Friday, March 30, 2007
When will it stop?
American Idol. About 4 seasons ago it was all we could talk about. We would discuss it among our friends about whom we thought was going to be booted off next and who we thought would ultimately become the next American Idol. It was the hottest TV shows which made ordinary people like you and me into stars. It produced great starts like Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken but after the first two seasons who remembers Fantasia Buriono, Ruben Studdard or Carrie Underwood. American Idol got really old after the first couple of seasons. I mean I must admit I’ll watch it occasionally to laugh at the tone-deaf singer who is aspiring to be the next “American idol” However, the more you watch it, the dumber the show becomes. How can they possibly say it's a reality T.V show? I believed it is all staged. The outcomes must be planed. They throw in thousands of bad singers because their singing is so bad it is funny. I don’t understand how they got so far into the audition. Personally, I find it a waste of time to watch because you are not watching good singers you are watching people who want to get some air time so badly they will do anything to be on T.V, including making a fool out of one’s self on national T.V. It has really hit rock bottom and there is no longer any point to it. Audiences must bet sick and tired of listening to over played melodies sung out of tune. I am! It is also rigged I believed they rig the results to be racially and sexually correct with lots of diversity. First it was Kelly Clarkson, a white female, second it was a Rubben, a black male. I don’t believe the show is really searching for talent. And also, how can they associate being a great singer with being an American idol. They are two completely different roles to fill. Also who decides the criteria and requirements for becoming an American Idol? Who is to say how an American idol acts, dresses, speaks etc? American is about being your own individual person with unique characteristics and personality and your quality is not and should not be judged from how well you sing. The show is totally bogus. It has turned into a national popularity contest broadcasted on T.V. Over the past few years it has become so repetitive and predictable. It no loner can be associated with entertainment. It is getting old fast. When with this all stop?
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Myspace…what’s the big deal?
I don’t get why everyone makes such a big deal about online pages like myspace xanga and face book. First of all I must say I think myspace is one of the biggest wastes of time. I remember in my freshman year it was the hottest thing after the xanga died out. I never had a xanga but when everyone started talking about this new thing called “myspace” I jumped right on it and created myself an account. In the beginning it was fun trying to see how many friends you could have and it was fun to leave comments on everyone’s page. I remember trying to get as many friends as I could and try to get comment form everyone. But soon I realized what a big waste of time it was. I would go on just to check my page and I’d loose myself in leaving all my friends comment without realizing it hours would pass. Many of my friends can't go a day without checking their myspace at least once…personally I don’t have that need. In fact I have not logged on to myspace for over 2 years. I’ve been on a myspace boycott because I think it is stupid. My page is just sitting there with the billions of other myspace pages on the Internet.
Not only is myspace a waste of time it unsafe. Many people display personal information on their site such as their full name, age, school, grade, pictures, etc. Why would you want to display your personal life on the Internet where everyone and anyone can view it? For my site I did not use my name, put my age a 99 years old, said I lived in Alaska and had no pictures of myself. I know some of my friends who have met people over myspace. Sure sometimes you may meet a decent person but there is a very high chance that people on the Internet are not who they claim to be. Hey…I said I was 99 years old and lived in Alaska. There are creepy people all over myspace making it a pretty unsafe environment. I know people display pictures and information of themselves thinking their friends are looking at this but often times we tend to forget than anyone can look at it as well.
Myspace has taken over a lot of teenage conversations. For example when one of my friends took this nice picture on her camera the first thing she said was I’m going to use this as my profile picture. Also people have used myspace as a new communicating device. Sometimes if friends have something to say to you they no longer feel obligated to tell you, instead they just leave a comment on your myspace. Also now on myspace you can change you top 8 friends. I know many people get offended if they are taken off a person’s top 8 or are demoted to a lower number on the scale of 1-8. Personally I think this is the dumbest thing ever. Just because you aren’t number 1, 2, 3, 4, etc on a person’s myspace page doesn’t mean they aren’t you friends anymore. I also think it is dumb how when people get into fights with their friends they knock them off their top 8 to show they are upset. Who cares!?!? Myspace has become such a large influence on teenage life. I don’t think this is a good thing because it is a waste of time and unsafe. It is unhealthy when people claim to be addicted to these sites. I know myspace is slowly getting old and dying out but as soon as something dies out something else becomes the new hit thing. Before myspace it was xanga and now face book is slowly becoming more and more popular. Whatever it may be called when it comes down to it is really not as great as people make it to be. Seriously get a life…a life off of myspace.
Not only is myspace a waste of time it unsafe. Many people display personal information on their site such as their full name, age, school, grade, pictures, etc. Why would you want to display your personal life on the Internet where everyone and anyone can view it? For my site I did not use my name, put my age a 99 years old, said I lived in Alaska and had no pictures of myself. I know some of my friends who have met people over myspace. Sure sometimes you may meet a decent person but there is a very high chance that people on the Internet are not who they claim to be. Hey…I said I was 99 years old and lived in Alaska. There are creepy people all over myspace making it a pretty unsafe environment. I know people display pictures and information of themselves thinking their friends are looking at this but often times we tend to forget than anyone can look at it as well.
