Paul Li
Pd 7
11/1/2022
Atomic Habits and Growth
Throughout school life, the importance of attending a university has been constantly
advertised, in order to secure a higher paying job. The fears of living by myself for the first time
is daunting but the experiences one obtains from attending college seemed necessary for me to
transition into an adult life. Therefore, my specific goals would be tailored towards preparing
myself for life at university. To apply to colleges, stay on top of my classes, and a personal goal
to improve my health.
The college applications process proved to be a time consuming process. Every week, I
would have to set aside some time in order to write essays. Having a high score on my SATs is
another factor in the college application process. As a result, I would have to set time during the
weekends to practice. Keeping ahead of the due dates for universities meant the importance of
having an organized schedule to keep yourself constantly updated. Overall, the application
process has forced me to develop more time management skills.
“Today, tomorrow, and next week” is a saying that my boss had during my summer
internship. The motto was meant to remind oneself of what their goals are for today, and in the
future. It was his way to make sure that tasks stayed organized and to take a proactive approach. During my senior year I wanted to apply that to my school life so as to avoid catching slacking off and to stay ahead of my classes. Exploring alternative resources, doing assigned work as soon as possible, and taking time to study for exams, all of which helped me become more proactive and procrastinate less often. Occasionally, there would be road bumps, such as during exam weeks I would be behind in my schoolwork, but now occur less frequently, now that I am making sure my assignments don’t pile up.
It was due to my habits of procrastination and not keeping track with my work, that I
would often pull all-nighters submitting school work throughout my high school years. My
habits would continue if it wasn’t for my college apps forcing me to apply enough willpower to
properly set times to be productive during this time. As a result of this, I had a personal goal to
fix my sleeping schedule that was previously nonexistent before my senior year. I would set a
specific time to sleep usually at 10 to 11pm getting a full 8-9 hours of sleep. This has allowed me
to pay more attention during class.
I often assess myself not necessarily by completing a checklist of tasks to determine
success but by trends over a long period of time. I would assess whether there is progress at all
on my college application, or my school work throughout each week in order to make sure I stay
on the right track. If I were to not make progress or the task is too ambitious, then I would
reevaluate whether it is realistic to keep going at such a pace and adjust my expectations
accordingly. From personal experience, everytime I fail the checklist, it would be too
demoviating for me to continue to work towards my goals. By assessing myself through trends, it
would give me more room to adjust my goals.
Monday, October 31, 2022
Paul Li, Period 7, 11/1/2022
Sunday, October 23, 2022
Circe: A Study of Power, Family, and Mortality
** My thoughts are very disconnected and jump from one topic to the other, so this is my apology beforehand: sorry!
Circe was a novel I’d gone into expecting witchcraft, bloodshed, and cruelty, and while it did deliver in some aspects, it wasn’t in the way one would think. Circe is best known for her ruthless transformation of Odysseus’ men into pigs, but in this book, she is given a proper coming-of-age story.
Circe’s family are cruel and callous, and she, with her mortal voice, is the black sheep and thus bears the brunt of their cruelty. Circe’s arc begins her journey to free herself from her family, and ends with the creation of her own. To get there, though, she had to first break the cycle of her family's cruelty while acknowledging that she had participated in it herself. Circe’s renunciation of immortality and murder of Scylla, a monster she had created in a fit of jealousy, is her final act in separating herself from her blood. She goes on to live with Telemachus, who similarly denounces the cruelty of his father, Odysseus, and breaks the cycle in his family.
Circe’s empathy is displayed in the very beginning through her interaction with Prometheus, whose fascination with mortals sets the stage for Circe’s own curiosity. She brings him nectar after he is beaten for giving fire to mortals, and inquires about what they are like. This empathy and curiosity sets her apart from the other gods, whose power and immortality have stripped them of these qualities. They rarely feel pain and do not scar, a recurring detail throughout the novel. Circe is fascinated by mortals and their scars because scars tell stories; they’re visual proof that someone has experienced the world. Gods, on the other hand, remain perfectly unscarred, blank slates with no record that they’ve truly lived. Mortal fragility makes them more appreciative of the things around them, while gods only look to serve themselves. The novel, instead of showcasing Circe’s godhood and immortality, paints it as a curse.
In our lessons, we discuss women in Greek Mythology. They are rarely the center of their own story, and oftentimes act as an object for men to use. When they do, they are suppressed by men in power. The women in Circe are prime examples of this. Circe is neglected her entire life because she, like all nymphs, are seen as lesser–even on par with mortals. When Circe reveals her witchcraft, she is quickly sent to Aiaia by the gods, who fear her power. Similarly, her sister, who also possesses witchcraft, is married off and expected to be kept in check by her husband. Women in power are feared and thus subdued, and women who aren’t are neglected. The fact of the matter is, women in mythology can never win.
Now, for my opinions:
It’s been a while since I first read the book, but I remember finding the middle a little slow. Madeline Miller has incredible prose, but in this novel and The Song of Achilles I found myself getting bored at some points–her language is beautiful, but sometimes I wish we’d just get on with it. Obviously there’s not much you can do when your protagonist is exiled to an island, so I don’t fault Madeline Miller too much for this. But, I do wish she would’ve dove into the feminist themes more, considering how much the label “feminist” was used in the books marketing. I feel the handmaids on her island, other women exiled by gods, were underused and it would’ve been cool to see them play a larger role. Most of Circe’s positive relationships in the novel are with men. I wish Miller had showcased Circe’s relationship with the women in her life, and explored her dynamic with her sister, Penelope, and Scylla instead.
I also wish Madeline Miller had showcased more of Circe’s magic instead of her gathering the herbs for her spells–more moments like the infamous pig scene where Circe really lets loose. (But maybe she did, and I just can’t remember it. If that’s the case, oops.)
Overall, I’m still conflicted on how I feel about the book, even a year after reading it. Circe’s development was beautiful, but it feels like Miller has only scratched the surface of other compelling topics. She has lyrical writing and interesting themes, but is that enough?
