R3. Who's Mr. Currin?

       Mr. Currin is definitely a big deal. I’ve only had one class with Mr. Currin but it’s been one of the best classes I’ve ever had. Online Publishing is definitely a class that I look forward to coming to just because of the comments that are made. It’s unreal how much a person can make you laugh over something so stupid. Mr. Currin has helped me so much in the past and I know he’ll always be there if I ever need something in my future. At one point in time, I was Mr. Currin’s teacher assistant (TA) but I sort of, kind of, quit; long story short, I stopped showing up. Mr. Currin helped me make a college decision and gave me so much advice that’s helped me along the way. I like coming to Mr. Currin for advice because he’ll always tell you how it is. He’s never mean about it but he doesn’t want to see someone make the wrong decision. Teaching can be a very stressful job dealing with all the students but I’ve never seen a teacher love his job more than Mr. Currin does. It makes it that much better having one of his classes because he loves what he does and he wants everyone to be happy and like what they are doing. Mr. Currin and I have had good times and bad, like when I left his class to go to the “bathroom” and I never came back. That didn’t change our relationship though; our sarcastic comments towards each other are always a pleasure. A teacher like Mr. Currin is what’s going to make graduation so hard for me and I’m sure many other seniors.  As much as I hate school, I know that when I’m sitting in college, I’m going to wish that I was still sitting in Online Publishing joking around or getting teased for a terrible article I wrote on summer. Thank you Mr. Currin for all the help and advice you’ve given me, you will be missed; after all, you are kind of a big deal.

R2. Say It How It Is

1.       What I love about writing is that you can write about anything you want; you’re in control of it. I personally writing about my opinion or feeling on something that I have a special interest in. Like, I don’t really like the writing assignments we get in school because you’re restricted from what you want to right about, the teachers make and tell you what you’re writing about. I like the freedom of being able to say what I want. Writing has helped me a lot of the times dealing with multiple problems I’ve had. For example, if I have something that I want to say/to someone, I’ll write in a letter format and say everything I want to them. I write it as if I was going to give it to them but usually, I never end up giving it to whoever it may be. It may sound stupid to do but it’s an amazing way to vent and get things off your chest that you need to. It’s not good to bottle things up inside but I’m not one to run to others and tell them all about my problems so I turn to writing. It’s weird, the feeling that you get after you write/vent. I feel so relieved, even though the person or the situation I’m in hasn’t changed, I feel better because I got it all out. I have so many notes of things I’ve wrote in a shoe box and from time to time, I’ll look back to see how things use to be; good and bad. I’ll re-read the things I’ve written and realize how much better I’m doing without the situation that I was in and it makes me feel really good about myself for the amount of things that I’ve gone through and that I have accomplished. Writing has really helped and impacted my life for the better.

R1. The End is Upon Us All

      The best part about the end of the school year is the happiness everyone comes to school with, majority of the time. It’s the time of the year where the weather is at its best, the sun is shining through the school windows making it hard to sit in class. It’s hard to walk around school and see people in a bad mood because of the weather. For me, this is such an exciting time because each day, I’m getting closer to graduation and being finished with high school. The part that I don’t like about the end of the year is the laziness that comes with it, especially having it be senior year. People have always told me that I’m going to miss it so that I need to make the most out of it but I can’t. Towards the end of the year, teachers find pointless activities and projects for us to do just to have some work to do. I think that’s the hardest part of it. The moment I got my acceptance letter for college is the moment my senioritis kicked in. It’s the realization that we’re done and all the work paid off so why try anymore? That’s not the right mindset to have but it’s hard not to have it. The best part about the end of the school year in previous years was getting a break from everyone for two months because by the time we come back, we’re ready to be back and see everyone that we haven’t. My favorite part about coming back from school was seeing how different everyone looks. This year it’s different though, there’s no coming back and there’s no seeing everyone that I see every day like now. That’s what is hard from me to realize. I’m excited to be almost done!

