Hello! I am continuing my project of learning about the Rubik’s Cube and how to solve it. This week (week three), I accomplished solving the Rubik’s Cube for the first time! Although I don’t quite have all of the steps memorized, I now know that I can solve it. I feel very proud of myself, and I am even more excited to continue solving it. I watched a video on YouTube by a Canadian speed cuber named J Perm. He has a great ten – minute tutorial for people who have never solved the Rubik’s Cube before. This week was great, and I didn’t have any struggles at all! Since nothing went wrong, I have no adjustments to make, although I will practice over the weekend, if I have some spare time. Next week, my plan is to have all of the steps and algorithms memorized and be able to solve the cube by memory. Thanks for reading, and I’ll se you next week!

My favorite room in my house is my bedroom. There are a few reasons as to why it’s my favorite room, so let me share them with you. However, I would like to tell you a little bit about my room first. When you first enter my bedroom, you would probably notice all of the posters, photos, and drawings of several things, including the beach, family and friends, books, movies, and more. Other than all of the things hanging up on the walls of my room, there isn’t much to see. I have a small, but cozy bed, and a desk and reading chair under a long row of windows. I also have a large wardrobe with all of my clothes and clutter. The color scheme of my room is very neutral. It has a lot of blues, grays, blacks, and browns.

To start, my favorite room in my home is my bedroom, because it is my personal space. It is decorated with the things that I like, which is nice, since it really represents me. In my room, I am surrounded with all of my belongings, too. For example, cluttered around my room, I have my clothes, schoolwork, books, and miscellaneous items. It really gives me a space that is full of things that I enjoy. Furthermore, my bedroom is my favorite room in my home, because it is the best spot at home to relax. My bedroom is at the back of my house, so there is not a lot of commotion happening right outside my door. If there is any commotion or noise, my room doesn’t get any of it, which keeps it very quiet and peaceful. Also, my bedroom is near the backyard, where there are a lot of trees, so my room is always kept shaded and cool. These things may not seem like a big deal, but because I spend a lot of time in my room, as well as sleep, my bedroom becomes the best spot in the house to be. Lastly, my favorite room in my home is my bedroom, because it special to me. Now, what makes my bedroom so special, you ask? Well, as I mentioned earlier, my bedroom has a lot of photos of family and friends. All of these photos remind me of good memories and some of the best times in my life. Having all of these memories on my wall is very special to me. My bedroom has also hosted many sleepovers and hangouts, which is where I make a lot of memories too. As you can see, my favorite room in my home is my bedroom!

Hello! I have just completed week two of my 20% project: learning about the Rubik’s Cube and how to solve it. This week, I accomplished finishing my research on the background of the Rubik’s Cube, as well as proof checking it. Some of the things that I researched about are: why and how the cube got so popular, what values you can take away from learning it, what events and records are held, fun facts about it, and much more. Last week, I wanted to organize my research, photos, thoughts, and ideas on a google slide, so everything was saved and can be easily printed when I need to print them for my poster board, so I also accomplished doing that. Week two was a great week, and I had absolutely no struggles. I am on track to executing my project as planned. Since nothing went wrong, I had no adjustments to make. I left off with my research completed, so next week I will be learning how to solve the Rubik’s Cube! See you next then!

This summer, I am traveling to Ireland! Ireland is an island country located in Western Europe. I am half Irish, so my family and I will be exploring the place of our heritage, which I am so excited to do. The reason as to why I am excited to visit Ireland is because I have never traveled as far as Ireland, and because it’s a relatively small country, we are going to travel to several counties across almost the entire island! We are going to do many things while in Ireland, but here are three things that we will do in Ireland. One thing we will visit are The Cliffs of Moher. The Cliffs of Moher are one of Ireland’s biggest tourist attractions. It is a long range of cliffs above the ocean. Now, you may ask, “What’s so special about some cliffs?” Well, these cliffs are said to have some beautiful views and some would say it is a natural wonder of the natural world. Also, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince as well as The Princess Bride have scenes filmed here on the cliffs. Another thing that my family and I will do while in Ireland is visit the Blarney Castle (Cork) and the Kylemore Abbey (Galway). Both of these places mentioned are from the old days of Ireland. Inside of the Blarney Castle is the Blarney Stone, which is another attraction. It is tradition to kiss the stone, as it will supposedly provide you a “gift of eloquence.” Lastly, we will spend a few days in Dublin, Ireland, which is the capital of the country. There, we will see and meet a lot of Irish locals and see a lot of restaurants and pubs where we can try the Irish cuisine. As you can see, I will be doing a bunch of fun and interesting adventures in Ireland, and I can’t wait to go. Ireland, here I come!

