John Carroll Blogs

Today in Western Civ we took a test on Christianity in Rome and honestly it didnt go too well. I got about 3 out of 16 wrong and I dont know what grade that will give me. At least in the end its the last test till finals.

Basically Rome ended on a terrible streak. They were declining in population, they had nobody joining the army, and they were running out of food. In the end they had a 14 year old emperor who was overthrown because he was so young and was placed in charge of running an already sinking ship.

In Western Civ. we have been learning about Christianity and how they were insanely persecuted for their beliefs. We also learned about how Jesus most likely didn't look like most pictures of him. He was probably darker skinned and scruffy haired instead of the light skinned with long flowing locks that we portray him as. Finally we learned about the punishments that Rome inflicted on people and most of the time it was for very unimportant crimes. They burned, crucified, fed to beasts, and executed people.

Literally at this moment in time I couldn't hate people more. They never do their work and they just mooch off of who they know will do the work. This is also why group projects are the worst thing to ever exist. Right now I have multiple group projects that I need to get done. Not the group just me, because God knows that they aren't going to do any work. Currently in my group project I have 1 person who is helping me and that is it. WE HAVE 4 PEOPLE! Nobody wants to do anything and they expect other people to do the work for them. The project is 400 points for crying out loud. Just do your part. Ok, my rant is over.

I'm so happy! I got an 80 which truthfully isn't that good. But it somehow only lowered my grade to an 89 and if I do all my blogs which I do I should get a 90 so I'm not distressed about the grade. Luckily all I have to do now is do well on the end of Rome test and I should get an A in the class. Shooting for that 4.0 :)

God that test wasn't that easy. I honestly thought it was pretty difficult even after I studied. In the end though all I can say was that I tried my best even though I feel like it didn't go as well as I hoped.

Honestly I really like the BBC shows we are watching because they provide us with a good visual source of history. Despite all that I think it was pretty lucky how Caesar won because Pompey definitely had him if the rich guys didn't pressure him into attacking. Caesar should have suffered greatly for his first loss but instead won because of it and even though I find it a great story I think it was pretty lucky for him to win.

The same actor in Gotham which I am watching tonight is also in the Rise and Fall of Rome show we were watching in class today. In Gotham he plays Alfred Pennyworth and in the BBC episode he plays Julius Caesar. I knew after seeing his facial expressions on the BBC and after watching him for so many weeks on Gotham that it was the same guy. The proof for this is right here   http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0675730/ .

I really enjoy the movie we are currently watching in Western Civ. because it shows how Rome was a struggle for power and a fight for the upper hand. It also shows how politics work (and also how stupid they are) by having each person manipulate the other into doing what they want. Finally my favorite part of the movie has to be the battles they are recreating

Today in Western Civ. we learned about Rome's long line of terrible emperors and how they seized power by killing, betraying, and backstabbing others. We also learned about Nero and how he gained power by having his mother poison his father giving him the next seat on the throne. The worst part is that his father was actually a good emperor who made good changes to Rome but he died just so Nero could become king and screw up everything.

Honestly I love the family of Julius Caesar because they are brilliant people who new how to appeal to the people and do good things for them. I loved Julius and it seems that Octavius is following in his footsteps and doing a fantastic job leading Rome.

I honestly don't understand why people killed him because he was a great leader. He literally didn't do anything wrong and helped Rome grow to its full potential and he was murdered through jealousy. I personally think that it was so stupid to kill him because all he did was help and make great changes for Rome.

I am so happy that tomorrow is Friday because I'm insanely tired right now because I have had 2 intense football trainings this week, another one tomorrow, and another one on Saturday. I just have a busy football week but in the end I know it is worth it because if I put in the work it will pay off.

Today in Western Civ. we learned about the Punic wars and how Rome constantly battled with Carthage on 3 separate occasions. We learned about how Hannibal pulled off the flank of a lifetime by marching all his troops around to the north of Rome and how he layed waste to cities surrounding Rome but not Rome itself. Finally we learned of how Rome defeated Carthage by invading them, burning their cities, and selling most of their populous into slavery.

Today Schickago came and sang a song about Rome to the class. Honestly I don't enjoy music but the song was pretty funny to listen to. I also thought it was a pretty catchy and informative song and I believe that Mr. Schick has some unique teaching styles to say the least.

