The Final Piece of PGP

ethand on

The Year is coming to an end and so are our classes. That includes the most outside the box class I have in PGP. Performance Growth Plan is not a normal class, it involves extensive preparing and planning for your future. The whole point of it is to make you the best person you can be. We just brought the year to an end by creating what we call a time machine.

No we are not trying to recreate the flux capacitor, and now we are not literally trying to go back in time. We were tasked with creating something that explained something that we didn’t know at the beginning of the school year. We called it the time machine project because we would like to be able to send it back to ourselves so that we could use that information for the whole grade 11 school year.

I wanted to explain the whole entire year of PGP in the span of two pages. I used pictures with a side of success and another with failure. I explained what I thought were the most important things that I needed to remember form PGP to be successful.

This class was different than anything else that I have done. It was a rough start as I wasn’t sure if I wanted to give it a chance at the beginning of the year, but giving this class a shot was one fo the best decisions I’ve made. I think that what I have learned has helped me more than almost every other class. It has prepared me for the future as it does a a really good job of turning you into your best self. If I apply what I have learned from PGP, I will have the best chance of being as successful as I can be.

How the World Almost Fell Off the Edge

ethand on

You might be confused about my title, as how can the world fall of f the edge of anything. It’s in space so that doesn’t make any sense at all. I am actually referring to when there were massive political issues. This was during the Cold War, the world was on the brink of Nuclear war. There were multiple different occasions where multiple countries were worried that WWIII was going to break out. If you don’t know what the Cold War was it was essentially a political, ideological and cultural struggle between the democratic capitalist West and communist nations in eastern Europe and Asia. This issue was held mainly between the United States and the USSR.

Like I said there were multiple different issues that happened during the Cold War that could have pushed the world over the edge. I chose to write an essay that focused on a U-2 spy plane that crashed over top of the USSR. There was a huge conflict with lying and and disagreement. Here is what I wrote:

In the early 1960s, there was major distrust between two of the major nuclear powers of the world being the US and the USSR. Both countries were getting more worried and more desperate. Both countries were waiting for the other to make a move until finally the US couldn’t handle the suspense anymore. They had to know what the Soviets were up to. Tensions were at its highest when an American U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. The tensions were raised as the Soviets did not want anybody peaking behind the iron curtain, especially those who lie about what they were actually trying to accomplish.

At the time the two most focused on politicians in the world were Dwight Eisenhower and Nikita Khrushchev. Both politicians were bumping heads and fighting for power. Suddenly 13 days before the important Four Powers meeting between the United States and the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and and France. A plane was shot down in Soviet Air space. The soviets knew that “This aircraft was specially equipped for reconnaissance and diversionary flight over the territory of the Soviet Union.”, this was clearly stated in historical material that specifically focused on this incident and the prove was it clearly had on board “It had on board apparatus for aerial photography for detecting the Soviet radar network and other special radio-technical equipment which form part of U.S.S.R. anti-aircraft defenses.”.

The United States quickly back pedaled, they claimed it was sent from NASA and it was an off course weather plane. The USSR new that they were lying and covering up for what was actually happening. The United States finally gave in when the Soviets revealed that the plane was clearly a spy plane and that they had apprehended the American Pilot Gary Powers, as he became “first a prisoner, then an international propaganda pawn.” Stated by military historian Lann A. Malesky. Khrushchev was demanding that the U.S. admit to what they they have lied about and tell the truth about the spy plane. Khrushchev requested this during the Summit meeting, but Eisenhower would not fold, and both leaders went home getting ready for the possibility of nuclear war.

That meeting was the tipping point. It was this simple blatant lie, this moment when Eisenhower refused to tell the truth that pushed the world to the edge. The Soviets had solid evidence that made it obvious that the United States was lying. The USSR had similar technology to the Americans, similar enough to understand that this was a reconnaissance plane. The arrogance of the Americans pushed everything too far, as they were essentially saying that the soviets did not know what they were talking about and that they couldn’t be trusted even though it was almost exactly the other way around. The rest of the world looked down upon the United States after they committed espionage but they did not care as they were going to hold their ground. Neither country was going to give an inch, but neither country wanted to be the reason for Nuclear Fallout, so nobody knew who was going to be the one to strike first. 

