My most out of the box belief is that there are people with supernatural powers in the world. After watching many superhero and fantasy movies as a child, I believed that I myself had powers. I eventually gave up on that belief, but I still think others may have supernatural gifts that help them through life. The powers that pop into my head are mind reading, telekinesis, and the force. In a world with 8 billion people, some people must have powers.

I would rather remember everything in the past. Even though I have bad memories, I want to remember and learn from them. And I definitely want all my good memories. Not knowing what the future holds is good in my opinion. It makes life exciting- if I knew what would be happening, I would be bored all the time, and I could possibly be scared, sad, or mad too.

I believe…

That the world would be a better place if people tried to understand each other

That everyone is on their own journey, at their own pace

That others’ accomplishments should not be measured against your own

That drinking water is the epitome of a healthy lifestyle

That eating snacks will make you happier

That living in a tropical climate will make you happier

That weekends should be spent doing fun things

I believe…

In the power of words.

That little things matter.

That people need to stop judging others.

That there is too much pressure on teens.

That God has given me many blessings.

That the truth matters.

That our world is headed in a positive direction.

That you everyone should be aware.

That children are the future.

I would rather stick with our current system, in which most people go to college or straight into the workforce at 18. I think that 14 is a bit too young to start working, and the extra 4 years of schooling is really important to learn skills needed in jobs. By 14, I didn’t have any idea about what job or career I would want in the future, and even if I did, I doubt I would have the qualifications for it at such a young age. 14 is an age of adolescence, and kids are probably going through a lot of hormone changes and adapting to being a teenager. This can cause them to make rash decisions or be irresponsible, which won’t benefit the workforce.

I would rather be reborn into the future, because I’m very curious to know what it’s like. Will the Earth have succumbed to climate change? Who will the president be? Will I have kids and/or even grandkids?!We learn all about the past in history, so I already have an idea of what life would be like- and honestly I think it would be pretty boring. The future would probably have so much new and interesting technology that seems impossible today. I would love to see what fashion is like, what new movies came out, and what people my age are like. I think that being reborn into the future would be extending my life in a way. It would be like I never died at all.

I’m excited that we’re getting closer to Christmas. My family is going to visit my grandparents in California. I love getting away from Hawaii during winter break, because the weather in California actually changes a little bit, and I can feel the Christmas spirit. Also, being away from home distracts me from school and all the winter break homework I have to do. Before school gets out, my friends also like to get into the spirit by playing Christmas music at lunchtime, and doing Secret Santa. Even though a lot of exams will be happening at the end of the semester, there are still some fun school activities that SAO plans during Christmas time, which makes school bearable. I’m definitely looking forward to Christmas, because this year has been going by fast, and I know it’ll be winter break in no time.

I would rather know when I die, because it will encourage me to live life to the fullest, whereas knowing how I’ll die would just make me paranoid. For example, if I know that I’ll die in a plane crash, I’ll probably never travel by plane again, and I’ll miss out on traveling the world. Knowing when I’ll die is very straightforward, but I’d rather just know, because I am better at dealing with bad news than being curious. By knowing when I’ll die, I wont have to worry about my death until that day, and hopefully by then, I’ll be prepared. But knowing how I die, I’ll worry that it could be at any second, and I won’t be prepared.

I was satisfied with the amount of class time we used to work on the essay. It helped to lighten the homework load. After a lot of revisions and feedback, I’m fairly confident with my final essay. The hardest part for me was the self-reflection, so I hope that it’s easy to understand. I liked how the word count was 650, since it forced me to cut out information and put only my very best wok forward. Overall, the process was a little stressful, since I kept worrying that my story was too cliche or vague.

Right now, I’m feeling a little bit frustrated with my essay. Even though I spent a lot of time and effort on it, I feel like it doesn’t convey what I want it to. I think my self-reflection could be stronger, and I’ve been revising it to make it flow better. My goal for this week are to make a more equal (60-40) ratio between the narrative and reflection, since the narrative is a little too long right now. Another goal of mine is to make my reflection much more broad than my narrative, in order to show how I’ve grown as a person.