first I couldn’t see why she left the faction she had been in her whole life, and betrayed her parents, but now I see why she left. She left because it wasn’t who she was. It was who her parents were. She isn’t the same as her family. She chose the Dauntless faction, even tho she was able to qualify for many. The dauntless faction tends to be the more rebellious people, or the athletic group as people liked to call them. Their job was to keep people safe (Military), and to be the police force of the factions. At first I thought she wasn’t cut out for that faction. She grew up to be selfless and to care for everyone but herself. The Dauntless faction is kind of the opposite in ways. Sure they protect people, but when harm comes their way they chose to protect themselves. It changed the way I thought about her as a person, as the story progressed because she would explain why she chose to leave. Now I understand that she wanted to get away from her parents life.

Divergent video clip: http://j.mp/1Lv8OCv