Traveling with lacrosse

This weekend I had the opportunity to travel to Arizona for lacrosse. Traveling without parents helped me get a feel for life after high school. I learned of the responsibilities that come from not being taken care of all the time, or having an adult watching over you. Rather I got to feel how independent college students feel and how much responsibility comes from completing taking care of yourself. In the summer I also traveled to Maryland, Pennsylvania and Colorado without my parents for lacrosse. Initially the trips are exciting and it feels adventurous being hundreds of miles away from home. However, as the trips progress I learned and grew from the responsibilities that come with not being completely taken care of. The trip this weekend especially held a lot of responsibility, for I am a senior and there are freshman, sophomores, and juniors on our team that look up to the upperclassmen for advice and leadership. As I traveled by myself to Arizona this weekend, I got a little peak into what college life may be like and through my experiences I have gained responsibilities that will help me in the next part of my life.

Hamlet

This past week I have been contemplating about what to blog about. Currently there are a million thoughts swirling around my head, from college applications, to lacrosse practice, so it was difficult to choose a topic to blog about.

Nevertheless, this week I personally learned to love everything in your life and not take anything for advantage. Our family friend passed away from cancer on Saturday, and although it has been tough, it has made me realize how privileged I am for my friends and family. They are the constant in my life and I know whenever I need them, they will be there.

As I was searching postsecret.com I came across this secret and I thought it was very relevant in light of Saturday and for the rest of mine and everyones life. Keeping this thought in mind, I tried to relate this blog to Hamlet. I believe if Hamlet had someone in his life that he could trust and rely on he could have turned to them for advice and solved his confusions in a way that didn't lead to his death and others. I think in a way Claudius was a scape goat for all of Hamlets problems, and maybe all Hamlet needed was a friend or family member to help him with his problems and set him back on the correct path.

Too Much Madness

This week in class we read the poem “Much Madness is Divinest Sense” by Emily Dickinson. The poem’s main message is having madness in life will keep one sane, while constant sanity will drive one mad. While reading this poem, people in our class could relate to going mad because we are at a very stressful, crucial, scary point in our lives. As we hit those big submit buttons and as we venture off into our next journeys, we will experience many new emotions. Currently, most people in our English class are experiencing madness. Whether that madness comes from trying to pass AP physics or tying to push our parents limits, we are all experiencing madness. Needless to say this madness does not make us mad, but rather as Emily Dickinson stated the assent to madness will help maintain sanity in your life. For if we did not have college applications, papers in English and struggles at home, our life would be far too boring and as Dickinson says, many people would be driven to madness by their sanity.

Likewise, this week’s poem can also be related to Hamlet. Many people think Hamlet has lost his mind completely and has already descended into madness. However, as we have seen recently, Claudius is truly the outlandish character and as seen through his outburst during “The Mousetrap,” he has become mad. Emily Dickinson was crazy as well and she defends the eccentric. She explains that if you accept your madness you will maintain sanity in your life, but if you shun it, your sanity will drive you crazed. Claudius shunned his madness and kept his secrets quiet, therefore his guilt and unfaithfulness lead him to madness.

The Dip

Once I pressed that big submit button, there was nothing more I could do. Last Thursday as I submitted one of my first college applications, a million thoughts rushed to my head. However, I knew that once I pressed submit, I reached my limit and there is nothing else I could do. Today in class we read, "The Biggest Mistake They Made in School" by Seth Godin. In this article Godin used an image of a dip to show the cycle humans go through in parts of their life. I think at this point in my life I am climbing out of a dip. I have just submitted my application for my next phase of life and after four years, I will be concluding High School. High School itself acts as a dip for it shows the paths of life students are taking. Some students may think High School is too overwhelming and may struggle to pass, while others may have discovered their passion. Regardless of the situation a student is in people can agree that it is easy to graduate, yet getting there is challenging. As I know from personal experience there are many aspects of High School other than actual school, that are challenging, such as making friends or making a sport team. Needless to say, as I graduate High School I think I will be concluding on dip and entering another dip, world of college.

Understanding Shakespeare & Family Names

It is proven that Shakespeare’s Language is difficult. He uses complex language that we may never have used in that context before. As we read in “Reading Shakespeare’s Language,” “reading Shakespeare’s language can be a problem-but it is a problem that can be solved.” In reading the excerpts on Shakespeare’s language, my fears in reading Shakespearean works was spelled out. However, unlike freshman year when I used to hate to read Romeo and Juliet, I feel that if I take the time to try and understand what Shakespeare is saying, I actually find it enjoyable to read. So far we have read Act 1. At first it was difficult to follow because of Shakespeare’s use of words, sentence structure and references to historical content. However, as I read more and more of Hamlet, I began to adjust to his style of writing and it has become more enjoyable to read.

In class we discussed the origins of our own name and what responsibilities one carries if they hold a family name because in Hamlet Hamlet carries his family's name. Personally, if I were a boy I would have been named Merrick, which is a family name. I would have felt honored to have that name because it is in honor of my grandpa and in memory of my uncle. However, I am a girl, obviously, so I was named Rebecca, which does not have any family significance. I personally would feel proud to have my family name, but carrying a family name also requires responsibility and there is a certain expectation to live up to it as well.

Leaders vs. Laws

This week as I was beginning to write my essay on Antigone and Oedipus the King, I was struggling to find a topic to write about. I kept going back and forth between writing about the law and then writing about leadership. It took me five separate introduction paragraphs, and lots of notes to realize I wanted to write about the relationship between the law and leaders. Combining these two topics opened up a lot of room for discussion. For my blog today I wanted to write about the difference between law and leadership.

The two paralell, yet contrasting topics of law and leadership can be used hand in hand to help guide citizens. Laws are straight foreword guidelines that set the standards and rules, while leaders are more in depth characters that lead by example. There is only one set of written laws, and there are thousands of different types of leaders. There are those who are elected, those who silently lead others, those who are elected through god and there are leaders who simply provide guidance to ordinary people in their life. Although there are different types of law, artificial-made by people and natural- made by god, laws are set in stone and straight forward. I think it is easier to break a law, than to stop following a leader because leaders are more than words. They are personal and human, so they are easier to relate to and fore connections with. As I conclude my thoughts, I want to leave my readers thinking, how do they decide who guides their life? Is it the laws or rules? Or is it the people, their values and morals that guide them?

The Morality of Leaders

This week in class we explored the qualifications of a good leader. We looked at an obvious example of a leader, Martin Luther King, and we looked at Goodwins "Secrets of Great Presidents", which outlined the top ten qualifications of a good president and leader. After gaining all this information on leaders, I thought, so now is there a sole definition of the word leader? The answer is no. I think peoples backgrounds, views of life and morals help them decide what constitutes a leader. For instance, one who is highly religious might view a person different than a person who gains most of their views from the mass media or school.

In our big discussion groups in class this week, we talked about this topic of morals constituting a leader and several different points came up. Some people thought that a leader should lead based on his own personal morals, yet some believed personal morals should not get in the way of leadership. This question regarding morality and leaders is difficult to address. I feel that the only way one can get an accurate answer is to use examples from history and literature. I believe Creon did not really incorporate his own personal morals in Antigone because he had a strong desire for power and strength and left behind his morals instilled by friendship and family to achieve that. However, I believe in some parts of Oedipus the King Oedipus used some of his morals to guide his leadership. For instance, at the end he thought about the fate of himself and impact on his family, and thought the best way to go about this was to gauge his eyes out, so he can bring about a better life for the future for his family.