Graduation Speech

Graduation Speech

(For safety reasons, I am going to be censoring the school name with ¨(school name)¨)

Hello, (school name), my name is Rafy and I am really happy to be graduating from (school name). Like most people in the grade, we will all be going to (high school name) next year. If you think about that, it has a lot of meaning. I've known some of my classmates since I was 5 and I'm still friends with some of them. We've been through so much together and now we are taking another step in life together. I like to think of all this stuff as a video game, as I do love playing video games. preschool is like the tutorial, elementary school is like the first level, middle school is like the second level, high school is the third, and college is the fourth. After that, its real life, and the objective is to get a good job and start a family. And I hope that I'll still be friends with some of my current companions even then. Also, I would like to thank my teachers for helping me. Not only have you made me smarter, but you've also taught me respect and good behavior. When I got that ODR back in 5th grade, it taught me what the lines are that I shouldn't cross. I would also like to thank my friends for helping me with my problems and sticking up for me when I'm feeling down. Most of my friends know that I get a lot of stress from projects and other school stuff. Thanks for helping me with it. You guys hang out with me, and make me laugh. I do the same for my friends because loyalty is key if you want to keep your friends. And I would like to thank my family. Especially my mom. She's the reason why I never got a second ODR, a detention, or a suspension. She's also helped me with plenty of my projects and supported me. She also encouraged me to do the best I can in school. My biggest goal is to make my teachers, friends, and family proud of me. I hope I've achieved that goal.

A letter To My 5th Grade Self

A Letter To My 5th Grade Self

   Dear 5th Grade Rafy,

                                          There are many things I wish I could have went back in time to change. Spend more time with Morusek. I'm not going to spoil what happens to him, so just do it. Also, get the best out of Minecraft while you can, because it gets boring and you will end up quitting it in mid 2016. Also, why the hair??? I know my hair is bad now, but come on! I looked at pictures of myself when I was 10 and... No offense, but you should really change it. Also, you should start befriending more people. It is kind of lonely here. Also, I know you hate Mortal Kombat because people compare it to Street Fighter, but trust me. Those people are right. Mortal Kombat is way better. And way more gory and bloody. You should play it. Now let's talk about school stuff. You need to study a lot more. I wish I studied more when I was younger. My grades would be so much better. Also, watch out for your glasses, man! Quit dropping them all the time, because that happened a lot and they ended up breaking and I had to get new ones. Also, to prevent the ODR you get in November of 5th grade, just don't even say anything in Math class. Trust me, just don't. And be careful who you're friends with. They might backstab you at the end of 7th grade. Also, you should start watching The Walking Dead. It's a really good show and I wish I started watching it when I was younger. And the biggest things I regret doing in 5th grade was when I was doing the cringiest things imaginable without knowing that they were so badly done. WHAT WAS I THINKING??? Don't try to do "crazy" things to try to impress people. It just ruins your reputation even more. Take this advice.

                                                                                             From,

                                                                                                        8th Grade Rafy

                                                     

Beginnings And Endings

Beginnings And Endings

Stories, shows, books, and real life all have something in common. They all have beginnings and endings. It can get really emotional if you think about it. In the beginning, the main settings and characters are introduced and you get to see them evolve throughout the story. Take the characters from The Walking Dead for example. In the beginning, they were terrified because their world was being taken over by zombies. Now they are fearless, awesome people who kill zombies in style everyday. Same goes for the Harry Potter characters. It started out with Harry, Ron, and Hermione as eleven year old kids who were just beginning to learn magic. In the end, you see them as young adults who battle valiantly against Voldemort and his army. The worst part is when your favorite character does not survive the series. Take Glenn from The Walking Dead as an example, he was a fan favorite who was there since the first episode (also my favorite character), and they just killed him off pretty recently. Same goes for Sirius Black from Harry Potter, he was one of the most interesting characters and he was also killed off. Both of these characters´ deaths were very sad and they will be missed. However, it is really good when your favorite character survives. You get to enjoy their moments and look at how they evolved throughout the story. I personally hate endings of books because I do not know what to read afterwards. I hate endings of TV shows because I don´t get to see my favorite characters on screen again. However, you can use your imagination to create a sequel. It is still not as good, though. Beginnings are okay because you do not have to worry about looking for another good source of entertainment, but they are not the best because you do not really know what you are in for, and sometimes the beginnings can be the most boring part of the story. Beginnings and endings both have a lot of meaning to them, with beginnings introducing the main character and giving you some information, and endings are the part where the story is over. I dislike sad endings that do not have sequels because usually no one wants the good guy to lose.

