May 2011 Blog Posts (46)

        There has always been scandal in the news and tabloids about people and celebrities having affairs, and even sometimes ending up having a baby with someone other than their wife or husband. But when this type of behavior is happening in our own government, it still ends up shocking the country. Especially when this specific government official has been preeching the importance of family his entire term.

      These past couple weeks, we have heard in the news about the Gov. of…

Since we all just took the ACT and most of us have received our scores, I began to contemplate college life. Am I really going to be ready to leave home next year when I will be barely 18 years old? 

Most of us think we are prepared for a 4-year college, but are we really? Many of us are used to the constant supervision by our parents and from experience I know that the second teenagers experience this type of freedom they…

As much as I hate, and love, to say it... We are about 3/4 of the way done with high school. That's a scary thought. It seems like yesterday that I was learning to ride a bike and couldn't throw a ball over 10 yards. Now, I'm driving and have to start looking towards college. And that's the problem. College.

All I've heard from my family and some friends over the last few months is, "Hey Ben, what colleges are you looking at?" And every time I've been asked that question, I have had…

I never thought I would see the day. The people in charge of District 211 have finally seen the light. In case you haven’t already noticed, there has been an extremely exciting new addition to the websites accessible at school. This sacred vessel that is home to millions of videos ranging in all genres is now perfectly acceptable to use at Fremd. Youtube has made its way into the education system. If this isn’t a sign that times are changing, I don’t know what is. Pretty soon,…

For those who don't speak 1337, HaXoR, or otherwise known as leetspeak is what people would call the "Language of the Internet". Some of you who go on the internet to use Facebook and YouTube may have no idea what this is, but to those who actually have explored have grown accustomed to this silly language. For those who haven't translated 1337, it translates to "leet", which stands for "Elite [speak]", which implies only those who know their way around the Internet know how to read and even…

I teach the aikido kids class at the YMCA monday nights.  This class is offered to kids ages 5-12 for about fifty minutes in the evening.  Recently 13 new students have joined increasing the size and diversity of my class greatly.  In trying to ensure that my students have fun, be active, learn and perform the martial art, and display respect for the japanese tradition all at once, I find myself a bit on edge.  In fact, when one student accidentally gives another student a bloody nose, yet…

For 2nd semesters, most students at Fremd work hard to get good grades, and maybe ruin it with finals. Finals take time to study for, and lots of students won't remember what was even talked about at the beginning of the semester. But are the important to see what you learned all semester? I think that the finals are necessary, but I think they should be worth less, so if someone does poorly it would affect there grade too much. I think that would be fitting for…

For the past 10 years, Osama has been the brains behind Al-Queda. He planned the attack on 9/11 on the U.S. that killed over 3,000 innocent U.S. citizens. Only after 10 years were we able to pin point Osamas location, which was in Abbottabod, Pakistan in a huge mansion. This mansion was also 10 or 20 minutes from a military base in Pakistan. How Pakistan did not know that the most wanted man in the U.S. or even the world was hiding in a masion that was 10 or 20 minutes from a military base…

I would define myself as a follower of God, a person of wonder, cautious, confusing at times, an explorer, and maybe a few other things. What I define myself as is different from what you define yourself as. We may share things in common but we’re not the same. Defining yourself comes from you’re hopes, dreams, and what you value. Some things may define you more than others. What others define you as, also has a role in who you are. Other’s can…

                           Commercials. Sometimes they show you something that is totally freaking awesome or they are just a waste of time off of your favorite TV show. Personally I have seen some funny commercials and some really bad ones. It made me think about the purpose of them and the reality behind them. Commercials are generally aimed at the emotions that the public (you) have. They mainly appeal to the public through emotions such as happiness, intelect, humor, and every man's…

Whenever I'm outside on a clear night I always find myself gazing up into the sky at the stars. With my eyes glazed over in astonishment at all these millions of stars scattered in the sky is when I really see how small we really are. There are millions are stars in our galaxy with…

Have you ever stepped foot inside a gym? The beauty of them is... They vary. There's your average YMCA or lifetime fitness with old people and their personal trainers showing them how to do a lift and to get "toned", to stepping into a gold's gym or the like and being blown back by the intensity. It really is a cool experience being part of it. You build bonds, and you get huge. How can that get any better?

Now, there is one major thing that can completely ruin a gym…

On Saturday May 21, 2011, a volcano in Iceland erupted. It is not a common experience for a volcano to blow its top. This was the first eruption in that particular volcano since 2004, yet this most recent eruption was its largest in 100 years. The name of the volcano is Grimsvotn near the city of Reykjavik. Luckily, a glacier was covering the volcano, and it was not close to any towns. No one was hurt due to the…

One of the most interesting aspects of America today is pop culture and how it influenced the lifestyles of current American teens.  In the early 2000's the trend of reality TV began to surface.  Initially the shows on TV were competition shows where participants competed for a final outcome such as getting the bachelor or losing the most weight.  As time went on, the shows evolved to a "slice of life" approach where there awas a focus on the personal lives of participants. like for example,…

Who has heard that oh so famous excuse: "I just got home. Let me relax." Well turns out you really need it!!! A study published in the Journal of Family Psychology suggested that doing house chores after a stressful day of work prevents the body…

Through history there have been numerous theories on when the world will end including the most recent, May 21, 2011. We’ve survived to the twenty-third, so what’s to say about this over the top 2012 business? Why does that particular day stand out from all the others, as the last day on earth? I figured I should try to find out.

Astrologically, December 21^st is the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican calendar.…

So you study the ACTs hard and pay tons of money to have a private tutor to boost your grade by 1-3 points. As you all know the ACT consist's of science,math, English, and reading. You are told to study hard and that anything is possible that you've learned to be on that test. Soon you are no longer studying your work, but for the ACT itself. It has become its own class, its own category, and it has created a huge profit for those who created it. The profit comes from selling the booklets,…

When I was about 7 years old, during summer I was outside almost every day along with all the other kids in my neighborhood. But these days, I don’t see as many as I used to. Now they’re all inside on the computer, watching TV or playing video games and this can lead to serious health problems, not only now, but in the future.

Kids these days aren’t getting the proper amount of exercise. Statistics show that kids aren’t outside as much as they should be and exercise rates…

Only a few weeks left of school! Every student is ready to get out of here for 3 months. Even during the summer, the school administrators love to give us homework. It's our summer vacation.  Do we seriously have to have more homework?! Now I'm not saying that books are bad and we shouldn't be reading over the summer, but why do we have to be forced to?? We should be able to choose what we do with our time over our summer break.

Of course, we…