Mistakes

So life is full of mistakes and God knows I have made plenty, but I really hope that people actually learn from those mistakes. I am not saying I am perfect, because I have made mistakes many times in high school and for the most part I continue to so that is one mistake I guess I haven't learned from because I have gotten in trouble from my mom but it really doesn't seem to stop me. I guess to me I do not think of it as a mistake because I am not hurting anyone, to me a mistake is like lying to your friend about something that happened, because obviously your intent isn't to hurt your friend, it is just something you did without thinking.

The thing about mistakes is that people need to learn to forgive them. I feel when you are the one of the short end of this mistake, you seem to be very defiant and not want to forgive, but when the roles are reversed, you seem to want to be forgiven. It is not fair, but that is how we work as people. I know for me it is very easy for me to forgive others, especially when they are good friends of mine because I know that I have made them and I know that I will make them again. A true friend will always forgive you, and if they don't they were not really your friend to begin with.

All of my true friends I know I would forgive because I know that whatever they did that was so wrong, it isn't them and there is always a reason as to why they did it. Some people who see that as an excuse I guess, but not in my eyes. I do not want to pressure people into thinking the way I do but I honestly believe that is the right way to do things. Forgiving is easy, so why not do it? If you are a perfect person and never make mistakes then you can no forgive people, but someday you will want someone to forgive you, but do not expect them to if you didn't forgive them.

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"Netflix and Chill"

    Nowadays all you see in referring to Netflix on social media is 'Netflix and chill', but really what is Netflix and chill?  Most people would define this phrase as a invitation to 'get some' but really can't we literally just Netflix and Chill. When the more derogatory meaning of the word is used, the kooky kids think it's an excuse to 'watch movies' and have the lights off, when in reality my friends and I, boys and girls take a more literal use of the phrase and watch Netflix while in fact chilling. I think me personally there isn't anything wrong with either version, but it has come to a point in which you cant even use the phrase in the literal sense because of how big the derogatory version has gotten via social media.
       Let's talk about what each of these meanings entail. 'Netflix and chill' the sexual invitation, involves two people going to 'watch' Netflix and 'hang out', but I think the only thing that will being watched or hanging out are...well, I leave your mind to figure out the rest. But in no way does it actually involve either of the associated parties watching Netflix and chilling, at all.
       On the other hand, the very literal sense of Netflix and chill are quite enjoyable as well. Netflix can be streaming and doing its thing while you can sit back and relax with friends or whomever and chill. This take on the phrase is less stress, and allows you to watch, even binge on some series or movies you've been dying to see, but sadly haven't had the time. Doesn't that sound nice?
       Now that you are fully informed and up to date on the latest social media catch phrases, don't you wish you could 'Netflix and chill', either literally or figuratively? I think although this phrase has gotten slightly out of hand with videos and snap chats no one ever wanted to see, it is amusing and still literally entertaining to a majority of the population. As much as I love to put in action this phrase, whichever version you choose is very time consuming. Quite frankly I would rather sleep, or nap, which is basically the same thing but like really I just don't like people, and have no time for their bullshit. So if you were presented the opportunity to 'Netflix and Chill', would you take it, or not?

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What happened to Disney Channel?

Growing up is a part of life that is applicable to most everything you come into contact with, whether it be a person getting older, a building deteriorating, or in this case, Disney Channel's new and evolving shows. When I was a kid, I came home from school and watched what I like to think of as Disney classics such as Hannah Montana, Lizzie McGuire, That's So Raven, Wizards of Waverly Place, and many more. I believe these shows ran for as long as they did because they had good plot lines partnered with great actors, which in turn made these shows as popular as they were, with long running times. Three out of the four shows (Hannah Montana, Lizzie McGuire, Wizards of Waverly Place) listed even came out with movies that I still at sixteen watch today. These shows were relatable to my generation, for the most part, because they were based around kids and their friends, family, and school related activities, unlike the new shows where they are based on talking dogs, and secret agent spy kids.
       One reason why my childhood Disney Channel is better and should be playing reruns still is because they are more relatable to a kids life, which is who the channel is targeting as their audience. For example, if you compared Lizzie McGuire, to a newer Disney Channel show such as Dog With a Blog, you can tell just from the title which one is going to be slightly more realistic than the other. Lizzie McGuire is the person the show is about, you follow her through her life, although she is accompanied by her thoughts, or the animated version of her, you see her life in school and at home. On the other hand, Dog With a Blog, is about a dog and his owners, and after the adventure he types a blog on a computer, very realistic. Did I mention the dog talks?
       Overall I think that the Disney Channel has gone to crap. Without the classic shows, and an actual plot line, why would you watch these shows?

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Sleep

For the people who have sleeping disorders or have trouble sleeping at all, I have so much compassion for you and I pray to God that it goes away, because sleep is the ultimate healing power for everything.

