Jade Lombardo, 10/16/2020, PD8, Day C

Jade Lombardo
Modern Mythology
10/16/2020
PD8

At this current point in time, what specific goal(s) do you have for yourself? Why?

Currently, my goals are to finish my many college essays while also keeping up with schoolwork. Like many people, I am struggling with writing and editing my common application essay. I feel like my words aren’t flowing that much, and that what I’m trying to convey isn't coming out the way I want it to. The application deadline of November 1st is also in two weeks, making me even more stressed to try and finish it on time. I’m also aiming to do well on schoolwork, which takes up a lot of time even though I’m doing remote learning. I feel that learning remotely isn't as great as it would be if I was in school, so my goal is to keep up with the homework and lessons and to not fall behind.

How do you demonstrate resilience towards achieving this goal? (or these goals?)

I demonstrate resilience towards this task by trying to work on college applications at least once a day. This helps me split up my work efficiently and not get overwhelmed if I do a lot of it in one day. I also ask for outside opinions on whether or not my essay makes sense and if it is conveying what I’m trying to convey. I demonstrate resilience towards keeping up with schoolwork by watching extra videos of people explaining topics to me. This is especially the case for AP physics and AP calculus, because I usually don't get the concepts the first time the teacher explains it. By doing this extra work, I usually start to understand the lesson better, and it also helps me complete the homework.

How does the world around you affect your perception of this goal? (or these goals?)


The world around me affects my perception of these goals as normal. Many of my friends are also applying early decision or action to schools, and are trying to edit their essays on time. This makes me feel less alone in my own struggle, knowing that almost everyone in my grade is going through the same thing as me. My parents are also encouraging me to finish the essay before the deadline of November first, which encourages me to keep going. I also know that many people are struggling with online school, and that they aren’t learning as much as they could be if it was in person. I understand this struggle, and it also makes me feel less alone.

Celina Lin, PD 8, 10/16/20, Day C

Celina Lin
Modern Mythology
Ms. Fusaro
10/16/2020

At this current point in time, what specific goal(s) do you have for yourself? Why?

A specific goal that I have for myself currently is being able to maintain a balanced lifestyle between school workload and work. Because being a senior this year means having to apply to colleges and spending time on college applications. I want to be able to maintain a good grade for each class and definitely take every single thing seriously because I feel like by committing more time and effort into doing each assignment would just be better for the sake of myself. I know that sometimes I would go the shortcut to achieve something but sometimes that might not be the best choice. Especially when approaching school assignments, I think that I have shifted my mindset in how to do them. Sometimes, things aren’t as easy as you expect. I feel like back when I was younger, the easier the assignments, the happier I was. That was because I didn’t have to utilize my brain at all, I could go the easy way and easily get a 100. But entering high school, I wasn’t satisfied with this method at all. I thought to myself instead of going the easy way, why not try and work my brain harder. I want to be able to understand each aspect of the lesson the teacher is teaching or if I didn’t understand something or got a question wrong, I needed to get an explanation for it. I thought that if I approach things that way, I would see improvement. I was tired of doing things without putting in all my effort, so I decided to change and try and improve on the areas I am lacking. Also, I personally think that balancing school workload and work is not an easy thing but I think that if I manage my time appropriately, I would be able to handle it. A lot of the time I would feel overwhelmed with the school workload because I wouldn’t have any time to work school assignments on the weekends. In order to work on achieving my current goal, I have to utilize time management and be able to handle the workload coming from both school and work.

How do you demonstrate resilience towards achieving this goal? (or these goals?)

I think I’ve been trying to give myself a break whenever I can because incorporating school work and work itself together is a lot more tougher than I expected. A lot of the time, I have negative thoughts floating in my head because I would always concern myself with “Did I not work hard enough?” or “What have I done wrong?” I am constantly worried about the areas that I am lacking in because I would want to improve on those areas. Resilience to me is being able to refrain from having such negative thoughts and approach things in a more positive way. After all, there are just too many things in life for us to appreciate and be grateful for. I want to push the negative thoughts out of my mind and be able to generate motivation for myself to do things voluntarily. I want to be able to do things at my own decision and my own pace instead of being forced by others. I think through that way, I would be able to improve as a person.

How does the world around you affect your perception of this goal? (or these goals?)

After being in quarantine for a few months, I realized that I can actually accomplish a lot of things. I got motivated by seeing how other people utilized quarantine and looked at it from a positive viewpoint. I thought quarantine would be dreadful because that meant I couldn’t be with friends or go outside as frequent. But, seeing videos online of how people were properly utilizing the fact that they had more time at home, I wanted to do the same for myself as well. I started taking online lessons and I became more active as well. I also thought to myself that if people can make huge progress during the few months of quarantine, why can’t I also do the same and utilize my own time and do something productive. So, I am pretty grateful for quarantine because it gave me time to reflect on what areas I need to work on and allowed me to consider what exactly I want to pursue in the future

Svetlana Doronkina, PD 5, 10/01/20, Day B

Svetlana Doronkina 

Modern Mythology 2021

10/01/20

Period 5

At this current point in time, what specific goal(s) do you have for yourself? Why?

