Blog-Lord of the Flies

In Lord of the Flies, from my personality and actions, I relate to a combination of Simon and Ralph. To begin with, my personality is similar to that of Simon. Simon is a representation of the kind and gentle nature of the human beings in a society. Along the lines of Simon's thinking and intellectual beliefs, for example his quote about the boys actually becoming the beasts, is a figurative phrase that relates to the fact of how humans have the good nature but it is society and the surroundings around that cause for the negativity and darkness of fear to develop that can corrupt you. Additionally, Simon's good nature is similar to mine, as I believe that there is a good quality in every human being and that both of us have the tendency to easily go along with what others say in order to fulfill a "duty" or "taboo."

At the same time, my character relates to Ralph, as he has a positive outlook on the abilities of success and tries to help the boys on the island to build a signal fire and shelter. Ralph is also a major character who symbolizes order with the use of the conch shell as well as being the leader of the boys. As a result, both Simon and Ralph exemplify character traits of me in two separate manners. Therefore, both of these major characters represent parts of my characters. 

Blog on Life: Friday, 4/25/14

Today is the last "official" day of Spring Break. I'm definitely going to keep this blog short and sweet. The entire Friday was extremely relaxing, but full of work and practicing. After the normal morning routine, I went straight to practicing dance. I practiced for around 1 hour to 1 hour and a half. I felt that today's practice was the best out of the week. All my corrections that I had been working on had finally paid off and I was able to perform my Thillana without much mistakes that I could find. Of course, my teacher will pin point ever minute detail that there is to be found. Besides dance practice, I studied for WHAP and reviewed post-classical to Industrial Revolution. Do names like the Jurchens, Kublai Khan, and inventions like the steam-engine ring a bell? After studying, I felt refreshed with knowledge. Overall, I felt as if I was able to accomplish a ton over Spring Break and that I properly utilized the 5 days of break to a proper extent. 

After eating lunch, my brother Akshay and I were making funny and silly videos on his iPad. We both had fun brainstorming ideas because over the summer, we are thinking of starting a Youtube channel. We even decided the username should be SHRAKS! Shreya+Akshay= SHRAKS, so we hence made a combined name. With great ideas and proper equipment, we will be able to share our crazy and busy schedules with other and influence them to not only have fun living their life but think about things in alternative ways. The saying, "There's always two sides to everything," really applies to how you feel something has gone. For example, in dance, I make tons of mistakes, but those do not need to be put into a negative connotation. Mistakes that are made will not be made the next time, so that's where the positivity comes in. In this manner, bad things and good things are one and the same. The rest of the day was fun, with me spending quality time at the mall with my brother and mother, eating crepes and having fun shopping. Spring Break was full of its ups and downs, but I'm sure glad that I was able to make the most out of it!  

Blog on Life: Thursday, 4/24/14

To get back to the normal routine, I decided that waking up a little bit earlier than normal would help me re-adjust to the school schedule, as spring break is coming to an end and school is just around the corner. After waking up, we had this plumber come to our house to fix the clogged up toilet. The toilet has been clogged for about 5 days, so no one used it until it was fixed. Apparently, the toilet is extremely old, and the flushing mechanism is quite delicate and not powerful enough. Once fixed, the plumber left and my brother left with my dad to go to his friend's house to play. As usual, I went to go practice dance and singing in the morning and worked up a great appetite, so after finishing my practices and going to take a shower, I went to eat lunch with my grandmother. It was just us two and we spent a lot of time talking to each other about some of her old memories back in India. These memories just bring great joy into her life as her age progresses day by day and the fact that she loves to share them with me is just enlightening and fulfilling. After a great lunch prepared of course by my mom, I went to review for the AP Exam in WHAP and my grandmother went to sleep. 

