Education Questions: Values - Arts vs Sciences vs Math

In this post I shall address a question about education/the education system in the states from Amrith. 

For my disclaimer and the last post I've made about about school in the states please see 

http://thelifeandtimesofan.blogspot.com/2012/02/high-school-my-experience.html

He asks "Does your country value and respect those who study say Anthropology or Archaeology? Is each subject treated equally or is one valued over the other, etc. Where do such people end up? Are they just professors at University or do they do anything else?"

Yes, Amrith, I think it is safe to say that all titles gained through higher education are respected in the United States. Some, however, are more valued over others if one looks at the situation economically. For instances, the top three job titles that come to my mind which make the most money (besides company CEO's and Division Presidents) are Doctors, Lawyers, and Engineers. This is because of the rigorous training and education these people with these titles must endure. This does not mean that any other education title is not valued. It may not be equally valued economically speaking, but all degrees are respected. It is also true that the higher degree a person holds the more money the person will make in their specific field. Anthropology and Archaeology degrees aren't the most common degrees earned, but they are definitely  respected. A person who decides to earn such a degree will not be looked down upon. This is probably because the American society is tailored to the individual and that individual's rights. My mindset about it is "If that person decides to get a degree in archaeology then that is his/her business. Good for him/her." It will be harder for that person to get a job though. And, it's rather untelling where they would wind up. If that person wanted to teach at the college level, he/she would first have to earn a doctoral degree then try to find a college with that teaching position open. If he/she wanted to go out into the general workforce then he/she could wind up anywhere in the world really. It's up to that individual to apply for a job and the employers of the world to decide to hire a person with that degree and that sort of thing. 

Introducing FAME - Friday Awesome Music and Entertainment

F  A  M  E
r   w   u   n
i    e    s   t
d   s    i   e
a   o   c   r
y   m       t
     e       a
              i
             n
             m
             e
             n
             t


Ok. If you follow Simon and Martina from www.eatyourkimchi.com then you will know that this (FAME) sounds eerily similar to their K-pop Music Mondays, WANK (Wonderful Adventure Now Korea - the replacement to WTF [Wonderful Treasure Find] which is/was held on Wednesdays), and many other of their glorious productions. That's because I am a huge fan of their work and was inspired by them to create this weekly segment.

You would like to know more about FAME? Great! I'll tell you. Actually, I don't really know what this will develop into, but, for right now, it will be a weekly segment (hopefully I'll have the time) in which Dillon and/or I shall review music or other forms of entertainment. For right now, the reviews will only be through written blog form. Eventually, however, I would like to make it more into a video segment sort of thing. I thought about making a video to introduce this new idea, but I've been feeling a bit under the weather lately. * EXPLAIN UNDER THE WEATHER * Last week I had laryngitis off and on, and I still don't really sound like myself. So that's why I decided not to do a video intro to the new FAME series. In any case, I (we) will always be sure to include a link to the media that is reviewed when at all possible. If a link isn't available (though I highly doubt that predicament will ever arise) then the media title and all necessary production details will be listed in the review. ... Dillon and I probably have enough material to do reviews over for weeks on end - just from where we collect and keep up with so much music - on a global level. (In fact, I predict that most of the music we review shall be foreign music, and, by foreign, I mean foreign to us citizens of the USA.) However, we would love to hear your suggestions. If you ever think of a song that you would like us to review then go ahead and make a request on our Facebook page entitled "The Life and Times of a(n) ..." (http://www.facebook.com/groups/185000498269406/), on twitter @V_sLifeandTimes, or on our Youtube page "TheLifeandTimesofan".

For this Friday's Episode, I'm just going to include the two videos I uploaded that is some of my musical experiences in Korea. Some of you may have already seen them, but I wanted to include them in the blog since all of the other episodes of Snippets from the Past are already available in the blog. Now I present to you episodes 4 and 5 from my Snippets from the Past series.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UhXYNoKzFk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky-dUkKEg3E

A New Author!

Hi Everybody!
I decided I didn't want to manage a blog all by myself, so I've asked a very dear friend of mine to help co-author from time to time. Yay! Some of you may already know him since he was a World School International Forum 2009 graduate, but his name is Dillon. He will also be adding his "two cents" occasionally (he probably won't post as often as I do since he's in college doing pre-med and minor in Spanish (and possibly Russian)). Some posts we may work on together and some posts may be just him or just me. We're not really sure how it is going to work out yet. We'd also like to start a series that would be released once a week over a certain topic like music or something, but we're still in the early brainstorming days with that idea. If you have questions you would specifically like him to answer then let us know. He will have his own email, but will not be keeping up with the twitter account (he hates twitter haha ... to be honest, I'm not sure what I think of it yet either). I'll let him give his own personal introduction so he can decide what all basic information you, as readers, should know about him - whenever he gets around to it. For now though, I think this is enough to suffice.

