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Chut Wutty, a Cambodian forest activist wrongly killed, will be sorely missed by his supporters. His intention was to preserve a massive old-growth forest located in South-east Asia named Prey Lang, and he didn’t hesitate to risk his life doing so.  This week’s article, ‘A Cause – and Questions – in Cambodia’ by Matt McCan, definitely told us a problem we had no idea of. The article mentioned Chut Wutty’s death, which was caused by Cambodian military members.  A question I immediately thought of was: Why was he killed even though he was trying his best to save the world?

The government insisted they were trying to save the forest – boundaries were made, and no news came. But why did the government make it so obvious that they were chopping down the forest? Chainsaws were noisily destroying the forest for resources: the government had lied to their people.  I understand how money and resources can appear more important than the truth, but I had no idea lying could reach this extent. People in charge of a country have huge responsibilities – I discovered that trust sometimes comes too quickly. Didn’t the Cambodian government care for the indigenous people living in the forest, or the beauty and importance of trees?  Even though I support Chut Wutty’s ideas, I know I can’t save all the forests by myself right now – but I really believe nature is the best thing the world can give us.  Without nature, the air we breathe and food we eat will all be contaminated far worse than it is now.

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‘“This was a fight he was willing to A) die for, and B) and more importantly, this was what he was going to live for,” Mr. Young said.’ This sentence from an interview in the article was extremely strong to me. It shows how focused Chut Wutty was to protect nature from the greed of people. He stood up for a human right: respecting and being aware of the environment. He’d stubbornly tried to share his knowledge with the government, but with no success. Reading the article brought me suspicion and hesitation to trust people – I’d never know who was a good or bad person until I found out the hard way. Based on the current environmental situation, I believe the best thing we can do to carry on Chut Wutty’s efforts would be to reduce the amount of pollution we produce, conserve water and electricity, and simply love our world. Slowly, we will definitely make a difference.

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Human rights declare that anyone anywhere has the right to maintain their belongings and their privacy. Apparently, not everyone is aware. Recently, an appalling problem hit the capital of Bangladesh – in Dhaka, one of the city’s most populated slums was ordered to be knocked down. The article I read this week informed me of the power a government can have over their people. The first question I thought of was how even though human rights state that there should be equality between each person, power and wealth still comes before it all. Do government lives have more value than a massive number of regular people? Poor citizens who can’t afford shelter after the slums are destroyed would be forced into the streets, with nowhere to stay and nothing to own. Even with the money and authority the government has over slum dwellers, worrying about the future of their people’s lives would be the lawful and fairest thing to do.

‘…[s]everal hundred people from the Korail slum staged a sit-in on the airport road, bringing traffic to a standstill. They agreed to move after the district administration announced the evictions would stop, for now.’  This was what happened after countless slum houses had been destroyed. People decided to silently but forcefully protest against the administration, and it had worked. I thought this was such a great idea, because no violence was involved, but the slum dwellers affected the movement of Dhaka’s people as well as the government’s choice of removing the slums.

Something extremely ironic is how Dhaka’s richest families lived right beside the slum, and despite how close their houses are, they are so very different from each other. They also probably never see – or want to see – each other. However, no matter how different the amount of money they have is, they are all equally important. Human rights may be optional rules, but they are the closest thing to the truth.

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Google has struck yet again.  Some people might think this new invention is amazing – some might think it’s dangerous. Our weekly article was based on Project Glass, Google’s new technology project, which is revolving around the idea of a simple pair of spectacles that have the exact functions of a smartphone. Simply by using voice commands or eye movements, you have the ability of controlling icons and interacting with what you see on the lenses. ”In addition to smartphone functionality, however, the Google glasses attempt to interact with the world that it sees in front of and around the wearer, “augmenting” or supplementing the reality that the wearer experiences”. The article flashed all these untouched, unusual functions of the new invention, and I knew it would certainly capture the whole world’s attention. The moment I heard of this new idea, I was stunned, just like everyone else. I’d had a nudging feeling something like this would happen someday, due to the lightning speed technology was currently developing at. It somehow seemed like a much more solid, realistic idea once the idea was actually brought to life. The invention of the seemingly perfect spectacles made me recall and question a single fact: can humans really make the impossible possible?

