Category: BlockOne

Every day, my family goes through the same morning routine. My Dad wakes up early to leave for work, my Mom starts to get ready for work, I start to get ready for school, and my sister is still asleep. My Mom is the next to leave the house, and about twenty minutes later, my sister and I leave for school. The doors are locked, and the lights are shut off. The house is empty…. except for the dogs.

 

Ghetti and Sunny spend the day alone in the house, while the humans are gone. For about eight hours, the dogs have no company except for themselves. What on earth do they do for eight hours?

 

Obviously, you can figure out some of what they did when you come home to find pieces of the carpet chewed on, but what about the days where your dog isn’t so mischievous?

 

Perhaps they sleep? Sleeping isn’t a bad idea. I know that they sleep a lot when we are home, so maybe it is the same when we are gone. But surely, they can’t sleep for eight full hours after sleeping the night before that. There must be other things that they do to keep themselves occupied.

 

Do they play? I know that Sunny is an absolute spaz with seemingly unlimited energy, so it wouldn’t surprise me. The dogs could play their endless games of tug-of-war, where Ghetti would beat Sunny, but Sunny would instantly grab the chew toy again, and the process would repeat itself. But, eventually, the older Ghetti would grow tired of playing with the energetic puppy that was Sunny, right?
Maybe they watch. Ghetti has always been fond of looking out the window. Or maybe they do all of these things, but we can never see them, so we will never know.

Am I solo in living this crazy life we call high school? I am in my third year of high school now, and as a junior I have still failed in finding a formula that successfully balances all aspects of my life.

Here I am, in the early hours of the morning working on my blog post. I have planned ahead and yet I am still stuck with 4 hours of sleep each night, resulting in a very tired version of myself when it comes to waking up early in order to accomplish the rest of my tasks. My life is really not that full, compiled of athletics, academics and my religion, and yet here I am still trying to figure out how I am supposed to fit it all within a 24 hour period.

I understand that my answer to avoiding all of this worry and stress is probably time management, a skill I have yet to hon. Even my parents, wise and experienced people, I see caught out by the overload of trying to juggle everything in their lives. So how do I master the art if time management? I don’t actually know at this point in time. However, it seems to me that I am not the only person, and definitely not the only high school student with this problem.

At the end of the day, my life is truly amazing and I would never change the things and people that make it uniquely my life. However, with this being said it would be greatly appreciated, if I could finally crack the code to the “juggling act” and finally get some sleep!

She’s new, born into a world of pink and softness, full of tall people telling her how pretty and clean she is. She is innocent and small, incapable of doing anything wrong.

The perfect girl.

She’s six, playing in the yard, making mud pies and covered in dirt, her face one wide smile and her laughter filling the space around her. The tall people don’t like that she is dirty, scolding her for being so messy

The dirty girl.

She’s twelve, running on the pavement to catch a stray ball, her stringy hair clinging to her forehead, shining with sweat. She stinks of the heat, yelling at her friends and grinning with joy. The tall people say she is too energetic, that she has no chance of a boy liking her if she is so sweaty all the time.

The unlikeable girl.

She’s fifteen, her grin far more reserved, her clothing dark and modest, her world full of people telling her how to speak and how to behave. The tall people say she is better off being quiet, she’s less likely to say something wrong that way.

The obedient girl.

She’s seventeen, and for the first time, she is in love. In love with the girl who sits next to her in class, who meets her every morning to go to school, who waits for her underneath the bleachers when no one else is around. The tall people say that she is wrong, that she is simply trying to prove a point, that they will find a way to put an end to it.

The flawed girl.

She’s twenty-three, her beaming smile completely gone, she only smiles anymore when she feels she has to. Her home is quiet, but she still hears them, the tall people telling her she was better when she was soft, better when she was pink, better when she was clean, better when she hadn’t kissed a girl, better when she was new, better when she  was small, better when she was innocent, the perfect girl.

The dirty girl.

The unlikeable girl.

The obedient girl.

The flawed girl.

The broken girl. 

 

The month of March often has a negative stigma attached by students due to the lack of vacation time. However, there are some fun holidays celebrated during the month to look forward to, including some widely celebrated and some lesser known events.

1. March 20: the first day of spring. Though there still is a chill in the air, winter officially changes to spring in late March. If winter is a favorite season, some may be saddened by the transition, the promise of warmer (and longer) days ahead is something to be excited about for lovers of spring.

2. (Also) March 20: Extraterrestrial Abductions Day. Earth dwellers beware! An annually celebrated holiday, holidayinsights.com warns people to be ready to run and hide from any aliens that may wish to abduct humans into their aircrafts.

3. March 23: National Puppy Day. Created in 2006 by celebrity Pet & Home Lifestyle expert Colleen Paige, March 23 is a day to celebrate puppies and encourage adoptions.

4. March 29: National Mom & Pop Business Owners Day. Though the creator is unknown, this holiday was created to celebrate small business owners. National Mom And Pop Business Owners Day celebrates small businesses and their contributions to the economy.

    Though March typically offers little for vacation time and ends up being quite boring, there are many holidays that can be celebrated that are fun and can even help contribute to local businesses.

 

I hate myself

The words come to mind like a bullet: fast, ripping through walls of substance in a single second. I cannot bring myself to utter them because there is a finality in voicing this thought; as much as it is true, I wish it false.

I hate myself when I cough: gulping air, intaking breaths that stab pain and frustration into my overused muscles. It has been three months of this, and I often wonder if one step away from an ill peer, one dollop of hand sanitizer, could’ve saved me.