Mitchell Pozovskiy, Period 6, 10/24/22
Atomic Habits & Growth
At this current point in time, what specific standards have you set for yourself?
How and why did you come to craft these standards?
How do you demonstrate resilience towards achieving these standards?
How do you assess yourself? What adjustments do you make? How often?
In the final year of my high school career, it is incredibly important that I stay on top of my work and not catch a case of “senioritis”. With schoolwork and college applications, as well as applying to scholarships and being forced to think about what I want to do with the rest of my life, it is very easy to fall behind on necessary assignments, especially after getting so used to the more relaxed form of remote learning in the first two years of high school. As a result, I have made it so that I can work on both college applications and schoolwork at least a little bit everyday, so that I may continue to be organized and productive. Of course, taking 4 AP classes (more than I’ve ever taken in a year) along with this college level English class has made balancing school, college applications, and extracurriculars very difficult. Still, at the end of each week I find that I have far more accomplished than I did the week before, which shows that I am meeting my standards of organization and productivity.
Juhyoung Lee, Period 7, 10/25/22
Juhyoung Lee
Modern Mythology 2023
Atomic Habits & Growth
At this current point in time, what specific standards have you set for yourself? How and why did you come to craft these standards?
I like to set high standards that I know I probably won’t reach. When I set my standards my goal is to just get closer and by setting higher standards I would be urged to improve at a faster pace. More specific standards I set are on colleges, sports, and academic achievements. Since it's college application season and I want to get into a good school, I added a lot of reach schools to my college list. Following this is my writing standards. I know that my writing can use a lot of work and I want to improve since I’ll be needing this skill past college applications anyways. Another standard I set for myself is to be proficient at public speaking. I consider public speaking to encompass anything from formal presentations to talking to a group of people. Basically, I want to improve my people skills. I’m also on a sports team and I don't want to fall behind the team. So at games, my standard is to never lose a single match. I also know this is very implausible but I feel that I need to set these standards so I never get complacent. If I seem to be on a trend where I can reach my goal without trouble, I subconsciously slow my pace. By slowing my pace I will not reach as far. This leads to my second reason for setting high standards: I don't want to look back and regret that I didn’t try my best. My biggest regret so far is not studying as hard for the SATs and I don’t want to repeat it.
How do you demonstrate resilience toward achieving these standards?
One way I’m demonstrating resilience is by going to every practice and game that I can. This way I’m always improving and not plateauing. I can further demonstrate resilience toward achieving these standards by constantly engaging in conversations outside of my comfort zone or writing instead of getting sidetracked. I often end up opening youtube during homework and college essays, and that really slows down my progress. In the future, I want to be more self-restraining in the future and learn control.
How do you assess yourself? What adjustments do you make? How often?
I can check how close I am getting to reaching my standards by checking the milestones that I set for myself. If I’m really behind on my standard/goal, I lower them. On the other hand, when I see that I’m hitting my milestones faster than I expected, I raise my standard/goal accordingly. However, this rarely occurs because I had already set what I think is high as my standard and my definition of high is equivalent to I probably won't be able to achieve this. One of my goals right now is to finish my common app by this week. It's probably unrealistic but it’ll help me to work on it more often
Saturday, October 22, 2022
Gavin Rualo, Period 2, 10/25/22
Literacy & Learning
Write about your thoughts regarding any of the fiction or nonfiction covered in class.
Reflect on any new information you have learned in English class by considering how that learning influences your critical perception.
How is what you’re learning applied to any other classes/the world around you?
The theme of balance that permeates every story we’ve read in Greek mythology so far has redefined how I approach analyses by teaching me that there can be a central theme that spans across multiple stories, even if the stories themselves are unrelated. While it is common to see shared themes among different pieces of literature, I was impressed by how easily a reader can connect the characters of the myths to the theme of balance. Specifically, my favorite story to analyze thus far was the Greek story of creation. The idea of the nothingness of Kaos creating its own antithesis, that being substance, is symbolic to me because it shows that the start of the universe was based on the idea that tempers even the most powerful forces up to the very end of the mythos. Overall, I feel that the familiarity of many figures of Greek mythology due to media popularity makes these stories palatable enough for me to understand where and how central themes apply.
I’ve been able to apply the mindset of everything having a point that it returns to in daily life by connecting the causes and effects of my daily actions. While not particularly the same as the notion of balance among forces, the idea that something catalyzes and controls events in my life has helped me in thinking ahead. For example, it’s easy to discern that making a conscious choice to skip lunch will leave you hungry just a few hours or even minutes later, but I have an easier time understanding that a good night’s rest will help me feel alert, but more importantly, that continuing to abide by that rule can bring positive changes in my life. The opposite view can be taken as well, as while I’ve used the theme of balance and everything affecting each other to mean that all of my actions have consequences, one may interpret it as the world itself shifts events to happen as they deserve to. In that way, reasoning and comfort can be found even when all events seem to be going awry.
Friday, October 21, 2022
Lena Singh, Period 6, 10/27/22
Lena Singh, Period 6, 10/27/22
Modern Mythology 2023
Literacy & Learning
Write about your thoughts regarding any of the fiction or nonfiction covered in class.
On 10/13/23, our class talked about Eve and Pandora. We talked about women being the root of all evil. In the process of reading about the two women, I found out more about Hera's personality and her story.
Now I claimed to know a lot about Greek mythology, but when I read about Hera, I realized I was wrong. I knew very little about Greek mythology. I knew about Zeus and Hades and Poseidon and Aphrodite, but I didn’t actually know their origins or what their character was like. If Hera wished to keep her husband loyal and went out of her way to make sure he was, she was ruthless and a desperate woman to have stayed with him. He had countless affairs and no one talked about that!