So how did the U-2 spy plane almost put the world into nuclear fallout? It instantly rose tension with the spying behind enemy lines, and the fact that the US decided to lie about it made matters worse. At this point in time, this event was just the cherry on top to what was already going on and nearly pushed the world to self-destruction. Neither country knew what was going to happen next as they were both at each other’s throats, one of them looking behind the iron curtain and the other holding a man captive. The main factor is that the Soviets were not happy with the Americans peaking behind the iron curtain and continuing to hold their ground and lie about what their true intentions were. This was one decision that blossomed into a big mistake that nearly ended everything. 

Another thing that I wanted to focus on for this unit was Gay Rights. We have come a long way from the original problems with this subject. Homosexuals were essentially treated like they were not human just because of one simple preference that they had. They were essentially being called diagnosed as sick. They weren’t allowed certain jobs like working in the government and they were constantly being fired for unexplainable reasons except for the fact that they were gay. They were also basically tortured if they got aroused by another person of the same sex, a common way was electrocution.

Right before the 70’s started something changed everything and it happened at the Stonewall Inn. It was a gay bar in New York. In 1969 an all out war started out front of the Stonewall Inn. Four police were stationed outside and they raided the bar along with two policemen who were undercover. The tables were turned on the policemen as the citizens inside the bar decided to fight back, which started a riot along the street. Everything went crazy as there was now a mob stretching the length of the street. This was essentially a new beginning and was the birth of Gay Pride Parades.

This unit was one of the best units I have ever done, as it was very open ended and I got to choose what I wanted to learn about. I had very hard decisions to make as I was interested in a lot of Cold War topics. I also struggled to find my thesis as I wanted something different to challenge me and I did, and that is why I think this was successful unit for me.

The Jackie Robinson of Hockey

ethand on

Everybody who knows anything about baseball or the civil rights movement has heard of Jackie Robinson. He was one of the most influential athletes of all time as he was one of the first to break the colour barrier in major league sports. One athlete didn’t quite get the same recognition as Jackie Robinson. He didn’t play baseball but he played with the same level of drive and motivation as Robinson. His name was Willie O’Ree. He was a Canadian hockey player, and was the first black player in the NHL.

This was a partner project that I worked on with my classmate Sofia, we first started by working on learning about everything we could about O’Ree. I mainly focused on taking the information I found and condensing it down to the most important things. It started getting more complicated quickly, as there is not that much information about him as he isn’t the most well known athlete. Eventually I finished condensing the information so that it was ready to be put into a script. Our first draft was too much of an informational video and less of a video that answers a question. It was boring and bland and wasn’t good enough. The first thing we changed was how we explained everything. We added other information that was harder to find about his impact on the sports and civil rights world. It was also hard to find visuals  for the video.

Our second draft was a huge improvement, but it was still missing something, so Sofia and I decided that we should try and get an interview. This was Sofias idea and it was a great one to, I was a little bit worried that it was to ambitions to complete within the time frame. It was a major turning point in out project as it added a lot more depth to it. Getting an interview with the one and only Willie O’Ree. Instead we got in contact with the Hockey Hall of Fame, as Willie O’Ree was inducted not too long ago. The person we got in contact was Kelly Masse the director of corporate and media relations at the hall of fame. We told them what the project was about and asked if it was possible for us to ask her some questions. This is the email that Sofia sent:

We got a response a couple days later. We are very excited to get a response as this would really amp up our video. It made our video a lot more professional and less like it was done by a couple of teenagers. Sofia found a time where she could execute the interview. We developed several questions and  got this interview done. It was very helpful to have some input from somebody who had first hand information about the topic. It made our final draft much better, there was an immense difference between are first and last draft. It was awesome to be able to do a project on a hockey player as it is something I am very interested in. I hope I get to do something like this again in the future.

