Test Review

Today in class, we looked over our test as a class. I was satisfied with my grade, but I wish I did a little better. We took a lot of time to discuss the written portions of the test. The question that a couple people were confused about was when we had to give our personal opinion on what we thought Socrates' quote meant. I think people were confused because the question was unclear. Mr. Schick wanted us to give our personal opinion of the quote based off of the facts we were taught about Socrates. When I hear the words, "give you personal opinion," my opinion is based off of what I think along with the facts of Socrates. I think what most people did is they put their opinion of the quote as if they had no idea who Socrates was. If I was given that quote, but had no idea who said it or anything about them, I would have put a different answer than what I did when I knew it had to do with Socrates. Though it was a good debate between the teacher and the students, I just wanted to move on with the review of the test. Other than that question, I think most people were satisfied with their grade.

Nike

Today in class, we went into further detail about the Nike video. We talked about how Nike's net worth is so much, 86.2 billion to be exact, that they should at least pay the Indonesian workers a little more so they can live with more than a 9x9 cement house, and one or two items a day. We also said that if Nike can't pay their factory workers a decent amount, they should pay for school so the children can get an education and maybe find a better job than working in a sweatshop. I found out that Nike is 86 times bigger than Under Armor which amazes me because I think they are both pretty popular. Mr. Schick told us about how Walmart locks their workers inside so they can't take breaks, and I think that is ridiculous because what if there is an emergency? If there is a fire, like the Triangle building, then all the workers would most likely die, and it would be Walmart's fault. It amazes me how stupid some people can be.

Behind the Swoosh

Today in class, we watched a video called Behind the Swoosh and it talked about the sweatshops in Indonesia. Nike is the largest sportswear in the world, but little people know what really goes on in the factories. The workers get paid $1.25 a day, barely enough to buy the basic necessities. Each family lives in a 9x9 cement box, and in some houses there are 4 or more people living there. The bathrooms are shared by 5-10 families. Jim, the main guy in the video, lost 25 lbs. from living how the factory workers live. His partner got extremely sick with a 104 degree fever. The workers usually work over time just so they can have enough to get by. They can't afford education for their kids, so they don't go to school. Every worker for Nike sweatshops struggle with fear of being beaten, stripped of their belongings, or even death. Watching this video made me realize how lucky I am with the things that I own, and it made me realize that I should be grateful for the stuff I do have, rather than complain about the stuff I don't have. It is extremely depressing to see these people living like this, and it makes me want to help them. This video gave me an idea of how factories are. Though not all factories are like this, I can guarantee that a lot of them are.

Globalization part 3

Today in class, we talked about globalization again. We looked at the last few pictures and talked a little bit about it, then we switched topics multiple times. At the beginning of class, we talked about the speech and debate team. Then a few students and I found animal crackers and ate them, but then we got to talking about serious stuff. We watched a video about Muslims and how they are stereotyped when they shouldn't be. I will admit when I see them in the airport, I get a weird feeling just because of what people make them seem like. Not all of them are bad, but they are all perceived to be terrorists. We got into talking about 9/11 which really interests me because I don't know much about it since I was only a baby when it happened. Overall, we learned that we can't stereotype all Muslims because of what a couple of them did.

Globalization part 2

Today in class we talked about globalization again. We went over the pictures as a class and when we looked at the picture of the KFC and McDonald's, we talked about the employees that work there and how they don't make as much money as someone who works in a more professional place. We also talked about how people in tribes in Kenya are becoming more like the modern world by using cell phones which confused me because if they live in huts and on farms with their tribes, then who else do they need to contact? And lastly, we heard Maureen sing Amazing Grace, I'm not quite sure why she had to sing it though.

Globalization

Globalization is the connection of different parts of the world. It results in the expansion of international, cultural, economic, and political activities. It has a very long history. The conquer of Alexander the Great came from the globalization of the Greek culture. The silk road is a trade route between China and the Mediterranean Sea, and it promoted the exchange of ideas and knowledge.
I also learned that globalization was accelerated in the nineteenth century with the Industrial Revolution, as mechanical mills and factories became more common. If we didn't have globalization, all the different countries would not be so connected.

Did You Know?

Today in class, we watched a video that informed us about all these interesting facts of 2012. One of the facts that amazed me was that India had more honors kids than America has kids. 25% of India's kids have extremely high IQ's, making them honor students. Another fact that I did not know of was that China would soon become the number one English speaking country. I find that hard to believe since in America, most people speak English as their first language. But if you think about it, there are a lot of immigrants in America who might not be as fluent in English as others, while over in China, the students learn how to speak English each day. The last fact that I thought was interesting was that 1 out of 8 marriages were people who met online. I think that is interesting because most people that meet over the internet either don't know each other as well as people who know each other from meeting in person. There were so many other interesting facts from this video in 2012, but I would love to see these statistics today, in 2015.