Whenever I am having a bad day, sleep seriously fixes it because just for a little bit, I am able to forget about what was upsetting me that day and I wake up not even thinking about it! One of the best feelings I ever have is waking up feeling refreshed, which during the school year doesn't really happen that often, but on the occasional "I am sick" line that I feed my mom, I am able to catch up and just feel awesome the entire day.

Why I decided to write about sleep is a really good question, but I do think I have a simple answer for it; everyone does it, I love it, so why not write about it? I get it seems a little random and maybe even a little scatter brained but still, it is one of God's greatest gifts. I am really thankful to not be a vampire.

I am one of those people who is really grouchy when I do not get all my sleep, but  I never have trouble sleeping, it is just the length I am aloud to sleep is what kills me. I am pretty sure my body needs like 13 hours of sleep each night for me to feel really refreshed and not bitchy in the morning, but even when I don't, I sleep like a baby. It is sad to me that some people have a lot of trouble sleeping because I do not think I would be able to function, but it is even worse for the people who once they wake up, can't go back to sleep! I know there are many actual diseases people have for sleeping but if I were them, I would take a bottle of Melatonin every single night just so I could get my sleep.

So sleep to me is not a very broad topic to talk about, but I would just like to reiterate on the fact that people need their sleep, and if you are one of those people who at a sleepover is talking and screwing around when others are trying to sleep, well you should probably end that now before you run into me at an overnight thing. I will throw a bitch fit and you will no longer want to sleep because you will be to scared. so my point to all this is, enjoy your sleep and if you can't, well, I am truly sorry for that.

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Can't live without friends

There is much controversy on the topic of friends. Some may argue that it’s not about how many friends you have but that it’s better to have fewer, better friends.

I would say that you should have a lot of friends, but also have some closer friends. The more friends you have, the more people you have the chance to get to know and hang out with. It’s good to make friends with a lot of people because it will really improve your social skills and teach you about all the different personalities that people have. High school is the prime time to make new friends. You’ve been in middle school the last three years with the same people and there are a ton more people you will meet going into and though out your high school career. All you have to do is be willing to meet new people.

Some people are okay with only having one or two super good friends, but for me, I’d rather have a lot of friends. Personally, I believe that you can have more than one “best friend”, I have many “best friends”. Everyone has a best friend for certain activities, one for every class, one on your sports team, etc… We all have more than one friend! All you have to do is be willing to open up to someone and talk to them, you might have more in common with them than you think. It might be awkward at first if you’re the one who says “hi” first or introduces them self-first, but after that you could become best friends. You can’t judge a book by its cover!

 You and your group of friends are probably al very similar because you probably all like the same things and most likely all have the same attitudes towards things as well. A new friend could introduce you to new things and change your perspective on certain things. It’s good for you to be around new people every once in a while, change is good.

 Your friends will last you a life time, they are the ones who will always be there for you. You could get in a fight with your best friend for months and then talk one day and everything just goes back to normal. I know, because that exact thing happened to me not too long ago. Don’t shut out your friends, even if you are mad at them at the moment. I promise you will get over it and you will realize that you need that friend sooner or later!

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Raise your hand first

You are in high school now, you are almost legally an adult, you have a couple of years left living at home, and you still have to ask to use the restroom.

Schools make everything so structured and you have to do this and you have to do that, it feels like there is little freedom.

All we have been taught throughout high school is to obey. Whether it is the teachers who tells you what to study, how to do math problems or how to behave, to your peers who ultimately decide what decisions you make socially. When are we supposed to learn how to think for ourselves? Our parents are doing their job when they tell us what to do, but sometimes when we attempt to make a decisions and they are the wrong ones, we face the consequences, but this is how we learn. We get shunned at school for doing something everyone else does not approve of. We get yelled at for speaking our mind in class by the teacher. Rather than being open-minded and optimistic, we become robots controlled by those who surround us, giving them the authority to determine our decisions. Whenever we make a choice of our own, we cower and just wait for it to explode and we wait to get in trouble for doing so. However, out of all of this, we are supposed to become free thinkers of our own? You think you are going to decide what college you want to go to? Think again. Oh wait, we cannot do that by ourselves yet, let me raise my hand first.

 It doesn't make sense that we are supposed to figure out what we want to do with our lives but yet we are rarely allowed to speak our minds inside the class room. We are taught all of these things we will most likely never use in our lives again, but yet we are forced to do all of this homework and take multiple tests, giving us a GPA of basically how well we listen or can cram study, but what is this teaches us? How is this valuable to our futures? This isn’t going to teach us how to prepare for college, throughout high school you just remember things long enough to take the test, there’s nothing long term about it.

