From the middle of August to the end of May we are given assignments to do yet every year at the time of spring break students will start to slack off on their work. Why is that? Why is it that some students are so good about being on task and getting work done but around the same time every year they stop? The only reason I can come up with is spring fever. When the weather starts to get nice most people would rather be outside enjoying themselves as opposed to inside writing a paper or doing math problems. The only problem with this is, about the time that students start having spring fever, the end of the year is approaching, which means finals. Instead of staying inside and studying so that they can do well, they are outside playing. You can't totally take away credit, their are some people that do stay inside and study, but half the time their minds are elsewhere. If school can just end a little bit earlier than I think that most students would perform better because they would be able to focus more. However, seeing as how that will never happen, students just need to hold on and not let the weather get the better of them.

Why do some people get road rage so easily?

A couple of weeks ago when I was on my way to work somebody stopped in the middle of the intersection to yell at another driver. When this happened I started wondering what in the world the poor person could have done to get yelled at. I mean seriously, when your driving down the road how many people do you see doing everything perfect. There's always somebody on the road doing something wrong. I personally think that the main reason people are so quick to anger out on the road is because they don't realize that they've probably done the exact same thing before. Granted, when somebody cuts you off you aren't going to automatically think of all the times that you cut someone else off, but you can control your anger. Obviously this is easier said than done. If people can control their anger on the road, then it can be a lot safer out there.

A lot of times when my youngest brother wants something he makes a point of getting it. It is so annoying yet it always seems to work. Why is that? Why do some people always give in to kids? In my opinion it's all about how the kids react to the situation. They aren't as dumb as people think, they always over exaggerate the situation just enough so that it's believable. Sometimes when I'm trying to get my little brother off of me I push him. Instead of just falling off the couch, he falls off the couch and rolls all the way down the stairs and yells, then I get in trouble. It isn't fun at all. Then I have to try to explain that I barely even touched the kid and a lot of times I don't even get out of punishment. You'd think that a simple solution to the problem would be to just ignore kids when they do things like that, but it's not as easy as you think it is. They go to extremes, whether it's like my brother going further than needed or a baby whining until picked up, they're going to do whatever is necessary to get what they want.

Why is it that people adjust rules for their own convenience?

Everybody has rules in their homes that they do not like at all. In fact if you like every rule that you have in your house there's probably something wrong with you. Since we don't really like these rules, from time to time we adjust them so that we do like them. One of the rules that most teenagers tend to bend is the curfew rule set in their homes. If you happen to walk in the door five minutes after you were supposed to be home and your parents are really strict on that, then you'll be spitting out about every excuse you can come up with to avoid punishment. However, if one of your other siblings happens to walk into the house after you, you want them to get the punishment that they deserve. Why is that? Why is it that people constantly do this type of thing. Once you narrow everything down, you can usually come to the conclusion that it was for a selfish reason. It's in our human nature to get everything we want and if that requires bending the rules to get it, then so be it. It's really sad but it's true. If there weren't any rules then that would be another disaster. If we can just learn to live with the rules that are given to us then life will be a lot better.

Time

Everyday we have 24 hrs. to accomplish all of our daily tasks. Some of those days it feels like it's already been 30 hrs . by noon, and other days you wonder what happened to the day because it went by so fast. Why is this? Why doesn't it feel like the day goes by at a normal pace? It's all about perception. If you're having a really fun day and you never want it to end, it's going to feel like it was gone in five hours. However, if you're having one of those days when you feel like it's never going to end, then you're going to be sitting there watch the seconds go by. That's really depressing though because on the fun days you want the time to feel like it's going by slower so that you can enjoy the activity longer, and you want the slow days to go by speedy quick. Oh well, to bad because that's not the way it works. So if on those slow days we don't want to feel like we're wasting our lives away to nothing, we just have to be optimistic and the time will go by much faster.

Why do we always prepare for the worst?

Almost everyday we are faced with things that we have to do, that we would rather not do. When it comes time to do that thing (take a test specifically,) pretty much all we do is complain. I know personally I try to find excuses not to thinking it will be the most horrible day ever. However, when it comes time to do the task we go in grudgingly and come out saying that it wasn't so bad after all. Why is it that we do that? Why can't we just go in with the attitude that it will turn out all right. I think that the main reason is preparation. A good majority of the time high school students don't always prepare for a test the way that they should so they don't feel very confident. After it's all over they come out feeling like they knew more than they thought they did, and the stress is off their backs. If we can just have a better attitude on life and the things that we are facing we can make life a whole lot stressful.

Why are sports so overrated?

