Journey to the Center of the Earth

My final plans for my capstone project, which involves teaching a class in agricultural sustainability to 7th-grade Poly students, are now in place. The purpose of the class, which will take place on April 8th, is to teach about the core values of responsibility and stewardship (both local and global), framing it in terms of my experiences working with the agriculturally-focused community of Isona, Spain. The hope is that, by the end of the presentation, students will have a strong understanding of what they can do to better the communities about which they care the most. In an attempt to make the discussion of agricultural sustainability applicable to both my and the students' experiences, the class will involve a variety of activities (such as an image-based guessing game, an olive oil taste test, and a stewardship-related worksheet) designed to encourage the students to think about their roles within their own communities. Due to the way in which the recent coronavirus o

As part of a study of Virginia Woolf's 1925 novel Mrs. Dalloway  for my class in AP English Literature, I recently read a critical review of Woolf by Geneviève Brassard entitled "Woolf in Translation". The article centers around Woolf's own argument that the act of translation is in itself a "mutilation" in that translating any work necessarily augments the societal and cultural connotations of that work (for more, see my previous blog post " The Flaws of Translation "). For instance, Brassard describes the way in which a simple mistranslated pronoun in the Polish version of Woolf's Orlando  all but destroyed the book's feminist undertones, and how Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges' translations of several of Woolf's essays into Spanish entirely ignored the distinctive class system of 1920s England in which Woolf was writing. Ultimately, what Brassard advocates in the context of translation can be applied to how we treat cross-

Last Sunday, Poly hosted an event that encouraged three international exchange students, all currently spending a year in the US as part of an American Field Service (AFS) study abroad program, to recount their experiences to the wider LA community. The event featured a panel discussion moderated by Poly Global Scholars Jacqueline and Aaron, who invited the exchange students to answer a range of questions relating to the similarities and differences between the cultures of their respective home countries and that of the US. Ultimately, from the great respect shown to the elderly in Bulgaria to the long school hours of Chile to the liberal attitude toward gay rights and race relations in Germany, the exchange students shared a variety of stories that shed valuable light on the diversity of their respective cultures.

As part of my AP English Literature class entitled "Pursuit of Happiness," I have recently been reading Japanese author Haruki Murakami's 1999 book  Sputnik Sweetheart , which tells the story of a struggling young writer, Sumire, and her relationship with a woman 20 years her senior, Miu, all told through the eyes of K, the novel's male narrator. The book presents a conflict of sorts between its characters' Japanese identities and the influence of American pop culture. For instance, the novel makes a point of accrediting Sumire's existence as an aspiring writer faced with seemingly inescapable writer's block to the great support of her family, the stipend of whom supports Sumire's fruitless career. This level of familial support and the overarching sense of communal responsibility that it betrays is portrayed as falling in somewhat direct contrast to the distinctively American spirit of individualism and self-sufficiency. Another intriguing

Last week, Polytechnic School was visited by celebrated Chinese American comedian Joe Wong. It was a true pleasure being able, alongside fellow Poly student and Global Scholar Phillip (phillipzgip.blogspot.com), to introduce Mr. Wong to the wider Poly community. Born in China and going on to study at the Chinese Academy of Sciences as well as at Rice University, Mr. Wong has found great success as a comedian, appearing on various well-known shows both in China and here in the U.S. While performing at Poly, Mr. Wong skillfully incorporated his unique comedic style into a deeper discussion of international relations, immigration, and race, all framed in terms of the vast cultural differences that he has experienced as a Chinese immigrant living in the States. For instance, he detailed various ways in which he felt he had to tweak certain jokes depending on the nationality and cultural identity of the audience to which he was presenting. Ultimately, while Mr. Wong's perfor

When it comes to the development of my capstone project for Poly's Global Scholars program, these past few weeks have proved particularly fruitful. Since my work in Spain over the summer, my core goals for this final project have remained relatively stable - my primary focus remains on educating the Poly community on the struggles faced by independent olive farmers in the region of Catalonia and connecting these struggles to larger concerns relating to worldwide agricultural sustainability. That said, the approach I am taking has, since last summer, evolved significantly. While my initial idea was to compile and edit the footage I collected over the summer into a documentary that I would screen to the wider Poly community, I am now instead hoping to engage with a younger audience by teaching a class in agricultural sustainability to middle schoolers. In an attempt to make the class more relevant to the experiences of my 7th-grade audience, I will also be taking more of