NEXT YEAR

Next year, if everything goes well, I go to University; especially I want to go to Barcelona. I want to study journalism and mass communication, but I think that it's too difficult to enter in this career, because I have to get a high mark: 8, 33. This year I have to get a 9, because last year I got a 7.3. I hope that I will be able to enter there. I will have to study a lot to get good marks, if I want to enter the communications faculty. If I don’t get into this career, I want to study something in relation with writing, but I don't know what yet. I want to go to Barcelona because tin Barcelona there are more studying possibilities, and also because I want to change a little my daily life.

There are a lot of Universities in Barcelona, and especially I want to go to UPF, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, because people say that it is a good University. I think it would be a good choice for me g, because if I want to live in Barcelona, this University is in the centre of the city. Another University that I want to go is UAB, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, because there you can go without a high mark, but the worse thing is that UAB is on the outskirts of Barcelona, so I would have to go to live in a Halls of Residence for students, but this is not such a bad idea.

PODCAST

SAVE THE PLANET

At present, humans have got the whole control of the world. We are the strongest species of animal that there's. But controlling the world requires a big responsibility. We can't live in a world that we are hurting all the time.

Nowadays, there are a lot of economic interests, and the governments act as if there's no problem, as if nothing happens. Even so now, there are some organizations which are worried about this issue, and they take care of the planet's protection.

I think that we don't see how much we are against the world, although without our knowing. And we don't know that we are self destructive, because if we don't look after our planet, which is our home, the life in it will become extinct and humans too.

Some people would think that the most important think now is to be successful, and develop more new technology. But they don't see realize technology and our desire to control everything will be to blame.

On the other hand, society is increasingly more conscious of that, and it's an important issue in today's world, and we can't do it if we don't learn this since childhood. If we teach his since infancy, there may be a day when all the people will have above all the world's respect, and the governments will think about nature, and not only the economic interests.

In my opinion it's a bit difficult to do it (that whole world looks after nature), because there will always be some interests which are incompatible with the respect nature.

LOST

This is my favourite series at the moment. It is not actually on TV, but I can watch it by downloading every episode from the Internet. Now, I’m busy, because I have a lot of work and exams, so I can’t watch it every day. I think that it’s a very interesting TV series, because there is plenty of mystery. I love it!

Lost is about some passengers who are on a plane travelling from Sydney to America and then, the plane begins to have problems and it crashes on the coast of an unknown island, where they will live for a long time, hoping that one day someone will find them and rescue them.

I have watched it until third season, but there are six seasons. My favourite character in the series is Jack Shephard, he is a good person and he is so handsome. But also I like Sawyer, he seems to be a bad person but in spite of his appearance I think that he is lovely and he can be kind with his partners.

I heard a little about the end, and people said that it’s amazing, so I don’t want to know how it is. I have to watch it!

STRESS!

Stress is a term in psychology and biology that refers to the consequence of the failure of an organism (human or animal) to respond appropriately to emotional or physical threats, whether actual or imagined.

Stress symptoms are commonly a feeling of alarm, adrenaline is produced in high quantities, exhaustion, irritability, muscular tensions and inability to concentrate. This last one I consider very dangerous for a student. For example now, I have a lot of exams, a research project, an oral presentation, and a lot of homework; so I'm really stressed, but I know that I mustn’t get stressed, because what I really want is to study and do all my work, and stress will only hamper it to me. 

There are some techniques of stress management, I think they can be helpful, and stressed people have to practice them if they want to improve their stress management. A person could try yoga, meditation, stress balls, relaxing music and deep breathing. Organising your time better is also a method to avoid stress. So I should try them!

RESEARCH PROJECT: BODY LANGUAGE

My research project is about non verbal comunication, so I speak about body language and how people move their body inconciously and they transmit a lot of messages that we are not consious that we are expressing. I also speak about gestures that show that people are lying or they are nervous, or what their feelings are.

This topic has been studied by a lot of psychologists, such as Edward Hall or Paul Ekman, and they have written a lot of books about non verbal language.

For example: a finger continually touching your nose means that you are not secure about what you say; to rub your hands or to cross your legs means that you are not secure about yourself or about what you say. I think it's a good research project, but I should have started before, because now I'm very stressed!

Watch your gestures, because someone could be studing them!

Education System

Every change that Education Department appears to be for the worse. For example, before ESO and Batxillerat in Spain there were two different ways to study:- BUP and COU. They were more efficient than now, and students studied, didn't waste their time doing other things in class. The level education was better and higher, and Spain had got, in general, good students who were very prepared. But as time has passed, educational reforms have got worse, and they only create people who aren't motivated to study. This is because these reforms are creating passive students, and people who believe that to study and to be knowledgeable are boring, and people don´t appreciate that to learn things, and to know them, is something fascinating.

I think that in our country investments in education aren’t good or productive. Money is wasted on improving buildings, not on improving the learning material and methods. I think that if there were good students, with a higher level of education, this country would be able to improve in many ways. This country needs to look at how to improve the level of education in Spain. The students of today are our future.

PODCAST - Joke

My dreams

I'm Stefi, I'm seventeen years old and I live in Castelló d'Empúries. I'm from Barcelona but before coming to Castelló I lived in Figueres, where I went to the school. We moved to Castelló when I started 1st of ESO. It was then when I met my friends. I have to stress that they are very important for me; not only because I've had some good moments with them, but it's also because they helped me when I needed it. I believe that that's what friends are for.

And, what can I say about me? Well, I can look like an extroverted person when I feel comfortable with people that surround me, so also I can look like a little shy when I don't know a person. Even sometimes people who didn't know me, now they tell me that their first impression about me was that I was a little unfriendly. It has nothing to do with their opinion now. I think I'm a person who needs a lot of affection, and I'm always ready to give a hug and I feel happy with one!

Well, you told us that we had to tell you what our dreams are, so my main wish is to be successful and get better every day, to be pleased with myself, and overall to be happy whenever and however I can; no matter how.

A feature of my personality that I would change is that I am quite an absent-minded person; but I cannot avoid it: someday I will lose my head. But I try to be more successful, I hope that I can be less absent-minded to fulfill my goals. This is one of my goals, because of my bad organization I had problems in the school, at home, and in the future I can have problems at University. I hope I’ll be more organized, and don’t forget anything!

I want to go to a College next year, but I need to get a high mark to be accepted in the degree that I want. I think that I must face my challenges to deserve what I want. So I agree with Obama's speech, when he says: “Don’t ever give up on yourself, you make your own future”. Obama is right, and I think that I musn't stop struggling, although sometimes failures make me feel like giving up.

Yours faithfully,

Stefi Giménez