45th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday

Thinking back to Bloody Sunday we see how racism and discrimination was so vivid only 45 years ago. The fact that such violent discrimination took place less than 50 years ago sends chills up my spine. Knowing that my grandma, my mom, and my aunt had to endure such discrimination which was especially strong because they grew up in the south, makes me look at them which so much respect because even though white people abused them they don't generalize and dislike all white people. I know this can be hard for some people but now we black Americans aren't letting our traumatizing past haunt us anymore; we're now trying to move forward.
People think that we've come so far because we have a black president, but if Obama was really dark skinned it probably would be even harder for some white people to respect his authority. Some white may not like the feeling that some that is a minority and supposedly "beneath" them is now above them and they must answer to them.
We've took some pretty big steps, but we have a long way to go.

From Mouth to Pen

From mouth to pen,
Pouring onto the page like water.

Nouns, calling out to you,
Screaming fir your attention.

Verbs, running towards you,
Trying to grab onto you.

Adjectives, trying to describe the way I feel,
Hoping to make you interested to stay.

From mouth to pen,
Pouring onto the page like water,
For I can not say these words to you.

I try and try but you never give me a chance to speak.
You shove your words down my throat,
And as I begin to choke,
You never know what I was trying to say.

So I write it down...
From mouth to pen,

"I love you"

Is SOTA Achieving Their Mission?

School of the Arts mission motto-
OUR MISSION IS STUDENT SUCCESS... ACADEMIC, ARTISTIC, AND HUMANISTIC.

Has School of the Arts achieved these mission? Well I think that we are more academically successful than a great majority of other city schools. We definitely have an artistic advantage because we are an art school. Our art is an actual grade and something that could actually hold you back from graduating which is definitely not like other schools where an art or music class is just an extracurricular class or an elective; but does SOTA achieve humanistic success? I think not.
Humanism is when different aspects of humans, such as interests and values, are looked as the center of life. But a lot of students at SOTA don't respect this idea. Students here at SOTA don't respect others because they do not fit into the norm and at an art there are a lot of people who look different because they are so creative and they incorporate these "unique" ideas into their appearance. Students also have to learn how to repsect other's beliefs and try not to belittle someone's faith. Another essential thing that SOTA students (and even some teachers) need to respect because it is ever so evident at here is homosexuality. It's something we cant run from because its every around every corner. So when we learn to accept these difference we may be a school who actually fulfills our mission motto.

What Does a Teenager Spend Money On?

Have you ever gotten back from the mall and noticed you didn't have that many bags but your wallet was completely empty? What could you have possibly spent your money on? Well if you're a teenager it probably was a lot of unnecessary things that you didn't realize at the time of your purchase.
As a teen myself I know that money seems to go pretty fast. About 20%-40% lot of it goes to junk food such as chips, soda, snack cakes, and loads of greasy food. With are fast metabolisms we don't pay attention to the damage we're causing inside because it never show...except for the excessive breakouts on our faces from time to time.
But some of our purchases differ depending on your sex. Guys usually spend their money on video games, a few nice fitted's and sneaks to upgrade their gear every now and again, and unfortunately nowadays a lot of our guys are spending a large percent of their money on acquiring "illegal substances".
Our ladies on the other hand spend a lot of money on all the latest clothes, accessories, and make up (enough to hide any blemish we could possibly receive.) We have to pay to get our hair done, nails occasionally, and just keep our appearance up at any cost. A hard task but something we try our best to accomplish.
So the next time you try to think of all the things you waste your money look at yourself in the mirror...there goes 45%. Think of what you ate today...another 40%. And then finally think about that "special gift" you brought yourself that made you increase your normal junk food percentile by an extra 10%...there goes the final 5%-15%.