woah.

aaahhhhhh spring break. I had been looking forward to it allll year and now I just can’t believe it’s over! This spring break was seriously so fun. On Monday my entire family (mom, dad, meg, katie, and bruce) and Linds and I left for isla mujeres which is an island off of the coast of cancun. It was a long journey to get there, but it was so worth it. We stayed in this quaint little hotel called maria del mar (mary of the sea) right on the beach. It was the cutest place. It was completely open with a tiny pool and gardens in the middle surrounded by the rooms with thatched roofs and porches. I will describe a typical day. Linds and I would wake up at 7, put on our suits, grab some toast, and head to the beach. Every 5-10 minutes we’d jump in the ocean because it would get soooo hot. At about 3 we would go to the pool when we couldn’t take the heat anymore and just be lazy some more. We’d go in around 5 when the sun started to go down and read the Sparrow and make bracelets and then we’d head to dinner around 7. It was so perfect and completely relaxing, I wouldn’t change it for the world! Now I’m back at school and instead of thinking about how awesome spring break was, I’m already wishing for summer and looking forward to next spring break! I’m trying to live in the moment but at this moment it’s 4:30 and I still have 8 more hours of homework to do so I don’t exactly like it butttttttt spring break was still awesome. bye

This activity was seriously awesome. I really don’t know how Ms. Haffley thought of all of this stuff…but it was an adventure! I was really confused at first as to what the heck we were supposed to do. I thought we had to like go home and find talismans from our own journey and bring them in and talk about them or something that made no sense. But then she said, alright you have the rest of the period to find them. What? So off I went. Our first mission failed. We asked the front desk lady if she had heart. She looked at us like we were idiots and then finally realized what we were doing and just said, “ooohhhhhh, no that’s not me!” So we moved on. One of my favorite ones was in the learning center. I’m not in learning center myself, so I’ve never really talked to the people in there. It was so fun just going up to people and asking them questions, especially if we didn’t know them.

Anyway, I really liked how each of the medicines represented each person so well. Some of them, like joy and Kling were obvious, but others took a lot of thought, strength and like Ms. Mccarthy. At first we thought strength was for sure a gym teacher, but then we thought it was a music teacher because of the universal language, but thennnnn we thought it had to be a chemistry teacher. But strength totally fits Mrs. Macarthy.

One of the medicines that really stood out to me was courage. Usually when you think of courage you think of being a huge miraculous hero, risking your life, etc. But getting up to talk in front of people is one of the hardest things for many people to do. Teachers do it everyday, but it still takes courage to get up there and talk in front of a group of kids who you don’t know really care about what you’re talking about, or if they will learn something from you. I’ve actually learned to kind of like public speaking. Before I actually talk, i am so nervous and I shiver a lot. But once I start speaking, it all goes away and I am at ease. In the end, I am always glad that I had the courage to give a speech, or whatever it may be.

It is so hard to choose which of the medicines serves me the best because I can relate to so many of them. However, my favorite one happens to be insight. It was the last one that I found because I thought it was Ms. Haffley so i went back to the room to ask her. I didn’t totally figure it out on my own because she kind of hinted that it was myself, but that’s beside the point. Almost every single medicine is something that is within yourself. Although you can ask for insight from others, only you can understand how you truly feel. Sometimes it is hard for me to confide in other people and ask for advice, so oftentimes I really do provide myself with insight. I really believe in gut feelings and having the answers to everything within yourself. Second guessing your gut feelings seem to always end up badly, so trusting your insight is the best way to go.

One medicine that I need to up the dosage on is patience. I often get impatient with myself when I can’t get myself to do something, or finishing my homework, or fall asleep, or whatever it is. However, these are the things I actually have control over. What I really need to do is have patience with the things I have absolutely no control over, like sitting in line, slow people on the road, and waiting for certain classes to end. What is the point of getting mad or frustrated when there is nothing I can do about it? I have to say I have gotten a lot more patient with my siblings as I have gotten older, but it’s taken a lot of work. I also know I am going to have to be patient in college in getting used to such a huge change.

I believe that every single one of the medicines serves each and every one of us at one point or another in our hero journeys. Whether we have seen them yet or not, they will come around.

 

 

 

i’m taking my first sat this saturday, the 14th! i haven’t really taken any reallll courses like dealing with the material, i’ve only taken a strategy class which actually has been really helpful. I feel like I am prepared, but we will see. The only parts I am really nervous about are math and critical reading. but especially math. I’m trying to tell myself that it’s really not a big deal, like the rest of my life doesn’t depend on this one test…even though it kind of does. well not really, but kind of. if anyone has taken it already and has any tips on how to prepare, let me know!