Technology is developing faster every minute, and people are repeatedly awestruck at every invention that companies produce. Personally, I think this is a bad thing. We are growing overly dependent on technology, and I often feel like I don’t even need any of the newest gadgets – Ipads, 3D televisions, or even a pair of these glasses. Won’t people become so lazy and unwilling to move an inch from our rooms, since we already have anything we could possibly need all in one gadget? Even ordering food or buying online products wouldn’t require us to stand up at all. I believe living with the existing technology is already enough, and I wholeheartedly think people shouldn’t solely fill the planet with gadgets and encourage people to live their lives online. The natural world around us should be embraced too, and although technology can provide anything we want to learn, the biggest, most basic step will always be understanding how to live in the real world.

My goal for the 4th quarter would be the same one I had in the previous semester – raising my Algebra grade, while keeping my other class grades consistently high. Even though my goals in 8th grade have nearly always stayed the same, I didn’t exactly follow my goal last quarter, and I really let myself down. This quarter, before the end of the year, concluding my grade on a positive note would be very important.

How I will achieve this goal is by focusing on studied throughout classes and while doing homework. More time always leads to more effort, and I am determined to receive high results for my tests. Every weekend, I would spend some time for reviewing and asking peers or siblings about problems I don’t fully understand, until my knowledge of algebra is enough for me to be confident about myself. and my abilities.

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My other goal outside of school would be practicing my violin, preparing for my upcoming violin exam in June. Being unprepared is the last thing I’d want for my exam, so setting this goal might encourage me to practice more and work towards achieving the best scores that can prove my musical capabilities.

She saw the illusion of hope
Like light through the keyhole
Shining into the darkened closet
Where she was crouched.

No one remonstrated her presence
No one knew she was there.
She was apt to avert herself
From the temporal world of nighttime.

The house was humbly silent
As inactive as a sleeping stone -
Except for that one vigilant mother
Who dragged her out by the ear.

‘Mother, I didn’t mean to hide in anxiety
Or possess such a mind of contempt
I beseech you to hear my reasons
For my insidious act.’

‘All that my sentiments wished for
Was a bedtime later than usual.
In what way does this justify injustice
When my eyes speak no hint of exhaustion?’

‘Awake, I can fulfill greatness.
Asleep, I am reserved by blackness.
Awake, I can acquire the world in my grasp,
Asleep, I am supinely mindless.’

The mother allowed her offence to melt
And retired away in alarm
Leaving nothing but her dissolving footsteps
And the tiny child in the closet.

The speech of Patrick Henry overflowed with energy and persuasion. His words enhanced his ideas, showing his persisting need of all the colonies’ support. He had no intention to hold back on voicing his own beliefs, and his speech came out as a true confession of his plan of rebellion. One specific and most convincing strategy Patrick Henry used in his speech was accusing his audience of their idleness and lack of dedication to battle and drive the British away: “[s]hall we acquire the means of effectual resistance, by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?” The blame would’ve caused a feeling of guilt to wash over the listening colonists. However, the guilt would come accompanied with growing spirit, because the force of Henry’s words were enough to spread both shame and courage.The crowd would’ve become aware of the injustice and determined to fight Britain for what they believed in, spurred by the strength and meaning of the speech.

In this case, I would definitely be willing to unite with Patrick Henry to put a stop to the endless  conflict with Britain, because I’d want to remain loyal to my country and appeal to Henry as a dependable fellow colonist. Fighting back seemed to be the only remaining option, and as he mentioned, the colonists’ countless strategies to end taxation always crumbled at Britain’s feet. This was partly true, since how many times did Britain attempt to tax Americans, and why hadn’t they given up? Winning the war would continue their unfair treatment no longer. After Henry’s speech, he surely would’ve gained heaps of supporters who had quietly thought the same thing in their own minds, but were scared to inform everyone, possibly because they believed the Americans were weak, too weak to overthrow the British. Patrick Henry lifted them all to their feet by assuring them that they were as powerful as they wished to be, and with the thirteen united colonies, the British would be forced to back down and give the colonists what they rightfully won back. “The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.”

“We can change all of humanity.”

The whole world is now aware of Joseph Kony – the man stated as the most dangerous, most powerful criminal. Only weeks ago, almost everyone was oblivious of this, including me. But after the Invisible Children community uploaded a video on Youtube, the news spread worldwide, and soon Kony was the only topic of discussion. The reason for his fame wasn’t because he’d done anything wonderful. He is a man hunting for children to abduct away from their families and join him as members of his personal army.

