Monthly Archives: May 2014

Seventh Grade Reflection

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When I started 7th grade in August, I expected the year to be extremely brutal. In the first week, I had to turn in two essays. That’s a little…excessive. Along with those essays, Pre-AP Algebra was churning out homework faster than a factory in China, not to mention the supposed large quantity of work you had to do in a language course. Initially, I thought this was going to be a loooooong year.

However, I later found out that significant amounts of hard work mitigated the difficulty of 7th grade significantly. Occasionally, I found the homework assignment to be quite fun, or at least simple. Despite that, there was still that piece of math homework or a project that would swallow up my time and/or was nearly impossible to complete. It also turns out that the extra work that needed to be done caused me to end up sleeping less and less. When my circadian clock gets disrupted, my brain no longer functions properly, and I get really cranky.

I can say for sure that 7th grade was odd, and I passively or actively experienced middle school drama (though watching the drama of my peers was sometimes slightly amusing). I also learned numerous things, some of which include:

  • that Spanish is an awesome, interesting, and easy course to take. My tongue still suffers from violent muscular spasms when I attempt to roll my r’s, though.
  • that I’m not super terrible and Algebra, surprisingly. That doesn’t mean it is an effortless experience, though.
  • a few shortcuts to get to my classes
  • that it takes a lot of work to get into All-Region for orchestra.
  • that you should set your mind and try to think positively when confronted with a major issue.
  • a bit more stuff related to science, and that dissecting things like chicken wings and deer hearts rank as one of my most favorite things this year (though 7th grade science could use a little more chemistry and physics).

Now that 7th grade is nearly over, I have some advice to share with the 6th graders that are about to come in.

First, work hard and try to reach a balance between work speed and work quality. Too much of one will typically compromise the other. Also, try to keep your mind open and be sure to talk to lots of people. You might make a new friend. Finally, those in double-advanced math should study a lot and ask tons of questions. Pre-AP Algebra will be demanding and difficult, and if you try to shrug it off and not put some effort, you will be destined to fail. And most importantly, have lots of fun!

 

Leadership

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If you want to know what makes an exceptional leader, just take the three principles of the Boy Scout honor society known as the Order of the Arrow (which I was recently inducted into). Simply put, they are cheerfulness, service, and brotherhood. All three of these traits help define a good leader.

First up, cheerfulness. No one likes a leader who is pessimistic and tries to evade his duties. A good leader has to keep a smile on his face and do his duty to guide the other people and help out when he has to, even when the task ahead seems daunting. During the Ordeal, which is the ordeal you have to go through before you can get inducted, you have to spend hours in arduous labor and eat tiny amounts of food. This is to test your cheerfulness. All of us Scouts in the Ordeal were tired and hungry when we were working, but we all tried our best to keep a smile on our face and continue.

Service is the second important trait to have in a leader. In other words, will he put aside his personal interests for the sake of other people? If he or she is capable of doing so, that person will make a fine leader. For example, imagine that you’re at a campout. It’s nighttime, it’s about to rain, you could go ahead and sleep cozily in your tent. Then, you notice some people struggling to properly set up their tent. Will you go and assist them, and potentially get a little wet, or leave them to fend for themselves? The choice is yours.

Lastly, there’s brotherhood. A leader must remain friendly to his peers, and guide, help, and work along with them. During the Ordeal, most of us worked together at some point to accomplish some task, be it pulling out a root or cutting down a tree in the middle of the path. If someone needed assistance, we went right there to help them. Once we had completed the task, we high-fived each other for a job well done.

There are numerous other things that help define a leader, though I feel that these are some of the most important. Remember to be active in what ever job or task you’re in, and keep a smile on your face. After all, it’s possible that in the future, you may be the person that everyone relies on to get everything completed.