Test Answers and Mid-Term Review

Today in class we turned in our essays, went over our previous test, and talked about the review for our mid-term test. Once again, I'm very proud of my essay and I think I will get a good grade on it. On our last test I got a 93, which is a grade I've gotten before. I got two questions wrong and they were the questions I thought I was going to get wrong. Of course when I found out the answer I felt dumb because it sounded so obvious. On the review for the mid-term I feel pretty good about all the topics. I just need to brush up on the things we did earlier in the year and some facts that I will forget about on the topics we just did. I know there is going to be some questions that I am going to be completely stumped on because that is what happens most of the time, but I'm glad all of the questions are multiple choice so at least I have a chance.

Peer Review and Mechanics of Essay Writings

Today we did the same thing that we did yesterday, which was finishing our essays and having a peer review it. At the end of class we talked about the mechanics of writing an essay and plagiarism. I am done with my essay and I am pretty proud of it. I took a lot of time to write it because I wanted it to be perfect. I think I took a very interesting approach to my essay that I think no one else in my class did. I did use my notes for some of my essay, but a lot of the information I used was things I heard from a show my parents watch, which is called Adam Ruins Everything on Netflix. When we talked about the mechanics of writing a good essay, I didn't have to do anything because I assumed we had to write our essays in Times New Roman font size 12. Overall, I think I did very well on my essay and I'm excited to see my grade.

Sub and Finishing Essay

Today we had a sub for class. We were supposed to finish writing our essay and then if we finished, peer review with someone else who is done. I didn't finish my essay in class because I'm not very good at writing essays in class, which is why I'm grateful that we are allowed to work on it before the exam day. I chose option B, which is about the evolution and effects of immigration policy over the last 100 years. I'm having a little bit of a hard time because I know what I want to say and I know I have good points, I just don't know how to put it into a nice essay and I also want it to be perfect. I currently have two paragraphs done and I'm starting my third one. There is just so many things I want to say, but they don't all belong in the essay even though they are good points. I think I'll be able to write a very good essay if I just sit down and really focus because even though I'm not to into government I do think this topic is important and interesting.

4th Test on Migration

Today we took our fourth test of the year which was on migration. It was a very short test with all multiple choice questions. The first page was easy, but it does help to look at all of the definitions before picking your answer because the next answer might make more sense. I would say about 95% of the multiple choice questions were easy. There were like 3 questions that I completely blanked on. All of the questions were fact based questions that we took notes on. For the 3 questions I think I got wrong, I know I knew the answer because it was on the tip of my brain. Tests with a lot of facts give me just a little bit of anxiety because I know all of the answers, but there is always those questions that you didn't take much time to look at or questions that were just a small part of your notes. You never know what the questions are going to be so that is why it is good to study everything. Although I wish I could remember everything I write down, I can't and so unfortunately when I don't know an answer, I just have to use my common sense, which is sometimes incorrect.

Unauthorized Immigration Notes That I Didn't Already Have

Mexico Border with U.S.

• view from U.S. recognized motives that compel unauthorized immigrants to enter illegally
• employment opportunities 
• family reunification 
• better way of life
• view from Mexico is more complex 
• residents from Northern Mexico wish for compassion to be shown to unauthorized immigrants 
• residents of Southern Mexico are less tolerant because of number of unauthorized immigrants entering from Mexico from Guatemala 

Attitude toward Immigrants

• we don't have middle ground, everyone is either on the yes side or the no side 
• racial profiling with having to carry around proof of being a citizen, if you look Hispanic you would be asked for proof
• sanctuary- give safety to unauthorized immigrants 
• population growth in Europe is fueled by immigrants from other regions, Europe doesn't like that 
• biggest fear is there country's culture will be taken away 
• different language 
• different religions 
• different food and habits 
• hostility to immigrants has become a central plank of some political parties 
• blamed for crime, unemployment rates, and high welfare costs 
• inhospitable climate for immigrants in Europe is especially ironic 
• Europe was main source of most of the world's emigrants 

Characteristics of Migrants (long-distance)

• most are male 
• most are adult individuals 
• most are young adults seeking work 

Unauthorized Immigrants

Today we took notes on the powerpoint, but I already had the notes because the powerpoint is the same thing as the packet we took notes on yesterday. We did talk about unauthorized immigrants and how they make a living. As of 2010, 35% of unauthorized adult immigrants have been in the U.S. for 15 years. Even if you are illegally in the U.S., you still need to make a living because that is what you came for, a better life. Immigrants tend to take a lot of the labor force jobs that Americans don't want to do. Which is why, by the way, it doesn't make sense when people say immigrants are stealing our jobs because how they can steal something that we didn't even want to do? Immigrants contribute a lot in America, illegal or not. Lower paying jobs don't take much to get, so it is a way for unauthorized immigrants to get money without going through a whole process that might expose that they aren't legal. Some other reasons people could immigrate were if they were skilled, hard workers, for diversity so there were more people from every region, and people that could benefit the technology or health in the U.S. If there are unauthorized immigrants that have been in the U.S. for a long time and they are contributing to our country then the government will sometimes reward them with citizenship because they are doing us good. At the end of the day like I've said many times, the main reason the U.S. lets people immigrate here is because it benefits our country.

Packet Notes: Why do migrants face challenges?

• most migrants problems are political 
• they need a passport and a visa to be legal in the United States 
• they are policies that are only for a certain type of immigrants
• Visas are granted:
• specific employment
• family reunification 
• the policies for who can immigrate depends on the four types of immigration in each region 
• first level is maintaining the current amount (16 countries)
• second level is to increase the amount (21 countries) 
• third level is to decrease the amount (32)
• fourth level is no policy (25)
• same levels for emigration 
• 43 countries want to maintain 
• 18 countries want to increase
• 46 countries want to decrease 
• 88 countries have no policy 
• 67 countries want higher skilled immigrants, 14 countries want family reunification 
• immigration is at a historical high level for the United States 
• unauthorized immigrants- people who immigrate illegally (used by academic observers) 
• undocumented immigrants- term used by people who want to help immigrants and make more rights for them 
• illegal alien- term used by people who don't want immigrants 
• 11.3 million (1 million are children) illegal immigrants as of 2014, less than the number of people leaving 
• most come from Mexico 
• 4.5 million babies are born in U.S. making them legal citizens with illegal parents 
• 8 million are employed in the U.S., big part of the labor force because they take the jobs that Americans don't want 
• quotas- maximum limits on number of people who could immigrate per year 
• Quota Act in 1921, National Origins Act in 1924 
• family reunification- 3/4 of immigrants are admitted to reunify families, primarily spouses or unmarried children of people already living in the U.S. (5 year wait) 