Studying for an exam can definitely be boring and hard to even complete, with all the pressure. But, I have learned that it is much easier to set a goal for what you want to read and accomplish in that day. For me, it was studying the time period 600 BCE to 1450 CE. This was unit two in my review book and with the focus that I put into reviewing, I accomplished a ton more than what I expected and I was pleasantly surprised. Around 4:30 PM, I left for singing class, from 5-6, and after went to a rehearsal for my brother's mridhangam (Indian drum) accompaniment. By the time everything was over, it was night and we returned home and ate dinner, completing our night routine, and eventually went to bed. I had enjoyed my musical evening and had a great amount of work accomplished just by simply being focused. The simple things that you learn everyday is quite surprising and I never expect that things turn out so easily sometimes. It definitely helps when you have your mind and full heart into something you love or want to get done. That is the secret ingredient to the "easy as cake" cake. 

Blog on Life: Wednesday, 4/23/14

I woke up today feeling fresher than normal. Is that even an understandable term? Well, after I woke up, I had my usual morning routine and went straight to practicing dance today. I dedicated myself to an hour to and hour and a half of practice time to get my practice done. While I danced, I saw an improvement that I had been struggling with for a long time and the fact that I had finally gotten what I had hoped for was the best feeling yet. Dance is a form of meditation, relaxation, enjoyment, and passion all combined into one. With enough dedication to the art form, I am able to maintain a clean and simple life path which helps to drive me towards the right direction in my future. Right after finishing my practice, I went back to my room and got my homework completed. I finally finished the research and powerpoint for biology. I sometimes wonder why I have not even approached the class thinking that there is only about 5 weeks left of it? I think of it as if I have the class forever and the pain that I get with that class will stick forever. It's not as if the teacher does not try or put an effort to teach, it's just that the work we get done does not correlate to the concepts that we learn or what we are supposed to learn. Oh well, I'll just think of it like we have about 5 weeks left of the class and freedom awaits. I then quickly showered and went straight to practicing singing. 

Practicing singing is completely different than dancing. Though both have rhythm and the same motives in mind, singing is a form of enhancing what the composers have given to us. Making a song feel the emotion given by the meaning of it as well as the correct attention to detail is harder than it seems. I focus constantly in staying in the right pitch and tune, yet there are times when hitting the higher notes are hard for me. I just need to believe that I can hit them, because I can. The fear is what is putting me into a phase of discomfort and disbelief in myself. The rest of my day was pretty calm and casual, as I studied a little bit of WHAP and watched TV after eating diner at night. I also played with my younger brother, which brings great joy to my life. That about sums up my work-driven day! 

Blog on Life: Tuesday, 4/22/14

In my opinion, today was one of those days where you just feel like doing absolutely nothing, however; I am not the type of person to do such a thing. I woke up around 7:30, and for the rest of you, that might seem quite early, but in my household, that's considered late. After waking up, I completed my usual morning routine and getting my breakfast and eating it after brushing my teeth and such. I decided to work a little bit on biology to get some research done about my project. Biology is a fun class, but in my opinion, the class is terrible as the teacher does absolutely no teaching. Most kids do not do any work and I felt bad for the teacher as she made an attempt to teach. I ended up researching a bit as I felt some sympathy for her so called "hard work." Afterwards, I practiced dance for a solid 1 hour and the rush of adrenaline had never felt better. My feet were extremely sore, but without a doubt, I had witnessed an amazing practice of the day. As I am still sick and coughing a ton, I could not practice singing, but I still benefited from the experience by listening to music. As soon as I finished, I took a shower and ate lunch with my brother afterwards while watching Spongebob on TV. We ended the afternoon by taking a nap for two hours as my brother was recovering from jet lag and my cough syrup made me feel sleepy.

After we woke up, we both got ready for my brother's rehearsal. He plays an Indian musical drum. The way he plays just rejuvenates your soul and wakes up your mind as well as cleanses your outlook upon the song he accompanies. I thoroughly enjoyed the rehearsal. In between, my mother and I went to the mall and we enjoyed some mother-daughter bonding time. It was only 2 hours, but those 2 hours were plenty for my mother and I to talk about my future and about planning my week and of course shopping! We both bought the exact same sandals in different colors so that we could twin! It was definitely a memorable time that we spent together. Lastly, we all ate dinner together and returned home. The day was long, but the events in the day were memorable and ever-lasting. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to my brother play the mridhangam and spending quality mother-daughter time at the mall. Some moments like this are treasured for the rest of my life.    

