I had to write a poem about poetry for IB English. It turned out alright in my opinion. This might be my first piece of poetry worth reading so I’m posting it. Hope you like it. Critique if you wish.
Natural Chorus
With my pen in hand,
I sit down to write my prose.
I scribble the first line,
But crumple the paper and throw it aside.
I am sitting at my desk,
The only light emanating from a lone lamp.
Crumpled paper balls litter the floor
From all the times I missed the wastebasket.
I’m tired, I want to sleep.
But I have to write this poem.
Nothing comes to mind though.
Poetry is hard.
Maybe if I shut everything out.
Turn off the music,
Switch off the light,
Remove all distraction.
I sit in darkness.
The beating of the heart,
The rain tapping on the window,
The ticking of the clock.
The sounds around me and inside,
Create a natural chorus,
From which the words of my poem
Begin to form.
Posted on November 15, 2007 in School
One of the required courses I have to take for IB is called Theory of Knowledge. My teacher describes it as the class anyone can teach, but no one is qualified to teach. I didn’t know what the class was about when I signed up other than that I had to take it, but the answer was right in front of me: it’s about the theory of knowledge.
In Theory of Knowledge, or TOK as we IB savvy people like to call it, we learn about knowledge, to put it simply. We ask questions like…
- What is knowledge?
- What constitutes as knowledge and what doesn’t?
- Where does knowledge come from?
- Are there different types of knowledge?
And we have lengthy class discussions in which we try to answer these questions, and more often than not the topic of religion creeps in somehow. Plato and his allegory of the cave will most definitely come up at some point.
It sounds like a really boring class but it really isn’t. I would go so far as to say it is my favorite. The topics we talk about in class are usually interesting and I often leave the classroom with something to wonder about. I also find myself making vague references to the things we learn all the time. For instance, I’ve made a few syllogisms since we learned about them. Even more weird is that I have managed to apply quantum physics to an activity once. Yay for Schrödinger’s cat.
So what is knowledge? Knowledge is true justified belief. What that means is a long story. We’re only spending the entire school year on the subject.
Posted on November 13, 2007 in School
Yay! I won the TechStart Student Technologist of the Year award! This is the only scholarship I’ve applied for so far, so it’s kind of nice. The award goes to a student in Oregon who is planning on majoring in computer science. Seeing as how pretty much everyone knows I’m a tech nut, I was told by more than one of my teachers to apply for this scholarship. And what do you know, an email popped into my inbox a few days ago telling me I won! I get to go to a wine tasting and charity gala at the Portland Art Museum to receive my award. 
Posted on October 19, 2007 in Life, School
It’s been two weeks since school started and I feel like I haven’t complained about it in a long time. I don’t hate school; in fact, you might say I love school. I get to see my friends and learning is fun. However, I find myself sick and tired of it all around the second period of every day. How is this possible? Oh, that’s right, I forgot I’m in IB.
Posted on September 23, 2007 in School