Finishing Podcast

Today we finished the podcast and I actually did some talking, which I usually don't. The end of the podcast was talking about asylum today and the difference between what Trump is doing about immigration and what used to be done. Before Trump was president, Barack Obama was and he worked to help people and grow asylum because that is the image the United States of America has given themselves. At the start the United States realized that we could help people in need because we have the space and the resources. Obama wanted to grow asylum because he cared about the people who were in need and realized that America is a place where these people can come to hopefully live a better life. But, even though we say America is great, the sad truth is it is only great for America. From the start of asylum, it was never really about actual helping people because we cared, it was all about how it would make us look compared to the rest of the world. President Trump wants to narrow asylum because he doesn't want any more immigrants. I do not like Trump and I don't support his ideas, but I do understand some of his points. For example, yes it is a safety issue to let some people into the United States and it is not okay for people to attack soldiers at the border. But it is also not okay to let people think that America is about freedom and making the right choices and then not give them what they need because they don't make us look better. Which is not true because the United States actually needs immigrants. They are a big part of our population and they do a lot of the heavy duty jobs that keep our country nice. I will never say someone's opinions are wrong IF they know what they are talking about. Most of people in my class only have an opinion because that is what they are being told to think and that opinion is what is benefiting them. Of course that makes sense, but it is when they don't bother to look at the other side of things and they start to become ignorant about other people's feelings and opinions. I don't have facts and I don't watch the news or know what is going on in the government and so when I raise my hand I am not going to state facts. When I raise my hand I am speaking of people's feelings and the rights they deserve as humans and the rights that America used to say that we will give them. Asylum started because we turned away people in need and we vowed to never turn away someone again. Yes, being hated for your sexuality is not the same as being hated for your race, but it does have the same outcome, which is dying or being put in danger. I just want people to understand that you can have your own opinions, but you have to let other people have theirs and it isn't fair to bash someone because of theirs especially if your opinion is based on absolutely nothing expect for what the majority of people believe. Immigration was never about race or sexuality or domestic violence. It is about how rich or poor you are and what you are going to do for the U.S.

Podcast about Changing Asylum Rules

In class we continued to listen to the podcast about asylum, Trump, and Obama. We left off talking about how the U.S. didn't accept people unless they benefited the U.S. For example, Haitians wanted to come to America for a better economic life, not to receive asylum, which wasn't enough for the U.S. to accept them. When we continued the podcast the lady was talking about how in 2003 or 2004 a girl came to the U.S. to seek asylum because she had been raped and beaten while she was pregnant, making her baby born with bruises. Domestic violence is common in other parts of the world and it wasn't apart of the list of things you could receive asylum for, so around the time Barack Obama was president, domestic violence was added to the ways you could receive asylum. This of course opens a gate for a bunch of other women who are being mistreated by men in other parts of the world to want to come to the U.S. for a better life. As with the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) that helps many people who are in poverty and have health issues, Obama also was looking to expand asylum because the United States is a big nation and can afford to help people in need. A lot of people who say Obamacare is not a good thing probably have no idea how many people it helps and also don't see the point in it because it isn't improving their lives. Unfortunately, less unfortunate people are a big part of our country and the world. President Trump is planning to shorten the reason why you can receive asylum and has already cut domestic and gang violence out of it. He also wants only 30 people to be able to apply each day and wait in Mexico instead of waiting in the United States. We are listening to the podcast so that we can be prepared to have a debate about it in class. While we are listening, we stop it and some people make comments. I don't make any comments or answer any questions because I am afraid I will become to angry. For example, we were asked if we agree with only 30 immigrants each day and I didn't say I don't agree even though I don't agree. I think there should be more because we are able to provide for more than 30 a day and not all 30 of those people are going to be allowed in the U.S. There might only be 10 of those people who get accepted. Like we have already discussed, our population is only growing because of immigration. Also, it is completely unfair to every women and every family suffering from domestic and gang violence to not be able to even have a chance of being free. I do respect other people's opinions and some of their points do make sense, so I will never say someone is completely wrong, but it frustrates me when people don't have any reason to their opinions and when they refuse to see or understand the other side of things. I wish I did feel comfortable to speak about my ideas, but I don't know many facts and I can't really blame people who don't see the other side because that is how they are being raised and they have never experienced anything other than that, so of course they are going to side with what benefits them or doesn't change their life, even if it means ruining many others lives.

Asylum and Podcast about Trump and Immigration

Today we learned what the term asylum means and how it applies to immigration. Asylum means to seek protection and safety because you aren't safe in your nation. We also talked about having a debate in class about the migration growth and if our class would be able to do it. We were using the example of how Trump is handling immigration. While we were talking about this we listened to a podcast to get some background information to support or go against Trump. In the podcast the question was, if the president is undermining the original concept of asylum in the United States, or is he restoring it to the way it started. Asylum started right before World War 2 in 1939 when 900 Jews fled Germany and went to the USA, Canada, Cuba, Argentina, etc. and were denied because they didn't go through the whole process of being able to enter a country. Because of this they were sent back to Germany and 700 of them died in Nazi death camps later on. The United States wasn't involved in the war yet, but after getting involved and helping the victory, they still had a guilt trip about not helping the first Jews because if they could help a war, they should've helped the 900 people. After the war in 1951, the United Nation decided that they had responsibility over immigrants who needed asylum and they insisted that they never turn anyone away again. But of course, you can't just take a bunch of people into your country for no good reason, so they made criteria for the people that could receive asylum. In order to receive asylum you must prove you're being persecuted by your own government either for race, nationality, political views, religion, or social groups. The biggest reason the United States took so many people in, even people they were in conflict with or didn't like, was because it made the United States look wonderful and the other countries look terrible. For example, nothing was happening to Albert Einstein, but they give him asylum because he was a famous genius and he would benefit them. They wanted to prove that democracy and the American way is the best. At some point though, if there were too many of your people, the United States would stop giving you asylum, especially if you don't benefit them in any way.

Interregional Migration and Westward Expansion

Today in class we talked more about migration and a little about Westward Expansion. Instead of just taking notes in our notebooks we used a packet of the textbook that the powerpoint is on. The packet was the same exact thing as our notes from yesterday, it just went deeper into each topic because obviously when you take notes you can't write paragraphs. The topics we read are what migration is, different types of migration, Ravenstein's Law, and the three main eras of migration in the U.S. Mobility is the most generalized term that refers to all types of movements, which is what migration is, people and animals moving from one region to another permanently. When people go short distances repeatedly that is called circulation. For example, college students going to school and then coming back for the holidays and summer. Although there is more than one type of migration, we only went over interregional migration. Interregional migration is when people migrate to better themselves or their families with economic opportunities and available land. An example of interregional is Westward Expansion. The Westward Expansion is the time period where Europeans discovered the west part of America and began to make a bunch of settlements. They migrated from the east to the west of America.

