Tuesday, February 22, 2011

The Wilderness

Mid winter is one of my favorite times of the year. Snow is still falling out of the sky, shining brightly on the ground. Even though it is still cold, it’s not absolutely freezing as it was in December. Another great part about this season is Mid-Winter break. This is three days off of school where you’re finally able to relax for a while. Usually, I just stay home, yet this year, I’m going to the Wilderness with two of my best friends. The Wilderness is a place in Wisconsin Dells that I’ve never been, although I’m positive it will be very entertaining.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Nobody's Princess Essay Response

How would you feel if your whole life was being chosen for you? No control over anything, not even who you would get to marry. Would you feel like you needed to break free? This is exactly what Helen of Sparta in Nobody's Princess by Esther Friesner is feeling. Helen didn't know what to do with her life, so she decided to try a different path. Nobody's Princess by Esther Friesner is a great story about breaking free that is easy to connect with.

Most everyone can connect with Helen. This girl felt like every normal teenager does once in a while, having no control over her life. When I felt like this, I was in fourth grade. It seemed like all of my friends were annoyed with me, and that they didn’t want to talk to me. Actually, none of that was true. Being in fourth grade, turning situations that were positive into negative ones came very easily to us. Luckily, this problem of thinking you have no control only happened to me a few times. Helen had to deal with problems like that all the time, except she didn’t have to make everything a negative situation. Everything already was.

Even though people almost everywhere can connect with Helen with barely any thinking, the person who can connect with it the most is herself. Instead of sitting around, being miserable, Helen actually took tried to take control. The Spartan princess wanted to be more like her older brothers, Polydeuces and Castor, which she did. Embracing her newfound freedom, Helen went places no other princess had seen and committed deeds that have never been done by a woman before. If anyone else was in her place, those deeds would not have been committed. Other people wouldn’t have the strength to even try. Helen, princess of Sparta, showed her whole country that no matter who you are, you can break free of your boundaries, as long as you’re not too scared to try.

Esther Friesner’s is a wonderful story that shows anything is possible if you try. Helen of Sparta felt like her whole life was being chosen for her, and she didn’t want to accept that. As a result, her whole life changed for the better. If you wanted to break free of your boundaries, would you have the strength to try? Nobody’s Princess, written by Esther Friesner, is an inspirational story about taking control of your own life and making it what you want it to be.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Creative Story

Under pressure all of the time, never taking a break, doing nothing but study. This was my life, studying. I needed perfect 100% in all of my classes to get into the college I wanted to go to, Yale. Well, gave myself a little break. I allowed myself to get 98.6%, nothing less. One day all of this pressure was going to get to me. I'll have a nervous breakdown or something. That, I knew. The scary thing is, I didn’t know when it was going to come.

You can do it, I thought. You can do this.

Senior year, and exams, was upon me. Was I afraid? Yes. Did I know that I will get A's? Most likely. Did that take any pressure off? Not in the slightest. All that I've care about for the past year was getting A's on my exams. Absolutely no time for fun, games, or even prom. Can you believe that? A senior, not going to prom. Everything paid off in the end, though. Yale was the school I was going to, starting next fall. I was so happy, and excited. Shocked, also, about the fact I didn’t have a nervous breakdown while getting in. It seemed like I was able to take a deep breath for the first time in a while.

Taking a deep breath only lasted for about three days, give or take. Then, I started looking at the textbooks for my courses in Yale. All of the pressure came rushing back onto me faster than I’ve ever felt it before. Studying became my life again, for better or for worse.

One week. That was how long I had been at Yale. One week? I thought. It feels like twenty. Courses are so difficult! Yet, I wasn’t going to let myself quit. This was the place I’ve wanted to be my whole life. Am I really just going to pack my bags and go home? Yes, I thought. Yes. After my first semester was over, I transferred to University of Wisconsin. It was still a great school, yet a lot easier than Yale. My one semester of Yale taught me a lot about myself, though. Now, I know my limits.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Illinois and New York

Illinois is the state that I lived in before I came to Wisconsin. I lived there from the ages of about six to nine years old. New York was the state that I was born in, though. Since I am from New York, I don’t pronounce certain words the same way that my friends do. For example, the word Illinois. I pronounce the s, even though all of my friends say that you don't say it the way I do. That's simply how I pronounce it, and I probably won't ever speak it the "right" way. Yet, I'm okay with that. Sometimes it's cool being different.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

TV

TV is a great invention. Since we have TV, we are able to figure out what's going on in the world in a matter of seconds. Yet something like that is bound to have a drawback, and it does. There are so many shows on TV, and if you want to see more or all of them, you will have to watch the television all the time. Younger people do just that, and it's going to become a huge problem, especially for schools. If students do nothing but watch TV all of the time, homework and projects won't get done. That will change their grades for the worse, and that will effect them for the rest of their lives. Students might not be able to get into the colleges they want. People need to fix this problem and do things other than simply watching a screen for the rest of their lives.

Music

What I love about music is the fact that it's different all around the world. It takes different forms and goes different directions. It's almost like it has a mind of its own. Another great fact about music is that people will take music, in one form, and turn it into something that's totally not the way it was before. These people are able to make it their own, and I love when people are able to do that. It's one of my favorite types, music that is changed and made different. This type is definably the best kind of music to me.