WHS Culture?

To start it off, Wissahickon's mission statement is partially correct. I know it hurts for me to say it, but it is accurate that to say that we "encounter challenging opportunities." The rest of the mission statement is all bogus and extra "fluff" to make WHS sound good. The truth is that most people will not discover their full personal, social and intellectual potential until during or even after college. High School is made to help students narrow down what careers they want to pursue. College is the time for kids to more fully understand their career decision and what they can do.

If someone asked me to sum up Wissahickon's culture in a few words, I couldn't. There is no way to sum up such a large and diverse group of people at WHS. Some students hate school, while some love it. Some kids can't wait to get out of here in June, while others can't wait to get back in September. There is not even one distinguishing trait that rises above the rest when thinking about Wissahickon's student body. I wish we mostly did have a common interest, but I sadly say that we don't. What we need is a sense of unity, or coming together. We can work together to overcome obstacles. This school is filled with brilliant kids, but there always seems to be an attitude of laziness and deceitfulness. When leaving your locker for gym class, it better be locked up or someone will steal it. First off, why would someone be so stupid to steal something at school when they know there are cameras all around them? And secondly, how could someone be so harsh to their classmates? Do they really enjoy watching kids suffer as they have phones or iPods stolen? It is a morales issue that some people need to learn. There is no defining cultural aspect of WHS. We could and should try to gain a sense of unity through a common interest, but that can be hard to accomplish.

My Crazy Cartoon

It is professionally done by who other than John Matus.

http://www.toondoo.com/ViewBook.toon?bookid=126249

Trip to the Bank

Stacey reached for her purse with one hand while trying to put her earrings in place with the other. Just another day preparing for work; only today she had to stop by at the bank to make a deposit.

“Are you ready yet?” she shouted to her husband. “You’re gonna be late for work, again, and I don’t think now is the time to risk your jobs. You know there are plenty of people that are-”

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” retorted Ben. “I’m just finishing my tie. Why couldn’t this dang thing be easier.”

“Oh it is so tough, well make sure not to take too long, and oh, I left your pill on the counter next to the coffee pot for when you’re ready to take it.”

“Yeah, yeah, pill, coffee pot, got it. Where’s my shoes? I know I put them somewhere around here. Bathroom, no. Hallway, no. Under the bed, no...”

“Check your closet.”

“Oh, there they are. Now where did I put my socks?”

“You’re something else, well, I’m leaving, see you tonight you knucklehead.” She grasped her Gucci purse, dazzling with diamonds, and her leather jacket as she hastily dashed out the door. Stacey didn’t know that she would in fact be seeing Ben again very shortly, and sooner than she had hoped.

A downpour broke out from what seemed to be a sunny day just fifteen minutes prior. Stacey reached back behind the seat to find her handy, collapsible umbrella. As feeling around for it, she noticed that something was missing. She must have left her birth control pills back at home. Stacey did not think much of it since she figured that they weren’t needed for simply traveling to work and the bank.

As she pulled around the corner to park, she noticed the long line extended to out of the door. A grunt was let out as stepped out of the car to go wait in line.

Fifteen minutes later, Stacey finally reached the front of the line. Just two people were ahead of her at this point.

“Will you hurry up fat lady?” she muttered at the large lady asking about PNC Bank’s services.

Out of nowhere there were some loud shrieks from the back of the line. One elderly lady shouted, “The hooligan has a weapon!” Stacey almost naturally ran to the restroom for cover. Huddled in the restroom were three ladies, on of which was crying in the corner wheezing, while Stacey and the the other woman’s curiosity drove them to look for the criminal.

“I can’t see him, were you able to see what does he looks like?” Stacey asked the lady hiding with her.

“Well, I didn’t get a great look of him, but I think he was wearing a collared shirt with a tie”

“Oh good heavens! Now who would do such a thing as to rob a bank. I must see who it is.” Stacey eased the door slowly open, and searched the room with her beady eyes. “Oh no, It couldn’t be. Ben what are you doing? What got into you? And why do you have that ridiculous hat on?” She marched to Ben with a face of disappointment and confusion.

“Don’t worry about me, just take cover from the aliens. They’re everywhere. They’re here, and then there there, and then they’re back here, and then they’re over here again, and then-”

“Ben, Ben, BEN! Are you drunk? What got into you, and put that water pistol down.”

“I’m super serial! They’re coming to eat me brains, and yous!”

“You’ve gone mad, just look at you.” Stacey stated somewhat more mellow, in order to calm him down. Everyone in the room was now staring at the two of them. One of the bank tellers picked up the wall phone to dial 911.

“Did you take your pills this morning, did you hit your head, did you take the pills with wine or something?”

“I took my pills, woman, now I’m hungry, go make me a sandwich.”

“No! I most certainly will not! Now how many pills did you take? Please say just two.”