Blog on Life: Monday, 4/21/14

More than any other day, today was a pretty relaxing day compared to others that I have had in the past. I visited my Aunt's house and she taught me some math lessons in pre-calculus. I'm first and foremost very glad to have her as an Aunt, and secondly very appreciative to her teaching skills. I was able to grasp the concepts quite quickly and it helped to boost my self-confidence about myself in math in general, as I used to struggle in middle school. As today was pretty calm and peaceful, I did not have much change in emotion except for happiness and joy and enjoyment in the day, however; I decided that for this blog, it would be better to talk about my Sunday, on the 20th of April, as that day was a key milestone for me.

On Sunday, my dance company, KalaVandana Dance Center, was asked to perform in the Concord Shiva-Murugan Temple to celebrate Tamizhl New Year. Every year, our company is given this prestigious opportunity to dance in front of God and get the Temple's blessings. My day started off great with my friend's mom getting me and my friend ready, as my mother was in Cleveland, Ohio, with my brother. The whole dance makeup and dresssing up takes about 2 hours and with the additional person (me), we had to start even earlier. The whole painstaking process gets easier with more and more practice, as does any task, so I helped my friend's mom out by getting ready as much as I could without her help. The jewelry and hair are pretty heavy and that is where the change of emotion kicks in from eagerness and excitement to suddenly feeling angry and the brink of pain. But, in order for the process of getting ready to be competed faster, I decided to hold back and be as patient as I could, and it truly helped us get ready faster. After we were ready, we all left to the temple in Concord. The drive was far so we took a power nap. Once we reached the temple, this is where the rollercoaster ride began.

First and most importantly, we greeted our teacher and discussed with the younger kids the Mangalam, or the ending, where we all come back onstage and bow to the audience. As I was the leader, I had to teach them how to walk and arrange them in order of height. I felt a great sense of strength being a leader and it gave me some credibility that I knew I needed. Afterwards, we all circled around my dance teacher and we performed prayer with our bells to wear around our feet. The prayer is a way of thanking God and have his blessings with us during our dance. Once completed, we tied our bells around our feet and went upstairs to the temple from the hall and got ready to perform. The first batch of girls were from my class, though they were one level above us. They performed first as an offering to God, as their dance was the first. Their dance was beautiful and all coordinating and in sync. Following them was the juniors group. Their dance was all memorized properly, but as it was their first time dancing at the temple, the were all quite nervous. Overall, the children danced well. Once they finished, the butterflies in my stomach started flying in all sorts of directions. My dance teacher had put a ton of pressure on us to perform well as this was one of the most important and key moments in our dance career. The pressure caused some stress and increase in anxiety levels for me, but I decided to calm down in order to perform better. As a result, our group was amazing. Our hard work from constant 3 hour practices had paid off. I felt very accomplished inside and that feeling was pure joy. After the last group danced, we all came back to perform the Mangalam and receive our prasadam, or offering from God. This whole experience at the temple is completely different than performing on stage during our Annual Recital. As we are in a temple, we need to do justice to this art form. Bharatnatyam is a South-Indian Classical Dance art form used as a form of worship in the temple and that is exactly how we managed to dance. I am very thankful for my teacher giving us the opportunity to perform and appreciative of the Temple Committee for additionally organizing the Tamizhl New Year celebrations. My day was definitely a rollercoaster with its ups and downs, but in the end, then experience that I gain conquered all and is for sure the most important lesson of the day.   

