Journal #14:  When I read the quote, “He does not possess wealth, it possesses him,” what immediately comes to my mind is that once someone attains a certain level of wealth, the power they feel begins to change them.  I know this because it has happens to me every time I am in control of large amounts of money.  At that point I feel like I’m on top of the world.  To have millions of dollars would indeed drive me to be controlled by my wealth.  This quote is saying that people are greedy pigs that only care for themselves and no others.  I believe that it takes a strong man to maintain his humane personality while still having tons of money.  I clearly remember receiving a tarot card reading and my tarot said to beware of abuse of power and money.  I believe that I cannot be entrusted with large sums of money without losing what little sense of humanity I have left.  As I asked in my previous TOK presentation, can people be trusted with power? In my case, the answer is no.  We all have a breaking point in which the money and other luxuries we possess start to overwhelm us and destroy us.  Then again, of all the millionaires and billionaires that I know of, they all seem to be very generous in giving scholarships or donations.  But as I said before, we only look out for ourselves.  Maybe they only seek good publicity from the media.  From what I’ve seen, this view of humanity is not cynical, but realistic.  I see very few people that willingly help their community.  So why would these types of people help the community without seeking some sort of compensation?

Journal #15:  The greatest contribution I could make to a college campus is my intellect and my musical abilities.  Since my years in elementary school, I have been a highly intellectual child.  I would most likely contribute to raising test scores by offering tutoring to those who need it the most.  I will most likely take an internship at college so I may contribute in that way.  My second contribution that I can make to a college campus is my musical talent.  I can play the trombone, baritone, and tuba at an advanced level,  allowing me to fulfill any spots needed in the college band or helping to improve other players’ skills.  I also have a title of leadership in my band so I may provide some leadership for the low brass section.  I am not a stand out student that does everything to help those around them, this is all I offer to a college campus.

Journal #16:  One of my most significant experiences in my life that I’ve had was when I went sky diving for my sixteenth birthday.  This event is important to me because it almost obliterated all of my fears.  Once I got on the plane, I couldn’t stop shacking until my instructor told me it was time to jump.  Since I was under aged, I had to jump strapped to my instructor.  The worst part was when he jumped because he did it so quickly.  The first few seconds were absolute terror.  Then, I sealed my eyes and just felt like I was flying.  Never have I felt at peace except for those few minutes, until I heard the instructor yell profanities and saying that the parachute would not open.  At that point, I felt the reality of the situation and my first response was to start praying.  I was praying for forgiveness of all my sins and hoping that I would be spared from death.  Then I hear the instructor say, “I got you didn’t I?”  He pulled the shoot and we started floating down to the ground.  At that point, I felt like killing him for doing that, but at the same time I was grateful that he did that because never did I feel more alive than when I was closest to death.  So close in fact that I could envision him falling down with us.  After that day, a great number of my fears went away, and I decided to do my first communion so I could confess.  This experience has greatly changed my view of life for the time being.  I will soon return to being a cynical and sadistic child that I was before.  Regardless, this experience was tremendous for me and I would definitely do it again if it means attaining peace of mind.

Journal #17:  What has struck my mind lately is the status of the economy.  Knowing how bad it is, I can’t help but wonder what will become of my grandmother if she is not able to pay for her medication, seeing how the recent health care bill will not take effect until at least 2013.  I also wonder what will become of me once I graduate from college.  Whether there will be any jobs available for my profession.  As of late, my parents have considered moving back to TJ due to the economy, which would devastate me to be forced to leave and attend a school in TJ.  In the past, I dreamed of being a successful and powerful man.  But now, my dreams are difficult to see as a possibility.  I have noticed a growing number of homeless people as I drive along the freeway, with most of them saying that they are out of work.  So every day I say to myself that I will not end up like one of those people, because my only fear in this world is to fail.  I would sooner kill myself before failing miserably.   I see my mom and dad working to attain better positions in the work place so that I may continue to study here and be successful in life.  I cannot see the economy recovering any time soon, so we must learn to live with the fact that we are spiraling down.  But as my nephew says, we must look at the bright side of things.  I must guess that the bright side is that when I’m grown, houses will be a lot cheaper to buy, which saves money for other material things that I have always dreamt of like a luxury car with a “Fast and Furious,” type of look.  With the job I plan on getting, it could be a possibility.

Journal #18: If I were given the power to change two things about our high school campus, I would change the dress code and the lunches that we receive.  The reason I chose the dress code is because we recently had an assembly that regarded the dress code.  As the assistant principals presented their reasoning for enforcing the dress code, I could not help but think that their reasoning was ridiculous.  They believe that for wearing logoed hats, there’s a possibility of being attacked.  Does that mean that for wearing red, we are part of the bloods?  I would allow students to dress as they wish, with the faith that no violence will arise without a strict dress code.  My secondary change is the lunch system in our campus.  The lunch ladies force the students to choose from a minimum of three items during nutrition break and four for lunch time.  From what I see, many people throw away half of the food that they get without even opening it.  I would let the students take the food that they know they will eat and save what is left over for the next day, saving the school some much needed money.  What I would also change about the lunch system is how the food is distributed to the students.  Back in the 1990’s, schools would place food on a tray and then wash it once the students were finished.  Today, we use a small cardboard tray that is tossed away and sent to a dump.  And the next day, the school spends more money buying these small trays.  All my intentions for this issue is purely to save the school money.

Journal #19: I beleive that school attendance should be mandatory for all students. The purpose of attaining an education is to prepare the students for the real world, and to provide students with the knowledge they'll need for their future jobs, no matter what it would be. If attending school would be an option for students, they will most likely be absent for half of the school year. The masses would be gravely uneducated, creating a need for unskilled labor such as working at a fast food restraunt. Most famalies would fall into poverty and minimum wage jobs would become a standard for living, causing students to attend school less. What i believe would happen next is an increase in crime as society becomes more desperate for money and eventually become a third world country.

 Journal 20: If i were given the ability to communicate with any animal, I would choose to talk to birds.  My reasoning behind this choice is that I have a desire to be surrounded by these creatures.  The birds that i am most interested with are those that represent the darkness and evil.  I would focus on communicating more with crows, vultures, owls, and the condors.  I have always surrounded myself with darkness as I grew because it brought joy to me.  To be able to befriend any of these birds would be great.  What i would do is have most likely a crow rest on my shoulder during the day in order to give out a sense of evil.  People ask wether it is better to be loved or feared.  I personally, choose to be feared by others.  Another of my reasons for choosing these animals is because i once had a dream, in which i controlled a flock of crows and vultures and blocked managed to black out the sun.  I think it would be great to accomplish this dream.  It is believed that the eyes of an owl have the ability to hypnotize people.  I would use these animals to assist me in hypnotizing my enemies.