West High Academic Assembly

             Towards the end of the previous school year, there was an academic assembly.  Freshmen received teacher recommendations and sophomores, juniors, and seniors had to have a 4.2 GPA in order to get a reward.  Those who were to receive an award were called out of class to move onto the football field before the rest of the school was sent out to the bleachers. During the assembly, nearly everyone was talking and not supporting their classmates.  Comments like "this is stupid" and "why are we doing this?" were frequent, and Twitter saw several comments over it.  A student posted, "Get those nerds off my football field."  Many of the comments were harsh and critical of the award recipients.  On the other hand, some of the people who got awards posted things like, "We're going to be your bosses some day."   Both sides said some incredibly offensive things to each other.
             The reality is that those people on the football field are still our classmates.  The "nerd" and "jock" thing only created separation and conflict between us.  The response to the assembly seemed so unusual to me.   Not even the friends of the awardees were clapping!
            There are two main opinions: the assembly is unfair to those who do sports, and the assembly is a positive way to reward those who do well in the area of academics.  I believe  those in opposition were frustrated with the assembly because they spent their time doing sports.  The amount of work and dedication it takes to be successful at sporting events is tremendous.  It is especially difficult to get A's in three or four high-level classes while juggling a sport on top of everything. 
            On the side of the so-called "nerds", they put their time and effort into their course work.  It is so similar to the "jocks", only their dedication is directed to a different area.  To many of them , they feel as if they should be recognized for being good at school.  Unlike with sports, there aren't huge trophies and medals to be won.  The assembly is the recognition for their hard work, instead of a trophy case. 
           In the end, none of it matters.   Every single person on that  field was a classmate who deserved  attention and respect.  They are our classmates, so we should still be supportive of them no matter where their strengths lie!  Personal feelings like jealousy, feelings like you are not treated fairly only separate us.  Why focus that much on the negative aspects of our humanity?  So much effort is made to gain equal rights for all people.  On this very blog, there are so many posts on this topic. We should love our classmates, whether they have a 4.5 or are an All-State football player.  No matter who it is, we need to support one another and boost each other up, not tear each other down.
       
       

C'est l'été, juillet. Il fait chaud. Magasins de bonbons, les magasins de vêtements, librairie. Vert. rouge. bleu, jaune, orange, violet. Un Festival.

Manga and Anime

Japan has given us an amazing amount of fictional illustrations. Whether it is a motion picture or just a still filled with the feels. The stories vary and some make it bigger than ever becoming a household name like Pokemon for example while others fade into the obscure scene where it strives off those who explore the depths of the genres. Animations grow more popular and often times is the only reason people know of a series while the manga take time to read and cause heart break if the next volume isn't available after several months of waiting.

Which one do you prefer? Manga? Anime? Both? What is your favorite?

Have you ever heard of Iris Zero? If not then I recommend reading it, it's a beautiful story that I think needs a lot more attention even though it barely gets updated online, but the characters are fantastic and the story is quite something as well.