Grades

It’s a bit late, but I’m posting my grades blog because it’s always good to get my idea out there. I have a viewpoint on grades that is typical of any high school student, I despise them because they make me work harder than I would really feel like working. That little ink mark that comes out on progress reports and transcripts every few weeks is what makes or breaks some people’s lives. It is what helps them get into college. it is what determines if they can go out on Friday night or not. It is what every student strives for on tests and quizzes.

I am one of those people that won’t put up much of a fight about it though, mainly because that aspect of school has never affected me much. Like most of the people in AP classes I’ve coasted through school all the way up to now by paying attention on review days and acing the tests, then getting by on everything until the next test. This strategy is easy when your brain can absorb the information and for a short amount of time, like mine. My situation makes it easy for me to get A’s on the important things and get an A in the class. This scews the way the entire grading system is supposed to work. Grades are there to represent your academic skill level, not how much you can cram and retain for a bit.

The grading system may be a little messed up, but it’s not entirely down the drain. Every once in a while the grades do represent a persons skill level. This really only happens to the people that try to fail. If somebody pays attention is school and does what the teacher asks of them, they will usually receive a C, passing. However the students that skip class, never pay attention, and never do their homework will acheive a failing grade. If they manage to accomplish all of these tasks, or lack thereof, they will prove the grading system does work. They won’t understand the material, therefore they shall attain the grade of F.

Grades… crazy, I know.

Economic Bailout

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/29/miron.bailout/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

This article discusses why the bailout is a horrible idea. The author described how the government started this problem in the 70’s. DIfferent lending corporations gave out loans and took huge risks, and now everyone is paying the consequences.  Then the author goes into detail about how we should let all of these huge corporations declare bankruptcy, that way all the information is wiped out, and they start with a clean slate.

I don’t necessarily agree with the author of this article. I do see the reason why he would want companies to declare bankruptcy and start over. This would mean different people in charge, and hopefully these new people wouldn’t take the same idiotic risks the originals did. However there is one problem with not letting the government help out at all. In the article the author describes how if we do just let these companies declare bankruptcy, more will follow in that course, which could lead to a huge economic collapse. I agree with him on that point. So what I beleive the government should do is let all of these companies who have taken too many risks declare bankruptcy. However they should aid other companies who might slide into bankruptcy because of this. This way the risk taking companies will be wiped out, and those who actually have been clean will get to keep on truckin.

“Meanest Mom” Article Response

I wasn’t a great fan of this article. The main reason why is because I realize it would totally suck to have your mom do that to you. I understand that underage drinking is a bad thing, but that seems way too far. This kid was eighteen, which means he is an adult and his mom shouldn’t be able to control him like that. The worst this mom should have been able to do was take his car, if that. I also didn’t like this article because it showed how the media really plays up little things like this. Some mom having an odd add in the paper shoudln’t be as widely publicized. The news needs to focus on more important issues.

If I were in this situation I would just have poured out the alcohol and taken his car one day for every ounce that was in the bottle. That way he would learn not to have alcohol in his car, and if he ever wanted to do it again he might think twice on the amount of alcohol he wants to buy. This mom was way too crazy and went over the edge on her punishment. Cars are something that people really need in this day and age, and now this kid has to walk or take the bus everywhere because his mom is nuts and sold his car. Not how I would have done it.

Junior Year Goals

Junior year is one of the hardest years of high school. Yes it’s great to be an upperclassman, but you don’t have the effortless work load of freshman and sophomore year, or the leisure of senior year. Its the toughest year and there’s alot to do. There are alot of things that I want to accomplish during my junior year. Probably the most important thing that I want to figure out is what I want to do with my life. Right now I’m not totally sure what’s going on, so this year I would really like to get things set in stone and ready to go.  Other than that I would really just like to enjoy this year for all its value. This year I’m older. I’ll be able to go out into the world and explore different things without people thinking I’m just some stupid kid. I’ll have alot more fun then I have previous years–which will be a hard goal do accomplish–because more people are leaving the comfort of their parents homes and living the life as an individual. I’m really excited for this junior year. It’ll be the best one yet.