Crime is Pride

As Sophocles wrote in Antigone,

“Think: all men make mistakes

But a good man yields when he

Knows his course is wrong,

And repairs the evil: The only

Crime is pride.”

I think that this statement is very true. I find it true when thinking about life experiences and movies. I think that the quote is trying to say that is okay to make mistakes, but when you do you should realize it and take responsibility for it. Making a mistake is not the problem. Refusing to admit you were wrong is.

When I read the above quote it also made me think of when I argue with someone and how my mom always tells me that it’s not what I said, it’s how I said it. The reason it made me think of this is because it is saying how something you say or do may not sound or be bad to you, but someone else might take offense to it. And if they do you should be a big enough person to realize how that could be taken the wrong way. When the quote says “The only Crime is pride,” it is saying just that. It is not a crime to offend someone. It is a crime to have too much pride and act like you are better than the other person or as if you did nothing wrong.

We see this happen in movies all the time; especially in love stories. It usually goes something like this: Boy meets girl. Boy gets girl. Boy and girl fight. Boy loses girl. Boy and girl make up (usually through friends). Boy gets girl back. (Or vice versa) The part from where the boy and girl fight/ boy loses girl is when someone in the relationship has too much pride and makes a small disagreement into a big issue. But then in the end one of them, “repairs the evil.” They look past their pride and realize that the argument was stupid and that they love each other. And they lived happily ever after.

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The Voice

I don’t watch very many television shows that are currently on air, due to my addiction to Netflix. But one show that I have recently started watching and really enjoy is The Voice. Some people might say that is just like American Idol, but I think it is much different and enjoy it much more. One reason for that is because they actually have good performers. On American Idol I feel like they pick some good singers and then some shitty ones just for some comedy relief. But on The Voice almost everyone that even tries out is pretty dang good.

          For those of you who have never seen The Voice I will explain what happens a little bit. So first, there are four coaches: Blake Shelton, Usher, Shakira, and Adam Levine. The first five episodes are just straight auditions. And they are blind auditions, which I think is pretty cool because that way the performer isn’t judged on their looks, only on their voice. And it also might help calm some nerves since the celebrities are not watching them the whole time. During these blind auditions the coaches each choose 12 singers to be on their team. Then the next few episodes are the battle rounds. These consist of two people from the same team singing a duet. One person is eliminated from each duet. But each coach also has two chances to steal someone that has been eliminated from another team; leaving each coach with eight people on their team. Next comes the knockout rounds. Same thing as battle rounds only they are singing different songs (one at a time) and steals are gone. This leaves four singers on each of the four coaches’ teams. And into live shows we go. Being as I have not seen any live shows at this point in my viewing history, I am not going to even pretend to act like I know what happens on those shows.

          Earlier I mentioned that I like The Voice better than American Idol because they, overall, have better singers. Another thing I think is cool about THE VOICE is that the competitors have coaches. I really like this because this way they are actually getting better and have people who do this for a living showing them what to do and giving them pointers on, not only singing, but stage presence and entertaining the crowd, too.

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The Next Step

As junior year is coming to a quick close, I am starting to really think about senior year and college. Senior year is the easy part. That’s just another year of high school, another year of classes with the friends you’ve been with for the past four years. But then you have to throw in college. Thinking about college; that’s the hard/scary/nerve-wracking part. It’s the next step.

          College is a big decision. Most likely the biggest decision we will have made in our life so far. Because it is the next four years of your life, it is more than just another school. It is where you are going to live and spend all of your time. It is where you are going to earn a degree to earn a living for the rest of your life. It is where you are going to start the next chapter of your life.

          I have always wanted to go out of state for college. Mainly because I think that is a different experience and opportunity that a lot of people don’t take either because it is more expensive or they want to be closer to home. But not me. I want to go far away from home, preferably somewhere warm. Well, at least that’s what I thought. Until, I started thinking about what I wanted to major in instead of just location. And when I realized the best school for me in state was Iowa State, I will honestly say that I wasn’t completely thrilled by the idea of it. I grew up in a family of Hawkeye fans. But when visited Iowa State it was hard not to like it. I don’t know if I liked it so much just because it was the first college I visited or not. But I cannot tell a lie. It is a very nice campus. It is really pretty and feels inviting to everyone. Also because it is known for its design school, it has great academics and opportunities for what I want to do for the rest of my life. Basically the only thing that visit did for me was make the decision of whether I should go out of state or not much harder. I still want to visit more schools to see if I like them better but Iowa State is definitely a contender for where I want to go.

