The end of the school year has come so much faster than I have realized, and upon realizing how close we are, spring fever has really begun to kick in. Yet no matter how excited I am to run out of the dim dark hallways into the open heat and beauty of summer vacation after (hopefully) confidently turning in my math final on that dreaded last Monday, I can't help but reflect on what a positive year I've had, and how maybe I shouldn't be wishing to end it so quickly. I have throughly enjoyed and benefitted from every single one of the classes I took in my sophomore year, except maybe gym. I have yet to find the benefit in running around aimlessly, playing sports not everyone enjoys, and being stuck on teams with overly competitive classmates who dominate the game, especially when I have learned more about health and fitness in one week of my anatomy class than in all 10 years I have been forced to take gym class. But besides that one period that never fails to dampen my day, I have had the best teachers and classes I could possibly imagine.
I have never been more genuinely interested in the material I have learned in class than I was in AP Biology and Human Body Systems this year. We did so many cool labs and experiments, including dropping a mixture of ATP and sodium ions onto a rabbit muscle fiber and watching it contract and using the knee-jerk reflex to roughly calculate the speed our nerves send, process and receive signals. I now know how the very smallest molecules in my body work and are constructed, and I just can't help but be amazed at the complexity of it all. I even got to brush up on my art skills by sculpting different body systems and organs on a skeleton mannequin throughout the year.
History was enjoyable this year for the first time since elementary school. Though this was mostly due to the teacher, I laughed, looked forward to the class everyday (except maybe test days) and as a result I was definitely more motivated to study and improve in the class. English, though it has never been an easy class for me by any means, has also been a subject area in which I feel I have improved immensely. I am not sure if it was the monthly blog posts, or just the many essays we have written throughout the year, but it just feels so much easier to write, especially compared to how uncomfortable I felt writing last year. That class also provided me with my first experience with a student teacher, which is something that will definitely be in my memory for a long time in the future.
I've had such a great year, thats the prospect of junior year, with its fair share of AP classes, mixed reviews of teachers and the pressure of the upcoming search for colleges seems just plain terrifying. We all know summer vacation is over in the blink of an eye, and is usually dampened by a decent amount of summer work, and soon enough we will all be back to do it all again. There is no telling what that next year will bring in terms of my workload, teachers, tests and experiences, but life is going to keep moving forward and whether we like it or not, we are all going to be moving forward as well, to hopefully an amazing, memorable, and engaging junior year of high school.
Showing posts with label High School. Show all posts
Showing posts with label High School. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Friday, April 7, 2017
Relationships Today by Bailey Kellenberger
Chivalry used to be alive and well among men. They would run through puddles to open and hold the door for a lady. Men would spontaneously buy a women flowers with a simple card reminding her that she is loved and beautiful. Today, however, it seems chivalry has died. Men care more about how large a women's breasts and butt are. They do not open doors, rather they open DM's with a vulgar message such as "ur a hottie.. send nudes?". Dates have become nothing more than him wanting to make out with a girl in a car. We live in a generation where physical attraction and beauty seem to be the only important thing. Men do not hesitate to take advantage and act on these attractions. Here is my poem from the perspective of a young female living in this society.
What He Wants
His lips began to clench together
His game has changed
I don't want to play
His skin like glue
I try to free myself
Only to get stuck more
His fingers a python
Wrapping itself around its prey
I am suffocating
His voice remains hauntingly calm
One thought in mind
None in mine
Friday, January 20, 2017
Music to My Ears by Jillian Parks
Living lives of constant stress, pressure and lack of quality sleep, high school students have become so paranoid about who they will become, what job they might acquire and of course, one cannot forget, the college they will attend, that many never once get the chance to release and relax these constant thoughts jumping and flipping around their heads on a daily basis. It is important to realize that once in a while, teens need to calm down and unwind the never-ceasing negative thoughts that pound and pull at our emotions everyday. What I have found out once I began my life last year, in this new world called high school, is that music can flip a person's pessimistic, cantankerous mood right into a jubilant one in the blink of an eye. But how does this historical art form, giving joy to the human race for generations, give not only teenagers, but even babies, such a therapeutic way to make us feel better? Here's the answer(s) you might be looking for...
Music is a core function in our brain. Our brain is primed early on to respond to and process music. Research has shown that day-old infants are able to detect differences in rhythmic patterns. Mothers across cultures and throughout time have used lullabies and rhythmic rocking to calm crying babies. From an evolutionary standpoint, music precedes language. We don’t yet know why, but our brains are wired to respond to music, even though it’s not “essential” for our survival.
Our bodies entrain to rhythm. Have you ever walked down the street, humming a song in your head, and noticed that you’re walking to the beat? That’s called entrainment. Our motor systems naturally entrain, or match, to a rhythmic beat. When a musical input enters our central nervous system via the auditory nerve, most of the input goes to the brain for processing. But some of it heads straight to motor nerves in our spinal cord. This allows our muscles to move to the rhythm without our having to think about it or “try.” It’s how we dance to music, tap our foot to a rhythm, and walk in time to a beat. This is also why music therapists can help a person who’s had a stroke re-learn how to walk and develop strength and endurance in their upper bodies.
We have physiologic responses to music. Every time your breathing quickens, your heart-rate increases, or you feel a shiver down your spine, that’s your body responding physiologically to music. Qualified music therapists can use this to help stimulate a person in a coma or use music to effectively help someone relax.
