Christine Wu, Period 5, 11/30/2020, Day B

• At this current point in time, what specific goal(s) do you have for yourself? Why?

Probably like every other senior in the United States right now, I am currently struggling to juggle both my college applications and my schoolwork. I admit, maintaining a balance between the two is quite hard, and is something I’d like to improve on, especially nearing January 1st. I have two essays due very soon--the 8th, in fact--and my very short term goal as of now is to get it done before the deadline. It’s nothing big or flashy, but it is something I’m going to be putting my entire mind into this week. Editing essays, especially on your own, is undeniably pretty difficult, which is why I usually ask my friends for help. Two sets of eyes are better than one, and we catch more mistakes that way, and it adds a bit more fun to what is usually a long and tedious process. Writing essays, especially when nothing comes to mind, is even more difficult, even though I had finished my Common Application essay a month prior and had a sense of what to do. Unfortunately, I’m a chronic procrastinator, and I also get easily distracted, some of my worst traits, which isn’t good when it comes to balancing two very important aspects of my life thus far. This is one of my more long-term goals, to stop putting everything at the last minute and get working, a very hard mentality to consistently put effort into, in my own personal opinion. This is incredibly important nearing college deadlines, since I have many supplements I still need to complete prior to the January 1st deadline, and I shouldn’t leave it for the last two weeks to do, even though I know it is very tempting. This is also very important in regards to everyday life as well, as maybe I would be less stressed--and get more sleep--if I stopped doing my homework around 8:00 every night!

• How do you demonstrate resilience towards achieving this goal? (or these goals?)

I admit, it is insanely difficult to actively gather and put effort into writing these essays! I don’t particularly like divulging into different aspects of myself as a person; I rather pretend I do not exist at all, but recently, after reading the prompts, which were actually pretty interesting, I decided to get a move on instead of wallowing in my own pity. I started reaching out to others who wrote these essays a couple of weeks or even months prior to me, asking for advice. I even asked some of my friends to edit them for me, because we’re all in this together, and we all understand how arduous the college essay process really is. This fits into my larger goal at hand as well, for I started to do something called the Pomodoro method--in which I work for four 25 minute intervals, with a 5 minute break between each interval, and a 15 minute break after the total four intervals had passed--while working on my college essays. I also decided to turn off all my devices besides the one I’m working on, in order to stop getting distracted. It still rarely works, but I’ve been getting better at forcing myself to maintain focus. I’ve even started to use these methods while doing homework, and I admit, it’s getting me pretty far. Again, it’s not perfect, but hopefully with more resilience, I can get even further! 

• How does the world around you affect your perception of this goal? (or these goals?)

The world is huge; that is a given. It is in this large world that I realize that so many others have the same problems as I do, whether it is also college application season wherever they may be, or issues with procrastination. I’ve always thought that I was unique, and in more cringey terms, “not like other girls,” but life isn’t about that. I think the knowledge that I’m not alone pushes me forward even more, whether it’s complaining to my friends that “ugh, I don’t want to write this college essay,” just for them to say “same,” or seeing someone halfway across the world rant about online schooling on TikTok or Instagram. This enables me to write my essay, to do my homework, to learn something new, to perhaps finally stop procrastinating all the time, because countless people before me have done it, because countless people I know, or don’t know, are doing it, and countless people after will do it. But at the same time, I suppose the constant stimulus of social media takes away from my goal to stop getting distracted and stop procrastinating, for there’s so much to look at, but I do try my best to avoid getting on social media while doing my intended work, which is better than nothing! 

 

Elizabeth Vesialou, Period 2, 11/30/20 Day A

Elizabeth Vesialou
Period 2
11/30/2020
Day A

Modern Mythology 2021

At this current point in time, what specific goal(s) do you have for yourself? Why?

                At this time I have many goals that involve academics and my future, but also self-care and the present. For example, my short term goals include applying to colleges and being accepted to ensure that my future has a clear path that will take my to my career goal of becoming a physician. Other academic goals are to stay on top of my workload,which has been harder than usual since the pandemic hit. Because we have been out of practice (since March 2020) of having regularly scheduled school days with classes and homework everyday for so long, it has been difficult to get a routine going and focusing on school. Thus, a goal of mine has also been to be more organized which I have done by creating approximate schedules to get a certain amount of work done everyday while balancing college applications and outside work such as the assignments I have for the lab I'm working for (an epilepsy lab at University of Southern California).

All of these are short term goals that focus on school and college. However, they have also inspired me to make long-term goals for myself such as being patient with myself and being calmer and more free about everything that's going on now and what will be going on years from now. I have always been a very controlling person because I've had a clear path in my mind of everything I needed to accomplish. With the pandemic hitting and life changing so quickly, I realized that to a certain extent I don't have control over everything and I need to let life take over more than I do. Additionally, constantly demanding perfection from myself has been difficult on me and being more patient with myself will help with the stress that that mindset causes.

How do you demonstrate resilience towards achieving this goal? (or these goals?)

