Senior reflection #3- stupid, glorious high school

Ahhh the immaturity, the hubris, the rashness.  The invincibility of the teenage boy and the awkward beauty of the teenage girl. High school has all of these charms and more. I'm getting graduation goggles, but I think I might miss the dirty cafeteria tables and the whispers spoken just above them. Nostalgia overwhelmed me as our senior class proved to be both inconsiderate and daring in a way that proved nothing besides the fact that we are but mischievous children. I won't rant about how dangerous and unthoughtful of an act it was, but the lack of injuries does comfort me immensely.  It also gave me a chance to love this school once last time before I go.  In all its ruddiness, Herndon was rather lovely.

The beauty of high school:
-Homecomings
-hometown heroes
-self-discovery
-young love
-friendships
-school spirit
-hormones
-chaos
-learning
-taking chances
-growing up
-being young
-dreams

I can think of no other way to describe high school besides both stupid and glorious.

Senior reflection #2- the stick-on stars of home

I'm leaving. I'm leaving my mom, my dad, my little sister, and (least importantly, though still with love) my cat.  I'm packing up my wardrobe and my books and my life, and I'm off for four years. After that, I might spend a year or two at home, thanks to the continuing economic downturn, but in truth, I have about three months left of the life I have lead up until this point.  Naturally, the life I'm about to put on pause will resume on breaks, but the place I call home is going to change regardless of how often I call my parents or skype with Sophie Claire. 

I have no recollection of the apartment I lived in before I came here. The only places that I can think of where I may live more comfortably are the homes of both of my grandmothers and the Burrow from the Harry Potter series. Otherwise, this is it. I forced my parents to promise me that they would never sell our current house, but I have a feeling that deception of one's children is a regular activity among most parents.

Lying here in my living room, half-dozing on the couch, directly opposite from the staged photos of my sister and me in overalls with sunflowers in our pockets, I feel a piece of me being torn away with the realization that my time is so short here. But I've only just arrived. It's time to go?

I want to hug the walls of my bedroom I painted with Erin and my sister and kiss the stars on my ceiling.  I want my family to know how much their love has meant to me. I want to observe and enjoy and do whatever I need to never forget the way things are right now.  I owe my family at least that much.

Senior Reflection #1- looking for the singing bees

It seems weird to me that despite having five AP classes and applying to college and getting injured and still trying to play sports and be active in choir, this year was possibly my happiest so far.  Maybe I can only say that because it's almost over, and I've almost managed to block the homework of first semester from my memory, but I think it's much more than my schoolwork being nearly over.  I think this is the first year I've felt good at being myself.  This is probably too personal for a government class assignment, but I don't care. I knew about two people upon entering high school, and if I was going to rank my middle school (a private school) on preparing me to be a functioning individual socially, I would give it like a 2 out of 10. Less than twenty of the same people in your class for eight years is pretty significant when you think about how much kids are affected by their peers. My peers were a strange collection of individuals. I loved them anyway, of course. However, needless to say, high school was a big change. And that's not even factoring in the part about me not getting to wear uniforms anymore (I had to pick out my clothes and figure out how to buy things I would like for more than an hour). I thought Mean Girls was a lot more valid of a portrayal of modern public high school than I should have, and freshman and sophomore years are kind of just blurs in the back of my mind.  I don't really think my memory is missing much. 

So I'm looking back and thinking how different I was and how much I doubted myself, and the person I used to be doesn't seem like whoever I've become and am working on becoming now. I couldn't imagine having better friends. I know what I believe in. I'm comfortable, confident, and happy.  I'm scared of losing this comfort next year; I'll be all alone again in one of the biggest cities in the world. But more than scared, I'm excited.  All of the change of coming to Herndon was difficult to say the least, but being fourteen isn't really that great either, so I can't imagine it being quite the same.  Even so, if the discomfort gives me a chance to grow in my next four years as much as I did in the last four, it'll be beyond worth it. Life is great. I'm ready for it all.

"She had glossy leaves and bursting buds and she wanted to struggle with life but it seemed to elude her.  Where were the singing bees for her?" 

-Zora Neal Hurston, Barnard College graduate and author of Their Eyes Were Watching God

Current Event #5

http://www.economist.com/node/21551488

The campaigns for Mexico's upcoming presidential race have officially begun, with Enrique Peña Nieto showing a fierce lead. A little over a decade ago, the PRI was voted out of office and a new regime began finally, after 70 years of constant rule over the country.  This year's presidential election will take place on July 1st, and Peña, the PRI's candidate, is showing a 15 point lead over his opponents, suggesting a return to power for that party. Recent presidents Vincente Fox and Filipe Calderón have made widespread discontent with other parties easier to promote, for they were not effective and popular leaders. Peña pledges to bring back a “government that delivers," which has so far been a successful slogan for the disillusioned voters who need another change of pace.

However, although Peña has been extremely charismatic and rather popular, another candidate, Josefina Vázquez Mota, has closed the gap in the polls by half in the past half year. A PAN candidate, Vázquez promises to acknowledge other parties in her cabinet where Peña would have been partisan. Still, her vitality in the campaign is unknown, and the third party candidate, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has loyal fans, but does not present a serious threat to either.

Current Event #4

http://www.economist.com/node/21551103

Northeast England has had to develop and morph its economy significantly in the past few decades-it has changed from coal-mining and steel manufacturing to businesses, added numerous public works projects, and improved schools. Nevertheless, unemployment rates in the area are 10.8% higher than that of the rest of England (which is already 8.4%), and some of the businesses that have come to help the area are considering leaving it to avoid greater losses. The thought that Scotland may secede from the United Kingdom has caused further issues, for now NE England worries that the businesses that struggle in that area are going to move to Scotland and hurt their economy even further.  In previous years, the two regions were fairly closely tied by similar economic and social issues, but now people of Northeast England are beginning to feel anxiety to their old allies. Understandably this is great cause for discontent and worry; there is much to be fixed about the current global economy. I believe that the businesses have to stay in order to help any situation, or it will simply continue to worsen, even more dramatically so in the future.

Current Event #3

http://www.economist.com/node/21550309

The removal of Bo Xilai as party chief of the south-western region of Chongqing revealed a window in the bureaucracy and inner workings of the party that is typically hidden from the public eye entirely. Bo was lined up to become the ninth member in the Standing Committee, and his father was a major member of the generation of Mao's Long March. Nearly everything was set up for him to become one of the next major players in Chinese politics, but his greatly unpopular policies (like going viciously after any political rivals and attacking them through "henchman" who were accused of extortion and torture). Bo also had a tremendous lean towards Communist Party members and state enterprises, rather than supporting small businessmen. His firing showed the twisted nature of the bureaucracy-how it is not truly smooth and effective, but can contain many injustices and certainly intricacies.

Current Event #2

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news-update/41384-nigeria-will-overcome-boko-haram-says-us.html

Nigeria has had significant issues dealing with the Boko Haram, a terrorist group that ravages villages and families, bombing cities and setting fire to homes. Nigeria faces great separation between its northern and southern inhabitants-the North is mainly Muslim, while the South leans more towards Christianity; other religions are spread throughout. Additionally, food stores are not evenly spread throughout the country and often one place will find itself much more equipped than other regions. The United States Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs , Wendy Sherman, has stressed that the United States is planning to work with Nigeria in order to overcome the violent and horrifying efforts of the Boko Haram in hopes of uniting the country in a healthy and effective manner.  Although such an outcome is a far stretch, Sherman has begun to propose ideas of ameliorating the food crises and improving the regional economy, which will strengthen the nation overall.