Journals

 1. Pretend that you are talking to a blind man and have to describe for him what "red" is. You should use narrative and descriptive writing techniques, and try to appeal to his other senses!

Hi, my name is Miguel Lopez. I am aware that you are blind and don't know what "red" is. I am here to help you with that. First of all, red is a color that is reflected by light. Tomatoes are red. Red can symbolize many things; from love to death or anger and even aggression. Red can also symbolize sin, guilt, pain, passion, and blood. It is often used as a warning. For example, stop signs are red as well as stop lights. Red is in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Red reminds me of the the taste of strawberries because strawberries are red. Red also reminds me of the taste of fruit punch Gatorade. The feeling of something sharp like a knife reminds me of the color red because of the image of getting cut and bleeding in my head. Red was also strongly associated with communism. Red is used alot for all types of circumstances. Red is a primary color along with blue and yellow. Red can be compared to how you feel when your embarrassed or guilty.  Red can appeal to your other 5 senses. For example, whenever you taste something spicy, think of the color red. If you smell something burning, think of the color red. If you feel pain, think of the color red. If you feel hot think of the color red. If you see red, thank god.   

2. How does competition function in our society? To what extent is it healthy/unhealthy? Offer some real world examples taken from your life, community, culture, state, nation, or world.

Competition in our society can be seen in different ways; sometimes unconsciously. We as humans are known to have a competitive side and certain circumstances will bring that side of us out. Some people tend to compete with looks, trying to look better than someone else by wearing a certain type of clothes, or doing their hair differently. Competition is in school. There are school assemblies where males are purposely put on one side and females on the other side and call it "Battle of the Sexes". The purpose of this type of assembly is to see whether girls or guys are better, by doing a number of competitions. Competition is also in every sport. There is always someone who wins and someone who loses or sometimes there are ties, where both are equally matched. I think competition is a positive thing, as long as there is no violence. Competition is healthy to the extent where nobody gets hurt based on the excessive aggression of an individual or group. Once someone gets hurt, that competition becomes unhealthy. War is one type of competition that should not be tolerated because their are so many lives that are lost and in war there is really no winner. War affects the entire world and can lead to catastrophic events because of the advancement in weaponry. If we as humans can learn to compete against each other to have fun then competition would be perfectly fine. Unfortunately, since we are human, some of us will get mad when we lose which can escalate towards violence.

 

 3. How have you taken something that you have learned in the classroom and integrated it into your nonacademic life? 

Yes, I learned that if you truly believe you can do something that it'll be possible to accomplish. For example, during my C.I.F. Cross Country meet, I was almost about to collapse when I told myself that i could do it and that i was almost there. This helped me because in the end I got 3rd place out of 200 runners and I qualified to go to Fresno, CA to run in the State Championships. That was when I realized how important it is to keep on believing and in the end it'll pay off.

4. If you could go back in time and be someone in history, who would you choose to be? Why? 

If  I could go back in time and be someone in history, I would choose to be Abraham Lincoln, because he is an inspiring historical figure and successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis (the American Civil War), and held the Union strong, while ending slavery, and promoting economic and financial modernization. I would be Abraham Lincoln so that i would be able to avoid the assassination. Lincoln was an important president and if I were him, i would have the man who shot him arrested before he had the opportunity to shoot him. This would mean that me, as Abraham Lincoln, would be alive and would be able to fulfill my presidency in hopes of changing the government's ways so it wouldn't be so corrupt as it is now. I would put an end to all secret societies and expose them. The people should know what happens in the government and in no way shape or form should they be allowed to have secret meetings where other U.S. citizens are forbidden to enter. As President, I would run for a second term and with my success in my first term would most likely win again and be president for another 4 years. In those next few years, I would put my first very own soccer field in the white house, so that whenever i wasn't performing my duty as president I would be able to relax and play soccer. i would also make sure I don't get too stressed and stay healthy. i would have to make sure my presidency doesnt affect my health so that i would be able to live a good life after my second term as president.

 5. If you had the responsibility to decide where $1 million should be spent to improve conditions somewhere in the world, what project(s) would you choose? Why?   

