Andrea’s Angel

On the first day of school, I had it all planned out. Meet my teachers, they'd give me some papers and tell us how school would go, and then I'd move on to the next class. I've done this game of school for eleven years. I knew exactly what to expect. Or so I thought. What I never expected was to have the teacher shake my hand and introduce himself to me before I even walked inside. I never expected him to give us a choice and to trust us so quickly and completely. He started out by telling us what Open Source Learning was, and explaining why it was a different way of learning that we should try. Then he said he wanted us to make a choice about whether we wanted to do the normal English class stuff, or try something new. Then he just walked out of the class. I sat there in my seat, shocked. I leaned over and asked the girl next to me if he was serious. She just laughed and said that he did it every year. We decided to do OSL, and we got on with the class. The girl I tu...

Today, I wanted to talk to my English teacher to see what my grade was, and what I needed to do to improve it. When I walk in, Dr. Preston and another teacher were discussing the book Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. The other teacher had not read it and I said, "You should read it. It's a good book." The look of shock on his face when I told him was hilarious. I don't think either of them believed that a high school student had read it. I think that most adults think that kids don't read or actually do educational stuff outside of what we're forced to do. This isn't the first time I've had this reaction towards me. It happens a lot actually, and only from adults. I hate when people have that kind of reaction to me. To anyone I know. Not every high school student only cares about their electronics and Social Media. I certainly don't, and I know that people are unfairly judging todays youth. Stop stereotyping teenagers, because then y...

1/11/58 - 12/8/19 Hortencia Hernandez  Osorio.  A sixty year old woman with a mean attitude and a big heart. She didn't speak any English, so it was often hard to talk to her, but we managed. She was a mean and fierce old lady, but she loved her family. If you asked her what her favorite color was, she'd say Cheetah Print. She wore it on everything. She loved those antique dolls that star in creepy movies, and she loved her family. She has three kids, two sons and a daughter, and four grandkids. I am one of those grandkids. Recently, her heart has been really bad and she has been having a bunch of health issues. We knew that sometime soon, it would be her time to pass from this life to the next, but its still hard when you love that person. On Friday, her heart stopped, and the doctors spent twenty minutes trying to bring her back, and finally her heart started beating again. The only problem was, her body was alive, but her mind was not. So they put her on Life Support ...

Today I had an interview in English. I was shaking the whole time, some of my answers were wacky, and I was nervous. I feel like I honestly could have done a little better, but ultimately, I am proud of myself. I wonder how you guys think I did. Please comment to this post so I know how you think I did today.                                                                                                                                                                 ~Wa do

This morning when I walked into my English class, I wanted to see how many page views my blog has. I had thought that maybe there would be a couple hundred, no big deal, but when I saw the number, it scared me. Right now, at precisely 10:05, the number of pageviews is 1,001. I am shocked, yet pleasantly surprised, that so many people have looked at my blog. To those who read and follow my blog: thank you!   I never thought that when I started this blog that I would have many people looking at it. I had hoped that someone would see it, and like what I put on it, but never in my wildest dreams did I think that it would be seen by so many people. I hope that you readers like what I have to say, and please feel free to comment on anything you like.                                                                   ...

"To be or not to be, that is the question" -William Shakespeare. To be or not to be. To do or not to do. We all struggle with making this one small choice that could change the rest of our lives, the one that sets the stage for our future endeavors, and may alter the course of our lives forever. Ralph Waldo Emerson says that you should be. You should be yourself no matter the repercussions, the trouble, or the hardships it may cause. You are you, and nobody will live your life fo you. You need to always express what's on your mind, because you never know if what you are thinking could be utterly genius. In his essay, On Self-Reliance , Emerson references Moses, Plato, and Milton, because they weren't afraid to speak what they thought. They always spoke their truths, and look where it got them.  I think that maybe I should follow what Emerson says, and start speaking out. I believe that we should all listen to what Emerson has to say.

The essay, On Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson, begins with the line: "Ne te quaesiveris extra". It means don't look outside yourself. Emerson starts with Latin to try to get us to really understand and pay attention to what he is saying, and he writes with a formal, ancient, and often philosophical tone. Even though this essay was written many years ago, the main topics somehow still manage to connect to todays society. Emerson says that actions speak louder than words, excellence is a habit, and that we all fear rejection. Does any of that sound familiar? If it doesn't, well then it should. These are things that many people have a hard time either believing in or getting past. If any of these issues apply to you, I highly recommend reading this essay.