Ted Talk: Jennifer Golbeck: The curly fry conundrum: Why social media “likes” say more than you think

A company has sent an advertisement based on baby bottles to a 15 year old girl and this was a week before she told her parents that she was pregnant. It was possible for the company to figure out that she was going to have a baby beforehand due to the record of items she had bought online.

This is an example of how the online media keeps a record of every single click you make online. Such data is used for corporate groups to promote their products more efficiently. They may know who you are and what you do not by looking at your profile, but the movements you make online. The unfortunate fact is that you will never have control over this information.

Not many are aware of this situation, yet Jennifer Goldbeck’s main aim is for users to take back their control over the information they input in websites.

The most useful way companies learn about their users on social networking websites is through the theory of homophile. This is defined as the ones nearby you having the similar attributes and hobbies as you. A homophile would guess that the friends of a smart and young being would have nearly the same characteristics. Thus, if a smart man creates a page on curly fries via Facebook, it is most likely that the friends who have liked the page will be smart as well. If this theory is correct, the page would end up having a host of smart people. It is not the content that makes you smart, but the act of liking the page that proves homophile accurate.

The problem is the information companies collect are not under the permission from the users. There are luckily three ways that can help these companies realize that users must be the customers, not a form of resource they can abuse. There is a political law route, which is going through all the political process and action to earn the right of using the users information, but this would be extremely time consuming. The other way is the bann any profit-seeking companies, meaning that no one would be able to access your information. This is beneficial to the users, but companies would no longer have a way to create statistics needed for efficient marketing. Nonetheless, the third and most efficient way is to aware users about how they would use their SNS. Liking and sharing certain pages may unconsciously expose their identity and personal information.

Companies would want to collect as vague information as possible, but if users do not want their information to be used in any form of way, then companies must respect their users belief. It is about time to give them not only the rights they need but also an advanced technology needed in the online world.

Jennifer Goldbecks overall reason with giving the users rights online in reasonable, but there can be so many conflict with the companies. The only reason why they collect information is purely because of improvement, not for any hacking or deceivement. It will prevent any abuse online, such as threats of inappropriate content. There will not be enough statistics if users don’t be honest online and begin to unlike certain things. These companies alas do not share any of the information they collect to the public, but only use it for the customer’s good.  According to politics, users must be over the age of 13 in order to access any social networking website because it is believed for them to be responsible and aware of the information companies collect.

Users are who create the face and attributes of a social networking website. There are only a few rules and limitations they must keep online, which is relatively nothing compared to what companies must do in order to keep your information safe. Therefore, if users are freely allowed to post, like or share anything, then companies must at least have a minor proportion of information they collect.

Such problem requires careful thought and discussion.

Ted Talk: Sheryl Sandberg: Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders Final

Only 13% of the parliament consists of women and the numbers have not been increasing since 2002. They tend to feel less confident and have a lower self esteem than men. The United States had proved that there are women has less freedom when it comes to your career. ⅔ of the male workers had children, while only ⅓ of the female workers did. The world is unconsciously discriminating against women, especially in the labor market. To prove this, a professor had two two groups of students who received the exact same research paper with one single difference—the sex of the author. Results showed that more students wanted to work with the male author than the female author, for no particular reason. There is a false idea that men are considered as better working partners than women.

Women tend to make decisions to early. In most family cultures, women are the one who are mainly in charge of their child, while men are the ones to have to earn the money. Women have to face a decisions between persevering towards their career, or either quitting their current job for the sake of their children. Having to make such life changing decision at a relatively early age causes them to become too precautious, if not, passive. This is an obstruction to the women’s career development, which is another reason to why such a low percentage of women are in the working field than men. It is recommended for women to not make such decisions too early in advance. This does not mean that all women must walk their career path and put their children first, but rather decide when your job becomes stable.

In all honesty, this talk had not surprised me at all. Job inequality have been a problem for a long time and there progress to fix this is yet too slow. Men still have more social and political power than women. There is still a “glass ceiling” for women in terms of their career. Ways of improvements are being suggested, but not many has been accomplished for the previous years. Women in countries that are less developed are more vulnerable to harm, such as physical abuse and teenage pregnancy than men. I believe that public must first recognize the sexism our society faces in order to distribute the job equality between men and women.

