It's kind of amazing to meet someone you have lots in common with.

I know that probably sounds super weird, because you can have things in common with almost anyone, but growing up in The Bronx and not fitting in with my hoodrat-wannabe-rapper counterparts, it's pretty rare for me.

Let's name a few of my favorite things, shall we? (Enter Julie Andrews here)
-Doctor Who
-Noah And The Whale
-BBC Sherlock
-Green hair dye
-Radiohead
-Reading cheesy chick-lit
-The Hunger Games
-The Smiths
-Crossword puzzles
-Sudoku puzzles
-Benedict Cumberbatch
-Staying home whenever I can and becoming emotionally attached to my laptop

Okay now let's compare my list to the hypothetical list of an average teen living in The Bronx:
-Lil' Wayne
-The Jersey Shore
-$200 sneakers
-Urban novels sold on Fordham Road for $5
-Drake
-Saying "YOLO" and genuinely finding it a deep and meaningful acronym to live by
-Spending a year's worth of allowance on one item from Polo Ralph Lauren
-Seeing authority figures as imminent threats and trying to fight them
-Stealing other people's $200 sneakers and Polo Ralph Lauren clothing
-Purposely misspelling words and using q's in place of g's (ex: ii luv drake ma niqqa)

Okay, I think you get my point. Living with these kinds of people my entire life, it's a pretty big deal to meet someone who likes basically everything I like. That's why I'm so excited to go away for college in the fall, I can't wait to get out of this terrible borough and not worry about getting shot if I'm outside after 6 PM.

Being a hopeless romantic sucks when you're also self-seeking and vain.

I just watched the movie Something Borrowed which is actually a terrible movie. I hate how in most chick flicks the protagonist is always super passive-aggressive and is never upfront about what she wants. The entire movie was based around the idea that TWO passive-aggressive people are being dishonest about their feelings to each other and the entire time I'm thinking, "Stop with the bullshit and DO SOMETHING."

But anyway, that isn't what this post is about.

Every time I see John Krasinski in a movie or on tv he always plays the romantic, humble, caring, level-headed and rational guy. And he's super good looking, which doesn't help.

So when I see these characters I get so infatuated with the idea of someone treating me the way he treats the girl he loves. I'm like, "I wish I could find someone who will make me the center of their world and do anything to make me happy." All girls say this. They love the idea of love and the idea of the archetypal Prince Charming coming to treat them like princesses and devote himself to her.

Here's the problem, or my problem: I'm also really selfish and vain.

Every time I meet someone I'm super picky and even one little detail about them can turn me off completely. If there's something about their appearance I don't like, I can't unsee it and it's all I think about. If they don't even type as well as I'd like them to, I stop talking to them. And as terrible as it sounds, if I don't think we look aesthetically pleasing together I lose my interest quickly. Hell, I've stopped talking to a guy because he tried to make a joke that fell flat.

Essentially, one wrong move and I'm over it.

I've got these incredibly high standards because when I think of the perfect guy, he has to be perfect in every single way. It's not even because I'm stuck-up or I think I'm better than everyone else, it's just that I've come to expect these declarations of love and bouquets of roses and someone standing with a boombox outside my window. And those things just don't happen as often as we'd like.

(Pssst, to any guys reading this: I really wouldn't mind these things, don't hesitate!!)

I've met plenty of guys who have been romantic and sweet and nice and caring, but I let superficial things get in the way. It's like I'm convinced someday I will find my Jim Halpert or my Noah Calhoun or my Henry DeTamble or most of all, because I'm a huge Doctor Who nerd, my Rory Williams. They're all I want in a guy and they're also attractive.

So basically what I'm saying is that sometimes we complain about how there's no one out there for us and that great people don't exist when they actually do, it's just that we expect them to be perfect. Perfect looks, perfect body, perfect manners, perfect personality, I mean, I could go on forever.

