My thoughts on SATs, College Prep, And my Everyday Stress

I have to say that although Junior year has to be without question the most stressful year of my high school career thus far, it has also been one of my happiest. In past years my one sole focus was also school and trying my best on everything and doing everything as perfect as I could make it. Although I still try to maintain those same ideals as my past years in school, I decided that above all my happiness came first. And although maybe I was getting better grades than I am now, it just isn't worth it to me. Yes, I know that this decides my future and yes I do want to be successful, but I can still be successful going to a college that isn't an Ivy League or a very top ranked school. I still remember nights of freshman and sophomore year filled with anxiety and stress. I'm seventeen years old and this should be the happiest four years of my life, or so the generation ahead of me says. I can remember countless sleepless nights where I would go to bed thinking about how I should be at my happiest point in my life, and I remember asking myself why am I not feeling like that? Is it because I'm not good enough? Why do I feel so miserable? The day before Junior Year I remember thinking that I would honestly rather sit in an empty room for six hours with nothing to do than go to school. Honestly even considering that as a different option is awful. Kids are supposed to be having fun and enjoying life. When I tell family members how much I hate school my grandma always says "Just wait until you start to work and have to raise a family". If it's really that much worse than what I was feeling in those years than is all I have to look forward to is waking up everyday to a terrible life and barely making it through the day bored with your own repeating cycle of a tired life. Honestly though i would have to disagree with my grandmother, who first off hasn't been to school in years and could probably never imagine the change in work load. Second, I actually do work now, and have worked probably about four different jobs now, and i can say that one, a job is so much more motivating than school because you get money out of it which can pay for new experiences and trips. Second because usually a job is something you enjoy, or at least that's what it should be; you're being paid to do what you enjoy!
I just can't help but feel a lack of motivation this year and I feel like it might be a bad thing, but it also may be a good thing. I think in the sense of college and SATs though its not so much of me trying to be happy but me avoiding being miserable again. Every time one of my parents brings up college I honestly feel like running away because this is work that I HAVE to put 100 percent into. All of that work brings me back to freshman and sophomore year and I just don't know how I will be able to handle that. I'm so excited to go to college, but I just don't want to have to go through the SATs which is only helpful if you excel in vocabulary, math, or reading, and can do those things very very fast. I mean I will have to face it at some point, I just don't know when I will have enough courage to face it all again.

My thoughts on Homosexuality

There's no doubt in my mind that recently there has been quite a debate about marriage concerned the homosexuality community. The only group of people that seem to be against this are Christians and their Bible. so first of all what exactly is marriage? Marriage is by definition a socially or ritually recognized union or legal contract between spouses that establishes rights and obligations between them. So why exactly is this a concern for the church? In modern times, marriage has become more tied towards religion, where as Austin Cline, an atheist expert states; "from the beginning marriage has been treated not as a religious institution, but as a private contract with public implications". Thus if we look at actual historical facts instead of popular belief, Christians should not be concerned with marriage at all, unless it is directly concerned with them (getting married in a church). So why exactly are Christians against gay marriage? Well, if you look into the bible that is what God instructs is morally wrong. One of the most commonly known bible quotes is "If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them." (Leviticus 18:22) Not only does God condemn gays but he also promotes violence towards them. I always thought that God was supposed to be loving and forgiving. The only quotes that contain anti-same sex marriage, are those of the Old Testament. Which you would be surprised to find out also contains statements that allow men to beat their wives, slavery, and violence against trans people, as well as alcohol abuse. If you confront many Christians about if they are pro-slavery, they often will tell you that "Oh no that's the Old Testament, we don't follow that anymore." Well then why are you still saying that being gay is wrong? That completely goes against the statement that you just made. Many will say that the Westboro Baptist Church is "extreme" but if you actually follow the teachings of the bible, they aren't even completely following everything. I mean I could sit here and tell you that love is love, but clearly that's not going to sway anyone's thoughts, but maybe cold hard facts that someones marriage doesn't affect you or concern you in the slightest will. But it will all be okay in the end right? Because the love of God and the will of Jesus Christ will save us. 