    At this current point in time, my goal is to survive the senior year with my mind intact. COVID-19 and remote learning have completely uprooted the traditional setting and way of learning I’m accustomed to - everyone is doing their absolute best to make the adjustment, but it’s simply not the same. College applications and supplementals are difficult to balance with the workload of classes - making my end goal doing well in both categories and retaining my sanity. 

How do you demonstrate resilience towards achieving this goal? (or these goals?)

    I demonstrate resilience towards achieving these goals because, despite the challenges I’ve met along the way, I haven’t given up. Balancing work, school, and social life has been incredibly difficult but working on time management has truly helped me persevere. I’ve learned that keeping a calendar of all perspective due dates are beyond useful and plan to use more organizational tactics to keep this and all possible objectives flowing smoothly.  

How does the world around you affect your perception of this goal? (or these goals?)

    The world around me has been frankly, a mess - it’s shown me nothing but despair and darkness as of late. It’s disheartening to watch all these stories of brutality and discrimination being told, knowing this pain extends to an endless number of people. It’s made me realize that my problems aren’t as large as they feel and that there are more important things going on; people deal with much more pressing issues every day - if they can do that, I can make it through the college application process.

Sarah Hanglow, PD2, 10/8/20, Day A

 Sarah Hanglow

10/8/20

Period 2

Modern Mythology 2021

Write about your thoughts regarding the most current reading.

In the most recent reading I learned all about the first Greek gods, there were multiple things that I thought were noteworthy. The first, and most interesting to me, was that the Greeks believed that the world was not created by the gods. They believed that the earth and the heavens created the titans and then came the gods. This is interesting to me since it is so different from most other cultures' creation stories. Another thing that I thought was intriguing was that a lot of the gods were perceived in completely different ways depending on the story. For example Aphrodite was most times portrayed as being the goddess of beauty, but in some later stories she is seen as being malicious. Finally, I thought that it was interesting that they also used the gods to explain the seasons. Demeter’s daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped by Hades and the land was barren since she was heartbroken. Then Zeus intervened and they agreed that Persephone would spend ⅔ of the year with Demter and ⅓ with Hades. For the portion of the year that she was with Hades, Demeter would be so sad the land would become cold (winter), but when she returned Demeter would be happy and the land would be blooming with new things (spring).

Reflect on any new information you have learned in English class by considering how that learning influences your critical perception.

A new piece of information that I learned in English class was that Chaos originally meant nothing. “First there was Chaos, the vast immeasurable abyss, ​Outrageous as a sea, dark, wasteful, wild.” ~John Milton. This was a quote that we read in the beginning of class before we knew that Chaos had meant nothing. This has greatly affected my critical perception, since it makes me think about how sometimes the most “chaotic” thing is nothingness. A thought that I never before had before learning this. Additionally, it shows that over time words or phrases can be misinterpreted and take on a new meaning. Similar to the game of telephone that we played as children, where a message would become unrecognizably scrambled when it got to the last person. This is a theme that is common throughout all different kinds of literature. The meaning of any given story can change based on who is reading it, and if they relay their thoughts to another idea it continues to spread.

How is what you’re learning applied to any other classes/the world around you?

Something that I learned in this reading that applies to the world around me is the different perceptions of gods between the Romans and the Greeks. This is something that is prevalent in the world, varying viewpoints on different topics, and people. One example is Ares, the god of war. The Greeks see him as invincible whereas the Romans see him as being whiny. Something we learn in History class is that in his farewell address George Washington warned the American people about the creation of political parties. He felt that the division would be something that would cause a great divide between the people, which is what has happened today. All in all, perception is something that shapes the way we see the world around us, and understand those who have differing opinions.

Raquel Jimenez, Pd 8, 10/13/20, Day C

Raquel Jimenez

Modern Mythology

Ms. Fusaro

10/13/2020

What are your thoughts and feelings about issues of inequity, oppression, and/or power?

     I believe how people feel about issues of inequity, oppression, and power are mostly influenced by personal experiences. I was raised in Sunset Park, a predominately Latino neighborhood, yet growing up not knowing a whole lot of Spanish. I understand some Spanish and speak even less of it. My parents were born and raised in Brooklyn with my father’s parents coming from Ecuador and my mom’s parents coming from Puerto Rico. I believe that we deserve to be here as much as the next guy. So this is why I find it astonishing, when one of the few times I do speak Spanish with my parents, I am told to go back to Mexico where I belong. This may not seem like a big deal to people, but I do feel this is someone trying to show how our differences from them make us inferior. Having this kind of experience has probably led me to believe that there shouldn’t be a debate on who gets natural born rights.

