Graduation Speech

        Writing has never been difficult for me. However, when faced with writing this speech, I found that I could not put any words together. I kept thinking and thinking about what to write and repeatedly came up with nothing. That was until I realized it wasn't that I couldn't write this speech, it was that I wouldn't write this speech. Writing this speech meant that I would be saying goodbye to the school that has impacted my life so greatly in the past, present, and for sure even future, and I wasn't sure if I was ready for that. I learned a long time ago that nothing lasts forever, but that doesn't mean I accepted it. It took time, but once I did, I poured my thoughts into this speech.

        I want to start off saying thank you. I do not know how I can express my immense gratitude into such few words, but I hope I get close. Thank you teachers, administrators, parents, and staff, for devoting so much of your time being compassionate and selfless to countless of students. Even though many of us have not shown it in big ways, we sincerely appreciate everything that you have done for us. I will always be thankful for your selfless acts of kindness.

        Next, I want to say thank you to my fellow students. I have always heard the saying, "friends are family," but I never fully understood it until now. I have met and made so many amazing friends during my years in this school district, and I cannot come close to how thankful I am for every single one of them. Thank you for making me laugh in my darkest times, and smile in my lowest moments. Thank you for staying up and laughing with me at Camp MacLean, and having a great time with me at our annual school picnic. I will never forget any of you. Thank you so much for everything.

        No matter how long from now, whether it is less than a year, a year, or more than a year, I hope that everyone is in the place that they wish to be. I have spent so much time with these people (since kindergarten!) to know that they deserve all that they desire. Future graduates, do not worry! You too will have great people to feel nervous with, and be happy with, and when the time comes for you to graduate as well, they will all be there for you.

        Abraham Lincoln once said, "In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." Thank you Golf, for presenting me with some of the best years of my life. I have learned so much, and because of that, I am the person that I am today. From my past, present, and future self, thank you.

Preparing For a Test

        Testing is always a difficult procedure. Preparing to test is no different. In this blog post I am going to help you prepare for any of your upcoming tests. I know how stressful it is to be unprepared so I hope this helps.
1. Get a good rest beforehand.
Falling asleep during a test is never a good thing. It will make you unfocused which will lessen your chances of doing well on your test. Prevent this by getting as much rest as possible so you feel awake and energized.
2. Eat a filling breakfast.
There are many things that can distract you during a test and an empty stomach is one of them. While taking your test, you will be thinking about how you should of eaten a good breakfast instead of the problem that you are on. That will make you lose time and not do as well as you could of that you could with a full stomach.
3. Review what you have learned.
Mean, median, mode, and range are almost always questions asked on tests. Most people have forgotten or mixed up the definitions for them so reviewing will be helpful. This also goes for many other problems, equations, and formulas that you have learned in that past and have appeared often during testing so reviewing those as well will help.
4. Take notes.
If you have scratch paper, which everyone almost always has, while taking a test, do not be afraid to use it. Working out all of your work in your head can get it mixed up which can lead to you getting the wrong answer. Why risk getting the wrong answer when you can neatly plan it out in front of you? This helps a lot.
5. Relax.
Feeling nervous while taking a test is normal, but feeling relaxed will make you more confident and at ease while you are testing. This will make you more quick to answer questions and sure of yourself when you turn in your test materials so just relax.
        I hope these tips have helped you. Remember, everyone goes through testing so just do your best and you'll feel great.

Endings and Beginnings

        My time in middle school is coming to an end and even though that is a sad occurrence, it is also happy because everyone made it through so many years of hard work and is going to move on to high school. It is sad because the same people have been around each other for so long and have become great friends but when they go to high school, there is a possibility that they will barely even see each other again. I think going to high school makes everyone realize that they really took some of their time with others for granted because in the end it was just temporary. For others however, it won't be. That's really cool how some people will be friends for so long.
        My goals for the end of school are to be part of moments that I will remember for the rest of my life. Remembering moments are hard for me because I have the worst memory ever, but if it's really important then I will remember it and that is my goal for the end of the school year. I've already had my share of those moments and I'm really thankful for them because they were a big part of my life. My goals for the summer are to go outside a lot. I don't want to waste my summer inside on my phone all day so I will instead be doing something productive (hopefully). I always say that when there are breaks and don't follow through with it, but I'm really going to try to have a lot of fun this summer.

