Spring Break, Yay!

I am finally out for Spring Break! You have no idea how excited I was to get out of school on Thursday.

Sure, it wasn't an early out day but it was still a 'fun day.' First off, it was Dress-Down day which means NO UNIFORMS! We could wear whatever we desired because we had less than 3 tardies during 3rd quarter.  Since it was the last day of the quarter, the teachers were all very considerate and decided that we could just have a free day. So in math, we had a short lesson then just chatted with each other until class ended. Then in Geography, the watched Rise of the Guardians (I found out that I would be Sandman if I was one of the characters.) Then in Biology we watched Mythbusters and in Peer Leadership... We just did whatever. I
also had ice cream because 7th grade was doing the ice cream parlor. So, it was a really non-productive day... Aside from the fact that I helped out with Yearbook during two classes. (I shall explain another day.)

"Hard work, pays off in the end."

I am so glad to have a week of relaxation and no school! The students and teachers all needed a break. I mean, we (the ninth grade honors) had so much going on the past 3 weeks with school work. First was the Geography 50+ page outline. Then we had study guides and essays to write for English class. We had a bit of math homework and tests to study for. Last Friday, we had 3 tests out of the four classes. I mean, I didn't
study a lot but it's hard to remember everything. We never have them spaced out enough... Then I had projects for English and Art which were a little stressing. So, we really needed a break from all the work.

So after such a gruesome month, we finally got a break. We have Friday the 29th off until Sunday, April 7th. I only had one homework assignment (super simple) and it's just a week for me to sleep in, go on the Internet and do what I'd like. I already spent Friday night playing night games with a few friends and Saturday playing RPG's... But I did some cleaning around the house too so I'm not wasting all my time.

What do I have in store for the rest of my break? Probably more Internet, finish reading some Mangas, finish a few books (especially Sister's Grimm), finish an anime series, watch a few Disney movies, organize my room, make 20+ bracelets for my bracelet activity group, draw something nice, and get plenty of exercise.

It's kinda a lot for 1 week but I believe I can do it!.... As long as I stay away from the RPG games.

Well, if you are on spring break as well, what plans do you have? Or if you already had your break, what did you love the most about it? Comment to tell me!
❤Petpet

This is unrelated but since my quarter ended, I wanted to post my grades up. To be honest, 3rd quarter was by far the hardest to keep my honor roll streak. There were so many classes that I was afraid that I wouldn't get high honor roll in... Now that I look back, I really AM an overachiever. That's not bad though, right? (This English term, I wanted to be sure that I wouldn't get lower than an A... so why not make it over 100%, eh?)

...Yeah... I am a huge overachiever.

*All pictures (except for the grade report) belong to rightful owner.... The grade report belongs to me (Petpet) and I don't think you'd want to steal it in the first place...

It's not Disney!

I am a Disney fangirl (not a super ultra one though.) I am also a Dreamworks fangirl as well... So if you are like me, it gets on your nerves when people confuse the two AND assume any animated movie is Disney.

Before I start talking again, I must warn you, this may be a long rant post so... be prepared. (Maybe?)

Not so long ago, we were watching Rise of the Guardians during class. Some people questioned about the movie and I heard someone reply, "It's a Disney movie. It doesn't have to make sense." A. DISNEY. MOVIE. I wanted to scream at that person. I know it's not a big deal but to me, it is. Disney and Dreamworks are completely different.

Disney is the inspiration that every kid needs in their childhood. It brings amazing stories to the heart! These are tales retold or never told before and it touches our heart. Every villain is memorable and sometimes even loved. Every happy ending is cherished.

Dreamworks create amazing unique stories as well. Almost all of their movies is about being different and being proud of it. It give self confidence and inspires people, just like Disney. With amazing animation, Dreamworks can take you to a whole new world. (No, I'm not referencing Aladdin.)

They are both inspiring but DO NOT ever mix them up. I mean, Disney is huge and amazing but that doesn't mean ever good movie was created by Disney! You know, there are tons of other amazing animation studios in the world and you can't ignore them! Give Disney credit but you must give the other companies credit as well.

People always seemed to think Anastasia is a Disney movie. That frustrates me too. If she was a Disney princess, you'd see her on all Disney merchandise! Have you seen Anastasia when you went to a Disney Park or a Disney store? NO. I know that Disney's Kida from Atlantis the Lost Empire is a princess as well but she wasn't your "run of the mill" princess.

Anyways, when people say Anastasia and Dreamworks movies are Disney, it frustrates me. I mean, I'm glad that those movie would seem like "the magic of Disney" but just because it isn't Disney doesn't mean it's a bad movie! So many movies brought my heart running just like a Disney movie would!

