Miscellaneous

The Race for President

For our fellow viners - 

We thought some of you would find this article somewhat absurd/hilarious. It's about a 15 year old who is running for president under the pseudonym "Deez Nuts". How strange is this election getting? Read about it below:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/meet-deez-nuts-the-teen-presidential-candidate-punking-america-20150819

Miscellaneous

SOPHIE'S SPLENDID SUMMER

Hey Everyone!

     As you can tell, IB Survivalists are back! We thought we'd individually update you on what we got up to over the summer. I'll jump right in!

     The first thing I did to get myself hyped for the summer was......take the SAT and ACT tests. Amazing, huh? Not really. But, I did get them over with and am pleased with my results! To celebrate, fellow IB Survivalist Melissa, Giselle and I took a trip to a lake house to wind down for a weekend. You can read about it in more detail on Melissa's summer post!

     I had the entire month of June to kill before I would actually begin my summer vacationing. I spent my June completing the final draft of my Geography fieldwork! It was less stressful than I had anticipated - getting feedback from teachers for a rough draft is definitely helpful. I also took several trips to my local library to pick up some materials to finalize the research phase of my Extended Essay. I'll talk more about that in a separate post.

     Once July 4th rolled around, I didn't celebrate the holiday in the typical American fashion. Instead, my mom and I boarded a plane and made our way over to England. We spent about 5 days in London where we did shopping, visited several World War II museums for my Extended Essay, and relaxed! After meeting up with my dad and brother, we all boarded the Eurostar and made our way to PARIS! It was such a surreal experience to visit Paris, as it has always been a dream of mine and I have been studying French for a few years now. We did some seriously tourist-y stuff, and I loved it the whole time :) After Paris, we took the Eurostar back to England and drove down to Exeter, which is in the south of England. There, we attended my brothers graduation ceremony from the University of Exeter. It was interesting to compare the American and British graduation ceremonies. After graduation, we drove back up to London where we visited family over the weekend. Then, we made our way back to the US as a family. If you're interested in the details of my trip, I actually made a video for every day that I was there. You can access them by clicking here.

     I had about a week in Louisiana until I was to go on my next trip. Last spring, I got accepted to attend a program called NSLC for International Diplomacy - something Melissa attended last year. The program was based in DC but we also got to visit New York. Here's what we got to do/see while in DC:

1. Visit the US State Department
2. Visit the Saudi Arabian Embassy
3. Visit the United Nations
4. Interview the Malaysian Embassador
5. Live on the American University campus
6. Tour Capitol Hill
7. Visit the monuments of Washington DC at night
8. Go shopping in Times Square
9. Climb a ropes course
10. Visit Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty

     Of course, those are the highlights of my trip. In between, we got to take part in a model United Nations, create our own "country", and attend college lectures on International Diplomacy. I won't bore you with details, but it was an amazing and life-changing experience.

     That's a short summary of what  did during the summer. What did you guys get up to??

- Sophie F.

NEW SCHOOL YEAR

WE'RE BACK IN BUSINESS

Hello Everyone!

     It has been a painful past 3 months without blogging on IB Survivalists. But, we are back and better than ever. Our summers have been hectic, especially with writing up our first draft of our Extended Essay. Only a few days ago have we come to the realization that we are IBDP Year 2 SENIORS!! We are the top of the food chain!

     Here are some blog posts that you can look forward to in the next week:

1. Descriptions of what we did during the Summer (no, not like a boring book report - ours will actually be interesting)

2. Extended Essay Updates (Did we survive?????)

We'll keep you posted! Thanks for sticking around :)

HL History

A Visit to the World War II Museum

Hi Everyone!

     About a week ago, some of the high school students at out school visited the World War II Museum in New Orleans to conclude our history classes for this year. I'm currently studying European History, and I just finished learning about World War Two. I was incredibly excited to visit the museum and see my history book come to life!

     First, we were lucky enough to watch a 4D movie that summarized the war. The movie was narrated by Tom Hanks and was incredibly detailed. It was amazing to listen to the recounts of all the soldiers and see videos of the terrifying events that took place, like the attack on Pearl Harbour. It was extra strange for me, because I have Japanese and British heritage. Both countries were on opposites sides during the war, so it was interesting to see each country's perspective.

