Athiests

"It is great that we live in a country where people are allowed to worship freely or, if they so choose, fully reject the notion of a supreme being." I totally agree with Sanders that every person in this world has a right to worship whomever they want if they so please. So why are the leaders of a religion based on treating others with love and respect, showing hatred and discrimination? They did nothing wrong and their reasoning of "intending to reach out to nonbelievers who may feel a little lonely or isolated" is righteous. If those with have are so shaken by the message but on this bus then maybe they should worry less about everyone else's faith and more about their own.

I myself am christian. I'm am not overly religious but i go to church and the important days like Christmas and Easter, yet this ad doesn't phase me in the least. i understand others have different beliefs as i do just they they should understand the same about me. Personally i think this could be viewed as a hate crime in a sense. Atheists believe in something different then the church so they want to attack them in a hope to get them to change their beliefs. Some ministers actually telling their followers to boycott these buses is absolutely ridiculous. The only thing worse then these corrupted ministers is those who actually follow such a silly command. Thinking of priests and nuns being the leaders of a hate crime is kinda funny because of their religious positions.

i had to go to religious education school for years and if nothings else the one thing i will always remember is WWJD. It stands for What Would Jesus Do and I'm 100% sure that Jesus wouldn't discriminate against those who don't believe in him and he especially wouldn't want his followers to do that. Sanders sums everything up perfectly when he says "Just remember that this is America, a land where people can believe whatever they want to believe and a place where even the nonbeliever has a right to bear witness to his or her nonbelief".

Common App

I applied to six colleges over the last few weeks but only one of them, University of Delaware, required the common application. Personally i did find the Common App quite easy to use and i especially loved that i could save my progress and come back to it whenever i wanted. It also showed you on the website when you completed a required section. But i did not go out of my way to use the Common App when i wasn't required to do so. I went on each individual website and looked up the application checklists and used the application provided. I feel like its part of the process of applying to college and it made it almost more special in a way to send each application with the school title in the top corner. Who knows maybe some schools will find i showed more interest in their school by applying specifically to their website instead of using Common App. But like i said i only applied to six schools so doing each online application wasn't that bad. i do suggest though that for those applying to many schools should use the Common App.

Beauty Bias

Appearance discrimination is probably one of the worst yet most ignored issue in my opinion. Young girls are put in a world where they think they have to look like the perfect (digitally retouched) models all over the magazines. Its bad enough they have to suffer through that through the "awkward teen" years but to have to go though that all their life is just ridiculous. Woman in positions of power who may be as old as 74 should be focusing their attention on our government not botox and hair dye. I wish it weren't true but i strongly believe that more attractive people will get a job over someone who is "lower" in the looks department. Department stores are the worst with that kind of thing. They need a pretty face to attract costumers so if your not "perfect" then they ll just keep looking.

My friend was telling me how this actress (possibly Sarah Jessica Parker, i forget) went on a talk show and made a video of her daily routine. She went through hours of make-up (with stylists), a few hours of hair (with stylists) and she took a picture of herself. This picture was also digitally retouched first and she looked gorgeous. then she did her own hair and make-up and took the same picture without any re-touching. she looked completely different and the host of the show asked her why she did it. She said her daughters were at the age where they thought they had to be skinny and perfect and she wanted to show them how much work and retouching goes into making the pictures they see everyday on billboards and in magazines.

If making appearance discrimination illegal will help then so be it but i don't think it will be that easy. You need to change the way people think or they will just be sneakier when they do discriminate.

