It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

My worst educational experience was during 11th grade. I was in Spanish III with a teacher who most of the students in my school loved because she was always trying to come across as a "cool" teacher by telling us how to curse in Spanish or things like that. For some reason, she took an instant dislike to me, which eventually had an unpleasant effect on my Spanish grade throughout the year because were always clashing on things in the classroom. I began to dread going to Spanish class more and more, which was new for me because I'd always been very interested in learning the language. After a tedious year in her class, I decided to quit Spanish and didn't take it my senior year because of all the crap I'd had to put up with in her class.

On the contrary, my best educational experience happened during my senior year of high school. I was taking a semester-long history class on Eastern religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.) and my teacher assigned us a project where we had to go to either a temple or meditation center and take a tour if possible or participate in whatever ceremony, service, or classes were taking place on two separate occasions. Our assignment was essentially participant observation for the purpose of writing about our experiences. I got to pair up with one of my friends and together we went to a Thai Buddhist temple in Silver Spring, MD and were shown around by one of the monks. We stayed and meditated with him and even got to see where they monks lived, ate, and worked. It was an experience I probably wouldn't have otherwise had and I learned a lot about a culture that was completely different from anything I had known before.

This I Believe - Spending Time Alone

I believe in spending time alone, whether it’s in the car, in a store, taking a walk, or just sitting around reading a book. I haven’t always felt this way. For me, it’s a sign of growing up, something I was all too eager to do until it actually came time to do it.

When I was younger, I felt completely incapable of doing anything on my own. When my family would decide to order pizza from home, my mom would urge me to make the call myself and place the order. I was terrified of calling a number and having to talk to a stranger on the other end of the phone. It’s hard to think back on that time in my life and remember exactly why I felt that way, but I think it had something to do with my childish optimism that if I ever did need one of my parents they would always be there to help.

As I got older and had to take on more responsibility, I slowly tried to let go of some of my quirks about being on my own. In high school it was easy to avoid being alone; I carpooled with other students to school, had classes all day, practice after school, and on the weekends would go to the movies or to a friend’s house. When it came time to go to college, I picked the University of Wisconsin in Madison, more than 800 miles away from home. I can remember the exact moment when I realized that I was truly on my own for the first time in my life: I was standing on a street corner outside my freshman dorm watching my parents pull away in their rental car after a long day of helping me move in. In that moment I felt a sense of panic so severe that I almost began bawling right then and there. I thought I had been prepared for the independence that goes hand in hand with college. Apparently I wasn’t quite as grown up as I’d thought.

Since that day, I’ve come to realize that being by myself is not such a bad thing after all. In fact, some days I prefer to get away from people just so that I have time to think. Spending some time alone means I don’t have to make compromises. I get to be in charge, which has always been a guilty pleasure of mine. I don’t have to put up with any BS, and I can enjoy a silence that never gets awkward. It also means that I have had plenty of time to get to know myself, a task that I’ll probably be working on for the rest of my life.

Word Count: 472

Point--->Click

I’ve decided to name my generation the Point-and-Click Generation. We are the first generation that has to worry constantly about the newest cell phones, digital cameras, and mp3 players that come out, furiously browsing through pages of products in the web. Not only has having the coolest laptop become an important, but also being able to do everything on your computer is ideal. We shop, go to the bank, order food, communicate, entertain and inform ourselves all by using the internet. Our generation has become an entity that relies on technology more than any other before us, which I think has earned us the title of the Point-and-Click Generation. Word Count: 109