Every week, we try to spend 10-15 mins one class to create magnetic poem, to increase our skills in playing with words. I really like this activity because it allows me to be creative with the limited amount of words, and it’s very interesting to see what other people wrote.

Here’s mine written in December:

When I smell the translucent chocolate

burn delicious bare succulent

Steam veils my mouth

Sweat floods

An awkward feeling

“

My Crew

This is my reply to an image my friend put up on Facebook, as she wanted a “crew” picture, and I think this definitely show who we are as individuals and as a group.

 

My comment:

Léonidás Arcéo at 11:36pm January 14

-Leo

I NEED YOUR HELP!

Hi, how are you doing? Sorry about that false alarm, but I’d appreciate it if you could take the time to read this email.

For my Writing Workshop 2 class, we’re building an ePortfolio blog where we put in our works from WW2 class or from any other classes and also works that we thought were good examples of writing. The blog is divided in different “discourses”, or types of communication that is not only in the form of writing, but also through images, audio, videos, and other medias. An organization of college and university writing teachers, called the CCCC, wrote a Position Statement where they define the 6 forms of discourses, and what to value in each of them. The 6 discourses are: academic, civic, personal, aesthetic, workplace, and cross-cultural (description of each is found in my blog, so don’t’ sweat). The reason they did this was because they felt like most schools only focus on “academic discourse”, or in other words, works done for the class, and the CCCC thinks that there should be a variety of forms of writing to really maximize the “closeness” of human interaction.

So that was the boring part. But now this is where I need your help. Part of this whole project is we need people to look at our blog, and comment on our posts. And I’ve randomly selected straws, and your name just happened to pop-out! Haha I’m kidding. I just thought that you’re most likely to enjoy this and not see it as a task, but more of something like Youtube, but in writing.

I think of this more of a game. The rules are, you would have to go to my site and read the items that are posted up. There are so many fun stuff on my site, different forms of writings, videos (check out my personal discourse posts), audios, and images, I promise it won’t be lame. But this is the not-so-fun part; I need at least 4 comments from you. I know this seems a lot but I bet if you visit my site, you’ll really enjoy it. I tried really hard to make it as entertaining as possible. The comments don’t all have to be praises, I appreciate criticism as well. Also, try to look at both text and non-text posts. I know my blog tends to be complicated, but patience is an important characteristic in life, maybe it’s time to test it. J

Okay almost done with the email, I just need to summarize how my blog works. So if you go to http://leonardarceo.wordpress.com/ , there are 6 black boxes on the right column, each explaining the different discourses. Now you can scroll down to check my most latest posts, or if you want to view it by discourse, you can click on the titles of the black boxes, or on the left hand column, they’re listed under categories.

Since my blog is still under construction, it won’t be ready until January 15^th, and comments will be accepted until January 19^th. Don’t worry, I’ll send an email to remind you of the dates.

Thank you for reading this tediously long email, and I’d appreciate it if you send me a reply whether or not you are willing to do this fun-filled project with me! JJ

YAY that’s it! Thanks for your time, and I hope you enjoy your winter break!

Love,

Leonard A.

Here’s the video:

My comment:

Wow this is sooo creative! I really love how creative you can get with this technique. I would have to try this sometime soon!

Léonidás Arcéo at 7:11pm December 3

For our second year of Studio Art, we are suppose to choose a topic or theme that we will focus on for the whole year, which is our concentration. My chosen concentration is:

Appropriating “popular” art into having a science fiction mood. So I usually work with metal, and lots of robotic illustrations, spray paint, and other media to create my vision.

Childhood Obesity: Simply Uncontrollable?

Once there is a boy named Charlie. Charlie goes to an average school, gets average grades, and lives an average life. Charlie’s parents have dreams for their son, to be successful in life. However, Charlie is everything but average. At a height of 5 feet, Charlie weighs 125 pounds, being classified as “obese”. This may not be an apparent problem now because many might say that there is still time for him to lose weight; yet, childhood obesity is an increasing epidemic not only in the United States, but even in continental Europe and should not be taken lightly. There are many reasons for Charlie’s weight problem, but there is no doubt that his current status did not occur naturally and was not discretionary.