Kaepernick and Ali

ethand on

You probably recognize the names in the title, as one of them is the name of debatably the best boxer of all time Muhammad Ali who recently passed away lately, and the other one is the name of a NFL quarter back who whose career as taken a turn for the worst but, has been making a serious impact not the world lately. The one main thing they have in common is that they both have helped with the civil rights movement. The main reason why I chose these two people was the fact that they were in the spotlight when they decided to make a difference. The fact that they were in the spotlight made them more influential.

The point of this post was not for me to tell you about some famous atheletes, it is to show you the other similarity that they have. Both of these atheletes were involved putting there foot down to fight for what they believed in. Muhammad Ali was told that he had to go fight in the Vietnam War. He was sentenced to prison for up to 5 years and a $10,000. At first he refused induction at the Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Station in Houston that spring, and refused to be inducted into the Army. He said  “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Vietcong,”(New York Times) that basically stated that because he doesn’t have an issue with the Vietcong means that he shouldn’t have to go to war with them. He did this because black people were being treated like second class citizens at the time. He condemned racial discrimination in America declaring that “no Vietcong ever called me n#$%*&”(New York Times). He put his foot down to being treated like a second class citizen.

If you don’t know who Muhammad Ali is becuase you have been living under a Rock for a very long time. He was born with the name Cassius Clay and he was mainly known for being a boxer and one of the greatest ahteletes of the 20th century or even of all time. He won an Olympic Gold Medal in 1960, he was also the world heavyweight boxing champion in 1964. He won the heavyweight title in the 1970’s twice more. Some of the more well known boxers he beat were Joe Frazier and George Foreman. His boxing record was incredible with 56 wins while 37 of those being knockouts and 5 losses before he retired when he was 39 in 1981. Shortly after that in 1984 he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Because of that he devoted a lot of his life to philanthropy which earned him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005. He recently died in 2016 at the age of 74 after being hospitalized for a respitory issue.

Colin Kaepernick became larger than football after he refused to stand during the National Anthem before NFL games were started. He did this because he wanted to fight against police brutality and racial injustice. He said “To me, this is something that has to change,” and also that he could not “show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” He first sat during the anthem but he later decided to kneel instead “to show more respect for men and women who fight for the country”. It was suggested for him to change by former NFL player and Green Beret Nate Boyer. This sparked a whole movement as other players were inspired to do it as well such as his teammates Eric Reid, Eli Harold, Jaquiski Tartt and Rashard Robinson. People all over the NFL started doing this from Jeremy Lane in Seattle, to Malcom Jenkins on the Philadelphia Eagles who actually raised his fist with some other people in the NFL. More people started doing it the year after in 2017. Michael Bennett of the Seattle Seahawks told reporters he couldn’t stand for the National Anthem until he saw equality and freedom. Browns tight end Seth DeValve was noticed as the first white NFL player to kneel. The NFL stated that players were encouraged to stand but did not have to. After this happened Kaepernick became a free agent and no NFL team offered him a contract. Because of that he filed a grievance against the league, accusing team owners of colluding to keep him from being signed. Kaepernicks attorney said those who protest peacefully “should not be punished,” in a statement. Players continued to kneel. Public Backlash mounted until team owners in May declared that all team personnel on the field during the anthem must “stand and show respect for the flag and the Anthem.” If any team personnel on the field knelt, the team would be fined. Punishing offending staff was put into the teams hands to decide. After this has all happened Kaepernick  has still not played in the NFL, partially because of his declining skill level but mostly because of the statement that he has made.

 

If you don’t know who Colin Kaepernick is, you have a little bit more of an excuse but then again he was all over the news this past year. He started to get some attention when he set several college football records in the University of Nevada. One of the records he set was to be the first in history of Division 1 FBS to pass for more than 10,000 yards and to rush for more than 4,000 yards. He still had a flaw in his game and it was the fact that he had issues with his throwing accuracy. He was then drafted by in 2011 by the San Francisco 49ers where he became the starting quarter back in his second year after Alex Smith got a concussion. In the NFL he broke a record when he rushed for 181 yards in a game which is the most for a quarterback. He then led the team to Super Bowl XLVII, where he lost to the Baltimore Ravens in New Orleans.