Music taps into our emotions. Have you ever listened to a piece of music and smiled? Or felt sad? Whether from the music itself, or from our associations with the music, music taps into our emotional systems. Many people use this in a “therapeutic” way, listening to certain music that makes them feel a certain way. The ability for music to easily access our emotions is very beneficial for music therapists.
Music enhances learning. Do you remember how you learned your ABCs? Through a song! The inherent structure and emotional pull of music makes it an easy tool for teaching concepts, ideas, and information. Music is an effective mnemonic device and can “tag” information, not only making it easy to learn, but also easy to later recall.
Music taps into our memories. Have you ever been driving, heard a song on the radio, then immediately been taken to a certain place, a specific time in your life, or a particular person? Music is second only to smell for it’s ability to stimulate our memory in a very powerful way. Music therapists who work with older adults with dementia have countless stories of how music stimulates their clients to reminisce about their life.
Music is a social experience. Our ancestors bonded and passed on their stories and knowledge through song, stories, and dance. Even today, many of our music experiences are shared with a group, whether playing in band or an elementary music class, listening to jazz at a restaurant, or singing in church choir. Music makes it easy for music therapists to structure and facilitate a group process.
Music is predictable, structured, and organized–and our brain likes it! Music often has a predictable steady beat, organized phrases, and a structured form. If you think of most country/folk/pop/rock songs you know, they’re often organized with a verse-chorus structure. They’re organized in a way that we like and enjoy listening to over and over again. Even sound waves that make up a single tone or an entire chord are organized in mathematical ratios–and our brains really like this predictability and structure.
Music is non-invasive, safe and motivating. We can’t forget that most people really enjoy music. This is not the most important reason why music works in therapy, but it’s the icing on the cake.
My advice? Start listening to some tunes because there is no better feeling than belting your heart out listening to your favorite song. I can guarantee that finding a genre you like and are passionate about can change your attitude, mood, outlook on life and even the way you view things into a more positive version of yourself. So get out there and find your artist because it sure is worth taking a breather once in a while from reality and slipping into the magical fantasy of music!
Music is a core function in our brain. Our brain is primed early on to respond to and process music. Research has shown that day-old infants are able to detect differences in rhythmic patterns. Mothers across cultures and throughout time have used lullabies and rhythmic rocking to calm crying babies. From an evolutionary standpoint, music precedes language. We don’t yet know why, but our brains are wired to respond to music, even though it’s not “essential” for our survival.
Our bodies entrain to rhythm. Have you ever walked down the street, humming a song in your head, and noticed that you’re walking to the beat? That’s called entrainment. Our motor systems naturally entrain, or match, to a rhythmic beat. When a musical input enters our central nervous system via the auditory nerve, most of the input goes to the brain for processing. But some of it heads straight to motor nerves in our spinal cord. This allows our muscles to move to the rhythm without our having to think about it or “try.” It’s how we dance to music, tap our foot to a rhythm, and walk in time to a beat. This is also why music therapists can help a person who’s had a stroke re-learn how to walk and develop strength and endurance in their upper bodies.
We have physiologic responses to music. Every time your breathing quickens, your heart-rate increases, or you feel a shiver down your spine, that’s your body responding physiologically to music. Qualified music therapists can use this to help stimulate a person in a coma or use music to effectively help someone relax.
Music taps into our emotions. Have you ever listened to a piece of music and smiled? Or felt sad? Whether from the music itself, or from our associations with the music, music taps into our emotional systems. Many people use this in a “therapeutic” way, listening to certain music that makes them feel a certain way. The ability for music to easily access our emotions is very beneficial for music therapists.
Music enhances learning. Do you remember how you learned your ABCs? Through a song! The inherent structure and emotional pull of music makes it an easy tool for teaching concepts, ideas, and information. Music is an effective mnemonic device and can “tag” information, not only making it easy to learn, but also easy to later recall.
Music taps into our memories. Have you ever been driving, heard a song on the radio, then immediately been taken to a certain place, a specific time in your life, or a particular person? Music is second only to smell for it’s ability to stimulate our memory in a very powerful way. Music therapists who work with older adults with dementia have countless stories of how music stimulates their clients to reminisce about their life.
Music is a social experience. Our ancestors bonded and passed on their stories and knowledge through song, stories, and dance. Even today, many of our music experiences are shared with a group, whether playing in band or an elementary music class, listening to jazz at a restaurant, or singing in church choir. Music makes it easy for music therapists to structure and facilitate a group process.
Music is predictable, structured, and organized–and our brain likes it! Music often has a predictable steady beat, organized phrases, and a structured form. If you think of most country/folk/pop/rock songs you know, they’re often organized with a verse-chorus structure. They’re organized in a way that we like and enjoy listening to over and over again. Even sound waves that make up a single tone or an entire chord are organized in mathematical ratios–and our brains really like this predictability and structure.
Music is non-invasive, safe and motivating. We can’t forget that most people really enjoy music. This is not the most important reason why music works in therapy, but it’s the icing on the cake.
My advice? Start listening to some tunes because there is no better feeling than belting your heart out listening to your favorite song. I can guarantee that finding a genre you like and are passionate about can change your attitude, mood, outlook on life and even the way you view things into a more positive version of yourself. So get out there and find your artist because it sure is worth taking a breather once in a while from reality and slipping into the magical fantasy of music!
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