William Olsen, Period 7, 11/5/2021

 Modern Mythology 2022

William Olsen, Period 7, 11/5/21

Goal Setting and Growth

At the moment I have really one goal: to complete and submit my college applications. Leading up to this school year I was more relaxed about the college application process and starting the next chapter of my life. I just didn’t think it was that big of a deal, you fill out the applications, send them to the colleges and you get accepted or denied. However recently I have had the realization of how big of a deal it actually is. It’s been overwhelming to make decisions on where I want to apply and how I want to present myself. Recently I have begun to work more intensely because the end is in sight. I know that the feeling of submitting that last application will be like a two-ton weight lifted off my shoulders. The decisions won’t be over but the hard part will be done with. 

It has definitely been a challenge to balance college applications with the other aspects of my life, including schoolwork, friends, and tennis as well as time to relax and get my mind off things. Finding a balance between all of them has been a struggle to find, but I believe that I have reached that balance and have learned how to maximize my time.

Society definitely has an emphasis on the importance of going to college. There is also a competition among students for who gets into more prestigious schools. Students also put more pressure on each other than society at times. I understand the importance of college, but I often disagree with the views about college, especially undergraduate. In the end, your degree does not define you or how successful you can be and I keep this idea in my head as I submit my applications.

Ryan Sliger, Period 8, 11/8/21

 Ryan Sliger

Period 8

11/8/21

Goal Setting & Growth:

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

One specific goal that I have put in place for myself is to manage my time better.  The best way I have found to do this is by creating my own deadline for when things are due, prior to when they are actually due.  I found this method to be extremely helpful especially during college apps.  Knowing that the early action deadline was November 1st I made it a point to finish my common app essay by October 1st giving myself more than enough time for supplemental.  My next goal was to finish those supplementals by October 15th so I would have the rest of October to submit everything.

I realized that by setting an arbitrary deadline in my head I was significantly more inclined to do the work early and not leave everything for the last minute.  I found this deadline to be extremely helpful and it is the easiest way to finish all of my projects on time.  This is why I have started implementing this deadline into my everyday life.  Overall I believe that if I can find a way to manage my time even better I will be able to join even more extracurricular activities.

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

One major way that I show resilience is by not switching tasks.  When I am working on my college information and then reach a point in which I am satisfied with them I switch.  I don't just decide to switch to playing video games just because one of my friends wants me to.  I will finish the supplemental essay, or other assignment that I am working on, and until that one task is done I wont do anything else.  I find this to be a very good way to work towards my goal of better time management because I will get distracted less easily.

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

The world around me shows how little time management skills my generation has.  During the week before the November 1st Early action due date many people were stressed because they did not finish all of their college stuff.  If they had properly managed their time they would be a lot less stressed and would not have to ask for alternate test dates or extensions for work.  This is why I believe that my time management skills are above average but I still need to improve them, as I finished my college applications later than I wanted to. Watching everyone’s stress has given me a new drive to finish my second set of college applications even sooner than the first set.

Alan Shnir, Period 1, 11/4/21

The forbidden fruit. What does it mean? What is the forbidden

fruit? Is it sex, is it water, is lust, or is it just an Apple? Is it

me, is it you, is it Dr. Seuss? What if I told you that the forbidden

fruit is none of these at all. In fact, it’s a drug, a magic mushroom.

Is it a coincidence that when our primordial ancestors ate the

forbidden fruit that it came from a “Tree of Knowledge''? Or how

eating this fruit made them awaken to the real world, how it made them

see the world for how it truly was? Or how this forbidden fruit grew

upon a tree, much as how mushrooms do?

       Are all of these similarities to psychedelics just a

coincidence? Or maybe it’s an allegory? Maybe Adam and Eve is

history’s greatest allegory for a drug trip. We may never know the

true answer, but it is interesting to ponder this thought and to see

if this story lines up with the facts.