          It is scary to think that soon we will be filling out college applications. It seems like just yesterday we were just walking into Kennedy for the first day of freshman year. But nonetheless, the time is coming and it is definitely an exciting experience. And I am ready to see what is in the near future. I am ready to take the next step.

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Hallway Couples

Walking down the hallways at Kennedy is hard to do sometimes because there are so many people. For me the last thing I want to see as I’m going down the hallway is PDA.

          PDA is a broad term. It could be from holding hands to making out. I don’t have a problem with couples holding hands as they walk down the hallway or hugging before class. It’s when they take it to a whole new level and stand in the middle of the hallway and make out before they have to go to class.

          When people do this it makes walking down the hallway uncomfortable for other students and teachers. I know that I don’t want to see it, so why would a teacher.

          I feel like if I were one of the people making out in the hallway I would feel uncomfortable with everyone watching. I wouldn’t want my teacher or Dr. W. to see me making out with my boyfriend.

          I don’t know how they even have that much time. We only have five minutes and depending on where your classes are there isn’t time for PDA.

          Not only is PDA a concern of others not wanting to see it, it takes up space in the hallway. When couples stand in front of lockers, they are in the way of others trying to get into them. How awkward would it be if you had to ask or be asked to stop making out so someone could get in their locker?

          Then there are people who stop in the middle of the hallway so no one can get around them. There are enough obstacles in the halls as it is with people coming and going in so many different directions. We don’t need to add anymore.

          I think that we should put an end to PDA because no one wants to see it and there is no room or time for it.

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Different Sports

I have played volleyball for 6 years. In comparison to a lot of other people, that’s not very long. But when you think about it, 6 years is close to a third of my life time. And playing both school and club has taken up the majority of my time since fifth grade and most of the memories of my middle school and high school years. I started playing volleyball because my cousin, Jacqui, played it when she was in high school and when I was in fifth grade I wanted to be just like her. So what better way than to play the sports she did? Jacqui also played tennis, so freshman year I played. Then sophomore year I was hurt and didn’t go out and finally, this year I am playing again.

          So far this year, we have had two tennis meets and one of them we didn’t really play to win, we just played for fun. It was like a practice. Then this week we had another one. Because I played freshman year, you’d think that I would know what to expect when it came to conducting a tennis meet. Well you’re wrong. I knew that I wasn’t going to be playing very much because tennis is a slower sport and there are only so many people and courts that can run at a time. I wasn’t playing singles so I knew I was going to have to wait for at least one round of matches to be over. Okay, no big deal. But wait, now I have to find a different partner because mine is playing with someone else. Okay, still not that horrible at least I get to do something now. Wait, now I have to wait longer because the person I am playing with needs a rest in between games. At this point I am so bored I contemplate whether or not I should have even come.

          A lot of people think that volleyball and tennis are similar. But really they are completely different. First off, with volleyball you have games and tournaments. But in tennis there are only meets. In school volleyball you only play one game on the weekday (during games) but at tournaments you usually play a minimum of 4 games. In tennis you play 1-2 matches a night, usually putting you at 2-3 hours of time you have to stay there consisting of a game that takes MAYBE half an hour to play. I do like to play tennis because it is different. But I hate going to meets and sitting around all night for nothing. I like volleyball so much better because you get to play more and you can get more excited. Tennis is a quiet sport.

(463 words)

POEM--The Blues of the Grey's

The Blues of the Grey’s

A waterfall of tears rush down my face.

Yet, it’s just another day at Seattle Grace.

Why Shonda Rhimes, why?

When ferry crashes,

Meredith Grey almost drowns.

