Six Flags!!

May 19, the day every 8th grader was waiting for. After a long year of anticipation, it finally came, we were going to six flags! Everyone was excited and would've been happier if it was nicer out and not ranining. We left at 9:30 and had to stop for about 15 minutes because a bus got overheated and kids had to come on our bus. Since we had to stop, we got there around 11.

The first ride my friends and I went to was the Giant Drop, which was worth the 30 minute wait. Then we went on American Eagle and I was kind of scared since it was my first time riding it but my friends made it better. We went on other rides but my favorite one was Raging Bull and I'm so glad we got to ride it. Our last ride was traumatizing for me even though my friend, Brimady said it would be relaxing. She lied, it wasn't relaxing for me. The whole time we were spinning in the air, I was waiting to get off and it's funny because this ride was nothing compared to the bigger ones I rode. Overall, I had a good time with everyone I saw and I hope to go soon again.

Scariest Moment of My Life

      The scariest moment of my life was when I was hanging out with my friend, Amelia, and we almost got kidnapped. This happened on a nice day in November while we were walking from the store with chips in our hands since it was a half day of school.
      We were talking, minding our own business, and there was a man around his 50's smoking in front of us. We thought that we would walk past him and just go to Amelia's grandmas house but as we were eating the chips, the man said, "Hey girls, I have those chips in my house." Amelia and I gave each other a scared look and as we speed walked past him, he looked at us for too long and warning bells went off in my head. I thought that he would leave us alone but when I turned around to check where he was, it looked like he was following us so we ran at full speed. Me being me, I dropped my phone on the corner of the street we were running. I quickly picked it up and ran to where Amelia was hiding.
      We ran to her grandma's house and started nervously laughing because of how scared we were. We reached her house and watched TV trying to comprehend what was happening, until a few hours later when we decided to go to the park with our friends (Brimady and Evelyn). At the park we told them our story and they called us dumb for not reporting it, and we both agreed but we didn't think of doing that so I regret that.



My friends and I :

10 Years Later

In 10 years, I will be 24, a grown adult, and hopefully successful. I will be living in an apartment full of the things that bring me joy. Some things like pictures filling the walls, little pieces from my past that I will never forget about, and either a pet cat or dog. At this point in my life, I hope to be economically stable enough to provide for myself with basic needs. I wish to take the trait of perseverance from my mother to do these things. She has always been a role model to me and that feeling soared when I heard of all the hardships she overcame by leaving Poland with a suitcase and 100 dollars. This story makes me think about the people who aren't as lucky as she is to build a life for themselves.

I will do anything I can to make sure that I don't end up like some of the bums in my family. I want to be a detective and this passion of mine can't be done without school and knowledge of that field. I have never enjoyed school, but the fact that I'm 24 and hopefully didn't drop out, will keep me going. My future holds not only being a detective but helping people around the world. After college I want to travel the parts of the world that need the most help and do something about that. These hopes and dreams mean that I'll have to leave my comforting apartment and let. Since I'll be leaving a lot, kids aren't my top priority to have. I don't want to be tied down to something I don't want to have.

Why Do People Judge Others?

My family shaped me to be the person I am. I have been impacted by my parent's divorce at the age of 7 but love my mom and dad equally. I am blessed to be in a loving home where I don't get judged for what I do or what I say. Although I live a good life, some people don't. These people may seem happy on the outside but who knows that they're going through on the inside.

My mom teaches me valuable lessons about being kind, showing respect, and not judging anyone before you get to know them. She always tells me stories about the disabled people she works with getting downgraded by people they don't even know and by the people who are supposed to care for them. Hearing this makes me wonder why people think it's ok to make someone feel bad about themselves because they are seemed to be different. I don't understand why we have a mindset that because someone's not capable of doing the same things we are, we can't treat them the same way. Instead of having this mindset, others should support each other in some way.  