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 reflect on my beliefs by trying to see the other side, by trying to put myself in someone else’s shoes. I may talk to someone who happens to think differently than I do, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t change who they are to me as a whole. I don’t feel having disagreements about certain issues should ruin your relationship with people. I try to keep “debates” I have with them separate from our lives outside of that. I try not to take people’s stances personally because if you do, you might not find yourself having anyone. To live in this world, you really have to be empathetic and understanding. Like I said earlier, everyone has different experiences and ways they were raised. It is better to be exposed to various ways of thinking than to be stuck in your own bubble with what you think is right. At the end of the day, we are all people and should be treated as such. 

Leonardo Gonzalez, PD2, 10/8/20, Day A

Leonardo Gonzalez
Modern Mythology 2021
10/8/2020
Period 2

At this current point in time, what specific goal(s) do you have for yourself? Why?

I feel like at this point in time one of my goals is to manage my time between all of the assignments for school and college. Another goal I have is that I want to keep my grades up which means I would have to spend more time studying for each of my classes. I need to start working on supplemental essays as well as making sure that I’m finishing my school work on time. I want to create a schedule that can allow me to spread out all of these assignments so that I don’t overwork myself.

How do you demonstrate resilience towards achieving this goal? (or these goals?)

I feel like nowadays I’m not procrastinating as much because of the amount of work I’m receiving. I usually try to do everything last minute so that I have time before to relax and destress, but I feel like this isn’t the best way to do it. I’m currently trying to spread out the work throughout a couple of days. In order to do this, I’m trying to fix my sleep schedule so that I can get more work done earlier in the day so that I can relax later. I feel like this is better than cramming everything into one day.

How does the world around you affect your perception of this goal? (or these goals?)

Since the start of the Pandemic, I have noticed that I have a lot more time to myself, but I have just been spending it doing nothing. I feel like during a time like this I should be more productive. I should be working hard on all of the required supplements for my colleges, but I feel like I lack the motivation to actually get the work done. When school started again, I had a lot more work to do which stressed me out. But this also forced me to be more productive so that I can keep my grades high. In the end, it helped me realize that I need to manage my time better so that I don’t stress out as much as before.

Susanna Kasparov, 10/13/2020, PD 8, Day C

Susanna Kasparov
Modern Mythology
10/13/20
Period 8

At this current point in time, what specific goal(s) do you have for yourself? Why

Being someone who enjoys many things in life, I have many goals about what I want to achieve. My main goal for my future though, is to become one of the top surgeons in the country and become a neurosurgeon or work in psychology. At this current point in time, like any other senior in high school, my goals are to finish my college applications and be able to get into not only my top schools but into my top accelerated medical programs within those schools. Ever since I was in middle school, I always knew I wanted to go into medicine. I have had a set-out plan for years, getting ready for my future. Everything that I have done my whole life, was to prepare for my career. I also have a goal promising myself that I would travel the world and see the beauty of nature. Going into the medical field I understand the time commitments I will make, but I never want to forget the love I have for exploring new places.


How do you demonstrate resilience towards achieving this goal? (or these goals?)

I demonstrate resilience towards achieving these goals by spending hours of dedicating my time to studying and researching what I need to do in order to succeed in the medical world. I began my goal by studying for hours for the SAT, leading me to reach a score I am proud of. Now, with deadlines nearing and college being right around the corner, I am putting most of my focus into shaping my college applications to reflect my personality and who I truly am. I began my applications in May in order to get a head start on the process and tried to do as much as I could to relieve my stress for when school started. In college, I am prepared to study hard for my MCAT and receiving my degrees. Hopefully by th end of medical school, I’ll obtain a job in a hospital or even open my own clinic. Once I begin working in the medical field and having a solid, stable income, as unrealistic as it sounds, I wish to finally achieve my goal of traveling and knowing that I have the freedom to see the wonders of the world.


How does the world around you affect your perception of this goal? (or these goals?)

Growing up in an immigrant household where my parents came from extreme tragedies, I have been taught my parents that it is imperative that I work hard now in order to have my preparation pay off in the future. Since my family is the most important thing in my life, I know that reaching this goal means not only a better life for myself but for my family who would finally have the opportunity to live out the lives they have missed out on because of their hardships. I want to give my future children the most opportunities I possibly could, as my parents did for me. My parents have taught me about the importance of pushing myself towards this goal, and have taught me what it means to work hard and push myself past my limit. With the coronavirus, the world around me has changed in the last 8 months, and my perception of this goal has also drastically changed. Now that the time for applying to colleges has arrived and I am swamped with deadlines for not only colleges but schoolwork, my goal has become to make it one week at a time. I have been looking at the future for years, but I realized that it’s also important to slow down and enjoy what you have now. Especially with the unknowns we are facing due to the state of the world, I have learned that I should take life one step at a time since our lives can change drastically from one day to the next.