Ok, so at the end of every school year for my school, the 8th and 10th graders have to make a presentation to all of their teachers as to how they've grown in the past two years, and use work from each class to prove their point. For 10th graders, you also have to choose a theme. Mine was today, and I completely aced it, speaking clearly form my notecards, my powerpoint very nice, and the questions asked afterwards answered clearly and conscise. You don't have to read what's next, just skip it and go to the bottom, but here is my speech.Once upon a time, there was a kingdom called Los Angeles, and in this kingdom there was a university called Wildwood. Now, every year certain members of the university got up in front of their professors and made a speech declaring why they should be allowed to move on and grow even further so that they would be able to achieve their dreams. Finally, after many other speeches, it was finally the turn of a lass named Becki Frank. That lass is I, and I am here to show who I am as a learner and why I am ready to move on to senior institute. My theme for gateway is something I have been trying to accomplish since fifth grade, writing a novel. In writing a novel, there are many elements, which I believe are depicted by the different classes here. Math is the outline of the plot, the plan of the story itself. Science goes into more details with certain facts that happen within the plot, key facts that without which, the story cannot move forward and the characters cannot grow. Humanities goes under two categories: dialogue and research facts. Dialogue allows the characters within the story to express themselves in a way that other characters, not just the reader, can understand them. Of course, there are some parts of a story that need to be researched. An example of which would be period clothing, mannerisms, and social hierarchies if the novel in question is a period piece. Next on the list is Spanish, the antagonist. The antagonist is not always the bad guy, just a character who has a different way thinking from the protagonist. Not only does the author have to understand a different way of thinking for the character, they need to be able to portray them in a way that makes sense with the plot. Understanding someone else’s point of view is one of the most difficult things a person can do, but with a lot of work it can be done. Finally, there is Performing Arts, which is the flow of the novel. Without proper flow, the story would be choppy and confuse or disinterest the reader. I am someone who has to push myself in every aspect. Every part of a novel needs to be done, as with classes, and I am someone who needs to start work and push myself past my vices, because once I start I can work and learn. Now, without further ado, I shall start to plead my case before the jury… I mean teachers.
Science is like the facts of the story, whether a character likes a specific color, if they’ve had a difficult childhood, what their personality is like, and where the story takes place. All of these facts better allow the author to make choices and develop the story. In a novel, the author creates these facts, but in real life, science is the facts that we understand about our world, that exist whether or not we know them. Without knowing facts, you can go on with the story, or through life, but you cannot hope to understand either as well as you should. In science, I have had to push myself to understand the facts, because without them I would not understand everything around me quite as well. Last year in science class, we had several mini labs in which we observed different chemical reactions from whether changing the surface area of sodium bicarbonate would change the level of the reaction in water, to setting bubbles on fire, a personal favorite. In this specific lab, we mixed soap solution with water, put the gas hose in the water, causing a bubble to form. After the bubbles were created, we dropped a match into the bucket of gassy bubble water, causing the bubble to catch on fire. That lab in particular was about the chemical reaction, combustion. After conducting all of these labs, we had to write a lab report about each experiment, and turn it in. Not only did I not turn it in on time, I did not even turn it in while the school year was still in session. This was an extreme error on my part. Eventually, I did turn the work in by email after my conference that year. Truthfully, I did not think much of the report I did. After the first two lab reports, the rest were lax in my opinion, and rushed, not truly showing my understanding of the experiments, only an effort to be finished with the project sooner. While not my first, or last, error in science class, this was most definitely my worst, and I wanted never to repeat anything on such a high level again. Thus was my resolve.
Everyone, say hello to Bartholomew. He was the pig I had to dissect in one of our labs this year, as well as a frog which remained unnamed for whatever reason. Now looking at this picture may be a little uncomfortable depending on who you are, but it was even more uncomfortable to have to cut him up and take out his organs. As it is somewhat obvious, this was not one of the labs I was looking forward to, more due to the fact that I was not comfortable with seeing organs. With this lab, we dissected the animals, took pictures, and measured their small intestines to compare the ratios of the length of the animals to their intestines. The purpose was to compare the different digestive systems of the animals, find the differences and similarities, and to better understand how our own digestive system works. Part of my lab report explained why different the animals had different sized intestines, reading, “Within pigs, there are more digestive enzymes used, letting the pig be able to digest a larger variety of food. The length of the small intestine in proportion to the body itself determines the ability to digest different amounts of food and the amount of nutrition that is taken from the food itself. The longer the small intestine, the more nutrients can be absorbed through the villi. Because frog’s small intestine are smaller than mammals, they do not absorb as many nutrients and cannot digest the same variety of foods that pigs and humans can digest.” After everything was said and done, and we finally began writing our lab reports, my approach was a complete 360 from last year. I worked on the lab report in class, asked Joma questions when I was confused on certain matters, and even showed him parts of my work for feedback ahead of time. I truthfully feel that I put a great deal more effort into this lab, and showed my understanding of the digestive systems of frogs and pigs. And, a complete opposite from last years turning in the lab report weeks after the due date, I turned in this lab report in the morning of, before class was even in session. While I still make some errors in turning things in on time, I am continually working to improve myself in my areas of weakness.
