Category: journalism

Free Speech and Tattoos

bedghostLeave a comment

So several days ago I got to learn about the first amendment in Government class.

What I’ve learned has been so interesting, I might as well write about it! Yay!

Basically, We have the right to have freedom of religion, speech and to gather publicly.

This is fantastic! this amendment makes this country a great country, because it gives us the right to be a”#holes, and that is, what makes this country so great!

Yet this is such a controversial amendment because it cover so much, yet it says so little This creates a HUGE! problem, because it can be interpreted by so many people and sometimes that’s bad. Take Tattooing for example,  Tattooing is not protected by the first amendment…

Why?

Isn’t this a free country?

Do we not have rights?

Why does the Government not protect me for what I write on my ugly shell I call “skin”?

College already?

rangerthecatLeave a comment

College.


Just hearing that word makes me cringe.

A few years ago, I didn’t even think I would be applying to colleges. I figured I would be attending a community college.

But now, college is so close, and all of my friends are stressing out about it. All I hear is “I’m working on my college essays” or “I had a college interview the other day.”

And I just think Umm, I don’t even know one single school that I’m applying to yet…

I have no idea what I want to study either. I really wish I was one of those people who knew what she wanted to do and went for it. It would make it so much easier!

I have confidence that I will be accepted into a good school, but the first step is figuring out where I am going to apply.

Bring it on, college apps. I will figure it out. It might take me a while, but I’ll figure it out.

Scary Scary Time!

r3t5nom1 Comment

halloween

Halloween is coming up and man am I ready to scare some people! Halloween to me is the most fun day because you get a chance to dress up as something you’re not and go get candy from all the houses around your block. That is unless you go to a boarding school haha.

candy

BUT being at a boarding school is not that bad. On Halloween I will make sure to have a lot of fun scaring people out of their minds. Plus we have a nice Halloween dance, and a best costume contest, which I never win.

This year will be fun though, we have a lot of people who share my passion with scaring people and that is what makes Halloween fun. Scaring people.

me
Get ready OVS cause I’m going to scare you all!

What do you think about Halloween?

Banned Books Week topic in World History

r3t5nom1 Comment

                                                         BBW
This past week we talked about National Banned Books Week. In my opinion, banning books is wrong. Why wrong you might ask? Wrong because by banning a book we are hiding and keeping information from the people. Wrong, because in most cases the content of a book is merely a reflection of a real life issue or occurrence.

A book touching on the topics of homosexuality or racial differences is not a valid reason to ban a book. A book about the old south that has the “N” word in it is not a fair reason to ban a book, especially because the “N” word is being used to provide the reader a feel for how things were in the south way back when.

Books shouldn’t be banned because there is a bigger possibility that the people reading a book about a war will be shocked and learn that war isn’t the answer, than for those people to think that they should go out an mass murder a crowd of people due to their influence from that book.

If people are this afraid of what a books content will do to the minds of those who read them, then I wish you luck with real life problems because you are clearly unaware of what sort of things life brings to the table.

If a book can change every bodies mind of what a government is doing and lead the people to revolt and demand a change, then the government was definitely doing something wrong.

Books are powerful tools for understanding and for expression, but most of all books are a way to describe a situation or a period of time in the highest about of detail possible. even if it means there is foul language, racial differences or sexual implication portrayed in the novel.

BBW

What do you think about Book Banning?

Good Evening OVS Bloggers!

sennymcfly5 Comments

Gosh it’s good to be back in the blog world and the non-alcoholic Thanksgiving after party that is Mr. Alvarez’s Journalism class. Do tell! How is it going so far? I’m sure you are all enjoying it. If I remember correctly Journalism was always like a big birthday party with desks and a big white board. Unfortunately, there was no cake.

What! No cake?

But, who needs cake when you have a teacher like Mr. A? Yeah okay, so he doesn’t have sprinkles and fire cracker candles on his head and he doesn’t walk into the classroom covered in vanilla frosting…he doesn’t right? Anyway, if he were to be covered in frosting it would be chocolate flavored, not vanilla, because everybody knows that a brown guy can’t hide beneath his frosty vanilla coating.

What's Up Vanilla Face?

Okay, okay. I’m done ragging on the teacher. (Evan Cooper, you’re next!) But take what I’m about to say to heart; I don’t know any of the new teachers at OVS, but what I do know is that Mr. A, regardless of how great they are, will always be number one in my eyes. He is absolutely one of the greatest teachers and one of the greatest people (persons?) I have ever had the pleasure to learn from. I’m not even really sure if that was proper grammar. But, thankfully he wasn’t my English teacher so you’re off the hook for any mistakes I make Mr. Alvarez. You all should know that I’m proud to have been his student and so should you. Hope you guys have an amazing year. Enjoy it and take advantage of what they teach you. And absolutely absolutely absolutely ABSOLUTELY do not take it for granted because it’s going to be the best high school experience of your lives. Be well. Have fun. Don’t be late to class.

– Maddie

2:46PM March 11th, 2011

thehungryrunnergirlLeave a comment

In Japan, earthquakes happen at least once a week. There’s a system that predicts earthquakes five seconds beforehand to help you prepare.

On March 11, I was working out in a gym. Suddenly, the power went out and the ground started to shake. I thought to myself, “Well okay, again. No big deal.” But the shake didn’t end, and I soon realized that this earthquake was huge. Personal trainers told me to evacuate. I couldn’t walk. I felt as if my legs lost control. Fortunately, the buildings in Japan were built strong for earthquakes so we were safe, but phones had no service and I couldn’t communicate with my family. It was chaos.

