This I Believe...

The Narwhals checked out the website, thisibelieve.org/ and listened to essays read by ordinary people talking about things they believed in. Having already written a number of formal essays the Narwhals knew the structure but this time had the luxury of writing in first person, something not usually done in class essays. Here are some of the results.

By M.S.

I believe that books have made a difference.

Of course, books have changed the world; they made another good use for paper. However, I believe that books will not be around in the future, that they will all be virtual and I for one do not want this to happen. I realize that I cannot exactly make it stop but I can do something else. I can gather people that also do not want books to disappear forever and we can gather as many books as we can and save them for as long as we can.

I think that the world would be gray and dull without books to fill our minds with words and thoughts and color. The world would be like a stormy day even when it was sunny and if we had just virtual books the color and creativity would still not be there, because you have to curl up somewhere and actually turn the pages to feel the story. Therefore, I think we should stand up and say that books have a right to be in the world, and on paper, not just virtually! Some times when I sit down I ponder the way future, I picture the world in the future. Most people see a bright future with smiling people and flying cars, but I see a dull future with no cars and no anything because people used to have advanced technology so they got lazy and when they eventually used up all the power in the world they had forgotten how to do anything. People are walking around with their heads hanging low in a world that is dull and gray, so if some other people and I kept real books we could at least make a colorful world for people.

When I sit down to work on things at school, I try my hardest no matter what, but that is only because I have a colorful world to work in. When some people sit down to work they try, but not their best because they have not read a real book. Therefore, I think that some other people and I should try to get everyone to read a book if they have not already read one. Just because I say this does not mean it actually going to happen but at least I will try, others may not but I will. Some people may read this and say that I am just making life more complicated, and, I am but I like it and so I will continue to make it even harder.

I believe that books have made a difference in the world, and will probably in the future. I believe that things will change dramatically over the years, but I will hold it off for now and maybe sometime in the future people will remember me as the person who changed the course of history in books.

This I Believe: Failure Can Lead to Success

by D.S.

                        We all have our moments of major screw up, I know. But some dwell not on the failure, but what they learned from it. The more mistakes you make, the more you hone down how to do something until it just is a few details that are incorrect. I think that people that make more mistakes are just as intelligent as you or I, and are just trying different things. Sometimes, failure leads on to success if you just dig deeper, and do not stop. Always persevere, never give up, and do not think negatively. These messages I have gotten a lot, and finally, I get to show the results. In addition, if you do not make a mistake, you will not learn anything. Learning is not a one shot and done, it is a trial and error process. Some people that got straight A’s for a while can’t handle it if they get a B. Just keep track of mistakes, and learn from the mistakes you make, or you may end up making them again.

            If you are under pressure to not make a mistake, do not let it bother you, unless you work best under pressure. I myself am a procrastinator that doesn’t work well under pressure. Honestly, if you don’t persevere, it’ll come back to haunt you for the rest of your life. Always make that one final pushing effort, utilize that second wind, learn from failures, and keep pushing. Eventually, you will get used to failures, and utilize them to make success, and always keep going until the end of the line. If it ends in failure, find where and when, and then fix it. Rinse and repeat until success. If you continue this process, you will have a chance of finding success where others have failed, and continuing along the line, aware of how you got there.

            If you just give up as soon as you fail, you will never learn anything. If you keep trying, and persevere, you’ll learn, and gain knowledge that others may not know. You may think I don’t know what it’s like having a trial and error process, but it even took one to write this essay. I do know about trial and error, and I have come to accept it though it may be frustrating. Trial and error may seem trivial, but it is not. Instead, you must make sure that you collect as much info as you can, always making sure to not miss any from other failures, and eventually, if you can possibly succeed, you’ll succeed. It’s just a fact you’ve got to deal with, or it’ll get you bogged down in the details of your failures, and will not succeed as easily.

            If you stay confident, make sure to correct mistakes, and see what caused it, you’ll make fewer mistakes, and less of the same one.

By G.H.

I believe that virtual reality will alter our daily life, and my prediction in the future is that simulations and videogames will be used for much, much more than entertainment purposes.

Simulations of real life situations that are being used today will be used for much more than just entertainment, but for education under stressful circumstances. For instance, medical students can use simulators to re-create surgery without having to lose a patient if they fail, or people in culinary school trying to not burn their food in the oven, and even people trying to get their drivers license may be able to use a simulator to earn it. All of the paperwork saved, money saved, and possibly lives saved will all be thanks to simulators and re-creations of real life.

