An Update

I haven't been studying. I will say truthfully. I will start again! I will! On Monday...hehehe. My trip is winding down, so I've been going out more instead of studying, but I should still study! At least a little. I'm planning to take a practice soon...Hopefully this month.

An Exercise: Essay

Assignment: Is suicide the answer?

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In 2010, I went to South Korea as an exchange student and lived with a Korean family for one year. Although I enjoyed the first few months quite comfortably, with the rare homesickness spell, in my fifth month I became very sorrowful. Due to culture differences and misunderstandings, my host family and I were having difficulty getting along. Burdened by stress and frustration, I often had thoughts of suicide.

However, suicide is a temporary fix; a band-aid to life's scratches, and a long-term decision to a likely short-term problem. The next month, I changed my host family and began to enjoy myself again. Because I chose to stick it out instead of giving in, I had the opportunity for a better experience. Depression is difficult to face, but possesses the ability to teach us how to adapt and endure. These lessons help build character and strengthen our views on life. In addition, darkness gives us a contrast to joy. Without sadness, we cannot define happiness.

Furthermore, be mindful that your actions have an impact on other people. By choosing suicide, you exemplify cowardice and weakness as well as expose those who care for you to pain. Before you take your life, consider the benefits of perseverance, remind yourself of those you love, and ultimately decide to live. Life is full of many emotions, not only pain.

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I made this prompt up. It just came to my mind. We are taking midterms in school, which leaves me with about 30min to do nothing...so I wrote this essay. BTW I did consider suicide once [jumping out of my window] but I always came to the conclusion that it's just not worth it. What would I accomplish by killing myself?

An Exercise: Essay

So...I really need to work on essays. Especially timed writings. I started writing an essay using a sample prompt from the Official, but my class was way too distracting. I did this in about 25min total, which is the amount of time alloted in the actual SAT.

<---My brainstorming sheet.

Assignment: Is deception ever justified?

.....ughhhhhhhhhhh.....

Handwritten, this is a little more than one page. I still think it's a little short, but the sample essays seem to be just as short or shorter. I need to improve my vocabulary! And I just need to practice brainstorming. I used to be really good at it, and quite quick at writing decent essays...ughhhhhh...those days are gone.

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Although deception can create harmony amongst people, if not carefully constructed or executed, lies also have the power to destroy relationships. Lies are often fake truths. Therefore, if a relationship is based on a lie, it is based on something that does not exist. The foundation of the relationship is not a foundation it all, but an empty space. We can compare deception to a snowball rolling down a hill. At first, it starts out no larger than, perhaps, a baseball, but as it progresses down, it grows. Eventually, the once seemingly harmless ball of snow becomes an enormous, uncontrollable mass of ice.

When I was young, my teachers used to say, "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all". Through my life, I have carried this advice and concluded that rather than deception, omission may be a more responsible choice. Through silence, both honesty and neutrality towards a subject can be achieved.

As a Christian, I strongly believe that lying is unacceptable under any circumstance. However, it is impossible to be completely honest, and, like many things in life, lying can be acceptable in moderation.

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An Assignment: Notes

I took some notes! I don't really like taking notes, but over the years I have discovered that I am one of those people who learns by writing it down. Writing things down helps me remember it better. These are notes on the math chapters I have read through. In school today, I also read through the Critical Reading part of the book and answered some practice questions. It was really hard to focus during class time. I got about 70% [I scored myself using the SAT system; 1point for each question correct, 1/4 point deducted for each incorrect answer.] I thought I would get somewhere around 80%. I've always been really bad at reading comprehension because I tend to make assumptions about the text.

If your preparing to take the SAT...remember: In the Critical Reading section, use the text to answer the question. Don't make assumptions. The questions are about what is written, not your opinion!

An Innovation: Cappex

www.cappex.com

A great tool for college preparation. I haven't been on cappex for a while, so I decided to sign on today. I discovered that there's this new tool that weighs your chances of being accepted. Right now, though, my chances can't be properly measured, due to my lack of SAT and ACT scores. As of now, I'm not qualified to enter any of the colleges I would like to attend...hahahah...

If you're looking for a great online tool to help you with finding the right college or some scholarships, cappex is a great place to start.

In other news, I'm still on a diet. CARROTS! and yogurt for dinner. yum...

An Exercise: Spanish

This is the word of the day from spanish.about.com

La palabra del día: el barco

Pronunciación aproximada: BAHR-koh (Note that the Spanish r here is pronounced with a tap of the tongue against the front of the palate.)Listen

Significado: boat, ship

Ejemplo: En Estados Unidos en 1787 se botó el primer barco de vapor propulsado por hélices.

Traducción: In the United States in 1787 the first steam boat using a propeller was launched.

MY TURN!

el barco.

Cuando envío un paquete a los estados unidos lo envío por barco porque es más barato.

When I send a package to the States, I send it buy boat because it's cheaper.

I need to send this to my mom and ask if it's correct...

An Obstacle: Music

As you may not know, I attend violin "hagwon"* 3times a week. On Wednesdays I have an hour long lesson, and on Tuesday and Friday I practice. About 2 weeks ago, my teacher decided that I was ready to learn vibrato...It's very difficult. On top of that, my electric violin weighs more than an normal acoustic. To make up for the weight, she has me prop my violin against the wall and do my vibrato exercises. I really want to be able to do vibrato properly soon.

*hagwon: an after school academy. tutoring. types of academies in Korea range from academic [English, math, etc.] to art, dance and music.

^Some strings came out from my bow...

I will work hard!!!

Oh look! It's the C Harmonic Minor Scale!