Week Three

     My third week at school was also pretty great for me. I feel like it has really begun to get better each week and I am so glad this year is feeling better than last. I am liking how open and nice but also strict my teachers are. They are all easy to talk to and give good amounts of work. However, I was disappointed in some of my scores on assignments in Spanish and English. I could have done better on the Spanish Assessment as well as the grammar english paper. This now gives me an incentive to work harder. As for other classes, they went well/ got better this week. I was supposed to start dance outside of school within the past week but I did not end up doing so considering all the busyness in Guys and Dolls Dance at school. In terms of that class, this week was great. Mostly because we had auditions to be in the homecoming dance last Wednesday. I am excited to hear about the results on Monday because I actually think I got into each of the four dances this year unlike last year. I am also nervous because I know I will be upset if I do not fulfill my expectations.

Week Two

     My second week of school felt similar to the first, but I could feel all the teachers starting to pick up the pace and start to assign real homework as well as classwork. I especially felt this way in the dance company, Guys and Dolls. We just started rehearsing for the homecoming dance and we are already beginning to stay at school late almost everyday. Things also seem to be picking up in all my other classes as well. In Spanish, we just had our first test and we have been given a couple of hard assignments. As for Math, we are beginning to do a lot of work on an online website and I have done work on that almost every night as well as book work. Then in Chemistry we have started doing more experiments and will have an assessment next week. As for World Studies and English I felt a connection between the two classes this week. In English we had to write about going to our neighborhood as if we were seeing it for the first time and in World Studies, we had to research our neighborhood, take pictures, write about it and talk about our opinion of the neighborhood. And even though I am having to do something similar twice, I really enjoyed doing it and I thought it was a really nice assignment. Also, the grammar assignment for english I thought was really helpful exercise and it got me to pay more attention to my writing. I also liked it because in my grammar school (Lab School) they did not teach us much grammar so I feel a little behind now but knowing I will get the help I need with it this year, makes me feel lots better. Looking forward to next week.

Period 4

9/15/15

As I enter the neighborhood of Hyde Park, I notice it begins on 47th Street. As I continue to make my way through, I come to the area called the Kenwood mansions. Here I notice it is very peaceful, and I can sense the community in this area immediately. There are very large homes so far in every direction I look. The people of Hyde Park are quick to say that Barack Obama lived in this area before leaving for D.C. Muhammad Ali used to live around here as well, and Louis Farrakhan still does. That immediately set a tone for what types of homes I would come across while in the Kenwood mansion area. As I walk from block to block, I quickly notice this neighborhood contains many African Americans of the professional class. The thing i observed most  about the past few blocks is that there seems to be a wide mix of architecture around—from very old, pretty homes, to very new, also pretty, looking homes. It seems as if each house was built from a different decade, and some go back to being built about 200 years ago whereas others were built this year.

Now making my way south, I am coming towards 53rd Street it seems. Here is a totally different vibe than the Kenwood mansion area. It seems much louder, more crowded, and there are many commercial stores located all over. I first see food places like Starbucks, Chipotle, Kilwins, Five Guys, Pizza Capri, Giordano's Pizza, A-10, Z Berry, Subway, Red Mango, Native Foods, Ja Grill, McDonald's, Porkchop and many more. There are young kids that seem to be walking in groups coming from school, but there are also some middle aged people walking around. Most people think of this commercial district area as the loudest, most vibrant and busiest area in Hyde Park. There are also stores like Akira, Ulta and Villa, which sell high-end clothes and cosmetics, which adds even more liveliness to the community.

Still heading south, I am now passing by the University of Chicago which is a huge university that is located between 57th Street and 60th Street. Not only is it a university, but there is also the University of Laboratory Schools (Lab School) that is a preschool through high school. The University of Chicago and the Lab School are separate things, but act as if they are one by using the large area, (about 5 blocks) for both places. I then quickly notice how the Lab school is not a very diverse place in terms of race, but it is said to be one of the top private schools in the country. Walking around the campus, I notice a newer looking building and soon discover it is the new elementary school. As I walk inside and examine the walls, it seems much more modern and new compared to the middle school and high school buildings. After examining the high school and noticing how small it was, I was then quick to see another new building connected to the High School. This building seemed to be new as well, and I later found out it was in fact new. The building is named after George Lucas, (creator of Star Wars) who gave lots of money to Lab School, so they then decided to name the new arts wing after him. Overall the University of Chicago and Laboratory School area are very gothic in terms of style and architecture. I say this because of how old the majority of the buildings are.

The last area of Hyde Park I am covering is all the areas towards the direction of the lake. The next big thing I see is the Museum of Science and Industry. This area seems to be a lot more open, and there are many families as well as university students on this street. From the view of the Museum, you can see many parks outside as well as the lake. Coming out of the Museum, still heading south, I hit the 57th Street Beach. Over here, it is also very lively during the summer time. On the beach there are all types of people from all different types of places. Continuing north, I hit an area called The Point. Here there are tons of rocks that are used as stepping stones to get into the lake. As I pass this very long wide area of just rocks surrounding the water, there are all different types of people over here as well. I immediately see a wedding going on, people having fun in the water and some people even barbequing on the nice sunny day. The feeling I am getting on The Point and at the beach is very comforting, and you can feel the sense of community/togetherness around you.

As I reach the end of Hyde Park, I realize how racially diverse it is as well as economically diverse. I encountered people from different countries, people who spoke different languages, and witnessed some very small apartment homes but also some very large homes. Hyde Park is special because the feeling you get when you are in it is a sense of community. It feels like a real neighborhood and its own place.

Week One

     My first week as a Sophmore at Whitney Young turned out to be a lot better than my first week last year. This year I felt more comfortable considering I know more people in the school and it also wasn't as hard for me to find my classes this year. As for my teachers and classes this year, I am liking all of them so far. However I am nervous for math class because I've heard Mr. Quinn is pretty hard. I am also feeling a little lost in Spanish class with Mr. Cole. He seems to be going through words and sentences in which I do not quite fully understand the meaning of. Other than that, I am excited for my year in classes English, World Studies, Chemistry and Drivers Ed. In terms of sports and school teams this year is a lot different for me. than last year. Last year I participated in the dance team, Guys and Dolls as well as the girls varsity Tennis Team. This year is a different story. I decided not to do the Tennis Team this year which is sad, but I am still participating in Guys and Dolls and will possibly join the Debate Team. I did a small camp at Loyola this summer where I was introduced to Debate and I liked it surprisingly enough. So with all those things going for me this year I am pretty nervous but also excited to see what the year holds.