Brandon’s English Blog

 When I was younger, I thought all high school students were scary bullies who would beat up little kids.  Now as a high schooler, I realized everyone is awkward and has their own problems to deal with. There’s a perception that high schoolers, especially girls are very judgy about everything. However, most don’t care or have other things to worry about other than you. Most stereotypes are not true, only dramatized by media and movies. Today, we continued working in our presentations. I pretty much finished all my slide, but I still need to watch the movie and find a good scene for my analysis. Today, I feel good. It’s Friday and I get to go home.

 When I met my friend Getahun in 7th grade, I thought he was Indian. Although now he doesn’t look like it, back then he had short hair, was a smart quiet kid, and never misbehaved. As we got to know him more, he got comfortable enough and said the n-word once. We were all in shock until he told us he was Ethiopian while we all thought he was Indian. Since stereotypically, Indians are smart, quiet, and good kids, we just automatically assumed he was Indian. I realized just because someone looks and acts a certain way, doesn’t mean they are the way they give off to me. Today, we began working on our Dangers of a Single story presentations in our groups. We got a lot done, with us choosing to do Scary Movie 4. Our culture is White Americans, so it should be fun. Today, I feel good. I have Winter Drumline practice, but I’d rather just go home.

I remember my brother gets mistaken for a black male all the time. He was born in Mexico but he’s really dark with kinky hair, looking like he’s Black. Due to this, he was always believed to be black, unable to prove otherwise unless he spoke Spanish. People believe Hispanic come in the colors they see on TV, with anyone who isn’t brown not being Hispanic in their eyes. Today, we did a CommonLit on single stories, how stereotypes and beliefs can be spread to paint people in a certain way to many others. I like this story because the author experienced many perspectives herself, allowing us to connect and relate further. Today, I feel good. We’re performing at Henderson today, so I hope that goes well.

 Mastering precise vocabulary improves your communication and academic success as some words are better fit for the situation than others. Using the right vocabulary can help maintain the tone and structure of your speech and writing. Today, we continued learning vocabulary through Lesson 14. We wrote each word in a correlating sentence and completed Exercises 3 and 4. I enjoy these lessons because they are easy and I learn new synonyms to words every week as well as refresh my understanding on some words I’ve heard before. Today, I feel okay. It’s moist and hot out, but I’ll make the most of it today.

 I would want to live in the suburbs. The city stresses me out as there’s too much noise and things going on. I want a quiet, peaceful environment where everything isn’t crammed together. Today, we did a CommonLit on the many people living in the suburbs, the trends of where people live and how they’ve changed, and the effects it has on the environment. This was interesting because it’s important to know where you want to live and why, as well as the benefits and harm this decision can cause. Today, I have my LGPE concert. We’ve been working since January with some difficult pieces, so I hope today goes well.

 After reading the passages, I will avoid student debt by working a job during college, trying to get internships, and getting as many scholarships as I can. Today, we did a CommonLit about student debt as a class. We learned about the different ways you can avoid debt and pay for your tuition, as well as malicious practices some colleges use to maximize profit over education. This was very helpful as soon we are going to college. Today, I feel good. I have nothing to do so I get to go home after this.

 I resonate with the word, nirvana. Nirvana is important to me because it’s the name of one of my favorite bands but also because it’s a state I hope to reach one day. Nirvana means a condition of great peace or happiness. It’s something everyone should have in life, although life isn’t fair. Being in nirvana would mean you have no problems or worries, allowing you to live contently. Today, Mr. Rease was out so we had to self-learn Lesson 13 vocabulary. We wrote a sentence with each word and completed Exercise I and IV. It was easy so I had free time to catch up on other work. Today, I feel good. I celebrated my birthday with my family yesterday and we went to Longhorn Steakhouse. My birthday was the 12th, but I didn’t mind. Because of that, I feel energized for Jazz Band practice today.

 Through all of middle school, I could not perform a roll on the drum. It did not click in my head how to do it, with people that did not play percussion coming to try to help. I tried countless times but could not get it. My snare drum part had rolls in it and I had to take them out because I couldn’t do it. I watched every tutorial and tried every method until finally one day, it clicked. When I learned how to do it, so many other drum rudiments and techniques became easy. All the effort I put in had made me a better musician, when all my self-confidence and belief was gone. Today, I was performing with the Orchestra for their LGPE at the Dekalb School of Arts. I am really tired, but enjoyed the experience.

