Journal 39: Lucky You

If I was to win the lottery I wouldn't drop everything that I am doing in school and just go and live a easy life. I know that if I am to do so I'll soon end up broke, lazy ,and unhappy. I would save it first and still go through high school and college paying for the tuition myself. I would give a portion of the money to my parents for raising me. Then when I graduate from college I would work as a designer and during my vacations I would use the money to travel around the world. Then possibly create my own design company with the money and experiences I have. I would have a early retirement and live off the money my company makes and what ever is left form the lottery. It would be such a easy going and if at some point I wish to give up everything and become lazy I could but I hope I won't. Being rich doesn't mean you can just not work and sit on your ass all day. You already have the money but now you have to work to mature and work to gain the respect of others. So that others don't just see you have the lucky lottery winner but as someone who works hard no matter what.

Journal 38: Opportunity Cost

Opportunity cost; the price I have to pay for choosing one thing over the other. Many times I have a choice of things to do and many times I choose A knowing that I will waste time for which I can be doing B. Its a difficult choice because either way I will lose the opportunity to do one or the other. What if I was to choose to not stay after school and hang out with friends. I could go home finish my homework, watch a little TV, and go to sleep earlier. So why do I choose to stay after school? Pier pressure? Do I just want to have fun and don't care about school or is it because I don't think sleeping is important? It can be any of these reasons. However I do not regret my choice. Having a social life is also important to a child's life. Having a good social life can boost a child's confidence and help him through hardships. Even though I choose to stay in school to hang out with friends, I still get my work done on time and maintain my grades. The only thing I am sacrificing is sleep and that is something that I have already learned to deal with. There are times when I think back and wished that I had got home earlier but most of the times I am happy with the result of my choices and I accept my opportunity costs. 

Journal 37: Test Prep on Writing

I think the way that test such as the SAT is set up is really unhealthy. Unhealthy because it obscures the whole process of learning. The SAT is suppose to be a test of knowledge you already have and not of what you can learn in a two month period. Especially the way to write an essay. There is a formula for writing an essay on the SAT and if I was to use that same formula on a essay for a class in high school I would only get a low score. It is because the SAT essays are graded under a minute and the only thing they are looking for is structure, connection from your examples to the subject, and hand writing. They don't care about weather what you are writing is right or wrong. The essay that is produced by this process lacks creativity and the spark that makes essay worth reading. If this is the only thing people get to learn in high school their college professor wouldn't be happy.  Essays are suppose to display a personal view on a issue. It suppose to unique and interesting. Essays are not suppose to be formulated line by line. By doing so the point of writing a essay is lost and there is no reason to even test our knowledge any more knowing that people can prep for it.

Journal 36: Cheating

I think what's happening in the world today with all the "cheating" is immoral and despicable. I don't like it but sometimes I do it myself making me a hypocrite. In Taiwan and China cheating is not only used in education but in everything else. Cheating in businesses making the economy corrupt. Cheating in produces threatening the health of the buys by leaving important ingredients or replacing them with fake ones. Cheating is applicable to almost everything in life include college admissions. This is the thing I have the most issue about. Many people are getting into universities and college that they do not deserve and by doing this they take the opportunity away from people who actually worked hard for the opportunity. Cheating is only acceptable to me when its a matter of life and death and that cheating is the only way to survive and live. The habit of cheating is not something people are suppose to learn in order to survive in society but it has exactly come to in society today.

Journal 34: Race to College

The issue around racial advantage has been around for a long time and in many forms. It started up with racism and whites thinking that they are superior to blacks and many other races. Slavery has been put to a end but racism still here with us today. Colleges are allowed to use the race of a person in the judging of their admission and too many people it seems unfair. The colleges shouldn't just assume that if a person is of a dark skin tone that they are raised in a poorer family and that they had to fight for their opportunities.  Just because the other candidate is white doesn't mean that they are raised in a extremely well environment and opportunities are just given to them. It very much could be the direct opposite, black candidate was raised in a wealthy family and the white candidate in a poorer family. That is why I think that race and ethnicity should't be considered into the acceptance of students. It should work around where and how they grew up and not what shade their skin is. Yes, many time blacks live in a less beneficial environment but many times it is not the case. To include race and ethnicity in the process of admission is racist.

Journal 33: My Activity

I have never taken swimming seriously until the summer of 2008. I swam everyday and almost half of the time I was in the pool. I have been swimming since I was in the elementary school; however I never took it seriously. I didn't know any other stroke other than the breast stroke. I swam all summer and began learning the other strokes myself. It wasn't easy but in the end the hard work paid off. School started and I joined the swimming team. All the effort I put into learning the strokes and building my stamina paid off during the practices and even more in the competitions. I noticed how hard work pays off. I have never been a hard worker but learning from this experience, I was determined to change. I work harder knowing that it will result in a better out come. I have grown from Swimming.  

Journal 31: How to Impress

To impress someone or to get there attention is not a simple thing to do. In my writing I always try to make it interesting and too captivate the reader. Using swimming as my extracurricular activity it may not be easy to make people interested in pure swimming. That is why I think putting in the lesson I learned or a idea I want to pass through. Mentioning more personal anecdotes with a meaning full out come is the one thing that catches people's attention.
From swimming I learned of the result of hard work and how being a hard working person always pays off. There have been times when I wanted to quit swimming and to just get lazy. However I pushed on and realized that the amount of work equals to the amount of outcome. I wasn't a hard working person and I think learning from swimming changed me as a person. I became a much more hardworking person and changes in my grades and work have changed as well