How To Cope With The Pressures of High School

Even though I am a couple of years removed from high school, I still vividly remember the pressures and stresses that went along secondary education.  Although my high school experience was unique because I attended a Jesuit, all-boys, college prep school, I still can offer some advice to young men and women who are struggling to find their path.  Here’s my approach to making high school an enjoyable time.

Stay Away from Drugs and Alcohol

Nothing good can come out of experimenting drugs or alcohol.  Tragedy, heartbreak, and legal trouble are three undesirable effects of underage drinking and smoking.  In the news, we hear quite frequently about another drunk driving death or injury to a high school student.  Trust me when I say drugs and alcohol are not worth the hassle.  If you want to fit in but feel that you have to drink and smoke to accomplish that, you are mistaken.  Straight edge is a lifestyle among youth that emphasizes living a life free of drugs and alcohol.  It is a form of positive peer pressure. 

Get a Positive Mental Attitude (P.M.A.)

Believe it or not, your attitude has a great effect on your level of personal happiness.  Happiness is contagious in that your happiness can wear off on other people, thus making the world a better place.  Leo Buscaglia once said, “Don’t spend your precious time asking ‘Why isn’t the world a better place?’  It will only be time wasted.  The question to ask is ‘How can I make it better?’ To that, there is an answer.”

Handle Each Situation With Maturity 

Many times, young people tend to overexaggerate and become melodramatic about trivial matters.  Once you realize that you shouldn’t sweat the small things, your live will be much more pleasurable and stress-free.  High school is a time when you can exercise and develop maturity and thoughtfulness.       

Make Loyal Friends 

Generally, the friends you make in high school will stick with you longer than the friends you make at any other point in your life.  For instance, my dad still associates with high-school friends about once a year.  When they get together, it’s like not a moment of time has passed.  They laugh, reminisce over their high school days, and have a great time in each other’s presence.  To make new friends, be kind to everyone and respect everyone.  Perform random acts of kindness for other people and avoid becoming involved in cliques.  

Find Humor and Laugh

Laughter truly is one of the strongest antidotes out there.  If you are having a difficult time in high school, lighten up a little and notice the small things that are funny.  Better yet, try to find someone to laugh with.  Laughter can melt stress and it is a healthy escape from the grinding pressures of high school.   

Don’t Worry Too Much About Getting Straight A’s

Please don’t misinterpret me.  I advise that you do everything in your power to get good grades and high standardized test scores.  However, test scores and grades don’t mean everything.  While I made it a point to perform well academically, I could have done much worse and still been accepted to state colleges and universities.  Instead of dedicating your life entirely to school, spend time volunteering or joining clubs at your school.  

Don’t Worry Too Much About Appearance 

I’ve always been of the opinion that appearance doesn’t mean much.  If someone wants to be your friend only because you look good, then that is a very shallow and baseless view of friendship.  For girls, I recommend covering up and not showing too much skin.  The guys worth dating will appreciate the fact that you know how to be modest.  For guys, don’t worry about being ripped, but at the same time, don’t let yourself go.  Eat nutritious food, exercise regularly, have good hygiene and most importantly don’t fret about how you look.  On the flip side, don’t judge anyone for wearing different clothing.  If a person comes to school with earrings, long hair, body piercings, and tattoos, be accepting and open-minded.  You will be respected for that.  

How To Stay Awake During Boring Meetings

Do you have a tough time staying awake in boring meetings and seminars?  Have you ever wanted to disappear during a long, tedious conference call?  Here’s a way to cure your boredom.

Before the next meeting, seminar, or engagement, take out a piece of paper and draw a 5 X 5 grid for a total of 25 empty squares.  Depending on the topic of the meeting, you might want to use less or more squares.

Write a word or phrase in each block.  As I mentioned earlier, the topic of your meeting will determine the words and phrases you include in your square.  For a business meeting, make sure include the following:

-Synergy, core competencies, best practice, bottom line, 24/7, value-added, productivity, efficiency, client-base, game plan, results, thinking out side the box, win-win, taking the initiative

Check off the appropriate square when you hear one of these words/phrases.

When you get five blocks horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, stand up and emphatically shout, “HOGWASH!” or “POPPYCOCK!”.

Astute Anagrams

If you remember back to school, an anagram is a word or phrase made by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase.  The following are extraordinarily clever anagrams.  Someone out there has too much time on their hands...