It's a Jersey Thing

Recently, i watched an episode of South Park that both annoyed as well as made me laugh. In this episode New Jersey had taken over half the U.S. and Colorado was about to become "West Jersey". All the people from Jersey were characterized as those shown on the stereotypical show "The Jersey Shore". i personally hate that show because all the people on it are from New York and give Jersey people a bad rep. This one family apparently used to live in Jersey but moved away and now that they were closer to people from Jersey their "true personality" came out. The boys gelled their hair up and put on tacky jewelery while the girls put on slutty clothes and had a "not-so-friendly" attitude if you no what i mean. Through out the whole show they kept say "its a jersey thing" so almost everything they did. now i personally think that if they really wanted to capture the essence of New Jersey that defiantly should have put in a few Wawa's to make it legitimate. i love South Park with its crude humor so it bashing the show The Jersey Shore was great. The perfect ending to the show was when Colorado enlisted Al Quedas help and they few several plans into the oncoming Jersey attack. Osama Bin Laden won an award for his service then he was shot in the head. i really do love South Park. =)

personal style

What does it mean to have a personal style and what does it say about you. For a while i didn't have any specific style just wore whatever and never really tried to make a statement. Within the last few years I've finally figure out what i like and what fits me. i liked to express myself by wearing bright vibrant colors. My favorite thing to wear is my purple hoodie with black tiger stripes on it. i don't go overboard as to drawn a lot of attention to myself. a bright shirt or hoodie suits me better. i used to think uggs were some of the ugliest footwear that Ive ever seen until i tried a pair on myself and realized how amazing they were. since that day uggs have become an essential part of my wardrobe mostly because of their comfort factor. I, like most girls, love to wear my skinny jeans but nothing beats a lazy day in sweatpants. All those things make me somewhat similar to everyone else but what makes me unique is my love of gauges. I'm currently wearing gauges with brass knuckles in them but they are small enough that they don't make me look trashy. All these things make me Jill and i love the way i dress. i think it expresses me perfectly. I have my girlie days and my lazy days but who doesn't?

Engineering Essay

Why did I choose to try to become an engineer? If I said it was just for the money, it would be a lie, although it doesn’t hurt either. Engineers find ways to make life simpler and they must constantly strive to improve themselves. It’s a career that’s not only challenging but interesting as well.
I’ve always had an interest in technology ever since I can remember. If I or someone in my family got a new cell phone, computer, etc. I’d know how to work it within a half hour. One of my favorite things as a kid was building the Kinex roller coasters or other theme park rides and watching them come to life. Starting back in sixth grade was my first actually technology class where I felt completely at home, whether I had to make a bridge out of toothpicks or design boxes for cookie sales. Everything I did came fairly easy to me and if it didn’t then I strived to figure it out. I was recognized by my tech teacher and classmates and was chosen to be the leader in charge of certain projects, which made me feel both excited and honored.
I stuck with technology as I took the plunge from middle school to high school. I enjoyed taking the first two drafting and design classes where I did well, but it was my third year that really got me hooked. My architecture class was what got me thinking that maybe I could actually have a career that I really enjoyed doing. That class gave me a better understanding of the world around me and I began truly observing my surroundings. I noticed things I never saw before and became amazed with the simplest things, like the arches under a bridge or the way all the rooms in a home flowed together. From there I decided I wanted to be an architect and design houses for a living.
I was very determined until the possibility of becoming an engineer was brought to my attention. They have a broader spectrum of types and they don’t have to worry in the money department which is good for a girl who was always told she has expensive taste. I began researching the topic and found that a civil engineer sounded like a perfect career for me. They don’t create homes but instead they design things such as bridges, roadways, and cities. Being a very big hearted person I liked the fact that I could help people on a larger scale and make their living simpler in little ways. It’s like killing two birds with one stone.
With all that in mind I went into my engineering class with an open mind and was not disappointed. I loved using our new program to create 3-D objects of whatever I wanted and I already have begun imagining creating larger scale things like a robot of some sort. Each project we get becomes a new, exciting challenge to figure out. Some people find making miniature working catapults boring but I think it’s thrilling.

Tyler Clementi

This article was really heartbreaking. It's extremely messed up that kids as young as 13 feel so alone and isolated that they kill themselves when all their doing is being true to their self. Over the years most people have become more open about gays but their are still some people who are hateful towards them but i don't understand why. They are no different then we are and they have the same rights as everyone else to choose who they want to love.