Migration

• Mobility is the most generalized term that refers to all types of movements
• short term and repetitive acts of mobility are referred to as circulation. Example: college students going to school and then coming home every year for holidays and summer 
• Permanent move to a new location is migration 
• Ravenstein's laws for the distance that migrants typically move 
• most migrants relocate a short distance and remain in the same country 
• long distance migrants to other countries head for major centers because of economic activity 
• International migration- permanent move, voluntary or forced, to a different country 
• Internal migration- permanent move in same country, interregional, intraregional 
• Approx. 9% of world's people are international migrants
• Global pattern reflects migration tendencies from developing countries to developed countries 
• Net-Out migration: Asia, Latin America, Africa (push force)
• Net-In migrants: North America, Europe, Oceania (pull force)
• US has more foreign born residents than any other country in the world
• approx. 43 million as of 2010-- growing by 1 million annually 
• 3 main eras of immigration in U.S. 
• colonial settlements in 17th and 18th centuries 
• Mass European immigration in late 19th and early 20th centuries
• Asian and Latin America integration in the late 20th and early 21st centuries 

Absent Again

I don't have a blog again because I am still sick.

No Blog

I don't have a blog because I was sick today and I didn't come to school.

3rd test reflections

Today we went over our last test on population and immigration. We did the same that always do, which is everyone reads a question and gives the answer to one or more questions so we can discuss the answer. I read question 11, which was how many people in the world do not have electricty (1,201,000,000)? I got a 97 because I got a 95 on the actual test part and then I got two points for an extra credit question. This test is the best test score I've gotten this year. The other ones were 90 and 93. I got the entire first page right and that makes sense because I found it very easy and wasn't surprised that I got them all right. I am actually a little mad about the two questions that I got wrong because they were very easy questions that I should have gotten right. For the life expectancy one I put the US instead of Monaco, which doesn't make any sense because I remember learning that Monaco has a lot of old people. The other question I got wrong was the one about what pyramid represents a country's population doubling in 35 years. I put pyramid C and it was pyramid A. When I saw the right answers it was really frustrating because I know exactly why I got these questions wrong. It wasn't because I'm not smart or I didn't know the answer, its because I didn't take my time and think about what the question is asking. My brain also sort of forgets really easy things that pop up on tests, which is annoying because I know the answer but I either can't think of it or forget that the question is pretty much answering itself. I have established that I'm not a very good test taker and that sucks because I am smart and I know everything, it just doesn't show on tests.

Population and Health

Population Concentrations

• 2/3 of world inhabitants are clustered in 4 regions 
• East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Europe, site and situation of population clusters
• low-lying areas with fertile soil and temperature climate 
• near an ocean or near a river with easy access to an ocean

Sparsely Populated Regions

• humans avoid cluster in certain places 
• dry, wet, cold, high lands 
• too harsh places diminished over time 

Population Density

• density can be computer 3 ways
• Arithmetic Density- total number of objects in area, divide populations by land area 
• Physiological Density- number of people supported by a unit area of farmable land, divide population by farmable land 
• Agricultural Density- ratio of number of farmers to amount of farmable land, divide population of farmers by farmable land
• Most places are industrial not farms  

Components of Population Growth

• Geographers measure population change in a country or the world as a whole by using three measures 
• Crude Birth Rate (CBR)- births per 1000 live births 
• Crude Death Rate (CDR)- deaths per 1000 people
• Natural Increase Rate (NRI)- birth rate minus death rate 

Test on Population

Today we took our 3rd test of this year, that was on populations. I thought I was going to do super good on this test and I still think I did. The first page where we were timed was very easy and I finished in 5 minutes. I am glad we were told what the GDP was though because I would not have been able to find that and also I didn't know if we were supposed to put the unit of the answer, so I just put the number and hopefully I don't get it wrong. The second page was fill in the blank with all of the definitions of the terms we learned, which was very easy as well. The third page was fine until the questions about which country has a higher net migration rate and what country has a higher birth rate. I think I got the first one right because I remember Canada has a higher migration rate than the United States but I had no clue on the second question so I just put the United States. The last page was all about population pyramids and answering which pyramid has different qualities like a high birth rate. I am pretty positive I got those right unless I accidentally put the wrong letter next to the wrong question. Overall the test was fair and had everything we learned about on it, no surprises.

3rd Test

Today we went over what our test is going to be like on Thursday. We also practiced the timed portion of the test where we have to use the world fact book and learned what GDP and PPP is. For the first part of class we had to use the world book website and look for specific things about a country. For example, we had to find the population of the United States and to find that you would go to the United States and then to people and society and it is the first thing listed. We also found the infant mortality, airports, and other populations. The point of this was to see if we knew where to find certain information and how fast we could find each thing because we only have 15 minutes to find each answer. While we were doing this we had to find Liechtenstein's GDP per capita (person). GDP is the amount of money per person a country makes. For Liechtenstein their GDP is $139,100 and the United States is $59,000. After looking at the world fact book we answered questions about the vocabulary like net migration rate, rate of natural increase, and total fertility rate. Then we went over population pyramids, the shapes of them, and what the shapes mean. The last thing we went over were push and pull factors of immigration and emigration. Push factors are reasons why people would want to leave their country. For example, people in Mexico might want to leave because of over-employment meaning they have too many people and not enough jobs or people in Chad would want to leave because they have a really poor health system which gives them a high death and infant mortality rate. Pull factors are reasons why people would want to move to a different country. For example, people would want to come to the United States because we have better job opportunities and religious and political freedom or people would want to go to Canada because it has less crime and cheaper health care so it is much safer.

Population Pyramids for Certain Cities

Today we looked at the population pyramids for different cities and we came up with the reasons why their pyramids are shaped that way. We also looked at a website that shows us the population for different countries from the past and the future. Like I said in my last blog, not every population pyramid is the three shapes (cup, box, Christmas tree). For Buffalo County, South Dakota, the pyramid looks like a Christmas tree, which is because it is a poor place that has a good birth rate but there isn't as many jobs so once the kids grow up they move. For Manhattan, New York, their highest group of people is ages 25-39. Manhattan is known for their jobs and moving their to pursue a good career like fashion, film, art, and business so people are not going to have kids because they are completely invested in their careers. Lastly, for Punta Gorda, Florida their highest group of people is older people because a lot of retired people like to move to hotter places so they can relax and not have to worry about cold weather and shoveling. On the website for population pyramids it only goes back to the year 1950 and up to the year 2100. The world's population slowly rises and reaches 11 billion people, but the pyramid starts to look like a box which means the birth rate is going down and we still have a long life expectancy. The United States population does the same thing as the world and turns into a box and the population is 450 million in the year 2100. We also looked at Japan and their population decreases over time starting at over 100 million and ending under 100 million because there birth rate is really low but they have a lot of old people.