Another thing I hate is that people mess up with the animation companies even though the company is said right before the movie. Sure, it can be boring and you see them all the time but could you at least give credit to the company who made the movie you're about to watch?! I mean, Disney and Dreamworks aren't hard to remember at all. You have Disney with this logo and "When You Wish Upon A Star":

And then you usually have this Dreamworks with this logo and "Night" from Shrek:

So when you see that Dreamworks logo before the movie and call it a Disney movie, you need to pay more attention, learn how to read, or get a hearing check... You can tell the difference, no?

Anyways, if you are cringing in guilt right now, it's okay. I just wanted show my love for Disney and Dreamworks because they are huge inspiration to me. (There are many other animation studios that I love though! It's just that these two are my favorites.) It just sucks when people aren't giving enough credit to Dreamworks and other studios and giving Disney the credit. It just seems wrong...

If you are someone who confuses the studios by accident, I hope that this post has made you more aware of the movies around you. If you love these studios... then you have amazing taste. :)
♥Petpet, the animation movie "fantique" (well, most of the time)

*All pictures and video belong to rightful owner!

My Proudest Work

Writing Argument of Fact wasn't this easy...

In December 2012, I learned about different argument papers, such as argument of fact, argument of judgement, and argument of policy. This was completely new for us and we struggled a bit. (Some more than others.) When I first learned argument of fact, it was really hard to understand because you had to justify the facts to why they were evidence. I guess it was the use of having to restate what would be common sense. Not many of us did well on our first paper (I struggled a lot with the warrant or "as a rule" statement) and the subject, is justice blind, was hard for me to write about.

Then we learned about argument of judgement. For me, this argument is much easier because it's more opinionated and has much easier guidelines. If you haven't studied or heard of argument of judgement before, it's basically creating a criteria, finding specific evidence, and proving whether your subject fits into your criteria for those reasons. I guess this argument was a lot easier because the paper we had to write was about whom we thought would be the best teacher and it was something we could all relate. (I got a perfect score for ideas.)

The last paper we had to write on argument was argument of policy.
This was probably the most gruesome paper I have ever written. With argument of policy, it is usually used to write a policy but for our class, we had to write an argument on a policy that already exists. An argument of policy paper uses argument of fact and judgement in the paper because for an argument of policy, you are analyzing the policy and deciding if it should stay the same, be changed, or abolished.

Our subject was cross curricular which meant that it would be on something that we were currently learning about. Since it was on policies, my science teacher and my English teacher decided our topic. For Biology, we had to write an argument on the U.S. policy on stem cell research. I never really knew what stem cells were until a lot of research. In the process of research, I also learned what potential embryonic stem cells have in the future along with what advances in medical use it has helped us today.

Anyways, we spent a few weeks to research and then write the paper. It was hard for me to write the paper at first because I was sick the week we went over the information. Of course, I caught up quickly and understood what to do and before I knew it, the first deadline was near. I finished the rough draft and later found out that I received a 94%. Shows that I was on the right track!

Next, was for the final draft. Some people only had to make a few correction over the 2 days while others needed to make more than a few...

After many weeks of waiting, we were given back our papers. What score did I get? A 96%. The highest score in the entire class and possibly all of 9th grade... I was utterly shocked because I thought my paper was going to get a lower grade than my rough draft (especially with my grammar and conventions.) It was such an honor for me to be consider a "good writer" though. Even after that positive news though, there was more.

Wait, what?! The Senators?

Our principal, Student Body President, Vice President, and Peer Leadership representative went up to our state capital to talk to some senators about our school. I wasn't notified of this until a few days after but they showed my paper to the senators. These are important people who represent my state and America... and they read my paper! Utterly shocking and even now, I can't believe it to be true.

So... some of you might be interested in reading this paper of mine, right? Well, if you are interested, here's the link for you to read: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8rTNthsVskRbTJkSlNvV0haWWM/edit?usp=sharing

Am I really that good of a writer? I mean, when I blog, I just ramble whatever and make constant mistakes. I'm proud of my work but is it all cut out to be? I really don't know... but hopefully when I look back on this paper, I'll remember all the work I put into it and how much this paper really means to me. I don't like essays but this is something that I worked hard on and I deserve to share it, right?
♥Petpet

*All pictures belong to rightful owners

I no longer like Geography...

Guess what I was assigned this weekend for homework?!

