How Much Does Your Life in School Intersect With Your Life Outside School?

            Most of my life there was little to no overlap between my home life and school life. The most that I would conceder to be overlap is homework. I never went over to my friends’ houses or them to mine; I always stayed home and played by myself. It did not bother me that I did not hangout with friends outside of school because I saw them seven hours a day in the same class. It wasn’t until middle school that I wanted to see my friends more because that’s when we started being separated and I did not have all day to see them.

            I did not start actually hanging out with my friends outside of school until I got into the high school. I started inviting friends over and to stay the night at my house on the weekends and I would go to their houses and sometimes pass out on their couches at five o’clock in the morning. It was not until the den opened up in town that my friends and I would hangout after school on a weekday. We still go to the den and hangout at least once a week and sometimes go to the tracks and watch the trains pass by after the den closes.

What Do You Eat During the School Day?

A lot of students eat snacks through out the day. Most of these snacks either come from the snack machines or the Scotty Store at the Scott Regional Technology Center or the a la carte line at lunch. I do not usually eat snacks during school mainly because I cannot afford them. If I eat snacks at school I bring them from home instead of buying them at school. Sometimes I will buy snacks at school if I get too hungry and can't hold over until lunch.

The cafeteria has three lines: two of the lines are the main entrée lines and the third line has the secondary entrée and the salad bar. I eat out of the second main entrée line everyday and although there is an a la carte selection to choose from in every line I don’t eat it because it costs extra to eat those items.

The menu changes periodically but, one day every week the main entrée is always the same. Every Wednesday the main entrée is a chicken patty and for some reason it is the most popular thing in the menu. I mean its alright but its not the best thing I have ever tasted.

Do you watch the Superbowl?

Seriously, is this even a real question? Of course I watch the Superbowl along with ninety-nine percent of all other Americans who enjoy watching the third greatest sport known to rednecks (the first and second being NASCAR and WWE). People who watch the Superbowl watch for one or both of these reasons, either they watch the game because their team was lucky enough to make it through the play offs or they watch the commercials. My team, the Kansas City Chiefs, never make it through the playoffs to get to the Superbowl so I am stuck watching the commercials. Usually the commercials are great you get to see the upcoming summer blockbusters, the comedic Dorito commercials, and the Coca-Cola bears.

This year we were lucky enough to see a rare power outage and see Beyoncé perform on the stage at the half time show. There were many great commercials but the best ones included the Budweiser Clydesdale commercial and the Doritos goat commercial. Dodge had a good one titled “I’m a Farmer” and Samsung’s “Next Big Thing” advertisement with Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd was also pretty good. I do not mind watching Superbowl commercials instead of the game because sometimes the commercials are just more entertaining.

Do you like being alone?

Generally my mood determines if I enjoy being alone or being with other people. For instance if the day was bad for me and I feel like people were annoying me or mistreating me then I would like nothing more in the world than some solitary confinement in my room. Being alone allows me to think when I am just too frustrated to think clearly. All I have to do is put on some country music and lay down on my bed and either stare at the ceiling or the backs of my eyelids and I almost instantly feel better.

To me being alone is not always fun or nice. I adore the presence of others and I am a very sociable person. Hanging out with my friends is an activity I enjoy doing very often. If I could not socialize with my peers I would probably go crazy and destroy the universe. Luckily I have very good friends and that understand my many faults so the universe is safe for now. Hanging out with my friends allows me to satisfy my need to socialize and be accepted by others. When I am with people I feel like I can truly be myself.

Given Unlimited Resources, What Scientific or Medical Problem Would You Investigate?

            Given unlimited resources I would research and try to find a solution to a problem that man have been trying to solve since the beginning of time… How do women think? All men know that women are one of the most puzzling, confusing, and befuddling creatures in the entire universe. To get inside of the minds of women and understand how they think would be one of the greatest breakthroughs for mankind since the invention of the wheel. I probably would be awarded a Nobel Prize for my findings and become very wealthy.

The benefits for this astonishing scientific achievement would be limitless. Married men everywhere would feel safe in their own homes knowing that their wives wouldn’t be on them telling them to do this or that because he could think like her and do them without being badgered. Or possibly the gentleman who just doesn’t have much luck attracting a mate would know what they want in a mate and be able to say all the right things significantly increasing his probability to pass his genes on to the next generation and ensuring the survival of his species. One could know how to cheer up their loved one when she is feeling down or depressed and know what chocolates and ice-cream she will need to help get over her problem.

Can You Be Good Without God?

