Like many other students in the class, I am a senior at Nazareth High School. Nazareth is one of the top ranked schools in our area and we have always excelled academically. I feel that at Nazareth my education is put first because I have always been given opportunities to take whatever level classes I want and whatever elective classes I want. I have never had to deal with a lack of bathrooms, rat infested cafeterias, or non air conditioned classrooms like students at Fremont High had to deal with. I have learned many things at Nazareth High School in many different classes. I feel that since my freshman year I have improved my critical thinking and problem solving skills through all of the math classes I have taken, improved my writing skills through the English classes I've taken, and I feel that I have gained a greater perception of the world and politics through the history classes that I've taken. I consider myself very fortunate to have the opportunity to attend such a good school.

This advertisement for Dos Equis shows what the epitome of an older man should be. The "most interesting man in the world" is constantly surrounded by women and is said to be interesting because of his carefree attitude and the spontaneous crazy things he does to impress these women. In this particular ad, he is dressed in an expensive looking tuxedo, smoking a cigar, drinking beer, and is surrounded by women. This image is implying that older men should be very rich, have a high social status, and still enjoy partying and being around attractive women.

     As a young boy, I enjoyed doing activities that were heavily associated with my gender such as shooting toy guns, participating in contact type sports with my friends for fun and playing with fire. However, I've always had, and still do have a very soft, flamboyant side to me. I've gotten used to showing it more and more as I got older, and I have accepted it now as part of my personality.

     Thinking back to my past, I have several memories of my parents saying things to me to try to make me turn out more masculine. My mom to this day still tries to persuade me to not wear or purchase pink colored articles of clothing because she doesn't "want people to get the wrong impression," referring to my sexual orientation.

      The most vivid memory that I have from my childhood about gender stereotyping was when my dad said to me, "You better not let your friends from baseball know that you like cats or they'll think you're a pansy." I was five years old when he said this to me and I still remember the exact wording of that sentence today. At the time, it really confused me because I did not see anything wrong with preferring cats to dogs. I thought that cats were sweet and lovable and that dogs were aggressive and gross and smelled bad.

Lord of the Flies

By: William Golding

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a book about a group of adolescent aged choir boys who were shipwrecked on an island amidst a nuclear war. The boys were highly educated and got along well when they first arrived to the island, with the exception of piggy who all the boys pick on. As the book progresses, everyone dives deeper and deeper into savagery in attempt to survive on the abandoned island. The book explores the good and evil of human nature; conveying that theme through symbolism. 

Yes, this was a book assigned to me in my sophomore English class. However, this was my favorite book I’ve ever read for several reasons. William Golding poses a rhetorical question to the reader: are humans naturally good or evil by nature? I found this question very interesting because I could compare it to real life situations that involved people acting inhumane and savage when they absolutely need something, such as aggressive driving or stealing/shoplifting. I thought the book put everything into perspective by putting an extremely literal spin on such a broad concept. I also found the symbolism in the book quite intriguing. There were several religious innuendos such as the character Simon representing Jesus and how he was sacrificially killed, and how the pig on the stick (the Lord of the Flies), represented Satan. This book was overall very interesting to me and I still remember a lot of small details two years after reading it. 

Amy's children, Tanner and Ella

Amy graduating from high school

Amy and her co-workers

Amy Farrow is a forty one year-old stay at home mom with two children, a sixteen year old boy named Tanner and seven year old daughter named Ella. She is very involved in her kids' schools, and has a very good relationship with both of her children, especially her son Tanner, whom his friends consider Amy to be their second mom. Amy went to Shamokin High School, located near K'nobles Grove; an amusement park that she worked for in her high school years. After she graduated in 1993 she planned on attending Harrisburg Area Community College. That plan soon fell through when she decided to do on the job training at a local nursing home and become a nursing assistant (CNA). Amy worked that job from 1993 until 1999 when she got pregnant with her first child, Tanner. She decided to quit working and stay at home with her newborn baby for the next four years of her life. In 2003, Amy went back into the workforce and worked as a secretary for a sales company. Shortly after in 2004 an opportunity came up for her to work as a city and rural carrier for the United States Postal Service. She worked at that job for five years until once again, she became pregnant and had to resign. On June 13, 2009 Amy gave birth to her second child, Ella. Amy has been staying at home with Ella until this year when she decided to attend Northampton Area Community College. She is currently taking classes to obtain a degree in special education to become a parrot educator.