Billy Joel

Hmm... This post is a hard one. I guess I'd have to say that my favorite musician is Billy Joel. Basically, he's a bard. His songs don't sound like the same thing regurgitated at different tempos. He addresses real people, problems, and emotions. More importantly, he does it in a really interesting creative way. Billy Joel's stuff talks to you. It makes you feel things you have never experienced and explains why you feel the way do about things you have experienced. In short, his music is REAL. All that aside, its just really good. It all very different but it all sounds really good and its nice to listen to. It's comfortable and makes you feel safe. Billy Joel has reached across generations because he's brilliant. I love him.
Last week was Spring Break. It was fun, but kind of uneventful. I spent most of the time in Austin and no one else was here. For the last few days I went to Dallas and visited people up there. It was okay, I guess. All in all it was kind of anticlimactic. Oh well, maybe next year... On the upside there are only 46 more days of Freshmen year.

Science Fair

This week is a free week so this post will probably be pretty random...

So our Science Fair Projects are due next Wednesday. Basically you do this giant project and turn in to be judged and advanced if it's good enough. Although this year we didn't have to actually submit it, we just had to do one. Unfortunately, it had to be a BIOLOGY project, aka living things, aka requires forethought, aka I am going to fail. Science Fair, along with Geometry, is the cause of all evil in the world. While I think Science Fair has it's place it isn't as a torturing device for the entire student body. Science Fair works really well if you are seriously interested in your topic and the experimentation process. It provides a framework for students to do serious research on topics they're interested in. It also allows them to be acknowledged and is a great opportunity for scholarships. In short it's a brilliant idea when it isn't being used as a requirement.

However, at my middle school and now here at Anderson, Science Fair is REQUIRED for everyone in Pre-AP classes. This does a number of things. First of it puts a lot of unneeded stress on students already under a lot of pressure. It also warps student's concepts of how actual experiments go and how discoveries are made. But the main problem this requirement causes is that many students take less advanced science classes then they would otherwise. Ironically, this project makes students lose interest in advanced science rather than boost science skills at the school. I know many people who never even think twice before dropping a level in science classes. This not only makes are school less competitive but, in a small way, makes the nation as a whole less competitive.

Okay stepping down from my soap box now... Sorry about that... See you next fortnight.