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Creative writing piece  Writing and Literature 1 

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Creative writing piece  Writing and Literature 1 

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This is me:

I’m sure I’m not the greatest person in the universe,

I know that for a fact.

But just like everyone else, I’m simply figuring out how to keep my self-confidence in tact

And to realize and accept that I’m fine as I am will be considered a pretty great first;

To accept my worst and best faults I have a great thirst.

I know I can be annoying

Sometimes I can be rude

Other times I can be overly sweet

And I can even get a little bit of an attitude.

I realize and notice more than people think,

But at the same time I can be as oblivious and unaware as a twig.

I overthink more than I should; thoughts on top of thoughts on top of thoughts about nothing that truly matters.

And though I waste my mental strength worrying about nothing but wasteful chatter, I never take action, I bring procrastination flatter.

I worry myself into a confidence drought,

And sometimes it really sucks,

But I later then realize I can be greater than I thought.

I care more than the average would like to admit,

And I have great ideas about things that both do and don't exist.

I believe in forgiveness even when it should be an option omit,

And I honestly think I’m a good person,

And to continue to be so, i will persist.

It’s a difficult task to talk about myself, it’s hard to evaluate who I am

And I’m sure I’m not the greatest person in the universe,

I know that for a fact,

But just like everyone else, I’m simply trying to figure out how to keep my self confidence in tact.

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It’s been a while, specifically two months since we’ve been back at Darrow. I can only assume that it  feels a bit cringy reading this right now, but the point of this letter is to remind you of things we need to think about during sophomore year. To start, you have to realize that you need to stop worrying so much about how other people see you. It holds you back more than you realize, and you can never do things to the best of your ability. For example, when you have to present something in one of your classes, worrying about how and if people are judging you isn’t going to help you pass. It’s important do in your life both what you want and need to do. We both know it’s easier said than done, but it’s something you should attempt to try.

Another thing to mention is that you need to start remembering to work as hard as you can and to do your best with the things that you have to complete both inside and outside of class. This past 2017-18 school year I know that you when you think back, you realize how nice of a feeling it is when you can just let go of all your worrying and do what you need to do.You complete tasks way easier and with quality when you stay focused, which leads us to another topic: it’s okay not to be perfect. Everyone in this world is different including you, and everyone has different methods of doing things. Just because something works for a friend or a classmate, doesn’t mean it’s going to work for you. You don’t have to be like any other person.

I know for a fact that the past year at Darrow has exposed you to a world that you never knew existed, and knowing this should help you continue to realize as we’re surrounded by new people that being yourself tops pretending or trying to be like any other person. It’s important to value and figure out who you are while both embracing your own faults and strengths, as well as those that belong to others; in the end, one thing is true, we are all people and one thing that we all have in common is the natural struggle of living in a world where it can be hard to be accepted as you are. Understand that being around such a diverse group of people at this time in your life is something to relish in and enjoy. Always remember  that a life well lived is simply one of your own.

Sincerely,

Faith Jackson (from the past)

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Historical Methods Final- A Reflection of my first year

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Historical Methods Final- A Reflection of my first year

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Reflection Questions:

What is something we did this year that you think you will remember in how you inform your work and organization towards future projects?

This year, one thing that I think I'll remember about my own organization and work ethic is that I tend to work best when I have the ability to freely spill my thoughts to see what information I'm working with. I also work well when I have the ability to simply stay focused and engulfed on one specific thing that I’m working on.

What is something you accomplished this year that you are proud of?

One thing that I accomplished this year was figuring out how to be more confident and involved in the classroom and in the community. I'm a lot more comfortable with the idea of sharing my thoughts with other people and staying involved with conversations that go on within different classes and with others.

What was the nicest thing someone in our class did for you this year?

In my historical methods class this year, one of the kindest things that anyone has done for me was more or less motivate me when I needed it the most. There were many times when I couldn't completely focus or get my thoughts together, but there was almost always someone there who would give me the push I needed to do what had to be done weather it be someone like Neshima, Jaideep, or Willow.

What was the most challenging part of this year for you?

The most challenging thing for me this year was figuring out how to deal with different emotions and ideas that surrounded the concept of interacting and staying apart of the community that I'm in. This is because I sometimes tend to hold myself back from taking opportunities that may be fun or helpful due to the fact that I'm worried about how others may react. It was difficult for me to attempt to just be myself and do what made me happy.

Where is your favorite place in our classroom (or school)? Why?

My favorite place on the Darrow campus is the perimeter of open space between the science building and the Tannery. Not only is it the best place to go for beautiful and clear views of the sunset, but it's also very nice and relaxing to just walk around the sports fields and sit on the benches to just clear my head and enjoy being alone (or talking with a friend in peace)

If you could change one thing that happened this year in Historical Methods, what would it be?

If there was one thing that I could change about the events that took place in historical methods this year, it would probably be changing my reactions and my behavior to make be creative and interactive in class discussions.

What are three things you did this year to help your classmates?

