Mrs. Ho's AP Lang - 2021/2022

     Similar to most other sixth graders at my school, an assembly just meant time out of class. I remember how my friends and I would plan out where we would meet so we could all sit together and talk during them. Looking back on it, that probably wasn’t the most respectful thing we could do, but we were just like all the other obnoxious kids in the room. I didn’t care much for assemblies, so when I heard that we would be missing three periods for one, all I could think about was how I would find my friends. My class didn’t get much notice for this assembly so I had to sit next to the random kid in my class. I am so glad for that because what I learned at that assembly would stick with me forever.       A nice young woman who worked for NASA walked across the large stage and asked a simple question, “Do you want to go to Mars?” As a closed-minded eleven-year-old, I just laughed at the question. I thought to myself, “obviously, but that's not possible,...

  Coming home from school exhausted, with hours of homework and extracurricular activities is exhausting. Instead of taking a nap or relaxing on the couch, I go to the gym. Orange Theory is a one hour intense workout class that involves cardio, weight training, and rowing. Starting my afternoon off with a high intensity workout class brings me to be productive all day while keeping me in shape. The most important thing to me is feeling productive and healthy. It is difficult to receive this feeling during the school year because of the long school days. Although I dread going to the gym extremely tired, I push myself to exceed my expectations. Starting off on the treadmill for thirty minutes increases my heart rate, bringing me to run as fast as I could with high intentions. The fast running trains my endurance which is helpful for my tennis matches. Next, is the rowing machine which calms my legs down, although pushes my glutes and arms. Lastly, I move to the floor to begin weig...

At dinner one night on my vacation a couple of weeks ago, my phone had nearly died and I tried entertaining myself for a few minutes before the food arrived by asking my family “Would you Rather” questions. As no one else in the family had forgotten to charge their phone as I had, it was difficult to find an audience to answer my questions. However, one particular question I asked interested me deeply. I asked, “Would you rather have a large salary working at a job you hate, or work in your dream job but have a small salary?” To my surprise, my entire family answered in unison that they would prefer to work in a job that paid a high salary, despite their hatred of the occupation. I disagreed, as I believed that if you are spending many hours of your life working in a place you do not enjoy, you are merely wasting your own time. The money did not matter to me, as the time you spent enjoying the job would pay for itself.          However, I continued thinking a...

   When I hear the word gladiator, I Immediately think of the Colosseum and humans being eaten by lions. However, times have changed, and so has the term gladiator. I’m talking about the sport of MMA, and more specifically, UFC fighters. Besides the few million crazed fight fans out there like myself, the current consensus about MMA is that it’s stupid. At face value, it’s a very sensible conclusion to make. Why in the world would anybody want to risk their lives on national television, or in that case at all? Well, here’s why.      Every day before that bell rings, these men and women are mastering the art of fighting. It takes much more than just supernatural athleticism; it ultimately comes down to the fighter's mental fortitude. Every slight move in the eyes, feet, and hands of your opponent must be taken into account to win. It’s a common stereotype to think that fighters aren’t very smart and not only because of what they do for a living, but oftentimes it...

  8/30/21 Almost any student will agree that there is something about summer that we miss. For some people, they would miss not having any schoolwork or being able to sleep in late. I do agree with that and I also miss that, but what I miss the most is being on the trapeze and my aerial classes. Over the summer, I worked as a trapeze counselor at the JCC… without much prior experience in trapeze. I've done other circus-like activities like silks and lyra, but the trapeze was new and exciting. The job position opened up and immediately I began asking to help out. It has always been something I have wanted to try and I believed that I had the skills for it.  The second I stepped onto that ladder to go on the trapeze, I felt that feeling of exhilaration. To be able to climb a slightly unsteady ladder up to a tiny shaky platform and then jump takes a lot of bravery and gives a feeling that you can't get from many other situations. Trapeze gives you the chance to overcome your fear...

          We’re back to school, and all very happy about it, but there is one issue that I believe has been bothering almost everyone, everyday. In the mornings, and afternoons we struggle to get to our parking spots and leave school, because the traffic on campus is tremendous! There is so much going on no one knows how to control it. Cars are being made to go around the parking lot where the bridge is and then turn into carpool. This leaves the high school students trapped trying to go in and out of school.  In years prior to this one, the school never had this issue, so I thought of a few reasons why this traffic jam happens every morning and afternoon. My explanation is that there are a lot, and I mean a LOT, of new students entering Donna Klein this year. As a high school we went up from one hundred and thirty students to roughly one hundred and seventy. My younger sister, who’s in sixth grade, has been telling me how she has had twelve new kids...

         Ever since I started driving, I told myself that when I get my own car, I would learn how to change a tire. Today was that day!       In my opinion, I think that everyone should learn some day in their lives how to change a tire. It's something valuable that you might need to use one day. So why not take 20 minutes out of your day to learn how to change a tire. Yep, only 20 minutes. I honestly thought that it would take longer. It's actually very simple.       First, you need to open your trunk and open the flap in your trunk. Inside you will see a tire along with some tools. Whoa! I know right! I didn’t know! I was very surprised to find out that inside my trunk, underneath the flap, there were tools and a tire, but then again, we learn new things everyday. The tools should consist of a square/triangular like object, this object is called a Jack.. yep like Jack Yesner, the boy in our class. This object helps lift...

