Sandra brown is on the run from the most scarring, frightful man she has ever met. Gary Heidnik. He is out on the loose and taking woman left and right. Sandra has heard of the torturous ways he likes to kill. And she isn't about to be his next rag doll. The chilling story told by a previous survivor lights the rode ahead of her. She knows the signs... dark alleys, night streets, slow cars. But can she truly hide from a hunter? 

This project was inspired by my love for bikes. Biking as a youth helps provide a safe, fun, and relatively cheap ways of venting and getting around your city! Initially, I wanted to make a club in SLA where kids can come to learn about bikes and possibly even help build one! After realizing the cost and equipment we would need, I had to figure out another way I could promote biking. When a freshmen told me about the Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby, I just had to learn more. A week later it was my new plan to enter the club into the derby and figure out what we would create on our bikes. This process taught me a lot about leadership and how important it is to lead by example and provide direction for the group. I learned this the hard way in many cases. I forgot that any participant 17 or younger would need a parent or guardian. After I realized, it was already too late to get the signature and mail in the form. That is when I got motivated to bring the competition to SLA. By hosting SLA Bike Week, it encouraged kids to safely ride to school instead of taking public transportation or getting a ride by car. This sets a positive tone on exercise and well being.  

 Maggie Long

B Band

Self Reflection

For my creative piece I chose to do a series of poems. I found that writing out some emotions is a great way to get a point across. I also thought that it would be good for me to work on my writing more instead of drawing pictures or doing a painting. My poems are each about something different. They each express a way someone in society is feeling. Each person in my poems has something about them that really stands out to them and to others. For example, in the poem, “Road bumps”, one girl is feeling very insecure about herself because she is pregnant. She also is the only one in the school that is pregnant. Which makes it harder for her because she is then labeled as a whore. This relates back to The Scarlet Letter and Juno because when both of the main characters in those movies were pregnant, they were both labeled as whores or sluts by the people around them.

I tried to make the poems overall problem a bit harder to figure out, but it was really hard to do. If I would start beating around the bush, then the poem started to loose some meaning and it was harder for me to get the point across. I ended up making the poems last however long I felt would be good for that poem in particular. I found it to be hard to write about topics I'm not all that familiar with. I don't have a kid, I'm not pregnant, and I'm not anorexic, but to create these poems I had to be for a short while. I had to research some illnesses and how they effect people and the results of having that illness. That was one of the biggest challenges for me in this project. If I go through a problem, then I feel more comfortable talking about it because I have a pretty good knowledge on that topic. But when I'm talking about things like pregnancy and schizophrenia, I just don't know enough about the topic from experience, so I have to research it.

Some aspects of this project I think I did very well in. I got it done on time and the process was normal, also I think that the creative side to this project was also very well done. It could use more in depth analysis for each poem. I think I did a great job showing the overall problem and the emotions the character was feeling, but need to go more in depth on why and what is to come next. The way I wrote the poems went well with what the poem is trying to say. Although, some of the poems could be longer. I did 5 poems overall to make a series of short poems. Writing a long poem is hard for me because I tend to go off task and forget my topic. Another thing I could have done well in is the process and time management. I did most of this project over the last week that you gave us because I procrastinate a lot. So, I used the time we had in class to work on it over the week and then put it all together over the weekend. That's when I figured out the structure of each poem and the topic for each. Other than those small problems, I thought this was a good project to work on for the Scarlet Letter and Juno. There were a lot of things to write about for each of the movies/books.

If I were to do this project again I would choose to do a whole other project. I would probably pick something more with arts and crafts. I love hands on learning and being able to have a more interactive final product then just poems. Not to down on poems though, because it was a great experience writing them for a specific theme and being able to have such diversity in the poems. I would just like to be able to look at something without it having a definite answer to it. That makes the whole project more fun and visually appealing. Thats another thing I could have changed about this project. I could have done something more to make it prettier. It seemed really simple to me and a little too plain. I didn't realize this until after the fact though. I probably could have cut out the poem and put them all on a board, then drew around them and made them look more appealing. All in all I think that the way my project came out was good. I got the point across and did it in a different way then most people that I heard from. I'm looking forward to other projects that we do that will be like this one.

