Lord of the Flies Journal

Everyone is just runnin’ around and acting like they own the place, even though we have a goal we all should we working towards, which is getting rescued and getting of this island. We need everybody working together and trying to fill out roles to help up, makin homes, getting fresh water, tending the fire so we can signal whenever ships come around the island. But why won’t everyone listen to me? The other boys, whether it be the littluns or older ones, they all just listen to jack or ralph even if they don’t have the conch, but they never listen to me even if I do have it. What am I supposed to do? I’m trying to create a society for us to live in so we don’t become a band of savages, and be able to live long enough to have somebody rescue us.

Jack is already becoming like a savage, always going on about killing pigs and eating meat, instead of helping with making shelters or watching after the littluns. He beat me just because I want to keep order and everybody doesn’t run off again and ruin our chances of escaping the island. The only other person who listens is ralph, and even then, they all don’t listen to him, and rather follow jack and his “hunts”. If he actually helped, we wouldn’t having problems in the first place, does nobody notice the importance of being rescued anymore? All they do is run off and do something they’re excited about, which leaves only ralph and simon to actually do something productive which is to work on the shelters.

Being a civil society should be an easy thing to be able to do, we all have roles and fill them out as we try to wait for rescue. We make shelters, we hunt for wild animals, we collect fruits to eat as well, we collect fresh water to drink, we watch after the littluns and the most important one, we watch after the fire so we can actually be rescued off the island. But they’re all just kids and they just run off to the sound of something “exciting” and ignore everything important altogether, I feel I should just outright ban this “hunting” business, because it was what jeopardized our second chance to get off the island in the first place. Well it’s not like we don’t have other chances to try to get off, but we need to work together in order to actually get rescued, or else jack and them are just going to be a bunch of useless savages who only want to hunt.

Macbeth Act II Review

1. I think she is a cold-blooded murderer due to the fact that she was the one to devise the plan, and to clean the evidence to hide the actions that she and Macbeth had committed. Not only that, but she also pressured the honorable Macbeth to commit the crime and called him a coward if he didn't, provoking him. Lady Macbeth had every intention to see this murder of king Duncan to the end, thinking of a intricate plan of killing him, drugging his servants and have Macbeth kill them so all evidence will be gone.

2. She faints to hide the fact that she was involved with the murder of King Duncan and the fact that she was the one to devise the plan itself. Her fainting made it look like she couldn't handle the news and that she never knew what was going on, thus hiding what she did. It works in her favor because nobody suspected her, due to her acting and pretending to be surprised.

3. It was as if he lost it. Guilt of the murder overwhelmed him that he didn't even want to believe what he did, resulting his wife to call him a coward again because he didn't want to go back and finish the job of taking care of the evidence of the murder of King Duncan. He completely regretted it, even hoping that Duncan was still alive even though he was the one who took his life.

4. I believe that she wouldn't commit the murder is that she wants Macbeth to be cold hearted and strong so he can be king like she wants him to. She wants Macbeth to be able walk away and not feel guilty from this so that she can gain from Duncan's murder. And from the way shes forcing Macbeth to do the dirty deed, going as far as calling him a coward, it could be that she wants to gain from him being king, but if something went wrong, she wont be accounted and blamed for the king's murder because she wasn't the one who done the deed.

5. If he wants to stay as king, he either has two choices. Lay low, and hide the fact that he killed to king forever, and rule the kingdom as best as he can. The other option is him killing off whoever else is in line, and anyone who opposes him, as one, the next to be king such as the old king's sons could be heir to throne if people don't like macbeth, thus also getting rid of anyone who opposes him to allow himself to be king for a longer while.

MacBeth Pre-Discussion

1. Humans can easily become evil, but they aren't really born "evil". It has to do with how that individual was raised and what enviornments they were exposed to. Say for an example that parents who committed crimes and are generally "evil" had a child, it doesn't mean that child is automatically evil. He/she will become evil if the parents raise the child to do "evil" things, but if the child on the other hand learns to do good deeds, and not to do bad things, lie, etc. then that child can't be considered "evil".

2. Free will is the the better way for a human to live. Being tied down by fate only hinders humanity. The only reason humans were able to evolve and become what we are today is because of free will, being free from "whats supposed to have happened" or "what's considered the norm" and went to achieve what was considered the impossible. If they only let things happen as is, the humans won't be able to be what they are today, hell, I bet we be stuck in the middle ages, or earlier.

3. Yes, but only if the person who committed it puts to effort to recover from it, and let others accept and forgive. If a person doesn't wish to put the effort in changing themselves and still makes the same mistake, then of course they shouldn't be given the opportunity. However, if the person puts the effort to, then yeah, they should deserve that second chance.