Myspace has taken over a lot of teenage conversations. For example when one of my friends took this nice picture on her camera the first thing she said was I’m going to use this as my profile picture. Also people have used myspace as a new communicating device. Sometimes if friends have something to say to you they no longer feel obligated to tell you, instead they just leave a comment on your myspace. Also now on myspace you can change you top 8 friends. I know many people get offended if they are taken off a person’s top 8 or are demoted to a lower number on the scale of 1-8. Personally I think this is the dumbest thing ever. Just because you aren’t number 1, 2, 3, 4, etc on a person’s myspace page doesn’t mean they aren’t you friends anymore. I also think it is dumb how when people get into fights with their friends they knock them off their top 8 to show they are upset. Who cares!?!? Myspace has become such a large influence on teenage life. I don’t think this is a good thing because it is a waste of time and unsafe. It is unhealthy when people claim to be addicted to these sites. I know myspace is slowly getting old and dying out but as soon as something dies out something else becomes the new hit thing. Before myspace it was xanga and now face book is slowly becoming more and more popular. Whatever it may be called when it comes down to it is really not as great as people make it to be. Seriously get a life…a life off of myspace.
Monday, March 26, 2007
It all starts with believing
Its difficult to start from ground zero after being so used to being good at something.
This past spring break I went skiing. I have been skiing for the past 4 years and now I can even ski the black runs, the expert runs. This year I skied for the first half of the trip until I decided I wanted to try something new. I decided I wanted to try snow boarding. I knew it was going to be difficult but I wasn’t really convinced until I strapped on the board and fell hard onto my butt. I think somewhere in the back of my mind I pictured myself hopping on the board and ripping it down the mountain like I do on skies. Falling was not in this picture.
Once I started my lesson I was brought to the bunny slope, the one with almost no slope at all. It was so flat and short that there was no char lift, just a conveyer belt called, “the magic carpet”. I strapped on just one foot to begin with and I fell. Just inching down the hill was frustrating. I could not move a foot without taking a hard fall on to the white snow. I was not used to having my two feet strapped together. At the time I was thinking that this was the dumbest spot ever. Finally after 30 minutes on the bunny hill my teacher felt we were ready for the chair lift.
As we rode up over the slopes on the chair lift I looked down and saw this little boy ripping it down the hill. I was intimidating because I could barely stand on the board. I prepared to get of the chair and finally was about to get off and fell on the ground. Embarrassment is all I could feel as the 8 year old kids behind me got of the lift with such ease and moved around me as they looked at me, a high school student who couldn’t even get off the lift without eating it. I wanted to give up. I dragged myself to the top of the slope where I was told to strap on my other foot. Soon it was my turn. I stood up and fell. I stood up again and fell. Finally I got up on the board, moved about a foot down the mountain and fell flat on to my back. My head hit the ground hard and experienced mild seconds of whip lash. I got up again, moved about a foot a fell again. I was so frustrated I wanted to give up. I was so mad I started to say, “I give up, this is dumb” just because I could not get it. I was getting mad at the mountain and started to say inappropriate words under my breath every time I fell. I was the worst feeling to not be able to do something. I was so used to whizzing down the mountain on my skies but there I was lying on the ground in pain unable to move a foot without falling.
Just as I was about to give up I thought of a story I read when I was small. As lame as it sounds I thought of the story of the little blue engine that said “I think I can.” I was determined to get the snowboarding thing down. I wanted to learn and at that moment I realized that I was not getting anywhere with my bad attitude. Instead of telling myself that I’ll never get it I began to tell myself, “don’t give up, come on you can do this.” I tried this the second time down the mountain and I worked I fell a lot less and started to get the hang of it. Soon I was able to link turns. It was amazing what a changed in attitude could do. I was still falling but when I fell I no longer laid there and complained. Instead I flipped my board over and just tired and tired again until finally on the last day I was linking S turns down the mountain and did not fall that entire run.
From this experience I have learned that attitude is everything and that I can’t do anything without first believing that I can. I also learned that determination overcomes obstacle that seem nearly impossible. When you are down you have to just pick yourself up and move forward.
This past spring break I went skiing. I have been skiing for the past 4 years and now I can even ski the black runs, the expert runs. This year I skied for the first half of the trip until I decided I wanted to try something new. I decided I wanted to try snow boarding. I knew it was going to be difficult but I wasn’t really convinced until I strapped on the board and fell hard onto my butt. I think somewhere in the back of my mind I pictured myself hopping on the board and ripping it down the mountain like I do on skies. Falling was not in this picture.
Once I started my lesson I was brought to the bunny slope, the one with almost no slope at all. It was so flat and short that there was no char lift, just a conveyer belt called, “the magic carpet”. I strapped on just one foot to begin with and I fell. Just inching down the hill was frustrating. I could not move a foot without taking a hard fall on to the white snow. I was not used to having my two feet strapped together. At the time I was thinking that this was the dumbest spot ever. Finally after 30 minutes on the bunny hill my teacher felt we were ready for the chair lift.