A 50+ page outline on North Africa, Southwest Asia, and Central Asia. I really don't mind about learning the region but I just hate outlining. I hate it with a passion now. When I was first learning about outlines, I didn't mind them at all because they were easy. After outlining chapters for so long now, I should be a pro at it but I hate it more than ever. So far through my year in Geography, we've had to outline at least 30-40 sections. It's a pain to do because you have to get most details (you never know when you'll be tested on it and be able to use notes.)

I am just done with Geography this year... At least with outlining and taking notes. It's too much for me! I have almost 100 pages of notes and outlines from Geography! From this year, about 75% of the time, we are outlining the sections from our Geography book or taking notes. It gets so repetitive that I no longer want to do it.... But I know I must do it for a good grade.

Must do it...

(It kind of reminds me of my friends who go to Seminary every morning. Everyone from other schools are excited and love seminary while everyone at my school DREAD it. Their teacher does nothing interactive or even teach them their scriptures. He just assumes that they read and memorize them and during class, he lectures them and tells personal stories that most don't even want to know. He also grades unfairly. He's giving students who don't participate in class good scores while those who are in class and not paying attention get a bad grade. Sure, the students are on their phones when they aren't supposed to but he needs to listen to them and make the class entertaining and engaging! Of course, this is the perspective from all 9th grade students who go to Seminary...)

Anyways, I don't mind learning about the history and geography of the world. I just hate the methods of learning we are doing in Geography. I highly doubt my teacher is going to change her methods because it's hard to control 30+ students in a classroom already... I just really dread going to Geography now because I don't want to take notes or outline! It's too bad we can't just read and go over what we all learned in class because we have peers that cannot learn to be quiet or do their work...

I know that in the future I'll look back at these notes and might be glad to have these notes but would really like a change from constant work. I guess that's how it's going to be when I'm older anyways. Geography class is just a way for me to prepare for my future and the reality that I might have to do something repeatedly for the rest of my life. :/

Of course, I'm not going to quit doing outlines, I'm just DONE with them and no longer feel like doing them. I hope that high school won't have so much outlining.

♥Petpet, who loves learning about the world... just not writing about it

*All pictures in this post belong to rightful owner

Frog Legs, Anyone?

WARNING: The following post contains pictures of frog organs. If you are uncomfortable with body parts or frogs in general, I suggest not reading this post.

*Picture/Comic belongs to rightful owner

I've never been a big fan of frogs.

I read about frogs when I was a kid and I even touched frogs as a little kid... but the frog I touched on Tuesday, was not small. No, dear reader. It was a HUGE defenseless frog.

Bracelet Activity, Mission:Start!

I'm really excited for the month of March... It involves making friendship bracelets.

In ninth grade, our state requires students to learn how to manage a business with your classmates. So what we did was split into 5 groups (with 6-7 people in each) and created our own "friendship bracelets business."

We get to learn about everything in a business such as stocks, income, expenses, management, debt, etc. Along with learning business itself, we will also be discovering ourselves. "What skills do you have an a business person? What are you good at? What do you need to improve on?" This is one school activity I'm looking forward to.

I'm actually really proud of my group. All the members are people I know well and it seems like we won't have a lot of drama. I have Aub, Alex, M, Bai, and C in my group. They are all amazing people and most of us cooperate with everyone. As a group, we had to assign members different roles, such as president, finance, design, etc. When we first heard that the groups need a president, everyone in my group said, "I nominate [insert my name here]!" I saw that coming and of course, I took the role. I was glad to be the president but that doesn't mean I'd be in charge of everything because all group members have to do something. So, for the rest of the roles, everyone just chose what they'd like and we didn't have any troubles. Here were the roles:

• President: Me
• VP of Finance: Aub
• VP of Sales: Alex
• VP of Design: M
• VP of Marketing: C
• VP of Manufacturing: Bai

Each of our roles pretty much fits our personalities which is great.

Next, was coming up with a name and slogan. That took us awhile to figure out...  We came up with the randomest ideas such as "SWWAGG," "YOBO," and we almost went with "YWYCPON Bracelets (You wish you could pronounce our name)" but in the end, we decided to go with "Threadz." Our slogan? These my/our threads. It's a little weird but it's easy to remember, which is what's great in a business! We're hoping to do all different types of trendy themed bracelets. (Superheros, Dr. Who, popular shows, music bands, etc.)

So, this post title had "Mission:Start!" on it. My mission? Have tons of fun, make awesome bracelets with awesome designs, and beat all the other teams. (It's tough competition for sure.) So far, our start has been good but it all depends in the long run. Hopefully my bracelet making skills will come in handy.

Still, I can't wait to get started!

