Alex

In this passage __The Medusa and the Snail__ by Lewis Thomas, he tells the reader how you sometimes need to make mistakes to get it right the first time. Like in the video, the scientist was not sanitary. But it turned out to be a good thing because he found penicillin. When you fail, you have to remember to learn and not repeat those mistakes.

A person that didn’t learn from failure is my brother. He keeps on making the same mistakes over and over, not knowing when to stop. Usually when people fail you’re not supposed to make the same mistakes. I mean if you mess up again, its in a different way. But he makes them exactly the same. Hopefully, when he comes back from his “vacation”, he will do what he says he is going to do. That is start going to school for solar technology. I hoopoe when he’s done with school, he will get a job and start doing better for himself.

So when you make a mistake, remember when you try whatever you were doing again, try to not make the same mistake. Hopefully you will learn and succeed in what your trying to accomplish.

I think the school board did the right thing telling Pelton, a high school teacher in Piper, Kansas; it was too harsh what she did. They have way more power and they over rule her because they’re the higher authority. Pelton was just stubborn.

Just because the school board didn’t pick her side, she has to go and quit. There is a quick solution to the problem; if I were her, I would have given the students a D-. It isn’t an F; but its close to it. Enough to make her point to her students.

After this incident, I bet the students feel pretty bad on how far this came. All of their actions got their teacher to quit. All because they were “lazy” or “too tired”. And she wasn’t giving them an F because she was mean, but because she didn’t want her students to do this again. Especially in college because you will get kicked out if you do this.

So, the school board did do the right thing. Pelton just should of took it in, reevaluated her decision and she would still have a job.

I know what it’s like to see my brother go to jail four times. My brother is my blood, but he’s also my friend, we are super close. My brother has missed about 3 of my birthdays, two of them in a row. Sometimes I find out that he’s in jail at the most random moments. Sometimes I think he’s dead because I don’t hear from him for weeks. I don’t know what drives him to do the stuff that he does personally, but I think that he says to himself, “Oh, its only this time.” My brother has had 3 DUI’s in less than a year. 2 of those three were in the month January alone. He’s going back this July, I’ll be alone for three months. I mean I’ll have my mom and dad, but I’m not as close with them as I am with my brother. He also doesn’t like us visiting because he says its too hard for him.

Some of my friends don’t think its that hard on me, but him and I are the closest people. When he’s in jail, I sleep in his room. Its like my room when he’s gone, I take care of it, and clean it. The only time I go to my room is for my clothes. Also, I cant crack the same jokes with my dad as I can with my brother. We have our inside jokes that nobody gets but us. The DUI’s doesn’t mean he has a drinking problem, it just means that he was hanging with some friends, drinking some beers and he was stupid and drove. Obviously he got caught and got in trouble.

Life with my parents is pretty hard without my bro because they don’t want me ending uup like him. I don’t want to either it’s just they say it every day and it gets annoying. I already know not to go down that path. I have already disappointed them with bad a grade, that’s why I need to step it up, because that’s how he got started; getting lazy. Especially in school, if he actually got his diploma, he would have a better chance at getting a job.


 * 1) Win the lotto.
 * 2) Be a part time pimp.
 * 3) Graduate from High School.
 * 4) Graduate from college.
 * 5) Travel to Italy, Spain, Amsterdam, and Australia.
 * 6) Meet the President.
 * 7) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Have a hippie trip.[[image:alexg-summerschool-2011-outside-.jpg width="504" height="333" align="right" caption="Alex smiles for the camera while in summer school."]]
 * 8) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Be in a rap battle with Snoop Dog.
 * 9) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Drive a Bugatti Veron.
 * 10) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Skydive.
 * 11) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Ride a shark
 * 12) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Fall in love with a beautiful, rich woman.
 * 13) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Get with a swimsuit model.
 * 14) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Climb mount Everest.
 * 15) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Be in the Air force.
 * 16) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Become an astronaut.
 * 17) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Beat up a Canadian.
 * 18) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Drive an Indy car.
 * 19) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Jump a monster truck.
 * 20) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Meet Big Black, Seth Rogen, Adam Sandler, and Will Smith.
 * 21) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Meet Tommy Chong.
 * 22) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Shoot a Gatling gun.
 * 23) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Dos Equies and become the most interesting man in the world.
 * 24) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Own 1969 Chevy Chevelle SS 426 Big block.
 * 25) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Hang out with Daniel Tosh.
 * 26) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Win a motocross championship.
 * 27) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Get in a fight with Chuck Norris.
 * 28) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Compete in a triathlon.
 * 29) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Find solution to Pi.
 * 30) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Turn 30.