Colin Kaepernick became larger than football after he refused to stand during the National Anthem before NFL games were started. He did this because he wanted to fight against police brutality and racial injustice. He said “To me, this is something that has to change,” and also that he could not “show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” He first sat during the anthem but he later decided to kneel instead “to show more respect for men and women who fight for the country”. It was suggested for him to change by former NFL player and Green Beret Nate Boyer. This sparked a whole movement as other players were inspired to do it as well such as his teammates Eric Reid, Eli Harold, Jaquiski Tartt and Rashard Robinson. People all over the NFL started doing this from Jeremy Lane in Seattle, to Malcom Jenkins on the Philadelphia Eagles who actually raised his fist with some other people in the NFL. More people started doing it the year after in 2017. Michael Bennett of the Seattle Seahawks told reporters he couldn’t stand for the National Anthem until he saw equality and freedom. Browns tight end Seth DeValve was noticed as teh first white NFL player to kneel. The NFL stated that players were encouraged to stand but did not have to. After this happened Kaepernick became a free agent and no NFL team offered him a contract. Because of that he filed a grievance against the league, accusing team owners of colluding to keep him from being signed. Kaepernicks attorney said those who protest peacefully “should not be punished,” in a statement. Players continued to kneel. Public Backlash mounted until team owners in May declared that all team personnel on the field during the anthem must “stand and show respect for the flag and the Anthem.” If any team personnel on the field knelt, the team would be fined. Punishing offending staff was put into the teams hands to decide. After this has all happened Kaepernick  has still not played in the NFL, partially because of his declining skill level but mostly because of the statement that he has made.

 

That explained the more important similarities between these two atheletes. The fact that they were willing to risk everything to fight for what they believed in. They were true warriors when it came to Social Justice, and in a way they are also heroes, although Ali has a more positive reputation, as not many football fans like Kaepernick. Proof of that is when he was in a Nike ad, and almost immidieatly after people started burning their Nike apparel, people also burned their Kaepernick jerseys after his statement. They will now go down in history as atheletes who stood up for the greater good. To show this I made a photo essay, which if you didn’t know is a series of photos put together to purposely make you feel certain emotions.

This photo essay shows 3 pictures of each athlete in the same position.  The first photo is an introduction into who they are as the photo is taken of them when they are in a position they are most commonly in.  The second photo shows that they were involved the civil rights movement and the third shows them celebrating, to represent the impact that they made on the civil rights movement.

MPOL Again

ethand on

Another year, another MPOL. As per usual I am going to review what I have done over the beginning of this year, and what I think I have done will and what I have not, as there is always a mix. I have been reflecting a lot lately about what I have done over the past couple of months as this year is different than most as I am now in grade 11 and this year is a lot more intense than others as I have found the homework is a lot harder and there is more of it. Another thing that has made this year different is the fact that I only have three PLP classes and two of them are humanities.

The beginning of the year for me was a pretty average, I didn’t do anything that was super outstanding to the point where anybody would be impressed or disappointed. However, slowly things started changing, as we got into reading the Crucible, I don’t think that I did very well on the assignments surrounding the crucible. All of them were just mediocre and not some of my best work, and I am regretting not putting more effort into them. After that once we started working on the exhibition the quality of my work picked up and I think that I was some of my best work as I was constantly working and making sure things got done, I really didn’t focus too much on individual tasks as I more just worked on everything that I found, as soon as something needed to be done I started working on it to get it done as I knew there was a tight schedule. Lately I feel that I have been struggling as I have been having trouble keeping my Personal Growth Plan on track which is kind of ironic as it is all about prioritizing and planning ahead. I have been behind all because I procrastinated over winter break.

To fix this I want to to change my attitude, as I feel that is my biggest problem. A good example is how I procrastinated doing my PGP work, as it is very overwhelming having to try and catch up, but I think that if I figure follow my PGP book then I should be able to get everything straightened out. Another thing that will help with this is time blocking which I havent been very good at doing as I have not put much effort into it. I think that as soon as I do give it more effort then I should do a lot better.