     After viewing the movie, we walked to the next building where an exhibit on Germany was set up. As most of you may know, Germany played an influential role in the war and it was breath-taking to see authentic uniforms, jewelry, bullets, weapons, and diaries that were used during the war.

     Lastly, we visited the section of the museum where the airplanes were hung in the air. It was unbelievable to look up and see massive aircrafts hovering above me. To think that they were once used in battle was tough to wrap my mind around!

     I would 100% recommend any history student to visit the World War II museum in New Orleans. I am looking forward to going back again and spending more time looking at each exhibit!

Here are some pictures of our trip:

Thanks for stopping bye!

- Sophie F.

HL Spanish

Invasion Gangster

Hello everyone! 

     We previously completed a comic book story in Spanish class. Our task was to write a story representing some of the challenges you face when moving to a new country. We were set to recreate the moment shared between Christopher Columbus and the native Americans when he first arrived in the New World. Giselle and I found this a bit boring. Instead, we asked if we could do other characters with the same story line. 

       We created the story of a gangster invasion. Our main characters were 3 little birds that lived in a tree. They thought that this tree was the only tree around and that they were the only birds left. They called this tree a "community". One day, they received a visit from some gangster birds from California. These two different birds then face the challenge that every new-comer faces. Naturally, they believe the gangsters are there to take and steal their stuff. In our story, we see how they overcame this stigma by showing that not all new comers want to take other people's things. 

      This story was inspired by the song "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley. 

Thanks for reading!

-Melissa S.

HL Visual Arts

Blue Matrix

Hey y'all,

     I am here to update you on the art section of our blog. So far, art class is going well. I apologize for this topic of the blog not being updated enough. I recently finished a comparative study and put up a new exhibit in the front office of our school for everyone to see. The new exhibition is all photography and the theme of my new exhibition is called "Blue Matrix". I called my exhibit this because one of my favorite movie series of all time (The Matrix) had inspired me to do so. That is because in the Matrix series, the theme color is green. Oddly enough, I wanted to make the theme of my photography exhibition blue. Therefore, every photograph of mine is blue with various of other features. All of my photos are sized 8x10 on 16x20 white sketch paper, and I have a total of 9 pictures. I liked this project because it solely just consisted of taking pictures and manipulating them using a software of my choice. I used pixlr.com -  I recommend you to check it out! So that's what art class has been like for the past few weeks: completing a comparative study and creating a new exhibit. All went well by the way. Now we are just wrapping up the school year and getting ready for summer, which I certainly cannot wait for. One more week of school y'all...one more week.

Here are the pictures that I took for my exhibition:

Blue Hallucinations 

Blue Reflections

Bluey Caged Curiosity 

Blue Harmony

Blue Peasant Fish

Blue Kaleidoscope Eye

Blue Statue Curves

Timmy the Blue Lighted Dog

Sunset in the Blue View

Enjoy my pictures!

- Felicinda J

Useful Links

Something like Photoshop

Hey folks!

     It has been awhile. How have y'all been? Well us girls are doing fine here too. Moreover, I come to you today to introduce a site that I found when I needed something similar to photoshop. Now of course there is Adobe photoshop thingy but when I tried to make an account it was asking me for my credit card information, yet it was offering me a free trial from what I recall. Well I came across this decent and intriguing site that suited my needs: Pixlr Editor. Pixlr Editor is an online photo editor that does simple things for a quick fix and such. I came across this because for my current art exhibition, which was all photography, I needed something like photoshop to edit and distort some of my photos. This site saved me because I refused to give my credit info unless I was willing to constantly use Adobe Photoshop a lot (in which I have no need), or I was going to buy a who-knows-what $1000+ program just to edit nine pictures. Pixlr Editor came just in time. Plus, I did not need to do a lot of editing and distorting. It was more like putting a lot of filters to make my picture looks cool. Moreover, I think this is site will be useful to those who just need some quick fixes, distorts, filter, etc.

Here is the link so you can check it out:     http://apps.pixlr.com/editor/

I think y'all will like it.

