#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

#5 News Log- Sudden Infant Deaths to be Recorded in New Database

Summary- The number of reported cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) has decreased by 50 percent since 1990. That is an improvement and obviously good news, however researchers are not quite sure why this is happening. Is it actually public health improvements or is it simply a difference in how deaths are recorded by creating a new database? The CDC and the Sudden Unexpected Infant Death Case Registry, will help researchers decipher the cause of these deaths in order to determine which cases are actually from SUID (Sudden Unexpected Infant Death) or just whether the baby was being put to sleep on his/her back or stomach. SUID will be used to describe any case where there is not an immediate explanation for the death of a healthy-seeming baby. More medical data will be drawn such as medical histories of both the baby and the mother, education and criminal record of any caregivers and information about the baby's sleep position and crib. The database could allow researchers to resolve any "unknown cause" cases. 

Opinion- I believe that SIDS has been one of those cryptic things in life that are just unexplainable and no one has ever come up with a valid reason for. I believe this new database will aid in solving the mysteries of SIDS as well as determining whether sudden deaths of infants are caused by accidents or the actual syndrome. This, in my opinion, is important for parents of the babies because if the cause of death is definitely known, then it will bring a sense of peace to the parents knowing that researchers and doctors were able to find out what the cause of death was to the baby. Parents will be reassured to know if it was something they may have done wrong with the child or just the syndrome. However, there are still many remaining uncertainties with this issue therefore I believe more time should be put into determining whether SIDS rates are declining or is it just the new database. 

#6- Why is the Super Bowl so popular

I believe the Super Bowl is so important because it is an all American sport. It is one event in our nation that pulls us together whether someone is a fan of the team or not. It is a very exciting sport (in most people's opinions) and a very manly sport; therefore all the men get together and watch the game while most women get together and talk or do some other activity while their husbands watch the game. All in all, it is a uniting event for people within our country.

Blog #4- "Charity Lottery"

If I won $10,000 dollars, I would put it in a charity towards Autoimmune disease research. These diseases are typically quite severe and affect a large sum of the population in the world. Autoimmune diseases, that we know of, can not be prevented. Many develop these diseases later in life, after they believe they are completely healthy which can be extremely devastating to that person. These diseases can severely debilitate and hinder a one's everyday processes. I believe money towards an organization like this can really brighten the spirits and bring hope to those inflicted with autoimmune diseases because typically, these diseases do not receive much recognition due to all the attention focused upon cancer.

Blog #3- First memory

My very first memory is when I was at the doctor's office and I remember my mother talking to me, attempting to calm my nerves because I was told I needed to get shots. Any pain inflicting process at five years old makes it seem like it will be the end of the world. I was frightened because I have never had one before. I remember the nurse taking my pulse while the doctor was laying the needles out for the shots. I needed three: not one, three. The nurse told the doctor my pulse was through the rough and the doctor turned to me and smiled. She looked at me for a moment, then said, "There's no reason to be afraid. It will just be a small pinch." I tried to calm myself down as did my mother. I trusted the doctor, if she said it was going to be a small pinch, then that will be all. She prepared the needles and and picked the first one up. At that point, I was quite calm, so she grabbed my left arm and injected the shot. As soon as she did, I flinched and yelled out, "That wasn't a small pinch! You lied!" I was so upset at the doctor that I did not even remember the pain of the following shots. From that point on, I have always disliked my pediatrician because she lied to me. Then she goes to mention that when I'm fifteen, I will have to receive those same shots once again. At that point, I thought, well by the time I'm fifteen, I won't be able to feel the pain because that is what my mother said. She said that shots don't seem so bad once you get older. So I believed her because my mother has never given me any reason not to trust her. I suppose this isn't the most joyous of memories but it is quite amusing now that I reflect upon it.

Blog #2: Glasses

My sister has been wearing glasses since she was eight years old. She's now fifteen and glasses are what I associate her with. If she were to take her glasses off, she could not see a thing. She's probably as blind as a bat. I would steal them every now and then just to see how I would look with them on and she'd complain that I would appear blurry even though I was standing two feet away from her. However, since she is in high school now, she has adapted to contacts and now I always hear her talking about how annoying they are to put in and take out, but she does think they are better than having glasses on all the time. When she wants to switch things up a bit, she will wear her glasses out, otherwise, she'll solely where them inside the house; away from the public.

Blog #1: Don't you just LOVE it when...

You are quite close with someone and you are engaging in a lovely conversation with them when someone you know interrupts your conversation with this person. Not only when they interrupt but when they begin imposing their ideas on the subject they were not involved with originally and do not know the type of friendship that me and the person I am speaking to have. This recently occurred within the past few days when I was talking with a teacher I am quite close with. So the teacher and I are talking about music and art, topics we are very both very interested in and know much about. Then my friend walks in the room and decides to intrude on our conversation after she said what she needed to. Then the teacher asks me a favor and my friend imposes "Oh and I can help as well with this." Events like this one are what I really hate because I find it very rude considering my friend did not even know the extent of what the teacher and I were discussing, and second, I have a closer relationship than my friend does with the teacher, therefore it was rude of her to intrude and impose she do something along with me.

Blog #12 Anticipatory Discussion Questions for Death of a Salesman

In the future, I plan on pursuing a career in medicine, hopefully an immunologist. I love medicine and am extremely interested in it. I see myself in helping people and working with people in order to assure they're health is ideal. My sister, however, was a competitive figure skater anticipating on going to the olympics with her partner. Then she herniated a disc in her back and could not continuing skating at a competitive level. She planned her whole college experience and future on skating but when that plan failed, she had to pick a new path that she may be interested in. She chose film production. She went through her four years and recently graduated with a minor in psychology and film major, however she is unhappy and lost interest in the subject. Now, she'd like to go to grad school for sports psychology and become certified to become a personal trainer. She is much happier with this choice and this is really her passion.

#10 New Year's Resolution?

I normally do not make resolutions because I never have any specific ideas of what I want to fix or improve. However, I gave a bit more thought to the matter this year and have decided to create one, even though it is just a general idea of improving myself as a whole. I'd like to stop procrastinating, buckle down, and do all my work efficiently and well. I've decided that I spend too much time doing what I like to do or rather be doing, than focusing on priorities. It is a bad habit of mine that I'd like to break. However, I will have some trouble breaking it for the reason that what I like to do, is actually educational and will help me in the future. When I have free time, I don't usually just sit around like a bum (only occasionally), I like to further myself in what I'm interested in so I will either read some books I have on medicine to engross myself in the subject and help me at work, play piano, or play a sport/exercise. I do enjoy watching movies very much so, but I try to limit that as much as possible. So, I suppose my resolution, specifically, would be to stop procrastinating, get all my homework done before last minute, increase my study time, and put more time into practicing piano. School and piano and work are my priorities, therefore I need to buckle down and work on them as much as possible. College is creeping up and I'd like to go where I want! However, I don't want to stress myself out therefore I'll take this resolution in chunks in order to not stress myself too much.
I'd also like to become more well rounded and explore interests outside of what I know. I would like to engross myself in culture, history and the world (other countries) rather than just music and medicine.