        One of my goals actually encourages resilience: patience with myself. So when it comes to staying on top of my workload, I usually have a couple things on my to-do list that are assignments I need to get done over time (such as college applications and writing a paper for SERP). One of the ways I have stayed resilient is forgiving myself if I needed to take some time for myself and take a break and this got in the way of me working on one of these assignments. Of course I don't get carried away with pushing assignments to the next day because then I get overwhelmed with the work I need to get done. One of the things that has kept me doing assignments is the checklist I make. Checking something off of the list brings relief for a while and so that feeling has definitely kept me working rather than procrastinating. Also, many of the universities I'm applying to are extremely selective and while I am keeping a positive mind for the outcome and manifesting acceptance letters, I have also made sure that I am prepared in case things don't work out for certain universities. I'm still working on trying not to think about the outcomes since at this point they're out of my control, but distracting myself with other things has been a way to stay resilient about this goal.

How does the world around you affect your perception of this goal? (or these goals?)

        The world around me definitely impacts my perception of my goal because of the pressure that is put on seniors in high school everyday, by schools and by parents. For example, getting into a good university is constantly spoken about because the right university can help you for the rest of your career. Thus, getting applications done and doing them as well as possible is on everybody's mind. While this pressure could help accomplish the goal of applying and getting into universities, that pressure adds stress and makes me want to be as in control of my future as I can, which makes it harder to work on the goal of taking breaks and being more patient. Additionally, with teachers constantly assigning work, which I understand they have to, it feels as though as soon as I've checked something off of my to-do list there's already a new assignment to add to it. This makes staying on top of the work harder. However, I try to use this pressure to my advantage because it helps me get things done on time and it also tests my ability to let go of my controlling nature for a bit and let the world and life take over. The world also shows me how important my goals are because if I keep succeeding academically and work on listening to myself and self-care, I can lead a better, more stress-free and successful life. This is a difficult goal but one that many people around me encourage. I constantly see people on social media encouraging good mental health and taking time for yourself and it make me feel like I deserve to accomplish these goals. 

Belinda Yeung, 11/25/20, PD8, Day C

Belinda Yeung

Period 8

11/25/20

Day C

Modern Mythology 2021 

Write about your thoughts regarding the most current reading.

OEDIPUS REX BY SOPHOCLES

Having saved Thebes from the Sphinx, Oedipus assumes the throne and the rest of the city views him as their savior. When disaster strikes Thebes once again, they turn to their faithful leader that helped guide them out of tough times in the past. Oedipus is eager to help and passionately decrees great efforts and bold statements upon hearing what needs to be done. He is blinded with confidence and hubris that the issues of Thebes are as simple as his past experience with the Sphinx, as simple as solving a riddle. The duality of Oedipus’ character can also be seen as his downfall, he is brilliant enough to solve a riddle that troubled Thebes for years yet he is simple enough to overestimate himself and the situation at hand.

Oedipus seeks the truth, but those around and dear to him knowing the truth want to conceal it for the sake of his good, but he misinterprets their good intentions as plot to usurp him. Like many myths, he is blinded by power and afraid that people want to take it away from him. Their relationship between each other quickly shatters and becomes meaningless and he is no different from his father and many others willing to sacrifice their children to keep their power. I can understand Oedipus’ fear, because growing up Oedipus was forced to leave his family from the exact same fear of the procephy of killing his father and at the same was left to die by his real father who had the fear of dying in the hands of his own kin. These selfish reasons might all be part of the inevitable prophecy, but they have led Oedipus to Thebes and gave him the sense of belonging he long desired for but never had. So Oedipus, in a way, was forced to pursue his own demise. He couldn’t watch the innocent citizens of Thebes suffer by not knowing the truth and not kicking out the murder of Laius, which was destroying his home and everything he had. The truth had to come to light, but it is tragic and we can sympathize with him, because he is trapped by his own fate. 

However, we can’t say we don’t have a part in our fate or Oedipus was a hero that was simply unlucky. Oedipus wasn’t a perfect hero, and another reason why we can sympathize with him because he has flaws that come with being human. His brashness blinds him from being rational and causes him to make actions on impulse that he doesn’t mean to. He allows his emotions to cloud his judgement which ultimately led to his fall. 

Oedipus Rex also captures the essences present in many other myths: the consequences of curiosity, the inevitability of one’s fate, punishment of hubris, and the prevalence of justice. Oedipus cannot fight fate nor can he change his prophecy. He cannot find comfort as king and disregard the ideas and opinions of the citizens. His actions in the past will come back to haunt him and his murder of Lauis will not go unpunished. Seeking for the truth also presents unknown dangers that will threaten everything as he knows it.

PRIDE BY DAHLIA RAVIKOVITCH 

As humans, we all have our own breaking points but we also have our own pride. We’d like to appear strong in front of our friends and families and even strangers. The strength associated with not showing our emotions makes us hide our pain with the “illusion of calm”. However, this build up of these emotions will eventually overwhelm us and cause us to “crack” and when we do, all these emotions lash out at once. This can cause us to make reckless decisions and lead to  daimonic. It is better to express your emotions upfront rather than ignoring them. This is one of the reasons why Greeks and people in general, watch tragedies, for catharsis. To purge their emotions instead of letting them fester and deteriorate their being. 

This is also why Greeks placed such a heavy emphasis on theaters. To Greeks, the emotional well being of its citizens came hand to hand with their productivity. This breaks the negative association with expressing your emotions, and perhaps other cultures should learn about the toll carrying emotional burdens can have on its people. Just because we don’t see someone’s pain doesn’t mean they aren’t suffering.