Population Pyramids

Today we learned the last section of our unit, which are population pyramids. Population pyramids look like horizontal bar graphs that compare the ages of males and females. They analyze population growth or decline of fertility, mortality, migration, etc. Each bar goes by 5 years and the ages are grouped into kids, economically active (working parents and adults), and the elderly. There are three types of population pyramids. The first one is shaped like a Christmas tree. This means that this country or nation is a developing nation that has a high birth rate and a short life expectancy. Examples of a Christmas tree population pyramid would be the population of Namibia or Bangladesh. The second shape is a box, which means the nation is developed with slow population growth, low infant mortality rate, and a long life expectancy. An example of a box shaped population pyramid would be the USA or Sweden. From what I've learned about these pyramids, a box shape is probably ideal because everything is equal so there is enough people working to take care of the kids and the elderly. The last shape is a cup. A cup means that the nation is developed, but has a negative growth because they have a low birth rate and there won't be anyone to take care of the higher generation and work for their economy. They have a long life expectancy, like Japan or Italy. These are just the three most common shapes of population pyramids, but not every single one is a certain shape because each population is very different.

Going Over CIA Assignment and Next Test

Today we didn't really take any notes, we just went over the facts we found on the Worldbook and what the test is going to be like. I didn't share any of my facts though because they weren't as interesting as everyone else's. Maybe I didn't look hard enough or I didn't know what I was looking at, but it was cool and I wish I had better facts. There was one fact that someone had about Brazil that made me think. He said that Brazil has a high birth rate, a low death rate, and a negative migration rate, but their population is still growing. He was confused on how their population is growing but I think it is because of their birth rate being higher than their death rate even though their migration rate is falling. Their population growth rate is 0.73, which makes sense because it is still growing because of the births, but it isn't growing that fast, which is why it is under 1. We also went over what the test was going to look like. The first portion of the test is about going on the CIA website and searching for certain answers. There are 15 questions and we have 15 minutes to find them. It seemed pretty easy and as long as my computer works and I can read, I will be good. The next part is definitions and filling in the blanks for stuff like, rate of natural increase, crude birth rate, crude death rate, net migration rate, etc. I know all of those so I will be good. The last portion of the test was population pyramids, which we haven't learned yet, but they seem cool and easy. I think the test will be good and I am actually really enjoying this unit and even though I am not into the CIA, I do find the website interesting.

CIA Worldbook Facts

Today we looked at and learned about the CIA wordbook website, which is where you can look at a countries statistics, like their population and economy. One fact I found interesting was in Liberia their birth rate is much higher than their death rate. Their total fertility rate is 5.06 children per women and their birth rate is 38.3 births. Their death rate is 7.6, which is much lower. This fact is surprising to me because even though the birth rate makes sense, I would expect the death rate to be a little closer to the birth rate because of their health issues. Liberia is one of the wettest countries but they don't have the resources to provide clean water to every home and their infant mortality rate is 52.2 deaths. Another fact I found interesting was that Canada has a higher net migration rate than the United Staes. Canada's migration rate is 5.7 migrants and the United States is 3.9 migrants. This is surprising to me because a lot of people talk about how great America is and how a lot of people come here to live a better life. I have never really heard anyone talk about Canada like that and I also just didn't know that people really migrated there. Also, I found it surprising that Japan has a much higher death rate than birth rate even though they have the highest life expectancy. Their birth rate is 7.7 and their death rate is 9.8. I would expect the death rate to be lower than that because there are so many people that live for a long time. They also have 0 migrants so their deaths are from the people that were born there. Germany has the fifth largest economy in the world because of their hard work and labor but it is getting more and more difficult because they have such a low fertility rate and they have a large increase on net immigration. Their fertility rate is 1.45 children and their net immigration rate is 1.5 migrants. It is surprising that they have such a good economy because they don't have many people, which would make it seem like their economy would be struggling. Also, I didn't know that people migrated to Germany, especially not more than women have children. The last thing I found interesting on this website was that Italy has a very close net migration rate to the United States. Italy has a net migration rate of 3.7 migrants and the United States has 3.9 migrants. I thought Italy was pretty much just people who born there and then people who went there for vacation. Their economy is actually widely based on their advanced technology, which was also a surprise because I thought it would be more on tourism.

Measuring Population

Birth and Death:

• Crude Birth Rate:  number of births per 100 of the population
• Crude Death Rate: number of deaths per 1000 of the population 
• Rate of Natural Increase (RNI): gives us the annual natural growth in percent from for a country or region
• found by subtracting death rate from birth rate
• if positive difference population is rising 
• if negative difference population is falling

Migration:

• Net Migration Rate: difference between number of persons entering and leaving a country during a year 
• Net Immigration: excess of persons entering a country

• written as a positive number 
• Example: 
• Canada has (2014) 5.65 immigrants per 1,000 population
• United States has 2.45 (it was 3.62 in 2015)
• Net Emigration: excess of persons leaving the country 
• written as a negative number 
• Example
• Mexico has (2015) -1.68 migrants per 1,000 population 
• (2013) -3.61
• (2014) -3.11 
• Why do people migrate?
• push forces 
• civil war 
• environmental degradation 
• unemployment or underemployment 
• religious or ethnic persecution
• pull forces 
• better economic opportunity 
• better health services 
• religious freedom 
• political freedom 

Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

• TFR: average number of children born per woman 
• For population to stay same TFR must be 2.1 
• higher than 2.1 population rises 
• lower than 2.1 population falls 
• World TFR- 2.42 (2.54 two years ago, 2.47 last year)
• United States TFR- 2.01 (2.06 last year)
• Nigeria TFR- 6.89 (developing nation)
• Japan TFR-  1.40 (developed nation, aging population)
• Why is it 2.1?- certain number of babies that don't live to be child bearing age 
• WOMEN ARE HAVING LESS KIDS TODAY BECAUSE OF WORK/COLLEGE AND BIRTH CONTROL IS AVAILABLE 

Life Expectancy

Life expectancy is the average number of years to be lived by a group of people born in the same year. For example, the life expectancy for people my age who were born in 2003-2004, have a different life expectancy than people born when my grandma was born, which was 1946. I think my generation has less of a life expectancy than my grandmother's generation. Even though we have better health care and more knowledge today, we also have a lot of bad things that are making us die quicker. For example, when my grandma was a kid, there wasn't any unhealthy fast food, her mom cooked at home and most of their food was fresh. Also, people were way more active than they are now because not everyone had cars so they had to walk, and they didn't have electronics to entertain them all day. Illegal drugs are also being abused way more now. As the US keeps developing and getting more tech savvy, I think we will soon end up something like the movie "Wall-E". The US is #42 in the life expectancy rank out of like 240 countries. The average life expectancy for men is 77.32 years old and for women, 81.97 years old. Monaco is the highest with 85.63 years old for men and 93.58 years old for women. The lowest is Chad with 48.64 years old for men and 51.03 years old for women. In all of these life expectancies, women have a higher age. Some reasons why women live longer than men are because of men joining the armed forces, having more dangerous jobs, being more aggressive and reckless, committing more crimes or being involved in crimes, and not going to the doctor as much. The US could have a much better life expectancy because we do have a lot of great knowledge and technology, but our poor health choices are the reason why we are ranked
#42.

