Fun in Human Geo

Today in class, we have a free period. I just went to my locker to put my maps away, and then I went to Mr. Schmitz to get a math book, but he wasn’t in his room. Now I am sitting in class typing this blog while everyone is working on homework. I don’t have a math textbook, so I can’t do my math homework. Also, I want to write flashcards for English, but I can’t because I don’t have any. I am going to have a lot of homework this weekend but that is Sunday’s problem. I am not really sure what else to write. I asked Mr. Schick for help and he only gave me six words to use, which were “in class today, we did nothing.” I appreciated the help though. Yeah, so that is what Human Geography class consisted of today.

Labeling Maps

Today in class, we labeled maps. I messed up on my first one by drawing the prime meridian in the wrong place. I was confused and though it just went down the middle of every map, but like the equator, it has to be at zero degrees on every map. I didn’t know that the tropic of cancer and the tropic of Capricorn were lines on maps, I thought they were islands. At first when Mr. Schick said that he wasn’t going to be grading them, I was thinking about taking the easy way out and not doing it, but I am so glad I did it because now when I get tested on the material I will know it. I actually enjoyed labeling the maps and thought it was fun!! 

Distorted Maps

Today in class, we learned about meridians and geographic grids. It’s all very confusing to me, but basically… the Earth is divided into a bunch of sections called geographic grids. That is how people in the olden days knew where they were. They are referred to as lines of longitude and latitude. Further accuracy can be achieved by dividing each degree by sixty minutes, which is also very confusing to me. I hope I will be able to understand this better as the year goes on, and I hope we don’t have to do this on a test because I will not know what to do. It is a cool thing to learn about but I just get flustered too easily. 

The West Wing

In the West Wing, the OCSE came to the White House to explain why it should be mandatory for every public school to use the Peters World Map instead of the Mercator Map. They said that “the Mercator Projection has fostered European imperialist attitudes for centuries and created an ethnic bias against a third world.”  They believe this is happening because European countries appear on the Mercator Map much larger than they actually are. In the Mercator Map, Greenland and Africa look to be around the same size, but in reality, Greenland is 14 times smaller than Africa. On the Map, Europe looks much larger than South America, but in real life, South America is double Europe’s size. Alaska appears three times as big as Mexico when Mexico is much larger. Germany is also in the wrong spot. All of these examples are reasons that the Peters World Map should be used instead pf the Mercator. 

Craziness!

In class today, we continued to further our knowledge on the Mercator and Peters Projection World Maps. It is just so fascinating that there can be so many different interpretations of the Earth’s continents. I love this class so much because I get to learn cool and exciting things and watch the West Wing on Netflix. It was very interesting how the Television Program represented the White House learning about the Peters World Map. The West Wing really put things into perspective about how big of a deal it really is. Who knew that Africa was so big and Greenland was so small!!!!! 

Maps Maps Maps

Today in class we learned about what human geography is and different maps throughout the years. It was really cool to see how the maps progressed over many, many years. When the first map was made it looked like a fossil to me, and nothing like the Earth as we know it. To me, it is so interesting to think that in ancient times, people thought that Asia and Europe were all that existed when there was a whole world to explore. Even once a newer map was made that included the other continents, it was still very off. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been to figure out where everything was located with the very limited resources they had. Even the map we use now is inaccurate, which makes me wonder if they will ever get the map 100% right. 

Test Day

Today in class, we took a test. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I studied for it over the weekend, but I didn’t study the right information because once I started taking the test I was very confused. I didn’t know a lot of the information, so it will be a miracle if I don’t fail. I really thought I was going to do well so I am disappointed that I don’t think I did. The only part I am pretty confident about is the essay portion. I think I did well on that, but it might have been a little too short. I didn’t know what else to add to it. I hope I get a good score on it because I really did study, but if I get a bad grade that’s okay because I guess it was my fault for studying the wrong stuff.

The Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living

Today in class, we went over Socrates and learned that “The unexamined life is not worth living.” This means that if you do not think about the bigger picture or try to make the world a better place, then your life is a waste. This is what Socrates believed and I agree with him. There are seven billion people in this world. the majority of them don’t do anything to improve the life on Earth. People who just slide through life, barely doing anything are simply taking up space on the planet and shouldn’t be here. That may sound harsh, but I believe that this goes along with excellence. I believe that everyone should try to be the best person they can be and always push themselves. Being in this class has really opened my eyes to this idea of arete and living life. We should all always push ourselves to be the best person we can be.

Greek Concepts

In class on Wednesday, we learned about excellence and a lot about the ancient Greek concepts. One thing that really stuck with me was the idea of arete. Arete means that you are living up to your full potential and overall, being excellent. This is something that relates to me because I hope that throughout the next 4 years at John Carroll, I am able to live up to my full potential. I strive to have the best grades I can have and get involved in many sports and clubs. In class, we also learned about Socrates and how he was poisoned. He was very admirable because he never apologized for his beliefs, and even when he was offered the chance to escape, he didn’t because of his loyalty to the Greek democracy. He challenged people’s beliefs which angered the government, but he accepted his punishment, and never apologized because he didn’t believe it was wrong. 

A Message to Garcia

A lot can be taken away from A Message to Garcia. It really changed some of my views on excellence and taking initiative. Rowan’s actions can be translated from the battlefield, to school and social responsibilities. Hubbard says that there is “virtue in hard work and commitment,” which makes for a responsible man and wonderful member of society. Hubbard rants about people who don’t take initiative or show leadership. A lot of this has to do with the modern day and can be translated to school work because if you don’t do it, then your grades will suffer. If you do not do well academically, then your social life and mental health can be affected. If everyone now a days had Hubbard’s attitude, then things would be done much more efficiently, and people would get along better. By doing the things that Hubbard says in his essay, it will lead to a healthier life and the people around you will be happier with you.

First Days at JC

So… My first days as a John Carroll patriot were very stressful. I am still pretty stressed out because of the work load. There is a lot of studying and a lot of work to do. I have had a lot of fun the past days, but it has also been very stressful! I am really enjoying being part of such a wonderful school. There are so many things that I still want to get involved in, but I also don’t want to add on any more stress. I do tennis now, but I am not very good. My friend and I have to carry the water because we are the only Freshman’s. I also had a lot of fun at the back to school dance and the after party. I have made so many new friends and I am very excited about it. I am excited for the upcoming years and all that John Carroll has to offer.