Here are some pics:

Enjoy.

- Felicinda J.

SL Math

Sin and Cosine Rule

Hey guys!

     Exciting news!! We have FINALLY reached Chapter 10 in our SL Mathematics book, which means we are almost halfway done with our curriculum. Currently, we are learning about triangular trigonometry. It's not the easiest math in the world, but it's definitely a step up from the circular trigonometry we were doing last month! In this lesson, we learned all about the sin and cosine rules that you could use for finding the side length or angle of a triangle. (P.S.) In the examples below, the lines to show a fraction do not show up on our web page. However, it is fairly obvious to realize where the factions are so it shouldn't be too confusing!

     The following information was found on this website: http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/step-up/sect4/index.htm

Formula for right-angled triangles:

Formula for all triangles:

(Ignore the yellow highlight)

Here's how you would go about finding side "x" in the diagram below:

Step 1:	Start by writing out the Sine Rule formula for finding sides:       a = b sin(A) sin(B)
Step 2:	Fill in the values you know, and the unknown length:       x = 7 sin(80°) sin(60°)
Step 3:	Solve the resulting equation to find the unknown side, giving your answer to 3 significant figures: x = 7      (multiply by sin(80°) on both sides) sin(80°) sin(60°) x = 7 × sin(80°) sin(60°) x = 7.96 (accurate to 3 significant figures)

 Here's how you would go about finding angle "m" in the diagram below:

Step 1:	Start by writing out the Sine Rule formula for finding angles:       sin(A) = sin(B) a b
Step 2:	Fill in the values you know, and the unknown angle:       sin(m°) = sin(75°) 8 10
Step 3:	Solve the resulting equation to find the sine of the unknown angle: sin(m°) = sin(75°)      (multiply by 8 on both sides) 8 10 sin(m°) = sin(75°) × 8 10 sin(m°) = 0.773 (3 significant figures)
Step 4:	Use the inverse-sine function (sin–1) to find the angle: m° = sin–1(0.773) = 50.6° (3sf) - Sophie F.

Miscellaneous

Paintball Prom

Hey Everyone!

     This year, we only have two graduating seniors at our school. This is because our school is still growing :) Anyway, the two seniors are both boys, and neither one really fancied the idea of having a formal dance for their end of year prom. Since there's only two of them, they came to an agreement and decided to substitute prom for paintball. The entire high school was invited, including us IB Survivalists.

     Personally, I have never been to paintball before. I was unsure of what to expect. Would it hurt to get shot? What do I wear? Does the paint come out of my clothes? What are the rules? Is it hard to operate the paint gun? I am still no professional after one round of paintball, but what I can tell you is that it is tons of fun!! I showed up in black jeans and a loose black hoodie. Wearing loose clothes will help absorb the shot of a paintball and make it less painful. Once we arrived on location, we were briefed on the safety measures to take and what equipment we are required to wear. Everyone was required to wear this mask during game play:

     We also learned how to operate the gun. It was pretty simple - just release the safety and shoot! The gun was a little on the heavy and awkward side, which made it difficult to run with. The rules of the game of paintball varied depending on the game you were playing. For example, we played a tournament first. If you got hit once, you were out. The team with the most people left standing won! I got hit by a paintball almost 30 seconds after the game started. I remember it stinging pretty badly for 2 seconds, but after that the pain went away. It was extremely thrilling! In my opinion, the pain is 100% tolerable, but there were other people there who simply couldn't handle it. To each his own, I guess. 

     For all of you worrying about the paintball staining your clothes - don't worry. Most paint balls have a fish oil base which makes it pretty easy to wash out of your clothes. I  recommend you to go play paintball if you have a chance - it's truly an incredible experience that you can't experience in other places!

- Sophie F.

Theory of Knowledge

How Architecture is Related to Art

Hey y'all,

     So recently in our TOK class (right before our mock exams) we gave presentations to conclude the Arts unit. My presentation was about "how architecture is art".  To begin my presentation, I defined the two key terms: architecture and art. 

Moreover, I discussed the perception that most people have of architecture when comparing it to art.

I then dug deeper to show how architecture can also be art by giving examples of architectural structures.