It is often said that childhood obesity is inherited and was a result of two imperfect genes from both parent, but not all types of obesity result from this. If both of Charlie’s parents have traces of obesity problems in their genes, this can affect the hiss rate of metabolism and how the body stores its fat. In an article written by Farooqi, he implies that genetic factors were the primary reason to specific behaviors obese kids have (Farooqi). He suggest that genetic determine “individual responses to environmental factors”. Although I agree with Farooqi up to a point, I cannot accept his overall conclusion because he overlooks the fact that there are ways to overcome obesity and it is not acceptable to solely blame his parents’ genes for Charlie’s condition. It is probable to say that there are different ways to help Charlie’s condition and the first one is parental guidance. Another claim scientists have is that humans are “blueprinted” to gain weight, but if we are, then why haven’t the number of obese people reach its today’s value earlier on when it is evident that we have all the resources and enough amount of food to reach the capable number?

When I was a child, I used to think that mothers know best and they will guide us to have a more successful life. Now that the worldwide economy is struggling and prices are going up, both father and mother tend to work long hours to earn money for survival. But this causes major changes in the lives of many. Kids often do not get the right nutrients and vitamins that they need everyday, because of an increase in working times of both parents, and children tend to go to the closest McDonalds around the corner. Mary Eberstadt also believe that it is the parents’ responsibility to keep track and monitor not only if their child eating the right kinds of food, but if they are getting daily exercise to burn the fat in their body. In addition, it is the parents’ duty to set a good example for children so kids can see how to live a long healthy life. For instance, parents should to invite their kids to go camping next weekend, or go play catch in a nearby park, plan an activity showing that despite the sedentary work they might have, it is also necessary to emphasize the importance of exercise. Lastly, Eberstadt believes that mothers are the closest adult figure in children’s life, and that “mothers, not others, who in general have the strongest opinions” about for the better of our future.

With the advancement in the society today, it is inevitable to stay away from the comfort that we humans long and all the benefits that we gain. According to Dr. Barry Ramo, one of the causes of an increase in child obesity is the improvement of television. Children tend to watch TVs 3 to four hours a day, when instead they could be outside doing sport. This has contributed to the huge increase in the data of 15% 6 to 19 year olds(9 million) in 1990 to 2000, which is approximately triple the amount in 1960s. Not only that, commodities such as elevators, cars, internet, and mobile phones, disables us from connecting to the real world and decreases humans’ effort and energy to do these things. In contrast, some people blame the opposite for the increase of child obesity. James Sallis and Karen Glanz remind us that “lack of sidewalks, long distances to school, and the need to cross busy streets, discourage walking and biking to school” but ride the car instead (Sallis). All in all, there are ways to prevent the increase of childhood obesity and actions must be taken.

There are other causes of child obesity that we humans had control of. Obesity is like a domino effect, once one person catches it; it will be passed on to the next generation, to the next, and to the next. Obesity does not only occur in one country but it is a worldwide disease. According to research, child obesity in the U.K. tripled since 1982, a third of Canadian children from 2 to 15 are overweight and there are more than obese children than obese adult in Canada. It is necessary for us to work as a community to stop the increase of this epidemic to build our society. But as for individual level, there are tremendous amount of sickness associated with childhood obesity. It can result to Type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, asthma and other respiratory problems sleep disorders, liver disease, early puberty, eating disorder, and skin infection. But there are more than physical problems that are at risk. Obese kids are often bullied or teased by their peers, lowering their self-esteem which can cause depression. Overweight kids tend to have more anxiety problems which cause stress. The biggest effect is depression. Having a low self-esteem and social isolation from peers can cause a sense of hopelessness to some overweight kids. This will cause a loss of interest in what they do, sleep and cry more than usual, and it is more serious than adult depression. We must take steps to stop the spread of obesity.

Are there any significant experiences you have had, or accomplishments you have realized, that have helped to define you as a person?

I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently. Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row.

I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru.

Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. I play bluegrass cello, I was scouted by the Mets, I am the subject of numerous documentaries. When I’m bored, I build large suspension bridges in my yard. I enjoy urban hang gliding. On Wednesdays, after school, I repair electrical appliances free of charge.

I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening wear. I don’t perspire. I am a private citizen, yet I receive fan mail. I have been caller number nine and have won the weekend passes. Last summer, I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal-force demonstration. I bat .400. My deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in international botany circles. Children trust me.