When I read the story of how Eve was tricked into taking the fruit of sex from a serpent in the heavely garden and giving it to Adam as well, which led to her ruining the life of future people - I was immediately irritated. Firstly, I’d heard from boys in their side conversations in middle school, that Eve is where they get their Adam’s apple. And I was surprised as well as curious to dive into this new piece of information. However, I also questioned why they all used Eve in a bad context. I wasn’t curious enough to find out. Now I’ve read the story of Eve and Adam and I still harbor some confusion. If Eve was as foolish as she is characterized as, maybe Adam should have had the sense to not take a bite as well. Why was he so easily tempted? Additionally, I found that the scientific reason for an Adam's apple was that: “Everyone's larynx grows during puberty, but a girl's larynx doesn't grow as much as a boy's does. That's why boys have Adam's apples.” I understand these are Greek Myths and I also understand that they might not be intended to be realistic. Nevertheless, myths are also intended to have some sort of realistic characteristics - not all parts of them are fiction. People clearly haven’t understood that and have taken it as an excuse to taunt and criticize women nowadays. I did think the story was innovative in its concept, but yet again the woman became the one to blame in the end. Because men have come first and because men write such stories and histories.
I read about Pandora when I was in 7th grade. Then I was thinking about how creative and enlightening such a story was. How I would like to write something like this that explained one of the world’s creations or happenings. Now I read it again and raised my eyebrows in annoyance as well as surprise. When Zeus made a new creature of temptation, it was a woman, who is blamed for the curiosity that all humans have. Though she was given a box that Zeus knew she would open and when she did, every evil was released into the world, but hope was not. Is Pandora appreciated for that? When explaining why heaven is not accessible to us, we blame Eve. When explaining why sorrow and evil exists, we blame Pandora. For everything that we cannot see and do, we turn to the woman. To release our frustrations, we try to make the woman our easy target. And yet, women are the one ones that stand on pedestals with their welcoming smiles and freedom in their hands. Is that because if those freedoms are taken away, you will point a finger at women? Is that because a woman seems more inviting than a man? I do not believe we put a woman on a pedestal with good intentions.
Women cannot do anything right without being criticized. You call a mother or a housewife - lazy, manipulative, and imcompetent. Though when she goes out into the workforce, she is suddenly too innocent, too dumb, and inattentative to her family. When she wears revealing clothes, she should not wonder why men catcall her. She should put a blindfold on her eyes, a tape across her mouth, and put cotton inside her ears. That is when she will be a true woman.
Needless to say, reading these two stories, I realized women are the scapegoat, the fool, and the innocent in every old and traditional story. However, if you call them evil, you shall call them powerful too. If Eve could simply tempt Adam into taking the apple and Hera could make every woman who had an affair with Zeus suffer, they could have done so much more. Evil doesn’t always have to be a bad characterization when you know how to wield it. Especially in such a cruel and changing world, evil is always necessary to counter evil. As one can tell, I’m a big believer in fighting fire with fire. And women need that fire most.
Reflect on any new information you have learned in English class by considering how that learning influences your critical perception.
One thing that stood out about our discussion as a class, was the talk of how patriarchy also paints a woman in just as bad a manner. I never thought about how there was never a question of who the real mother was, but always if the father was the biological one. It never occurred to me that questioning the father was a reflection on the mother; that she was unfaithful. Actually, in some sense I might’ve found shows that featured “who's the father” entertaining or sensical. It didn’t occur to me that this was another act disguised as the act of bashing women. This led me to understand the relationships that the children had with their mothers versus their fathers. Cronus was prophesied to be killed by Zeus, Zeus by his child, and so the cycle continues. Yet Rhea saved her son, Zeus, to which he avenged her and his siblings. And similar are the stories of other mothers like Gaea. It is where women are there to be gentle and nourishing, letting the fathers and sons handle the business of leading the world.
It is so similar to Hindu Mythology now that I look at it. The three Gods, Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu, that run the world are all men. When God is only supposed to be a spirit. And the female Gods are still revered, but are more elegant and represent significant yet not as significant as the “manly” things. For example, Mother Durga, who appears scary as well as gentle. She is the Goddess of war as well as peace, destruction as well as motherhood. Now it seems that they could not let a Goddess simply represent destruction. They had to make her two sided so she represented femininity well.
How is what you’re learning applied to any other classes/the world around you?
The idea that the world builds about women from creation stories like this, is enough for me to look at everyone and everything differently. Creation stories meaning, how women came to be and what they did in the beginning of the world. If man was supposed to be superior, someone had to be blamed for all the sinners and evil that exists. Women then became the fools that tempt men into becoming fools too. It affects women because it makes them talk less, less confident, and doubt if they are meaningful enough to exist without being judged. Mythology is also where religions sprout from. And if you see some religions like Christianity, it seems that salvation is only a man’s right. Is that because of what Eve did? Is Eve the evil and Adam the good? With these kinds of understandings, you are not only able to learn, but you are able to share and teach that knowledge.
If we look deeper into myths on such women, perhaps a different perspective can show that women were made or influenced to do what they did by or because of a higher being, rather because of their own gender.
Thursday, October 20, 2022
Ema Qoku, Period 6, 10/ 25/2022
Ema Qoku, Period 6, 10/ 25/2022
At this point in time, I have many high standards set for myself. College is rapidly approaching, and with this big upcoming change I need to make sure I remain aligned with my goals. My main standards deal with organization, patience, and hard work. Organization is key, especially at this point in my life, because I’m balancing schoolwork, extracurricular activities, a baking business, and college applications. I achieve this standard by laying out my schedule for the week and completing things as the day goes on. The next standard is patience, because with organization comes time management. I’ve learned time and time again that patience is indeed a virtue, and balance is definitely key. When things tend to go wrong, I take a step back and assess the situation. By being patient, I arrive at a solution quicker, relieving stress and improving the situation at hand. Last but certainly not least is the standard of hard work. Being determined to achieve my goals, as well as being a very competitive person, hard work has always come easy to me. I refuse to not put my full effort into anything I do, and if it isn’t perfect, it isn’t right. These three standards I’ve set for myself work hand in hand, and make me a better person each and every day.
