I Don't Understand the Title of this Blog Prompt

        I stood there gazing at the wall of the memorial garden. Its concrete bricks layered on one another, each painted a different design in order to create a larger picture. The sun’s powerful rays pierced the day sky, pushing past each cloud to make its way to the nape of my neck. It was one of the hottest days all year. I welcomed the soothing winds to cool my head and arms off, as every other part of my body was covered in clothing. Birds chirped and sang in the background creating a wonderful symphony for my enjoyment. I looked down to my feet noticing the stone slabs were chipped and rotting. They were covered in dirt and mold (which honestly could be gotten rid of with a quick power wash), showing their age.
        The calm and quiet area was only disturbed once due to a single car passing by the connecting road. The sun was strong but when in the heart of the garden, the large tree in the center of the path cast its shadow onto the Earth. Bugs zipped around me looked for a feast. Mosquitoes, in particular, were a great nuisance. I swatted several away before we began to move to our final destination. My group walked slowly, our energy was draining fast due to the scorching sun's rays. Our walk came to an end as we saw Scaliwag in the distance. Cars raced past us, most likely unaware this was even a school. The gushing wind of the active road was a godsend on my sweltering body.
        I came to the end of the sidewalk to a large bush concealing the electrical system for the school I presume. Dozens of bees covered the grassy field in front of me, each playing its part in nature. Buzzing past each other the bees made their way down the field, periodically landing on flowers to pollinate them. I started to think about the Hollywood masterpiece, The Bee Movie (no joke). But when you really think about it Bees really shouldn’t be able to fly. Their wings are too tiny to get their fat little bodies off the ground. However, Bees really don’t care what humans think is impossible. But Bees are more similar to humans then you may think. They have to commute from their hive to work and put in a daily effort just like everyone else. Their lives revolve around servicing a single entity, the Queen Bee, just like our lives revolve around servicing a single entity, the Government.
        The flowers blew in the breeze aided by the zooming cars. My bushy leg hair soaked up the sweat that dripped down my legs, small sweat stains dappled my poorly-chosen sweatpants I adorned today. Small wet spots were speckled all across the thicc, grey prisons. Birds flew over my head chirping with their sweet symphony of happiness and joy. While I’m stuck in this prison these birds are enjoying the most amount of freedom possible: flight. I walked back inside to the immediate welcome breeze of the AC.

It's Hot as Ballz Outside

        Sitting down I begin to look at my surroundings. A few birds chirping, some trees plotted here and there, tons of sand and bushes. The wind on the left side of my face is welcomed as it is probably one of the hottest days we've had in a while. As I sit there boiling up a sweat, I look down to my feet. Ants. I quickly dart my feet away from them in fear of them being bitten. As I am color blind, every ant I see has the potential to be a red ant. I continue to look at the pile of ants scurrying around like mindless drones. One climbing over the other scampering around the hill trying to get out. Some ants caught my attention over a little to the side. They didn't look like the ants that were on the hill I was previously observing. Their color was a little darker and they look slightly bigger. These new ants weren't wandering around without a care in the world. They were on a mission. Walking side-by-side toward the pavement, I got up to make way. The ants neither were startled nor did it seem like they cared at all about my movements. They simply went along with their goal and continued to strut across the road. What a life.