This House Would Not Legalize Prositution

Prostitution is defined as the practice or occupation of engaging in paid sexual activity. The topic on whether or not we should legalize prostitution has been debated for many years. In this essay, our house disagrees with legal prostitution. The act itself is socially undesirable and immoral and it will have a negative impact on society. The interest in this job will also increase once the government legalizes it.

There are many non-profit organizations that support people in a similar situation as prostitutes, such as people in abject poverty. We need to question why prostitutes are denied the same support and help. The only reason they join prostitution is that there is no other option to make a living. These women are not educated and have extremely low wages like those who are supported by thousands of organizations. Rather than legalizing prostitution, we need to first find a way to rescue them from unhealthy working conditions.

We need to predict how it will affect the public when prostitution becomes legal. Although these women will be safe in terms of reliable insurances and wages, if the crowd disapproves the "new career," not only will it cause a petition, resulting in social division, but also seclude prostitutes from society . The way we change our viewpoint on prostitutes will take many years. Adding on, the stereotypes of sex workers are hard to change, thus making a slight, perhaps harsher, difference in the lives of these women.

More women will consider to be a prostitute once it becomes legal. Those who are especially in desperate need of money will not think twice. This industry will grow faster than ever as the interest will raise. This will have negative side effects. For example, young women not mature enough to have the right concept on sex can be easily seduced by this high paying industry, regretting their "job" in the future. Legalizing will only boost up the industry, producing greater number of sex workers.

In conclusion, prostitution shall remain illegal (if not abolished). If not, it will affect the perspectives of the public, causing social conflicts. The industry will grow even faster than it is today. In fact, the background story of these prostitutes are necessary to be heard and solved before it gets more serious.

Sex Workers Are Victims

In the article “Sex Workers are Victims,” Jane Wells and John-Keith Wasson argued that by legalizing prostitution, there would be more conflicts than there were at the first place.

As a modern form of slavery, sex workers have more disadvantages than advantages and are considered. Women who work under pimps suffer from numerous amounts of problems both physically and mentally. The FBI estimated that around 85% of sex workers experience abuse while serving their customer. Less than one-tenth of 1% of them use a safe health insurance system.

In sex industries, the majority of pimps force their prostitutes to hand over their payment. Adding on, most women are in an unhealthy condition, often suffering from traumas involving beating, knifings, and rape. PTSH, a chronic pelvic disease is also a crucial problem they have today.

Even by legalizing the fastest growing “criminal” industry, Jane and John affirmed that the first thing the public should do is to recognize the harm and help these sex victims overcome their traumas.

Voluntary sex workers should not be the first priority over those who are forced to work as salves.as a modern form of slavery.

What makes a true friend? Describe one.

In this essay I would like to talk about someone who has been one of the best friends in my life. I will be referring her as Sarah (not her real name) and describe how she has inspired my life in many different ways.

I first met Sarah in 2011, two years ago. She came in the middle of our school year and my group of friends decided that we should include her as a part of our group. I thought Sarah looked like one of those girls who I would have a hard time getting along with. It seemed as if our personalities didn’t match and we wouldn’t get close because she was in another class. In the beginning, it was fine for me to not consider her one of my close friends, but as time went by, I felt as if I was “losing” a close friend of mine.

Sarah and I had a proper conversation for the first time at the beginning of seventh grade. Although the conversation wasn’t important, the two of us realized that our way of thinking was similar. Luckily, we were in the same class that year, which gave us a better chance to talk. During the first few months of seventh grade, I found out that Sarah lived about 15 minutes away from where I lived, the types of food she liked and disliked, and how she came to our school. It took us less than three months to get close, which was quite unusual because we couldn’t do so for a year in sixth grade.  Sarah and I had a chance to share facts about ourselves and stories that we would normally keep inside. We couldn’t believe how strong our friendship had grown since the previous year. We hung out after school for many weeks and developed an extremely strong friendship.

Although Sarah and I had good times, there were days when it was impossible for us to understand each other. The more you know friend, the higher the possibility of fighting with them. Sarah is the type to get angry easily and I am the type to forget things quickly. This was the main problem for the two of us because whenever we had a fight, Sarah would be extremely offended and I would quickly forget about it. The longest fight that we’ve ever had was only for a day, but Sarah and I would be intensely angry towards each other. Luckily, most fights were over with a quick apology and our friendship hadn’t changed a bit. In fact, through these fights, I had a chance to know Sarah even more than before. Through these major and minor fights with Sarah, our friendship grew even stronger.