Holocaust Museum Field Trip

        On Thursday, our class went to the Holocaust Museum. I was really excited to go because the Holocaust is one of my favorite topics to learn about and I'm always open to learn more about it. When we got there, we starting walking around with our guide. We each got headphones that helped us hear our guide better, and I thought that was a great idea because it made us focus more on what we were hearing. Looking around, it was really cool to see real items in person. With everything we looked at, information about it came with it and I liked the fact that everything had a story behind it because it gave the items much more depth. We saw real clothing, real items that belonged to Nazis, and other real artifacts. We also saw many pictures. Getting visuals made everyone able to picture what we heard more clearly, which in my opinion is a great way of learning, so we all learned a lot from what we saw.
        Right when I thought I learned as much as I possibly could about the Holocaust, I learned even more. Before I went to this museum, I thought resisting was just fighting and conflict. After I went to this museum, I learned that it was so much more than that. Resisting is not always violence. People resisted in smaller ways, which were bigger ways at the same time. For example, people helped victims even though it was against the law and risked their lives in order to hide and shelter others. This required no violence to do, but it was still resisting, and it made a big change to many lives. Other topics I learned more about was life before the Nazis, the Nazi rise to power, and life after the Nazis. Overall, I thought this field trip to the Holocaust Museum was a very great and educational trip and I'd definitely go again.

Diary Entry

March 13, 2016

Dear Diary,
        A couple of days ago I watched a documentary called "I'm Still Here" in class with my classmates. It told the stories of Holocaust victims through their diaries. I have decided to use their ideas of writing in a diary to tell you my reaction to this documentary. Starting off, their stories were devastating. To even just hear the amount of pain that the innocent victims suffered throughout the Holocaust was an immense experience itself, I can not even imagine how it must have been to live through it. They went through extreme hunger, thirst, physical pain, emotional pain, loss, and more. It made me realize how thankful I should be for everyone and everything around me.
        Although the stories in this documentary were tragic and horrific, it was very informal to me and I enjoy watching documentaries like this one for many reasons. For one, it made me realize hidden traits of myself like that fact that I am very selfish. I complain that I am hungry after just two hours, sometimes even less, of eating a full meal. Seeing the people in this documentary starve for days or even weeks, made me open my eyes to the fact that I need to be grateful and not throw a fit over the smallest things.
        Something else I realized is that I need to be more appreciative of my family and friends. The people in this documentary had their their loved ones taken from them repeatedly, sometimes even ripped from their arms. Today, that could still happen to anyone. I now acknowledge the fact that all life really is precious and that nothing lasts forever, so everyone should enjoy and treasure what they have before it's too late.

Daniel's Story Quote

“We must live, and when this is all over, we must work to make the world a better place.  And if we die, we will die knowing that it was not our fault, that we did our best, and we can go to our deaths in dignity… I want you both to live…And to remember...You must choose love.  Always choose love.”  

(from Daniel’s Story by Carol Matas, page 70)

This quote reminds me of my mom because my mom is such a wise person and she frequently guides me with motivational quotes like this one that Erika said to Daniel in Daniel's Story. My mom always tries to get everyone look on the bright side of every situation and if there is no bright side, then she creates one herself. Her doing that has made me do it myself and it's great to say that I've accomplished something in this world. My mom is also very determined to improve the environment in any way that she can and if she can get others involved to help then she definitely will. That is another reason why she is such an inspiration to me.

Leap Years

        Leap years take place every four years. Saying 'four years' makes me think of how my life was four years ago. Back then, many things were different for me. For starters, I was in 4th grade, and now that I am in 8th grade, there is so much more that I have to do like take tests, complete homework, and more. Life was also a lot simpler than it currently is now. I didn't worry about my grades or where I was going to be in the future, and I definitely didn't worry about getting ready to go to high school. I was also different personality-wise. For example, I was more shy and reserved. In some ways I still am now, but overall I'm more outgoing and cordial than I was four years ago.
        My life four years forward is something that I can't picture. Mainly because I just can't and don't want to see myself older and grown up. But, I predict that I will be getting somewhere at least, and hopefully I will have a decent job and have done/am doing well in school. I also hope that my family is happy and that my brother was not lying when he said that he would get a job "soon."
        Reflecting on the previous and upcoming stages of your life teaches you many things that you can appreciate. Overall, I appreciate the fact that you just have to live in the moment and not stress about what is coming up next in life because when it does come up, you'll be just fine.