Q5. The "Stunt" of the Century

Many might have heard months ago about the guy that was asking to cross Niagara Falls on a tight rope from the US to the Canada side. It was brought up months before and US agreed to it and Canada took some time to think about but later approved the stunt. The daredevil’s name is Nik Wallenda, 33 years old is planning on really doing this event.  ABC is will be turning Nik Wallenda's attempted tightrope walk over Niagara Falls into a prime-time television event next month. The network said Friday it will devote its entire prime-time schedule to a three-hour special on June 15 with the daredevil's attempt. Part of the show will be an examination of the greatest stunts of all time. I wrote about this idea when he was first talking about this for a current event in Mr. Wild’s economic class and I thought it was crazy but awesome that this guy really wanted to do this. I honestly didn’t think he would get approved to do it but now I know why he did. Wallenda will be attached to a bungee cord, like string, in case he falls. Now, I’m not trying to sound like a mean or a bad person but I feel like it ruins the whole point of it. Being a daredevil means doing crazy stunts that put your life on danger. Stunts that put the people watching it on the edge of their seats in silence waiting to see what is going to happen next.  This stunt is exciting and I’m sure that a lot of people will go and watch Wallenda do it. But, the fact that we all know he’s going to live whether he does or doesn’t do it ruins it. It ruins it for me at least and I know that sounds bad but come on. It would be so much more interesting if there was nothing connected to him. Not that I’m saying I would want him to die, that’s not the case at all. But what’s the point of being a daredevil if you know you’re going to live either way? It takes the entire point away, I think. Anyone can attempt to walk across a wire, I’d do it, if I fall, I’m going to get pulled up anyways so I don’t find it a big deal. Also, I don’t understand why he’s spending months training for this, if he wasn’t going to be connected to anything while do it, it’d be completely understandable. It just proves how times are changing.

Q1. THE Smart Car

      For this blog, I’m going to tell a story about something that happened about three months ago. My parents were looking to buy a new truck, they wanted a Lexus or a new Tahoe; we went to many dealerships.  On a Saturday, we were car shopping all day and we went to Fusillo and we were all tired of walking around all day. We were walking down a line of big SUV’s and pickup trucks and all of a sudden, we passed a smart car. Now, there wasn’t a line of them, it was a tiny little smart car, in the middle of huge trucks. So we just stopped, stared at it, then looked at each other and started dying laughing. A salesman came to talk to us about the vehicle because he thought we were interested in it. For some reason, my Dad went along to being “interested” in the car. The guy went on and on about the car and how much power it has. I was laughing so hard that I eventually had to walk away to not make the entire situation obvious. He then asked if we wanted to drive it, my Dad thought it would be a good idea to say yes. My Mom wanted nothing to do with this because she was so embarrassed. So, my Dad and I get in this… “car.” We couldn’t even sit in it, although I’ll admit; there’s a lot of leg room inside of it. Anyways, the car was an automatic and Fusillo is located right off of the thruway so we just chose to drive it to next exit and then bring it back. Well we’re driving and we just felt stupid and we got off of the exit and made a right and we look after we turn and we drove for about 1.4 of a mile and we see a huge hill and we start looking at each other and laughing. So as we approach the hill he pretty much floored it and it sounded and felt like we were going up this hill so fast but in reality, we were going 25 miles per hour up this hill. The funny part is, once he floored it, we got sucked back in our seat as if we were about to go 200 miles per hour but no no, 25. I guess you might have had to been there but it was hilarious.

Q4. Audrina Patridge

A celebrity icon that I’ve looked up to for the past five years is Audrina Patridge. If anyone has heard of her, it’s probably from the show Laguna Beach which later turned into The Hills that use to be on TV but no longer is. Audrina attended El Dorado High School in Placentia, California. Audrina was born on May 9^t in 1985. Audrina was always going out and dating guys through the seasons of the Hills and she’d always spread how she felt on it. Looking back now, it’s easy for me to relate to some things that she had been going through. It’s very obvious that Audrina Patridge is known for her looks and that’s something I admire for so much. She’s not one of the female celebrity’s that flaunts everything she has, every chance she gets. “There’s a time and a place to flaunt it.” Audrina Patridge is a really down to earth girl. She may have no worked for everything she has like she should of but she still has worked for some of her money. During the show, there was a lot of drama with her close friends, such as Lauren Conrad. Audrina often got left behind and betrayed numerous times. As I went through high school, I could relate and I came to find that things like that aren’t worth it. If someone is worth and meant being in your life, they’ll find their way back to you. In May of 2008, Audrina starred in her first move, Into the Blue 2 which also starred Jessica Alba. Audrina didn’t have a big part in the movie, but she didn’t like it, she said that “acting is way harder than I always thought it would be.”  In the same year, in June, Audrina appeared on the cover of TV Guide with PEOPLE's Hottest Bachelor Mario Lopez as "The Bod Squad." Audrina has always modeled her own shoots for numerous reasons but this was sort of a big deal because it was out more than any of her photos had ever been. In 2011, Audrina took center stage for her VH1 reality show, Audrina, where she returns to her roots in Orange County, California. "I honestly did not say 'no' to anything they wanted to shoot," she said of filming the series. "They caught everything on camera, so it was very organic." The show costars her mom Lynn, her father Mark and her three siblings. I look up to Audrina Patridge because of her life and how real she is. She knows her life isn’t perfect; while watching the show, there were constant fights with her and her family. She didn’t care though, she knows that’s her life and that it’s never going to change and she’s proud of what she has and who she is. I do admit that there’s more people to admire that have worked harder and deserve it more but still. If I could be any person in the world, I’d want to be Audrina Patridge. 