Currently, I consider Sarah one of my closest friends. Fortunately, we are in the same class this year as well. A true friend understands you the better than anyone else and tells what is right or wrong. There may be times when you don’t understand each other, but through these fights a true friend will understand you better and know how to act the next time. It may take a while to realize who your true friends are, but eventually, you will know. I would like to thank Sarah for being my true friend and always being there no matter what!

Participating in team sports helps to develop good character

I believe that everyone will develop a good character once they participate in team sports. I experienced a major change in my life because of sports at the beginning of eighth grade. Although I don’t have a great talent in sports, joining our school’s sports club gave me a memory I will never forget.

Our British school has a competitive sports team called FOBISIA, which stands for “Federation of British International Schools In Asia.” Many such teams get to host a sports week at their school. Different sports events are held such as girls and boys basketball, boys and girls soccer, and individual matches. Since many students would like to join their school’s FOBISIA team, they go through weeks, or even months of training in order to make the team. In my case, the Under 15 FOBISIA girls and boys team started their tryouts the second week of school. We had about two full months until the team had to go to Hong Kong, since they were the hosts of the FOBISIA U-15 games this year, and about one month for the teams to get elected. As usual, I didn’t want to try out because I never had a talent with sports and didn’t have the confidence to improve. Our school took sports extremely seriously and trying out for the team felt as if I would slow down their training. However, friends encouraged me, saying that giving it a try wouldn’t be that bad since it would be our last FOBISIA and we would be graduating the British School this year and moving on to the High School division. After days of thinking, I decided that trying out for our team would give me a chance to test my sports ability.

As I had expected, the first week of training/trying out wasn’t easy. Participating in team sports such as basketball and soccer, there were times when I disappointed myself due to the feeling of letting the whole team down. Although everyone on our team was encouraging me, there was always the thought of giving up. However, thanks to everyone who told me that I was doing great, the thought always vanished after a few days. We also had a chance to test ourselves in individual events, including swimming, athletics, and running. One activity I found absolutely difficult was the cooper run that required running constantly for 20 minutes. I only ran about six laps the first time, being very slow compared to others. By this point, I was determined to improve and tried my best whenever we trained.

After a few weeks, our team list came out and as expected, I wasn’t on the official team. However, surprisingly, I was placed as a reserve! This meant that one still trained with the official team in case someone had to be replaced or got injured before the week of FOBISIA. I was happy with my result because it gave me a chance to train for another month and get in even better shape. The excitement of looking forward to the next few FOBISIA training sessions was tremendous because this meant that I was having fun in sports.

By the end of FOBISIA training, I was quite surprised with my progress, both mentally and physically. After a few weeks of doing the cooper run, I was able to accomplish 15 laps around the field in 25 minutes, much better than before! Not only did trying out for this team help me improve in sports, but also find confidence in myself. From now and on, there will be a higher possibility for me to tryout for other things I usually didn’t do. Through this experience, I learned the mindset of never giving up, leading a group, encouraging others, and trying one’s best. I will never forget FOBISIA because it helped me in a variety of ways which will help me all my life.

What Makes a Good Leader In Terms of Projects?

There are many different types of leaders in this world, some being good and others bad. However, all leaders have one thing in common—making sure the whole group is cooperating well as a whole. There are many things you need in order to become a good leader.

I believe that the first requirement is understanding the ability of each member in their group to determine who is doing what. For example, a team that makes its strongest member do work requiring more energy will be more efficient than one that makes its weakest member do an equal amount of work. One way the leader can know his group’s abilities is by getting to know every member. Although you supervise a team, you occasionally don’t know the members as well as you thought. By studying them, you may better understand their strengths and weaknesses, which will lead to a much more powerful group. This helps you guide the group and let them get to know each other. A good leader tries to even out the workload after discussing it with everyone in a fair and unbiased way.

A good leader also needs to make sure everyone is on task. This is essential when it comes to long term projects because it is difficult to catch up with what others have done for weeks or perhaps months. The leader should always be aware of the task and make sure everyone is doing the correct thing. I think a bad leader does most of the project alone and ignores teammates’ opinions. If they do most of the work, it is unfair to them and their group members. A good leader should not only make sure that everyone is on task, but also be patient if someone hasn’t done the right thing. There may be members who intentionally don’t do their job, but that is different from someone who has tried their best but not accomplished as much as they had wanted. In this case, a good leader will confront the group and try to reach a reasonable solution. On the other hand, a bad leader will scold the teammates for not doing the proper jobs and make up for the mistake by finishing the task themselves.

