Sophmore.5

My first high school, as a sophomore, is half over. It has been a little bit dull, but I think it will pick up in the second semester. In the second semester conference in basketball starts and soccer will start.

This first semester I have made pretty good grades and I have actually learned quite a bit. Math is a whole lot harder but I think I have learned more in this semester than I have in most other whole years. This is the first year I have really gotten in depth in a science class. In my other English classes I had learned how to spell and read, but in this English class I am actually trying to learn a lot of grammar.

I have learned a lot this half semester and I plan to learn more the next semester, and I will hopefully have fun with basketball and soccer as I do it.

Fate Vs. Free Will

In Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar the theme of fate versus free will is very relevant. I think Shakespeare believes that fate and free will coincide with each other and the line between the two is very delicate.

Fate is represented in the many prophecies and omens mentioned throughout the play. Free will is represented by the characters making big decision. Many characters had struggles between their fate and free will. Caesar, Cassius, and Brutus are the main ones. Caesar fate was prevalent in the beginning of the book when he ignored the soothsayer saying. “Beware the ides of March.” and later Calphurnia had a dream about Caesar dying. Later in the book Brutus and Cassius make many rash decisions that changed their fate drastically. For example, killing Caesar and then killing themselves.

In Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare many of the characters support some sort of a leadership quality. Caesar himself was a great military leader Cassius and Brutus both were very influential public leaders, in Rome, and were the leaders of Caesar’s assassination.

In this play I believe Julius Caesar had the greatest leadership amongst all the characters. He had leadership qualities that were positive and negative towards Roman society.

He was a great military leader. Conquering lands for the Roman Empire, the Roman people worshipped the ground he walked upon. Caesar was a fascinating public speaker and a very intelligent man. The people loved him so much because of his people skills and public speaking skills.

In the contrary, he was very ambitious and Brutus, Cassius, and many others were frightened that he would become to powerful. Becoming powerful, Caesar could have become the dictator or king. Had he become the ruler the whole of the Roman Republic would have collapsed because it was based on everyone getting a say in government. Had he not been too ambitious he would probably not have been murdered.

Think Win-Win

There hasn’t been many instances that I thought about making a situation into a win-win situation, but I do every once in a while. There is one time that really stands out in my mind though about a win-win situation.

My family and I were having dinner one night. All the way through dinner we conversed and all was well until dessert, a batch of brownies, came out of the oven. As my mom was bringing them to the table my brothers and I were drooling over them. My mom is reputable when it comes to baking brownies. It was a small pan so every one of the six of us got one and there was one brownie left. Well my brother and I both being heavy eaters really wanted the last brownie and we started bickering. This happened for probably a good ten minutes while every one else was cleaning up. So I decided to compromise. If my brother got that brownie then the next time we had dessert I got whatever was left over. He agreed as he devoured his prize. The next week my mom made muffins and there were two left after supper. My brother mad with himself kept his promise and we both won.

Be Proactive not Reactive

In Seven Habits of a Highly Effective Teen by Sean Covey one of the first topics Covey talks about is being proactive instead of reactive. There have been many times that I have been proactive instead of reactive, but there is one time that I will never forget.

One day I was with a friend messing around outside and we decided to go inside up to my room to play a video game, Madden NFL Football 2008. I had gone to the bathroom while he was waiting in my room. I came in and everything looked like it had when I had been in there earlier. We started playing and then I noticed that my mp3 player, a Zune, was not on its charger where I had left it. I didn’t say anything to my friend though I had suspicions. About fifteen minutes later my mom came in and I asked her if she had seen my mp3 player to see how my friend to react. She informed me that my little brother had borrowed it because he was going to Little Rock. I am glad I did not suddenly react when I found that it was missing and accuse my friend. I thought before I acted and that may have just saved my friendship.

What's Alien You

We read The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells in English. I didn’t really like that particular Sci-Fi book, but that’s not to say I don’t like any Sci-Fi stories.

I dislike the older Sci-Fi stories such as The Invisible Man and The Time Machine by H.G. Wells but I do like some of the more modern Sci-Fis such as Star Wars.

I consider George Lucas a mastermind in the movie business. He created a whole new universe. He didn’t just make up some small land or civilization he recreated a whole new universe. There are many different levels of science fiction in Star Wars from the ways of transportation to the types of worlds in his universe.

Most of the Sci-Fi novels from the 19^th century and even early 20^th the world setting of the stories haven’t been as complex and I really like that in Sci-Fi novels.

Dear Mr. President

Senator John McCain

Capital Punishment

I like that Senator McCain supports the death penalty in the same circumstances that I do. Senator Obama only supports it in certain circumstances.

I like how Senator McCain wants to ban the death penalty for minors. I believe young people can change and capital punishment isn’t giving them a chance to change.

I approve of wanting to prohibit racial statistics in capital punishment cases because I believe that race has nothing to do with these trials.

My Hero

My hero’s name was Aaron Peart. He was a drummer from the world of Guitar Center. First, Aaron played a five piece Tama Imperialstar set with four cymbals. Every time he hit a drum or cymbal, a laser that was rigged to the set would shoot. Cymbals were stronger than drums but less accurate. Next, Aaron was a very inexperienced drummer, but as he fought in more battles his talent increased immensely. He learned more effective rhythms and became very powerful with his double bass pedal. Aaron was a big drummer. He was just over a quarter of a centimeter tall and was skinny but muscled. Being a taller drummer, though, meant that he was more exposed to enemy fire. Aaron was a large inexperienced drummer, but he was a vital part in Guitar Center winning the war. Even after the war Aaron kept his Imperialstar because it kept him alive throughout the war.