The Short Short

“Hello, Julie,” Mark greeted, “how are you today?”

“I’m good, thank you. How are you?” Julie replied.

“I’m fine. I would have been better if we didn’t have to go to school this early in the morning.”

“Tell me about it. This education system is ridiculous. How on earth do they expect us to just get up in the crack of dawn and actually learn something?”

“Oh, we already reached school. Which lesson do you have now,” Mark asked.

“Physics,” Julie groaned. “I hate that lesson.”

“I have math. I like it, it’s actually fun.”

“Okay. Well, see you!”

“Bye,” Mark replied.

“Today is finally over,” Mark said to himself.

“Huh? Julie is running over to me. She looks panicked.”

“Oh no,” Julie cried, “I lost my phone!”

My Accomplishment

Last weekend, four other students and I attended the World Scholar’s Cup Regional Tournament. There was Collaborative Writing, where you are given subjects from which you could only choose one and write about why you are for it or against it; there was the Scholar’s Challenge, which is kind of a general knowledge test; Team Debate, where there is an affirmative and negative group, and the two teams argue about the negative and positive aspects of the subject they are given; Scholar’s Bowl, which is also a general knowledge test, but it takes place in the auditorium where the questions are projected on the board, therefore people are given clickers; and the Debate Showcase, where people who were chosen as the best debaters from different teams come onto the stage to debate.

 

We won two out of three team debates. Our scores were revealed in the Closing Ceremony on Sunday. I forgot which subjects I received medals for, or what my rankings are, because I got a total of ten medals; four silver and six gold. We, as a team, won three gold trophies. Our school was ranked the second out of all the senior teams. So, we can go to Bangkok, where the Global Tournament is held, as a team!

 

I’m proud of this achievement because it’s the best thing, if not the only thing I accomplished since the beginning of the year. Of course, I have our teacher Ms. Phinney to thank for helping us achieve our goal of winning the regional tournament. We would not have made it this far if it was not for Ms. Phinney.

 

Attending World Scholar’s Cup gave me debating and arguing skills. This may help me in writing argumentative essays. Other than that, it gives me something to show in my college application. That is why I’m glad I entered the World Scholar’s Cup once again and represented my school.

gold-trophy-cup

Short Story Unit Reflection

I enjoyed reading stories in the Short Story Unit. I do not think I would change anything. The most important lesson I learned from this unit is that sentence sequencing, word choice, character and plot development are very important aspects of writing a story. I learned that I need to really develop my characters, setting and plot before starting to write. From The Tell-Tale Heart I learned that guilt will always nag us until we finally give in. From The Lottery I learned not to carry out a cruel practice just because it is a tradition. From The Big Snit I learned we should not ignore bigger dilemmas, such as global problems like war or environmental problems, in favor of our own insignificant issues. From The Fall of a City I learned not to ruin a child’s imagination by mocking them because I think what they are doing something ridiculous. I should not judge them without really knowing them. This applies for me as well; I should not other people’s opinions keep me from doing what I love. I learned that I need to work on organisation, word choices and sentence sequencing as a writer.