Senioritis (FC)

Senior year has to be the most stressful year of high school. We are all excited about graduating, prom, going to college and it being our last year in high school that we forget there is still work to get done. And that is the moment in which Senioritis kicks in. Getting to school on time in the morning becomes more difficult. Giving work in late or skipping a few assigments becomes easier. The worst part is that you're not aware of how deep into your Senioritis you are until you see your next report card.

Even though it's hard to fight the temptation of Senioritis you shouldn't give into it, because you do NOT want to end up like me. It is April 25th and I'm sitting in my English class after school making up a blog from March 26th! Procrastination at it's finest. But I learned my lesson today. It's better to get things done the right way when they are first due than to wait last  minute. The problem wasn't even my time management, it was that I was being a lazy ass, but that is still no excuse.


Sincerely Yours,
Confessions of a Senioritis Rehab Patient

Your Reputation (FC)

Different people have different views. There will be times when you view your actions one way and other see them as something totally different. Or moments when you see people's actions as one thing and they describe their actions as meaning the total opposite. This misunderstanding can really tarnish an individual's reputation. This is why when I don't understand a person's actions or have a problem with them I pull that individual aside and tell them how I feel about their actions. I don't bring them up in discussions with other people and leave a bad taste of that individual in other people's mouths. By opening my mouth to other people about that person I would be tarnishing their reputation and giving others a negative impression of that individual. Sometimes it is unnecessary to have an intervention with someone, and much simpler, respectful and effective to try having a one on one with them first.

10 Things I Hate About You (CRR)

Let me start off with saying I did not think "The Taming of the Shrew" would be a good read. But lately I have not been able to put it down and I can really relate to the main character, Katharina. After you get past the Shakespearan dialogue and focus on the big picture it is a great story.

"10 Things I Hate About You" is a movie that was adapted from the play. Two teenage sisters, Kat and Bianca, live with their father. Bianca wants to go to prom but the deal is that her sister must also go for her to be able to attend. Therefore, Patrick is hired to take Kat to prom so that Bianca is also able to go. In the end Kat and Patrick find out they have genuine feelings for one another and start a relationship.

What I liked the most about the movie was that it was able to maintain the core essence of the book. It was so simple to see the shrew in Kat and Bianca's need to be socially acceptable. They were also able to capture the struggle to be the alpha in the relationship between Kat and Patrick that we read about in the book between Kat and Pet.

My favorite part of the movie was at the end when Kat read her poem out loud in front of class. I could feel her frustration from being in love with someone who had betrayed her trust. I could feel her pain from being in love with someone that had played with her emotions. Watching that scene also made me curious to find out how Kat and Petruchio would fall in love? Like at what moment would he tame her into showing the love she truly had for him. In the end I enjoyed the movie and it portrayed the play very well.

Convict Leasing (ID)

Currently in my U.S Economics class we are learning about Convict Leasing. Convict Leasing was a system of penal labor practiced in the southern states of the USA. Black prisoners were leased to employers for low pay or sometimes to work as a way to pay off a debt without receiving any pay. The practice of this system first started when slaves were first emancipated at the end of the Civil War in 1865 and did not end until 1928.

The way in which the government imprisoned so many blacks during that era was through the Pig Laws. Pig Laws were a system of minor petty laws that could land any black in jail. An example were the Vagrant Laws. If a black was found homeless or just roaming the streets with no destination he could be charged and sentenced to prison. Once in prison they could be leased to perform all types of labors at corporations and plantations.

The entire point of the Convict Leasing System was to regain power of the black labor force. After slaves were emancipated the southern economy crumbled. It was the black labor force that had been bringing in the real money to the southern states. Southern whites realized that they needed blacks for their economy to prosper and their response to that was the Convict Leasing System.