As we rode up over the slopes on the chair lift I looked down and saw this little boy ripping it down the hill. I was intimidating because I could barely stand on the board. I prepared to get of the chair and finally was about to get off and fell on the ground. Embarrassment is all I could feel as the 8 year old kids behind me got of the lift with such ease and moved around me as they looked at me, a high school student who couldn’t even get off the lift without eating it. I wanted to give up. I dragged myself to the top of the slope where I was told to strap on my other foot. Soon it was my turn. I stood up and fell. I stood up again and fell. Finally I got up on the board, moved about a foot down the mountain and fell flat on to my back. My head hit the ground hard and experienced mild seconds of whip lash. I got up again, moved about a foot a fell again. I was so frustrated I wanted to give up. I was so mad I started to say, “I give up, this is dumb” just because I could not get it. I was getting mad at the mountain and started to say inappropriate words under my breath every time I fell. I was the worst feeling to not be able to do something. I was so used to whizzing down the mountain on my skies but there I was lying on the ground in pain unable to move a foot without falling.
Just as I was about to give up I thought of a story I read when I was small. As lame as it sounds I thought of the story of the little blue engine that said “I think I can.” I was determined to get the snowboarding thing down. I wanted to learn and at that moment I realized that I was not getting anywhere with my bad attitude. Instead of telling myself that I’ll never get it I began to tell myself, “don’t give up, come on you can do this.” I tried this the second time down the mountain and I worked I fell a lot less and started to get the hang of it. Soon I was able to link turns. It was amazing what a changed in attitude could do. I was still falling but when I fell I no longer laid there and complained. Instead I flipped my board over and just tired and tired again until finally on the last day I was linking S turns down the mountain and did not fall that entire run.
From this experience I have learned that attitude is everything and that I can’t do anything without first believing that I can. I also learned that determination overcomes obstacle that seem nearly impossible. When you are down you have to just pick yourself up and move forward.
Fingers are out of shape
I haven’t been on the computer for the past week and therefore have not typed in a very long time. It’s funny because I noticed that I am having difficulties typing. It is taking me twice as long to type once sentence and by now I have made corrections to at least half my words because my fingers just can’t seem to hit the right key at the right time. I must admit it is an awkward feeling. I’m so used to typing because I usually do it multiple times everyday whether it be typing my paper, writing my blogs, or chatting with my friends on AIM. It has become a natural movement for my fingers. However after a week of having absolutely no access to any computer or keyboard my fingers are definitely out of shape. I am typing this blog post in word first to catch all the spelling mistakes and right now there are many red zigzagged lines running under most of the words in this entry. It feels so weird to type after not doing any typing for more than a week. (10 days exactly) I actually have to look down at the keyboard to type this blog post to make sure I am pressing the right keys. Usually I don’t have to even glance down at my fingers when I type but now I feel like I have forgotten which fingers correlate with the different letter keys. Right now I think I have hit the “delete” key on my keyboard more than any other key. It seems like that is the only key my finger knows how to press.
Not only have I been making a lot of mistakes because my fingers have forgotten which finger presses which key but also they are also exhausted. My fingers are cramped and sore. I have had to crack my knuckles multiple times to stretch them out. My fingers are out of shape. This is a pretty funny statement because usually I hear people complain about how they are physically out of shape when their mile time is not up to par. I can run my mile in a decent time but my fingers can’t type as fast as they used to be able to. My fingers are not only slow, but they are tired. As much as I push my fingers to go faster they just are not as fast as they used to be a week ago. I hope with enough practice they will soon be as fast and accurate as they used to be. I have been so used to typing at a super fast speed without putting any thought to it at all but now I have to consciously press each key one at a time. I guess the only way to improve their condition is to keep typing and typing and typing until I can build it back up to the natural habit it used to be. I need them to be in shape ASAP considering school starts again tomorrow.
Not only have I been making a lot of mistakes because my fingers have forgotten which finger presses which key but also they are also exhausted. My fingers are cramped and sore. I have had to crack my knuckles multiple times to stretch them out. My fingers are out of shape. This is a pretty funny statement because usually I hear people complain about how they are physically out of shape when their mile time is not up to par. I can run my mile in a decent time but my fingers can’t type as fast as they used to be able to. My fingers are not only slow, but they are tired. As much as I push my fingers to go faster they just are not as fast as they used to be a week ago. I hope with enough practice they will soon be as fast and accurate as they used to be. I have been so used to typing at a super fast speed without putting any thought to it at all but now I have to consciously press each key one at a time. I guess the only way to improve their condition is to keep typing and typing and typing until I can build it back up to the natural habit it used to be. I need them to be in shape ASAP considering school starts again tomorrow.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
An Unfair Trade
This morning I was walking up to the band room with my friend and we were discussing the weird weather, humid and muggy but yet no sun. He asked me, “Did you see the fog coming down from the mountains this morning on your way to school?” I responded with, “No, I was too busy looking at my math book, trying to cram in everything for my test.” After thinking about my response I am starting to question what is really important in life. It is more important that I spend my entire car ride studying aimlessly for a math test or is it more important that I take the time to notice simple things in life like the beauty of fog in the morning. I think it is quite sad that because I was so caught up in my math textbook that I failed to notice the fog coming down from the mountains. This brings up my main question, is it all worth it? Is all the stress and work forced upon by school worth it? I mean it can’t be healthy for you either. I often feel like I am trapped in this endless pool of work and I will never be able to come up for a breath. I feel like I am missing out on the important things in life.