This is a picture of us from way back in the day ... Actually, it was just taken two years ago, but we've both changed a lot. Anyways, here's us as a Senior and Junior in high school.

Modern Sonnet 1

As you all know, by reading reading my previous post (http://thelifeandtimesofan.blogspot.com/2012/02/high-school-my-experience.html),  I am taking English 4 this year. English 4 specifically at my school is the study of the English Language through British texts. At the moment, we are studying sonnets, sonnet forms, and pastorals, so, for an exercise, our teacher, Mr. Lockhart, told us that we must create our own sonnets containing: 14 lines, a rhyme scheme following one of the three major forms (Petrarchan, Spenserian, or Shakespearian), and 10 syllables per line. Thankfully he didn't include iambic pentameter in the guidelines.

Up until about an hour ago, I had no idea what to write about, but he gave us the day to study for the test over sonnets and pastorals tomorrow and to work on our sonnets (which are due this Friday). I decided that, since I  would have time to study later tonight, I would work on my sonnet. I had no clue what I wanted to write about, so I just started coming up with phrases that rhymed - and this is what happened:

I am having a hard time thinking now
of what exactly to do and/or say
for, this difficult animal - a cow -
moves not for me at any time of day;
I never know how to communicate,
during any moment of this dull week,
to try to get it to budge at a rate
which does not completely, utterly reek.
However, I must admit, this cow is
the bomb diggity of this dreary world,
for it knows it is the absolute shiz
and sometimes walks slowly with tail unfurled
to prove to us all it is a cool beast
off of which we humans forever shall feast.

I was so proud of my "spur of the moment" sonnet that I felt like I just had to share it. I didn't even realize that I had included a pun until my second time reading it through. I hope you enjoyed it though :)

By the way, I don't really like cow meat that much - I'll take turkey or chicken over beef almost any day. This doesn't express my views on the world; it was just an English exercise. If you're offended by cows being eaten then you can also look at this feast coming from the milk cows produce which can lead to butter,  cheese, and other tasty, non-harmful beef products.

High School: My Experience (Part 1)

First of all, let me give my disclaimer: I can only speak with the views, experiences, and opinions of one person - which is obviously me. Anything that I will be talking about can be used as a reference for one American high school student. This post does not even attempt to depict the experiences, views, or opinions of any other high school students in the United States of America. With that being said, this is an insight for people to glean off of my experiences. It may not be accurate to think that any other students go through school like I do, but it is safe to say that one may get an idea of how school operates in my area - and by area I mean my specific school.

Now let's move on to my experiences since the disclaimer is finally over.

For high school, I have gone to a private school. In fact, I've always gone to a private school; I don't really know why since that was my parents' decision, but that's just what's happened. I guess I should probably start off by explaining some of the differences between public and private schools. Public schools and private schools have different standards that they have to follow, so let's start with explaining a bit about public schools. Public school codes vary from state to state, but they all aim to accomplish a common goal - preparing students to pass a standardized test. These standardized tests can also vary from state to state, but, to my understanding, they all test students over their knowledge of Math, Science (interpreting graphs), and English. Public schools also have different tracks for students to follow. These tracks are to prepare students for what they intend to accomplish with their lives - this includes the college bound track, the trade/technical school bound track, the apprentice track, etc. Even though these students may be in different tracks, all must still pass the standardized tests in order to advance to the next grade. Failure to pass these tests results in the student being "held back" a grade until classes and tests are passed. Public schools must also follow certain guidelines in order to operate and graduate students. I shall give a link for the state of Tennessee (since it is the state I go to school in) if any of you (readers) would like to know more about these rules and regulations for conduct and graduation requirements. Here is the site map if you would like to explore: http://www.tn.gov/sbe/site_map.html

