ignite talks

Stephania: What trips up high school students?  Why do high school students procrastinate on things they get to do, and focus on what they have to do?  I plan to talk to a high school counselor to see what they think

Daniel: What would the world be like if there was no school?  I read a few articles to learn whether society would be better off, and I discovered that it would affect younger people more.

Kayleen: Why does school focus on teaching us unnecessary things we won't use in the future?  Why don't we learn how to start a business or file our taxes?  I need to do more research?

Liliy: Is death like a domino effect?  Do loved ones die faster after they lose people they care about? In researching this I learned that people really don't like talking about death.  I'm going to ask more people who have had experience with this in their families.

Abigail: When is it too late to change your career or pursue your dream?  I found information about people who discovered their motivation later in life.  I made a connection in this class with Fahrenheit 451.  I feel like this question may be too easy so I may make a change.

Fatima: What happens after death?  I read articles and discovered that most perspectives are based in religion and not science.  This connected in my mind with Emerson.

Gabriel: How can I improve my memory skills for music, language, and everything else in life?  Get sleep, hydrate, and eat well-- and I learned about pneumonics.  I connected this with the characters who memorized the books in Fahrenheit 451.  I plan to do more research.

Cerenity: My big question is based on a quote: "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate; our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure."  I connected this with Emerson, who taught us to be unafraid of being and expressing themselves.

Samary: What does it mean to be perfect in life?  This is tricky because nothing is perfect.  Except that I am religious, so I consider God to be perfect.  I want to learn more about people's insecurities with regard to perfection.

Marino: Why do so many people give up on high school and push things aside, then complain that they don't have the grades to get into college.  This is connected to Emerson's ideas that people make their own decisions.

Cayla: What is creativity?  How should we as a society define it?  I talked to people and watched YouTube videos, and so far my research suggests that creativity is a matter of opinion.  I remember learning about remixes in class and this changed my idea of creativity-- I need to rethink my question and redefine creativity.

Lesley: What does it mean to make music?  What is music?  In this class we defined it as literature, and maybe it's something more than what you hear on the radio every day.  I have the beginning of a general answer, I need to do more research so that I can think about how to present it.  Taking something as broad as music

Adriana: Why does everyone hate Mondays?  Over break I asked people and did research, and it seems like Monday is the first day of the work week, but we also have some power to reframe how we understand it.  Even Montag in Fahrenheit 451 came up with a more positive ways to look at crappy situations.

Clemente: Are people evil or does society make them evil?  I observed people and it seems like those with more negative experiences develop more negative views.  Their upbringing matters.  The news and media matter.

Paloma: Why do we trust and take risks for people when we know the outcome may not be so great?  Why do we give them second chances?  My initial research suggests that everyone is unique and makes different mistakes.  Some people deserve more chances.  The connection to this course for me was Emerson.

Peter: What impact does music have on society?  I read online essays from students and I studied this in my Spanish literature class.  A connection with this course is "A Modest Proposal"-- it grabbed people's attention.

Angel: What am I going to do after high school?  Over break I looked at colleges that would accept my grades, and the only thing is Hancock.  I am searching

Angela: How can I balance my ideal life with my real life priorities like school and family?  I asked my sister who is a counselor, and I learned that sometimes thing go wrong, like when I got sick over break.  I need to prioritize my health. I connected this with "On Self-Reliance."  Next I will research he

Monse: What goes on in the mind of a murderer or a psychopath? So far I've learned that there is a part of the brain that prevents learning from our mistakes, and a warrior gene that makes men more aggressive.  That made me think of Tom from The Great Gatsby.

Melina: Why do people dream and forget their dreams so easily?  I learned the average person has 4-6 dreams

Jacquie P: How will new technologies and inventions continue to change our culture?  I researched and learned that technology doesn't just change the way we think but actually changes the structure of our brains.  The connection with this course IS this course.

Jackie R: What is worse, failing or never attempting in the first place?  I began by defining failure and contrasting this with not trying.  Failure can be a great teacher.  In Fahrenheit 451 Montag failed and became better for it.

Kissel: How much control do we really have over ourselves? I am still looking for a connection with the course

Eldrin: I want to know more about the Big Bang, what happened before it, and what caused it.  My initial research shows that we know very little.  Some might ask what the point is, but learning more about how the universe started might help us understand where it is headed.

Luis: My topic is lucid dreaming and I tried it over break. The connection here is with the journals and free association.

Jordan: How can we the next generation carry on this society if we don't prepare?  Over break I watched the news and asked people my age what they think about what's going on.  A connection I made was to the eyes in The Great Gatsby.  Next I plan to talk with adults and ask why they think we can

Linda: How does music connect to the mind?  I started with psychology and looking into attention.

Alexis: Why hasn't school adapted its way of teaching?  Over break I learned that other countries don't do this and they are more successful.  I connect this with how Dr. Preston teaches this class.

Jesse: Why are there words such as race and racism?  Over break I researched racism, and I learned that this concept has been responsible for death and destruction.  I connected this with the character Tom in The Great Gatsby and I hope to learn more about how we can move past racism.

Brigett: How do people know they will be successful in life?  I compared a sponsored athlete with an amateur.  I see a connection with Fahrenheit 451 in the way Montag found his own tribe/community.  I plan to do more research using the Pyramid of Success.

Leydi: What are strategies to find the best thrift store deals?  One strategy I learned was to follow people's blog, and the obvious connection to this course is how we all express ourselves on our blogs.