Tales of Tenth Grade

For the last blog post, I decided to make a video about quarantine! It is a little compilation of time during corona. Link to video

Almost every post I've seen is about quarantine but to be honest, there's not much else going on. At least in my life. After the first few weeks, I was over it and wanted to be able to leave the house again. Now I've slowly gotten used to many aspects of quarantine. I want quarantine to be over but I feel like I'm familiar with it now and I've made plans to do things that I may not get around to if this ends soon. But as unfortunate as that'd be, I think I'd be fine if quarantine does end soon because like I said, I'm over it. I miss having a social life. I think the idea of no freedom is driving me crazy more than the actual concept but at the same time, there's so much I could've done if we could see other people and go places. However, I've been trying to make the best of my time at home. While I spend many days procrastinating on my work and spending way too much time on my phone, I have gotten around to doing some things that have made ...

After school is over, I eat lunch. My family never really ate lunch together, even on the weekend when we were all home. But over quarantine, we have all been having lunch together, which is pretty nice. After lunch, I'll usually play MLB The Show for an hour or so and talk with my friends online, and then after that, if it is a nice day out, I'll go on my trampoline or play basketball.  Since the coronavirus has basically shut down the United States, all of us have been stuck at home for the past month and a half. There is no school, no extra-curricular activities, nothing. So, you can imagine that it gets pretty boring. I try to keep myself entertained as best as possible, and this is how I do it. Since we still have online school, everyone still has to do that. Personally, I do it right when I get up because I don't really want it hanging over my head all day. I usually wake up around 8:30, and then finish my work between 11 or 12, and I go to whatever live session...

          After spending around a month doing distance learning, I've formed an opinion on distance learning. Here, I will compare my thoughts about school and distance learning,           I've never really loved school but I never hated it. I've always viewed it as something I just have to get through and that's it. As a high schooler, the most annoying thing is the work that I get. The one thing that I appreciate school is how easy you can learn there. Everything is so organized. Because of the class periods and how long the school day is, I'm able to keep track of everything, spend a specific allotted time doing work for a certain class. The school environment also allows me to focus on my work. School also provides me with time for gym and orchestra. It's mandatory that I have to go to those classes because it's on my schedule. I love those classes because it's fun and easy and it gives me a break. Overall, school is just school. ...

Right now I am sitting on my deck outside, and as I was thinking of different things I could write this blog post on I looked over at the street and saw at least seven teenagers in a group with their skateboards as if the world was normal right now. I get it- this can get boring, it is hard to resist hanging out with your friends on a beautiful spring day, and after spending so much time with just our families, or, for others, living alone, it would be nice to see other faces- but at what cost? I look at social distancing and quarentine like a test to humans all around the world. Some people, the majority, have definitely been passing the test, and at the end of the test will be moving forward in life with success from overcoming this obstacle in the road. Others, however, have been failing this test, ignoring its importance, not realizing that the impact of their failure on this "social distance exam" could potentially be irreversable. My mom and I were taking a drive today,...

Quarantine isn't fun. We've been out of school for 40 days now, which seems like a lot, because it is a lot. But in trying to find a topic for this month's blog post, I found myself reading all of my previous blog posts in hope of finding some inspiration. I did. You might have forgotten about the time when our Thanksgiving break was extended by almost a week in December because of that crazy snowstorm. Yeah, we had eight straight days off of school because Thanksgiving break was followed by four snow days. It seemed like a lot at the time. The irony. In fact, I thought it was so much that I decided to write my December blog post about it. Here are some of the best quotes from that post that definitely did not age well. 1. "As I sit here on our eighth straight day without school..." -- Wow, eight whole days! Crazy! 2. "It's always fun and relaxing to sit at home... I am free to do whatever I want to help relax myself in antici...

It’s funny how hard it can be to come up with something creative to write about when there is only one topic on everyone’s mind. Covid19 has taken over our lives in a big way. Even those who are not directly affected by the disease see its effects everywhere. It is crowding the news headlines, projected in tv commercials, declared in the radios, and professed in the emptiness of the grocery store shelves. I sincerely did not want to write about the Coronavirus. I wanted to come up with a creative and fun idea to take your minds and mine off of this depressing epidemic, but every possibility that entered my brain could in some way be traced back to a result of the virus. Because of my complete inability to avoid this topic, I decided to settle for the next best thing; a post about the positive effects of the Coronavirus. *Disclaimer* Obviously the negative trumps the positive in this scenario and I in no way mean to downplay the severity of this epidemic, I only hope to highlight some ...

With all of the news stations talking mostly about the negatives of COVID-19, I thought it would be good to share some other good news! The major positive to social distancing is the positive effect on the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. With all of these busses, cars, trains, etc. which are constantly in use, there is a lot of negative emissions coming from them. The amount of CO2 in the air is on a fast slope upwards since the 1950s and now, this curve has the opportunity to level out! According to the Seattle Times, "China, the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter followed by the U.S., saw at the height of its economic shutdown during the pandemic an estimated 25 percent drop in emissions...." This is a substantial drop in emissions in the world's greatest contributor to global warming. Similarly, in Seattle, there has also been a dramatic drop in emissions. However, this is not enough to actually flatten the curve. The Seattle Times also states that "Even ...