Test Day

Today, we took our first test. In my opinion, the test was easy, but I should have studied a little harder. There was one question that I could not think of the answer, but once I turned in my test, the answer hit me. The one question that I could not think of the answer to, was the two crimes that Socrates committed. After turning in the test, I remembered that he was arrested for causing corruption in Athens, and for impiety, which is not believing in God. I think if the tests are all like the one we took today, I will have a great grade in human geography.

Arete

Today in class, we learned that arête means excellence of any kind, moral virtues, and most importantly the act of living up to full potential. Arete comes from the ancient Greeks. It involves all of the abilities and potentialities available to humans. We also learned that the highest human potential is knowledge. We also learned some words and had to look up their meanings. The words are: agora, polis, the importance of 508 BC, Socrates, the death of Socrates, the Socratic method, and the meaning of the term idiot when ancient Greeks used it.

• agora- a public open space used for assemblies and markets
• polis- a city state in Greece, especially as considered in its ideal form for philosophical purposes
• importance of 508 BC- Athenian democracy in the city of Athens is established under Cleisethenes following the tyranny of Hippias
• Socrates- an ancient Greek philosopher who was the teacher of Plato
• the death of Socrates- Hemlock poisoning & forced suicide
• the Socratic method- a form of inquiry and discussion between individuals, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to illuminate ideas
• idiot (ancient Greek meaning)- a private person

PowerPoint Notes

Today in class, we took notes from a power point regarding the essay, A Message to Garcia. In the power point, I read that this essay is an inspirational essay published in March, 1899. It was reprinted as a pamphlet and book. The book sold over 40 millions copies and it was printed in 37 different languages. The essay was later made into a movie, twice; once in 1916, and again in 1936. "Take a message to Garcia" became a popular slang expression meaning taking initiative. This term is still used in the military. In the essay, it was set during the Spanish-American war. Garcia was a revolutionary seeking Cuban independence from Spain. Rowan was an army officer from West Point, class of 1881. McKinley was the 25th president, from 1897-1901. He was assassinated six months into his second term as president by an anarchist. The mountain Denali was named after president McKinley, but as of last week, the mountain is called Denali again. I also learned what the words perihelion, slipshod, imbecility, stenographer, and missive meant. At the end of the power point, I copied down a quote from Elbert Hubbard. He said, "The world bestows its big prizes, both money and honors, but for one thing. And that is initiative. What is initiative? I'll tell you: it is doing the right thing without being told."

Action Plan

Going from middle school to high school was a big change for me. In my freshman year, I hope to make tons of new friends. I can be shy when it comes to new people, but with some people, we click automatically. A second thing I hope to do is advance my lacrosse skills. I hope to tryout all four years at John Carroll. Everyone says they want to get good grades, and I do, but I've had straight A's all 3 years of middle school, so I'm going to try extra hard in my classes to keep straight A's. My fourth idea for high school is to do things on my own. In middle school, there was a lot of assistance. Though I didn't always need it, there were times that I was very lost. At John Carroll, I hope to become very independent and do everything for myself. My final thing I hope to accomplish at JC is to graduate as a well-educated student. I want to finish my four years of high school with 10x the amount of friends I started with, a good education, and the opportunity to say that I was a patriot.

Work and Social Life

Today in class, we talked about the essay from yesterday. Some of the students brought up great points about how most employees are lazy and value their income more than getting their work done. I think that statement is half true. A lot of workers actually work hard for their income, but others are lazy. For instance, I was at the Verizon store and the employee was extremely rude and lazy when we asked questions. When we went back another day, we had a worker who was extremely helpful. It shows who is lazy and who isn't. Another point that was brought up in class was that adults think kids are antisocial except for using social media. They claim teens are always on their phones, which is partly true, but that doesn't mean we are being antisocial. A lot of my friends are people I met through social media. In my opinion, adults only think teens are antisocial because a lot of things have changed since their time as teens.

A Message to Garcia

In my opinion, A Message to Garcia was very confusing. There were a lot of words that I didn't know such as, perihelion, endeavored, imbecility, stenographer, and a few more. I looked up these words and found out that perihelion means the point in the orbit of a planet, asteroid, or comet at which is closest to the sun. Endeavored means to try hard to do or achieve something. Imbecility means an instance or point of weakness; feebleness; incapability. It could also mean stupidity; silliness; absurdity. And finally, stenographer means a person who specializes in taking dictation in shorthand. After looking up these definitions, the message made a little more sense. I think Hubbard was trying to say that the President needed to find someone very reliable and trustworthy to deliver this message.