L’exam, c’est moi
Thu May 04, 2006 19:12 (UTC -5)Today was our last AP European History class before the big exam, which is tomorrow. College credit is at stake. If you don’t score a 3, 4, or 5 on the exam, then you probably won’t get the credit. I figure I’m good for a 4, but I have to strive for the 5. (“Strive for the 5″ — there’s a slogan for you.) Anyway, since the exam is pretty much what the whole class has prepared us for, you can bet that we did a bit of reviewing today. We outlined trends in modern European history and then had a quiz on the dominant figures, ideas, and events of the ages. When the teacher, Mr. Miller, collected the quizzes, he personally wished everyone good luck. After that, we had about fifteen minutes left of class, and I guess he decided to give us a break. So we pretty much talked and stuff.
Mr. Miller sometimes puts a thought-provoking historical quotation on the board, so I thought I would do the same. I was trying to think of a good one from history that would pertain to the challenge that would face us tomorrow. One of us decided to put a spin on Louis XIV’s alleged utterance, “L’état, c’est moi,” which is usually translated as “I am the state,” by suggesting “I am the exam.” So I went up to the board and wrote the pseudo(?)-French, “L’exam, c’est moi.” Other people translated the statement into Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, fake German (“Ich bin der Examen“), and Esperanto. (I was responsible for that last one.)
At the end of the school day, we each got a card from Mr. Miller, again wishing us luck on the exam. That probably made my day. (It might have made my day hands down if it weren’t for the interesting substitute teacher I had in fourth block: he grew up in inner-city Chicago, dropped out of high school, killed people with his bare hands in Vietnam, got addicted to morphine to ease the pain of the shrapnel left in his body, earned a college degree or two, spent 20 years teaching at a tough high school without missing a single day, turned several of his students into businessmen and politicians, married a woman 23 years his junior, scared off a would-be murderer while on the job, and saw one of his students fictionalized in a movie.) But no matter what language it’s said in, our class’s oneness with the AP European History exam is evident. La testo, ĝi estas mi!
Pulse Quickens As Independent Journal
Pompano Beach, Fla. (TWoS) — My school’s journalism club’s online publication, the Pompano Pulse, has become independent of the school administration, according to a statement made on Thursday by Luke, my friend who basically runs the show there.
In a message posted on the site Thursday, Luke said, “As no official recognition has been given to the attempts made here to publish information on Pompano High, the staff of the Pulse has decided that it would be best to operate independently.”
The change is mainly a symbolic one, as the administration of the school never exerted the influence it could have had over the publication, which is pretty much like a blog, in the first place. In fact, the administration did not acknowledge repeated requests by the Pulse staff to promote the web site.
The change is expected to reinvigorate the spirit of the Pulse as a forum for students’ ideas. In a sort of interview, Luke said, “If we don’t have a relationship with the school at all, why should we be restricted by its rules?”
With the publication now formally independent of the school administration’s control, the staff of the Pulse is looking forward to becoming its own boss while leaving behind the days when it failed to be promoted on the school’s morning TV show and lost its meeting place to another club.
In that thing that wasn’t really an interview, Luke had a few comments for those who failed to give the Pompano Pulse the recognition he felt it deserved.
“Thanks, everyone, for sticking up for us,” he quipped.
The Beeb reports: Sleep position gives personality clue. Sounds like a crock.
The Guardian reports: Simple ways to make yourself far cleverer. Potentially useful.
Two years ago: “So remember, kids: don’t copy off other people’s tests, because you never know when they might be collaborating with the teacher to make you look like a buffoon.”
5 comments
#1 by Luke: Thu May 04, 2006 19:24 (UTC -5)
Thanks for the spot! But to set the record straight, I run the Web site, not the show.
#2 by Daniel: Thu May 04, 2006 23:50 (UTC -5)
Your links to the articles are both pointing to the same place. Please fix!
#3 by Jordon: Fri May 05, 2006 06:55 (UTC -5)
Fixed. Thanks.
#4 by pierre escargot: Fri May 05, 2006 08:01 (UTC -5)
i think ‘examen’ is exam in french, so it’s still psuedo-french the way you wrote it.
#5 by Daniel: Fri May 05, 2006 13:21 (UTC -5)
No problem, Jordon. Just keepin’ ya on your toes.