If you've chosen to read up on Tennessee school rules then good for you! You will notice more of the differences that I'm about to talk about. If you chose not to go exploring, then you're not missing much, but there might be a few things that don't make sense. I'm not really sure what information I need to include or leave out since this sort of information is just understood for me because I've grown up with it. Private schools do not have to follow state rules (exa: speaking about religion without it first being brought up by the student, etc.), but they do tend to mimic state graduation requirements in class credits - though they almost always require more class credits as graduation requirements. The state, for example, may only require 4 credits in English, 3 credits in Math, 3 credits in Science, 3 credits in Social Studies (aka History), 1 credit in Wellness & Phys. Ed., and 6 credits in Electives - a minimum of 20 class credits. (Those are the actual requirements in the state of Tennessee for my graduating class fyi.) Whereas, a private school may require 5 credits in English, 4 credits in Math, 3.5 credits in Social Studies, 3 credits in Science, 2 credits in Fine Arts, 2 credits in the same foreign language, 1.5 credits in Wellness & Phys. Ed., and 4 credits in Electives - a minimum of 25 class credits. (Those are also my actual graduation requirements for my school.) Private schools must still prepare students to pass state and national standardized tests. Private schools also tend to have higher test score averages on these standardized tests than public school do. Some private schools choose to join certain accreditation groups as well - this is so that people may see that the school is regulated and held to standards even though these standards may differentiate from the state's. My school is a SACS accredited school (SACS = Southern Association of Colleges and Schools).

Yay! Now you have some background knowledge! Shew, that was a mouthful to try to explain. Now I can finally talk about my experiences.

My high school just so happens to be an "Academy". This means that the school serves more than just high school students and, at the moment, my school teaches grades 5-12 (grades 5-8 are considered middle school; grades 9-12 are considered high school). I've been at my school since my 7th grade year and, since I was put in advanced placement in some classes, I have been taking some high school classes ever since I came to the academy. Because I took some high school classes as a middle school student, I have been able to choose more of my classes to tailor them to my needs and likes. I've heard that in some countries students take certain tests to determine what they are good at while they are young and are then placed on a track tailored only to those certain skills (for example, a Math/Science track vs a Language/Fine Arts track). This is not so in the US (or at least, not to my knowledge). Here schooling is aimed more towards allowing a student to pick and choose subjects he or she may like while creating a well rounded individual. I, personally, like this method of education more than the "test them while they're young" idea. As I have matured, my interests and skill sets have changed. When I was a child, my standardized tests showed that I was more Math/Science inclined than Language inclined. Now, my scores are almost the complete opposite. I also like the idea of a student being able to choose (to a degree) what he or she would like to study. I feel like these other methods, with tracks inlaid from early childhood, do not give students the chance to explore what they would like to become. ... My high school is also unique because it is located on a college campus; this has allowed me to take college classes - some of them for dual credit - while still in high school. So far I have completed 28 credit hours over the course of 5 straight semesters. Now that I've explained why I prefer this type of education and the type of school I've attended, I'll go ahead and tell which classes I have taken to match my graduation requirements. (The courses followed by strange numbers at the end are college classes.) Here's the list grouped by subject: English 1, English 2, English 3, English 4, Grammar & Writing, English 110, English 210, English 310, Communications 200 (basic speech and group communication), Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, Pre-Calculus, Math 111 (beginning algebra), Math 120 (trigonometry), US History, History 121 (world history to 1500 CE), History 122 (world history from 1500 CE to present), Government, Economics, Biology 1, Biology 2, Chemistry 1, Scientific Research, Chemistry 100, Strings 1, Strings 2, Strings 3, Strings 4, Spanish 1, Spanish 2, Spanish 3, Japanese 1, and Wellness. That's a total of 27 credits that counts towards my diploma (some of my college courses don't count towards my high school credits and those that do count only weigh in at a half credit per class - it's confusing). If you ask me, I think that's a rather well rounded education right there. Some classes were fun and some were a pain in the royal rear, but they've all been interesting. My favorite classes were strings and English 210-310; the classes I disliked the most were Math 120 and Government. If I had to name which class was the easiest, I would have to say Economics because it's basically a class on the common sense of how money works. The most difficult class for me was, by far, Math 120 once again because it required the memorization of so many different concepts and the teacher was very difficult to understand.

I was also going to talk about Co-Ed schools, but this post is more than long enough already - so I'll save that for another day.

What do you think? Do prefer to pick some of your own classes or do you think the track method is more efficient? Do you have any questions about different aspects my high school experience or want to know more about student life, athletics, extracurricular activities, or things of that nature? Comments and questions are always appreciated :)

My Valentine's Day

Ok. I finally finished editing the video that was actually meant to be released on Valentine's Day. YAY! Now my comment about how I "love-uh" all you guys should make much more sense.

