Semester 1 Reflection

Throughout last semester I have been doing my best to reach my academic goals. For example, I've been keeping an average report card which I find good minding my capabilities. I believe I could have done better in areas such as Chemistry and Algebra, which have always been my weak points, unlike English or History, for example. I think that to improve those areas in which I struggle the best thing I could begin doing is studying more, and harder. Some of the things I'll definitely start doing is what the Washington Post suggests in a recent article. There's some pointers which could definitely help out. Another great resource I could use if I see I can't improve any further is the tutoring program that the school offers. I did try it twice last year and I saw it worked, but stopped. At this point in the semester, I'd say my results are somewhat improving compared to previous semesters.

I manage my time efficiently, which makes doing homework much simpler and less stressing. If I don't stay after school to catch up on work and finish any assignments, my time at home is balanced between homework and everything else. Having a good routine is the best thing to follow in order to efficiently complete work and study for assessments. Even between sports (soccer and volleyball) practices and any matches I watch at home of my favorite teams, I'm always able to manage my time well and complete work. At least an hour of homework is always done. Also, I've been asking teachers a lot more than usual about terms or lessons that I might have a hard time understanding in class or even when doing homework. That's definitely something that helps in cases of doubt.

Regarding my academic future, I am still oscillating between attending college in the US or in Europe (preferably Italy or Spain). In the U.S. I still don't have any specific in mind, but Ohio State is one I've been looking at. In Europe, the University of Rome is at the top of my list for its journalism program. If I chose to study in Spain, my options are between the Autonomous University of Barcelona or the Universidad Complutense of Madrid. I've had the chance to talk to alumni of the Complutense, and they've said great things about it, which only stimulates me more.

OSU's magnificent campus

Academic Leadership has been a different yet rewarding experience, in my opinion. The "Promises" unit was great because it opened our minds up to a reality which others face that we have no idea about. I wrote about it here last semester. This semester began with a more in depth view of what awaits us next year during the IB courses. We learned about the IB Learner Profile, summarized in the video: 

The IB Learner Profile takes on the following ideas to make a student a successful learner: 

Promises.

As the first semester draws near its end, our Academic Leadership class has been engaged in the analysis of Academy Award winning documentary Promises, directed by Carlos Bolado and B.Z. Goldberg released in 2001. Promises revolves around the lives of several different Palestinian and Jewish children living in Jerusalem and communities in the West Bank.

Release poster of Promises, featuring Daniel and Faraj

It examines the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the thoughts, opinions, and views of mainly these children: brothers Daniel and Yarko, Shlomo, and Moishe (Israeli's) along with Faraj, Mahmoud, and Sanabel (Arabs). Their opinions about the other group varies according to the child; for example, Shlomo is an Orthodox Jew, and says he'd never want to "be friends" with an Arab. Mahmoud, for example, states that the more Jews that are killed, the Arabs will become more powerful, hoping in his homeland to be freed. Their contrary opinions, probably influenced heavily from their parents and what they have been taught, makes a meeting between them rather difficult. 

This was not the case, as director Goldberg managed to have the families of the Jewish brothers and Faraj arrange a meeting between them and some of the other Arab children including Sanabel. It begins with B.Z. (as he is commonly referred to by the children) having Daniel and Yarko call Faraj and have a brief discussion with him, ranging from general feelings about the conflict to football (soccer, since it was filmed around the period of the 2002 World Cup, which both parties agree that Brazil would be the victor) and that they would have no problem in meeting each other, if all the difficulties such as the checkpoints would be dealt with. Daniel and Yarko convince their parents in allowing them to go to the Dheisheh refugee camp located near Bethlehem, where Faraj and the others are located, and to take them there. A day is finally picked for the children to spend together. With little nervousness from both sides, they meet with friendly handshakes and have traditional Arab foods in one of the children's home. After, they play a simple game with their hands, in which everyone sits in a circle and after counting off to a certain number, the last one must quickly slap the hand of the one to his or her side. Later, they gather outside and play ball games and other commonly-known games. Finally, after sunset, they gather again in the house and B.Z. guides an emotional conversation between the kids, who are desolated when they think about everything going back to normal after this magnificent day with a people they never would have though they'd meet. They know it won't be easy to keep meeting each other and spending time together, knowing that even if they have become friends, after B.Z. leaves their lives will go on. 

This communication was essential to the children's understanding of the other group so despised by their own people.  The experience allowed them to open their minds and realize that the people they once thought were all terrible from actions taken by few, aren't all like what they had been taught since birth. Playing games with each other also made them understand that their beliefs and past wasn't such an important matter, that in the end they are all just children who enjoy the same things. A broadened mind from their behalf will make them adults who will definitely accept the other group and try to interact with it with no problem in such a case. 

