All school year, doing my school work has been a difficult task for me to complete, but I always got my work in on time. Over the past month of school, I have become so delusional and I tell myself that I will do my homework all night, but once I’m tired, I tell myself that peace and self-care matter much more than doing my work. I still end up going to bed late every night because I tell myself that I will just do my homework later in the night. All of these assignments are catching up to me as the school year ends and I’m honestly just ready to end the school year now. Some of my teachers haven’t put my assignments into the gradebook so I don’t even know how much work I’m missing and it’s terrifying. I want to end the school year with good years but I am having so much trouble with getting myself to care about school. All I want is for it to be summer so I can sleep all day and not have to worry about my schoolwork constantly.
I went on a camping trip and the whole experience was very upsetting. It was my first backpacking trip and my trip was supposed to be from Wednesday to Friday. We left Wednesday morning and made it to the beginning of the trail. I assumed the hike to the campsite would take about an hour and a half. Twenty minutes into the walk, my shoes were completely wet because we had to walk through four rivers with our heavy backpacks. Then, I face-planted two times in two minutes, so I was already injured and filthy. It was boiling and I was losing circulation in my arms because of my bag’s weight. There were so many bugs and I got so many bites. After about five hours, we finally made it to our campsite. It was still so hot and I was exhausted. The next day, we had a little breakfast and then went on a quick walk to a river. We stayed there basically all day and once we came back to our campsite we noticed that there was a forest fire smell. Twenty minutes later, the teachers on our camping trip told us that we had to leave because there was a fire. Quickly, all of us had to pack up our stuff and we left the campsite by 5:30. We were terrified that we weren’t going to leave the trail until 10:30 because it took us five hours to the day before. We walked fast and made it by 7:30. Once I got back to my dorm room, I was exhausted and so drained. My body had bruises, mosquito bites, and cuts. This camping trip was an extremely draining experience and I’m so glad that it’s over.
How can a question look so simple but be so difficult to answer? To be human, of course, is to be a part of a certain species, the homo sapiens, and to be a part of the genus homo, then the family Hominidae and so on and so on. But this doesn’t quite answer the question people have been looking for, and frankly, I won’t be able to give you an answer in this blog, but I will give you my best guess.
But still, we are left with the question of what it means to be human. Is it because we, as a human race, have consciousness and can develop thoughts that not only allow us to think about what’s happening now but project our thoughts into both the future and the past? Is it the ability to think of things that haven’t even happened or will ever happen? Is that it? Is it the creative minds of us humans that make us who we are? If that’s the case, then what about A.I., which has an equal ability to make up new scenarios and imagine things that don’t exist? Well, I guess we have the living part going for us, but still, it doesn’t quite work cause what happens when a gorilla gains the ability to think(Ishmael reference)? Then, we have lost the thing that makes us who we are.
One theory I liked was that as humans evolved, we lost some functions that other animals have in order to gain language. (This was seen in many tests with chimps, who have very fast reflexes and high-functioning short-term memory compared to us slow humans.) However, in return for giving up some of the basic survival functions, we gain the ability to speak and have language.
So why did we develop language? It was to share.
We developed language to share information. We shared information on the best places to get food, hunting tactics to use, the least dangerous place to stay for the night, and more. We share in order to survive, and that is what makes us human. While this is a nice way of thinking about it, once I thought for a little while more, I remembered that Homo sapiens aren’t the only species that share and work together to survive. If this was the requirement for being human, things like ants would be right there alongside us.
So, after watching a few YouTube videos on the idea, one stuck out to me that I liked the most. This idea was
“the thing that makes us human is the acknowledgment of being human”
this is not a direct quote, but I still have the idea, so I’m putting it in quotes. Essentially, the only thing that makes us human is acknowledging others’ humanity and your own. I believe that this is the truest answer I have come across, or at least the one I agree with most. If you recognize yourself as a human, that is what makes you human. However, throughout history and today, people are seen as lesser. whether it be in slavery throughout the history of the world or it is if your friend got a lower score than you did on a test, we all view others as lower. We all view ourselves as human; no matter how you put it, we are all people.
I don’t want to lie to you, but you’ll probably never read this. But just in case.
I know I’ll be okay.
I know you heard that a lot from Mom. It was so hard for you and you got impatient, I could tell. I couldn’t imagine how difficult it was. Such an amazing, adventurous, lively person as you being confined to a small plain room with no view. Two plus years of being stuck staring at the same will, the same movies, the same people. I’m so sorry. I wish I could have done more, paid more attention, and been there more. You don’t truly miss things till they’re gone.
I know I’m going to graduate and although I don’t think I’ll make it, I know I will. It’s like I’m at the last 100-200 meters of a race and My lungs are giving out, my calves are cramping, and I’m just not sure I’ll make it. I always do, even if I’m dead last. I know I’ll go to some college and get some sort of job and I’ll make you proud. I will make you proud. at least I hope so. You were always such an inspiration, my biggest inspiration. I’ll speak to you every chance I get, and maybe one day you’ll respond. Mom says if I pray enough you will. I’m not sure how much I believe that, but I really hope it’s true. te amo, I love you.
