Plato Certificate

Third Quarter Goals Reflection

One of my goals for third quarter was to achieve a 3.5 GPA. As of right now I am on the path of getting around a 3.8 GPA which is achieving higher than what I was aiming for. Another goal of mine was to play basketball. I am currently playing basketball and not only am I on the time but I am a starter which I never would of expected. These past couple months have been very great for me and I have had opportunities come to me that I never thought I would have a chance of obtaining. But thanks for some luck, which in my definition is when hard work meets opportunity, I am able to have a happy and fun couple of months as of late.

"Animal Farm" Allegory Graphic Organizer

Here is a link to my Graphic Organizer in google docs.

“Animal Farm” Character’s Symbolic Meaning Paragraph

In the story “Animal Farm” by George Orwell, the character snowball represents disloyalty. For example, in the beginning of the story he was doing his all to help out the other farm animals. Then all of a sudden he was not getting much attention so he decided to turn his back on the farm animals. He left and never came back. In addition he gave very good incite to help himself and the other animals at first but he was still not shown the recognition he thought he deserved so he bailed out on the rest of his so called "friends". In my opinion and I'm sure many others too, if you are an unloyal friend, you will never be respected until you gain it back after that. This is a close up on the character Snowball.

Animal Farm to the Real World

One form of allegory that occured in the story "Animal Farm" is when the pig snowball turned his back on the rest of the animals and gave information to the people trying to keep the animals freedom from ever portaining or reaching them. This happens on many different ocassions in the real world. For example, some people who fight war for one country could end up being spies for another country and tell the country they were spying for all the information about its enemy just like snowball did in the story. Another example is a friend who you thought you could trust and you happened to tell them something bad about another person and then your friend goes and tells that person exactly what you said about him. That is exactly what happened in the story. Many stories contain allegory but this story in general happened to exceed the number of allegories themselves than many other stories. This is one example of allegory from this story.

“Animal Farm” Revolution at SPA

If we had a revolution here at San Pasqual Academy kids would have much more freedom and be much more independent. Kids would make their own rules and get rid of staff so that they can do the things they would like to do. Their would be more people in sports because some kids do not join because they do not like the coach or do not play for similar reasons. But then again grades would probably get worse but thats the only turn for the worse out of everything. All of our classes would have more technology just like Ms. Priesters class and it would improve the learning of all students campus wide.

Symbolism Poster

Click on the link here to view a larger version of my poster.

San Pasqual Academy Dragons Symbolism

The mascot of San Pasqual Academy is a Dragon. This mascot first off symbolizes strength. We put in work in not only school but also our sports and the student body works hard at what they do and therefor comes strength. Another is commitment. Kids here on this campus are committed to the sports they play and also graduating high school. Lastly, it stands for success. All students that stay at the academy successfully finish high school and earn their diploma. To me, I could not be any prouder to be a San Pasqual Academy Dragon.

"Through The Tunnel" Foster Youth Initiation

Even though they don’t have to swim through a tunnel like Jerry in “Through the Tunnel” by Doris Lessing, foster youth are initiated into/out of the foster care system. It starts off with a child who is being harassed, raped, neglected, or abused by usually a member of the family. Next somebody finds out or it is told and CPS comes knocking at the door to take you away to another family member who is better suited to take custody of you or you are sent to a foster home or group home. While being in the system kids go through many harsh experiences but it makes them stronger in the end and in my opinion it teaches them what mistakes to not make when they have children.

“Through the Tunnel” Analysis Paragraph

No I do not find it convincing that the little boy in the story Through the Tunnel by Doris Lessing would take such a risk and survive the swim. For one the boy is only eleven years old and I find it extremely hard to believe that someone that young will have the dedication to put himself through this challenge. For two, I doubt he would really take hours of his time to try and train himself to hold his breathe longer for the swim. Lastly, I do not believe someone of that age will make a challenge that difficult. Its just too difficult. This is why I do not find it convincing.

“Through the Tunnel” Prove Yourself Paragraph

There is one time in my life that a vividly remember being doubted and was said that I could not accomplish the feat. Me being very energetic and high in self-esteem, I assured myself with hard work and a little extra studying that I could place first through third in my elementary school spelling bee. All the students said that I could not beat out the five fifth graders while I was a fourth grader. I remember being doubted but always telling them, “You’ll See”. The day came where I could finally prove myself. Words started off easy and made their way more difficult. I soon found myself in the top five out of twenty five students participating. Their was five of us left and just as expected four of them were fifth graders and I was the only fourth grader left. Two of them missed their next word which assured a top 3 finish. I ended up with the third place which is not the best but I still proved my doubters wrong and that’s all I could ask for.

House Symbols

A picture of figures talking to eachother symbolizes our house which is Boys 3. To most people, this item is just a picture of two people communicating with eachother.
To us, it represents unity and great communication because all of us boys in the house get along really well and has fun and knows how to take jokes the right way which shows great communication like the picture provided.Our house is the best boys house on campus because of this. .

Third Quarter Goals

My greatest accomplishment of 2010 is finishing the fourth quarter of my Freshman year with a 3.5 GPA. I worked hard and did most the homework which is usually my biggest flaw, and wound up with a 3.5. My goal for this quarter is to at least match that GPA or get even better. I will start paying more attention in class so I know what to do for my homework and leading to tests. I will do my homework so I know what I'm working on and thoroughly understand it. Last of all I will study hard for tests so I can do good in all aspects of school. This is my goal as of now.

Most Memorable Day of Vacation

My Most Memorable Holiday Experience

Have you ever woke up with the excitement that you are finally going to get something very special that you have waited two years to get? That is just how this wonderful day began. I woke up to the voices of my housemates telling me to go open my Christmas presents in the living room. I jumped out of bed, wet my hair so I didn’t look to horrible, and made my way to the living room to open presents with the hope of my long awaited shoes to be there.
I grabbed the four presents that I had under my tree and began speculating on which one I should open first. I decided it was a good idea to start with the smaller presents first and then start working my way up from there. I started with the small one and opened up a watch. The next gift I opened was a Denver Broncos blanket. Next was an axe set. Then the last box I knew was shoes because I could feel it by just holding it. I prayed to myself and then began opening. As soon as I made the first tear I knew they were Lebron James shoes, the same brand that I had asked for. I tore through the rest and realized they weren’t the exact same ones I wanted but they were still pretty cool shoes. I was happy with the ones I got although they were not my dream shoes.
After I put my presents away I went to my little brother Michael’s house. We played video games for an hour and then headed up to the café for their so called “Christmas Brunch”. They had excellent food and stuffed my self with all of it. After that I spent the rest of my day with my girlfriend which was the best part of all. It was the best Christmas I can ask for, being able to have presents and people I love and care about to spend it with. This day could not have been any better.