"Happy Holidays"

Growing up, I have noticed that my schools have always taken off for certain holidays. I have mostly gone to schools with no religious affiliation. That being said, I still do not understand why I was not in school. The reason for this is because when Jewish, Muslim, and other holidays came around, I was still in school. I have not researched why I was in school for those holidays and out for Good Friday, Easter, and Christmas yet, but i will. When I was enrolled at schools with a religious affiliations, I understood. At a public school, with many ethnicities, nationalities, and denominations, I wanted a day off for every holiday. I am not saying this because I do not want to go to school; I am saying this because I respect everyone. When there are holidays that are affiliated with religions other that Christianity, more than 25% of the school is absent. That is a substantial amount of students, and sometimes teachers, missing. This is something that I still need to research more, but I also believe that it is something that needs a magnifying glass to see clearly.

Violence in Chicago

I live in a city where violence is desensitized. It has become the new normal. It seems that no one wants to come to Chicago because they are afraid. I found this video on nowisthetimechicago.org

Hopefully soon, we can work as a city to stop violence.


http://www.nowisthetimechicago.org/media/68

The American Classroom

One of the many problems of the American school system is that it only holds the "top" students up. At the school that I go to, if you are not a straight 'A' student with a ground breaking science fair project or a top athlete, then you get lost in the shuffle. People only pay attention to who is first. That is where the equally extraordinary, but misunderstood kids get left behind. Since all students are tested the same way, the results wanted are not achieved. Everyone learns differently, and appealing to everyone is a great challenge. At the same time, if there is no effort made, the this school system can only go down. I am no expert in schooling, but that does not mean my ideas should be shut out. Another problem is that CEO's and officials cut out all of the opinions of students because we are assumed to be clueless. The fact that we go to these schools, means we have more experience about what works, what does not, and what the schools need. American school systems also need people who want to teach kids and love what they do. That goes for administrators too. There are many adults in schools who do not teach. They do other jobs around school and they disregard the students. In order to make a school system work, everyone needs to want it. As seen with the teacher strike in Chicago, there were countless groups and individuals against the Chicago Teachers Union. What these same people did not see was that these teachers really cared about their students. If these people understood that, they would work with the CTU rather than yell at them from their cars. One last thing that I believe we could fix, is the process of improving. If we are working toward improving the schools, taking resources away and closing schools is not the way. Although people claim that education reform does not need more money since it will not fix the problems, it is a great place to start.

I Hope This Does Not Offend You

The world seems to filled with people waiting to be offended by something. There is a difference between being hurt by someone and looking too much into someone's words. It is a very fine line, but there is a difference. People are too caught up in being politically correct. Now, being politically correct will offend someone just as much as not being correct. We need to let go. Everyone cannot please everyone. There is yet to be a topic, person, idea, etc that appeals to every person on this planet. Do not look too much into everything. Usually, what people say is what they mean. If it is not, do not waste time trying to decipher what was supposed to be understood. Too much energy is wasted in being offended by what people say. Common sense is not that common, so if someone does something that you do not like, then forget about it. Again, there are circumstances where this does not apply, but on a regular day, do not spend too much time trying to figuring out what people meant to say.

She

She is fire dancing in the moonlight. 

She keeps her moods tight like swings. 

Her thoughts are pressed down into nothing

Is what she believes she is. There is no name 

To plaster onto her body to taint her mind 

With whatshe is expected to be. She is 

Me, she is we. And she can sing. Together

We swing. Her voice is harmonious from the

Heavens, but she is no angel. She has soul but is 

No soldier. She rocks this world as it crumbles

Through her fingers. It precipitates down to the

Ground where she watches it fall to her feet. 

She is the destroyer and the creator as she pieces

The world back together. She throw sit up and

Catches it. She has the whole world in her hands. 

She makes plans and shakes them; she makes

Promises, but breaks them. She is no ordinary girl. 

She speaks freely not shyly because she is not 

Afraid. But she has fears which she communicates 

Through her tears. In the end, she is real.

Mistakes

Obviously, there are going to be times in life where we look back and say, "Why did I do that?" Sometimes your actions or words will end up messing a lot of things up, but everything won't be messed up. All bad, awkward, and negative moments will pass if you let them. There is no good in constantly reminding yourself of it. It is one thing to laugh about those times, and another to beat yourself up over them. Be proud that you have made those mistakes and in some cases be even prouder that you have made the mistakes again. Although you have done the same thing twice, it shows that you are still growing. When you learn what to do to not make that mistake again, you can move on.