This is not all good news, considering if companies making these re-creations want better graphics, they may create military and other intense situation generating games may become too realistic, and may take away the gamer’s surroundings, causing him to forget that real life is not inside of a screen or simulator or other electronic devices and leave him stuck inside that unreal world for hours, without food, drink or social contact. In addition, if that person spends more time walking around in a simulator than in the real world, he/she may become antisocial, maybe even reclusive or slightly mentally disorganized, causing possible problems in the real world.

I think that in five or ten years we will have incorporated simulations into corporate offices, medical schools and possibly driving schools as well as I stated in the first paragraph, but I feel like that can’t even be close to all the possibilities, for instance space simulators, intense situational simulators for the military to teach commanders to handle their squad under bad circumstances, possibly even law school, trial simulators, jury duty re-creations, and many more jobs.

Though simulators aren’t all that will change, we may have holographic computers that have so far only been a prop in movies and videogames. We could have better defense systems for protection against nuclear weapons, better identity theft and hacking protection, even new pilotless planes and boats, serving drinks and food via robots and/or other usage of technology. This can actually be a problem, considering the jobs that will be taken over by robots and computers, but considering the safety it will add to flights, consider the fact that if robots flew planes, there probably would have been no nine-eleven, no crashed flight to Malaysia, all the more lives saved in the future will be worth it.

Life at home won’t be the same either, with the SmartHome systems used today may connect to your car, driving you wherever you told it to, activating everything by voice, leaving more space where the steering wheel would be to add in other things like extra cupholders, a TV or many other things.

I think that there will be many other things that will come along, and many will be built to make our lives better, safer, and simpler. Stress-relieving devices allowing people to live happier and longer will be invented, and maybe computers that work for the user, allowing them to have more spare time to see their family and other things.

 This is why I believe that virtual reality will alter our daily life.

This I Believe. By L.W.

I have been at the same school for many years now. At school, I see my friends every day. None of the kids in my neighborhood go to my school. I do not see the kids in my neighborhood at school, like all the other kids do. When I am home, I don’t see any friends, and can’t do anything with other people. But where I am at right now, I have many friends.

I have been making new friends at my school but when they leave, I usually don’t see them again; but with one of my friends, I do. Nathan and I have been friends all our lives. Nathan’s family, coincidentally, moved into our old house. Then we went to the same daycare. Then we both went to Seabury, a school in Tacoma, WA. Nate was with me at Seabury for three years. Now he has been gone for two years.

Nathan and I met at daycare when we were one year old. We were so young that we did not really understand what friendship was really like. I don’t really remember details about what happened at day care, only that Nathan, Jackson, and I, all toddlers at that time, always played with each other. We went to kindergarten and did not see each other all the time, so our friendship could’ve ended there, but when we both went to Seabury, we started to develop our friendship again.

At Seabury, it is easy to be friends when we see each other every day at school and this is where Nate and I really made a good relationship between ourselves. As friends, we always would help each other out and worked together. Our friendship was no longer parent driven. We were more independent and built our friendship together. We knew everything about each other and saw each other a lot.

My friendship with Nathan has changed, but we are still friends. Now we don’t see each other for long periods. Nathan and I sometimes have sleepovers, playdates, and phone calls. Whenever we see each other, we try to get along well, and I know that we get along differently and have different interests. So this I believe that people can still be friends even though they have not seen each other and have changed, but they get along differently and do different things. 

At my school, people are constantly coming and leaving. It’s hard to make long lasting friends at Seabury, but some I can contact by Email, Phone, or text. At home, I can talk to friends on the phone. But then they stop calling or make new friends. A lot of friends come and go but Nathan is different. 


By M.P.

I believe that people should try to do everything they can to keep from polluting the earth. Pretty soon, maybe 200 or so years from now, the earth may be uninhabitable. But if everyone tries hard not to pollute, that time may be stretched to 300 years or more.

It makes me sad to see an area on the side of the road or in the middle of a park where people throw their trash. Paper cups, plastic cups, papers, utensils, cigarette butts, and straws are all blowing around in the wind like ghosts. It makes the world seem like an awful place, where people throw their trash wherever and whenever they please, which is pretty much true. If people threw their garbage into a trash can, or better yet recycled and composted, think about how much cleaner the world would be.