I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. I once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have performed several covert operations for the CIA. I sleep once a week; when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I successfully negotiated with a group ofterrorists who had seized a small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply to me.

I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic, and my bills are all paid. On weekends, to let off steam, I participate in full-contact origami. Years ago, I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down. I have made extraordinary four course meals using only a mouli and a toaster oven. I breed prizewinning clams. I have won bullfights in San Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the Kremlin. I have played Hamlet, I have performed open-heart surgery, and I have spoken with Elvis.

But I have not yet gone to college.

ALL THAT IS GOLD DOES NOT GLITTER

JRR Tolkien

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.

This is my sample college application essay written for Writing Workshop 2. We were just suppose to write a mock (well in my case) and I wrote mine about the time when I was at Nishimachi, and how I helped raise funds to support the victims of  the Kashmir Earthquake. This is the only college app essay I have written and my actual personal statement is still under construction.

It was October 8, 2005.

“In the news today: The Kashmir Earthquake hit northern Pakistan by surprise, killing unprepared locals and leaving hundreds of thousands of people in devastation. Many lost their homes and their properties. Some even lost their families. But worse of all, many lost their lives.”

This was what I heard in the news the night the earthquake occurred. It was early on my freshman year that this tragic incident happened. Being naïve of the ongoing in the world that surrounded me, I was too young to care about other than what was happening in my own particular life. That is until I heard about this earthquake.

Although I was not well-educated about Pakistan and its economy, I knew that poverty was a recurring issue and that many remained poor. Pakistan is classed as a developing country and in need of financial aid. On top of that economic burden, the earthquake added another pile of hardship and obstacles to the people living in Pakistan.

Like Pakistan, the Philippines have suffered from significant floods and typhoons, weakening both countries’ economies. Coming from a Third World country like Pakistan, I have experienced how major calamities can tremendously affect people’s lives. My family has suffered for several days of flooding that trapped us in our house, with no electricity or any type of connection to the outside world. From then on, that memory of my family suffering and being helpless became a part of me. I knew that the effects of the earthquake in Pakistan were taking its toll, and I could not imagine how much people are affected by the intense earthquake. I started putting myself in the situation of despair, when my family and I were in the midst of desperation; all the emotions started rushing back in. Then I thought this was a perfect chance for me to make a difference, and try to ease the hardship people are suffering in Pakistan.

I was elected as an executive officer of the Student Council in my school, and I knew this was a THE opportunity for me to demonstrate my willingness to help the people in Pakistan. However, I did doubt whether a 15-year old boy like me could do much in helping others, especially when the people I was trying to help were all the way across the globe. So I started asking myself, What would I get out of helping the victims of the earthquake? Why am I willing to help? This was when I started to understand that if I don’t start caring now, and if everyone else had the same inconsiderate mentality, no one would kindle any kind of action. So I kept telling myself, its better than nothing.

During a Student Council discussion, I brought up the idea of helping Pakistan refugees that are suffering in the emergency shelters who lacked in clothing and other amenities. This idea was soon put into action, and with the help of not only my school, but with both Japanese and non-Japanese community as well, we were able to collect clothes, blankets, pillows, and shoes to be sent directly to the refugees in Pakistan. To my amazement, despite the conservative culture Japan has, Japanese locals were as willing to help Pakistan as everyone else! We also organized bake sales and other fundraising events for three days and raised a total of $1,000. Along with another $1,000 donation from my school, we were able to send help to those who were victimized by the earthquake.

We visited the Pakistan Embassy in Tokyo to give the check in person. The moment I met the Ambassador, I saw in his eyes the gratitude he felt when 15-year old kids like us tried to help people outside our privileged community, those who were in desperate need. The instant he started explaining about the earthquake and what part of Pakistan it hit, the cultural barrier I had totally melted away and realized that these people were humans like me, and that it is in our nature to help each other out.

From this experience, I realized that part of me will always want to help others. From then on, I became a more active contributor to charity groups that really make a difference, even in small doses. Although we are the fortunate ones to have all the luxuries, it is only right to share what we have. I also learned that initiative is all someone needs to be successful. Like me, 1 out of the 5 executive officers in Student Council who stood up and voiced out his passion in helping others, 1 out of 18 million kids in Japan who was willing to help people outside his community, 1 out of the 2.2 billion kids in the world who took the time to care to make a small difference, others can make a difference in the world too. That’s all it takes, is to care.