Reflect on any new information you have learned in English class by considering how that learning influences your critical perception.

We always have to consider the duality of each character and by reading their stories, only then can we understand their complexity. We also shouldn’t characterize characters objectively as heroes or villains, based on one action or how they are portrayed in one story. We fail to consider characters beyond the paper, but characters are made based off of reality, based off of humans. They contain human traits and they are all dynamic. When we first read about Oedipus, he is the hero, saving the city of Thebes from the Sphinx. But later on we find out that he is actually the murder of his father, the previous king and he married his mother, all of which is considered taboo. So what is Oedipus, a hero or a villain? There is also the story of Medusa. She is best known as a villain and a monster, but some people fail to see the story behind that. There will always be turning points in our lives, but we shouldn’t let these define us objectively. Oedipus may have killed his father, but he made amends and even blinded himself.

STRUCTURALIST CRITICISM

Structuralism views literature in regards to its structure and you can connect different works using common patterns in its structure. Aristotle applies structuralism in Poetics, in which he outlines the general structure of tragedies. He talks about key components and characteristics found and essential in all tragedies. An important element of tragedies is peripeteia, the reversal aspect that is most striking to the audience, evoking the emotions of pity and fear. Peripeteia is not only found in Oedipus Rex, but in other popular tragedies as well like Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet.

How is what you’re learning applied to any other classes/the world around you?

In regards to pride and emotions, I can see it prevalent in real life, as people rather show a facade and a fake front than show any sign of weakness or vulnerability. The emotional scars that people hide also explain the importance approaching people in a non judgemental way. We don’t know when or if the next insignificant thing may tick them off, so we need to be considerate of our actions. We also can’t be quick to judge or criticize someone for what they did on impulse or emotionally. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes and that is part of life, we grow and we learn from them and become better people.

Ramim Tarafdar, Period 2, 11/23/20, Day A

Ramim Tarafdar

At this current point in time, what specific goal(s) do you have for yourself? Why?

    As of right now, my main goal is to find the perfect balance between my schoolwork, job responsibilities, and college applications. Simply being a senior in high school is stressful enough, but while working amidst a pandemic and having fully remote classes, the challenges have increased tenfold. I've been employed with Test & Trace since the start of this summer and with rising cases in Staten Island, I find myself burdened with added stress as the number of my responsibilities increase. Even after my 11am - 5pm shift, my job never ends with constant calls for handling shift changes and managing supplies. However, despite the troublesome workload, I take pride in the commitment I make. I try my absolute best to juggle all of these tasks on a day to day basis. I take my iPad with me to work to join the mandatory Zoom calls as I instruct workers on the day's procedures. Up until now, I've been able to keep a balance, with great help from my understanding directors, but I am gradually losing it. As the workload becomes heavier and the weather worsens, I'm finding it difficult to attend my classes and effectively conduct my role as a supervisor. The school schedule changes have also done nothing but make my life more difficult by throwing my work schedule into disarray.  The entire college application process has put on a bigger strain on me as well. In the last week, I fell behind in several classes as I prepped for alumni interviews and school deadlines. I understand that the key to getting through my issues is to plan accordingly and organize my priorities. My procrastination is a significant hurdle to cross while doing so, but if I take things one day at a time, I will definitely be well off in the long run.

How do you demonstrate resilience towards achieving this goal? (or these goals?)

    I demonstrate my resilience towards achieving these goals through my efforts to complete my school responsibilities simultaneously as I am working. I take the initiative to join in my remote classes on my phone or my iPad as I am outside supervising my workers. I also act proactively to plan out my week through calendars as I am given assignments. I have always been someone who was disorganized when it came to keeping track of assignments. This year has been different as I consistently utilize Google Calendar to track my classes' work through color-coded tabs. By breaking down my days into checklists, I've found that I can stay on top of deadlines and not have to rush. However, I still have a horrible tendency to leave my work until the last possible moment, which sometimes leads to a snowball effect, where I lose all control. Going forward, I definitely have to regain that structure that I had so that I don't end up in a situation where I have too many things piled up.

How does the world around you affect your perception of this goal? (or these goals?)

   With the pandemic still being a major threat in the United States and our city, I feel confident in the work I am a part of. Although it is dangerous since I am traveling to high-risk neighborhoods, helping these communities in their time of need by distributing essential supplies gives me pride. This is one of the main reasons why I want to continue this job during the school year. I feel pride in the fact that I'm a part of a cause that has a genuine, positive impact on people's lives. It also gives me comfort when I work with my peers, who are in the same situation as me. We are all going through the struggle together of maintaining a work-school equilibrium while also applying for college. I am able to go to them when I feel particularly overwhelmed and need advice. Overall, I need to take a few steps back and look over my current situation, organizing my responsibilities in terms of priority. In doing so, I will be able to bring back the structure and balance into my life. 

