Metacognition: Clean Up

              For this project, I have decided to completely reorganize my room. Since it's small, it continues to get cluttered every day with more and more papers and items I collect. The build up is unnecessary so I feel that creating a working system of organization, I will be less stressed in my life.
              Before beginning this project, I felt really cluttered and dirty. Having a messy working space never results in a good outcome. For the most part, I find myself working a lot on homework and other projects in my room. This environment is livable and clean, but that's only on the outside. If someone were to step in my room they would think they have entered a space of peace and tranquility. However, taking a look in my closet, under my bed, or in my drawers, they would find a messy and unorganized dark hole.
              At the start of this process, I felt overwhelmed because of the amount that had to be done. It was stressful picking a place to start because I kept thinking about the big picture of what needed to be accomplished. However, I realized that starting on small things would be the best way to approach this. I started with under my desk where over the last year, a huge stack of papers and pamphlets of ACT practice and college info had collected. I normally don't look back on these, but the pile continues to grow larger and larger. Before I began to clear this out and organize it, I decided to go through each of the papers and figure out what the essentials were at this point in the college process. I was very successful with my duty to help the earth because of how much I ended up recycling.
            Once that was complete, I even felt a small weight lift from me. I felt more on top of my college situation after just reviewing all of the clutter. I did similar things with my drawers and closet and found that there were a lot of unnecessary things creating clutter around there. After completing the cleaning process, I felt such relief. I know that my life has just become a lot more organized, even though I do consider myself to be organized already. This just enhances it and makes me feel more confident about the work I can accomplish now that I have taken this big step to having a cleaner room and working space.
            My mind feels so much less stress. The stress did build up at the beginning of the project because of the type of day I was having. I thought a lot about college and after finishing the cleaning, I was able to make a few decisions about that. This project really helped my mind advance and started it off on a clean slate. I think it's important to be able to start each week off with a clean slate. I normally set aside time on my Sunday to clean my room so I won't be stressed when school starts again on Monday. I just took it a step further today and because of this, my mind feels a lot clearer.
             I know now that I can accomplish any big task if I really put my mind to it. It's hard to get the motivation to start a big project, but after the first steps of working on it, it gets easier and easier. I learned that once you accomplish a small task, it's easier to motivate yourself to finish a project or something even bigger. I will remember this the next time I want to finish something that doesn't seem doable.
             

Carry it Forward: Plato's Allegory of the Cave

              In the reading I did the other day for Sophie's World, I read about a philosopher named Plato. His beliefs really struck me as valuable and as an important way to live by. There is certainly a lot of information forced at the reader about philosophy. Honestly, none of which were much of an interest to me because of how obvious all these theories are about life. It does not make any difference to me whether it was Plato, Aristotle, or Socrates who made the discovery or had the idea. However, for some reason, the author chooses to take the idea of philosophy and the history of it and incorporates it into a novel rather than writing a text book which people read who intend to learn about these ancient philosophers.
                Anyways, I actually did get something out of the reading because of how true Plato's ideas are. The cave allegory talked about to how there is something more real and truthful waiting for us outside the cave. It made me think about the movie the Matrix which is actually based on Plato's allegory of the cave because of how clearly this historical example is applied into a present day film. The idea that there is some greater truth out there is an important idea to live by because of how much is stretches an individuals potential to see beyond their comfort.

What If: War Memorial

         In class we watched a documentary of Mia Lin, the designer of the Vietnam memorial and the Civil Rights memorial. This was extremely inspirational because I never realized exactly how much thought is put into each of these war memorials. Going through Mia Lin's life just before visiting the memorial site to plan it, she does months of research and discovers so much about the war itself or the Civil Rights Movement.
       After watching this documentary, I discovered that there is so much more involved in a memorial than a simple statue, wall, or building with names listed on it. When I visited the Vietnam War Memorial 4 years ago I didn't think much effort went into it because of how simple it was. However, if I were informed of the work and thought process behind this wall that came from Maya Lin, I probably would have had a deeper experience. However, being 13 years old, I don't think I would have understood much anyways.
          Watching this really makes me think of the question: What if I were to design a memorial for something? Would I be able to get a good enough understanding of an event such as war to create something this intense. In a way, this is what the 21st century project is challenging us to do: Use our creative side to make a representation of something great. I think that I would be able to make something meaningful, but to be in the same mindset as Maya Lin would be nearly impossible for someone of my level of education because of everything I have yet to experience.

Connection: Issues and Answers

         We're reading Sophie's World in class which I seriously don't think is even a novel. It's more of a history/ philosophy text book disguised as a piece of literature. I think it's fine how the author is trying make this more personal, or so it seems, but I think that this is a pathetic attempt at tricking the reader into thinking that this should be enjoyable for us. However, I see right through this lie. It is nothing but a lesson of philosophy. The parts that the author tries to incorporate Sophie's personal life is just lame because when he does describe her, it is so brief. Such a large percentage of the book consists of the letters written by this 'teacher' of Sophie's which makes me uninterested.
          However, every time I read this, I can't help but connect it to previous classes I have taken. For one, almost every philosophical topic that has been brought up in the book is something that my issues and answers class discussed. The whole topic about Plato and his Allegory of the Cave is something that I know all too much about because of how much time was spent discussing that in my other class. It defiantly helps to understand the philosophical information in Sophie's World but is basically repeating everything I have already discovered. I'm not sure if it is better that I already have looked into most of these questions about the world.   
          It would help if the novel had some type of exhilarating story but unfortunately, I have not yet found the excitement in this novel. Hopefully after reading more, I will learn new information or find something more personal to connect with.