• Who did I speak with and why did I choose that person?
  I spoke with Juan. I chose him because he is a native spanish speaker and he wanted to learn english or german so I figured we would be a good match. 

• What did you learn about them? What did you learn from them?

  I learned some proper ways of speaking spanish. I got mistaken when I wrote down I was hot. He immediately showed me how to say it without it being I am like on fire or something. 

• How did this interaction help you move towards achieving your personal goal?

  This interaction helped me achieve my personal goals because I want to try to have a basic conversation without translating and having people correct me is a great way for me to learn. 

• What specifically did you do well according to your goals/expectations?

  I didn't use a translater this time and I tried to keep the conversation going. He eventually left though. 

• What specifically do you need to improve on? (Quote specific things you said or did and what you would have done or said if you could do it again)

  I need to improve on my basic spanish sentence structure.  

• Who did I speak with and why did I choose that person?
  I spoke with Kurt. He corrected me on alot of stuff. I chose him because he wasn't that old and he spoke spanish and was learning english. 

• What did you learn about them? What did you learn from them?

  I learned alot about him. If you read the convo you can find little stuff like his favorite color and what not. 

• How did this interaction help you move towards achieving your personal goal?

  This interaction helped me by helping me correct my little mistakes like "la" and "el". I now am more careful with my masculine and feminine verbs and words. 

• What specifically did you do well according to your goals/expectations?

  I didn't use a translator for alot of it. Some of what he was saying was confusing. I got annoyed when he corrected me on every little thing, but it was for good. 

• What specifically do you need to improve on? (Quote specific things you said or did and what you would have done or said if you could do it again)

  I need to talk more about myself and stop asking the other person questions. 

• Who did I speak with and why did I choose that person?
  I spoke with Cristy. She lives in Chile. I chose her because I liked her name and I knew she spoke Spanish.

• What did you learn about them? What did you learn from them?

  She was good at spanish, but needed help with her English. I learned a couple things from her. She helped me spell. 

• How did this interaction help you move towards achieving your personal goal?

  It helped me speak more spanish and try not to use a translator. Having her there to help me made me more confident. 

• What specifically did you do well according to your goals/expectations?

  I didn't translate. I did use word reference though. But for individual words, not whole phrases. 

• What specifically do you need to improve on? (Quote specific things you said or did and what you would have done or said if you could do it again)

  I would like to try to keep the conversation going. 

• Who did I speak with and why did I choose that person?
  I spoke with Max. He is my friend and I knew that we were good at helping each other. 

• What did you learn about them? What did you learn from them?

  I learned some things from him. More about him though rather than any spanish. 

• How did this interaction help you move towards achieving your personal goal?

  This interaction helped me because it was a great starting place for me. 

• What specifically did you do well according to your goals/expectations?

  I tried to talk more about him instead of myself. 

• What specifically do you need to improve on? (Quote specific things you said or did and what you would have done or said if you could do it again)

  I need to talk more about myself and stop asking the other person questions. 

Maggie Long

Earth

The Lies in Beliefs

“It’s this fuckin headache, I swear!” I say as I grab onto Tom’s shoulder for support. He has been my best friend since Kindergarten. I tell him everything. “Lizzy, you need to go to the nurse. This is the 2^nd day in a row this week you have been getting lightheaded and faint.” He says. The only thing he doesn’t know about me is the events that happened on the Thursday of last week. Or well, he knew what happened…just doesn’t remember it. He doesn’t know we were the lucky ones out. We escaped the grips of the unknown.