Dialogue is how different characters connect with each other. Depending on the person, they can talk differently; use different vocabulary, accents, all depending on how they were raised and who they have become at that point in time. It expresses the characters in subtle ways, just as the language portion of Humanities teaches us how to express ourselves more specifically using correct grammar, spelling, and vocabulary that helps us express ourselves in our writing and even when we talk: dialogue. There are also parts of a story that need to be researched, like historical fictions. We have not lived during the Civil War, the French Revolution, or English Regency. Or, if your character has a hobby, such as scuba diving, that the author themselves have not experienced, they need to either research it or experience it themselves, furthering their knowledge of the time period or activities. History in humanities is to help us better understand different parts of the world in times that are not currently like our own, and how we have come to be how we are now. We have to research and understand how people lived differently, how they dressed, talked, and what they ate. Both researching for a story, and understanding the past, help us better understand everything around us and be able to progress in our own knowledge. Humanities has always been a stretch for me, mainly in turning the work in and not with the work itself, save for grammar issues. During last year, we read Lord of the Flies, a book about how chaos can turn normally civilized people in beasts, reflecting the world outside of an island while a war is going on. At the end of reading this book, we had to write a literary analysis. This was my first time ever writing one, and I was a bit uneasy about it. My thesis was “When one of the boys, Ralph is elected into power, another boy, Jack, isn’t pleased and tries to get power for himself, and that is when chaos ensues.” The general thesis itself was good, though the evidence I later connected to it was not as good as it could have been. In my second body paragraph, my point was that Jack changes his opinion about fire, first thinking nothing of it, then using it for his own gain. The actual paragraph read, “Ralph says, ‘I was chief, and you were going to do what I said. You talk. But you can’t even build huts-then you go off hunting and let out the fire-‘(59). Jack shows how little he cares about the fire, or about getting rescued because he let out the fire. He does not really care, but Ralph cares a lot. At this point, Jack shows signs of not caring what Ralph thinks.” This was more a summary of the evidence than going deeper within the language and finding out the significance of the words, as well as a bit repetitive and boring. I had over explained without truly explaining the point I was trying to get across.
This year, I am sad to admit that I have not been able to fix my procrastination, especially with humanities, and it has been a constant battle with myself that I am still working to overcome. During part of the term, we learned about imperialism and colonialism in Africa and, more specifically, read a novel from the perspective of one man about his village, and how things changed. The prompt had to do with using the language of the novel, my thesis being, “In the novel, Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, the language used within the text describes some of their beliefs and how those beliefs can clash, causing contradiction.” While not one of my more specific theses, I believe it answered the prompt well. For my second piece of evidence, I wrote, “When the villagers are walking through the forest, the sun shining through the branches created a ‘
attern of light and shade,’ (59). In societies around the world, ‘light’ is the symbol of good while ‘shade’ or darkness is the symbol of evil. The Igbo tribe has their own standards of good and evil, and what must be done to keep things as nice as possible. The ‘light and shade’ foretell the mixture of good and bad that will arise further in the text, when Ikemefuna is killed by Okonkwo, his foster father, Okonkwo himself is forgiven, despite the fact that killing is one of the greatest sins there is within the tribe.” I believe I went deeper into the language here, pulling out the meaning of the words instead of just rephrasing and repeating myself. For humanities, there are two habits of mind that work almost hand and hand with each other: Evidence and Connection. Evidence is selected information from the knowledge or sources we have to support a specific point. Connection is using the evidence we choose to explain why the point is correct. Throughout these two years, I have grown in my ability to choose evidence, as shown through my different pieces of evidence from Lord of the Flies and Things Fall Apart. Using connection, I am able to show why my evidence has grown. I have been able to go deeper within the meaning of words in the past to years, better understanding the text and conveying my understanding to my teachers.
