What is it Worth?

Recently, one of my friends decided she wanted to quit a sport she's been doing for a while, simply beacuse she didn't really enjoy it anymore. However, her decision making process wasn't always just based on what she felt like doing. Her parents were really pressuring her to stay in the sport because it would look good on her college applications, while quitting junior year wouldn't look so good. She had a difficult desicion to make, but ended up listening to what she wanted to do and quit. Unfortunately, her parents still don't approve of her decision, simply because of the way her college apps will look.

There is so much pressure on kids to do and participate in certain things for college. I can't tell you how many times I've heard a phrase that had something to do with "this will look good on your college apps," or "this won't look good on your college apps." Doesn't what the actual kid wants count for something as well? What is a "good" college app anyway? Is its purpose showing off to colleges the things you truly are are passionate about, or is it just an incentive to pile on as many activites as you possibly can, whether you enjoy them or not, just to show what a "well rounded" person you are? I think this is a very relevant problem for teens, espcially our age in this particular grade. So much pressure is put on kids to make themselves look the best for colleges, that they forget sometimes what they want to do and what will really make them happy. To me, the main purpose of high school isn't just to impress colleges. The more important thing is to discover your interests, and have fun along the way. That will take some trial and error, and everything you try won't end up being for you. So what if you decide a certain activity isn't for you? More parents should understand that ultimately, their child's happiness during their high school years counts for more than whether a college is impressed with an app or not. I know it can be hard for people to agree with that, especially in a school like this where success in all forms is extremely stressed. However, parents should always be supportive of their kids in these situations, and not make them feel bad with threats of how they will look to colleges.

My question is, what is it worth to participate in something you don't want to do, just for the sake of looking like someone your not to colleges? Of course academics and involvement in extra-curriculars are extremely important, but if there's something you are starting to feel obliged to do, whether to impresss you parents, friends, or a college, its a waste of your time. We should be focusing on enjoying our last two years on high school, instead of living a life based on what colleges will approve of.

Going, Going, Gone

Most of you have probably heard about the crisis of deforestation. This is a problem that's been in the public eye for years and years, yet through all the effort, little change has actually taken place. Because of the rising demand recently for palm oil, the forests of Sumatra are being slashed and burned at an alarming rate. The loss of the forest is having detrimental consequences on a certain species that resides here. Orangutans have been engangered for a while, but this new demand in palm oil is bring the issue into notice again, as shown through this article. Companies are illegaly and swiftly cutting down this forest to make room for palm oil producing factories. In 2008, a survey showed that there were less than 7,000 orangutans left in the wild. With this renewed need for large amounts of space and nowhere to build factories, this number is going down. Indonesia is the world's biggest palm oil supplier, and factories needed to product this resource take up a lot of room. The reason palm oil is in such high demand at the moment is because it is edible, and is included in countless foods you can find at a supermarket here, as well as an important source of fat for people in other countries. Also, it is technically a renewable, clean resource (although it takes a pretty long time to renew), so it is being turned towards as an alternative to burning fossil fuels. It seems ironic because while using palm oil for energy won't directly pollute the air as much as fossil fuels, it's just as damaging to the environment and the animals that depend on that environment. The laws against deforestation are there, but they aren't being enforced. Indonesia isn't the only place this is happening. Forests all over the world are being chopped down at an alarming rate to make way for factories and agriculture. This damages the lives of all animals that depend on that habitat. You can google something like "organizations to stop deforestation" and I'm sure a huge number of different organization in support of forest and animal preservation will come up. All of these are for a great cause and are doing what they can, but they can't solve the problem. With the amount of energy and emphasis placed on environmental conservation today, you'd think there would be more progress. The problem is just that not enough people care. These companies have to earn money and take care of their buisiness, and they just don't care enough to make a change. Most people know that when these resources and habitats die out, it will cause a huge number of problems. Why is it, then, that the progress towards saving these environments has been so small? Do people just take these resources for granted? What are they expecting to do when it all runs out?

Different Does Not Mean Less Than

Recently an article on NBC news caught my eye that was about a girl named Whitney Kropp, a sophomore at a Michigan high school. Sadly, she had always been bullied at school for being "different" than everyone else, yet this year, she was elected to be on her school's homecoming court. At first she was surprised and pleased. That was until she realized it was all just a prank by her classmates. They thought it would be somehow funny for her to win this title, highlighting how opposite the other kids thought she was from someone who would ever actually win this title. This really shocked and saddened me because something that seemed like such a nice thing, electing a bullied and unpopular girl to be in the homecoming court, turned out to be such a mean spirited and terrible prank, with no design but to make fun of the disparity between her and her more popular peers. Fortunately, once people got word of this prank, a huge amount of support began to come towards her. A Facebook page in her honor began getting thousands of likes, students made posters and hung them around the schools with slogan such as "We Look Up To You Whitney", and a local company made T-shirts in her favorite color that said "It's not cool to be cruel." At the homecoming game when the whole elected court stood on the field, she got an overwhelming amount of support and cheers.   Listening to her talk about some of the things she's had to go through in the past make me feel so sad that anyone could be that cruel, but more so are my feelings of admiration that she got through all of it, and is still such a positive person. Even though it began as a prank, she still attended the ceremony, and turned the whole negative experience into a positive one. While being interviewed, had such an inspired and upbeat mood about the whole situation. She took this as an opportunity to bring bullying to light, and give advice to other kids who are targets. She believes that you should always stand up for who you are, and never change just because some people don't like it. This whole story made me wonder again why people as a whole don't like difference. Like she said, people targeted her because of her hair, her clothes, her height, and just the fact that she was a unique person. If you ask individuals whether they think that being different is a bad thing, most people would say no. Why, then, do people spread so much hate as a unit when they see that someone doesn't want to be exactly like them? When you think about it there really is nothing wrong with being different, yet it's such a common thing to pick on someone about. Why should anyone be penalized for being themselves? From our childhood we have heard the phrase "different does not mean less than." Now, in our high school years, it needs to be taken into action much more than it currently is.