By recycling and composting, most Americans save about 40% of their trash from going in landfills. But Americans still make a lot of garbage. From just one state, enough trash is thrown away each year to pile a street three feet high with garbage for over 500 miles!

Americans make up about 5% of the world’s population, but throw away almost a third of the world’s trash! Many people do not own a recycling bin, and throw away anything in their house that they no longer want, including broken appliances, too-small clothing, and unwanted toys (which can all be recycled or donated).

When people first started to settle in the US, landfills could be anywhere, in your backyard, in the river, or behind that mysterious bush that probably led to lots of empty land. Nowadays, landfills are lined with plastic to keep harmful liquids from seeping into the earth, and have gas monitors to keep track of any harmful gasses. Many landfills have parks or golf courses built over them.

Even though many people are doing a lot to be more earth friendly, not enough people are! On an average day, Americans throw away about 694 plastic water bottles a minute! If everyone had brought a reusable water bottle instead, those 60 million plastic water bottles a day would be reduced to zero.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that Americans recycle about 30% of our waste, but 75% of it is recyclable. We could save about 25 million trees each year if every American recycled even a tenth of their newspaper. If we composted the 21.5 million tons of food that we Americans generate each year, it would save enough greenhouse gas to be like taking 2 million cars off the road! People are definitely not doing enough to, as an ad I saw puts it, “make the world suck less.”

Not too long from now, the world may run out of landfills and places to dump their trash, and it will just pile up, killing off the population as it does so. In the 1340s-50s, the bubonic plague, or Black Death, killed 75 million people in Europe, Africa, and Asia. It was caused by the garbage piled up in the streets, which attracted rats, which had fleas that carried the disease (the lack of sanitation didn’t help either). We would not want something like that to happen in the future.

It is impossible to completely stop throwing away garbage, but we can reduce it significantly by recycling and composting. There are many odd things that you probably didn’t know you could recycle (if only through special programs), such as packing peanuts, wine corks, and makeup. If people really recycled everything they could, the US would save about 4,579 million pounds of trash each year. That is what I believe in.

Beach Day!

A Seabury tradition Beach Day is more fun than playing in the sand and water with your best buddies! Trenches and spas were dug, cities were built, water was diverted, bridges built and pizza and Popsicles were consumed. All around a great day!

Seaburia Union

The Narwhals and Peacocks have spent weeks on their Political Systems' simulation, Seaburia. They were divided into six countries and dealt with issues such as nuclear armament, ethnic minorities and sharing natural resources. Every session of the simulation they had to trade for resources among countries, produce goods to sell to the "brokers" and then work together to solve the issue presented to them
The final scenario included an earthquake and volcanoes that destroyed the resources of several countries. As a result they had to decide how to save Seaburia, After calculating every countries assets and debts and much discussion they decided to form the Seaburia Union in which each country would remain independent but they would support one another with both money and resources. Seaburia was saved!

Big Sale!!

It was the last school store of the year and everything was on sale!! The response was overwhelming (including a huge bag of pennies) but the Narwhals came through and handled it with the same professionalism they have all year. 

Washington DC

The Narwhals each took a portion of our trip to write about and we have included photos so you can learn about our four days in Washington DC.

The transit from point A to point B happened a lot. There was the metro, about 5 times a day we took it. There were two plane trips, one to D.C, and one back from D.C. To me it seemed rather fun, but this was my first time on a plane, and on a metro. We also took a hotel shuttle to and from dinner places on occasion. But still, the trips were quite crowded, and had very little space.

At SeaTac

The plane flight to D.C took 8¹/₂ hours in technicality. It really only took five and a half hours, but the time difference added three hours to that. The flight went relatively without a hitch, though there were patches of turbulence here and there. Most of us played games on the flight, electronic or not. Sawyer and I played on 3DSes in multiplayer and single-player. Maddie and Maxine played Phase ten, a card game.

Arriving in DC

The shuttle to the hotel was packed with the people from our group, and one person still had to sit on the floor. It took 15-20 minutes to get to the hotel from the airport, and then we went to our rooms.

The next morning, and most of the time the rest of the week, we took the metro to get to our destination, and this being my first time; I thought it was really cool. I soon figured out that the side with blue lights was the side on which the door opened. I soon figured out the metro system, and knew which side to go on, and which line (blue, yellow, red, green, silver, and orange) to go on. Most of the time we rode on the blue line, but occasionally we took the yellow line, and once or twice, we took the red line.

