Su Yee Htun, Period 7, 2/15/22

 Youth

    The night sky loomed above a frail girl. Her legs ached from her journey. She walked along the roots of the trees that are gnarled and twisted among one another. The soft grass felt cool beneath her worn feet as the moon lit up the ground through the leaves above her. Has it been months? Has it been years? She doesn’t remember when she entered the forest but she thinks she is around eighteen years old by now. 

She stopped for a moment and sighed. She felt like giving up as she felt her face heat up as tears welled up in her eyes. She leaned against a nearby tree and collected her thoughts. She didn’t understand the purpose of this journey. She thought it was long and pointless, with no clear end in sight. All her days are filled with progressing towards the other side of the forest. She doesn’t even know if she is going in the right direction, she just keeps moving forward, wherever forward is. The “path” she walked on wasn’t so much a path as it was wherever the roots of the trees didn’t block. Countless times she has doubted herself. Asking herself if it was the right way or if she had somehow gone in circles. When she first entered the forest, she felt prepared. She didn’t fear the forest or even think about how difficult or long the journey would be. But soon, the motivation faded. Her doubts soon turned into antagonistic remarks about herself. Nitpicking every decision she has made. Regretting some of her choices. She often felt helpless. What's a girl to do when all she can do is nothing. She wished she could go back to the time before she entered the forest. When she was happier. 

She got off the tree and started to walk again. After walking for a while a particularly gnarled root caught the edge of her foot and she fell. The cool grass is now beneath her whole body, with her face feeling most of the coldness. She lay there, feeling the sensation of the grass. Her face heated up again and a few teardrops fell onto the ground, leaving droplets that resembled morning dew on the grass. She curled up on the ground, bringing her legs and arms to her chest. Her heart felt like it was being wrung like a towel and her throat felt dry with despair. 

    Once she calmed down, she slowly got back up. She sighed again and once again set off to continue her lonely journey towards the happiness and fulfillment she was promised, towards adulthood.

Julia O’Hara, Period 1, 3/17/22

Julia O’Hara 

Period 1

Modern Mythology 

3/17/22


Write about your thoughts regarding any of the fiction or non-fiction covered in class.

Currently we are reading Interview with a Vampire. I was very excited for this part of the curriculum because growing up my all time favorite show was “The Vampire Diaries” on Netflix. I have watched the show many times so it was exciting to read a different vampire fiction and to be able to compare the two. I compare Lestat and Louis to the two brothers in the show, Damon and Stefan. When Damon and Stefan turned into vampires, Stefan was the crazy vampire with no care in who he killed (like Lestat) while Damon was much more grounded and felt guilt (like Louis.) However, at the end My favorite discussion we have had about the novel so far is if Lestat and Louis are really evil. Lestat is more of a ruthless killer while Louis feels extreme guilt and only feeds on animals. However, the discussion my group had was that vampires are all inherently evil since they have the desire and need to kill humans for their blood. However, this may not be considered evil because that is just their nature. It is exactly like humans killing cows and lamb for food. Some people are against it but many of us just see it as a normal part of life and just part of the food chain. Therefore, there can be many different arguments to this question.

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

In class we dig deeper into the difference between morals and ethics. Ethics refer to rules provided by an external source while morals are the individual's own principle regarding right and wrong. As I always knew the difference between them, it had never really been something I thought about. As I mentioned before, the discussion we had in class about Louis and Lestats morals stood out to me. The main question that came out of it was are vampires ethically able to kill humans because they are “above” the human status? And if they are, does that still make them evil? This influenced my critical perception of humans now. Does it make us evil that we kill cows, lamb, pigs, etc. just for our own needs?

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

What we are learning has really made me think more deeply about my own morals and ethics. I realize that some of my morals may be very different from someone else's morals so I cannot quickly jump to judgments when someone makes an action that I disagree with. I see this in the real world especially with the different teachers I have. One example is the different morals teachers have with regards to bathroom usage. Some teachers allow you to just get up and go while with others you have to ask and they do not always say yes. I feel as if you have to get to know someone else’s morals in order to get a true understanding of who they are. You also have to think about morals when you have classwork. Sure it is very easy to get the answers from someone else and paraphrase their work, but are you doing yourself any good from doing that? Morals play a very important role in everyday life even though everyone’s are different.