]]> http://leonardarceo.wordpress.com/2008/12/08/college-app-essay/feed/ 0 leonardarceo http://leonardarceo.wordpress.com/2008/12/08/sat-essay/ http://leonardarceo.wordpress.com/2008/12/08/sat-essay/#comments Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:21:44 +0000 leonardarceo http://leonardarceo.wordpress.com/?p=35 ]]> So this piece is an SAT essay, where the question is somewhere along, “is fame good or bad?”. I actually enjoyed writing this, and I focused on mainstream celebrities, how a lot of people want to be famous but fame destructs them as well. I tried to have a “hooker” intro, and a conclusion that provokes the examiner.

Here it is :

Paris Hilton once again was put in jail for illegal possession of drugs, but this time, not only did she bring her Bible, she brought her pet Chihuahua as well! The Jonas Brothers have now matured, and they started dating the Pussycat Dolls instead of stars from Disney Channel! These may be the future headlines that we will see on tomorrow’s paper..

News today revolves around the private lives of the elite celebrities, those who are included in the “Hollywood Walk of Fame”. But is it worth giving up one’s privacy for money, which seems to be the measure of “success” for people, and not be happy? I think fame brings instant happiness but in the long run, it can be seen as decadence in life.

A perfect example of the corruption fame brings is the epic life of the one and only pop-princess, Britney Spears. She had a prolific future waiting for her; a blooming career that everyone predicted will last longer than Cher’s, enough money to supply her and the next 5 generations of Spears, and a perfect boyfriend, who was equally successful as her multi-million career. But as obstacles started to come her way her life started to crash, faster than the stocks plummeting after the Enron Scandal. And because of her status in the entertainment world, every tiny aspect of her life was magnified.

Fame contributed to her deranged actions, making her give in to the immense pressure of the public. An hour later, you can even read the latest ongoing about her on Perez Hilton’s site! That’s how fast word travels around in the business. It wouldn’t be called the entertainment industry for nothing. Celebrities’ lives become “entertainment” to the now media-obsessed generation.

The media blows everything out of proportion and this causes some A-listers to commit erratic acts. What if Ms. Spears lived in a countryside, populated with only about 500 people and she was left alone by the buzzing pack of paparazzi? No one would have cared if she shaves her head every other day! People lose their sympathy for Britney just because her private life doesn’t exist and she exposes everything to the world. People treat her as source of entertainment, not as human. And because of this, respect is lost and everything she has done in the past is overlooked.

Imagine the effect of all these gossips going around. Do we really blame Britney Spears for shaving her haid, or do we blame the public for expecting a little too much from her? She has gone through rehabilitations and coaching, but the effect of being famous took its toll on her. She can never be the same Britney as she once was because of fame getting in her head too much.

Someone’s private life is the emergency exit of humans, as we try to escape from the fiery eyes of the society. But without our own space, we do not have this comfort zone that we know we can keep coming back to. Fame definitely eradicates the purpose of privacy. It can take over someone’s life and drive it down to its grave. Let’s hope that Britney Spears won’t be singing “Oops I Did It Again” anytime soon.

This is a very complicated, but quite interesting to write, sestina poem. The whole point is, the 6 words that end each stanza had to be repeated in a certain pattern all throughout the poem, with 69 lines in total.  This recreates a spiraling illusion and imagery that makes the poem really interesting, but also hard to write because it limits what you can write. I also recorded myself reading the poem and can be found at the bottom of the post, so please enjoy!

Soldier Boy

Tears

trickled slowly from his dark green eyes. The soldier boy

coiled up in the deep

corner of his room, beyond where the moon’s luminescence could reach. His soul

felt empty. He closed his eyes and started to run

against the incessant glowing light, where maybe there was hope.

But there wasn’t – there was no hope

that could have brought respite to his tears.

He continued to run,

towards the nothingness that was ahead of the soldier boy.

He realized that doing what he did sold his soul

to the devil, and he didn’t think deep

before doing it. He unobtrusively dragged the knife deeper

than he had hoped.

