This was a way for the students to learn how to connect two articles. Even if they have absolutely NOTHING to do with each other. I felt bad that I left Augustine's reputation in tatters; however, this was the best and most opinionated way to connect the two articles. The first (Augustine's) is an article published in a newspaper and the second (Yong's) is a scientific paper on the research of people who believe their own lies by a miss Dr. Chance.
Kesi Augustine vs. Ed Yong
In Obama’s Dream: A Model NYC High School by Kesi Augustine, a former student of BHSEC, the main topic seems to be that she believes that Bard is better than other schools. She even goes as far as to advertise the school in such a manner where she highlights how the school is very diverse and unique, how the school is demanding and challenges the students to work hard. What she doesn’t realize is that she is promoting the school for something ALL or at least MOST schools take pride in and do have. Every school says their work is such so that it stimulates the mind and makes the students learn things they will need to know in order to be prepared for college. Who doesn’t know that a Muslim and a Christian can be friends, that a gay and a straight can both believe in finding true love, and that a Latino and an African American can joke with each other about the stereotypes in their communities. Those are things that occur in many other environments besides BHSEC and school.
As for “People Don’t Know When They’re Lying to Themselves” by Ed Yong if the title is not self explanatory enough for your taste it is about how people can and do lie to themselves to make themselves feel better or to escape the scrutiny of others, and they are so good at it that they believe their own lies. This is what Kesi does in her article.
Kesi is in the words of Chance, “largely oblivious” to her own lies. She may say that Bard is better than other schools because “the similarities outweigh the differences” and because of its diversity. But she actually wants to justify to others and to herself why she went there. She tells us that the school had “eager students” and no one could make it through by “slumping” in a seat. She only does this to make it seem as if people should listen to her because she went through all this hard work and knows what she is talking about. However, truthfully, every single school has students who can pass and even achieve extraordinary grades and not work extremely hard. She advertizes the school in order to make herself feel good. She wants to make people think she is intelligent and important based solely on the fact that she has gotten such and exclusive education. However, one can note she is unsure because of the way she goes about trying to make the school look fantastic. She seems very sure sometimes when she is giving the school due praise, but at other moments she seems to be trying to convince herself. She refers to the school as only a “high school” and says that she was extra prepared for “real college”. BHSEC is in fact a college and you do earn an Associates’ Degree for it. It is a great school and does what many great schools do. It prepares and helps students to establish good careers. One usually does some amount of work even if not much to do so. This is not something one should whine or boast about, it is just something unavoidable for those who wish to be successful in life and Bard helps the process along.
-In the words of my teacher Mr. Schwartz (I know how to spell it now), "You have to work very hard in order to fail school.Even with just doing the basics you can pass."
-Also, I got my schedule for my classes today and start the regularly scheduled classes tomorrow! I asked for piano and got it! Yessss! But I can truly say that the idea of having Physics is terrifying!
-Mr. Schwartz is now not only my adviser but my Global History teacher too!
-Hope you enjoyed reading that!
-Feedback is appreciated for anything I ever post on this blog! No FLAMES! I mean CONSTRUCTIVE and HELPFUL criticism.
