neuroscience is fascinating and my school based counselor also does mindfulness for ap students, but she hasn’t started teaching it yet. i think it would be cool to start a practice on my own, do you have any ideas on any techniques? i also enjoy doing yoga. i also find it cool to walk in the rain and also i enjoy playing in the snow. i think snow, the way it blankets everything in a winter wonderland and me going ice-skating is fun. this reminds me of what thoreau wrote “just because you have castles in the air doesn’t mean your work has to be lost, just build the foundations under those castles. trust the process of life and the universe will feel like it is being handed to you since you are at peace with yourself.” sometimes i feel like i’m not sure how to build the foundations under the goals i have in my visions and i often doubt myself. every time i see someone else who seems better than me athletically and intelligently, i wish i were them. andrew seems so much smarter than i am in field biology and country living that sometimes i feel so inadequate. i am better at biology and science is my favorite subject, but compared to andrew who seems like a rocket scientist at times, i just feel like i’m just wandering around with no set path in life. dave and i both share an interest in nature and also biology esp. first aid. we are both learning lots from andrew such as how certain plants have different toxins or electrical circuits or how to code on the computer or on paper.

congratulations mariaborghoff on tapping into your creative power;) i also find that when i meditate, i feel calmer and i realize that i have more knowledge and thinking than i thought i had of myself. i agree that mindfulness is a good way to control the doubts in your mind. sometimes after running i often experience a runner’s euphoria and there seems to be void where there once were thoughts in my mind and i seem to be more at peace and have more mental clarity. i love neuroscience and i think it’s fascinating on how the mind works and how the nervous system can help the body perform certain functions. i also find that yoga relaxes me and helps me improve my flexibility. mariaborghoff, i hope you keep up the good work. thanks a lot anita, i agree that sometimes the school’s competition often makes me forget my sense of worth at times since people in the world seem to admire people who are athletic and smart more than people who are seeking spiritual fulfillment. like you said, anita “worth isn’t measured by your accomplishments, but more about how you feel about yourself as a person. no matter how good you become at anything, if you still don’t have that sense of worth, nothing will earn it.” thanks for the mindfulness technique anita, i will use it when i feel myself being lost in the competition and doubting myself. i realize after looking over my notes about science, i also know just as much as andrew does, it’s just that sometimes the competition strains me and then i forget and doubt myself. i think my main goal in life is to be more at peace with myself and to stop comparing myself to others.

thanks a lot anita;) i feel andrew and i have a lot in common as we both love science, nature, first aid. we often share the same ideas in science, but at other times we have differing views such as with advertisement in the economy, i see it as a positive way to spread the world to a capitalistic market, he sees it as a distraction and also sometimes it can lead to impulsive buying. he tends to know more about mechanical science (gears, pulleys, machines) and field biology (plants and wildlife) electrical (computers, radios, graphing calculators), while i know more about environmental, biological, chemical, religious, forensics (codes, chromatography). i remember a time when i asked him who would when if we had a science competition and he right aways said confidently that he would win. i admire his confidence and his laid back nature and its great to have someone who i can talk to about science, but it can be annoying b/c at times when we compete he seems so self-assured of his knowledge that i feel my intelligence diminished. my parents are also mechanical minded and my brother does mechanical engineering so i often fell like i don’t fit in my family. i am the one who wants to be a medical researcher and help people be more spiritually fulfilled in life and i’m not very mechanical minded. however, my family often pushes me there or at times they tell me that i won’t be good at genetic engineering b/c of this reason. i remember a time when i was telling dave that i would probably never have a relationship in my life b/c i was quite shy and quite strong-willed independent and i always am studying school work. dave said that i was smart and pretty and i would have a relationship. meanwhile andrew was listening and he laughed. he told me that he was the same way in that he enjoys studying a lot. andrew made me laugh by telling me the story of one time when he brought a date to dinner and he decided to talk about electronics to her. he went out to his car to get an electronic radio and started playing around with it and he forgot about his date. this was the only relationship he ever had and it didn’t last, but andrew didn’t really mind. i feel like i am like andrew in the way that i am independent, not much of a romantic and very focused in school and learning things. this is probably why when my special friend wants to be my boyfriend, it wouldn’t work b/c i’m too shy and quite focused on school. i feel like in a relationship, i would also talk mostly about school and sports. also andrew enjoys debating and we often debate about school topics. andrew and i both enjoy playing lacrosse as well.

i found that i got a 90 on the physics test on momentum and also a 94 on the test on transcendentalism and into the wild on thursday on last week. also i tend to know more about global warming and it helped me write the essay in ap english on global warming and the steps we can take to reduce it by using less fossil fuels such as petroleum and natural gas and planting more trees for oxygen. the u.s and australia refused to sign the kyoto protocol to eliminate greenhouse gas because they are quite industrial prowess in the global economy. i used facts from chemistry, physics, history (industrial revolution) and biology to support my claim that global warming is an environmental issue that needs to be addressed however, we must also take into consideration the amount of time spent, the resources we have and the money we have. we can’t have 100% in pollution-free because we will still have waste and still need to use fuel cars, but we should limit our use and go more toward biodegradable products as to protect our health and the biodiversity of our wildlife since animals experiencing global warming cannot adapt to an early spring and our ecosystem in interconnected. dave was great and he also helped me with the effects of wwii on the ottoman empire in ap world history and also he helped me plan some of my essay ideas. i feel happy b/c i think i did better than andrew and also i mentioned the fact that greenhouse gases methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (Co2) are natural to the earth’s atmosphere, part of the ozone layer. they greenhouse gases are absorbed into the atmosphere as energy and they are turned to heat keeping the planet warm. however too much greenhouse gas can provide high temperatures that cause the the ocean temperatures to rise generate more floods. i also mentioned the fact that the combustion in the cars causes an exhaust to spill out of the car’s end emitting carbon monoxide which cause air pollution. dave also helped me understand physics honors more as well. i think andrew is a bit mad at me for being smarter at him in science, i feel bad for dave because i got a better grade than him on the ap english test last thursday and we often study together. yet, dave is a great guy, he has a great sense of humor and still continues to encourage me to do well. he is quite laid back and has sense of self-confidence and positive enthusiasm that makes him fun to be around. my lunch buddy (steve) is quite fun to be around, he was telling me about this fun project in pre-calc honors where he had to make a book on ch. 6 vocabulary of trigonometric functions and the unit circle and decorate it. we also quizzed each other on the unit circle as well. i feel bad for my special friend as he seems to be jealous of my other guy friends and often times feels left out. i wish there was a way to make him feel as if he were part of the group.