People on the Land

There is over 7.5 billion people on the Earth right now. The population increases by 73 million per year and 90% of the population growth takes places in developing countries like Africa, South and East Asia, and Latin America. This isn't good because these developing countries don't have enough resources for all of these people. In countries like the USA and Canada, they are developed so we are able to have more people and even people from different countries coming in. The population is based on births, deaths, immigration, and emigration. The world's population started growing long ago when hunting and gathering was a thing. Hunting and gathering is when a small group of people (10-14) hunt for animals and uses an area's resources for a while and then moves on to the next place. After a while, people started cultivating and domesticating these plants and animals by reproducing so they have an endless amount. This created small towns and then settlements where people started to do different jobs like, making clothes, houses, weapons, and food. This process continued all the way to today where we have a bunch of businesses, towns, cities, and states. There are more births than deaths and by the time I'm forty, it is very likely there will be 10 billion people on the Earth.

2nd Test

Today we had our second test on thinking geographically. It was all multiple choice and there were 30 questions. Everything was pretty much what we had reviewed and I think I did good. I found it fairly easy, but of course like any test there were some questions that I spaced out on. For example, the one question about Texas, I didn't know at all and another question that had the definition of the word globalization, but the only answer that was close to that was globalism. I did way better on this test than the first test though. I finished my test early so I sat there for a little bit and tried to take a nap. I thought that all of my homework was on my laptop and we weren't allowed to go on our laptop until everyone was done, but turns out it was all on paper. So I got my English homework done which was easy. After everyone was done, I started to do my blog but then I decided that I was too tired and I saved it for tonight. I hope I get a good grade because I do feel like I knew the material very well.

Test Tomorrow

Tomorrow we have a test, which thank God it is multiple choice. This will be our second test and even though I did good on the first test, I would like to do much better on this one. Today we reviewed even more, with Demetri as our teacher. He wasn't there yesterday so we went over some of the same things and then we played a review game that Demetri came up with. We spilt the room into two teams and one person from each team would go against each other and try to write an answer down on the board the fastest. All of the questions were fairly easy and only one or two were from the first unit. They were about the things we talked about yesterday like, prime meridian, international date line, time zones, regions, absolute and relative location, etc. My team won by a lot. The question I answered was "what is the difference between the Mercator map and the Peters map?" I said that the Mercator is wrong and is way more distorted than the Peters map. My answer was partially right because the Mercator isn't completely wrong, but it is more distorted. The person I was going against put the same thing but without the wrong part. I wrote it down first, but Demetri couldn't read the word "distorted" on mine so we did a tie breaker. The tie breaker was "name a region that has Chinese as its predominate language", at first I wrote functional region, which makes no sense, but then I wrote Beijing and got the point. I think the game was helpful and I believe I am going to do very well on my test tomorrow.

review day for test

Today in class we went over possible test questions and helped pick out which ones would be fair to put on our test for Friday. Some of the questions were things I've never heard of, but most of them were things we know. We didn't finish all of the questions and I think we stopped at map distortion and we also did some examples for finding time zones. One thing we answered was where's the prime meridian, which is at 0 degrees longitude, and what it is on the opposite side of it, which is the international date line at 180 degrees longitude. This brought up the antipode thing that we had to do for the questions on the last blog. Antipode is the exact opposite spot from a point on Earth, and like 70% of places' antipodes are not on land because the Earth is mostly water. Next, we did what is the science of mapmaking, which is called cartography, and why do we use maps (navigation). After that, we talked about the four types of distortion of maps because the Earth is round and maps are flat. There is the distortion of a shape of an area, size of an area, distance between points, and directions between points. With distortion, there is absolute and relative location. Absolute location is the exact location of a point, using longitude and latitude, on Earth and relative location is describing a location by naming its surroundings. The last thing we talked about was time zones and how to tell the time in different areas based on what time it is in Bel Air. There are 24 time zones and every 15 degrees equals one hour ahead or behind. For example, right now in Bel Air the time is 9:21 pm. If I wanted to find out Chicago's time I would go on a map and go back or forward every 15 degrees until I get to Chicago. On my map, I only moved back 15 degrees once, so Chicago is only one hour behind, which means it is 8:21pm. I think this review day was good and I think I am going to do good on my test because I got everything right today.

In Class Questions because Mr. Schick Flaked

Three other things Eratosthenes is known for:
1. found the circumference of the Earth
2. invented easy method to find prime numbers (Sieve of Eratosthenes)
3. Armillary Sphere

Time Zones if it is 10am in Bel Air, MD
4. Portland, Oregon- 7:00am
5. Greenwich, England- 3:00pm
6. Toronto, Ontario- 10:00am
7. South Pole- 10:00pm

Location and Place Names
8. The Great Plains, The Great Lakes, Rocky Mountains, Grand Canyon, The White Mountains
9. Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Hawaii, Mt. Denali
10. St. Louis, Maryland, Baltimore, Carroll County, New York
11. Georgetown University, John Carroll High School, Thomas Aquinas College, Western St. Francis,  Martin Luther King Building

Longitude and Latitude
12. Baltimore MD- 39.2904 degrees North, 76.6122 degrees West

13. Quito Ecuador- 0.1807 degrees South, 78.4678 degrees West 

14. Taveuni- 16.8414 degrees South, 179.8913 degrees West 

15. Christchurch New Zealand- 43.5321 degrees South, 172.6362 degrees East 

16. Juneau Alaska- 58.3019 degrees North, 134.4197 degrees West 

17. Geographic Antipode- Any spot on Earth that the point on Earth's surface that is diametrically opposite to it. 

Antipode

18. Beijing, China- 39 degrees 54' 21.5" S, 63 degrees 36' 31.5" W

19. Bermuda- 32 degrees 18' 6.6" S, 115 degrees 14' 22.7" E

20. My house- 39 degrees 28' 20.3" S, 103 degrees 41' 39.1" E 

Unique Points On Earth and Different Places Similar

In class we answered the next two key issues, why is each point on Earth unique and why are different places similar? Each point on Earth is unique because of culture. Culture is the body of customary beliefs, traits, and social forms that make the traditions of a group people. The word culture is latin and means "to care about" or "to care for". People care about ideas and beliefs like, religion. People take care of things like wealth and recipes. For example, if they have a family air-loom that gets past down through generations or if they have a family business. Different places are similar because of scale, space, and globalization. Scale and space help geographers explain why similarities among places aren't a coincidence. If a place has the same amount of space then they might have the same kinds of industries. Globalization is the process that involves the entire world and results in making something worldwide in scope. For example, fast food is considered an American thing, but it is everywhere. Even though it isn't healthy food, it is convenient, tastes good, and cheap. It has spread to places that are known for being traditional. Culture is why places are unique, but places are going to continue to become more and more similar and lose their culture.

