Erin Sullivan's blog

Superbowl Commercials.

To be honest, I thought this year’s Super Bowl commercials as a whole were not good. In order for a commercial to be good, in my opinion, it has to stick in my mind. And I find myself only remembering one, maybe two. It seems companies may want to start putting more money into their advertising departments.

    Nonetheless, I must pick a favorite. The best commercial was the Doritos commercial with the guy who made a pug run into the door, thinking he would not succeed to get the Doritos. It seems like it will be a mediocre commercial at the beginning, ending with someone getting smooched by a door or something.Not only is it clever, but surprising, and deserves to be called the best Super Bowl commercial this year. It is kind of funny in a sense because it shows what animals will do for food. 

    The worst commercial, and the one that was very dumb, was the shape-up commercial. They have a gorgeous girl wearing such ugly shoes, that we all know, she does not wear. They make a commercial so sexual for no reason at all. Also, I believe the snickers commercial was very dumb and pointless. No one acts that way when they are hungry, most people turn into savages! I do not think the actors in this video were the right ones for this type of commercial. I do not like the commercial and I feel as if it does not get its point across. 

College Admission Process

In response to Barry Scwartz's essay, I completely agree and can relate with the fact that teenagers face one of the most stressful times of their lives when facing the college admission process. I speak on behalf of all high school seniors when I say that it is truly overwhelming to attempt to balance classes, extracurriculars, jobs, and college admission processes at the same time. However, I disagree with his proposal to finalize the colleges' decisions by chance. After 12 years of hard wok and dedication, students should be able to shine as bright as they possibly can, not meet a minimum standard and leave the rest to "a roll of the dice." 

That said, the question is whether or not there is an alternate method for reduction of the pre-college craziness. Schwartz makes a good point that students are pressured to take the most challenging courses available, not the most relative. A student interested in photographied may be scared to deviate from taking all AP classes in order to follow his heart and, in turn, lower his gpa or class rank. It is this problem that colleges can easily fix simply by changing admission criteria.

To conclude, Schwartz makes valid arguments but lacks a valid solution to the problem of college admissions. Until a better system is decided, we can only try our very best as seniors to get into the best colleges.

CNN Hero

A hero is a man or women who has courage, and is  admired for his or her brave deeds. If I was to vote for one person to win the top 10 for the category of a hero, I would choose Betty Makoni. She fits the definition of a hero perfect. She shows courage and is admired for her brave deeds and noble qualities. She has started an organization that has saved over 35,000 girls. She has used her experiences in life to try to save other girls from what she went through. She was raped when she was 14 years old by her uncle. She survived being raped and overcame it and used it as a positive to try to save the lives of other girls. "Ten girls per day report rape cases," she said. "It means if we keep quiet, at least 3,600 girls per year may just be contracting HIV and AIDS." This is why she is a hero. She does not want to keep quiet she was to start a life changing movement. HIV turns into AIDS and it is deadly. Most men in Africa think that raping a virgin can cure him of HIV or AIDS. This is why I think that Ms. Betty Makoni should win the hero award. She is trying to stop girls being raped in Africa. By her doing that she can hopefully change the lives of millions of girls. That goes to show that one person can change the world. All you have to do is believe in something and set your mind to it. Never give up, until your dream is accomplished. I hope the other people see how Betty Makoni is trying to change the life, so it’s up to us to vote for her and let her know how the world appreciates her.

Should We Have Financing Classes?

            As far as requiring students to take a course on financial lessons goes, I believe it is a good idea. How many people leave high school and are ready to accept the responsibilities of being an adult? We are all usually eighteen by then and many of us are going on to college, with most of us being on our own. We’ll be handling numerous financial issues. Many students do not know much about finances, how to spend their money, and waste money on little things. If I asked a teenager how they plan to keep a budget in college, or just after high school, many would have no answer. Few of us really have a plan. We do not really know much about all the topics out there in the realm of dealing with money. I know a little bit about money because I have discussed them with my mother. Not every child gets the opportunity to learn lessons of finance from their parents. Not every kid has parents who have practiced healthy financial habits.

            I believe that it is the role of public education to prepare us for the world we will face when we leave high school, and financial skills are an essential aspect of that world. Sure some of us might not want to take it and think it is a waste of time, but there’s a lot to learn about personal financing, checking accounts, etc. We’re all banking on the idea that we’ll learn with experience and find out as we go. But I do not want to learn too late that I should have been preparing a retirement plan, budget plan, and mortgage plan for that matter when I was back in college. 

 

AID to Haiti

    The tragedy in Haiti brings to light a serious problem in our world today. There are hundreds of poverty stricken countries that, given a serious catastrophe such as the earth quake, would see a much larger number of casualties than a wealthier country with resources to respond to an issue like this. There is no doubt that the disaster in Haiti is incredibly tragic. Whenever something so devastating occurs to our fellow human beings, we feel obligated to assist in any way we can. Americans are so well off in comparison to much of the world population. The wealth is accompanied by the responsibility to use it for the betterment of others.

     As a world power, the United States has the duty to aid those less fortunate. I believe that Americans should do all that they can to help the Haitians recover from this disaster. The focus should be on getting the country back on its feet; however, long-term aid is rarely a good idea. If the United States gets too involved in the long term there is a possibility that Haiti could become too dependent. The best option is to help Haiti deal with the immediate effects of the disaster, such as providing food, water, shelter, medical care, etc.

     I’d like to say that we could get the Haitian government in the right mindset to fix the pre-existing problems that aggravated the disaster, but this would involve decades of involvement in the Haitian government. The United States does not need to get itself into another situation where it does not know when to back out. Unfortunately, I think Haiti needs to be left to its own devices. Most likely the problems will not be remedied and such a disaster may happen again, but the United States should not to try to fix another country. Immediate aid is absolutely necessary but extensive meddling is not.

