Persuasive Letter

Dear Faculty of GLPS,

          Currently, moving into the third week of GLPS, many students are getting stressed, and are very tired from studying late into the night; mainly to finish off homework for the classes the next day. This is why I am writing this letter to you. I strongly think that we should postpone the wake up call.

   I have several reasons for this. The first reason is that students are tired, and need more sleep. Many students stay up until around midnight for the second self study period. With only seven hours of sleep, students will be very tired, and will not be able to focus during classes. This will make it harder for both students and teachers; students will have a hard time focusing on what the teachers are saying, and teachers will not be able to teach very well, because the students will not be listening. If we let the students get more sleep, it will make everyone's lives easier.

          Another reason for postponing the wake up time is because students can not wake up that early. Because they are still sleepy due to waking up so early, many students are late for classes because they can not wake up and get ready that quickly. To ensure students are on time, the wake up time should be later so students feel well rested.

          My last reason for postponing  the wake up call is because since the students have had so little sleep, they will become unhealthy. Children from the ages 10 to 17 need at least 8.5 to 9.25 hours of sleep, according to: www.sleepfoundation.org. With too little sleep, there is an increased risk of diabet
es and heart problems, and a decreased ability to pay attention, react to signals, or remember new information. Therefore we need enough sleep to fulfill our requirements. Then, we will become better students.

         If we postpone the wake up time, it will become a win-win situation for everyone, both teachers and students. Students who will be alert, will remember information better, and will pay more attention. This will make teaching easier for the teachers. Therefore, wee need to postpone the wake up time. I hope you will consider my points, and postpone the wake up time.

                                                                                         Yours Sincerely,

                                                                                                  Jihee Kim

Friday the 13th

          It was a breezy day when it happened three years ago. I still remember the date well- the 13th of November. It was a Friday in the 13th, which was said to be an unlucky day. I doubted this at first, but at the end of the day, I regretted in not believing it.

          It was said many years ago, a girl had died in the bathroom on Friday the 13th of October. Rumor said, that the students walking past heard an ear-splitting scream  coming from inside the bathroom; and when they sprinted inside to see what had happened, a girl was lying on the ground. Frozen stiff and dead, with the shadow of a petrified look on her face. On the mirror closest to her body, there was a message written in what which looked suspiciously like blood. "Today is Friday the 13th, October. From now on, on every Friday the 13th,  I will kill all of the people who dare to come into this bathroom." The message turned out to be true; every year, the same thing happened. Always on Friday the 13th, someone died in the bathroom with the same message on the wall, only with a different date written on the wall. So, the bathroom was always closed a day before Friday the 13th, and named the unknown murderer in the bathroom "Bloody Mary", after the portrait of her in the bathroom. But, there was something strange about the her portrait- after the death of each person, she took a different position in the picture, every time.

          Three years ago, they also closed the bathroom a day before Friday the 13th, with the usual sign saying, "Do Not Enter." 

"Let's go and see if the door's actually locked!" This was what everyone was talking about. It was the which of most of us to go inside the 'forbidden bathroom' on the day it was closed, and find out the mystery behind the deaths of the people. It was also my friend Ida's birthday wish, to solve the mystery.

"Please let's just go and check if it's locked or not" she had said.

"No."

"It won't do any harm to go and just check..." she pleaded.

But I strongly disagreed, and she said,

"Then I'll go alone!" and she disappeared.

          As the day progressed, I slowly got worried about Ida, 

"What if she really went alone?" I thought.

"But that whole thing might just be a rumor- it may not even be true!" 

I stood up abruptly and raced to the closed bathroom; and just as I had thought, Ida was at the door of the bathroom- just about to turn the handle.
"Wait!" I yelled, and sprinted to where she was standing with a shocked expression on her face.
"We'll go in together. It's just a stupid rumor about that thing with the Friday the 13th."
"Are you sure you want to go in?" she asked with a suspicious tone in her voice.
"Sure. We'll turn open the door and go in together- at the same time." I promised.

          So we both held the door handle and turned; and surprisingly, the door opened.
"They must have left the door unlocked." whispered Ida.
I gently pushed the door to a crack, and as I did so, it ma
de a loud and eerie creaking sound.

Choose one between these three choices to decide the end of the story...

ending 1 

ending 2

ending 3

"The Princess Bride" - Movie Review

          Last week, we watched "The Princess Bride", a movie directed by Rob Reiner in 1987. It is a story of adventure, magic, torture, revenge, and also true love.

          In the beginning of the movie, the scene shows a grandfather reading a story to his sick grandson; A story, on which the movie is based on. 

          Most of the movie was filmed in various parts of England, and many 'fake' places were created - such as the "Pit of Despair", the "Cliffs of Insanity", and the "Fire Swamp".

          The characters in this movie are: Buttercup and Westley, - the main characters in the movie, Inigo, Fezzie and Vezzini - who were hired by the Prince to kill Buttercup (however, Fezzi and Inigo help Buttercup to escape from the prince in the end). Some other characters are Count Rugen (a six fingered man who killed Inigo's father), and Miracle Max.

          Westley works at Buttercup's cottage as a farm boy, and eventually, they fall in love with each other. A while later, Wesltey ;eaves Buttercup for a while to seek his fortune, but does not return. Buttercup, thinking him dean\d, agrees to marry Prince Humperdinck. Shortly after the agreement, she is kidnapped by Fezzi, Inigo, and Vezzini, but she is saved by Westley whom she thought was dead. They try to escape, but are caought up by the Prince's men. Westley is killed, and Buttercup is forced to marry the Prince. At the same time, Fezzi and Inigo are seeking revenge on Count Rugen (who killed Inigo's father) and wanted Westley;s help. So, they take him to Miracle Max, who brings Wesltey back to life. Then all three men (Fezzi, Inigo and Wesltey) take revenge (and kill) the Count, and rescue Buttercup from the Prince. Then they lived happily every after.

          I think the character that displayed the most leadership was Wesltey. I think so because, he thought of all the plans to rescue Buttercup, and he also leads her out of the Fire Swamp.

          On the other hand, I do not think Vezzini showed any leadership. This is so, because he did nto care about his followeres, as long as they did whatever he told them to do. He didn't try to make Fezzi and Inigo follow and look up to him, but he threatened them into becoming his slaves (followers). I think a true leader should have trust in his followers, and should care for them in return for following him.

30 - Day Goal Setting

          A goal is a target or something you want to achieve. After watching Matt Cutt's TED talk about 30- day goals, I set up three 30- day goals of my own that I will try to achieve during the 4 weeks at GLPS.

          The first goal was "Always finish all homework during the first study hour." Since I need (and like) a lot of sleep, I become very tired during the second study hour. Therefore, I want to finish all my homework in the first hour when possible. I will achieve this goal by, working diligently, and by never leaving things to the last minute.

          The second goal is becoming punctual. Sometimes, I forget important times and dates, and am uncertain about the date and time. Therefore, to achieve this I will always keep an eye on the clock, and I will record important dates and times in my calendar.

          My third and last goal is, not getting any yellow cards and EOP papers. To not receive these punishments, I will speak only English, and also I will keep the entrance to the room (dorm) clean and tidy.

          These are my three goals. I will try to achieve them by the end of camp. and hope to become a better student once I have achieved these goals.

Let me tell you three facts about myself......

          Swimming, the number 1, and science - what do you think these words mean? Well, these three words represent three true facts about myself, Jihee.

          Swimming is one of my favorite sports, and my hobby. I was afraid of water until I learned how to swim, and I learned how to swim when I was about six years old. Ever since I learned to swim, I was not afraid of water anymore, and have been swimming regularly since. The reason why I like to swim is because, after I swim, I feel free and very relaxed.

          Think about the number 1. It could mean many things - my favorite number, the number of places I visited, the number of countries I lived in? These answers are not what the number 1 means, nor are they true. 1 means the number of years I lived in Korea. After my first birthday, I moved to Germany, and have been living there every since I moved there. Although I have lived in Korea for a year, I can still read, write, and speak fluently in Korean, English and German.

          Now the last word science. Science has an unexpected meaning (I think). It means that science is my least favorite subject, and I dislike it strongly because of the teacher. I have had her (the science teacher) for 2 years, and she grew worse by every year. If I could have had another teacher, I think I might be able to actually like science.

          Isn't it amazing? With only these 3 words, swimming, the number 1, and science, you have found out so much about me!