The antagonist of a story is not always someone who gets in the way of the what the protagonist wants, but more a different character that has different view points and helps the main character develop throughout the story. It is important to understand the antagonist as well as the protagonist, to understand what makes them who they are, which can be difficult because it calls for a different way of thinking. Spanish is another language, another character that works differently than English, and cannot always be directly translated. It takes work to understand Spanish, as it takes work to understand a different way of thinking. If you do not understand how your antagonist works, than you cannot progress your story, and if you do not understand a foreign language, there are so many people you cannot understand. Spanish class is one of the most difficult, because it is not only learning a new language, but also it is a different way of speaking altogether. Every language has different tones, sounds, and meanings for everything that comes out of the mouth, and even if translated, though two phrases can mean the same thing; the way they are said can be completely different. One of our projects last year was to take someone, either a celebrity or a fictional character, and write about their daily routine. I selected Rory Gilmore, from the TV show Gilmore Girls, and chose an episode, tweaked a few things so I could use all the necessary verbs, made a poster, and presented in front of the entire class, which I will now perform an excerpt from. Rory Gilmore es un personaje de “Gilmore Girls.” Rory Gilmore es una chica muy bonita y intelegente. Tiene diecisiete anos. Rory Gilmore vive en Stars Hallow en Connecticut. Rory Gilmore es la hija de Lorelai Gilmore. Rory es alta, flaca, tiene ojos azules y pelo café y liso. Rory es simpatico, inteligente, y habla muy rapido. Rory es una estudiante de Chilton. Rory le gusta leer, escribir, escuchar musica, y comer muchos dulces. Me gusta Rory Gilmore porque Rory vive una vida muy Buena. Rory tiene un novio muy guapo. Rory vive con su madre, y su madre es su amiga favorita. Lorelai tiene treinta y tres anos. Rory es muy inteligente y vive en un pueblo muy interesante. Es persona unica. While I did rehearse, up until the last minute in fact, I stuttered over myself, forgot verbs and had to improvise. I did not feel like I did a good job presenting, and was extremely embarrassed after the fact. While I did do well on the project itself, I was not happy with myself for how I had done, and wished I had done better.
Spanish has its own flow, its own way of making poetry and literature. There is a song, Gracias a la Vida, meaning “thank you for the life”, performed by Violetta Parra, that we listened to and translated, though not word for word, in class. We were then given the assignment to fill out a sheet about different memories, feelings, and such and put that into Gracias a la Vida format, with 8 stanzas. I will now perform an excerpt of my poem for you
Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto
Me ha dado la lluvia que viene del cielo
El correteo de gotas en el tejado
El frio a traves del crystal
Miro mis peliculas favoritas con mis perros
Gracias a la vida que me ha dado tanto
Por las novelas de J.K. Rowling
Las historias capturaron mi corazon
Me dingieron a mi amor
Me inspiraron a escribir mis novelas
The two stanzas I read to you are about my love of the rain, when it patters against the roof, changes the feeling of the air, and J.K. Rowling, and author who has inspired me greatly. When I made my presentation to the class, while stumbling slightly over a word here and there, I was much more confident in myself and what I had written. Unlike before, when I was looking at the ground, the exit sign, or Maria for assurance, this time I stood tall and proud, making eye contact with all of the students. This has shown my growth in not only pronouncing the words and learning the different tenses better, but also in having more confidence in myself to get up in front of people and perform when it is not just acting, such as now.
Every story has a plot, with different points through the story that indicates when certain events happen. No matter what, there is always a plot, whether long, short, good, bad, a plot is always involved in a story. Whether it is planned out beforehand or developed mainly through the author in the progress of the story of itself, it is still a plot. Math is always there, it can give an explanation as to why x can equal to y, use equations to explain certain aspects of life, and why it mates sense. Both exist whether or not we do anything, but it is up to ourselves to discover what the plot is, what the reason is behind it all. Unlike for my other classes, both of my pieces of work for math are both from tenth grade year. This is mainly because I believe my growth in math can better be explained through two different projects that both occurred this year, rather than using one of the two projects from the previous year. There was a project from the previous year, called “Barbie Loves Bungee,” where we bungeed Barbie dolls, took measurements, and answered questions using the math we had learned at the time. While my group did the work, we gave all of our work to one member, which ended up with the work being lost one way or another. While I cannot speak for the other members of my team, I was not proactive in talking to Manfredo about this, though it eventually did become resolved by doing another project in its stead. My first piece of work from math is my quadratic equations project. This project came in three parts, one of which was; solve given quadratic equations in all methods: factoring, solving for the square, and using the quadratic formula: -b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus four ac over two a. With the work shown here, I solved the quadratic equation, 4x^2+12x-160=0. First, I divided both sides by four, simplifying the equation, then identifying 1 as a, 3 as b, and -40 as c. Then, by plugging these numbers into the quadratic formula, I solved to get -3 plus or minus 13 over 2, and then solved for both to find the answer x is equal to 5 and x is equal to -8. The rest of the work is plugging in both x’s into the original equation to see that my answers were correct. The work itself is good, though it was turned in late, and incomplete. This has been my biggest fault in the year of math, though for this class I have improved my tendency for turning work in on time.
