My Life On Earth
Personal Philosophy Statement:
For the duration of my life I haven't believed in god, or any higher power, any after life, or reincarnation. I have believed in science, believed that humans happened to come about from evolution and life from simple biological molecules, that the human existence, my existence is completely random and meaningless. My personal philosophy revolves around guilt freely enjoying every pleasure in life because it is temporary and in reality nothing I do matters, nor will it ever matter.
I strongly concur with the ideas of existentialism. The idea of authenticity and finding meaning in the absurd drives me to live an enjoyable life that has a great deal of meaning to myself. Being authentic allows me to express my ideas, emotions, and create important relationships. My greatest pleasure in life is the relationships I share with the people around me. Being my unique authentic self has helped me find people who accept me and truly enjoy my company. These relationships as well as my hobbies are the meaning I have found in my absurd life. Creating art, baking, sailing, companionship, learning all bring joy or meaning to my life.
As well as aligning with existentialism my personal philosophy stems from nihilism. Although I would not consider myself a nihilist I find comfort in the thought that “existence is useless, there is no truth, and everything is meaningless”. These ideas may induce anxiety or fear for some but I find it comforting to know that nothing I do has any impact. Believing this allows me to forgive myself for making mistakes. Believing this allows me not to hate myself for turning in eight missing assignments today, believing this allows me to forgive myself for treating people I care about horribly. Believing in nihilist ideas allows me to move on and live my life freely. Whenever life becomes too much for me to handle I remind myself that everyone's going to die someday and nothing I have ever done or will ever do matters, it seems strange but these ideas are the only way I can justify living happily the way I do.
Nothing matters in my life but finding joy despite it is my personal philosophy.
For the duration of my life I haven't believed in god, or any higher power, any after life, or reincarnation. I have believed in science, believed that humans happened to come about from evolution and life from simple biological molecules, that the human existence, my existence is completely random and meaningless. My personal philosophy revolves around guilt freely enjoying every pleasure in life because it is temporary and in reality nothing I do matters, nor will it ever matter.
I strongly concur with the ideas of existentialism. The idea of authenticity and finding meaning in the absurd drives me to live an enjoyable life that has a great deal of meaning to myself. Being authentic allows me to express my ideas, emotions, and create important relationships. My greatest pleasure in life is the relationships I share with the people around me. Being my unique authentic self has helped me find people who accept me and truly enjoy my company. These relationships as well as my hobbies are the meaning I have found in my absurd life. Creating art, baking, sailing, companionship, learning all bring joy or meaning to my life.
As well as aligning with existentialism my personal philosophy stems from nihilism. Although I would not consider myself a nihilist I find comfort in the thought that “existence is useless, there is no truth, and everything is meaningless”. These ideas may induce anxiety or fear for some but I find it comforting to know that nothing I do has any impact. Believing this allows me to forgive myself for making mistakes. Believing this allows me not to hate myself for turning in eight missing assignments today, believing this allows me to forgive myself for treating people I care about horribly. Believing in nihilist ideas allows me to move on and live my life freely. Whenever life becomes too much for me to handle I remind myself that everyone's going to die someday and nothing I have ever done or will ever do matters, it seems strange but these ideas are the only way I can justify living happily the way I do.
Nothing matters in my life but finding joy despite it is my personal philosophy.
Rogerian Argument project:
Online or In Person School, what is beneficial for most students?
In general high school sucks, but what is the best way to proceed after attending in person and online classes? The past three years of all high schoolers lives were affected by covid 19. Students have been forced to transition between online and in person classes. Each student and their academics have reacted differently. The debat of online vs in person school has never been so important. It is crucial to students' wellbeing that schools make a decision choosing what they believe is most beneficial for students. This is why we need to find a middle ground that will help all students reach their potential. Teachers, parents, health professionals, and most importantly students need to be involved in this decision. In my research I looked into the advantages and disadvantages of in person and online education. I found many pros and cons for each teaching style.
First I looked into some problems students face during online classes. The article from Baylor College of Medicine, Why in-Person Education is Crucial for Kids During COVID-19 says “Many children rely on schools to provide meals and opportunities for physical activity. Schools provide a safe place for children to be while their parents work”. This brings up the valuable concern about students and families that rely on schools. A classmate I interviewed brought up a similar point that students may not have the resources at home to successfully attend online class, they said “I don't think online school was very beneficial for students, especially for students that couldn't afford or get in contact with phones or laptops or whatever they needed to really be in school while not being on campus.” These are some reasons why online school is not valuable for many students and people's concerns about online school is completely understandable.