Reflection on Racism

During the last couple weeks, in Academic Leadership, we devoutedly discussed and learned about the heavy topic of racism. We saw PowerPoint presentations, read news articles, and even watched a movie all related to racism. As hard as it may sound to learn about the levels of such an inhumane form of behavior, we actually learned that it is there and how to deal with it. Apart from learning about the horrible events in history (such as the Holocaust or Rwandan Genocide) that involved millions of deaths only because of sad hatred and power we also were enlightened on what it actually means to be racist and how to analyze it.

Pyramid representing the general levels racism is displayed at. 

The movie mentioned earlier is named American History X, by director Tony Kaye starring Edward Norton. The theme of this film is obviously racism, specifically the kind demonstrated by a group of skinheads in California. The story revolves around the life of Danny and Derek Vinyard, where Derek is the older brother who is a large figure in the local skinhead group and Danny is the little brother preparing to follow his brothers footsteps. A whole backstory is settled and throughout the movie Derek assasinates a colored man and is sent to jail, where he learns that his neo-nazi behavior has never returned anything good to him or his family. (Click here for a full sinopsis and here for a trailer)  

Official poster for American History X

Our task in this post was to answer the following question:

"What does it take for someone to move from a position of hate and racism to a position of tolerance and respect like the transformation that occurred in Derek?" 

When Derek enters the penitentiary, he quickly forms a bond with fellow neo-nazi also in jail. The group shares the same ideals of racism and display them throughout the movie. As it moves on, Derek comes to learn that some of the group members are involved in drug dealing with Mexican inmates, who supposedly are supposed to be hated and unaccepted by these skinheads. Derek slowly begins to understand that everything he believed in was nonsense, since people who had the same ideals as him literally broke the "rules" that are involved in being such kind of a person, and that everyone else in the group seemed fine with it. In addition to this event, Derek also forms a decent friendship with a colored inmate whom he begins to respect and appreciate. When he realizes he has made an "impossible friend" Derek realizes that hate was meaningless. To sum, I believe that by experiencing his beliefs being broken by comrades and the fact that he forms a relationship with a supposed enemy, Derek passes form hate to tolerance. That is what it could take to transform any truly racist person into a respectful one. 

Racism is a sad part of human nature, and definately something I want to avoid for the rest of my life time. Even with that, it is important to understand how to deal with it and learn about what its true meaning is, just like Derek did throughout his character transformation. 

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Response to Seattle MAP Test Boycott

Earlier this week we were introduced to a piece of news that we never could have imagined as students used to quarterly MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) testing: a school in Seattle, Washington has completely boycotted the test many schools take regularly. The MAP test is a tool created by the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) issued to a large number of schools in the US and international ones abroad. It helps educational institutions evaluate the success their curriculum has according to the results presented by the students.

40-50 minutes of click, click, click, click...

Garfield High School of Seattle has rejected the taking of this program, causing a slight disturbance in the company and between educators from other schools. Teachers, students, and parents came together to decide that their school would no longer force the kids to take these tests. Following is a YouTube video thoroughly describing the situation.

 News Report of the Situation (YouTube)

In my opinion, MAP tests should be totally optional for students to take. If not optional, then they should not even be issued to schools who do not wish to take them. Personally, I don't appreciate taking MAP tests and I do not see the educational value they have towards the student. Concluding, I think they're a waste of valuable school time. 

Of course, if every school who previously took the tests stopped, the company would loose money, causing an issue. I know this will never happen, though. Even though students don't benefit from this test, schools use it as a key tool in developing their curriculums to improve the results of their teachings.

Academic Goals

Last month, during an Academic Leadership period, we were given the assignment of coming up with ways to improve the way we studied and learned. The mission was to create and strategically produce goals that would specifically adjust our ways of study in order to improve such aspects of our academic life. Consequently, of course, we got the reccomendation of putting these goals into practice and applying them to our studies and try to achieve a better level of learning. As a conclusion, we had to analyze how the goals worked. 

 My goals were the following: create a calendar or a to-do list, begin studying with peers, and avoid any uneccessary activities before doing homework. Truthfully, I had some ups-and-downs during this experience. I did create a to-do list almost every day on my phone, which included all the homework, tests and assessments given that day. Later at home I wouldn't have the possibility of forgetting anything to turn in or study for. This proved effective, as I have noticed that I still do not having missing asssignments. The next goal included studying and doing homework with my classmates, and, unfortunately, I didn't practice this much. The only opportunities I did get were the weekly study-sessions with the soccer team, which actually did help when I took a Geometry test. Finally, I set myself the challenge of not aimlessly doing anything else that wasn't homework or studies as soon as I got home. I must admit I tried doing this some days, but I frequently got carried away from soccer games and videogames, which concluded in doing such academic activities in the evening, with absolutely no wantings. 