4. Yes it is possible to admire someone like that. It's not their past that matters anymore, what happened in the past is the past, what matters truly is who that person is now. If that person hasn't changed, and is evil to the core, then well it's obvious the type of perople who admire him/her, but on the other hand, if that person changed from their misdeeds in a form of redemption, then they should at least be given a chance. It's what they do now that counts the most, and whether their actions they have been doing currently is making a difference for the better that truly matters the most.

5. Sometimes, sacrifices are to be made in order to meet certain goals, and even to do things the person won't want to do. A person can't be completely benevolent, or kind, noone can. But if nothing but misdeeds are done, then yeah, it will ruin the end result. It's okay to do some bad things, only if you do good deeds to atone for it, noone can be an honest person 24/7 after all. But using cheap means, or morally bad ways to attain a certain goal, there is no balance to it. Only bad things will come back to haunt them, and it will ruin the whole purpose to why they even tried to reach the goal.

Macbeth Anticipation Guide

1. I don't fully agree with this statement, due to the fact that not everyone needs to be influenced by someone else to be able to do great things.

2. I'm in the middle of this actually. On one hand, my still juvenile self-wishes for such supernatural creatures to exist, on the other hand, my scientific and maturing self says its works of fiction.

3. I do agree with this. I follow a philosophy of being in the middle of the good and the bad. The good gain nothing for their good deeds, but the bad gets punished for their bad deeds. I follow this philosophy of doing good and bad deeds to gain for myself, doing good deeds to maintain a good image, but doing bad ones so I don't need to sacrifice anything.

4. But I also agree on how karma exists on a person. Although these may not be immediate, I feel that whatever actions a person does, good or bad, will come back with a consequence of similar value. I've had many moments in my childhood about lying and hiding about doing terrible in school academic wise, so the result always ended with me losing my ability to have fun as a consequence.

5. I do agree with this statement. I believe humans by heart are tempted with desire, and that has how it always been ever since the age when the first living creature walked the earth. The only thing that differs us from most animals is that we have a sense of morality, knowing its something wrong, either before or reflecting on the action. I for one chose to have fun and enjoy myself with technology and whatnot, making me choose to have fun rather than do my homework, I'm not that different by those tempted by their strongest desires.

6. No, that ideal in itself is very flawed. Unless that person going to overthrow the current king is a benevolent man who knows leadership like its the back of his/her had, I highly doubt they'll make any difference to making the country better, due to how easily corrupted a person can be ruling over people. If a person is given power, they might give in to greed and just do anything to get them to gain more then what they already have, being nice is a hard thing to do you know.

7. I agree with this statement. There can be circumstances where murder is justified, in self-defense, being a soldier in war, or even the person killed done a crime punishable by death. I don't truly hold the ideals of treating each life equally because I can't just care about every single individual life and care enough for their death. Is it even possible for you to cry at a total stranger funeral? Sympathy is important, but I'll only be able to feel sympathy to those who suffered, or those close to me.

8. I can agree with this statement because sometimes, you need to make sacrifices in order to achieve great things in life. But even if I say that, I'm still not willing to make those sacrifices.

9. It's said that back then, kings were the closest beings to gods. However, I do not agree with this at all. One, my distaste when bringing religion into politics, spouting some paper thin reasons you should listen to what the government/leader says because some god that I don't even know says so. Having someone push their ideals on other people, and forcing them to listen because some imaginary being is a failed government by default. It's one thing to force ideals as a king to the people without giving them freedom, but I draw the line when that said government forces people to listen to that person, just because god appointed that person, thus adding unnecessary weight to the fact that someone, just one person, is making all these rules.

10. I disagree with this statement, due to the fact that yes, it is pretty interesting to see a forecast of how your day might go, but at the same time, anything can happen. Assuming that it will go exactly the way you'd expect, doesn't mean it will happen. Life likes to throw curveballs every not and then, so what point does it make to just assume that it will go exactly that, instead of being ready for anything. I can't really say I have an experience, because I've never really used a horoscope or anything of like before, so I can't really say anything.

11. Traitors shoudl be punished, yes, but I feel executing them is a bit extreme. It's like a national crime, yes, but unless it costed the lives of thousands or something like that, I doubt its necessary to kill them, just to put them in prison for a long time. I mean, I had friends who lied to me before, but I never thought that I wanted to kill them for it.

Final Night Exercise

Thesis 1: No matter how much effort puts, it may be in vain, but if one is determined to put their in effort till the very like Eliezer in the book Night, they will be able to achieve the impossible

Thesis 2: In the book night, acts of inhumanity shows how the human mind can degrade, even the innocent like Eliezer who valued family more than anything, started losing those ideals for the sake of survival

"Night" Reading Assignments

Dehumanization: The process of depriving a person or a group of people positive qualities.

