GRADUATION!!!!!!!

So after high school is over with and I'm outta that place, it will be time for my summer to begin. Vacations are already planned to head home for awhile and see what is down there. College starts up in the fall and I'm already thinking about switching majors... yeah yeah i know, i havent even been in class yet and im already thinking of changing lol. I would say I have it all planned out, but i dont- so i wont. I think this is the first year im not going to camp or something like that... unless you count my trip as a camp but im still around family so i wouldnt. Plus my whole day wouldnt be planned out for me for every minute of that day- that gets really annoying after awhile. So we shall see how this trip goes, and i will be blogging about it... if i can find some internet down there... my lap top is wireless but i dont have one of those card things for it yet... should work on that... ♥z!

So yes, the blogging for Maz's class has officially ended and graduation is just around the corner. Next Thursday, actually...now that I think about it. WOOOT! lol. So anywho, my blog will continue just not as a grade and I am making it into more of my blog minus the history lesson of the week stuff in it. Have fun reading it, comments are a must, and enjoy your summer b/c you'll never know when it shall be your last. ♥z.

The Final Blog :'(

I cannot believe graduation is just around the corner, it seems like this year has gone by in a blink of an eye! Although I am happy to see summer come, I'm sad to see the school year go with friends going different places and leaving all the great teachers at the high school. This year I took a leap in some of my classes, I gave up my normal classes and went for something more challenging because frankly I was starting to get bored in regular history class. All it basically was was notes, worksheet, test, repeat with the occasional projects. Although we did that in AP history as well, but it was more educational. We learned what people during that time really thought, what really happened, we really got into it. Plus going the speed we were going really helps you prepare yourself for college when you're listening to a lecture. Taking notes and knowing what's important and what are just fun facts is a skill that I developed while taking this class. And also, when someone writes something on the board, it better be in your notes also. I found out that my strengths are projects, especially when its on a topic that i love. For example, my power point on Jack the Ripper was diffidently one of my favorite projects I did for this class. My weakness however is public speaking. Ever since I was little it has been my weakness. It doesn't matter if I know everyone in the room or if I don't, I'm just not very good at it, which may be a reason why I became a dancer- no words necessary. Another weakness I have is test taking. I went to Sylvan Learning Center for almost two years, I was making progress but my test scores were a little lower than when I started going there (which was totally weird...). So to make up for my weaknesses, especially testing, I try to do my best on every other grade I have for that class and do extra credit whenever possible, it helped me out a lot sometimes. Overall, I think I made a good/wise choice when I scheduled this class my junior year because I believe it really preped me for college and I had a good time taking this class. Sure, some days were overwhelming with all my other classes and stuff going on outside of class, but in the end it was all worth it. Listening and understanding reasons, political issues, or why war broke out really helps me understand it better when i hear the details of it and how somethings in history will always be a mystery. Like Jack the Ripper, we only have suspects... no one actually 100% knows who he was. In a way, I wish I could drag Maz with me to college because I love the way she teaches and makes sure we all understand it but also makes it fun for us. A lot of memories were made during this class and many lessons that will stick with me hopefully for a very long time.

Meeting of the Minds Day is just around the corner...

Tomorrow is our "dry run" of our meeting of the minds in preparation for Tuesday, which will be the real deal. Some of the questions to be answered by Corday are a little tougher than others, but I will try to answer them as Corday would even though the limited amount of information there is on her. Corday is one of my favorite people we have learned about this year because when something was going wrong in her country, she did not rely on others to do something about it. She took matters into her own hands and settled it, even though I'm sure she could have settled it in another way. Women then were more "behind the curtain" and would usually not take matters into their own hands, but Corday knew what she needed to do and went through with it. Not only did she stop Marat from giving out lists of names, she also made people realize how inhumane the guillotine actually was, which also eventually led to the end of its usage. Hopefully tomorrow will go well and everyone will do a good job.

Question for meeting of the minds...

Is America an imperialist country? Why? (Corday's answer)

Many countries became imperialist countries by taking over countries in Africa, just as France, Germany, and Great Britain. They took the country, because it could not say 'no' to them since their country was not as strong to defend itself, and made it into a country with similar laws, religions, way of work, etc. basically to make money off of them. These countries were forcing their ways onto these people. After awhile they even began to fight over who was getting what country, and they would use the countries that they already took over to fight so less of their own people would die.
Now in America today, some may believe that their current situation with Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan is America being imperialist onto them. I, however, do not believe that it is because if you think about what made them go over there in the first place and what started the war was because of America's September 11, 2001. Terrorists attacked them without any warning at all, America went over to stop being attacked and to save its own people. They are attempting to create a better life style for the people in these countries and yes, they got rid of their leader but only because he was the one who authorized the attacks to begin with. America may seem imperialist, but truly it is not.

Charlotte Corday

<--Jean-Paul Marat

This week in Maz's class, we are preparing for our meeting of the minds conversation and everyone has a different character from history. My character is Charlotte Corday, who died during the French Revolution, but not for reasons that you may think. She was not killed during battle, but was executed by the guillotine. Jean-Paul Marat was a person who wrote down lists of names of people to be executed, and the government thought his reasons for listing the following names should indeed be executed, so they were. Corday realized this was a killing spree of her own people that the government was allowing, so she took matters into her own hands. Preparing herself mentally, she decided that the only way this would end was if Marat died. She made a list of names, and scheduled an appointment with Marat to share her list of names he could use. Accepting her offer, Marat allowed her to come while he was bathing for a skin problem he had. Before she went, she left a letter explaining everything she was about to do for her country because she knew she would be caught in the end. At the meeting, she took a kitchen knife to Marat's throat and sliced it open, leaving him to die immediately. Going outside covered in blood, the police captured her and she was put on trial. Once found guilty, she was sent to be beheaded. On her way up to the blade, she screamed and cried because she was not ready to face a painful death. Corday made France realize two things; women needed to step up more for what they believed in and also the guillotine was not humane at all. Even though she did commit murder, she showed women how to step out of their boxes and do something for their people in order to bring peace back and less killings by the government.

Growth of Immigration

When the Communism collapse and a civil war takes place in Yugoslavia, the immigration growth begins to take notice. People moving to different countries than where their parents grew up in because of new work and more money opportunities. Once they raised enough money, they could send it to their families back in their old country to come to the new country where they are at to live a perhaps happier life. This painting capture the moment of a ship load of people coming into a new country and meeting new people or maybe even the family that already moved there for work. Everyone is running to greet someone else in the picture as the row boats come in from the ship, bringing loads of people to the land.