Earth Day

I hate getting up early on the weekends but for Earth Day I made an effort to help clean up my community with my friends Amelia and Evelyn. I didn't feel like doing anything in the first hour but as time went by, we planted 3 trees around Proksa Park. I felt good about supporting the planet since I basically do nothing.

In my opinion, Earth Day was a good experience for me to see how we should help out the planet more and not just dedicate a day to clean it up, just for it to become a mess the next day. Although we can't change everything about it, a little helps and if we all pitch in, it could affect how we all live.

Life Is Beautiful

The movie Life Is Beautiful has a good plot to it. It's about a man and woman (Guido and Dora) who live totally different lives during World War II and eventually fall in love and have a son (Giosuè) together. They get separated into two different camps and have to live without each other. Guido is forced to endure labor while Giosuè stays with the other children and awaits his future. To make things better for his son, Guido pretends that they are playing a game and explains that if he follows them, he will win a prize at the end. These rules help Giosuè stay out of trouble and sometimes make him unnoticeable. Life Is Beautiful and the Holocaust museum both relate to each other because their tone was solemn and serious. In the Holocaust museum, we learned about how life was for people living during that time. We  were shown different artificers, pictures, and had a guest speaker. The guest speaker and the movie were similar because it was in a person's point of view in their life.

The tone of the movie was heartfelt and humorous because whenever Guido wanted to reassure his son that everything was fine, he would walk in a funny way. This is shown throughout the movie whenever Giosué almost gets in trouble. The humor is brought out when the game is mentioned. This game keeps Giosué interested and distracted from what is actually happening.

Life is shown as beautiful not only from the title, but from the hidden messages that are expressed in the movie. Always staying positive is a big part of this film. An example of how Guido stays positive is that he never loses hope of getting his family back together again. This hope pushes him to get through the work he is forced to do. Another way life is beautiful is shown is by making the days count. Guido managed to put a smile on his sons face by making a fool of himself or just reminding him that they will get out soon.

School's Almost Over

It's already quarter 4 and i can't believe I survived all of these months of school. I'm so proud of myself for not getting any fouls this year, actually I might've jinxed it, because last year I had three detentions. I think as a student I kind of improved with school but at the same time fourth quarter has been a struggle and I'm starting to slack off kind of. This isn't good for me and I know it but there have been so many projects going on in most of my classes.

As the fourth quarter progresses, I'm going to persevere and make this the best last quarter. I already made a list of what I have to complete in my classes. In science and social studies I'm on track with finishing my work. Math has always been a complicated subject for me, but as an 8th grader going into high school, I have to prepare myself for the challenging 4 years ahead of me.

Spring Break!!

The words "spring break" always have a special place in my heart. The downside is that it lasts for a week and a week only. Although it seemed short, it was pretty eventful. On Tuesday my favorite show, Prison Break, came back on. On Friday, Harry Styles' new song would debut. It's pretty obvious how those two things aren't relevant to each other but they're what made my break better. 

The other days of the week were pretty boring and I did nothing but catch up on Gilmore Girls and texted my friends. I wish I could say it was eventful but my life's too boring for anything cool to happen. 

The Homeless

The nonfiction book I read is called The Homeless by Tamara L. Roleff. Homelessness is not new to the United States and has increased slowly since 1922. Although many people can't afford a house it doesn't cause homelessness because the person could have a mental illness and wouldn't be able to care for themselves. Mental illness contributes to homelessness but it doesn't stop the person from wanting to make a better life for themself.

I chose this book because I've always been interested in helping people in need and by reading this book it gave me a new insight on what kinds of problems they faced and explained how people are unfair to them. A quote from the book says, "The low minimum wage, raised in April 1990 for the first time since 1981, has left many working families in poverty." This interested me because people are still protesting to get paid better in their job and the problem is still ongoing after 27 years.

