Holoku

This is my last year participating in the May Day performances at school. Although I only started last year, I can still feel the importance of this event. First off, this is an event that carries on the culture of Hawaii to the performers and the audience. I am not Hawaiian, but I can still appreciate the chants and dances of another culture. For me though, the bonds created on every Saturday practice proved to be even more important to me. Make no mistake about it, I did not enjoy waking up at seven in the morning to make practice and sometimes I even skipped some practices. But during the times I was there, I learned much about the eight other guys I danced with for Kahiko. With only nine of us dancing in the gym, no one could hide from the audience so our kumu, Aunty Leihua, drove us to be as good as we could get. She picked on everyone, teasing us for all the mistakes we made. She got on us for walking like ducks, stretching out necks like turtles, and even opening up our palms like they were muppets. That was okay though, as it made it possible for us to laugh at each other and ourselves. For two hours every week, we learned how to dance the hula as well as knowing the personality of the dancers around us. The event creates moments that will bring people together. This is what I believe the spirit of Holoku is.

Hangout

My hangout is on the second floor of science center by the computer lab. Looking at it from a different perspective, I see groups within the group we have. There are three tables at the hangout, and often you’ll see the same people sitting with each other on their separate tables even though everyone is a friend with everyone to some degree. My reasoning for this is that people with the same interests will gravitate toward each other because it’s easier to relate to them. In a perfect world, there wouldn’t be these sub-groups, but unfortunately there are. I can even expand this and see that in our school, Asians will hand out with Asians, Whites will hang out with Whites, etc. I think it’s also a bigger problem in private schools then public schools, because it seems everyone knows everybody else in public schools while there may be some instances where I barely recognize someone from my own grade. It reminds me of the book “The Outsiders”, by S.E. Hinton, where the main character remarks that the people from poorer backgrounds show too much emotion and people who are richer show too little. There is definitely a difference of behavior between public school students and private school students and I wonder if Hinton is right about that statement.

Basketball

Senior year is fast approaching to its conclusion, and it seems that every day after school, my friends and I will play basketball. I don’t how it started, but we just started playing one day and haven’t stopped since. I think we play so much because it’s one of the things we can do where everyone is together. Basketball is all interaction, saying things with words and with body movement. Anticipation becomes important to become better, and the only way to improve that is through repetition. To me, it’s much better then listening to an I-pod or playing on the Nintendo D.S. If push comes to shove, I’d even take it over playing World of Warcraft. It’s true that the world has become more technological, but sometimes, technology takes away from interaction. Driving down by Case Middle School, I see a lot of students on their laptops, minding their own business, and it makes me wonder if the laptops are actually hurting them instead of helping them. Maybe they’d be better served if playing a sport was required of them instead of owning a laptop.

Electric Car

The movie we saw in class about the electric car seemed to favor the people supporting the electric car. With this fact alone, I began to doubt the whole movie as facts can always be twisted to support any opinion. First off, I did not think there was enough demand for the car to be viable. In California where millions of cars are on the road, a couple hundred electric cars actually show a low demand for these vehicles. Whether it was the marketing or something else, the citizens of California didn’t seem to buy into the electric vehicle model. There are plenty of models of cars that don’t make it into the mainstream, yet there is only a complaint when electric cars are taken off the road. It is understandable that the oil companies would have wanted the creation of the electric cars to stop, but they are not the ones in charge of the automobile companies. These car companies only care about one thing, and that is the amount of profit they make every year. If the electric car were truly profitable, there would be no reason for them not to continue operating the factories that make these cars. I am not against electric cars at all; I’ve been in a couple hybrid cars and I feel they are superior to other cars, but I’m not going to blame the death of the electric car on the auto-makers. When the electric car can be just as good as a gas-powered car with a comparable price tag, there will be buyers out there. We see that the hybrids are doing well, especially the Prius, so there is no reason it would be different for the electric car.

Going off to college

I’m going off to the University of Washington next year (along with what seems like a quarter of the senior class), and I honestly don’t know what to expect. I’ve heard it has a beautiful campus and there are thirty-two thousands students roaming the school grounds, but the size doesn’t worry me yet. I think of it as a couple Punahou campuses put together, and when I think about it like that, it doesn’t feel as big anymore. I’m probably also going to have to get a job there while attending school which would be a first for me since I’ve only really worked in the summer. There is obviously enough time for me to do study and work as long as I don’t waste too much time like watching the television all day or putting things off until they’re due. The one thing I do have an advantage over many people is the fact that I know I can reasonably take care of myself without my parents as they have left my brother and I at home for long periods of time. The only thing is there’s gonna have to be someone to remind me to keep on task, and not procrastinate until I learn how to do that successfully for myself. Hopefully, my roommate will be able to keep me in check. One thing I can’t imagine myself doing though is skipping class. A friend of mine once broke down the tuition of college and we realized every class would practically cost a hundred dollars if the tuition is about fifty thousand. If everyone else knew this, I’m pretty sure a lot less people would be willing to skip class. Hopefully, Washington will be a place where skipping won’t be a problem.

AP Tests

It’s odd but I’m not panicking like last year when the A.P. week was arriving. Last year, I went to study sessions after school and on weekends for Chemistry and United States History. The notes and practice tests I had taken was a wonder for me to behold now because this year, there is no sense of fearing these tests. Granted, I am a senior, and one of the reasons I want the exams to come fast is because that would be the end of my math and science class. It would free a couple hours from the cycle, and on D-days, I only have an hour of class. However, there is another reason for me wanting to take the test. I want to know what I learned during the year, and this test is a pretty good standard it. For most classes, doing homework will take you very far in getting a good grade. From what I heard, though, colleges don’t make homework priority. The mid-terms and finals make it. These A.P. tests also allow myself to show my true potential. I study much harder for these then any other test so I can truly say to my self, “I tried my best” and will not be angry with any score I get. Unfortunately, I don’t extend this effort to other tests, and it’s frustrating to know I could have gotten better if I had done a little more. As of now, both tests are finished, and I won’t get the scores back for at least a month when they send them home. I’m not worried about it though. Even if I don’t get a five, I’ll still be satisfied with whatever comes in through the mail.

My dogs

My dad owns two dogs, a German Shepard and a Doberman. He got them both from the Animal Humane Society as puppies, although the Doberman was much bigger then the Shepard at first. It would chase it around the yard until the German Shepard would hide underneath the pool chairs, which only it was small enough to enter. Fast forwarding two months, both dogs are now even in size, but I’d give the German Shepard the advantage of being the more powerful of the two while the Doberman is more lean and agile. The German Shepard must have remembered the Doberman’s attacks on it because it is now the aggressor. There are times where I will have to separate the two of them because they will not stop fighting and barking. My dad says they’re simply playing with each other, and I can semi-believe that since none of the dogs have been injured yet. It’s amazing how a situation can change right before my eyes where one dog dominates, and now both dogs can hold their ground. I’m pretty sure they keep a healthy respect for one another as they won’t eat the other’s food (that’s the only way I can gauge respect for dogs). It’s comforting to see the dogs to finally be living well together.