Every day there is some sort of a sports game on. Either baseball, basketball, soccer, hockey and so on and so forth depending on the season. The way some people go on it makes it sound like your eternal salvation is at stake if you don't watch a game. Why is that? What makes people so involved with sports? After thinking for a few minutes the only reason I can come up with is the because of the media. They make it sound like you're a social misfit if you don't watch the world series, the super bowl, or even the NBA finals. In my family it's fun to watch sports from time to time but it's not like we're going to die if we miss one little game. I tend to think it's that way for some people, because at school if they happened to miss one of the NCAA games they go crazy. There is obviously something about watching a ball go in a hoop, or a ball being kicked into a goal that is so exciting. So unless the media stops overrating sports people will continue to make a huge deal out of them.

Procrastination

As high school students we tend to procrastinate a lot, like more than is needful. This tends to get rather stressful around the end of the term. There's so much to do, and so little time. We have late papers, test/quiz retakes from seven or eight classes to do in a week. WOW! You'd think after one term we'd get the point and not procrastinate anymore, but no. Why is it that we do that? Why is it that we always put things off until the last minute? For me personally one of the main reasons is time. When the assignment is given I don't necessarily always have time outside of school to do it, so I keep putting it off thinking that I have plenty of time before the end of the term to get it in. Then the time seems to go by really fast and all of a sudden it's the last week of the term and life gets ten times more stressful as it would have been if I would have just done the assignment on time. So if we can realize that there isn't as much time as we think there is, our lives can be a heck of a lot less stressful.

Why do so many people have such a hard time focusing?

Everyday we are surrounded by things going at a fast pace and it really doesn’t take all that long to get adapted to that. At home we watch TV, play games on our high speed internet, and text our friends, then we go to school. The day goes by so slow and we can’t focus. Why is that? What makes it so that we have such a hard time focusing? Like I said earlier, it’s from all of the fast pace things that we deal with at home. It really gets to us, and all of a sudden if we can’t have it fast then we don’t want it at all. So at school when we are confined to the space of a small desk with a pencil and paper, we go crazy! So if we can get the world to not move at such a fast pace then it would be so much easier to focus in class.

Why are some people so prejudiced?

When I walk down the halls at school there are certain people that stand out to me as being different. Not necessarily in a bad way, but not really in a good way either. They're obviously nice enough to have their own friends, yet creepy enough that the "popular" kids stay away from them. Why is that? Why do people make such sudden judgements and stay away from other people that are "different." I think that the main reason is personality. I mean seriously who wants to spend the day with someone whom they have absolutely nothing in common with. You'd be surprised what you have in common with someone who appears to be way different than you. In junior high I had one of those built up prejudices against someone who turned out to be a pretty good friend of mine. She appeared to be the exact opposite of everything that I wanted to be in contact with, but one of my friends happened to be friends with her. So when all three of us had a class together and those two were communicating, I had either the option of being the class "loser," or actually trying to get to know her. I decided to start talking to her and found out that she had had a difficult life and was actually a really nice person. That just goes to show that if you misjudge someone, you could be missing out on a really great friendship.

Fairy Tales

Then they got married and lived happily ever after. Why is it that all fairy tales end that way? Sure it's a nice way to end a cute story that hundreds of little kids read every day, but it doesn't teach them about the facts of life. These stories make every girl think that as long as they find prince charming that everything will be perfect and they'll never have to worry about a thing like divorce. How much harder is it going to be for them if their parents end up in divorce?

I could only come up with one reason for why they would let every young child grow up with such beliefs. That's because it's a fairy tale! All these stories of happiness were first told when there were actually princes and princesses alive, and they've just carried on through the ages. Back in those days it was common to have a good marriage, in fact if your marriage didn't turn out you brought disgrace on you and your family. Now, life is obviously different and they should have different stories to tell. I still believe that every child should have a dream to look forward to achieving. However, there's a fine line between reality and dreams and if we aren't careful all happiness could turn out to just be a dream.

Why are people so set on their opinions?

Everyday I talk with at least one person that is extremely opinionated. It is the most annoying thing when you want to put your own viewpoint in and can't because you know that if you do it won't even be recognized. I know quite a few people that are like this and it's almost impossible to have a conversation with them on the topic because it won't ever go anywhere. I'm not saying that you have to agree with them, just listen to what they think. If you do listen to them then it will help you better understand where they're coming from. I know if I listen to some else's opinion I don't always change my view but it helps me kind of see how they might see it that way. If we can open our minds to new ideas then we just might beable to accomplish more things.

