Spring Break or Nah?

I'm sure everyone has an opinion when it comes to the decision of cutting spring break. I am one of those students who feels a certain type of way when it comes to messing up my time away from school. I feel it is wrong to cut out spring break because we all need a break from school. When I say we, I'm talking about us students. According to the article "Exhausted Students Turn To Stimulants to Get Through Schoolwork", students take a drug called Adderall, which keeps them awake and focus. "After about an hour after taking Adderall...I was incredibly focused... I wrote a three-page paper in under 40 minutes," said one senior. "It was ridiculous how focused I was and I just felt energized all the way through. I hadn't slept in almost 24 hours and all of a sudden my fingers were flying over the keyboard." Adderall is a stimulant that helps students get through school, but this drug shouldn't be necessary. Spring break is time away from school. Students need one last break to help get us through the last bit of school. We wouldn't have to worry about stress or sleep deprivation. The thought of cutting out spring break is ridiculous.

My Spring Break Turn Up

This year's spring break was the best spring break in my entire life. I did something that many people don't get to do. I went out of the country. This spring break, I was in Costa Rica. I was there for a full 8 days, and those days were truly some of the best days of my life. During those 8 days, I got to see multiple parts of the country. I went to San Jose, Arenal Region, Monteverde, and Carara. On our adventure, we saw monkeys, sloths, crocodiles, iguanas, other types of lizards, and many different species of birds. We traveled 8,000 feet above sea level and saw a volcano, at least that's what it would have been if it wasn't so foggy and rainy. We visited a local school, which touched my heart. One schoolhouse was grades K-8, and there was only one classroom. The children performed a few dances for us; we played soccer; we jumped rope, we took lots of pictures; then, we got to dance with them for the last song. I enjoyed that a lot. We traveled to many forests throughout the trip and a coffee plantation. We then went kayaking. This was one of the highlights of the trip for me. It was my first time, so to be able to do it in another country was pretty amazing. I was very nervous, but Angelique made me feel a bit more comfortable. We were kayaking in the rain across Lake Arenal, and it took Angelique and I at least 30 minutes to make it to the other side with everyone else. We were the last ones to make it. I think it was because Angelique couldn't figure out how to steer the kayak the right way. Kayaking was really fun. The thing I was really looking forward to on the trip was zip lining. Zip lining was so much fun! We zip lined across the canopy, and adrenaline was rushing through me! I wasn't afraid at all until we got to the big one. The longer zip line was a partner zip line, and that made me nervous. As me and Angelique were getting ready to take off, all I was thinking was, "1600 meters of zip line to go. I'm thousands of feet in the air on a string." That's exactly what I was thinking. I screamed the whole way, but as I was screaming, I realized how beautiful the canopy was. On one of our final days, we wen to the beach and swam in the Pacific Ocean. That was cool. Throughout my trip, I tried many new foods, which were not as bad as I thought. Unlike some others in our group who thought the food was disgusting. We tried new foods, met new people, learned a lot about the culture and land, and we had a blast! I would definitely go again.

   

All About Me

I, Darriana Greer, was born in Chicago, Illinois at Christ Hospital. I grew up in Chicago as well. Before I attended Ralph Ellison, I attended Arbor Park Middle School. Arbor Park middle school is a school grades 5-8, and it is located in Tinley Park. When I came to Ellison, I already knew I wanted to be apart of the volleyball team. I didn't join any other teams or clubs because as a freshman, I didn't know what I wanted to do. So, I ended up going to volleyball camp, attending every practice, and then eventually, I became the only freshman on the Varsity volleyball team. My top three favorite classes are writing, math, and Spanish. Writing is one of my favorite classes because I have learned to write better papers. I didn't used to be terrible at writing papers, but I'm sure if i was to go back and correct them, I would have plenty of mistakes that my previous teachers may not have caught. I also like the class because of the teacher. When a teacher is full of life, funny, and knows how to teach lessons for his/her students to understand almost right off the back, that is what makes the class worth the hour. Math is one of my top three classes because I am a math junkie. I love solving problems and coming up with different solutions for things. Math makes me feel so smart. I learn something new everyday in math class. I also like my math teacher. When we are having trouble with something, he doesn't really help us. He lest us talk and discuss what we are having trouble with, and we usually end up figuring it out. We realize we're just that smart. Spanish is one of my favorite classes because I am obsessed with the language. When I hear a Hispanic person speak Spanish, I become mesmerized. If you ask me, Spanish is better than English. My favorite teacher is my writing teacher, Ms. Rubio. Ms. Rubio is funny, genuine, smart, always full of energy, and is an amazing teacher. I haven't had a difficult time her class, and she is the reason for that. Also, she gives out more merits than any other teacher. I am a lover of music. I listen to many different music types: R&B, Hip-Hop, Pop, Country, etc. I'm not stuck on a certain type of music. My favorite movies are all of Tyler Perry's movies and Disney Pixar Animated Films. I can watch them over and over again. I don't really have a lot of hobbies because I have not tried to find everything. My best friends are Kaitlyn and Denesha. Kaitlyn and I have been friends since we were both eight. I met her in third grade. Denesha is my older cousin. She is nineteen years old, and I have known her all of my life. Throughout the fourteen years of my life, they have been the people I could come to and talk about anything and everything. They have always been there for me whenever I needed someone. They are very special people in my life. I love them dearly. This is my first blog. I had thought about creating a blog, but I never did it. I think this is something I will enjoy doing. This is similar to my personal journal.