 

Sara Owens

Ms. Haffley

Position Paper

2 March 2009

Drinking Age

Alcohol has become a major part of American culture, including among teenagers even if it is illegal. The current drinking age in Indiana is 21, as is most other states in the U.S. It has been contemplated whether or not lowering the drinking age would have positive or negative effects on teen drinking. A few problems involving lowering the drinking age would be that teens under 18 would be able to get alcohol more easily and therefore kids would begin drinking even earlier, the brain is not fully developed yet, and that other overall problems involving underage drinking would increase. On the other hand, there are several issues that would be resolved if the drinking age was lowered. For instance, kids would stop getting in trouble with the law, especially in college when underage drinking is almost unavoidable. Also the social structure in which underage drinking exists would be reestablished into something like that of the drinking status in Europe where alcohol is just part of the culture and consequently does not have the “rebel” status that it does in the United States. You would also have one year of parental support before you go to college if alcohol consumption was legal at 18. While alcohol is a prominent temptation in the lives of many teens, if the hanging threat of getting caught and getting in trouble no longer existed, the fruit would be much less tempting. Lowering the drinking age would give teens more time to learn how to drink responsibly.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, youth who consume alcohol are more likely to experience school problems, such as higher absence and poor or failing grades, social problems, such as fighting and lack of participation in youth activities, legal problems, such as arrest for driving or physically hurting someone while drunk, physical problems, such as hangovers or illnesses, unwanted, unplanned, and unprotected sexual activity, disruption of normal growth and sexual development, physical and sexual assault, Higher risk for suicide and homicide, alcohol-related car crashes and other unintentional injuries, such as burns, falls, and drowning, memory problems, abuse of other drugs, changes in brain development that may have life-long effects, and death from alcohol poisoning (www.cdc.gov). 

But, no matter what age you are, there are still many harmful effects that stem from the consumption of alcohol. Other than the damage that can be done externally while intoxicated, internal effects such as damaging the brain also occur. Ken Bode, a writer for the Indianapolis Star, wrote an article called “Don’t hand teens over to alcohol industry.” In it, he explained that 80% of college students are younger than the drinking age, but 80% of them still drink. Not only do they drink, but they binge drink, or drink for the purpose of passing out. When a person passes out from drinking too much, it is because the alcohol totally shuts down the hippocampus, the same part of the brain’s temporal lobe that is damaged by Alzheimer’s and epilepsy. This is part of the reason why memory is lost and judgement is obscured while intoxicated. It has also been found that the brain is not fully developed until age 24 which means that underage drinking would start causing damage earlier on (Bode 1). However, if 80% of college students are drinking anyway then this damage is still occurring, it is just occurring illegally.

Dee Owens, president of the Indiana Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking, who has had 30 years of alcohol and drug related work, also does not agree to lowering the drinking age. He said, “If you push the legal age down, the age of first onset will go down as well which means more high school students will get it easier.” (Bode 1). He believes that if the drinking age is lowered to 18, high school seniors would be able to legally purchase and consume alcohol and therefore buy it for their underage friends. After interviewing 5 current high school students, it was found that this would be true. All five of them admitted that it would be much easier for them to get ahold of alcohol if it was legal for 18 year olds to buy it for them or they could just buy it themselves. Yet most of them said that if they want alcohol, they just call someone who is 21 to get it for them. However, when asked if having alcohol more easily available would make them drink more at once or more regularly, they said it would not. It would only be less than a hassle, but just because there would be more sources available, does not mean they would drink more. 

Four out of the five students who were  interviewed said they would support lowering the drinking age to 18. One reason for their support was that if at 18 years old, you are responsible enough to go to war, vote, and buy tobacco, then you should be responsible enough to buy and consume alcohol. Part of the Amethyst Initiative Statement says, Adults under 21 are deemed capable of voting, signing contracts, serving on juries and enlisting in the military, but are told they are not mature enough to have a beer. By choosing to use fake IDs, students make ethical compromises that erode respect for the law.” (www.amethystinitiative.org). Furthermore, just because 18 year olds are able to buy cigarettes does not mean that every 18 year old buys them. Also, teenagers drink more than they should because they feel like they need to do it in private and they drink more all at once because they do not know when the next time will be when it is available to them. By lowering the drinking age, teens would be able to drink responsibly with their parents or other adults around and will be more used to it and less likely to abuse it.