The basics of it is that they I need to be more diligent with time blocking and planning ahead for my future tasks, becuase that way I will be able to keep on task and getting everything done while working around my schedule.

Blue Sky… Again

ethand on

As you can see in the title, we had another Blue Sky exhibition. Normally we would just do the same old thing, but this time it was completely different. Instead of making our own project by ourselves and making something that will have prototypes and all that, we decided to make a play/walk through that is sort of interactive. It’s hard to exactly explain what we actually did becuase it was a massive production with many different moving parts. The only way we could do this is by working together in one big group, so our whole class of 18 people got together to complete this massive task.

Our teachers told us very little but the main thing we had to focus on was by linking a book that we read the Crucible, which is about the Salem which trials, we linked that to the 1950’s and how communism was effecting the world, to today. It seems like a lot, and it is, but I thought we could handle it. We started brainstorming all of the basic things, which was our story. We had to think what were going to be the most effective ways of getting across all of the information we wanted to. We thought that the guides touring everybody around should be communist spy’s, without the touring group knowing. The first scene was a Eisenhower speech, as it represented and explained what the state of the U.S. was in. They then would move on to a typical family home, to reinforce the time period and also add extra information that was needed. The third scene was a communism rally where two people are trying to get the crowd to become communists. Right after that they would move on to my scene. This scene showed two people in the army walking up to a house where they knocked on the door and informed an army WWII veteran that he was going to have to go back to war. He would eventually give in but then the guide would try and prevent this from happening and that would start a heated arguement with many acccusations. The scene after mine was a play in Hollywood where they talked about the McCarthy trials and how many stars were being accused of being a communist. A police officer barges into the scene and arrests the guide. That leads to the next scene where  Joseph McCarthy has the guide on the trial and he talks about all of the things that guide did that made him look like a communist.

That was the basis of what we were doing. We then listened everything that we had to do including: building everything for sets, writing a detailed script for each scene, and making costumes. I was tasked on being a part of set design. I was happy to be working there as I felt I fit better there rather than anywhere else. We first had to figure out how big the gym was so we used a massive measuring tape. We then thought about all of the materials we were going to need for the basic props, the most commonly said thing was “bring cardboard”. Forgot to say this earlier but the teachers are doing almost nothing at this point except for reminding us of certain objectives and checking in on our ideas. Once we got the materials we started building everything. A lot of it was just painting, and I a lot of it, I actually still have paint on a pair of shoes, a shirt and a couple pairs of pants. It took a long time and I started to get worried we weren’t going to be able finish everything.

Finally came the day of the Exhibiton, we started building right after school. Almost as soon as we started building something went wrong, one of the few things we needed desperately wasn’t working. It was a movable wall that would seperate the gym in half perfectly. It was not moving at all, so we decided that we would take some curtains and jerry rig them across the whole gym. That was very stressful and I was freaking out while trying to fix a massive problem. In the end I think it looked better than the wall would. Everything was set up fine after that but then I had to get dressed, this was the worst part of the night. Everything was to small in every area, I was wearing boots that were 3 sizes too small. The pants were tight and so was everything else. I was in so much pain with every movement I made especially walking.

That was really all that happened that night, and it was a lot more fun and less stressful than I thought it was going to be. I learned a lot in this expierience. Normally I have a hard time retaining all of the information. This was different I think because of the way we learned, I think that helped me learn everything in a new way, and it is a way that made it so I won’t forget the important facts and information I learned. It was definitely one of the best learning expierences I have ever had, and here is our production.

Crucible 3

ethand on

We are now about to finish the crucible as we are getting close to the end of it. Nothing is really resolving in the book right now its still in constant conflict and it seems that nothing is going to be resolved before the ending. I am realizing that this book has been relevant for a long time, and its outstanding. Only things that are very successfull stay around for as long the crucible has.