Ryan Sliger, Period 8, 3/24/22

 Ryan Sliger, Period 8, 3/24/2022

One goal I have for myself right now, is to become a better baseball player.  As of March 1st, my final season of baseball at Staten Island Tech began, and I am determined to make it the best one ever.  One major reason I have for this goal is to fill the role of Captain that I was assigned last year.   In most sports being a captain does not only display leadership, as it also represents skill that someone had for the game. My goal is to become better not only for myself but also to benefit the team.   I would love to be able to be one of the star players who helps tech pull off one of many upsets this season, hopefully even landing us a playoff spot.  Overall, my goal to improve in baseball is one that I believe I will be able to accomplish between team practice everyday, self guided practice at home, and watching and analyzing film.

One way that I have shown perseverance towards this goal is battling through injury.  During one of our scrimmage games last week (Friday, 3/18) I noticed that my tricep started hurting while I was pitching.  Not wanting to leave the burden of the base runners that I allowed to get on base with anybody else, I persevered through the injury and wound up striking out the last two batters to end the inning.  Although I showed a bit of perseverance in that very moment, where my perseverance shined was in the days that followed.  Waking up Saturday morning my tricep was in the same pain as it was before, and I knew that I still had to go to my game that morning.  Once I arrived at the field I realized the severity of my injury as I was barely able to throw a baseball 90 feet, something I was able to do easily every other day at practice.  But still, I had no problems swinging the bat or fielding ground balls, so I decided to play through the pain.  I wound up playing very well making no errors in the field despite the pain in my arm.  After this game, we had Sunday off, and I was able to ice my arm to ease the pain.  Now Tuesday two days later the pain had nearly vanished, but those two games I displayed immense perseverance.

The world around me has a major effect on my perception of my goal.  One way I see this in everyday life is by seeing my teammates' reactions to what I do successfully in baseball.  I try to do this by lifting the mood of the team when someone gets a hit because when the mood is happier people tend to play better because they are more relaxed.  This will help me achieve my goal because when one person succeeds in front of you you are more likely to do the same.  Overall, I try my best to lift team spirits in order to help both myself and the team play better.

Joseph Kang, Period 7, 3/4/2022

 Joseph Kang

Period 7

3/4/2022

Modern Mythology 2022

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?

(Warning: the third paragraph may or may not be a spoiler of the anime Death Note)

In class, we have been reading about Grendel, a book written in the hypothetical perspective of Beowulf’s antagonist Grendel. Although I haven’t put too much thought into reading this book, one thing that constantly stands out to me is Grendel’s nihilism. Throughout the book, Grendel is always sulking about how everything will come to an end and harbors a destructive personality as a result of his nihilist thoughts. For example, he kills various living things, including a mountain goat and a group of playing children, because he gets angry at the purposeful and existential attitude they had. I find this very interesting about Grendel because in the way I see it, Grendel is trying to put everyone out of their misery but is under deep delusion. In other words, he is so deep into his nihilistic beliefs that he believes that no one’s life matters. He is under the impression that everything will die anyways so killing them at those moments doesn’t affect anything. This also implies that he has a god complex, which gives him the confidence to carry out his actions. 

When I think of Grendel’s nihilism, an esports pro by the alias Steel comes to mind. Around 8 years ago, he made a video saying that it is impossible for someone to pursue a career in something they are not naturally talented in. To contextualize, Steel had just finished a game where he was yelling at his teammates and mentally breaking down because his team didn’t perform. His decision to subsequently make the video was interesting because it reminded me of Grendel’s aggressive personality. Also, Steel’s rant and Grendel’s “there’s-no-point” attitude both share a theme of giving up, where Steel wants people to “give up” on whatever they aren’t talented in and Grendel wants everyone to give up looking for a purpose in life. 