I’ve created these standards for myself because I strive to achieve greatness. Greatness for me is being able to look back on life and being proud of what I’ve accomplished. I wish to one day be able to teach my kids what I’ve learned and to be their biggest role model, and that all starts with these standards. Imagine how accomplished I’ll feel once I’ve graduated college, have a great job in the field of medicine, and these silly high school worries are only memories. Being blessed with amazing parents who give nothing but their all for my siblings and I has been the biggest motivator, because like everyone else, I wish to make my parents proud. They’ve been the best form of inspiration, always reassuring me that I am destined for greatness. I wish to be that same role model for not only my future kids, but for my siblings as well. Being the oldest sibling comes with its own special challenges, but the biggest one has to be the feeling of needing to be that sister that my siblings can always look up to. I hope that since I’m going through life first out of the three of us, I get to teach them the lessons I’m learning.
I constantly demonstrate resilience towards achieving these standards, as no matter what challenge may arise, I’m able to come out as a better person. I’m constantly learning and changing, and the biggest key to resilience is accepting the fact that change is not a bad thing. I used to be so afraid of change, like when I cried when I was 10 because I was moving, but I only moved a few blocks away. Now I embrace change because it always leads to a lesson learned.
I assess my standards very often, as those big three aren’t the only keys to life. With each challenge comes a new alteration to a standard, or another standard added. As I grow older, however, I find that it is okay to not meet my standards all the time. Everyone deserves a break now and then, and no one is perfect. As long as I gear back to my goals and reevaluate what exactly said goals are, everything will work out greatly. Realizing that it is okay to make mistakes has been the biggest challenge, but I work on that every day. While I will always have high standards, I must constantly remind myself that there is not anything I can’t achieve. All I need to do is be patient, stay organized, and work hard.
Anton Ginzburg, Mythology Pd7, 10/20/22
Atomic Habits & Growth
At this current point in time, what specific standards have you set for yourself?
How and why did you come to craft these standards?
How do you demonstrate resilience towards achieving these standards?
How do you assess yourself? What adjustments do you make? How often?
Last year I made the conscious decision to take 4 of the most demanding AP courses our school has to offer thinking that it would be something I could handle in addition to working on college applications. Now, actually being in these courses, I have come to the conclusion that this year will be challenging from an academic standpoint. Due to the large amount of coursework, I am being assigned and college applications being right around the corner I have been under a lot of stress. I have very high standards for myself, those being that I do extremely well in all my classes as well as make the time to go to the gym a minimum of three times a week. Due to all these tasks being very time-consuming I have basically stopped spending time playing video games and doing things of the sort. I hope to also learn a lot about critical thinking and see the deeper meaning behind everything I read. I assess myself by tracking my progress weekly and seeing what I have done and how much I have left. If I notice that I am falling behind I buckle down and commit more time and energy to the area I am struggling with.
Mariella Reynoso, Period 2, 10/20/22
Literacy & Learning
- Write about your thoughts regarding any of the fiction or nonfiction covered in class.
- Reflect on any new information you have learned in English class by considering how that learning influences your critical perception.
- How is what you’re learning applied to any other classes/the world around you?
Through Greek mythology, our class has explored big existential questions from how the universe was created to whether death is evil. We’ve picked apart these texts to understand the morals they were meant to convey and how the society they were written in felt about women. The idea that culture dictates how people see the world and each other is not new to me, but this unit has taught me that culture’s impact is more far-reaching than I thought.
The most memorable part of the flower myth lesson for me was that the myth of Hyacinthus originated in human sacrifice. For both the Greeks and the Incas, a belief that human sacrifice was necessary for the wellbeing of the world made this practice morally justifiable. From reading the article about the Inca child mummies, I learned that being chosen to be sacrificed was even considered an honor. This perspective on human life and death is unimaginable to most people today, and it made me think about the power of culture in shaping our morality and views on mortality.
I was raised as a Catholic and became an atheist when I was fourteen, and this change in my culture caused a profound shift in the way I see the world. When I was younger, I believed that there were fundamental rights and wrongs, and when it came to the gray areas and unknowns in life, I would get to find out the truth after I died. I believed that guilt was an objective sign that I was doing something wrong. But as I’ve grown older I’ve learned that guilt is shaped by what you are taught, and you can feel guilty for things you learned are wrong even after you realize they aren’t. Similarly, I assume a person might not feel guilty for doing something wrong that they’ve learned is right. I think about the evils of history—slavery, colonization, war—and wonder: To what extent does culture shape our hearts? How much of our morality is taught and how much is natural to us?
Culture also shapes the way we feel about death. My family members who are devout Christians are unafraid of death because of their faith that something good comes after. To me, death is a scary unknown and as a result, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it. But our class discussion about the relationship between beauty and sorrow shifted my perspective once again. Pain has a purpose. We can’t know beauty without ugliness, or happiness without sorrow. In psychology, I learned that it is dangerous to have an impaired sense of pain because pain is the signal that there is something going wrong in our bodies. A flower’s beauty is meaningful to us because of its impermanence. We appreciate the time when flowers bloom because we know they will be gone by the winter. I have never read the Iliad, but there is one quote from it I’ve seen many times: “The gods envy us. They envy us because we are mortal, because any moment may be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we are doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are now. We will never be here again.” In other words, knowing our lives will end makes our time alive more meaningful and beautiful.
But moving past my own changes in perspective, the most important lesson I’ve learned about the power of culture is this: by changing the culture, you can change the world. We’ve discussed how people of the past oppressed women by making them believe—through stories—that they deserved it. Now we’ve learned that the Greeks completely changed their minds about human sacrifice once they realized their belief that human blood nourished the earth was false. This lesson gives me hope that through the stories my generation decides to tell or leave behind, we can impact the changes we want to see in the world.