“Uh... Three, maybe four, or possibly five, maybe-”

“What!? Tell me you’re lying, and are you sure they were the ones next to the coffee pot?”

“Oh no silly!” Stacey’s eyes and mouth dropped. “I found these shiny big blue pills that almost looked like blueberries! But they didn’t taste like blueberries but more like-”

“You idiot! You took my birth control pills.” Stacey jumped right in front of Ben’s face. They stared at one another until Ben broke the silence.

“Ooh look an ambulance! WEE-OOH, WEE-OOH, WEE-OOH!”

“You’re worse than I thought you were.” Stacey ran to Ben and pulled him down to a chair.

“What was that for, you meanie” At that moment Ben started to bob his head up and down slowly and repeatedly until he vomited all over top of Stacey and her new dress.

Stacey simply looked down at the mess, and muttered “What a wonderful world I live in.”

Interpreter of Maladies- Mr. Das

“Don’t touch it,” I comment to Ronny.

This sucks. I cannot believe how i got stuck with this family. I want out. They are driving me crazy. I do not even know if I love my children or wife anymore. Recently my wife and I have not connected to one another like we once used to.

Maybe I should leave this family right here, and right now. Nah, that would be too harsh and extreme. I’m probably going to be stuck with them until I die. Maybe a vacation by myself would beneficial to getting my head back on track. I’ll go to the beach and clear my mind, but I can’t. I’m too busy.

“Are you okay,” Ronnie asks.

“Of course I’m fine, worry about yourself,” I replied. Maybe I was too harsh again. No, I am too sick of all this anyway. They deserve it. Even I do not deserve this torture.

God, please help me!

Edits

I did not make any major changes to my paper concerning the focus. I added a few extra sentences that possibly could give this FCA more support, but I thought my message had a clear focus.

I added extra content to my paper. There is now an extra paragraph concerning people that take the easy way out and end up paying for it later. I think my content added now reinforces my argument even more. Before this extra paragraph was inserted, it simply looked like a short dull paper, but hopefully the added information will enhance it.

The structure is much better now with four paragraphs. It makes the paper look better and read better. The first paragraph simply obtains the readers attention and wants him to read more. The second paragraph, gives a general statement about how people now more than ever before need to do the right thing. Towards the end I tried to connect with the reader, giving them direct advice on what not to do. The third paragraph focuses on motivating the reader on how to do the right thing, by stating that it has benefited people many times before. Lastly, the closing paragraph, yet again motivates the reader by using country, community, family, and yourself as motives.

I reread my paper and made little changes that could influence the flow or mood of it. I also thought keeping parallel sentence structures greatly effects the style. I found out that it sounds the best when items in sentences are in pairs of three. It gives the paper a good rhythm.

I did not make any spelling or grammar changes to the rough draft, because whenever I finish a paper I try to at least remember to check for spelling and grammar since it is usually the easiest to check. It also does not hurt that the computer checks spelling for you as well!

☟ The Final Draft of The Paper is Posted Below☟

Do The Right Thing [EDITED]

There’s a boy having an asthma attack; what do you do? There’s a man getting mugged; what do you do? There’s a friend getting cheated on; what do you do? You do the right thing. Stand out of the ordinary and into the extraordinary, by leading through action. Do not wait or hesitate, but rather rise to the moment to prove that Americans still are and always will be leaders.

There has been a lot deception and wrong doing recently. Whether it’s Blagojevich “auctioning” the Illinois senate seat, Madoff scamming investors in his ponzi scheme, or ACORN’s misuse of America’s tax-dollars, we, as a country, need to straighten out. The days of waste and misconduct must end with us. We do need an era of responsibility, where we can trust one another and stand by one another. We must look out for our family and the next generations to come. Do not buy a house you know you cannot afford, and do not later beg the government for help. People must primarily, keep themselves financially sound, and then secondly help others stay afloat.

If it ever looks like you can “take a shortcut” around the system or you think no one would notice, you would be sadly mistaken. Ask the two and half million incarcerated Americans if they thought they could beat the system. People must be patient and come to learn that they can do anything they want to do, and be anyone they want to be. Through dedication, perseverance, diligence, and the occasional perspiration, people can achieve the unimaginable and meet their aspirations. Just look around at how many people in America became rich, famous, and/or successful. They did not cheat their way to the top, but rather worked long and hard for what they believed what was to be. Winners never cheat, and cheaters never win.

When trying to do the right thing, we must remember to uphold high standards of morales and ethics. Make sure what you are doing benefits your country, your community, and yourself. When going abroad, make sure to represent the good-hearted America we know, when visiting a neighboring county, represent your loving hometown you grew up in, and whenever about, be sure to represent yourself and your family. Always leave a good impression on folks by doing the right thing, all the time.