Going Over Notes

Today we went over our notes in class and made sure that we had everything to be able to study for our upcoming test. I did have everything in my notes, but it is a lot of information and I am sort of worried I will forget some of it, so I am glad we refreshed. I know pretty much everything except for the regions and the first people to make maps, I just forget about those. But, the three types of maps are the Mercator Projection, The Peters Projection, and The Robinson Projection Map. For education we use the Mercator Projection Map, but we should actually be using the Peters Projection Map because it is not as distorted as the Mercator. All though all maps are distorted because you can't draw something that is round into something that is flat, the Peters map is much more accurate with sizes, distance, shape, etc. The purpose of maps are for navigation to get from one place to another and back. The first map of the world was made by Eratosthenes and his map did not have the Americas because they hadn't discovered and explored America yet. There is also absolute and relative location which is how accurate the position of the location is on Earth. To be absolute you would break it down to degrees and then minutes and then seconds. To be relative you are just describing the surroundings around the location and how it relates to the location. Some features on maps are keys, equator, prime meridian, degrees, and proper names. We also talked about time zones, which there are 24 time zones and every 15 degrees on a map is one hour forward or one hour back from a location. Then we got into GPS which is a great technology that can tell you the EXACT location of a place or even you, from a foot away or a thousand miles away. There is also a downside to GPS which is being tracked all the time. The last thing we talked about were the three types of regions which are, formal regions (area shares one or more common distinctive characteristics), functional regions (dominates at a central focal or nodal point that is common in an area), and vernacular regions (area the people believe exists as part of their cultural identity.

Three Different Types of Regions

A region is an area of land that has common features. There are three different types of regions, a formal region, functional region, and vernacular region. A formal region is an area in which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristics. These can be defined by language, economic activity, climate, and physical features. An example of a formal region are The Great Plains because they all are flat surfaces that have about the same climate and are good growing places. Functional regions (nodal region) are areas organized by a node or focal point. They are dominated at a central focus or nodal that diminishes in importance. A functional region is The New York Times magazine because it is a common central thing that people in the city read. The last kind of region is a vernacular region (perceptual region) which is an area that people believe exists as a part of their cultural identity. Vernacular regions are based on perceptions of the people. For example, people in New York call some sandwiches hoagies and in Pennsylvania they call them grinders. Formal and functional regions are different from vernacular regions because vernacular regions are informal and local.

Notes About Regions

• A place is a  particular portion or point in space
• A location is a position on Earth 
• A site is an actual place that people decided to locate a settlement 
• A situation is a location of a place on Earth relative to other places
• A toponym is a general name for any place or geographical entity 
• come from important people, physical features, culture
• A region is an area of land that has common features 
• Spanning political states
• constrained within one political state 
• Derives its unified character through the cultural landscape 
• Three common types of regions-  One is formal regions which is an area which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristics 
• Ex. The Great Plains is a formal region because they all have a flat landscape, same climate and weather 
• There are also regions that are either predominant or universal 
• Ex. Japan is predominant in there language because about 80 to 90% of them speak Japanese
• Ex. America is more universal because there are more people who speak English as there second language 

Getting Tests Back and Kneeling During National Anthem

Today in class we got our first tests back. I did very well on the multiple choice and short answers, but not as good as I wanted to on the essay. I didn't do as good on the essay because I didn't write about Socrates meaning I kind of switched to Elbert Hubbard, which I understand now. After we went over the test, we started to bring up Colin Kaepernick and him kneeling during the National Anthem. While we were talking about this a lot of people said it was very wrong and he shouldn't have done it during his football game. I did say some things during the discussion, but I didn't get everything I wanted to say off my chest. I do think that it is disrespectful that he kneeled, but sometimes being disrespectful does not mean that the person is wrong or is doing something bad. Our national anthem represents America and how we have freedom. Colin Kaepernick was kneeling because of police officers being abusive or killing black people for no reason. I believe that when he kneeled he was peacefully protesting the fact that not everyone is free. America is supposed to be a free country, but when police officers are stripping black people's freedom from them because of their skin color, how is a colored person supposed to feel proud of their country? I think a lot of people who think it is totally wrong and disrespectful only think of it as Kaepernick was disrespecting our country and that's it, but there is so much more than that. I am a biracial person and even though I have not been criticized because of my skin color I know what it feels like because of my family and friends. The people who don't see it as what Kaepernick meant, which was standing up for his race and protesting against American morals that aren't so true, probably have never been shamed because of their skin color or race and so they have no other perspective. Also, some people were saying that he shouldn't have kneeled because he is only there to play football. Yes, Colin Kaepernick is there to play football, but because of that and his following he has a large platform. He used his platform as a way to get everyone's attention about a serious issue going on in America. I think that it was good that Kaepernick kneeled because it means that when he sees a problem, especially one that can hurt him or his family and friends, he knows that he can take advantage and use his platform for good. Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem may have been disrespectful, but it does not mean that he hates America; it means that he loves America's policy of freedom and he expects it to be applied to everyone.

GPS tracking and location

Today in class we learned and talked about Global Positioning System (GPS). GPS is a system that accurately determines the precise position of something on the Earth's surface. They use satellites that are placed in predetermined orbits and track and monitor them to calculate precise locations. GPS is used in vehicles (turn-by-turn) for directions, pilots and ship captains use them, and they are placed in apps on your phone. Amazing technology allows you to find the exact location and direction to any point on Earth in very little time. But, in order to see how far you are from a place you need to give your own location. If you go on Google and look up a restaurant or store, it will most likely ask you to allow Google to know your location. Of course that is good because it makes the search more accurate and can give you more information, but it also invades a lot of your privacy. When you press "allow" you are letting a whole website know where you are, where you are going to be, or where you are trying to go. You have no idea what these apps or websites are doing with your location. For example, Alexa is a new thing where you just say "Alexa" and she answers and you can give any request. It is electronic and has to be plugged in to work but it never shuts off unless you unplug it. In class we discussed how even though Alexa isn't responding, that doesn't mean she isn't listening. Alexa is only programmed to respond when you say "Alexa" but she can only respond if she can hear you, which means she needs to be able to hear you all the time. Another example is ancestory.com, which is a website where you pay a company and give them your DNA to figure out where you come from. This is a really cool concept and is something that a lot of people want to figure out, but it is also unsafe and sketchy. Once again, you have no idea what the company is doing with your DNA other than what they tell you. New and modern technology is very cool and helpful, but it is invasive of privacy and it tricks you into giving away personal information that you wouldn't just tell a random person, which is essentially what you are doing.