       The cognitive revolution (an idea pioneered by Yuval Noah

Harari) was the first of man’s three main revolutions (the other’s

being the agricultural and scientific revolutions), and is dated back

to have occurred 30,000-70,000 years ago. In this Time period, we see

humans start to use language, wear clothing, and create their own

cultural traditions such as specific burial patterns. Even though

earlier paintings exist, this is the time period from which we also

find the vast majority of human cave paintings. Human usage of tools

assembled from more than one piece, such as bow and arrows and modern

spears, can also be traced back to this period. This was the point at

which some scientists believe modern cognition may have evolved, and

humans may have started first being aware of themselves.

What does this have anything to do with psychedelics? The onset of

this psychological revolution is believed to have also coincided with

some of the first recorded usages of psychedelics in human history.

Human remains from 13000 years ago containing remnants of psychedelic

plants have been found in the Philippines, suggesting that we started

using these substances before the advent of farming.

Looking at the forbidden fruit in class as representing sexual desire

pushed me to keep finding a potential other meaning. This pushed me to

think, and explore, and even challenge myself when thinking about

basic human history. What if the forbidden fruit really was a

modern-day forbidden fruit. From history’s most famous origin story,

we can see countless different interpretations, whether it is a story

on humans realizing sex, or a story on realizing the neurological

effects of psychedelics. So maybe next time you think of Adam and Eve,

maybe think of an alternative interpretation, for you never know what

rabbit hole it will lead you down.

 

Gary Shteyman, Period 8, 11/5/21

 Gary Shteyman

Period 8

11/5/21

Modern Mythology 2022

Last week, I went to see the show Hadestown. I went with my mother, who at this point is used to my long lectures on mythology. In the car, she asked me what the story of Hadestown was about. I, being both a theater nerd and a mythology nerd, spent the entire car ride explaining the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, the inspiration for Hadestown. This is a tale I’ve come to love, due to the sheer amount of romance, tragedy, and supernaturality in the story. The perfect storm of these qualities creates a beautiful story, and that appreciation was intensified once I started playing a musical instrument. So, having done the preliminary lecture and now sitting comfortably in the theater, I thought I knew everything that was about to happen, and was just there for some good tunes to go along. Little did I know, Hadestown perfectly encapsulates how myths evolve over time to match the societies telling them.

    Despite knowing the story behind the play, I didn’t actually know what the play was about. That is why I was so shocked when the opening number of the musical was an upbeat expositional piece that took heavy inspiration from 20s era jazz. The entire play is a retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice tale, but set in 1920s America. It is explained in the expositional song that the world is full of climate change, drastic weather conditions, and corrupt humanity. Orpheus is a barkeep, who is characterized by his innocence to the world around him. He sees the good in people, and wants to write songs that would help the world recover. Eurydice is a girl on the run, who is the exact opposite of Orpheus; she is jaded and nihilistic, and her main goal in life is to survive. The gods also prominently feature in this story, specifically Hades, Persephone, and Hermes. Hades is the stereotypical oil baron; he is greedy and obsessed with making his town, Hadestown, the city of progress. The show takes a lot of inspiration from Hades’ later characterization as the God of Wealth, as multiple verses throughout the musical allude to his immense wealth. Persephone is more in line with modern versions of her story. She is not satisfied as Queen of Hadestown, and while she used to love Hades, she has grown to resent him for forcing her back to Hadestown every six months. Interestingly, Persephone turns to alcohol to cope with her failing marriage and discontent with life. The showriters used her initial story as the Goddess of Spring, and morphed it into a Goddess of bountiful harvest and the vine. This lends itself well to the Prohibition-era aesthetic the show is going for, as that period is widely known as one of drunken revelry in the face of societal suppression.