His undaunted soul

was unscathed from what he did, but stream of tears

kept flowing out from the soldier boy.

He ran

and ran

into the deep

dark abyss of his nightmare. All he could hear was a helpless boy,

screaming for an inch of hope.

Tears

from his green eyes started to covered his soul.

He thought maybe his victim did not have a soul,

after all, the victim did not run,

and no tears

were shed. The victim’s deep

brown eyes were transfixed to his soon-to-be shattered hope,

for no one could have destroyed it but the green-eyed soldier boy.

The image of the brown-eyed stagnant boy

slowly ate his soul,

yet he had a bit of hope

that he could run

away from his sin. His deep

green eyes could not stop making tears.

Maybe someday, tears will stop falling from the boy,

because deep in his soul,

he started to run out of hope.

click here to listen to me reading the sestina

A Breathtaking Aspiration for AIDS

Published: December 1, 2008

It sounds too good to be true, and it may prove to be so in the real world, but researchers at the World Health Organization have come up with a suggestion to drastically reduce the transmission of AIDS and virtually halt the widening epidemic in Africa within a decade.

On this 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day, after repeated failures to create an effective vaccine, the provocative “thought experiment” at least lifted our spirits.

The analysts developed a mathematical model to predict what would happen if most adults and adolescents were tested every year for the virus that causes AIDS and those who tested positive were immediately treated with antiretroviral drugs instead of waiting until their immune systems were depressed, as is now policy.

The results, described last week in The Lancet, a British medical journal, were remarkable. Transmission of the virus from infected individuals to others could be driven so low as to be nearly eliminated within a decade, largely because the drugs would drastically reduce the amount of virus in their blood and genital secretions.

Whether this could work in practice is problematic. It is not clear how one could persuade people who are not feeling sick to get tested every year and to undergo long-term drug therapy if they test positive. The cost of testing and treating so many people would be high. And the drugs can be toxic with prolonged use. Their effectiveness can be undermined if resistant strains of the virus develop.

But the aspiration is compelling. In the long run, the researchers estimate, this approach could actually be cheaper than the current practice of waiting to treat victims until their infection has reached an advanced stage. AIDS activists are cautiously optimistic that the endless battles over whether to emphasize treatment or prevention could be leapfrogged by a combined approach that used drug treatments to prevent transmission.

At the moment, nobody is recommending the new approach, but the W.H.O. will convene a meeting to discuss its implications. If the resources can be found, it would be worth testing the theory in a suitable area.

Here you is the article from the NY TIMES website:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/01/opinion/01mon3.html

Last year, we had to write a piece where we express our hate towards something, and write with a very strong voice and not worrying about organization or grammatical conventions. This was fun for me to write, because I really like to just write things as they come out of my head and not worry about anything else but the word choice. I wrote about College Apps and how this can potentially ruin someone’s senior year. Anyways have fun!

College Apps Process

Spending a whole year to prepare for something miniscule as college applications is a total, TOTAL waste of time. Worrying about the aggravation every student has to go through deteriorates students in their senior year. Every single senior I have met and talked to seem to undergo this unnecessary difficulty and it seems like it sucks life out of them. Students cannot even focus on their education anymore, but they put all their energy into creating this perfectly crafted one page essay that needed to be created 8 times (depending on how many colleges you apply, the more, the merrier right?). Instead of making memories and building stronger relationships with your friends, everyone tends to stop hanging out with each other and stays home consuming the whole weekend, corrupting their minds in finishing their college applications. Not only that, seniors have to got through the stress of SATs, APs, exams, and on top of that, tons of homework given by teachers. It is hard to understand why college application reviewers always want the most perfect ones and expect each applicant to survive life at the same time.

