To say the least, we have had plenty to do these last couple of days. This is why we haven't been able to get around to blogging as frequently. We apologize but think that things should get a little calmer after Tuesday when our Marshall Brief is over.
In these last few days we have written two essays. One was on the famous Harvard Law speluncean case, and the other was an analysis of Jesse Jackson's "David and Goliath" speech. The David and Goliath assignment was correlated to a lecture that we had that was focused on public speaking. We were given this lecture in order to prepare us for the speeches we gave tonight in front of a judge. There are two types of speeches that we can choose from, Persuasive and Impromptu. I chose the former and decided to write my speech on the issue of racial discrimination in America. It sounds unoriginal but I attempted to add a couple of arguments that will cause some controversy, including claiming that Barrack Obama was detrimental to the black community. I messed up the memorization the first time and felt that I had to read form the script the second time so it didn't quite have the affect I wanted but I think I still got my message across.
In addition to this "homework," we have had numerous seminars and lectures over these couple days. These lectures and seminars are unlike anything I've heard before. It's amazing to be able to listen to these amazingly successful or intelligent people talk about all the issues that we never get to hear much about in our everyday life, or explain a new side of the issues we see hear about all the time. There have been extremely practical lessons, such as Dr. Luong's lecture on etiquette, and seminars that have had a significant impact on my life and perspective, such as Professor Berryhill's seminar on civil rights, which inspired my speech. I'm extremely grateful for this opportunity to take part in these activities and want to thank both the Ivy Scholars Program at Yale for organizing them and the Ivy League Connection back home for supporting me and getting me here.
I have seen a side of the world that I never would have known existed. I know that my experience here has been a unique one. We have had this opportunity that virtually no other high schoolers have had. Honestly, who gets to hang out at Yale for two weeks, and experience the rigor and competition of one of their most interesting and innovative fields, Grand Strategy. The answer is the Ivy Scholars. I'm proud to be a part if this organization and will try to soak up as much as I can while I'm here. This program has given a sense that I'm on an even taller "Mount Knowledge" than before. I can only hope that I will be able to use my experience and feeling of enlightened to make a difference when I get back to our community in the Bay Area.
As always, Thanks for reading!
P.S. My blog is attached to this post if you are interested. I apologize but it's not in essay format, so don't mind the grammar.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/jilum4jzdcw/persuasive essay
Just copy and paste!
Matt,
ReplyDeleteWe understand completely about not having the time to blog every day. I’m sure that maybe Sunday of this week things should slow down and you’ll have more time to blog.
Here Dr. Dr. Luong has two PhD’s and he’s teaching you about etiquette? Talk about being overqualified.
Every time I read one of these blogs you all bring up subjects that are so fascinating. I would love to be maybe 30 years younger and have the ability to sit in on these discussions (mind you, I say ‘discussions’ and not the reading part). I’d love to write the papers but mostly I’d like to be involved with the discussions.
Just so you know, I’ll be including your essay in the archived version of this blog.