A Midsummer Night's Dream Reflection: Get Over It-Kirsten Dunst

The movie Get Over It featuring Kirsten Dunst can be compared to the Shakespearean play A Midsummer Night's Dream. In the movie, the plot is based off around a complicated love triangle, which can be better portrayed as a square. The story line begins with a boy, named Berke Landers, who faces a terrible breakup and does all that he can to get back his "first true love." In this depiction, Berke can be seen as Demetrius who tries all his hardest to win the love of Hermia, though she loves Lysander. Additionally, Berke can also be symbolizing Helena's eagerness to get what she wants. Berke is a high schooler who involves himself in the school theatrical production of A Midsummer Night's Dream to win back his love, where he ends up falling in love with someone else, Kelly (played by Kirsten Dunst). In this situation, the movie faces similar plotlines as Berke is Demetrius who finds his true love of Kelly who is Helena, as she loved him earlier, but he did not feel that it was right due to complications with his best friend, also known as her older brother. In the end of the movie, the play wraps up similarly to the actual script, however; as Berke plays Lysander and decides that his true love is Helena in real life, he drifts apart from the script of falling in love with Hermia, named Alison (Berke's first true love). At the end of the play, the love triangles complication is solved after the continuous intertwining. In the play and the movie, both have formed and encompassed the universal theme of romance, but to actually appreciate romance not for just looks, but for the personality and character of a person. The play by Shakespeare highlights this moral value and the movie helped to depict the scene in a real-life scenario. One important aspect of the movie was the song "Pocket Full of Dreams." This song was song by the actress Kirsten Dunst, amplifying the intimacy and the full respect of what is to be called as a "true love" relationship. This song has a powerful meaning which caused for the turning point in the play within the movie and the change of heart for Berke to love Kelly. Overall, the depiction of the movie was relatively similar to that of the original play and allowed for a visual understanding and a more relatable situation to children of this current generation. 

Dramatic Gestures- Question of the Day (Q.O.D.)

The relationship between gesture and thought is a key concept for all actors and actresses. Gestures are used to convey the thoughts for the audience to understand from the perspective of the actor(s). Actors incorporate gestures into their performances to tell their fellow actors on stage their specific feelings and thoughts for them to correspondingly respond and explain to the audience how a certain situation makes a character feel or how an event can change the entire feel of the performance. Gestures additionally help to support the mood and tone of the play to the audience and highlight the importance of the scene or act. The actor's hand is required and needs to be very conscious of its actions when trying to express a thought or specific emotion. Even a slight mess up or incorrect gestures can come across to the audience as a different emotion and change the entire feel of the play. Therefore, the hand of a character must be very careful and always at watch. 

SSR Book Reflection + Academic Language

Today, during SSR, I decided to read my nonfiction book, called Brainiac. This novel is a compilation of some of the greatest moments of Jeopardy! history for Ken Jennings. A little along the lines of Ken Jennings and his novel that he wrote. Ken Jennings is the highest winning and trivia's undisputed king for Jeopardy! Ken has won over 75 games, played in two years, with over 2, 642 correct answers and more than $2.5 million in winning later. During his college time, Ken Jennings and his college buddy Earl watched various trivia game shows and hoped that in the future, they would be able to reflect on themselves as one of the champions of a trivia game show. After auditioning with hundreds and thousands of people, we can all predict and infer that Ken joined the panel of Jeopardy! In addition to just competing in various trivia shows, Ken believes in investigating various trivia across the world. Ken continues to compete all over the world in college quiz-bowl and goes head-to-head with other fantastic competitors. Jennings, as a person, is remarkable and ponders questions, based philosophically, and the motives in life for people. He analyzes the various emotions and feelings of nostalgia, curiosity, yet the nerdy side to every human being, apparent in the world of trivia. Overall, after finishing more than half the book, with each chapter having trivia questions at the end, this book is simply engaging and full of imagination, yet still informative. 