The reason why I bring that up is because I was thinking about music that has stuck around for decades, but I cant think of any music today that will actually stick around for a long period of time. It’s kind of sad as all of this music just seems like it will disappear in the next decade or so. This is unlike music from the past like the 70’s which in my opinion were the golden years of music. They had bands and artists that everybody has heard of including: Led Zepplin, Earth Wind & Fire, Beatles, Queen, Bee Gees, The Rolling Stones, Neil Young, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Jackson 5, Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, The Who, Barry White, Aerosmith, and many others that I dont have the time to add, but you get the point. To be fair not many other 16 year olds could name that as I generally only listen to this music, as I have what you people call an “Old Soul”.

However I may be wrong as the people who lived in the 70’s might not have thought that there music would stay around for decades. Maybe people like Bruno Mars will be icons. It’s really hard to actually predict what is going to be around in 40 years and realisticly anything can happen. Who knows if 70’s music will still be relevant, it might not be but I think that there msuic will be and it’s legacy will stay around forever.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2NzFz7JnxAo

Crucible 2

ethand on

We are still reading that play in humanities. The tension is slowly rising people are starting to go crazy in the play with constant conflict. People are constantly turning on each other as people are accused of being witches when there is little to no proof that they are a witch. Some people see it as a good thing  others are trying to rebel against it. This is creating a story with conflict that is always happening which makes it very interesting.

As you know with these posts I have to answer some sort of question, and the question I am going to answer is “Can you name a time when you have ever felt wrongly accused?”. In fact, I am able to name a time when I was wrongly accused. It wasn’t as big of a deal as a witch trial as they could end up dead or their reputation could be completely ruined. The worse thing that happened to me was that a glass table broke and my reputation was slightly dented. Now let me tell you the stupid story of the time I was wrongly accused. It was in the middle of last summer and I was about to take my dogs out for a walk. I had just placed the harnesses on the dogs and one of them got too close to a glass table and the harness then got hooked on a part of the table and he panicked and backed up and the table came falling over and it snapped a half inch thick piece of glass into 3 pieces. My mom later came home and blamed the whole thing on me even though I wasn’t involved in it, but my parents didn’t believe me. Still to this day if I bring it up they still blame me. I guess I was responsible for the dogs at the time but, I DIDN’T DO IT!

The Crucible

ethand on

Lately in school we have been reading through a play called The Crucible. I have noticed that it hasn’t been any normal story with happyness throghout, the general mood is very grey and kind of depressing. To keep you interested there is a lot of conflict, the easiest thing to connect it to would be a soap opera.

At the begininng of the book I was pretty bored unitl I started to actually understand what was going on, like I said there is constant conflict going on. The book is about the Salem Witch Trials, and for some reason I keep connecting the play to different movies like Footloose and Meangirls, you’d have to read the book to acutally understand why. Anyways the reason why we are reading it is because in some sort of way it relates to the Cold War which is the base of our current unit. Im still trying to figure out why exactly this connects to it except for the fact the puritans way of life reminds me a lot of how I think of communism.

For this post I have decided to add another part to it where I write about what I beleive heaven and hell is. I don’t think beleive is the right word as I don’t really bleive in it I just have an opinion on what it would be like. I have gained this opinion by learning about differnet cultures and reliogions as a lot of different people believe in Heaven and Hell. I think it’s actually is a good thing, as it is a way of making people afraid doing something wrong or commiting a sin. The first idea I got hell from was christianity which is the basic one that everybody knows. The other one that has influenced me a lot aswell is the Greek Mythology side of it which is where Hadeus controls the underworold where the only one who gets to do what they want down there is him and everybody who has died and gone there is depressed and sad. Heaven is more just an area where the rest the gods live from what I have read about.

My opinon is a little different from the those ideas. I think heaven is your favourite place, with all of your favourite people around with anything you want at your beckon call, and nothing around you is depressing, that is filled with joy and happyness. Most importantly you are given freedom, as much freedom as you want.

Now onto the more sad and scary side of things. Hell in my opinion is the complete opposite, it is a dark place that is sad, depressing and filled with hate. You can’t get anything you want at anytime, you are in constant pain and distress. The worst part in my opinion about this is the fact that you have no opinion and you are stuck doing an awful job forever.

Now on that sad and scary note, I am going to finish the blog post and return later talking about The Crucible again.