Later in the math year, we had a conics project with 4 different parts: solving equations for y and finding the intercept as well as graphing them, solving word problems, taking a picture and graphing it with equations we create, and create a pod cast about parabolas, circles, ellipses and hyperbolas. This project was very interesting and a bit straining mentally at some points, but also very interesting to delve into, even if it meant constantly checking the textbook to double check I had everything right. Here is a picture of the popular character “Toad” from various Mario Bros. games. Next to him is Toad graphed, then Toad colored in, smiling and waving at all of you. Though it is not perfect, it is obviously the Mario Bro. character. Finally, here are all the equations that I had to create, based on my knowledge of the formulas for parabolas, circles, ellipses and hyperbolas that made this final image all come together. The general equation for a parabola pointing upwards is y=a(x-h)2 +k, and a negative sign is put in front of a to cause it to become a parabola going downwards. I will now demonstrate how to graph a parabola is y=a(x-h)^2+k. H represents the x coordinate of the vertex, and k represents the y coordinate of the vertex. I will be using the origin, which means both h an k will be zero. The main part left is a(x)^2, which will determine the slope of the graph. Using ½ as ‘a’ creates a parabola where the first coordinate with two whole numbers is (2,2). If you change ‘a’ to ¼ the graph becomes wider, and the first coordinate with whole numbers for x and y are (4,4). If you change ‘a’ to 1, the graph becomes slimmer, which it’s first coordinate with two whole numbers being (1,1). By changing h or k, you will change the placement of the vertex, but not the slope. This is only one of the equations out of several that had to be modified for Toad. Except for the first mini deadline, which I missed because of sickness, I turned everything in on time and did my best to make my work high quality, even if my handwriting was not always the neatest or easiest to read. This shows my growth as a learner because I not only turned in the entire project, but also turned it in on time.
Every novel has a flow, a way of moving through the characters loves and a time scheme that goes along with them, moving them between days, weeks, months, even years at some points. Without the correct flow, the story, no matter how good the idea is, it will seem choppy and become uninteresting to read. Performing Arts is a process, from learning the lines and blocking, to rehearsing and finally performing in front of others. Every person brings something different to their character, but if an actor does not suit the role, or if it is not rehearsed enough, the performance will suffer and the audience will not enjoy what they are seeing. Both Performing Arts and novels take time to come together, creating different scenes, characters, and other such elements. Performing Arts has to have been one of the most interesting classes I have taken here, mainly because we don’t sit at a desk and take notes, or practice our writing skills or equations, but stand up, move around, and act completely crazy. Acting is not only a way to express yourself, but also a way to find yourself through different characters. Whether it be a shy girl in love for the first time, or a burly hero come to rescue the fair maiden. Each character has something of their own, something each actor can bring something different to. In the previous year, we studied many aspects of performing, from musical theatre to modern adaptations of classics, though what I am focusing on from last year is the American Scenes project. In this, we had to take a scene, rehearse it, and perform it in front of the class. My partner for the scene was Zach Grant, while we were also direct by Nina Serbedzija. I played a girl in love and secretly engaged to someone my over protective father would never approve of, while Zach played my fiancée. It was a simple, romantic scene, but it was very enriching to play a character so madly in love that she would defy her parents’ wishes, when I had never felt such a feeling before. And now for a clip of that scene. Truthfully, it was difficult getting into the character, and while I did my best, I still had issues connecting with the character. Even with more time to rehearse, I do not think my skill level was quite at the point where I could have brought it any further, so even while I did my best for my skills then, it was not enough to satisfy me.
