Nicks Geographic Angle

In light of yesterday's assignment, we were instructed today to reflect on our accountability throughout these times of social distancing. This includes: actively participating in social distancing, cleaning ourselves, and giving our best efforts to remain home. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that everyone takes these guidelines too seriously. I've seen plenty of people online going about their normal hangouts with large groups of friends, rather than distancing themselves to slow the spread. Weeks ago, we were struggling to perform tests. Now it seems that the FDA approval time has been expedited for the purpose of introducing faster COVID-19 testing kits as well as possible vaccines. There seems to be a lot of de-regulation occurring to allow businesses to survive in such a harsh time. Simply put, if no-ones out there spending money, the economy will not grow (or will have very little growth). As a student, I find myself more stressed out than usual since I'm locked ...

Rather than researching more about Alexander the Great, today we were instructed to do a comparison between the Plague of Athens (c. 430 - 426 BC) and the Coronavirus (Covid-19). It's unfortunate that after 2,400 years, we still suffer from similar casualties that were present in the life of Athenians. Firstly, as of now, the Coronavirus has killed about 7% of what estimates suggest the Plague of Athens did. And unlike the Plague of Athens, which seemingly stayed within that City-State region, COVID-19 has spread worldwide and is spreading more every day. While it may come in handy, transportation today is only making the virus worse, that's likely why Athens didn't spread it to other regions of the world. Although they underwent transportation often, it's not like today where traveling around the world is so necessary. Perhaps one of the most famous victims of the Plague of Athens was Pericles. Pericles was responsible for strengthening and leading Athens through hard...

It's great to know that we're in the fourth quarter, with that said, I must also make the proper decisions to ensure that I can have as good as a GPA as I did last quarter, which will be interesting with this Cyber Work.  With that said, we were told today to research three prominent figures in ancient times: Phillip II, Darius III, and of course Alexander the Great. Firstly, let's discuss the role of Phillip II, who was briefly mentioned in yesterday's post. Phillip II was Alexander the Great's father, He also served his City-State of Macedonia very well, coming close to death for several occasions just in an attempt to unify Macedonia with other parts of Greece. He also formed the Hellenic League, which in a sense allowed for Macedonia to have complete control over Greece while having little responsibility of its own, since Macedonia wasn't necessarily "incorporated" in the League, rather just manages it. Phillip II was also responsible for his ...

Today we were told to research the relationship between Alexander the Great (A new figure in our studies) and his horse (Bucephalus). According to several sources, as far as I can tell, Alexander the Great, even from a young age, was a man of great skill. This great skill enabled him to do incredible things such as tame this horse which was thought to be untameable. While I am not a big horse person, It is my understanding that plenty of my Western Civilization classmates are amazed by horses, including our very own teacher, Mr. Schick. But I'm not, that recently changed when we began studying older cultures and how they were forced to utilize there materials and resources to live a good life, that includes the horses which were used in civilizations as transportation. Back to Bucephalus and Alexander the Great, the way in which Alexander the Great stopped this horse from being dragged away leads me to believe that the youngling saw great potential in this horse. And boy was there ...

For our final Cyber Day this week, we were instructed to write briefly in regards to our opinions and thoughts on the Cyber Days. Personally, while I find I have more time to do things I would like, that doesn't make up the lack of learning.  I find that whatever we're assigned to learn through a number of different resources (Pearson Realize, etc.), I could've learned faster and better on my own time by researching the subject using Youtube and other browsers. I also am frustrated that I cannot ask questions like I used to, which will definitely affect my academics.  In addition to not being able to ask questions, I'm aggravated that all my teachers cannot seem to decide the central place in which they will post all of their assignments. An example of this would be. I know to go to Mr. Schick's blog daily, whereas another class mixes all of their assignments on Teams, Remind, Veracross, and etcetera. Although I understand there is no true solution to this, I wish ...