I have been through many projects in my school. Most of the grades were fair, but there were times I thought that I deserved a higher grade compared to what I got. There were times I had to be the leader of the group and others when I had to follow. Being a leader wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Long term projects had many ups and downs. Since everyone thought differently, it was difficult to combine all their ideas and divide the workload evenly. However, we definitely always needed a good leader in order to finish something on time!

Is it always essential to tell the truth, or are there circumstances in which it is better to lie?

I believe that the truth is one of the most happy but painful things in life. There are truths we like to know and some we tend to avoid. Once a fact is known to be true, I find it difficult to change. However, you can make it sound false by lying, which comes in handy when you want to protect yourself or avoid certain circumstances. This may lead you to more trouble at the end. It is essential to lie depending on the situation, but the deeper the lie gets, the higher the truth exposed.

Interestingly, we learn to lie without being taught. For example, if a young child eats a cookie his mother didn’t want him to eat until dinner, he will lie that he didn’t eat it because he wants to stay away from trouble and eat another cookie after dinner. Although his parents did not teach him to lie, he learned that it was the only way to stay safe. Though lying is clearly not essential in this case, sometimes it is. Consider a national athlete and his family. This athlete has been practicing for years in order to go to the Olympics. Unfortunately, his mother passes away right on the day he competes. His family doesn’t want to contact the athlete because they all know that he has been waiting for this day. Instead, they lie to the athlete that everything is okay, which in this case, is the right thing to do. Although you can’t resurrect someone from the dead, it is better for the athlete to know about his mother’s death after the competition. The truth eventually comes out, but the timing is essential for him.

It is not always right for you to lie. For example, at a crime scene, you have to tell the truth no matter how much it hurts. If you have witnessed a crime and the police ask you to recall the situation, the best thing to do is to tell the truth in order to help them find the criminal. However, if you found out that the criminal was one of your family members, it would be hard to tell the truth because it would not only cause problems finding the criminal, but make you feel psychologically unstable. Once you have lied to the police, you will force yourself to keep lying in order to prove that the previous lie is a true statement. There will be no end and the lying will become worse until you won’t even remember what you lied about. This won’t be safe for you as well if they find out what you have been doing. The circumstances might get worse so that it would have been better off telling the truth in the first place. One lie has led to another, causing more problems than telling the truth. This stirs up more trouble for everyone, including yourself.

Reasons whether to lie or not will vary, but the truth eventually comes out. I believe that it is essential to lie if there are more advantages, but there are certain situations when you have to tell the truth no matter what. A temporary lie may be exceptional, but lies rarely last forever. It is a matter of time before the lie reveals itself.

Your school has decided (to change the dress code, to stop assigning homework on the weekend, to end summer vacations and go to year-round schooling, etc.). Write a letter to persuade the school board to make the change or to keep the policy.

Your school has decided (to change the dress code, to stop assigning homework on the weekend, to end summer vacations and go to year-round schooling, etc.). Write a letter to persuade the school board to make the change or to keep the policy.

*MADE UP*

Dear Headmaster Stones,

Greetings. I am currently a parent at Lincoln Middle School. Very recently, I heard that our school will stop having a uniform code. Unfortunately, I have to disagree with this for various reasons. By the end of this letter, I hope you will understand why we need uniforms and reconsider your decision.

Lincoln Middle School is widely known for its polite and intelligent students. We proudly placed third among the best educated private schools. Most alumni at our school have found a stable job and are now doing what they want to do. Although students get about four hours of homework daily, I believe that this is for their own future. All 350 students at your school are able to concentrate well because the school limits the use of computers. However, if our school becomes uniform-free, what may first seem an advantage won’t last long.

Middle school is the most important point in life in terms of understanding yourself and what you will do in the future. We need education it in order to understand how the world works and how to improve it. If the school decides not to have uniforms, we may become distracted from our studies. With a dress code, you don’t have to worry about what you will be wearing every day. All students know what they will be wearing to school every day, making it easier for them in the morning. They won’t be concerned about the new trend or wonder if their friends will like they’re wearing. On the other hand, without uniforms, all students will have to keep the latest fashion in mind, perhaps going shopping every other week to keep up to date. This will surely be time-consuming and unhelpful to their studies. Being teenagers, more and more students will focus on clothes instead of work, not helping them at all in high school or their future.