            This is probably the one of the most controversial questions that has ever been asked. I have had many arguments with my religious friends over the topic of if someone can be a good person and not be a believer. Personally, I believe that one does not have to be a religious extremist to be a good person. An atheist can do charity work or help people just like a religious person can or an atheist can be kind and helpful to others. Should these qualities be ignored just because they do not believe what other people believe? Not every person that is not affiliated with a Christian religion should be considered bad people and in fact a lot of the people that I know go to church are worse people than most the non-religious people I know. In my mind if there are two people, one religious and one not religious, and they both work at the same charity, doing the same job, and work the same amount of hours I see both of these people as equals. If one is religious or not should not be a factor in determining if someone is either a good person or not a good person.

What Would You Put in Your Emergency “Go Bag”?

            If there is a crisis or a natural disaster an emergency go bag is a must. We can’t always expect local or federal authorities to help us. We can be waiting hours and even days for help to arrive. How can we survive if the thing we take for granted every day like cell phones, gas, heating, air conditioning, or electricity do not work? In my emergency go bag I would include items that will help me in a multiple day natural disaster situation. For food I would pack MRE’s, they have a long shelf life and come with its own heating device. I would pack two-liter water bottles to keep myself hydrated and a first aid kit would be necessary. I would also include a multi tool, a small blanket and tarp, matches, a flashlight with extra batteries, and a windbreaker. A small bottle of lighter fluid with a zippo lighter could be used to start fires. No emergency go bag is complete without at least one roll of heavy duty duct tape and a survival guide or handbook. Some non essential items that I would pack is a couple pairs of clean clothes, sun block, bug repellant, and zip lock baggies.

Should People Be Allowed to Obscure Their Identities Online?

            Lets face it everyone lies at least a little bit about themselves when they are on the internet, but the question is should false information about ones self be allowed to be posted. I have mixed ideas about the topic. One side of my opinion is that it is morally wrong to make someone believe you are something you are not. On the other hand we live in a free country and we should be able to have the right to post whatever we feel like online. For the people that are members on dating sites I think it would be most important to be truthful put your actual information or else the woman you are matched up will be surprised when she is expecting a six foot three inch muscular guy hunk and actually finds a five foot six balding man in his mothers basement or a man finds out the supermodel he has been talking to for the past month actually is in her mid to late fifties and lives with her thirty-six beloved cats. False information on the Internet in not cool but I am not sure how keeping false information from being posted would be enforced or even if it could be regulated.

Would you want to be home-schooled?

            I do not believe I would of liked to of been home-schooled. I think that home-schooled kids do not get enough of their social, educational, and other needs growing up. The only people they have to interact with and socialize with are their parents and other siblings if they have any. Children need to interact with other children and be allowed to find friends to help their social skills grow. Also if the parent is not one hundred percent dedicated to being a good teacher their child’s education will suffer. When taught at home children can fall behind because parents have other issues to worry about in the home.

Kids given the opportunity to apply themselves at school can build their confidence and help prepare them for life. They need to experience the challenges of public schooling so they can learn how to solve them to help them be confident in themselves. People who are not confident in themselves have a harder time interacting with others and it is harder to find good jobs or careers with bad social skills. I am happy that I was educated in a public school instead of being home-schooled by my parents because I believe it has better prepared me for my future and life.

What Are Your Favorite Cartoons?

            When I was very young I can remember waking up early every Saturday morning and go straight into the living room and sit right in front of my television. I liked to watch The Rug Rats, The Loony Toons, Kim Possible, The Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles, and The Magic School Bus. Sometimes my grandma would take me to my great grandmas house in Oklahoma and on the way I would watch my favorite cartoons on a little portable black and white television that plugged into the car. When we finally got to her house I would go to the back bedroom and watch some of her older cartoons she had on VHS like The Three Stooges and Care Bears.

            After a few years Saturday morning cartoon eventually died off with me. I now had access to cartons every day thanks to satellite television. I fell in love with Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, and Nickelodeon. Ed, Edd, and Eddy was one of my favorites on Cartoon Network, Avatar: The Last Airbender was my definite favorite on Nickelodeon, and on Disney Channel I enjoyed watching Lilo and Stitch: The Series. I have for the most part grown out of cartoons but I will turn to the cartoon channels every now and again just to see if there are any reruns on of my favorite cartoons.

Should Schools Offer Cash Bonuses for Good Test Scores?

            Having schools offer money as an incentive for students to work harder to get good grades is a good idea. Students who receive rewards for their good grades in their classes will get them to try harder and pay more attention in class. They will then learn that hard work pays off in the end and they will have a rewarding feeling of accomplishment. The proposed incentive does not have to be a lot either. It could be twenty dollars for an A, ten dollars for a B, five dollars for a C, and no reward for D’s or F’s. The incentive could be used in only core classes. Students who are in an advanced placement class could receive a higher reward for passing the AP exam.

            I think that the cash bonus for good grades could lead to a raise in cheating in schools. That issue could be avoided by making it harder for students to cheat. One way is to give out multiple versions of the same test. Another way is by giving a caught cheater an automatic F on the assignment. Academic dishonesty could be prevented by making cheaters pay the school and receive the failing grade.