Q3. Tuesdays with Morrie

 The best book that I have read throughout an English class would have to be Tuesdays with Morrie. I read this book this year; we just finished reading the book and watching the movie. I don’t normally connect with books, let alone enjoy reading them.  Mrs. Schaefer told the class before we started reading that we were going to love it and I honestly didn’t believe her at all, I was so wrong.  The book is so easy to relate to, it teaches you so much. I’ve personally never been in the position that Mitch or Morrie was in but we’ve all went through something hard. Many times I have had to say goodbye to people, maybe not because of death but a goodbye is a goodbye; especially when you know they’re not coming back into your life. I’ve never been much of a positive person; I’m the one that thinks of the worst possible thing that could happen. Seeing and reading about Morrie and his attitude on life and everything else literally amazed me.  It’s amazing because I know that Morrie isn’t the only person like that out there. Morrie was literally on his death bed and he still managed to smile like he never has before. Tuesdays with Morrie represents the quote “live today like it’s your last” and “make your own happiness”.  This book has changed my outlook on myself and on life. My goal from now on is to make the best of each situation, no matter how bad it is. Things aren’t always easy but eventually, after you pretend you’re okay, you start to be okay and there’s no need to pretend anymore. The more a person wants to be happy, the harder they should try to reach that point.  After reading Tuesdays with Morrie, I’ve learned a lot about myself and a lot of things I would like to change.

Q2. $UMM3R 2K12

I think that this upcoming summer is going to be the best one yet.  It’s the summer before I start college and it’s the first time I don’t have to worry about passing grades and exams. This summer I want to go all out and have the best time of my life, one last hoorah before it’s time to grow up. With that being said, I do need and want to grow up a lot this summer. It still hasn’t completely hit me that I’ll be starting college this upcoming fall. I’m looking forward to this summer because my family and I are taking a cruise to Bermuda and three weeks we get after we get back we’re going to Germany for two weeks. I’m really excited to travel and experience things that I never have before. I hope that traveling to such different places changes my outlook on a lot of things. I would like to change a lot about myself and get more of a positive attitude about myself and life in general. I’ve made a lot of mistakes throughout high school and I’ve been really lazy, I’d like to change all these bad habits and go in with a fresh start. Throughout college there are so many new and different people to meet other people choose to go to class, keep to themselves and go home. Throughout high school now, I tend to keep to myself and try to somewhat focus. I’d like to concentrate on school and do well but also meet a lot of people. This summer I want to make a bucket list of fifty things that I want to do before the end of summer. Every year before summer I always say it’s going to be the best one yet and it never is, this year, it will be.

P5. Selfishness

1.       There’s a lot of people in this world that take things they have and people that they have in their life for granted. I am definitely one of the people that do both of these things. I take my parents for granted so much. My parents have always been there for me doing as much as they can to make me happy. I honestly never realized how much they do for me until I stepped back and actually looked. The worst part of it, I hardly say thank you to either of them. It’s like, AI just expect them to do these things for me because they’re my parents. Looking at the situation now I realize that they don’t have to do any of these things.  I’ll get in a fight with my Mom and I finally realize why she gets so upset and mad about them.  We’ll spend the day together and something will happen that will cause a fight between us. She’ll spend so much money on me and then I’ll get an attitude.  The problem is that in today’s world, money is often buying people’s happiness. Although, there’s so many people that I would do so much for. Most people just expect it though, that’s what I hate.  For example, my friend said that he had to work on his Birthday and I felt bad because he was upset that he had to. I drove to his work with balloons and a card to make his work day a little better and when I got there to give to him, he didn’t even say thank you; he just expected it. It’s not something he should have expected because I was surprising myself by doing it. It’s just ridiculous how unthankful people are. By doing things for others, I realize that I’m putting myself in my parents’ shoes; this is how I make them feel. It may be a little different but it’s an awful feeling to go out of your way for someone and not even receive a thank you. People are really selfish and self-centered; I know that I am definitely like this and I’ve never wanted to change more.

P4. Times Are Changing

      For this blog, I wanted to write about how the present generation and the older generations are so different. Generations are different in a lot of ways; such as technology, attitude, communication, careers, and media. Many generations before the present didn’t have cell phones or computers. Technology has and is still increasingly incredibly. It’s hard to believe that people had to live without the technology that we have today. Many people, including myself, depend on my phone and my computer; I couldn’t imagine living without either one. Next, people’s attitudes towards things have differed so much. So many people complain about things that aren’t even worth complaining about. For example, in class a teacher that never gives out homework, hands us a worksheet to do that night; the entire class has to wine and moan about it. I’ve come to notice that the little things don’t make people the happiest anymore. Most people today care about money and about themselves. I think there are a lot more selfish people today than there used to be. Communication is a lot different due to technology. In today’s world, we have Facebook bullying and years ago, if someone had a problem with someone else, they’d settle it face to face. There are positives and negatives to how it is and how it used to be, but it’s just amazing how much has changed. It’s so much harder to get a job these days, whether you’re seventeen or thirty.  Most, if not all decent jobs today require at least 2-4 years of college. Years ago, college wasn’t nearly as important as it seems to be today. Finally, media has completely changed. Television shows use to be mainly cartoons, now almost every show I watch there is some sort of drama, there’s not enough lessons being taught. There’s a lot of media that is persuading people to do things that they shouldn’t; giving situations and examples that is making people try things they shouldn’t. I just think it’s incredible how different the generations are and it’s only getting worse.  