Get Your Complaints Out of My Eyesockets

To the MIA School Board and Administration,

        No matter where you go you will find issues with every school. There is no “perfect” place. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t look at the problems we have and try to fix them. While there are several specific issues I wish to address, I will only be covering the three biggest that I believe have the most adverse effect on Marco Island Academy.
        When it comes to mentoring I understand the point of it. I believe it was originally created in order to prevent an overflow of students in the lunch pavilion due to increased student population and school popularity. However, now it has become something that traps students to one room in the school, preventing them from taking a proper break in the day. Many students also simply say that there is not enough time during the lunch segment to actually eat their lunch. While I do not experience the same problem, I do see why they may have this issue. I believe that there should be on large open lunch period where students are allowed to do as they please during that time. They could either eat lunch, go to a club, or receive extra help from a teacher of their choosing. This allows everyone the freedom to choose and make their own decisions, which is a valuable skill in the workforce and adult world. It may also prepare us for college as there students are offered almost unlimited freedom in designing the academic timetable of their education. If MIA claims to prepare students for college and beyond then it needs to start  preparing us with freedom of choice and giving us the respect that we deserve to make our own decisions.
        Personal freedoms is a common complaint with MIA. The “caging of the cell phones” is the most widespread complaint with this institution. This is the most blatant disregard of student’s freedoms. I do not believe that the misdeeds of a few should result in punishment of the many. We should focus more on attempting to reprimand students whom abuse the policy of personal device usage, rather than simply taking the easy way out and simply banning them in the classroom. I repeat, how can this school claim to prepare its students for the outside world when the students are treated like they can not be trusted. A new policy should be put in place where students are trusted instead of immediately punished even if they did nothing wrong. We should allow students to keep their phone on their person and only use it with the permission of the teacher. If the student is caught using the phone improperly then they should be punished with however the teacher deems necessary. Allowing the use of cellphones and giving students the responsibility of trust and honesty is the best way to prepare students for the “real world”.
        My final recommendation is one that I thought about excluding from this letter but decided to include due to its importance. The students of MIA are some of the most kind and caring I have met in my entire life. However, there are a select few students that should simply not be attending this school. At Marco Island Academy there is a huge drug and alcohol problem within a large portion of the student body. These problems are all but ignored and really hinder the public view of the school. Many students that do not attend MIA know this and refer to MIA as a rampant drug school. The administration of this school needs to deal with obvious student offenders in order to better show the public we are to be respected.

Descriptive Writing Redo

        After a long day at school and the long walk from my bus stop, I finally made it home. 7 Terrace Avenue, Nanuet, New York. The first thing that caught my eyes was the enormous Oak Tree that nearly touched the sky and draped the entire yard in shadow. The lush green grass cloaked in darkness and would only be revealed during a particular time of day. During the Spring the yard would be sprinkled with dandelions and tulips. The house itself was coated in blizzard white paint, only to be contrasting by the sea of dark brown roof tiles. The same color of shutters lined all the windows on each side. I made my way up the wide tar driveway that was so dark it could almost be confused for the night sky clear of stars. The imperfections showed the years of wear and tear from blankets of snow to deadly black ice. From here I made my way up elongated stairs that curved up the lawn from the driveway to the front down. It lined a large elevated semicircle of bushes that ranged in sizes from 5ft tall thick bushes to minuscule weed like structures. Reaching the front door I made my way up a final set of stairs guided by a deep black railing with old-fashioned fixtures.
        I reached for the screen door handle that would allow me access to the main door into the house. As I entered the narrow hallway encompassed my entire body, making me feel like the walls were going to close in on me. There was a closet to my right that I opened and put my jacket into. The light blue walls and tile flooring played nicely off each other and offered a nice contrast to the outside world I just exited. I walked forward through the hallway and entered a large opening in the wall into the living room. It was the largest room on the first floor with a carpeted flooring and semi-tall ceilings. My grandmother was sitting on a wide 3-person couch that laid just in front a large window setting that lit up the room no light bulb ever could. My grandmother reading a book on that couch is the fondest memory I have of her and it's what I most remember her by. The coach was bookended by two tables that had medium sized table lamps sitting upon them. In the center of the room was a large coffee table with two cushioned chairs on both ends. There was a large mahogany colored cabinet unit that housed our many nik-naks and family heirlooms.
        From the living room I entered the formal dining room. A long oak table took up almost all the space in the room. With only two dressers filling in the rest. The tiles from the hallway were resumed in this room but now the wall color had changed to a more neutral blue-green mixture. This room was used almost exclusively for family gatherings, homework, and large puzzles. A similar window setting to the one from the living room was also present on the far end wall from the back of the dining table. The window sill housed several plants and pictures of the family.  I walked in the kitchen which is connected to the dining room through a narrow door-shaped opening on the side wall. Every time I entered the kitchen I thought that I might have entered another by mistake, but this was in fact my kitchen. The striking lime green walls always startled house guests and made the room seem disconnected from the rest of the house. It was the most modern room by far, with a glass table, stainless steel appliances, and modern ceiling fixtures. The only thing that seemed a little older than the rest of the room was the gas stove. I never cooked much in my old house so it didn’t bother me but my grandfather always said it was a pain in the ass to clean.
        Moving back into the hallway, I had now made a full circle. I made my way up the staircase the was right next to the closet adjacent to the front door. The second floor contained three bedrooms: one for my grandparents, one for my mother, and of course one for me. I’m pretty sure my room was meant to be an office when the house was built but I was small then so it didn’t matter that much. The entire upstairs was carpeted except my mother’s room which hardwood flooring. All four of us had to share one bathroom on the same floor, which would leave us in a bit of a pickle when more than one of us had to use it at the same time. As I set my bag down in my room I laid down on my twin bed ready to take a nice rest after a long day.