1. Several people in the story began to lose many positive aspects to them, for example, Akiba Drumer used to be extremely into his religion, reciting pages and asking questions to himself and his god. But after many things he's gone through in Buna, he lost faith in his god and become useless, not even motivated to work no longer, leading him to be taken to the crematory to be killed. Other jews too has lost themselves, becoming more depressed and even going in fits of rage, beating each other.

2. Eliezer changes in his father first, seeing him work less, and being off beat in marching. This caused Eliezer to be pissed off at his father, rather than the person who was beating him. Eliezer disregards most events that happens, gritting his teeth when subject to abuse from other inmates, and even making comments on why people are giving up, practically taking pity on them.

Inhumanity - Kael and Coby

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/least-13-000-hanged-syrian-prison-2011-amnesty-international-n717671 and https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/pol10/2552/2016/en/

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/berkeley-riots-inside-the-campus-showdown-over-free-speech-w465151

Modern day genocide: 13,000 hanged in Syrian Prison: Amnesty International
From 2011 to 2016, Amnesty International-l-a non-profit governmental organization focused on human rights--reported an approximate 13,000 people hanged in the Saydnaya Prison, north of Damascus, Syria. Many of the prisoners consisted of those who protested against the regime that rules Syria. They were treated very horribly, and detained under terrible conditions. The report itself stated that “thousands of detainees died as a result of torture and other ill-treatment…”. At the head of these mass executions is president Bashar Assad, who denies the allegations. Hangings, many cruel and widely ranging forms of torture, and general inhumane treatment against prisoners caused the death of the thousands lost, with a rate of about 20-50 hangings a day over the time frame. The Syrian government uses these various methods of torture and hanging to effectively destroy any type of dissent a the population may have against its’ government.

Berkeley Riots over Free Speech
When Milo Yiannopoulos was going to give a speech at Berkeley University, where a violent outbreak of a riot, outnumbered the peaceful protesters. Despite many protests in an attempt to not allow Milo to speak, Berkeley believed that the Berkeley University Republicans had a right to let him speak. This of course made many upset. The night Milo arrived, 1,500 people arrived in order to protest against his speech. This protest started as a peaceful protest, until sundown when 150 black clad protesters decided to turn it violent, using clubs and molotov cocktails to turn the once peaceful protest into chaos in order to convey the fact that they had no intention for letting Milo speak at all. This thus dissapointed University officials, “It's not a proud moment for us," says Dan Mogulof, assistant vice chancellor of the university. “It was a sad day, given UC Berkeley's legacy, history and institutional values… We want to provide a venue for speakers across the political spectrum."  Majority of the campus were against the radical’s methods of protest, and ended the night with many injured and only two arrested, and goes against the purpose of a proper purpose, making such rash, ignorant, and hateful acts to not be listened by the majority.

Allusions in Songs - Kael and Coby

Summer Remains by Frank Ocean

My right hand to God

Left hand holding the jewels

And I’m swearing up and down

I’m cursing out the moon

Tide stole my youth

The creases in my brow ain’t tan lines

Saltwater stole my eyes

The sun’s burning black and blue

Too cold this side of June

It ain’t natural

Right hand in yours

Left hand holding the juice

When that jungle flower blooms

Better leave it in the ground

Don’t try to cut it out

The creases in your brow ain’t tan lines

Saltwater swole my eyes

The sun burned black and blue on your green eyes

Too cold this side of June

That ain’t natural

I'll rebel, I'll rebel

But this ain't natural

I'll take care, I'll take care

If this ain't going well

I'm no match for you

This isn't hard to tell

That it ain't going well

When we're under the palm trees

Thinking heaven must be

Somewhere under these palm trees

With all the hell we're raising

At least we had the palm trees

To shade us from the ray beams

But not even the palm trees

Could save us from the flames

Summer remains

Oh, summer remains

Oh yeah, summer remain

Summer remain

Discussion

This song is a somewhat of a loose allusion to the story of Romeo & Juliet. The famous story, told differently by various storytellers, filmmakers, etc., all have a similar backstory. The two “star-crossed lovers” meet and fall in love with each other, only to fall victim to having families that hate the opposing family. The two, Romeo and Juliet, eventually kill themselves rather than to live separate from each other. Summer Remains by Frank Ocean, although slightly adjusted and made more vague, still alludes to that very story. Throughout the song, Ocean is referring to a partner in his past. We can tell there are two individuals in this song with lines like “My right hand to God” and “Right hand in yours”; referring to oneself and another individual. We can also tell that Ocean is talking about a special someone from his past, one whom he loved but is no longer with that person. The lines “The creases in my brow ain’t tan lines” and “The sun’s burning black and blue / Too cold this side of June”, respectively, describes his emotion after said person left him (creases in one’s brow equate to the face one makes when sad or crying) and paints a picture of contrast with how he feels and the setting around him (June, usually a hot Summer month, is “cold” for him). As the song progresses, Ocean throws in lines like “But this ain’t natural”, “If this ain’t goin well / I’m no match for you”, which describe the unfortunate circumstance he’s under. Unlike Romeo & Juliet, here, Ocean isn’t affected by an external force but rather by him questioning his own sexuality. The song ends with “At least we had the palm trees / To shade us from the ray beams / But not even the palm trees could save us from the flames / Summer remains”, which arguably provide a bigger clues that allude to Romeo & Juliet. The two lovers could never be with each other in the eye of their families. Respectively, the person Ocean is talking about could never be with him. Though, this vagueness leaves listeners questioning whether he’s talking about a relationship with another man or a relationship with another woman. Either way, problems came with both of them. In the first situation, the “families” allusion in Romeo & Juliet could be referenced by the somewhat negative stigma around same-sex relationships around the time Ocean made this song. In the latter situation, the same “families” that the two are trying to avoid is the problems in their relationship; the area outside of the shade of the palm trees. Lastly, “Summer Remains” alludes to, in some way, death. The song doesn’t really mean it exactly as how Romeo & Juliet ended, but rather that the relationship that Ocean and this individual had, ended (hence, death).

