RCL Blog Entry 1/15/20
Two “This I Believe” Ideas:
- Confidence
- I have switched schools many times, and had to start over with making new friends, getting comfortable, and establishing myself and my identity in a new environment. I believe I could discuss my journey to becoming more confident in myself and my abilities
- Similarly, I could discuss my Senior Assembly when I had to give a presentation in front of the entire Upper School at Agnes Irwin (where I attended high school). I remember feeling so proud of myself and realizing that I shouldn’t be nervous to present myself in front of everyone.
- I could also discuss rowing and being confident in your abilities. I have a genetic condition known as Hypotonia, which basically means that I have low muscle tone. Things that are easy for most people my age (balancing on one foot, for example) are more difficult for me. I never let this stop me, however, and pursued my passion of playing sports. I had much success in soccer and rowing and would never have experienced the things I did had I given up and decided not to try simply because it would be harder for me.
- My Passion for rescue
- I was very, very young when I rescued my first cat. I still remember the moment to vividly. Seeing a hungry orange tabby standing outside of our basement door, meowing. He was staring at me as I was playing with my Thomas the Train toys. I immediately ran to my parents, who were in the room over, and told them about the starving kitten. We decided to keep him. I named him James after the train I was holding in my hand at the time. Even before James we had another rescue cat. His name was Clarence. He was the sweetest, kindest cat anyone will ever meet. My parents rescued him before I was born so he was always a part of my life. Since then, we have rescued over a dozen cats and dogs (but primarily cats), many from our own backyard. We helped the majority of them find loving, forever homes with lovely families. I say “many” because we just couldn’t part ways with some, and they found their forever home with us. Because I grew up in such an environment, I have always had an affinity for rescuing and caring for animals. This has become such a big part of my life, and has changed my perspective on the environment, the world, and our role in it.
Civic Issues Blog Ideas:
- Endangered Animals
- I could discuss different organizations around the world who are focused on protecting and rescuing endangered species
- If I need to narrow my focus, I would like to look at Big Cats and their status on the endangered species list
- I could discuss what types of legislation or
- I could discuss the process of discovering and dating fossils
- Although this is not a “debate” I think it is a Civic Issue because I believe it is important and fascinating to know and understand about what happened before humans came on to the scene.
- I could also talk about the NFL/NBA/NHL/MLB and controversies surrounding them
- I could discuss the Hong Kong NBA incident
- I could discuss the concussion issue facing the NFL
- I could discuss the domestic violence incidents that have occurred and question whether or not the players charged with these crimes could be permitted to participate in their respective sports
- For example: Tyreek Hill or Odubel Herrera
Passion Blog Ideas:
- I could continue on with my 1stsemester passion blog where I discussed PSU sports other than football. I would showcase teams that deserve more recognition, or notable alumni who also deserve more recognition.
- If I chose to change this topic, however, I would love to talk about Disney. I am a huge Disney fan and could talk about a variety of different subjects relating to Disney. I could talk about the best restaurants in each of the parks, the best things to do for first-timers, Disney’s hidden secrets, me and my family’s favorite traditions, etc.
Hey Sydney!
I love the idea of the Rowing/confidence idea for the “I believe” project. I think that your unique take on sports and how you have overcome your genetic condition is interesting and will allow people to learn more about something they probably do not know much about.
Jimin
I think that tying in current event and sports is more influential in todays time with everything being so connected in the media today where there isn’t any boundaries any longer.
Being that I actually did my entire passion blog last year on adopting dogs, I can resinate with the second idea for ‘This I Believe’ more. However, I think that you just need to focus on a single belief that correlates with one of these experiences and decide which you feel more passionate about.
Endangered species is honestly a difficult topic to cover because there are a million different aspects. For example, you could do three blogs just on Yellowstone’s Grizzly Bear listing or Africa’s war on ivory. And it is also controversial due to aspects of prioritizing conservation or that country’s development. I think you would just have to make it very relevant and recent to keep people thinking. I also think that your third topic is extremely relevant as a social issue and I think even more interesting to read about.
For your passion blogs, I will admit that I’m biased but I think Disney is super mainstream and cliche. Sports could be an entertaining blog to me, even if it’s not something that really makes me think, but I wouldn’t go with the Disney idea. It just doesn’t feel unique or mature to me. But like I said, I’m not a die-hard Disney fan, so others might be into it. However, I do think its really cool that you’re so knowledgeable about sports, especially not just football. That is what I think really makes it special.