I'm a Fanna' my Momma'

Think about someone you admire. Write to explain the admirable qualities that this person has and why they are so impactul on your life. 

Although I have many people I look up to and aspire to be like, despite how much of a cliche it is, I choose to write about my momma. My mother is the strongest, most beautiful woman in the whole wide world, and I'm not just saying that because I'm related to her whatsoever. The best thing about my mom is she knows this about her, and she's the most confident person I ever met. Sometimes we tell her we suffocate because her ego is so big, but we just joke around. The truth is, me and my sister and a bit jealous of her strong personality. In truth, my mom has a reasons to be this proud. She has had to overcome many hardships in her life that nobody should, but came out of it strong- only slightly damaged, but you'd never be able to tell from the size of the smile on her face. My mom is carefree, relaxed and hilarious to her core, and I feel that me and my sister and reflections of that. My mom is also really social, and makes friends wherever she goes. More than that, people are always in awe of my mom and her ideas at work and are constantly telling me I'm so lucky to have a mom like her and that I should be thankful of her, or just that she's extremely hilarious and they love her. She's also very hardworking, so people respect her. My mom also rejects the status quo, like a rebel, she doesn't care what people do or think if it's wrong- she'll always just stick to what she believes. I hope and aspire to be as capable of all her accomplishments one day.

My Child Is Wild

Write a blog post as if you were your parent, writing about yourself:

If my mom were to write a blogpost about me, it would go a little something like this. Notice that she is constantly switching between a negative then a positive thing to say about me. She can never make up her mind!

My child Dalia is very smart. But irresponsible. She gives me a really hard time, but she can also be very helpful and I am thankful of her. She used to read a lot as a child and every single one of her teachers used to have really positive comments on her attitude and classwork. However, when she entered her teenage years I noticed some intellectual lazyness and decline in her efforts. However, her grades have always remained good because Dalia is a quick learner. She does not have to study a lot, although I view this as a good and bad thing. Although she thinks that it's the greatest thing to be a quick learner, I am confident that if she studied more often she would be rewarded with higher grades- she still chooses not to listen to me. Again, this has to do with her lazyness. She gets that from her father. I am not lazy I am perfect.

Dalia helps me a lot with school, since I chose to go back 2 years ago. She, unlike her siblings, is always ready to help me- even if she has a test the next day (although sometimes I really have to beg her if she's feeling mean). Dalia is stubborn. Dalia can win every argument with her father. And if I'm being honest, with me too.

All my children are outgoing and social, including Dalia. Dalia used to be shy, at least with strangers, when she was younger. I can't tell you how many people have seen my underwear, as she always used to putt my skirt up and hide under it (literally), since the number is too big. Dalia outgrew this and now, she is much more confident. Dalia is in choir and has an amazing voice in my opinion, there is no better voice than hers out there. I think Dalia is so good that we will be at a family gathering and I will ask her to sing for everyone, no matter how many times she will refuse and tell me that she thinks doing that is "lame" and just a way for all me and my cousins to brag about our children. I will not see her point and I will continue asking her to sing, and never give up, because I don't get it. She will find this annoying, and I will never understand why.

Dalia is crazy. She loves to go out, she loves to go to parties and sing and dance, etc. She has to be in the mood, as she does have her lows as well but people constantly ask Dalia "do you ever frown? You're always so happy." This isn't true, but people say that because Dalia  is so wild and outgoing and sometimes she can be complained about, but most of the time I get complimented on my parenting skills (not).

Dalia is my littlest child, my flower (Dahlia). But most importantly, Dalia is my child. Dalia is wild.

The Pollution In My Mind Is Making Me Blind

Bill McKibben wrote an essay in 2001 called "What's My Damage. A Call For Mental Environmentalism." In that essay he describes our minds as a landscape that has been polluted: "The mental environment is under siege from a particularly difficult variety of pollution." He says that things like advertising and television and the internet are changing our mental environments and we need to start practicing "mental environmentalism."

Describe your mental environment. What is the landscape like? What pollutes it? How polluted is it? What do you think of this analogy and idea? What might practicing "mental environmentalism" look like?

"Sorry, I haven't been getting much sleep lately. That's probably why", I tell my Art teacher after stumbling through the room, knocking over a bunch of art supplies. I walk quickly back to my desk and wonder why this has been happening so much to me lately. Although the sleep thing was true, I doubt it explains the fact that I can barely see anything anymore- which is what caused me to stumble. I've had to apologize to four people already, this week!

