Advice

The question is 'what is the best advice you have given or someone has given you?'
I think that the best advice I've ever recieved came from my DARE class when I went to St. Paul's. Our DARE officer came in every so often when we were in fifth grade. I still remember the class when we were talking about personal choices. Our officer told us that every single thing in life that we do, we do because we want to do it. We do volunteer service because we want to. We do our homework because we want to. We are mean to people because we want to. We skip school because we want to. His advice to us was to want the right things. If we wanted to have a successful life, then we would want to go to school and get good grades. If we wanted others to be happy, then we would be kind and help others. He told us that people who make the wrong choices are doing what they want only within the moment, and not thinking further ahead. I always remember this advice, because sometimes I've had a long day and I think 'I really don't want to go to school tomorrow,' but it only takes me a little while to decide, yes, I really do.

Take home art assisgnment

    In drawing class we had a take-home art assignment to do a pen and ink drawing of an object around the house.... Well everything in my house is boring so I drew one of the fancy hats in the art room :). It was pretty fun to draw, but i messed up on the netting big time. I didn't spend as much time on it as I should have, and it could look a little better, but I pretty much got results equal to my effort which is good. The next take-home assignment is to draw something symmetrical. I have a feeling I'm going to hate this assignment.

The Help

Right now I am reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett, and it has been a good read so far. It's set in the 60's in Mississippi and it's about three women. One of them is the help for a family with their first child. The other woman is a maid who lost her job because she back-talks too much. The last woman is a white woman who wants to write a book about what it's like to be a colored maid working for a white family. The book is great in general, but is also good for learning more about segregation because of all the historical details the author includes. There are a lot of books written about the unequal treatment of races in the south, so sometimes it's a little redundant after you've read a  few. But I actually really like this book, maybe just because it's very well written. The other books I've read about these issues during the same time period are Devil on my Heels, and the Secret Life of Bees (which is also a great movie).

Pen and Ink

For drawing class, we have an at-home assignment to draw something in pen and ink. It has to be an observational drawing, but I'm trying to think of something good to draw because pen and ink is my favorite medium, along with water colors. I love how super detailed you can get with the different size pen tips, or nibs. I like the flexible tips for more variation in lines, but the stiffer ones are good for clean drawings. My favorite part though, is the true black you can get with the ink. It puts great contrast between the black and white. Pencils can go pretty dark, but you can never really get the same saturated black that you can with ink. You can also switch it up by doing white ink on black paper, and so focusing on the negative spaces of the drawing, which can lead to some pretty interesting effects. The pics I put in have good examples of details like cross-hatching and stippling. I'm asking a lot of the AP art students to do pen and ink drawings, because they would look awesome in the Indigo Ink this year, because it will be in black and white. The cover this year will also be a pen and ink drawing. I'm excited to do my drawing and see my classmates' results and encourage them to submit to Indigo Ink!

TAG- A to Zen

     In our TAG class, we received a list of A to Zen (each letter of the alphabet representing something), and are supposed to comment on two of them. The one that I liked the most was probably C: consider things from every angle. This is definitely something that everybody should try to incorporate more into their daily lives. This includes seeing the other side of an argument, sympathizing with somebody by looking into their point of view, and being less judgemental of others, and instead trying to understand them as a person. When I saw the list I thought this was probably one of the most important, because if everyone followed it, it would eliminate so many issues. There would be less arguments and fights, everyone would be able to understand each other, and there would be less stereotypes.Sometimes it's hard to consider a subject, or idea, from another angle. Especially so for kids. They haven't had all of the experience that older people have, and they find it hard to see from an adults point of view. Remember the saying 'you'll understand when you're older'? It can also be hard for adults to relate to their children, or younger people. This also goes for people of different backgrounds, people from different countries, etc. It can be frustrating when another person doesn't understand the same concepts that you do. But it is so important to make the effort to make a connection by looking at things from a different angle. And even if it you don't agree with a person, at least you will understand their point of view and that will give you more respect for that person, and hopefully vice versa. (awww)

B- Believe in yourself- This is the other concept that really stood out to me. It's probably one of the most overused (hackneyed :P) sayings, but for a good reason. If you don't believe in yourself, then you won't have any self confidence, and if you don't have any self confidence, then you are a sad person. If you believe in yourself, you will have the confidence to know that you can do whatever you want, and you will reach for greater goals and have better self-motivation. Believing in yourself helps you to be more outgoing and driven. If you don't believe in yourself, then how can you expect others to? You would have low expectations of yourself and never feel the need to heighten those expectations. This ideal is definitely necessary to grow as a person. I think kids start off with a lot of self-confidence, but as they grow up they go through many changes that they're not used to, and it causes them to lose confidence. As a person matures, the goal is to gain back all that self confidence in order to be a functional person. I think this one is really important, because believing in yourself allows you to stand up for yourself and your ideas, and to be the best you can be.

Elegantees

Elegantees.com is an online boutique created by Katie Behnke. She grew up in Sherrill, Iowa, a small town near Dubuque, but moved to New York to start her dream of having her own fashion line. Her line's slogan is 'The marriage of elegant and tees.' She has a lot of really awesome shirts that have subtle and cool designs. I own two of her shirts, and I really love them. But here's the best part about buying from Katie's online store: the profits of the sales go to an organization to fight sex trafficking. The shirts are a great price for how high quality they are and the ones I have are super comfy :). Katie also feels very strongly about modesty, and creates modest and stylish looks. She came out with a dress line too, so be sure to check out her website (elegantees.com). She also has a facebook page, and a blog called 'Katie's modest style'. And don't be afraid to splurge, because the profits go to a good cause ;)

p.s. That's Katie in the photos, she models a lot of her own clothing

First Woman Doctor

So this is my first assigned post for my TAG class. The question is, if you could travel through time and talk to a prominent historical figure, who would you choose and why?
Wellllll.... I would have to say Elizabeth Blackwell; the first woman doctor. I've been thinking a lot more lately about the medical field what with my Nurse Aide classes and thinking about college. Being in medical isn't a pretty job and it takes true dedication to decide its what you want to do with your life. Its definitely not a job for the squemish. So I think its really admirable that Blackwell wanted to be a doctor so much that she worked so hard to be allowed to practice as a woman doctor. There were so many easier jobs she could have taken, but she chose a challenging one, and on top of it came the task of convincing people to let her practice even though she was a woman. It would be very revealing to meet her and talk to her and ask her what her motivation was- what drove her to strive for the top. In a time when the only reason women went to college was to find a husband, Blackwell did exceedingly well by becoming the first woman to graduate from medical school.