P3. What's More Important?

            I think that I agree with both sides of the stories’ opinions. It is clear that students enjoy having Nicole Weingard as their teacher but is she really doing what she’s supposed to? In some ways, she is but other she’s not. Throughout school I’ve had many teachers that have made class so much fun, other teachers have made it beyond boring, and then there are some that meet right in the middle of the two. I think it’s more important to have a teacher that knows everything thing that there is to know about what they’re teaching. Nicole Weingard made class fun but some of her student’s didn’t get good test results back. It doesn’t matter what grade you’re teaching, grades are more important than how much fun you have in the class. There’s many classes that I would dread going to but when it came to my exams, I couldn’t have thanked my teacher enough because they knew exactly what they were doing and the correct way to teach it for us all to succeed. I’m not saying that the teacher should want to make the class boring, it should be fun but that’s not what it’s all about. Many teachers do both, not every class is fun but it’s not all boring; they split it in half and half. A lot of subjects are hard to make fun with it; some classes you just need to sit there and learn.  Also, teachers don’t always have enough time to teach all the material that they need to. In my position as a student, I would rather have the class be boring but know what I need to in order to do well in the class and on my exams rather than having fun in class and not knowing what I’m doing. I can see people looking into it a little more in the younger grades because there isn’t that much that they’re learning, it’s more about having fun for the younger grades which I understand. But, when it comes to middle school and especially high school, grades and test scores are the most important thing to focus on, not fun.

P2. Change Has Made It's Appearance

      So much has changed for me since September as far as my goals and my accomplishments. I wanted to be so involved and get my grades as high as possible and I have done the opposite. Last year I watched the senior’s become so lazy and I couldn’t understand how or why they were doing it, if anything they should have been growing up and trying hard in order to prepare for college. Now that I’m in the same position they were, with less than two months until graduation, I see exactly where they are coming from. I have no motivation to do any of my work; I can’t take high school seriously anymore.  Once I got accepted to college, I stopped trying because I accomplished everything I needed to; I didn’t think there was any reason to continue to try because it didn’t matter anymore. I did not get involved like I wanted to with clubs and to help out more, but there’s still time to do some of the things that I wanted too. Back in September I was more excited to graduate and now I find myself terrified to do so. I watch my laziness increase towards school day by day and I don’t want this to happen in College. During the school year I’ll have a test and I’ll keep telling myself I’ll study for it but I always find myself finding something better to do instead and when I receive my grade, I know I could have done better but my laziness got in the way. I am finally realizing everything that I’ve done wrong, especially after reading my blog that I wrote from the beginning of the year. Everything I said I wanted to do, I found myself doing the exact opposite. Even though there’s only two months left of school, I want to try to improve my grades and attitude toward school as much as I can. I know I’m going to miss it so much so I need to enjoy as much as I can before it’s gone.

P1. Changes Within The Generation

I use to watch a lot of television and have show’s that I enjoyed watching every night of the week but that has definitely changed for me though. In my opinion, television shows are nowhere near as good as they use to be. I think a lot of shows make too many seasons and people lose interest because it’s the same drama over and over again such as, Jersey Shore and Teen Mom. As of right now, I find myself watching The Voice, Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and Friends.  I only watch television at night when I’m getting ready for bed, unless it’s Monday because that’s when The Voice is on. In my house, there are six televisions but only four get the most use. There are many negative when it comes to television, especially with younger kids. A lot has changed from when I was younger, television wise. There are so many shows about teen pregnancy and relationships and partially I think that TV. producers aren’t making it as bad as it should be.  There are a lot of shows and movies that show things they definitely shouldn’t and I think it has a lot to do with how much our generation has changed. Also, television causes people to never get up. There are so many kids that come home from school and sit in front of their TV or sit in there room watching TV for hours, they don’t do anything. I don’t think a lot of people are nearly as active as they should be; TV has a lot to do with it. There are positives to television though, there’s a lot to learn from watching certain shows.  In some cases it brings people together, such as family. There have been many times that my entire family gets together to watch a sports game. I would say that there are way more negatives to TV more than there are positives.