            Tom and I have a routine before we go to classes. I stop at my locker, he comes skateboarding down the hall and hands me a note as he passes. It’s my good morning note. Some say things like, “You’re too beautiful to put into words”, or “I could spend my whole life with you and it wouldn’t be enough time.” Little cute things like that. Although, we are not boyfriend and girlfriend. We can’t be. At least, not anymore. Not after finding out the truth. The events of December 22^nd 2011 are never to be repeated. Until now.

            I got up, did my hair, makeup, all of that good stuff. I went to school. Tom gave me my morning note. Although, he was a bit late to school. His family is a trouble for him. They hate him. One of the reasons we are friends is because of that. His mom liked me. She thought of me as his role model. He was just madly in love with me. As I was walking to my first class, I saw someone looking at me through the window. I had to go see who it was. There was just something too strange about it. I glanced over and saw a little girl. She looked like a little toy doll. Her hair was brown and curly, she had on red lipstick and a red dress that was absolutely beautiful. I didn’t understand why she was here in my high school. Since I was already late to class, I followed her to see if she needed any help finding her way.

            As I turned the corner to catch up to the girl I find myself knocked out cold. I remember someone dragging me into the bathroom, but I was so out of it I couldn’t make out who it was. Next thing I know I was laying on a table in a bright white room. I wiggled around a bit to try to move my arms but to my surprise I was tied up to the table. That’s when the panic set in. Where am I? Who did this? Why am I tied up? All of these unanswered questions left hanging in the air. As I sit and figure out what I am going to do, I hear a noise. It sounds like a high-pitched scream. Suddenly a woman walks in. She presses a few buttons and the noise goes off. “Hello Lizzy. Welcome back home.”

            “Who are you?....What do you mean, “home”?” I cry out. “We have much to talk about Liz….much to talk about.” The lady says. I sit there as though I am in the shower. With tears dripping down my face. Will I ever get to go to my actual home? The lady cuts the rope holding me back. I instantly feel my wrists. They hurt a lot. I check the rest of my body. What is this lump in the back of my head? I don’t remember falling. “Come with me” The lady says. I enter a room that looks like something from an article for the future. Touch screen everything. I also see Tom. He’s playing basketball with some other kids that look about our age. “TOM!” I yell. “Hey Lizzy! Come play!” He says. Why is he talking like he’s not in a whole other place. “You should listen to Tom, go play with your brothers.” The lady whispers into my ear. Brothers? What the fuck? Tom is my best friend. NOT a brother.

            “Remember the girl you followed during school?”

            “Yea, what happened after I got clunked in the head?”

            “Liz, that is your sister. I am your mother. And the kids in that room in front of you are your other siblings or relatives. You were a microchip baby. We programmed you to act like a normal kid on Earth so that we can monitor the humans and how they are surviving even though they are all vicious killers.”

            “……We are not vicious killers. I AM a human. I was never a microchip baby or whatever your telling me! Bring me back to my family. NOW.”

            “Liz, you will be re-programmed tonight. You do not have a choice. We have to reboot you to the newest setting in our system. I’m sorry. I really wish this could have gone a different way. Please forgive us.”

            “How can I forgive you for lying to me and holding me hostage in this creepy place! The jokes over. Come on now, its not funny anymore. Let me go home. Let me be with my REAL family!” I screamed out at her.

            “Ah, what the hell is that?! My head! Make the noise stop!”

            “Liz, that is the time ticking in your head. The program is shutting down. You will die if you don’t let me change you!”

            “I-I-I I cant let you ch-ch-ch-change me. I am ME. Why am I slowing down and st-st-st-stuttering? What’s going on? Whats that light? MAKE IT STOP. MAKE IT STOP……”

To be continued……

Maggie, Katherine, Malik, Bernicia

I am from the bugs and insects,

the lawns and trees.

I am from know-it-alls and wanna bes,

I’m from the 2 car house and swingsets.

Im from stars and late nights,

And carnivals for school.

I am from Allentown.

Im from friends next door and diversity when I walk down the street.