After coming home after school, I decide to tell my mother about my "predicament" and see her take on it. She totally freaks out. "You could be having an eye infection!" she yells. I roll my eyes at her ridiculous suggestion. "That's really impossible, but okay," I tell her.

We go to the doctor anyway. I sit up on a high white leathery doctor chair patient thing as he begins to perform the regular doctor checkups, you know what I mean, the heart-beat, looking into your throat with the wooden stick, etc., just the basic uge.. (usual)

As he's looking into my ear with the little microscope thing, he gasps. "What? What is it?!" my mom begins to freak out. The doctor is speechless. "It's... um, it's... unlike anything I've ever seen before," he finally replies. His facial expression has now turned from horror-stuck to awe, and then glee- as if he'd make some life altering discovery. Had he?

"Would you mind sharing with us what is so 'unlike anything you've seen before'?" my mom says impatiently. The doctors informs us that my head is filled with 'things'. "Well yes, I know that- she's a teenage girl, aren't they all?" My mom says, still unsatisfied with the doctor (Pretty sure we're never coming here again btw) No, he tells us, not normal things. My head is ltierally filled with things. "Like there are things flying around the inside of her head," he tells us in a very serious tone. My mother's face begins to chance, as I see she starts to believe him (how gullible, right?). "Describe it to us," she then says, with a story-time expression of a 3-year old on her face. And he does:

I see a large white space, filled with many different things. It's very polluted. With boys, mostly. There's also a lot of food items, floating around everywhere. Random little things too like facebook icons, pets, friends, homework, clothes; but the major items that 'dominate' the space include music, literature and memories. There are dark spaces all around the corners filled with media and celebrities like the Kardashians. The black space is growing, and taking over the white.

"Ah. I seem to have found the problem," the doctor annnouces. There seems to be a growing mass of nonesense in your brain. It's really a medical contradiction, none of this makes any sense- but it seems to be the source of your recent blindness.

"How can I fix this, doctor?" He told me I would have to start enriching myself with information, basically increasing the white positive spaces in my brain. "You need the white to overthrow the black," he informed. And so I went home, to follow his advice and read the Kardashian's new biography "Kardashian Konfidential."

The Two c's Which Lead to the Big C

collaboration and compromise are the two things needed to achieve collective Global Security. Without them, countries would remain overly nationalistic and self-involved and wars would break out because they would only be thinking of their short term benefit. Collective global security is a long-term benefit and sometimes countries don't realize this or are unable to see it. 

A collective international body, such as the UN, should eliminate the threat of nations that are a threat to collective global security. If most countries are in concord, with a minority that is in disagreement, it is important to compromise and collaborate with each other in order to get the minorities involved. It would not be wise to simply exclude a country just because it is not in agreement with others because then sides would break out and that would lead to wars. In order to achieve global security, ideally, all countries should be involved.

The UN strives to achieve collective global security, but sadly, the task has shown to be impossible. This is because it is in a human's natural state to be selfish and act in their own interest- this sometimes contradicts with the two imperative ingredientss to collective global security; collaboration and compromise. 

Germany? I’m outie.

Should Germany be included in the Treaty of Versailles?

As France:

To whom it may concern,

If Germany comes, I’m outta here. Germany and the German Kaiser are the only ones responsible for the millions of deaths; diseases spread, blood spilled in warfare, the economic collapse of the whole world- at their expense, the delay of any sort of future progression. It is vital that we punish Germany for their actions, thus they should not be present. If Germany is present, their voice and opinion will be taken in account, and that privilege should not be granted to them.

What Avalanche is Your Snowflake In?

"No snowflake is an avalanche ever feels responsible" - Voltaire

The avalanche I consider my snowflake to be in is my school. However lame that may sound, I genuinely feel like a huge part of this school and I feel very attached to it. I think that a big reason that is the case is the size of the school. It is small compared to regular school and the student body and as a result, we're all very close. I am part of clubs at school and while reflecting, I feel that if I were to quit all these clubs there would be some sort of different and missing contribution.  This is the best example of an avalanche that I'm part of and I hope to be significant enough to feel that my snowflake would make a difference. 

