SAT Pronpt: Does true learning only occur when we experience difficulties?

Does true learning only occur when we experience difficulties? That depends on how you justify true learning. If it is book work like arithmetic and vocabulary, then no. But if you categorize true learning as I do which would be life lessons such as is deception ever acceptable, how far is too far, or wondering if you can ever really trust anyone but yourself I think that those might be lessons that must be learned by making your own mistakes. Now it is true people say that you have to learn from the mistakes of your father, mother, brother, teacher, or friends but sometimes that is not simply enough for example my friend had a friend who was practically a sister long ago that gave her a piece of advice she said “once you get to your happy place, stop” and growing up my friend was content enough to listen but when the time came when she really needed to heed her advice she thought what could one more hurt? And wound up puking on the couch. So in theory listening to other people who have “been there” is a good idea but humans are and teenagers especially are the kinds of beings who need to defy everyone and make their own mistakes. Another reason I think you cannot truly learn without going through hardships is because of the saying “in one ear and out the other” in so many cases this has proved true to me for example I will be sitting in class attempting to listen and I hear all the words but if I try to think back two seconds then I have no idea what my teacher has just said but I believe that if something happened to make me think about why I would need to know that specific piece of information I would comprehend it better.

Do people achieve more success by cooperation than by competition?

This is a difficult question because I'm not sure how to quantify success by money, happiness, or something else? If it is money like in a restaurant I think it’s sort of like socialism versus capitalism on the one hand capitalism keeps prices low and the businesses that cannot compete shut down but if you measure success in money there will always be other commentators making prices lower and lower but on the socialist side if the government protects businesses that should not compete that ruins things for the other competitors so on the subject of money as success I think competition wins this round.

If you count happiness as success then I whole heartedly say that cooperation will make people achieve greater happiness because people cannot relax when they are constantly in fear of falling behind and if people don’t ever get the chance to relax then it can lead to a number of health risks like high blood pressure.

Another thing that could be considered is just winning like a race or a game and if that is the case then I definitely think that competition is the best way to achieve success for example a zebra will run faster with a lion chasing it. And I have had personal experience with this same concept. Last month I played a rugby tournament and before our first game we practiced for a little bit and my running was ok nothing really special but when we were about to start our first game and got a look at the other team something changed I'm not sure if it was fear because the other girls were easily three times my size or if it was just the power of the will to compete but that game I ran faster than I ever had before.

In conclusion I cannot definitively say whether competition or cooperation is the best way to achieve success without knowing how to measure success.

Genocide

Genocide
Main Entry: geno·cide
Pronunciation: \ˈje-nə-ˌsīd\
Function: noun
Date: 1944
: The deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group

This is the definition of genocide according to Merriam Webster’s dictionary, it seems simple and does not seem to fully dawn on you the actual meaning until you read it over several times. To think just one word could hold so much horrific history is hard it wrap your head around. I find it hard to grasp or even believe that anyone could ban together and annihilate an entire group of people, but that is what happened in 1933. I see two parts of genocide that I would like to address the first: who participates in genocide and what does it take? And the second: what kind of emotional state the people who are being eradicated in? I will be using Night by Ellie Wiesel as a guide to help me better understand what it was like to be a person of Jewish faith during the Holocaust.
To participate in genocide, one must be weak minded to be persuaded to participate in mass murder and even more feeble to be persuaded that it is right and essential for some cause or another. What does it take to knowingly participate? Perhaps it might take a lot of convincing and false studies, or maybe threats. Can people be participating in genocide and not even realize they are? For example a country might sit back and ignore what is happening in its neighboring country is that participation though? Or is a solider a participant if he’s just following orders or is it the one giving the orders? Both? These are all difficult questions and they are all subject to a difference of opinion.

The way I see it, the Jews in the Holocaust went through many phases as in Ellie Wiesel’s book night at first they were in denial that it was even happening saying “oh the Nazis will never make it this far” and again when German soldiers began to walk their streets and move into their homes but even then they started to except and even like them, saying they were polite house guests. Then when they were moved into the ghettos they felt secure like they were safer in their entirely Jewish community. But the Stockholm syndrome really started to set in when the police told them they were being deported not only did they pack their own bags and go willingly. They even had a chance to escape when there was no guard and with a safe place lined up they still decided to stay and leave with the last transport. While on the train the Jews start to realize they are in serious trouble with crammed cars, little food and water, and uncomfortable unsanitary conditions. When the woman on the train starts screaming they become uneasy, even frightened so in a situation where tensions are already running high they take a situation where they have no control and try to gain some control by beating the woman. When they arrive at the camp and discover they might die no one try’s to run they all seem to be internally defeated and all they hope for is time to pray and to die before family. But while inside the camp they still try to help each other by providing family members with portions of food rations and false hope of good news. Then self preservation kicks in and they all attempt to do anything to avoid transport with the thinking that the evil you know is always better.