There are countless times when I feel like I am missing out on life because I am held back with the demands of my schoolwork and studying. Because really, what is more valuable, calculating the probability of picking 5 red face cards from a standard 52 card deck, or seeing the beauty nature has to offer? To me getting the chance to observe nature’s beauty holds much more value. I also miss out on many opportunities to spend some quality time with my friends and family and miss the chance to appreciate the simple pleasures of life because my head is almost always shoved into a book. Because of this I often find myself asking if this is a fair trade. Is fair that I miss out on many opportunities because I am trying to win the top grades? I will never forget this one time my family on my dad’s side decided to go to the beach to go swimming and have a BBQ dinner. I was so excited to spend time with all my cousins and was looking forward to playing in the sand, and holding competitions to decide who could make the nicest sand sculpture. However, I never got to spend anytime with my family because instead I was stuck at the picnic table struggling to finish my Science Celebration project proposal. In fact I did not even get to put my foot into the sand. I missed out on a special opportunity to spend some quality time with my family.
It is times like this when I question if the sacrifices I make to earn good grades are even worth it. Come on, is one imperfection in my grade record really going to kill me? When I look back on my choices I often question if academics always the real priority. I was always taught that my education comes first but is it really all worth it if I feel like I am missing out on living my life to its fullest potential?
There are countless times when I feel like I am missing out on life because I am held back with the demands of my schoolwork and studying. Because really, what is more valuable, calculating the probability of picking 5 red face cards from a standard 52 card deck, or seeing the beauty nature has to offer? To me getting the chance to observe nature’s beauty holds much more value. I also miss out on many opportunities to spend some quality time with my friends and family and miss the chance to appreciate the simple pleasures of life because my head is almost always shoved into a book. Because of this I often find myself asking if this is a fair trade. Is fair that I miss out on many opportunities because I am trying to win the top grades? I will never forget this one time my family on my dad’s side decided to go to the beach to go swimming and have a BBQ dinner. I was so excited to spend time with all my cousins and was looking forward to playing in the sand, and holding competitions to decide who could make the nicest sand sculpture. However, I never got to spend anytime with my family because instead I was stuck at the picnic table struggling to finish my Science Celebration project proposal. In fact I did not even get to put my foot into the sand. I missed out on a special opportunity to spend some quality time with my family.
It is times like this when I question if the sacrifices I make to earn good grades are even worth it. Come on, is one imperfection in my grade record really going to kill me? When I look back on my choices I often question if academics always the real priority. I was always taught that my education comes first but is it really all worth it if I feel like I am missing out on living my life to its fullest potential?
To Fit-in or Stick-out?
Is it more valuable for people to fit in than to be unique and different?
Today, especially with the heavy influence of the media, people feel the desire to fit in with the rest of society by dressing a certain way or acting a certain way. However there are also instances where we are encouraged to be our own individual person. I find it quite ironic how the pressures of society often restrain us from being unique and different individuals. For example girls are often pressured into looking like the top model on the cover of the latest vogue magazine. This goal is an impossible one to achieve, yet so many young teenage girls waste their time trying to achieve a similar look. In a school setting there is even more pressure to fit in. The idea of being your own person seems to get lost in all the different clicks present in school because if you don’t act a certain way you are often not accepted. I find myself guilty of trying to fit in by dressing in a certain way, acting a certain way, and presenting myself a certain way and I will admit that there have been incidents where I try to fit in order to gain acceptance.
Why do people try to always fit in? and why is being different and unique not often accepted by society and our peers? I think as human beings we often try to fit in because we fear of what will happen if we don’t. I often fear being rejected so fitting in often seems to be the easier and safer route. However, the more I think about it the more I feel I should take the risk of branching off and being my own individual person. I think in this context the word “different” is often assumed to be synonymous with weird, or strange. However, this is not true. The word different is this context means special, unique, and an individual. The reason I think many people, like myself, are hesitant to be unique and different is that there is still the fear of not being accepted by peers.
Despite what I often practice I feel it is more important to be unique and different. This is because if you spend your entire life trying to be someone you are not it is a waste of time. Life is about finding yourself and what makes you, you. Who sets the standards we all try to live up to anyway? Who tells us what is considered “cool” and who determines what is “different”? I think it is important that we all seek to be different individuals. I think it is important that we recognize the importance of finding yourself. Instead of wasting time trying to fit in we should put that energy into developing our own individual character by searching ourselves for out unique and special traits.
Today, especially with the heavy influence of the media, people feel the desire to fit in with the rest of society by dressing a certain way or acting a certain way. However there are also instances where we are encouraged to be our own individual person. I find it quite ironic how the pressures of society often restrain us from being unique and different individuals. For example girls are often pressured into looking like the top model on the cover of the latest vogue magazine. This goal is an impossible one to achieve, yet so many young teenage girls waste their time trying to achieve a similar look. In a school setting there is even more pressure to fit in. The idea of being your own person seems to get lost in all the different clicks present in school because if you don’t act a certain way you are often not accepted. I find myself guilty of trying to fit in by dressing in a certain way, acting a certain way, and presenting myself a certain way and I will admit that there have been incidents where I try to fit in order to gain acceptance.