Trying to figure out how to buy metro cards

You probably wouldn’t understand all this stuff about the metro unless you rode on them, and still wouldn’t really understand unless you looked for it, because, while seeming simple enough, is super complicated. You have to figure out which platform, which train, and then figure out whether it’s your train or not. Then, when you get there you have to figure out which side to stand or sit by, or you might miss your stop.

Riding the Metro

We took the shuttle to three of four dinners, all of which were fancy restaurants. The shuttle was slightly less crowded, because usually three or four people were just meeting us at the restaurant. We also walked about seven to ten miles a day, sometimes more, but never less. There was a lot of walking, to say the least.

Eventually the trip was over except for the flight back, which technically took 2 hours, but in reality took 5 hours. We did most of the same things, except for a few different things here and there. Overall, the transit may have been the least fun, but it was still entertaining.

On the first day in Washington D.C, we all left our hotel to the metro. The metro would take us to the National Mall. Once there, we would walk to our first stop, the Lincoln Memorial. The Lincoln Memorial was very large, with a statue of Abraham Lincoln inside. The statue is very large, with his quotes on the sides. Above the quotes there are murals.

Next we would walk to the Korean War Memorial, where we looked at these larger-than-life soldiers, in the search formation used in Korea. The soldiers’ expressions were very sad and the Memorial had a sad effect.

After that we went to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. Martin Luther King Jr. was the man who led the Civil Rights Act in the 60s. He was connected to a very large rock pushed out from a mountain. In the rock it said, “From the mountain of despair, a stone of hope”.

Then we were on our way to the Vietnam Memorial. There was a statue of three soldiers in the jungle. Across from that there was a wall with the names of the fallen soldiers.

As we passed the Women’s Vietnam Memorial, all of us saw the WWII memorial. The WWII [World War Two] Memorial had two large fountains in the middle, and also had the names of all the states, [except the states that were not around before 1948]. The fountain was loud and was not as sad as the WWII memorial.

Afterwards, we split up and went to two Smithsonian museums, the Air and Space Museum, and the Natural History Museum. The Air and Space had many airplanes and space items. It showed the history of travel through the sky, and had old relics of items that flew through the heavens. The Natural History Museum had the things that are not synthetic and showed their history. Both museums were very cool, every one of us liked the museums, too.

On Wednesday we had to get up at 5:30 am to go to the White House. We were all very tired. There was a lot of security at the White House, all you could bring was a wallet and a phone (but you couldn’t take pictures). You couldn’t even bring a purse. We saw some of the main rooms on the ground floor, like the blue room, the green room, the yellow room, the ballroom, and the dining room (it can seat 140 people!). 

All dressed up for the White House

After that we went to the zoo. We saw a lot of animals like pandas, lions, tigers, seals, otters, and a lot of other ones too. 

It was hot, the pandas were asleep inside

Then we went to Arlington Cemetery. There were a lot of graves. Some of them were more elaborate than others. We also saw graves of famous people like John F. Kennedy. We saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, it was really cool. The tomb guard military badge is one of the hardest badges to get, second only to Astronaut. Anyway, that was a pretty fun day.

 John F. Kennedy's grave

 Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Day Three

The start of the day was the same as before. We got up and met down in the lobby for breakfast. Then we went to the metro and we walked over to the Capital on the street.

 First we had to go through a lot of security similar to the White House, except that we had to take out our phones and wallets twice. When we finally were inside we saw a video about the start of the national government to now. It talked about how we could someday join this great government and help change the nation. After we walked out of the theater we joined one of the lines waiting for tour groups. Before the tour started we were given headsets to listen to the guide over the noise in the room. We started our tour in a room where there were statues of the people from the first thirteen colonies.  Then we moved into the Rotunda, a room with the huge dome for the ceiling. It was being worked on so we didn’t get to see the full beauty of it, but on the ceiling was a painting called the Apotheosis of Washington. It depicts George Washington on his way to heaven to become a god. Angels surround him and on the boarders of the painting are the twelve main Greek gods. In a ring around the room 58 ft. above the ground was a frieze called the Frieze of American History. It contains 19 scenes of history. Then we moved into the hall of statues, two from each state. There were many statues including Rosa Parks and the newest, Barry Goldwater. After the tour ended, we got to take a picture with our guide! 

Rosa Parks

Then we went to the House of Representatives, but sadly, they were not in session.  But then we went to the Senate and they were in session and we heard Mitch McConnell giving a speech about the NSA! After that, we left to go get lunch.  