Autumn Swartz, Pd 2, 11/23/20, Day A

Autumn Swartz
Modern Mythology 2021
Period 2
11/23/2020


At this current point in time, what specific goal(s) do you have for yourself? Why

    The current goal that I have is getting all of my work done in a timely manner, while also focusing on my own well-being. Juggling the amount of work from extracurriculars, school, and college applications have felt very overwhelming. At times I feel like I’m drowning in work and just want to take a break, which leads to me doing so despite not having the time to. This causes me to procrastinate and stress even more trying to get everything done. While I do consider college applications as the most important, I still aim to do all of my other work well. It would not be beneficial for me to disregard one in favor of the other, as everything impacts me in some way. However, this does lead to a lot of late nights and a lack of sleep. I’m working to manage my time better by not procrastinating as much on assignments and lay out a schedule of each day for myself. I make a mental note of what I need and want to get done everyday and work to finish everything I set out to do. It doesn’t always work out, but I’m trying my best to keep up with everything. I’m focusing on my well-being by still working on things that are good for my health and allowing myself needed breaks here and there in between doing my work. Some things that have served as good breaks for me to breathe have been listening to music, cooking and baking (I currently love making iced chai tea lattes and chia seed pudding), and watching Criminal Minds.

How do you demonstrate resilience towards achieving this goal? (or these goals?)

    I demonstrate resilience by continuing to work hard and constantly reminding myself to keep getting everything done. I always get my work done, even during my bouts of laziness, and I try to keep myself motivated. Breaking down everything I have to do during a particular day and checking things off as I go has enabled me to keep myself motivated and moving. I also make sure that I take time to breathe. Going on fast mode all the time is too tiring to keep up; I need breaks to keep going. In order to keep up my momentum and motivation when completing my work I always make sure to take some time to close my eyes and breathe, so that I can be more focused.

How does the world around you affect your perception of this goal? (or these goals?)

    The world around me often distracts me from my goal and makes me lose sight of it. If I get too caught up in what’s going on I often lose sight of what I was trying to accomplish and end up procrastinating. However, while the world can be a distraction, it also can make my goal seem more achievable and realistic, as I see others struggling with the same things I am. I see that I’m not the only one who has had to work through the problem of procrastination or having trouble getting motivated, and due to these struggles being so common there’s a lot of advice on how to manage the workload and complete it in a more timely manner. Sometimes everything can get jumbled together and look like a mess as teachers assign more work and college applications ask for multiple things at a time, but when I take a step back, breathe, and focus I am able to form a clear cut plan and start again. I’m still working on taking that step back consistently, but as I move forward I will continue to draw from the advice of others in order to be more timely when completing work and focusing more on my well-being.

Vicki Yang, 11/20/20, PD8, Day C

Vicki Yang
Modern Mythology 2021
11/25/2020
Period 8


When talking about the state of catharsis in tragedies, we are specifically referring to the purge of emotions for the audience or reader when the characters finally understand everything that the audience does, and when irony is added to the story, it helps to increase this state of catharsis. This is shown in the play “Oedipus Rex” where the irony is that the blind truly see everything while those who can see are ignorant.

In the story, the main character, Oedipus, encounters multiple oracles who are blind. To him, they seem to be a nuisance and because of their uncooperative nature, but to the audience, our knowledge of oracles tells us that they are actually able to see the full truth and are wiser than Odepus realizes.

An example of this is at the beginning of the play where Oedipus catches wind that he may not be the king and queen’s actual son and as a result, he goes to consult Delphi the oracle. Instead of answering his question straight-forwardly, she tells him that he will marry his mother and kill his father. Realizing this, Oedipus leaves Corinth in an attempt to escape his fate. Like most characters who ask about their fate, they are usually trying actively to change them in order to keep his or her power, money, etc. They are ignorant to the truth much like Oedipus was in this situation. Although it is known that oracles are never wrong, he was ignorant of the idea that his fate would come true and left him to try to escape it, which would inevitably lead to his destiny that was predetermined by Delphi.

Similarly, near the end of the play when the blind oracle tells Oedipus that he was the murderer that the people were looking for. Right after this information is brought to light, Oedipus refuses to believe that the oracle was telling the truth and even Jocasta agrees and explains that she believes fate can be changed, which is why she and her husband sent away from their son years prior. Once again the characters’ ignorance makes them believe that they are able to change destiny and the oracle, although blind, is able to accept and see the truth that they can not see.

Finally, at the end of the story, Oedipus stabs his eyes causing him to become blind which is what allows him to no longer be ignorant. By blinding himself, he is then truly able to reflect upon his decisions that he made and learned the true nature of the power of the gods and fate.

The main reason that I found this irony intriguing because I felt as though it very closely relates to the people of the present day. In the year 2020, we have seen prejudice and unjust actions in America. We saw that those with privilege and power, much like those who are able to see in “Oedipus Rex” are more ignorant towards the unfortunate discrimination that those who are underprivileged, like the blind oracles, experience. An example of this is the people who are in support and not in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Throughout social media, I saw that the reason that many people do not support this movement is that they believe that racism is not as prevalent in the country anymore or that it doesn’t exist, and the main reason for this is because they do not experience it. Those who are very privileged oftentimes do not experience unjustified behavior from police officers or other people on the street. However, if you were to look at the lives of those who are underprivileged, minorities, we can see that racism is more prevalent than people can fathom. And similar to the irony from the story, just because you don’t want to believe something is true, doesn’t mean it isn’t. Just because Oedipus didn’t want his fate to come true, doesn’t mean it won’t and just because you may not experience racism, doesn’t mean it does not exist.

Jared Solis, Period 5, 11/26/2020, Day B

 Jared Solis

Period 5

11/26/2020

Modern Mythology 2021

At this current point in time, what specific goal(s) do you have for yourself? Why?