Feather by Nujabes
Light as a feather when I'm floating through
Reading through the daily news
Measuring the hurt within the golden rule
Centimeters in ether I'm heatin' the speaker
Motivational teacher with words that burn people
Seeing the headlines lined with discord
It's either genocide or the planet in uproar
Never good, the rules of paradise are never nice
The best laid plans of mice and men are never right
I'm just a vagabond with flowers for Algernon
An average joe who knows what the fuck is goin' on
It's the hope of my thoughts that I travel upon
Fly like an arrow of God until I'm gone so


Driftin' away like a feather in air
Lettin' my words take me away from the hurt and despair
So I'm keepin' it vertical forever elevator
Riding an escalator to a somethin' that is greater so I'm


Driftin' away like a feather in air
Lettin' my soul take me away from the hurt and despair
So I'm keepin' it vertical forever elevator
Riding an escalator to a somethin' that is greater


Taking chances word tap dancing with wolves
In an ice arena out there deep in the woods of Arizona
The sun be high life's ironic
Ain't I tryin' to be Dali when I write
Surreal life I paint it vivid Habitat, crazy, insane
Watchin' propaganda six o' clock news that are sayin
Cultures clash, poor black folk and white trash
They rebel in the cyberspace that might crash, dash
To millennium a million miles of runnin
At the speed of now back,no return gunnin
Rambo style gun-ho child gunning
Ammo blaow two times loud stunnin, stunning
When it hit ya, lift ya off the earth like
Ayo take you right back to birth, and
Niggas wonder why
They might wonder why this shit might happen but it does, it goes


Driftin' away like a feather in air
Lettin' my words take me away from the hurt and despair
So I'm keepin' it vertical forever elevator
Riding the escalator to a somethin' that is greater so I'm


Driftin' away like a feather in air
Lettin' my soul take me away from the hurt and despair
So I'm keepin' it vertical forever elevator
Riding the escalator to a somethin' that is greater


Treat you, better than me 'cause that's the heavenly key
To unlock the inner strength where my essence will be
It's the knowledge of self, understanding of the things around me
That becomes the wisdom that I need,
 Livin' this life to the best of my ability
Channelin' energy to my thoughts attain symmetry
Remember me, because my prose remain gold
I got the gift of gab like them pimps in Kangols
It never ends, I keep it rollin' like a cypher,
The first cave man bringing fire, innovating it higher
To blast mistakes I raise the stakes
It's double or nothing in this vacuum of space
 I will, survive, divine, the time to cry
Fuck a hold or hide I'm alive with pride
And I drove the chevy to the levy but the levy was dry
Singing "this will be the day that I die"


Notes: Aside from stating the obvious references of different books in the first verse, such as "Flowers for Algernon" Or "Of Mice and Men", I noticed an interesting allusion in the very last lines of this song. It's a reference to the song "American Pie" by Don McLean. Referencing "The day that music died" a plane crash in which 3 of the most important music figures of the time passed away (Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper). And in verse two, akin talks about real life issues regarding race, media, and this generation as a whole. Using reference of reincarnation in the line "When it hit ya, lift ya off the earth like 
Ayo take you right back to birth.", he uses is to represent repeating history as humans without realizing, since the idea of reincarnation is the moment you die, you come back to life without recollection of what happened in their past life.

Greeks on Madison Square/MythicMenemac

Partner: Coby Shimabukuro

Semester 1 Portfolio

This is my semester portfolio: 

http://kaelhoughtby.wixsite.com/portfoliofinal

Parent Comments: Kael houghtby Parent: John Houghtby

1. What piece of writing did you like best in my portfolio and why?
   I think I liked Kael’s Angry Letter essay. I found it interesting that he made a letter to a company, talking about an issue, and sending it.
2. What did you like about my portfolio and sharing and what would you like to see me improve on?
   I think Kael can add more detail to his portfolio, it feels a bit too simple to be adding information for his portfolio he learned throughout the semester.
3. Which of the writing traits (ideas, organization, voice, word choice) do you feel was most successful for me?
   I think Kael did the best in voice, since I can tell that he is the one writing whichever essay he's writing.
4. Which of the traits of writing would you like me to improve on in the coming semester?

