Way Back When

Wow! This week flew by! Probably because we had off Monday and Tuesday! Don't get me wrong I'm glad the weekend is here, but on the down side I'm stuck at home having to study all weekend long! Just the thought of exams is giving my anxiety and when I have anxiety, let me tell you, it's not pretty! I mean just on a normal test I scared half to death! So when the day of exams come, I may pass out or have a heart attack or an asthma attack or just die. It's weird because we are reviewing and going back to the beginning of the year. I feel like I learned so much in the past four months. It honestly feels like years ago since we talked about Socrates. I realize I have grown as a student and I learned a lot from this class and I will carry these lessons for the rest of my life! I feel like I will do good on the exam because I feel that I really took up the goal of "excellence."

It's Wednesday Already?

It's Wednesday! I haven't posted in a while because we have had two snow days! And let me tell you this, it was awesome! I basically had a four day weekend! Not to mention I got a lot done in the past four days! On Saturday I worked at the Christmas Bazaar at St. Ignatius and got to do face painting with my friends! Then, we saw Frozen! Let me tell you this, it was AMAZING! I started crying, well I'm not sure if it was because the movie was so moving or if I drank way too much soda and had to use the bathroom. Then over the weekend I got the majority of my Christmas shopping done for my family and friends! I also went sledding with my neighbors, and sadly I ended up face planting into the snow and getting hit smack in the head with a sled (which is a long story!) So that was my past four days! Today in human geo, we went over our tests! And we talked about exams, which is really starting to stress me out. Lord give me strength!

My Ears Hurt from All the Clapping!

There was a lot of clapping in Section 7! That's because everyone in our class got amazing grades on our Microfinance test! And I got 100! YAY! but then everyone starting clapping a lot and now my head hurts! I didn't end up going to Quiditch because it was cancelled, due to bad weather! But on the bright side I got to watch the Sound of Music! IT WAS BRILLIANT! I cried at least twice! My mom used half a box of tissues! I highly recommend it and Carrie Underwood crushed it! As for today, it seems to be going pretty slow, but hopefully it will get better. Have a happy weekend :)

Is Wednesday Over Yet? Thursday Come Quicker!

The notorious "Hump Day" is a pain in my neck, to put it nicely. I just took a test one mod ago and probably failed it! I will be lucky if I get a C! On the bright side... OH WAIT there is no bright side! When tomorrow comes I will be so happy! I have three reasons why! One: I get to leave school early because my sister has her psychiatrist appointment! Two: My friend Grace Cooney is in the Bel Air Quiditch Game! And she's on Gryfindor! I'm so excited to see how she does! And Three: The Sound of Music is being preformed live tomorrow on NBC! Considering The Sound of Music is my favorite musical, I can't wait to see how Carrie Underwood portrays Maria! Oh I forgot to talk about what we did in class today! We reviewed Microfinance and Microloans! We also discussed student loans as well! I think I will do good on my test Friday! I'm totally going to start studying tonight!

10 Microfinance Test Questions!

What is "microfinance?"

Microfinance is the providing of financial services like loans, savings, insurance, and training to people living in poverty.

What are some big issues in third world countries?
Diseases (like Malaria), famine, droughts, poor health care, poverty, pollution, lack of supplies, etc.

What are microloans used for?
Helping entrepreneurs start businesses, getting products for businesses, getting machinery, etc.

What are some positive things about microloans?

The businesses can benefit the community, allows people access to banks and insurances, and they create choose. This allows people to switch professions and work in a field that interests them, or at least interests them more than their last job.

True or False: Malaria kills 655,000 people a year?

True

What do Peace Corps. volunteers do?

They are working on business issues and are focuses on increasing family income, improving environment for businesses, educating young people, and help businesses find markets for their products/services.

Who gets microloans?

Microloans can be loaned to individuals that do not have access to banking services, have low incomes, and given to those who have good ideas but need help getting them started.

How Does Microfinance work?

Microfinance is like one big circle. Like on the micro-loaning website KIVA, you can send out a microloan and eventually that person will pay you back! It's a win, win for everybody!

Do you have to be poor in order to receive microloans?

It's actually a matter of eligibility. It would be much more likely a struggling entrepreneur in Africa would get a microloan over a middle class business owner in America.

Essay Question: Would you give out a Microloan? Why or why not?

I would most certainly give out a microloan! It is an awesome idea. There are so many good things about it! It's a circle of giving and receiving and there are no losers. This helps business owners get the nudge they need to succeed!

The End :)

It's December Already?

God, I wish break wasn't over! Sleeping in late was the best thing, but know I'm back to waking up at the crack of dawn. Yay (Hint the sarcasm). On the bright side there's only three more weeks until Christmas Break! On the down side exams are getting closer. Just thinking about exams sends chills down my spine, considering I'm beyond nervous for them. Especially Earth Science with Mr. Perry. Warning I may pass out that day. Another down side is that this class will almost be over, and I will move on to my new teacher for Western Civilization with Mr. Teter. It's bittersweet. I'm excited to find out how that class is. But I'm sad I will no longer have Mr. Schick considering he was a pretty awesome teacher. Another down side is that me and Alyssa will be in different classes :( It really sucks because she such an awesome friend and we always have the best discussions in Human Geo. On the brighter side, no more blogs! I feel like I've grown a lot in the past three/four months. And I feel like this class prepared me for what is to come, and I'm beyond grateful for that! Oh yeah, I almost forgot to talk about what we did today in class. Sorry, I always get carried away when once I start talking, I usually can't shut up. We reviewed our class PowerPoint, and I firmly believe Alyssa and my blog was the best by far! We crushed it! I'm gonna make sure I really enjoy these last couple weeks of class! When I really think about it I will miss my blog! But until then I will keep blogging, mainly because I'm required to!

Best Tuesday Ever!

FINALLY BREAK IS HERE! I'm so happy I could do a double back flip, but I won't because I would end up breaking my neck... But either than that I'm so so so happy! Just the thought of being able to sleep in tomorrow morning makes me smile! Today in class we all just chilled and listened to music and worked on stuff. I ended up working on creating a William Shakspeare Facebook page for my English class. It turns out Will's favorite movie is Twilight! I guess he has a thing for love stories, except Bella and Edward have a happy ending unlike Romeo and Juliet. Maybe in his eyes there love was beautifully tragic and that's the best love story of all. Anyways I'm about to go to the Senior Variety Show! YAY! Well I'm actually being forced to go by my parents since my sister is in it. I hope she does well with her dance routine. And that's about it! I'm off to enjoy my break :) PEACE OUT!