Tuesday, October 18, 2022
Nicholas Paronich, Period 2, 10/19/22
- At this current point in time, what specific standards have you set for yourself?
- How and why did you come to craft these standards?
- How do you demonstrate resilience towards achieving these standards?
- How do you assess yourself? What adjustments do you make? How often?
Michelle Kordov, Period 7, 10/19/22
Recently, I have been experiencing the ups and downs of being a senior in highschool and being a teenager in general. In fact, I have been pondering who I am as a person, what I want to do, and why I am here. When I think about specific standards that I have for myself, I sometimes fall down a rabbit hole of existential questions. On the surface level though, I can say that I feel as if I constantly hold myself to a high standard. That’s how it's always been. Academics have been a focal point in my life ever since I started going to school, and my grades always reflected that dedication. I don’t allow myself to slack too much and get bad grades or test scores. It may not only be because that’s what is now expected of me, but because my grades are one of the only things that I think define me. I am considered “smart''.” I go to a “smart” school, my parents call me smart, my friends think I am smart, and I have to live up to that standard. Don’t get me wrong, I am truly proud of my academic achievements, and I am always keen on obtaining more knowledge and learning about the world around me. But perhaps this academic standard of mine could be linked to deeper insecurities. If I don’t have my knowledge, then what do I have?
Truly, I believe that an educated society is the best society. Educated people move their communities forward towards progress. But if I zoom into the smaller picture, my life and the lives of those around me, I see people who constantly feel as if they aren’t enough. Something I think is funny is that no matter how much I don’t want to do an assignment, and I procrastinate as much as I can, it always gets done. I have that sliver of self discipline that allows me to stay on top of things. I appreciate that, but I still think that one day this will backfire.
I also think of myself as an honest person and as an advocate for justice. As I have been immersed in the world around me, divisive politics, current events, etc, I realized that I am very passionate about fairness. One of my personal standards is actually being fair, and I judge people when they lack that sense of justice. I think it is necessary for humanity. For some reason, I am deeply hurt by bad things happening to good people, as if I can feel a part of their pain, so I don’t understand those who don’t care about helping others or worse, those who inflict the pain. When it comes to demonstrating resilience towards these standards, I research the topics I care about and obtain facts. I am always ready to stand up for myself and others, and I don’t think I will ever willingly submit to ideas that I myself don’t believe in. If more people were honest, the world would be a better place.
As a teenager, I think I have been changing a lot these past few years. Especially with the intensity of social media presence. We are exposed to so much nowadays that I think it's impossible to stay the same. I assess myself when I notice I’m feeling down. If I am experiencing more negative thoughts than usual, I take a step back and try to analyze the roots of the problem. Usually I notice that my pessimistic states are related to my lack of self care, confidence, and passion. Pretty generic concepts, but very difficult to actually work on, especially at this age. But maybe it will always be hard. To uplift myself I might sleep a bit more, watch something new on Netflix, or journal.
Currently, my standards include being an honest person, with myself and others. Educating myself on the world around me, and showcasing kindness to others. Everyone always needs at least one person to be there for them; no one can go through life’s turbulences alone. I emphasize education and I am set on going to a great university and truly finding myself there. Being 17 years old, I know that I shouldn’t push myself too hard. Everything will be okay, and I think that one’s happiness comes not from your achievements, but from acceptance of the world around you.
Monday, October 17, 2022
Edison Pan, Period 2, 10/18/22
Edison Pan, Period 2, 10/18/22
Modern Mythology 2023
Socio-political Consciousness
What are your thoughts and feelings about issues of inequity, oppression, and/or power?
How do you reflect critically on your own beliefs, assumptions, values, and experiences, and how these can influence your perception of self and others?
In my opinion, inequality in society is mostly motivated neither racial nor gender. Instead, I believe that it occurs through a concept that has been there since near the beginning of human history. The concept of wealth itself is the root of all oppression. Looking back at the past, the reason why slavery was so widespread in America was not because there was widespread hatred towards the color black. No That would be unreasonable. No, instead slavery became popular because it was profitable. It is in human nature to desire. To fill your desires you need wealth.You can desire for material objects or desire conceptual things such as power. However to achieve these things, you require a certain amount of wealth. In fact,near the beginning of the United States, our founding fathers created the ⅗ fifths law where slaves counted as ⅗ of a man , just to satisfy the desires of the slaveowners.
Even disregarding racial oppression, wealth is a major factor in other types of discrimination as well. In many nations ,hundreds of years ago, women lacked many fundamental rights they have today. One of those rights was the power to control their finances. Instead all the power went to their husbands instead. To keep their strong hold over wealth, men set up a culture that heavily emphasized on a patriarchal society. This culture dug deep within society and became a major obstacle that had to be overcome by the future generations.
Even though nowadays racial and gender discrimination are no longer as it was in the past, there is another form of discrimination that people tend to ignore. This concept of discrimination of wealth has been in effect for so long that it now seems so normalized compared to other types of inequality, but it is in fact just as bad as the other two forms of discrimination and has been set in place since the beginning of human history. Unlike the other two forms of discrimination that targets characteristics, this form of society is based off on a concept rather than something physical. Someone who is seen as more wealthy than another receives better treatment and often heavily influences the actions of others and throughout history this remained unchanged and probably will continue to stay that way.
Personally, thinking about this led me to realize just hard it is to get rid of discrimination as a whole. Discrimination and oppresion is deeply ingrained in human nature and because of that it is extremely hard to get rid off and will always be a part of society in some way or another. As a human, I realized that I am also affected by all this and I started to think that maybe I am not so different from those that oppressed others in the past after all. Like many others, I too have preconceived notions of others based on various factors such as wealth. But maybe, just maybe if I just ignored all those factors and throw away all my preconceived notions, I will finally be able to truly see and judge people for who they are on the inside.