At this current point in time, as a rising senior, one of the specific goals that I have is to finish my college applications as early as possible. Now, most people would just try to finish their applications on time but I simply cannot have this mindset. Admittedly, I have a major procrastination problem. It is probably evident by the time that I am doing this assignment but I'm used to it. No matter what I tell myself I just can't seem to get myself to do work early most of the time. I try to tell myself that I work better under the pressure but really I am just lying to myself. The times that I do my work early, I feel extremely proud of myself and I want to hold on to that feeling. One of my main goals this semester was to crack down on my bad habit and get work done before the due date. A large part of it is my college applications as they are most likely the most important assignments that I've had to do for my entire life. Another goal that I have is to find the true passion that I want to do for the rest of my life. For the past couple of years, I have been trying to find a career path that interests me to the point where I can confidently commit to it for my lifetime. Whenever I get asked the golden question, "What do you want to be?", I falter. I hope that soon in the future I can apply my talents and/or passions to a job that I can truly feel satisfied doing. I also would like to grow taller but realistically that one may be a stretch (haha).

How do you demonstrate resilience towards achieving this goal? (or these goals?)

I demonstrate resilience towards my procrastination by trying to get my work started as early as possible. I believe that the most challenging part about doing work is getting it started. Finishing is also a challenge but definitely less so than the start. I believe that I am definitely doing better than in recent years. I understand that nobody is perfect and I am the epitome of nobody's perfect, but improvement is the closest to perfect that we will ever be. Since freshmen year, my grades have improved while not being the best in the school, and I see that as an absolute win. As long as I am not going backward in time, I am happy with the person that I am. As for true passion, I have set my sites on the world of engineering, specifically mechanical engineering. Throughout my youth, I have been one to partake in imagination and I believe that engineering can help some of my bonkers ideas come to life. While I know it may not be as I believe, I may as well take a shot or I may never know. As for the height thing, vegetables may not be a large part of my diet but I think that I eat and exercise enough to grow.

How does the world around you affect your perception of this goal? (or these goals?)

          The world around me mostly revolves around my bedroom and my basement so it may have damaged my perception of my goals. Without the ability to go and explore, finding my passion in life is very challenging and may take a little longer than normal. On top of that, while at home, I always feel a sense of laziness and find it challenging to feel motivated. With every day being the same old routine, life feels very mundane as I miss the old life we all used to share. I normally run every day (safely) which has definitely helped me through these crazy times, providing an outlet for me to get off my butt and do something. With my years on the track team, I have developed a work ethic related to running that I am proud of. I wish that it would translate better to my studies but I believe that I'm getting there. I know that achieving my goals will not be easy, especially during this day and age, but I am willing to do the work necessary to finish my high school career strong and look towards the future.            

Michael Tarasov, Period 5, 11/19/2020, Day B

 

Goal Setting & Growth 

At this current point in time, what specific goal(s) do you have for yourself? Why?

At the current point in time my primary focus is on filling out my college applications and meeting the due dates for each college. Because I am applying early action to colleges that do early action admissions, many of my deadlines were in November or are going to take place in December. Meeting these deadlines is especially difficult because of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as sudden school closures. However, I must meet the deadlines for college applications so that I could complete my education and get a career. This pandemic highlights the importance of having educated professionals in the work force. Without educated professionals in the tech industry it would not have been possible for the world to transition to working remotely as effectively or efficiently as we did. Additionally, without medical experts it is very probable that we would have had even more infections and fatalities than we currently do.

How do you demonstrate resilience towards achieving this goal?

I have been working toward meeting these deadlines by setting aside my Saturdays for doing college applications and essays. Having a set amount of time to work every week allows me to work on my application consistently while not getting burned out from constantly doing the work. Furthermore, by choosing to set aside all other work for Sunday, I am able to concentrate solely on my college applications on Saturday making my work more efficient. Another step I am taking to make sure that I meet all of my deadlines on time is keeping an organized calendar for when I have a due date and what I have to due by that day. This calendar allows me to set reasonable milestones for myself as I move towards accomplishing my larger goals.

How does the world around you affect your perception of this goal?

The situation in the world around us has made it more difficult to complete college applications and at the same time has reinforced the necessity of a thorough education. If we didn't have educated professionals it would not have been possible to contain the virus whatsoever and as a result we would have had even more deaths taking place around the world. Another area where well educated professionals have been able to soothe the blow from the virus is in technology. Without modern technologies such as Google Classroom, Zoom, and in a larger sense the internet as a whole it would not have been possible to continue work during lock downs.

 

 

 

Angel Yang, Period 8, 11/25/20, Day C

 Angel Yang

Period 8

11/20/20

Day C

Modern Mythology 2021

Socio-political Consciousness:

What are your thoughts and feelings about issues of inequity, oppression, and/or power?

    The 2020 U.S. presidential election was the first election that I paid attention to and followed relatively closely. Though I’m not old enough to vote yet, I find it inspiring that so many young adults and first-time voters felt compelled to vote during this election. Whether this statistic is attributed to the devastating COVID-19, the polarizing effect of President Trump, or the constant reminder to vote from brands and public figures, I hope this trend continues in the future.