Today in Western Civ. we learned about Rome and how its weird history. We learned about the terrible ruling of Tarquin and how he gained power by killing and his wife gained power by killing as well and it was all just terrible. We also learned about Romulus and Remus and how they were raised by a wolf as kids. We also learned about how each wanted to build the capital in a certain spot and Romulus won naming the capital Rome, after himself.

I honestly have mixed feelings about how my Spring Break is going to go because I am going to be missing most of it due to my trip to Europe. I have a feeling that its going to be fun seeing my sister in Newcastle but still I get annoyed that I cant really relax during my break.

I was so happy to finally be able to go to a basketball game and see my favorite team the Chicago Bulls play. Luckily enough they beat the 76ers and it was just a great game to watch. My dad and I had a great time watching the game, making jokes, and catching tshirts. It was just a very enjoyable time and I'm very grateful that I got to go.

The Western Civ. projects are over and thank God for that because I am tired of worrying about them. I hated working on that project but at least we finally finished. I hope we got a good grade but its over now and I don't have to worry about it.

I did my project today and I honestly think that it didn't go that bad. Sure it wasn't exactly the most entertaining thing but I still thing we presented our information very well and in such a manner that showed that we knew what we were talking about. Honestly I believe that James deserves a 100 because his project was gold. I will boycott Mr. Schicks class if he doesn't get an A

Today we got to watch other projects because my group was lucky enough to not go. It was so funny to watch certain projects happen especially Say Yes to The Toga. I honestly thought that their projects were very innovative and creative and they all deserve very good grades on it. (Also I think my group deserves an A but that's just my opinion).

I can't believe how fast the time on this project went it just gets my heart racing to think about the grade that my group will receive. I'm nervous, anxious, scared, and definitely ready to get it over with. This project counts for 2 test grades and so far I got an A on the test but I'm just so nervous about the project because I don't know how original it is.

Today in Western Civ. we just worked more on our project and I finished the powerpoint while CJ tried to break apart our Parthenon's barrier from the 3d printer. That thing was way to protected because it literally broke multiple things in the process of trying to crack it open but it's fine because now we have our Parthenon finished.

Today in Western Civ. I learned a huge detail that can improve our project 10 fold. We were given permission to create a powerpoint with pictures so that we could emphasize our architecture points further and go into more detail about them. While we do our presentation we can use the slideshow to go into detail on the creations of the Greeks. This honestly could be a saving factor for our project in the end.

Today we worked more on the project on Ancient Greece and we came up with a really good idea of along with our presentation we have drawings of what we are going to talk about instead of pictures from a powerpoint. We are going to draw the separate columns from our different styles of Greek Architecture so we can show the differences between them while giving our presentation.

I'm really starting to like our idea for our project on Greece because I feel like my group and I came up with a pretty good idea. We are going to compare how Greek architecture influenced modern architecture and to keep it interesting we are going to 3d print models of buildings from then and now to show comparisons between each one. I think we can do pretty well on the project if we just execute our presentation as well as we can.

I'm honestly not looking to forward to the Greek project because honestly I don't have good experiences with group projects but for the idea I have it requires more than myself. I am more nervous now then I was before though because now its double the points and counts for 2 tests instead of 1. Yay (Obvious sarcasm)! Truthfully if we just take the time to do it correctly it should go fine but it's hard to tell whether or not people will actually want to work or just goof off the whole time.

Today in Western Civ. we watched a video that summed up about all we have learned in the past few weeks so it was a pretty good review for our test tomorrow. It talked about how tyrants were not what we call them today and how tyrants were also overthrown and replaced with new ones in the Greek Empire. It touched base on the great minds of Socrates and Aristotle and it also talked about the Spartan army and Athenian army and how they differed and how each one had its own specific advantage in the Greek Empire.

For my Western Civ. project I am honestly a little nervous because I have a good idea but I don't know who I really want to work with on the project. I was thinking about maybe Mike or James but James said he wanted to be independent and Mike said yes even though for my idea I would need 3 people. Like it kind of sucks but hopefully I will find a 3rd to do my idea.

Today in Western Civ. we talked about the Spartans and how they were intensely fierce warriors on the field of combat due to their extensive training. Spartan boys apparently started their training at the age of 7. If I lived in Sparta I literally would've just left like honestly screw that. We also learned how they had a strategic battle formation that was tightly grouped together while the around 80 soldiers held shields, spears, and short swords. It was a very smart move for their time and I feel like war strategy was a big part of the Greek lifestyle. We also learned about the Athenian navy and how it was superior at their time due to their innovative warship creations. They used the ship as a weapon/battering ram instead of just transportation for soldiers.