I hate myself when I look in the mirror: the big one, reflecting my bed where I sit writing this blog. I envision what I could be — an idealistic view that I will forever reach to obtain. I glare at the blemishes that speckle my skin, the thickness of my thighs, the dullness to my eyes that life has put there.

I hate myself when I fail. I miss homework assignments on the daily, so afraid of imperfection that I refuse to try. Hell, I’m pretty sure I am close to ten blog posts behind my classmates. Each instance is a chink in my soul, breaking down the wins until I only recall my flaws, my guilt, bright in Braille on my arms.

I hate myself, but I am still moving. Perhaps that counts for something.

 

 

 

Oftentimes, motivation and having the ability to motivate yourself, is the hardest task of all. Self motivation is challenging mostly because no on else can help you with it… this is something you must achieve on your own. If you are someone who struggles with being able to encourage themselves, three major techniques may help. This includes self bribery, the “I can” mentality, and knowing when to take a break.

For starters, when it comes to self motivation, there is nothing wrong with a bribe. You can ask any parent and they’ll tell you that when all else fails, go for a bribe. In most cases, bribery is a cop-out, but sometimes it’s the only thing that works. In the case of self encouragement, this may mean telling yourself that if you achieve a goal or finish a task, you’ll treat yourself to a movie, or a manicure, or a day trip, or whatever else resonates with you. Sometimes, going back to the basics really makes a difference.

Additionally, it’s important to always maintain the “I can” mentality. Many of us doubt ourselves and begin on the path to achieving a certain goal with a negative mindset. That negativity could be the difference between meeting and exceeding, or not even partially fulfilling a given goal. The moment an individual tells themselves that they won’t be able to achieve a goal for whatever reason, their chances of success immediately begin to deteriorate.

Finally, at some point brute force and tenacity begin to not be enough, and a break is needed. As much as hard work and perseverance are necessary to motivate yourself, too much of anything is a bad thing. Knowing when to take a step back, and giving yourself a much needed timeout, helps avoid burnout and poor consequences in the long run.

At the end of the day, self motivation means something different for each individual person. For me personally, these techniques tend to steer me in the right direction. Unfortunately, these same techniques may not be possible solutions for anyone else. The key is to experiment and find your own perfect combination.

    My headphones are nestled in the crannies of my ears nearly every free interlude. The five minutes between classes, on the way home, working on an extensive project, laying in my bed in the dark. I need the sound, the distraction from thinking. I need the full sound of a cello, smooth piano, the deep hum underneath the fast pace of a pop song, the synth the drives every 80s hit that I’ve listened to a thousand times. It’s almost just noise at this point, yet still, with my mind empty, a feel every note and take in every sound. The isolation of my own world with my own sounds, not the cars speeding by, the conversations of the people that pass me, my footsteps on the concrete. All I hear is the song, and all I feel is the sound.

    I sometimes lay on the floor of my bedroom, my eyes closed, floating in what feels like a pool with sound surrounding me. I mouth the words, and sometimes I lay completely still, but remain nowhere near a passive listener.

    I imagine a world that represents the song, a scene of a film in which the sound would be heard over the action or in the background. I see the colors that a song emits, whether it is more of a neon sign or the soft light of sun on a picnic blanket.

    I tap my fingers on my leg or my desk or the back of my phone, hopping between the bass or the drum beat or the different notes of the singer’s voice. I get lost, trying to listen to every part of the music, honing in on a separate aspect one at a time, then coming out of that focus to be welcomed by a swell of sound flooding in all at once.

    I don’t mind the silence, but the sounds of every day don’t do it for me anymore.

Although March for many people may seem like a dreaded month, there is much to look forward to with the sun shining and the promise of a brighter and better tomorrow. I believe March receives a bad reputation solely because of its connotation with tireless days and no real holidays as well as the threat of snow falling or the mud season commencing. However, the month of March can bring about a more joyful mindset.

March is really the last month of winter each year, the warmth of the sun peaks its head out, while the cold hands of Mother Nature start to lose their grip on her control of the frigid weather. March not only brings about the official beginnings of spring, but some of the physical signs of spring too. In may not be that buds are blooming, but just the sweet smells that fill the air. Just outside of windows are birds chirping, bringing in the news of creatures coming back to earth’s surface after months of hibernation or migration. It is finally the time to close the doers on winter and its bleakness and instead look forward to days filled with sunshine and smiles.

March is this transition and instead of being seen as a dull and uninteresting time of the year, maybe a closer look at what actually occurs during this time would give it a different connotation. March should not be seen in any drear light, but as a time of new opportunity and beginnings, for the first hopeful signs of spring are already surrounding us, if we would only open our eyes and look.

One of the biggest problems in America today is the obesity epidemic. People in America eat unhealthy foods because that is what is marketed to them. Take route one for example. How many fast food restaurants do you see? There’s McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Dunkin Doughnuts, Krispy Kreme, and others. It’s hard for people to eat healthy when healthy food is harder to find, and fast food is cheap and easy

 

There are even more examples of this in Thornton Academy’s own cafeteria. When you go to lunch, take a look around. Healthier foods like salads, or wraps are more expensive than the unhealthy foods such as pizza and chicken tenders. Now, I’m not gonna say I never have those days where I eat like a grease pig, but I try my best to eat healthy. More people eat unhealthily because it is easier for them. It costs less money, and most of the time, it tastes better.
If America wants to solve the obesity epidemic, then they need to stop marketing the unhealthy stuff. Obviously, a large fast food company would not stop their own marketing, but businesses that sell healthier foods should make the healthy foods more accessible and cheaper. This would attract more customers, and bring people away from all the fast food. If a fast food company wanted to get its customers back, all they would have to do is sell healthier foods, so it all goes full circle.