Another person that comes to mind when thinking of Grendel is Light Yagami, the antihero of the anime Death Note. Light Yagami isn’t so much of a nihilist but rather a high school student ridded with a god-complex. After Light realizes what he can do with his Death Note, he gains a sense of responsibility to kill all of the criminals and “bad” people to make the world a better place. He wants to make his utopian world where there are no “bad” people and where he will be the “god”. Light has the same type of confidence that drove Grendel to kill anything in his path that arbitrarily exhibited existentialism. 

Maddox Garetti, Period 7, 2/14/22

 At this point in my life, I’ve got a multitude of projects that I’m trying to juggle and ultimately master. From a materialistic perspective, I have one main goal in mind, and it revolves around the business that I run. The month of February was my first profitable month, and I made around $1,000; my hopes are to scale this number to around $3,000 to $5,000 a month in the next quarter of a year. Not only is this a number much more substantial (not to downplay my current position), but after a conference with my mentor, I was told that as I approach these milestones, we would begin to look more into me becoming a coach in his company. Hearing about this possibility made that my ultimate goal. So, as I continue to grow my entrepreneurial endeavors, I’ll always have in mind that I’m here to help others, which is something I feel blessed to be able to do at my age. 

From a health perspective, I have two separate goals; one being physical, and one being mental. In regards to the former, I’ve been going to the gym 5-6 days a week for a bit over 3 months now, and my goal is quite simple for the amount of time and dedication I’ve put into it. Attaining a healthy physique that I’m happy with is what I strive for, and while I’m not there just yet, I don’t plan on slowing down any time soon.  On the flip side, I hope to improve my mental health within the coming months as well. While it happens to be something I won’t dive into, it’s always beneficial to take a step back and analyze your mentality/outlook and see the ways in which you can improve.

All three of these goals have setbacks– businesses have their failed attempts, bodybuilding has its plateaus, and mental health has an array of elements that all make it difficult to conquer. When facing any one of these, I always keep the future in mind. The present moment might be difficult, the present month or even the present year, but every cloud has a silver lining. Taking things one step at a time has helped me through and will most definitely help moving forward.

In this world, there will always be someone who’s farther along the same path as you. For example, my mentor is obviously much farther along and deeper into our business model as opposed to me, and with bodybuilding, there’s always some influencer who has a near-

unattainable physique. However, keeping in mind my own perspective and rationality, I’m able to not only find what works for me but also use the possible negative influences and make them positive by setting them as close to my personal goals as possible.

Shirley Mei, PD7, 3/16/2022

 

• Socio-political Consciousness

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

My feelings about an inequity issue in the United States are food deserts in major minority communities. Food deserts are geographic areas that have little to no access to fresh produce and healthy foods. They may have more fast food restaurants and bodegas in that neighborhood to provide quick unhealthy foods. As a report in the 1990’s revealed that African American women were more susceptible to cardiovascular diseases before 30 years of age. More extensive background research showed that these women lived in neighborhoods that lacked grocery stores, gyms, parks and were simply surrounded by simple deli stores selling little produce and fast food restaurants. After leading a study it was found that poverty directly influenced a community’s accessibility to grocery stores, a simple necessity for many. I found it baffling that many individuals who were low income did not have the same access to fresh produce like others. They did not have access to personal transportation to carry the produce either making it more difficult for big trips to the stores. While, fast food was built in these neighborhoods to profit off quick food. It made me shocked to see welfare play such a big role in impacting one’s health. Everyone should have access to produce to be able to prepare meals and such to benefit their own health. It makes me realize how lucky as an individual I am to have access to grocery stores around my block or within a walkable distance. More grocery stores should be available in low income neighborhoods despite the idea of less profit as it is a necessity to everyone. 

