Jil+Modi

I am From Poem
====I am from mouth watering moist brownies every Saturday to melt in your mouth cheesy burritos for lunch. From taking a walk along the friendly neighborhood to racing towards the corner stop sign with my brother. ==== ==== I am from calling my friends over to experiment on new types of food and begging our parents to have a sleep over. From scrumptious pancakes in the morning with a whip of cream to homemade apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert. ==== ====I am from riding my bicycle with my family every summer evening and racing to the corner Rita’s to order our favorite chocolate sundae. From sitting out late catching glowing fireflies to climbing my favorite tree with a good book in hand, reading for hours under the warmth of the sun. ==== ====I am from decorating the gigantic bushy tree while listening to old Christmas carols to wrapping the gifts gingerly and arranging them under the tree making sure to remember placing a plate of cookies and a glass of milk along with a pile of peeled carrots for Santa and his reindeers. From unpaid bills piling up on the dining room table to trash mail carelessly flying everywhere. ==== ====I am from listening to my responsible mother always yelling out “Did you finish your homework and chop chop there’s a lot to be done! From my dad’s encouraging thoughts of “always do your best” and “believe in yourself” ==== ====I am from a thoughtful family and a helpful group of friends who are caring and loving in every way possible. All of my childhood memories in a precious open door in the heart of my mind always overflowing into my thoughts. ====

The Three Century Woman Literary Critique
====Judging a person before you meet them is like criticizing a book after only reading the title. Outward prejudging by an appearance or a stereotype plays an important role in the short story “The Three Century Women” by Richard Peck. For instance, when Megan first arrives at her grandmother’s old age home, she would rather be at the mall or even doing her homework but little does she know how much her attitude will change towards her great grandmother or to old people in general. In the story “The Three Century Women,” Richard Peck effectively shows the theme of not judging others based on an appearance or a stereotype. This theme is evident because of how Megan’s view of her great-grandmother changes from the beginning to the end. ==== ==== Was judging her great-grandmother without even meeting her the right thing for Meagan to do? The reader can infer that it may have been due to the general behavior of old people that Megan decided to give her great-grandmother these personality traits. As she stated in the text, “I’m fourteen and the mall is the only place without homework” (Peck 7). This shows that Megan obviously does not enjoy doing her homework. But when they got to the old age home, Meagan told her mom that she would wait in the car and do her homework. Through this quote, the reader realizes that even though Megan does not like doing homework, she would rather do it than go visit her great-grandmother. There is also the possibility that Megan doesn't want to go to the old age home because of what she heard her mother and aunt saying. They were both strictly unwilling for the news people to interview their grand-mother. In the text it states, “You’ll keep those Whispering Oaks people from letting the media interview grandma. Interview her my foot! Honestly. She doesn't know where she is let alone how many centuries she’s lived in. The poor old soul. Leave her in peace. She’s already got one foot in the-” As the reader can tell, Meagan’s mom and aunt both believe that Great-Grandmother Breckenridge is too old for an interview and think that she has nothing interesting to talk about. This may have also lead Megan to believe that her Great-Grandmother is very boring and she is just wasting her time by going to visit her. ==== ==== Having genuine as a character trait means caring about a person as an individual and not because of monetary rewards you may receive. This term is evident when the reporters and media interview Meagan’s Great-Grandmother. They don’t care about what she’s really been through or about her life; they just want juicy news about someone who first-handedly has been through so many important moments of history. They know that people will pay to watch news like that and so they will interview Megan’s Great Grandmother. In the text it even states, “He didn’t notice that I was still there. He thought I was nothing but my memories. So I gave him some” (Peck 14). This shows that the news people thought that Great-Grandmother was just a boring old woman who, because she’s lived through three centuries and a lot of important moments of history, would get them many viewers and therefore a lot of money. What they didn't realize was that Great-Grandma herself has a story of her own. She is a person with a background and a life, not a person who will get you a lot of money. If they had realized this small thing, they may have gotten some real information on what life was really like back then. ==== ==== Every person who reads this story will most likely feel a strong connection towards it. It reveals strong truths that we face almost every day in our usual lives. Like Megan, many of us judge others based on a certain stereotype. But hopefully, just like Megan we will learn that it is not the right thing to ====

====do. Also, unlike the newsman, we will never care about an individual just for monetary reasons. For example, some people will do anything to meet a celebrity or get money. People will even pretend that they are someone else just to impress others and take advantage of them. For example, there was recently a shooting in Sandy Hook Elementary School. A lady set up a website a couple days later that said to donate money through the website for the school because of the shooting but instead of giving the money to the school, the lady herself kept it. If people would understand that this is not right, the world definitely be a better place to live in. ====

====Do you ever sit and wonder how astronomers long ago decided the traits of human beings depending on their stars. Back then, they thought that they were perfectly correct about their predictions, but one thing is as clear as a polished piece of glass, a person can be anything they want to be! The Libra and I have many comparable characteristics, but there are some traits of this horoscope that I do not possess. These characteristics signify me and the Libra each as unique people with fascinating qualities of our own. ====