 

Chris L. Doyle Article Review

I strongly agree with this article. Reading this article, I thought there was no adults in today’s world that understood how much stress teenagers are under. We, as high school students, are expected to be able to maintain a good G.P.A, excel in sports, work, and volunteer. Each day we are bombarded with different types of problems, whether it would be school, drugs, fights, etc. Back in the day, I believe people had a lot more freedom then we do today. Christopher L. Doyle stated, “Our society puts a priority on freedom, at least in theory. We consider its export worldwide a noble diplomatic and military goal. We idealize freedom as the ultimate political and economic aspiration.” I strongly agree with what he said because it is true. Our freedom is so limited. Living in a world of violence, drugs, crimes, and much more, we are very limited with our freedom. Walking out the door is a struggle in today’s society, but not as much when blacks and whites did not get along. Our fighting is very different from back then, but crime and death percentages are rising. Doyle says “They stepped into the locker room and asked our coach where they should put their shotguns so they could suit up to play. He stowed the shooting irons in his office, and after practice the hunters showered, changed, loaded up, and headed back outdoors.” When he was in high school guns were legal to bring to school. If someone today were to bring a gun today they would most likely be arrested and suspended from school. Teenagers are facing a lot today and adults expect a lot today. The world as completely changed since those who are older then us. Our generation is into television, fighting, and drugs. Every day I see one of the above, and it is hard to work around it.

Top Inventions

While looking at the new top inventions I found one that interested me the most and that was the Antro. It is a superefficient, super cheap car that could put Western manufacture to shame. The Antro Solo can hold up to three people, a driver and two passengers, one on either side, who pedal to help drive the ultalight car. “The rest of the forward motion comes from an electric motor that’s partly powered by solar panels. If you need a bigger car, Antro has a solution: two Solos can be combined, Transformers-style, to create the family-friendly Duo.”
Looking at all the inventions, I see that inventors are constantly trying to create inventions for safer and more efficient ways. They are creating things that will benefit people in different ways. They are also just switching it up all the time. It is absolutely crazy some of the things they come up with. They are usually creating weird inventions; I feel to switch it up for the community.
I believe the Antro Solo car is not that useful, because there are many other cars that are safer and more protective. I believe this invention was cool because the article mentioned that it is ultra light. It also does not have a steering wheel but two sticks in which you move the car. It also has very tinted windows, which I believe are illegal to drive on the streets, but those windows maximize the objects outside. It is a very cool invention but I do not believe it is very useful to people.

Childhood Toys

My favorite childhood toy was a doll name Molly, from the show the Big Comfy Couch. For some reason she had a lot of meaning to me, at this point in my life I do not know why. I received this doll when I was two years old and was seven years when I got rid of it. My dog ate her and ruined it, so I do not have it anymore. When I was younger I also my favorite thing was my stuffed animal, Ira. It is a dog that I have had since first grade. I still have this stuffed animal and it has been through a lot. It has an eye missing and a lot of stuffing missing. My mother has asked me a number of times if I want to put more stuffing in it, but I like it the way it is. My dog has eaten her eye off and my neighbor sold a button on it, but my dog ate it off again. So I now have a dog with a missing eye that I sleep with every night.
If I would have to choose my favorite toy now it would be my MacBook. I received it this Christmas and I love it. It has everything on it and I am very thankful for it.

I believe that no one should be treated differently when it comes to academics. Students who do not take the time to prepare for a test, because they had a game the night before, should be able to have it postponed to the next day or take it the day before. Allowing an athlete to cheat is absolutely unacceptable and unfair. There are students, who are in other organizations such as, band, volunteering, and other organizations. They do not receive a brake on their academics
As an athlete myself, I can see the temptation to cheat to keep eligibility, but I could never see the justification. Cheating is cheating, no matter what the reason. And let me just say that I also think that “inappropriate help” is basically just a cover up by the president of the school, Inappropriate help is also cheating on a minor scale. It is getting the answer with help from a teacher or student.
Theses students are being paid to play in college. I believe it they are not able to challenge themselves enough to remain on the team and remain an appropriate G.P.A, they should not be considered for the team.
I know from experience, that being a student athlete teaches you certain things and really teaches you how to manage your time. I believe that if athletes in colleges are paid then they will have even more of an incentive to commit indiscretions like the one at FSU. I think that the rules and restrictions on student athletes in college should stay in place. Yes, some student athletes will go on to play in professional leagues; however, what happens if that does not work out? If those students go to the pros and it does not work out and they did not have strict rules on them for keeping their eligibility in college, then they will have nothing to fall back on outside of the sports world. They would have been able to slip by in college so that they could play their sport and they would not have gotten a quality education.

Each teacher has a different teaching style, some successful and others no so much. I have had many useful teachers and many teachers who have not helped me at all. I am a student who learns hands on and if I need guidance while completing assignments, I expect I will be able to go to the teacher for better understanding.
Advice I would give to some teachers is always try and help the student understand what they did wrong on their test or quizzes. I received a very poor grade on a test this year and the teacher knew that I did not understand the concept. She took five minutes to explain to me what I did wrong and why I did so poorly on it. After that I knew I could talk to the teacher about my grades at any time. Also, I work better in groups then alone because I am able to ask questions within my group.
I dislike when teachers are unkind and do not help out students. I realize that students need to go out of their way to get help from other kids in their class, but when it comes down to it teachers should be able to help. Mrs. Kelley is a very helpful teacher and is always trying to help a person understand the curriculum. She takes the time to sit there with the student and explain the good and bad about their test. She tells it “like it is.”