Similar to Wednesday and Monday, where we were instructed to write a paragraph about the Documentary we're watching (The Ancient Greeks: Crucible of Civilization), we were told to do the same thing but with a slight twist. Today, we were told to find out some reasons that caused Socrates and other Philosophers such as Protagoras wanted to think for themselves. While I'm sure there are plenty of reasons why the video seemed to focus on one part. I have listed (below) an in-depth summary of what we were told in the Documentary.  Socrates Death Scene (Hemlock Poisoning)  Following a quarrel in the Seas of Greece, a select few Athenians expected riches and gratitude for there heroic deads while fighting on behalf of the tremendous Athenian Navy. Rather, they were met with disgust and were jailed, totally contrary to their hopes. As it turns out, a storm had washed them away from their battle in which they had lost men overboard, resulting in them losing those men because...

Continuing with the documentary we had been watching in class, we were instructed today to watch 7 minutes of Pericles's plan for Athens during the Peloponnesian War, where they were to fight off Sparta's invasion. We were then told to write a paragraph (detailed, of course) in regard to Pericles' strategy during this fierce war. That paragraph is listed below.  While the Spartans set out to invade and destroy nearly all Athenian Farmland, it was Pericles' job to ensure his population not lose confidence in his "plan". Luckily, unlike the invading Spartans, the Athenians could rely on their shipment and trades to remain in power during this time of fierce destruction. What they didn't expect though, was that one of the trading ships carrying grain would one day carry a plague with it. This disease not only caused hell (and plenty of death) for the Athenians, but there was also no preparation for such an event in Pericles' plan. T...

Today we were instructed to read our textbook pages 134-139 and answer questions regarding the content. These are pages in which some of us have already read so, in addition to reading my textbook pictures again, I will refer to my notes. The questions are listed/answered below.  1. Who was Pericles, and what were his goals for Athens? 2. How is a direct democracy  run? 3. How did the Delian League work?  (All answered in this paragraph) Pericles was a wise and noble statesman who led Athens during much of its Golden Age . During the Golden Age of Athens, intellect, design, and art all thrived to new highs. This period of his rule is commonly referred to as the Age of Pericles. Pericles initiated three goals in which he wished to accomplish in order to move Athens even further forward. These three goals were to: first, strengthen democracy; secondly, hold and strengthen the Athenian Empire; and lastly, to glorify Athens in riches and looks. To accomplish o...

Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, the John Carroll school will be out of session for two weeks. And while many other schools are undergoing the same circumstance, we are fearful that this won't just be two weeks, rather a lot longer. Though we still have to undergo online classes, I am curious to find whether or not this will be easier or harder for us students. Mr. Schick has already voiced his displeasure with having to grade a lot of papers because our school requires an assignment everyday. I understand his frustration because a lot of his classes are ones that require hands on teaching and live scenarios with sports which he will not be able to properly teach for. And while we prepare for online classes, we also had to take home all of our books which was very annoying since we had such short notice. My bag weighed about 15 pounds and was a burden after carrying them for about an hour since I had an off mod towards the end of the day. With that said, I will be home for several w...

Contrary to my other classes, we spoke in-depth about the Coronavirus. This seemingly sparked a slight fear among the class since we understood that we may have to leave school for a while but still undergo online classes. For the majority of the time, Mr. Schick was telling us that most of the updates will be presented after school at their mandatory meeting. Besides that, I'm not really all that scared, mostly because It isn't that lethal to people my age and without underlying illnesses. In hopes that I won't fall behind, I am asking as many questions now regarding subjects which I don't understand so that I can be prepared for when we have off. There were also questions in regards to the Cyber-Days, I am surprised at how little is known about them by all the teachers I have seen today. In addition to learning about the precautions we can take to be clear of this virus we also spoke about how we should begin to take our books home so that we may better prepare oursel...

To no ones surprise, we continued the video which he had begun yesterday. Thankfully, this is a great opportunity for all of the class to study the material covered in the video. Of course, I will likely watch the video a third time on my own time, I feel that no harm is being done by also watching it in class. Although I understand A lot of what is going on, I certainly feel that the textual presentations serve as a better studying aid. I also understand that watching videos with the captions on will assist in retaining the information. I feel as if the timeline moves at a very odd pace, one moment we will be diving into the context of a specific event then the next moment we will be several centuries ahead. The video also touches up on subjects ahead of our studies though I feel as if I would be remiss if I was not to take notes on such topics. I'm also becoming more aware of the brutality of some of the relationships between the City-States of Greece. Initially, I thought they ...