O4. A Good Deed Done

1.       Yesterday I went to the mall to pick up my prom dress and as I walking in I noticed the cutes old lady. As I walked closer, I realized that she was crying. There were two other women walking past her but I thought they were with the woman.  I soon realized that this poor old woman was all alone crying. I walked up to her and asked her if she was okay, she tried to answer but I couldn’t understand a word she was saying due to her crying. She finally said that doesn’t remember where she parked, she had been searching for almost an hour and no one would help her. I couldn’t help but hug her and tell her that I would find it for you. She admittedly handed me her keys to go out and find it. I had my friend stay with her to make her feel better and so the woman didn’t think I was about to drive away with her car. I was searching for about thirty minutes outside and finally, I found the park on the opposite side of the mall. I noticed that the car was taking up two parking spots and beyond crooked. I ran back and walked her back but she didn’t think she could walk the entire way and she asked me if I could go get the car and drive it to her.  I went to get the car and when I got back she had a fifty dollar bill in her hand; she wanted to give it to me for helping her. I absolutely could not take the money from this poor old woman. Doing this made me realize how good I have it. There are a lot of people who are by themselves dealing with problems and I always get upset for things that I shouldn’t.

O3. Mama Woelfle

1.       My Mother is by far one of the most important people in my life, alone with my Dad. When I was younger, like twelve – fifteen, I didn’t have a close relationship with my parents, or the rest of my family. I don’t know why, I’ve learned that many other people throughout those years went through the same thing I did. I kept to myself, I think it’s because I was going through high school and things were so much different than they were in middle school, I wasn’t ready to open up to my parents yet. When I was fifteen my Grandma, my Mother’s mom, had passed away and I think that had a huge effect on our relationship with one another. We became really close and starting getting a greater relationship. Also, right before I turned sixteen, my house burnt down as many know and I think that also brought my family and I closer because we learned a lot about one another. Plus, when you go through a tragedy like that, being there for one of another is the only thing you can do in order to get through it. I’m seventeen now and I’m so happy and proud of the relationship that I hold with my parents. I’ll admit, I’m really spoiled and I could never thank my parents enough for everything they’ve done for me. A lot of my friends have always had trouble and fought a lot with their parents, many of their parents are divorced; and it makes me really thankful for what I have. I give so many people respect for dealing with a divorce or constant fighting. No family is perfect, my family and I have had our problems just like the rest but you always get through it. During high school and life you start to realize that your “best friend” from fourth grade isn’t always going to be there for you like they promised, but family always would/should. I’m so thankful for my family.

O2. Here I Come Medaille!

       After reading the article, I’m really shocked and surprised. I was well aware that there’s a lot of misfortune and poverty still going on in the world but I had no idea that it was to this extent. It’s so unreal that “the probability that a 15-year-old Russian male will die before he is 60 is higher than 40 percent” there is no reason that the world should be this way. I didn’t think college was for everyone, but after I saw the statistics my whole opinion changed. Our economy is really different and it’s not at all easy to get a job today like it was many years ago. Neither of my parents went to college and they’re extremely successful today, the chances of that happening with a high school graduate today, is highly unlikely. “The typical income gap between a college graduate and a high school dropout has never been higher. Today, college grads earn 80 percent more than people who don't go to high school” so in my opinion, I’d recommend every person in high school to at least think about going to college, even if it’s only for two years. I never started to think about college until about, the end of my junior year. I had many career thoughts running through my head but they were constantly changing. About two months ago, I filled out applications to Hilbert, GCC, Medaille, and Daemen, every school that I applied to had a different major which was stupid. I finally came to my senses and decided to attend GCC for two years and major in general studies to figure out what it is I wanted to do. I kept thinking and thinking because that decision didn’t seem right for me, I realized I really wanted to go to school for business. Money has always been an important factor when I think of a career and I like to be somewhat in charge when I do things. I applied to Medaille and the dean called me to congratulate me on my acceptance which was extremely over whelming because I honestly didn’t think I’d be accepted to Medaille College.  Throughout all school I never tried as hard as I could and I’ve always suffered with average or below average grades so this was huge to me that I got accepted. He kept talking and there was more good news, he told me that from my SAT scores that I had earned a $26,000 scholarship to Medaille! I can’t even explain what a great feeling it was and is to know that I earned it from everything that I have done. I’ll be attending Medaille College in the Fall of 2012 for Business Administration.