Schools think just by having an assembly once a year will fix this problem but clearly its not. i think school administraters should get more involved in stopping bullying against kids in the GLBT community. They should have stricter consequences to hopefully keep the bullying at bay.

The problem should be helped not just at school but at home too. More people should be like Wendy Welsh who, when her son came out to her said, "OK sweetheart, i still love you no matter what". More families should be like that so even when kids get picked on in scholl they have a loving environm

My life in a nutshell

I wish i could say my life was crazy exciting during the week but its not. i get up around 6 every day Monday to Friday and do the usual routine of stumbling sleepily to the bathroom, stressing over what to wear, then deciding what id like to eat for breakfast. most people just have waffles or cereal and sometimes i do too but i also love to have chicken burritos and macaroni salad if i have it around the house. my neighbor would pick me up but i recently just got my license so ill be driving myself to school now. after school i go home and watch TV and if I'm in the right mood i may do a little homework. with SATs coming up Ive been lectured every night about preparing for them. on the weekends is my time to do whatever i want. I'm usually with my friends as much as possibly and we talk and laugh and just plain relax. since its my senior year every once and a while ill have a college visit on the weekend so that's takes up a day or less of my time. I also like to go to concerts on weekends if some one good is in town. my life may not be crazy exciting or busy but i like it.

yurrrrp

so im back in the computer lab one year later writing my 1st blog of the year again. im sitting next to chris and hes got not idea what hes doing but its quite entertaining. all i can think about it next period i have to test my catapult and hand in the documentation part and im praying i get atleast a B on it. im also crazy excited for friday because i am finally taking my liscense test! then monday i think im going to rutgers w my dad to visit it. all this collage stuff is kind of overwhelming but i know it has to get done eventually. i'm really tired today because i kept waking up last night so im going to go try to nap in the last 6 minutes of class

Skip College?

I am one of the many who since they could walk and talk was told i had to go to college so i could get a good job and take care of myself but is that really the only option? This article proves otherwise. With the ever growing price of tuition for collage for two years let alone four or more is astronomical and absurd. Personally i do want to go to college if not for the education purpose but for the experience of it, through i do think having any sort of college degree is better than not having one at all. Although i also agree that if i got offered and apprenticeship at a firm that I'm interested interested in i would defiantly go straight for that rather than collage because if it'll help me get a job faster that why wouldn't i want to do it? Everyone is different so the choice whether to go to college or not is fully up to them so whatever they choose, if for the right reasons, its perfectly acceptable.

Good Movies

So i finally saw Iron Man this weekend and it was so awesome. Normally i wouldn't be home on a Friday night but since i have an "unsatisfactory" chemistry grade according to my parents i was stuck there but i must say that watching Iron Man made my night better. To me it had all the things that made a great movie, a good story plot, good actors, some action, and of course some good humor. Robert Downy Jr. portrayed Iron man perfectly and one of the things that made me love the movie so much was his sense of humor.

Another good movie i saw recently was Avatar. I've heard many mixed reviews about it and i wasn't sure what to think but when i finally saw it last weekend over my grandmothers i was amazed. The concept of the movie was a little hard to pick up on at first but once i figured it out i didn't want to stop watching 'til it was over. The animators who designed all of the avatars and scenery did a fantastic job. the tress and the animals were so beautiful and majestic that i wish i could have visited that world in real life. i also thought the movie made a good example of our government. they wanted to destroy everything the avatars stood for just to get more powerful energy. it showed how careless and too military gung ho America can be but with the main characters who lived with the avatars showed how there is still good people in the world.