Descriptive Writing (I couldn't think of a title for this one)

        7 Terrace Avenue, Nanuet, New York. A quaint little house. The roof tiles resemble the stark black scales of a dragon,  one laying one on top of another. The matching color shutters frame the windows and separate them from the wash of white colors along the walls. Directly in front of the house is a large patch of lush green bushes ranging from 5ft to a few inches tall (My favorite part was decorating the bushes for Christmas with a bunch of light nets, it would look A1). The patch is lined with a curved cement walkway leading to the front door.
        Entering the house you may hit your head on the door as it’s almost exactly the average height of an adult male (My grandpa starting bleeding cause of this one time, just thought you should know). The entrance is a cramped hallway leading straight into the kitchen. Directly to your right is a light wood brown colored closet, contrasting the medium blue walls. Walking forward, the carpeted living room is on the left hand side. A cozy room with a wide coach lining the window side wall and a coffee table with two cushioned chair placed on the front and back end. Two small tables with lamps act as bookends to the wide coach. Across from the living is a staircase leading upstairs to the bedrooms. Next to that is another staircase leading down to the den.
        Moving further down the hall, you finally reach the kitchen. It may, at first, seem like you accidently walked into a different house with the striking lime green walls and modern furniture (This was the only part of the house that we ever redid). The dark wood table acts as the main view of the room, accentuated with the stainless steel chandelier right above it. The walls are lined with new appliances and stark white cabinets. The wall on the back end of the house is made up of tall glass pane doors leading to the patio and pool area (You could never go in the pool if it was less than 90 degrees out or else you would probably die of hypothermia). Attached to the back of the kitchen and living room is the formal dining room. There was no extra space for anything but the 10 seat table used almost exclusively for puzzle solving and family gatherings.
        Moving back into the hallway using the stairs leading up you reach a four way intersection. One leading to the master, one leading to the bathroom and two others leading to other bedrooms. Directly above your head is the entrance to pitch black attic that more than likely has spiders and maybe a rat (I rarely went up there except to get the Christmas lights down like I mentioned before). On your way back down the stairs, a closet door enters your view directly to the right of you across from the entrance to the master.
        Finally entering the last part of the house, you traverse down the claustrophobic stairwell, leading to the entertainment center of the house. To your right, a huge old fashioned TV (You know those old box TVs? Yeah one of those but massive). A large cushioned recliner sits directly in front of the TV, with an L-shaped couch adjacent to it. The wall behind the couch was lined with multiple wooden closets doors (To be honest I have no idea what we kept in their because I never went in them). Our desktop computer had a cozy little resting place within the wall and the shelves were cluttered with various papers and photos. Right in front of the computer was a treadmill (Do you honestly think I used it? Because I didn’t).