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Eating Healthy

To be a great athlete you have to come with eating well and knowing what foods are good for your body when performing a sport. If you put the right foods in your body, then you are more likely to perform better. If you think about it what kind of kids perform harder and better? Is it the kids that eat a lot of junk food or the kids that eat healthy and energy foods? I would go with the healthier kids, but there are always exceptions with this.  I know many athletes that do not eat healthy and still succeed and perform really well. 

Some good foods to eat are, fruits and vegetables, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, power milk, protein bars, pretty much anything that will provide you energy to finish out the day.

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Bullying

Unfortunately, bullying is sort of a common thing, where for some it happens every day. The passing of a KHS freshmen, has brought more awareness to our school. Sadly, it took the suicide of a young girl for us to come together and talk about bullying and preventing suicide.

If you look around at all of the kids at Kennedy, and other schools, you probably wouldn’t be able to pick out the kids that are or have been bullied. Most of these victims just try and keep a smile on their face and try and act like everything is okay. When these kids are at home or anytime they are alone, I’m sure that they are depressed and may not even see the point of living on because they feel so unwanted. It’s very sad that people can hate on someone so much that they feel like they can’t live on. I don’t understand how you could do that to someone.

I believe that most of the bullying probably takes place on social media or online is some way, more so than in person. It’s much easier to mean behind the screen than when you’re standing in front of someone. Online you don’t get to see their reactions so it’s easier to keep saying things because no one is there to stop you. It is very easy for these bullies to “attack” their victims online in private, rather than in person when someone could see it and step in and make them stop. Online, the victim feels helpless and doesn’t know what to do.

I believe that there are a few ways that we can prevent bullying. I believe that if we all had the confidence to stand up for ourselves we could fight back and tell the bully to stop. If you don’t let the bully get you down, they will go away, they will go onto their next victim and leave you alone. Bullies get their power from bringing people down, so if you don’t let them bring you down, or don’t let them see you down, they will most likely go away. I know that it’s easier said than done to have self-confidence, but I know there are ways where we can work on this together. Coming together will create an army against bullies and we will be able to stop them because no one will feel victim because they don’t feel alone anymore.

Another way we could prevent bullying/suicide is to ensure that our student feel comfortable talking to someone. I know victims don’t like to talk about it, but if they don’t, their thoughts will wander and that’s when people start to feel like they are unwanted. If the students don’t feel comfortable with talking to their counselors, we need to find someone that they do feel comfortable talking to. If we could try and solve this problem, maybe we could have prevented things from happening.

It’s hard to see suicide coming. In some, you never see it coming, but in others you might be able to see them going downhill. AS a whole, I think we need to talk about ways we can help these people, because personally I don’t know what I would say to someone to get them to know that they are wanted and that they shouldn’t go through with suicide.

         
Most people don’t know how to deal with these types of things, so I think that is very important that we come together and try and figure some things out and come up with ideas on how to prevent these tragic things from happening.

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JFK Assassination

As most of you know, our school was named after president JFK. Therefore I think that it is important to know what happened to him.

The Warren Commission was established to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy which took place on November 22, 1963 in Dealey Plaza, Texas. However there are a few things in the Warren Commission that don’t exactly match up. Also, there are certain events that took place that are sort of “sketchy”. The President was riding the presidential limousine with his wife, Jackie Kennedy, Texas Governor, John Connally, and wife Nellie. The first “sketchy” thing was that they were told to take the convertible limo instead of the limo with the top. Also, as they were leaving the airport, the secret service was told to ride in a limo behind the president’s instead of walk next to the presidential limo. Before the president had arrived in Dealey Plaza, the route his limo was going to take, was told to the public (this no longer happens). Since his route was told to the public, anyone could have planned an assassination. They would have been able to plan everything out ahead of time and work out details so their identities wouldn’t be discovered, or they could have had time to frame someone else.

 Lee Harvey Oswald was the man arrested for the assignation of JFK. He was an EX US marine and there are pictures of him and the rifle found at the scene before 11/22. However Oswald told the press that he didn’t do it and that he was framed. Oswald’s gun was an Italian Mannlicher-Carcono. This was not a very reliable gun, in fact in a reenactment of the assassination, the gun misfired 5 out of 21 times. The gun was also a bolt action gun which meant he had to of cycled twice in order to fire 3 shots in 6-9 seconds, like the warren Commission stated. Oswald was no sharpshooter but he was a Marine. Also, in those short seconds you have to consider the kickback, muzzle rise, and having to reacquire his target. I don’t believe that Oswald could have done this alone, in fact, I’m not even sure it was Oswald who did it. Yes, Oswald’s finger prints were on the gun found at the scene, the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository, and he has pictures with the same gun, but I think the gun could have been taken from him ahead of time, so his finger prints were already on the gun and it was stashed at the scene of the crime.

 These are only a few of the many many facts about the JFK assassination and there are so many conspiracy theories about what happened. This was just a brief explanation of what happened and some of my thoughts, so I’ll leave the rest up to and let you decide what really happened.

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