O1. Rihanna Comes Clean

By Rolling Ston
April 4, 2012 11:15 AM ET
Rihanna has opened up to Elle about her fans' response to her reconnecting with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown despite his conviction for assaulting her back in 2009. "It's very hard for me to accept, but I get it," she told the fashion magazine. "People end up wasting their time on the blogs or whatever, ranting away, and that's all right. I don't hate them for it." She says she is unwilling to apologize for her decision because "tomorrow I'm still going to be the same person. I'm still going to do what I want to do." The singer says her experience following Brown's attack before the Grammys three years ago was essential to making her the woman she is today. "It gave me guns," she says of the incident. "I was like, well, ****. They know more about me than I want them to know. It's embarrassing. But that was my opening. That was my liberation, my moment of 'bring it.' I wanted people to know who I am. Whatever they take that to be, good or bad; I just want them to know the truth. "I have more freedom the more people know about me," says Rihanna. "It's like, one less skeleton in the closet, one less burden, one less secret; now you know that, so you can say what you want about it. I don't have anything to hide.
I honestly give Rihanna a lot of credit for being so careless about what other people think, at the end of the day everyone needs to do whatever that makes them happy. Yeah, she may look really stupid for staying with someone that has hit her, I personally never would. But, it’s important to do what makes you happy, it’s her decision and people should respect it. My opinion on this topic is really in between, it can go both ways. One way, I think she looks ridiculous for going back with him after what he did but no one knows their relationships besides them, and I guess people can change. Another way I see it is, everyone makes mistakes… Some are bigger than others but you have to get through them in order to move forward with their life, which it seems like Chris Brown is doing. I give them both a lot of credit for dealing with the rumors and opinions that are coming their way, I wish them the best.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/rihanna-i-wont-apologize-for-reconnecting-with-chris-brown-20120404

N4. Trayvon Martin

Racism has always been an issue for many years and it’s still continuing today. This situation it’s unbelievable to me and I do not believe that it was self-defense. Trayvon Martin wasn’t doing anything wrong besides walking down the street, it’s not like he was threatening anyone or waving a gun around in his hands; he was doing nothing wrong. I think the main issue is that if anyone shoots another person (of any race, ethnic group, religion, gender)… that person’s guilt or innocence should be decided by a judge or jury, not by a police officer at the scene. The most bizarre part of the police statement is “Zimmerman tells police he killed Martin in self-defense. Taking him at his word, police do not arrest him, nor administer a drug or alcohol test. They also did not run a background check.” Since when do police ask the shooter if he did anything wrong? And just accept his answer? Let the courts decide innocence or guilt, not the officer on duty. It’s very suspicious and unprofessional the way the police handled the situation, I think it definitely has a lot to do about race. I think George Zimmerman should have been at least taken down to the police station and got drug tests, background checks done and much more because the police knew nothing about the guy. They don’t even know why he had a gun on him at the time? It’s just very suspicious and wrong the way this entire case was handled. If this society wasn’t so judgmental and selfish, situations like these could often be prevented. Plus, the only time that self-defense should be used is if another person has something greater than you do. For example, if Trayvon was holding a gun to George Zimmerman, it would have been more reasonable for him to shoot Trayvon for self-defense but Trayvon had nothing to harm George Zimmerman on him. Society in this generation needs to change for the better.

N3. What's A Job?

As of right now, I am not employed, sad to say. Most seventeen year olds are supposed to have a job but I am one of the ones that do not. In my opinion, in today’s economy it’s extremely hard for a seventeen year old to find a job.  This year I did get hired at Darien Lake for the gift shop department which I’m kind of looking forward to. It’s going to be better to not have to constantly ask my parents for money, I’ll have my own money that I earned on my own. I’m more picky that I should be about jobs, I use to work at Carbones Pizzeria and the summer was awful there. It would be ridiculously hot in that building and it just made people dread going in there. Although, in summer I think everyone would be dreading going to work. When I said I was picky, I wasn’t kidding; I would never work with food again, at least not fast food. You come home smelling absolutely disgusting, your hair is all greasy, you’d probably gain twenty-five pounds from being surrounding with fattening food, and fast food restaurants are constantly busy. It’s really scary to me that the kids in my class have a general idea of what they want to do for their future career and I don’t. As I walk through the hall I always stop to see where everyone is going to school and what they’re going for, my names not even up there yet. I’m so behind, I just applied to Genesee Community College because I honestly, have no idea what I want to do with the rest of my life. To me, that’s really scary to think about. I plan on going to school for general studies for two years and then hoping I’ll figure out what I want to do along the way. I like to do a lot of things but it’s hard imagining doing the same thing, every day, for about thirty-fifty years; you really have to find a strong passion for it. I hope I find a career that I’m really going to enjoy.

N2. Spring Has Finally Arrived!

