Handprints, Not Footprints

After rummaging through a stack of my dad's old magazines, I stumbled upon a Time issue named "10 Ideas That Are Changing Your Life." I know this is irrelevant to any assignments we have done in class and on our own time, but this article sincerely inspired me to think, and considering that we have emphasized a reflection of our journey throughout these last four years of high school, I think this is very appropriate.

It's about this guy named Gregory Norris.  He developed this system "to conceptualize our [personal] impact" on the environment by evaluating and summing the positive impacts we have personally made on our precious habitat.  These are called handprints, clearly a pun on the environmental term footprint which sums the impact that humans have on the natural world, often the negative ones.  We usually analyze our impact in any situation in a "footprint" type of way, the ways in which we have forced an inconvenience or affliction upon a situation; seldom do we analyze the way we benefit something.  Norris wanted to do just that, however.  He believes that "While our footprints are a significant measure we've all been getting used to, they do not tell the whole story. We don't just trample the planet; we also sometimes leave a positive impression."  He includes a few interesting examples of ways to boost one's handprint: 1. Buying a plane ticket that pays for a carbon offset, planting trees in a deforested region 2. Inflating tires to the correct air pressure, thus increasing fuel efficiency 3. Advertising on Facebook about pledging and documenting one's positive, environmental actions, persuading others to join on this "Green Movement".  In fact, many of the things we do in our everyday actions accomplish these handprint tasks, yet many of us would think about incorporating it into our carbon footprint.

So at this point in the post, you are probably wondering why this is significant to us as we near graduation and look forward to college.  Well, we've been challenged many times in this class to reflect upon our journey throughout high school.  Personally, this article had a large impact on the way I now view my experience as a whole.  Instead of thinking about moments I would not be necessarily too proud of, such as poor grades on tests or unfortunate endings of relationships, I think about my achievements and the way I've positively contributed to the lives of those who are around me and those who look forward to graduation in the near future.  Whether it's encouragement through a pat on the back or advice through long conversations at Starbucks, I have made an impact on those around me. And, to be perfectly honest, I believe that my "handprint" on Los Osos High School nearly equates to my "footprint" on the school.  And furthermore, my impact is microscopic in the scope of the graduating class.  Everybody has their own unique handprint on their own environment, and I challenge all of us, as we soon divide and attend our own respective colleges, to not only analyze the burdens we have brought, but also to broaden our perspective to consider these positive impacts we make every single day.

-Christopher Lee

Favorite Poem Project

I understand that this topic has been popular among the various blogs, but I want to add my personal thoughts and opinions about this project.

Admittedly, I was not very fond nor excited about the idea of recording myself reciting my so-called "favorite poem", explaining its literary merit and why I personally favored it more than any other poem, and being projected on the big screen.  After all, I'm terrified of public speaking, uncomfortable being the only person in the spotlight at a certain moment, and discomforted to see my face or hear my voice on a screen.  However, the more and more I dug into the project, I found it to be personally enriching. I think the reason I always found poetry to be dull is because teachers in the past usually force feed us these poetic works and teach us how to like it.  Upon personal research, I was able to find poems that related to me, and thus, find my favorite poem.  Here it is:

The End and the Beginning, by Wislawa Szymborska

After every war
someone has to clean up.
Things won’t
straighten themselves up, after all.

Someone has to push the rubble
to the sides of the road,
so the corpse-laden wagons
can pass.

Someone has to get mired
in scum and ashes,
sofa springs,
splintered glass,
and bloody rags.

...http://www.threepennyreview.com/samples/szymborska_su97.html 

To save space, you can read the rest at the above link.  This poem appealed to me for quite a few reasons. The major one, though, is that it broadened my perspective.  I've always been trained to think big picture--I attribute that to the scientist in me.  However, this poem persuaded me that the most significant impacts made by certain situations do not always have to deal with the cause-and-effect relations.  In this poem, while the world is concerned about "the next war", these innocent war bystanders are left to pick up the pieces and recover from such traumatic experiences.  I learned through this poem that many events in my life, though less tragic than dealing with the aftereffects of war, can be better analyzed and understood.  Instead of pondering how an action of mine can affect a broad spectrum of people, I think about the personal implications of such an action. This is a valuable outlook to learn before heading off to college!

-Christopher Lee

Book Review: Animal Farm

Orwell, George.  Animal Farm (New York, NY: Penguin Books Ltd., 2000), 112 pp.
Reviewed by Christopher Lee, Los Osos High School, Rancho Cucamonga, CA.


I decided to revisit this novel after reading it my sophomore year. I wanted to see how the context of this novel has changed after two additional years of education.


First off, I am definitely glad I did.  Revisiting this novel after two years allowed me to see things that were not as clear as when I read Orwell's work the first time.  Since Animal Farm is Orwell's allegory of the birth of Soviet Communism, including the subsequent revolutions, new "rules", and corruption, it really does the novel justice if the reader has a general understanding of this history. It makes the setting, for instance, more clear.  The Farm is an allegory of Russia, and these animals work "equally" on this farm.  The parallels grow clearer and clearer as the novel progresses.  Orwell's decision to equate the Communist nation to a farm is brilliant, considering many Russians were forced into collective farming during this time period.  