Why Shonda Rhimes, why?

George enlists in the Army as a trauma surgeon.

Going to tell his mom, he gets hit by a bus.

Why Shonda Rhimes, why?

An angry widow attempts to kill Derek.

Ends up shooting at least 20 others.

Why Shonda Rhimes, why?

Team of doctors flies to separate twins.

Mark Sloan and Lexi Grey die.

Why Shonda Rhimes, why?

Christina Yang gets PTSD.

TWICE.

Why Shonda Rhimes, why?

Meredith announces she is pregnant.

Miscarriages in the same day.

Why Shonda Rhimes, why?

The main characters, with which we fall in love,

Are taken from us time and time again.

Why Shonda Rhimes, why?

Line 1: Metaphor: “A waterfall of tears…” is a metaphor because it is comparing tears to a waterfall. And instead of saying that the tears are like a waterfall, I am saying that they are a waterfall making it a metaphor instead of simile.

Line 2: Allusion: Referring to Seattle Grace Hospital in Grey’s Anatomy by using the names of all the characters. I am doing this to show how ironic the show and life can be at times.

Line 3: Apostrophe: “Why Shonda Rhimes, why?” I am asking Shonda Rhimes (the writer of Grey's Anatomy) why she is killing off all the good characters. I do this to show my concern and anger at her for all of my favorite characters leaving. By doing this it makes it seem as if I am really talking to Shonda.

Line 4-5: Irony: Meredith is a doctor going to help victims of a ferry crash, but instead she almost dies. Irony is really throughout the whole poem becuase that is what the show is like. For people who don't know the show they might think that these things are alluding to the irony in life. And while it is, I put in the irony because I wanted to show everyone what the show is really like and how frustrating it can be.

Line 6: Anaphora: the repeating of “Why Shonda Rhimes, why?” I did this because I wanted to emphasize my frustration and confusion as to why we fall in love with all the characters and then they are killed or go crazy.

Line 8: Visual imagery: instead of just saying that George dies, I gave imagery of him getting hit by a bus. I did this because it portrays the craziness of the show and adds comedy (out of context/for non viewers). When I think about this scene in my head all I can is just wait what? Is that a thing? Did that really just happen? And that's what I want the readers of the poem to think as well because it ties the whole poem together in really asking Shonda Rhimes why she does this to these characters.

Line 22: Inversion: I used the inversion here because the poem was coming to an end and I felt like it was my concluding thought and it added a softer, heartbreaking end to the poem. It also kind of alludes to how each episode ends because it is filled with people running around a hospital all day and then at the end they wrap it all together with Meredith's voice playing over the last scenes.

Get-togethers

Family reunions. You would think it would be a fun get together with family members that you have known your whole life. Wrong. Most of the time, you don’t know half the people. And the younger you are, the less people you know.

          According to urbandictionary.com the definition of family reunion is “The awkward get together your parents make you go to where you stand around for hours with random relatives, some of which you either despise or don't actually know.” This definition is how I feel whenever there is a family gathering.

          This past weekend I went to my grandpa’s 80^th birthday party. It was much how a family reunion would be like. My grandpa, obviously, knew everyone there. Then my parents and aunts and uncles knew most, if not all, of them. Then there are the grandkids. We all probably knew about 20 people – our closest relatives.

          If that situation doesn’t scream boring, then I don’t know what does. What I don’t get it is why our parents make us go to these events. My parents always use the excuse, “Because I said so.” But no. That’s not a good enough reason for me. If I wanted to go see a bunch of people I don’t know, then I could go to a mall. At least that way I wouldn’t be bored out of my mind and wouldn’t have to drive for hours.

          Some people think that it would be a good way to meet the rest of your family. But honestly, you aren’t going to walk up to someone you don’t know and have a conversation about your entire life. What really ends up happening is you hanging out with your closest family, then periodically having your parents call you over to talk to someone you haven’t seen in years or ever.

          I understand why my parents make me go to these events. But I still don’t like the fact that they are boring and I don’t know anyone. It is a part of all of our lives, though. I guess we should just get used to the fact that we have to go now.

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