    With all the characters established, and Hermes portrayed as our lovable narrator for the tale, the story began. The actual plot of the show does not stray too far away from the original premise, while at the same time incorporating modern tropes that strengthen the love story. Orpheus and Eurydice fall for each other almost immediately, with the bond being represented by a red flower Orpheus gives to Eurydice. I interpreted this as Orpheus giving Eurydice her innocence back through love, keeping with both modern tropes and flower myths we discussed in class. As times get tough and the world gets worse, Eurydice dies and Orpheus sets out to bring her back. This is where the main divergence happens from the original myth. You see, as Orpheus and Eurydice fall in love, Hades and Persephone fall out of love, and it is rapid. Hades makes the claim that all the technology and money in Hadestown is all out of love for Persephone, and Persephone becomes more and more jaded with him. When their argument concludes, Hades threatens to find someone else who would appreciate his “affections”,  and then proceeds to look towards Eurydice. He comes to Eurydice and invites her to join him in Hadestown. He argues that he would be able to provide Eurydice with more comfort and better living conditions than Orpheus ever could. She takes him up on his offer, and she goes to Hadestown to work for him. Orpheus, distraught, comes to rescue her, only to find out that every citizen in Hadestown has sold their soul to Hades, and are now nothing but mindless workers. Orpheus then proceeds to galvanize the workers and Eurydice in the fight against Hades. Eventually, Hades is convinced, and sends Orpheus off with the classic caveat that he cannot look back at Eurydice or else she returns to Hades. At this point, I was prepared for a happy ending, but then the show decides that Orpheus does fail, and Eurydice is sent back. And that is where my hopes for this blog post were dashed.

I know that Orpheus fails in the original story. I was aware that Hadestown was most likely going to end the same way. But I was still very confused when they actually went through with it. I view Hadestown as the best example of a modern Orpheus and Eurydice story. The initial romance morphs into a greater narrative of small workers versus big corporations. The lowly Orpheus, naive and with a song in his heart, convinces the evil capitalist Hades to let his workers free, and Hades obliges. Orpheus succeeding seemed necessary for this narrative. To tell a world full of seemingly sociopathic billionaires and restless unions that the billionaires win would not satisfy a 21st century audience. This was the thought going through my head when Orpheus failed, and I did not understand how the showriters were going to console the audience. But then, as I desperately tried to think of how I would conclude this blog, Hermes came on stage and sang a reprise of the opening song. In the song, he tells the audience that the story they just watched was, in fact, very sad. But it is precisely because of that sadness that the story was told. This frames the entire play in an entirely new way. Sometimes, most of the time, greedy billionaires win, and the little guy loses. But the fact that one little guy, with nothing but love and his talent, almost won, should be a point of hope for the rest of us. We should not give up because Orpheus failed, but rather, succeed where he couldn’t. This message fits perfectly in the 20th-21st century context of the story, and makes for a chillingly beautiful message.

Sonia Lyakhovich, Period 1, 11/4/21

 Goal Setting & Growth

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

Right now I have a few goals for myself. In the beginning of this year I decided that I wanted to spend this year working on self-reflection and expanding my knowledge. My goal was to start reading the news more often and to get a better understanding of politics, as in a year I will turn 18 and I will be voting and making important decisions. In addition, I wanted to work on my spiritual health. I started to read the Tanah whenever I have time, not only for religious purposes, but because people often reference the Old Testament and I wanted to have a better understanding of it. Finally, my goal is to better understand the prejudice that I come into this society with. I have caught myself many times judging people for their life choices and for who they are. My goal is to better understand why I do that, and try to unlearn this.

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

In order to achieve my first goal, I have been listening to the news in the morning on my way to school and on my way home, often discussing it with my father. While me and him have differing opinions on many topics, it is actually more beneficial to me that way. I get to have a debate and see different points of views. I am also taking AP Macroeconomics to understand the economy. I have been pretty active in working on learning about Judaism more. I have continued to participate in the Jewish Club at school, as well as keeping in touch with my advisors from this summer to learn from them as well. I have not had as much time as I would have liked to read the Tanah as well as interpretations of it and hope to work on that in the future. Lastly, I started taking Sociology, where I learned about how people’s backgrounds and childhood experiences impact the way they think, which has made me more self aware. In addition, I think a lot of what I have learned in Mythology has also helped me understand different societies, customs, and points of view better. 