Also, we should continue to have school uniforms to prevent discrimination. With over 300 people in your middle school, economic status and fashion taste will vary greatly among students. Of course, those from a wealthier family will have no problems getting new clothes every weekend, but having no uniforms might become a worry to those from a lower economic class. Discrimination will occur when a group of students doesn’t approve of a particular student’s fashion and this will eventually expand. In a school known for its friendly environment, I would hate seeing students forming cliques because of their fashion status. School is meant for education and learning how to interact with others — not for discrimination.

Your wrong decisions will harm to the students at Lincoln Middle School.

Thank you for your time; I hope you reconsider.

Sincerely,

Amanda Madison

Hidden

One of the best novels I have read this year is Hidden by Helen Frost.  Not only does this novel contain a unique story, but also two different points of view, one structured like a poem, with fewer words and involving more thought, and the other written with detailed descriptions. Although Hidden is less than three hundred pages, Helen Frost did well in terms of keeping the reader focused on the main story. If this book was longer, I would have been easily bored.

The two main characters, Wren Abbott and Darra Manson, first meet in a rare way. The first chapter begins with eight-year old Wren waiting for her mother in the car and suddenly getting kidnapped by a stranger. At this point, the readers don’t know if the stranger is trying to steal the car, kidnap Wren, or both. Either way, it is revealed that she is taken to the garage of a stranger, who has a wife and child. As she overhears numerous conversations among them, Wren figures out that the stranger doesn’t know of her existence in the car and the wife strongly disagrees with him stealing cars. It is never told why the husband had stolen her mother’s car, but we know that taking Wren with him was accidental. As she tries to escape, she discovers that the daugher of this stranger, Darra Manson, is a similar age. She even has a feeling that Darra knows that she’s hiding somewhere. Remarkably, we figure out that Wren is right in the fourth chapter, written from Darra’s point of view.

Darra Manson had always loved her father although he would always ignore and hit her. She felt that the relationship between her parents was worsening by the day. As an innocent eight-year old girl, she didn’t understand why the same cars her father brought home would appear on the news. As she finds out that Wren is in the garage hiding somewhere, she decides to help her escape without her parents or Wren finding out. She does this by acting as if she’s giving food to her cat, but is actually feeding Wren. Even though she was young, Darra felt that whatever her father was doing was wrong. She was secretly helping the girl stuck in the garage mainly because she if she told someone about it, her father might get arrested. Things seem to go well until Wren finds a way to escape. The minute Darra finds out, the police take her father away and things get worse. Her mother divorces her father and takes Darra elsewhere.

There are two time periods in this novel. The first one is the week of the “kidnap” of Wren Abbott and the second takes place six years later at a summer camp. This would be extremely surprising and difficult for the two, but they try their best to hide from each other. However, just before the camp ends, Wren and Darra both believe that it’s time to talk about the incident after years of silence. It comes out that Wren had never told the police where Darra was because she knew that would ruin Darra’s life. The police had instead found the house and arrested Darra’s father. She had always hated Wren because she thought the police had been able to find her father because Wren had told them. The author never specifically explains why Darra’s father had stolen the car, but the readers realize that isn’t the main point of the story.

Reading Hidden, I had a chance to think if there is anyone in my life who I might have misunderstood. The two were courageous and mature in different ways. As the victim, Wren was brave to bring up the incident that happened to her eight years ago because it surely must have been a heavy subject. She must have had a therapist after the accident in order to make her trauma disappear. On the other hand, Darra was brave enough to talk about the subject and listen to everything Wren said because they were talking about her father. We all know that her father had done something wrong, but it would have been hard for Darra to face the fact that one of the most important people in her life was a criminal. It was fortunate that the two were able to dispel misunderstandings at the camp. Life must be much easier for both of them since their worst memory was now gone. Although I haven’t experienced anything as terrible as Wren did, it would be great to talk to someone I have misunderstood.

If you were born blind and at the age of thirteen could suddenly see, would you immediately know what was happening? Think carefully about this one; remember this person has never been able to see in their lives.

Sight is a gift we may sometimes take for granted. If I was born blind, it would be extremely hard to live. I wouldn’t have a chance to see my parents, friends, clothes, house, or even myself. It would be tough to socialize and have a career. Everyone seeing what they touch should be thankful. Not seeing for thirteen years would be tragic, but gaining sight after thirteen years would be even more surprising.

