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End of Freshmen year already?
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It was the August of 2009 when I first stepped into my advisory classroom uneasily. New faces, new floor, new lockers, new teachers, new building, upperclassmen in the hallways, everything was unfamiliar to me. I started out highschool as one out of a hundred “fresh” freshmen whom some upperclassmen refer to as “fresh meat.” Due to some Korean tradition, it was hard to approach upperclassmen and I felt inferior to them. However, as the year passed by quickly, I interacted with the entire high school in school events like socials and pep rallies. I also got to meet new people through activities like RCY (Red Cross Youth) and by joining the cross country team and JV basketball team. I made some really good friends that I will never forget.
The point is, my freshmen year has gone by super fast! It feels like yesterday when I was being introduced to new teachers and being anxious during the Parent Teacher Conferences. Every upperclassmen I knew told me “enjoy your freshman year,” and I think I have done that. Thank you teachers and friends!
Independent Book: Angels and Demons
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Religion vs Science. Faith vs Facts. This novel primarily focuses on these concepts, which have been raging since the very foundation of religion. Two characters, the Camerlengo and Robert Langdon clash in the novel. I wanted to list some major quotes that caught my attention in the novel that revolves around this conflict:
Camerlango:
“Why did they hid that which inspired fear? Fear brought people to God!”
Hassassin:
“Faith does not protect you. Medicine and airbags…those are the things that protect you. God does not protect you. Enlightenment. Put your faith into something with tangible results. How long has it been since someone walked on water? Modern miracles belong to science, …computers, vaccines, space stations, …even the divine miracle of creation. Matter from nothing…in a lab. Who needs God? No! Science is God.”
Maximilian Kholer:
“Mr. Langdon all questions were once spiritual. Since the beginning of time, spirituality and religion have been called on to fill in the gaps that science did not understand. The rising and setting of the sun was once attributed to Helios and a flaming chariot. Earthquakes and tidal waves were the wrath of Poseidon. Science has now proven those gods to be false idols. Soon all gods will be proven to be false idols. Science has now provided answers to almost every question man can ask. There are only a few questions left and they are the esoteric ones. Where do we come from? What are we doing here? What is the meaning of life and the universe?”
Aamerlengo:
“Science seems irrelevant. Science can heal, or science can kill. It depends on the soul of the man using the science. It is the soul that interests me.”
“We all benefit from a sense of contact with divinity… even if it is only imagined.”
“Who is this God science? Who is the God who offers his people power but no moral framework to tell you how to use that power? What kind of God gives a child fire but does not warn the child of its dangers? The language of science comes with no signposts about good and bad. Science textbooks tell us how to create a nuclear reaction, and yet they contain no chapter asking us if it is a good or a bad idea.”
“”And all the while, you proclaim the church is ignorant. But who is more ignorant? The man who cannot define lightning, or the man who does not respect its awesome power? This church is reaching out to you. Reaching out to everyone. And yet the more we reach, the more you push us away. Show me proof there is a God, you say. I say use your telescopes to look to the heavens, and tell me how there could not be a God! You ask what does God look like. I say, where does that question come from? The answers are one and the same. Do you not see God in you science? How can you miss Him!”
I thought this novel was very interesting as it revolved around the conflict between science and religion. Also, this novel was very tense as it was a mystery novel. I would give this book a 10/10!
Parthenogenesis
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“Acquire new knowledge whilst thinking over the old, and you may become a teacher of others.”
-Confucius
Currently in my biology course, our class is investigating the kingdom Animalia. The group that I belong in was assigned to examine the group amniotes, which is comprised of reptiles, birds, and mammals. It was my task to research about reptiles on how they move, eat, reproduce, circulate gases, sense, and more.While I was reading a document about reptilian reproduction, I cam upon a surprising fact. Before this day, I accepted the fact that all organisms in the animal kingdom reproduce sexually (fertilization by male & female) without a single doubt. However, to my surprise, I came upon a species of lizard that are capable of reproducing asexually through a process called Parthenogenesis. This interesting species of lizards is known as whip-tailed lizards. A population of these lizards lack males. So how do they reproduce and create offspring? The answer is obvious yet puzzling: they reproduce asexually. Parthenogenesis is a form of asexual reproduction found in females, where the growth and development occurs without the fertilization by a male counterpart. An interesting aspect is that the mating behaviors of males are still seen shortly after the females lay their eggs.
Parthenogenesis of reptiles is found in whiptails, some geckos, rock lizards, blind snakes, and even Komodo Dragons were proved to be capable of parthenogenesis.
parthenogenesis in whiptails
Through extensive research, I even learned that some insects, crustaceans, snails, and flatworms were capable of reproducing in such way and realized how blind and ignorant human being I was. Thank you Confucius, with the knowledge I acquired , I will enlighten the people around me.
Basketball
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“Wo xihuan da lanqiu”
That was Chinese for “I like playing basketball” and it is indeed true.
I love playing or watching a good, speedy game of basketball. Basketball truly is a sport that is enjoyed in many parts of the world, and National Basketball Association (NBA), is currently the biggest and most famous league of basketball in existence. I often spend my leisure time watching basketball games or tricks on Youtube, and some of my favorite players include Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, LeBron James, Dwight Howard, etc.
*Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers)
Basketball is a team sport usually played with 5 people on each team, and the goal is to score more than the opponent team by successfully placing the ball through a 1oft high hoop under many rules and restrictions. High school basketball game is divided into 4 quarters, each being 8 minutes. Substitution is unlimited, but can only be done when the game is stopped. When a violation occurs, it results in the change of possession of the ball, known as a turnover. Some common violations include:
Double-dribble: dribbling with both hands or catching the ball in between dribbles
Traveling (walking): moving both feet without dribbling
Carry: hand cannot be under the ball while dribbling
More complex violations are 3-second violation, half court violation, etc.
