1. Lions 2024

    In a world filled with many governments, each had to have its authority to maintain and keep peace. Some of these governments may not want to reach this standard. Others would like to be isolated and live off the little resources they have. But of course, each government wants control and with this control brings great responsibility.     If the leadership of the country does not give orders, the country will fade away. If the leadership of the country does not respect its citizens, the country will fall apart. If the leadership of the country does not handle foreign affairs, the country will be ruined. If the leadership of the country does not maintain its GDP or economy, the country's banks will be bankrupt. Even with all these conditions, many governments are able to function and thrive. One way to do this is by having an independent government where the leadership takes care of all the tasks. Another way is to share authority among many pa...

Throughout the years while growing up, almost all of us are taught about how selfishness can be a bad thing, and how we should always be selfless and strive to help others. With this teaching, many of us begin to feel extremely guilty whenever we choose to do something for ourselves rather than helping others. For example, it is generally considered selfish to consider your own happiness at the expense of someone else’s happiness, to cut off people who seem overbearing, and even establish healthy boundaries. With the fear of selfishness, we second guess almost anything as we wonder how it will affect others or their happiness. Society has been misusing the term in order to convince us to stop worrying about ourselves and to always focus on other people’s happiness first, even if we are negatively affected . Some actions might be selfish, but they are needed for our overall well being; this is known as “healthy selfishness”.  Healthy selfishness is having respect for your own health...

  You’ve probably heard of the phrase “mob mentality” before. When you hear this phrase, what comes to mind? It may be choosing to side with a group of abusers instead of helping a victim, or going against your morals to participate in something you know is wrong just because those around you are promoting it. Why is mob mentality so strong, and is there any way to avoid it? An excellent example of the power of groupthink was when, in 1935 , Solomon Asch conducted an experiment testing to see how easily others would go against their better judgment in order to fit in with the pack. This was set up by putting a participant in a room with seven others who were actually stooges, meaning they had pre-rehearsed roles in the experiment. This experiment involved participants looking at a picture of a single line and picking out which line matched its length among the other lines as shown below. It’s quite clear that B is the line that’s closest to the target line. Both A and C are much ...

        Expectations, societal stigmas, judgements, boundaries, and openness - all of these relate to one common sentiment: vulnerability. The stereotypes that have formed around vulnerability and my experiences with the feeling of being vulnerable have allowed me to realize what a complex paradox vulnerability truly is.            Strength and vulnerability are two things that have always been seen as extremely contrasting. The pressures and influences of society force us to see an inverse relationship between strength and vulnerability; when strength increases, we usually imagine that our vulnerability towards things decreases, in turn making us stronger. However, this inverse correlation is quite contrasting from reality, in which we see that there is a positive direct correlation between strength and vulnerability.           As I was reflecting on my Person of American Significance over th...

The United States began as a small collection of colonies that would miraculously defeat the greatest empire in the 1700s. The assistance of France in the Revolutionary War would diminish the US’s reputation as a military power all the way to World War II, despite the US’s strides in industrialism, population, and resources. The US military was ranked seventeen on the eve of World War I, but the subsequent Cold War raised the US into one of the two superpowers in the world. The United State’s military strength plays a deterrent role in global affairs. I seek to explore the extent of America’s arsenal, with the most notable weapon being nuclear bombs. Under physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the US pioneered nuclear weapons in Los Alamos in 1945. Since then, others came to be recognized as nuclear-weapon states, with multiple nuclear arms control treaties dictating the nature of proxy wars in modern conflicts. Russia has the most nuclear warheads, with an arsenal numbering nearly 4,500. T...

In this AP English class, we had recently been asked to write an argument about the attainability of the American dream. However, in this blog, I wanted to take a different perspective on that topic—how does the American dream affect us? Pioneers settling the Great Plains. Young entrepreneurs starting new companies. A young man overcoming hunger and injury to pay for his family’s home—the first land his family ever had to their name. These people fought against social and environmental barriers to work toward their dreams. What are the similarities between their dreams? They wanted to achieve success or prosperity through nothing but hard work and dedication, essential examples of the American dream . The American dream has different meanings to every person in this country. Some people want to fit into an ordinary life. They wish for a comfortable life with their family and a nice house in the suburbs. Others want to rise into stardom. Wealth, fame, extravagance, material excess—they ...

    The Power of Rejection      One month ago, I attended a job interview for the position of lead lifeguard at Aqua Adventure. Since this blog is about rejection, it’s no secret that I got rejected. Hearing the words, “First of all, I wanted to thank you for coming to the interview,” after two weeks of anxious anticipation has to be one of the most terrible and despondent situations I have experienced. I even had to pull over while driving because I couldn’t see through my tears anymore.       Although I had doubts at first, I still went into the interview with confidence in knowing that my two years of experience working there as a lifeguard, water safety attendant, and swim instructor would give me a running chance against the rest of the candidates. Therefore, e ven though I discovered in the end that the 2/5 applicants who were hired were over the age of 18 and realized that they favored more mature applicants, I was still completely dum...