Interdisciplinary: Tomlin Econmoics

This may seem repetitive, but I do not think that students fully comprehend how useful Ms. Tomlin's economic class is going to be to us in the real-world. Ms. Tomlin is making dependent young adults into independent and productive members of this society. Most recently, we had our year end project, which was the stock market. Essentially, students had $10,000 divided between 1-4 members of the group. The students would then purchase stocks based on their closing price on the date of April 30. After making initial purchases, students would track their stocks performance every week for 6 weeks. It was not as simple as buying stocks, however. Ms. Tomlin required us to research different companies and make portfolios, with every imaginable detail you could think of, from the 52 week high and low to recent news reports regarding the company's movements. I was always resistant when it came to stocks even though some of my family does it. I just am scared taking the risk because I was told that if you don't have a certain amount of money, it is very hard to make money. Ms. Tomlin helped us with that as well by saying that we should not invest money if we do not have the means to have that money as disposable income. Disposable income is the amount of money you have which can go away without you feeling it. The problem with me is that I can't even let a penny go away without feeling it. Judging by our performance, we came out pretty good. We made roughly $750 dollars in three weeks. I think what my family said about having a lot of money in order to make a dip in the stock market was right though. When I made the spread sheet Ms. Tomlin required, I saw how having just a little more money could drastically change the total amount in the outcome. For example, if one bought 1 million stocks at $1 per share, and that stock went to $2 per share. The investor would have made $1 million profit. However, if the investor would have invested only $10,000, they would have only made $10,000. By actually being a part of it, students were able to see the proportions, and also how much money they would need in order to start investing. Along with that, students were able to assess if it was worth putting money in the stock market based on the profit yielded.

My Passion

I am very passionate about helping other people. I feel that being in my previous school last year taught me a lot about being there for others. Some of the activities we did were not simply for a few hours but actually for weekends. I believe the word that they used for it was solidarity. Solidarity, away from its dictionary definition, is not just sympathizing with those who are less fortunate, or those who have experienced traumatic events. Solidarity causes the individual to empathize with the latter and literally put themselves in the shoes of others. Only through solidarity does one truly experience what someone who is less fortunate than themselves really feels like. I felt that though this was an extremely powerful sentiment that has stuck with me throughout the years. By lacking empathy, an individual's interaction with someone who has been through something is merely platonic. The individual may say, that they are sorry and that they have no idea what the person is going through. However, at the end of the day, that does very little to actually console the person. By experiencing solidarity, the individual can actually offer genuine solutions to help the problem.

Self-Seleted Response: Fast and Furious 7

                 I would like to discuss Fast and Furious 7, the last of the Fast and Furious series. The Movie ads deemed it, "One last ride," which is sadly makes you think because of the death of Paul Walker. You could tell in parts of the movie that it wasn't actually him because he died during the shooting of the movie. I believe they used his brother and did some special effects in order to display his face. It was kind of weird because in those certain scenes, he would not be talking. It was really said because Paul Walker's character was the quintessential good guy, there was nothing bad you could say about him. Paul had a child in real life and in the movie, so it was really emotional seeing him for the first time in the movie driving a mini-van. The scene in which he first appeared made it seem like he would be racing a fast car, and everyone was cheering at the sight of his face. Then the camera retracted and you saw Paul Walker dropping his child at school. That made everyone really emotional. I also thought it was really cool how they linked the previous movies to the plot of events. It was kind of like the last Final Destination, where all of the events combined together created a prelude to the initial one. Though it was not exactly the case in this movie, certain live events in the movie were actually intertwined to the plot of some of the previous movies. All in all, it was a great experience.

Interdisciplinary Tomlin Economics

Right now I am finding Ms. Tomlin's economic class extremely worthwhile and useful. Many students, myself included, are always questioning why are we learning what we are learning in school if it has no real life application. For example, if someone wants to be a police officer, how does learning advanced mathematics help them with what they are trying to pursue. The reason I love Ms. Tomlin and her class is because she is giving us real life situations: i.e. credit cards, interest rates, student loans, mortgages, car loans, and applying them to the real world situation. We are put in charge of our household and we have to make financial decisions about are hypothetical future.
Ms. Tomlin does a good job of guiding us and does not want us to settle for government assistance programs or NYCHA housing. She is letting us know that our adult lives start now, with the applications for credit cards and student loans. She advises us not to spend beyond our means, so that when we are out of college we are not buried in debt. She wants to make sure that we are aware that when we first start receiving our paychecks, that we must take into account social security, state, and city taxes. By covering all bases, she is making sure that we are fully prepared for our lives as independent adults and I will always appreciate her for that. I feel that I am fully prepared to live on my own right now.

Self selected response: Catcher in the Rye

I would like to reflect on J.D. Salinger's critically acclaimed novel, Catcher in the Rye. The story was brought under the microscope after John Lenin's murderer opened the novel and started reading it waiting for the police to arrest him. The story is a coming of age novel which tells the story of a young Holden Caulfield, who is petrified at the thought of leaving behind a childhood he never knew. Now, Holden has to transition to yet another unknown, adulthood. The thought of an unfulfilled childhood leads to apprehension for Holden's outlook of himself as an adult. However, Holden comes to terms with the transition after seeing Phoebe ride around the merry-go-round in Central Park. It is at this point that Holden looks at life as a circle, with a beginning, middle, and end. The transition to adulthood is now looked at as a natural part of the life cycle. Just as babies become children, and children become teens; so do teens into adults. The reason I can relate to the novel is because I am in the process of becoming independent, and Salinger covers all points in order to come of age.

English Creative Writing Class

Currently, we have a new student teacher teaching Ms. Lee's English Creative Writing class. His name is Mr. M, and he goes to City College of New York. He is at a crossroads right now, and he is debating whether to continue pursuing a career in teaching. I think he is a great teacher because he helps us with our writing. He wants his students to think outside of the box. He provokes deep reflections and thoughts. He intertwines philosophy and psychology to add more depth to our writing. We speak about every day things, such as religion, school, and dealing with other people. We also have very sadistic discussions. For example, the other day, we were forced to write about the end of times. In the end of times there would be a group of 20, of which only 10 would be chosen to survive. The group members would have to vote to choose who would make the cut. Each respective group member would vouch for their survival based on what skills they had. For example, those who were doctors survived because of the need for health care, where as a harp player was voted off. The writing exercise made us decipher between needs and wants.

I would like to discuss what I have been learning in Ms. Tomlin's class. I find the justice system very interesting, especially in regard to what is and what is not constitutional. What is interesting about it is that there is no distinct answer, that is why lawyers have to argue from different viewpoints in order to make there case. A lot of the times, the justices even have opposing opinions on what they interpret the constitution to say. It is incredible that the United States Constitution has lasted so long. Society and culture has changed so drastically and it is truly incredible that our constitution has been able to adapt with that. The reason for this miracle is the amendments that can be made as time changes. It is really cool to see the constitution as a living thing.