Spring time is definitely one of my favorite seasons. This past winter didn’t really ever arrive for Buffalo this year; it was mixed temperatures the whole winter season. I think this past winter made me want spring and summer even more, it never was too cold but it was never warm enough to break out the shorts and flip flops. Now that the warm weather is upon us, I am loving it. I love waking up in the morning seeing the sun shining bright through my window. I also love the fact that I can wake up, throw some shorts and a shirt on and go out and do so much. Spring is the perfect season to me because it’s not cold at all but it’s never too hot, it’s just right in my opinion. Also, this year is the first year I have had a car. I’m always in the mood to go driving with all the windows down and the sunroof wide open, this weather always make me want to drive really fast too. I’ve come to notice that the warm weather brings happiness to most people. It’s hard not to smile about all the sunshine. During the winter, there isn’t too much to do. This past year, like I said, we didn’t have a winter so there was never anything to do. It’s more exciting now because I know many of us have been awaiting the warm weather’s arrival. The only thing I hate about spring is being in school, especially this past week. I hate the fact that I’m sitting in class and I can’t help but look out the window to the sunshine and know that I’m stuck in this building until 2:25. But then again, it’s even more exciting to walk out the doors because you’re so much more excited to do whatever it is you’re doing. Spring has to be one of my favorite seasons.

M4. Summer Summer Summer

  Last summer was easily one of the best summers of my life. I went to North Carolina for a month. I stayed with family and it was unbelievably hot. We went swimming almost every day.  My Aunt, four cousins, and myself all drove to Daytona, Florida for a week and stayed on a Mexican resort that was right on the beach.  When we got to the resort, our room wasn’t ready for four hours so we decided to go on the beach for the day. While we were all on the beach, we saw dolphins swimming. They were so close to the shore that surfers were right behind them on their boards. There were so many people at our resort and the beach. I’m terrified of the ocean so I was literally running away from the water as the tide came towards me.  A couple days from being there we found out that there was supposed to be a hurricane only an hour away in Orlando. One morning my Aunt I got up before anyone and decided to go running on the beach.  The waves were huge from the current. As we were running we saw a lifeguard rush into the water, we both stopped and looked into the water and we saw nothing. As we kept standing there another lifeguard rushed into the water and we saw it. There were two foreign boys past the buoys in the water, we couldn’t believe it! We were so scared but we couldn’t look away, we kept seeing their hands waving and their arms rushing above the water. The lifeguards pushed their way through the currents and approached them. They were saved and as they came back to the shallow water they weren’t alarmed. They almost just drowned and they were acting like it never happened, it was amazing. During the time in Florida I also got sun burn which was horrible.  I couldn’t wait to get home; I missed my parents so much. When I got home we were almost moved into our new house. Last summer I think I grew up a lot. I realized that I was about to be a senior in high school and it was time to step into the reality. I have a good idea of what I want to do and I’m glad I had the amazing summer I did. I can’t explain how much I’m looking forward to this upcoming summer.

M3. Never Again Will I

I have about a million embarrassing moments that I’ve unfortunately experienced throughout my seventeen years of living. There are many stories that I could tell, about falling, about something I shouldn’t have said, about something I did… there is many things. Anyways, over this past summer I went to Florida with some of my family that lives in North Carolina. I have never been a big fan of water, and one of my biggest fears is the ocean. We stayed at a resort that was directly on the beach and I honestly loved it. My cousins always wanted to go boogie boarding and I would be the one to sit back and watch them all in the water, which was fine. In the resort there were people from all over, there was this boy that I had my eyes on the entire week we were staying there. I was sitting and he walked by and smiled at me on the beach, he was walking into the water so casually… He made it look like it was no big deal and that there was nothing at all to be afraid of. I looked at my Aunt and she said “Devyn, you should go, you don’t have to go in deep but just go so he sees you and maybe he’ll start talking to you”  as she was saying this she had a big smirk because she was almost positive that I wasn’t going to do this, but I did. I have no idea why I thought this would be a good idea but I started walking in and I realized he was going farther and farther but I didn’t care. I was doing really well; I didn’t have a fear in the world. I was about up to my knees which was a huge deal and he saw me, I thought he was waving me over so I started walking faster toward him. As I almost was to him I couldn’t help but notice this rather larger child sitting in a tube, he kept getting in between us and I was getting really mad. I tried running around him really fast but he bumped me and I fell down. I was under the water and I was freaking out because I realized that I was in the ocean under water. I started running for my life back to the beach and while I was freaking out… I couldn’t help but notice that the boy that I thought was interested in me was waving another girl, HIS GIRLFRIEND over to him. They both stared me because I was making a complete idiot of myself. This was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life.