If you could suddenly see after thirteen years, it would be a shock. You definitely wouldn’t know what was happening. Let’s say that you could see things outside. You could see the sun for the first time and the colors of the trees. Everything would seem perfect: the leaves, cars, roads, and even people. The most exciting thing would be seeing yourself. The minute you looked at your features, you couldn’t define how the people in your country looked. You would also be able to see your parents and share happiness with them. For me, tears would rolling down on my eyes. You would be extremely thankful to see everything around. All would seem new. You would remember seeing for the first time, a feeling those born sighted can never know.

Next, you would see how your friends, relatives, or neighbors look. It would be interesting to see if their real appearance matched what you had imagined. They would definitely be happy for you. You would not need a walking stick to help you because you would know where you’re going. No one would have to stay right next to you wherever you go because the possibility of having an accident would decrease! You wouldn’t have to worry about the public because they won’t stare at you anymore (even though you had been blind, you could tell people were looking at you). The lack of confidence and anxiety would disappear. Life would be much easier. If you hadn’t had the opportunity to go to school, this would be your chance. You can have even more friends and enjoy life even more than you did before.

Although there may be advantages to seeing after thirteen years of blindness, there are also a few disadvantages. You would have to see your loved ones dying and how others suffer. It would be a new and unforgettable experience. Moreover, being thirteen and a teenager, you might feel unsatisfied with your looks or height and disappointed at your parents. You might witness tragic moments you wished you had never seen. However, this is just the process of becoming an adult and you should be thankful to experience these moments because it is absolutely better than being blind for the rest of your life.

23 September 2013 Consider the books you have read in the last year or two either for school or for leisure. Please discuss the way in which one of them changed your understanding of the world,other people, or yourself. (Duke University)

When I was in seventh grade, our English teacher made our class to John Boyne’s 2004 novel The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. To be honest, I thought it would be boring  just by looking at the cover and the blurb. Although a few of my friends had watched the movie, I was not looking forward to reading it.

This book is set during World War II. It is mainly about the friendship between the soldier’s sun and a boy from the concentration camp. The main character Bruno, who is eight years old and from a wealthy family, has to move due to his father being an SS soldier. One day, Bruno meets Shmuel, who looks a bit different, being described as bald, skinny, and looking weak. They soon become friends and Bruno brings him food every day. Although there is physically a fence between the two, they continue to talk about things such as their family and themselves. Innocent Bruno doesn’t see why Shmuel has to be treated differently from others. He doesn’t understand why there has to be a fence between the two.

Towards the end, Bruno decides to go under the fence to see Shmuel. This is easy for him since he has to shave his hair because of lice (the soldiers won’t recognize him because everyone is bald in the concentration camp). However, the two are dragged with a few other people and forced to die with in a room full of gas. The narrator finally notes that there was no news about Bruno after that.

During our English lessons, our teacher would have us discuss our opinions with the class. I first thought that this would be pointless because what else would there be between their friendship? However, the more I read, the more I understood. I came to wonder what I would have done in Bruno’s position. If I knew someone like Shmuel, could the two of us become true friends? Would I have the courage to go under that fence?

I also believed that situations like that between Bruno and Shmuel could arise with me as well. It might not be through a fence or in a concentration camp, but there could be some people who I try to avoid for some reason. It could be because of their race, wealth, or background. If eight-year-old Bruno was able to become friends with someone in a totally opposite situation, I can break through the “fence” and become friends with another as well! It’s only the beginning that is hard; you will get used to it once you are out of your comfort zone.

30 September 2013 Pretend you woke up one day and there were no rules. People could suddenly do whatever they wanted! Explain what the world would be like. Use your imagination!

Rules are the most important thing when it comes to society, starting from being fair to countries keeping their promises. Although I am only thirteen years old, rules make my life easier in terms of school and outside home. Our school is very strict with rules and if any of us break them, whether it’s a major or minor one, we have to face the consequences. Rules are what keep the world growing positively. If I woke up and found out that there were no rules, this world would be a disaster.

First, a world without rules would mean anyone could storm into your room, steal all your money and run away without being caught because it would be considered “legal.” No one would have to work because you can’t be sure that you’ll receive your wages or salary. There would be no more hard working because there would be even more easier methods to “earn” higher amounts of money such as stealing, extorting, or, even at the worst case, killing. You won’t have to feel guilty about this anymore because its not considered illegal when rules don’t exist anymore. Everything would be a disaster because having no rules and limitations could lead to great harm.