On Facebook, Rene asked about any Valentine's traditions, so I will share my version of Valentine's Day. First, I should probably give a little background about how things go here though. In the states, Valentine's day is always, and I mean ALWAYS, about the girl. Traditionally the guy (usually the boyfriend or husband) gets the girl flowers (usually red roses), chocolates (which come in a heart shaped box), jewelry, a teddy bear, a card (usually with some sort of sappy poem), or a combination of any/all of these. Couples tend to make an extra effort to go on a romantic date - like a picnic or out someplace really fancy, etc. In other words, the girl must be told how special she is and then must be showered in romantic presents. In my opinion, it's the most superficial holiday we've thought up so far. Oh, and for the single people out there, this seems to be a holiday to remind them just how single they are. Just google "forever alone". Yeah, it's pretty pathetic. Let's move on to how I spend my Valentine's Day every year.

I have always been one of those single people on Valentine's Day, but I don't count myself as being alone. I just go about my day like it's normal - only there's usually candy at school, so I always manage to get a bit of candy. When I go home, my dad always has something for my mom and me. Mom usually gets Godiva chocolates and a Snoopy card, and I always (literally - ever since I was born) get a small heart shaped box of chocolates that has a little Snoopy figurine/key-chain tied to the top of it - sometimes I get a card also. Oh, dad always tells us that he loves us too, but he does that everyday anyways - so I don't really count it as a part of his Valentine's Day activities. Actually, in all the previous years, dad always had my little Snoopy box waiting for me first thing in the morning when I walk out my bedroom door, but this year he switched things up. Since I turned 18 this year (the age of a legal adult - the only restriction is no alcohol until 21 [in most states - but drinking laws are for another post]), I wasn't sure that I was going to get my little Snoopy. I woke up and there wasn't a small box outside my door, and, I have to admit - it did make me rather sad. I thought it was strange, but I went on with my day as always. There was a candy-gram drive going on at school to raise money for the student body which were all being delivered during the day. I never expected to get anything, but one of my freshmen friends, Boomer, sent me one. Yes, his name is actually Boomer - because his parents were just that awesome to give him a name like that. I gave him a hug, but I usually hug Boomer weekly anyways since he's really nice. *** I went about the rest of my day as usual and went home. I was the first one back at the house so I heated up some stuff for the family dinner and continued to look for where my dad might have hidden my Snoopy. Alas! My search was to no avail! So, I did the dishes. I was midway through cleaning up the kitchen while keeping an eye on the stove when my parents finally got home. While we fixed our plates, we were talking and dad nonchalantly asked me how my Valentine's Day had been. All I said was "No Snoopy" then acted and hung my head a little. Dad then told me how I was growing up and didn't think I wanted little kid toys like that anymore. We finished fixing our plates and went to the family room. Lo and behold my Snoopy tied to a small heart shaped box of Whitman's peanut butter cups was sitting in my chair. I grinned and jumped up and down on the spot a little and said "hey mister, you tricked me!" (I'm really a little kid at heart - I love my little Snoopy(s) - I could really care less about the candy haha). Both of my parents chuckled and dad said "well I guess I'll have to keep getting them for you even when you're in college wont I?" I, of course, said "always!" and grinned. And that, ladies and gentlemen reading this post, was my Valentine's Day for 2012.

***NOTE! In American culture there are two main types of greetings - the hand shake and the hug. Hand shakes are for acquaintances, business partners, friends, etc. Hugs are for family and close friends. There are all sorts of hugs (another topic for a different post), but most are completely acceptable for public society. In fact, it's expected. If you greet a close relative that you haven't seen in a while without giving that relative a hug, people will think something is wrong with you.

Sherlock Holmes Snoopy! <3

This is a picture of me and Boomer while we were traveling to an away game yesterday (hence the tie - that isn't the normal clothing he would be wearing for just everyday)

Happy Belated Valentine's Day

Hi guys! I've been really busy with basketball lately, but I finished this clip on Friday. I just didn't have time to post anything about it until now. Actually, I was originally going to release it this weekend, but then decided to put the release off to share the "love-uh" on a more appropriate day. In any case, enjoy the clip! ... After a quick review of this video, I realized I had another clip that was supposed to be for Valentine's Day, but the editing on it isn't finished yet. Oops, my bad! Oh well, I hope you like it anyways. :)

*I've begun to edit the cultural dance footage which will continue to appear in each clip from now on until what I have is all released*

The Beginning of Things to Come

I want my first post to be short and sweet for my World School International Forum 2010 friends. Hopefully this will bring back some good memories and make everyone laugh. I will eventually edit all of the videos I have from our wonderful time together, but, for now, here is a short clip I was able to edit together rather quickly. And, even if you weren't a World School participant, enjoy! :)