Fortunately I'm one of the rare few who is aware of this and I can teach myself to look past it. Instead of expecting a fairy-tale character I'm learning to be a realist. You won't be happy with someone because they're perfect, you'll be happy with them because the good outweighs the bad and you accept them for who they are, flaws and all.

Wow, this post just turned into a cliche-fest.

I'll quit while I'm ahead.

So many dumb people.

A few days ago my AP English teacher was telling us that being ignorant is better than ignoring something, because ignorance is something you can't help, because you don't know; actively ignoring something means you do know it's there, but you choose to ignore it.
I kept thinking about this because I was wondering whether my peers were ignorant or just ignoring things purposely. I've decided on the latter.

In The Handmaid's Tale, the main character alludes to the fact that we are all slowly boiling, and by the time we notice it'll be too late and we'll be boiled to death.

The people in my school (hell, even some adults) don't care about anything that directly affects their little circle of comfort.

This wouldn't bother me more than usual if it weren't for the fact that my classmates turn 18 this year, and thus will be able to vote.

It seems as though every time me and my friend mention any of the Republicans, someone says, "Who is that?" Just typing that makes me angry. DO YOU WATCH THE NEWS??? THESE CRAZY REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES HAVE BEEN TOP STORIES SO MANY TIMES BECAUSE OF THE RIDICULOUS THINGS THEY SAY.

I've heard so many of my classmates say, "I don't care about them."


DO YOU IDIOTS NOT REALIZE THAT ONE OF THESE NUTJOBS COULD BECOME PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES??

And maybe you're thinking, "Well at least you'll vote and you aren't dumb."

Well unfortunately I CANNOT vote because I am not a citizen. The irony here is that I know more about how the United States works than most of my peers. I'd even go as far as to say most of my entire 6-12 grade school. I could probably pass a citizenship test easier than they could, and they were born here.

So now maybe you're thinking, "Well, why don't you just take the citizenship test?"

Unfortunately, even though I was born in April, I don't legally turn 18 until August. It takes a few months to become a citizen, so I might not make it in time. Of course I'm going to do it anyway and hope for the best, though.

*This has been a rushed and unorganized blog post*

Doubts

So earlier today, my friend Gil and I, who are both atheists, were discussing religion and what makes some religious people break out of their religion and go wild and not others. We were using some of our close Christian friends as examples, especially my best friend Desteny, and trying to distinguish between the different kinds of Christians. Desteny is a "doubter".

These kinds of Christians usually grow up with religion all around them, whether it may be their family, school, or community. Their religion is all they know. Once they're removed from a religious environment, they're curious as to what else is there, which is understandable.
Desteny has always been religious ever since I met her in the sixth grade. She was very open about her religion and the fact that she was dating her pastor's son. In the sixth grade I knew I didn't believe in god, but I thought that along with being gay, it was just one of those things you don't share publicly. When she asked me about my beliefs (or lack thereof) I would stay neutral and not give any opinion. This led to her trying to incorporate me into her church and telling me all the great things she did with her fellow Christian youth.
Over the years, as I've embraced my atheism more and more, I've started to become a huge defender of science, women's rights, gay rights, and modern technology, which are usually being challenged by religious groups. (What a suprise!) I am now a senior in high school and I also have become best friends with another atheist, Gil. By pure coincidence (or maybe not), we are also regarded as being two of the smartest students at school. We seem to know much more about politics and world news than most of our peers do, due to the fact that we have to work twice as hard as religious students do to back up our beliefs. We can't simply quote from a thick, antiquated book to debate with other people; we have to go out there and research everything. I guess it makes sense that we are regarded as intelligent within our school, considering all the reading we do.
Anyway, my Christian friend, who is also my best friend along with Gil, seems to have started questioning the teachings of her church and organized religion in general. I'm sure she still believes in god, but she has started to understand why non-religious people fight against some of the things that are interpreted from the Bible. She has brought up some of her doubts to me many times, and I try my hardest not to say anything that is too anti-religion, for her sake. Along with the current Republican presidential candidates, many well-known religious public figures have been subject to criticism over their super-conservative, bordering-on-insane beliefs. All of the Republican nominees just so happen to be die-hard religious fanatics who want to turn America into more of a religiously-inclined country than it already is, making it unfair for anyone in America who isn't a Christian. These people are giving religion a bad name, and along with being close friends with two very opinionated atheists, my best friend is slowly starting to resent religion. Very recently she has started to have disagreements with her mother over going away for college because her mother thinks that if she goes too far, she'll lose her religion (Which is true...sorry). Now imagine what she must be thinking: "Has my mother been sheltering me from the real world because she knows that the Bible isn't strong enough to outsmart modern science/technology?" It's kind of hard for me to put it into words, but acknowledging the fact that she is the only reason her daughter is religious makes a bad defense as to why her daughter should stay at home. What happens when she gets her own apartment, or gets married, or has children?
All in all, the reason why my friend was so open about her religion and would preach to anyone who would listen in the sixth grade is because she had absolutely no doubt about anything that was being taught to her.