Backlash

The book I finished is called Backlash by Sarah Darer Littman. When I read the summary on the back, I was really interested and wanted to find out more, so I did. The story starts out with Lara Kelley's point of view and she's messaging someone named Christian on Facebook. Lara has been depressed but she soon gets better, so when Christian tells her that she's an awful person, it drives her over the edge and tries to commit suicide, Lara survives but her parents are extra over protective. Throughout the story there are many conflicts and surprises. Although the story focuses on Lara, there are different characters points of view in the following chapters.

There are many interesting characters in this book but I will write about one I really disliked. The character I didn't like was Mary Jo Connors, she is a real estate agent and wants her daughter, Breanna, to follow her dreams and not her own. A quote that made me not like her even more is, "Can't I trust you to do anything right, Breanna?" Mom says in a voice as cold as her anger is hot, completely unmoved by my tears." After I read this part it made me feel bad for Breanna because she dealt with this everyday. Also the fact that her mom didn't show any sympathy after her daughter was crying shocked me.

Terezin

"Terezin"

That bit of filth in dirty walls,
And all around barbed wire,
And thirty-thousand souls who sleep
Who once will wake
And once will see
Their own blood spilled.

I was once a little child,
Three years ago.
That child who longed for other worlds.
But now I am no more a child
For I have learned to hate.
I am a grown-up person now,
I have known fear.

Bloody words and a dead day then,
That's something different than boogie men!

But anyway, I still believe I only sleep today,
That I'll wake up, a child again,
and start to laugh and play.
I'll go back to childhood sweet like a briar rose,
Like a bell which wakes us from a dream,
Like a mother with an ailing child
Loves him with aching woman's love.
How tragic then, is youth which lives
With enemies, with gallows ropes,
How tragic, then, for children on your lap
To say: this for the good, that for the bad.

Somewhere, far away out there, childhood sweetly sleeps,
Along that path among the trees,
There o'er that house
Which was once my pride and joy.
There my mother gave me birth into this world
So I could weep...

In the flame of candles by my bed, I sleep
And once perhaps I'll understand
That I was such a little thing,
As little as this song.

These thirty-thousand souls who sleep
Among the trees will wake,
Open an eye
And because they see
A lot

They'll fall asleep again...

My Regret

I have a few regrets in my life and most of them are things I wish I had done. I think that regret helps you as a person to build confidence to do things I passed up on. Although I didn't do most of those things, I think that my choices helped me in the end.

I have a regret that happened years ago and it's still clear in my mind, let me explain it. When I was around 8 I had swim classes to help me swim better. I made it to the experienced part of the group and we started doing harder stuff. One thing that I had trouble on (I still do) was flipping in the water. I tried so hard to do it but eventually I gave up and told my mom I wanted to quit. To this day, I wish I had persevered and kept on trying, but I know how to swim and that's ok with me.

A Day With Harry Styles

If I could pick someone famous to spend a day with, it would be Harry Styles. He's a singer in the band One Direction, but I don't know if they're a band anymore so that's kind of sad but he's still great! I choose him because he seems like a person who would be fun to hang out with and from the millions of videos I saw about him. I think he's worth meeting since he's done a lot for people around the world and made an impact in my life.

The setting is in Florida so imagine this in your head, if you've never been to Florida pick a familiar place to you. We're driving around downtown Venice and decide to stop and walk around the stores that are nearby. I would ask him to sing some songs because I have to take that opportunity. I'd also ask him to recall any embarrassing stories he has because I love hearing those. I would take him to all my favorite beaches in Florida and share the many experiences I had there. We would get food and watch the phenomenal sky. The day goes on with us having fun but sadly the day ends and he leaves.

German Propoganda

Propaganda has been around for many years. It's used to make people believe in what you want them to think. During the Holocaust many people were targeted, such as children and adults. Posters were used to send a message across in various ways. I think that not all propaganda is bad but it depends on the context it's being used in.

