In Mrs. Schlather’s English class I learned a lot of things. I found out that most of the class is not awake by the second period. Although the class was groggy, Mrs. Schlather always did her best to wake us up. She would share interesting stories about her life or ask a student how they are doing. The little things she did made a big impact. She would always ask people about the sports they were in, or other activities they pursued. Even though the general assumption for English is reading a book or writing poems, we did interactive things. We tried to solve muder mysteries and we had fun debates. However, with every great thing, there is always room for improvement. I think the only thing I would change about the class is getting our essay topics before reading the book. That way we know which quotes would be helpful for our arguments. Overall, it was a blast to be in her class.

I’m looking forward to junior year, even though it is considered the hardest year in school. I will be taking English III-H. I also made a very big decision that completely alters my life. I will not be doing volleyball anymore. Instead I will be pursuing other interests like animation, BPA, and theatre. For theater, our fall play got announced this morning! We are doing Shakespeare’s, Midsummer Night’s Dream, as if it were set in the 1920s. I’m really excited to see where this year takes me! However, I wonder if we will have to start the fall semester online. That would be crazy! We would come back to school in the spring semester and not have a clue what is going on or who our classmates are.

“‘But I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.’” (Huxley 240)

From this quote alone, you might think the speaker is insane. A world without comfort, who would want that? However, put with the context that these people he is speaking to are being manipulated, may change your mind. From birth they go under hypnopaedic procedures to ensure their conformity to society. These people believe that there is no God, literature should be banned, and nothing is better than soma (or drugs). This imaginary world is where you live blinded by the possibilities of beauty. The idea of children from a mother’s womb is the most horrendous, appalling thing in the world. This world is filled with safety and comfort, but no love and no creative glamor. Would you give up the chance of a beautiful life, with Heaven, individuality, and art, for a short-lived, drugged-up life heading nowhere?  

The speaker stands up and speaks against what they call “normal”.  He explains that he wants to live and not do the bare minimum to survive.  He would rather take risks than sit at home regretting never taking the chance. He wants everything to mean something rather than just letting it go.  Even if it is safer to stay in the dystopian world, he wants to go out and find the truth that the government has hidden, proving that sometimes you have to go the extra mile to find something worth living. 

There is a difference between surviving and living. Surviving is doing what you need to do to be existentant. Living is doing what you need to, to thrive and shine. So do you take the easy road to survive or the harder road to live?

“Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty…” (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 11) is a statement the Judicial system prides themselves on. However, do we really follow this rule? Can every jury be unbiased toward the defendant? Will the courtroom always be prone to human error? Sadly the answer is yes, and Adnan Syed is living proof of our justice system failing. He was convicted of strangling his ex by being overcome with passion and rage. The thing is, when you look at all the evidence supporting the States motive, you find that it does not match. I know Adnan is not guilty for main reasons, but the main one centers around the key witness.

First of all, Jay, who was the main witness at Adnan’s trial, gave statements that were inaccurate and inconsistent. How much can we trust him? He was known for dealing weed and he could not keep his story straight. He talked about how he and Adnan both were driving around together and wanted to smoke weed. In the first trial he says that both of them are high and in the second trial he says that only he was high. Either way, this proves that Jay was intoxicated and therefore anything he says could be a lie. He also changes other key statements such as where he saw the body, if they visited the park, and if he helped bury the body. With so many inconsistencies, how can anyone believe what he says, let alone convict someone on those statements.

Adnan, the sweet and compassionate kid, or the obsessed murderous killer? The jury decided guilty, but was it a fair trial? Rabia is convinced that Adnan would never hurt a fly. However, Jay’s story makes Adnan seem capable of strangling his ex. With all the many different perspectives and confessions throughout the podcast, I believe that Adnan is innocent. The only thing that does not make sense is Jay’s story. Everyone’s story matches the same event proving Adnan not guilty, except for Jay’s. Also Jay keeps mixing up details and not staying with the same story, which makes me question his reliability. In his first taped interview, Jay says he saw Hae Min Lee’s dead body at the strip mall on Edmondson. Then, in his second interview, he said he saw the body at Best Buy. Two totally different and very significant locations to this trial.

This unit is fun, but also a little demanding. It is fun being a detective and trying to figure out who did it and if Adnan is guilty. The thing is, if you miss one day and do not catch up immediately, you are lost. It seems like it would be a really easy thing to catch up on, but with lots of homework and activities, it’s hard to find time to listen to a fifty minute podcast and pay full attention to it. I think it would be a lot of fun if we listened to it in chunks and then talked about it as a class. This is definitely a unit you should keep for next year. It is different from other projects we have had in this class. I like how this pertains to more of the fun side of English. I can’t wait to see how the story will unfold, because I have this feeling that Jay is hiding something.

Objection! This is a word that is heard all the time on TV dramas.  However, is this how the real judicial system works? 

Generally, there are a lot of good things about our judicial system, but some bad things. One thing I appreciate about our legal rights is you must be innocent until proven guilty. This way people who are wrongly accused, have a chance to prove their innocence. However, even though they are allowed to go back to their regular life, it will never be the same. People may look at them differently, as if they were guilty the whole time.One thing I don’t like about the judicial system is how long it takes to get a trial. Sometimes it takes years to get a trial, even if they are guilty. I would hate being innocent and have to wait a whole year before they can prove it. It is outrageous to be shut out of society for nothing.

