Category Archives: Student Opinion

In this article, Mr. Bruni talks about how college admissions has now devolved into a scholastic version of “The Hunger Games.” I agree with this statement, as college admissions has now turned into a messy hell for students who want to choose where they want to be for the next upcoming four years. There are many factors that come into play, especially factors involving perception of other students. Students may apply to a college based on how prestigious they are in hopes of getting in because it makes them look “good.” In my high school, I saw a lot of this, and I never understood why. Bruni writes that many young people believe that “the luster of the institution they attend, as established by its ranking and its exclusivity, will not only define their place in the world but also determine their professional success and contentment.” This is a true statement, as many young people do think that the more prestigious, the higher chance of success. While that is also true to a certain extent, looking at the rankings of the college should not be viewed as an easy road to success. There have been many successful people in this world who did not go to college, some even high school drop-outs. It is ultimately up to the person if they want to make it in this world, relying solely on a college and its prestige will not get you there if you are not willing to put in the effort for yourself. 

If I were to make a college list based on my own criteria, I would rank them based on three things: alumni success rate, student happiness, and price. I would use these three because they are what I personally look for. For obvious reasons, having an alumni success rate could show how well the college sends its graduates into the world. Price is to show how valuable the education is compared to its price. A lot of institutions overcharge and cause for many people wanting to attend but not being able to afford. Other colleges are expensive but have the qualities that match the price. For student happiness, mental health is a big thing. Many students contemplate suicide due to heavy workload and stress. A college that is able to keep their students happy and in good mental shape is a good one. I believe that college rankings and prestige should be based on this criteria, not just on acceptance rate and the name. 

I’ve loved gaming ever since I was young, but never has the opportunity or time to dive as deep into it as other kids or people my age have. This is why it was so important to me that I played a game that could basically do it all. I have several interests and would like to appreciate various qualities in a video game, and I like to have a well rounded experience while playing. I like to truly embody the character when I play, and be able to relate to the situation at hand. This is why Minecraft has always been my favorite game. Even before I was allowed to have my own phone, I’d been playing Minecraft. I first downloaded Minecraft Pocket Edition on my father’s original iPad (yes, the first generation of iPad), and completely fell in love with the game. Then, since I was about 8 or 9 I’ve played internet games on PC, making moving my fingers across a keyboard more comfortable for, and familiar to, me for gaming. From here, begging my dad to purchase and download Minecraft on my now about 7-8 year old, bulky dell laptop was a no-brainer, and I spend most of my summers playing Minecraft with random people on popular servers.

I loved the versatility of the game, and the idea that I could be/do whatever I imagined with the sandbox functionality of the Minecraft world. Every update sent my rushing back to my overheating laptop, praying that it would boot up in less than 30 minutes so that I could enjoy what little free time I had. When I discovered mods and how to put them into my worlds, I became obsessed with the game once again. Taming new modded animals to be my pets, exploring new structures that came with new mods like wizards towers and underwater domes, and adding various furnitures items like couches and fridges to my home became my favorite pastime.

Minecraft has always been a place for me to connect with my creativity, challenge my abilities to craft, build, and be adventurous. I could play in survival by myself or invite my brother to join me, hop on a server to build in creative with strangers, or invite my bother to compete in Player versus Player duo matches against strangers with me. Some of those strangers have even grown to be some of my greatest friends today. Most of my childhood was spent on that game, and I’d gladly return to it when I have downtime this summer.

Recently, I have been very interested in haircuts, personally, I’ve been doing research on how to pick hairstyles, which ones best match my face, what type of hair I have, learning the names of popular haircuts, and much more. I’ve even tried curling my hair at night with foam sponge hair rollers, it would come out nice in the morning, but when I leave my house my hair would go back to normal. I’m still in the process of finding a haircut that fits me, so when I saw an article like this, it attracted my attention immediately.