Catch Up Day

Today was a catch up day to finish our maps and do our blogs or other homework. I finished my maps yesterday at home so I am doing my blog. I include almost all of my notes in every blog in some way, so I am just going to talk about how it went when I was doing my maps. Naming the continents and oceans were very easy on every single map. The Equator, Prime Meridian, and International Date Line were easy on the Mercator and Robinson map, but a little harder on the Peters Map because there weren't any lines and everything was much bigger so the distance between things were different. The Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn were also fairly easy to place even though I have never heard of those. The only sort of difficult part was the nation of my origin because I only know three for a fact which are Germany, Ireland, and Italy. The African-American part of my origin is harder because none of my family really knows where we are from because of the slave-trade. In the last 100 years or so of the slave trade, Africans were on plantations and being born into slavery, so it would be very hard to track where my ancestors were originally from. After doing one map is was fairly easy to place the same things on the other maps and I didn't have to use my computer a lot after the first map I labeled.

Different Maps

Today in class we worked on finding and labeling certain things on three different maps. We had to label things like the Prime Meridian, the Equator, and the International Date Line, which I have never heard of. The three maps we had to label are the Robinson Projection, Mercator Projection, and the Gall-Peters Projection maps of the world. Usually labeling maps is easy, at least in my experience, but this time the maps were not always centered or positioned like they are when you look them up. I have never really been good at reading maps or longitude and latitude, so this topic of maps is not my strong suit. I never understood how people find things on the map or better yet, how they remember where things are on maps. Even though labeling these maps are a little hard for me, I think it is helpful because I'm not good at it and doing this three times is going to make me better.

Time Zones and Maps

Today we talked about maps and how we have time zones. On maps there is a grid, which are made up of longitude (0 degrees to 180 degrees East to East) lines and latitude (0 degrees to 90 degrees North to South) lines. The intersection of longitude and latitude lines show specific points on the Earth For more accuracy you would divide each degree by 60 mins and then each minute by 60 seconds. For time zones since the Earth is 360 degrees, you divide 360 by 24 hours in a day and get 15 degrees. Every 15 degrees on a map is one hour back or one hour forward. We also talked about how weird it is that we start our day at 12am instead of 0am. It is also weird that we go from 12 to 1. We don't count like 12, 1, 2, 3, 4.... so why would the time be made like that? I think we should use military time because it starts at 0:00am and goes all the way to 23:59pm.

West Wing Clip

In the West Wing clip on the Peter's map, they make some pretty good points about why the Mercator map is wrong and the Peter's projection map should be used in all public schools in America. The first point they make is how the map has been creating a European bias on third world countries because the original creator of the map was German. It was used for navigation tools for European sailors and to make it easy for them, he enlarged everything to make straight lines so they can cross the oceans. This distorts the relative size of all of the nations. For example, on the Mercator map, Greenland looks about the same size as Africa, but in reality Africa is 14 times the size of Greenland. Also, Europe appears to be larger than South America, but South America, at 6.9 million square miles, has almost double the size of Europe's 3.8 million square miles. The OCSE members then explained that nothing is where we think it is on the map. They talk about how we unconsciously equate size with importance and power. We stress the importance of Western civilization and when the Northern Hemisphere is put on the top and the Southern Hemisphere, with third world countries, and put on the bottom of the map, the world adopts top and bottom attitudes.

Peter's Map Is The Best Sis

Today we learned a little bit more about maps and how they are made. We also learned about how all maps have something wrong with them because it is impossible to make something that is round, the Earth, into something that is flat, a map, perfectly. The four types of distortion are shape of an area, distance between two points, relative size, and direction. On the mercator map, which is the one we have been using our entire life, the size of most of the continents and countries are not the correct size. However, the Peter's map is way more accurate with size and distance and should be the maps that we use for education. Also, I think mercator maps are made with a bias from the cartographer. In their maps, they tend to make the countries that they think are the most important bigger and at the top of the map. Which is inaccurate and makes us believe things are bigger than they are. For example, today I saw how big Africa really is and it was huge. It also makes us believe that the world is scientifically made with North America on top and Australia on the bottom, which is not the way it has to be. You could flip the map around and it would still be correct.

Why are maps made the way they are?

Today we started to talk about maps and we looked at the first maps made of the Earth. Towards the end of class though, I was very interested. We were talking about why North is on the top of the map. The only real answer is because it is always been that way and we are used to it. But, there is no scientific or geographic reason that maps or globes have to have North America in the top left corner and Australia in the bottom right corner. If we did not have maps, most people probably wouldn't know where they were on Earth top, bottom, or middle because Earth really doesn't have a top or bottom. North America is only on the top left of maps because that is where cartographers drew it, not because they knew that for sure. There is no reason why Australia couldn't be drawn on the top left corner. Not everyone sees the Earth from the same point or spot. I think maps were made like this because people are bias and want "the most important" continents and countries on the top and the not so important on the bottom. Think about it, usually the best person is at the top of the list, is on the top team, or the top class. The worst person is usually at the bottom of a list or ranking. I think someone should make a map with North America on the bottom right corner and Australia on the top left, because it would make no difference and it wouldn't be wrong.

First Test

Today in class we had our first test. I think I did very well on both the multiple choice and essay. I did not study that much because I felt like I knew the material pretty well, mainly because it was explained very well and pretty easy to grasp. I did have a little trouble trying to put everything I wanted to say into words on my essay though, I think I got my point across. I wish I knew was what the tallest mountain in North America was renamed after 2015, which would have been cool to remember. The test was easy and fair, it had everything we discussed, no surprises. I liked this unit a lot because I understood it and I could relate to it. It was sort of based on facts but the general focus was people's opinions on human beings. This focus made it easy, especially for the essay question I chose, which was "The unexamined life is not worth living", because I got to give my opinion and take on the quote as long as I backed up it. I do not have any worries about my grade and I am curios to see what I got.