Poetry Slam Reflection

Looking back at my poetry slam performance, I felt very joyous and extremely proud to be the one to perform the way that I did. Poetry is one of the most under-rated pieces of work in literature. One of the key points of why I truly love English literature to this day is purely based on poetry. Poetry is like dance and singing for me. It is a path that allows me to channel my inner thoughts and feelings to and to be the genius, the creator, the master in my own world. My spoken word poem that I presented is one that is very deep and meaningful and definitely thought-provoking. Throughout highschool, whether it be the small teasing or the "bullying" that happens to all the children around me and including me at times, I really wanted to just express my feelings to stay strong and chose to be the way that you are. It's really not about the people who bully others, but rather the victims who chose to act a certain way. In other words, even if someone tries to influence you, it does not matter at all what they say, but it actually is your choice whether you let that control you or when you decide to make your own decisions. 

"What I think and who I am is ALL up to me. What you think and who you are is up to you." This line comes from my spoken word poem and sums up all that one needs to be a success. Reflecting back on my performance, I feel as if I put my emotion and really conveyed my message across to the class. I feel as if memorizing the poem a bit more would have allowed me to get up and do a few more gestures to enhance the mood of the poem. Additionally, I made one small stutter at the end, but I was able to recover from it. After my performance, the class demanded an encore and really seemed to enjoy my poem. I was glad that the inspiration and motivation from my family, on my mother and brother, as well as my best friends allowed me to create such a beautifully flowing and natural poem. Although the message might be simple, people who experience the difficult situation really understand how hard it is to rebound. Life is filled with various paths, all in different tracks for a train to go on. Your job and your choice are the same thing. Hop on the train which really makes you proud to be and for you to be happy. Ultimately, all that matters is happiness felt by each and every person about themselves. 

Poetry

Haiku Poem

FALLing

Brown leaves rustling

Subtle breeze floating across

Autumn has risen.

Limerick Poem

The Man from Greece

There once was a man from Greece

Who had a big house made of cheese

A mouse came along

But he had it all wrong

Because a cat chased him with ease.

Free Verse Poem

The Other Side of the World

The simplest things in an everyday life

Whether it be laughter, sadness, or happiness

Create a mold in a person, a structure

A foundation to strive through one’s outlook

Or an obstacle to block one’s path.

But what if that structure were to be flipped around?

What if laughter became sadness and sadness became enjoyment?

What if your one obstacle became your best friend?

Or your life’s dreams became your enemy?

What happens when you are on the other side of the world?

The cold, hard drops of rain danced on the grass

While the rainbows crashed and burned into ashes

The tiniest crack in the concrete floor came alive to eat you

As the dangerous wind’s breeze blew past your face

What would life be without a structure or purpose? 

Free Verse Poem #2

Questioning the Ultimate Gift

Gift. A gift. What is a gift?

Something solid, an object?

An ideology? A thought?

Or a connection between someone?

Is it really the thought that counts?

The ultimate gift, the care and thought

Remains unknown, deep within oneself

Defined by one’s personality, one’s character.

The feeling of happiness

Bringing a depth of brightness

A light to someone’s eyes

The joy that brings purpose.

Nothing is complete without a patch

A patch of friendship or love

The ability to restore what was left

To embrace your self-passion.

The bond of friendship

The glue that holds both together

The shoulder to lean on

Forming the perfect harmony.

Sharing moments, glimpses of hope

Enjoying all that life has to offer, together

Being one and the other, always trusting

Each other, at all times, stuck on each other.

The ultimate gift is the gift of life

Without which our lives

Feel the emptiness and blank canvas

Without color or sparkle and shine.

The enormous heart for one

The once in a lifetime opportunity

To show who you are to everyone

And be proud to just be you.

Ballad Poem

The Strive to Move Forward

The thoughts that of which awaken the soul

Those of which embark the peppery steam in our minds

To think, to feel is the strive to move forward.

Failure coming alive to disintegrate the sorrow

The red and black colors breaking apart the anticipation

To think, to feel is the strive to move forward.

The soft sigh of relief once the gift of success is granted

The wondrous warmth of happiness filling up the empty gap

To think, to feel is the strive to move forward.

The goose bumps jumping at your hairs on your arms, lifting

The tears steadily dripping down your face with grace

To think, to feel is the strive to move forward.

