Vicology

          Smh. Abbreviation for "shake my head". It's used to convey disappointment and dissatisfaction. The avoidable tragedy of Othello had me "smh"ing for sure.           The story of Othello reminded me of a movie I watched over Thanksgiving break. It's called Love, Rosie. It follows the life of Rosie, specifically her situationship with her best friend Alex. Rosie and Alex are best friends since, practically, birth. Like any romantic comedy, Rosie obviously starts to develop feelings for Alex as they grow and mature together. From the audience's perspective, we clearly see that Alex has the same feelings, but Rosie can't see that because they won't communicate with each other. Their miscommunication leads to them going to their annual school dance separately with other dates, which leads to Rosie getting pregnant by a different man, which leads to Alex going to college abroad alone (they had agreed to study abroad together but ...

      I just finished 1st quarter of senior year. My last 1st quarter of my pre-college academic career. It's crazy to think about. 3 more quarters and I'm out of here for good.       Here's a short little reflection. Was it a good quarter? Meh. Did I have a mental breakdown? Um... next question. How many times did I cry? I'd say only a few... I think. Is senioritis hitting? It's been hitting since day one and I've never looked back!      But the real question I'm asking myself now is  "Will I graduate with all A's?". My answer is "does it really matter?".     If this past quarter has taught me anything, it's that grades really don't define who you are as a student or person. I know you've probably been told that literally a million times now by your teachers, parents, friends, etc. but I truly believe that statement. Here's why.     AP Calculus BC, the home to all my blood, sweat, tears, and stress. God can anyo...

             From the differing environments of adolescence to external factors of adulthood, perspectives are unique and ever-changing. We’ll honestly never truly know what is right or wrong because our different subjective lens creates different stories. Our thoughts, ideas, beliefs, imaginations, dreams, and theories are changed by our views of the world. Some people will have a broad understanding of the world while some will have a limited lens that cannot see past certain points. So, how does restrictiveness change the way people view the world? In our society, perspective shapes reality and limiting that perspective will negatively affect outside relationships.             Where the Crawdads Sing  follows the life of Kya, a girl who knows the feeling of abandonment like the ABCs and lives a life of isolation. Her world only has one constant factor and it’s not a human relationship but her relationship with natu...

     Humans. We are the only species capable of feeling and experiencing all kinds of emotions. Unlike other animals, we have the ability to create emotional connections.      When I was younger, I used to be scared of emotions. I thought that happiness was the only valid emotion to feel without being judged. But now, I let my emotions run wild. If I'm sad, I'm going to choose to be sad. If I'm mad, I'm going to allow myself to be mad. If I'm happy, I'm going to let myself be happy. I'm not scared to publicize my emotions because I know we are all binded together by human connection. The human mind was created to feel different emotions and I believe that we should all embrace that.      On the contrary, the main character of  Where the Crawdads Sing,  Kya ,  lacks this emotional connection to people after being abandoned by her family at a young age. She must navigate through life by herself with little help from outside sourc...

    Hubris is arrogance, overconfidence, and overambition all wrapped up in one word. I'm guessing we are all familiar with the word pride. Well, just multiply pride by 10 and you will get hubris. It relates to excessive pride that becomes so big that it gets blown out of proportion and leads someone to their downfall. I experienced this once and I swear to myself that I will never, ever go through it again. 6th grade. Fresh out of elementary school. Entering the world of 6 different classes every day. 6 different teachers. 6 times the amount of studying. Actually, in my case 5 times the amount of studying. Why only 5? Because my dumb 11-year-old self thought I was a math genius.     Coming out of 5th grade, I was put into the honors 6/7 math class, the honors math class for 6th graders. Being put into that class made my ego WAY too big for my liking. I relied too much on my prior knowledge that I didn't necessarily study for my first test. I only put minimal effort ...

     I honestly procrastinated writing this blog because I didn't know what I was going to write about, but then this weekend inspired me.         Homecoming weekend -- 2 days of pure fun, laughter, a little bit of stress, and dancing. Looking back at my list of core values I found one value that stood out to me. It was happiness. According to Meriam-Webster, it means the state of being happy. Then, this one question came to my mind: what makes people happy? The homecoming dance helped me answer that question. The mosh pit. A place where under and upper classman can dance, sing, scream, yell, and bust down without any care in the world. This is an expression of happiness.  LED put-put golf. A mini golf course where students will either try to actually play golf or just randomly hit and chase the ball down. This is another expression of happiness. The track. A 400-meter-long path where students can walk around, talk, laugh, and gossi...

      Narcissists harbor a strong sense of entitlement, self-glorifying fantasies, and a craving for admiration from others. Narcissists can be charismatic and charming, but are often self-absorbed, controlling, and insensitive. If one is even slightly ridiculed, they might be provoked into a fit of destructive rage and will seek revenge.      Both Dorian Gray and Lord Henry are strongly narcissistic; while Lord Henry’s narcissism is insightful and quite charming, Dorian’s narcissism is cold and detrimental. The latter’s self-absorption and blind self-love leads Sibyl to kill herself and Basil to be horrifically murdered. Dorian’s narcissistic personality causes him to be highly ambitious, confident, driven, and allows him to possess the ability to exploit people and situations to maximize advantage at that given time. On the other hand, Henry’s narcissistic personality causes him to be an expert at charming and manipulating others, and thus adept at buildi...