H Day

Today in class we finished making our maps that we started yesterday. It was a really relaxing and fun way to end my day which I appreciated. Finishing my maps was fairly simple, I used multiple maps as a reference. Then we had the rest of the mod to finish homework and other assignments that we didn't want to take home which was a huge help. Whenever teachers give us this opportunity it really helps us, as students with getting things done and helping manage our time after we leave the campus. I had a pretty good day in total!

8/26/18

Today in class we continued going over some basic things like longitude and latitude, and we also got into some more complex things. Some of the more difficult things were the International Dateline, the tropic of cancer, and the tropic of capricorn. After we had learned all about the new terms, we got three handouts. On these handouts were maps that showed all of the continents, but everything was blank. We had to fill in everything including the oceans, continents and some other specific stuff like where out ancestors are from and where John Carroll was on the map. It was a fun activity, but it was also a little difficult. Im looking forward to completing it in tomorrows class, and hopefully doing well on it.

Unit 2 Day 2

In Todays class we talked about more of some of the first maps ever created. We also compared the Mercator map with the more accurate map. This really surprised me since I have been looking at the Mercator map ever since kindergarten. I think the U.S should incorporate the newer map into our schools more since its more up to date and more accurate. It would take a lot of adjusting but it would be worth it. What also shocked me was when the cartographers on the show flipped the northern and southern hemisphere. I can say that I have never seen the map look like that before in my life. It looked like a completely different planet. After seeing all of these different options of how the map could potentially look, it's definitely opened my eyes and made me more interested in geography.

Early Maps

Today in class we talked about the earliest map of the world. Personally, I believe that map was relatively amazing for the time period that it was created in. Even though Ptolemy wasn't spot on, he did really well for piecing together what others had showed him, and what he had learned from his own explorations. We also saw a picture of a map that represented islands. I thought this was really cool because not only was it different from any other map we usually see, it was three dimensional! Most maps that we see in this time and age are two dimensional with a few exceptions. I thought that looking at these maps was really cool, and I hope that the rest of the course is fun too.

Excellence Day 3

In class today we went over what is going to be on the test on Tuesday. It's going to have multiple choice questions, short answer questions, and an essay question. We have human geo first period on Tuesday so hopefully I'll be awake enough to remember everything. Maybe I should stop at Starbucks before school. In my essay I'm going to try to incorporate the greeks and socrates words. I'll try to align my essay with my john carroll experiences too. I'm really intrigued by Socrates words from the end of the slide. I'm going to try and incorporate what he said into my daily life as well. I'm going to start stepping back and examining my actions and my thoughts to make my life more worth living.

Socrates

In today's class, we debated on whether or not Socrates was guilty or not guilty. Personally, I don't believe that the charges he got were accurate. They were:

- Corruption of Athen's youth
- Impiety

The only thing Socrates did was simply give the youth other options than what they had been taught over and over again throughout the years. He didn't force them to believe anything; instead, he opened their minds. Socrates was also wrongly charged with Impiety. He never directly said that he didn't believe in the Gods. He thought about the alternatives, and brought them to other's attention. The jury had assumed that he was going against the state's beliefs, when really all he did was question it. We all question our faith sometimes, so should we all be prosecuted as well? I do not, and never will wish death upon anyone, especially not for crimes that they didn't commit.

Excellence Day 2

Today in class, we talked about our beliefs, and we talked about how we cannot prove our beliefs to be true. I wanted to talk a little bit more on this topic. We were asked what happens to us when we die. Personally, the only logical answer I can think of is that we part with our bodies, which act as our shells, and our soul stays here, or goes somewhere beyond this universe. I don't believe in specifically heaven and hell, since I don't think that someone who we praise for being so forgiving and kind could send anybody, no matter what, to a chamber of eternal torture. If that's what our "God" is supposed to do, why are they considered a god at all? Why do we worship someone who can send people to hell? I'd like to believe in a God, but if it involves someone or something who has the power to decide whether we are at peace, or never at peace, I don't know if I'll be able to.

Excellence Notes

Today in class, we learned more about "A Message To Garcia" by Elbert Hubbard. We learned about it's publishing date, (1899), and we went more in depth on some of the characters. We talked about how popular the essay was, and how it sold over 40 million copies. It was even translated into 37 languages. The essay was turned into a movie too. Not once, but two times! Sending a message to Garcia also became a popular thing to say about taking initiative. I hope that I, myself can take the initiative this year, and put all of my time and effort into my school work.

What I got out of "A Message to Garcia"

A Message to Garcia is a story written by Elbert Hubbard about people being too lazy or finding excuses not to listen to others. I can use this story to help me through my freshman year by remembering it in times that I'm asked to do things. When an authoritative figure asks us to do things, my first reaction should always be to do what it is that I was asked to do. I can also use this when I'm doing my homework. For example, if a teacher assigns us something to do, I should do it as soon as I get home, instead of pushing it off and procrastinating so I can do other things. I don't completely agree with everything that Elbert says, especially when he gets more violent, but the message itself is pretty good in my opinion.

My first few days at John Carroll

My first few days at John Carroll have been kind of all over the place. I've already had some good times, and some challenging times. I think that personally the most challenging thing is when i can't open my locker. I had a few upperclassmen help me with it on the first days, and even though I can open it now, sometimes it still takes a few tries which is frustrating. Luckily, I've had more good experiences than bad. I've gotten in touch with a few of my friends who I haven't talked to in a while, and I've made some new friends too. Most of my classes seem to be interesting, and I think that I will like them. All of the teachers have been really nice, and really understanding of everyone not having all of their supplies yet. I feel pretty organized and prepared for the school year. I have all of the supplies that I needed for my classes and my computer and veracious are both working well, which I'm grateful for. I'm looking forward to my next four years here!