As the novel progresses, these original tenants of "Animalism" become more and more disintegrated and corrupted.  There are many uprisings throughout that challenge the leadership of each animal. While each animal is to be "equal", this is clearly not true as we learn that the horses work harder and more diligently as the pigs become more lazy and providing by "supervising".  A few of these greedy pigs are the ones who break down the original tenants agreed upon by the primary farm animals.  The rest of the animals are left to figure out what they must do to create "equality" again.


This novel was one of my favorites two years ago, and it remains one of my favorites today.  The creativity and ingeniousness in this novel is truly remarkable.  While one may think this novel is childish or immature for its subject, the reader must keep in mind that this is merely an allegory of Russian Communism, a surprisingly accurate one, as well. And since this is historically accurate, the novel is surely plausible. 


I sincerely recommend this novel for anybody looking for an easy, yet informative quick read.  Make sure you do your research beforehand.  It'll surely enhance your experience.


-Christopher Lee

Dystopian Novel

Looking back at creating our team Dystopian Novel, I think that that was perhaps the most creative assignment that we have ever completed. I mean, think about it. We have to create this world of which we know absolutely NOTHING about.  Just pure imagination is used to construct this alternate reality. These are the kind of assignments that I think are the most rewarding, those that challenge critical thoughts and engaging teamwork. Our team's novel was developed based around this world filled with "bubble-boys". It's a little more complicated than that, though.  After a convoluted love triangle, the one that didn't end up with our protagonist female was slightly ticked off and decided to take advantage of his political connections to create a totalitarian government. As a byproduct of the formation of this regime, every citizen is confined in his or her own "bubble", and communication between any of the citizens is strictly prohibited--and impossible.  He does this to create a "better" world, one where the interactions between two people can never hurt another, as he was gravely affected by another's relationship.  It takes the brave efforts of the male and female protagonists, with the aid of their unconditional love for each other, to stop this bubbly atrocity and save mankind. Plausible? Why not? Dystopian novels allow us to experiment with imagination, and this freedom of creativity--along with the 2000 years worth of additional technology--can make any situation possible, even in the case of this bubble-boy world.

-Christopher Lee

What I Read That Mattered

By senior year in High School, I have probably read more books, novels, poems, plays and short stories to last a lifetime. Between the mandatory works of Steinbeck to my pleasure read poems of Hughes, I have had my favorites and least favorites in definitely. But the one thing that has stuck with me since the day my eyes grazed such a beautiful poem is so much higher than all of the others. The Seven of Pentacles by Marge Piercy was introduced to my fourth period English class by Mrs. Elliot the first day of school senior year and I can honesty say I have not been the same since.  The many questions that come along with being in high school and being less than a year from my future University campus, it could not have came at a better time. Its constant theme of fate, destiny, and owning responsibilities set me in the mood for senior year. I was driven by being the best “gardener” I could be, planting my very best self, and waiting for the harvest to come. Above it all, it was one line that forced me to stare all of my insecurities in the face and rise upon them; “Live as if you loved yourself”. Never has a quote influenced me as much as this had. It sums up the many emotions I have had to deal with and reminds me what should matter the most. Piercy’s poem hits home. Each and every time I re-read it, I always take away something that I haven’t before and open up a new door of possibilities. With the end of senior year and graduation around the corner, the Seven of Pentacles will always have a place in my heart and inspires me to always live as if I love myself.

-Jasmine C

What I Read That Mattered

Nearly all high school seniors have read a number of works throughout their high school careers, and each student often has that one novel that is more significant than all others because of the personal impact it had on the student.  For me, that novel ended up being John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath.

I’ll be the first to admit that when I learned we had to read this novel for Mr. Weidman’s Sophomore Honors English class, I was not too excited.  I allowed my immature preconceptions and assumptions of old, “critically-acclaimed”, and seemingly-endless novels take over; when I began reading, these misassumptions soon disappeared.

I was actually quite surprised that I was enjoying The Grapes of Wrath, that novel that nearly every sophomore supposedly hated in the graduation class before mine.  This is the first reason why this novel mattered to me: It taught me that I shouldn’t allow others to tell me if I would like a work of literature.  Before this, if my upperclassman friends would advise me to not read a certain book, and it was of my liberty to pick which book I could read, then I would quickly swap books.  However, my appreciation for this book extends much further than the reason listed above.

When I read, I like to read for a purpose.  As opposed to other novels that I had to read, which typically seemed to try to entertain rather than teach me, I learned so much history from this book and was able to gather so many values from it.  As cheesy as it seems, I think the novel actually taught me to be a more charitable person.  The struggles that the Joads encountered in that short amount of time affected me.  Admittedly and immaturely, I was a “fend for yourself” type of person before reading this novel.  After reading this novel, and after realizing that some people are placed into certain unfavorable situations by fate rather than by choice, I felt guilty for having such a selfish value system.  When each person is stripped of his economic status, social status, color, culture, religion, or any other classifying factor, he is simply a human.  Just like you, and just like me.  As humans, it is our responsibility to assist humans in their times of need.  If every human lived independently from each other, there is no possible way humanity could have advanced as far as it has today.  So why do we allow ourselves to discriminate against those humans who are clearly in adverse situations that are not self-imposed? It’s purely illogical. 

These are the critical thoughts and questions that arose for me after reading this novel.  I can genuinely say that it has had an enormous impact on the way I perceive those in need, and even those who aren’t in such great need, but still discriminated because of some classification which they are forced to live with.  Of all the novels I read in high school, this one truly is the one that mattered to me most.

-Christopher Lee