|
Bulo
|
read my profile
sign my guestbook
Location: Hawaii, United States
Birthday: 12/13/1985
Gender: Male
Interests: Volleyball, Basketball, Baseball, Track, Band, Academics, Videogames
Expertise: I am an expert at everything!!!
Occupation: Student
Message: message meEmail: email me
Member Since:
2/14/2002
|
|
| Test scores play an enormous role in being accepted into a college. Don’t get me wrong; GPA, school and outside activities, and being well-rounded play key roles as well, but testing is an ever-popular resource for the admissions department of colleges. Why is this so? Well, for one, the tests are standardized, meaning that every test is pretty much the same, giving every student an equal opportunity to score well. When most people think of standardized tests, SAT immediately pops into their minds. It just so happens that yesterday, I did have to take this Standardized Achievement Test, putting my college admission on the line.
Well, first and foremost, I would like to say that the SAT usually takes a lot of preparation or just pure natural genius to do well on. For me, I only had one night of training, mainly because I spent most of my precious free time going out with my friends or playing video games. Anyways, I did my best to prepare for the SAT that Friday night before the test. I eagerly visited www.collegeboard.com and downloaded a mini SAT to practice on. It was free, so of course I was disposed to take it (unfortunately it was only a mini and real full length tests were only available at a price). It provided ample assistance in learning how to take the tests, complete with animated characters with word balloons filled with advice on everything. I spent a good forty minutes thoroughly reading the test-taking tips for the verbal section, being my weaker subject. I did not worry about the math, for I figured that I would achieve a perfect 800 unless something caused me to lose all of my memory for some reason.
When I did take the mini SAT, I began with the verbal. What was nifty was that the program timed you so that you couldn’t cheat on the test (although technically I guess you could have a dictionary in front of you, but that would undermine the purpose of the practice test). For a good thirty minutes, I worked on the verbal section, which was composed of thirty-five questions broken down into analogies, fill-ins, and critical reading. Upon finishing, it automatically graded my test. Surprisingly, I received a 700, considering how limited my vocabulary is. I skipped the math advice as I noted before and took the test and predictably received an 800 before even half the time ran out. That meant I had a projected score of 1500. This really brought my hopes up, but then I realized that the real test is probably going to be way harder, not to mention three times as long.
In any case, I took the real SAT with a home court advantage, being able to test at my regular school. I have to say, it was harder than the mini SAT, and much, much longer. By the end, my neck cramped so badly that I thought my head would be stuck in its downward position. The test was lengthy and tedious, but at least it’s over… unless I score less than I would have hoped, meaning I would have to take it again next year  .
| | |
| Spring break has meant only one thing to many people: no curfew. For me, that is no exception. I’ve stayed up as late (sometimes technically early in the morning) as I possibly could, provided that I did not have to attend school the next day. What do I do so late at night, you ask? Well, I play video games, mostly, along with watch the non-stop war coverage on tv. On Sunday night, I was able to go out with my college buddies (the ones who graduated from Iolani last year and went to UH) for an all night party at Ultrazone.
Jason Reynolds’ friend organized a lockdown session, meaning all the games we could play from 12 o’clock to 6 o’clock Monday morning, all for $18. Considering one game at Ultrazone costs $15, our expenditure for laser tag games buffet style sounded like an impressive deal. The party consisted mainly of people from UH, but there was one other person from Iolani, Cullen O’neill. Some people from Aiea High School also showed up, including Reynolds’ ex-girlfriend, providing an interesting experience for the rest of us. Reynolds claims that they met one other time after they had broken up and he just tried to ignore her. Unfortunately, she believed he was giving him the stink eye and things haven’t been too pleasant between them.
Anyways, the time seemed to go by so slowly, which was a good thing. We fit three games in before it was even 1 o’clock. Technically, in the arena, the rules are no running, crawling, climbing, etc. However, it was a lockdown, so hardly anyone followed the rules, leaving us exhausted after the first few games. After the third game, Cullen and I decided to take a break. The awesome thing was that the drinks were free and someone ordered about thirty boxes of Papa John pizzas. While we were replenishing our bodies and the others were busy in another game of laser tag, we saw the most comical ever. The guys who worked at Ultrazone, of whom I must say are very cool, tipped over the Merlin’s Magic machine to give us free tokens to play games. They stated that their supervisor wasn’t there so nobody cared. I had to have fit about forty dollars worth of tokens in my pocket. By the time the morning was over, I had beaten just about every game in the arcade. However, I was not as fortunate at laser tag. My team won only twice and I was never top scorer. The closest I could ever get was second overall. I have to say that there were some hardcore Ultrazoners there. You could tell them apart from the rest because they held their guns upside down claiming that it was harder for others to shoot their guns. Reynolds was one of these idiots.