     As more time passes, the more it seems that COVID-19 is the only thing going on in the world right now. At least, if you were to look at any news feed right now, it would look that way. Every single article is somehow related to the virus. But obviously thats not the only thing happening that's worthy of having an article written about, for an example, the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Obran has recently been given rule indefinatly, which the EU has done very little to stop. But that story isn't making headlines, despite it being an important event for the future of democracy in the nation.      So is it a problem that its become more difficult to find other news? Maybe. The thing is, the coronavirus should be at the top of the news right now, because the scale of the pandemic cannot be understated. Right now, there are predictions that as many as 240,000 Americans could die from the disease. There are rarely events in news that affect so many peop...

Amidst the devastating news of the coronavirus, many are finding solace in the idea that the Earth has been granted a much-needed reprieve. Emissions all over the world have significantly decreased, waters have begun to run clearer, and wildlife has been returning to areas they had previously abandoned. Yet this “good fortune” has not been extended to all wildlife. Lost amidst rising death tolls and news headlines cheerily touting “clearer water in the Venice Canals” or “lower emissions over China” are articles which detail the inhumanity of bear bile farms- bear bile farms which have been capitalizing off of the Chinese government’s decision to release a list of “cures” for the coronavirus. The industry for bear bile is one which is rather ancient- bear bile has been incorporated into traditional Chinese medicines since the 8th century, yet the farming of bears for their bile didn’t begin until the 1980s. The only way to obtain this bear bile, however, is throug...

Although everyone is fairly tired of hearing "coronavirus" and "COVID-19," it is having a significantly negative impact on our world. But, it is important to understand how this pandemic is affecting the upcoming presidential election in the United States. The problem is in-person voting. Due to the current strict six-foot social distancing rule, in-person voting has become impossible. Voting by mail is a solution to this, however. According to Jocelyn Benson, the Secretary of State of Michigan, a voting system through the mail could be implemented by voting season (Seitz-Wald, " Coronavirus 'worst-case scenario': Could the presidential vote be done by mail?").  The uncertainty of the pandemic situation is causing lawmakers to be unsure about how to go about the elections. The virus could die by the summer, or it could still be a danger in November. There is also the threat of the virus mutating and coming back as another strand in late 2020.  (S...

Haha... Got'em.  April Fools, sucker.  Did you really think coronavirus was canceled?  Get wrecked.  In all seriousness, I think that the chaos of the coronavirus has distracted people from one of the greatest days of the year... April Fools Day!  For anyone who doesn't know what April Fools Day is (how dare you?!), every year on April 1st, people get together to prank their friends (or enemies).  Since we no longer have school to prank each other at, here are some pranks you can pull on your family tomorrow at home. Number 1 Out of all the pranks you can pull, this one is the simplest.  The old "Your shoe is untied" or "You have food on your shirt" followed by zipping your hand up to their nose. Classic and unfailing.  Number 2 This one is one of my favorites.  If you have an area in your house where you have pictures of your family, replace one of the pictures with something more creative.  Maybe you replace a picture of yo...

You'd have to be living under a rock to not know what corona virus is and about the on-going quarantines through out the country. With almost everything shutdown, not being allowed within six feet of people outside of immediate family, and no exact date as to when it will end, it's hard to stay positive. Some people have been staying positive by sending out encouraging messages to their communities and reminding them to stay positive too! The Town of Newton (NJ) recreation asked residents to display signs of hope in the windows of their homes. All over town there are signs encouraging people to remain hopeful during this difficult time along with signs thanking those risking their lives to help others. In Sussex County, a teddy bear scavenger hunt has started, with people putting bears in their windows, so parents have a fun and safe way to occupy their kids while they search for the bears. Another way people are staying positive during the Covid-19 outbreak is by giving back. ...

A few weeks ago, there was talk of new rules that would encourage many people to take a big step towards saving the environment. "Throwaway culture" is a term used to describe overwhelming over consumption and the use of short lived/single use products that our society has become accustomed to. The EU wants to get rid of this cycle by enforcing regulations. By providing an incentive, it could encourage manufacturers to make better quality, longer lasting products. More recommendations under their Circular Economy Action Plan are to increase recycled material in products and reduce their impact on the climate. While this is a movement started in Europe, the rest of the world could follow their lead as people push for an end to throwaway culture. However, with the rise of coronavirus, America has taken a step in the opposite direction. The EPA has temporarily stopped the enforcement of many environmental laws. This is disappointing to many environmental activists but unders...

Another Month of 2020 has come and gone, and the year hasn't gotten any better yet. There have been so many tragedies this year already, and it doesn't look like 2020 is going to let up any time soon.  That being said, this month's blog topic was current events, and for the life of me, I can't think of anything to write about. I've been brainstorming for two weeks about what to write my monthly blog about, and I just can't think of anything going on in the world right now. So here I am, on March 30th, trying to think of something to write. In all seriousness though, this month has been full of current events, namely the outbreak of the Coronavirus. Although the first case in the United States was reported on January 22nd, the outbreak has picked up beyond words since then. On the first day of March, there were only 30 confirmed cases throughout the United States. Today, there are 144,280 cases , with more than 2,500 deaths. Over a span of 30 days, there ...