Am I a Provocateur?

When I listened to the description of a provocateur, my mind immediately went to my principal, Mr. Stan Lewis. Mr. Lewis' impact on Johnson High School and the Johnson community in unquantifiable. His leadership has truly changed the atmosphere of Johnson. He entered Johnson preceded by a principal (whom I greatly admired and thought very highly of) that was considered to be strict and disconnected from the student body by both the students and some teachers. He completely changed the school for the better. He had the courage to be different and actually be involved with his students and teachers. He not only changed the perception of the administration's perception of students, but more importantly the students' perception of the administration. I can honestly say that I have never once heard a student or teacher say or even imply that they did not like Mr. Lewis. His ability to create a mutual respect in such a hostile environment to authority is what makes him a provocateur in my eyes.

I think the best way for me to become more of a provocateur is to take more risks. I usually weigh the benefits and potential losses and if the potential losses are not worth it, I usually do not take the risk. However, taking risks is a way to grow into more of provocateur by getting yourself out there. Therefore, I would like to take more risks in order to become a better and more effective provocateur.

The Wide World of Technology!

I definitely want to integrate technology into my final project. I think that the most effective method to combine technology and my project is to create a website. The Internet is so common today that I believe my topic would get the most exposure by creating a website that is easy to understand and easy to share.







My Mentor

STEMI

 My Mentor at work


http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/angioplasty/

Empathy!

In general, I consider myself an empathetic person with certain people. I feel empathy towards to the poor and broken of the world, the children without families in orphanages in Asia, the families in Africa who walk miles each day to get clean water. I don't necessarily consider myself empathetic towards the person who is blessed with so much but ungratefully dismisses their blessings. But in general, I consider myself empathetic even if I don't want to be empathetic. However, the empathy quotient gave me a score that said I had low empathy. I don't necessarily agree with this result because I do believe I am an empathetic person however my answers just may have not been what the creator of this program thought of as empathetic. My friend Abby is quite an empathetic person. She helps everyone and anyone even though it may cost her. I deeply admire her empathy for all people. As well, I have a friend who is the opposite and focuses on herself all the time rather than people around her such as when she doesn't help people who need help in some classes. However, deep down I do believe there is a part of her that is empathetic.

Vulnerability

Sometimes, I am afraid that I am not SMART enough. I'm grateful for the academic talents God has blessed me with but I always fall into upward comparisons and seeing people who are smarter than me and then feel "down" because I'm not at the top. I think vulnerability is the crossroads of greatness. You can either take the easy path or the risky path that could pay off in the end. Vulnerability is scary but it can also lead to person growth. I think I struggle with vulnerability because I compare myself to other people which just lessens self-esteem. When faced with insurmountable situations, I make sure I understand reality and don't place too much hope in the seemingly impossible. To get through it just tell myself that even though it will be difficult, it is an opportunity to grow as a person.

:The Three Rs:

I believe the most important "R" I need to work on is the first R--Reflection. Life just gets so busy that sometimes I forget to go back and reflect, mostly on grateful reflection and appreciating everything I have been blessed with.

Three books I've read in the past year have been Animal Farm by George Orwell, The Stranger by Albert Camus, and The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka.

As a kid, I loved reading, playing soccer, and playing outside with the neighbors.

A goal that has been on my list for the past few years was to be accepted to a good college and to go to that college for as cheap as possible.

Sadly, most of my free time is spent on my iPhone being on Twitter and Instagram. I've tried to shift my free time into something productive but sometimes it's just nice to get away and enjoy my phone.

Watching soccer especially live soccer games and especially my sister's games really energize me.

The US Women's national team soccer players especially Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, and Sydney Leroux truly intrigue me because of their discipline.

My one word theme for the year is: finish. I want to finish all my assignments and I cannot wait to finish high school. Everything seems so stressful and I can't wait finish everything that is causing me so much stress!

Envy and lying is something a lot of people struggle with and I am included in that group. Personally, I struggle with envying people's ability to "have it all together". I try my best to have it all together but I seem to be envious of people who have everything. Even though the majority of the time, they are not fully balancing everything, it irks me to see them act like everything is perfect when I know everything is not perfect in my life. The one thing I lie most to myself about is the perfection of the future. I have great expectations for the future and expect everything to go so smoothly and most of the time I lie to myself that everything will go great when in actuality there will be bumps along the way.

Preliminary Proposal

Currently, my essential question is: to what extent does smoking cigarettes negatively impact cardiovascular health? I believe that creating a website will be the best way to show case this project because it s easily accessible and easily spread to other people. I hope for some of my "real inquiry" to come from the research project I am working on at my mentorship.