Truthfully I think the new government that Greece established was a step in the right direction because it allowed us to set up a basis off of it and move forward to be the country that we are today. The only problems I have with it have to be that only free, male, landowning, born in Athens people were considered citizens because I feel like that took away from the opinion of the people. It basically told them that they didn't care how many there were it was just going to be how it was going to be. On another note I do agree with the change in the government because it allowed the common people to express their opinions on the matters at hand and to help make decisions on what they believed was the right or wrong thing to do.

Today in Western Civ. we took notes on the tyrants who took control over the land and how they accomplished it. We talked about how most of them were aristocrats that either had control of the land or took control with the help of hoplites. It was a very interesting topic to talk about because they have many different aspects of ruling because some of the tyrants were actually nice when others acted like modern day tyrants.

So today in Western Civ. we talked about how the Greeks had a unique trading system for their time which allowed them to establish bonds with other countries and grow their empire. We also learned about how they needed trade due to the fact that they needed more natural resources and food because they could only grow food in 20% of the fertile soil they had. We also learned about how the Greeks mixed in their history and mythology one most famously known would be the Trojan War. It really happened but everything about the Greek gods did not. Finally we touched base upon how the Greeks were invaded by mysterious people that they named the sea people and how other rulers took over the war torn land and ruled for 400 years which the Greeks called the Dark Ages.

Today in Western Civ. we started our discussion on Greece and how it will influence the future of America. We learned that most of the area was made up of over 2000 islands and many settlements were built because of that land space. We also learned that most of Greece is made up of mountains and because of them the Greeks were separated and fighting with one another most of the time. During the end of class we kind of did what we wanted to and also reflected on Josh because Mr. Schick finished his lesson

Honestly it's a tragedy to what happened to John because he didn't deserve to be stuck in a car crash. Now he is in shock drama and I just feel terrible for him because every kid deserves to have the chance to grow up to adulthood and live a good, long, and healthy life. I definitely feel bad for his family because they must be so worried about him right now because he is critically injured and I hope that he will turn out to be fine in the end.

Well in all honesty I think I got everything right besides from questions on the last page of the test. It was so hard to remember the Articles even after studying and even reading them right before the test. Besides from that page though I think I did very well and I think my grade will still be ok because I remembered some of the answers but I believe on about 50% of them I guessed on because I didn't know which one it was.

Tomorrow I will have to take a government test for Western Civ. and honestly I am feeling pretty good about it because I know all of the material pretty well. The only thing I need to brush up on are definitely the Articles of Confederation and the Bill of Rights because it's hard to remember what order they come in and what each one grants towards the people. All in all though I think I am going to do pretty well on the test but that will be determined tomorrow.

Today in my blog I would like to go into further detail on how I think the 3rd amendment should be interpreted. See at the moment police officers have the authority to apprehend a citizens vehicle if they are engaged in a foot chase. Honestly I don't think that should happen because the officer would be taking the citizens property which is in violation of the right of privacy.

Honestly there is no difference from Monday or Tuesday because you still fell just as tired. Like seriously the amount of sleep just doesn't matter in the end because it is just hard to get back into the swing of things. Truthfully I hate when teachers give tests on a day back from the weekend as well because it is the worst due to the fact that everyone is getting back into the swing of things after a long weekend.

All I want to do in this blog is basically recap this entire week from my perspective starting from Monday. I got the feeling that my throat was starting to hurt and I was getting congestion. My gaming mouse and earbuds broke as well. On Tuesday my mother and I went out to replace my mouse because without it I couldn't play the game that I wanted to play. We wound up spending a total of $60 on that mouse WHICH IS A STUPID PRICE! But whatever it's fine (it wasn't my money anyway), on Wednesday I wake up with a fever and have to stay home from school with congestion and a sore throat. Thursday same thing. Then there is today which I was hoping would be fine but it's not because I have had 2 tests today and have one next mod so I'm just loving life so much right now. I also have a load of makeup work to do over the break which is a great way to you know not spend time relaxing like I wanted to but whatever I just need to hang on until a snowstorm which hopefully will b...

I wasn't in school today because I'm not allowed to go within 24 hours of a fever and I had one around 5 yesterday but so far today I haven't had a fever but dear God my throat has been hurting. Most likely I should be in school tomorrow to be faced with a huge amount of makeup work  >:(

I was not in school today because I had a fever over night and was sick throughout the day.

