Past, Present, Future.

High School is a rough time for everyone, but being in Early College High School is a completely different story. It is very different than the other schools that I have atteneded. It is more demanding academicly and emotionally. Even before my education I have had my struggles, but I have also had great accomplishments and still have aspirations for my future.

I have always considered myself to be a fairly good student; this is not to say that I have not have my fair share of academic struggles. While some of my strong points are reading and English, I tend to struggle with math. The subject just does not come easy to me and I have trouble keeping up with the rest of the class. I often get discouraged because of this and tend to give up. Although, I have been trying to push myself this year, which is a struggle because of my procrastination and laziness. I have a tendency to put what I have to do off until the very last minute, then not finish it because I just simply do not feel like it. Despite my academic flaws I have also had some pretty good accomplishments.

I have never done anything spectacular in my schooling but I have achieved some significant accomplishments. One of my best accomplishments was in my 6th grade year at Lakeview Elementary when I won a county wide essay contest about energy conservation. I had written the best essay out of all of Lorain County Schools, and received 4 tickets to a Cleveland Cavilers game. (This was also the very first basketball game I went too). During the same school year I also found that I was reading at a college reading level, which was very exciting for me because I love to read and it was great to finally see it paying off. Another accomplishment that I feel is important is how I kept decent grades. Between being involved in activities outside of school and also putting homework and projects off until the last minute, I am very proud that I have maintained decent grades during my years of schooling. However, these accomplishments are in the past and I am looking forward to my future aspirations.

The future is big and bright ahead of me, so the question is what to do with it. My academic aspirations are fairly simple and can probably be considered short term goals. First I want to get all A's at least one semester. I have been trying to achieve this goal for a while but my math grade always holds me back. Hopefully I can break the habit and get this checked off my list. Second, I want to get high scores on my ACT and SAT tests. These scores will help me with getting into the colleges that I really want to get into, and if I get high enough scores I will have bragging rights. Third, I want to graduate Early College at the top of my class. I might have some stiff competition but I believe that if I push myself harder I can actually do it. I believe that if I kick my bad habits and push myself I can actually reach my goals.

Looking past my flaws in my education, I have achieved some pretty good goals and I have more to strive for. I will not give up on my dreams no matter what obstacles I face. I have been challenged in the past and I know that if I really put my mind to it I can do anything I want to do and more.

Cyber Bullying

Bullying is becoming a huge problem in todays society. It takes a lot of guts to bully a person face to face, but now-a-days we all communicate over computer or texts, and it makes bullying a whole lot easier. People bully for all different reasons. To seek revenge, to make themselves feel better, to make others feel worse. To me a bully is a weak person. If a person needs to put others down to raise themselves up then the person needs help. They either have very low self esteem or they just love to hurt others.

I think it is safe to say that the people who do the bullying are sad people, but what about the other people who see bullying being done and don't say anything? It has been statistically shown that if a bystander steps into a situation that it will mostly likely be diffused. So why do most of us turn away when we see these things? We chuckle and say "oh man! He/ she just got dogged!" And keep scrolling down the page. We shake it off like it is nothing and continue on with our day. Yet we do not see the bullied person at home crying. Or plotting their death over something some pathetic teenager said about them.

Often times bullies do not realize the affect they have on people. It seems that in todays world that it is almost acceptable to commit suicide for being bullied. It is all over the news and people just shake their heads and say "it's such a pity that that happened to such an innocent child" yet they do nothing to change the world us children are living in.

We as a society, as a human race, need to step back and take a look at what we are doing to each other. We need to realize that we are killing our own. Maybe not literally but by kicking someone while they are already down is killing their soul. We do not realize how harsh we are to each other, and maybe, just maybe if we all take a good hard look at what is going on in this world we will understand how precious these people and how we can keep ignoring this on going problem.

It's like standing in the Atlantic Ocean, not when the water is as clear as glass and everything is perfect.. but when the water is angry. Splashing up, knocking down everything in its path, then quickly and all at once pulls back and waits to strike again. It lets things go back to normal, lets things settle down, then attacks. Again. And again. And again. Until finally, the current is too much to bear and pulls everything under. It's scary at first, being under with no way out. But then something inside says "stop fighting". Some people choose to ignore that voice, they fight and fight until they get out. They finally reach the shore and everything is ok. Then there are the others, the ones who choose to let the current take them. They let it happen and they don't make it out alive.

Swipper No Swipping!

Is it right for people to claim things that do not belong to them? Is it ok for someone to walk up and take something just because they want it or think they deserve it? To me, it is not ok. I think that taking things that belong to someone else is morally wrong and is also considered theft. For example, if there is a wallet laying on the sidewalk filled with not only money and credit cards but also a ID with the persons name and address it is not simply ok to take it and pretend nothing ever happened.
Now the other prospective, is it ok for someone to take their property or belonging back? The wallet situation for example, I think it the person who lost the wallet has every right to confront the person who took their wallet and demand it back. A situation where it would not be acceptable to take someone's belongs away would be if the person received it as a gift. It would just be rude if a person gave someone a gift then tried to take it back.
Point being, do not take things that belong to others.