Journal 43

Describe taking a standardized to assets mental health. 

Once upon a time there was a girl name Jessie. She seemed to be a normal girl. She had lots of friends and was a cheerleader. She had taken many standardized tests in her life. Just recently she had taken the ACT and PSAE with her school at Unpleasant Grounds High School. It was a difficult test. They think the average of students go t a 19. Jessie was confident, however, that she did well. She thought she had got a 24. Three to eight weeks later she got her results back. Jessie got a 12 on the ACT. A twelve! Everyone in the school was shocked. A monkey was predicted to get a 15 just by guessing! Jessie was very upset. The school psychologist and school nurse decided something needed to be done. The nurse and psychologist gave her another standardized test to test her mental health. The test consisted of mind questions, puzzles, pictures, and future plans. The test had one answer that was wrong. Three could be correct. The nurse hoped Jessie would gain back some confidence and be able to redo the ACT and pass with flying colors. And guess what. JESSIE FAILED. Now the principal had to get involved. This behavior was just unacceptable. They figured Jessie was just messing around but she wasn’t. She had something mentally wrong with her. She had to take a verbal test to figure out what was mentally wrong with her. She was so scared because she did not know what was wrong. She was later diagonosed with 2688 dieasese. Where she was so smart she guessed the wrong thing. Just like Ronnie from the Last Song, who was played by Miley Cyrus. The test was helpful in the end. I personally do not like standardized tests. Whether it is mental or physical or and ACT or a PSAE test, verbal will ultamentally help diagonose people and their conditions. 

Jornal 41

Journal #41 Describe a hero

A hero is someone people look up to. They look up to a hero for someone to put their trust in and believe in. A hero is usually someone who does something good for other people. For example a firefighter or a police man. Even a teacher. Other times a person thinks a hero is a celebrity. For example younger kids used to see Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana as a hero because she was there role model. I think heroes are people who risk their lives for someone else. For example anyone who saved or died in the act of saving and helping people in tragic events. This includes well know events such as September 11th or Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting. I also think this includes people who help out in emergencies by calling 911 or by preforming CPR. A hero doesn't have specific qualities like strength or abilities. I think a hero can really be anyone. In a book we have read in a previous honors English class a hero ended up killing his best friend. Does not sound very heroic huh? But George in the book Of Mice And Men shot his best friend who had mental challenges in order to protect him. We all have the capability to be a hero. It takes courage and fearlessness sometimes. Other times it can just take a special meaning. For example knowing a family member and or loved one is in a fire or dangerous event. Finding something deeper is important in heroism. For me personally I think people who fight diseases, example cancer, are heroes. They are a different type of hero. They are an individual hero. I do not know if other people see it but I do. Character is important in heroism. Overall having good character, being strong mentally and sometimes physically, having a ounce of courage, and fighting for something and or someone that means something to you are all characteristics of heroism. Armed forces men and women are a perfect example of this. Marines, Air force, Army, and Seamen (Navy)  all fight for our country. I think they are the most obvious heroes and should be recognized for that!

Journal 42

Journal #42 - write a story with a hero who does the right thing for the wrong reasons

The story is going to deal with an anti villain. The classic example of someone who does the wrong thing for the right reasons, Robin Hood has been part of our culture for hundreds of years. He steals from the rich to give to the poor and defies corrupt authority with bravery. Robin Hood stands out so strongly in our cultural conscience because he represents the inner fire in all of us to correct injustice wherever we may find it even if it means operating outside the law. However I will be making up my own story for this blog.

Once upon a time there was a man named David. He was a basketball player in high school. One of the greatest the school had ever seen. He did not have the normal high school life though. He was married at age 17. His wife was 16. He name was Kaley. She was pregnant and they had no money. He turned to his parents who both denied him the money they needed. A con man named Doug offered David the money he needed. Doug gave him one condition though, he had to shave points on the semifinal basketball game. David figured he could do this. He thought it was no big deal and they could still win the game. He told his twin brother Lucas about this. Lucas was very mad. David told Lucas that Doug would try to hurt his wife if he did not shave off points. They had to lose by 9 points. At the end of the game Lucas missed a shot to save David from being in trouble with Doug and his fellow con men. He did the right thing by helping his brother but it was for the wrong reasons because it was cheating. A person can do the right thing for a wrong reasons without even realizing the consequence or the meaning.

