Dear Freshmen,

Dear Freshmen,
      Hello, and welcome to high school! I'm sure you are very excited for the next four years of your life! Since you are a freshman, you are new to this whole high school thing. Let me tell you a little something. High school is not as glamorous as people say. No, it's not like High School Musical. No, it's not intimidating. No, there are not a lot of parties. High school is the exact same thing as middle school, only with a heavier work load. Also, please do not use your lockers 24/7. Not only are you blocking up the hallways, but in high school barely anyone uses their locker. If you go into freshman year expecting romance, drama, and parties, you are in for a huge disappointment. Take freshman seriously, after all, colleges are able to see your grade, and it's probably the easiest year of high school. If it's one thing you must develop over the year, it's your time management skills. If you are involved with many clubs, do sports, and are in honors level courses, manage your time well. Get involved with school sports and clubs to make upperclassmen friends. Be sociable. Don't worry about getting lost at school, after a week you will be all set with all your classes. As a side note, don't be afraid to ask upperclassmen for directions, it is a common misconception that upperclassmen are mean. If its one thing you should not do, it's to act cocky If you are a douchebag/asshole/super cocky, you will not be welcomed by the upperclassmen. It's a senior boys thing to act all "big" and cocky. Be humble and modest. Chances are, you will have some drama with your friend group. Maybe your friend group stops hanging out with you. Whatever the problem, remember that a lot of people are going through the same thing. Honestly, this is your first year at high school. Make it great. Be heard. Be seen. Make a name out of yourself, build a reputation. Just be yourself and have fun.

Science Without Ethics

I am a huge fan of James Patterson, his Maximum Ride series were my favorite. For those who are familiar with those books, then you already know that Maximum and her friends are human/avian recombinants. For those who don't know, the protagonists of the books are humans that have been tested on, manipulated, and transformed so that they appear to be human beings, but they have wings. I love this kind of science fiction stuff that involves humans being genetically modified so that they have some special feature.

Well anyways...

A while ago I was discussing my love for the Maximum Ride books with by biology teacher, and I briefly described the recombinants to her. Me being me, I asked her if it would ever be possible to create human/avian recombinants. Obviously, she said no

But her last phrase, "Testing on humans is unethical." caught my attention. If we were to perform experiments and continue science without ethics, what would happen?

What things would we be able to invent? What would we create? Would we be able to create humanoid war machines like Captain America, or will we end up with zombies? It's very interesting to wonder what we would be able to do if we experimented on humans. Would we create a whole new race of humans who are genetically enhanced? I probably sound very creepy and psychotic, but I think it would be awesome if scientists were able to genetically modify humans so that we have wings (or something of that sort)!

Although I am curious about science and sci-fi recombinants, I do not endorse testing on humans. Imagine a world where it was legal to clone humans.. I would not want to live in that world. And what if we were able to genetically enhance humans but they turn on us?

Also, I though it was interesting that people in general believe that it is unethical to test on humans, but yet it is common practice to test on animals. There are a lot of companies who don't test on animals anymore, kudos to you, but I find it amusing that we humans value our lives over animals. Truthfully, we are animals too, and if you want to argue that animals don't have feelings like we do, animals die too, they experience pain, loss, and animals also have their families. Many Americans own pets who they consider as family members,  and I'm sure pet owners would not want scientists to test on their pets. Although I believe that it is unethical to test on animals, I believe it is necessary if the testing is conducted for medical research.