I am EXTREMELY Close to Smashing my Laptop!

Okay, so here’s the deal: I HATE MY COMPUTER! I am seriously going to throw it out a window, hit it with a sledge hammer, run over it with a 100 gallon cement truck, and burn it with a flame thrower. Did I get my point across? What happened was my computer decided not to load, as usual. And Alyssa’s laptop wasn’t charged so she had to use my laptop. Eventually we got my laptop to work after many harsh words were exchanged between the computer and me. The entire class was in charge of contributing a slide to a PowerPoint on microfinance. Let me just say ours was the best! It was simple yet it had excellent information. I even came up with the word microentrepeneurs! Not to mention Alyssa and I did our slide in half the time everyone else did considering we were dealing with technical issues. We are totally going to get an A! By the way I really think we shouldn’t do a PowerPoint with the entire class again! No one can work for five seconds without someone changing the background black!

All I Can Say is Catching Fire is AH MA ZING!

I am so so so so so so so happy one of my family members reminded me to do my blog from yesterday! Since it technically isn’t due until 12:00 I still have a solid 40 some minutes to complete my post, and I doubt it will take that long. Yesterday we continued on our Peace Corps challenge and Alyssa and I saved the tribe of Wazuzu! That deserves a happy dance. Then we basically listened to music and sang off key. Overall it was an awesome class! We should totally do this more often, seriously! I can’t really think of anything else to talk about, but I did have an amazing last couple of days because I saw The Hunger Games: Catching Fire! It was life changing and beyond perfect! I mean the visual effects were stunning and they captured the beauty of the book and were able to transfer it on screen! Plus who wouldn’t want to see Josh Hutcherson! ;)

Worst Luck Wednesday

Let me say this, I have probably hard the worst luck this Wednesday! First thing this morning while I’m bringing in my canned good the bag breaks on the staircase! There were cans going every which way! The worst part: my sister, Tia, didn’t even help me! Then I had an earth science test that didn’t go to well. I don’t know what I got yet, but I have a bad feeling about it. When human geo came I spent a good half of the class in the tech lab trying to fix my laptop again. I don’t know what I’m going to do about it! There has to be something wrong with my laptop because everyone else’s WIFI is working just fine! I finally returned to class after it seemed like my computer was fixed, but it turns out when I returned to class my WIFI didn’t work! I shouldn’t be surprised. On the bright side Alyssa and I worked on the Peace Corps challenge and saved the small village of Wazuzu! Plus we got to listen to music! We should do stuff like that way more often! 

Praise the Lord!

Thank goodness I got a good grade on the world leaders test! The majority of my class didn’t do too well! I got a 97% so I’m beyond happy about it! Only one other person got a good grade in my class, and they kind of lost it and did a major happy dance. I mean I guess you can be happy about getting a good grade, but you shouldn’t be vulgar about it. It turns out that when reviewing the test the most common error was misreading the question. There was only one question that wasn’t on the PowerPoint that was made for our help. I made a lucky guess about which world leader was nicknamed “Bibi.” Coming up we are going to learn more about Economic Geography. I look forward to learning more about microfinance and the Peace Corps. It seems like it’s going to be an interesting topic to get into! 

Peace Corps. is Amazing!

Happy Monday! I can’t believe that this semester is almost over, which means I will have to move onto a new teacher! It’s very bittersweet! But on the bright side Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner! Today we discussed microloans. It’s really cool how that works. There no down side to it! You lend your money to a building business and this helps that person get on their feet and help their own community out. Plus, you get paid back! It’s like a cycle of never ending helping! It’s a win win! We discussed the Peace Corps and what they do. I really love the idea of going around the world and giving help o those who need it. I almost like the idea of joining it. Just being able to help all those people, and making a difference in their lives would be amazing. There is so much we can do to help the world, so why not go to these places in need and help out?

Blog #2!

So now I’m making sure I post my blog today, so I’m doing it while everyone is finishing up their test! Praise the Lord from Heaven above the test/quiz was open note, well open “blog.” I was nervous all day long about this quiz! I think I did really well, and if I had to guess I think the only one I got wrong was which leader had the nickname “Bibi.” I couldn’t find the answer on my blog anywhere! Oh well either than that I believe I did excellent! If I had one suggestion for the quiz is that the lines were long for my answers! Do you know how hard it is to fit “King and Prime Minister Abdullahbin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud” on one tiny line?  Try saying that fast five times! In the end I believe today was one of success not just in this class but others as well!

So I Kinda Forgot to Blog...

So I may or may not have forgotten to blog last night. Okay well I did, but it’s only because I got carried away studying for two tests and a bunch of other homework! I especially studied for our test today (hooray.) Yet I’m still very nervous I won’t do well. It seems like there are thousands of world leaders and then we have to know what kind of government they have and what impacted their lives and a bunch of other stuff that makes my head spin. Does it seem like I’m stressed? SPOILER ALERT! I AM! I know we have had a few days to study and I have been reviewing, it’s just when the day of the test comes I start to have a panic attack! Oh and I do plan on posting another blog today, because I making up for yesterday’s blog. But yesterday I found out our class has very strong opinions on women’s’ rights! Woman rule! Enough said!

My Inspiration

Today in first mod human geography, we went over more about world leaders! It turns out a lot of these people are very interesting, and others are sort of boring. It’s crazy how some of the people were inspired to become leaders even though their countries were against them. Like Dilma Rossuff the leader of Brazil, she never gave up trying to save her country even though they had tortured her brutally. She remained strong and never stopped fighting for the Brazil she believed was there. Dillma is a true inspiration! I wish we had someone like her running the United States of America. We have a test Wednesday that I’m not looking forward to. It just seems like there is too much information for my brain to take in! I’m going to start studying right away! By the way I really don’t like my seat in human geography due to the fact I can’t see that well in the back and that there are people that don’t know when to shut their mouths. Hopefully I can get a new seat soon!

A Very Long List of What Inspired These Leaders to become the People They Are Today!