Hello, I am Thomas, and for my 20% project, I will be learning about the Rubik’s Cube and how to solve it. My mentor, who will be helping me learn to solve the Rubik’s Cube is my dad. As a part of my goal, I want to learn the background of a Rubik’s Cube, so this week, I accomplished half of my research on the background of a Rubik’s Cube. Some of the background details that I learned about this week are: what a Rubik’s cube is exactly, who made the Rubik’s Cube, when it was made, for what reason it was made, and more. This week, I sort of eased into my project with background research on the Rubik’s Cube, so I did not have any struggles that I dealt with. One adjustment I want to make is recording all of my research on a google slide, rather than paper, so all of my worked is safe and organized. I left off halfway through my research, so when I continue, I will ask myself more questions to learn about the Rubik’s Cube, and I will also proof-check all of my information, so I can easily move on to my next task in week three, solving the cube. See you next week!

There are many people that I would like to invite to dinner, but I will share with you my top three choices of who I would invite and why. To start, I would invite Michael Phelps to dinner. Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympic swimmer of all time. Not only is he the best Olympic swimmer, but he is the most successful and decorated Olympic athlete of all time. As a competitive swimmer myself, it would be a dream to meet and be in the presence of the greatest swimmer ever. I would love to see if he can give me some tips for technique and training that helped him to be successful, or even just talk to me about what he did in his career that he would recommend me to do in my swimming career. I think that we would get along well, as we share the same passion for swimming. I also think that Michael Phelps is a nice and cool guy in general, because he has a foundation of his own that helps some clubs out by support them financially, with staffing, with equipment, and more. Next on my top three list of people to invite to dinner would be Neil Armstrong. Armstrong has unfortunately passed, but during his lifetime, he was an American astronaut and aerospace engineer. He was most known around the world for being the first person to set foot on the moon! I would invite him to dinner, because I am really interested in him and his life story. When I was in elementary school, I conducted a research project on his careers and achievements. Because of this, I have so many questions I would love to ask him. Neil Armstrong is someone that I feel would tell incredible stories during dinner, because he could tell the thrills of serving in the Korean War, training as an astronaut, and his moon landing. Lastly, Gordon Ramsay would be someone I invite to dinner. Gordon Ramsay is a British Michelin – Star chef. He is famous in the culinary world, because of his expertise and many restaurants. Gordon also hosts a few TV shows, which revolve around cooking. The reason why I would invite him to dinner is simply because of his cooking. I would absolutely love to feast on some Michelin – Star foods, while enjoying my time with Gordon and the others I have invited. While he’s there, I think I would ask him to mentor me and give me some cooking lessons, so I can use those skills/tips in the future, since I enjoyed taking Home Economics and school, and want to continue to cook. These are the top three people of who I would invite to dinner and why.

In the month of March, I read Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Titan’s Curse. This is the third novel in the Percy Jackson series, which is written by Rick Riordan. This novel is about the demigod, Percy Jackson, and his continued mission to help save the world from mass destruction, from a fight between the Greek Gods and Titans. A prophecy recited by an oracle sends Percy and his other half blood friends on another dangerous quest across the United States to stop the evil Titan army from overthrowing Olympus (home of the Gods) and causing “Dooms Day”, while facing the prophecy of “The Titan’s Curse”. Little does Percy know that he will face many hardships and losses.

I really enjoyed reading this novel and would recommend it, because it was very action-packed and fast paced. I know that a lot of people don’ like to have to wait for the conflict and climax to come, so this novel is perfect for those people. There was a lot going on continuously, making it a fast and easy read! Furthermore, it had fantastic characters. All of the characters had realistic problems and flaws, which I think is important, because it connects the reader (me) to the characters.

All though all of the characters were good, my favorite was Percy Jackson, himself. I think he was the most likable person and had the most admirable traits, most particularly his bravery. Percy Jackson is brave. Within the text, “ ‘The Sky,’ I told the goddess. ‘Give it to me.’ “ (268). For context, Percy came across the goddess, Artemis, on his quest. He found her being held captive by a titan named Atlas, who made her carry the burden of the sky. Percy knew that Artemis was the only one there that could stop Atlas, so he took the burden of the sky for her, because the only way you can escape from this curse is if someone takes the burden for you. This demonstrates that Percy is brave, because instead of being a coward and leaving Artemis to hold the sky, while trying to defeat Atlas when he knew he couldn’t, he took control of the sky, despite knowing there might be fatal consequences, as even the immortal goddess, Artemis, struggled to do so. He knew saving Artemis was the right thing to do, and he also knew that saving Artemis would help the gods keep ruling Olympus.