Oregon Returns

ethand on

Recently my class and I went on a field trip to learn about the Manhattan Project. To do that we had to go to a few different places in the states just south of the Canadian US border. We drove from Vancouver all the way to Portland then back up to Washington stopping in Hanford then coming back to Vancouver this was a three day trip that we took as a whole class. On this trip we learned very important information that we needed for our projects as 70 some odd years ago this is where it all took place.

Like I said we first stopped in Portland. We first stopped in Powells book store. If you don’t know what that is, it is an extremely large book store that basically takes up one square block in the middle of a city. It is absolutely gigantic the book store has absolutely every kind of book you could possibly ask for, it has some books that are quite old and others that are brand new. I’m not a huge fan of reading as I only do it from time to time, but this place blew my mind. While we were there we were given two assignments one was to find a book with a cool title the other was to find a title that me and few friends could act out.  Sadly the photos of both have been lost but, I did end up making a purchase at Powell’s, besides the coffee that I had at the Café. Besides that I also bought I book that is about one of my biggest inspirations and my favourite athlete of all time. I bought a book about Bo Jackson as it is one of the few books that actually made me interested and also it was under $10.

We then went to a restraunt called Fire on the Mountain. Fire on the Mountain is a wing place, they have a variety of flavours that I was very excited for as soon as I found out that we were going here. I had so many different flavours I don’t know if I can remember all of them, for starts there was the mild wings which were pretty basic. Then there was the medium hot wings which had nice kick to them but pretty similar to the mild wings, there was then hot wings which had a bigger kick to them, but that is not where the fun ends it is where it begins as there are flavours even hotter that only a select few in the class decided to try. If just straight hot flavours wasn’t your thing they had other flavours such as my favourite which was some sort of peanut sauce that was quite lovely, and if none of these appeal to you, you can stand up put down your device and walk away. Everybody else can continue to read.

The next day we made more stops as we spent a lot less time traveling. The first thing we had to do was go to the Reed Reactor which is Reed College. We stopped there first because it is in Portland aswell, but the reason on the other hand is that Reed College also happens to have a working nuclear reactor. It is also a reactor that uses water to cover it which is different than most as they are generally covered by metal. That doesn’t sound too special until you think about it because having water covering it means that you can look right at the actual reactor. It was a really cool thing to see, and I probably wont see anything like it ever again.


Later that day we went to Maryhill Museum, your probably thinking that it was just some boring museum you walk through, nod your head at the art, yawn, and repeat. This was a little bit different as it had some of the coolest and weirdest art collections in the world. They have the largest chess set collecition in the world, they have really creepy dolls that almost gave me nightmares, on top fo that they have an amazing are devoted to indegenous art. Lastly they have a very large collection August Rodins’ sculptures and if you don’t know who that is, he is the guy who made the famous statue called “The Thinker”.

 

While we were at teh museum we were given the task of talking about a piece of art and give your opinion on what the message of it is.

 

That night was one night I may never forget. It was the first time I ever went to Red Lobster, you may be thinking that that isn’t a very big deal but you are very wrong, as it was during the time of endless shrimp. Every year that PLP goes on this FIeld Study they stop at Red Lobster and students challenge themselves to see how many shrimp they can eat. Our teachers had been preparing us for this night for about a month like we were about to go to war. I made sure I came prepared. I did my best to take down as many shirmp as possible, it took a very long but I was able to cram 142 shrimp into my stomach which was the best in the class by 2.  I was proud of myself even though my body hated me so much at the time.

The next day I was surprisingly fine and ready to tackle the day even though we woke up pretty early for a tour of the B-Reactor. The B-Reactor was one of the main reasons we went down to the US as it is at one of the sites the Americans used for the Manhattan Project.  It was vital to the manhattan project as they needed it to create the Nuclear Bombs. It was a very interesting tour and it was a good way to wrap up our field trip as it made it so we got information consistently throughout each day right to the end. After the tour was over we got back on the bus for a long bus ride home, which I ended up sleeping and watching movies most of the way. This field study was one of my favourite as it truly opened my eyes to what actually went on during and after the war involving Nuclear Sciences.