President Enrique Peña Nieto (Mexico)

·       Enrique Peña Nieto said that he became interested in politics during elementary school, when he was picked as class leader (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/enrique_pena_nieto/index.html)

·       Around 1981, the fifteen-year-old Peña Nieto had his first direct contact with Mexican politics. He then began delivering propaganda in favor of his relative who was running, a memory Peña Nieto still recalls as the turning point and start of his deep interest in politics. (http://www.excelsior.com.mx/node/830745)

President XI Jinping (China)

·       His father, Xi Zhongxun, was a contributor to bringing about the social revolution and a revolutionary leader. (http://www.rferl.org/content/china-profile-xi-jinping/24764283.html)

·       He rose through China's political ranks swiftly, serving for three years as a provincial governor, then as a provincial Party chief, and in 2007 as Hu Jinato's successor (http://contextchina.com/2012/11/ten-facts-about-chinas-incoming-leader-xi-jinping/)

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (India)

·       He played an important role in helping India's economy while serving as the Minister of Finance.

·       He worked for the United Nations after receiving an Ph.D. from Oxford University.

President Hamid Karzai (Afghanistan)

 Led the resistance during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s (http://news.yahoo.com/facts-afghan-president-hamid-karzai-215600163.html)

·       When the Taliban took control of the country, it offered him the U.N. ambassadorship. He declined and fled to Pakistan when the Taliban began working with foreign terrorists (http://news.yahoo.com/facts-afghan-president-hamid-karzai-215600163.html)

Chancellor Angela Merkel (Germany)

·       Merkel was a member of the Free German Youth, the official youth movement sponsored by the ruling Socialist Unity Party (http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-67682698.html)

·       While a student, she participated in the reconstruction of the ruin of the Moritzbastei, a project students initiated to create their own club and recreation facility on campus, this was something she was passionate about. (http://www.biography.com/people/angela-merkel-9406424)

Prime Minister David Cameron (United Kingdom)

·       Once he became head of Britain's Conservative party, Cameron sought to modernize it and shed its right-wing image (http://www.biography.com/people/david-cameron-39203)

·       In 1991, Cameron began briefing then-Prime Minister John Major, and the following year he was promoted as special adviser to Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Lamont (http://www.biography.com/people/david-cameron-39203)

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault (France)

·       Ayrault was a member of a movement of young Christians in rural areas (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18070495)

·       He joined the Socialist Party (PS) after the 1971 Epinay Congress during which François Mitterrand took the party leadership (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18070495)

President Dilma Rousseff (Brazil)

·       She became a socialist during her youth, and following the 1964 coup d'état joined various left-wing and Marxist urban guerrilla groups that fought against the military dictatorship. Rousseff was eventually captured and jailed between 1970 and 1972, where she was reportedly tortured (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/31/AR2010103104552.html)

·       Wanting to make a difference for the country she loved, even though they had supposedly tortured her, she still went after becoming a part of the government to make a change for the better (http://www.aboutbrasil.com/modules/brazil-brasil/Quick_facts_About_Brasil_Brazil.php?hoofd=9&sub=50&art=1043)

President Nicolas Maduro Moros (Venezuela)

·       Nicolás Maduro was born on 23 November 1962 in Caracas, Venezuela, the son of a union leader. (http://www.elmundo.com.ve/noticias/actualidad/politica/perfil---nicolas-maduro-cruzo-la-calle.aspx)

·       His first introduction to politics was when he became a member of his high school's student union (http://www.elmundo.com.ve/noticias/actualidad/politica/perfil---nicolas-maduro-cruzo-la-calle.aspx)

King and Prime Minister Abdullah (Saudi Arabia)

·       He is the tenth son of King Abdulaziz (http://www.sciencespo.fr/ceri/)

·       Helped create the Allegiance Authority, a committee of princes who vote on the eligibility of future monarchs and crown princes (http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/28/world/meast/king-abdullah-bin-abdulaziz-al-saud---fast-facts/)

President Hasan Fereidun Ruhani (Iran)

·       As a young cleric Hassan Rouhani started his political activities by following the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini during the beginning of the Iranian Islamist movement (Rouhani, Hassan (2008). Memoirs of Hassan Rouhani; Vol. 1: The Islamic Revolution (in Persian). Tehran, Iran: Center for Strategic Research)

·       In 1965, he began traveling throughout Iran making speeches against the government of the Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the king of Iran (http://www.biography.com/people/hassan-rouhani-21313175)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Israel)

·       Netanyahu became leader of the Likud party in 1993 and continued working with Likud ever since (http://www.biography.com/people/benjamin-netanyahu-9421908)

·       In 1967, Benjamin went to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces' elite unit, "Sayeret Matkal," and took part in a lot of military operations, including the 1972 rescue of a hijacked Sebana airplane (http://www.biography.com/people/benjamin-netanyahu-9421908)

A List of Countries, Their Type of Government, &Their Leaders!

Assignment #1

(*Images go with the text above it*)

Mexico

• Federal Republic
• President Enrique Pena Nieto
• He was the eldest of four siblings in a middle-class family; his father, Gilberto Enrique Peña del Mazo, was an engineer for the electric company and his mother, María del Socorro Nieto, a schoolteacher.
• Reports that he fathered two children in extramarital affairs while his wife Monica raised the couple’s 3 children, plus the investigation into the sudden death of his wife at home in 2007, have prompted many to call him the Teflon candidate because trouble seems to slide off him. 
• Two years later he announced his engagement to soap opera actor Angelica Rivera.  Rivera became his wife in a star-studded wedding ceremony two years ago and is now the first lady of Mexico. 

China

• Communist State
• President XI Jinping
• • Xi Jinping is the son of revolutionary veteran Xi Zhongxun, one of the Communist Party's founding fathers.
  • He married folk singer Peng Liyuan, who also holds the rank of army general, in 1987. To many in China, Ms. Peng was the better-known half of the couple before Xi Jinping became leader of the Communist Party.
  • The couple have a daughter named Xi Mingze, who is studying at Harvard University in the US.

India

• Federal Republic
• President Pranab Mukherjee
• • He taught Political Science at the Vidiyanagar College, and worked as a journalist before entering politics.
  • Mukherjee was rated as one of the best finance ministers of the world in 1984 and was adjudged the best parliamentarian in 1997.
  • He had a conflict withRajiv Gandhi (who took over as Prime Minister from his mother Indira after she was assassinated in 1984) and started his own party – Rashtriya Samajwadi Congress.

