School

          It is another Monday morning as my alarm rings at 6:30; I lift my head up in shock, only to hit myself on the head of the bed. I immediately open my eyes only to be blinded by my room lights. I groan dreading having to go to school as I drag my half-asleep lethargic body into the bathroom. There I am immediately awakened by and ice cold shower. Now fully awake, I rush downstairs putting my lunch in my backpack and wolfing my breakfast down. From there I rush to make it to school on time, getting there as the bell rings. I have to repeat this process every single day for 180 days of school. Although this seems like a big number, all the other vacations and breaks in the school year are not taken into accord. It is probably the reason why the United States has one of the lowest educational standards in the world. The lower amount of school days and shorter days contributes to bringing our education standards low. To help this President Obama wants to have more school days in a year and longer school days. For us it is a big shock. As it is our school starts at 7:45 and ends at 2:10, which is a 6-hour school day. But if we eliminate things that are unnecessary like physical education, electives, breaks, and silent reading time, we can keep the same amount of hours in a school day, just with longer time in each core subject. We could also add additional languages to our regular curriculum so that in high school kids will have to take an SAT class instead of taking foreign language because they would have already taken that course. This works out perfectly because this will cause kids SAT scores to go up, meaning that they will be able to actually compete in the global market from college onward.

          Many skeptics can argue that cutting classes like physical education will increase the percent of obese population in America. This problem can partially be solved by tasty food alternatives at the cafeteria. This teaches them the habits of eating right. It can also be solved by requiring 7 to 10 hours of physical activity a week.

Making these changes can save about 3-hours of wasted time and channel it toward foreign language in elementary and middle, and SAT classes in high school. This will make it possible to have lower unemployment rate and a better economy. America must be able to compete in the global market because the future of this great nation lies in the hands of the young. 

Deception

          Deception can sometimes be justified, but usually should not be used unless absolutely necessary. Deception has been used in literature, to win wars, and even hide information from children. Deception can also be a “white lie”, a lie that may seem petty or unimportant. Although using any of these means to deceive does provide an easy way out, it does not hold the same long-term benefits as honesty does.

Deception is often used in literature, such as in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, and  East of Eden by John Steinbeck. For example, in the book The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield, the main character, uses deception as a way to feel better about himself. Using deception helps him limp along for a very short period of time, but ends up ruining his life even more. In the East of Eden, Cathy, (also known as Kate) uses deception to make her livelihood, which itself relies completely on deception for its survival. In the end, Kathy commits suicide, killed by the intricate trap she had set for herself. In both these cases, just plain honesty would have offered better long solutions to their problems.

          A military operation involves deception. Even though you are competent, appear to be incompetent. “Though effective, appear to be ineffective” -- Sun Tzu, The Art of War. Deception has been used in wars frequently throughout the years dating way back to 1469 B.C. when the Egyptians used deception and trickery to pass into Syria through an unguarded route. One more common story is the Greeks wooden horse sent to the Trojans as a gift. Deception has been central for important wars to be won thus shaping countries future. Although deception did help the people who benefited from it, it only planted more distrust and discord across nations. The current global political atmosphere is a testimonial to that.  If they had just been honest things might have been different.

        One case where deception can be tempting is when trying to explain to a child about a parent’s untimely death.  It is indeed a dilemma in such situations what the best course of action would be. Do you compromise truth for the well being of the child or scar the child at a young age to keep up with a moral code?  In the long run what would be better?  Will closure in knowing the truth and grieving be better than a false sense of security?  Such social situations can be subjective with little evidence on what would be the ideal path to take with the preferred outcome.  

        Deception can also take the form of a white lie. For example, say you are helping your friend prepare for a singing audition. They ask you if they are good enough to get the part. Although you may try to be their friend and only flower them with comments, they are asking you for an honest opinion. Deception in this case may offer the initial gratitude from your friend, but bitterness in the long run because you didn’t tell the truth. This might seem to be a small and petty lie, but it is still a form of deception.

        I myself have had my experiments with deception, such as hiding grades, and just trying to be sneaky and get out of having to do work. This at first gave me happiness at having succeeded, but my happiness turned to guilt and remorse, at having been figured out. It also led to trouble sleeping at night and having to carry a burden that was almost impossible to hold. If I had told the truth I would not have had to suffer the hard way.

        In conclusion deception is like junk food. At first it will give you satisfaction, but later on it will only lead to future problems. Deception is in general a bad concept and should be replaced with transparency and honesty instead. Although honesty is not always easy, and most of the time will not offer the same short-term benefits as deception does. But in the long run honesty will be the most beneficial.

Work, Work, and More Work

          “Do I have to go today?” I ask my mom. “Yes, now hurry up or you will be late,” she said. “Alright, alright, I am coming,” I find myself grumble. Sighing, I unenthusiastically shuffle my feet toward the car.  It was my first day transitioning to age group level swimming at the North Coast Aquatics Swim Team and I had heard horror stories on how hard they work you and how long some of my other friends had taken to fully transition to this higher-level group.  As we started driving I guess I must have looked a bit nervous because because mom asked, “What’s the matter? You look a little nervous.” “Nothing, it’s just, you know, my first day…” I replied hoping she wouldn’t dig the matter deeper. Thankfully she just shrugged and said “Oh, you’ll be fine, I mean how much different could it be?”  She made it sound easy and somehow I felt compelled to give her the gory details and started with a sarcastic tone  “Not much! Just an outdoor pool so it will be colder by 10 or 20 degrees, and the pool length is twenty-five meters instead of fifteen yards and…” She cut me short and said  “Oh stop that! You’ll be fine I promise.”  I knew she was in no mood for my sarcasm and nothing good would come out of this conversation so I settled back saying “We’ll see”.  We sat in silence for the rest of the car ride.