Modern Mythology 2023, Eugene Jiang PD7 10/18/22
Socio-political Consciousness
Whenever people think of inequity I feel like they often think of issues of racial or gender inequality because that’s what we’re often taught about in history lessons, but there’s a normalized form of inequity that I don’t think many people really take notice of. The concept of “gifted and talented” sets up a divide between children in a very early stage of their life. I feel like the words “gifted” and “talented” have no meaning without comparison,you cannot be “gifted” unless there are others who are not. By telling a child that they’re gifted, you are telling them that they are special, that they are better, which, from what I have learned in history, is how the basis of inequity forms. With racism it’s white people saying that they are naturally superior to non-whites, with sexism it was the belief that women were naturally inferior to men and now with academics where some children are naturally superior to other children. The strangest thing is that this belief is ingrained in our school systems. I remember that back in elementary and middle school, there were classes that were labeled as “gifted and talented” classes, reserved for those that scored exceptionally well academically. On the other side of the spectrum were the “zoned” classes that were for people who got into the school through the proximity of where they lived in relation to said school. The classification of these classes created a spectrum where the “gifted and talented” classes,obviously, were the smart kids, the zoned classes were the dumb kids, and then there was all the other classes in between the two. It paints a very black and white image that very much parallels past situations with the stratification of white men-colored men, male-not male, gifted-not-gifted, and to further draw the connection, gifted classes usually have more opportunities open to them than their counterparts. These opportunities often come in the form of higher level courses, better teachers, more favorable treatment from teachers, and access to additional resources. I would know from my experience with middle school where I was in what was considered the smartest class in the school and it was widely known that most teachers liked our class the most. On top of that, gifted and talented classes in our school were the only ones who can take algebra I, living environment, language classes, and their corresponding regents. Naturally, this gives us an unfair advantage because that means we open up more opportunities for classes in high school. I’ve also heard plenty of talk from other friends about how the teachers in their school don’t even teach and all I could say was, “Really? I’ve never had that happen.” The whole system just seems to favor the select few on the top while forsaking those below. The forsaken are never given a chance to climb up because nobody believed them capable. Forgive me if the analogy is too exaggerated, but I kind of see it as a white man saying that the black man is stupid then limiting their education and when the black man ends up being uneducated, the white man exclaims “see? I told you so.”
I’m assuming that the concept of gifted and talented classes came from the idea that it would benefit these gifted students if they were put into an environment along with other like-minded individuals in order to challenge them, spark growth and have them realize their full potential. And I don’t disagree with that, challenge and competition certainly does encourage self-improvement, but there are things that I feel weren’t considered. In telling someone that they are special, you set a lot of pressure and expectation onto them and they will feel forced to meet those expectations in order to not disappoint those around them especially when considering that this concept is exposed to people at a young age when they’re most impressionable. The expectations create a self-sustaining loop where if the gifted child meets/exceeds the standard, which they often will early on because primary education is meant to be simple, their self-esteem will increase through the praise that they receive along with the ever rising expectations. With each academic milestone, others will expect greater and greater things and the more the expectations grow, the more the gifted person will feel like they cannot afford to fail and ironically enough, it sets them up for failure. It simply isn’t realistic to expect to excel in everything, but that’s what the talented seek because they’re “special”, because they’re “gifted” and eventually when life comes to hit them in the face, they have all the more to fall. The saying goes that failure is the best teacher and when you have a bunch of kids who’ve avoided it all their life, they crumble the moment they fail. There’s greater shame in failing if you’re gifted because it then brings doubt to whether or not you were gifted in the first place. You either bloom under the pressure or fizzle out and fade into the shadows forgotten. So if we’re talking about inequity, I feel like the gifted and talented system is also unfair for its intended demographic. Most of these gifted students don’t choose to go down this path, they walk down it because that’s what they’re expected or told to do and once you walk far enough, there’s no return. If you’ve been treated as special your whole life, how do you go back to normal should you fail? If the gifted and talented system is unfair to people who aren’t “gifted” because it gives unfair opportunities to those who are, but the system is also unfair to the gifted in terms of the weight of expectations then what does that make the system?
As someone who grew up as a “gifted and talented” kid, I’m probably pretty biased on my take. I’ve only seen things from my own perspective and made assumptions based on my own experiences. For all I know, maybe people who weren’t in gifted and talented programs did get much of the same privileges that I did. Maybe the teachers that just didn’t teach in those other schools were a one off occurrence. Maybe my opinion on the mounting expectations for gifted and talented students are just that, my opinions, formed from what I’ve been through and I’m generalizing it to everyone else when it doesn’t necessarily apply to everyone. People might think it’s fair for gifted students to have higher expectations and I’m just hating on it because I have a personal bias. I wouldn’t know for certain, after all, I’m me and no one else. I cannot see from the point of view of someone who has lived a different experience because I haven’t lived that.
Sam Ng, Period 2, 10/17/22
Period 2
10/17/22
Modern Mythology 2023
Atomic Habits & Growth
At this current point in time, what specific standards have you set for yourself?
At this current point in time, I have set two main standards for myself. I want to improve self discipline and get to know more people. Self discipline is a broad term, but above all, self discipline means holding myself accountable and doing what is right, not what I want. To me, it means working on homework when I get home instead of watching YouTube. It means going for a run instead of loafing in bed. It means eating fruits and vegetables instead of junk food. It means sleeping early instead of depriving myself of sleep. It means working on myself even if I don’t feel like it at times. On to the second standard, getting to know more people means getting outside of my comfort zone. I want to try new things and meet new people but the major obstacle is mustering the courage to approach someone. I find that senior year is more threatening than freshman year even though I interacted with my classmates for 3 years now. It all boils down to fear: the fear of change, the fear of inferiority, the fear of embarrassment, etc. It seems that whenever I want to make a new friend, I tell myself that the person wouldn’t want to know me as a friend. That stops me from taking initiative, which in turn stops friendships from blossoming.