I am from the city where I make friends everyday.

I am from the trees being bombarded with gum,

Big ducks going down the street.

I am from, “Where is the constitution center?”

Im from the block parties and college parties.

The flags of each school coloring the city.

I am from the homeless trying to get pity.

Im from the cornerstores supplying lunch for kids,

 and thrift stores supplying clothes.

I am from the sprinklers in the streets and the water hose.

I am from “Do you want fries with that?” and culinary masterpieces.

Im from Cheese steaks and football Sunday.

I am from Philly.

Silver

The many tongues of language

“Ayo, Maggie! What’s happenin?”

“Nuthin much man, how bout you?”

“Eh, it’s alright, you know, just chillin. See ya tomorrow iight!?”

“Yea dude, for sure”

            This language would be my “second language”. My first would have to be how I talk to some of my friends and people who are more educated than me. I was brought up to talk with respect and to speak with words that you would mainly only hear in a thesaurus. Since I moved to Philly, I have gotten more used to the slang and speech that people down here use. Now, I can adjust myself for different people. This helps me fit in and get along with different people. This helps me identify myself as a person because I know that since I can change my language with anyone, in the blink of a second, I feel more bilingual because of that. I feel that having more experience with different people’s language can help you in the long run because you will know more about the culture and speech hands on.

“Hey Maggie! I read that book you gave me! It was superb! May I suggest a book to for you to take a look at?”

“Yea, sure! What is it called?”

“A Clockwork Orange”

“Ohh! I read that already! It’s very…well…haha, unordinary. However, it is well written.”

“I concur”

“Alrighty, well I have class, but I will see you later!”

“See ya!”

Along with the many other languages I possess, I can also know when to turn off the other languages to talk to someone and have an educational talk with them. I adjust my language in order to fit in more with that group of people who are talking that way. This makes it easier to relate to them and to make them and myself more comfortable in the environment, since we all will speak the same way.

In the story by Maxine Hong Kingston, it describes how different languages are used and how people in the world try to hide behind them. In the last pages of the story, she talks about how you can speak in certain areas and why you should. In the words of Maxine Hong Kingston, “You can’t entrust your voice to the Chinese either. They want to capture your voice for their own use.” Saying this she explains how she feels about the Chinese without even describing her feelings toward them. To me, this is offensive and too general of an explanation. I feel like her generalization is affecting more than just the Chinese. She is saying that if you talk to a Chinese person, they will try to copy your voice and your language so that they can use it also. I feel like it doesn’t have to just be the Chinese that you talk to where this can occur. If you talk to someone of your own race, then they could “capture” your language also. This is kind of like how I change my language for different groups. I learn by listening to the people talk and then “capturing” that language and vocabulary and then repeating it back. I feel this makes it easier to fit in and talk to that group of people.

During Maxine Hong Kingston’s story, the mother is talking to the child about how she “cut his tongue”. She obviously did not mean this literally, but more as an expression. She continues to talk about how it affected him and how she cut it. “I cut it so that you would not be tongue-tied. Your tongue would be able to move in any language. You’ll be able to speak languages that are completely different from one another.” I take this as her saying she made him able to speak multiple languages by speaking multiple languages to him and making his environment different also. By putting him in an environment where people speak different ways, he will learn all of those ways just by being part of that community. I can relate to this saying because when I moved to Philly I take that as the “cut” of my tongue. I went from being in a place where people talked all the same way, to Philadelphia, where it is more diverse and integrated. I feel multi-lingual because of that. The “cut” of my tongue was a good thing for me in my opinion.

Out of all of the languages in the world I am very happy with the ones I know, and are still learning. Different ways of talking are all over the city. Engaging yourself in conversation with different languages is definitely worthwhile. I have learned from my own experiences how and when to talk to somebody and what language I should use. This has made me a better person and more multi-lingual. In conclusion, I think learning more about people’s language and experiencing it yourself can help you out in the long run.