Just as I had expected, we watched a video today, in fact, a long video that took up all of class. Although I had already seen the video since it was posted on Mr. Schicks blog. According to Mr. Schick I was the minority which had watched the video (5% in his view). Besides that, I took notes on the video although I was already quite familiar with the content. Having the notes surely helped and will assist in the future with tests and such. As I'm now aware, I'm not a great quiz taker, but I am relatively good at taking tests for some reason. As we went over the video I did have to check on a few names on his slide presentation so that I was not lost. Names such as Homer and Socrates are very familiar at this point though I felt better after checking their names on his presentation because they are so relevant in our current Greece studies. And while I'm unsure of when our studies will be put to use in the form of a test, I'm relatively confident that I will do well on...

Although we didn't discuss whether we were done with Greece, I believe that since we don't have any slides left on the Ancient Greece Presentation, we may be wrapping it up. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the Pop-Quiz we just had as well. And while I know I didn't do good, I understand that I put the proper effort forth to ensure my other grades would remain high by studying last night. In addition to some questions on the wars which they fought in, we were also assessed on our knowledge of the gods, which I must've done terribly on. Luckily, we still have plenty of time left in this Quarter and I hope that things will begin to balance. In addition to that, since we have so many grades in this class, I don't believe such a quiz will be weighted all that much. Lastly, I understand that I need to take better notes myself, and in order to do so, I believe I should eventually ask to have the textbook to bring home one night so that I can take notes myself wi...

In class today, we finished notes as well as asked questions regarding Socrates who intrigued many of the "question askers" in our class. This led to a variety of ideas as to why he was put to death (even a few conspiracy theories arose) in addition to why he didn't escape when given the chance. Hopping on the bandwagon, I also asked a variety of questions. For instance, I argued why the "Homeric Question" couldn't be applied to his life. That meaning that if we argue whether or not Homer lived, why not the same for Socrates. This question was flooded by other questions so I did not bother to further pursue and answer. Though, from my understanding, Socrates had plenty of concrete information on his existence to an extent that spans from his birth time (circa) as well as his fate. While many re-read the chapter, I took the liberty of improving my notes which will hopefully pay off in the long run of things. With that said I hope that we don't have a Pop...

As we had discussed in class today, we found out how truly small Greece was. And yet they were a stubborn battle for the Persians who attacked them in an effort to gain more control over the Mediterranean Sea. The more and more we learn in regards to the Greeks, the more I come to realize how stubborn they were and how proud they were of their culture. This is further proven by the young age in which the Greeks begin training in order to serve in war against other City-States. I'm still relatively confused in regards to who fought the Persians, but from my understanding this was one of the rare instances in which the Greeks united to defend their land. Upon even further pondering, I realize that by permitting the Persians to progress to lets say, Athens, they would be that much closer to Sparta and pose an even larger threat to Greece's existence. Besides the fighting, I was able to get a better grasp on the immense size of the Persians and how they dwarfed the Greeks in their...

After receiving our Ancient Greece (Part 1) Tests, I found myself looking at a 100%. Pretty good If you ask me. After reviewing every single question, we progressed onto the slide presentation we have been using for weeks. Today I found myself not as much interested in the Greek gods and what they did but rather how they came about. From my understanding they were brought upon by the population of Greece and eventually began to build on more stories. These myths were quite odd from the perspective of someone who understands that these gods were highly worshiped. That being said, I understand there's many more Greek Gods that we must cover, those range from creators and stories. Though from my understanding they continued their genealogy by inbreeding (according to Lizzy, I'll take her word for it). Besides that, I found myself very happy at the Test Grade and Hope that I can continue to thrive in this class which I find so interesting. With those hopes, I understand that I must...