• 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 critically on my experiences multiple times throughout my working life. At times, when I’m told that my way may be inefficient and such it gets me frustrated as I take it offensively rather than constructively to alter my work methods. At times like these I reflect on my own actions and see from my employer’s perspective. I focus on what they noticed was lacking in my work and take initiative to correct it by speaking to coworkers for advice or going on the internet for a simple solution. At times it alters my perspective of my employer as I feel frustrated that they may be picking at my work but it makes me realize that I need to be working to their expectations. I challenge myself to find a more effective way each time and alter my negative thoughts about my employer. It helps me push forward and show that I am able to take constructive criticism and be the most efficient

Alan Shnir, Period 1, 3/22/2022

Modern Mythology Blog 3/22/2022

By Alan Shnir


At the time of writing this blog, there is obviously a significant amount of events happening in the world. America is going through one of the highest ever inflation rates, commodity and gas prices have reached historic highs, college decisions come out in one week, and Russia and Ukraine are in the middle of Europe's worst war in 80 years. Due to the sheer amount of content available, I wish to dedicate this blog to writing about current socio-political issues and how they relate to the average human and, of course, Grendel.


Everything is like an onion. This is an idea I want to explore specifically when talking about the current largest world event, the Russian-Ukraine war. An important thing to point out is that this is not the first time these two nations are at war either, as exactly 100 years, these countries were also at war. I had plans to travel to both Russia and Ukraine in the summer of 2022 to visit family, which I have in both countries. However, these plans have been canceled by recent events. The outside layer of this onion shows how this event has affected me firsthand. It has canceled my travel plans and family plans for the foreseeable future.


The thing about onions is that they have more than one layer. Peel back this brown, cover layer, and you see the effects of war on the ground. Millions of people were displaced, thousands already killed, and countless livelihoods were destroyed. This is the layer most people see; this is the classic layer we see before really cutting into an onion. Humans, however, are like ants, and we only focus on crumbs instead of the cakes on the table. Underneath this outer layer that the media shows, we see the effects of war. 3.5 million refugees will again stoke the European immigration debate, furthering existing European political tensions. Hundreds of thousands of Russia's most highly educated young people are fleeing repressive economic and government conditions, effectively dooming the future of Russia to even more irrationality.


Peel back another layer, and we see a layer beyond immediate effects. As the world's second-largest oil producer gets taken off the world economy, oil prices will increase, especially for Russia's biggest client, Europe, which already has exceptionally high business costs. 25% of the world's wheat supply now hangs in the balance as the two biggest producers of the product deplete each other's productive capacity. Countries like Egypt and the MENA (Middle-East-North-Africa) region as a whole rely on these countries for over 70% of their wheat imports. After current food stocks run dry, this event will effectively put a tenth of the human race at risk of starvation, a tenth that lives in the least farmable and resource needy region in the world.


Peel back another layer, and you see the factions truly at war with each other. The Western block strengthens as it cuts resource ties from Russia, and European nations start to revamp their militaries. Russian power exposes its cracks and nearsightedness with a failing military operation, failing currency, and failing economy. China's ambitions begin to readjust as it sees its nearest ally break its back on a far smaller nation.


Peel back another layer, and institutions are the ones at war. On one side, you have a western democracy, and on another side, an eastern autocracy. In essence, it is just another war culminating in varying institutions battling out one another for survival. After all, America too was a democracy born out of gunpowder and blood. In this layer, we see war for what it is: a game of survival of the fittest between different institutions. Today's most common institutions - free-market capitalism, democracy, or religions - were spread through war. This will remain a constant of human history, and the events we see today are just another one of the thousands of times this has happened before.


Peel back another layer, and we reveal my average meal. The main grain I eat with nearly every dish is buckwheat (the grey, bland, healthy version of wheat). All the buckwheat that I consume is produced in Russia, so now, I will have to change my diet due to a war happening 6000 miles away. This is the point where tears flow after being exposed to the onion for so long.


After you have demolished your onion, you are left with only an empty space, and this is where Grendel comes in. In this novel, we see the "all-seeing nihilistic" character of the dragon speak with our metaphorical ant, Grendel. Grendel can only see the world immediately before him; he can only see the crumbs. The dragon represents our nothingness, seeing human development through nihilism and thousands of years of observation; he sees the whole cross-section of the onion, while Grendel can only see the outer layers. Within this interaction, we can see the two possible approaches we can take to events happening in this world: we can focus on what is immediately in front of us or look at it as a whole (although we do not need the nihilism that the dragon uses for this).


This blog was inspired by Grendel, current events, and "Principles for dealing with The Changing World Order" by Ray Dalio, who I greatly admire for his macro-perspective on world events.