This year, our Humanities class and Performing Arts both focused on Shakespeare. We learned about iambic pentameter, different words of the time and sayings so that we could better understand Shakespeare’s words and portray them with the right emotions. I performed a scene from As You Like It as Phoebe, along side Ryan Saur and Tina Zanzinger Phoebe is a shepherdess trying to be rid of her follower, while falling for the man who is really a woman in disguise. The scene took a lot of practice, effort, and breathing afterwards, but I believe it was one of my best performances, and one of the funniest. This was a scene I put myself into whole heartedly, throwing myself into the character, taking all the suggestions that I was given and just going with it. I hope you enjoy this clip of it. It was one of the most exhilarating moments I have had on stage, where I just flowed with the character, and let myself be taken over by her. I am glad to have been able to play this part, and hope that I can grow even more as an actress, even if it is not my career of choice.
The Habit of Ethical Behavior has been my biggest stretch over the years, as obvious by work turned in late, or not turned in at all. This has affected all of my classes, and myself, negatively. What I can say has probably been going through my head at any of these points of times are one of two thoughts, “This is easy, I can do it later,” or, “This is too much, there is no way I can do this.” Both of these thoughts have lead to my downfall numerous times. It is very easy to put things off, and it is very easy to talk yourself down into not believing you can do the work, but what is not easy is getting over those voices in your head and just sitting down and actually doing the work itself. I have been battling with these two thoughts for years and, obviously, I have lost a great many times. I have tried different methods in the past, successful ones that I never kept up at because I never stuck with them long enough for them to stick with me. Though out of all the different methods that I have used, I have found one that work the best for me, and that I do on and off to help me get work done. This is a schedule, and I do not mean just a homework schedule, but a daily schedule that I can follow to help keep things in balance for me. The only issue I have had with this is when something changes that I have been unable to deal with it and just dropped it completely because of my inability to adapt to the changes of life. Another part that I have not done a great deal of and need to improve on is asking for help when I need it, instead of just keeping it to myself, because that fixes nothing. I am not sure why this has been a stretch for me, only knowing that I need to get over it by pushing myself past what my mind says, and ask for help regardless, even if it might get a bit annoying at times. I plan to pick up making a schedule next year, though be a little more flexible with the comings and goings of life.
Advisory is a place where we can start each day, connecting with students of different ages, classes, interests, personalities, people who are just plain different. While sometimes there can be tension between certain people, it is a place to be around other people in an environment that is not completely academic, though it does have its moments. In my first year in Joma’s advisory, I was always quiet, almost never sharing anything about myself during connections, sticking myself behind my computer and almost downright refusing to participate with certain advisory activities. This year, I believe that I have become more open and communicating more with my fellow advisies. Whenever I have something to share in connections, I tell my story, and I participate more willingly with advisory activities, stating my opinions and letting myself be heard. I do admit that I am still regularly stuck behind my computer, whether I am working, writing, or sometimes just blowing off steam, but now I am more willing to put the computer away and join in with a big smile and laugh. Another part of advisory that I have enjoyed this year is community involvement. This year, we went to the St. Joseph’s Center, everyone taking part in a different way to help under privileged people. I worked with two other classmates, Mathew Welch and Jonathan Danzer, at a place called The Pantry. At the Pantry, we would pack bags of food for people who would come in once a week. While we didn’t interact with these people most of the time, we did hear some interesting stories, as well as grow very fond of the woman in charge, Delphia. I also became closer with my classmates during community involvement, as we were constantly working on tasks that allowed us to talk and learn interesting facts about each other. Overall, I think I have grown so much as a person in and out of advisory, and made connections with people I had never talked to before.
Throughout these past two years, I have grown so much, learned so much, and made connections with many different people. While I still have so much to work on to help myself become a better person in learning, friendship, and other such things, I do believe that I am ready to move on to Senior Institute. Thank you all for coming. I would like to thank my teachers for helping me get through this year and giving me support, my friends who have been that ear to listen to my problems and make me laugh when I was down. And most of all, I would like to thank my parents, because despite all the trouble I have given them, all the yelling and arguing, they have still supported me and done their best to help me grow in what ways they could. And hopefully, this lass lived happily ever after for the next two years in Senior Institute. The End.
Ok, so this was a total of 60 notecards, 49 powerpoint slides, and 35 minutes of talking, then 20 minutes of answering questions. It was bitchin awesome afterwards, and I saw Up! with my parents and my best friend, and then just chilled afterwards. My summer has officially begun!!!!
uniFURsity Application
Joy