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

I think that my goals are a reflection of the world around me. My life is changing as I am becoming an adult and getting ready to go to college and my goals will help me to understand this world and thrive in it. I am learning about Judaism, which is my culture and history, which is what I would leave as I would go to college. The pursuit of knowledge in sociology is to help me understand the people who I will be around, because I will be in a completely different environment. Finally, understanding politics and economics is to help me make informed decisions once I am old enough to vote.

Alex Liu, Period 1, 10/17/2021

“Always have a goal in mind, boy.” My dad used to say that to me (in different variations) every morning as I eat breakfast. But up until recently I never really understood why my dad would take the effort to wake up every morning to say that to me. At one point, I even thought he was saying that just to annoy me. That was because I never realized the importance of a goal. I thought goals were useless. I thought they were just tasks that a person would assign to themselves, kind of like self-created homework. This misunderstanding followed me as I grew up. It was only until COVID washed over the whole planet, trapping me at home with no motivation to do any work whatsoever, did I finally grasp the message that my dad was trying to convey to me. A goal, although is a task that you put on yourself, is a path with a grand destination for one to achieve what they desire. Goals are very important as without them, we would just be aimless and tick off our time in waste. 

“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not people or things...”- Albert Einstein 

At this current point in time, my goal is to get better at basketball. I’ve loved watching the NBA ever since I was a kid. In every game, I am amazed by how people, who are human just like me, can move the ball around like that. But I have always been bad. Every time I play against my friends, I would lose 9 times out of 10. But my love for basketball far outweighs my hatred for being bad and losing. So, I continue to strive towards that eventual destination, even though there is a chance that I might never make it there. 

“There will be obstacles, there will be doubters, there will be mistakes...But with hard work, there will be no limits,” said Michael Phillips.

Despite all the ridicule, the insults, I wake up every morning at 5:30 AM to go to the park and practice. Every night, I would get a few shots in before my mom would get my brother to drag me home. But like what Michael Phillip said, there will be obstacles and doubters. It’s hard to maintain persistence and resilience when the improvement is barely visible, when the results are always the same. For a while, I was my biggest doubter, not the people around me. But, like a machine, I continued to drag myself out there and practice. “Tired is in the mind,” my favorite NBA player, Lebron James, once said. Every talented person is constantly pushing themselves to the limits, so why can’t I? 

And now, my hard work is starting to pay off. I no longer am missing easy shots when I play, and I even am starting to win games against my “talented” friends. But that’s nowhere near enough. I am aiming to get even better.

Even though I strive towards my goal due to my love for basketball, there is another reason why I push myself so hard. It is because of the world around me. In this society, only those talented are favored, and those who aren’t special, are cast away. The clearest example I see right now is the college admissions process. The students with the most qualifications are accepted, and those whose applications are nothing special are rejected. That is how society works. This factor influences my goal because being good is always better than bad. Being a little more special is always better than being not special at all. That is why I strive so hard to get better at basketball. I want to be special in something that I love while creating a purpose to get up every morning. 

 

Shengrui Shao, Period 1, 11/3/21

 For the past month, we have read many stories about Greek Mythology in class. They show how the Greeks interpreted the world. From these stories, the Greeks described their gods similar to humans with flaws. The flaws of these gods eventually lead to the death or a horrible event upon a mortal. Another aspect of myths I have realized is that: the two creation stories that we have read are similar despite being from different cultures. The Adam and Eve story reminded me of the Pandora story. There was a “source of evil” and it was brought upon the human race due to the curiosity of one person.

The myths that we’ve read in class have changed my perspective on the good and evil of the world. As children, we watched cartoons that showed the good and the bad side. For example, in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the seven dwarfs were good and the queen was evil. However, through the interpreting of the myths, my view on some of the “monsters” of Greek mythology has changed from the last time I read it. I read the journey of Perseus in sixth grade and I initially thought Perseus was the good and Medusa was the evil. However, diving into the story more deeply, there was no true evil. Medusa wasn’t the monster I thought her to be as, but a poor mortal affected by the jealousy of the gods. This story heavily made me aware of the gray area between good and evil.