In conclusion those who participate in genocide are generally weak minded like sheep being herded by media propaganda and orders of superiors and those who the acts of genocide are being committed against go through many phases from denial, grief, and even acceptance. Is there some way we can ever understand why genocide is really committed? Maybe. I think the philosopher Thomas Hobbes had the best insights on human nature and that is that people are naturally evil and selfish and if left to their own devices will run wild or at least this seems the case on the subject of genocide.

summer camp

It was summer of 2007 and I was having some trouble with my confidence and what I was going to wear to gymnastics camp. I decided on plain shorts and a t-shirt I didn’t really like to stand out so I figured something casual that would avoid attention. The whole ride there was nerve wracking I felt like the ugly fish in the aquarium the one that you look at and think why is that in here? I didn’t even want to go to the stupid camp but my dad thought I was too antisocial so he gave me an ultimatum camp or summer school, so off I went with out even the safety net of knowing a single person to talk to. When I got there I went to the front desk to check in where a girl with red hair gave me a big hello my name is name tag with letters that were much to happy for the mood I was in then she instructed me to go out side for a small orientation. I walked outside and saw people sitting on the grass, so I went and sat behind them. A man named phil came out and told us what a great time we were going to have and how great we were all going to get at our weakest event I thought that was about as likely as pigs flying. After that we went and met our coaches I got Coach Tami she was a large muscular woman with brown hair she told us that at the end of the week we would all be performing a routine on our weakest event in front of our entire camp and that’s when the blanket of suppressed self doubt washed over me. I was sure I would fall flat on my face off the beam because I’m about as graceful as an elephant on ice skates.

The next day I came back and started right on the beam, coach Tami decided to try and teach me a handstand dismount and thanks to my canoe feet I fell off my third try and hurt my ankle which cost me of a day of much needed practice.

My third day of camp went great I learned a lot and also started to choreograph my routine though I still wasn’t very confident and it showed but my coach gave me a little pick me up pep talk and I felt a little better I even tried a few hard stunts buy I had a feeling they would take a while to fully get them right. The day before the showcase show I finished choreographing my routine but didn’t have time to practice as much as I would have liked because I left early for a friend’s birthday party.

Finally the day had come to present the my routine I got to the gym in the morning and the head coach Phil told us to all stay positive, try our best, and have fun! It was so cliché that I wanted to vomit; he wasn’t the one who had to try to not fall on his face in front of a large group of spectators. After that I practiced my routine and tried to incorporate the harder tricks like a one handed cart wheel, an illusion, and a round off back walkover dismount. Soon girls started performing and then it was my turn and before I knew it I was walking towards the beam sweating bullets. I went to the beam and started my routine, everything was going fine and I really started to believe that I was going to make it through without falling on my face then I realized that if I believed I could do it then I could so I added the one handed cartwheel and the round off back walkover and did them perfectly.

I think that I dident just learn how to properly dismount a beam at gymnastics camp I learnd how to believe in myself and that it’s ok to mess up sometimes because I’m only human. Now I teach gymnastics to kids from the ages of five to nine.

Super bowl!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8yypD7RiJU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6Ce-SJreIA

I'm really excited for this years super bowl! for numerous reasons first i LOVE the saints ever since i saw them play for the first time I'm not really sure why maybe because my dad said they were going to lose or because they are the comeback kids. the second reason is this is the first year i have really started paying attention to football so now i know what is going on and i finally understand why it is so exciting. and third, watching football is the only pass time i have with my father other than snowboarding.

there are so many other things i love about the super bowl in general. i love how every game builds up to one epic match for one team to reign supreme, i love player stats when they pop up at the bottom of the screen, i love arguments about which quarterback could beat the other and which team will ultimately win, and i love super bowl food. yes the food whether it is BLT's, hot dogs, mac n cheese, or even ordered crappy domino's pizza, but at my house we have steak. but there is one super bowl snack that rules them all with many variations and that is chips and dip no super bowl party is complete without corn chips and salsa or potato chips and onion dip (my favorite).

finally the one thing that is the best about the super bowl is the commercials nothing beats super bowl commercials they have it all they are either funny or touching i usually forget they are even advertising something i have a few favorites i will attach to the end I'm not sure why i enjoy the advertisements so much but i really just do its something you cant explain unless you feel it too. i know my devotion to advertisements is a little creepy maybe even a little unhealthy but what can i say?

but none of that will matter since i cannot watch the super bowl this year because i have have my rugby kickoff tournament this Sunday in Sacramento we leave at seven in the morning and wont get back till at least nine at night. D: