Choices and Values : Value Characteristics

Our Gifted and Talented class has recently begun the unit of 'Ethics' . We began with defining values and morals, then we took a values survey to see what we valued and what characteristics described us . The results from the survey said that I value :

1. Education, Intelligence, Wisdom


2. Religion, Spirituality


3. Family, Love, Emotinal Security


4. Financial Security, Money, and Status .

These were the characteristics that were related to the numbers I checked off on the list . I think that these characteristics do in fact describe me well . Education is something that I care about . School for example, is something that I put a lot of effort in and hope to continue to do well in . Religion is also something that I grew up with . I go to church on Sundays and Fridays every week, and I do a lot of things with my youth group . Such as going on retreats or helping out needy people . Family is probably the characteristic that I think best describes me . My family is probably my first priority, and they are the people that I can't live without . Money and Status surprised me however . I never really thought that I cared about money . But the way I see it, is that I want to be 'financially stable' . I obviously want to live without financial issues within our family, so I think that might be why Financial Security was one of my characteristics .

The Trouble With Geniuses : Part 1 & 2

In my gifted and talented class, we are reading the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell . This book is basically about success, and how one can become successful . He talks a lot about advantages, especially with age, and he also talks about how you have to practice a certain amount of hours to really be 'good' at something .

In chapters 3 and 4, Gladwell talks a lot about Chris Langan, who is described as the 'Smartest Man on Earth', with an IQ of 195 . Einstein only had an IQ of 150 ... Langan had a rather difficult childhood and education in my opinion . He grew up to be smart, but even so, he dropped out of college twice . Once because his scholarship wasn't renewed, and the other was because the school was giving him a hard time . He later on became a bar bouncer, which I don't think many people would've predicted . For someone with an IQ like Langan's, it's definitely not something one would expect .

The question is asked though, "Is Chris Langan really successful ?", and in my opinion, he's pretty successful . Our class definition of 'successful' was : to maintain a balance between financial stability and happiness with self and others and to accomplish the goals you want to achieve . Langan may not have done all that he could've, but I think that he's definitely happy with where he is now . He's married, and he owns a farm, but he's still able to do what he loves . He's currently working on proving the existence of God . In a video that we watched in class, Langan said that he was happy with his life . I think that if he's content with the life that he's living, then he could be considered successful .

From these 2 chapters, I learned a lot about how background can affect a person . Chris Langan was held back by a lot of things that happened in his early life, like his scholarship getting taken away so he couldn't afford college . But I feel that if he still had the money to continue his years in college, he could have been farther in life than he is right now . I'm hoping to also do more of what I love, now that I've read this chapter . Though Langan loves what he does, Oppenheimer (Another 'genius' mentioned in the chapters) was not . He went through stages of depression in his life . I'm hoping that whatever I may do, that I'll really love what I'm doing, and always strive for greatness .

Kindergarten Debate

The findings in the alriticle Delay Kindergarten at Your Child’s Peril by Sam Wang are similar to those found in Malcolm Gladwell's in Outliers . Both writers believe that "redshirted" students are somewhat at a disadvantage . They also believe that seperating the 2 different groups (younger and older kids) could place the students in a learning environment that could help them to learn/achieve more, alongside other students that have similar learning strategies . I agree with Gladwell's concept of "accumulative advantage" . I agree, because older kids, like stated in a chapter of the book Outliers, are more physically able than younger kids are, therefore, getting themselves somewhat of an advantage in things such as sports . While the younger kids are at a disadvantage, because they will always be put in the "lower groups" . An example would be in Outliers, the younger kids that played Hockey would be automatically put in the lower group, while the older kids would be seperated into the more advanced group, neither one of them really judging on the talent that they really had . As stated in Wang's article, "[...] Physical maturity allows older kids to perform better ."

Introducing Jooeun Han

My name is Jooeun Han, I'm a freshman in high school, and I'm currently 13 turning 14 on the 26th of September . My favorite subjects in school would have to be English and Biology . My favorite topics to learn about are music, fashion, and english . My favorite hobbies, and things that I like to do in my free time, would have to be listening to my iPod, singing, dancing, eating, sleeping, playing the keyboard, playing tennis and volleyball, doing basketball and football with my brother, reading, going on my laptop, watching videos on YouTube, texting, shopping, hanging out with friends, baking, and playing the wii . I'm hoping, that after my high school experience, and after my years of college, to become a Pediatrician or a Pharmacist . If that doesn't work out, I'm hoping to do something that may involve music, or younger children . Having a good time with my family and friends, and resting and going out to fun and interesting places would have to be some of the things that make me happy .