Before the jury decides guilty or not guilty, the person must go through a trial.  Imagine sitting there having to put trust in other people who are deciding your future.  The defense is telling you, “Say this” and “Don’t say that”. The whole trial is like a big test, to see if the defense attorney can convince the jury that everything he says is the truth. As the defendant, I would also feel like all eyes were on me waiting to see my every reaction.  I would be terrified, one wrong move and I could be in jail for the rest of my life. In addition, once the jury starts to deliberate I would be scared for my life. Never knowing what is going through their minds. The only thing that can be done, is watching the seconds tick bye. 

In conclusion, TV drama is much different from a real court room.  Both determine the future of the person who is on trial, but for the real life scenario, a person’s future will be severely impacted.  

Death is a final statement on Earth.  By saying you will die for cause means there is no coming back, no second thoughts, no turning back.  With such a scary punishment in mind, many will give up their beliefs for safety. However, for me, one belief that is worth any painful punishment is my faith in Christ. 

Since Jesus Christ came down and gave up His life to give me freedom, then the least I can do is live for Him.  If I am challenged for my beliefs, even to the point of death, then it will be a minuscule of the suffering that He suffered. 

My journey in faith began at a young age. However, when I broke my wrist in seventh grade, everything became a reality.  I became more thankful for what He has given me and understand why God gives us tests in faith. Without those tests, we would never be assured of where our faith lies.  

Sometimes it confuses me when I hear people talking about dying so casually.  For example, I have heard people say, “That test was so hard, I almost died!” Why do we talk about it like that when it’s such a serious matter?  When I die, I want people to know me not as a pushover with faith, but a person who will stand strong for what she believes in.

So as life goes on, I know my beliefs may be challenged.  At some point, it may even be more serious than that. However, if I die, then I will be in Heaven rejoicing in Him, and if I live, then I will tell my story to encourage others.  

Sophomore year is definitely easier than I thought it was going to be.  Coming in from Freshman year, I was terrified it was going to be another rough year of homework, stress, and “interesting” teachers.  Luckily for me, I was wrong! This year has been smooth sailing, except for chemistry. Chemistry is like a storm – you think all is calm, but then a big tidal wave of bad grades crashes over you.  To combat this, during the spring semester I am going to focus more on understanding chemistry and try to get all the help I need to do well.

This year in English, I have really enjoyed the class.  It was one of my more laid back classes and it helped me with not stressing myself out.  I really liked all the projects that we did, because they were fun and creative!  I am looking forward to the next semester, because I have heard a lot of good things about the books we are reading.  The only thing that I am curious about is…can we get the essay assignment while we are reading the book? That way we can be more prepared for writing our essays because we will know what to pay attention to and what quotes go together really well with the theme.  Hopefully, next semester will be as enjoyable as this semester!

  Dear Granddaughter,

I have missed you so much!  I hope to come down and see you soon!  Your mom has told me that you have been having nightmares recently, so I am sending you my favorite toy as a kid.  Can you guess what it is? It is a brown, white, and black stuffed beagle, but it is more than that!

It was my favorite toy, because it went everywhere with me. It went to school with me, and my mother had no idea! It also rode on the bus with me, and it even slept me.  It helped me with hard situations, like when my Nanny died. It was super tough, but my furry friend helped me a lot. It also has a hole in the side of its belly and I will patch it up when I come.

Now hopefully you will have sweet dreams!  

With all my love,

Elana Kiser or Gram

Bill Clinton said, “Being a president is like running a cemetery: you’ve got a lot of people under you and nobody’s listening.”  This is clearly shown in the world today, where the president says something and nobody cares or takes it seriously. As humans, we are imperfect and make mistakes, but imagine if lived in an ideal world.  If we lived in a perfect world the president to be trustworthy, smart, and outgoing.

To start off, in our world, there are multiple scandals and lies everywhere in the government.  The president would be honest about his life. This would bring peace to people, because we would respect him because he would be truthful.  

Another thing is, he would have to be smart, because the president is messing with real people’s lives.  As president he has to deal with a bunch of stress with overseas communication with other countries. Being bright would help him manage everything and know exactly what to say so he doesn’t accidentally offend anyone. 

Also, he must be very outgoing.  As head of the country, he will be in many meetings about different things.  If he is very shy, then speaking publicly would be very hard and he could appear to be weak.  If he is outgoing he will be perceived as a nicer, kinder person. This could help in campaigning and talking to people in other countries.

Sadly, this is not a perfect world, but with our voting we can make sure the person closest to our ideal president gets picked.

“As you wish…” yells Wesley as he tumbles down the hill.  This quote is famous not only in the movie “The Princess Bride” but also can be heard during casual conversations between my family members.  This movie is one my whole family enjoys, which is very rare. Although we all like to watch movies, we have different tastes.  

It all started several years ago when my dad asked, “Have you seen The Princess Bride?” one day when we were scrolling through Netflix.  When he found out I had not seen it, he immediately turned it on. At first I thought it was a romantic movie so it took awhile to get the jokes.  Once I settled in and picked up on the humor, I laughed hysterically throughout it.  

Since that day many years ago, I have watched the movie countless times.  Once when I was in Biology, our teacher turned on “The Princess Bride”. I immediately started quoting several of the lines and other students looked at me – confused and annoyed!  In addition, I have watched the movie with a few close friends and am always happy to share it with new friends. 

If you are looking for a humorous movie to check out, I would highly recommend watching “The Princess Bride.”
https://youtu.be/niul8Hy-3wk