This article asked students questions about their own hairstyles and what their hair means to them, the few responses I read acknowledged that hairstyles do indeed play a big role in a person’s personality but it also defines them, and I would have to say that I agree. Hair is an outlet where you can express yourself, you can color it, design it, style it, cut it, or even shave it all off. For example, recently I thought about cutting off my hair, I wanted to have a buzzcut, but when I brought it up to my parents, they told me a buzzcut could look good, but believed that my hair defined me. When I asked them what they meant, they told me that for years I had been growing my hair to have a middle part, and a middle part with glasses looks very intelligent but can also be styled to look lazy. That’s the way I am, they told me, some days I can be intelligent, and other days I’m a lazy person who can’t get out of bed. The more I see myself in the mirror every day, the more I see what they mean, and it kinda bothers me that they might be right.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/19/learning/what-does-your-hairstyle-say-about-you.html

^ This is a link to the article 🙂

My favorite actor is YiFei Liu. Her English name is called Crystal Liu. She is the actor for the main character in the Disney movie Mulan. She was born in August 25, 1987 in Hubei, China. She started this career at the age of 15. Unlike other actors who won’t really want to miss any opportunity in participate in a tv show, drama or movies. She is more into looking at what she think is suitable for her, what is challenging and what she had not tried out before. She don’t really go on tv shows and most of her work is movies.

I really like how she knows what she wants. Also she is really hard working and very self-discipline person. For example, in todays society many people spend most of their time in social media and technology. However, according to yifei’s partner during break time instead of checking her phone she would read books and she don’t really take her phone with her. This is what I really like about her and it’s also what I wanted to be like.

There are a lot of songs that represent who I am as a person. At the moment I’ll have to pick the song “On One” by Is0kenny. Is0kenny is an upcoming artist whose lyricism is his strongest attribute. The lyrics in IsoKenny’s “On One” express a sense of confidence and self-assurance that many people can relate to.

In the chorus of the song he raps, ” they gon remember my name that’s for sure”. This particular statement applies to me since I strive to make a positive impression on everyone I meet, whether we become friends or not. The song’s upbeat tempo and catchy chorus exhibits the outgoing and carefree attitude that I have for every situation.

When I first read the question I felt like it was perfect to write about given the fact that I am finding out what makes me happy. This question has answers that one can write about forever but I have narrowed it down to two things. The first one being choosing yourself. This is significantly important to me and it took a while for me to work on and I still am. I know it may sound selfish but through life I have learned that sometimes its okay to be a little selfish. When I say choose yourself I mean to choose whatever makes you happy or gives you interest. In life you might get in situations you may not totally agree with just for others approval or satisfaction. For example college. Many of us know fellow classmates or even ourselves that are perusing something they aren’t interested in for the approval of parents or loved ones. This isn’t the only example that it applies to, there are many other cases where you have to choose yourself and do what make you happy despite others opinions. Everyone has their own path in life and the beautiful thing is that no one knows where they’ll end up so choose yourself, your future and happiness until you get to that point.

The second secrete to a happy life is to surround yourself with people who make you feel good. It doesn’t matter if you are in the middle of a large crowd, the people you surround yourself with can make it feel at home. The people you surround yourself with can tell a lot about you and can have big affects on your life. If you are constantly around someone who makes you feel bad or uncomfortable this may decrease your overall mood and perspective in life. My advise is to surround yourself with optimistic and problem solving people. This will have a positive affect of your character and soon you will also practice these healthy habits yourself. I believe that people are a product of their environment but I also believe that we can alter our environment based on what we implement into our life. The people around you can sometimes make you or break you. It’s up to you to choose what’s best!

How Can Schools Engage Students Who Are at Risk of Dropping Out?

Reading about the school in Japan, I feel like it is good the way they are focused on their students’ interests. I like the way they think about the students’ mental health, giving them breaks to get their minds off of the stress by incorporating video games into their studies. This can be seen as a reward to the students, making them want to finish their work quicker in order to get their own time. At this moment I feel like Wataru, where I have no motivation when it comes to school, from being a 4.0, to where I am at now, I am not proud of myself. I want to be able to feel motivated again. I wasn;t surprised by his reasoning behind not wanting to go back to school, because this is how a lot of us feel especially because of the pandemic. It feels as if everything is not the same anymore.

Schools should be more willing to incorporate ways for students to destress. Making the work more fun, or engaging with the real world in a way, may help those who aren’t motivated to get back on track. Another thing that may help is professors being more considerate of students, sometimes we got stuff going on and we may need more time for an assignment or just need a second chance to get a better grade. The way this private school was able to incorporate video games into their studies, students should be given their free time in order to help with their mental health. Things like this assignment itself, can be of help since we get to think about our lives and step away from our usual work. If I were to create a school around one of my interests, it would probably consist of music and fashion, two things that I turn to when I’m not in the mood for school.