    What I found most interesting (or entertaining?) was the aftermath of the election. Going to bed on November 3, it seemed that President Trump would be certainly be reelected. But once the heavily Democratic-leaning mail-in ballots began to be counted, former Vice President Joe Biden grew closer and closer to victory. It’s hard to deny his 6 million vote lead, but that’s where the voter fraud allegations come in. Where this argument falls through is that this situation had already been predicted. Analyzing how the candidates urged their voters to vote, Trump encouraged voting in-person to avoid voter fraud via mail, but Biden asked voters to vote via mail to curb rising COVID-19 rates. It shouldn’t be surprising that historically Democrat voting districts would have overwhelming Democrat mail-in ballots. Voter fraud is a definite possibility but this is the case for every election. What makes this post-election reaction unprecedented are the immediate fraud allegations without an ounce of evidence. Essentially using his position of power as incumbent president to deny the results, Trump has silenced the American people’s vote. What’s even more concerning is that this isn’t the first time.

    Voter suppression, often in oppressed predominantly Black and Latino communities, is a long-term tactic used by both parties. Though voter suppression stems back to the 19th century, polling station closures, delayed ballot delivery, and ballot drop-off site removal were seen in this election. Changing voter ID laws, too, exacerbate situations where people of color may not have access to the appropriate identification to vote. Whether this was 100% intentional or not doesn’t diminish the potentially crippling effect. Such practices take away one of the American people’s fundamental rights. Just a few zip codes away from my house, poll watchers approached voters in line and threatened to assault them. If citizens of the United States no longer feel safe enough to vote in a secure, safe, and private manner, we can no longer be labeled as a democratic republic. In my opinion, addressing and rectifying this injustice and inequity at every level of government should be the collective’s first priority.

How do you reflect critically on your own beliefs, assumptions, values, and experiences and how these can influence your perception of self and others?

    Generally, I believe this election year has taught me to be more open-minded. Many times, especially in the age of social media and algorithms, I found myself hearing the same opinions over and over again. This echo chamber can be incredibly damaging to the two-party system that our government has established as Democrats will lean more towards the left and Republicans will lean more towards the right. To fully participate in a democracy (even a democratic republic) is to familiarize yourself with both parties’ platforms and stances on policy. I’m trying to always seek out differing opinions and decide where I stand on an issue-to-issue basis. I also hope I’ll continue to separate a person’s political beliefs from their person. I’ve seen people completely diminish the credibility of someone else because they disagreed on politics. On the news, I’ve heard anecdotes of families being torn apart for this very reason. Therefore, recognizing the humanity in everyone is something that will ensure our nation doesn’t become perpetually divided.

Jeffery Wu, Period 8, 11/20/20, Day C

 Jeffrey Wu

Period 8

11/20/20

Day C

Goal Setting and Growth

At this current point in time, what specific goal(s) do you have for yourself? Why? 

A specific goal that I have set for myself is to try to keep all the promises that I have made to ….myself. Normally, when making a promise to someone, be it a friend, a teacher, a family member, or anyone, it should not be okay to break a promise. An action or favor that you have sworn to do for a person should be seen through so you can maintain their trust. The problem that I have is that I make a promise to myself beforehand, however I end up not doing it because I am too tired or lazy. I can remember the countless times that I have sworn to myself that I would do my homework after a quick nap, but then I just go back to sleep after I hear my alarm ring. I would never break a promise to a friend or a family member if they asked for a favor no matter how tired I am, so it shouldn’t be okay for me to put off work that I told myself to do. This is a goal that I have for myself because in addition to breaking this habit, I can also fix some procrastination and self-management issues that come with it. In being able to keep all promises that I make to myself I can trust myself more and be more confident in myself because I know I can do anything I set my mind to. 

How do you demonstrate resilience towards achieving this goal? (or these goals?)

I demonstrate resilience towards achieving this goal by writing my promises down in a notebook. Because these are promises that I make to myself, only I know of them. I realize that I tend to break my promises for this reason. I write my promises down so that I can make it visible and as tangible as possible so that they have a sense of importance. When I keep the promise that I made, I put a checkmark in my notebook. In doing so, I can keep all the promises that I make to myself because I wouldn’t be satisfied if they aren’t checked off. 

How does the world around you affect your perception of this goal? (or these goals?)

The world around me affects my perception of this goal because I realize I will have to make more promises to myself as I live and grow older. There will be more work and more responsibilities in life and I will have to keep my promises to finish my work and uphold my responsibilities. I realize that in being able to keep promises to myself, I will also be able to keep promises with future peers, coworkers, and superiors. In doing so, the world around me as well as myself can view me as being trustworthy. 