Afghanistan

• Islamic Republic
• President Hamid Karzai
• He emerged as a resistance leader under Taliban rule and worked to undermine the regime.
• He is well versed in several languages, including his native Peshto, Persian, Hindi, French, and English.
• Several times in 2001, Karzai warned the United States that the Taliban were connected with al Qaeda and that there was a plot for an imminent attack on the United States, but his warnings went unheeded.

Germany

• Federal Republic
• Chancellor Angela Merkel & President Joachim Gauck
• Graduated from University of Leipzig in 1978 with a degree in physics and physical chemistry; earned a PhD in quantum chemistry from the German Academy of Sciences in Berlin in 1986
• Has been Chancellor since November 2005
• Merkel has earned the top spot on the FORBES list of Most Powerful Women In The World for eight of the past 10 years.

United Kingdom

• Constitutional Monarchy and Commonwealth Realm
• Prime Minister David Cameron and Queen Elizabeth II
• At the age of seven, the young Cameron was packed off to Heatherdown, a highly exclusive preparatory school, which counted Princes Edward and Andrew among its pupils. Then, following in the family tradition, came Eton, Britain’s top private school.
• His first child, Ivan, who was born profoundly disabled and needed round the clock care, died in February 2009.
• The experience of caring for Ivan and witnessing at first hand the dedication of NHS hospital staff, is said by friends to have broadened Mr Cameron's horizons. He had, friends say, led an almost charmed life to that point.
• Cameron is the youngest Prime Minister (43 when he took office) in over 200 years.
• 
  
• Elizabeth became queen on February 6, 1952, and was crowned on June 2, 1953.  Her reign has lasted 60 years - and counting.. 

France

• Republic
• Francois Hollande
• Hollande has no previous experience in a national government position.
• The mother of his four children is Ségolène Royal, with whom he shared a 30-year relationship.
• He was born in 1954 in the city of Rouen to an extreme-right physician father and progressive social worker mother.  

Brazil

• Federal Republic
• President Dilma Rousseff
• She opposed to Brazil's dictatorship of the 1960s and '70s, and served three years in prison, where she was repeatedly tortured
• She has been divorced twice.
• She has a degree in economics, and now rules the country with the eight-biggest economy in the world.
• She underwent chemotherapy for lymphoma in 2009, and is now in remission.

Venezuela

• Federal Republic
• President Nicolas Maduro Moros
• Nicolás Maduro Moros worked as a bus driver before becoming politically active in the early 1990s. 
• Maduro was introduced to Hugo Chávez in 1992, after Chávez and other disenchanted members of the military were imprisoned for an attempted coup and Maduro began campaigning for  Chávez's release. (Chávez was released in 1994 and won election to the presidency four years later.)
• After President Chávez won a third term in October 2012, he selected Maduro to serve as vice president. Maduro worked alongside the outspoken president, serving as one of his closest advisers as well as a loyal spokesman, until Chávez's death at 58 on March 5, 2013, from cancer.
• 
  

Saudi Arabia

• Monarchy
• King and Prime Minister Abdullahbin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud
• He has fathered 22 children, the youngest when he was 79.
• He is worth approximately 21 billion dollars.
• He was appointed commander of the Saudi Arabian National Guard, a post he was still holding when he became king.
• In November 2007, King Abdullah visited Pope Benedict in the Apostolic Palace. He is the first Saudi monarch to visit the Pope.  In March 2008, he called for a “brotherly and sincere dialogue between believers from all religions.”
• In 2011 he granted women the right to vote and run in future municipal elections, the biggest change in a decade for women in a puritanical kingdom that practices strict separation of the sexes, including banning women from driving (the only country in the world with such a ban).

Iran

• Theocratic Republic
• Supreme Leader Ali Hoseini-Khamenei, and President Hasan Fereidun Ruhani
• Ruhani-
• Mr Rouhani has held several parliamentary posts, including deputy speaker and has also served on the Supreme National Security Council.
• Was just elected President of Iran - June 2013
• He has been openly critical of the outgoing president, saying Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's "careless, uncalculated and unstudied remarks" have cost the country dearly.
• Khamenei-
• In 1963, took part in street protests against the U.S.-backed Shah of Iran. After the uprising was quashed, Khamenei was exiled. Khamenei was imprisoned multiple times and, in 1975, was internally exiled to a remote region in southeastern Iran.
• Was elected President of Iran in 1981 and re-elected in 1985.  Became Iran’s Supreme Leader in 1989.
• 
  

Israel

• Parliamentary Democracy
• Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu & President Shimon Peres
• Netanyahu-
• As a child and youth he lived with his family in the US in the years 1956-58 and again in 1963-67
• After his brother Jonathan (Yonni) was killed, in July 1976, in the course of the Entebbe Operation, of which he was one of the commanders, Netanyahu returned to Israel and started to advocate international cooperation in fighting terrorism.
• Quote: "There are those who say that if the Holocaust had not occurred, the State of Israel would never have been established. But I say that if the State of Israel would have been established earlier, the Holocaust would not have occurred."
• Peres-
• Shimon Peres was born in Belarus. To escape the persecution of Jews there, the family fled to Palestine in 1934. 
• When Arab forces launched their attack on the new state of Israel in 1948, Peres was given the chief responsibility for securing military equipment for Israel from abroad. 
• Later he organized Israel's nuclear program and is regarded as the father of Israel's atomic bomb.
• As Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs Shimon Peres was in charge of the Israeli negotiations during peace talks with the Palestinians.  In the autumn of 1994 he shared the Nobel Peace Prize with his own Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

The End :)

I got an A again! I think...

Mondays are not fun at all! The first thing that happened in human geography was the retest for the Cultural Geography, even though I got a 93 the first time. But we all had to retake it so that meant I did too. The test was a breeze, and I think I may have done better than last time! The reason I don’t know is because I had to take my computer to IT Support because it decided to hate me on this particular Monday. But I did find out when I returned from IT Support that I got a bell ring so I must have gotten an ‘A.’ Anyways, after that we moved on to a new topic! We began talking about three words. Country. Nation. State. A country is a geographical land, where we can see the lines on a map. A nation is a group with something in common. A State is a political group. It’s as simple as that, but I can’t help but think it’s going to get way more complicated. 