Kael’s word choice made no sense to me, and I think he could explain his sentence fluency more.

College Essay Final

Stanford University: Most students have an identity, an interest, or a talent that defines them in an essential way. Tell us about yourself.

When it comes to proper “talent” I can’t really find that much in me. I can do things naturally like talking in big crowds or be able to remember so much in short time periods. But when it comes to actual “talents” or “skills” that will define my career, I come next to nothing. My friends more are capable people for this sort of thing. Like being able to know what’s taught in class while sleeping, or how my other friend can free sketch art without flaw. I can't do any of those, but I still believe I can find my talent. Why? Because there are things I’m very passionate about, and I believe that if I focus on that than what I can or can't do, I can find my missing talent.

As long as I have the things I am very passionate about, I can put my full effort into what I believe in. I have lots of interests and hobbies that, I wish to be able to enjoy doing in a future career. One of these examples, is that I found myself enjoying acting in high school. The moment I took classes and participated in a show or two, I noticed how I was missing out. I. I presented, I danced, I performed dramatizations, and real performances, it was quite the experience, really. I actually don't know why I like acting so much, I'm usually awkward around people I don't know, and yet, If I present something in front of people, I feel like I can do anything. Perhaps that's why my friend called me introverted, yet extroverted, because I keep to myself, unless if I'm enjoying myself and doing what I like. And in this case, it would be presenting in front of someone else, presenting and representing emotions of characters I normally wouldn't say or feel if it were a normal occasion.

Another thing that I love to do, and I definitely can't abandon, video games. Now of course, video gamers are not what you call, school friendly, which is the case for a lot of individuals. They rather spend time doing video games than actual work, but what if, I could get what I enjoy into my career? I don't just love video games, I get involved with it, I know stories or "lore" of the universes created by its developers, and I tend to overflow with ideas of what could be done, or made. I mean, one of the biggest reasons why I play something like video games, is because I can do what people normally can't do. Can you run and around and steal cars in real life? Can travel between universes in a spaceship and explore the planet of each universe with ease? Not really, not in real life that is. That's why, if I were to take these concepts of what can and can't be done, and made into a virtual type of reality, I'd have a blast. I have tons of ideas regarding the different types of games that I want everyone to also enjoy.

Lastly, it's not really all entertainment, but more of what I have a soft spot for. I love animals, and can't help but adore them. I tend to waste hours on videos on different animals you'd expect to be frightening, actually be friends with humans. I wanted to be able to do something like that or even save their lives. My parents always said that I'd be good a good doctor, but I just rather take care of animals than humans y'know? In fact, I envy the people tho are able to interact with big animals such as crocodiles or lions. I mean, I definitely want to be able to hug a lion like Kevin Richardson does. I just don't know why I care about animals so much. I can see an car accident on the news, and feel no remorse, but if I see a dog get involved, then I feel sad. I kinda feel bad for thinking this way, but it's what I like I guess. I just want to get involved with something other than human, and interact with something different than just words coming from my mouth, I like to experience a true bond between man and animal. This ideology is not for everyone, I understand. But I want be friends with animals, not treat them like beasts, despite how bad people might say about them.

These are what defines my interests. I don't want to base my talents based off of "what I want to do" I want to base them off of what I enjoy doing. All of these, I want to find a proper career in them despite of whether I'm good at them or not. I'd never forgive myself for having a really boring job, just because "I'm good at it". That's why, even if I'm not good at the career choice I want to do, I will try to build my own abilities so that I can call that missing talent my own. Of course I still have a long way of deciding which of these things I for sure want to earn a living from, but I will make sure to create them in a way where I enjoying doing it, while being successful at it.

College Essay Rough Draft

Stanford University: Most students have an identity, an interest, or a talent that defines them in an essential way. Tell us about yourself.

I've always been interested in the acting business you see. Not because I want to be rich and famous, but the excitement behind playing a role of a character that isn't you. I never have any fear in front of large crowds too, yeah sure I can feel some minor nervousness, but I have no problem presenting in front of a lot of people. I constantly hear that’s a college level ability, but to be honest, I’m just being myself. You could say it’s natural talent, but in the end it’s something I do normally.

Another reason why I like acting so much, is that I like mimicking what I personally like to see. If I can be an actor for a famous character from a book, or reenact a scene from a movie, it’d be my pleasure. It’s fun to pretend that you’re someone else and bring that character to life. And that’s me, a person who always has his head in the clouds, pretending to be something he’s not. I have no problem expressing myself, after all, that’s an essential talent for an actor, or writer, or producer of some kind.

