Tuesday, November 8, 2016

How to Survive a Plague


There were many tactics used by the AIDS activists in the protests and some of the said tactics proved to be more influential than others. In order for a protest to be successful, the protesters must convince the opposing group that their tactics are the correct ones. A violent protest would not be considered effective because there will be consequences for the actions. Peaceful protests are often an effective form of protests because they are portraying their views in a respectable manner. Having a large group of protesters and having a slogan for the protest are two of the many ways that protests become successful. Many groups use protests because they often do work. In How to Survive a Plague, Act Up successfully used the tactic of protesting. By protesting, they were able to express their views to the public, FDA, etc., and they were able to convince the FDA to process and create drugs to help the people affected by AIDS. If they had used any other tactic, the creation and processing of the drugs would have been slowed and many more people could have died.

Thursday, October 13, 2016

My Education


I am currently a senior at Nazareth Area High School, which is located in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. My high school is a high ranking school in terms of academics, being one of the top schools in the state. From kindergarten all the way up through 8th grade, I attended Notre Dame of Bethlehem. Notre Dame of Bethlehem, similar to Nazareth High School, is very well known for the advanced academics. So, from kindergarten all the way through 12th grade, I have had the opportunity that most other people don’t get. Without attending both of these schools, I would not be where I am today. My educational experiences compared to some of the class readings is very different. Both schools have been advanced in the academic aspect and both are well maintained. Although, neither of these schools are the most advanced in the country.  Both schools have been relatively small, when compared to some other schools. Due to attending both of these schools, I have been provided the opportunity to attend one of the four prestigious schools that I have applied too.

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Nike Advertisement Analysis

In this Nike Soccer ad, Nike choose to use a male wearing black standing in front of a brick wall. The male they chose for this ad happens to be one of the most well-known players in the BPL (Barclays Premier League in Europe), as well as in soccer in general. His name is Wayne Rooney. They portray him in a black shirt, a mainly male color. Also, he is carrying a soccer ball containing blue and orange, two more colors that mostly appeal to males. Nike was trying to make the ad look tougher by placing Wayne Rooney in front of the brick wall. Aside from the famous soccer player in the picture, the words “The World’s Best Ball” are shown. These words are more of an opinion and are there in attempt to boost the public’s view on the quality of the ball. In the ad, the first thing that pops out is the ball. Then, the second thing that most people look at is the player, which is a very famous player. So, Nike is trying to make males think that by buying this soccer ball, they will be more like Wayne Rooney.

Thursday, September 15, 2016

The Mask You Live In -- Film Blog

From the moment we are born, we are taught that blue is for boys and pink is for girls. Our parents base the color of the paint of the walls on our gender. The color of the toys and even the toys themselves are all based off of gender. We grow up learning that it is socially acceptable for boys to have the favorite color of blue and to enjoy playing with cars. For girls, we grow up learning that it is socially acceptable to like the color pink and to have an obsession for barbie dolls. During recess in first or second grade, all of the boys and I would play with toy cars that the teacher allowed us to play with. All of the cars were either blue, black, and red, except for one. The remaining car was a hot pink car. All of the kids would rush over and fight over the car that wasn't pink. The one time I got to the bin last and got the pink car, I wasn't included in the group while playing. They said they didn't want to play with "girls." From this experience, I have learned that as a guy it is only acceptable for me to play with something that proves your masculinity.

Thursday, September 1, 2016

The Call of the Wild

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

     The Call of the Wild by Jack London is about a dog named Buck who was born and raised in the typical life of a dog. He was raised by a normal family and in a normal neighborhood. One day, he was kidnapped overnight and was sold to dogsled owners in Canada. Once there, he was trained to be a leader of the pack and eventually overtook the position from the current leader. Over the course of the story, he was bought and sold to different dogsled owners, but eventually found a home he could rest in for the remainder of his life.
     I read this book when I was in 8th grade for a project I had to do. So, the main reason I chose this book was because of how short it was. I just wanted to read the book and get the project over with, but I ended up really enjoying the book. This is the book that really opened my eyes up to reading more. Ever since I read that book, I have been reading more and more. I have begun reading not only for school projects, but also on my own time. I really enjoyed the style Jack London uses in his writing and I have read several other book written by him.

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Interview with Qadir Allen
Qadir Allen is currently a freshman at Northampton Community College. He is majoring in sports management because of his devout love of sports, in particular basketball. Qadir is planning on trying out for the NCC basketball team when the season comes. After two years of attending NCC, he is planning on transferring to either DeSales University or Lehigh University. Qadir is planning on finishing his major at either of these schools as well as continuing his basketball career. With the degree in sports management, his goals are to own a sports team, be a coach of a team, or be the manager of a team; although, his main goal is to still be playing basketball after college. Aside from playing basketball, his interests include learning how to fix many different things, including cars and houses. Also, Qadir enjoys learning interesting things about nature, such as storms and how they form. In the future, Qadir is hoping to start a family as well as still playing basketball or having a job in the sports management field. “If you were to become the richest man in the world, what would you do with your money?” I asked him this question and his response was first he would pay his parents’ house off as well as any other expenses they have. Then, he would make sure to pay for his brothers and sisters to go to college. Next, he would give back to the community by giving money to charities and local people in need. Finally, he would save the rest of his money to make sure that he remained financially stable for the rest of his life. Overall, Qadir Allen is a college student majoring in sports management who wants to stay involved with sports, in particular basketball, for the rest of life because of his devout love for them.


Thursday, August 25, 2016

Hi everyone.
My name is Brandon Long and I am a senior at Nazareth Area High School. I play both soccer and volleyball at the varsity level for Nazareth. My soccer career has lasted for almost 14 years now and for most of my career I have been playing as a goalie. I have only been playing volleyball for two years now. My volleyball career started when I was a sophomore and was looking for something to keep me busy during the spring. One of my friends convinced me to try out for the team and I ended up taking his spot on the JV team. In my junior year, I was promoted to playing for the varsity team and started almost every game. My hobbies, aside from the sports I play for my high school, are fishing, snowboarding, and basketball. Basketball is a sport that I play to fill free time and that I play with my friends. I do not play on an official basketball team. Fishing is an activity that I do with both my friends and family. I fish locally with my friends, and with my family I go deep sea fishing out of Belmar, New Jersey. I have a step brother that attends Lehigh University, majoring in business. I also have a step brother that attends Liberty High School. My little brother, Adam, is a huge baseball fan and is dreaming of making it into the MLB. After high school, I plan on attending a four year university and majoring in engineering. My hopes are to get into Penn State University Park and continuing my academic career there. Other schools I am looking at include Lafayette College and University of Delaware.