The Apollo Academic Team

I'm not usually one to brag, but I have to admit, our Academic team in comparison to some others that we compete with, is not only more socially adept, but also a lot less, well, weird. Of course I have a bit of a bias being a member and all, but objectively, we are pretty cool as Academic Teams go. I guess the main thing that sets us apart (other than Jacob Merimee's pimpin' gangster hats) is that we are smart and competitive, sure, but we aren't really obnoxious and nerdy about it like some other teams. Not only can we pull off the "cooler" image, we also win most of the time too. So the next time that somebody thinks of the typical high school nerd, they can confide in the fact that that person is likely not a member of the Apollo Academic Team.

Paulo Coelho

One of his recent quotes reads: "If you aren't pushing limits you aren't trying hard enough." This question leads me to wonder, am I pushing my limits? Am I being the best I can be? Moreover, is anyone else expanding their boundaries? Is it more consolation to be the only one exceeding expectation, or for no one to? Surely by example, (hopefully not mine, I know that I could do some things better than I do now) more people will realize the potential that they have to do better in life, therefore bettering themselves, their children, and the human race. Is our society as a whole continuing to improve at the rate that it should? Then again, who can know how fast we "should" be moving, if innovation should be present at all. It's hard to know.

School Breaks

They always seem just a bit too short don't they? It seems like just as soon as we get out and have a few days to relax and enjoy the family, free from school obligations and homework, here we are back again at the daily grind. It's not that school is so terrible; it is kind of nice to have a reliable routine. I think that we all wish though that we could have had an extra few minutes to sleep this morning when the alarm went off to the thought of "Here we go again." At least I can confide in the comfort that there is only 3 weeks left until Christmas break...

Every few decades a book comes along that changes the lives of its readers forever.

This sentence is on the back of the book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I didn't notice it until I had finished the book, oddly enough, and I'm glad that I didn't until then. I think that if I had seen it before reading, I would have judged it with a skeptical eye. Thankfully though, I was able to keep an objective mind while reading the book.
Now that I'm done with it, and I see that line, I ponder for a moment and realize that there isn't a better way to describe this book by Mr. Coelho. This book has impacted my life, and I am just thankful that I had the opportunity to read it while I still can make some life choices.
Before I read this book, I figured that I would get into a career that paid well, so that I would always be financially comfortable. This book has taught me though that I might not be truly happy unless I forget about how much I'm getting paid for a career and instead focus on whether or not it makes me happy. In this sense, the book has become a life saver, meaning that I think I will consider my choices more closely, rather than following the money or the paths of others.
So thank you, Paulo Coelho. For a man who "can't write", you certainly are one of the wisest people on the planet.

The Gideon "Bibles"

I was walking through school early this morning heading to class, and I passed some Gideons handing out copies of the New Testament to people. I didn't take one, simply for the fact that I have about a dozen at home from past years. So I got to the auditorium and a few people I knew were in there. I was talking about how I "dodged the Gideons" and avoided getting a New Testament. My remark was met with astonishment. "How could you?" I explained, as above. "Well, you should have taken another one and given it to somebody." I responded, "The guys handing them out are at the entrances; if somebody wanted one, they could have gotten it." So then somebody else says, "Why wouldn't you take the opportunity to spread the Word of God?" I don't feel that's my job, I told them. "Don't you want to save people from going to Hell?!?" Whoa, slow down. Who says that because you don't believe in a certain book or "accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior" that you're going to Hell? It would be awfully hypocritical. I don't think God would do that. When I die, I hope that I'm not judged on whether I was baptized or what book I believed in, but whether or not the life I lived was good and true.
Who am I to tell people how to live their life? In this day and age, everyone has the opportunity to be exposed to what they choose. If somebody wants to become a Christian or read the Bible, then they would do that, regardless of anything that I told them. Consider this:As Christians we believe that "our way" is the correct way. Paulo Coelho said that the great fault of religions was when they claimed to know the ultimate truth. How would it be received in our community if a person of another faith, for example, a Muslim, started passing out Korans in an attempt to convert people. Well, of course, many people would be outraged, because they are in fact, insecure about their own ideas, blinding following those who share their beliefs "because Pastor says so". Just a side note, the faith of Islam is actually more similar to Christianity than a lot of people realize. So, just as we have a right to practice our own faith, we should also allow others to believe what they want to, an not try necessarily to change their ways so that they conform to ours.
Please understand, I'm not trying to pick a fight with anyone. It's just that I consider my self a person who wants to know more. More about other religions, more about other cultures. After all, we're all pretty ignorant. So the more we know, the better understanding we have of each other, and through that, ourselves. I will always be a person who is opposed to limits, opposed to boundaries, and opposed to closed-mindedness, because I believe it is what is detrimental to our world today.

Rain

It's alright. Nice change of pace from the blaring sun during the summer months. Hate it during the winter though because it usually turns to ice. We all remember how much that stunk. So as long as the rain isn't too cold, and my socks don't get wet, rain is just fine by me. In moderation, of course.

We do not simply live our lives for ourselves, but for those who came before and will come after us.

One must be terribly self-centered to think that our lives belong only to us. To those who preceded us, no matter what the people of their time thought about them, they always have the respect and love from the younger generations of the family. They tend to represent symbols such as wisdom, longevity, and hard work. From my own experiences, my father used to always talk about his grandparents, aunts and uncles, and parents with a lot of nostalgia. Now, because I have never met them, I can't accurately judge their character, so I rely on the opinions of others who are older and more experienced than myself. So that leads me to believe that they lived a good life because of the way that my older relatives speak of them. Therefore, in order to ensure that our in our legacies, we have to live a decent life so that our descendants look up to us and respect us, like we have done with our ancestors.