Oh Mondays the day of the week hated most. Well you see the only reason I don't like it is because I have to go back to school but YESTERDAY, OHHHHHH YESTERDAY HAD A SPECIAL REASON TO RECIEVE HATE. So I woke up with a sore throat as well as a stuffy nose and I went to school with it anyway because make up work is worse than going. I got through the day about ok even though I felt like garbage but when I got home man my day took a turn for the worst. My $35 gaming mouse that I have had for about 6 months decided to stop working and just lower its DPI past any reasonable use. Once that happened I was pretty peeved but I went to go listen to youtube. I was listening to a video for about 15 minutes and then the audio kept cutting out and guess what it was? Of course it was my earbuds breaking. Then I used my backup pair which guess what? When I was walking down the steps I dropped my phone and my earbuds broke. Literally in one day I lost about a value of $50-$60. It's the next day...

Finally to have an A on one of Mr. Schick's test. It feels like such an accomplishment because dear God it's not easy to say the least. I just feel great now because I think its only the 2nd time I've gotten an A on one of his test. I ever get like a 78-88 and I finally got a 90.  It honestly just feels really great to have it.

Today in Biology I had to take a test where like 90% of the material is stuff that we haven't learned and everybody in my class and I are super upset about it. Literally my grade is going to drop so low now because of this and I'm just ready to scream right now.

Today in Human Geo. was basically a bust because we didn't really do anything. There was no assignment posted so we kind of just did nothing the entire class. It was honestly really boring and not fun. We just had to sit there and do nothing the entire mod. Mr. Schick why did you leave us? We now have gotten information of a posted assignment about the constitution. The constitution consisted of 7 articles that explained how the United States Government would be made. This helped solve conflicts between states by sharing power among the houses of Congress and honestly stopped our nation from falling apart.

Today was not exactly what I would call a good or bad day because after staying up for the Superbowl last night I am just so tired and my brain just does not feel like working. I honestly think that when I took my math test today I might have done something stupid like write Spanish cause I'm just that tired. Anyway I'm going to go take a nap now cause I need some sleep.

Tomorrow is one of my favorite days of the year because it's the day of good commercials, food, and vibes. It honestly should be a good game because Atlanta has a very good offense with the Patriots having a decent offense and defense. I truthfully think Atlanta will win but as the saying goes any giving Sunday. I think it will be a good game to watch though and hopefully we get some snow here tomorrow as well to not have to go to school the day after the Super Bowl.

The Articles of Confederation was a document that united all the 13 colonies into a federal government and the document was drafted by the Second Continental Congress. The United States Constitution was a document made up of 7 different articles that described the way that the government should be formed. The Bill of Rights were the first 10 amendments that were made to the constitution and they explained personal freedoms, rights, and the government's power over the people. All these documents were important stepping stones in building the society that we have today and all of them helped us move on in the right direction.

Well today I took my Western Civ. test and what else can I say except it was nice to have the A while it lasted because I COMPLETELY forgot that we had this test today and more than likely it's not gonna go so well because even when I study I get from a B-C+ so God Bless. I tried to study as much as I could during the course of today but I didn't exactly have a lot of time and all I could really do was try to cram as much of the power point into my brain as humanly possible so hopefully it doesn't go as bad as I think it will but knowing my luck its going to go terribly and I'm going to be in the stages of grief once I see my grade.

Today in Western Civ. we basically just  reviewed over what we will be having a test on for Tuesday and then got to work on homework or study. Most people aren't doing either and they are just talking, listening to music, or playing games but hey it's their time to waste. Currently I have gotten all of my homework done for the weekend even though I know next mod I am going to get algebra homework even though we have a test because we always do but I got a good chunk of my homework done. Luckily I also had time to study for my algebra test a little longer so hopefully I'll do well on it.

Today during Western Civ. we started to touch base on 9/11 in a random conversation and it honestly lead to a really interesting talk in class. We talked about how after 9/11 airplanes were grounded because of fears from the government and how much 9/11 affected people around us. I for example nearly lost my great uncle but luckily he was in the 2nd tower and managed to escape with his life and some 200 other people he helped to evacuate. See 9/11 was a major tragedy to America but truthfully it helped us grow and notice that our nation wasn't untouchable.

Today in Western Civ we learned about Paul Revere and how he didn't actually finish his journey but yet he got the poem and the legacy for himself anyway. I honestly think the others didn't get enough credit for finishing the journey because they put in the work but got no reward when the slacker did. Its just how the world works I guess because slackers are lucky.