Why do people try to always fit in? and why is being different and unique not often accepted by society and our peers? I think as human beings we often try to fit in because we fear of what will happen if we don’t. I often fear being rejected so fitting in often seems to be the easier and safer route. However, the more I think about it the more I feel I should take the risk of branching off and being my own individual person. I think in this context the word “different” is often assumed to be synonymous with weird, or strange. However, this is not true. The word different is this context means special, unique, and an individual. The reason I think many people, like myself, are hesitant to be unique and different is that there is still the fear of not being accepted by peers.
Despite what I often practice I feel it is more important to be unique and different. This is because if you spend your entire life trying to be someone you are not it is a waste of time. Life is about finding yourself and what makes you, you. Who sets the standards we all try to live up to anyway? Who tells us what is considered “cool” and who determines what is “different”? I think it is important that we all seek to be different individuals. I think it is important that we recognize the importance of finding yourself. Instead of wasting time trying to fit in we should put that energy into developing our own individual character by searching ourselves for out unique and special traits.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
My Music My Life
Music has been such an important part of my life and has influenced me in so many ways. When I was in kindergarten I started my musical journey with the piano. I loved the way the seemingly magical melodies flowed from the big black box. I continued to practice daily and I actually got pretty good, for a little kid. My fingers would fly across the black and white keys effortlessly. In 5th grade I auditioned for my school's band. I had my heart set on playing the flute because I had fallen in love with the soft but powerful melodious sound that came from such a delicate instrument. Although I no longer play the piano my interest still remains in the music of my flute playing. In the 10th grade I picked another instrument, the piccolo, which is like a "baby flute". I feel that my musical abilities have really grown and matured over the past 6 years.
There is a lot more to music than just a whole bunch of notes smashed together. When I listen to music, whether it be pop, rock, classical, or my own music I feel my spirit enter a whole different world, almost as if I am living a dream or fantasy. Each note is played for a reason and together all the individual notes fit together to create a beautiful melody. Music is also an outlet for me. When I am upset, stressed, or sad I play my flute and everything seems to be all better. I often express my emotion through music.
There is something about music that allows me to identify myself with.
Music has done so much for me. It has given me the opportunity to meet people from many different schools and form relationships with people I would have otherwise never met. Many of the friendships I have today started from our common interest of music. Music has also taught me many other lifetime lessons such as discipline and perseverance. From when I started to play piano I learned a lot of discipline from the many hours I practiced. I feel I am a very disciplined person because it was taught to me at such a young age through music. I have also learned never to give up, even when I am not always successful. When I was in the 7th grade started to participate in select band. I made it for three years in a row but in my sophomore year I completely flopped my audition. After learning of my failure I must admit I felt like I wanted to give up. However, I didn’t I continued to practice and learned to improve from my mistakes instead of dwelling on them. I feel that I am who I am today because of my musical influence and background. Music band has been one of the most important and significant aspects of my life.
There is a lot more to music than just a whole bunch of notes smashed together. When I listen to music, whether it be pop, rock, classical, or my own music I feel my spirit enter a whole different world, almost as if I am living a dream or fantasy. Each note is played for a reason and together all the individual notes fit together to create a beautiful melody. Music is also an outlet for me. When I am upset, stressed, or sad I play my flute and everything seems to be all better. I often express my emotion through music.
There is something about music that allows me to identify myself with.
Music has done so much for me. It has given me the opportunity to meet people from many different schools and form relationships with people I would have otherwise never met. Many of the friendships I have today started from our common interest of music. Music has also taught me many other lifetime lessons such as discipline and perseverance. From when I started to play piano I learned a lot of discipline from the many hours I practiced. I feel I am a very disciplined person because it was taught to me at such a young age through music. I have also learned never to give up, even when I am not always successful. When I was in the 7th grade started to participate in select band. I made it for three years in a row but in my sophomore year I completely flopped my audition. After learning of my failure I must admit I felt like I wanted to give up. However, I didn’t I continued to practice and learned to improve from my mistakes instead of dwelling on them. I feel that I am who I am today because of my musical influence and background. Music band has been one of the most important and significant aspects of my life.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Rose Bowl Parade.... the best experience of my life
This past New Year My Marching band got the opportunity to marching the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena. We had been working so hard for this. Starting in August with band camp we practiced for this parade by marching around the track many many times. At the beginning of the school year we were all excited but I don’t think anyone knew the level of work that was going to be required.
Waking up a 5:45 every other morning to be “mark timing” on the track playing the Ultimate warm up at exactly 7:15 in the morning was not always easy. We would then proceed to practice our show, music, and marching for the next hour in the scorching sun. We worked so hard the entire season and once we were finished with the football games we focused on the up coming event, the ROSE BOWL PARADE. To prep for this we had many weekend practices and extra morning practices. We would sometimes practices marching and playing but at other times we would have conditioning. When they told us we were going to run...I thought it was a joke but no all 250 of us put on instruments on the grassy field, laced up those running shoes and ran around the track. It must have been a sight to see...250 band kids running around the track. We even practiced out at a vacant runway to practice the wide turns we need to master for the parade.