My favorite quote from Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Titan’s Curse is “There is always a way out for those clever enough to find it.” (211). I like this quote, because I find it inspiring. What it means to me is that there is not always a direct way out of your problems, but there can be if you give it some thought on how to solve the problem.

Here is a fan made photo of Percy Jackson holding up the sky:

My dream job is to be a doctor. There are a few reasons I would like to be a doctor, so I’ll share a few of them with you.

First, I would like to become a doctor, because I am interested in illnesses and how they work and how we can cure them. The reasons I am interested in learning this is because there are so many unanswered questions that I can help dedicate my time to answering. I also find it interesting to learn about symptoms for certain sicknesses and how I can teach my patients how to prevent or control them. To be able to pursue a career in which I deal with these things I’m interested in would hopefully make my career more exciting and enjoyable.

A second reason I might want to become a doctor is because I want to help people. I would love to be able to make an impact on people by helping them recover from whatever sickness or injury they are dealing with, and pursuing a career as a doctor will allow me to do just that. Helping people and hopefully seeing a positive result will keep me motivated to keep working, since I know that the time and effort I put into my job is for a good cause.

Finally, I would like to become a doctor, because this occupation provides very valuable skills. If I do end up as a doctor, I would possess very valuable skills, because the things that a doctor needs to know can be applied to my own personal life, as I know how to take care of myself properly. Not only are these skills important, but they give me many options. Many people around the world need some kind of medical assistance, so my skills can be needed worldwide, which does not limit me to specific areas.

In the month of February, I read Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters, written by Rick Riordan. This is the second book to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. This novel is about Percy Jackson’s second quest as a demigod. After saving the world from a war between the Greek Gods, Percy gains both a reputation and fame. However, his troubles don’t end there. The evil titan king Kronos’s plan to make the Greek Gods fight each other and destroy the earth during the process was foiled by Percy, so in response, he attacked Percy’s camp, Camp Half Blood (which is the only safe place for demigods like Percy). Percy and his returning friend Annabeth set out to retrieve “The Golden Fleece”, which is supposed to be able to restore the magical borders around the camp, saving it from being lost. Despite finding the solution to his problems, Percy must travel through the Sea of Monsters and fight several monsters recruited by Kronos to stop him from saving the camp.

I enjoyed this novel, because it was a very unique story. I can tell that the author put a lot of thought into this novel, as it included several fantasy places (which were very well described) and many diverse characters. Because I liked this book, I would recommend it, especially for those who enjoy mythology and fantasy.

My favorite character is Percy Jackson. Percy is a really likable character, because he has so many positive qualities, most importantly his compassion. Percy is compassionate. Within the text, “Nobody went close to the girl. I put my hand on her forehead. Her skin was cold, but my fingertips tingled as if they were burning… I took her by the shoulders and lifted her into a sitting position, resting her head on my shoulder” (278). These are the actions Percy took in response to a stranger girl showing up to Camp Half Blood very ill. This shows just how compassionate Percy is, as he stepped in to help someone in need, despite not knowing who she was or what she might do.

My favorite quote from Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters is “A minute later, Annabeth hit a patch of moss and her foot slipped. Fortunately, she found something to put it against. Unfortunately, that something was my face” (204). This is my favorite quote, because it lightens the dark, gloomy mood of the novel for a brief moment and makes me laugh.

I’m invisible! The possibilities are endless. What will I do, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you.

To start, I would raid the local supermarket. Since I am invisible, nobody would be able to spot me smuggling all of my favorite snacks. Smuggling them out of the store would mean free snacks, which I don’t have to pay for. Next, I would go to nearby amusement parks and sneak in, so I don’t need to buy a very expensive ticket. You’d best believe that while I am there, I will be skipping the lines, so I don’t need to wait one million hours just to ride on an attraction. Also, don’t forget, I’m invisible, meaning I won’t get caught. Lastly, for the fun of it, I would cause some “paranormal activity”. What I mean by causing paranormal activity is causing odd things to happen. Because I am invisible, I can make things appear strange and scary to others. In my perspective, startling my friends and family would be amusing and hilarious.