Three things that I did to always try and help my classmates:

I always tried my best to maintain a positive attitude in the classroom to keep the spirits up.

I would remind myself to keep an open mindset when working with others to see more than one point of view and to try new things.

I always tried to motivate others when they were struggling or worried about something.

What is something that was hard for you at the start of the year but is easy now?

One concept that I have finally grasped and accepted at the end of this 2017-18 school year is that not everything has to be perfect, and things aren't always going to meet your expectations, but it's okay. At the beginning of the year it felt as though certain things like grades and attitude had to be the best they could possibly be, beyond expectations, but I now realize that nothing is ever going to be truly perfect and that's something that has to be accepted and recognized in order to do your best and always improve.

What person at our school has made the biggest impact in your life this year? Why?

One person who has made the biggest impact on my life here at Darrow is Ms. Pytlesti. Ms. Pytleski is always coming around to check in and make sure I'm feeling okay, and she's one of the people at Darrow who genuinely care about how I'm feeling. She takes the time to talk when I need her and she's constantly around to motivate and encourage the people in our community.

What is something I could have done to make this year better?

Personally, I don't think that there's anything that could have been done to make the school year ‘better’. I can't specifically think of how changing how and things were done could have possibly made the year turn out better than it is.

What are six adjectives that best describe this school year?

Six adjectives that describe this school year are interesting, unexpected, confusing, fun, insightful, and rewarding.

What advice would you give students who will be in this class next year?

Some advice that I would give students who will be in the same class next year would be: Sometimes you're going to do things that you won't be excited for. Interesting events are going to take place, and you're going to experience and learn things that you didn't expect, but it’s important to appreciate the creative and intriguing opportunities that you’re getting even if you don't realize how great they are at the time.

"Moving Forward in my Darrow Education; the Videos and the final reflection"

I decided to watch three of the videos that were provided; Angela Lee Duckworth: Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, Ken Robinson: ‘Do schools kill creativity?’ , and Brene Brown’s ‘Vulnerability in Education’. After watching each of the videos, I recognize that each of the three speakers thoughts do align with some of my own beliefs. Some of the things that I do believe about the aspects of education are are that yes, our modern education system does influence children to drop their values for creativity and conform to modern beliefs (I even based my first historical methods project on that specific concept), I also believe that it is important to leave yourself vulnerable and open in order to learn new things and figure out how to improve in your life, and in order to find yourself reaching your goals, you have to work harder than you may think because most great things don’t come easily.

Looking back, I recognize now that in my time here at Darrow a lot of the ideas that are expressed in each of the TED talks are quite prevalent in my academic experiences. Throughout my first year of high school, there are times that I can recall when I have been pushed out of my comfort zone and put into a vulnerable position in order to complete my goals, whether it be throughout any amount of time attempting to complete a presentation, or even when simply talking to a friend and expressing myself. There have been moments in class when I’ve had complete academic freedom to create something of my own, and allowed the chance to use my creative mindset; such as when I completed my fourth and final historical methods project of generating and producing my own tiny house model, or when I completed my first semester Algebra 1 project where I had to create a scavenger hunt within the Darrow campus using different concepts that were taught in class. I can even recall the moments when it took the most out of my energy and effort in order to complete an assignment to the best of my abilities.

Though I have acknowledged the ideas and conceptions expressed by three influential speakers in three individual videos I must admit that there were a few ideas that I hadn’t recognized beforehand. Now being consciously aware of these concepts it will definitely affect my thoughts and actions in the future. For example, though I knew before that failing was nothing to truly be afraid of I never really felt as though it was an idea that I could believe in - I was afraid of being judged because of my failures and not knowing how to improve upon my mistakes. To an extent I also knew that generally every single person learns differently- not all success can be measured by traditional things such as grades, IQ, or even a standardized test. Often times, not all success is measured in our lives; they tend to be ignored or unacknowledged and unrecognized.

Ultimately I do believe that some of the values and ideas expressed in modern day education systems are overrated and should be reevaluated. Children, teens, and even adults all alike should have the freedom and ability to learn the things that will bring them joy and happiness instead of being told that they need to think ‘realistically’. They shouldn’t be forced to be exposed to topics that bring no meaning to them or that won’t help them in their futures. I also realize that it is important to try your hardest to achieve your goals in order to find yourself in a place where you can feel truly proud of the things you’ve done. We need to recognize that vulnerability and fear isn’t something to stigmatize, and that in order to learn and grow, these are things that we need to advance in life in the manner that we please- we all have a choice as to what we do in this lifetime, and that choice should not be determined by anyone other than ourselves.

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Pink- Writing and Literature 1    Green- Environmental Science
Yellow- Historical Methods

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For our project, we had to find a multitude of different facts about the doughnut, most of which were things that people usually don't know, which required us to dig deep and find specific and unique sources to help us find out what we needed to know

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In my historical methods class, we decided to complete a project that talked about the history of one particular food that was either from our culture, or that was a food that we enjoy. For this project, my project partner willow and I decided to research the history of doughnuts. We then created a presentation that talked about different kinds of doughnuts, where doughnuts came from, why they're important, and what they're (typically) made of.