After we left the lunch area, we headed to the Supreme Court. There we split up to read and explore it. Afterwards most of us went to the Library of Congress to explore. After a long day we went back to the hotel to rest.

Supreme Court building

Library of Congress

Washington D.C day 4, Pentagon.

On the last day in Washington D.C, the Narwhals had a scheduled tour at the Pentagon starting at 11:30, which was quite a relief compared to the White House, where we had to be there at 6:30. We took the subway to Pentagon Station, then proceeded to our destination to begin the tour.

When we arrived at the Pentagon, we had a slight problem on our hands; Daniel’s father, Steve, was added to the trip after we sent in reservations to the Pentagon, so he would not be able to go with his son on the tour. Though at the time Ms. Head got sick, and was not able to tour the massive structure either. The officer at the entrance operating the machinery and metal detectors noticed this, and decided to let Steve take her place.

Once we were inside, we were directed to seats in a waiting area (I noticed that the seats were the same as the ones they use in airport waiting areas.) then, after a few minutes of waiting, we were ushered inside of a room that looked like a small movie theatre. Then two uniformed officers entered the room. They explained briefly about the medals they earned in the air force and army. When they were finished, one officer, a lieutenant, left the room. The other officer then proceeded to show us an important military tactic: stalling.

After a long period of using this tactic, the tour was finally ready to begin. He fist led us along a long corridor overlooking the food court. “Here at the Pentagon we select the healthiest foods around,” he says as we pass a café, “Such as Burger King and McDonald’s.”

As we continued along the 17.5 miles of hallway in the pentagon (we didn’t walk all 17 miles, but we walked around 2 miles on the tour.) we went into a subterranean tunnel with shops everywhere, much like the other hallways, if there weren’t offices lining the halls, there were shops. The officer claimed they had it all there at the Pentagon, including a farmers market and a pool. These were proven as we walked by both rooms.

I was personally amazed by the sheer size of the building, being able to support 30,000 workers and employees. There was a courtyard in the middle if anyone needed some fresh air, and I counted about seven optometrists and four florists on the path we took through the development. We walked past many memorials and small boards containing facts and diagrams about how military technology has evolved in America and dioramas about 911 and the plane that crashed into the building, flight 77 to Los Angeles.

Logan gives a speech at the Pentagon

9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon

After the tour, everyone split up into groups consisting of a kid and their parent. We then headed in different places including the American History Museum, the Spy Museum, the National Gallery. After mealtime was done, we ended our day at the hotel with much-needed rest.

Dorothy's ruby slippers

Count Von Count

In the evening, everybody would get together at a restraunt and eat. On Tuesday night, we went to Ted’s Montana Grill. Wednesday we went to Legal Seafood. On Thursday night, we went to the Crystal City Sports Bar. Then on Friday night, everybody went out on their own. I went to an Italian restraunt.  The parents sat at one table and the kids at another table.

 I think that dinner and after dinner were the most fun part of the day. Dinner was fun because we got to sit down, be silly and eat. After dinner, we would go to the hotel and play Humans vs. Zombies! Humans vs. Zombies is a game where the goal is to either turn everyone into a zombie or be the last human standing.

Rules for Humans vs. Zombies: Human rules: Humans must have a head band on their wrist. You must have a balled up clean sock. Your sock is your defense. You throw your sock at zombies to stun them. If a zombie tags you, you are dead for one minute. Then you are a zombie and you wear your headband on your head. Zombie rules: If you are hit with a sock, you are stunned for one minute. When stunned you may not interact with anything at all. For expanded rules go to: http://www.humansvszombies.org/

Hanging out at the hotel

Earth Day and Seaburia

In honor of Earth Day, and the beautiful spring weather, the Narwhals took to the streets to pick up garbage in the neighborhood. Besides beer cans, fast food bags and wrappers they also found a roof tile and lots of pieces of paper on the ground and in the bushes.

The Social Studies simulation we have been looking forward to, Seaburia, began this week. Six countries with one Narwhal and two Peacocks representing them as President, Secretary of State and Secretary of Treasury began negotiating for oil and food to keep their countries running then had to face the challenge of one country wanting to blow up the Great Seaburia Reef for a port. Talk was fast, furious and loud and in the end the reef was saved by aide from several countries. The simulation will continue for weeks and the teams will have to deal with issues such as ethnic cleaning and nuclear proliferation.