The hope to be blessed with the wisest of words

To be granted an opportunity to grab and pocket success

To be known for doing the right from the wrong

To think, to feel is the strive to move forward.

Ode Poem

“Ode to Dance”

Hair tied up

Sitting in position, ready to

Move gracefully and rhythmically

A step, a move, a stance

Strong as it stood

Without hesitation

Seeing the light, the picture coming

To life with rainbows bursting out

The crash of a fall, the blood

Splashing out, dripping off

Picking up the stone

Throwing it back harder

One gesture to another

One emotion, morphing into

The next, face to face

Seeing the view once again

The applause growing louder, cries of

Joy and fulfillment

Building up the confidence

Creating a proud future.

Elegy Poem

What is Perception?

Thoughts, words, inner feelings

Crushed and turned to ash

Blown away like dust

What has life become?

Have lies and misunderstandings equalized?

How has perception flipped me upside down?

The inner thoughts have lingered at last

Finally swooping its journey to come out.

But as time progressed, my actions

Have turned into the complete opposite

Never has life been blocked by the past

Never has thought been so important.

As Hitler, the almighty and manipulative

Used propaganda, his plan for defeat

His tactics switched a German’s mindset

And all he believes now is how Hitler is a “God.”

There lies our hopes and dreams, in a cemetery

Next to the stone block for the will to live

Life has ultimately disappeared, just as if it never existed

Never has life been so empty, or useless to those alive.

Why not just die? Why has life been covered?

Why was the cold-hearted and stone wall built?

To be perceived as the failure covering your path?

Or to cause a slip in an endless plan for hope?

Remembering life before, like a faraway dream

Never has it been the sole enemy

The locks on the door, sealed shut

Molding the weak key into a state of depression.

The simple things, tasks, actions

Have all turned into nothing special

Except for misunderstandings

The new center of attention.

Stream of Consciousness Poem

Words, just words…

Colors flow out on a canvas Painting a PICTURE

Water droplets drip down her eyes

Heart POUNDING and THUMPING without notice

Words change all meaning yet never thoughts! Why! How stubborn to one’s mind!

How the air is so still how the wind is so free how the thoughts are so full yet empty

Why do meanings define words and why not be self-defined by those who use them?

Why are words words and letters letters.

The color blue majestically flies and the feathers of birds construct a landscape

words

letters

thoughts

friends

family

life

the world

now our world

our family

is now your family

WORDS separate aspects never realized or thought by one or those that come to mind.

Free Verse Poem

The Other Side of the World

The simplest things in an everyday life

Whether it be laughter, sadness, or happiness

Create a mold in a person, a structure

A foundation to strive through one’s outlook

Or an obstacle to block one’s path.

But what if that structure were to be flipped around?

What if laughter became sadness and sadness became enjoyment?

What if your one obstacle became your best friend?

Or your life’s dreams became your enemy?

What happens when you are on the other side of the world?

The cold, hard drops of rain danced on the grass

While the rainbows crashed and burned into ashes

The tiniest crack in the concrete floor came alive to eat you

As the dangerous soul from the wind’s breeze blew past your face

What would life be without a structure or purpose? 

Just think...

Blog Post #10: Special Education and General Education

Do you believe that schools should combine both special education and general education students in the same classroom? If so, how would teachers, parents and students figure out how to provide both support and academic challenge to kids with special needs? What strategies for all students would need to be put in place? Should special education and general education merge? What are your honest thoughts about this topic? Why do you feel this way?