Although, when asked if they thought binge drinking would increase or decrease with the lowering of the drinking age, the results were mixed. Two students said at first it would increase because it is a new fad, but eventually it would decrease because kids will learn sooner how do drink in moderation and it will become more like the European drinking culture. “Basically, it is a difference of philosophy. In Europe, the consensus is that when alcohol is not exiled into a corner of society, it is demystified, and therefore a less alluring vice.” (Frantz 1). It would not be as fun to drink because it would not be a risk anymore. It would not be as exciting or rebellious. One student said it would decrease altogether because you would get more adjusted to it earlier and be less likely to abuse it later on because you would know your limits already. However another student said that the drinking age is fine where it is now because 18 year olds are not mature enough for the responsibility of drinking whereas at 21 you are ready. The overwhelming reason why these students would not support the drinking age would be because kids would start drinking earlier and the high school gap would open.

 

Drinking responsibly seems like it should be common sense, but kids cannot learn to drink responsibly if they are already moved out of the house by the time it is legal for them to drink. Allowing 18 year olds to consume alcohol would provide an opportunity to drink comfortably with parents and adults and have alcohol become a social tool rather than a forbidden fruit where the temptation involved is the reason for the risk. While this call to action against underage drinking may seem to go against the norms of our society, the fact that teens consume alcohol is nothing new. Living up to the facts of underage drinking and lowering the drinking age will help our youth to learn the responsibilities and consequences of the use of alcohol. Works Cited

5 anonymous interviews. telephone interview. 2 March 2009.

Amethyst Intitiative: Rethink the Drinking Age. 2 March 2008. <http:// www.amethystinitiative.org/statement/>.

Bode, Ken. “Don’t hand teens over to alcohol industry.” Indianapolis Star 12 December 2008: A12.

Department of Health and Human Services: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Quick Stats Underage Drinking.” 2008. 2 March 2009. <http:// www.cdc.gov/Alcohol/quickstats/underage_drinking.htm>.

Frantz, Jeff. “Europeans Learn Responsible Drinking.” Alcohol Problems and Solutions. 2007. State University of New York. 2 March 2009. <http:// www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/YouthIssues/1077563832.html>.

Soooo as a follow up to my last post, I will just do a little reflection on my favorite part: Boston College! First of all, the day we visited was super super cold but absolutely gorgeous. We had an official tour of the campus which was awesome. Our tourguides were so helpful and they knew everything about everything. The campus was beautiful. It was such a community. The whole campus is set up around steps and there are zillions of them. But hey, they keep off the freshman fifteen they say! The students reminded me so much of Brebeuf students because of their friendliness and attitude towards school and life, etc. I honestly just loved every single thing about it and I’m pretty sure it’s my dream school…but i did come to the realization that there can be absolutely no more slacking for the rest of my high school career. It may be a stretch, but it’s exactly what I want in a school. It actually made me excited to go off to college which none of the other schools have done. aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh

As of this moment in my life, I have absolutely no idea where I want to go to college…so that means i’m trying to get a glimpse of several different kinds of schools and of course going on tons of visits! I love travelling so I think it’s fun visiting different places. I have only visited a few so far including Loyola of Chicago, Marquette, University of Wisconsin, and IU. I’m pretty excited though because for the four day weekend my mom and I are going to Boston to visit Boston College and then to New York to visit Fordham and NYU. We may have time to see a few more, I just don’t know where else I want to look! If you have any suggestions let me know! We’re winging the whole trip pretty much so it should be exciting!

Okay, so I already wrote a post about how much I hated winter…but guess what?! It’s already february and I’m not even that sick of it yet! I mean, we’ve already had a snow day and a few delays which is great. Also a plus about february is that (well from what I remember from last year) we really don’t even have that much school. We have president’s day weekend of course and then a few just random days that don’t really count as school days…plus it’s a short month to begin with. I think maybe the reason why I’m not hating winter so much right now is because I have been SO busy. Not only is second semester of junior year super important and super stressful, but we also have all of this college stuff to think about and meetings and stuff plus sports, etc etc etc etc…I’m really not complaining though I actually love being busy. As a matter of fact I was in this really uncomfortable mood on the snow day because I had finished all of my homework the day before not even thinking that we would have a delay let alone the whole day off and I felt just plain weird not having something i needed to do. Don’t get me wrong I was loving the relaxation time but I just have been so busy lately I felt like I was missing something important that I needed to get done. So we have january behind us…and then shorty february to go and then march which only half counts as winter because sometimes it surprises you and gets warm for march…and then SRING BREAK. and we all know that after spring break the rest of school just flies by and then summer! yeahhhhhhhhh

