How to Survive a Plague

The definition of a protest is: a statement or action expressing disapproval of or objection to something. Protests occur every day. Just by simply not showing up to something, stating that you don't want to do a certain thing is a protest. An effective protest, is when you are able to make a change in your favor. People use protests to attempt to make a change. I don’t think there was another way as effective as the process used during the AIDs crisis or the 70's, 80's, and 90's. The activists pushing for aids research and treatment used a vast amount of tactics to get to the people in charge. In order for their protests to be effective, certain things needed to happen. Having a large group of people is always beneficial, and the better the government understands the issue. Their aggressiveness played a very successful role in their protest. They were able to gain the support of many citizens around the world and also make a push for a difference. The aids activists used the most beneficial way to get what they wanted and needed, and any other way would have slowed the process.

Nazareth Area High School

I am currently a senior at Nazareth Area High School located in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. I am very thankful for the education i am provided with today. Our school is one of the top schools in the area and we are very proud of that accomplishment. My educational experiences compared to some of our class readings is very different. The stories we read have schools anywhere from being one of the smartest in the world to another having trouble keeping students in their school and rats out. Nazareth High School is a very neat and organized place where we are helped with anything and always guided in the right direction. We don't have a large number of students in each class, but it is a decent size for our school building. Education is very important to Nazareth Area High School, and all of our teachers try their best to teach at the highest level possible. I am going to a very well known academic school for college, and I think that if it wasn't for Nazareth High School I would not have the opportunities that I have today.

This is the main logo of my school which consists of the letter "N" for Nazareth, and mascot, the Blue Eagle

This picture is taken at the front of my High School

The Mask You Live In

Growing up there was always different stereotypes in our society that associated the color pink with girls and blue with boys. Usually when you think of a child playing with a doll you would imagine a girl holding it. Same idea with a boy holding a toy truck. Every child is unique; a child's gender shouldn't give you the assumption on how you think they should express themselves. In the end, you want your child to be whatever makes them happy, and it should make you happy as well. As far back as I can remember every toy I had was pink and something with sparkles. No one ever told me which toys were appropriate and inappropriate for my gender. Always receiving girly toy's seemed normal so from there on out I knew girls play with these toys and boys play with those toys. Growing up with an older brother, most of the time I just played with whatever he was playing with. I had my own toys as well. I was into Polly pocket and bratz doll. 

My Favorite Book

When I was in middle school, I had the opportunity to read a book that made me look at my life and appreciate everything so much more than i did before. The book was The Giver, written by Lois Lowry. The main character, Jonas, lives in a society where the people who live there have no free choice, no memory of the past, and are unable to see any colors other than black and white. This does not bother him because he doesn't know any better. One day Jonas is assigned with the job of being the "receiver." He is the only person living in this society who will have memories of the past. These memories include anything from people fighting at war to everyone being happy and celebrating something. When he receives the memories, he decides it is time for society to change and fights to make life in the society normal again.
This book changed how I look at society because I had a new appreciation for the freedom I have. I have the freedom to be who I am without anyone telling me who to be, the freedom to choose the occupation I want when I grow up, and the freedom to see the world as it really is without filters. This book made me realize that in society, we have to accept the good with the bad because if we try to completely take away the bad, we will not appreciate the good.

Meet Carrera!

Today in class I had the honor to meet with and interview Carrera Elizabeth Freeman. She is a 19-year-old student at Northampton Community College (NACC). She is at NACC to take some general studies classes and hopefully transfer to DeSales University to obtain a Liberal Arts Degree also with Psychology. Her dream job is to have a career in working with DNA Analysis for Forensic Science. Her hobbies include creating special effects makeup like seen on the faces of people at the Halloween Haunt in Dorney Park. She also really enjoys skiing. Carrera is a competitive skier. Last season she was ranked 2nd in Pennsylvania for the all-age woman's division. She has been skiing since she was 2 years old and competing since she was 6. Skiing has always been a way for her to distress and also help her with anxiety. Her idol is her mom, and she is the only child. She has a few half-siblings but she still considers herself to be the only child. When she is older and if money wasn’t a problem for her, she plans on traveling the world to places such as Europe, Germany, France, and Spain. Some fun facts about Carrera include that she hates scary movies, and in her opinion about the presidential election that is coming up, “If you don’t watch politics, don’t vote.” This is a picture of Carrera and her little cousin.

Welcome!!

Welcome to my blog! This is a blog based on the topics we talk about in class, and it allows me to let loose and communicate what is on my mind. My name is Tessa Brugler, I am 17 years old and currently a senior at Nazareth Area High School. I am also part of the dual enrollment program at Northampton Community College where i am taking an English class. I try to be an active student by involving myself in many extracurricular activities including Yearbook, and Fellowship of Christian Students. I am also involved in varsity athletics where i play basketball and also high jump for the track team. 

I try my best to manage my time around my school work and extracurricular activities so that i am still able to have time to hangout with my family and friends. I live with my parents Brent and Tonya Brugler, and i also have an older brother in college and a younger sister in 8th grade. We have two pets. One very fluffy cat named Tinkerbell. And we just got a puppy named Nova.

I recently verbally committed to play Division One basketball at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA. I plan on majoring in Education and later continuing on to become a teacher. I also want to minor in Sports Management so i am still able to stay within the sport i love and maybe become a coach. 

I look forward to my last year I will be with my friends and family before I go off to college to discover the  person that I will become.