Hooray for my A :)

I was so prepared for the quiz today! Well sort of. I got home really late last night from hanging out with my friends, and I still had homework to do for my earth science class. Eventually I finished my six page paper on some German scientists whose name I can’t pronounce. But when I started studying for human geography my eyes lids kept closing. This went on for about a half hour until my dad told me to go to bed around twelve. This morning my mom’s alarm clock didn't go off so I was an hour late for school. But on the way to school I successfully studied all my notes! So I guess it worked out in the end. We’re going to get our tests back shortly, because they are being graded as I type this.  Drum roll please! I got an ‘A’! A 93% to be exact! That totally made my raining day! 

The Test is Friday and I will Remember!

I’m super happy to know I’m going to remember the test for Friday! I made sure I wrote it down on a sticky note on my computer and in my agenda. Now all I have to do is study for the test. Today we went over two other religions. Also my group finally got to finish our presentation, which I thought was pretty awesome! The other two religions was Buddhism and Christianity. Buddhism has a lot of notes involved! I mean a lot! I never knew that America had a stereotype for Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. He was actually a fat go happy guy, he fasted a lot and I could see why people would be offended by this. Next was Christianity. Something I barely know anything about hint the sarcasm! But we went over the basics like Jesus is both human and divine. We believe in one God. Also how our holy book is the Bible. That kind of stuff! In the end we didn’t have time to go over Judaism, but were going to review it Friday morning! I look forward to doing well on the test!

Go Hindus! :)

Last mod on Tuesday is way better than having human geo on a Monday morning first mod! Anyways today we went over the quiz we took Friday, you know the one a B on! That totally deserves a happy dance! Well my suspicions were confirmed, I mixed up NATO and NAFTA! In my defense they both start with NA and that threw me off! The funniest part about checking our papers, was that one of my fellow classmates couldn’t leave until we finished going over the paper, and trust me there was a lot of distractions. For instance someone ended up sitting in the back of the room! After looking over the test we moved onto our PowerPoint presentations on the five biggest religions! The first group was Islam, and I learned it’s very similar to Christianity! We all believe in one God, but the only difference is they believe Muhammad was the Prophet they had been waiting for. Christians believe the prophet was Jesus. After that it was my group’s turn to present, except we didn’t finish because the bell rang! I still think our PowerPoint is the bomb! Go Hinduism!

Karma is More than it Seems!

Well today it finally seemed like everyone was awake! Last Monday we were all dead. But today in human geo we were assigned a project where five groups were given a religion to find information on! I got Hinduism. In my group is Alyssa and John. I think we are a group of super smart people so were bond to do well I hope! It turns out Hinduism is a very interesting religion! They are the third biggest religion in the world. Their system of beliefs revolves around four life goals. Hindus believe in karma. It’s not just about what goes around comes around, it’s a way of life for them. Hindus believe if they live of full meaningful life they will be reborn to even a better one. To them the Earth is one big circle we always come back to where we came. Their religion seems so beautiful to me, they believe that life to them is about being the better person for the good of mankind.

Happy/Sad Friday

Happy/Sad Friday. Finally its Friday it only took like forever for today to come. On the bright side I get to go on the NYC trip this weekend with my friends! On the down side today, I have two quizzes, the sinking feeling I forgot something very important, and a viewing to attend for my friend Rachel DiCamillo’s dad. Anyways the human geography quiz we took was worth fifty points! The worst part was I totally forgot about in yesterday and didn’t bring my notebook home to study. I have two or three concerns on the test. The first one was I think I got NATO and NAFTA mixed up. Now that I think about it I think I mixed NATO, NAFTA, and OPEC. Well there goes my good grade. Abbreviations are the most confusing things! This just proves I probably would have done better if I studied. Now our tests just came back from being graded and I’m scared to death! Please, please, please let me do well, I really want at least a B. I just found out I got an 80! Right now I’m doing a happy dance in my head, considering I thought I was majorly doomed!

Nationalism & Marijuana

Today, in human geography we discussed some more about nationalism. But somehow that turned into us discussing marijuana, and it seems like some people are really for it. We began the discussion, along about how America is number one in imprisonments. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? On the bright side that means less criminals are roaming the streets. On the down side one out of every eight prisoners are in jail because it has something to do with marijuana. Either selling it or using it, they ended up getting tossed into jail cells. But with all the marijuana users in jail, there isn’t room for the other criminals. Then the legalization of marijuana came up and it turned into an entire discussion about if we should legalize this drug. In my opinion yes and no. I really don’t want a bunch of weed smoking hippies roaming the streets, but then again these people take up the jails. If they take of the jails where will we stash are murders? The solution in my mind is simple, well not really. This is an idea I got from the movie, but what if we had the Purge? It’s just a thought, and I really hope it doesn’t all come down to one night where everyone is free to do whatever they want. 

How Great Our We?

Today in human geography we went further into the topic of nationalism, the belief that your country is the greatest. But every country is going to have its problems. Especially now, America is far from great. We have poverty, a 7.2% unemployment rate, and a bunch of other things wrong with it. Who is to say we are the greatest? There always going to be something another country is better at than your country. People always say we are the greatest because we have freedom. That’s true we do have freedom, and about another 190 countries do as well. If that makes a country great, doesn’t that make all 190 free countries great? If we want America to be the greatest country in the world we have to work at it. Not just sit around and look at our phones and eat cheeseburgers from McDonalds. We Americans are ultimately what will make our country great, so we have to become the united country were named after and take a stand.

Why Can't We Be Friends?

I don’t know why someone ever thought human geography first mod was a bright idea. I was not awake at all today, and it was super hard to focus because I was freezing. I had goose bumps covering my arms and legs and it felt like an icicle was growing on the tip of my nose! We started talking about cultural groups. We discussed how language, ethnic groups, and religion play a big role in it. Like some countries have multiple languages, but some have only one. We discussed religion a lot. Religion is the main cause of war! The five largest religions are Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Judaism, and Hinduism. Christianity, Judaism, and Muslims are very alike. Our main roots go back to Abraham. Yet somehow it is those religions that have the most conflict with each other. Each of these three religions believe the Holy Land (Jerusalem) belongs to them. It hard to believe that religions based off of peace have the most violence and war. Why can’t we just accept each other’s differences? Why does Jerusalem have to “belong” to someone? Why can’t we share this sacred land that is none for peace and not war? We shouldn’t let our differences come between us. We should be united and live in peace. I know that sounds cliché because there is always going to be a conflict, but we should at least try to stay sane for the sake of religion.   