Why I Don't Mind Standardized Tests

First off, I know this is a controversial topic and almost all the people I've met are against standardized testing. However, I have noticed some possible reasons as to why people don't like standardized testing, especially in America. Of course, standardized testing does have a few issues (funding, tracking, etc), but in my opinion those issues can be resolved without removing standardized testing all together and I will not address those issues in this blog post.

This is my experience with standardized testing:

My whole life, I have done well in almost every standardized test I have taken. In New York, where you are required to take Regents in order to graduate, I have not failed a single Regents test I have taken. My critical reading score on the SAT's is a 620, which places me in the 99th percentile in my school and in the 84th percentile nationwide. The average critical reading score in my school is a 390, which is pretty much terrible (If the average score for each section is a 400 in my school, then the average CR + M score would be an 800 out of 1600, not too good).

I've always known I have a greater aptitude for learning than most of the kids in my grade. It has been repeated to me many times since the first grade, when my teacher suggested I skip a grade and go into third by the end of the year (I declined, my first grade mentality not knowing what "skipping a grade" really meant).

In middle school and high school, however, my mediocre grades were not matching my above-average test scores. The reason for this was that I did not always turn in my work on time, and I hated doing extensive school assignments like projects and at-home essays. If I turned them in at all, they were usually late. As of right now my GPA is a 3.0, which is perfectly average. If it wasn't for my SAT score, I would not have had any advantage over my classmates (or even any senior in the country) applying to college.

There are a few kids in my grade that are known as geniuses. Not because they've shown any genius-level work, but because they have near perfect GPAs. One of them even has a 99% average. (And yes, that's ALL four years combined!)

When we were all registering for the SATs, I was sure they would blow everyone out of the water. Near-perfect GPAs, near-perfect attendance, how could they not get an amazing score?

When the scores came back however, it turns out they did not do as I expected. For the most part, they got average scores although one of them got around a 1300 with all three parts combined, which is pretty low.

To be completely honest I was not surprised by my score. With all three parts combined I got a 1680 which was a little above average. I've always been an avid reader which has helped me build an extensive vocabulary. My math score was average, which I expected because although I learn math rules quickly, I forget them quickly as well.

When everyone learned that they did terribly on the SATs, they were quick to say, "The SATs are obviously unfair. How can I have a 90 average and score so low?"

Well I think I've figured it out.

For starters, some of the things you are graded on at school are participation, attendance, group work, whether or not you turn in your assignments on time, etc. Obviously these criteria are irrelevant when scoring the SATs, because they are only testing your knowledge in specific areas and not how friendly of a person you are or how many times you raise your hand within one class period. These criteria combined can contribute as much as 40 percent of your grade, so even if you are below grade level in a school subject you can still attain a decent grade if you just turn in your work, whether or not the answers are correct.