Kieth Scalia

        When I entered Scalia's class on January 4th I was worried. I had heard things about him that made me less than excited to start his class. However, over the past few weeks, I've learned that the person I was expecting never existed to begin with. The Keith Scalia that I have come to know has his own strengths and faults, contrary to what I first believed. While the prompt for this blog is mostly asking us to comment on the effectiveness of the class and Scalia's teaching style, I also wanted to incorporate a small section on what I think of his personality.
        First, let me begin by telling you, the person reading this (obviously), what I've taken away from the class. This is by far my favorite English class of all time. Little to no notes. A small amount of pointless writing. And even now, while I'm writing this blog, I feel like my writing is evolving. All my life, my "voice" so to speak has been extremely robotic. I never liked putting any flare in a piece of writing, I thought it was distracting. But now, through these blogs where I don't necessarily have to follow all the rules of grammar, I've been able to develop my voice a bit more. Besides simply learning the class is really fun. I look forward to this class in the morning (and it's not just because coming to this class means that Marine Science is over for the day). The atmosphere is warm and worry free which can be really relaxing and put me in a good mood for the rest of the day (my remaining classes are pretty easy). Overall, the class is really fun and enjoyable.
        Now let's get to the fun part. Scalia, what a guy. To be completely honest, this guy is a pretty good teacher. He knows what he's talking about. When it comes to English topics Scalia's words should be considered gospel (*cough* Josiah *cough*). At times Scalia can be a little less than satisfactory in his teaching style. However, when he stands in front of the class and does his little lectures, I really learn a lot. Now, while this wasn't really part of the assignment I wanted to comment a little on what I think of Scalia as a person. For the most part I like him. On the other hand, at times he can be a bit sensitive. Not meaning emotional but whenever I say something that is only the slightest bit rude, he takes offense. But this is probably just another one of his ways of triggering us.
        Overall, the class is really enjoyable. I've learned so much. If I would suggest one thing is to focus more on English topics, rather than random discussions that we don't do much in. But even if you changed nothing, I still would be learning a lot.

Dhe Dreakdast Dlub

         For my teen movie I picked the classic, The Breakfast Club. (Mostly because I was too lazy to watch anything I hadn’t seen yet, and this is the easiest movie to write about for this assignment). For those of you who haven’t seen it, which I believe is approximately none of you, the movie is about 5 high school kids serving their Saturday at school in detention. These 5 characters consist of: Andrew Clark (an athlete), Claire Standish (a princess), Allison Reynolds (a basket case), Brian Johnson (a brain), and John Bender (a criminal). Those characteristics are the ones given to them during Brian’s monologue in the opening and end of the movie. This movie is basically a love letter to all the popular cliques of the 80s. Since the movie is split between these 5 distinct stereotypes, I thought it would be best to go through each one and analyze them through how realistic they are and if they withstand the test of time.
         Let’s first start with Andrew Clark and Claire Standish as a pair. Normally any other high school movie who put these two together but this is not the case for the Breakfast club. Andrew being the bully jock and Claire being the posh popular girl. However, the movie addresses this by showing that things aren’t always what they seem at first. Andrew is actually forced into wrestling because his father makes him do it. He actually has no idea what he wants to do with his life and is still coming to terms with his place in the world. With Claire it's a little different, while she seems happy and content with her life is actually depressed and is also confused with her place in the world. The script shows that the writers didn’t want to show the superficial side of each clique. These two characters definitely stood the test of time. High school is a very difficult time of self-realization and coming of age. Even though this is set in the 80s, even in 2017 kids still don’t know what they’re doing in life.
         Now let’s look at Allison Reynolds and John Bender. These two are the outcasts but in different ways. Allison is simply weird. She never even had to be in detention, she just had nothing better to do on a Saturday. John is the tough guy. He couldn’t care less about what others think of him, so he figures he should just be rude all the time instead of being kind. The two characters seem to be a little exaggerated. While there are definitely rude and weird people in the world, everyone else seems to have some kind of motivation. These two characters do not. However, when we consider that they may be a product of hyperbole, these characters definitely still exist today.
         Finally we look at Brian Johnson. He’s the most judgemental of the group. He believes that he has everyone figured out and everything is superficial. I think this is the screenwriter’s way of addressing their vision to the audience. The writers want the audience to understand that no matter what they may think they know about someone, there is always more to understand. Brian, being the smart guy, thinks the world is black and white, like academics. However, he realizes by the end of the movie that not everything is how it seems. His character arc is meant to symbolize how the audience should grow throughout the movie. However, his stereotype is still alive today. There are still people who see the world in black and white, and it simply isn’t.
         Overall, The Breakfast Club serves the screenwriters’ visions of breaking down stereotypical boundaries between people. It truly holds up against time as society is still struggling to accept how similar we all are.