After months of our hard work we were off. We arrived in California two days after Christmas. Once we were there, there was no time to rest. We visited theme park after theme park. We went to Universal Studios, Disney Land, Six-flags/ Magic Mountain, and Knott's Berry Farm. Although this had no connection to band it was a time for us to bond with our friends. I must say an entire week with your friends is pretty awesome. I went on many rides and over came my fear of roller coasters. In addition to the opportunity to have a great time with my friends I go the opportunity to participate in the Disney Magical Music Days workshop. We got to play the role of professional musicians and played the background music for a few movie clips. At Disney land we also had the opportunity to march in the Disney land Main Street parade. This experience was so memorable and awesome because we were marching in the same parade as Mickey Mouse, Donald duck, Goofy, etc.
On the morning of New Year Day all 250 or so of us sprung out of our beds at 5:00 in the morning to dress and prepare for what would soon be the greatest experience of our lives. Half awake we dressed in our uniforms, and lugged ourselves on the bus where we ate our breakfast in the dark and caught a few more ZZZ before the big moment. After what seemed forever, we were lined up on the street in parade block. We all were excited with anticipation. We all held our heads up high as we stepped on to the main street of the Rose Bowl Parade. Seeing the smiles and clapping of the audience made me smile so widely. When we turned the corner to march pass the national TV broadcasters everyone held himself or herself up proudly. We were all so proud to represent our state. This was the best feeling in the world. While many of us won't understand how fortunate we were to have this opportunity, when we grow up and look back on this we will all remember it as the experience of our life.
Waking up a 5:45 every other morning to be “mark timing” on the track playing the Ultimate warm up at exactly 7:15 in the morning was not always easy. We would then proceed to practice our show, music, and marching for the next hour in the scorching sun. We worked so hard the entire season and once we were finished with the football games we focused on the up coming event, the ROSE BOWL PARADE. To prep for this we had many weekend practices and extra morning practices. We would sometimes practices marching and playing but at other times we would have conditioning. When they told us we were going to run...I thought it was a joke but no all 250 of us put on instruments on the grassy field, laced up those running shoes and ran around the track. It must have been a sight to see...250 band kids running around the track. We even practiced out at a vacant runway to practice the wide turns we need to master for the parade.
After months of our hard work we were off. We arrived in California two days after Christmas. Once we were there, there was no time to rest. We visited theme park after theme park. We went to Universal Studios, Disney Land, Six-flags/ Magic Mountain, and Knott's Berry Farm. Although this had no connection to band it was a time for us to bond with our friends. I must say an entire week with your friends is pretty awesome. I went on many rides and over came my fear of roller coasters. In addition to the opportunity to have a great time with my friends I go the opportunity to participate in the Disney Magical Music Days workshop. We got to play the role of professional musicians and played the background music for a few movie clips. At Disney land we also had the opportunity to march in the Disney land Main Street parade. This experience was so memorable and awesome because we were marching in the same parade as Mickey Mouse, Donald duck, Goofy, etc.
On the morning of New Year Day all 250 or so of us sprung out of our beds at 5:00 in the morning to dress and prepare for what would soon be the greatest experience of our lives. Half awake we dressed in our uniforms, and lugged ourselves on the bus where we ate our breakfast in the dark and caught a few more ZZZ before the big moment. After what seemed forever, we were lined up on the street in parade block. We all were excited with anticipation. We all held our heads up high as we stepped on to the main street of the Rose Bowl Parade. Seeing the smiles and clapping of the audience made me smile so widely. When we turned the corner to march pass the national TV broadcasters everyone held himself or herself up proudly. We were all so proud to represent our state. This was the best feeling in the world. While many of us won't understand how fortunate we were to have this opportunity, when we grow up and look back on this we will all remember it as the experience of our life.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Passion
Passion comes in many forms. People have passions for a particular instrument, sport, music, club, activity etc. But really what is passion? We often associate passion with ability but is that really correct? I’ve always assumed that people who are good at something have a passion for that particular activity they excel in. However when I look back on my 7 years I spent learning the piano this statement seems to prove itself wrong. When I was in kindergarten I started piano and after a few years my piano teacher referred me to a very prestigious teacher who taught many young protégées. I took lessons from her and excelled in piano. At such a young age I was able to let pages of memorized music flow from my fingertips. Although I possessed talent in this area I was never truly happy. Many would assume that this was my passion but really I hated it. I hated being forced to practice for more than an hour a day and I hated all the pressure I got from my teacher. Eventually I was so fed up with it that I quit. It seems quite sad how all those years of lessons went to waste because all I can play are excerpts from certain pieces my fingers can automatically play. This just goes to prove that passion is not always directly associated with ability. There are many people in this world who have a passion for something they are not very good at.
So how do we define passion? When I really think about it I think it has more to do with the desire to know more about something. When people are passionate about something they love that something whatever it may be. If one has a passion for something they often posses a great interest in it and it is something they enjoy doing. If you were to ask me what my passion is I would say flute and tennis, but do I really enjoy doing these activities all the time? Of course not! I often find myself thinking and asking myself why I claim tennis and flute to be my passion when it is obvious that I don’t love it all the time. I often get frustrated with myself when I cannot play a difficult piece well or when I am down in a tennis match. When I hit those low points I can honestly say that I do not particularly enjoying my “passion” at that time.
Maybe ones passion is not something you always enjoy doing but rather something you are willing to stick with, even when things are not working out the way you planned. When I am down in tennis I do not chuck my racket across the court but instead I just keep trying without giving up. The same goes for flute. When I am having a difficult time playing a technical run I practice it from slow to fast and refuse to give up. This is why I am coming to believe that passion is the desire or interest in a particular area. If you are passionate about something you don’t have to be exceptionally good in it and in fact you don’t always have love it. I believe that passion is more associated with the perseverance and ability to never give up, even when things are not working out as planned.