Not only will a lack of rules disrupt our daily lives but it could destroy the whole world. Countries would be able to break promises they have made with each other because the rule of keeping treaties won’t exist. In fact, this could cause a major war, perhaps World War III. Politics wouldn’t exist because any country would be able to invade freely without any worries. Other countries would be able to stop them, but it would be impossible to make them feel guilty because there would be no rules anymore. For example, the treaty to not use any nuclear or chemical weapons on each other would have no point because the concept of rules would not exist. Countries could invade or betray each other without having to face any costs.

I believe that there would be absolutely no advantages for the world as a whole because most people would turn greedy if there were no rules. Money is what everyone wants and the more money you have, the more people will respect and look up to you. However, since there are no rules, why not steal each other’s property since this is the only way to live? If the world ran like this, why not take anyone’s money by simply killing them because you wouldn’t have to go to jail even when you murdered someone? Everyone would start to kill each other and the population of this world would decrease very quickly. Eventually, there might only be one person left in this world!

Thinking about a world like this gives me nightmares and goosebumps. Luckily, the world we live in today is secured with rules and limitations. Rules are what help our daily lives become peaceful because we all have a mind-set that doing evil deeds could lead to serious problems. We can trust each other because we all know the consequences if we do something illegal. Countries can rely on each other, creating a safe world.

30 September 2013 Wonder By RJ Palacio

August Pullman was born with a rare genetic disorder, his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears not being placed correctly. Although only ten years old, August has been through many painful moments both physically and mentally. He has undergone many surgeries since birth and considers it normal when people stare at him. Younger and older kids teasing him being part of  his regular routine, he is homeschooled. One day, his parents gently ask him to consider going to a public school. August disagrees the second he hears the suggestion, but changes his mind because his mother wants him to give it a try.

School turns out as August expected. He is famous for being the “freak.” No one tends to sit next to him during lunch or class times, with the exception of two students kind enough to make him feel welcome. Jack, a student from his homeroom, is extremely nice to August and they soon become friends with each other. Summer, a student from another class, always sits next to August at lunch (it seems as if they are not able to find Jack because he is “apparently” sitting at another table). On the other hand, Julian tends to dislike August for some reason. He tries to persuade his classmates to make them feel the same way towards August.

Everyone in the school gets used to August’s face after a few weeks of school, but he does not gain more friends since then. The bullying gets worse, with Julian leaving unkind notes on Jack’s and his locker. Jack and Summer continued to stick up for August because they knew that Julian was considered the “mean” kid to them. Not only do a few students get involved, but Julian’s parents don’t want August to attend the school anymore. This is extremely unfair because the only problem with August is his face — he was one of the smartest students in class and didn’t cause any problems in school. Luckily, the principal explained to Julian’s parents how this is unfair to August.

Towards the end of this book, the bullying eventually stopped after the end of the annual trip. All students from August’s grades are invited to go to a nature camp, which was a few hours away. Bravely, August decides to go, but for some reason doesn’t feel nervous at all. This is probably because Julian isn’t attending the camp for some reason. During the last night of the trip, a few older kids from another school spot August and tease  him because of his face. However, a few students from his class stand up for him, leading to a fight. Although August and his friends run away, everyone in the school hears about it and congratulates him and his friends on their bravery. Everyone realizes that August isn’t as bad as they thought. Julian decides to leave the school because his parents believe that this isn’t the right place for him. The book closes with August receiving an award at a graduation ceremony from the principal for showing good “spirit” for the school.

I enjoyed reading this book and how August was courageous enough to attend school and make it through the whole year. Although there were many unfortunate events and misunderstandings, the result was fair because he was spirited enough to keep on going to school. The author makes the novel realistic by writing how the students from August’s school didn’t like him from the beginning. If a student like him came to our school, I am not sure if anyone could be Jack or Summer. It would be hard for the two students to stick up for him. Unlike before, his rare disease didn’t stop him from doing anything such as going to camp or taking a picture for his graduation. Although this book was aimed at young readers and teenagers, it would also be good for adults because they will definitely have a chance to rethink how they see others who are slightly different from them.

September 9 2013 Imagine you have written a short story, film, or play about your last four years. Briefly describe the one moment or scene that your audience will most remember from this autobiographical piece. What will they learn about you from that moment?

