I first heard about DOPA from my computer science teacher, who made us pick which side we were on and blog about it. Even intially I disagreed although I didn’t really know what DOPA was I knew it wasn’t a good thing. After digging a little deeper I found out that DOPA, which stands for Deleting Online Predators Act, esstenially is trying to ban the use of social networking sites like Myspace, Facebook, etc. along with things like IM and blogs from schools and public libraries, because some lawmakers feel that by taking away these sites children will be safer from the horrors of the Internet. Children will still have access to these sites at home unless the parents’ take it into their own hands like they should and prevent their children from doing foolish things out of ignorance. The only way to protect children from online predators is to arm them with the information to protect themselves. In fact, probably the best place for kids to have access to these sites is in school where they can be monitored. Not to mention all the educational benefits that come from these sites these lawmakers are trying to ban. Wikis are the new way to do classroom collaboration. Blogs are the new way to do classroom discussion. So no, DOPA is not protecting the children, in fact, all it is doing is hurting them by continuing to promote the idea that ignorance is bliss. These kids are ignorant of how to protect themselves from Internet predators. These lawmakers need to ban ignorance not promote it.

My sister has a type A personality and worries about anything and everything. (And, of course, I hear about all of it.) People sometimes tell me I’m a good listerner. I owe that quality entirely to my sister. Once when she really got stressed out or something went terribly wrong, I told her, “Life sucks, get over it, and do something about it.” I meant that in the nicest way possible, but life does suck sometimes. Things happen to slow us down at the worst possible time, but maybe that is God trying to tell us to stop, slow down, and smell the roses. We cannot waste our time obsessing about something that has already happened or is completely out of our hands. Being the best we can be is good, but perfection is an illusion. (Take this from someone who lives with a perfectionist, and when it comes to certain things can be one.) Sure, it’s great to have an immaculate room, but where does that get you in the long run?

Life does suck sometime, and all we can do is get over it and do something about it. And sometimes all we can do is stop worrying about. Just give all the worry to God, and do something worthwhile with your time.

I’ve been trying to figure out my identity as a blogger, whether I want to blog about my politicals views, my religous beliefs, new technological advancements or just my observations about life in general. Right now blogging about my observations about life in general seems to be sticking out above all the others. I’ve had trouble figuring out what my blog should be about, and I’ve finally realized it should just be extension of myself: my thoughts, my opinions, things I would usually write in a journal or just keep to myself. That, in itself, is the beauty of blogging: being able to make myself ascessible to the world and the opportunity in it. I’m not looking to be a blogger that hundreds of people want to read, because it is perfectly alright with me if no one at all reads this. Blogging, for me, at least is all about expressing myself. I have only posted a couple of times, but I have written numerous blogs. This is mainly because I find myself trying to write for an audience, when really I don’t need to write at all if I’m just writing so someone else can read it. I believe that writing should first bring joy to the writer, so from now on I will blog for the personal joy of writing. If someone reads my blog, then that will just be the icing on the cake.

You know you are growing up when you realize:

1. Money doesn’t grow on trees. (You actually have to have money in the bank when you write a check. If you don’t the check bounces. Trust me on this one. I’ve learned the hard way.)
2. Working isn’t a choice, but a necessity. (For some unknown reason about the time you become a teenager your allowance becomes nonexistant, and you are forced to WORK. For another unknown reason, everything seems to cost a lot more now that you have to spend your own hard earned money rather than your parents’.)
3. Real friends accept you for who you are. (A real friend doesn’t care what you look like, what you wear, or who your parents are. A real friend is always honest even when it hurts. A real friend always knows what to say to make you feel better. A real friend, in essence, knows you.)
4. The choices you make now can affect the rest of your life. (Don’t drink and drive. Don’t do drugs. Don’t have premarital sex. Don’t hang out with the wrong crowd. Study and make good grades. Go to church. Don’t always do the popular thing.)
5. The popular thing isn’t always the right one, or the easiest. (Why is it we always want to do what everyone else does? We only live once, so do we want to be remembered exactly like everyone else? Take a stand for something you believe in. Take the narrow, twisting path for once.)

All this said, even though I have realized these things, I don’t always live by them. I am still at the point where I wished I hadn’t realized these things. Things were so much more easy, not to mention more fun, when all I had to worry about was making sure my sister didn’t cut off all my Barbie doll’s beach blonde hair. Growing up is realizing responsitbility, and I still not sure if I am quite ready for responsibility.