Although online school comes with many negative effects it also has many benefits. The article “Some Kids Don’t Want to Return to In-Person School” by CNN shares students' emotions about returning to inperson school. The article states “As schools reopen across the US, many children are excited to get back into classrooms with their friends. But for some others, especially kids with social anxiety, online learning was a welcome respite from bullying and the stress of trying to fit in. For them returning to school, with its classroom dynamics and cafeteria social pressures, can feel daunting”. This source discusses the very real concern about students' mental health. I know that these mental health concerns are a reality. Talking to my peers and teachers since returning to inperson school I have learned that I am not alone in feeling overwhelmed. My classmates and I have struggled to find time to complete the plentiful amount of work assigned to us. Looking at all my assignments from the year I see I have at least 15 missing assignments. I feel like I haven't learned anything this year. I have simply crammed in the least amount of assignments I need to turn in to finish the semester with a good grade.
Seeing that online school has many flaws leads us to looking at inperson school which is not exempt from problems. A serious concern with in person learning currently is safety around covid19. In the past months covid cases in La Plata County have risen with 30 new cases just yesterday. Another issue with inperson school is it puts students in a social environment where productivity is very challenging. In all my classes, specifically humanities I am surrounded by chaos during work time. After being isolated for so long students struggle to focus on school when they could be socializing. This makes it nearly impossible to get work done during school hours.
With inperson school students struggle to get their work done, and deal with covid but there are benefits. As I talked about above, students have social interactions while in school. Pediatricians from Baylor School of Medicine say “School is about much more than education. Interacting with peers is important for social and emotional development”. Obviously social interaction that comes from school is beneficial for students. But does it outweigh the dangers of covid and students' academics?
Looking at both models of school we can see that neither are perfect, however hybrid schedules could be the answer. Online and in person classes both have their advantages and disadvantages, this is why hybrid schedules could be optimal for many students. Hybrid schedules have the benefits of each model with significantly less disadvantages. As we progress in the school year and try to recover from the constant uncertainty and change of the past two years I believe a hybrid model would be beneficial for our school and many others.
Work Cited
Aubrey, Allison, et al. “Is School Safe? Will Districts Test for Covid-19? Answering Back-to-School Questions.” NPR, NPR, 15 July 2020, https://www.npr.org/2020/07/15/891598558/is-school-safe-will-districts-test-for-covid-19-answering-back-to-school-questio.
Dorsey, Dustin. “Experts Explain Why Returning to School Is Safe despite Fears over Delta Variant.” ABC7 San Francisco, KGO-TV, 30 July 2021, https://abc7news.com/return-to-school-covid-19-delta-variant-schools/10920155/.
“Durango, CO Coronavirus Information - Safety Updates, News and Tips - the Weather Channel.” The Weather Channel, IBM Business, 2021, https://weather.com/coronavirus/l/Durango+CO?canonicalCityId=6fa2fec89084a99e86607d96845d8c650da40e2e97ae6866202fdff393853f3c.
Karimi, Faith. “Some Kids Don't Want to Return to in-Person Schooling.” CNN, Cable News Network, 15 Aug. 2021, https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/15/us/back-to-school-anxieties-wellness/index.html.
Momentum. “Why in-Person Education Is Crucial for Kids during COVID-19.” Baylor College of Medicine Blog Network, 28 July 2020, https://blogs.bcm.edu/2020/07/22/why-in-person-education-is-crucial-for-kids-during-covid-19/.
Nazaryan , Alexander. “Schools Should Be '100%' Open This Fall, White House Says.” Yahoo! News, Yahoo!, 23 July 2021, https://news.yahoo.com/schools-should-be-100-percent-open-this-fall-white-house-says-192015662.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9vY2Vhbmhlcm8udG9kYXkvd2ViP3E9c2hvdWxkK3dlK2hhdmUrb25saW5lK3NjaG9vbCtpbisyMDIx&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAADLKP7OHSwvTFDsCk7ZCxIIzs3qc6FZleCYOnuqm37iLyDKSs7GzBO5ZwoqIWbRUADFbujNDZIMCho6vFkxigicO5cefjn_cV7_60KuC9Ec2691da_rHL2Qn0n4te4Si__3B-iKRVC2IPyztGevg-1lwiSqD7FXzGoXxzjjOWuCP.
Whitaker, Navarro. “Why Online School Is Better, 50 Reasons: Enroll Your Child Today.” Smart Schools, Smart Schools, 16 Aug. 2021, https://smartschoolsusa.org/blog/why-online-school-is-better.
First I looked into some problems students face during online classes. The article from Baylor College of Medicine, Why in-Person Education is Crucial for Kids During COVID-19 says “Many children rely on schools to provide meals and opportunities for physical activity. Schools provide a safe place for children to be while their parents work”. This brings up the valuable concern about students and families that rely on schools. A classmate I interviewed brought up a similar point that students may not have the resources at home to successfully attend online class, they said “I don't think online school was very beneficial for students, especially for students that couldn't afford or get in contact with phones or laptops or whatever they needed to really be in school while not being on campus.” These are some reasons why online school is not valuable for many students and people's concerns about online school is completely understandable.