If I had the responsibility to decide where $1 million should be spent to improve conditions somewhere in the world, I would choose ChulaChula Vista population and would decrease the number of families that are eating poorly due to the lack of money. If we all had money, we would be able to purchase whole foods instead of cheap $1 junk. this would make it easier to eat nutritional food which would eventually lead to a decrease in obesity. I love to play soccer and would be disappointed if kids that played in leagues didn't have the proper equipment for them to excel in the sport. With the money i would pay for cleats, shin guards, nice uniforms as well as warm-ups, and training gear, like goals, soccer balls, cones, etc. If we had this equipment in our soccer leagues in Chula Vista, the level of competition would rise even more than it already is. And most importantly, this would make all the kids in soccer happy. Another part of Chula Vista that I would want to improve is the parks and recreation centers. I live near to both a park and recreation center and it has helped me stay active and healthy. During summer vacation, while some kids were stuck at home watching TV because they didn't have a safe place to go play, I was at the recreation center playing soccer with other friends. Also an important part of the success in a soccer players career is the opportunity to play in nice soccer fields which are located at parks. therefore some of the money would go to remodeling parks and implementing nice soccer fields with either synthetic grass or nice green grass. Money is an essential part of life now, and without it could be tough on your future as well as others. Those $1 million could improve a community in many ways and that improvement could start a chain of remodeling other communities. 

6. How have you tried to effect change in relation to an issue of personal, local, or national significance? 

Yes, I have tried to effect change to an issue of national significance. I have gone to the Tijuana River Valley Estuary with a group called Ocean Force and our IB group in order to pick up trash to avoid it from flowing into our oceans and harming the under water creatures.  The act of picking up the trash from the estuary might seem minute, however it has affected the lives of fish and other creatures that live in the oceans. If we hadn't cleaned up the estuary, all the trash that we picked up would have gone into the oceans and either kill the fish or flow into the Pacific Trash Vortex. Pollution has been a problem for years now, and we have to work together to think of ways to stop pollution for good. If we were able to stop pollution, we would decrease the amount of sea creatures dying in our oceans. In the estuary we found many tires, carpets, Styrofoam, plastic bags and bottles, etc. This event really opened my eyes to the trash that flows into the oceans everyday and most of the times it harms the ocean's creatures. For every bag we threw away, it was one less dead fish. In the future I am planning to going back and cleaning it up again.

7. If you could introduce one new idea or material thing to a primitive culture, what would it be? 

I would introduce to them the idea of equality. With equality there is a possibility to achieve peace within that culture. If a culture were to truly take in the idea of equality and put it to use, their would be no hierarchy therefore no need to compete to be better.  

8. If you were to describe yourself using a quotation, what would that quotation be? After you have chosen a quote, then write a bit about how it relates to you and reveals what kind of person you are.

9. Given the authority to establish a holiday, what would you choose to commemorate? Why? What would the celebration look like?

10. What is the best advice you've ever received? Explain. 

11. Ask and answer the one important question that a university won't ask you, but you wish they would. 

12. Your life is a movie. Describe the first 15 minutes.

There is a loud, "BANG!" that awakes me. I jump out of bed and throw on a white t-shirt, my Adidas sweats, my cross country sweater, a pair of black socks, and and my black and white converse. Then it gets really quiet. I slowly open my bedroom door and look down the long hallway. i see nothing. i quietly creep towards the front door. then another loud, "BANG!" rattles me. I then lean over and peer out the window. From what I see, everything looks normal. I open the door and walk out. I start hearing a loud buzzing noise. It  is very loud and starts hurting my ears. i drop to the floor in pain and scream for help, but nothing comes out. I'm mute. All I can hear is that loud annoying buzz. I see people rushing towards me looking frantic and they appear to be yelling something out; but I still can't hear anything. That's when I start feeling a liquid coming out of my ears. The people around me start panicking even more. I roll over to find a puddle of blood forming around me. then it goes pitch black. Then I hear voices around me but in a different language. I try to open my eyes but can't: they seem shut. This is when I feel cold, slimy, hands with really long and skinny finger wrap around my arms. I then start shaking tremendously. I can feel my heart pumping rapidly. I can almost feel and hear the blood flowing through my veins. I can feel my self sweating, when suddenly I awake inside what appeared to be a huge metallic round room. I look around and nobody is around. I get up and notice pen marks on my left arm. I'm now wearing a white tuxedo. Then I hear the same voices I had heard earlier. I then creep around the room trying not to make a sound, when i see my English teacher, Ms Eddy. I look at her with a confused face and ask her, "What am I doing here?" she looks at me with a serious face and calmly says, "You're here to take a timed write. You have 40 minutes."