In this project I learned about the history of a food that we don't  tend to acknowledge; I learned about where it first came from, how it's advanced over time, and how/ why it's still so prevalent and 'important' in our modern day lives. In order to complete this project, I had to be able to use research skills, communication, and collaboration; Research skills to learn about the history of doughnuts, communication to successfully present the history of the doughnut to my class, and collaboration to attentively work with my project partner.

Overall, the main thing that this project helped me with was learning to stay focused with the task at hand and figuring out how to properly research, and how to search for what you need in creative ways. The project ended in success and it was definitely fun to complete. The methods that my partner and I used to do our project were slightly odd and was a risk when we included all aspects and factors of our attempted method, but in the end it worked out and it was enriching because we learned more about the history of the doughnut using multiple methods of completing the project than we would've if we had just focused on one method. (we combined two different ideas to create our project)

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In my environmental science class, we did a project where we attempted to figure out how much carbon we emit on the Darrow campus in total, and wither or not the forestry around us can sequester all of it. In order to do this, we went into the woods and identified different trees in a given plot of land, and we measured specific parameters in order to figure out how much carbon one specific tree itself could sequester. Within our different groups, we then entered all of our individual team data into one table to calculate end results. To present the project, we were asked to create a poster board that would visually explain and describe our project, and the steps that we took to complete it. Though many aspects of the project were fun to do, like going outside to do work, there were a few low points that popped up here and there, specifically when we were creating the poster board. I can clearly recall staying up late with my roommate the night right before the project was due, trying to figure out how we were going to make the visual aspect of our project thrive (she was apart of the group I was in) It took a lot of creative thinking and attentiveness to figure out how we could improve our project, especially when half of our group was missing at the time and we had no easy way to contact them at 12 a.m. Though we had opposing ideas, in the end, we managed to create a poster that was at the very least mediocre. Though it was a lot of work and time, we successfully completed the project which meant that it was worth it.

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This past semester, I was involved in a genealogy project where I was put into a group with a few of my fellow classmates, and we were asked to explore and describe the  DNA results and ancestral migration of a fellow classmate named Willow. My group decided to create a google slide presentation where we all got one key aspect of willow's migration story and added the information we got from the research we conducted. Below is the presentation that we created.

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We can all admit that sometimes, to look back and deeply reflect on ourselves is a difficult task. We’re all biased to some extent when it comes to talking about ourselves, but as I recently came to realize, to look back and basically force ourselves into outside perspective to overview ourselves in a particular situation is much more increasingly difficult.This semester, in my writing and Literature class, I was asked to select a specific 'artifact' (or in other words, something that I'd created that showed some aspect of growth) and explain how it was important, or how it challenged me. I chose a writing piece about my first impression of the Darrow school, and this is why I chose it;

I remember fairly clearly that on n a cool fall day, I was instructed to roamed around the Darrow campus and attempt to find a specific area that would help me  comprehend and rehash my first feelings towards Darrow. When I thought about it intently, I couldn’t help but feel that everything I’d originally thought I’d felt when I first began my brainstorming, was actually a complete lie. Attempting to look back and truthfully figure out and acknowledge the feelings I needed to write down and describe was a lot harder than it had originally seemed.

Once I’d gotten to my classroom, knowing that I was expected to create a piece of writing that was meant to portray and expose all of the feelings like anxiousness or fear, that I couldn't really bring myself to focus on. I could only find myself managing to write down a prototype paragraph every few moments, only to erase it seconds later and start again. When I’d thought about my first impression, I could only formulate feelings of ambivalence and confusion; attempts to write any sort of story that talked about anything too specific just seemed disconnected from anything I could actually muster up; all I could do was attempt to figure out how I could portray exactly what I’d felt on paper, and write it in a way that was easy to understand, while still meeting the writing’s given criteria and rubric.

After a number of minutes that seemed to simply drag on for hours on end, just before my time to create my draft in class was up, I’d realized exactly what I was in line to write about. While the idea in my mind was seemingly perfect, or at the very least satisfactory, I still worried about how others would perceive my writing, it made all the sense in the world to me, but I had the feeling that there was still something slightly off and oddly confusing about my work, but after a while, I came to appreciate that something, the uniqueness to my particular piece

After getting to work, I managed to create a document that surprisingly captured the message I'd tried my hardest to convey. It took a lot of work and creative thinking, and I believe that I managed to make my feelings clear for an audience to understand; I wanted to relay that I didn't really have any special or particular first impression of Darrow that I could identify (All I could remember is enjoying the school almost imminently after my first visit, but that wasn't what I wanted to talk about; it seemed too typical) There was almost a total sense of ambivalence as I wrote my paper, it almost seemed as though I was 'looking into the past through a pair of kaleidoscope glasses'

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"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader."  (John Quincy Adams)