Learning Summary 2018-2019

This year I made a list of all the things I've been reading and studying about:


English – 

Reading and Literature Course - James Madison High School Online - (JMHS) – Grade A
English Course part 1 (JMHS) – Grade B

Books Read/Listened to
To Kill A Mockingbird
Percy Jackson Series
Kingdom and the Crown Trilogy (Historical Fiction New Testament)
QB: My Life Behind the Spiral, Steve Young
How to Watch Soccer, Ruud Gullit
Rivals: Frenemies who Changed the World
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Peak Performance, Brad Stulberg
Alice Adventures in Wonderland


History

American History Course (JMHS) – Grade A

Classic/Historically Themed Films -
12 Angry Men
Fountainhead
Atlas Shrugged
Casa Blanca
Shane
Emma
To Kill a Mockingbird
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Flipped
The Monuments Men
Pride and Prejudice
I.Q.
The Hunt for Red October



Language

I traveled to Spain and made some friends there. I also got to watch Barcelona play against Valencia which was Awesome!

Spanish I Course (JMHS) – Grade A
Bulgarian – Reading Heidi

Art
My grandma passed away from cancer this year, so I started a fundraiser for cancer research selling origami stars and raised over $500.

I also sold an origami dragon this year for $85. 

Science
Health Course (JMHS) – Grade A
Biology Course Part 1 (JMHS) – Grade A-

Physical Education 

Completed second season with the New England Revolution  Youth Soccer Academy. I really liked my coach this year and will miss him. I got to train in Spain a little as well which was fun. It's a 36 week season, so it is nice to have a little break in the summer.


Math & Logic

Algebra I Course (JMHS) – Grade A

The Lady and the Tiger Logic Puzzles
Alice in Puzzle Land – Logic Puzzles

Steve Young biography

So I have been reading the biography of Steve Young and it has been really good! I really like it because being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints just like he is we have a lot in common with playing very competitive sports and following our standards. I liked that when he went to the parties he drank milk instead of beer or alcohol. They always had a bottle of milk ready for him. I also like that there were a lot of individuals that helped him a lot through his journey to make him realize that he is very blessed and he shouldn't be taking it for granted like when he goes to see a boy around 12 years old with a terminal brain cancer. The boy says he is fine and after they do the surgery he will be good and will be able to play like Steve with the 49ers. Also his dad helped him a lot to get through hard times and continue to play football. It was really hard for him being the back up to Joe Montana because he really wanted to play, but seeing all of these people who would only dream to be in a position like his he changed his look on life. I love his biography because it is interesting and he shares my standards.

Letter to the Editor - Empathy

False empathy, like anything false, is a lie. You should not jump to conclusions and pretend that you

understand what others are feeling because it could hurt them. It's probably better to be honest that

you don't know what someone is feeling than to pretend that you do.

The problem with most people is that they are so caught up in their own lives, they can't stop

thinking about themselves long enough to have genuine empathy for someone else.

To truly feel empathy for someone you have to either have gone through what they have been

through or to talk with them and understand what they are feeling.

In the first case, it involves learning the hard way. You go through traumatic experiences like losing

someone close. It's a terrible feeling and you can't really think straight. You "feel that paralyzed

dullness with which the mind protects itself against,  too much sorrow and too much pain." (Steinbeck)

You can choose to be bitter and sad or to be positive about it and use it as a learning experience

which you can draw from to help other people going through similar situations. Even through the trial of losing a loved one we must still find joy in our lives to keep us going.When I lost my brother John F. Kennedy, I felt all those negative feelings, but

I  knew that the country needed unity and I was able to use that experience to help others

through their grief when Martin Luther King was assassinated. Instead of just telling people to have

more "love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one another", I gave them a choice and showed

by leadership the way I had chosen in the very same situation (Kennedy).

If you learn to have true empathy for

someone, then you can build better and stronger relationships. Also if you learn to talk with and

more importantly listen to what the person you are talking to is saying they will like you more and

genuinely think that you are a friend. Most people just want to get out what they are trying to say and

don't even care about what the other person is saying! To feel empathy for others we must first

understand our own feelings. As I said once, "say a prayer for our

own country which all of us love - a prayer for understanding and that compassion of which I spoke."  (Kennedy)

We can pray for others and for ourselves to know how to help someone and receive understanding

and feel empathy for them. God will help you, or someone you are praying for, if you pray with faith.


Excerpted from The Harvest Gypsies by John Steinbeck, published by Heyday.
 Statement on the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.