Skills & Interests

Our guest speaker today, Steven Melzer, started off my day with inspiration. He was the only one of our guest speakers so far that asked us about our papers personally and went one by one asking why we picked our topics and if we were surprised by what we had found. I liked that a lot because it showed that he wasn't just there to give a presentation, but to get to know us a little.

He talked about how whatever we do in life, we need to make sure that our skills and interests match up. It's one thing to be good at something, but if your heart isn't into it, then there's no point in doing what you're doing. You have to have all of your interests for you to be successful and happy. He told us something about education that I wasn't aware of: that the Constitution says nothing about education whatsoever. Therefore, it is up to the states to create schools and govern them. They don't have to have schools, it's just something that most find necessary and worth it in the long run because of the money they receive from the government for it.

During our meeting with Mrs. L., we discussed ways that we can improve the ILC. We focused especially on "advertising" the ILC. I figure that the best way to promote the ILC and get more students to go is by having the parents on board from the start. That way they know it's serious and they get a clear view of what the program is about and not just a recount of what their student tells them. I would suggest invitations going out to students that invite them and their parents to a sort of orientation that way the ILC can be formally presented. I would also recommend that ILC alums be at the meeting so they know that the program is legitimate and students have prospered with the program.

It was also discussed that the students be more involved in the process of choosing students in the years to come. We could be involved in the actual panel during the interview. I would think it would be more helpful because we can read people our age better than anyone else because we're around each other all the time. Another suggestion could be meeting with with alums as a separate meeting and we could hand over the information to the panel that will then interview the students. It would be informal and give the students a better opportunity to be themselves rather than too nervous to function properly and the formal interview in front of adults.

The last thing I wanted to mention was my opinion on the required PSAT scores. I think that they shouldn't be considered and that letters of recommendation from teachers should be considered instead. Honestly, schools don't make a big deal about how important the PSAT really is and most kids who should be in this program don't know it actually counts for something and don't do their best. By having the letters of recommendation from the teachers you'd get a better sense of how those students are as students.

Lately I've been really tired all the time. I think it's because this is the last stretch before it's all over. I've hit a wall with my paper, because I'm not sure how to carry on with expanding things. I have 15 pages so far so that means I have until Thursday night to crank out 5 more pages. I'm more than sure that I'll be able to overcome this writers block and continue with the same momentum I had in the beginning.