Category: Uncategorized

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Think about it. Uncategorized

School.

What has it become?

It seems like it’s become nothing more than a competition.

Between me and my friends.

Between me and the rest of the school.

Between me and the world.

It seems as if in this competition, we’ve lost sight of what school really is about.

Colleges say they look at grades. They look at numbers that an individual attains.

But what is the REAL point of school?

TO LEARN.

So, in this mad scramble to achieve what we can, to get as close as possible to that 4.0, we study and study.

But 90% of this knowledge we gain is forgotten right when the test is over.

Let me ask you this:

We see videos of  Americans being “stupid” like

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE&hl=en&fs=1&]

and

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww&hl=en&fs=1]

Who do you think is to blame?

Okay, maybe not the second video.

But I blame the schools, man.  Schools put too much emphasis on the competitive part of schooling.

They don’t even bother to bring up the fact that we’re supposed to be learning.

I don’t know. Maybe they think it’s a given.

But think about it. Does your school do anything that shows that you haven’t been learning?

YES. It’s called a beginning-of-the-year-review!

Why do you need a review if you’ve made sure you’ve learnt it already?

What you’ve done now is  relearn what you had learned all last year, but in a fraction of the time.

But it’s a serious waste of time. We could be learning new concepts during that time.

Either way, this competitiveness of school is stressing kids out, man.

Some of them are driven to their limits. Some bully others. Some commit suicide.

All this for what–to have the child’s family spend more money to learn more stuff that he’ll forget right as the test is over?

Think about it.

Categories
Think about it. Uncategorized

Would you rather…?

Please poll before you read.

[polldaddy poll=1830709]

I have tried many a year to find the perfect ratio for this quiz. And I really want to know what people think.

I have, honestly, always thought that I would enjoy solitude more. As I saw it, groups corrupt the mind. And they do. But if you try to make decisions without groups, you might be in trouble because you might not think of certain consequences.

But individuality is awesome. I really enjoy being me. An individual. I have my thoughts. I have development of ideas. I get what I want, basically. Whatever I want goes. Like communism? You got it. Too bad you’re the only person in the vicinity.

If you don’t mind, I would like a comment on what you voted for and why. That would be great.

Again, I only posted this because I want to know what people think.

Thanks.

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Think about it. Uncategorized

The internet

If you had to describe the internet to someone who has never heard of it and has never imagined that there could be anything like it, what would you say?

I thought about this for a while. And then I came up with a nice metaphor.

The internet is a town.

People venture to this town from all over the world. Some, just for a few moments. Others, however, stay in this town for years at a time.

This town can only be seen through special glasses.  When you first arrive, a pair comes complimentary. It’s called Internet Explorer. But as you go along you will realize that it’s not sufficient, so you ask someone or go to a website to find a better one. E.g. Firefox or Opera.

You must pay monthly for a means of transportation.  The company you seek out will affect the speed of your transportation. If you get AOL, you’ll have to pay about $25 a month for a snail to take you places. If you get Comcast, you’ll have to pay maybe $40 a month and ride a Mustang, but you run the risk of your horse getting tired. A LOT.

In this city, there’s many things you can do. You can watch short clips at youtube, hulu, or vimeo. You can listen to music that people post there. You can talk to people through special programs that will allow you to connect to them. You can go to certain websites, register for free, add people as “friends” and proceed to stalk them effortlessly.

You can play games with people.  You can play games with yourself.

People go and share their ideas all over the town. Some get feedback. Some don’t.

It’s all good ‘n’ fun.

Until you go to one of “those” places.

People will try to attack you. People will try to mind-control you. They will try to go and steal your personal information. Make you their own. They will put parasites in you. They will throw fatty food in your direction so you get fat and get slooooooooooooooooooooooooow.

But hey, if you’re responsible and use the internet like you should, there should be no problems.

That is the internet.

Sounds like something from the future, doesn’t it?

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Religion Uncategorized

Fact.

[polldaddy poll=1796459]

In my poll, “religious” may apply to any religion.

You know, I’ve lived on both sides.

I’ve been non-Christian and have bashed everything about Christianity.

Now I’m Christian.

And I have to say, this side of the fence is greener. Without doubt.

When I was over there, I struggled with life.  And admittedly, I always felt a void in my heart.

I filled that void with video games and numerous other things like bullying.

It didn’t work, so I dropped the bullying and devoted my life to video games.

It worked for a while… then I became bored.

I had nothing else to turn to so I just kept playing.

Now that I know what that void is filled by…

It feels great.

I feel like I have no cares in the world.

I sit there, try to be the best Christian I can by helping others, stopping myself from sinning, etc.

And God does the rest.

So I encourage you.

If you don’t know Jesus.

Ask a friend about church.

I guarantee it will be the best thing that has happened and will happen to you.

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Uncategorized

Me?

Very recently, my mom has made me wake up every morning at eight o’ clock. One hour of reading Chinese, one hour of watching Korean dramas to improve my Korean, and two hours of studying math, she says.

A few days ago, I picked up a Chinese book and read through it. It was a Chinese version of The Tortoise and the Hare. At the end of it, she pointed out to me that this story could be applied directly to my academic life.

You all know the story of the tortoise and the hare. The hare, an arrogant and confident fool, challenges everybody to a race, and nobody stands up to him except the tortoise.  The race goes on and eventually the hare gets so far ahead that he decides to take a nap. He wakes up a few hours later and notices that the tortoise has already passed him and is so close to the finish line that the hare cannot catch up and pass him.

I, here, am the hare. I started my academic life in the Challenge Program (Summit, as you Mukilteo-ites would call it). Up until sixth grade (I was still in elementary school). I remember very clearly that  we were doing Geometry. The kind with proofs and finding exterior angles of polygons.  You know, the kind most people do in high school. We read books like Tom Sawyer.

Then we had family issues. Stuff happened. Money ran dry. We had to move. I moved to the house I’m in now. I had to transfer schools.

Seventh grade. I’m put in a class filled with seventh graders. Probablilty. Whoo! (At the time, I was thinking, “Crap. I don’t remember how to do this. Lemme see if I can skip this class.” I’ve never told anybody that before.) So I went up a level to Algebra I. That’s a level lower than Geometry. I asked the teacher if I could skip it and she said no; it was a high-school credit course. I needed the credit. I could take no test to pass it.

So I dealt with it. I took the class, didn’t try at all. Passed with an A. This is the year when my “nap” began.

8th grade, Geometry. No try. Passed.

9th grade. Transcript begins to count. Report card: 5 A’s, 1 C. C was in English. ” I argued with the teacher about this grade. Half-hearted arguing, I would say. I gave up on it.

10th grade. Report card: 3 A’s. 1 C, 1 D, 1 F. Begged the “F” teacher to show mercy. He didn’t.  Have to retake the class next year.

See where I’m going with this? 10th grade is when the “tortoise” has caught up to the “hare.” The class I failed was the one I was ahead in. Now I’m with people I’m supposed to be with.

Hopefully I wake up from this nap before it’s too late.

But let’s think about the moral of the story: “Slow and steady wins the race.”

Is this true? Do people who go slowly and take their time ultimately win in the end?

Personally, I don’t think this is true. I think “Fast and steady wins the race.” But there have been stories of people who have not finished high school who are more rich than those who have Ph.Ds.

But that doesn’t seem very common.

In fact, it seems like a downright lie.

But maybe it is true.

Maybe slow and steady DOES win the race.

Maybe most who excel now will just have dead-end jobs in the future.

While others who have trouble at school learn the hardships of life and use it to their advantage.

But where is my life going?

Only God knows.