How and why did you come to craft these standards?
Looking back at my high school career, I came to the conclusion that I had the most self discipline during freshman year. I would finish my homework early and sleep at 9 PM. I used to get 9 hours of sleep consistently. Ever since the pandemic, my sleep schedule has deteriorated. Fast forward to today, I sleep past 12 every night. This has led to me getting, on average, 6 hours of sleep or less. I really want to change that this year. I have made a conscious effort to start doing homework early but because the workload is considerably larger than my workload from freshman year, it has been a challenge to make drastic changes. During the summer, I started working out, but ever since school started, I found myself slacking on exercise. I would tell myself that I’m tired and I should rest but I know that it’s not true. Deep down, I know that exercising will make me more energetic in the long run. With regards to socializing more, throughout the years, I realized that while friendships provide immense happiness and support, they are not permanent. Someone who you may think is a lifelong friend can slip away without you noticing until it’s too late. Throughout high school, I have made multiple friends but more often than not, we grew distant over time. I know it isn’t anyone’s fault. People get busy and one thing leads to another. However, with this knowledge in mind, I’d like to try making new friends and make a conscious effort to sustain the friendships. I don’t want a repeat of my past friendships.
How do you demonstrate resilience towards achieving these standards?
Recently, I began going to the library after school. I found this to be helpful for working on school assignments because when I’m in a place of study, I feel more inclined to study. I also began to walk more. I read in an article that walking is a good way to destress and get exercise. I try to walk at least 10,000 steps a day. I’ve achieved this goal by purposely walking more whether that be by walking longer to a bus stop or waking up early to run with a close friend. I found that running in the morning in the company of someone who I value deeply makes the goal a lot more achievable. Moving on to socializing, I’m trying to get to know friends of friends. I found that this strategy is pretty effective because I already have common ground with the person I’m trying to converse with. I try to provide my opinions on topics when I hear people discussing them. I make an effort to introduce myself to people I normally don’t talk with.
How do you assess yourself? What adjustments do you make? How often?
I believe that I am making progress to achieve my goals. While there are days in which I regress, I think that, overall, I have become a better person than I was before. Making adjustments with self discipline is easy to say, hard to do. I can easily tell myself to do some push-ups in the morning, but there are times when I wake up and can barely get myself out of bed. Adjustments, in my opinion, have to be small but meaningful. Something as simple as watching one less YouTube video or running an extra 5 minutes can make all the difference in my path to being better. I typically reflect once a week and try to implement changes throughout the next week. With socializing, my progress is much slower; I find that I have introduced myself to more people but I still have difficulty retaining friendships. I still fall into the habit of not reaching out and taking initiative. Moving forward, I’d like to focus on routinely interacting with people and not making it a one-time meet.
Sunday, October 16, 2022
Evelyn Jiang, Period 7, 10/17/2022
Evelyn Jiang
10/17
Period 7
Modern Mythology 2023
As we moved through the Greek Mythology unit, the story of Pandora’s box stood out to me.
Specifically, why did Zeus trust Pandora with the jar? How come she’s portrayed as not being
able to withstand temptation, although Epimethus similarly couldn’t withstand Pandora, who
was a gift from Zeus? The most obvious answer would be, “The writers were misogynistic.” As
we discussed in class, women were often the scapegoats. They were made an example out of to
teach lessons through these stories. This didn’t come as a surprise to me, but after class /
discussion, I pondered how stories that painted women in a negative light affects today, during a
time period where feminism is much more prevalent. Additionally, how relevant is it to use tales
such as Adam and Eve to justify beliefs that are against other issues?
Through a feminist lense, it is easy to draw the conclusion that the story clearly shows that the
author believes that women are weak, emotional, and more susceptable to temption. But after
class, after learning more about the history of the patriarchy, there is a greater dimension to the
topic: why this even exists in the first place. We learned about how men wanted to ensure that
their heirs were 100% theirs, and it became a matter of possession and a source of pride for
them. Now, how does this affect today’s issues? On the news, we regularly see conservatives
supporting anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-feminist campaigns, and they sometimes reference the Bible.
I’ve heard of the “It’s Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve” argument, but how relevant is this
considering the story mainly talked about temptation and not sexuality? Additionally, Eve was
shamed for giving in, so why is now twisted to make her look better? Could Pandora’s box be
twisted to support similar agendas? It could totally support an anti-feminist cause, but could it
be twisted to also evidence the anti-LGBTQ agenda? I believe that while old tales should be read
and can provide a basis for certain morals, it should not be impressed upon by others, and
certainly find no place in laws. My critical perception of mythology changed to also incorporate
how stories affect today, and how they can be altered to support a cause.
Learning this can be applied to both movements throughout history and other mythology works.
For instance, how come it took so long to make any progress with women’s rights? Is it because
most lawmakers firmly believed in works that were against women? Yes, there is separation of
church and state explicitly stated in the Constitution, but we see even today politicians
referencing religious texts. Of course, everyone will read some sort of old text from thousands of
years ago, highlighting a sexist sentiment, but they shouldn’t be taken literally. I believe
mythology should be a window to what people at the time believed in, and not necessarily
something we should reference just because it’s been around for a long time. That would
stagnate any progress made in social issues, and would ultimately be detrimental to groups who
were portrayed in a negative light in the past.
Thursday, October 13, 2022
Daniel Liu, Period 6, 10/14/2022
Socio-political Consciousness
What are your thoughts and feelings about issues of inequity, oppression, and/or power?
The American Dream. The ideals of democracy, liberty, equality, and the opportunity for all to be successful are almost synonymous with the United States. Millions of immigrants from faraway lands leave behind everything to risk it all for a shot at this dream. But the harsh reality is that the American Dream is almost impossible for most people in America.