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Awareness was spread in the speed of light with the help of the fabulous video on Youtube. From my perspective, every minute of the video was captivating. I thought the modern effects and different scenes in the video could attract millions of people and a majority of teenagers to watch it and want to share it with other friends, since the high use of technology was something new to our eyes. The editors certainly knew how to play with special effects and contrasting moods in the video, because creativity and media are the greatest ways to spread information to any audience. There were heaps of agonizing photos and video clips of  Ugandan children that were very touching and certainly made people increasingly furious about the situation – but there were also pictures of Invisible Children supporters that brightened the dark problems and gave us all hope.  I was especially moved by the painful interviews with Jacob, one of the children who’d been a victim to Kony. Without hesitation, Jacob admitted he’d seen his brother killed right in front of him, and that hit me hard because it was something I couldn’t imagine could ever happen to anyone.

After watching the video, my first thought was that the problem with Kony might be because he wants more than he can have. He wants to preserve his great power and status by recruiting more rebels, and this is an act of uncontrollable greed. What Kony desires is a huge, undying amount of power, but his wrong belief is that his ambition can be achieved by performing illegal crimes. Stealing away children might be the most serious problem. Didn’t he consider using a civilized, human way to gain his power, such as working hard to earn money and class? Maybe Kony believed everyone’s fear of him made him the greatest, scariest person that nobody dared mess with.

Ruby (Wei-ju) Chen
Humanities 8
ESLR Writing
3/6/12

Inner Abilities

We are born, we grow older, and then we say goodbye to life. The truth might sound brief and negative, just like life may seem sometimes – but somewhere in between those three stages, you have time to achieve remarkable things. This belief is related to the five ESLRs: characteristics and attitudes of life that can help you find the best of your ability. ESLRs summarize many of the direct choices to make in order to improve yourself as an independent person. The five categories include Sense of Self, the act of developing and showing a confident and expressive nature; Respect For All, regarding and appreciating people of different nationalities or personalities for who they originally are; Academic Excellence, contributing time for education and striving for intellectual achievements; Balance in Life, maintaining a steady schedule of leisure and work; and Dedicated Service, owning awareness of the needs of the community and never hesitating to offer help. According to me, ESLRs apply to me in many different situations almost every day. I have been growing and learning consistently for over a decade, and the ESLRs also count as a topic I have had exposure to as a purposeful form of advice. A major part of my life is now related to appropriate actions and correct decisions, which the ESLRs help me realize.

One ESLR that encourages me to be considerate would be Respect For All. I’d grasped the idea of individuals believing each and every person should be treated as an equal, and I recognize this as a vital subject. All my life, I have studied in international schools with countless multi-cultural peers. In my own childhood not long ago, children used to be blinded by joy of simply earning playmates, preventing them from registering the vast differences in facial features or clashing personalities. To me, that will always be the purest, truest kind of devotion. Reality reminds us that good things never last. As soon as time flies by and the realization of differences floods in, people begin to notice the flaws in their surroundings and morph into groups of similarities. Fear of exclusion comes with no respect. While I grew up living in one environment after the other, racism was an uncommon problem in the passing years due to all our multi-cultural peers, but it still existed in many forms. Fortunately, I had – and still have – enough experience to push aside the wrong choices and understand that nobody should be judged by appearances alone. My related belief is that everyone should be appreciated for both their perfections and their imperfections, because real friendship and trust comes from respect. I easily accept people and friends of different cultures and personalities, because I am fully aware of how special the rest of the world is.

An additional ESLR that appears often in my personality is Balance in Life. In my case, this was an ESLR of which I had discovered my weaknesses, strived for, and vastly improved on. In the first semester of 8th grade, I was oblivious of the fact that procrastination could take up hours of my time. Schoolwork was multiplying by the week, and was something I was concerned about. Time became essential, but my error was how I chose to spend it by considering my hobbies as a first priority. I soon discovered the ignorance of that idea, because the hours I saved for sleep had decreased rapidly and homework dragged me late into the night. It affected my health as well, since I found myself feeling exhausted and worn out almost every day. Realizing my mistakes made me aware that my life was unstable and could easily fall apart. I decided to organize the separate pieces of my days and fit them into a new agenda in order to lead a more meaningful, beneficial life. Academics became one of my main focuses, because I understood time management and how nothing would seem complete unless there was effort involved. The select classes I had apart from school – violin and Mandarin – also turned out to be important to me as both entertainment and an effective stress-increasing strategy, because I understood how all the subjects in which I gain experience could be somehow used in my future.

