Looking through the Myth of Rosa Park's

After reading the article on Rosa Park's and through our class discussions I feel that I would much rather believe in the original story of Rosa Parks, or the myth as some would say. When I was in elementary school and we first started talking about the civil rights movement and what minorities had to go through long before I was born, everyone knew the story of Rosa Park's. A tale of great courage that an old working class black woman stood up, or should I say sat down, against the injustice that all black people had to sit in the back of the bus and decided that she was tired and she was not going to give up her seat. I was always very intrigued by this bit of history because I got the impression that this spontaneous act of civil disobediance by this one woman symbolized that all of the tired working class black people had had enough. Therefore, when I learned that Rosa Parks was actually a civil rights activist and that her stunt was pre-meditated, I was kind of disappointed. Granted it is nice to know the complete story, I find that the story I was orignally told had a larger effect on me because it was more mythical. Rosa Parks was a hero nonetheless, but when I tell my children this story I think I'll keep the myth alive. 

Finals

Everyday as finals get closer and closer I can tell that people are getting extremely stressed out. Since it is junior year our grades our very important, because of that fact many New Trier students are feeling the full weight of our semester exams on their shoulders. Never before have I seen the library so packed every period of the day. It is interesting to see kids who normally just go to the scrounge or play four square during their free period actually studying. The problem is that some kids are taking their stress and frustration from finals too far. On several occasions I have witnessed students snap on one another due to that stress. I understand that our finals are important, but I am trying hard not to let the stress get to me. I just hope that everyone will take a second to catch their breath and remember that it is ok to take a break every once in a while.

New Year

I believe in new years resolutions and that it is important to try and improve your life. However when that clock strikes midnight and everybody cheers, you are the exact same person you were a minute ago. Just because it is a new year, that doesn't mean that you will be any smarter or stronger, the only thing that a person can hope for is that they are more driven. The only problem is that a year is a long time and it is very difficult to keep those promises you make to yourself. Maybe in the month of January we will all keep our resolutions, but as time goes on it is safe to say that we will all break those resolutions at least once. So this year I say don't make any resolutions. All anybody can do is live their life and try to accomplish what you want not because it is a new year, but because it is what you want.