When an intentional severe physical contact results in the opponent being in a disadvantage, it is known as a foul.
Despite such rules, basketball can be learned quickly and is very enjoyable to a lot of people.This video clip contains me, Eric Jho (9) and Jaeook Lee (10) playing basketball in the Lower Gym after school.
Papercuts
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Recently while returning from basketball practice, I noticed my hand was splattered with blood. At first, I had no idea why. But soon, I noticed a deep cut along the top of my finger.
Could this be the infamous “paper cut?”
A paper cut is when a thin material such as paper slices your skin. When I returned home, I wondered about two things: how paper cuts our skin, and why it is so painful. How can a soft and lose sheet of paper exert enough force to cut our skin? I figured the answer out through a simple physics equation. Pressure = force per unit area. Since paper is extremely thin, it is capable of exerting high levels of pressure enough to cut our skin.
Why are small cuts on our fingers so painful? It is because fingers are concentrated with pain receptors and sensory receptors. Once cut and exposed outside, they will cause great pain.
Even small things like paper cuts have great science and logic behind it. The world is an interesting place.
Korea’s Street Food Vendor
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Wherever you go, it will be easy to spot a street food vendor in Korea. I wanted to list the major foods they sell at such places because I just had some.
1. Dduck boggi (Korean Spicy Rice cake)
This food you will find in almost every street food vendors. It is comprised of long rice cakes cooked with Korean spicy sauce, vegetables, Odeng, etc.
2. Odeng (fish cake)
Odeng is cake that is made partly of fish that is often skewered on sticks. They are very cheap and is also one of my favorite.
3. Soondae
Soondae is food comprised steamed pig intestines stuffed with a variety of ingredients such as cellophane noodles and pork.They are very tasty.
If you have time, you should try all of them if you haven’t already!
PS. This is another very famous Korean street vendor food, called dalgochi (닭꼬치). This food is comprised of chicken meat skewered on sticks with seasoning.
Here is a video of dalgochi:
Jailbreaking is not Jailbreaking
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Me and my dad are both proud owners of the iPhone 3GS. However, the difference between him and me is that I have jailbroken my phone, while my father is using it as it is. I really dislike the term “jailbreaking” because it has a negative connation and people often relate it to illegal acts. Due to this reason, my father refuses to jailbreak his phone and states he is using it the “proper and honest” way. I agree with him to certain degrees, but I think jailbreaking your phone will be better in the long run.
First of all, let’s explore the advantages of a jailbroken iPhone/iPod.
Winterboard: allows users to customize your springboard
My father’s iPhone consists of a generic black background and your wallpaper only applies to the lockscreen. With winterboard, you can apply themes (there’s tons of them out there) & make your iPhone stand out! Perhaps this is the most popular reason why users jailbreak their iPhone.
Categories: allows applications to be sorted and organized in folders
My dad’s iPhone has six pages of applications. It would take time to find a certain application you want to run. I have 73 applications on my phone, organized in just 2 pages.
Backgrounder: allows users to run multiple apps at once
This is especially useful for applications like instant messaging and Skype. With a normal phone, you would have to log in and get set up each time you want to get in. However, with backgrounder, users can skip the whole boring process.
Games: allows users to explore a vast world of games instead of being limited to just the AppStore.
I have an NES emulator which allows NES games to be run on my iPhone.
MobileLog: a problem with the iPhone 3Gs is that users cannot delete individual recent calls and messages. Mobile log fixes that.
Lockdown: allows users to lock individual applications
Other convenient applications that can be possible only by jailbreaking include BiteSMS, MxTube, etc.
If there are this many advantages, would there be disadvantages? Yes, there is a very slim chance that jailbreaking process might brick your iPhone/iPod, which means your iPhone freezes and does not respond to any action. However, this problem can be easily fixed just by simply rebooting your device.
Thus, jailbreaking your iPhone comes with huge advantages that you cannot experience with a pure iPhone. I strongly recommend jailbreaking. In fact, there’s a rumor that Steve Jobs himself uses a jailbroken iPhone.
“Could you repeat the question?”
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As most of you know, Korea International School (KIS) is a 1:1 laptop school where every student in grades 6-12 must own his or her own personal laptops and bring it to class everyday. The purpose of this program is to get students ready for the technological world of the 21st century. However, are laptops being served as they are supposed to be? David Cole, a professor at Georgetown University recently banned laptops from being used in his class for two major reasons. First of all, taking notes using your laptops allows notes to be taken verbatim, whereas if one were to write using classic paper and pencil, he or she would not have enough time thus prioritize the most important themes while taking notes. Second of all, using laptops is almost equivalent as giving a student magazines, games, shopping malls, e-mails, and instant messaging and not supervising. Whenever Mr.Cole posed a question, the majority of the reply would be “Could you repeat the question?” and students return to gazing at their computer screens as soon as the question is answered. David Cole conducted a survey to see how the students were using their laptops, and the results were striking.
“The results were striking. About 80 percent reported that they are more engaged in class discussion when they are laptop-free. Seventy percent said that, on balance, they liked the no-laptop policy. And perhaps most surprising, 95 percent admitted that they use their laptops in class for “purposes other than taking notes, such as surfing the Web, checking e-mail, instant messaging and the like.” Ninety-eight percent reported seeing fellow students do the same.”
This makes me ask: are laptops really helping us get prepared or are they just subtle obstacles that prevent us from academically succeeding?
*I was inspired to write this after reading an article on Washingtonpost.com, Laptops VS Learning by David Cole.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040601544.html
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