People were slightly right about how junior year is hell.
The part they were wrong about was how much you can screw yourself over.
Its simple math.
Aspects+5 AP Classes+SAT+ACT+MUN+Spaceset+Red Cross=GET OWNED
I'm done for now...time to get back to tons of French grammar and French literature (thank you Mr. Albert Camus).
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
It's a new year
so 2008 is almost done and I'm spending the last few hours of it blogging...wow...
Anyways, so what was 2008 all about?
Just another year wasted and another year closer to college.
My short list of interesting things I did in 2008.
CMU Pre-college
Spaceset
First AP test (traumatizing =O )
Drivers license!
more to be added later once i remember them
Anyways, so what was 2008 all about?
Just another year wasted and another year closer to college.
My short list of interesting things I did in 2008.
CMU Pre-college
Spaceset
First AP test (traumatizing =O )
Drivers license!
more to be added later once i remember them
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Formal
Dang why does Formal have to be so stressful...
A wise man once said, "It'll be so much easier if girls just wore a sign that said who they want to ask them."
Maybe he has a point. :O
A wise man once said, "It'll be so much easier if girls just wore a sign that said who they want to ask them."
Maybe he has a point. :O
Monday, December 1, 2008
Nostalgia
4 years at Whitney already over...
my 5th year at Whitney already
...so many people met...
yet so many are to leave this year
...so many memories...
so many things unsaid and so many things undone...
..and next year we shall leave Whitney as well...
perhaps we will leave with memories that will last a lifetime.
my 5th year at Whitney already
...so many people met...
yet so many are to leave this year
...so many memories...
so many things unsaid and so many things undone...
..and next year we shall leave Whitney as well...
perhaps we will leave with memories that will last a lifetime.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Why I would vote for Obama
If you asked me this question a year ago, I would have said John
McCain. His Straight Talk Express and willingness to be honest
appealed to me a lot. However, all that is gone now (McCain stopped
his Straight Talk Express). However, as I learned more about each
delegate, I started leaning more towards Barack Obama. McCain's pick
of Sarah Palin for VP made me adamant about Barack Obama winning.
Palin's interview where she tried to argue that being close to Russia
gives her foreign policy experience gave me the impression that she is
not prepared to be vice president nor president if the need arises.
Her later actions (prosecuted for ethics) and beliefs (no abortion
even in case of rape) further cemented my dislike of Palin.
So why does Barack Obama appeal to me?
First off, look at his life story. It is the modern day version of the
American dream. He grew up off of food stamps when he lived with his
mother in the United States. His father left him when he was very
young because he wanted to return to Kenya where he had a second wife.
His mother than remarried and Obama relocated to Indonesia. He moved
once more back to the United States in fifth grade to live with his
grandparents. Even with all this moving around and abnormal childhood,
Obama still manage to make it to Harvard. But, he not only made it to
Harvard, but was also elected as president of the Harvard Law Review.
At Whitney, we worry about getting into UCLA, Stanford, Harvard, but
we grew up in a much better situation than Obama. It is extraordinary
that Obama achieved so much in the face of adversity. You would expect
that with the unstable family life, Obama would grow up to be an angry
young man who will not amount to much. Yet, Obama is the calmest
presidential candidate I have seen, never getting angry, always
maintaining his cool.
Besides his personal life, his policies also appeal to me. His refusal
to cut taxes for the rich makes sense. Bush had cut taxes on rich
people, but had to later raise taxes on everyone. Under Bush's term,
the rich-poor divide grew significantly with the rich getting richer
and everyone else staying the same. McCain also proposes cutting taxes
on everyone including the rich, but where will all that lost revenue
come from? Education? Defense? Infrastructure?
Also, concentrating U.S. forces in Afghanistan makes a lot more sense
concentrating everything on Iraq. According to many sources
(Democratic and Republican and independent) Afghanistan is where the
Taliban and Al Qaeda are based. Instead of killing innocent civilians
in Iraq, we should go after the terrorists in the sparsely populated
mountainous regions of Afghanistan.
Obama is also much more knowledgeable about current events. At the
debates, he was always the more prepared candidate and could back up
all his claims instead of just gettign angry and accuse the opponent
of being eloquent. He is also prudent enough not to sing "Bomb Bomb
Bomb Iran" or joke about how increasing American tobacco exports to
Iran were a secret way of killing Iranians. Yes, admittedly those were
just jokes, but imagine if the leader of North Korea sang the same
Bomb song except replaced Iran with USA. Or what if someone joked
about killing Americans? How diplomatic would that be?
Also, McCain prides himself as reaching across party lines. However,
now so many Republicans are supporting Obama (ex: Colin Powell). If
McCain can't even earn the support of his own party, how can he be
bipartisan?