Also, the actual student work you are graded on is subjective to whatever you are learning in class. Therefore, it's not a reliable measure of intelligence. For example, if my teacher's method for one semester is giving out handouts and the students answering them and handing them in on time, you can easily get a 95% in that class. This doesn't mean you are smarter than the rest of your peers, it just means you turned in all your work and showed up to class.

So if you have perfect attendance, participate in class, do well on quizzes and hand in your work on time, you will most likely be an A student. When you tell people that your average is a 95%, they'll probably say, "Wow, you're really smart!" instead of, "Wow, you showed up to school, did all your schoolwork, and got graded accordingly!"


Doesn't really sound like something congratulatory now, does it?

The second reason why students score so low on the SATs is because the American public school education system is terrible. It's a well-known fact that private school students can vastly outperform public school students. There is simply not enough funding for public schools, and it is way too easy for ineffective teachers to keep their jobs at public schools (I know this for a fact). In terms of education, America ranks 25th out of 30 developed nations in math, arguably the most important school subject you need to learn in order to get the most important jobs in this country. There are all sorts of problems when it comes to our public education. So when you've got the SATs, which is a test taken by public and private school students, it becomes easier to see how little we really know.

Many people say that the reason they did so badly on the SATs is because they are just not good test takers, or they were nervous, or something along those lines. I think they don't realize that being a great student and scoring low SAT scores are not mutually exclusive. We have been conditioned to think that the higher you average is, the more intelligent you are, but this is not always the case. My best friend Gil scored the highest critical reading score in my school with a 660, which places him in the 91st percentile nationwide. His GPA is a 2.7.
Surprising, huh?

I personally don't mind standardized tests when it comes to showing how knowledgeable you are in math, reading, and writing. However, just because someone scores low on the SATs doesn't mean they are stupid and it is not entirely their fault. The first finger I'd point would be towards America's inadequate public school system and the sub-par education we recieve. Everyone is capable of getting a good education, we just haven't been given the opportunity.

I have never been so offended in my life

So a few months ago I added a few random people on Facebook that I found on a Castleville forum (I was going through a flash-based-game addiction). Among these new friends was a woman named Kirsten, who lives somewhere in the South (naturally).

A few days ago she posted a status saying something along the lines of, "When I first said I hated Obama everyone thought I was racist. It's funny how now when I say I hate Obama, everyone else does, too." Then one of her other middle aged white woman friends commented and they started having a conversation about Obama, and they were being pretty racist, albeit unintentionally. They were basically saying that he only supports the Hispanics and Blacks and how it is unfair that he supports immigration. (And I should note, these women only think Mexicans are immigrants)

I was pretty mad about it but I chalked it up to ignorance and let it go.

Then this morning she shared a poster on Facebook that said something along the lines of:
"What we expect in 2012:
-Obama: GONE
-Immigration: GONE
-Benefits for non-citizens: GONE
-Language: ENGLISH ONLY"
(There was probably more but I can't remember them all)

I was extremely offended by this. I started to feel really angry and I decided to unfriend her, while thinking evil thoughts about her in my head. After I unfriended her I went to run some errands, and I thought I would forget about the stupid poster. But as the minutes went by, I got angrier and I felt like a dark cloud was hanging above my head.

When I'm angry about something, I tend to recite fake letters in my head of what I would've said to the person who made me angry. Usually I would be dramatic in writing someone an actual letter about why they angered me, but it seemed appropriate this time. I realized that I would not feel at ease with my life until I educated this incredibly ignorant woman.

When I got home I went straight to the computer to give this woman a piece of my mind, but I COULDN'T FIND HER. I looked for her for probably 20 minutes and it's like she disappeared off the face of the earth. Then I realized that her page was probably still in my history from this morning, so I found her through there. Unfortunately, her page is extremely private and considering I unfriended her, I couldn't contact her in any way without re-adding her (That's not gonna happen).