Died from AP Human G. RIP!

Today, in lovely Human Geo we took a test on AP Human Geo! A topic in which I’m far from familiar with! Thank goodness it wasn’t graded or I probably would have died. They could write of my tomb stone, “Died from AP Human G.” That sounds kind of cool actually. When I took the test there were a couple things I knew and maybe if I’m lucky I’ll get a D! Then there were some things I’ve never heard of in my life! Not to mention some of the pictures on the quiz, I couldn’t even tell what they were! So in that case I may or may not have closed my eyes and picked one at random. Okay, I did, but it was a hard test! For the majority of the test I guesstimated. Some may call it a bad method but once you narrow down your answers to about two answers you wing it and hope for the best! Let’s see either than that test today, I had another in Spanish, which I’m pretty sure I did well on. Also, its school color day! Go Patriots!

Soda, Pop, or Coke?

Today in Human Geography, I was the only person to get an ‘A’ on our POPulation Quiz! I do realize that it was a super hard quiz! Considering no one checked the blog page for our class so none of us knew about the test. The shadow did better than some people! What does that say about our class? I only got one wrong, so it was a good start to my day. Then we began talking about immigrants from Mexico, and started debating about that. Then we learned about how cultures are different in different places. The main factors are languages, religions, and possibly one other thing, that I can’t think of at the moment! It will come back to me eventually. So we looked at a chart of America and how in different parts of America people call soft drinks different thing. On the east coast a lot of people call it “soda.” In the northern part of America they called it “pop.” In the south they called it “coke.”  By the people were around growing up we start to talk like they would. It’s not like they tell their child right to their face you will call soft drinks pop. But the influence of people around them saying that causes them to become accustomed to saying pop! It’s pretty cool how stuff like that works! 

Pop(ulaion) Quiz!!!

I learned a very valuable lesson today in Human Geography. Always, and I mean always, check the human geo blog! I didn’t know we had a quiz today at all! I was in shock when I walked in and heard we had a test. Lesson learned. The quiz was on the terms we learned a month ago, and I have a selective memory and I remember the weirdest stuff, but of course my brain didn’t remember those terms. I think I got a B on the test (well I’m hoping I did.) There were one or two I didn’t know but overall I think I did well! Our shadow Darren got an 80! He probably did better than me! He was only here for twenty five minutes and he managed to get a B. I wish I could learn stuff that quick! Well, I’m looking forward to starting Kiva, and I really want our class to win and get a Chick-Fa-Le party! Oh and helping someone is also cool. 

Population Pyramids!

In the beginning of human geography class, we went over the quiz on the Lost Boys of Sudan. I got a ninety percent! I even did a fist pump when the bell got rung! After that we discussed the answers, we moved back to the topic of population pyramids. There are three types of pyramids: the box, cup, and triangle population pyramids. The triangle means the birth rate is high and the life expectancy is low. The box is almost like a 50/50. Last, the cup has a lower birth rate and a longer life expectancy. So in developing countries in Africa are the triangle. America, a developed country, is a box. Japan is an example of a cup pyramid. We looked at different examples of pyramids. A lot of the pyramids have to do with what’s in the area. For examples in areas that have military bases there will be a lot of males and some females in their early twenties, because some of the men are in the military and the women could be military wives or be in the military. So basically in a sense location and what’s in a place is essential in the statistics in a population pyramid!

Happy Birthday to Me (LOL)

It’s my birthday today! Yay me, I can barely believe I’m fifteen! I brought in donuts for the class and got to wear the birthday hat! (My only question is do you ever clean the hat? I’m not in the mood for lice!) Anyways I successfully completed my test, even though I think I spelled one thing wrong and the last question stumped me. Technically they built a better life for themselves and for their “mother land.” Either than that I think I did great! It was really cool watching the documentary of these three men and how they made a difference for their country even though they didn’t live there anymore. Overall the documentary was awesome, and I’m looking forward to trying the “Keva” thing with the class! The idea of being able to sponsor someone and help them start their lives is pretty cool. I hope our class does look into this idea, because honestly it’s a win win situation. I know that even if our class doesn’t go through with this, I want to! I believe that we should all do our part and make a difference in our world one step at a time.

The Journey of John, Panther, & Daniel Comes to an End (Or has it Just Begun?)

Today we watched the last bit of God Grew Tired of Us. It was a beautiful way to tie up the story. After three years of being in America john has become the secretary of “The Lost Boys of America.” We also learn that John Bul Dau was able to bring his mother and sister to America. We he went to the airport and saw her they both broke into tears. John’s mother was so overwhelmed she fell to the ground and John held her in his arms. It was truly amazing to see them reunited after 17 years of being separated. The best part was after they reunited John’s mother began singing and dancing through the airport! Towards the end we see that Panther is packing his bags, getting ready to go to Africa. It is there he is going to marry his girlfriend. The documentary ends with him walking through the airport off to Africa. We find out that John started a foundation and opened a clinic in Sudan. Panther got married and got his master’s degree in economics, and plans on opening a school. Daniel is still in America and is working toward getting a college degree. This documentary was inspirational and it inspired me to do more in the world.

I Liked the Facebook Page!

No offense to the whole blogging thing and all, but I really didn’t feel like doing one today! Considering I “liked” the page I believe I shouldn’t have to do this! But here I am typing away on my Saturday morning. Okay back to the documentary on “the lost boys.” The Lost Boys ending up having a reunion all thanks to John Bul Dau! (John is pretty awesome!) We learn that John wants to help out his people back in Sudan and he starts making awareness for the war going on in Sudan! He even made t-shirts that say “fight for the New Sudan!” But we also learn how important it is to John that the lost boys who came to America don’t just forget who they are! No matter who you are and where you came from, there will always be a piece of you that will always think back to your roots. I admire John Bul Dau for making a difference for his people, and never giving up hope! As this movie comes to an end I look forward to seeing what John can accomplish.

What does John Bul Dau Plan on Doing?

