#43

Standardized testing in order to access mental health seems like it would not work in every case. I think mental health can range from several situations and I am not sure if a standardized test can provide the patients in the ways that they need. I think it depends mostly on what kind of test it would be. For some cases of mental health, I do not think they could be determined by a standardized test. I know that some cases of mental health issues can be triggered by certain situations or something like that and that would not be able to be determined by a test. If however, a standardized test was necessary to test a persons mental health, the questions would have to be easy to understand and applicable to their lives. Question one might ask if they have been told previously that you might have a mental problem. Other questions might pertain to social interaction. Do you feel comfortable  meeting new people? What is your level of social interaction of a daily basis? How is your relationship with your family? Other questions might ask them about themselves. What hobbies they are interested in, things that make them happy, what they do to release stress etc. I think another section of the standardized test might have psychological pictures that they would be asked to interpret. I am not fully knowledgeable of this field, but I do know that interpretations of pictures can tell a lot about a person and their sub-conscious thoughts.

Journal #42

Once upon a time there was a man who appeared to have it all. He had limitless money, due to wise investments and stocks, he had extremely good looks, a trophy wife and numerous good service awards and honorable mentions. He basically bought his good looks. Plastic surgery and the best physical trainer money could buy, helped him out a lot, along with hundred dollar hair products and pearly whitened teeth. His trophy wife was in it for the money. She was significantly younger than him, but was not bothered by it. She was too distracted with the fine jewelry and designer clothes he spoiled her with. Like I said, he had numerous good service awards, plaques, honorable mentions, etc. Whenever he heard of a crisis or community project, he would run right to the check book. His check book had gold lining and held a solid gold pen. He was famous for it. He did not write the checks out of sincerity though. Oh no, that was not his style. What he felt rewarded from was the newspapers and recognition of how "charitable" he was. He was so self-centered and only donated to help his own image. When asked if he wanted to volunteer to help rebuild a neighbor's home who had burnt down, he simply gives a prideful smile and pulls out his gold lined check book. Then of course reaps the praise of his good doings. Everyone knows he was not sincere with his donations, but how could you argue when he gives so much? Some newspapers even refer to him as a "hero". A real hero would be giving for the right reasons.

#41

A hero, to me, is someone who is selfless. Someone who puts everything on the line for someone else. In the movies, heroes are always portrayed as super strong and handsome, but I think a true hero has so much more than just their physical appearance or abilities. A hero should be a leader and someone that can be looked up to as a role model. They should display heroic characteristics such as honesty, truth, courage, strength, and love. If a person portrays these characteristics, even without being super buff with dazzling good looks, I would still consider them a hero. I also think of a hero as someone who makes a difference in the world. Not just talks about it, but actually takes action to do their part and help someone other than themselves. Sacrifice is a huge part of this. It is putting someone else's needs above your own. Looking at the stereotypical hero, I would have to say Captain America is my favorite. What I like about him is that he went from a "nobody" to a somebody. He had all of the characteristics of a hero without being just physically superior. The best example of this is when the general tested the soldiers by throwing a bomb at the soldiers. All of the other soldiers ran away, but Captain America ran right to it and covered himself over it to save the rest of the soldiers. That is sacrifice. Captain America also had the intelligence of a hero. This was tested when the soldiers were told to get the flag on top of the pole. While the other soldiers failed in climbing the pole in order to retrieve the flag, Captain America simply undid the bolts from the base of the pole and retrieved the flag after the flag pole had fallen. These characteristics are what made him a hero even before he went under the procedure that boosted his strength and physical abilities.

Journal #40

This year my family and I have moved to a new house with a good amount of land in hopes to become more self sufficient. So far we have planted trees, started our garden, gotten bees, and our newest addition is baby chicks. We now have six baby chicks and we were suppose to get six hens, but the place we were going to get them from had an accident. A fox had gotten into the hen house and killed all of the hens we were going to buy! It was terrible. We were still able to buy our baby chicks though. On Sunday, I went with my parents to pick up the baby chicks. I think the name of the store was Farm & Home Supply, but I am not really sure.  I think all the home supply stores sound the same. I was surprised with how many different breeds of chicks they had. They had chicks ranging from tiny black ones that were only a few days old to larger orange ones that were a little over a week old. The breed that we picked is black and brown, but I cannot recall the official name. While the employee helped my Dad catch the chicks we wanted, something terribly traumatic  happened. In one of the crates of chicks I noticed a tiny little black chick that was not moving. It did not look good. At first I thought he was just sleeping, but when I looked closely I saw that he was not breathing! The poor baby chick had died! The other chicks in the crate were completely oblivious and walked all over it. It was incredibly sad. Then the manager had to come over and take care of it. This was the last thing I wanted to happen to our six baby chicks. All of the chicks we got were females and I got the pleasure of naming each of them. Their names are Ariel, Rapunzel, Arora, Belle, Snow, and Cinderelly. I like Disney princesses if you can't tell. The baby chicks are so cute and I was so excited to bring them home! They live in our garage in their own little crate with their heating lamp, food, water, etc. I like that they live there because every morning when I leave for school, I can tell the baby chickies goodbye. Saying hello to them is also the first thing I do when I get home. I wish they could stay this small and cute forever!

Journal #39

Spring Break is such a tease. It is a week that basically feels like summer, but then you have to come back to school. My spring break really did feel like summer. This year, my family and I drove down to Florida. We had rented a condo in New Smyrna Beach, it is twenty miles south of Daytona. I was super excited to go, but I was absolutely dreading the car ride there. We drove the entire way. The trip took seventeen hours total without traffic. We left Friday early evening, stopped that night, and then traveled the rest of the way Saturday and did not get in until about ten at night. I did not even care though because we were finally there! It was so worth it. Our condo was literally right on the beach. When I stepped onto our balcony and looked out I could see the sand the waves right in front of me. Sunday we went to a local church in New Smyrna and then went out to an Easter brunch. The brunch was delicious and we even ran into our extended family there who is staying in Daytona! It was such a coincidence because they did not even know we were in Florida! Sunday night my sister, Katie flew in.  I was so jealous she got to fly and not drive, but I was so happy she could come. We picked her up that night at the airport and  brought her home to paradise.We spent the next three days doing nothing, but lounging on the beach all day. Well, I did run in the morning, but after that our day literally consisted of nothing, but soaking up the Florida sun. It was wonderful. On Thursday, we drove to the other side of the state to visit my Dad's parents. It was so nice to see them. My mom, sister, and grandma went out and got manicures together and then we joined my dad and grandpa for a Japanese Steakhouse dinner. Friday was our last day in New Smyrna, but unfortunately it rained all day. We made the best of it though and turned it into a shopping day. We shopped til we dropped and I loved every minutes of it. That evening, we dressed up in our new clothes and went out to our favorite restaurant that we had gone to the first night we were there. This vacation was much needed and it was so nice to just get away and relax. I cannot wait until summer!