I accepted my fate. I had no choice but to forget about this entire situation. Unfortunately, I couldn't do that. It's now 9:33 PM and I'm still thinking about it. So obviously, I've got to let it out somehow.

So here's me replying to this woman on a blog she's probably never going to come across:

I am an immigrant. I came here from the Dominican Republic when I was 1 and a half years old. Yeah, that's right Kirsten, NOT Mexico. I've lived here basically my whole life; I know nothing else. I consider myself American, citizenship or not. My mom brought me here, to a country she knew NOTHING about, knowing she could never fully learn the language, knowing she would never feel 100% comfortable in, so that I could have better opportunities. I'm proud to admit that I got the highest combined SAT score in my school, and have gotten accepted to 5 colleges already and it's not even February. I know what you're thinking, Kirsten: "A smart immigrant??? Impossible!"

So yes, I think I've made my mother proud. I've accomplished what she came here for. And you know what I'm going to do with all these opportunities I have? I'm going to become a public school teacher.

A public school teacher in a screwed-up-beyond-belief public school system? A public school teacher who is going to get paid a quarter of what teachers should be paid? Yes, so that I can teach children not to be as narrow-minded and discriminatory as you.

Speaking of opportunities, someone who is bilingual is more likely to get a job than someone who only speaks English. You know why? Because America is DIVERSE. People from all over the world come here because they know that it's okay to be who you are in America.

Oh wait, apparently not, because Kirsten over here thinks America should only be accepting of Whites and exclude everyone else. The real irony is that America was founded on immigration. Kirsten's ancestors were most likely from Europe somewhere, so is she suggesting that they should have stayed there?

Without immigrants from other countries, you probably wouldn't have fireworks that you ironically use on the Fourth of July. You wouldn't have peanut butter that you use on the now-very-American peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You probably wouldn't have Chinese food restaurants, Italian food restaurants, etc. which I'm pretty sure you have eaten sometime in your super American life.

Here are some facts:

-U.S. natives gain an estimated $37 billion a year from immigrants’ participation in the U.S. economy, according to the President’s Council of Economic Advisors.
-One in every four doctors in the U.S. is foreign born, as well as one in three computer software engineers and more than 42 percent of medical scientists.
-Latin American immigrants in South Florida have helped to make the area a leader in attracting foreign direct investment, particularly international banking.
-In the Chicago metropolitan area alone, undocumented immigrants spend $2.89 billion on goods and services, creating an additional 31,908 jobs in the local economy.

Oh I'm sorry Kirsten, do you want us all to go back to where we came from? Your precious country would lose jobs, doctors, businesspeople, and billions of dollars each year. I recommend that you stop being a racist discriminatory bitch and go back to school for something other than "criminal justice" EIGHT years after you graduated high school.

My Problem With The Oh-So-Popular Baby Name Nevaeh

A few years ago, the name Nevaeh barely existed. To this day, I don't know a single person above the age of 4 who is named Nevaeh. Then, out of nowhere, this name became one of the most popular and unoriginal names ever.

And it's never classy, respectable people who name their child this, I've noticed. One of my first encounters with the name "Nevaeh" was on 16 & Pregnant, so that already tells you a lot.

You know a name is bad when its redeeming quality is being able to say, "It's heaven spelled backwards."

It's like the parent wants people to look at them with admiration and say, "Wow that's extremely clever! I wish I was clever enough to come up with something like that! A religious term SPELLED BACKWARDS? call an ambulance, I think I'm going to pass out from all the cleverness I've been subjected to!"

I just don't get it. Why backwards? Why couldn't you just name your child Heaven? You just HAD to spell it backwards?

And what's with the pronounciation? Most people who name their child Nevaeh pronounce it "Ne-VAH-Y-uh". This doesn't make any sense. If anything, "Nevaeh" is pronounced "Ne-VAY-eh", which sounds equally as dumb.

In short, this name is not cute, and it's sure as hell not clever. It's tacky and unoriginal.