When I was younger, I was obsessed with making slime. There was slime all over the carpets of my house. There was simply no escape. I would get gallons and gallons of Elmer’s glue along with either Tide laundry detergent or borax to make an activation. I eventually got really into making slime and my friend and I started an instagram account where we actually got a good amount of followers for not showing anything besides our hands clicking slime to be “satisfying”. Our videos were in fact not satisfying but actually super funny looking back on them. My best friend and I thought we were famous enough with 200 instagram followers to create a business… we were wrong. Eventually our families felt bad and would buy small containers of slime for 4 dollars and we would share the profits. Making crafty slime was my hobbie and to be fair I was really good at it. My friends and I would do trades and make eachother slime for presents. Slime was just a super positive aspect of my life. Eventually we all phased out of slime making onto tik toks and social media which in the long run definitely doesn’t benefit us, just our parents bank accounts. Because let me tell you craft supplies to make slime is not cheap… Anyways about a week ago I was scrolling on tiktok in the late afternoon like usual, when I came across a slime making video. I hadn’t seen one of these in ages and immediately sent it to my childhood best friend pleading for a slime sleepover like we used to have on the normal bases. She responded and now I know this plan needs to happen cause making slime is so positive and so fun! I couldn’t wait though and so I made myself a batch and I have been constantly playing with it, knowing I need to make more because why was 10 year old me better at creating a sticky blob of glue and borax together. Anyways #slime4life #DIYqueen #slimemasters707
In 8th grade, my friend Livia who lives in Mississippi arranged a trip after graduation to a mall town on the Gulf Coast of Florida. This town is called Seaside and it was amazing. I went back to Seaside after school got out last year. I just went with Livia, and it was amazing, but this year, I am going with the original group, and it is going to be so much fun. I literally can’t wait. Whenever I shop for summer clothes I always think about wearing those clothes in Seaside. Seaside has a lot of teens and there are gatherings at night where I have met people that I still talk to. Basically, we spend all day biking around and tanning at the beach, and then we go to dinner and, after dinner, get ready to go to the nightly beach get-together. Even though I have only been twice it feels like I know Seaside like the back of my hand.
I know the stress of college will expand as I get closer to college applications. It is only the beginning, and I am stuck in a back-and-forth comparison on whether or not colleges will think I am worthy enough. I am scared I will make the wrong decision. What if I am not qualified enough to be apart of the career I want? What if I hate the major I choose? I have known what I have wanted to be and do since middle school. I know I will make the right decision but it is so scary. What if I hate the location of where I decide to attend? What if my roommate is terrible? All of these a fears of the common student looking into colleges. I have so many questions, some have answers and some I won’t know until I get to that point in my life. What if I fall in love with a college and it matches my life long goal, but I am rejected? How will I feel? How will this impact my final decision. Currently I am stressed about what teachers write the best, who likes me the most, who knows me for who I am and will write something that matches me in the most authentic way. Any slip in my studying and I can mess up everything. Not enough community service and I won’t be an option next to another applicant. What colleges will I feel safe at? What is the crime rate in this area? My stress levels rise as I see the crime rates of an area I felt so safe in. I turn around and feel the shivers, will I be safe without my family around me? Will I even want my family close to me? Do I want to experience something new, something out of my comfort zone? I feel so young, but I am so close to adulthood. The steps to college are scary and stressful. I have so many doubts but I am so excited. I can’t wait to leave the town I live in and experience something purely for me. So many fears to face, but so many opportunities elsewhere. I know I am ready, but the fear inside of me is holding me back. How do I block out the voice in my head telling me I won’t make it. How do I remember to focus on the voice telling me about the amazing life I want for myself and the things I want to create with that? I know I am not the only one thinking about these topics, and I know I won’t be the last. The application process is a repetitive cycle of teenages wondering if we are capable of what we want for ourselves, but what we make of the process is what will determine the future we will have.
Summer is so close yet it feels so far. I am writing this blog on April 22 and there is only 26 more school days. until summer. At my school, we have a six-day rotating schedule and there is only 3 more cycles which means there are only 3 more long blocks of each class. It is sad how much that motivates me I hate long blocks sitting in the same class for 85 minutes gets very boring very quickly. I have a very short attention span and I get bored very easily. Anyway back to the point, I can not wait for summer basically a week after I get out for summer I am going to Florida with some of my friends. I’m beyond excited about that and after that trip, I’ll be home for a few weeks. In early July I’m going to Europe for a month to see the Olympics and visit my step moms daily in Tuscany.
I love fruit so much. I love that after a dip in the pool on a hot summer day, I get to take a bite of the freshest ice, cold piece of fruit. Fruit is just like amazing. You can make fruit into anything basically. You could make fruit a snack, a dessert, a drink, and literally so much more. I don’t think people understand the perfection that comes from one fruit. Fruit is honestly the food of happiness, think, fruit is colorful and juicy with a great taste. The only thing I cant decide on is what kind of fruit is my favorite. I really love watermelon, but then I think about a strawberry, and like OMG mangos at the perfect ripeness is like the best gift a person could ask for. I remember this one time when I was in Mexico, on a vacation, I would eat at least 8 mangos a day. The fact of the matter is fruit is the best and everyone should love it! Also fruit is so healthy for you!
I have been procrastinating so much this month. The week before break I could not get any work done at all. This past week I procrastinated up to the day of my camping trip. Currently, I am procrastinating because I am just so tired. My goal is to try and finish everything I need to get done. Well that’s probably everyone who is in the same situation as me. I usually don’t procrastinate. I think I need summer. At this point my blogs are the rants that re on repeat in my head. I am also just so busy. But I have been trying to get to bed at more reasonable hours. Two nights ago I went to bed at 9:30 from exhaustion, and last night I went to sleep at 10. Those times are so unusual because I normally go to sleep at like 12 or 1 am. Another thing I have started to realize more recently is my room is never clean enough for me. I will clean it but still feel like there is clutter. Maybe I need to get rid of some stuff. I guess the dead flowers sitting across from me right now are not helping the situation. Anyways there’s my quick rant. Bye.
OVS Journalism Blog 
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