Now when it comes to talent, I don’t really know if I have much, I’m in the middle of finding my “true” talent. Is it acting? Or perhaps something greater? I can do math pretty efficiently, but I dislike it. I play video games a lot, but I’m not as great as many other individuals. I could say I’m more a freeloader, who can do great things in short lengths of time if he puts his mind to it. Right now, I can only do an ok job, not poorly, but exceeding in many areas either. But even then, I’m still searching my talents in my interests, maybe I want to be a veterinarian, or perhaps a video game designer? I may not have redeeming qualities like many other people or even my friends, but I know for sure that I can surely excel in something I’m passionate about, so I’ll have to keep searching.

All in all, I have many interests to what I want to do, it’s difficult to want to choose a proper career at this point really. There are a lot of options, but my interests go beyond of just one career. It’ll be a tough road, but hopefully my time in college can help narrow my options down enough so that I can finally find the one “talent” or “skill” that I truly able to do, and something that I’ll be passionate about doing. Hopefully, I can find something that I truly love to do, and find a career that I want to do, but for now, I’ll keep searching for that dream job.

College Choices Assignment/Prompts

1. Lamar University
I chose this college, because of their emphasis on independence. They have over 3,600 different scholarships that they can offer, and have resident halls with private bedrooms and apartment style living. They also have programs that emphasize individualistic lives for them to help create futures for themselves.

2. Texas A&M University
I'm interested in this university, due to it having a large veterinary medicine and good animal hospital. I've always been interested in work relating to that of animals, so I've thought that it'd be a good opportunity to go to one with good services regarding such areas.

3. Stanford University
I like their interdisciplinary and earth sciences they offer. I want to see how different tech can help impact and improve the world, as well as I'd like to study more about the world and how to take care of it, or utilize it, etc. I also like the affordable costs for college there.

4. University of Texas
I merely chose this for geographical convenience. My family plan to move to Texas soon, so in that case, I can go to a nearby college in Dallas where I live close to, to an extent at least.

5.

Prompts:
1. Most students have an identity, an interest, or a talent that defines them in an essential way. Tell us about yourself.

2. What is the hardest part of being a teenager now? What's the best part? What advice would you give a younger sibling or friend (assuming they would listen to you)?

3. Some students have a background, identity, interest or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

4. You've got a ticket in your hand. Where will you go? What will you do? What will happen when you get there?

5. What was the environment you were raised in? Describe your family, home, neighborhood, or community, and explain how it has shaped you as a person.

Word Olympics Part 2

Kael Houghtby

Dogun Hong

He walked through the cold atmosphere of the stormy, rainy weather. Everywhere, it had the look of a melencholy feeling of the rain where the atmosphere was gray, and the rain almost never ends, dropping and making pitter patter sounds on the man's umbrella. While he was walking across a bridge of the tranquil environment, he noticed a lonely puppy wandering aimlessly on the bridge as well. The cold feeling of the rain has perhaps gotten to him, because the puppy was shivering. The man kneeled down with the umbrella to comfort the dog and to let him out of the rain with his umbrella. There can perhaps be the feeling of companionship, in this lonely, melancholy atmosphere. 

As the game ends, he couldn't believe what he had just saw. The game, said to be the team they were going against was near impossible to beat, their team beat all odds and won the big game. The feeling of adrenaline, and excitement fill him as he runs across the field in both disbelief and awe. He yelled out loud of their own victory and kneeled in triumph. Truly this is the best moment of his life that he will cherish with him and his teammates, because its something they always have trained for, and succeeded in. This is only the beginning for them.

Coming of Age Final Draft

Y'know, I’ve never considered how spoiled I really am after living on this island for over 11 years. I guess my spoiled self, alongside with living on an island so expensive to even live in, I’ve become oblivious of the world around me, only caring what I want to do or how I feel. And well, a certain change of pace ended up making me get all shaken up when my dad announced that we’re moving to the mainland. I’ve never been the type to merely accept things as is, so I spent days after days how much I hate this idea, and I how I’d prefer not to move to the mainland, despite its merits. I have a lot of friends on this small little island “paradise”, and I’d feel too uncomfortable if I just suddenly move, I’m not subject to change so easily you see.

I couldn’t help but think of how this was a negative impact on my life, never did I consider the positives. I had pessimistic views such as “How am I supposed to make new friends so easily” or “How am I supposed go to the same college as my friends”. And even if my mom asked me what I thought about it, I told her negatives as well, every single time. I guess my mom noticed or something, because when she came to pick me up from school one day, she brought up the topic again. And of course, I say the same, selfish thing. But, mom brought the conversation to me and asked, “Then what do you think about your friends who are in a military family, what do you think they go through” That kinda surprised me, but if I thought about it, they do almost always go through that, it's actually more of a miracle if their parents are stationed for longer than they should. When either military parent gets stationed, they have to move and leave behind everything they might have just gotten used to, friends, environment, and overall comfortability, they have to get rid of it all.