From now on, I'll definately try to apply what I set as goals into a more effective manner. I hope that they will continue to assist me as I develop as a high-school student. 

You briefly met with a college recruiter last week, and you reviewed a number of questions to ask about colleges. This must have gotten you thinking about your future, so tell us about it: Without any strict requirements, write about your expectations, goals, fears, concerns, questions that you have concerning your future in college. Additionally, now that you know that recruiters want to hear about you and your intellectual interests and pursuits, how do you think being an aware Academic Leader will give you an advantage when applying to the college of your choice? 

Last week, during a class of Academic Leadership, we had the thankful opportunity to meet an actual college recruiter who came directly from the United States and gave us a fifty-minute speech on the school she works for, Baldwin-Wallace University in Ohio. As it must have occured to many of my peers, her discussion did get me thinking about my own academic future.

I've never actually decided where I wanted to go study after my graduation. All that I have understood about my future is that if I cannot become a football player, I at least want to stay in that area but as a journalist. I'd love that job as it unifies two of my passions: soccer and writing. I also think I'd have a great advantage if I do get to follow this dream career, as I am a polyglot, speaking English, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese all satisfactorily. Unfortunately, the only problem of this is that I'd have to choose a language in which to specialize in, and that isn't always an easy task. Recently, though, I have been  thinking about writing in Spanish, as it is my favorite language to write in, and one of the most fluent I can write in. All this would mean an eventual shift to Spain. I sincerely would like this, even though all the negative remarks my peers give me about how "you have to go to the States or England". To that I say NO. I'll go where ever I feel will make me succeed in life, and I believe a university in Spain will do, as all I want to do is write about sports. My only fears about this would where to stay. In Europe, there aren't many schools that offer dorms, so that would be a complication. For now, though, I don't want to think about these matters so much, because in four years it can all change, I can change.

I think being an Academic Leader is something important when applying to a college. This can also depend, though. It can be difficult to demonstrate your skills as an Academic Leader in simply one sit-down interview with a recruiter. Even though with this complication, it is still important to become an Academic Leader for several reasons; for example, you will be ready to guide yourself and peers to success. An academic leader is able to organize his life as a college student to make it productive and successful.

The Meaning of Academic Leadership.

"In our first two weeks, you have read two articles, seen several videos and been engaged in several discussions related to the concept of academic leadership. At this point, and in your own words, what does the concept mean to you? What subjects or interests do you have a sophisticated, intellectual understanding of that you may want to turn into a major academic project in this class? How do people sometimes abuse academic knowledge to manipulate others? How would you feel if someone used your work to manipulate others (as Jared Diamond claims Mitt Romney has)? How can creating academically sophisticated, intellectual leaders help prevent such people from taking advantage of others the way they do? How can this create a stronger democratic society?

The meaning of Academic Leadership can be interpreted in multiple ways, as I have learned this week. The most important meaning, in my opinion, is that Academic Leadership means the responsibility of a student or teacher to succeed independently both academically and socially, resulting in becoming a more complete person. The creation of these kinds of "leaders" is vital for healthy and growing communities present in all institutions such as schools or work places. Thanks to these people, these communities can be clean of negative contributors that take advantage of others. An example of this taking advantage is the Jared Diamond-Mitt Romney conflict. In this situation, Romney used the studies of Diamond in such a way that would favor the politicians ideals. Diamond wrote  a book (Guns Germs and Steel) about how a nation achieves wealth and others dont, so Mr. Romney uses his own idea to contradict the studies. He says that, "as written in the book, a nations wealth depends on the physical features." The twist is that Diamond did not mean this in his book As guessed, Romney's strategy lacks academic leadership. This clearly shows the importance of creating true academic leaders. The formation of these kinds of people is necessary for a striving world community. Leaders like this are socially aware and prevent negative situations like the one Mitt Romney created. This will create a strong democratic society since healthy leaders will always know how to treat the people and their own ideas. 

Diamonds novel

A subject that I have a strong intellectual interest to are sports, especially football, or soccer. One of the most complex yet interesting components of the game are the fans, and how they choose their team and how they treat rivals. During my own experience, I have seen how people can be influenced immensely by their team, whether it is a strong one or a less-winning team. Their attitudes towards peers of rival teams at school or work environments amazingly vary. For example, if ones team is having a winning period, the big fans are proud and constantly boast the victories of the own team and losses of the rivals. Does this make them a good leader, even for the future? Will it influence them in the future? I would really appreciate the study of this all, to understand how it works, not only for soccer, but other sports teams.