#2- What is success?

I believe success can be whatever you wish it to be. I believe success revolves around contentment and comfort. Most people associate success with money and fame, however, there are always faults to that type of success. Most of those people become overwhelmed by their greed and want for more; it almost becomes a state of being spoiled. They typically have other people "less fortunate" than they are to do they're work. But what does that teach them? They will never know the hardships and the meaning of being successful because they did not put the hard work, time and compassion into daily tasks that makes life worth living. Though, there are some people have proven their success, meaning they have worked hard and appreciated every step of the way; they do not take their success for granted and remain humble about such great events. If someone is doing what they love, works hard, is content and does remains humble, I believe they are successful. Every one of us has a slight success per day whether it is holding the door for someone and receiving a thank you, receiving an A on a test, or going to the gym and working out. It doesn't matter if you are a maid, waitress, CEO of a large company, a lawyer of a well known law firm, a head doctor of the department of diagnostics, an auto mechanic or a teacher, everyone is successful in their own way; success is what you make of it, no one can judge and put a price on your success.

#1 "Catastrophe of Success"

The essay, "Catastrophe of Success", opened my eyes a bit. We all dream of becoming of having a lot of money to do what we please with in the future. But is that really success? In my eyes, success is whatever makes you happy. If you pursue what you love in life, and you continue to enjoy it, then you have achieved success. I look at success the way Williams does in his essay; success is whatever you want it to be. For some, yes success is having myriads of money and "nice" things but for others, like myself and Williams, success is much more simple, yet deeper than that. I believe Williams hit the nail on the head when he experienced success himself. He references hotel service and how it is more embarrassing for him to be served, than for the servers themselves, which most people look at in a different light. It is embarrassing to be so conceded and dependent of other people. If you are successful from the start, where do you go from that point on? Your life will be dull and that feeling of being content, can never be fulfilled. However, I do believe that Williams took it a bit too far as I read a  portion of his essay as if he were stating successful people are spoiled. If a successful person is content, humble and hard working, then I do not believe they are spoiled.

#13- Poem

Louder than words
Unencumbered, unfettered, unimpeded
Brimming with soul, artisanship, beauty, and passion
Serendipitous, enigmatic, yet intended
Become undone and realize
Ones tragedy metamorphoses to ones fervor
Ones sorrow manipulated for ones enjoyment
And ones enjoyment becomes their center of gravity
Awaiting institution

#10- Are you organized person?

I do not feel I am an organized person. I really strive to be but most things I do are quite unorganized. My school work, for example, is quite disorganized and creates stress for me so therefore I'm constantly trying to manage my time better in order to organize all my thoughts and work in an orderly manner. My new year's resolution is to become more organized as well as manage my time better. I do become a bit obsessive about certain things such as piano and my room. When I clean my room I become very OCD and everything needs to be a certain way other wise I spend as much time needed in order to make that thing just right.

Blog #9- News Log: Air Pollution Linked to Heart and Brain Risks

Summary- A new study has shown that collectively, people exposed to increased levels of air pollution are at greater risk of stroke, heart attacks and cognitive deterioration. One experiment found that 20,000 women over a decade of living in a highly polluted area such as a city, had accelerated declines in the measures of memory along with attention span. Another study showed that days with higher concentrations of traffic pollutants, increased the risk of stroke. Short term effects of pollution remain unclear, hoever long term effects of inhaling pollutants have shown damaging, potentially severe effects when on days when the federal air quality index states "moderate" pollution days, this can correspond to more danger than originally suspected. Not only are stroke and heart attack risks increased, but also dementia, hypertension and brain function as well which can explain the rise in diseases such as Alzheimer's in the past decade. However, some believe that this increase can be due to improved medical technologies, allowing for better methods of detecting these diseases. Researchers have found a 34% higher risk at times when pollution levels climbed from "good" to "moderate". The effects were particularly strong when researchers looked at levels of black carbon and nitrogen dioxide; two agents that infiltrate the body's tissues.

Opinion- This article provided a great awareness to everyone about pollution and how severe it's effects can be on the human body. Not only is it a serious health factor to us, but it's a serious danger to the environment and ecosystem. With the information founded by these studies, I believe we would be able to come up with preventative ways to help limit the effects of pollution on our bodies. Those who live in polluted areas such as the city, should be aware and try to manipulate their life style in order to provide the healthiest choices for their bodies considering there is not much we can do to reduce the levels of pollution within the city. This would include improving eating habits (i.e healthier foods, smaller portions, etc.), increasing levels of exercise, and reducing stress as much as possible. These can possibly help limit the damaging effects pollution has on our population until a solution is created to take care of the matter. 

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/15/air-pollution-tied-to-heart-and-brain-risks/?ref=health

Blog #8: Happy Valentine's Day

My first crush I ever had was in second grade. I sat right next to him and we would help each other with our state capitols work we had to do. Every day we'd talk and make small conversation. We had a lot in common and even went to Tae Kwon Do together. It was an innocent crush but one non the less. When we would have show and tell, he would always ask me questions about whatever I had brought in. And even today, we are still friendly when we see each other in the hallways and will converse whenever the chance occurs.

Blog #7 News Log- What Doctors Are Telling Us Even When They're Not Talking

Summary- Studies have been done analyzing how doctor's communicate with their patients, specifically Caucasian and African American doctors. In a study the author read, published in The Journal of General Internal Medicine, non-verbal communication of doctors can portray a lot about skills, comfort level, confidence, and personality about the doctor. The author explains how he knows of this fantastic African American doctor who specializes in brain tumors, who is very young and fresh out of school, yet he seems as though he has been working in the field for years. Though the author describes this doctor as brilliant, his communication skills fall short. When he converses with patients, he does not make eye contact and speaks with a very soft voice, creating skepticism of his abilities by the patient. Because a large number of physicians and health care providers, encounter the same difficulties as this doctor, we now question what steps should medical school take in order to increase the comfort level of communication among patient and doctor. However, teaching communication skills has been mandatory for medical schools; improved physician communication can lead to improved patient satisfaction and better healthcare outcomes. Now, schools has developed communication courses and workshops that combine lectures, self assessments, video recordings and "standardized patients" (actors who play the role of patients). Another issue seems to be communication among different races, ethnicities and social backgrounds. Therefore, cultural competency classes have been included to the list, in hopes of creating better communication skills.

Opinion- I found this article very interesting because many times I've heard of family members or just people in general (in person, on tv, etc.) complain of poor doctor/patient communication. Many patients seem to be displeased with their doctors because of poor communication skills, despite how brilliant of a doctor they may be. I feel this continues to be a large issue, despite medical school's efforts to improve these communication skills. There are only a hand full of doctors they are all around, good doctors (this includes knowledge and communication skills). Most doctors either have one or the other, rarely both. I agree with the author that improved social skills will improve the healthcare outcomes of many patients as well as satisfaction. This does not only apply to medical professions, but every profession out there today. Overall, people need to improve their communication skills in order for the best outcome.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/09/what-doctors-are-telling-us-even-when-theyre-not-talking/?ref=health