♥Petpet

*Picture belongs to rightful owner

My Opinion on Lockdowns

We had a lockdown drill last week and it really made me wonder what this world is coming to. When I was in elementary school, we didn't really have to worry about lockdowns that much. But then, I was so young that I never knew what lockdowns were.

I know that they are to help keep us safe but it scares us when we have a drill. We all know that there will be times when we don't know if we really are having a drill or if there's danger in the school. Since when did we have to worry about people going through the school to cause danger? Elementary schools are supposed to be one of the safest place in the world but yet, we had a shooting in Connecticut with the death of 20 innocent children just a few months ago. It maybe a one time thing but it's horrible that we have to even worry about this.

I can see why schools are a target but it's just immorally wrong, especially to an elementary school. Since the shooing, legislatures have been trying to come up with a new bill concerning the right to bare arms (which I won't talk about unless I really feel like it.) My point is, what happened to only having to worry about getting home before curfew? The world is supposed to change but must it change that we need to go to such great limits to protect the children?! Apparently so because when psychopaths or someone who doesn't have a clear mind goes in a school with guns and kills a mass of innocent people, the government has to change their policies as well.

Aside from my questioning on this world today, I'm really glad to have a school that really prepares us for these types of situations. During the shooting in Connecticut, the school had to go on lockdown which saved a lot of people. I guess they really want students to get the procedures down and to see how fast the students and teachers can go into a lockdown. I was in English when they called the code and I was so scared because we were at a very sentimental moment during the video.

If it wasn't a drill, I probably would have gone crazy. Thoughts would run through my head because I JUST watched a video about a "death factory" and there I would be, inside a school just waiting to hear the safe signal. (I sound so paranoid but it's the truth!)

Recently, the administration team made a new policy that all teacher are required to lock their doors at all times. Now, this sounds like a pain for some teachers who don't carry their keys but it really isn't. We just leave a magnet on the door frame (which is magnetic) and when you need to close the door, it doesn't close all the way but still blocks out noises! This policy is to help save few seconds of getting into lockdown. When situations come between life and death, every second saved is crucial.

Anyways, the drill lasted for about 10 minutes but it was hard to entertain yourself. We just sat there quietly in the corner of our classroom, waiting for the clear signal. No talking, no electronics, nothing. They even restricted us from contacting parents. When I first heard that, I was in complete shock but then, I understood their logic once they told us. Teachers, administrators, and faculty don't want any contact with parents because they'll just get in the way. If our class contacts their parents, the parents will just come to the school and try to get into the school (which interferes with the police who are trying to get the dangerous person out of the school.) But I really dislike it. I want to have the feeling that if I were to die that day, I'd want to tell my family and outside friends that I love them. I wouldn't just want to leave the world and not be able to tell my feelings to everyone! (Sorry, I'm being paranoid again.)

So we sat and wait then they called the clear signal over the intercom. We resumed to our desks and discussed about what we would do during a lockdown. Here's some of the questions and the answers.

What if you were in the hallways when they called the code to go into lockdown?You would run into the nearest classroom and we would send emails to the office, saying that we are missing so-and-so. The teacher who took you into his/her classroom would send an email out saying I have so-and-so. That way, they know all students are present. 

What would happen if you were outside?Well, you would obviously try not to go inside because that's where the dangerous person is. What we'd try to do is get you to the far end of the field and climb you over the fence to where the houses are. We would be trespassing but we all have to get you as safe as possible. If we had to, we'd even knock on the doors and ask if everyone could take custody in the owner's house until the lockdown was over. That just shows how serious we are about lockdowns. 

What if you were in the bathroom when the code was announced? (It's a possibility.)Just stop your business and bust out of there! You don't even have to worry about washing your hands or anything. Just get your pants up and run to the nearest classroom. It's the same procedure but no matter what, do not stay in the bathroom! 

How do you respond when the dangerous person comes into the classroom (if they do)?That all depends on the person's response system. Teachers will do their best to keep their students safe but in cases when adrenaline is high, it's basically fight or flight. There's how you should act but of course, when that system kicks in, you just don't know.

Either way, I'm glad that we have such safe systems to help protect children and students. With such preparations, it could save many lives in such cases. I think they should try to make it more realistic during drills though so students have a sense of fear. That way, we don't start freaking out when the real thing is happening but I'm glad schools are getting students prepared for such dangers.

I apologize for such a long post but I really wanted to share my opinion on such an important cause in the future. So, what's your opinion on lockdown and lockdown drills? If you go to a public school, are your drills different or same? Comment to tell me!
♥Petpet, the paranoid

*All pictures in this post belong to rightful owner