Response to Why You Never Truly Leave High School

In the article Why You Never Truly Leave High School, Jenifer Senior refers to studies that correlate makers in high school to success later in life. Height, weight and attractiveness measurements in high school supposedly have a relatively direct correlation with post-adolescent behavior and accomplishments. However, it seems that these biological markers are less inherent qualities and more of a Rorschach of the individuals mental states.

One of the markers for success with males is their height at age 16. For some inexplicable reason boys view height and size (without being overweight) as "bigger is better." The guys who are physically larger and taller  feel more confident and superior, to an extent, towards his peers. This confidence and visceral sense of superiority enables these students to achieve more inspiring more self-confidence, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy a continual upward spiral. The eventual size of guys is almost negligible because the sense of self developed during the most impressionable years, high school, sets the tone for later on. Needless to say, the confidence that catalyzes success and achievement can stem for a variety of different sources besides inherent size. Competency is perhaps more important than innate size.

Another indicator for the future is body weight in high school. Weight, especially for high school students, is a reflection of eating habits and other life style choices. It is not inconceivable that those who establish healthy eating habits and high school will likely retain those healthy habits later in life whole those do not establish beneficial ways of looking at health and food will have trouble developing them later in life. It seems fairly reasonable that those who are of a healthy weight and make a conscious effort to take care of themselves would have higher self-esteem than that of their overweight counterpart.

Lastly, attractiveness, has had direct correlation with success. However I find the concept misleading. The quality of attractiveness is not just the inherent bone structure and physical attributes written into a person's DNA. Activeness, to a certain extent, is about how individuals take care and then present themselves. Do they stay fit and in shape? Do they wash their face helping to minimize acne? Did the wear braces to straighten their teeth? Do they brush their hair every day? Do they value how they come across to others? Do they wear sweats all they time? These questions and aspects of the appearance have nothing to do with innate qualities and more about habitual routines. People who value their appearance and put in the effort to make themselves look nice and presentable is perhaps more indicative of success than a person's bone structure.

Topic of Choice

When the people think of how experts in science came to learn the crucial material relevant to their subject, most would assume that these scientific geniuses learned the majority of the material through some sort of formalized schooling. However, one of the most, if not the most, renowned scientist,  Albert Einstein, had an extremely variable and not completely successful experience with school. The lack of attention given to other “unnecessary” subjects such as English, history and the arts were replaced with an intense rapture for how the world works. His inherent desire to understand everything around him in combination with a few serendipitous opportunities allowed Einstein to develop the educational background that enabled the formulation of his theories.

Coming from a family of non-observant Jews, Albert Einstein was surprisingly enrolled in a devout Catholic elementary school for the beginning half of elementary school.  Once it became clear to the teachers of the Catholic elementary school and his parents of his unusual aptitude towards mathematics, Albert Einstein transferred to the Luitpold Gymnasium primary school. He enjoyed his time at Luitpold, but Einstein’s intense interest in the strange phenomenons of the earth stemmed from an entirely different source,  Max Talmud. Talmud, a poor Jewish medical student from Poland, living with the Einstein family with when Albert was 10,  introduced the 10 year old Albert Einstein to some of the more innovative scientific and mathematical books of his time. Fascinated by the topics covered in these books, Einstein streamlined his academic focus towards only the math and sciences.

During the early 1900s, Germany and the rest of Europe was in political chaos, which in turn had a continual disrupting and entropic force upon Einstein’s education. Moving away from Germany, throughout Italy and then finally settling down in Switzerland, Einstein did not spend the majority of his pre-teen years studying for exam finals. When he finally attended secondary school, Einstein struggled academically, so much so that the school threatened to expel him due to his numerous failures.  Achieving fabulous marks (grades) in mathematics and science, Einstein paid no attention to the humanities, subjects he believed to be frivolous. Somehow, he managed to graduate secondary school and attend a university. Following a finishing his degree at the university and a brief teaching stint, Einstein worked at Swiss patent office, reviewing all the patent applications pertaining to electromagnetic devices. This allowed him access to the cutting edge innovations and discoveries of the time, inspiring many of his thought experiments. The combination of these occurrences in his education enabled Einstein to become the forefront scientist of his time.

Research Paper Bibliography Update

Link to Bibliography

Definition Essay

Link

Note: this is late because I was absent

Senior Project Update

Senior Project Update

I have decided to stick with my topic, programming a basic computer game, instead of switching it to a more hands on project.  I have just started working on learning the essentials of programming. Although I will not start the actual construction until I have finished learning the essentials, I am on track for my senior project. For my mentor, I have decided to use a family friend who is very skilled in computer programming – she has the capabilities to cover much more than the basics. I have already conducted my interview, via email and text since she lives past Sacramento and it is difficult to find a time to meet that fits I with both of our busy lives. I have started amassing information for my Senior Project research paper, finding sources and other snippets of good information, but have not started writing the actual paper. So far, my project seems to be on track. 

Note: This is late because I was absent

Research Paper Update

My topic is on the involvement of the FDA in regulating the development of pharmaceutical drugs in particular compounding pharmacies in light of the recent meningitis outbreak

Sources:
  
"Guidance for FDA Staff and Industry" This website is produced by the FDA as a guide for compounding pharmacies. The fairly lenient regulations of CPs are in stark contrast with stringent pharmaceutical company regulations. Knowing the details and extent of regulations for each type of  company is important.

Burton, Thomas M. "Pharmecies Fought Controls"   This article details how compounding pharmacies effectively limited FDA regulations, which raises the question if the regulations had been higher would the meningitis outbreak have killed so many people.

I have more but I did not have enough time to type them.

Complaints

I stood outside of Napa High in the freezing cold at 8:00 am last Saturday. Sounds like fun. It was not. One might ask, what is a teenager doing at school on a Saturday morning. That is a very good question; I was waiting to be allowed to take my SAT IIs. The SAT requires numerous checks to validate that the test taker is actually the person they claim to be in an effort to minimize cheating. I have no problem with increasing or maintaining a high level of security for I want the SAT to be a fair test.  However, the process at Napa High was unnecessarily long. I waited over an hour before I went into the designated classroom and did not even start the test until 9:30.  In contrast, other schools where I have taken national standardized tests, both the ACT and SAT, had everyone’s identity validated before 8:00. Why was the process at Napa High so long? Why did no one complain or attempt to speed up the process?

First of all, no particular person was to blame for the extreme delay. The system of validation encouraged long lines and waiting with its single identity checker and sole student distributer. One teacher would match the ID card with the SAT ticket and another teacher would direct students to the appropriate classroom.  Instead of this long irksome process, why can’t the proctors of each individual classroom check IDs? There is no valid reason. The high school organizers of this particular system made the process cumbersome for no apparent rationale. With a little bit of extra thought and consideration, the whole test taking process could be a little less painful.

While I was waiting in this annoyingly long line, I heard plenty of grumbles about how inconvenienced the students were feeling. Comparisons to other high schools and irate remarks about the sanity of the organizers floated around in the air. No person, especially a teenager, wants to waste over an hour of their weekend because of someone’s un-thoughtful actions. Yet, no one dared complain during the process or after the test.  I was puzzled.  Why did I complain? I did not want to risk my test scores because I was mildly inconvenienced. This was not a battle I was willing to fight. Apathy and laziness were not factors in my decision of refraining from complaining. The potential repercussions greatly outweighed the reward. An hour of my time was not worth possibly invalidation of my test which would subsequently prevent me from going to the college of my choice. When people do not complain, it is not because they do not care or lack the backbone to stand up for their opinion. Instead, individuals determine whether the long term repercussions outweigh the ephemeral gains.