Word                  When You Rearrange the Letters

Dormitory----------Dirty Room

The Morse Code---Here Come Dots

Slot Machines------Cast Lost in 'em

Animosity-----------Is No Amity

Mother-In-Law-----Woman Hitler

Snooze Alarms-----Alas! No More Z's

A Decimal Point----I'm A Dot in Place

Eleven plus two----Twelve plus one

Astronomer--------Moon Starer

A Masterpiece

In the late 1800’s, convicted forger A. Schiller was serving his time in prison.  One night, the guards found him dead on the floor of his cell.  On his body, the guards found seven regular straight pins.  The heads of the pins measured the typical 47/1000ths of an inch or 1.17 millimeters in diameter.  Under 500X magnification, it was found the tiny etchings seen on the heads of the pints were the words to The Lord’s Prayer, which contains 65 words and 254 letters long.  Of the seven pints, six were silver and one was gold.  The prayer on the gold pin (pictured above) was flawless and a true masterpiece.  Schiller had spent the last 25 years of his life creating the pins, using a tool too small to be seen by the naked eye.  It is estimated that it took 1,863 separate carving strokes to make it.  Schiller went blind because of his artwork. 

Real or fake?  That’s for you to decide. 

Movie Review: Blood Money

Recently, the pro-life club at KU screened a film called Blood Money, a documentary that aims to expose the reality of the abortion industry.  Blood Money tries to accomplish quite a bit, but I thought it succeeded in laying out facts about the abortion industry and the emotional impact that abortion has on both women and men.  

The film squeezes Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood, the debate over when life begins,  how abortion affects women who have had one, and the sociocultural effects of abortion into an hour and 15 minutes.  As the title implies, the main focus was how abortion has become a business, primarily through the vehicle of Planned Parenthood.  

I took a look at Planned Parenthood’s most recent annual report out of curiosity, and what I found was disturbing.  Blood Money interviewed Carol Everette who is an former employee of Planned Parenthood.  She shared a couple horror stories, one in which a woman bled to death after aborting her baby.  In another instance, an abortion procedure went awry.  Instead of pulling out the dead baby from the mother’s womb, the “doctor” accidentally grabbed the woman’s large intestine and yanked it out of her.  She said, “We [Planned Parenthood] would give them [young girls] a low-dose birth control pill they would get pregnant on or a defective condom.  Our goal was 3-5 abortions for every girl between the ages of thirteen and eighteen.  These are the kind of stories that make you realize how horrific, disturbing, and shocking abortion actually is.  So when I carefully read Planned Parenthood’s most recent annual report, it was as if I was hearing two completely different stories.  The letter from the Chair and President was peppered with phrases such as “pro-choice”, “the nation’s largest sex educator”, and “powerful advocate for sexual health and rights.”  Planned Parenthood claims that only three percent of their clients received abortion services in 2008.  Then, it cleverly covered up where their revenue streams were coming from on their income statement.  $1.1 billion in revenue came from the following sources- health center income, government grants and contracts, private contributions and bequests, support from affiliates, and other operating revenue.  You know what “health center income” means?  It means about $350-$950 for an abortion in the first trimester and usually more for a second or third trimester abortion.  The cost to have an abortion increases depending on how long a woman has been pregnant, but as Planned Parenthood points out, “Hospitals generally cost more.”

While the business aspect of abortion is directly related to my major and interests, another deeply disconcerting part of abortion is the long-term health effects on the woman.  Abortion is sold as a quick fix to an unplanned pregnancy.  Planned Parenthood and other abortion clinics market their service as one that will make your problem go away.  The movie interviewed several women who testified that the problem does not go away after you have an abortion.  In fact, after an abortion, the mental and psychological torment of the woman are just beginning.  Blood Money interviewed women who attempted suicide after aborting their babies.  One woman said she has spent the better part of 20 years trying to forget about her abortion, but she is stilled haunted by it.

Current Events Recap

1. Yemeni police fire live rounds and teargas at protestors in the city of Taiz, killing one person and injuring over 400.

2. Syrian president Assad appoints a new governor for Daraa as he struggles to please the people demonstrating in unprecedented protests against his regime.

3. Barack Obama is to run for a second term as the President of the United States.

4. 1,000 students protest at Kabul University as protests continue in Afghanistan over the burning of a Quran "found guilty" by pastor Terry Jones church in Florida.

5. Japan defends the dumping of water with low level radiation from the nuclear accidents into the Pacific Ocean after criticism from South Korea and Russia.

6. For over 50 days, the Libyan city of Misurata has been shelled by artillery, tanks, and sniper.  Water has been intentionally shut off by Muammar Gaddafi's forces.  Hundreds of thousands are at risk of death. 

7. The U.S. Senate defeated a measure that would have banned the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gas emissions.

8. Protests against the government continue in Colombia, Bahrain, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and the Ivory Coast.

9. Prominent religious leader Maulvi Showkat Ahmed Shah is killed when explosives attached to a bicycle are detonated outside a mosque in Srinagar, Kashmir.  The capital's shops are shut down and traffic is suspended.

10.

American City of the Future

I stumbled upon this interesting image of an American City in the future.

As you can see, boats, cars, and a train station are simultaneously moving on the same layer.  A very interesting take on the future from the past.