Formspring

I've never heard of this website until today but i must say i am not surprised. Kids and teenagers never cease to amazing me with how utterly cruel they can be to one another, even to friends. Boys are bad but there is no comparison to how heartless and girl can be when it comes to insults. People post nasty comments to each other already on facebook, myspace, etc. Ive seen my fair share of post battles but i think it becomes a whole new ball park when you can post things anonymously. You could tear someone apart and they'd never know who it was and they could be walking around school surrounded by people but never knowing who's cyber-bulling them. we live in a pretty messed out world where some people can just hate you for wearing different clothes or having different friends or even where you live. i still think that those who attack others with insults are the ones who are the most insecure about themselves or their not mature enough to talk like an adult. I was watching Law and Order: SVU one day and this pregnant girl got cyber-bullied to the point where she took her own life. If that's not messed up enough the person who bullied her was a full grown adult who was made because the girl had influenced her daughter to get pregnant as well. An adult should clearly know better but suicides from cyber-bullying are so common this days its just heartbreaking. Websites like formspring shouldn't be allowed or at least monitored to prevent cyber-bulling or suicides. What kind of person would enjoy that?

Kyleigh's Law

Kyleigh's law is a good law in theory to some but in reality its utterly pointless. Driving is suppose to be a privilege earned and those who do not follow the rules should be punished, at least that's the fair way to do things. the parents should have taught their daughter better judgement so she wouldn't have gotten herself into a situation like that but i guess that's too much to ask. i should have guess our lovely government of new jersey would go to extremes with this law. cops will now be looking for that sticker just too pull over kids for the hell of it thus i assume more tickets will be given out but hey more money for Kristi right? is it really going to take a teen to get stalked and murdered or a girl to get raped for people to truly understand how ridiculous this law is? i hope not but my gut is telling me otherwise. if it was me i wouldn't subject my child to be profiled and singled out. i also feel that the 12 o'clock curfew was perfect. For kids who work and don't get off til 11 they have enough time to get home with out the fear of getting pulled over by a bored cop. i may not have a job yet but i usually don't even leave my friends houses til at least 11 o'clock and since i don't drive its going to be a great inconvenience if my friends are scared to drive me home. i only have my permit as of now and i pray that someone will knock some sense into the government by the time i get my provisional license in September but i know it won't be that easy. until the law does change i will continue to voice my outrage on this "so called Kyleighs law".

Politics

Clearly there are some people in this world who have a few screws loose and this article gives a good example. Charles Alan Wilson has some severe issues so how on earth did he get his hands on a .38-caliber revolver with full, valid registration? Are our gun laws so minuscule that any nut job could just walk in and be handed a weapon? Why not just let a baby play with a knife or draw a large, red target on the white house for terrorists. I feel that when someone goes to obtain a gun they need to be screened to the bad people can be weeded out. Yes people can easily get guns on the streets but i think we should at least tighten up the requirements to get a gun license. I may be slight but i feel that it could help reduce crime and death all over the country. I also believe that people whos mental state is questionable shoud be evaluated if encountered and it necessary the individual in question should be sent to a mental institutions for the greater good. I don't know about you but the last thing i need is a mentally unstable guy with angry issues wielding a gun within a 1000 foot radius of me.

do it for the puppies

The idea that i really liked was one of the first few i saw. it was about building a better animal shelter in Marion South Carolina. I'm a big animal lover and i feel animals don't get the love and care that they deserve. i recently went to an animal shelter in voorhees and i feel in love with all the cute faces that i saw there and i wished that i could do more for them. i hope this idea wins money but not just end there; i hope it starts a domino effect and more animal shelters across the country are built or given more money to become better. animals and just like babies all their life. they need 2 be nurtured and sheltered and loved not abandoned and neglected.