The entire basis of this dream is that no matter where you come from, no matter your circumstances, you can achieve success by working hard. However, in the 21st century, this is just simply not true. The average price of a house just 50 years ago in 1970 was $27,000 (around $200,000 adjusted for inflation). In 2022, the average price is $525,000, a staggering 162.5% increase. A study conducted by Visual Capitalist shows that the average individual born in 1980 has only a 45% chance to outearn their parents, compared to 93% for an individual born in 1940.
Not only does the average American have a harder time buying a house today, but the process of even entering the workforce and receiving higher education is biased against minorities and people with low incomes. The college application process favors the wealthy. The scores standardized tests used to measure aptitude are positively correlated with family income.
Most first generation immigrants are also not as familiar with English grammar, which constitutes a large portion of those standardized tests.
Wealthy kids are able to access tutoring resources, and it’s much easier to do well in school when you don’t have to worry about where your next meal is coming from. Poorer kids often have both parents working full time, with little money for tutoring, and might even have to seek employment themselves. Wealthy kids have parents who attended elite universities, who donate to those universities and have legacy status. Legacy students are an astonishing 45% more likely to get into a highly selective college or university than a non-legacy.
Wealthy families have connections to or work for established companies and hospitals. They are able to help their children find higher paying employment fresh out of an elite university.
In contrast, a low or middle class family can barely afford to send their children to university (after taking out student loans), let alone help them find a job.
I once believed in the American Dream, but after learning all of those facts, I realized that the American Dream is more of an American Race. In this American Race, at the starting line, the rich and powerful get a 5 second head start, and in front of the poor, there are several hurdles they have to jump over.
It’s still possible to win the race even with all those disadvantages and hurdles to overcome, but it will be significantly harder for someone like me to win.
My parents are from China. They aren’t fluent in English, or wealthy enough to send me to tutoring. They don’t have connections to big businesses and never attended university. But they left behind their entire lives in China to risk it all for a better future in the United States.
So although I don’t view the American Dream through rose colored glasses, I’ll still work hard to be successful. Despite the inequity of the system, I believe I can find a way to achieve the idyllic life many take for granted.
I hope that in the future, the American Dream can someday be true for all Americans.
But first, as a society and as a country, we have to strive to ensure everyone has the opportunity to pursue happiness.
How do you reflect critically on your own beliefs, assumptions, values, and experiences, and how these can influence your perception of self and others?
I have a tendency to believe that I’m always making the right decisions, and that anything that goes wrong or any mistake I make is never entirely my fault. Sometimes in an argument with a friend, I only consider my own beliefs and perspective, and fail to understand or empathize with their point of view. It’s only after I calm down and give it some thought that I realize their opinions hold some validity as well. It can be difficult to accept that a disagreement in opinions is not a personal attack on you. I myself fall victim to this, as it feels like my pride is damaged whenever somebody says I’m wrong. I started to realize that being wrong is not always a negative thing, but a part of learning. I argued with someone recently about whether or not pickles were good.
My strong belief that pickles were disgusting and shouldn’t be eaten was drowning out their reasoning and argument, and I refused to respect or understand their opinion. I presented them with a list of reasons on why pickles are disgusting in an attempt to change their mind.
By automatically dismissing their opinion on pickles, and defensively trying to prove myself right, I failed to understand them. I think this shows that we should all try to put our own personal pride aside when having a disagreement with someone, and try to understand their perspective, rather than instantly shutting them down and living in an echo chamber. This applies not only to pickles, but to any opinion in life.
Sources: “Average Sales Price of Houses Sold for the United States.” FRED, 26 July 2022, https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/ASPUS.
Lu, Marcus. “The Decline of Upward Mobility in One Chart.” Visual Capitalist, 25 Jan. 2021, https://www.visualcapitalist.com/the-decline-of-upward-mobility-in-one-chart/.
Kelly Huang, Period 7, 10/14/22
Kelly Huang
Period 7
10/14/22
Modern Mythology 2023
Literacy & learning
As I’ve read through the story of Daedalus and his son, Icarus, there were many connections I can make with what happened to Icarus. In the story, Daedalus and Icarus were imprisoned by King Minos in an inescapable labyrinth, but the father and son duo ultimately found a way to escape, owing to Daedalus’ ingenuity. Daedalus had warned his son about flying at a low altitude to not melt the wings made of feathers and wax by the heat from the sun. However, the foolish young Icarus, who let the new sense of the power of flying get into his head, disregarded his father’s warnings and flew too close to the sun which inevitably melted his wings. The new power he felt washed away along with the wax and feathers. The notion of the young being the fool and the elderly being the wise ones is not new. In this case, Icarus is the fool and Daedalus the wise. Many young people are ignorant of what life entails and choose to ignore the words of the elderlies, who have already experienced the harsh reality first-hand. I remember a time when I was young and first learned how to ride a bicycle, I felt a surge of adrenaline overwhelming me. Despite my mother telling me to slow down because I could get hurt with the speed I’m going, my feeble mind thought I could go as fast as I wish to and no one could stop me. That was until I ran into a pole and badly scraped my knee and elbow. The young me was reckless and impulsive. Had I listened to my mother I wouldn’t have gotten hurt.
The painting called “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” depicts the ongoing life and nature around, all while Icarus is drowning at the corner of the painting. Just because unfortunate events happen in your life, it does not apply to those around you. People would still have their daily jobs to perform, necessities to do in order to put food on the table, and many more things that need to be done. One tragedy does not stop the flow of life. Life goes on and people continue to move forward instead of dwelling on what’s already irreversible.
What I’ve learned in this lesson with Daedalus and Icarus applies to our circumstances during the Covid pandemic. Many tragedies were happening at once. Lives were lost, either through the pandemic itself, natural disasters or by humans themselves. It’s saddening that this is happening to so many people, but we are aware that it's not something that can stop us from performing our everyday tasks. For example, students wake up early to go to school everyday and come home to do homework, while the parents go to work and earn a living. The loss of other human beings doesn’t stop us from continuing our lives.
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