Service

Community service can be a valuable part of the college experience. If you were to devote one year of service to a volunteer project, what would it be, and what would you hope to accomplish? (Goucher)

If I were able to do a volunteer project for one year, it would actually take me long to consider. I will have to think about the obstacles first so that I would be able to determine if I were able to do it or not. Maybe teaching the unfortunate? I am not even sure if I am able to teach the things that I know due to the communication problems; I am not able to explain how I understand things because I maybe speak too fast or think differently from other people. What about building? I would build if I have enough budgets to do so. However, the structures that I build would not be places to live because then the place needs someone to take over to pay for electricity and water. It may be a library that has clear ceiling then the sunlight will give brightness during the day, but the place has to be closed at night. The best way out is to clean up a landfill and separate the trash. The recyclable part of the trash such as plastic bottles, plastic bags, and glass could be sold to recycling factories and the money that is made will be donated to the local school to buy computers or lunch or new books or utensils if the money made is not enough. The biodegradable part of the trash will be buried. I hope to leave behind a clean community and a better level of learning or living standard for the students in the area.

Read it

Ten simple rules for dating me.

1. You need to be able to communicate with me with no problem. 

2. You shouldn’t be too good looking because someone else will be looking at you; however, 

3. you need to be attractive. 

4. You need to be able to listen to my infinite problems and 

5. you have to be totally open with me, tell me the problems that are bothering you. 

6. You have to somehow be able to pull my attention and 

7. dissolve my sadness and stress. 

8. You need to have time for me. 

9. You need to go do your things and make me believe that I am not holding you back from something. 

10. You need to be understanding even though it is hard for you to understand me

The most important rule is the last rule, the understanding one because I am not a good speaker; I can only show you, but not speaking things out loud.

Ask

If you could go back and change one day in your life, what would you change and why? (Santa Clara University)

If I could go back in time and change a day in my life, I would go back to the day that I had a dance with a girl whom I have the affection for. It was not long since I started liking this person, but I like her a lot anyway. I really enjoyed that day, I would say that it was one of the few days in my life that I feel extremely happy and smiled a lot. I thought it went well, but I did not do what I wanted to do because I just felt that I would hear something I did not want to hear. After that day, things between me and that person get really awkward, though I did not know how. If I could change something that night, I would ask her if she wants to out with me or not.

I would have changed many things. First of all, I would not be feeling the way I am feeling right now; I feel like a mess and an extremely dumb person because I did not take my chance. I would not be doing a lot of thinking about it like what I do now; every time there is a silent moment, long or short, I would start thinking about it and lose concentration on what I am doing at the moment. I would not have any if-questions because those if-questions started from the answer that I will get and how I would feel after hearing the answer and so on.

Advice

What is the best advice you ever received? Why? And did you follow it? (University of Pennsylvania)


I always remember the day when my friends sits around me and tell me to try my best for everything even though the result may not be the way I want it to be because then I would be able to say that I gave it the best shot. Earlier this year, I had many problems with many people around me. My personality, somehow, changed from being carefree to cautious about everything. I tried to make everything go the way I want, but it never worked out so I started showing my negative emotions. Some of my close friends tried to understand me and lend me a hand to comfort me. They told me stories relating what happened to me with themselves. "You can try really hard, but no one ever get everything that he or she wants right?" said one of my friends. I stopped thinking the way I was thinking at that moment and started thinking in a new way. I did not get what I wanted, but at least I tried my best. My friends also told me that I should learn from my failures and never get emotional because of those failures again, instead, expect them and be ready for them next time so it will not hurt me as much.

After that day, I never regret doing anything even though it fails because I can proudly say "Too bad, couldn't have done any better than that."

No Human?

What invention would the world be better off without, and why? (Kalamazoo)

I strongly believe that the world would be better off without human, invented by God (according to Christianity). Every day, we see that we, human, are doing more harm than good to the environment, the world. We raise the temperature of the earth, trap the heat inside the earth, releasing a lot of harmful gases, create greenhouse effect, and heat up the earth, creating global warming. We are not only destroying the environment, we also destroy lives and even ourselves. We create many weapons to protect ourselves from ourselves and also to bring down ourselves, harming the environment even more. It clearly shows that we are extremely selfish. Everything that we do is, mostly, based on our interest. We do not do any good to anyone, except ourselves. Many leaders are corrupted, allowing harmful things to happen to get the most benefit out of their position. The earth probably has a cycle, extreme changes in climate; human, however, speeds up such cycle and going to bring about the phrase change earlier than usual. Human destroy the regulation of nature. We also builds in floodplains, knowing that it will be harsh once water comes, but, still allow it to happen because the flood is affecting “those people”, not “me”.

Choices

Title/Link: Psychopaths: Born evil or with a diseasedbrain? 
 

By Matthew Taylor Presenter, Brain Culture

Date published: Nov. 15, 2011 Date accessed: Nov. 16, 2011

Summary: A brain scan of a serial killer shows that the brain of the serial killer, Brian Dugan who pleaded guilty to the rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl, Jeanine Nicarico, has limited activity in the area processing emotions. Dugan pleaded guilty in 2009 even though he had murdered her in 1983. Dugan would have received capital punishment if the death sentence had not been withdrawn in Illinois. The serial killer showed no regrets for any of his actions so the scientists believe that this maybe the reason why he committed those crimes.

Response: A person with a diseased brain may not be able to control their actions properly because they are sick; it is not what normal people would do because normal people are not sick. The article “Brain on Trial” by David Eagleman has a similar idea with this article. The sick ones maybe the unlucky ones because they do not have a choice, they do not have control over their body, but the normal ones do. It is most likely that people who are with diseased brains probably would want to do what others do to fit in, but they cannot control. The biggest question is this: Is it correct for the people whom have damaged brains to get the same punishment as the people who are not sick?

Vocabulary:

Clinically

1.       Clinically, it is fascinating.

2.       Concerned with or based on actual observation and treatment of disease in patients rather than experimentation or theory.

3.       The medicine was clinically proven and tested.

Pioneer

1.       Dr Kiehl is seen as a pioneer in a cutting-edge area of behavioural neuroscience

2.       Someone who helps to open up a new line of research or technology or art

3.       He went as a pioneer with only little information he had at that time.

Controversial

1.       It is controversial because for thousands of years, men like Dugan have been labeled not as ill, but as evil.

2.       dispute, argument, or debate, especially one concerning a matter about which there is strong disagreement

3.       The issue of the death penalty is highly controversial.