Night Owling

NIGHT OWLING 

        Highschool and even college exams are right around the corner, and time becomes a student's worst, benevolent enemy; however there is a group of rather unique students who had already tackled that issue a long time ago - they're called Night Owls. A night owl is a person who circumvents sleeping before midnight. Night owls have, unfortunately, faced much controversy, being accused of breaking the natural rules of sleeping. They being a Night Owl is unnatural and deleterious, but with having the same, adequate amount of sleep every day, is it really eccentric or is it just unique?

           According to an ABC News article ", Night Owls May Face Higher Heart Risk", studies have proven that staying up till midnight could instigate many HEART DISEASES that could be fatal. Dr. Yu Misao divided a group of healthy men based on their daily sleep patterns, and conducted a study of both groups, concluding that Night Owls are more prone to heart diseases, although, he did not find any concrete scientific evidence behind his theory. According to another leading medical director at the Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans, La, Dr Chip Lavie, staying up late at night could also be responsible for corpulence as she contends ", Certainly, lack of sleep would have other adverse effects [both] directly and indirectly -- while not sleeping, is one munching on fatty, sugary foods, drinking alcohol, smoking, inhaling secondhand smoke in bars?" I agree with Lavie's claim that instead of sleeping at a time when one is awake while other people actually sleep many wrong things could happen, but it is highly unlikely that every Night Owl drinks and smokes his life out at 3 in the morning.
           Just because the media portrays some acts as to being the very optimum, certain things could be done uniquely and sleeping at different times is no exception. One should consider grave yard shifts chosen by various people. My parents, for example, had decided to work at a grave yard shift schedule. They for a fact did not come back home drunk or lethargic in any ways. The idea that sleeping at night and working in the morning had been established by our very early ancestors who struggled with hunting at night; however, today technology rules the world. We are able to provide our selves with light at a click of a button!

Strength in Ants

Being as old as slavery and forming “superorganisms” in the shape of colonies, this kind of insect – the ant – is deemed to be some of the many insects that carry underestimated strength. Ants, that also (unfortunately) practice slavery, have also conquered almost the entire world. For these very reasons, I chose to take a shot of this ant that I found. NOTE: This was not normal sized; it was as long as a quarter. I also believe that the ant could have died due it being unable to extricate itself from a hair and also because of an insect repellent. The size of the ant itself – being noticed from a distance – and the way it apparently fought for its life inspired me to choose this picture as well.

Teenage Struggle

    The True Path of Early "Love"

        Being around many distractions makes it difficult for students to circumvent themselves around and to their main goals. One of these distractions is the need to have a relationship with the opposite sex. It has become rather a necessity more than an actual willingness.
     Many reasons could explain this, such as the imminent prom and a way to mitigate so-called "third wheeling." Of course, many could object on the grounds that most of the students in a relationship have a great sense of balance when it comes to time, but are those students inundating themselves with AP classes? Or are they just taking the easy route? As Harry from When Harry Met Sally put it ", men and women can't be friends." This is to say modern society has actually made it hard for themselves to have a plain-old form of friendship without any sexual desires getting in the way.

Early high school relationship are almost never successful.

    So how should students pursuing their erudite goals deal with these forms of distractions? Should they wait until college? Or should they try to find a balance of time despite the other pressures exerted on them from AP and other challenging classes?
    The only optimum choice students should choose is waiting until college to find the "one." One of the reasons and one of the main ideas students should think about is the fact that early relationships are often easily interrupted or hinder due many issue, such as going to different universities and simply moving.
 
This concept can be learned rather inadvertently through experience, but why take the lessons when it is already apparent?

Panacea

Panacea

Panacea is a word that inundates our world with anticipation - a word that has found its place in conversations concerning major issues of our own creations, but has unsuccessfully proven its own definition.

Panacea defines herself as the primary universal cure, the elixir, and the “magic bullet,” yet she has failed to eradicate the components of what we expound to be our world’s major foibles. Cancer. War. Drought. We place further pressure by expecting Panacea to cure all of these exacerbated issues that could only be cured by an omnipotent entity. However, with all her silent cries and mythical reality, she has planted hope in our relentless world - hope for world peace and the demise of many benevolent diseases.

Panacea’s main mission is to peacefully kill her adversary - “Problems” and she is a long way from reaching that mission. She has become akin to the reputedly “unicornish 9-point essays” Ms. Bisera talks about except the fact that Panacea has been deemed to be the witch's potion - a fantasy with absolutely no possibility. Thus, it is of no stupefaction that the goddess of universal remedy was named after Panacea.

Panacea, successfully assimilating herself on the lips of many, has proven herself to be fluid with her name’s pronunciation. When we speak of Panacea, we are overcome with a satisfying sensation - a sensation that is rather parallel to that of sleeping and melting into a huge marshmallow. A sensation with all chicanery and fluidness that it tricks our very mind into thinking that it is afloat over all its surrounding issues. Beginning with a soft “P,” the pronunciation of “Panacea” could further be inferred to being serene and light, which fills the gaps that stress instigates in one’s minds. 
Although our contemporary issues rather tell us a different story, today with all our hope our thirsty world awaits the emergence of Panacea that would replace the word “problems” and transform it into history. Of course, apparent facilitation is required, but the real question is are we committed to maintain the major changes that Panacea would gift us?