     To conclude my presentation, I answered the question posed earlier, "How is architecture art?" I stated that architecture is usually visually satisfying and beautiful. The study of architecture is mostly centered around design (unless you decide to go overseas where it is most likely to be more math based, like in Italy) and with this fact it means that the architect basically has to take the role of an artist to create something attractive and innovative. In addition, with the modern world we live in today, art and design are quickly entering into advanced forms of architecture, not just paintings and textiles. 

I hope that opened changed your perspective of how architecture relates to art!

- Felicinda J.

HL French

"Bonjour Tristesse" 

Hello everyone!

Here's an image of the cover of the book. 

      This year, in our HL French Literature class, one of the books we read was "Bonjour Tristesse"(English translation: "Hello Sadness"). I know what you guys are thinking! "Hello Sadness"? This title seems to be a little depressing and sentimental.

      Before I give y'all my opinion on the book I'll tell you more about the story. The main character's name is Cecile. Her mother died when she was a kid and we don't know much about her. She then lived with her father, Raymond, who sent her to boarding school in order to complete her education. After boarding school, she returned home. Anne, one of her mom's best friends, took care of her. She only took care of Cecile for a while. The plot of the book takes place during the summer at a beach house. They spent the entire summer at their beach house where Cecile met Cyril, her boyfriend. Raymond was an easy going dad and saw Cecile as his accomplice. He was a player and had short relationships with younger women. He even brought along his girlfriend Elsa with them on their beach trip.
 
     During the summer Anne goes and gives them a visit. Then, Elsa and Raymond break up. After some time Raymond and Anne start dating. Cecile is completely against this because she doesn't want Anne to change the easy going life she's had with her dad. Anne is a successful fashion designer. She has a dry personality and is indifferent towards many things. Cecile believes that because Anne lives such an organized and routinely life, her life would become similar if Anne were to marry Raymond. Therefore, Cecile comes up with a perfect plan to separate her dad and Anne.

       At the beginning this book was interesting, but nothing special. It started growing on me towards the end, though. Now it is one of my favorites! It talks about a teenager being afraid of change and wanting to stop it. Most importantly it reminds me that no matter what it may seem like we are all human beings with emotions and feelings that deserve respect. If you guys ever get a chance this is definitely worth reading!  Have a good day!

-Melissa S.

SL English Language and Literature

The Manslater

Hello Everyone! 

Who needs a manslater?! Just pay attention!!!! 

    I hope you guys are all surviving IB exams or did well on your mocks! For first year DP students like us, our mock exams were last week. It was quite an experience and we can't wait to get our results. Friendly advice: when getting back your mock results don't forget they are just mocks and you're not expected to get 100% on all of them!! 

     After a week of mocks, to get back into the normal school schedule, our SL English teacher showed us a funny commercial that relates to language and gender. For mocks our class shared a Google drive folder with each other that contained our notes on the handouts and different things we've done throughout the class. Our teacher did the same thing and we compared our resources. After going over both lists we realized there were some things that he had that we didn't. Therefore we decided to check them out. 

     One of them related to gender and language. More specifically it related to the language used between women and men during their everyday conversations. This was a video of a commercial promoting a translator for men to help them understand the language of women. Apparently we're hard to understand! I found it quite humorous to see what women actually mean when they speak. While you're watching this try and see which one's are most accurate to you. I know for me there were a couple that I could relate to! Please enjoy the commercial below!

- Melissa S.

Miscellaneous

Random Facts

Hey everyone!

     It feels like it has been forever since posting. How have you been? Well to kick off this post since it feels like it has been a while since posting, I have decided to provide you with some random facts. Here are the official (and fun) facts :

How otterly cute!

And teachers talk about giving us more homework over the summer...bruh.

They certainly missed a big opportunity. 

Such wow, much amusement.

Animals are important y'all. You gotta appreciate them for their perpetual happiness.

Sugar Ray Robinson was the bomb!

 "Finding Dori" is coming out soon!!!!!!

It feels like Alaska every time I wake up and get ready for school.

Gawd help us!

What am I gonna do? Wave it in the air in front of my house as an SOS signal?

Alright folks, enjoy your evening.

- Felicinda J.