My High School Years

When I finished 8^th grade, I knew my next year of school was going to get more difficult, like moving up to the final level of a video game about me. In the summer of 2009, my high school journey began at Summit High School in Arlington Texas.

At the end of summer vacation, I had to attend Fish Fest. Fish Fest is a get-together for freshmen that are new to the school. Although I didn’t want to attend, it was required. To be honest, I was very shy, even to this day- I will always be. However, I eventually got over it and started socializing with others.

The big day came: my first year of High School begins with not my parents taking me, but my sister. She goes to Summit as well, but this was her senior year. This is not the first time my sister and I went to the same school at the same time. Back in elementary school, I attended 1^stgrade while she attended 4^th grade in the same school. It was like Déjà vu that entire year.

Anyway, my first schedule that year, and pretty much every year, was the same: reading, math, and history. I got good grades, but the real fun was my elective classes. My favorite classes were art, theatre arts, TV production, and getting to be an Office Hall Assistant, which is a delivery boy around the school.

During 9^th grade, I decided to try theater. I auditioned for the comedy Harvey, but I was unsuccessful.  As time moved on, I got lucky in other plays like Romeo + Juliet and Aida. I did a good job playing the apothecary in Romeo + Juliet- I won an award for best supporting actor.

During my 10^th and 11^th grade years, I did a cool class called TV Production.  I got to create cool videos and work in the school’s newsroom. I made some nice videos like “11 Words That Describe Me”, which was my favorite assignment in the class.

During the last semesters of 11^th and 12^th grade years, I did an interesting class called Ready Set Teach, which was learning how to teach kids. At the beginning of the semester we would learn the basics of being an assistant teacher, and then we would go to an actual elementary school and help out. It was really a fun experience.

The most unforgettable moment I had in high school was being part of the high school sprit squad at football games and pep rallies. We were called the “Blue Crew”.  We dressed crazy for the games. We would run onto the field with the football players and do push-ups every time our team would get a touchdown or goal. We would sit at lunch together. I even got to appear on the Jumbo-Tron which was a little scary.

 In conclusion, high school was a fantastic time in my life. Some people say they don't like it at first. I don't blame them. When you first start, it is kind of scary. You don't know what you will experience. Overall, it is what you make of it. My high school experience ended with a big graduation party that I was not expecting. That was a lot of fun! 

Mike Rowe Interview

I just watched an interview of Mike Rowe about the high cost of college and here is what I found out. To start off Mike explains what he sees as the real problem that the cost has cropped up over the past 40 years in America and its not working. The amount is a trillion dollars in debt on the students’ loan side and a large skills gap.

Mr. Rowe also explains all P.R. campaigns go too far.  P.R stands for Public Relations which means the practice of managing the spread of information between individuals or an organization.

Mr. Rowe has created a campaign called “work hard and smart”. He is against the idea of the taxpayer supporting loans going to college. He gets a little curious, when the debt gets to a trillion dollars. He is suggesting we’ve gone around the bend a little bit.

Mr. Rowe mentions the cost of a degree has increased over 500 times the rate of inflation since the mid- 80s. I actually found this really interesting.

As the interview continued he is asked how he creates better work ethics in people. He said that he thinks it has something to do with being suspicious of anything that is too easy, being suspicious of anything that doesn’t hurt a little bit. It has something to do with the willingness to find and take the reverse commute.

The interviewer asked Mr. Rowe if schools should be more in the business of doing tech stuff? Mike says they probably shouldn’t do it. He also stated if he depended on a skilled workforce then he would not depend on a public education system to provide for him.

While continuing to watching the video the interviewer discusses why men have lower rates than women. Technically he doesn’t know, but he does say there is probably some obvious crossing over.  More opportunities have been made available and more women can avail themselves to them.

About 32 minutes into the video the discussion turned to explaining if technology was the problem. Mike says it’s not a problem. The displacement theory is interesting. He actually read it in his own industry. Like the idea was the newspaper would displace the telegraph, and then movies would displace books, and TV would displace movies. I was really intrigued.

Mike mentions jobs are vanishing and people need to somehow recalibrate in this world of hyper efficiency. I will always remember that because I myself am looking for a job and I need to start looking fast before they run out.