Today, we continued watching the journeys of John Bul Dau, Daniel Abul Pach, and Panther Bior in America. John got a job as a factory worker in the day during the early morning and towards the afternoon he worked at McDonalds. Panther got a job as a bus boy at a lovely restaurant, and Daniel got a job at a bank. They seemed to be getting the swing of things! Except one of the problems for them was they weren’t used to how Americans communicated. Back in Africa everyone was friendly. But to Americans these men are seen as a threat when they walk in groups because they are tall black men. It’s almost sad that they categorized them as bad people even though they had no clue who they were. Meanwhile Daniel and John got to go to community college to get a better chance at career opportunities. After years of trying John got a letter back about his family. They had been separated during the night raids in their village. John learned that his mother, father, brother, and sisters were alive, but ill. This is when John Bul Dau said that he was going to make a difference for his family back in Sudan. I look forward to finding out what John plans on doing!

Panther, John Bul Dau, & Daniel Abul Pach Start a New Life in America!

It was crazy watching a lot of the “Lost Boys” getting the opportunity to go to America. We watched them get on the airplanes, leaving the refugee camp behind. When they traveled to America they had never seen electricity. They were all amazed by light switches, the TVs on the plane, and the remotes. One of the people ate hand soap believing it was food! When they were at the airport they almost tripped getting on the escalators. When they got to America they moved into their new homes. They were fascinated by everything from the refrigerator to toilets. They have 90 days to get job permits and start paying back the government for the flight over to America. Panther was especially excited to stand on his own two feet. Even though they were in America and loving it, they retained their ways. They still ate their meals with their hands, like they did in Africa. It was very sad to see that even though they were happy to be in America, they missed their fellow brothers back in the refugee camp. I believe that they will make a difference for their people. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Apples and Documentaries

The first thing we did in human geography today was review our answers for the questions using the CIA World Factbook. After many apples were thrown at the ones who got the questions incorrect (including myself, I still think it was way too early to say numbers!) we watched a video called “God Grew Tired of Us.” With Brad Pitt as one of the producers! The documentary was about how the African country Sudan was torn apart by civil war between the north and the south. This war was about religions. The Muslims in the north and the Christians in the south. They would burn down houses with people in them, rape women, and this resulted in killing over 2 million people! The war got so terrible everyone fled from their homes to find safety. Mostly men survived, and they traveled together in make-shift families and they soon got the nickname, “the lost boys.” The United Nations made a refugee camp, for them. When they had arrived there, most of the boys were just skin and bone. There is still a lot of the documentary to see and I look forward to see what will happen when some of the refugees are offered a chance to start a new life in America.

CIA World Factbook Q&As

Today in class we answered questions using the CIA World Fact Book!

1.What is the population of the United States?

316,668,567

2.What are the five largest countries in the world, by population?

China, India, United States, Indonesia, & Brazil.

           
3. What is the population of Pakistan?

193,238,868

4. What kind of government does the United States have?

Constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition

5.  What is the unemployment rate in Zimbabwe?

95%

6.What is the largest country in the world by area?

Russia

7.  What country has the third greatest number of airports?

Mexico

8. What country has the greatest number of exports?

China

9.  What country exports more oil than any other?

Saudi Arabia

10. What country imports more oil than any other?

United States

11. What country has the second largest proved reserves of crude oil

in the world?

Venezuela

12. Can women serve in combat roles in China’s military?

Yes

13. What is GDP?

Gross Domestic Product

14. What country has the highest GDP per capita in the world, and how
much is it?
Quatar. $103,900

15. Is the US in the top ten for GDP per capita?

No

16.Most of the countries with the highest birth rates can be found in

what continent?

Africa

17. 11 of the top 12 countries with the highest number of deaths from

HIV/AIDS can be found in which continent?

Africa

18. What other country is in the top ten?

India

19. Where does the US rank in HIV/AIDS deaths?

18

20. Is the US #1 in number of cellular phones?

No

21. What percentage of the US is roman catholic?
23.9%

22. What percentage of mexico is roman catholic?
82.7%

23. NET Migrations rate: This entry includes the figure for the difference between the number of persons entering and leaving a country during the year per 1,000 persons (based on midyear population). An excess of persons entering the country is referred to as net immigration (e.g., 3.56 migrants/1,000 population); an excess of persons leaving the country as net emigration (e.g., -9.26 migrants/1,000 population). The net migration rate indicates the contribution of migration to the overall level of population change. The net migration rate does not distinguish between economic migrants, refugees, and other types of migrants nor does it distinguish between lawful migrants and undocumented migrants.

The CIA Knows All!

I learned in last mod today that the CIA knows basically everything in the world! They probably even know what I’m doing right this very second (if they really want to know I’m typing a blog post about my ninth grade human geo class!) So if the CIA is reading this I doubt they will learn something they already don’t know! We went to the Worldwide CIA Fact Book and looked up information involving the crude birth rate, the crude death rate, and population in different countries. I learned today the smallest populated country only has 48 people! I doubt everyone in America can say they know everyone in the United States! I wonder if I lived there if I could convince the 48 people to let me be president. Anyways, I also learned that China is the most populated country with India right on its tail. I can’t stop thinking how weird it is that I’m one in 7 billion people! We are all basically ants on one huge ant hill, each of us living our own lives. Like I said, mind-blowing! Tomorrow, we are going to dig even deeper into the topic of population and migration, and I look forward to whatever comes next.

Population Grows!

The population is growing immensely! Today, during first mod (which is probably the worst mod especially on a Monday when you rather be home sleeping) we talked about immigration, emigration, population, and a lot of other things. There are 7 billion people on this earth as I type. During the minute it took me to type all of this, about 250 babies were born! I would like to congratulate all the happy parents out there! Anyways, I was talking about the population growing. This rate will keep growing unless we have a Hunger Games (but let’s hope it doesn’t come to that!) We also talked about immigration and emigration. Immigration is the number of people going and entering another country perhaps for a better life. Emigration the number of is leaving a country. For this to happen there are push forces and pull forces. Push forces are things like civil wars, low employment, or religious/ethnic persecution. Pull forces are things like better economy, better health services, religious freedom, and political freedom. There is still a lot to learn about population and I look forward to discussing more about this topic.

Our First Test!

Today we had our very first human geography test! Overall, I think I did very well! Well, minus the fact I think I got the first question wrong. Is Wikipedia a primary source? I put true for that and i pray it's true! Isn’t that a great way to start off my first test? But either than that, I think I did great on my essays. Considering I love writing, I was able to write well thought out essays for each question. The hardest one was the question on infrastructure! I did as well as I could and hopefully I was correct. I am looking forward to finding out what we will learn about this semester. Now I’m sitting here in class trying to think of more words to put on my blog posts. Let’s see, this afternoon I have pottery club and I look forward to finishing my killer mug! Just thought I would let everyone know that! I hope everyone has a great weekend! 