Yana Polonskaya, Period 5, 11/10/2020, Day B

 Yana Polonskaya

Period 5

11/10/2020

Day B

Modern Mythology 2021

Goal Setting & Growth

1. At this current point in time, what specific goal(s) do you have for yourself? Why?

With college application deadlines around the corner, my goals currently revolve around getting accepted into schools which will foster my main interest in STEM while also developing my numerous passions within Humanities fields. As an aspiring neurologist, I hope to be in an environment which provides an in-depth education on scientific fields such as biology and psychology; I hope to take advantage of any research opportunities available to me. However, I also understand the importance of studying language, literature, and history—these fields will allow me to communicate my scientific knowledge to the rest of the world and use scientific concepts in order to battle pressing socioeconomic issues. Moreover, as a dancer and an enthusiast of theatre, I hope to continue developing these interests throughout the next 4 years. My experiences and knowledge up to this point would heavily contribute to the college community; I would learn everything I possibly can from this new environment as well. Because of this, one of my most pressing short-term goals is to put my best foot forward and write the best essays I possibly can, creatively depicting all the various aspects of my personality. I hope to have no regrets when looking back on this fall semester; my biggest fear is one day thinking “I should’ve spent more time on this response, it definitely could’ve been stronger.” These months have been so critical and I know I have to work as hard as ever, whether spending hours practicing for interviews or writing 10 different essay drafts before producing a response I can be proud of. My goal is to make my applications undeniably me—to have my personality shine through my writing style, to mention all my interests, no matter how diverse they are, and discuss how they shaped me. Though college applications have always been on my mind recently, I also put a lot of time and effort into keeping up my grades and learning everything I possibly can from the classes I’m taking. I never put school on the back-burner, my education continues to be a priority. I aim to continue being a straight-A student, even with the added pressures of college application deadlines and barriers that come with online schooling. However, both school work and applications involve spending extended periods of time sitting in front of a computer screen. This can be detrimental to my mental and physical health, so I aim to eat healthier, exercise daily, and meditate. I try to maintain a daily schedule: wake up at the same time every morning, exercise for at least an hour total every day, eat three nutritious meals during the appropriate times of day, and meditate before falling asleep. Maintaining a proper sleep schedule has proven to be the most difficult, considering the amount of work I have on a daily basis, but I’ve been working on properly managing my time throughout the day. My final goal has to do with my aforementioned love for dance: due to Covid-19 restrictions, I haven’t been in a dance studio since March. I try to spend at least 2 hours every week either learning a dance routine from online or choreographing my own routines. Dance is my escape from reality, an outlet for my emotions, and these 2 hours have been essential to improving my mental and physical health. I’m aiming to maintain all my technique and flexibility during these unprecedented times.

2. How do you demonstrate resilience towards achieving this goal? (or these goals?)

In achieving these goals, one of my hardest yet most important responsibilities is implementing a growth mindset. Growing up, I have always been a perfectionist. I’d spend hours crying over any grade lower than an A+; I’d watching recordings of my dance recitals on repeat, losing my mind over the most insignificant mistakes. Homework assignments that my peers would finish in half an hour took me all night long to complete, which in turn messed up my sleep schedule. Soon enough, I began to realize that this mindset wasn’t sustainable. I couldn’t continue blaming myself for every small mistake; I had to learn to be okay with letting certain details go in order to focus on the bigger picture. Most of all, I had to understand that while I should continue aiming for the stars, I had to fall in love with the journey towards them as well. Rather than getting angered by my mistakes, I should view them as inspiration to learn and improve. I continued to embrace the perfectionist in me, as she drove me to be the best possible version of myself. However, I began to view every experience as a learning opportunity. I took the term “set back” out of my vocabulary; even mistakes brought me steps closer to my final goals. This mindset, along with my career goals and varied passions, was my driving force throughout high school. Every year, I selected the most rigorous schedule available to me, including taking AP Physics as a sophomore and AP Calc BC as a junior. I participated in various after school activities including SING and Science Olympiad. I slowly began to overcome my fear of failure—it was replaced by my love for science and mathematics, my appreciation for the arts, and my desire to spend every day working to better myself. However, the abrupt switch to a virtual lifestyle in March made this mindset harder to maintain. With a lack of human interaction and an abundance of time, the negative aspects of my perfectionist tendencies slowly came back. Where college applications where concerned, nothing I wrote seemed to be good enough. I’d spend hours at the computer, crafting “perfect” sentences, just to delete the draft at the end of the day. This cycle would go on for days on end, until my whole list of essay topics was deemed unsatisfactory. Though dance used to act as my escape from daily stressors, I seemed to spend more time thinking about my dream body and technique rather than actually working to achieve it. I began getting lower grades, solely because I would submit certain assignments after the due date just so I’d have more time to “perfect” them. I realized that under these new circumstances, I’d have to work even harder to maintain my growth mindset. I immediately began working to get my grades back up; I would establish daily timetables to make sure I spent an appropriate amount of time on each assignment. In terms of college applications, I realized that at the end of the day, I just had to describe all the diverse aspects of my personality and background as best as I could. I focused on making my authentic voice heard through all of my responses. I still wrote numerous drafts and continued aiming to produce my best work, but I slowly stopped putting so much pressure on myself to match my own unrealistic expectations. I developed schedules to help myself heal mentally and physically as well, dedicating time to working out and meditating. I began to remember how much I loved the process, the work, the effort. Moving forward with my short and long term goals, whether it's finishing my AP chemistry homework or becoming a neuroscientist, I know that my drive and my growth mindset will both help me along the way. 