In my opinion, I do not see why having both special education students and regular students in the same classroom would be an issue; however, challenged to spark when faced with various possibilities. For example, some students are or seem uncomfortable around students with special problems or needs, therefore creating an environment with a slight discomfort. However, this problem can be overcome once students get used to dealing with special education students and interacting with them. If students are still uncomfortable, student aids or special aids are available and these people are similar to one on one teachers for those who need help. Teachers and  more likely parents will all be safe and feel comfortable that their children are in a secure and stable environment with care and respect for each student. There, of course, will be struggles and challenges to deal with the special education students, but by having a combined environment filled with both students, it is a learning experience for both groups of students. Kids with special needs will gain an academic knowledge in a variety of ways; by learning from the students and experiencing new challenges. There is definitely nothing impossible for the kids with special needs, as they find a way to adapt to new things in a new way. Hence the term impossible. Though its definition states not possible, you can read it as I-AM-POSSIBLE. Anyways, the general educated students will gain a newly-found respect for the kids with special needs and learn to appreciate and understand life's gift of lessons. My honest opinion is that merging special education and general education is possible, but might take some time to get used too. Nevertheless, there really is nothing wrong with it and essentially, you grow into a new family. 

Experience of Tutoring

Today, unlike any other day, was one that truly gave me a new perspective on life. I have never been more enlightened or filled with satisfaction and happiness of knowing that I have done something right. The experience of tutoring children, who have mental or physical disabilities, is an opportunity to be thankful for. I just look at this experience and reflect about things that I have done in my life. Although these children may have disabilities and lack characteristics and abilities that we have, the smallest and most minute details are striking to them. Their disabilities do not put them down, but rather raise their self-esteem up and create the strong, confident people that they are. Each minute detail is taken into consideration, and sometimes I think to myself why people of our time who have nothing wrong with them chose otherwise. After simply just rolling a ball back and forth from one player to another, the precision that these children have is quite remarkable. At one point, I even stopped playing just to admire these children's techniques and abilities. With each special child, even the more challenging tasks were taken and replicated perfectly. Instead of just rolling the ball back and forth, changing into a push-up position, and tossing the ball around your hand, the perfect amount of force was applied and the ball always reached the other side in an aligned path. The children have inspired me and demonstrated that even if, for example, you have broken your foot, you can choose to live in pain, or move on and ignore the pain. Just forgetting about the pain removes more than half of the issues that come your way.

Whether is be physical or mental disabilities, these characteristics do not define a person's character or even appearance. A person is defined by their personality and I can reassure you that all of these children are very good-hearted and welcoming people. When, as a class, we first met the children, one child asked us, "Hi, how are you all doing?" I instantly felt connected to these children and felt an ounce of gratitude that has instantly sparked joy into me. I felt a wake up call, a call to remind people like me, that whatever life throws at you can be avoided if you create your own path and work hard instead of taking the easy way out. These children definitely have a more difficult life than us, but they chose to life their lives filled with joy and happiness and never forget to have fun. If we all just life by that motto, maybe our society can change. Any decision, choice, action, and obstacle is created based on you. You can be the evil demon inside yourself creating obstacles to knock you down, or rise to the occasion as the angel and lift yourself out of your flusters and move on. Whatever you chose to do, remember to put your heart and soul into it, because you can never get back what has happened. I cannot even explain the amount of happiness I have gained throughout this experience. Even by reflecting on tutoring keeps me eagerly waiting on the tips of my toes, ready to help these Special ED children once again. I have gained a whole new set of friends, who have definitely changed my perspective on every detail that comes up every inch of the way. 

Advertisement with Persuasive Strategies

This advertisement, above, claims that by buying PEDIGREE (a dog product), a donation will be made to The Pedigree Adoption Drive association will help dogs, such as the dog seen in the advertisement, find loving owners and homes. With this claim, the advertisement appeals to a wide range of audience members: to people who love dogs, dog owners, as well as those who would just like to help make a difference for the animals that need this care. Additionally, the advertisement is organized in a clean fashion and includes a wide variety of persuasive techniques. One specific strategy that is dominant is the use of ethos to create credibility and trust in the audience. The Pedigree Adoption Drive is an association and additionally a "Big Name," which gives the viewers a reason to believe the advertisement and address the advertisement's claim. In the lower right corner, written in fine print, the advertisement states that as of 2008, the total donations given were between $250,000  to $1 million. The use of the logos, or logic, supports the claim by using statistics and facts. At the same time, before anything, the advertisement captures the audience's attention with the use of the dog, Otis, who looks like he is sad, bored, or depressed, making that pouty face. This advertisement appeals to our emotions by using pathos. We, the audience, feel bad for the dog and hope that we can help make the dog happy and live a more pleasant life. Therefore, the usage of the emotional appeal captivates the audience. By simply buying the PEDIGREE product, we will indirectly make a donation through The Pedigree Adoption Drive, to help dogs find loving homes. 