Iridescent Clouds and the Beauty of Our Everyday Lives      When scrolling through TikTok one day, I came across a video by Hank Green in which he reacts to a video where these people are looking out the window and they see something in the sky. It’s like a rainbow but it isn't and it's sort of a cloud but sort of not. It's the magical phenomenon of Cloud Iridescence or Irisation. The colors seen far out into the sky resemble those when looking at the light refraction in a bubble or when oil surfaces in some kind of pool of water. This anomaly is fairly common and it is most often seen in specific kinds of clouds. The emitted can either be pastel or vivid, similar to mother of pearl. Irisations were named after the Greek goddess Iris, goddess of rainbows. This phenomenon occurs when small water droplets or ice crystals individually scatter light in a precise, peculiar way. Colors are seen when these droplets or crystals are all the same uniform size and when the cloud is ...

I worked at the Levis JCC over the summer as a counselor for six and seven year old girls and I already miss them all so much.  To be honest, I was really nervous before my first day. I had all these doubts about if this was even going to be a good summer and if I should have gone to sleep away camp instead, but I ended up loving every minute of being a counselor.  I spent most of my summer with these girls and not much time with other teenagers, but it was the most incredible experience. Children view the world in such a happy light and I am so grateful I had the opportunity to view the world from their eyes this summer. They just enjoy the little things in life, which is something that I think most adults and teens should take more time to do more often.  One of the amazing things about children is how they love you no matter what. Teenagers are unfortunately often very judgemental, but children just aren’t. My campers adored me and always wanted to hug me. Children don...

                           Israel-Palestine: Passive Observation of Discussions on the Topic Ben Heller      Lately, I’ve been hearing and seeing a lot of opinions and discussions about the Israel-Palestine conflict, and thought it would be nice to put pen to paper and pass on some observations I’ve made throughout this time. As a Jew, I’ve heard heaps and heaps of stuff about this topic and never thought to consider that there might be a second side to this, one not just about the glory of our homeland, Israel. A disclaimer is important, as I am a Zionist and love Israel (a bias). Becoming exposed to new, albeit somewhat unreliable sources on tiktok has made me see a human face to both sides of this conflict. It seems that whenever the topic of Israel-Palestine comes up in a Jewish setting, we feel the need to demonize the other side and act the part of the altruistic victim. In reality, ...

     Is this the moment that everyone in the eagles community has been waiting for? Volleyball season is here! Since we are the first sport of the school year, we started a week before actual school began. We have been working hard as a team during preseason to be prepared for this season. This includes us doing a lot of conditioning to test our abilities as players and has also consisted of a tryout to see who would be one the team. On the team we have 13 girls and we had to cut more than ever before. It was almost like Donna Klein history to have to cut so many people from a team. On the court there are 6 people on at a time and each person plays their own position. Since we are so close to the season beginning, we are currently having dilemmas, figuring out who will play each position based upon their skill level. The only challenge that we have been faced with is having to teach teammates the basics of volleyball in order to understand the game. At a high school level...

    I know, I know, what's new? Another day, more talk about fishing by Michael Hakim. At this point, I've just accepted the fact that people think my obsession with fishing is weird, and it honestly doesn't bother me. Anyway, my love for the art of fishing and the ocean is nothing new. It is something that has always been with me. Hopefully, by the end of this short reading you can understand just why I am so interested in this particular hobby, and I can inspire you to explore the topic of fishing for yourself.     Fishing is something that I have always loved. Just the thought of a big fish taking my bait and hearing that drag scream is enough to make my day. To me, fishing is an escape from the many stressors of the real world: the long days at school, the late nights spent doing homework, the constant arguing on social media, and the news. Fishing is something that always calms my mind, and ignites a childlike passion within me.       I ...

     In October 2012, Disney bought Lucasfilm and forever changed the future of the Star Wars. Star Wars is a franchise started by George Lucas about intergalactic space wars, a fight with inherent good and inherent evil, and mystical powers surrounded by something called the Force. George Lucas built the franchise and made 6 movies, 2 TV series, and one animated movie before selling the franchise, which would be the worst ending for the franchise.      After buying Star Wars, Disney attempted to make its own trilogy of Star Wars movies starting with Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, which was a horrible beginning to the new direction of the franchise. It was essentially a copy of the first trilogy made by George Lucas, where a corrupt government attempts to make a base that can destroy planets with a powerful laser and a small group of rebels work together to destroy the base. Even worse is that as you watch, you learn that the original crew of reb...

   Don’t ya hate when you run out of something like an ingredient at home? For instance, I am a coffee connoisseur, and I hate when we run out of milk when I want to enjoy a nice cup of coffee. This past Wednesday, there was no milk left for me in the morning. When there is no milk at home, then there is not a drinkable cup of coffee for me because I like mine either as a latte or a cappuccino. The problem is without a cup of Joe, I find it a challenge to get up and start my day. Instead of having my usual cup of coffee on Wednesday morning, I had to suffer with a cup of tea. I could have chosen to spend money at my local Starbucks, but I had to be at school on time. However, since not everyone can relate to this sort of dilemma, I’ll apply it to another situation to make it more comprehensible and personal. For example, let’s say it’s Friday and your mother is preparing the Sabbath meal for the evening, but she’s forgotten to buy the chicken for the soup. Now we all can agree...