For this semester, I am planning on switching topics for my passion blog. Although I enjoyed working on my blog last semester, I feel that I have explored the topic as far as I can right now and I’m ready for something new. My first idea is one that I thought about for last semester and eventually gave my TED talk on: video games. If I went with that option, I would talk about some video games I’ve played that are meaningful to me for various reasons, major upcoming events in the video game industry, or really anything that interests me during a given week. My other idea, although it has been done many times before, is to make a travel log. I’m very passionate about travelling and I have travelled to many interesting places so far, including New Zealand, Costa Rica, and Thailand. I think this would give me plenty to write about and give me an opportunity to commemorate all of my past trips. If I run out of places to talk about, I would talk about some places that I want to go to in the future and why.
As for the civic issues blog, I have two ideas. My first idea is to analyze education in the United States. My plan is to explore a different part of the education system with every blog, starting with pre-school and moving up through to college and graduate school. In this blog, I would talk about my own experiences as well as some of the benefits and flaws of the American system. I also plan on comparing American education to some other models around the world to offer a different perspective. The second idea that I’m considering is looking at the history of immigration in the United States and how it compares to today. This one is a little more personal; my grandmother immigrated to the US from Italy during World War II. I think it would be very interesting to look at how immigration has evolved over time, what groups were prejudiced against during certain times, and why it’s still such a big issue today.
For my “This I Believe” essay, one of my ideas is to talk about competition. Competition has always been a huge part of how I live my life, whether I’m competing with another team, my classmates, my sister, or even myself. If I go with this idea, then I would talk about how my competitiveness has shaped who I am and how it affects my relationships with others, whether for better or worse. Another idea I have is to talk about the importance of going out and experiencing new things while you are able to do so. I have one major story that would go along with this idea; I don’t want to go into too much detail, but my family and I hiked up an active volcano and experienced the local way of life for the people in a nearby village, but then just weeks later the volcano erupted and killed hundreds. I learned a lot about how precious life is after this trip, and it really made me feel like I needed to seize every opportunity I could to expand my horizons and meet new people while I’m still able to do so.