Week 3 at whitney young

This week was pretty nice. It started out rough on Monday because on that day, I was notified that I had a couple quizzes and tests this week. But, throughout the week, I managed to evenly study and prepare for the quizzes and tests and hopefully did well on them. I think the hardest one had to be the geometry one. This was the first standards test I'd ever taken, and I think I did pretty well on it. I don't think that I've fully mastered it, but I have the opportunity to retake it, so it's fine. Homework has been pretty high this week and swim practice has been pretty stressful and difficult, but other than that, it was a pretty okay week.

Week 2 at Whitney Young

9/18/15

Period 4

My second week at Whitney Young wasn't too bad, but it wasn't too good either. Gym class was just like any ordinary gym class. Mandarin was a little fast paced this week, but I learned a lot. I got assigned my first paper of the school year in English. I spent a lot of time doing it, and it showed when it took Mr. Rehak a whole page of reading to find a grammar mistake. World studies was fine, not too much homework. Chemistry was pretty nice. I had 2 labs in one week, and got help from Ms. Rehak (coincidence?) with my science fair project. In art, the class worked with trees the entire week. We're no doing a final tree project. The worst part of my week though, had to be my geometry homework quiz that I failed. But, to shed light on this dark situation, no one in my period got over a 50%. I guess it just shows that I need to study my notes more to be better prepared for the next quiz we have (which might be Monday). 

neighborhood paper

Period 4

9/14/15

Neighborhood Paper

           Today was the most stressful day ever. I received about three hours of homework from all of my teachers and was carrying two heavy bags around all day. I decided to skip swim practice because of the amount of work I got, and also because I knew that my swim practices started to get harder this week. So, I got onto the CTA bus across the street from Whitney Young Magnet High School and ventured home.

    I must’ve been really worn out from my classes because I fell asleep on the bus. When I got up, I looked outside and saw very unusual houses and buildings. I missed my stop! As soon as I realized this, I pulled on the bus bell cord and got off of the bus. The street I was on was named “Jeffrey Boulevard.” It ran along another street named “South Chicago” and was right across the street from a KFC. I was definitely lost and had no clue where I was and how the bus got here. It was about four o’clock, and the next bus didn’t come for another twenty minutes, so I started to walk along East 83rd street.

           The neighborhood I was lost in seemed very quiet and serene. Not very many people were around, but the people that were, were elderly citizens. Behind the KFC ran a very long street that went farther than I could see. Also, right behind the parking lot of the KFC was a barber shop.  I walked down East 83rd street to get a better view of it, and saw that the barber shop’s name was, “Deda’s Barber Shop.”  Inside there was a man in the chair lying almost with his back to the floor while the barber cut his hair. I thought that was strange and noticed that it would be very difficult to cut someone’s hair when he’s basically lying in bed.

Across the street from the barbershop was a small, colorful building that’s sign read, “Passing Greater Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church.” That’s a long name for such a small building and would probably be very hard to remember. Alongside the church were two colorful, two floored homes; one with a person sitting outside. There were also four bright red houses lined up next to each other on a small block next to the barber shop. There were lots of houses made of brick which suggested that they were probably older houses that were made as a result of the Chicago fire, or just designed that way to keep the chances of fires spreading lower.

After making this inference, I crossed onto an even smaller block with a daycare center on it. The daycare center was named, “A Child’s World Early Learning Center,” and it had paintings along all of the walls and a painting of black children holding the world on the front, next to the doors. I was surprised at the lack of cars in front of the daycare center; maybe they were all out celebrating Rosh Hashanah.

I then crossed the street onto Paxton Avenue and saw many houses with enormous gardens around the gates and pine and evergreen trees lined up and down the block in front of each house. The trees were trimmed and looked very well kept, which gave the neighborhood an organized feel to it. Farther down Paxton Avenue, along the sidewalks that ran past the alleys, was a sign that read, “E to lakefront.” This showed me that if I walked down this street for about an hour, I’d probably either be at the lakefront, or still walking down the street.  These two choices gave me the option of either calling my mom to get her to pick me up, or keep exploring a place that I’d never been to before and could possibly see in the future. Knowing me, you would probably assume that I’d choose answer choice B, but eventually choose A because I can’t teleport home.  So, I kept walking down East 83rd street hoping to find something worth the time that I sacrificed for “exploring.”

On both sides of the streets I ventured onto were small, colorful businesses that bring out the economic and social view of the community. There were all types of stores to go into and buy random stuff that you most likely need or have at home.  On the corner of 83rd and Luella was a corner store that fit that description. Also, since I was getting pretty hungry, it seemed like the perfect place to stop and get a bite to eat. As soon as I walked inside of the store, I saw rows and rows of chips such as Doritos, Cheetos, and Fritos, candy that ranged from Jolly Ranchers to Snickers and drinks that ranged from Gatorade to Snapple. There were also many eating utensils and random products such as tissue, plates, cups, and syrup. The counter at the front of the store had many beauty products such as hair shampoo, lotion, and hair brushes.  There was so much to choose from, and I didn’t have much time to stand around and look, so I got a bottle of water and a bag of Grandma’s cookies and made my way out of the store.  I’d also noticed that the store was very colorful, and certainly attracted me because of the vibe it gave off when I looked at it.

Right across the street from the store was another small church named, “King of Greater Glory Tabernacle Church.” I remember wondering if they were an Eastern Orthodox Church, Protestant, or Roman Catholic Church. The church had a very well put together garden and also a cool ramp that led to the colorful, see through doors. The stain glass on the outside of the church was delightful and made me wonder what it looked like in the inside when light shined on it.  The houses next door to the church also had a very delightful and pleasant color scheme amongst themselves. They all also coincidentally had a double triangle roof with a pretty garden in front. This block’s street name was 83rd and Ogelsby, and it was highlighted by the block club sign on the corner.

The time was now about four twenty and I started to come to the conclusion that the neighborhood was full of old, organized, well kept people that liked their houses to look nice. Because of this conclusion, I felt it would be appropriate to stop at the next block instead of wandering around for another thirty minutes. I approached 2400 East Yates Boulevard with a small smile on my face. I’d reached my most favorite part of any neighborhood I’ve ever been to; the park. The park, to my advantage, had a giant football field named, “Eckersall Football Stadium,” that took up half of the block. The stadium was surrounded by gates and had two twenty-five row sitting areas. The stadium also had football players practicing in it, so I decided to call my mom and ask her to pick me up while I watched the players practice. My little thirty minute adventure into the South-East part of Chicago was well worth it.

First Week at Whitney Young

My first week at Whitney Young was way harder than I expected it to be.  I wasn't expecting over 2 hours of homework on the first 4 days of school, and certainly wasn't used to not getting 8+ hours of sleep every night. I guess that's just something that every student has to get used to/adapt to. I hope I catch on soon and become accustomed to this new work load and sleep schedule.