Notes for our First Test on Friday!

Today, in class, we went over everything we needed to know for our test on Friday! The test consists of 10 multiple choice questions on everything from Socrates to globalization! We will also have three short essay questions. One of them is, “From the famous quote of Socrates ‘The unexamined life is not worth living’ how do you relate to that in your life?” I already have a few ideas about what I will say for that question! But I’m not going to tell just yet. We also presented our Power Points in class today. Well, my group didn’t because we didn’t exactly finish ours due to the fact my computer decided to hate me Monday morning! Three groups presented theirs and I was able to jot down some good notes from each PowerPoint. I wrote about how globalization started with the Silk Road thousands of years ago. But today the core of globalization is technology. Technology has advanced so much I could easily get on Skype and video call my friend from Italy! Intercommunications (a six-syllable word) allows us to connect to every corner of the earth! It’s crazy how much globalization has advanced since the Silk Road. I also jotted down some bad things about globalization. Like how major corporations take advantage of the poor people in developing countries by paying them low wages. Another big thing is that Americans are losing their jobs because other people in other countries will do their job for a cheaper price. I feel confident with all the notes I took today and I’m prepared for the test Friday!  

Has Justice Been Served to Nike Sweatshop Workers?

Yesterday my blog was about Nike’s sweatshops in the 2000s. The question is, did Nike change its ways in the past decade? We looked at a website in class today about how Nike made the pay $4.00 a day instead of $1.25. That seems like an improvement, right? WRONG! Nike decided to use the military to scare the workers into having the payment of $3.70 a day, because if people in Indonesia sign on that they accept its okay to lose an extra thirty cents, the law will approve this act. Sadly, Indonesia doesn’t have minimum wage laws like America. Nike stoops so low so that men and women loose an extra thirty cents. No big deal, right? WRONG AGAIN! Nike saves $50,000 a day because they take thirty cents away from the hard workers that create their product. It disgusts me that they pay sports stars millions of dollars to wear their logo, and meanwhile in some country there are families struggling to provide a good life for their loved ones every day. The scales of justice seems awfully unfair and I hope that one day that the sweatshop workers of Nike get their justice.

Nike "Just Don't Do It!"

I realized today that the world can be really unfair. Around 1998 it was put out there that Nike, sportswear, had been mistreating their factory workers in sweatshops. They would use buff scary people to keep them in their place so they wouldn’t protest about the horrible wages of $1.25 a day! In Indonesia, the living conditions are horrible due to the fact they barely have any money to support themselves and their families. Imagine living in a small concrete “house” you called home, and then you go outside and have to walk through the sewage covered streets to get back to your job where you works hours upon hours. This video upset me such when they had the part where golfer Tiger Woods by wearing Nike sportswear, makes the equivalent money a second that’s enough to buy someone a house in Indonesia. How is it just because a man is an excellent golfer that he’s basically swimming in money, and a man in Indonesia has to struggle to make enough money for his family to live another day. The children in Indonesia never have the chance to get education, because their families can’t afford the price of school. How can this world grow if the children of tomorrow can’t get a proper education to help the world grow and develop? There has to be a change about this soon or there won’t be any hope for humanity left!

Fact: Wikipedia is a Great Source for Information about Literally Everything!

Today in human geography we began making a PowerPoint project with our groups about globalization on Google Documents. We learned the Wikipedia is an excellent and reliable source for finding information on basically anything. We were all able to look up “globalization” on Wikipedia and we found tons and tons of results! On the globalization page on Wikipedia the sources of where they found this information was listed and it was very helpful. All this information allowed us to find many pros and cons about globalization. My group and I split up the tasks to do during the globalization project. One person looked up the cons, another looked up the pros, and the last person looked up pictures and designs for our PowerPoint on globalization. We got pretty far and it was very successful but we still have a lot to do. This weekend I’m going to make sure I add more to the PowerPoint so that Monday my group isn’t overwhelmed with work. 

What Really Struck Me Today

Inter-globalization started long ago. It began when the Silk Road was made to connect the traders. China sold silk, Greece sold olives and olive oil, Egyptians created makeup, and many other things. This was the start of connecting all different forms of life together. At some point in class we came across the topic of North Korea and that really hit me. It’s so sad to know that these human beings are being cut off from the rest of the world and being controlled by a dictatorship. The worst part is they don’t even realize their prisoner. I can’t imagine how I would feel if I lived there, maybe I act like a brainwashed zombie and never realize this was wrong, or maybe I would be too scared to fight back even if I did know the ugly truth. But I do know one thing, I would fight for my freedom even if it did mean a brutal end for myself. People can’t be held captive and pretend like nothing is wrong, you have to stand up and fight for you and your freedom. I wish there was something I could do to save the people of North Korea from such a terrible prison that was once there home. Who knows, maybe one day the people of North Korea will take a stand and fight what’s right.

Are McDonalds Taking over the World?

This afternoon we discussed globalization (the connection of different parts of the world. Globalization results in the expansion of international cultural, economic, and political activities.) We were able to use the example of McDonalds to get the idea across. McDonalds are basically on every corner! American fast food is spreading like wild fire through the world. There are McDonalds in India, Japan, China, England, Italy, and many other countries! Before we know it, McDonalds will cover the world! I hope it never gets to that point. You use to hear about how healthy the diet of the Chinese was and how their lifespan was so long, but ever since fast food industries invaded China, the life span is slowly decreasing. The world is changing, it always is, due to globalization. The big question is what will be the next big “Americanization?”

Monday Madness!

Today, in human geo it was my fellow classmate’s birthday! We sang happy birthday, awfully off-key, to John but we all got an A for effort! Then we moved on and started to talk about Google documents. On Google documents you can work on writing things with different people from all different places at the same time! We were informed that we would get in groups for today’s class. Sometimes I get nervous when we have to partner up because I hate being left out, and I’m always afraid that could happen to me. But I got into a group, so I was a happy camper! It took a while logging into Google Drive, but in the end I found out Google Documents is so cool! My group and I were able to work on our assignment together (literally)! We had to type up questions for a test we would be having sometime this month, and my group and I came up with a lot of good questions! I had a great time in class today learning something new and I got to meet new people! I would say today was very successful!