Who created things such as the Ivy League? Why do we have to strive into getting in them when maybe the only reason we want to go there just because of their name? Why is it better to say , “hey, I’m from Harvard,” when we’re supposed to be saying, “Hey, I wasted my senior year just to get in Harvard, and it’s not even as pretty as it is in their website?” Why can’t all universities be the same, give the exact lesson, so there will be fair competition in finding jobs? So my question is, is it worth to waste one of the most important year of our teenage life just to get into a school that is fancied up in their brochures and was photoshopped in their website? Do we choose to believe this superficial images universities try to feed us and suffer in spending numerous hours in applying to their college? Not only that, imagine the total cost of this whole process. First the tuition we pay for our school that is literally being thrown away because of the students focusing more towards applications, and all the payments for AP exams, AP textbooks, SAT fees, and even the money that we spend to go and visit the colleges, airfares, food and accommodations, all these adding for a “better future”. Screw better future, instead why can’t we donate the money to the poor to create a better economy for the third world country? So if I ask you whether to go through this process or donate, what would you choose, you or the kids starving in Africa where they are dying because of malnutrition? Which do you think gives a “better future”?

A BIG FAT F, also known as 0.00 in the GPA scale. It is nothing but a singular letter that burns through the page of your report card, right next to an effort grade of 3. Getting an F and a 3 is like suicide in the world of academics. But we should question ourselves; since when did a bunch of letters and numbers define our future into getting accepted in our “dream” college? And why would we even want to go to an institution where you as an individual are judged by a set of digits and put on this numeric scale of hierarchy, as if this truly defines you as a student? It is an unassailable fact that high school students at ASIJ are more concerned with getting a high grade in a class than actually learning the “stuff”, the “stuff” that people used to value, people like Newton, Einstein, and Leonardo. Now where did those kinds of people go?

The GPA system is not a reliable measure of students’ exemplarity. Academic establishments should not, I repeat, should not use the GPA system as an initial source. Its brevity and ambiguousness should not be trusted for it is often misleading and sometimes, wrong.

Consider this, one student is getting an 89.9% in, let’s say Writing Workshop, while another student is only getting a low 86%. There is a difference of almost 4% between students A and student B, but yet, they would get the same Grade Point Average equivalence of 3.33. Now is this fair, cognizant of the fact that student A, who is getting a 89.9%, is trying so hard but barely made the 90 percentile range, compared to student B, who did not put in as much effort as student A? This is one of the biggest problems of the generalization enforced by the GPA system. The gaps between each letter grade vary significantly and it is unjust to block both in the same 3.33 category. What if student A hypothetically gets a uniform 89.9% in all of his subjects? Is it still fair to say his GPA is a 3.33, when he is tenth of a percent close to getting a GPA of 3.67?

Another controversial issue with the GPA system is the additional .5 point for every AP or Honors course offered. Don’t get me wrong, this extra .5 is like God’s gift to students, but it just doesn’t logically make any sense. Since when in a scale of 0 to 4 is it possible to get a GPA of 4.25? The enormity of its effect makes the system apocryphal with a paucity of relevance.

Although it is truly impossible to simplify a student’s academic strength and weaknesses in a number or two, I think it is important to not have a GPA score, but rather have an average of the actual percentage of students’ grades, which is a more reflective value of a student’s excellence, or failure. Also, to solve the issue about students taking harder classes receiving extra ”points”, why can’t there be a system where it specifically addresses in report cards how many AP or Honors classes a student is taking; this way it eliminates all the ambiguousness of the grade. Most importantly, I find it essential to include a student’s work ethic in report cards for universities to see. With this acknowledged, it will differentiate those who are actually “good” students from those who do not try, and this will help universities to select students right for their institution.

In the end, the GPA is nothing but a number grade, although a lot relies on this digit. Universities are primarily depending on GPA to determine a student’s academic capacity, but this alone isn’t a good enough of measure

Book Cover of Truth and Beauty

This is a Destiny Review we had to write for a non-fiction book we read. I read the book Truth and Beauty, and below, you can read a little tid bit about the content and what I thought of it.

The book Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett stunningly unveils a friendship between two women in the midst of what seems to be a never-ending obstacle. The book will take you in a journey between 2 writers; Lucy Grealy, a girl who struggles in accepting who she is and constantly seeks approval from others, and Ann Patchett, a self-dependent woman who’s character compliment’s Lucy Grealy’s. I think this book successfully focuses on a friendship that doesn’t necessarily revolve around the balance of give-and-take, but more on how two individuals adjust accordingly to fit each other’s need. Truth and Beauty is an easy-to-read book, having a friendly tone and a warm-welcoming voice.

]]> http://leonardarceo.wordpress.com/2008/11/18/my-destiny-review/feed/ 0 leonardarceo Book Cover