I couldn’t help but go through a guilt trip, regretting all my arguments I’ve selfishly made about the situation. If I only stopped and thought about how much of a bratty thing to complain about, when my own friends gone through the same already. It can’t be helped, humans are not subject to change after all. But I made sure to change my outlook on the situation, whenever my mother asks me about it, I tell her I don’t mind one bit, and that I’m rather excited to be able to move to the mainland in order to start a new life. I told my friends in advance, and made sure to contact them whenever I get the chance to. I feel that I’ve become less selfish, and to look things at a more positive outlook, despite how bad the situation can be.

Word Olympics Assignment

The group of girls are staring at disbelief, on the verge of tears. Their faces show emotion of despair as someone they were perhaps once were cheering on, is now losing, bringing an end to their hopes. Horror in their eyes are plain to the public to see as they hold their hands on their heads or reach out towards the very person or thing they are cheering on.

The old lady is smiling wryly, or perhaps laughing maniacally because she murdered someone with a gun, looking at her next victim. She is facing her next target with the kind of face that anyone would when they have authority or power over someone else, and she is enjoying that fact.

The family embrace each other one more time before their beloved father have to depart on his mission in the military. This is one of those very moments they won't be able to experience in a long time, so of course they’d feel sad, they won't see their father for years. That I'm itself will cause many people to feel sad because their loved one went away.

Coming of Age Rough Draft

I’ve been living on this island for about eleven years now, and I’ve accustomed to the environment, perhaps even too accustomed. One night, early as the first quarter where school would properly start, my broke news on our family that make all of uneasy. He told us that he has been finding difficulty finding new job openings, to a point where we have to the mainland and start anew. Now there’s nothing wrong with my dad, he has graduated from college, and have earned a living for our whole family by being a pharmacist, he just can’t find new openings in this tiny rock in the middle of the ocean. And of course, me who have been too used to the 11 years I’ve been on this island, the one who made many friends who will now have to leave them, I was shocked. I almost couldn’t believe it. I didn’t complain or anything, but I was frustrated, hoping that my dad never has to move so we can live the rest of our lives on the island I’ve lived for years.

After that point, I’ve never really found the motivation to think about it properly, all I’ve been thinking was about me and why I don’t like, how it hinders my current lifestyle. And whenever my mother asks me what my opinion on this is, it’s always the same thing, “If I leave, I won’t be able to do this or that with my friends” or “How am I supposed to make friends when there’s a 2% population of asians in texas”. (and yes I actually said that, mostly due to majority of my friends being asian) All the answers been the same, and I’ve been selfishly neglecting what the opportunities are truly behind this experience. I guess my mom noticed or something, because when she came to pick me up from school one day, she brought up the topic again. And of course, I say the same, selfish thing. Then my mom asked, “Then what do you think about your friends who are a military family, what do you think they go through” I never really thought about it that way, but if I truly thought about it, yeah, they do almost always go through that, it's actually more of a miracle if their parents are stationed for longer than they should. When either military parent gets stationed, they have to move and leave behind everything they might have just gotten used to, friends, environment, and overall comfortability, they have to get rid of it all.

That alone made me stop and question myself. Do I really have a right to complain when my friends gone through it multiple times before me, that it’s just not me who has to deal with change in lifestyle. I guess humans are really are not accustomed to change. From that point on, I tried to look at more positively, thinking about the good things about moving to the mainland, and how I can easily make new friends if I really try. I told my friends about the current situation I’m in, and never complained. They understood it’s a no-choice situation so it can’t be helped, I’m just glad that I’m not selfishly thinking about what I want as much anymore, I feel that I should look at things more positively, or at least neutrally before I reach a conclusion, just like this. Man, can’t wait to see what the mainland is like.

Letter Essay Rough Draft

Dear Microsoft, I have a complaint regarding the recent installation of the windows computer, windows 10. As the windows 10 has been out for quite a while, I still want to shed some light into an small issue that hasn’t been properly stated from you, the company. I, and many noticed that various settings that have very intrusive settings on as a default setting.

As a consumer of the products, this is rather infuriating that the fact that I never had the option to choose to turn off all of the possible settings right off the bat when setting up my computer, and only did I find out how to turn them off online, or even for the fact that it was even a possibility. Not only that, but due to these settings set as default, without realization, some consumers might not realize that personalized adverts are being put onto the consumer's account, giving them adds that they may have never really asked to have when looking through one’s mail, or playing a game from the online store. Not only that, but some of the settings that are set to be default, are really intrusive to privacy that I’m sure many would not agree with by default.

