6- Yara A: Fit Of Terror

 Blog #6- Fit Of Terror 

Mental Health is the key to everything, it affects how we think, feel and act. Being in a good mental state is the most important thing considering it determines how we handle stress and the choices we make. 

A panic attack is an episode of intense fear, anxiety and physical symptoms. It is based on a perceived threat rather than an approaching danger. I've only ever experienced a panic attack once and it was a couple years ago (at least that i can recall) and it was in a store, Hollister to be exact. I have truthfully probably experienced it more than once but i've never really looked at it as a panic attack more so as feeling overwhelmed and scared in a sense. The panic attack was caused by another person and I've honestly never felt such an intense amount of fear. I simply remember a million thoughts racing through my head and feeling fear like I've never felt it before.

 I've never really understood it but the Ted Talk on what causes panic attacks and how to prevent them was certainly enlightening. In the Ted Talk they express their main message as “The first step to preventing panic attacks is understanding them” which I completely agree with and is the whole point of the video. Essentially, a panic attack begins with the amygdala which is the brain region that processes fear. When it perceives danger, it stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, which triggers the release of adrenaline. The adrenaline causes an increase in the heart and breathing rate to get blood and oxygen to the muscles of the arms and legs. This also sends oxygen to the brain, making it more alert and responsive. This whole process is what causes you to overreact during a panic attack, it is your body physically reacting to fear. 

There is no possible way to help someone or ourselves if we don't understand what it even actually is. It is why the video grabbed my attention, I know what a panic attack is. I've heard of it before but before this video i didn’t really understand it, I didn't know the thousand little things behind it or how it is triggered. I thought it would be enlightening to learn more about it so that if one day if I or someone around me is having one I can do my part and help them. In response the Ted Talk ultimately focuses on the factors behind panic attacks and what physically happens in your brain to cause a panic attack. 

Word count: 427

6- Samantha A: Don't Tell Me to Dry Dishes

  Don't Tell Me to Dry Dishes : 

Ever since I was a child I've hated doing chores. More specifically the dishes. In both of the houses I’ve ever lived in, we've never had a dishwasher, and so we have to do our dishes by hand. Honestly, over the past two years, I've learned to like washing the dishes because it's become a little more therapeutic for me. 

The only thing I can't seem to like ever is drying the dishes and putting them away. It's just so annoying and inconvenient to me. I honestly will spend about 20-30 min hand washing the dishes, and feeling accomplished to then having to see all my work still feel like it's not done, just because they are sitting there all clean in a pile, instead of nice and dry in a cupboard. I also tend to become tired after just having spent this whole time standing and hand washing the dishes, so I don't want to take the time to dry them off. I also just feel like for some reason washing the dishes goes by so much faster, because I´m just running the water under each dish and scrubbing it with soap, whereas with drying them I have to take the towel and actually make sure it's completely dry before finally putting them away. Even if I decide to be a little lazy and partially dry it off and let a few water drops still be on there, those small drops of water, will literally leave a watermark on the dish, or better yet, when I use that same dish in the next hour or so it will still be wet, and gross. 

Even that small window of time when my family  had a working dishwasher for a couple weeks, still wasn't fun. I still liked doing the dishes, especially because the time went by even faster, but drying them was still a pain. Not only were the dishes wet, but filled with steam, and sometimes leftover soap too, which really aggravated me. I always wanted to wait a few hours top until they would be completely dry, but then we always had more dishes that needed to be cleaned, and so I was always the one hand picked to dry them off. Even today that still happens. I won't even wait a few hours until all the clean dishes are dry, sometimes I’ll hold off for a few days, and then there´s no more room to put new dishes in and so I just have to suck it up and put them away. At the end of the day, my hatred for drying the dishes won't change, and neither does the fact that I still have to do it. 

Word count: 455 

 

5 - Raymond Lane - Snow White Husky

A few years ago, I don’t remember how old she is anymore. I think she is two. My family and I were all looking at a baby husky to adopt and add to our family of 4 dogs. We looked through a litter of at least 6 tiny snow fluffs that every time we picked one up they would get super hyper, crazy, and cuter and cuter. 

Every one of the little snowballs looked like one that we could take home, but the one that stood out to us. A little girl, not too big, not too small, not too crazy, not too calm, the fluff that we adopted and named BB-8 or Bebe. Bebe was still a puppy and didn’t get along right away with the other 4 dogs we had, but eventually she became the biggest out of them all after just a year. 

Bebe was no longer a little cute floof, still a cute puppers, but now a big, beautiful snow white husky that is super super dramatic. Like most huskies are. Now I realize that having a puppy that isn’t so much of a puppy anymore and is basically as big as I am is a little scary. Her beautiful white fur and her little smile when anyone pets her makes her not so scary as she looks. 

The little snowball of a pup that used to be able to just fit in one of my hands is now almost the size of an adult human. 

