Category Archives: CE9

In general, I think it can be assumed that most teenagers – most people, even – don’t pay much attention to food labels.

And maybe that’s one of the reasons that obesity is a problem in America. Let’s face it, most of us are probably clueless to what those numbers mean and don’t care enough to find out. I liked that this project brought my eating habits to my attention and I thought it was interesting to see them compared to the recommended intake of nutrients.

I wasn’t particularly surprised by my results, and I think they were pretty accurate. My calorie intake was a bit below the recommended daily value, but I since I don’t exercise excessively, I think I intake the right amount of calories for me personally. My total fat intake was within the recommended range, but it was higher than I expected. My sodium and protein intake were both higher than the recommended value, but that doesn’t overly concern me because I think it was just a result of what I had eaten on that particular day, and isn’t a very correct representation of how I normally eat. My fiber intake caught my attention, because I eat less than half of the amount I’m suppose to eat, so I think I’ll pay a bit more attention to that in the future.

I thought that this unit in general was very interesting; it wasn’t exactly something I expected to be learning about in English. Through the documentaries, reading, and responding, I found out a lot I didn’t know about the food that goes into my mouth. I think that this unit has made me to be more aware of what I eat, for both health and safety reasons.

I’ve been playing piano for about ten years, since I was four years old. The thing I remember most clearly about when I first started was how much I absolutely hated practicing. It was boring, it was repetitive, and frankly, I didn’t have the patience to sit there and plunk out notes. It always struck me as ironic that I started piano not because I wanted to play piano, but because I wanted to play violin. The violin teacher my parents found required that all her students learn at least two years of piano before they could start learning violin. I always thought it was a waste of time. In fact, I didn’t enjoy playing piano until fairly recently. The difference now is that instead of being something I’m forced to do, playing piano is something I want to do. I’ve participated and placed in many competitions, and the next one I plan to do is the Wisconsin MTA Badger Collegiate Performance Competition, which has its first round in March. I’ve met a lot of friends through piano, and it’s taught me a lot of life skills as well as other skills, such as patience and perseverance. I’m really glad that I started piano and stuck with it, because in the end, all of the hard work paid off.

“To make anything a reality, you have to dream about it first. Inert wisdom doesn’t have to be from knowledge.”

                                                                                                – Adora Svitak

Think back to the time when you spent Saturday night on the couch watching Disney movies with your parents, to the time when you wouldn’t go to sleep in the dark and when simple things could make you delighted. To the time when you truly believed all of your dreams would come true if only you believed in them hard enough. To childhood.

The word “childhood” automatically makes you look in the past, because everyone wants to believe that it is something that they have left behind, consciously or unconsciously. By the time you were old enough to understand the word you were already beginning to tell yourself that you were grown up. The fact is that the word “childhood” is something we automatically relate with words like “ignorance” and “unawareness.” We want to think that we’ve grown up, that we can do things by ourselves. And it doesn’t occur to us that the idea may be a misconception until childhood is a fuzzy memory in the backs of our minds.

We view naivety as a bad thing, because we view it as lack of knowledge. The truth is, children see the world in a different way than adults, and for lack of better term, we label that as naivety. As we grow up, we begin to see and understand cold, sharp reality, instead of what children see, a world woven from their dreams and wishes and imaginings. We are eager to leave that behind, to leave our newly realized ignorance behind in exchange for knowledge and wisdom. But wisdom isn’t the amount of knowledge, it’s the gain – the process of learning, not the facts that we learn.

As we grow up, we become afraid to dream, afraid that our dreams will be laughed at and ridiculed. Throughout history, we’ve seen this in action – people who dare to dream get labeled either as geniuses or insane, the latter far more common than the former. We are afraid of this, so we avoid it, and conform to what society considers “normal.” I think this is the main difference between children and adults – children aren’t afraid to dream. They don’t doubt themselves, because they know that it is a good idea, without unnecessary questioning or hesitation. Children don’t have issues of prejudice or bigotry, because they aren’t molded by society; they have only their own expectations to live by. Children believe in a utopia because it is possible for them.

Imagine how different the world could be if we all thought like that, if we didn’t dismiss our whims and notions as “impossible” or “irrational” or “stupid.” Imagine how differently we would live if we were all as open-minded as children are, as accepting.

Why should you be afraid to dream?

For the Internet safety project I worked with Zoe R. Here is what we learned about Internet safety:

Of the four sites we looked at about Internet safety, most of them were directed toward parents. Though all of the sites talked about Internet safety, all of the sites focused on a specific topic, such as the danger of predators on the internet, talking to strangers, the risks online, and using strong passwords. All of the sites talked about the importance of never giving out personal information, such as phone number and address. The Internet is a public resource; anything you put on it can be viewed by anyone. Predators can trace you through your phone number and obviously your address. Once you post something online, you can’t withdraw it. Be careful of the information you reveal, especially to strangers, because you don’t always know who you’re talking to online, and it could be the creeper down the street.

 Many of the sites talked about the significance of having a strong password and good password settings. You should use passwords with at least eight characters – numbers and letters. Avoid common words, and don’t use personal information. You should change your password at least every 90 days, and make sure you use different passwords for different accounts. You also shouldn’t use adjoined keys, or keys right next to each other.

 There are many dangers online, but we should remember the Internet isn’t “bad,” and it can be a very helpful resource. What we should be wary of are the people who are on the Internet. We just have to remember that there are bad people out there, and we can never know who they are.