This I Believe...

For our first unit in our Who Am I class, we were asked to make a podcast based off of the NPR series This I Believe... We studied famous philosophers and the definition of truth, plus memories and famous allegories. We listened to a few of the NPR podcasts to get some inspiration. We also had some Field Experiences to get us motivated for our projects. The FE  I got the most out of was our trip to St. Paul's House, which is a retirement home and rehabilitation center. We were split up and half of us went to speak with the elders, and the other half did a dance and movement class. I was in the dance and movement class. It was very interesting to see how different songs triggered different emotions in these elders who were very dependent on other people. We were asked to go deep back into our memories to find a specific thing we believe in and what experiences made us believe in this. I liked this project. It was very rewarding to go back in my memories to support what I believe. I didn't really learn a lot about myself because I have always known these things that are in my head. I think the hardest part was coming up with a substantial script to fit the time requirement. The most rewarding part as always, is just having it done and having one more action project on my blog.

This is my script:

My name is Claire and I am a freshman at GCE Lab School. In my limited years on this earth, I have been led to believe in many things, some for better and some for worse.

I distinctly remember the winter of 2008, my great grandmother died at the age of 97. I was 7 years old. This was the first time I had been up to Bayfield in the winter since we had moved. Bayfield is a tiny town on the most northern tip of Wisconsin where generations of my family including me, are from. I remember rolling into town late at night coming around the S-turn coming into town, and seeing some of the biggest icicles I had ever seen. I didn’t really understand the funeral, but we went out to explore a property for sale outside of town. I remember the snow being so deep it was up to my little waist. I thought it was magical and something I wanted to last forever. I have always had a fascination with snow, this is when I really realized it was right for me.

I believe that nature has the power to make me happy. Whenever I am in nature, I feel calm. I feel happy. I get inspired for the future. I think about my future home in the woods on a ranch, on an inland lake, running a veterinary clinic, having many animals and a loving husband. It is my idyllic life. This is what motivates me. I don’t like life right now, because of the stress and where I live. But thinking about my future is what motivates me. Knowing if I can just last a few more years, I can move out and study what I want and pursue what I want to. I also feel jealous, I wanted to have a childhood frolicing in the woods, playing in the streams, and swimming the biggest lake in the world. I sometimes resent to my parents for taking me away from that life. But I know I will go back soon.

I think I have always known that I am not a city person. The city provokes anxiety, stress, and dysfunction to me. I hate the sound of cars, the dirty streets, and the smells. When I’m in nature, I’m my best self. It represents opportunity, beauty, and bravery. Like I said, I have always felt this way for as long as I can remember, and I don’t think that will ever change.

This makes me question why I thought that the Northwoods was the right place for me. Truth may change as I or another person changes. Plato and Socrates were known for believing in universal truth, I could vouch for that. Plato said that many different factors influenced a person’s truth, yet truth is universal and are determined right or wrong for different people. He said that no matter where a person is from or what or what ever else is different we will all come to the same truth.

In the end, I will eventually reunite with the woods, maybe not if the Bayfield area,but one thing is for sure, I will spend the rest of my life in the woods. I encourage all of you to think about what kind of environment makes you happy, It can really make a difference in your life.

Natural Gas: A Comparison Around the World

For our first unit of Fuel, we learned all about graphing, calculating slope, Point slope formula, the periodic table, chemistry, and much more. For our first action project we were asked to pick a nonrenewable resource (which we had studied) and make a slideshow comparing the U.S.'s usage to another country's usage. I chose Natural Gas. We had to make a graph showing consumption of our resource and calculate lines and where they intersect. We also had to research the molecular structure and the risks and dangers of using our resource. I really liked this project, I thought it was really nice how it covered all of the topics we learned about in class and tied everything together into one slideshow. I learned a lot about natural gas, of course, but I learned a lot about math. The thing I am most proud of is just finishing it on time, as I have been really overwhelmed lately. The thing I thought was the most challenging was not getting all the math confused with negative signs and just generally getting confused or messed up.