People often identify themselves with their passion. Because people’s passion becomes such an important part of ones life, it seems to eventually be apart of what defines them as an individual. I have played tennis and flute for quite sometime and I feel like I can identify myself with these activities. I believed that they have grown to be a part of what I am and without my passion for the flute and tennis I would not be who I am today.
So how do we define passion? When I really think about it I think it has more to do with the desire to know more about something. When people are passionate about something they love that something whatever it may be. If one has a passion for something they often posses a great interest in it and it is something they enjoy doing. If you were to ask me what my passion is I would say flute and tennis, but do I really enjoy doing these activities all the time? Of course not! I often find myself thinking and asking myself why I claim tennis and flute to be my passion when it is obvious that I don’t love it all the time. I often get frustrated with myself when I cannot play a difficult piece well or when I am down in a tennis match. When I hit those low points I can honestly say that I do not particularly enjoying my “passion” at that time.
Maybe ones passion is not something you always enjoy doing but rather something you are willing to stick with, even when things are not working out the way you planned. When I am down in tennis I do not chuck my racket across the court but instead I just keep trying without giving up. The same goes for flute. When I am having a difficult time playing a technical run I practice it from slow to fast and refuse to give up. This is why I am coming to believe that passion is the desire or interest in a particular area. If you are passionate about something you don’t have to be exceptionally good in it and in fact you don’t always have love it. I believe that passion is more associated with the perseverance and ability to never give up, even when things are not working out as planned.
People often identify themselves with their passion. Because people’s passion becomes such an important part of ones life, it seems to eventually be apart of what defines them as an individual. I have played tennis and flute for quite sometime and I feel like I can identify myself with these activities. I believed that they have grown to be a part of what I am and without my passion for the flute and tennis I would not be who I am today.
Monday, March 5, 2007
Function/ Prom…is the high price worth it?
Junior Function is coming up, in fact it is this coming Saturday. It’s at the Ihilani all the way on the other side of the island. Apparently we have to catch a school bus to Function, which kind of makes me laugh. Just picturing all the girls in their dresses with all the boy in their nice clothes riding a school bus makes me laugh. I can’t believe it is in less than a week away. For some reason it always seemed like it was so far away especially because we bought our bids about a month ago. It’s our first formal dance and I must admit I’m pretty excited. Everyone is making such a big deal about Function.
As exciting as function sounds the down side to it is that it is pretty expensive just to go. I know its not prom (we have that to look forward to next year) but still when I look back on how much I spent on function stuff its pretty expensive, especially if you are a girl. First of all it costs $55 person just to go. Imagine if you had to pay for your date too. That totals up to $110 just to go. The pictures are also another added expense. But then there is the big stressful question, “What to wear?” I guess I was lucky because I bought my dress in January and found the perfect fit just by accident. However, a lot of my friends (girls) are stressing about their dress because they can’t find the perfect dress. Some of my friends have bought multiple dresses but they have yet to find “the dress” Also dresses are not cheap. My dress was about $115. That's actually pretty cheap in relationship to other dresses I looked at. In fact yesterday I went to the mall and I stopped into Betsy Johnson to look at some of their dresses. They have some really pretty dresses in there and I tired a few on. There was this one dress that I really liked. It was a beautiful teal color and it was a strapless beaded dress. I would have considered buying it if it was not so expensive. It was about 600 DOLLARS!!!!!! I couldn’t possibly image spending that much just for a dress to wear for one night. I think its pretty ridiculous how some girls spend that much on their prom dresses. I mean, after all it’s only a dance. After finding the perfect dress girls need to find the perfect shoes which is almost as hard as finding the dresses because it needs to match. Lucky for me my mom found my function shoes for only $30. Originally they were $116. Haha that costs more than my dress and because my shoes are red I wouldn’t have many other opportunities to wear them. That's a lot of money just for one night. I absolutely love my shoes. The only thing I’m worried about it that the heal is about 2 ½ - 3 inches tall and the heal is skinny. So after the dress and shoes are bought there are all the accessories to worry about. Because I did not want to waste any more money I decided to just use the jewelry and bag I already have but just imaging that would have been another easy 100 dollar down the drain. A lot of girls also pay to get their nails, hair and make up done. I am going to do my fingers and toes, which will cost me about another 60 dollars or so. I am also getting my hair cut on Thursday, which is another 30 dollars. When I look back on this I am putting/ have put so much effort into this one event its almost ridiculous. Let me see…hmm $115+$55+$30+$38+$30+$60 comes out to be $328. Wow that's a lot of money spent just for one night. Imagine what you could by with that money if you didn’t go to function. Let me see, I could by a new i-pod, a coach bag, a new set of jewelry, or a lot of other stuff.
What is it about prom that makes people willing to throw hundreds of dollars down the drain just to look beautiful for on night? Will we all remember this someday in the future? I understand that it's a once in a lifetime opportunity but seriously why do we have to pay so much just for one night of fun. Well function is less than a week away and hopefully it will be all worth it.