Its Complicated

Its Complicated

If I had to choose something in my life which is extremely complicated and dealing with it sucks, it would have to be puberty. Puberty sucks. Your mood changes every 5 minutes and its nonstop arguing with people. Also, do you like how your face looks? Well good, because puberty will take your face and add a bunch of pimples all over it! Now do you like your face? Me neither. The one benefit of puberty is that my voice doesn't sound like Alvin the Chipmunk anymore. My voice used to be so high pitched that its just plain embarrassing. Puberty did only one good thing which is making my voice much deeper. Other than that, it sucks. Also, for boys, some of us (including me) grow mustaches and even some beard hairs at very young ages. I've started shaving a couple weeks ago because of how it was going. Lots of people were joking about it to me, most of the time in a good way, though. I still didn't like it. I say I look better without any facial hair. Another con about puberty is the change in your emotion. Now this applies to both boys and girls, because we all hate arguing with friends and family. Unfortunately, this happens very commonly when you go through puberty. One second you're happy, next minute, you're upset. I also go through so much stress every day due to homework and other school stuff, that its too much for me sometimes. Now, let's get to my least favorite part. Pimples. The reason why I grow my hair longer than a good amount of boys in my grade is so they can cover most of my forehead is because I want them to cover the pimples so no one sees. Its works really good, but I want to be separated from humanity for the first few days after I get a haircut.

The Pros and Cons about PARCC

The Pros And Cons About The PARCC Test

I just finished taking the PARCC test the day before yesterday, and I used to think that it was the worst test ever, but I have changed my mind. I am going to talk about the highs and lows of taking the PARCC test. One of the cons is that the students barely benefit from it academically. Neither colleges nor high schools look at the results of the PARCC test, and this causes students to not try their bests. The results only benefit the school, and not the students, so we sometimes wonder ¨Why do we have to try our best on this test if we get nothing out of it?¨.  Another con about it is that they give us too much time. Sure, the test is a bit time-consuming, but two hours is way too long. It usually takes my whole class about an hour or so to finish each unit. However, the PARCC test has its perks, too. The best one? We don't even get any homework, which is awesome! For me, no homework equals no stress, which makes life awesome. Also, it was awesome that our school let us just chill out outside when the whole school was done with a unit and needed a break. I know that barely any schools did this, which makes us all the more lucky. To be honest, the PARCC test is underrated. People complain about it and say it is very stressful, but I consider it as a break from homework.

A Picture of Tina (my dog)

Tribute

Tribute To My Grandpa

(Warning: This post is more serious and emotional than the other ones)

If I had to pick the most warm-hearted person in my family, it would have to be my maternal grandfather. I am writing this tribute because my family currently worries about him because he is in a nursing home, but we always come and bring him home every weekend. But first, I want to explain his story from the beginning. Zbigniew T. was born in Poland about a decade before World War II begun. When Germany and Soviet Russia invaded, he got separated from most of his family, and escaped with his older brother, Tadeusz (Ted in English). They managed to survive until they found a base full of former Polish officers trying to form a resistance. Zbigniew was too young, but Tadeusz was qualified to join, and he accepted the offer. My grandpa and his brother found the rest of their family after the war, and everyone was alive. About 60 years later, he came to America with my mother and my older brothers. Even so much later, he was still suffering from the memories of his home country getting destroyed by Soviet Russia and Germany. My mother noticed this, so she got him a dog. The dog was named Morusek. The decision my mother made was extremely smart, Morusek cured the depression my grandpa had. Morusek was always very energetic and made everyone happy. A year later, I was born and this made my grandpa even more happy. My father had left my family just after I was born so my grandpa decided to become my father figure. He took care of me more than anyone else in my family ever did (except for my mother, of course). Unfortunately, most of his brothers and sisters had died by this time. Tadeusz and a few others were still alive, though. All of his siblings were back in Poland. My grandpa made annual visits to them over the years, but the numbers of siblings remaining had been dropping, until Tadeusz passed away just a few years ago. Then, Morusek had passed away two years ago and it was the saddest day of my life. A few months later, we noticed that my grandpa was losing his will to live. In response to this, we adopted another dog from the same shelter which we got Morusek. We named her Tina. She was exactly like Morusek and she made his depression go away. Last summer, he had pneumonia (lung disease caused by old age), and the doctors said he would not have much time left to live. Luckily, the doctors were wrong. He is still with us. But due to dementia, we had to send him to a nursing home not far from our house. He will always have a special place in my heart.