Just hearing the three little letters, SAT, is enough to make most people’s palms sweat.  I bring this point up, being a  person that has taken the SAT or something similar to the SAT numerous times, because I thought I had conquered my fears of the SAT. I have taken the old SAT, the new SAT, the PSAT, and practice SATs at my school. I mean I really know how to fill in those bubbles. I am thankful that my school pushes its students to take the SAT early in his or her high school career. I stress out enough about this and I am only going to be a junior next year. I cannot imagine going to take it for the first time my senior year, knowing that where I go to college is pretty much determined by what I make on this test. I could be a stellar all A student, yet bomb the SAT, and my college dreams could go down the drain. Or I could be a C and B student, and excel so greatly on the SAT that my not so wonderful transcript is overlooked. That is the injustice of the SAT. All the determination, hard work, and ambition that is put into the grades, extracurriculars, and community service can virtually go unnoticed or, at least, looked at in a different light, because of that SAT score.

I also have to wonder about the scores themselves. When you are given your scores, you are also given a score range. This range varies in each direction, higher and lower, about 20 or 30 points.  Maybe I am just the exception, but my score has varied 80 points in critical reading, 50 points in math, and 170 points in writing. My best score in one sitting has been on one of the practice SATs, which makes me wonder about my ability to handle the pressure that I unknowingly put on myself. Even though the SAT is critical to my academic future I always thought I was rather laid back about it. I truly believe most students would score much better if they didn’t know so much rested on this one test, but then, of course, there always the people who don’t really care. I can tell you that I have never heard of the Christmas tree method working. I still do not know how to ace the SAT, so the best advice I can give to myself and the other poor souls who have to take it is don’t stress out about it too much, prepare yourself, get a good night’s sleep, and eat a good breakfast. My personal opinion is that chewing gum helps, but maybe that’s just me. Just try to do your best.

Has anyone ever heard the saying, “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” I believe in this saying 100 percent. For example, “I love to run so I’m on the track team. I’m certainly not the most talented athlete, but I do come to practice. My race is the 2 mile, but my coach put me in the 800 m. run. I don’t win the 2 mile by any means, but I do place and put points on the board for my team, and I don’t come in last. Well, my coach put me in the 800 m, and I held my own in the first lap, but by the second lap I knew I just didn’t have the speed to keep up with the competition no matter how in shape I was. I came in last place. Of course no one likes to come in last, but someone has to do it. Later a younger girl that I knew from another school asked me how I did, and I told her that I lost. She said, “I’m sorry; I’d rather kill myself running than lose.” I told her I wasn’t upset about it, because the 800 m wasn’t my race. She didn’t understand what I meant by that. The 2 mile is my race, not the 800 m. If I had come in last place in the two mile, I would have been upset, because I practice for the two mile. I work for the 2 mile, and even though I’m not the most talented person, I can place because I practice. I know many talented, but overly competitive people, who think they can win at everything, and beat themselves up about it when they don’t. Just because you’re talented or work hard at one thing or race doesn’t mean you can win them all. I really wish I could have explained that to that younger girl, because I believe it could save her much grief in the future.  But for now all I can do is work hard and hope it pays off. 

When my computer teacher, Mrs. Vicki, first told my class about blogs, I have to admit I was the person in the back of the room not really paying attention going, “What’s a blog?” Once she explained in simplistic terms what a blog was she required us to create wikis explaining Web 2.0 so we could learn about it and create our own bloglines account. Then (of all things) she had us post something on our class blogmeister account. I was still the one going, “What am I supposed to write about?” I was seriously at a loss. I mean what could I say that would actually interest anyone else, but then I started reading other peoples blogs. I finally realized that there is a myriad of different things to write about: politics, religion, technology, etc. If you have a hobby of any kind, somebody has written about it in a blog. While watching the new this morning, I actually heard the President say the word blog when talking about how the American people can keep up a positve attitude in the War in Iraq. Blogs are revolutionizing this country, and many people are completely oblivious to even what a blog is much less what it can. So thank you Mrs. Vicki for convincing me what a viable resource a blog can be. Thank you for not letting me be ignorant to something so revolutionary.