Karli, Anna and Cody all brought up the idea of a Dip Can party of some sort, and it also seemed like in class that most people seemed on board with a Secret Santa among us. Yes?
What if we got together to draw Secret Santas next advisement? Or possibly two advisements from now, when Mrs. Larson is getting us together anyways? The other question is how much we should plan to spend, because I know some of us have no personal income so that can get tough.
If we decide we want to have a party/reunion thing, I would be willing to host over winter break. We could exchange our Secret Santa gifts, Cody could show us his Shoegazer music he's always wanted to, etc.
SO WE HAVE MANY THINGS TO DECIDE AS A GROUP.
1) Do we all want to do Secret Santa? Anybody who doesn't want to should speak up.
2) What kind of price range should we set on Secret Santa? I feel we shouldn't go over $5 or $10
3) Do we all meet up next advisement, or wait until Mrs. Larson's mandatory IB advisement the next week to draw names?
4) Would everybody be down with an IB party at my house, or were there other plans/ideas?
5) What dates DON'T work for people over the Holiday break? This way we can try to find a day where everybody who wants to can come :)
I miss our class together already, and I hope this stuff works out! PLEASE comment and put in your opinions and thoughts about these questions so we can definitively plan something!
Friday, November 30, 2012
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Last Day, Last Blog
I struggle with ending things forever, I always have. I get so caught up in "this is the last time that I'll ever"... then fill in the blank. And this year has already been full of them. Last traveling volleyball tournament. Last first day of grade school. Last time giving out Halloween candy with my family. But then small, dumb things too - at concerts, the last time I'll play a certain composition. When we get new furniture, the last time I'll sit in this chair.
I really have a hard time giving things up, and I dwell on "lasts" heavily as they're happening. Once it's over, I'm almost always fine and I just forget about it, but before and during it's all I can think about. I get attached to things, and when I know they're ending it makes me sad that an entire chapter/era/memory in my life is ending forever.
Senior year has been full of lasts, and there's lots more to come that will probably tear my heart apart. Even now, I'm lamenting that tomorrow is my last day of my current classes, and that this is my last blog. Sad. But like the fortune cookie in Anna's presentation said, we can't let the past slow us down, and eventually we have to look to the future. But I'm still allowed to be a little mopey over it, right?!
I really have a hard time giving things up, and I dwell on "lasts" heavily as they're happening. Once it's over, I'm almost always fine and I just forget about it, but before and during it's all I can think about. I get attached to things, and when I know they're ending it makes me sad that an entire chapter/era/memory in my life is ending forever.
Senior year has been full of lasts, and there's lots more to come that will probably tear my heart apart. Even now, I'm lamenting that tomorrow is my last day of my current classes, and that this is my last blog. Sad. But like the fortune cookie in Anna's presentation said, we can't let the past slow us down, and eventually we have to look to the future. But I'm still allowed to be a little mopey over it, right?!
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Killing a Puppy
A couple weekends ago, a few people and I had the privilege of taking care of two adorable six-week-old yellow labs for about six hours. They were so precious, it was unbelievable.
My brother's friend, part of the puppy team, posed a question that reminded me of some of our discussions in TOK1. "Would you snap one of these puppy's necks for a million dollars cash?"
It's awful. It pulls at your heart, and your immediate answer is NEVER. But then somebody in the discussion mentioned, after lots of thinking, that they might. They thought of what a million dollars could do - solve all paying for college/getting established in life fees, and also be donated to charities. This person valued the dogs life as less than a human's life, and if many human lives could be significantly improved, then in might be worth the life of the animal. After all, they said, this puppy had no family, nobody attached to it. Although it might haunt them for a while, weighing the positives and negatives they would chose the money and didn't feel that killing a dog would be immoral. It was an interesting thought.
How do you feel about judging the worth of an animal's life vs. a human's? Would you kill a puppy for $1,000,000? What about a horse... deer... rabbit...bug? If you answered "no", where do you draw the line in the animal kingdom? It's a tough question, I think.
My brother's friend, part of the puppy team, posed a question that reminded me of some of our discussions in TOK1. "Would you snap one of these puppy's necks for a million dollars cash?"
It's awful. It pulls at your heart, and your immediate answer is NEVER. But then somebody in the discussion mentioned, after lots of thinking, that they might. They thought of what a million dollars could do - solve all paying for college/getting established in life fees, and also be donated to charities. This person valued the dogs life as less than a human's life, and if many human lives could be significantly improved, then in might be worth the life of the animal. After all, they said, this puppy had no family, nobody attached to it. Although it might haunt them for a while, weighing the positives and negatives they would chose the money and didn't feel that killing a dog would be immoral. It was an interesting thought.
