The Importance of Scholarships

Scholarships are important for multiple reasons. Not only do they help pay for college, they also help the student not be completely in debt by the time they graduate and move onto the next chapter in their life. Scholarships help schools become more diverse and encourage students to find out what they actually qualify for. Since some scholarships are targeted towards certain job professions, this can often help a student figure out what they're truly passionate about because it gives them the chance to dig deeper into that field. Scholarships allow each individual to research and learn more things about themselves as well due to the fact that there are so many. This availability makes them curious as to whether or not they contain the traits that different scholarships may require. Therefore, there's a lot more to scholarships then just paying for the students college education.

Reflection of Admission Requirements

What I have left to do:

• Take ACT
• Pay application fees
• Fill out and send in applications
• Write essay for DBU
• Get letters of recommendation

When these tasks will be accomplished:

• ACT: Fall 2015 or Spring 2016
• Application fees: Summer 2015
• Fill out and send in applications: Summer/Fall 2015
• Essay for DBU: Summer 2015
• Letters of recommendation: Summer/Fall 2015

Am I where I need to be in my academics?:

• Overall, my academics are where they need to be for each school that I want to apply to. However, there is always room for improvement so I will continue to work hard in each of my classes.

Are these colleges really the ones for me or do I need to modify my searches?:

• Each of these colleges that I have used for this assignment (Baylor, LSU, and Dallas Baptist) are all ones that I have had my eye on for a while. They all have subjects that I can major in before I move on to pharmacy school and are well known for their outstanding academics. Although I would prefer a Christ-centered college, LSU has always been one of my top choices due to their medical programs. I definitely think that these colleges are good choices for me and still plan on applying for them when I am eligible. 

College Degrees and Other Country's School Systems

In my opinion, I think college degrees are definitely worth the time and effort for economic and social success if it suits your major. Most of the jobs today actually require a college degree for an individual to even be considered for the job they have applied for. People value a college degree more than what someone says they know. For majors such as medical or engineering, having a college degree helps the person doing the hiring know that you've studied the material and are more fond of it than if you were to just walk on and start without any prior education on the subject.  However, this may not be true for all occupations. It honestly depends on what field a person in entering and what is required to obtain that profession.

From what I've learned, the German school systems offer a wider variety of schools based on how they learn and/or what they plan on doing with their life after high school and college. Students are eligible to go to a slower paced school with some vocational courses, a school for students with higher academic achievements, one that prepares them for college and offers dual credit as well as vocational courses, a more comprehensive school, or a school that has a combination of apprenticeship and part-time academic study. In the United States, everything is pretty much the same for all schools in each state. We each learn the same thing that everyone else is learning whether it is advanced by a year or not. We're not necessarily given a choice of different school types that you and your family can choose from. Therefore, the German school systems are more open and diverse in academics and opportunities.

Spring Break 2015

Over Spring Break, I went to the pharmacy Monday through Wednesday with my mom and sister and worked and got caught up on a lot of things. On Thursday, I went with the baseball team to a tournament to take stats which was supposed to be continued on Friday and Saturday but was cancelled. Therefore, I worked Saturday morning and hung out with my sister more afterwards. Last but not least, on Sunday, Paige had her family birthday party at Woodshed Smokehouse which was really fun!

Dead Poets Society - Short Answer #2

1. I think the most influential leader in my life would be my sister. She's always been the one to look out for me and give me her honest opinion no matter what and I've never felt like I can't come to her for guidance.
2. I agree with Mr. Keating for the most part. Some people don't understand poetry, therefore, they may not realize the purpose and impact it can often times have. I think poetry has a lot of meaning. A poem could have a different affect on each person because no two people read it the same and I think that's another reason why we've been going over it lately. It helps each of us analyze something deeper than we usually do.
3. I definitely agree with this quote from Mr. Keating. Every individual has a different perspective on a situation. If you sit two people down in separate rooms and ask them what they see in something such as a picture, they may point out many of the same things but not everything will be the same.
4. Honestly, I don't know what my verse would consist of. However, I hope that it makes an impact on at least one person. An everlasting impression that I want people to see is my faith and love for God and how important it is to work for what you want.

Dead Poets Society - Short Answers #1

1. To a certain extent, I do think Neil would have committed suicide regardless of whether he had met Mr. Keating or not. Neil's desire to be an actor were very strong and he made that very well-known. However, I also believe that maybe if Neil had not told his father about wanting to be an actor he wouldn't have been so humiliated to the point that he wanted to commit suicide. Nonetheless, he knew his father did not want him to be an actor so the possibility is still there.
2. I don't think there was necessarily only one brave boy. In my opinion, both Todd and Neil were the bravest. Each of them had something that they struggled with and they overcame it even though Neil's still resulted in his death. As far as being a coward, I don't really think any of them were cowards. They were all afraid of something but eventually faced their problems.
3. I think Mr. Keating did put the book in Neil's room. This is because it was another way to encourage Neil to do what he wanted. Mr. Keating knew that the administration wouldn't like it but he was willing to go the extra mile to make sure that Neil and the other boys achieved their goals.