==== Being diplomatic and urbane are two traits that I share with the classic Libra. For instance, I can visualize a Libra girl rubbing the back of a family member who is depressed or miserable, saying uplifting thoughts to help make her feel all right. Likewise, I can be very diplomatic and urbane as well. A couple of months ago, my friend came up to me with a glum look on her face because she didn’t like her ID picture. Even though the picture wasn’t grand, I told her that she looked spectacular and if she didn’t like her picture now, next year was always going to come for another chance. This simple act of kindness perked up her mood and made her feel appreciative. A classic Libra would most likely do the same thing to help a friend. ====

====Being romantic and charming is one of the few traits of the typical Libra that I do not acquire. I definitely care about people’s feelings and I try to be very careful about what I say to other people. For example, when my friend got B’s and C’s on her report card, I didn’t just walk away. Since I care for her, I comforted her by saying she is very smart and intelligent. This shows that I am urbane and caring but not romantic and charming. ====

====<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Being easygoing and sociable is an absolute trait of the Libra that I carry. A person does not have to go above and beyond to impress me as Victor did for Teresa’s approval in the story “7th grade.” To me, it doesn’t matter about the clothes that a person wears but their true personality and what is really inside of them. I do not believe in judging a book by its cover. In second grade, we had a new girl in our school named Brianna. Nobody talked to her because she was shy, but I felt compassionate for her. At lunch, she would sit by herself and during recess, she wouldn’t have anyone to hang out with. I thought that this was an injustice so one day, I went up to her and asked her about her life. We talked a lot and became best friends. Now, even though she lives in North Carolina, we still keep in touch and talk almost every day. ====

====<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Being peaceful is another trait that the Libra and I do not share. I am usually never peaceful and tend to be very active and lively all the time which is the opposite of this character trait of the classic Libra. ====

====<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> So do the standard Libra and I share the same personality traits? A smart answer to that would be no one has the same characteristics as their horoscope. Every individual is different in their own unique way and the time we were born or our stars cannot explain a human beings behavior. Every person is different and that’s what makes the world such an interesting place to live in! ====

Sleep or no Sleep Persuasive Essay ==== <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">“Buzzzzzz,” my now ringing alarm clock rang and its discordant rhythm cut into my own land of beautiful dreams as my eyes fluttered open, adjusting into the warm, soft glow of my bedroom light. My hands jostled with the comfort of my blankets and pillows as I wildly reached for my bedside table to click off the angry alarm clock, and it seemed as though a mob of aggravated bees had attacked with a single press of my finger. I bolted upright because my eyes had just caught the neon green light of the alarm clock which said it was already 7:00 a.m. and I was 10 minutes late from when I was supposed to wake up. Untangling myself from the mess of the bed sheet, I clumsily got up and dragged myself to the bathroom stumbling through the halls, still half asleep and began brushing my teeth without even glancing to see if my parents were still home or not. ==== ====<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> This disdainful schedule is one that adolescents are forced to follow every morning for the whole school year, doesn’t sound to appealing does it? I strongly believe that school should begin later around 10:00 a.m. instead of 8:00 a.m. and this change of events is definitely to your advantage. This new schedule will reduce slacking from students, increase chances of students getting higher grades, and lastly students need more sleep. ==== ====<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Nowadays, most kids are so caught up in the lack of sleep that they begin slacking off. Their mind has no time to rest let alone digest all of the information the teacher is bombarding them with. I can definitely connect to this. On a daily basis, I am usually awake till 11:00 at night working on homework and projects. The next morning, I am forced upon my will to wake up and go to school to fill my mind with even more information. On top of that, tests and quizzes are always a constant threat like a lion lurking hungrily in front of a cave. This safe haven of a cave is like a student’s sleep, and if that one small pleasure is reduced, slacking is without a doubt going to take place. ==== ====<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> I am sure you are aware of the fact that the rate of students getting good grades in school is drastically decreasing. Why do you think this change is occurring? The answer is quite obvious, we don’t get enough sleep. If dozing off during school is always hovering over us, how are we supposed to concentrate on upcoming tests and quizzes? As a student, I can assure you that we hope for that extra minute of sleep. We simply cannot concentrate on these assignments when we can barely keep our heavy eyelids opens. ==== ====<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Lastly, not enough sleep can result in medical problems for kids. Psychical appearance can also be affected by this lack, such as bags under your eyes. Studies have shown that the average amount of sleep people between the ages of 11-13 should get is 9 hours. But in reality, adolescents only get about 6-7 hours of sleep. This lack of sleep is not beneficial for students’ health, so if you would like for the next generation of adults to be healthy, you should seriously consider starting school later. ==== ====<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Those are all the reasons why school should start later. Slacking off from students with decrease, grades will improve, and students will be much healthier. Changing the time that school starts would be beneficial to students’ health and education. ====