3. How does the world around you affect your perception of this goal? (or these goals?)

A second wave of Covid-19 infections is currently affecting New York, prompting lock-downs all across the state once again. Learning that schools are getting shut down made it feel as though we’ve come full circle since last March, ending up right where we began. Though I’m grateful for the restrictions put in place to keep us safe, I was concerned about how returning to fully remote school and losing already limited in-person interactions would impact my mental health. However, after reflecting on my experiences over these past several months, I realized that I learned how to transform some of my negative emotions into a desire to work harder. I have to continue working towards my future no matter what— I can find motivation within myself, not just from my surroundings. I’ll become healthier by maintaining a proper exercise schedule; I’ll practice mindfulness through daily meditation. Dance won’t stress me out the way it did in March; instead, I’ll use it as an emotional outlet. Properly maintaining my physical and mental health would make me a more focused and creative student—I’d get my school work and college applications done with greater ease. Achieving all these goals would help me on the path to becoming a neurologist. Throughout these past few months, I’ve seen medical workers risk their lives to help strangers. Seeing them exhibit such selflessness solidified my career goals. To me, there would be nothing more rewarding than forming relationships with my patients and potentially putting smiles on their faces. As I work towards getting that white lab coat, I know I have to stay focused on the goals I set—I can’t let anything get in my way. 

Adrian Seucan, Period 5, 11/16/2020, Day B

Socio-Political Consciousness

• What are your thoughts and feelings about issues of inequity, oppression, and/or power?

   

Like most people I find the concept of inequity frustrating, especially monetary inequity. I know that not all humans were created equal, but the disparity between the poorest people in this world, and the richest billionaires is so drastic (the eight richest men in the world are as wealthy as half of the human population), that its almost laughable. In addition, whenever I watch/read sports news, I am incredulous at the amount of money many sportsmen/sportswomen are being paid, compared to people who have professions that are more necessary for our society such as engineers, doctors, journalists, plumbers, teachers, healthcare workers, etc. 

Moving on to oppression. It makes me sick to see the many different ways people come up with, to harm each other as a result of differences in ideals, religion, race, ethnicity, etc. A recent conflict in the Caucasus region at the border of Europe and Asia, exemplifies how far people are willing to go in order to crush their enemies. Armenia and Azerbaijan have been fighting for almost thirty years over a small territory called Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh). Countless lives have been lost in this war, apartments bombed, civilians killed, entire families uprooted and eradicated. Even though the conflict seems to be coming to an end, a deep hatred remains between the Armenians and Azerbaijanis, one that may never heal, all because this small piece of land had cultural significance for both ethnic groups. This shouldn't be the way people treat each other. Ethnic differences should be celebrated, not seen as an excuse to kill your neighbor.

Touching a nerve closer to home, we must take into account the injustices that have been committed in our own country. This past year has been turbulent not only because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but also because of the straining of race relations domestically. The fact that the oppression of African Americans still occurs even 150 years after the Civil War is baffling. Double standards still exist in this country, which is ironic considering that America has always self-styled itself as the "home of the free.'' A change needs to happen, not only here in America, but worldwide as well. I don't care how different, people look. A person should be judged on their actions, not anything else. Until peoples' mindsets change, this world is going to be filled with hypocrites, racists, sexists, and maniacal dictators who would use peoples' prejudices for their own evil causes. 

Power on the other hand can have a positive connotation. If used the right way a person, or group of people can help those less fortunate, such as a working class individual buying a homeless man a loaf of bread, or a teacher introducing new material (and maybe even a new mindset?) to their students. But most often, when we think of people in power, we think about the abuse of power, or power being directed away from areas in need. We live in an world where the leaders of most countries are more focused on doing anything in their ability to maintain power (through sabotage, slander, murder, war, etc.) rather than heeding to the needs of the people they rule or represent (which is what a leader should do). If anything, the concept of a country can be seen as inefficient, since only a select few are actually having their needs/wants met by the respective government. We would be better of if we lived in smaller administrative units, where it is easier for people to rally behind a common goal. But leadership positions aren't the only places where abuse of power occurs. Take a playground, for instance. Kids at a young age have a mean streak in them. Some feel the need to pick on or even physically abuse other kids who they know don't have the ability to fight back (if the victims are handicapped, or even just physically weaker), as a way to make themselves feel better. These actions reflect on the innate evil within humans, who are so easily corrupted when finding themselves in a position of power, that you could almost expect them to use this newfound power as a tool to quash their competition, or anyone else who disagrees with them. 

• How do you reflect critically on your own beliefs, assumptions, values, and experiences and how these can influence your perception of self and others?

 

Before I reflect on my own beliefs, assumptions, values, experiences, etc. I have to remind myself that observation is key. When interacting with different people it is important for me to understand their motivations, intentions, and actions, so that when I do formulate an opinion on them, I use these basics to judge them. However you can't really judge a person after just one interaction. For example, if you meet a person wearing tattered clothing, looking ragged, and constantly being fidgety, you might assume that they're somewhat crazy. But maybe this person was having a really bad day, going through an ordeal, or experiencing a nervous breakdown. But if you got to know them better, you might find out that they're a kindred spirit, a talented artist, or a stellar soccer player. Who knows? That is why I try my very best not to be so hasty in judgement, even though it can be really hard at times. This mindset influences my perception of others because I try to be open-minded, seeing the many different sides to a person if I get a chance, and like I mentioned above personality is more important to me than race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, etc. As for perception of self, this mindset doesn't always work because I can be quick in scathing myself for committing an unforced error, or I can end up in denial when I feel that I'm in the right, even though I later reflect that I never was. However my biggest influence is the fact that I come from a multiracial family, and I try hard to understand the individual characters of other people because I know that I wouldn't like it if people took one look at me and formulated an entire opinion without getting to know who I really am.