Although online school comes with many negative effects it also has many benefits. The article “Some Kids Don’t Want to Return to In-Person School” by CNN shares students' emotions about returning to inperson school. The article states “As schools reopen across the US, many children are excited to get back into classrooms with their friends. But for some others, especially kids with social anxiety, online learning was a welcome respite from bullying and the stress of trying to fit in. For them returning to school, with its classroom dynamics and cafeteria social pressures, can feel daunting”. This source discusses the very real concern about students' mental health. I know that these mental health concerns are a reality. Talking to my peers and teachers since returning to inperson school I have learned that I am not alone in feeling overwhelmed. My classmates and I have struggled to find time to complete the plentiful amount of work assigned to us. Looking at all my assignments from the year I see I have at least 15 missing assignments. I feel like I haven't learned anything this year. I have simply crammed in the least amount of assignments I need to turn in to finish the semester with a good grade.
Seeing that online school has many flaws leads us to looking at inperson school which is not exempt from problems. A serious concern with in person learning currently is safety around covid19. In the past months covid cases in La Plata County have risen with 30 new cases just yesterday. Another issue with inperson school is it puts students in a social environment where productivity is very challenging. In all my classes, specifically humanities I am surrounded by chaos during work time. After being isolated for so long students struggle to focus on school when they could be socializing. This makes it nearly impossible to get work done during school hours.
With inperson school students struggle to get their work done, and deal with covid but there are benefits. As I talked about above, students have social interactions while in school. Pediatricians from Baylor School of Medicine say “School is about much more than education. Interacting with peers is important for social and emotional development”. Obviously social interaction that comes from school is beneficial for students. But does it outweigh the dangers of covid and students' academics?
Looking at both models of school we can see that neither are perfect, however hybrid schedules could be the answer. Online and in person classes both have their advantages and disadvantages, this is why hybrid schedules could be optimal for many students. Hybrid schedules have the benefits of each model with significantly less disadvantages. As we progress in the school year and try to recover from the constant uncertainty and change of the past two years I believe a hybrid model would be beneficial for our school and many others.
Work Cited
Aubrey, Allison, et al. “Is School Safe? Will Districts Test for Covid-19? Answering Back-to-School Questions.” NPR, NPR, 15 July 2020, https://www.npr.org/2020/07/15/891598558/is-school-safe-will-districts-test-for-covid-19-answering-back-to-school-questio.
Dorsey, Dustin. “Experts Explain Why Returning to School Is Safe despite Fears over Delta Variant.” ABC7 San Francisco, KGO-TV, 30 July 2021, https://abc7news.com/return-to-school-covid-19-delta-variant-schools/10920155/.
“Durango, CO Coronavirus Information - Safety Updates, News and Tips - the Weather Channel.” The Weather Channel, IBM Business, 2021, https://weather.com/coronavirus/l/Durango+CO?canonicalCityId=6fa2fec89084a99e86607d96845d8c650da40e2e97ae6866202fdff393853f3c.
Karimi, Faith. “Some Kids Don't Want to Return to in-Person Schooling.” CNN, Cable News Network, 15 Aug. 2021, https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/15/us/back-to-school-anxieties-wellness/index.html.
Momentum. “Why in-Person Education Is Crucial for Kids during COVID-19.” Baylor College of Medicine Blog Network, 28 July 2020, https://blogs.bcm.edu/2020/07/22/why-in-person-education-is-crucial-for-kids-during-covid-19/.
Nazaryan , Alexander. “Schools Should Be '100%' Open This Fall, White House Says.” Yahoo! News, Yahoo!, 23 July 2021, https://news.yahoo.com/schools-should-be-100-percent-open-this-fall-white-house-says-192015662.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9vY2Vhbmhlcm8udG9kYXkvd2ViP3E9c2hvdWxkK3dlK2hhdmUrb25saW5lK3NjaG9vbCtpbisyMDIx&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAADLKP7OHSwvTFDsCk7ZCxIIzs3qc6FZleCYOnuqm37iLyDKSs7GzBO5ZwoqIWbRUADFbujNDZIMCho6vFkxigicO5cefjn_cV7_60KuC9Ec2691da_rHL2Qn0n4te4Si__3B-iKRVC2IPyztGevg-1lwiSqD7FXzGoXxzjjOWuCP.
Whitaker, Navarro. “Why Online School Is Better, 50 Reasons: Enroll Your Child Today.” Smart Schools, Smart Schools, 16 Aug. 2021, https://smartschoolsusa.org/blog/why-online-school-is-better.
During this project I used rhetorical devices to prove hybrid school schedules are the best model. In doing this I examined my own biases including my political biases. I took a quiz that placed me on the political compass as a librarian. From the time I took that test my political beliefs have not change. Although my beliefs remain the same I am now open to hearing and validating people with different political beliefs and values than my own. I now know that ideology is shaped by a person lives and that I should be understanding of all ideology to respect everyone's life. I also examined how "A willingness to be Disturbed" and rogerian argument affect a democratic society. In this I learned that rogerian argument leads to a compromise satisfying most people.