During last semester, the stress of finishing college applications and keeping my grades up started to overwhelm me. I began overthinking about my missing work, believing if my grades weren’t high enough I wouldn’t get into the colleges of my choice. After submitting everything and looking over my application and resume, I realized all the hard work I’d done was shown through the stats, leaving me at peace knowing that I met the qualifications for the schools I applied to. All that was left was to wait. Today, I missed all of class meeting with an Oglethorpe University representative. However, I feel good. She gave us cookies for being admitted in and I have nothing to do, so I’m going to sleep.

Malleable means to be easily changed or shaped. I encounter this word a lot in Science, specifically when talking about elements and metals like Gold, Aluminum, Iron, etc. It can also be used in the context of someone who can be easily swayed or convinced. Every time I see the word, I think of Play-Doh, as it's very malleable and lets you make things with it. Knowing what the word means helps me better communication and write because it's a useful word whether you are describing something physical or the way someone can be swayed either emotionally or mentally. Today, we learned Chapter Twelve Vocabulary. It was 15 words all starting with M. We used them all in a sentence to show our understandings and then later answered the questions to Exercise 3 and 4. I liked this lesson because it was easy and it also gave me more words to choose from when writing or speaking. Today, I feel good. I have a very busy week, meaning I will be out of the house everyday. Today is Jazz Band, so ...

I prefer Daylight's Saving Time because it feels right. During Standard Time, the only benefit is that one hour of sleep you can get on the first day. After that, your body is thrown off for about a week, as when I wake up to this day, I don't know whether it's 4am or 9am. Also, it gets dark way too fast, meaning I can't be out past 6 to exercise or to drive around without limited view. Standard Time is stupid and I would prefer if we changed it to Daylight's Savings year-round. Today, we didn't go to school as it was an independent learning day. We had a NewsELA to do for our assignment in class. It was okay but I still don't like NewsELA. Today, I am happy. We had no school and today is the first soccer game the Winter Drumline will show up to.

 When I'm in a unfavorable mood, I try to do activities that I enjoy. For instance, when I am angry, I drum and hit as hard as I can as a way to relieve the tension building up. When I'm upset, I play video games or talk on the phone with friends to distract myself from whatever made me upset. When I'm stressed, I watch videos about interesting or niche topics. Today, we created a digital mood board on The Yellow Wallpaper. With the help of AI and using quotes from the text, we created moods boards that depicted the narrator's emotions at the 3 major stages of the story. This was a fun and easy way to end the week, finally allowing us to use AI to do work. Today, I feel tired. I slept late and had to wake up for my Calculus class at GSU. I got home late so I didn't get to have an adequate nap, so I want to catch up on the sleep I missed.

It was PSAT/SAT Day sophomore year. I didn't even know we had to take it and I had come in sleep deprived. I was angry when I realized I was forced to take it, especially since I didn't even know what a PSAT was. I remember finishing the test and realizing it wasn't as hard as I thought. I was ready to go to class when testing was delayed. I was stuck in a hot trailer with no air conditions until 2pm, finally let out to eat lunch. I remember waiting and waiting, hoping the announcements would come on. I was hungry, tired, and angry. It took way too long for us to be let out, just for it to be a bag lunch because of how many students they had to feed. Today, we read a short story called the Yellow Wallpaper. It consist of a woman, presumed to be named Jane, slowing going insane in a rental mansion due to mental illness and the yellow paper, described to be so ugly and yellow that it was making her upset. It slowly worsened her condition until she finally went insane at the e...

 My favorite word right now is alright. It's a simple word between okay and sure that is friendly in nature. You can use it to answer someone without just saying okay, as a way to let them know you heard everything they said. You can also use it to describe yourself, using it whenever you're having a calm day. Today, we learned Chapter 11 Vocabulary. We first filled in the blank in pre-made sentences to test if we understood the meaning. Then we wrote a short story using 3 of them to replace typical words. Afterwards, we associated words or phrases to them to help us remember. Finally, we used them in a sentence to show we could integrate them into our vocabulary and scenarios. Today, I feel okay. I have Jazz Band every Monday, but today I feel more ready for it than the past ones. I practiced and feel like I won't be sight-reading my part as much this time.