M2. Don't Do It, It's Not Worth It

 I have always been against texting and driving. My Dad is always talking on the phone while he’s driving and whether you can do it or not, it’s always dangerous. In my opinion, talking on the phone is way better then texting and driving because you’re not staring down at your phone. I started driving in October and I tried texting and driving and I almost went off the road, it’s extremely dangerous. There are always new drivers and you can never trust the people in cars around you. Driving can be fun but it’s also something to take very serious, one mistake can easily result in a huge accident that can change someone’s life.. or end it. I honestly don’t see a problem from texting at a red light or at a stop sign but I still wouldn’t recommend to do it. There are so many people, mostly young people that text and drive and they don’t understand the risks. They’re not the best drivers to begin with and they give themselves way more credit than they should, I am one of these people. I’m not the best driver out there, I always try to text and drive and I find myself going into the other lane or going off the road and the moment you realize, you stop. You should stop at least, it’s really dangerous. “Previous academic studies—much more scientific than ours—conducted in vehicle simulators have shown that texting while driving impairs the driver’s abilities. But as far as we know, no study has been conducted in a real vehicle that is being driven. Also, we decided to compare the results of texting to the effects of drunk driving, on the same day and under the exact same conditions. Not surprisingly, Car and Driver doesn’t receive a lot of research grants. “ In conclusion, there is no reason, at all to text and drive.

M1. St. Patty's Day Take Over

I never have been a big fan of St. Patrick’s Day, I was never against it or anything, I just have never done anything big to celebrate it like others. This year I took on the opportunity of going to two parades for St. Patrick’s Day. On Saturday I went to Lancaster for the parade that was in the village, it was a lot better than I was expecting it to be. There were a lot of different parts to the parade, there were a lot of children from the community that participated in it and I really ended up enjoying it. Saturday night I went to a St. Patrick’s Day party and it ended up being really fun. Saturday night, I couldn’t believe the amount of cops that were roaming around the villages. Then, Sunday I made it downtown for the big parade that everyone seemed to be talking about. I could not believe the amount of people that were downtown for this parade. In past years, many people have told me how fun it is and that they always go but I never have had a desire to go and see it. As I was walking around I saw a lot of interesting people… a lot. The parade was really long; it wasn’t just a quick parade. I really enjoyed watching all the different parts to it and the creative activities that went along with the parade. I’m not the least bit Irish, I don’t even own a green shirt, I was probably one of the five people without a green shirt on. I wore a white shirt and people were honestly looking at me like I had twelve heads. I really enjoyed going and celebrating St. Patrick’s day once, I will now look forward to it in the future!

L4. I Just Wanted A Dog

As we all know, graduation is not too far away; about three months. It’s common for people to have graduation parties and for parents to buy their kids something kind of “big” for graduation. I told my parents that I didn’t want to have a big graduation party because I don’t think we need to waste the money on it. She asked me if I wanted something instead, I told her I wanted a dog. My family has never had a small dog and has never wanted one, I have always. I have never been close with my pets because they’ve always been huge and annoying to me, as bad as that may sound. I want a little fluffy dog, I told her exactly that. She told me that if she bought me one that she would kick it around our house (she would never do such a thing). My parents told me that they wouldn’t buy me a little dog but in the back of my mind, I thought they were really going too; there was nothing that I wanted instead. They surprised me last week of planning a cruise to go on after graduation, that was my present. Most people would be really happy to get away and go somewhere warm, I however, am not.  Why you ask? I am completely terrified by the ocean and planes, both which I would have to experience by this little vacation that they have planned. We have to fly to Florida to get onto the ship and then we’re on the ship for seven days, my two biggest fears. In some way I’m a little excited because it’s a Disney cruise and I’ll get to see amazing things and go to amazing places, like Bermuda! But most of me is terrified because I know if I see the water as we’re surrounding by ocean, I’m probably going to pass out. I don’t want to sound like a spoiled brat because I do appreciate that my parents are doing this for me, their letting me bring a friend on too! But I really, really wish they would have agreed on the whole dog situation.

L3. Blah Blah Blah

There are many things that tend to annoy me and end up making me angry, other than Bill Penny. I’d have to say that the biggest thing is when people can’t mind their own business and they end up starting unnecessary drama that has NOTHING to do with them. People are incredibly ridiculous these days. For example, if someone ties their show wrong or weird and someone sees it, they go to someone else and tell them and it gets around and someone feels the need to add onto the story which causes rumors and makes people dislike someone for being themselves.  Also, I hate that people can’t mind their own business no matter the situation. People are so judgment, you’re either going to be criticized for being yourself or trying to fit in, nothing is ever good enough because there is always someone who has something to say. The best part of it is that no one even knows what their talking about; people to choose to but in when they have absolutely no reason to do so. Also, many people are incredibly disrespectful. A lot of people today say and do things that hurt other and they don’t show any emotion of it. Many people go through things that others don’t know about, they make comments or take a joke too far and it often causes hurt, etc to the person that it is directed to. Another thing that tends to annoy me is when people try to be like others. For example, if someone is talking about something, like where they’re going on vacation and a certain person jumps in and lies to say their going there too just in order to fit in. It’s like there is four people in one person’s body so that people “like” them but in reality, people end up disliking a person who does everything they can for people to like them. You are the way you are for a specific person, there is no reason to try and be something you’re not; in any situation.