Do The Right Thing

There’s a young boy having an asthma attack; what do you do? There’s an elderly man getting mugged; what do you do? There’s a close friend getting cheated on; what do you do? You do the right thing. Stand out of the ordinary and into the extraordinary, by leading through action. Do not wait or hesitate, but rather rise to the moment to prove that Americans still are and always will be leaders.

There has been a lot deception and wrong doing recently. Whether it’s Blagojevich “auctioning” the senate seat, Madoff scamming investors in his ponzi scheme, or ACORN’s misuse of America’s tax-dollars, we, as a country, need to straighten out. The days of waste and misconduct must end with us. We do need an era of responsibility, where we can trust one another and stand by one another. We must look out for our family and the next generations to come. Don’t buy a house you know you cannot afford, and don’t later beg the government for help. People must primarily, keep themselves financially sound, and then secondly help others stay afloat.

While doing so, we must remember to uphold high standards of morales and ethics. Make sure what you are doing benefits your country, your community, and yourself. When going abroad, make sure to represent the good-hearted America we know, when visiting a neighboring county, represent your loving hometown you grew up in, and whenever about, be sure to represent your family and yourself. Always leave a good impression on folks by doing the right thing all the time.

How To Build A Shelter In The Wild

Okay, so here is the scenario. You are in the woods for whatever reason when you get lost and cannot retrace your steps. Whenever lost, the number one rule is to stay put, but you still will need a shelter for sleeping in overnight. You should plan on starting to build a shelter by late afternoon. It will always be time consuming to build a shelter from scratch, and it may take longer than you expect so it is always a good idea to start building earlier rather than later. An easy way to tell how much daylight is left in the day, is to hold your arm stretched out all the way, with the bottom of your hand adjacent to the horizon. Count how many “fingers high” it takes to reach the setting sun. Each finger represents fifteen minutes, so for example, it there was a spacing of three fingers between the horizon and the sun, there would be 45 minutes of daylight left.

The next big decision is where to build the shelter. Make sure you do not start building in a dried out river bed or near a river for obvious reasons (you might get wet!). Also, try to pick a relatively flat surface so that you do not roll out of your shelter in the middle of the night.

Next, you have to decide what kind of shelter you want to build. If the area is infected with bugs, you may want to build a shelter suspended in the air. This can be done by building a hammock between two trees. You probably will not have any rope with you, so search for vines on trees to use; make sure you do not grab poison oak by mistake! (http://z.about.com/d/pediatrics/1/0/P/5/poison_oak.jpg) Tie the vines from one tree to another and interweave large leaves on top for comfort. An overhead structure should always be built to further protect you. Lean large sticks into an “A” formation overhead. Again, interweave with large leaves and smaller sticks. If you decide to not sleep in the air, do not directly sleep on the ground! The earth absorbs a lot of your body heat from simply lying on the ground. Place a layer of leaves or any extra clothing you are not sleeping in on the ground. If you stumble upon a cave, use it, but just be careful there are not any animals that live there. Throw a rock in the cave to scare off any any animals or check to see if there are any large animal tracks inside prior to calling this your shelter. Just like before, you should still make a layer of leaves between you and the ground.

After finishing the construction of your shelter, build a fire. It will be good for you physically and mentally. I will not get into detail about how to make a fire, but once you build it, it is a great feeling of accomplishment along with your shelter. Fire provides warmth, a repellant from nasty bugs, cooks food, and purifies water. When building the fire, make sure it is under control or else you will wake up in a ring of fire destroying your well-built shelter. Lastly, when about to go to sleep, make sure you have long sleeves and pants on. If not, your legs and arms will be all chewed up.

Have fun and be safe!

Current Event

I am going to talk about water-boarding. I think it is necessary for the government to use water-boarding on terrorists when needed. In the past, we have saved American lives by getting information out of suspected terrorists. It does not leave permanent damage on the suspects but it gets the answers out of them that we need. Some countries use harsh methods such as electrocution or finger-cutting so in comparison to them, we are not very "extreme" when it comes to torture. Also, what is torture? It is a very hard word to define. Is sleep deprivation torture, and is making someone watch the Rachel Maddow show for 24 hours torture? There is no fine line between what is or isn't torture. Secondly, water-boarding is even an approved hazing method at the marines, so it obviously is not seen as being too harsh. When there is a man that you strongly believe has information on an alleged attack, would you try to get some answers out of him to save American lives? The answer is yes. If it means being "mean" to a terrorist to save innocent American lives, you would also make the call to water-board him for some answers. Of course it may not always be an easy call, but if there is strong evidence that supports him working as a terrorist the decision must be made. Another point is the message you send to the terrorists when torturing them. They know that if they try to keep up what they have been doing, they will get caught and punished again. This would deter terrorists from trying to make stupid decisions and attacking the United States of America. We must continue to be pro-active on defeating terrorism by using water-boarding.

foxnews.com

Three Things You May Not Know About Me

1) I was born with black hair.

2) I am a proud American.

3) I am a Black Belt in Karate.