Obama however appeals to both parties a lot more, with a large
percentage of his supporters as independents and moderate Republicans.
There is even a group called Rednecks for Obama
(http://www.rednecks4obama.com/ ). If that isn't reaching across
canyons what is?
In addition, Obama is more likely to be an independent than McCain,
contrary to popular belief. The vast majority of Obama's campaign
funds came from the many Internet donars. His campaign spends as much
in one day as McCain's campaign raises in five days. As a result, he
does have any financial ties to the Democratic Party. On the contrary
he hold much sway over the Democratic Party because he holds a long
list of donors (that he does not have to disclose if their
contribution is less than 1000). If the Democratic politicians want
that list, they would have to listen to Obama. (argument from an
article from Time magazine). McCain on the other hand received half
his money from the Republican party.
And McCain keeps talking about cutting costs. However, look at his
personal life. He wears $550 shoes. The Republicans also spent
$150,000 just for Palin's clothes and makeup.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14805.html. If he can't cut
costs for his own campaign, how can he cut costs for the nation?
Obama runs his campaign much more efficiently. For example, staffers
are only reimbursed if they take the subway to the campaign office
instead of taking a taxi (a few dollars vs. about fifty dollars). Sure
this is just a small thing, but this really made a great impression on
me. After all, it is says a lot about how they will truly act once in
office.
Obama grew up as one of us, and he managed to rise above us through
his hard work. He knows what it's like to have college loans (his wife
and him just paid off their college loans with proceeds from their
books). Obama has been hammered for his house that's worth $1 million
dollars. However, he only owns one home and ONE car. McCain on the
other hand owns 7 houses and 11 cars.
(http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/09/report-mccain-h.html ). Obama
can understand what it is like to be part of middle class America, but
he is also better than us, able to work hard and rise in society.
Maybe it says something if a kid in kindergarten dreamed of being
president of the United States, even though he lived off of food
stamps and his dad left him
...and now that he is so close to achieving his dream. For me, that is
the American dream.
McCain. His Straight Talk Express and willingness to be honest
appealed to me a lot. However, all that is gone now (McCain stopped
his Straight Talk Express). However, as I learned more about each
delegate, I started leaning more towards Barack Obama. McCain's pick
of Sarah Palin for VP made me adamant about Barack Obama winning.
Palin's interview where she tried to argue that being close to Russia
gives her foreign policy experience gave me the impression that she is
not prepared to be vice president nor president if the need arises.
Her later actions (prosecuted for ethics) and beliefs (no abortion
even in case of rape) further cemented my dislike of Palin.
So why does Barack Obama appeal to me?
First off, look at his life story. It is the modern day version of the
American dream. He grew up off of food stamps when he lived with his
mother in the United States. His father left him when he was very
young because he wanted to return to Kenya where he had a second wife.
His mother than remarried and Obama relocated to Indonesia. He moved
once more back to the United States in fifth grade to live with his
grandparents. Even with all this moving around and abnormal childhood,
Obama still manage to make it to Harvard. But, he not only made it to
Harvard, but was also elected as president of the Harvard Law Review.
At Whitney, we worry about getting into UCLA, Stanford, Harvard, but
we grew up in a much better situation than Obama. It is extraordinary
that Obama achieved so much in the face of adversity. You would expect
that with the unstable family life, Obama would grow up to be an angry
young man who will not amount to much. Yet, Obama is the calmest
presidential candidate I have seen, never getting angry, always
maintaining his cool.
Besides his personal life, his policies also appeal to me. His refusal
to cut taxes for the rich makes sense. Bush had cut taxes on rich
people, but had to later raise taxes on everyone. Under Bush's term,
the rich-poor divide grew significantly with the rich getting richer
and everyone else staying the same. McCain also proposes cutting taxes
on everyone including the rich, but where will all that lost revenue
come from? Education? Defense? Infrastructure?
Also, concentrating U.S. forces in Afghanistan makes a lot more sense
concentrating everything on Iraq. According to many sources
(Democratic and Republican and independent) Afghanistan is where the
Taliban and Al Qaeda are based. Instead of killing innocent civilians
in Iraq, we should go after the terrorists in the sparsely populated
mountainous regions of Afghanistan.
Obama is also much more knowledgeable about current events. At the
debates, he was always the more prepared candidate and could back up
all his claims instead of just gettign angry and accuse the opponent
of being eloquent. He is also prudent enough not to sing "Bomb Bomb
Bomb Iran" or joke about how increasing American tobacco exports to
Iran were a secret way of killing Iranians. Yes, admittedly those were
just jokes, but imagine if the leader of North Korea sang the same
Bomb song except replaced Iran with USA. Or what if someone joked
about killing Americans? How diplomatic would that be?
Also, McCain prides himself as reaching across party lines. However,
now so many Republicans are supporting Obama (ex: Colin Powell). If
McCain can't even earn the support of his own party, how can he be
bipartisan?
Obama however appeals to both parties a lot more, with a large
percentage of his supporters as independents and moderate Republicans.
There is even a group called Rednecks for Obama
(http://www.rednecks4obama.
canyons what is?
In addition, Obama is more likely to be an independent than McCain,
contrary to popular belief. The vast majority of Obama's campaign
funds came from the many Internet donars. His campaign spends as much
in one day as McCain's campaign raises in five days. As a result, he
does have any financial ties to the Democratic Party. On the contrary
he hold much sway over the Democratic Party because he holds a long
list of donors (that he does not have to disclose if their
contribution is less than 1000). If the Democratic politicians want
that list, they would have to listen to Obama. (argument from an
article from Time magazine). McCain on the other hand received half
his money from the Republican party.
And McCain keeps talking about cutting costs. However, look at his
personal life. He wears $550 shoes. The Republicans also spent
$150,000 just for Palin's clothes and makeup.
http://www.politico.com/news/
costs for his own campaign, how can he cut costs for the nation?
Obama runs his campaign much more efficiently. For example, staffers
are only reimbursed if they take the subway to the campaign office
instead of taking a taxi (a few dollars vs. about fifty dollars). Sure
this is just a small thing, but this really made a great impression on
me. After all, it is says a lot about how they will truly act once in
office.
Obama grew up as one of us, and he managed to rise above us through
his hard work. He knows what it's like to have college loans (his wife
and him just paid off their college loans with proceeds from their
books). Obama has been hammered for his house that's worth $1 million
dollars. However, he only owns one home and ONE car. McCain on the
other hand owns 7 houses and 11 cars.
(http://blogs.abcnews.com/
can understand what it is like to be part of middle class America, but
he is also better than us, able to work hard and rise in society.
Maybe it says something if a kid in kindergarten dreamed of being
president of the United States, even though he lived off of food
stamps and his dad left him
...and now that he is so close to achieving his dream. For me, that is
the American dream.
I HATE AP CHEM
Well the title kinda says it all...
Anyways I thought AP chem would be chill, but I was so fricking wrong. Chemistry is like another language to me (and yes, I am French-challenged, so the analogy still holds). Ugh, wish I had dropped AP chem when I had the chance. O well, made my choice, now I better live with it. :(
Anyways I thought AP chem would be chill, but I was so fricking wrong. Chemistry is like another language to me (and yes, I am French-challenged, so the analogy still holds). Ugh, wish I had dropped AP chem when I had the chance. O well, made my choice, now I better live with it. :(
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Newsweek Comment by marksgershenson
I found this to be extremely funny:
Comment: I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight???..
* If you grow up in Hawaii , raised by your grandparents, you're 'exotic, different.'
* Grow up in Alaska eating moose burgers, yours is a quintessential American story.
* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
* Name your kids Willow , Trig and Track, you're a maverick.
* Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.
* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black
President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that
Registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law
professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over
750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human
Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state
of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs,
Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any
real leadership experience.
* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6
years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the
governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become
the country's second highest ranking executive and next in line behind a man
in his eighth decade.
* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful
daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.
* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and then left your disfigured wife
and married the heiress the next month, you're a true Christian.
* If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of
birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
* If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex
education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up
pregnant, you're very responsible.
* If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious
Law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to
raise a family, your family's values don't represent America 's.
* If you're husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI conviction and
no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a
member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your
family is extremely admirable.
OK, that makes it much more clearer now???
Comment: I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight???..
* If you grow up in Hawaii , raised by your grandparents, you're 'exotic, different.'
* Grow up in Alaska eating moose burgers, yours is a quintessential American story.
* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
* Name your kids Willow , Trig and Track, you're a maverick.
* Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.
* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black
President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that
Registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law
professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over
750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human
Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state
of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs,
Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any
real leadership experience.
* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6
years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the
governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become
the country's second highest ranking executive and next in line behind a man
in his eighth decade.
* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful
daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.
* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and then left your disfigured wife
and married the heiress the next month, you're a true Christian.
* If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of
birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
* If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex
education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up
pregnant, you're very responsible.
* If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious
Law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to
raise a family, your family's values don't represent America 's.
* If you're husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI conviction and
no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a
member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your
family is extremely admirable.
OK, that makes it much more clearer now???