How do you feel about judging the worth of an animal's life vs. a human's? Would you kill a puppy for $1,000,000? What about a horse... deer... rabbit...bug? If you answered "no", where do you draw the line in the animal kingdom? It's a tough question, I think.
I'm Going To Miss This
I'm so excited for this difficult trimester to be over!
Mostly.
The homework level is hard, especially because of all the writing we've had to do. But the classes themselves - especially TOK - have been awesome. We have a lot of writing/creative/research work, but it's fun work. Next trimester I think all? of us have a math and a science replacing history and TOK. These classes, while (at least in my experience/prediction) require less time dedicated to work outside of class, require no creativity or personal expression, and we'll lose class discussions and cool presentations like these finals. Maybe it's just because I'm more of an english-type than a math-type, but I feel that I'll miss this trimester and this class soon enough.
Mostly.
The homework level is hard, especially because of all the writing we've had to do. But the classes themselves - especially TOK - have been awesome. We have a lot of writing/creative/research work, but it's fun work. Next trimester I think all? of us have a math and a science replacing history and TOK. These classes, while (at least in my experience/prediction) require less time dedicated to work outside of class, require no creativity or personal expression, and we'll lose class discussions and cool presentations like these finals. Maybe it's just because I'm more of an english-type than a math-type, but I feel that I'll miss this trimester and this class soon enough.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Colleges Looking At Facebook
Today, I did a hardcore sweep and clean of my Facebook page, looking over all my info and pictures and "likes" and deleting "Friends" I hardly know, and I stumbled upon a few things that I've never looked at before. I found "My Apps", and it turned out that I had about a dozen apps that I was apparently "using" or a part of without ever signing up or agreeing to anything. As I was deleting them, I saw one was "University of Notre Dame Admissions". This is my #1 college choice, and I had "liked" the school's page, but I knew that I didn't register for any admissions Facebook app. When I investigated further into the app's usage and rights, I discovered something that made my heart drop: 2 days ago, the app accessed and viewed my personal info ("education", "about me", "family", "religion", "relationship status", everything!) friends, and "likes". AHHH! I realize there is nothing necessarily bad or incriminating about this information, but it's terrifying that Notre Dame somehow weaseled their way into accessing it, especially when I know my application is under review this month. I deleted and blocked them now, but I fear the damage is already done and they know what they wanted to know.
Anyways, let this be a warning - schools DO have the power to see what you put on Facebook! I thought that, because only my "Friends" can see my information, that a school would have to Friend Request me and I could just ignore them. But apparently, there's more to it than that. I only wish I had caught them in my apps a few days earlier. Scary stuff.
Anyways, let this be a warning - schools DO have the power to see what you put on Facebook! I thought that, because only my "Friends" can see my information, that a school would have to Friend Request me and I could just ignore them. But apparently, there's more to it than that. I only wish I had caught them in my apps a few days earlier. Scary stuff.
Too Early for Christmas?
I realize everybody might not celebrate Christmas, but even for those who don't I feel that it's such a prominent part of our society this time of year that you can't completely escape it, and maybe you might have opinions on this too. Christmas Day is in exactly one month. But radio stations have been playing Christmas music for a couple weeks now, many people kicked off Christmas shopping on Black Friday (or Black Thursday, this year), all the Christmas lights in my neighborhood are on at nights, fast fooderies have Christmas drinks out - "Christmas season" is in full swing.
I personally LOVE this right now - I love Christmas season, and I've been waiting what feels like too long to sing Christmas tunes again. But by Christmas Day, I'm ready to be done with it all. Does it feel like Christmas season becomes longer and longer each year? Is this good, because of the joy and giving of the season, or bad, because by Christmas, when "spirit" should be at it's peak, many people are sick of it?
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Thanksgiving Resolution
My favorite part about Thanksgiving is that it's a day of personal reflection, where other holidays are always celebrating something outside of ourselves. I really feel like Thanksgiving would be a better holiday to make resolutions for, versus New Years. So that's what I did today - made a resolution.
I'm too dependent on my phone. I've realized lately that it's gotten bad - I'll walk from my room to the kitchen to get a glass of water, and I'll carry my phone with me. I'll go to the bathroom, and bring my phone. It never leaves my pocket or my hand, and that's just not something I want to rely on. Twitter is one of the main ways I spend time on my phone, so today I logged off. Then I deleted a few more pointless apps that I use seemingly just to pass time. For Thanksgiving I'm realizing how great the people and opportunities around me are, and I want to appreciate them all more!
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