Journal #40

Journal 40 is called writer's choice. I guess that means that we can write about whatever we want 325 whole words. Right now is a very stressful time for Jessie at PPHS. I am stressed because I have my very first ACT tomorrow at Lutheran High. I am worried that my mind will not be in the right state of mind. There is a lot going on right now. Of course none of it is too bad but still enough to be a distraction. For example I have a lot of homework. AP US is very stressful because we have the AP test in a month. I am seriously going to fail. Like straight up bomb. I also have lots of chemistry homework that I do not understand. Of course this is my own fault because I get distracted by my phone and my friends  in the class. The biggest stresser of all though is PROM. Prom only comes around once a year and only twice in a girls life. Everything needs to be perfect. Too bad nothing is working out. The group I originally planned on going in had 18 people in it now. 18!!! That is insane. It is really weird too because not everyone has dates. Not like that should matter, it is just kind of weird. The original plan of me and my four best friends going with our five guy best friends was ruined when I decided to go with a senior and when we got in a fight with one of the boys. Now it is a huge mess. To top off this horrible and stressful day, my senior picture got posted and it is HIDEOUS. Straight ugly. So thats great... I am not happy about it.  I am scared to see the rest of the pictures. what if they are all bad?!!! Anyway today's writers choice was a rant. Things could be a lot worse for sure. But for a teenage girl it is quite stressful.

Journal 39

Journal number 39 is about springbreak 2013! My springbreak was so boring. I seriously did nothing fun. I had lots of homework. For example AP US, the worst class ever. Actually the class is not bad. The amount of work is just long and hard. I had a 5 page paper due over a book called The Jungle. It is by Upton Sinclair and is a really really hard read. It took me almost all break to read it. The paper was brutal too. On top of the horribly long and boring essay I had a chapter 30 packet. The chapter 30 packet was also terribly long and boring. It took almost 2 hours. I also had an advanced algebra two packet that had 42 problems on it. It took four sheers of notebook paper to complete. It was awful. Of course I procrastinated and did not do the whole packet until Sunday night. Oops. Luckily I did not have English homework because my teacher is so nice! Anyway despite the homework I spent my time sleeping and eating. I ate out almost every night with my friends. It was ironic because none of my friends were on vacation. We got to spend a lot of time together because of that, which was nice. It was also my best friends Mikayla birthday. We went out to lunch and to dinner to celebrate. We also went to Baskin Robbins! Baskin Robbins is my favorite ice cream place. We go there all the time. One of these days I am going to get huge for it. Hahaha. I also went to cherry berry. I am obsessed with frozen yogurt so that was good. Other than going out to eat and spending time with friends or doing homework, I did nothing. It was relaxing at times, but also kind of stressful. Coming back to school is rough because I have been sleeping in. It was a nice spring break but hopefully next year would be ever. 

Journal 38

Journal 38 write about your job shadowing experience. My job shadowing experience went well. I went to Horace Mann Insurance Company Downtown and shadowed a assistant vice president in public relations and communications. He was named Paul Wappel. Paul was a very kind man. He knew everyone in the huge building of 1200 employees. He introduced me to many people and made me feel welcome. I arrived at  Horace Mann at 8. I had to park on the street. The building was huge and intimidating. They had a heavy security system in place and a guard. I had to ask for Paul and had to wait for 10 minutes for him to come down. It was awkward at first. He said I could do whatever I wanted and see whatever I wanted but I did not know what there was! We went to his office, which was a small cubicle, and talked for a bit. We discussed his work and previous jobs. We talked about my life and my interests. It was really ironic because his daughter goes to the same act prep class that I do. The he introduced me to some of his co workers. The first woman I met goes "I know you! You are my favorite cheerleader!" I was very confused. She explained how she knew me and I laughed. It made me feel welcome. I got to go into the CEO office because he was on a business trip to Hawaii. It was so big and had a beautiful view. Horace Mann had 6 floors. On the sixth floor there is a cafeteria for all the employees. There is even a doctors office in the building! I got introduced to people who gave me tips for the future. It was a learning filled day. I think public relations is what I want to do. I loved my day at Horace Mann. I learned that I want to work with lots of co workers and do something meaningful. I had a great day with Paul and was glad the school gave us the opportunity.

Journal 37

Journal 37 is the first journal in fourth quarter. Time really flies. The prompt for this journal is what you think of when you listen to the following jazz song. The song is the Thelonious Monk Quartet-"Blue Monk" from "Miles & Monk Live at Newport". It is a long song- almost 11 minutes. It gives you a lot of time to think and relax your mind. I was absent the day the class listened to it but I bet it was a very relaxing and calming song for the stress of the day. When I listen to this jazz song I picture lots of swing dancers and an African American club. I picture the movie The Princess and the Frog. It is a Disney movie that deals with jazz music and African Americans. I think it was probably during the twentieth century when the rights of African Americans were being questioned and fought for. The theme of the movie is jazzy and about following your dreams, kind of what I explained above. This is a song that would probably be played at the end of a nice evening. It would be one of the last songs played and would top off the night. I think that it would represent feelings of the musicians. In the song we can hear piano, bass, and saxophone. I could see people snapping to this song and clapping along. The women would probably be in colorful clothes. Most would choose red. Men would be in weird little suits. The men would probably be in black. I think this would be fun a night and it think it represent the time period well. This song makes me think of different time period when blacks and whites were not necessarily equal. I think that this song can be a reminder and a relaxation to many people. It is overall good music too.  I liked this journal because it was different and was fun.