Earlier this year, I applied to be a part of the Kenya 2009 group that would be traveling to Kenya this coming summer. Only 12 people were to get in and many more applied, so chances were slim but after a long application process, I somehow made it in! We have had a few meetings so far to talk about the schedule and what kind of things we are going to do while we are there and then fundraising and how we are going to raise enough money so that everyone can afford the trip. It still hasn’t really hit me yet that I am actually going to Africa for my first time. It has always been something that I have wanted to do and I hope that this isn’t my only time going there. I hope that when I go I will be transformed into a person that can understand the kind of suffering that goes on in other parts of the world and have the compassion and the drive to continue helping the people and places that I see. Traveling is one of my favorite things to do in the world and I wish I could do it more often, but considering that I have only been to other parts of the United States and France in 5th grade, this trip will definitely open my eyes and only make me want to scratch my itch to travel even more!

I have come to the conclusion during my first week of school that I am not aware of what is going on in the world around me. I have two new classes this semester: AP Comparative Government and International Issues and we have spent the majority of our time talking about current events and international news and I am blatantly ignorant of current issues. I mostly blame this on myself because I don’t take the time very often to watch the news or read the paper. It’s not because I am not interested, I obviously am considering the classes i’m taking, but for some reason being informed about the world has slipped on my priority list. I have made it a New Years goal to try to watch the 6 oclock news with my parents every night and if I can’t get this done, then at least read the news highlights online or in the paper. I have also taken the initiative to change the homescreen on my computer at home from facebook to cnn.com! Huge step for me…But hopefully after this semester I will develop better habits and not slip into this downward spiral of ignorance.

It is natural for every human being to feel that they are being called to do something with their life. Even as a child, I felt like there was something I was put on this earth to do or to fulfill. But even now, I don’t know what that calling is. I have gone through many trials in my life that I guess you could call adventures which I would consider to be a part of my ultimate calling, but they just aren’t IT. This IT, my destiny is something that I don’t feel like I have encountered yet. I feel like everything that goes on in my life is one more step that I have to take to get there. I’m kind of waiting for a big boom or something to tell me what I am supposed to do or who I am supposed to be and it just hasn’t hit me yet. I have this same problem when I think about what kind of career I would like to have or where I want to go to college. I try really hard not to think too much about these things because I believe that someday it will just hit me and I’ll know. I don’t know how exactly it will hit me but I just have this feeling that it will be through a person that I don’t know yet, a person that will just impact my life in a way that I haven’t known before. I am not nervous at all to be called to my destiny because it’s where I am supposed to be. I feel that no matter what it is, it will feel perfect when it comes. While it may feel perfect for me, it may not be accepted right away by everyone else, but I honestly don’t care at this point what anyone else thinks about my destiny. It may seem cliche, but I know part of my destiny involves helping people. I don’t know how, where, or when but I just know that. I know that I need to get out of Indiana and explore my options. I have always had the itch to travel and now that I am getting older I am getting more and more anxious to see what the rest of the world is like. I love where I am and I love growing up here, but it bothers me knowing that there is so much more out there that I have never experienced. I have always had this dream that one day I will get to travel the world and meet tons of new people and places and I have this feeling that somewhere along the way, I will find my destiny. Right now, I just have this cloudy view of the world because all I know of it is what I can see through a screen or through pictures. I know I look different in pictures than in real life, so what makes the world any different? Even though i have no idea what my destiny is, there are a few things that I have a hunkering they’re not. One would be athletics. sports definitely are not my forte. While I enjoy them and I like to be in shape and take care of my body, it’s just not what i am called to do in life. Another thing is the corporate world aka office life aka cubicles with no windows. I want to be excited about my destiny, not dread it. I feel wierd saying that I am content with my life right now considering I have so much ahead of me, but I really enjoy it. I love my friends and I love my school and I just feel like I belong where I am. Even so, there’s just this little thing inside of me…this little something that I am missing or that is actually there and I just haven’t found it yet. My ultimate calling I know has not come to me yet, but everyday I am called to be myself. This is always challenging for my but day by day I find myself getting more and more comfortable being me, but I am just waiting for that one bit of myself to come out that is hiding…I am waiting for someone or something to help me find the seed that I know is inside of me.