Word count: 252

5- Ethan Rosa- The dirt under my nails

 For everything that we want to pursue, or complete that we are passionate about, we need to work for it. Success never came to the kid that never raised his hand, or got dirt under his nails. Presevereance is key, and that comes with staring a challenge down and overcoming it no matter what. In leadership, Rope has given me insane tasks like giant hoco builds, with tiny deadlines and just let me flop until i pull something spectacular out. 

    But with this quote it takes the classic blood sweat and tears and puts a light tread on it. It adds to the sea. A great escape to get miles from your problem and never look back. The sea symbolizes the weakness in those who are to afraid to face challenges. Those who back down when the world calls their name instead of getting up and claiming that pride.

    But with this there is the exception that every situation is different asnd you cant help the outcome of a challenge no matter how hard you fight it. Like my grandfather who faced cance and we all had to see that challenge, we all knew the end result but wee lived every moment to its fullest. We didnt let the restriction weigh down his shortening life, we did more and more to make sure his life didnt end in sadness but in embrace.

    Everybody has a differing fight or flight response, and neither is fully good or bad. People who wanna face the challenge will keep doing and improving until forced to fail and it will crush them. While those who run will never face a challenge but will never know the true feeling of accomplishment,

Word 285

5- Katrina S: There’s no such thing as ‘bad music’

 

We’ve all probably heard the phrase “there’s no such thing as bad music” but do we really take it to heart? The arts are incredibly subjective. Art is supposed to make you feel something, whether it is joy or disgust. Music is a form of art, and some people simply don't click with certain genres or artists, yet some of us cringe when we hear our close friends say they love Ed Sheeran or that they hate our favorite artist. 

Being judged for your music taste is a real thing. The cause of this is not because we dislike something so much that we believe we should let other people know, but the fact that we hold our own music taste to such a high standard. When it comes to what we like, people are quick to judge and think their personal favorites are the best- but there's no such thing as “best” because it's all subjective. 

Music taste can fluctuate. When you're young you may be a huge fan of Taylor Swift, you get to middle school and you hate her, go to highschool and you're back to being a Swiftie. Music preference can change day by day depending on your mood. One might start their day with metal and then switch to electronic dance music in the afternoon. In simple terms, preferences change and it shouldn't be an excuse to judge someone's taste. In addition, don't confine yourself to one single genre, you might find something you like. 

Next time someone tries to bash you for listening to Pitbull for 2 weeks straight, let them know that it's art, and that you appreciate it. 

Word Count: 276

5 - Diego B: A Shine in the Dark

Whenever I think of flashlights, I always think of power outages for some reason. Power outages especially occur during the winter here in California, where the autumn breeze transforms into a cool, but harsh wind. The colder temperatures allow for more rain to pour on to our communities, and it can frequently rain for days at a time. It seems nice from the inside of my house, but it causes more issues than I would wish. The wind and rain come to the point where we lose access to all our internet, and our power. Obviously having no power sucks; it especially sucks right before an important assignment is due online. I’m sure that everybody in AP Lang 4th period remembers when they lost their power the night before their REHUGO project was due. I lost my power the night before my exams were ready—I was understandably furious when I heard that only 400 out of 100,000 people in Vacaville experienced this outage. When the outages arrive, which happens most frequently during the night, the air conditioner allows for no air to flow through our rooms, and the night is often cold and quiet. I can’t fall asleep during an outage, and I watch videos very sparsely to conserve power through wireless internet. Our hallways are very dark, but I keep a flashlight with me in case a power outage happens. It’s the only thing that I keep with me that stays with me during a power outage—it’s especially helpful when I’m trying to eat. For the short time that I turn on my flashlight, I can see what my house looks like and experience what the day looks like when there is light. The power outages are annoying, but at least I got my flashlight with me. (299 words)

5-Nigel R: Which Departed Artist Would I See Live?

                    A departed artist I would love to see perform live is Tupac. I would want to see him perform because of how popular he was and the impact he had in the 90’s. He was one of the main reasons for the rise of the rap industry in the 90’s.He was one of the few artists that could have all of the fans in a concert singing along and engaged the whole time. He is still one of the most famous rappers of all time even after almost 30 years after his death. His music still lives on to this day and it will continue to be played a lot. He’s widely considered one of the best rappers of all time or the best rapper of all time. He started the rapid growth of the rap/ hip-hop culture, without him it would not be what it is today. It wasn’t only rapping that people loved him for, they loved his courage to speak out on unpopular topics, and people also respected him for taking risks with his music, decisions, and image. My favorite part of his songs is when he uses them to spread awareness of world issues. He is considered a legend by many and his legacy is one of the greatest legacies of all time and it will continue to grow.  Everyone always speaks about how popular and good he was when he was alive, which is why I would want to go to one of his concerts to experience this for myself.  

 

    Word Count: 256