Grumpy People

Every day when I walk down the hallways at school and even when I see people out of school it's very rare to see the majority of them happy. That's depressing especially since you have no idea why in the world they are so downtrodden. Why are people like that though? Why can't they hide their real feelings and pretend to be happy? I know that for me if I'm really not in that great of a mood, if I fake being happy sometimes I actually end up being happy. If more people actually tried doing that then we would live in a much happier world. Granted it wouldn't be perfect and people would still be sad and cranky from time to time but overall it would be better, and people could have more fun and enjoy life.

Cranky People

Earlier today when I was at work, they asked me to go and take care of the person at the register, so I went over. I got her name so I could get her order and ring her up; but when I brought down the pizzas she yelled at me. She told me that she had more than two pizzas but what she didn't understand was all of the orders were on one ticket because it was all the same kind. After I got them all out she apologized and told me that she was having a bad day. I didn't think that was a very good excuse for treating me badly when I was trying to help her. Why are people so harsh to others when they're having a bad day?

I can only think of one reason and that's because of all the stress that has built up in them throughout the day. All day they've been dealing with things that didn't make them very happy and then all of a sudden when there's one more thing they explode. It isn't very fair of them to do that especially if you were trying to help them in the first place. A lot of times they want to get it all out of them and you just happen to be their target. If we can help to make someones life a little less stressful then maybe just maybe we will be able to see more happy people.

Super Bowl

Every year around this time of year people are just starting to lose all of the weight they gained during the holidays or have already lost all of that weight. They feel really proud of themselves for keeping their new years resolutions for once and then it's time for the super bowl. Why the heck do people make resolutions to lose weight if in a couple of months they're just going to gain it all back? I think there is one main reason, and that's so that they can feel good about themselves for even just a short while. They lost that weight and feel like they've accomplished something in life so they're happy; so instead of deciding to stay healthy and be happy they think, Oh it's just one little occasion it won't hurt me. They end up eating more than planned and "run out of time" to exercise and lose all that weight and they're back where they started. So if society can stop making the super bowl such a big deal, then maybe, just maybe people will start keeping their new years resolutions to stay healthy.

Serious People

A lot of times when I'm talking to someone that I don't know really well and they make a comment then I reply with a sarcastic answer. When I do that more than half the time somebody thinks that I'm being serious and it's really annoying. Which brings me to the point, why in the world can't people tell the difference between sarcastic and serious? Most of the time I think the reason is because they don't really know me all that well, but honestly, can't you pick out sarcasm in a person's voice. There are also times when the same thing happens with my friends and family so there's probably a lot more to it then meets the eye. If people can't learn how to take a joke then we're in for a pretty scary future.

Why do so many girls, think they're fat when they aren't?

Almost every week when I'm at church I hear one of the young women complaining that they're fat and ugly. This bothers me to no end because after they finish the comment I look at them and you couldn't get thinner than them if you tried. Since they think they're fat some of them become anorexic or bulimic to lose that "fat." There are probably more influences, but I think that the main one is the media. Everyday teenage girls look at a model and think that to be accepted in society as beautiful they need to look exactly like that. Whenever I hear a really thin girl say that she's fat, I think to myself, compared to who. If girls had a better person to look up to, other than some celebrity, than a good percentage of them could be successful becuase they can accept themselves for who they are.

Why do so many people hate the cold, but love the snow?

Every year about mid-summer, people start wishing that it would snow because they are sick and tired of the heat. Well, a few months down the road it starts snowing and they are happy that there is finally snow, but they are ready for warm weather. How is that even possible, they complain that they don't have it then they get it and complain. In Psychology we learned that when there's not very much sunlight people tend to get depressed more easily than normal; and during the winter there isn't a whole lot of sun. I can't complain, I'm like most people, after a certain amount of time I'm ready for the cold to be gone and welcome warmth. However, if people can just be more accepting of what they have and not complain than life would just be a whole lot easier.

Why are people so addicted to their phones and text messaging?

Now days it is impossible to walk down the hallway without seeing at least one person texting someone else with their phone. It's even becoming a problem in class. If someone is trying to learn but the person next to them is texting their friend it becomes a battle of learning. It makes me want to yell when I see someone texting in class, I mean honestly, can't they wait until after class to talk to the person. It might be entertainment to them, but in all reality they're just distracting someone else from learning and it needs to be stopped. I know that the administration is trying hard to stop the problem, but people still do it. The real issue is the addiction people have to their phones though. If parents confiscate the phone the teenager goes crazy like part of their life has been taken away. So if we can get people to stop making their phones such a huge part of them, then we can have an easier time learning.