When I got back home after walking for an hour, I turned on the TV. I was shocked out of my wits. Tohoku was destroyed by a tsunami. I saw people on the top of a hospital waving and asking for help. It was absolutely unbelievable. Cars, houses were all gulped by the tsunami.

Why? Why did this happen? Why Japan?

null

A week later, the death toll went up to 6,900 people. I was just shocked. What if I lived there? What if my families and friends were there…?

But in the midst of this heartbreak, there was a one thing that made my happy. I discovered the beauty of Japanese culture.

There was a very little looting. People waited patiently for food despite the length of the line. This summer was all about saving electricity for Tohoku. It was over 90 degrees everyday, but the air conditioners on trains and some parts of shopping malls were off. But nobody ever complained. We had only one thing on our minds: to help rebuild Tohoku, and still today, we are striving for that.

Before the earthquake, nobody was truly patriotic. I was a little bit disappointed how people didn’t appreciate the country. After the quake,  I was very moved and proud of being Japanese. I’ve never seen people working as one for people who are suffering from this disaster.

Please, pray for us.

For more information/photos, click here.

From home to school, the transition

r3t5nomLeave a comment
View of Land's End arch on the Southern tip of...
Image via Wikipedia

Going from a beautiful place like Cabo San Lucas, which has beaches that stay in the 80’s Farenheit, to a weather bipolar place like Ojai Valley, California, is not an easy change to go through . My home is a paradise, and the people and food there are fantastic. OVS is a great school and there is no doubt in my mind that this school has helped me grow in many different ways while I’ve been here. The truth is that as much as I try to convince myself to make this like a second home for me, I can’t, because a home is where your family is.

The Last Blog

yrreskrapLeave a comment

This is my last blog of the year-the last blog as a junior.

So should I write about?

Well, I can write about almost anything. About how my friends are leaving in a eight days, or how maybe I found out that I became president. I could write about how I will be going to Chicago this summer for a medicine forum. Or I could talk about unicorns and how much I ABHOR butterflies. Ick.


But, I feel like my last blog should be more substantial than my usual potpourri. My final blog should be more.

This blog (my last blog) is a tribute to a very special person. A teacher to be more specific.

I have had him teach me in a subject every single year that I have been here at Ojai Valley School Upper Campus.

The greatest thing about this man is that he knows when and how to push me to my greatest potential. I don’t think I have learned more about my own limits than I have when I was learning from this teacher.

He has an interesting way of teaching. History, which is the subject he teaches, happens to be the subject I hate the most. But, when I learned it from him, it was my favorite subject. It was because of his humorous way of teaching that engaged all of his students and made everybody love taking his class. But this teacher is not just jokes but he knows when to be serious and knows motivate his students to do their best.

Mr. Alvarez, you are not only my favorite teacher, but you are my coach and one of the people I look up to. You are great and I am happy that I was fortunate enough to take your classes every year. Thank you for being such an excellent teacher and for motivating me to always do my best. I can’t wait for journalism next year, during my senior year. Haha hopefully, you will be able to put up with my major college stress and senioritis.

I guess this is goodbye.

Paloma SpencerLeave a comment

So graduation is right around the corner, and I am honestly unsure of what I am feeling.

Last Friday, the seniors at my school attended an alumni luncheon, and I couldn’t help but think of my past two years at OVS, and how I could sadly never get those moments back.

But I guess that is life.

Moments happen. And whether they are good or bad, we cannot fast-forward or rewind.

There are moments when I am so excited about the prospect of college and the long-awaited, stress-free summer.

However, there are times when I am walking by the amphitheater or down by the pool, and I remember moments from Junior year.

I remember the friendships, the laughter, and the inside jokes.

I remember my amazing roommates within the past two years and my best friend Parky (yes, that is her nickname) whom I honestly could not have gotten through these past two years without.

Ojai Valley School has given me so much: life lessons, life-long relationships, and experiences I could have never gotten anywhere else.

And to my journalism teacher, I just wanted to say that you are an absolutely amazing person, and a mentor to all of your students. You push people to do their best, and you have taught me to work hard, strive for the best, and most importantly, to follow what I truly love.

So I guess this is goodbye.

I will be graduating on Thursday, surrounded by my parents, teachers, and friends.

I will be graduating, and will not be coming back next year.

But I hope that every underclassmen will listen to this.

Make every moment worth it, and try not to complain. Because, in the end, you don’t want to have regrets. In the end, you want to be sad, but you want to be happy that those past four years were the best you could make of them.

And yet she comes again.

sennymcflyLeave a comment

It’s been at least one month since Aunt Lela’s funeral. Just last weekend we were at Relay for Life and I was walking in her honor.

It’s been four hours since my great grandmother passed away.

It’s been 20 minutes since I got the phone call from my mom. After the fourth ring I decided to pick up. “Mama, I can’t talk right now.” My roommate was sleeping and I didn’t want to disturb her. “It’s an EMERGENCY.”

This one I was close to. It really hurts this time. All she wanted before she died was to hear me sing. I didn’t do it for her.

I feel guilty, but it’s not about me. It’s about this woman who was so kind and funny. She loved her family, but she especially loved her daughter. The one who took care of her until the very end with very little help.

Now, she’s gone. What is her daughter supposed to do?

We can only pray and give love, right? What else? Why is death such a powerful thing?

I will pray. Not for God or Jesus or whoever. None of them. I will pray for my family. Because with tragedy comes grief and with grief, one never knows what can come of grief. So, I will pray and I hope you will too.

Grammie and Bubba