The Difference Between "Organic" and "Natural"

The way society categorizes unique foods into natural and organic proves the naivity of the very way people think about the food industry. Concern revolving healthy foods have been drawn from as early as the early 1900s when Upton Sinclair wrote and published The Jungle, which  described the very unsanitary environment of the meat-packing industry. Theodore Roosevelt, who was interested in Sinclair’s work, took legal actions and developed policies for sanitation, such as the Pure Food and Drug Act. Although society proceeds in labeling different food products as “natural,” the government should not focus on such issues regarding the regulation of the term's usage because all food is natural. In other words, components used to make “organic” food are all derived from earth.
Society itself is finding it difficult to distinguish between the two terms "organic" and "natural"  because it had once decided to link such words with food. Saying that a hamburger is not "natural" is very tantamount to saying that paper is not made from trees. Robert Lustig, endocrinologist and member of the Institute for Health Policies, encourages the Food and Drug Administration to define the term. In one part of his article, Lustig explains that even ingredients such as high-fructose corn syrup "came from corn that is technically "natural" - but the finished product was made in a lab." Although corn gets added with other products that are also digestible, it does not mean that the product as a whole becomes "unnatural." This is goes with the process of including sugar aswell.
G.M.O’s or Genetically Modified Organisms tend to receive a rather deleterious rap for the way they are grown more than any other products that society deems to be “organic.” According Doug van Hoewyk, an associate professor at Coastal Carolina University, claims in his aricle, “Calling GMO’s Unnatural Suggests They Are Unhealthy” claims that several scientific associations have “attested to the safety of GMO crops” as there is scientific evidence that suggests that they are not harmful for consumption. Although some people could argue that this process is “unnatural,” this process is “natural” as it only uses technology as a catalyst. Reasons to omit the word “natural” from various products include the fact G.M.Os are innocuous when ingested as Hoewyk claims through his research and the very process of genetic food engineering utilizes a miniscule part of a specific crop to begin the process.The process of genetically growing a crop should not be faced with much controversy as it is also homogenous to the very way crops grow by themselves.
Society obtains the misconception that everything that is said to be "unnatural" is deleterious; however, does not matter as everything is in actuality natural. A definition for "natural" can never be established, even if the F.D.A becomes involved because what the media writes and conveys about different foods and their effects. It is also because every component is "natural" nevertheless of the preservatives added.

The American Dream is Not Dead

                The American Dream - the idea of rising from poverty or by several means and reaching the ultimate goal of comfort and wealth had been ingrained into American culture ever since the 1920’s when comfort and wealth seemed to be very possible and contemporary. However, in this era, many feel as if the American Dream was never a reality and is driving to its very demise. I, on the other hand, agree with those who believe that the American Dream is a very real concept that is in process daily. Living examples such as Jim Carrey, who is currently a very successful comedian and many famous celebrities have once shared their stories of their achievement of the American Dream.
                 Jim Carrey, according to an interview with James Lipton, was living a life of poverty desperately looking for jobs and a way of living. When his father “lost his job that’s when everything fell apart.” Carrey also stated that him and his family “went from lower middle class to poor.” This kind of disaster and incident is very common among families who are making a living through jobs that require no form of education and Carrey’s family was one of them. Carrey even went through many psychological challenges where he would be “so angry” that he “just wanted to beat the heck out of something.” Of course, some people could say that something such as that is not possible as he himself is a very facetious, but it is however true, as his humor is what bolstered his hope for a better lifestyle. His father, according to an article in Wikipedia, planned a stage act in a comedy club called Yik Yaks, and that was the very first step in Carrey’s journey to success. Other very daily examples of the American Dream are immigrants who struggle to stabilize their lives after a major alteration.
I, myself, am living the American Dream. Coming from the United Arab Emirates on July 16th 2013, my family was initially relying on government support; however, after a long time of learning about how the U.S works and about the very opportunities available my parents managed to find satisfying jobs. Some people could say that because my family rose through government support, my family and I should not be considered as people who live American Dream; however, achieving the American Dream is all about capturing opportunities. The government support that was available was not fully supporting my family. Families in the New Deal and the Civil Rights Era experienced similar experiences in the way they reached the American Dream, as Stephanie Cortez - who teaches at Evergreen State College - includes claims in source B. According to Cortez, ignored races or foreigners grew through "hard work" that "increasingly did pay off." Cortez even highlights the importance of the American Dream by advocating such strugling groups at the end of her article. Although people like Daniel J Mitchel believe that limiting the economic boundries of the government will help keep the American dream - in source F - I believe that much governmental support and involvement will help strugling families on their feet and I myself am a living example of its effects.  Illegal Mexican immigrants are living the American Dream. Passing through a blazing desert and escaping cartels, in their eyes is the main goal. I am not supporting illegal immigration; however, the very idea of the American Dream should be looked upon all aspects through various facets even if it includes illegal action. One example of such process of reaching the American Dream is Louis Bloom in the movie Night Crawler.

                    Louis Bloom, in Night Crawler, survived through theft until he stumbled into the idea of being a cameraman for the news. His background is not fully explained in the movie; however, he captures the very opportunities presented to him, such as learning the internet. Deeming himself as a very fast learner he instantly made a great reputation as a successful camera man. He did meet some obstacles which he circumvented through immoral and illegal actions. It did not matter at the end, however, because he established his very own industry of cameramen. Many people could argue that Night Crawler is a only a movie that holds no connection to the world; however, according to an LA times article“, Movie fiction mirrors fact for L.A’s real life ‘nightcrawlers’” the movie is very accurate in the way it portrays camera men.
                 The idea of the American Dream is a fact. The dream should not even be called an “American” one as it is happening world wide. Thinking that the American Dream is a lie means leaving hope for a better future that is bolstered by motivation to become impeccable.