Overload Before Break

With the winter break coming soon, teachers are frantically giving out all of their overdue assignments they meant to assign and administering all of their tests that they did not prepare their students for.  With such little time between thanksgiving and christmas, teachers are accelerating their courses to an unmatchable pace.  The week before Christmas break happens to be the worst of what students can expect for the second quarter.

How might students cope with this extreme overload of work all at once, you might ask?  Well, I, for one, take this week very seriously and do the best that I can do while I can.  I prepare nights before exams, have assignments and homework done on a reasonable schedule, and focus on getting good grades before break.  Other students do not take this week as seriously as others, and it truly hurts their grades and averages for the quarter.  All students deserve a break after this horrible week!

College vs Professional Sports

Sports have always been a huge part of American culture.  More specifically, college sports have infatuated our culture and society.  Some people even prefer college sports over professional sports; I find that there is more discussion about college basketball and football nowadays than any other sport.  This could easily be because I am 16, and the only thing anyone ever discusses anymore is college in itself.  Aside from the college talk, college sports happens to be a very fast-paced game, and can at times appear more skillful than that of professional sports.

One of the potential reasons for college sports, specifically basketball being more exciting than professional sports is because professional athletes are paid.  College athletes pay from their heart, and hustle not for a paycheck but for their teams.  Another aspect that makes college sports more exciting is the fact that there are thousands of students in the fans, rather random fans.  This school spirit combined with the hustle of the team makes for an unbelievable atmosphere.  College sports also loves to see an underdog win.  With many tournaments in the NCAA, different seeds go head to head with unseeded teams regularly.  To see an unseeded team beat a seed is extremely exciting; there are rarely seeds in professional team sports, especially basketball.  There are many tangibles that make college sports more exciting; most of which is the motivation and youthfulness of the players and students combined, thus making for a crazy and fun game.

Importance of Code

In our extremely advanced 21st century society, almost everything we use has some sort of form of a computer.  Between car softwares, television cable boxes, and even our cell phones, computers are very prevalent and greatly impact our lives.  With technological advancements, of course, comes a great deal of job opportunities available to our young innovators.  Those who have a thorough understanding of computers, in my opinion, will have an enormous field of occupations to choose from.  One specific attribute of the complex and intricate understanding of modern computer technology is that of computer code.

Computer coding is the foundation to all of the amazing tasks computers can achieve.  Between simple tasks, including building a website, or intricate ones, like programming military technology or high-end search engines, computer code lays the blueprint for everything a computer can accomplish.  With our new dependence on computers, I think that more and more companies will be thirsty for those who understand computer code, especially since it is such a rare skill today.  "Our policy is to literally hire as many talented engineers as we can find," said Mark Zuckerberg, when asked on the importance of computer programmers and engineers to his company.  "The whole limit of the system is just that there aren't enough people who are trained and have these skills today," Zuckerberg continued.  Zuckerberg's statement exemplifies the fact that computer programmers are scarce, and it depicts just how large of a market there is for them.  If more individuals dedicated time to learning code, I think that more people will be working in America, and it will benefit the understanding of computer technology and its progression in the future.

Modern Public Education

In our modern and "sophisticated" 20th century society, individuals tend to be extremely judgmental when it comes to education and intelligence.  Intelligence today is generally measured in grades and scores; this in itself is truly unfair and serves as an inaccurate measure of intelligence, in my eyes.  The scores one receives are simply an evaluation of skills.  Today, without this "skill-set," one will have a hard time being admitted into top universities, and subsequently will not have the opportunities of someone who is.  Those who happen to be great students, I think, just happen to have a knack for that of what school requires.  If someone happens to be a great history student, there is no guarantee that the student will be a savvy business investor, an innovative neurologist, or a brilliantly-minded engineer.  The obstacles of modern education are not representative of job strengths, which is one of the major reasons why the modern education system is greatly lacking.

Although our education system provides multiple avenues for success, I think the key to success in this case is mis-shapen, and is not a good substrate in determining it. Without the foundations of education, obviously one cannot be entirely competent in our new and fast-paced society.  However, with so much emphasis placed on school-based skills, no one can possibly predict or foresee a future career.  The modern education system should give students more opportunities to test-drive different paths relating to careers; the school system should also do a better job guiding students towards careers as well.  Wouldn't it be unbelievable if 6th period English could turn into Environmental Engineering?  How amazing would it be if 9th period US History could be The Foundations of Commercial Real Estate?  Too many college students exiting our school systems are lost as to what they want to pursue in life, career wise, of course.  With a varied course selection and a focus on careers rather than unimportant and irrelevant "skill-sets" that are traditionally taught in school, I believe that our generation of young thinkers can be determined in finding fascinating careers and changing our incredible world.

Realistic Musicals? I think not.

The musical Newsies tries to emphasize the difficulties of the working class in the late 19th century.  The story revolves around a news-boy "strike" in an attempt to gain recognition from major coorporation leaders not to raise prices on newspapers.  The musical is compelling and enjoyable, yet an unrealistic representation as to what would truly happen in the real world.

Some of the most unrealistic ideas about this musical were the mere fact that a group of extremely young, inexperienced boys could make an even marginal impact upon business and industry leaders of America.  The end of the musical included the industries eventually giving into the Newsies; this in real life truly would not happen.  Although it makes an interesting and heart-warming story for the viewer, the real business world is unforgiving and would not sacrifice their profits to accommodate a relatively small group of individuals.

The musical relates to journalism ethics in a number of ways.  First, the relationship with the Newsies and the industry leaders directly correlates to the relationship between the media and individuals giving information to the media.  You see, the two work hand-in-hand.  One cannot exist without the other, thus making each side have to appease the other.  In the case of the Newsies and the newspaper industry leaders, the leaders were eventually forced to give into the needs of the Newsies.  The strike was eventually proving to be detrimental towards their industrial profit.  In the case of journalism and the media, the media sometimes can wheedle information out of individuals through paying.  These ethics may not be particularly wholesome, however this is the only viable way the journalism industry can make money.  Without individuals giving information to journalism companies, the companies would cease to exist.  There is a true and direct relationship between the musical Newsies and the integrity of the Journalism industry.