Neutral Can Be Brutal

The term "neutral" can be defined in many ways; whether it is the charge of atoms, a range of colors, or a position a country takes in order to avoid conflict. To my experience, to be neutral means to remain impartial towards opposing conflicts or situations. Situations in which I chose to remain neutral usually involve friends or issues between people that are close to me. When a conflict breaks out and it has nothing to do with me, I prefer to remain neutral because I don't like to ruin my relationship with either of the friends. At the same time, I'd hate to create an enemy and use my neutral position as a chance to get the two sides together and fix the issue. On the other hand, if I remain neutral when I believe that one person is right, I would be risking the blockage of something that should happen for the greater good. So, for that reason, being Neutral can sometimes be good and beneficial, but other times, it is important to pick sides and involve yourself, no matter the self-damage, for the sake of doing the right thing; the thing you believe in. 

War, what for?

Why do wars begin?

Trying to decipher exactly why wars begin is hard, if not impossible. To discover exactly the reason why some wars start would require the use of special powers such as being able to read minds. 

To the best of my knowledge, wars start out of selfish reasons. Whether it's a strong nation trying to get control over small nations and their land, or men who are power-hungry such as Napoleon or Hitler who try and conquer every country they can.

Are they always justified?

Wars are justified only in the eyes of those who start it. They convince themselves and attempt to convince others that they are going into war for the greater good, but, in fact, it is solely for their benefit. 

Is violence the answer to getting what you want?

No. Ideally, politically, there would be other ways to getting what you want such as communication, negotiation or bargaining. Examples of people getting what they want using harmless techniques are evident in everyday life. There are even a lot of examples of nations using harmless techniques to gain something on both sides. However, there are also many examples in which this was not the case and rulers, mainly those with power (who sometimes abuse it), resort to violence. The sad thing is, this technique is sometimes proven to be effective, which is why nations have often resulted to violence in history.

Oprah Winfrey is an IB learner

Oprah Winfrey is an American talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist. She has also been ranked the richest African- American of the 21st century. She is also, according to some assessments, the most influential woman of the world.

To many, she is simply known or referred to as 'Oprah'.

Although her story has been told multiple times, people are still shocked when they learn
that Oprah wasn't always this rich, or successful.

In fact, Oprah was born into poverty in Mississippi to a single teenage mom. She has claimed to have a hard time growing up, saying she was raped at 9 years old and became pregnant at the age of 14 - her son died at infancy.

How, many wonder, did such a ill-fated  young African American girl come to be successful?
Perhaps the answer to that question is related to Oprah's relation to the IB learner profiles...

Oprah is an inquirer. She always wanted to know more, which is why she did so well in school. Despite all the reasons not to be, she remained driven and focused in school, no matter how hard times got. For this reason, Oprah is a very educated woman today.
Oprah is a risk-taker.  How else could she have climbed out of her bad situation at such a young age? Risks. She took a lot of risks to get to where she is now. The first risk she took was going to live with her father in Tennessee shortly after the death of her son. This was a man she barely knew or had a relationship with. Her first big career risk was taking a job at a radio station while she was still in high school, the rest was risk after risk until she ended up where she is now.
Oprah is caring. She feels deeply with some of the people that come on her show. She knows what it's like to have problems in life, and that life is never easy. For this reason she connects to the visitors on her show and their stories - this leads to a lot of crying on her part. She is constantly donating huge amounts of her success to the less fortunate.
Oprah is open-minded. Oprah doesn't judge. She knows what it's like to be judged, and she knows that things are not always as they appear on the outside. For this reason she remains open-minded with the visitors on her show.
Oprah is balanced. She's not a workaholic all of the time! She has a personal life too, which she gives great importance to. She's had a series of serious and not so serious love affairs as well as a group of solid friends she keeps close to her at all times.
Oprah is reflective. She doesn't forget who she is. She regularly thinks back to what she was and how she later became.
Oprah is principled. She sticks to what she believes in, despite others influence. She accepted her long lost sister in open arms publicly, which some public figures may have actually chosen to cover up or sugar-coat. She donates her money to the people she sees fit, not the other way around.
Oprah is knowledgeable. Without knowledge that she acquired in her unique life, Oprah wouldn't be where she is today. It is her knowledge that helped her make decisions which led her to where she is today
Oprah is a thinker. She thinks about life, and what she wants to do with hers. She thinks about 'the next step' and what that would be for her. Oprah's thinking is what led her to canceling her infamous show and doing something else with her time.
Oprah is a communicator. How else would she host a show if she wasn't? Oprah is a very social person, she gets along with everyone.