Test and Socrates Opinion

Today in class we learned what our test on Monday was going to be about. We have to connect every topic we have covered so far and explain why they are related. The topics we covered are, Elbert Hubbard's, A Message to Garcia Essay, starting high school, excellence, greek government, and Socrates. We also talked about "the unexamined life is not worth living", which means a life where you do not find your place in the world or try to better the world is not useful. All of these topics we have discussed are essentially about humans using their fullest and highest potential. We have these awesome brains that can grasp so many concepts other animals can't, and it is a shame that some people don't take advantage of that just because they are lazy. I also think that we went from now, to 1899, to 399 BC, to prove that the idea of human's excellence has been around for a long time. It shows that excellence using your knowledge is something that can change the world. I think that doing this at the beginning of my high school year was a good idea because these things show what hard work can do and helps me understand that I shouldn't waste my time in high school, and that I should get involved.

Socrates and Greek Government

• Greek government led to our democracy-- took same ideas
• Socrates was a young man who worked as stonemason
• fought heroically in Peloponnesian war
• working and battle field experience shaped the way he viewed the world-- your life experiences and what you do shape you and your beliefs
• met with young students outside the agora and used method of teaching where he asked their beliefs and branched his questions based on their answers, made them think-- led to scientific method
• lived in Athens, great city that attracted knowledge of astronomy, medicine, meteorology, literature, philosophy, all things scientific 
• the original teachings were only about Greek Gods so Socrates made people think/question with his method of teaching- Greek government did not like that 
• Socrates was charged with corruption of Athen's youth-- making them think instead of just believing what has been taught for so long 
• Impiety- not believing in the God of the state 
• In his defense he said that it was his job to be a gadfly (annoying/ get you going) for Athens because they are lazy and do not want to expand their knowledge or ask questions about things 
• jury of 500 male citizens 279 said he was guilty 221 did not 
• death penalty of drinking poison hemlock 
• he had an opportunity to escape on the day he was supposed to die but refused because he respected and believed in the Greek government, even if he was going to die for such a silly reason 
• proved that Socrates was loyal to the Athenian democracy

Socrates death proved that people do not like change and do not want to be questioned on something they thought for sure was right. They do not like change because it could make them look like they do not know anything. Socrates made people think, which is where all of our ideas come from and how we get answers to things. If we did not think about anything, we would not know anything knew.

Democracy and Excellence

Democracy is a form of government where the people are in charge. People have the power to vote for or to not vote for certain political topics. I think democracy can lead to excellence but, only to a certain extent. People take pride when they can do something for their country or are allowed to be involved because they feel like it is actually their country. When there is a dictator or one person in charge, people start to dislike their country or their government because it is unfair. In that regard democracy would seem like the best plan. Even though democracy does work very well and is the best form of government, I think it allows too many people to believe that their vote or idea does not matter or does not need to be heard. I think that a democracy only works for people who want to be involved or believe that they can make a difference in the world. Imagine a democracy full of people who do not care about politics. It would be a waste of time to let them have the power, compared to a democracy full of people who love politics and want to vote for things. Democracies work because it gives different opinions and views from so many different minds. Humans have so much potential and knowledge. But the people who choose not to do anything are people who either do not care or do not see the point in working hard because there are already so many people to do that instead. For example, if the person who came up with the first phone became famous and rich, many people would want to be like that person. The other people would say "Oh he already came up with a phone, why do I need to make a new and better one?" I think it relates to democracies because a lazy person would also say something like, "If everyone else already voted, why do I need to? My vote is not going to make a difference." Democracy also gives other people the idea that they can discriminate or be rude to other people's vote or to the people who do not vote. Giving power to the people is excellent and is the best way of government, if your country wants it. Working hard and being compassionate for something is where democracy comes from. Democracy can only cause excellence if people want to take pride in their country.

A Message to Garcia: Excellence

The essay, A Message to Garcia written by Elbert Hubbard talks about human's lack of hard work. This essay inspired and spoke to many people. It was reprinted as books that were 42 pages long. They sold 40 million copies in 37 languages and the essay was also made into two movies. A Message to Garcia is about an army officer Rowan, who was sent to give a message to Garcia, a war general for Cuba, during the Spanish-American War. Rowan was able to complete this task quickly and without any question. In this essay, Elbert Hubbard rants about how humans have so much potential but they choose to be lazy. Knowledge and knowledge about knowledge is the highest potential humans have that every other species does not. We have the ability to change the world, to create new things, and to allow us to do things only other species can do, such as fly. Humans have the ability to take initiative and Elbert Hubbard talks about the common rule of people being lazy and doing only what is good enough. This essay was and still is so powerful that the slang expression "take a message to Garcia" means to take initiative, which is still used in the military. We have so much potential, if we would just do what is right, even if we were not told.

A Message to Garcia Essay

The essay, A Message to Garcia written by Elbert Hubbard speaks to me about my high school career because it stresses how important hard work is. The essay also explains how the majority of people are dependent on other people to make things happen for them. When we are given a task, especially difficult ones, most people do not have the ability to just do the task, instead they are bothered by the fact that they have to work for something. In response we ask why we have to do it or make up ways to get out of the task. What Elbert Hubbard is talking about relates a lot to me because starting high school is starting the chapter of your life where you are in almost complete control. High school is where you get your license, where you apply for college, where you get your first jobs, get scholarships and crazy opportunities. In high school you cannot expect to be very dependent on other people. High school is where you learn no matter how smart you are or how cool you are, the work will never stop. Everything is about effort and working hard. The transition from middle school to high school is very difficult. People will help you and can help you but only to a certain extent, after that it is all up to you. In order to achieve your dreams and your goals you need to constantly work. Even if you have already done good enough, you need to do better. Hard work is what gets you places and many people do not realize that. In high school your teachers are not going to chase you down for homework, they are not going to ask you if you want to join a club, they are going to suggest you take a harder class but they are not going to force you to do better. You have to be able to make the best decision for yourself on your own. This essay was really helpful and informative especially since I am starting high school. It made me think about what type of person I want to be and brought to my attention what kind of person I do not want to be. High school is where you learn your work ethic and what you are able to achieve. But it takes hard work and the right mindset to get things done, no matter how difficult everything may get.

First Day Experience

My first day experience at John Carroll was more than I expected, but in a good way. I was expecting to just go through the motions and not have much of a purpose to the day. I did not expect to feel happy to be in school. None of my first days for school have ever been exciting and today was. Usually the first day is just a teacher talking a little about the class and that is all. Today my teachers were very open and so were my classmates. I was never uncomfortable and I did not feel like I was a freshman just starting high school. I worried that finding classes, being on time, and walking in the crowded halls were going to be stressful. That was not the case at all.  I very quickly felt at home and getting through the day was a breeze. The building was very easy to navigate and my schedule was making sense. I enjoyed the work that we did in each class and today set an expectation for me on the school year and my time spent at John Carroll. My teachers and classmates were great and I am excited for the school year.