While reading over this document in class today I have taken from it that it was not exactly an act of aggression against Britain but it was indeed a last stand against Parliament's transgressions on the people. They stated how they were mistreated and taken advantage of ands how they felt about it. Since they were taken advantage of they decided to leave the British colonies and become independent and call their new nation the United States.  I think they honestly made a bold yet smart decision to become their own nation because they have been cut off from any British supplies due to leaving and have to fend for themselves but in return if they stayed they would have gotten taxed to death.

There is no reason for me to be sad today because the Packers finally got knocked out of the playoffs yesterday by the Atlanta Falcons and it was such a glorious sight to behold. It was a fantastic game with a loss of 21-44 with almost every receiver and running back scoring a touchdown. Even Matt Ryan ran a touchdown in. Watching that game yesterday was literally the highlight of my day because obviously me being a Bears fan was enjoying watching them get crushed by Atlanta. My dad and I really had some fun yesterday, watching the Packers get destroyed and watching as Pittsburg tried to come back and defeat the Patriots. In all honesty though I thought the Pittsburg game was going to be a lot closer then it actually was because the Steelers have a good offense and defense but I suppose that they just didn't step up to the challenge and Leveon Bell getting hurt didn't help anything either.

FINALLY! Today I reached freedom because I am no longer bound my these mere braces on my teeth (This is also the reason why I was absent from school today). For the first time my teeth actually nice and free but now I have a retainer to depress me. Just like my braces I have to wear the retainer all day every day which is so dumb and stupid because usually you just have to wear it at nights but no I have to wear it constantly.

Truthfully I'm disappointed yet happy at the same time. I was hoping for some new people in my class but at the same time not, it's strange. I did kind of hope to meet new people though in Western Civ. but since nobody new joined I suppose that that isn't going to happen. I'm still happy that Mr. Schick is my teacher though because he makes funny jokes and now moments of zen.

Honestly I'm just really excited for the weekend coming up. Recently I have bought a video game called Overwatch on my computer and I got it for 3 of my friends as well. We have been playing competitively and doing fairly decent but this weekend we are going to play nonstop and try to improve our competitive scores. Currently I'm rated at gold which is right in the middle of everything which makes me feel like I'm only adequate at the game. I just want to get better and I will be so happy once I get at least diamond which is the 3rd best rank.

Today in Human Geo. we had Mr. Schick share some pretty funny stories about his life with us. Most of them were about how he was just a terrible kid in school which honestly surprised me because I wouldn't have thought of Mr. Schick to be a troublemaker. It was very nice though to have a very chilled day in Human Geo. full of laughs and good times.

Today in Human Geo. we decided to not take the test as a class. The only reason that I'm thankful and happy is because I have a low B right now and even a 100% wouldn't really help me that much. I'm just happy that I don't have to worry about another test anymore. Now I will just do the 2 things of extra credit to raise my grade a bit because every little bit helps. I'm just so happy that I don't have a test to study for anymore.

Today in my S.T.E.M. meeting we got to use the Htc Vive and it was so cool. I was the only one who knew what it was before we started using it because I stay updated on all the new gaming consoles and this by far has to be one of the neatest that I've seen. I just loved being able to finally use the vive because I've been wanting to get my hands on it for so long but its just insanely expensive for somebody like me to buy. It's $1,500 which is just crazy but honestly if I had the money I would buy it because going in there and playing that today just made my day.

Today was just absolutely terrible. I had a basketball game which we lost and I was unable to score any points in it. I jammed my finger during said basketball game and it hurts like crazy. Then later in the day I nearly fell down the steps because my sister left something laying right on the top step. To be completely honest today was just one of those days where you cant wait until it's over.

Microloans won the Nobel Prize by helping out the poor because it really was useful to them to be able to borrow a bit of money to get them out of a bad situation. As an organization it is rated very high because it is a very respected organization due to the fact that it has high reviews. Its repay rate for its loans is also very high between 98-99 which makes it have such a high regard. America's greatest philanthropists include Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, and Li Ka-shing. Warren Buffet donates to charities and Bill Gates gives away half of his fortune to the less fortunate. If I would do a Kiva loan though I would probably donate to somebody that is having trouble running a business in a less fortunate country.

Today in Human Geo. we learned about loans that banks can provide for people to start small businesses. The site is called kiva and they grant people small loans by having people from around the world participate in helping worldwide. Personally after seeing this I think I might start doing Kiva because it seems like it can really help out some people in some difficult places.