Bullying Video

This link below is for a movie titled Cyberbully. This movie shows how cyberbullying almost leads to suicide attempts and learning to stand up for yourself eventually. Grab a tissue, because when you watch this movie, there is no holding back those tears!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shnAPc3wYbA 

New Year/New Semester Goals

"The power of setting goals is an extremely valuable life skill. The New Year is the perfect time to start discussing what the future holds and how we can plan for positive growth and change both individually and together."

For the upcoming academic year, I believe to create sub-goals in a matter based on my progress. Normally, when I create my main goals with sub-goals, I set those goals purely based on my PLAN for success. This upcoming year, I hope to be able to accomplish as much as I possibly can to achieve my GOAL by creating, more or less, a stepping stone goal. Each stone that I step across is a sub-goal that I have achieved, which leaves me one step closer to achieving my dreams.

With the first semester finished, I have been able to identify my strengths and weaknesses. More specifically, I am able to identify which subjects I am strong in and which ones are more difficult for me. For example, French for me is a subject I enjoy and it is one of my strengths along with English and Math. However, I feel and have noticed that my weakest subject is the hardest class that I am taking. From this experience, I know that the more challenging classes I take, the tougher it is for me to do well in those. I am struggling in World History AP, comparatively to my other subjects, since I have never experienced a college-level course. Now that I have experienced and identified my strengths and difficulties, I have found a way to make myself a more successful person. With each of my classes, I have definitely been able to understand and grasp the concepts and standards learned, but applying them to tests is an issue that I face for a few. Being able to learn new test-taking skills will be a useful tool and my future goal for achieving this brand new semester. Test-taking skills is a real broad and general tool, but I can use it to help me better myself in taking the PSAT, SAT, and subject tests, my other up and coming future goals. I just need to find a way and a method for channeling all of the knowledge I know into a stamp of approval, hence a test.

Not only does this new year give me a chance to brighten up myself academically, but through some more personal goals. As some of you may know, I am a dancer and have been dancing for the past 10 years. I truly love dancing, as the art form connects me to my South Indian, Classical roots. I have really been working hard in dancing, practicing whenever I have the chance to and EVERY SINGLE DAY. No matter whether I am sick, or tired, or busy, even just 5 minutes in that one day makes a huge difference. Just last week on Sunday, my dance teacher inspired me with her beautiful words of wisdom. "Dance is not just a sport. Dance is not just an art. Dance is your life. Dance is your best friend." I quickly shed a tear just listening to this. With my deep love for dance, nothing comes to compare to it or even come close to expressing myself and my personality and character. I have a future goal next year in the summer. I am planning on performing a 2 hour  graduation recital, or Arangetram. I have been waiting to perform this Bharatnatyam recital my whole entire life. But as many of you know, things like this do not come easy! Everyday, I have been practicing and improving and making sure that I enjoy the whole process every step of the way. There is no way that I can get this whole experience back. I can just picture myself standing on the stage after I finished me recital, thanking everyone, crying, and hugging my parents. With my friends and family, I know that I can accomplish anything with their support. 

Outside of dance, I have decided to stick with no New Year's Resolutions, but rather have one resolution every single day, whether it be dance for an extra 5 minutes, or try to write your essays faster. This way, I can control myself, without slamming too much pressure. When I am hoping to accomplish anything and achieve my goals once set, I think to myself. "Setting goals might be a hard thing, but actually reaching them is a whole different dynamic!"