I arrived at the pool well ahead of time with sufficient time to spare. I sat in seclusion on the bench in the corner, fumbling with my cap and goggles absent-mindedly. Instead of just getting ready for the task at hand, I sat there thinking about what torture was in store for me.  I looked around me to find anything that would cheer me up on that sunny Thursday afternoon, when the clock struck 4:00 PM. Quickly pulling on my cap and goggles, I ran to get ready to jump into the pool. “I’m hopeless" I thought, "even the coach’s jokes won’t lighten my spirits.” As that thought ran through my mind I jumped in the pool.

         The cold hit me like a baseball bat. My instant reaction was shock! “Do they even heat the water?”  I wondered really outraged.  I had no time to ponder that thought because a barrage of bubbles suddenly struck me. When I was looking up to see what it was, a pair of feet had missed my head by inches as the next person dove into the water. Still submerged under water, I quickly pushed off the bottom of the pool in hot pursuit of the person in front of me. After the first couple lengths I said to myself, “It is not as bad as I thought it would be.” Boy, was I wrong.

After the first five or ten minutes or so, the pain started to creep up like moss creeping up the side of a house, slow but steady. My body was not doing so well, and the cold water didn’t really help. After another ten, hard, long minutes, my body was done.  I couldn’t feel my legs and the water seemed heavier and it was like swimming in caramel. I pondered talking a “bathroom break” and coming back rested. I decided to man up, and keep swimming. The worst part for me was that the clock seemed to be moving in slow motion as my body started to stop cooperating.  About halfway through our main set, I was so done and dying to get out, but to my dismay we still had twenty-five minutes left.

Finally when I was at the brink of fainting, the clock struck 5:00PM and I crawled out of the pool. It took every ounce of strength in my body to support my weight on my Jell-O legs.  I was so physically and mentally exhausted that I don’t recall anything other than focusing on trying not to collapse with exhaustion.   My coach yelled out my name and was saying something but it just was lost in the air.  I nodded my head, gave him a brave smile and rushed to meet my mom who was eagerly waiting outside. 

What seems like the most challenging day worked out great in the end.  Turns out my coach was impressed with how well I handled myself and had decided to transition me into age group team full time. I was shell-shocked when I heard the news!  Most of my friends had taken over 6 months to transition and my first day was nothing I can look back on with pride.  Not that I did not favor his decision, but to date I still don’t get the basis for his decision to move me up full time.  I mean, I did as bad as all the other transition kids if not worse and they didn’t get a free pass. Could he have mistaken me for another swimmer?

What ever it was my first day at age group taught me a few good lessons. Number one, don’t take really long bathroom breaks even if you really do have to go because the coach or teacher will think that you aren’t strong enough mentally and physically to even finish one practice or class. Second, get to places early, this shows that you care enough. Finally, don’t think about the outcome, just do your best. As Lance Armstrong said, "Pain is temporary but giving lasts forever!"

A Strong Bond

          We always want what we do not have.  When I was a little kid all I wanted was another sibling.  When my little sister was finally born, I remember that at first I was ecstatic, but later on I started to regret having a little sister.  Through the ups-and-downs of life’s crazy roller coaster, I have made a very special bond with my sister.  A bond that will never be broken.

          I cannot remember a time that I was not begging my parents for another sibling.  When I was a little kid I always asked, “Can I have another sibling now?”  When they complained about how much work was required, I told them that they could always return him or her (At that time I thought that parents purchase babies at the store).  They just laughed and waved the thought away.  After months of persistent irritation my parents finally cracked.  At first I thought they were just kidding, but when they started discussing names, I knew that they were serious.  I was so happy I was unable to move.  I did not know what I was getting myself into.

          My little sister Nisha  was born on November 15, 2002 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  I remember that day very clearly because my grandmother had come all the way from India and both my parents were in the hospital.  Finally after waiting in anticipation all day, my grandmother and I were picked up in the evening by my dad.  When we got to the hospital I vividly remember wailing from an ambulance siren and something else that I could not recognize.  Whatever it was it was making a horrible sound.  When we finally got to my sister’s room, her loud cries filled the room.  When I first saw my sister I stopped dead in my tracks.  She was so tiny!  After I got over the initial shock, I asked, “Could I hold her?”  My parents were a bit hesitant at first but reluctantly agreed.  The moment I held her in my arms she stopped crying and looked at me wither her large brown curious eyes.  It was at that moment when the first bond of many was made.

          After she was taken home, it was like my whole world turned upside down.  The smelly diapers, constant crying, and worst of all for me, I got no attention from my parents whatsoever.  Before my sister was born I was an only child and got all the attention.  As soon as my sister was born, an enormous responsibility was bestowed on me.  I had to clean up the messes I had made and keep up with all my schoolwork.  I was supposed to be independent.  At first I was doing fine, but then she started becoming a huge distraction.  I could not sleep at night because of constant crying, and worst of all I could not do my homework without being disturbed!  She was fun to play with and all, but it usually ended with someone getting bitten.  Even then another bond was formed.

          As she matured more bonds formed between us.  When I did something she took the blame and vice versa.  For example, on our mantelpiece we have a mosaic bull from Spain.  While swinging my arms I accidentally knocked it over.  “Who did this?” my mom questioned.  “I did”, my sister whispered.  Another example was when my sister accidentally put a pen in the washing machine.  The pen exploded and got the clothes and the washer coated with blue ink.  I took the blame for that.  Most of the time we shared the blame for each other, which worked out great because my parents could not get so mad at us.  This is where several more bonds were made.

          To this day my sister and I have a special bond that has held us together like super glue.  Through good times and bad, my relationship with my sister has only gotten stronger.  We share a very important bond.  A bond that will never be broken.