As exciting as function sounds the down side to it is that it is pretty expensive just to go. I know its not prom (we have that to look forward to next year) but still when I look back on how much I spent on function stuff its pretty expensive, especially if you are a girl. First of all it costs $55 person just to go. Imagine if you had to pay for your date too. That totals up to $110 just to go. The pictures are also another added expense. But then there is the big stressful question, “What to wear?” I guess I was lucky because I bought my dress in January and found the perfect fit just by accident. However, a lot of my friends (girls) are stressing about their dress because they can’t find the perfect dress. Some of my friends have bought multiple dresses but they have yet to find “the dress” Also dresses are not cheap. My dress was about $115. That's actually pretty cheap in relationship to other dresses I looked at. In fact yesterday I went to the mall and I stopped into Betsy Johnson to look at some of their dresses. They have some really pretty dresses in there and I tired a few on. There was this one dress that I really liked. It was a beautiful teal color and it was a strapless beaded dress. I would have considered buying it if it was not so expensive. It was about 600 DOLLARS!!!!!! I couldn’t possibly image spending that much just for a dress to wear for one night. I think its pretty ridiculous how some girls spend that much on their prom dresses. I mean, after all it’s only a dance. After finding the perfect dress girls need to find the perfect shoes which is almost as hard as finding the dresses because it needs to match. Lucky for me my mom found my function shoes for only $30. Originally they were $116. Haha that costs more than my dress and because my shoes are red I wouldn’t have many other opportunities to wear them. That's a lot of money just for one night. I absolutely love my shoes. The only thing I’m worried about it that the heal is about 2 ½ - 3 inches tall and the heal is skinny. So after the dress and shoes are bought there are all the accessories to worry about. Because I did not want to waste any more money I decided to just use the jewelry and bag I already have but just imaging that would have been another easy 100 dollar down the drain. A lot of girls also pay to get their nails, hair and make up done. I am going to do my fingers and toes, which will cost me about another 60 dollars or so. I am also getting my hair cut on Thursday, which is another 30 dollars. When I look back on this I am putting/ have put so much effort into this one event its almost ridiculous. Let me see…hmm $115+$55+$30+$38+$30+$60 comes out to be $328. Wow that's a lot of money spent just for one night. Imagine what you could by with that money if you didn’t go to function. Let me see, I could by a new i-pod, a coach bag, a new set of jewelry, or a lot of other stuff.
What is it about prom that makes people willing to throw hundreds of dollars down the drain just to look beautiful for on night? Will we all remember this someday in the future? I understand that it's a once in a lifetime opportunity but seriously why do we have to pay so much just for one night of fun. Well function is less than a week away and hopefully it will be all worth it.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Lack of Sleep
Last night I really don't know how much I slept…in fact I don't know if I had any moment of good sleep last night. My schedule is so busy that I am forced to stay up late to finish my homework. Yesterday I spent all of my breaks in the computer lab working on homework so I wouldn't have to stay up to some ridiculous hour. However my plan failed. Yesterday my busy schedule consisted of going to work from 2:30- 4:30. After work I had exactly 1 hour to eat my dinner and do some of my US reading before my tennis practice that was from 5:30 to 7:30 I got home at about 7:45 and by the time I settled down to start my seminar paper it was already 8:00. I worked on my paper for about 2 hours until I crashed out in front of my laptop. I was so exhausted from my earlier workout that I unconsciously fell into a deep sleep. It was not until 1:00 in the morning when I woke up and realized that I had fallen asleep. The first thing I said was…I'm screwed! All I had done was an intro, a conclusion, and about half of my first supporting paragraph. I was so tired I needed some sort of boost to wake me up. I took a shower, brushed my teeth, and cleaned up. After that I sat down on my bed with my lap top and furiously typed my essay. I was so wrapped up in trying to interpret the documents and searching for a strong argument I did not look back up at the clock until it was 2:30. Yeah… I didn't realize how late it was…or maybe I should say early. I thought to myself, "in 3 hours I am going to have to wake up again." I was running on so much adrenaline that I could not bring myself to stop. I then picked up my Japanese book and did my workbook. When the clock hit 3:00 I realized that it would be really dumb to pull an all nighter so I threw my textbooks on the ground, flicked off the lights, and climbed into my bed. I tried to force myself to go to sleep but some how I could not…my mind kept drifting to all the things I had to do. I lay in my bed awake for what seemed like forever until I finally drifted into one of those half sleeps. My mind was so preoccupied with school that I dreamed that I was talking my math test again and I just had one more to answer and some how I couldn't answer it. When I woke up from my restless sleep it was already time to wake up and get ready to go to school. Now looking back on my dream I think it is pretty sad how high school students like myself are always bombarded with so much school work and stress that it even haunts us in our dreams. Sometimes I think this is an unhealthy life to live… but I would not have it any other way. I feel I am who I am because of all the activities I do. If I were not doing all this activity I would not be me. The funny thing is I thought I would be really tired, but actually I'm not. I'm sitting in front of this computer typing this blog post and I am actually quite awake. Who knows, maybe this will bite me from behind later on today in U.S history at 2:30 when we discuss the paper I slaved over last night. There never seems to be enough hours in the day. (Hey I just realized that this post is similar to my "hidden talent" essay…except last night I didn't' t have to fake sleep)
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