Sense of Self is an ESLR that builds my awareness of how I act in the presence of others. Everyone judges people by their actions, which promotes my idea of appearing respectful and having knowledge of how to behave in either major problems or good situations. Sense of Self also defines the ability of being confident and sure of oneself. I believe I have really learned from experience in various moments of my life, no matter if it is just a typical day at school or during a strong disagreement with my sibling. It all takes courage and the certainty of my personal opinion. Throughout my years in school so far, I took risks that involved things as simple as volunteering for a role in an elementary performance, or stepping out to represent my grade by giving a speech to parents. To me, all those acts had been big risks and I was petrified with fear every time, but my efforts slowly nudged away any shyness or obstacles in my path towards bravery, leaving me surprised to observe how much more daring I could become after each involvement.

With all these main characteristics and behaviors by my side, I could figure out the right and wrong parts of life by asking myself one question: Am I a successful person? I assumed an effective strategy of motivation would be to set a goal for myself, based on the five categories of the ESLRs. My goal for this year, 2012, would be to adopt more focus and determination for the important events that are sure to happen someday, such as exams and schoolwork or organizing future activities for a community. This is because I often feel like events could possibly turn out a thousand times better than how they actually resulted, so I want to make that change possible to create a difference between my past and my future. The ESLRs might not have seemed clear to me in my younger years, but as soon as I was repeatedly exposed to them, I realized everything any parent or teacher encouraged me to learn simply revolved around these life skills. Success can never come without the ability to understand everything else that occurs in our single short life. Even if there are friends to surround you and parents to support you, the stages of growing up needs to be completed all by yourself in order to fully believe that your life is worth living and belongs to you completely.

People believe murder is only caused by criminals and villains, setting out for revenge against the world. Maybe they wanted to rebel; maybe they didn’t know who to trust anymore. What if kids and teenagers also thought killing was the right choice, in order to perfect their lives?

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The article I read this week informed us of a high school shooting that occurred in Ohio recently. The convict – to everyone’s shock – was a regular teenager who’d brought ammunition to school and murdered three strangers. My first reaction upon reading this article was curiosity, since I wanted to know what had caused this teenage boy to focus on killing anyone he set his eyes on first. As I continued to read about bullying and family issues that had happened in the killer’s life, I began to suspect the possible causes. His family members had endless troubles including his parents’ divorce. What stood out especially was his father, who’d been accused for unforgivable crimes in the past and had even been jailed. According to witnesses and classmates, the teenage murderer’s reputation in school had been dragged down by bullies throughout his life, even though friends were an option. What’s terrifying is that a person can appear to be perfectly innocent on the outside, while nobody knows what they’re really thinking deep down.

A part mentioned in the news article that I also thought was a little unusual was how in the killer’s life, every Facebook post was so public, and friends and relatives could simply read anything the teenage boy had posted. ‘ …a poem on his Facebook page that read: “He longed for only one thing, the world to bow at his feet,” and ended ominously: “Die, all of you.” ‘  This might not have meant anything to any of his peers just yet, but it dropped a massive hint for investigators once the shooting was over. The killer’s fate would end up in court to be discussed. To be honest, I can’t choose which team to side on. Even though the teenage boy had ended three lives, there could have been serious stories that nobody knew about except for himself.

Based on the given words for the Revolutionary War vocabulary project, I created a slideshow on a program named Photostory. My project effectively displays all the required words with accurate definitions, and background pictures that relate to the words. Another feature I included in my Photostory slideshow were images that I’d edited myself and made collages of, as a way to further describe the meaning of the vocabulary.

A part of my project I tried hard on were the photos I personally edited and morphed together, because it would be something original that stood out in my work. The results ended up being quite informative, as a big jumble of examples, and made my project look complete, not just a simple slideshow of pictures found on the internet.

Personally, I felt that the most difficult part of this project was managing my time, because I had to work late into the night to achieve and perfect my final product and make sure everything worked properly, the way I expected it to turn out. I might have chosen a form of display that wasn’t too simple, but I didn’t mind, because I thought it was one of the best ways to show the vocabulary.

Something I can improve on would be making sure I planned out the process of completing the project before I even begin, because I often find myself struggling to finish schoolwork that I was enjoying and working on too thoroughly. Another part that I believe can be better would be carefully checking everything over before I decide when I’m finished, because I always look back on my own project and discover something that could have been refined or edited.

The biggest part of my vocabulary slideshow project would actually be the process of learning several words related to the Revolutionary War, since I had to find proper definitions of all the vocabulary in order to help myself memorize the words and understand how to use them. If I hadn’t done separate research, I would’ve been confused with the word placements in sentences or whether they were nouns, verbs, or adjectives. The vocabulary was difficult to memorize the exact definitions, but I feel like I gave all my effort in the project.