Mikaela - English 221 Journey

On Wednesday night, the senior cheerleaders were expected to decorate the senior football players house. There were 7 cheerleaders and 21 football players. We each took 3 houses. I made gift bags for each player and took my time decorating each house. It took a little over an hour and I spent over $50 on these houses.  On Thursday, we had a pasta party. Every Thursday there are pasta parties for the boys to eat up before the game on Friday. In the past, there had been gifts for the senior cheerleaders and we had been appreciated for our decorations. This year, however, we got nothing at all. Not even thank yous from the players we decorated for. I went to this pasta party expecting something, even if it was little. As soon as I realized we weren't getting anything, I left, realizing it was a waste of time. We were all very bummed by this. The senior football players got big baskets full of gifts and we got nothing. We felt sad that we spent all of our time and money on the players ...

Friday was a good day. Central had a delayed opening so I started school at 9ish and ended at 11:11am. Then I went home and took a nice refreshing nap. I woke up, ate, and immediately got ready for the football game. It was senior night, so I had to put on my full uniform even though it was chilly out and I was so cold. The game was really fun. We won by a lot and hit our halftime routine. Our coach got us a big box of Crumbl cookies to eat. I went home and went back to bed. Saturday was very busy. I woke up at 8am and got ready for cheer practice. I stopped at Dunkin first and then drove me and my sister to the gym. We practiced until 11am. Practice was good, we are finally making progress and preparing for our first competition. Then we went straight from cheer to Wawa for lunch. I got a chicken caesar wrap and an energy drink. I took us straight to work where I was at until 10:30pm. It was a long day but very productive. I made money and was a hard worker. My legs ached. It was easy...

 Meditation reviews: The past few classes I have been coming in angry. I don't know why but I feel like everything is out to get me on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have come to appreciate Dora and the silence I get from our medications, even if it is short. I hope we continue to do them. Now for my topic. This happened yesterday and it made me concerned. I went to my pre-calc teacher that I had in Sophomore year to ask her a question concerning my college applications. I spent 3 years on Central's Math League team that she ran. It gave me extra credit on all of my tests and was only a few hours a month. I just wanted to ask her what place we ended up getting, so I could add it to my description of the activity. After some thought, she said we came third, but then she said I could use AI on it. On her computer was ChatGPT. What I asked had nothing to do with AI. I said, jokingly, that we couldn't use AI on our college applications, that they would know and surely reject us. But...

For #2 of the free write, I wrote about how I remember the smell of the Shoprite bread aisle. This smell is such a core memory to be because I used to go to Shoprite all the time with my Grandma and sister. I always looked forward to the smell. It is a really yummy smell and I am sure you smell it a lot at Whole Foods. I have mixed opinions on the free write assignment. I liked it as a way to focus and remember little things about myself that I may have forgotten. I didn't like the timer as I had a hard time coming up with stuff during the time limit. It was a bit stressful but fun once I had an idea. Tuesday meditation was good. It is getting easier to relax especially because I am very tired at that point in the day. I like doing the meditations and hope we keep doing them as it reduces my stress levels.

 Write 100-word artist statement explaining choices I used a lightbulb to explain the effects on AI on the brain. When you use your own critical thinking, you are constantly learning and challenging your cognitive side. This allows you to express your creativity and individuality. With the rise of AI, our brains are becoming lazy. We are letting our computers finish our thoughts for us, which causes laziness, lower memory, and under-performance. Humans are devolving because of this new technology. It is important that we stop relying on ChatGPT and other AI assistants for simple tasks. Before we know it, our natural ideas and lightbulbs in our brains will dull.  Two more versions for the labor:

     The first time I remember writing something that wasn’t for school was on New Year’s Eve in 2018. I was ten years old and decided to make a bucket list for the upcoming year. I also wrote a letter to my future self. I wanted to write out what I wanted to improve on, so I wouldn’t forget. Some goals related to cheerleading, like getting my back tuck and improving my flexibility. I also added things like stopping cursing and drinking less soda. Looking back at it now, it was pretty mature for 10-year-old me.      The most recent thing I wrote just for myself was a ranking of all the energy drinks I’ve tried. I include descriptions next to each one, so I know which flavors to buy again. In case you are curious, my favorites are Hawaiian Shaved Ice Alani and Strawberry Passionfruit Celsius. No one asked me to make the list, I just enjoy keeping track of small things that matter to me.      One default setting I didn’t realize I had when it c...