My Thoughts on Feminism

I remember for the longest time I was always afraid of that word: feminism. But recently I've seemed to come more to terms with it. Feminism is defined as "the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities". So in knowing that, everyone in the entire world should be a feminist. So why isn't this the case? I believe its because of feminazi's, yes that's a real thing, and it's also why I never identified myself as a feminist because I thought that meant feminazi. In plain terms a feminazi is a radical feminist. I'm sure we've all been exposed to one feminazi or another at some point in our lives. First of all can I establish one thing: women are NOT oppressed in the United States. Frankly it gets me so mad when feminazi's try to argue this point. Yes you can argue that women in the US were oppressed in the years before suffrage, and that in many developing countries and middle eastern countries, women are in fact oppressed. A huge topic that feminazi's also express is that women are objectified in the media. Of course no one can argue with that fact because women's bodies are largely used to sell many products from alcohol to cologne. Or they bring up the fact of women stereotypes in television, magazines, and social media. While both of these are issues and need to be addressed, we have to consider two things in doing so, and these feminazi's are not going about this in the right way and therefore drive away the attraction to be part of the feminist movement. First, really? Are gender stereotypes and objectification really our number one priority? If it is I'm quite sad for you. The real issues that women need to be concerned with are rape and human trafficking. Yes you could be speaking about how women don't need to shave their legs! But maybe you should consider how many women and girls have been raped and their violators have gotten off the charge because they were "asking for it". Women can wear as much or as little clothes as possible or drink as much or as little as they please, that doesn't change the fact that no means no, and if you can't say yes it means no. This seems like such a simple concept and many women should be giving out this statement again and again and again until there is no need whatsoever for it to be said. Even rape and things like this are commonly accepted in many places where feminism would be a word that men would kill if they heard.  Women in other countries are fighting for their right to have an education, and to simply be independent and not have to obey their husbands and not be able to do anything when they are beaten by them. These are REAL feminist issues, and I don't hear enough about things like this that need to be stopped immediately but I do hear about how gender stereotypes and objectification pollute our culture. Yes this may be so but we really do need to look at the bigger picture. So let me go back to the definition of feminism "the belief that MEN and women should have equal rights and opportunities". Often feminazi's seem to overlook that there is not just female objectification and stereotypes. Yes it is more frequent to see it within women, but that doesn't mean men have it easy either. We cannot deny that mens bodies in video games and other media sources are jacked up to create huge muscles. Also as much as we see how women are overly emotional, sensitive, or crazy, we can see the same thing in men. Men are often expected to be tough and emotionless, and those that do not conform can be seem as gay and wimpy. Maybe at times this aren't as damaging as the ones uses for women, but we cannot turn a blind eye to them. In general it just makes me upset to hear many women just be so upset about things. I think that satirizing stereotypes and mannerisms is hilarious and when things like this come up in comedy it should be taken lightly and with a grain of salt. With that being said stereotypes should be used only in select few comic scenes. Recently a man named Matt Taylor had a break through in his scientific research with a Rosetta mission. Yet because his the shirt he wore, made by a women, featured women wearing little clothing, the feminazi's came out to play. The whole community sought to degrade him until he made a tearful apology. It's a shirt, do you really have to diminish a man's successes that he has worked his entire life for just because of a shirt, really? So yes feminazi's go on a rave about how women don't have to shave and freak out about how a man who made a huge scientific discovery wore an objectifying shirt while there are real women suffering for things that really matter.

My Thoughts on the "Higher Power"

For millions of years and as far as history books will tell, there has always been a "higher" power. The debate comes in when one asks themselves; who and what is the higher power, if there even is such a thing. Many will tell you that it is the All-Mighty God while others preach to Allah, or even multiple Gods. So the question stands; who is right in this internal struggle of faith and religion, and how can we know? For many the answer "lies in our hearts", but for others, such as myself, religion and faith has always been hard because we don't just feel things we have to understand. If one actually sits down to read religious books such as the Bible or the Quran, you would expect to find passages of peace and love. Assuming that you would be quite surprised to find out that in many cases, religion, that is supposed to guide our life, often promotes violence and things that are illegal in many places. So my question is; what exactly is the point of religion? Especially today with the expanding technology and actual scientific evidence that is starting the come together about how the whole world came to be and how the human race began, it is sometimes hard to believe the theories of Adam and Eve and so on. I think that a lot of people still hold onto religion because they are afraid. People are afraid to question what they have been taught by their elders, and question why so many people are listening to books that are so out of date. Religion first came to be because humans could not take the unknown, they didn't like how they couldn't know why they existed, and so to satisfy their needs for knowledge, they began the idea of religion. Because I'm sure all of you know that religion is an idea right? There is no evidence of there being a God except through "spiritual awakenings" and what not. I mean somewhere along the line there was someone that was like "Hey, I wonder how the world was made? Maybe there's a big man up in the sky that made it in seven days." People heard his theory and decided with their lack of knowledge at the time, and ignorant compared to the minds of people today, and thought that it was a great idea! I mean in actuality it was quite more complex to create an idea and gain such a following, but nonetheless. Another point people always say is "We need religion to be good people". No, no, no, we need our morals and our mind to know whats right and wrong, not an ancient book that's filled with violence, as I stated before. So what exactly is the point I'm trying to make? People need to open their eyes! Nobody knows exactly how the world came to be. Could there be a God? Yes. Could there be no God? Yes. We don't know either way, and if you want to believe something all of your life that may not even be true, go ahead and waste that time. Maybe people just need to be more open and think "Eh there could be a heaven, or life could just end."