The poster I chose was "Mothers! Fight for your children!" I chose this poster because it was interesting in many ways, and people can interpret it differently as well. At first I thought that the poster was telling mothers to join the way of thinking the Nazi's wanted them to believe in. Then I thought it could be saying to persevere and protect your children from anything that can harm them during this time period. I think that they made this poster to control people's thoughts at a young age because as a child you always trust your parents and what they have to say. 

My Happiness

15 things that make me happy

- staying at my dad's apartment when I don't have school

- going on car rides that take more than 5 minutes

- hanging out with my friends and always managing to have a good time

- finding a new show on netflix

- doing my homework on time

- going to Florida every year

- seeing my cat on the weekends

- getting a good grade on a test I thought I would fail

- writing birthday paragraphs months before the actual date

- staying at a hotel

- finding new music and listening to it every day

- my friends & knowing I have them in my life

- swimming

- making a friend that understands my humor

- thinking of the future and opportunities I have to do more things

Super Bowl Commercial

Personally, I don't watch the Super Bowl and neither does any of my family. So I had to google the commercials that were shown in the super bowl. The commercial I watched was by Airbnb and is called "We Accept". I think this commercial is important to the world today because we are all surrounded by this hate and the amount of protests since the election. Watching this commercial should feel like a wake up call for everyone to realize they should live in profundity and know that everyone is equal to each other. This commercial shows that no matter who you are you should not be judged based on ethnicity, religion, or who you love. Considering how everyone is being affected by Trump's words and them thinking that they don't belong here is sad, so we should remind them that they do belong.

Best Gift I've Given

I've given gifts to a lot of people for numerous occasions. The best gift I think I've given was to my mom. My mom likes moons and things with moons on them so when I saw the gift in an unknown store in the mall, I knew it would be perfect. It was a 3D clay model of a moon that you could paint if you wanted. I was around 8 at the time so I didn't really know which colors went together. This resulted in me painting the moon in various colors. When I gave my mom the gift I could see how happy she was, and it made me feel good since she still kept it after all of those years.

Worst Argument I Had

I've had many arguments with people and that's pretty bad, but after each one I noticed two things: they were toxic or I needed them in my life. One argument I had was with a friend of mine (A) and his friend (M). M didn't like me and I didn't like her, but of course A was best friends with both of us.  M started a bunch of drama which was funny since I ignored her all the time. Then one day she told A that I hated him and talked behind his back to her. I was mad because he believed her even though I had screenshots of my conversations with M.

In the end he forgave me and M still didn't like me. I wish my friendship with A lasted but sadly we stopped being friends because he changed. He was a toxic friend for sure but I still miss him.

Advice to our President

 I have a lot of advice for our new president, Donald Trump. Since he is our leader he has to respect everyone and treat them equally. I'm saying this because whenever he talks about anything, he insults people in someway.  So, because of that people protest every day in hopes of getting the respect they deserve. Another piece of advice I have is to do what's best for our country as a whole and not just for a certain group of people. I know that he'll never see this, but the fact that a 14 year old is giving advice to a grown man is sad. Hopefully, he'll realize how his actions affect us negatively and should be reliable to our country as well.

Fake It Until You Become It

In my opinion I don't think I'm the best at some things such as public speaking, understanding math problems, and getting things done on time. After watching the video in class about faking it until you become I started imagining scenarios about all of the things I'm not good at and I succeeded in the end. I will peresevere until I reach my goal. I think that the only way I can actually become a better version of myself, I have to start believing that I can do things only if I'm confident enough.

Kindness Over the Holidays

Over winter break, I did a lot of things which consisted of me being in bed all day and sleeping. Although I was lazy, I still managed to do nice things for my family and others around me. Those things weren't big but they were still nice, in my opinion. On Thanksgiving and Christmas my mom always cooks so I decided to help her out with whatever she needed and she was grateful for that. Also on Christmas, my grandparents didn't have anywhere to go so I asked if they wanted to come over to spend time with us. Those are a few things I did out of kindness on winter break.