The morning ended and I played about seven games of laser tag (a lot of my time was spent in the arcade with my five pounds of tokens). Ken drove Reynolds and me back home at around 6:30. Usually, that was about the time I leave for school, but then it was time to go to sleep. It was lit outside, but my household was still asleep, so I snuck into my bed and decided to join them in their slumber. I didn’t get up until 2 o’clock in the afternoon  .
| | |
| Recently, I've come around to thinking that the war with Iraq is only just beginning. Just today, as American forces advance into Iraqi territory, entire divisions of the Iraqi army surrendered, giving people at home a false sense of this war coming to a quick end. In fact, it is probable that this conflict will last at least until summer. Right now, some Americans are thinking, "Whoa! Our army kicks ass! The wars gonna be over in no time." Unfortunately, that's probably not true. Don’t get me wrong. I’m exceedingly confident that the Allies will win the war. It’s just that I don’t believe that it will be as brief as most people think.
Although many of Iraq's armies will submit to the superior American forces, Suddam Hussein still has his loyal Republican Guards. This group of elite soldiers occupy the capital city of Baghdad and are well entrenched into the city. Even if Hussein was killed in the bombings that opened the war, his guard will not give in. When American forces siege Baghdad, the Guard will have our forces just where they want them. Urban warfare is by far a soldier’s worst fear. Enemy troops will not only have a home court advantage, but they will also have the benefit of being able to camp out near building windows and take pot shots at any unfortunate Ally soldier walking down the street.
Let’s not forget that Hussein has built Baghdad to be his fortress, capable of defending itself from enemy attacks. Allied air raids and artillery fire will be able to debilitate Iraqi defenses, but once our troops are inside, we lose all advantages. You’re probably asking me, “Why don’t we just blow up enemy strongholds in Baghdad?” Simple answer. Iraqi forces will take over civilian buildings. We have the power to blow them up, but being the democratic nation that we are, we know that we will have to pay for any damages done to the city after the war during Iraq’s reconstruction. George W. Bush will be hesitant on giving that order, knowing that our tax dollars will end up paying for anything our weapons destroy. It’s kind of like the store policy of “you break it, you bought it.”
Well, as the war goes on, Americans will go on with their happy lives. I, for one, will be doing things during this spring break as if there were no war at all. Hopefully, this war will end shortly and the reconstruction of Iraq will go on without hindrance. Let’s just hope that America will do what’s right for Iraq when the war is through. We certainly don’t want what happened in Germany after World War II  . | | |
| Hello again, people. I am sincerely sorry for not posting anything on my site for, let's see, five months. School work had caught up with me, as I finally decided to finish all of my physics homework (happy now Doc?). Computer games have also been consuming the majority of my computer time. Well, the good news is, I'm back. I may not post readings on this site everyday, but I have finally remembered how much fun it is to write things on xanga.
Spring break has been skulking up on Iolani students for a while but at long last, our vacation, even if it is ephemeral being only one week long, mitigates us from the strain of schoolwork. What should have been a weeklong trip for many has been substituted by a boring week at home doing nothing more than mundane activities that usually occur over the weekend. Why? The war, of course. Bush's attack on terrorism has led our country into a war on Iraq. Long-planned vacations have been postponed or even worse, cancelled. Many citizens of our so called "free" country feel confined to their home cities as threats of war permeate our consciousness. In Hawaii, where many people take trips to Asia, even more voyages have been called off as a deadly flu spreads across the Asian continent. I believe that our own school orchestra cancelled their long-expected trip to China due to concern for the wellbeing of our musicians. Some people, however, are not affected by this threat and continue on with their plans. Take for instance my friend Zac. He and his family had planned a trip to Japan ever since our band had returned from there last Spring Break. They decided to chance the minuscule possibility of harm to carry on with their plans as they shall leave by plane to the land of the rising sun this weekend.
Anyways, this spring break is the first school vacation that I shall remain here at home. Typically, I return to my birthplace of Maui every vacation to spend a nice peaceful bout with my grandparents. However, the brevity of the break coupled with a financial dilemma have deviated reality from my original intentions.
Well, I shall make the best of this vacation, spending time with friends as spring break is nothing more than a nine-day weekend. Attendance to the movie theaters will escalate and you can expect vast numbers of people on the beaches as students from all over the country take pleasure in this annual time off from school. I hope you enjoy yourself as well  . | | |
| Hello once again. I sincerely apologize for not posting anything on my site recently. It's just that the end of the first quarter was slowly encroaching upon me and I needed to resort to more studious applications of my time instead of posting time-consuming weblogs on Xanga. Well, the first quarter is over and I shall resume my posts once again.
To explain to the reader who neither goes to Iolani School nor knows about how demanding it is, I shall post one of my poems. It is an anophora that I composed today for my Creative Writing course at school. The poem depicts what life seems like for the average student at Iolani (although I do exaggerate it a lot). I entitled it, The Practical Truth.
You go to Iolani in hopes of a prosperous life.
You go to Iolani to pursue a well-paying career.
You go to Iolani to be accepted into a superior college.
You go to Iolani and enroll in all of the difficult courses.
You go to Iolani because you were smart at your previous school; but now
You go to Iolani and realize your schedule's overloaded.
You go to Iolani with work piled until the heavens.
You go to Iolani and acquire insufficient hours of sleep.
You go to Iolani and end up failing your entire curriculum.
You go to Iolani only to find you've wasted ten grand a year. | | |
|