SEXting

Ever seen a naked picture? ever taken a naked picture and sent it out? Not everyone has but the number of those who do seem so be growing each year. now what happens if that picture gets leaked? all of a sudden the whole school has seen you naked and you feel like your life is basically ruined. in reality your reputation is mostly likely torn to shreds but you life isn't ruined...just really crappy. what i don't understand is how, if its done by teenagers, its still considered child pornography and people can be charged as a sex offender.

those laws were put in place to lock up creepy 40 year old dudes who get off on looking at pictures of young kids, not dumb teenagers. most of the time I'd assume sexting goes on between a couple and there's still that trust factor but then a messy break-up could lead to a slip but now that little slit could result in a whole unnecessary "scandal".

its ridiculous in my opinion. yes they should be disciplined for their actions but authority is going over board in this case. a boy sends a picture of his ex-girlfriend to a buddy or two, she doesn't even have to be naked, and he could be put on the sex offender list for life resulting in things like having a hard time finding a job and having to go to therapy groups with real pervs. that's unfair and unjust and i strongly believe a stronger line needs to be drawn between sexting and child pornography.

24/7 Policy

The ritual has been the same for years. Someones parents have to go away for a night or the weekend and they trust their child home alone. Then once the parents are long gone the party begins. Kids pile in with drugs, alcohol, and whatever else they can think of to have a good time. Some parties are huge successes while other get busted but hey it happens. But unless that party happens to be on school grounds (why someone would actually do that is beyond me)should have absolutely no effect on their school life.

The 24/7 policy states any student arrested for drug or alcohol use, whether on school grounds or not, faces suspension from sports and other extracurricular activities. To me that sounds way to extreme. Kids like to have fun and be rebellious sometimes to escape the pressure of school or anything else going on in their life. They shouldn't be punished academically for choices they made outside of school. As for getting in trouble with cops and juvenile records and all that fun stuff, that's free game because that follows you where ever you go.

Fear of detention probably won't stop students for partying on the weekends so why even bother with it? It seems like it does more harm then good.

Why Is It A Sin To Read?

I agree that reading a good book can be a "gateway drug" to literature. Its starts a domino effect that could get even the most resistant teen to start reading a little bit more then usual. Reading a Jodi Picoult book is still on my to-do list but I've mostly only heard good things about them. I like how she tries to connect with each of her fans no matter how many she'll see in the day.

I disagree with those who believe that reading should not be a passive experience. why would your read a story that you don't enjoy? I couldn't count how many nights I've stayed up until the early hours because i just can't put a book down. Some of those such books are from the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyers. It may be highly unrealistic with vampires and werewolves but everyone has got that forbidden love that they cant let go of.

Zadie Smith wrote that "readers fail when they allow themselves to believe that fiction is the thing you relate to and writers the amenable people you seek out when you want to have your own version of the world confirmed and reinforced". In my opinion although the characters may be non-fiction, the issues are still real and relatable to and they help the readers feel understood if something similar happened to them.

Over all i agree with authors like Jodi Picoult who just write stories for the trill and do whatever they can to keep the youth interested. I wish them luck in their fight against the self-appointed, so-called "literature police".

ChRiStMaS TiMe

Ever since i can remember Christmas has been one of the most exciting days of the year (besides my birthday of course), and i assumed this year would be no different. Its started out like it always does, my youngest sister wakes everyone up early so she can go down and check out the loot Santa left her. My dad goes down first to grab the video camera to document our reactions to look back on in years to come. When the OK is giving everyone rushes down into the room piled high with wrapped packages of all shapes and sizes. My youngest sister freaked when she saw the life size miniature house sitting by her stocking (its probably the closest she'll ever come to getting a real pony for Christmas). As my two sister tear through their gifts the hungry bears i take my time opening each of my gifts and appreciating each of them. This year i made out pretty well by getting an i-touch and a laptop and some other little trinkets. Since i got a lot of smaller expensive things this year my pile looked smaller then my sisters so my parents decided to wrap up a printer and put it with my gift. The look of confusion on my face after opening it was met w my dad saying "its a present for everyone!". Soon everything was opened and i was glad with everything i got but something was still off. I didn't feel the usually Christmas excitement i remember for years past. It was just another dad where i got a lot of nice stuff. Its almost as if I'm o old for Christmas though i really don't believe there is such a thing. I don't know what my problem was this year but hopefully ill have more of a Christmas spirit next year.