Dead Poets Society - Central Theme

Throughout the movie, I think the main theme is the influence of role models. Role models are people who have one of the largest impacts on students and that's exactly what Mr. Keating was to the boys. Towards the beginning of Dead Poets Society, the boys questioned Mr. Keating's teaching habits but as the movie progressed, they started to understand him more and appreciate his methods. Many of the boys were unwilling to step out of their comfort zones until they met Mr. Keating and had him as their teacher. This is because although they did not want to stray from their ways, they soon learned that Mr. Keating was trying to help them become who they wanted to be, not what they were expected to be. One of the main parts of Dead Poets Society where the influence of role models is made obvious is when Neil Perry tells his father about his desire to become an actor. Before Neil knew Mr. Keating, he didn't have the courage to stand up to his father and even though his father may have disapproved, Neil still told him how he felt. Therefore, without the influence of Mr. Keating as Neil's role model, Neil may not have ever told his father.

Dead Poet's Society - Character Questions

1. In my opinion, I think the character that is the most transformed throughout the movie would be Todd. Until Mr. Keating got him out of his comfort zone, he was really shy but one he was no longer shy, he started to be more outgoing and expressed himself more.
2. I think one character in particular that does not necessarily change during the movie is Mr. Keating. This is because no matter how the principle felt about his teaching style and questioned it, he refused to change it so that he could make an impact on the boys.
3. Mr. Keating is the kind of character that will believe what he believes regardless of how others feel. I do not think he is changed by his experience in the film. Yes, he was upset that he was being forced to stop teaching, but it is because of the fact that he wouldn't change.
4. During the movie, it is easily seen that Todd Anderson, Neil Perry, Knox Overstreet, and Charlie Dalton have some sort of fear. Todd is afraid of being wrong because he is shy, Neil is afraid of not being able to be what he wants to be due to the fact that he does not know how to stand up to his dad, Knox is afraid of traditions changing, and Charlie is afraid of fitting in and being like everyone else.

Mona Lisa Smile - Final Blog

1. Women in the 1950's were supposed to meet multiple standards. They went to college to be married and after that, they typically felt no obligation to continue their studies. They were supposed to be the equivalent to a housewife and care for the children. Katherine disagreed with the whole view on how women were supposed to live their lives and tried to encourage them to be who they wanted to be and not what society wanted them to be.
3. Betty's reaction to Joan's application to study at Yale's law program shows that she is upset and confused as to why Katherine would give it to her. This is because of the expectations people had for women during this time period. If I were Betty, knowing the standards of that time, I would most likely react the same way just because it wasn't really heard of for women to do much more than become a housewife if they were married or were supposed to be getting married soon.

Mona Lisa Smile - Teaching Styles

From a personal standpoint, students don't exactly like when teachers teach from the book. It gives us a certain sense that the teacher may not truly and fully understand what they're trying to get us to learn about. It often makes learning the material more difficult to take notes over because the student doesn't have a different perspective to reference back to if they have homework so when they go back and reread it in the book, it doesn't click with them. The way the principle is trying to get Katherine to teach throughout the movie is unfair. Not every teacher has the same teaching style, just like not every student has the same learning style. Therefore, having requirements on how the teacher should make their point is like telling the student that it's either "their way or no way."

Mona Lisa Smile - Favorite Theme

I think my favorite theme of Mona Lisa Smile was her want for feminism. She wanted the girls to really understand that they didn't have to be just a house wife to be successful in life. She taught the girls how to be independent and I think that was a major influence in how we females see things in the world today.

Mona Lisa Smile

After watching the trailer of Mona Lisa Smile, I think the movie will be teaching students how to look at the entire picture instead of the small details. I think this not only because of the fact that she's an art teacher but also because she is showing one of her students that there is more to life than being married. During the era that this movie was filmed, the girls in college thought it was acceptable to start missing classes once they were married and the teacher did not understand why. Therefore, she goes to a higher ranked person in the college and tries get her point across to him and the other students. I think by the end of the story, the students will understand her purpose of teaching them the whole reason as to why she is doing this for them and they will begin to stand up for themselves instead of being dependent on their husbands once they're married.

High School vs. College

Between high school and college exams, it honestly depends on the class the student is taking, who's teaching it, and how well they understand the topic. However, college is typically harder due to more information being presented in a shorter exam. In high school, there's less material on the tests but they're also longer. When it comes to preparing for an exam, a student should always be regularly studying and becoming familiar with the information instead of waiting until it's almost time to take the test. Procrastinating often makes the student memorize the information without fully comprehending and processing what they're studying. Overall, how hard a test may be is based off of the student and how well they gather their information and review it before taking an exam.