I was the age of nine four years ago. Of the many crucial events over those four years, such as gaining knowledge, health, and stronger friendship bonds, one of the most outstanding moments occurred just a few weeks ago, during the summer of seventh grade.

Hagwon is a Korean word meaning ‘educational academy.’ My mother rarely sent me to a summer studying academy until this year. She strongly believed that I was now at the age of obtaining higher knowledge standards. Luckily, there was a high-level English hagwon five minutes away. We decided that I would go every other day excluding the weekends, from ten in the morning to one in the afternoon (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). One of the main reasons she sent me was because of my limited vocabulary and comprehension. Our goal was to improve the iBT TOEFL grade I took as practice a few months ago. She believed that I would accomplish by practicing everyday.

iBT TOEFL classes were not easy at all from the beginning. We were required to memorize about a hundred vocabulary words, with an hour’s worth of worksheets to do. After a month of hard work, I had to stop going to these lessons due to school, which was going to begin the following week. In order for me to see my progress, the academy kindly registered me for the TOEFL. As expected, my score had improved. At the moment, I am planning to attend afternoon classes again for even more improvement.

Not only did my mother send me to this academy, but she also helped me prepare for eighth grade math. I immediately agreed with her because I haven’t had a math teacher for a while, it was true that my grades for middle school weren’t progressing at all, and I agreed it would be the best for me. We contacted the tutor I had had a few months before and I started taking lessons from her the following week. We finished the book in less than three months and I am currently doing high school math. To be honest, some lessons were tiring but come to think of it, they were worth it, particularly in terms of tests in school–since I was confident in math, all I had to do was review for a few hours.

This summer was quite special for me in terms of knowledge. While memorizing vocabulary words, I came up with my own ways of learning them more easily. This led me to think of studying much more positively than I had before. When high school comes, there won’t be many worries since I will have mastered a few ninth grade subjects. In conclusion, I have gained more confidence and knowledge than I ever had before.

August 26 2013 Daisy Miller Imagery

Reading the novella “Daisy Miller,” I noticed images in terms of the characters and settings. Although I wrote about these two aspects in detail, this essay will have more of my opinions than facts.

During the entire time reading “Daisy Miller,” I thought that it had a similar storyline to Shakespeare's play “Romeo and Juliet.” Both stories were about love and a bit of “tragedy.” Romeo and Juliet had both died in the play, whereas only Daisy who died, making Winterborne depressed. In my opinion, Daisy Miller was more tragic than Romeo and Juliet because Winterborne was left alive, feeling the pain of Daisy’s death. Romeo and Juliet would not have to feel the pain for each other since the two of them died at about the same time. Another similarity is the way they had to “separate”for a while. Winterbourne had to go back to Italy, leaving Daisy no choice but to wait for him in Rome. On the other hand, Romeo and Juliet’s parents feuded for years, causing Romeo’s exile due to killing one of the Capulet’s (Juliet’s) relatives. Although they were separated under different circumstances, both couples had no choice but to become “separated.” However, towards the end, they are reunited. The overall story and situations in “Romeo and Juliet” and “Daisy Miller” are very alike.

Daisy Miller contains two separate themes: innocence and betrayal. In my opinion, betrayal plays a bigger role than innocence for a few reasons. After Daisy had moved on to an Italian man, the book became much more interesting. As the reader, I  empathized with Winterborne as he expressed his depression and anger towards Daisy. It must have been extremely hard for him as he saw his love moving on and acting as if she didn’t care a bit. If one of the main themes in this book is betrayal, one of the minor themes is guilt and depression (especially after Daisy’s death). Innocence is also the key to this novella. When the two first meet at a cafe, the author portrays how they slowly fall in love with each other. This isn’t a complicated process compared to how they separate.

Henry James (author of the novella), had made me think about each page in Daisy Miller. He wrote many descriptive sentences such as Winterborne describing the city of Vevey, Switzerland in the first paragraph. He always had a twist towards the middle of the story (Daisy Miller moving on), which made it much more exciting than it was. All of the settings that took place matched with the story. I had absolutely enjoyed reading Daisy Miller because it made me have a different perspective about people who you may not understand. Winterborne thought that Daisy actually didn’t care for him, but later was told that she actually did. Although you may not understand someone at the moment, there may be a certain reason why they are acting in such a way. I am looking forward to reading his other novellas!