In conclusion I have never heard of Mike Rowe he is an amazing guy, and he gave good advice. I loved at the end when he said “is real education is reality TV?” I will sometime watch an episode of Dirty Jobs it sounds really good.         

             

The Constant Connection

Social Media allows us to stay in constant connection with our world.  Now that we have smart phones, tablets, and high speed laptops, the ability to stay in contact is endless.  My device of choice is my phone. 

There are many different types of social media. Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, and Snapchat are the few that I have the most experience with.  Even with just these four types, it is amazing how connected I can be with my friends, their friends, and the world around them. I really get a kick out of sharing photos, videos, and, of course, posting what I am doing.  I think it is just as cool to see what others are up to as well.  One of my favorite things to do is to go to YouTube and look for videos that I think are hilarious and then share them with friends on Facebook.  I find it amazing that the friends of my friends can see the same videos that I have posted.  One of the policies that I learned about the hard way is that you cannot use footage that has a copyright in a video you make and share.  One of my personal policies is that I don’t post any videos that might contain foul language.

Sometimes Social Media can hurt.  Cyberbullying is what I am talking about.  Cyberbulllies feel like they can get away with being hateful and mean on Social Media.  They often times post mean comments or uncomfortable pictures intended to hurt someone.  I have never been cyberbullied before, but I have heard stories on the news.  Those stories seem very sad and unsettling.

Overall Social Media is a great way to stay in touch with friends and share memorabile moments.There are many ways to stay connected and that is electronic devices, such as phones, computers, iPads, and more.

People use their phones all the time. Brook’s article “Intimancy for the Avoidant” mentions that people check their phones on average 221 times a day- about every 3-4 minutes. I only use my phone to listen to music, call, text, or if my iPad is out of juice.   

Sometimes my Devices like to glitch. For instance, my phone likes to lose juice more quickly by just being in my pocket doing nothing and when I charge it back up it goes back to normal. As for my iPad, it just likes to go slow or buffs. My computer also makes mistakes like freezing once in awhile, but that’s probably when I go to YouTube.

There are a lot of electronic device policies such as school, camps, and in the workplace. The number one policy that everyone should remember is not using your device at all. You can lock it and put it in your pocket, unless if your teacher, boss, or advisor wants you to use it for important reasons.

In conclusion, electronic devices can be really helpful. I love using them even though we can end up breaking them. We just need to give them tender, loving care.    

My Past Summer

My past summer was awesome! Well to start off I graduated from the PATHS program at Texas A&M in May.  It was a fun experience. All of my aggie family came to see me. It was the first time I attended a 4 year university.

During the first week of summer I really wanted to celebrate my accomplishment by going to Atlantis in the Bahamas. I have been wanting to do that for the past seven years. It’s a really cool resort that has waterskiing, which I have never done in my life, a huge waterpark, swimming with dolphins, game rooms, and a casino. But unfortunately it was unable to happen. My family decided we should go visit my sister in California instead.

Going to California was fantastic.  It was my second time being in LA. We got to go to Universal Studios and ride Jurassic Park, visit Harry Potter world, and much more. Then we head to Malibu to go to the Beach which took my breath away with the sunset over the ocean. And finally my Mother and Sister and I got to go to Disneyland. Sadly my Father had to go back to Texas for job situations. We rode Star Tours, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, and Indiana Jones.

I get the impression that we are mostly going to visit my sister all the time every year. One thing I left out, my sister works for entertainment tonight.  When I call her from home I tell her if she sees a celebrity to take a picture or get an autograph, you know its Los Angeles there can be a celebrity anywhere.

Through-out the rest of my summer I was at home trying to find a job. But no luck. I still have my fingers crossed. When I was not looking for a job I played Call of Duty or Battlefield to entertain myself. I also enjoyed laying out by the pool if it was clear skies. I would listen to an audiobook.

When my summer was ending I knew that we had to do are usual vacation trip and that was the Hyatt hill country in San Antonio with a lazy river and miniature water park we went there for my dad’s birthday. We swam in the lazy river, ate a lot of junk food, played in the arcade, made s’mores, and to end the trip we hung out at the bar and played some pool. All and all I didn’t get to go to the Bahamas but I had a great summer by doing a lot of fun things.  I would have to say my favorite time I had through-out the summer was Disneyland its truly the most magical place on earth,.