The settings includes the various information that you, Microsoft can access such as, the calendar, the apps the consumer uses, data from their email and text messages, who someone calls, their contact and their device location. And over 50 millions users owns this product, but majority has the same complaint of having such settings put on their computer. And even though you have warned the user that they will take personal information, that is deep within the terms of service. As much as the common consumer should read such information, majority of the users might not, especially children who as access to a computer, or more likely, an hp tablet which works a lot like the computer. Settings such as these should be stated more clearly to ensure users knows what is going on with their computers.

Although information may be vague, the location is rather easy to find. Due to windows 10 being more user friendly, it’s not hard to find such privacy settings if one is concerned about their own privacy, searching through the settings can easily reveal that they can turn off these settings, and having the choice to turn off these settings is another great thing to have. As much as how user friendly it may be, I hope that you will address various key feature more clearly, instead of being behind just a wall of text. I hope now that this can let more users have more understanding of their system when keys features are clearly stated for them to understand.

Portofolio

http://kaelhoughtby.wix.com/mysite

Merchant Of Venice Rough Draft

The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare shows the result of someone pursuing ambition, can turn them into a monster. The story goes through several themes like love, friendship or trust. But one theme that stand out most is the theme Revolving around the Jewish merchant Shylock, and his thirst for revenge. His part of the story is how he made a deal, and how he wishes nothing  more, but a pound of flesh of his rival, Antonio whom he despises the most. Through Shylock's merciless determination of getting the pound of flesh from Antonio, has others think he is some sort of wild animal.

Shylock has high amounts of anger towards Antonio, to a point where he has little to no mercy to what he wants, and what he is determined to get, which is a pound of Antonio's flesh. Shylock yells in rage of what he wants, rather than thinking about mercy towards Antonio, "I'll have my bond! I won't hear you speak! I'll have my bond, say no more. I'll not be made soft and stupid fool: Shaking my head, relenting, sighing - and yielding to Christian entreaties!" (3.3.12-15) This is obvious evidence that Shylock, without a doubt will stop at nothing to get a pound of flesh from Antonio, despite his cries of mercy. It doesn't matter about his money anymore it seems, he is just determined about the deal to be made, which is Antonio's flesh, only that would satisfy him in his eyes. Despite everyone telling him to yield, and to Antonio mercy, Shylock still wants to get the pound of flesh from Antonio,"Till you can rant the seal from off my bond, you are merely damaging your lungs in shouting so loud. Mend your wit, young man, or it will collapse in ruins, beyond repair! I stand here for justice." (4.1.139-142) Shylock doesn't even care to what others have to say or think, because to him, it's just pointless ranting. He see's this opportunity for revenge as "justice" as he keeps mentioning he's justifying for the better good by doing an action such as this, cutting off an entire pound of human flesh.

People hate Shylock more, after seeing what he wants to do with his end of the deal. Shylock's thirst for revenge upset Gratiano to an extent where he called Shylock a wild animal,"Damn you, you unyielding dog! Justice is to blame for letting you live. I almost doubt my faith and share Pythagora's theory that the bodies of animals inhibit men. Your cur-like spirit comes from a wood whose soul, when he he was hanged for killing humans, fled into the womb of your damned mother, and mingled itself in you! Your desires are wolffish, bloody, mean and ravenous! How Shylock sees this, is completely different of the other people of the courtroom. Shylock's determination for Antonio's flesh goes to show how inhumane human ambition can be when they want what they want, even if it's the death of the person they hate, they will stop at nothing to get what they want. Even Jessica, Shylock's very own daughter goes against Shylock, due to the type of person he is,"Alas what a grievous sin it is in me to be ashamed to be my father's child! I may be a daughter of his blood, but I'm not related to his life-style." (2.3.15-18) Even Shylock's own daughter dislikes Shylock, because of the type of person he is to to others to an extent to be called the devil himself. Shylock's own ambition has many people, even his own daughter, to dislike him, not because he's a Jew, but simply of what he wants and what he does to others.

So, someone can turn into a wild animal or a monster because of their own ambition. Due to Shylock's determination for getting revenge over mercy, he will stop at nothing to get what he wants, even if it would kill someone. And surely, people involed with the situation will have to say something about it too, calling him an animal, or the devil himself. Shylock, although he made a deal between Antonio between having three thousand ducats, or a pound of Antonio's flesh, he stopped at nothing to get Antonio's flesh after news of bankruptcy. He brought him to court, to truly show how his ambition can be a nasty one. But in the end, he was brought down by the law, against his will to do anything, and not even being able to get a pound of Antonio's flesh. There is something to learn from this, definitly. Following ambition for the wrong reason can cause others to hate you, and sometimes, it doesn't go as the way most expect it to be. It's ok to have some sort of motivation or determination for something, but using it for the wrong reason will only get you so far.