13. Write a letter to your future college roommate introducing yourself and your background. 

Hi, my name is Miguel. I'm your future college roommate. I am a 5'6" Latino. I attended Castle Park High School in Chula Vista, CA. I am very athletic and I played Varsity Soccer and ran  Varsity Cross Country and Varsity Track all four years at Castle Park High School. I have a vast amount of medals and trophies from my sports that I'll probably bring to the dorm with me. I got accepted to this university on a full ride scholarship for soccer and cross country. At my high school I was in the I.B. Program where I learned many things that other students in regular classes didn't. I.B. was a preview of what college life would be like. I love listening to music and I'll listen to anything with a good beat or good lyrics. Fortunately, I am a clean and organized person, so you won't have to deal with me leaving a mess. I like to stay active and healthy, and go for runs on my spare time if I'm not studying. I am very sociable and don't mind meeting new people. on the weekends i tend to wake up at about 8am or 9am, unless I'm really tired ill wake up at 10am. I am sure we will get along and I am looking forward to meeting you. 

14. Please describe your reactions/ideas to the following quote: "He does not possess wealth, it possesses him." 

This quote is about a wealthy man who's life is just about the money. Money has practically taken over him and is controlling him. Instead of having wealth, the wealth has him, meaning that his money is ruining his life and is not letting him live his life. When I read this quote I think about a man who is brought down by the abundant money he has and is struggling to stay on his feet. Usually think that someone who is wealthy must have everything he/she could ever want, however this is not always the case. Sometimes people with a lot of money don't manage their money well and they end up either in debt or they simply lose interest in everything they have bought and people sometimes take advantage of them. This can also lead to depression. When I think of being wealthy, I picture a mansion with luxurious cars and a great family. I would have never thought people with money would have problems but just as  Notorious B.I.G. says, "mo' money, mo' problems" (more money, more problems)

15. What is the most valuable contribution you could make to a college campus? Explain. 

 

I think that the most valuable contribution that I could make to a college campus would be to create a club of different nationalities and bring them together as one group because we need to unite people from different ethnic groups and show that we work better together as one. Rather than being against each other. this would contribute to the college campus by giving the college a good name because their is no discrimination or segregation. It would address the fact that it should be like this everywhere and that college is a great place to get to really know all kinds of people. In colleges there are people that come from all over the world and their perspectives and ideas might be different than yours and would be something interesting to talk about. By simply having a group like this on a college campus it could have a huge impact on society and a eye-opener to many. It would be awesome to be able to talk with a student from China that's attending the college without feeling uncomfortable. If this group were to be large enough, it would have a great contribution towards the college and probably even make it more appealing to other students that would like to attend the school because of this club.

16. Explain a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you. 

Freshmen year was my first year of cross country at Castle Park High. I was excited when the coach told me I was running Varsity for my first race. That year I was about the 5th or 4th fastest person on the team. Everyday at practice I would run my heart out in order to someday be the top runner. In every workout I would stick with my friend Billy (senior) who was the number one runner at the time for as long as I could. As the season progressed i was able to stick with him longer and longer. Then Mt. SAC, the biggest cross country invitational in the world, came along. I was really nervous because our team was running the sweepstakes race, which is the fastest race of the day. I was still only the 5th fastest on our varsity team. As other races passed, I could see runners passing out left and right. There even had to be an ambulance at the finish line. Then our race was almost about to start. The team got together and did our cheer before the race, and then we jogged out towards the starting line as they called our name. Then the gun went of and all 200 runners including us ran out for the 3.1 mile race. The hills were huge and steep. I was passing people throughout the race when i noticed i had passed 3 of the top 4 runners of my team. Then i saw Billy ahead of me and set my goal to catch him. as the race continued i worked my way up to him. i passed him on one of the down hills, but then he passed me on an uphill. as we got closer to the last hill, I gave it my all and passed him and didn't look back. I was heading to the finish trying to pass others on the way. Then right before I sprinted through the finish line I look up and saw my time of 17:42, which at the time was 41 seconds faster tan my fastest time. I was really ecstatic, and all of my teammates as well as my coach were surprised. Now that I was the top runner at Castle Park I had to focus on winning Southbay League Champ, which I did two weeks later at League Finals. This season was one of the most exciting seasons of cross country and I achieved what no other freshmen at Castle Park had achieved before.

17. Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.

Pollution is an issue of international concern and of great importance to not only me but everyone on planet earth. We need to keep on fighting and looking for new ways to stop pollution. pollution is slowly killing our planet and our ecosystem.