Summer

Sun, swimming pool, unique, marvellous moments, excellent weather, relaxing moments… I could be like that all day. 

The word itself sounds so so well, just hearing it and a smile appears immediately in your face, a strange feeling runs over your body and you just want to be on the village, the beach, the parties… 

Just one month and some days and we will be free, we will go to the beach; waking up at the hotel, having huge breakfasts, eating a lot, going to the sea to taking a bath, looking like a crab because of the sunburns, having a walk along the promenade; when we are on the beach our only worry is getting in time to the hotel to have lunch or dinner, nothing else matters because on the beach worries, disappear. 

Then, going to your village… I don´t know what villages have that they make us feel like another person. we are all the year waiting for summer to see our friends, to stay until three in the morning playing cards in the main square on a normal day, to go to the swimming pool, to take the bike to go to the nearest village, to wake up at twelve o´clock in the morning, to eat sweets, to wait for the local festival, to try to convince your parents to take you by car to the celebrations of other villages, to sleep the whole next day, to speak about teachers (not always well), the music, singing, dancing, laughing, crying, talking, shouting…

Then you notice that the summer is ending, parties are finishing, tourists start to go back to their city, people who live far away leave. The worst moment arrives, the day we when have to go. I can say it is the saddest day of the year. 

People who do not have a village do not know this sensation, these feelings. I mean, it is impossible to explain all the things, all those moments, the feelings, it is impossible.

A Future without Plastic

Have you ever thought about how many plastic bags reach the ocean every year?

I can tell it to you, 8 million tonnes every year, and this number is supposed to continue growing if we continue consuming such a huge amount of plastic bags. This alarming numbers don’t receive the importance that they should have, because we aren’t aware that in a few years these effects are going to make the world worse and the situation will be irreversible if steps are not taken.

However, some great minds and scientists are concerned with the situation and they use their intelligent and knowledge to make the world a better place. This is the case of a group of students of a biotechnology engineering degree of the Faculty of Chemistry of the Autonomous University of Querétaro. This brilliant group of students has developed a project whose purpose is to eliminate the plastic bags in the world, and to avoid using them, they have created plastic bags that are biodegradable.

These biodegradable bags will replace the plastic bags, but the idea is that they will have the same function and resistance as the plastic bags and, due to the materials that they are created of, the time of deterioration will also be reduced. However, this is not the only advantage: their materials are so innovative that in the case these bags reach the ocean, animals will be able to eat them without resulting damaged, which is an important fact taking into account the huge number of animals that die every year due to this waste.

Another interesting fact is that, although you may think that these bags will be very expensive due to the materials, that is not true. These bags are created from food waste produced by the agri-food industry. And as these materials are so cheap, the bags won’t be expensive, because the goal of this project is to reduce the contamination of plastic bags in the ocean and to help the environment, not to create a source of income with it.

Although the project has not reached the manufacturing process yet, the group of students has great expectations with this project and they hope that in a few years all the plastic bags will be replaced by their invention.

I hope that this project will be launched in a few years and until that date we all must reduce our plastic bags and waste.

17-Year-Old with a Top-Selling Album

What if I ask you about the top listened songs or albums in the last months? Every single music platform where you search for this answer will have something in common: Billie Eilish. However, this is not the point, but how this 17-year-old girl has become so popular, has got a best-selling album, has performed in the biggest music festivals or has even sold out all the tickets for her world tour in less than 24 hours! Let’s start from the beginning, where does this girl come from?

Well, 2 years ago, when she was only 15 years old, her dance teacher proposed her to take some original music to class. She and her brother Finneas O’Connell composed “Ocean Eyes”, which they uploaded on Soundcloud reaching millions of visits in a few days.

Since that moment she continued producing music, specially composing new singles which would eventually end up in her first album “Don’t Smile at Me” and in the soundtracks of some very famous series. In such little time, Billie signed very important agreements with very important record companies.

We could think this would only last for a short time, but it hasn’t been like that. One year later, after advertising some new songs like “You Should See me in a Crown” “when the Party’s Over” or “Bury a Friend”, she released her second album: “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”. As we could expect, it has been one of the best-selling world albums this year.

The question is: Why her? What does her music have that others don’t?  I think we could answer this question with several points.

For starting with, nowadays, most of the singers are given their songs and they only have to put their voice and their image; however, this entire album has been written and produced by Billie and his brother on their room, and this gives the album, especially the lyrics, something personal and different.

The second point also has to do with that. As we can see, and as she has said on some interviews, all her songs talk about her feelings, mental problems and anxiety… In summary, teen problems.  And knowing that teens are one of the groups of people which listen to new music more frequently, the success is obvious.

The last point is about the production of the album. Billie and her brother included new sounds no one had ever heard in a song, like the sound of a dentist drill, a fan or even themselves lighting a match. The entire album has a new kind of music, which has attracted people.

With this, I want to say that you don’t have to own the best equipment, the best voice or the best image, just be yourself and try new things, and maybe one day you will succeed. To finish with this, I totally recommend you to listen to the entire new album, because it’s amazing.

Becoming a Vegetarian

Today we are going to talk about a present-day topic that has created a lot of controversy among the population: being vegetarian or not. To have a better point of view, we made an interview to a real vegetarian person. She has been vegetarian since 2017 and although she says that it is very difficult to eat things without meat, she also tries to use products that haven’t been tested in animals like for example cosmetics.

To begin with, we asked her the cons of being vegetarian. She told us that the main disadvantage is that you have to be very careful with the diet that you follow, as it has to be balanced avoiding a possible lack of proteins and nutrients that might cause health problems. Another important disadvantage according to what she said is that if you live in such a small city as Soria, there aren’t as many resources as in other cities like Madrid. The last disadvantage is that nowadays there aren´t too many restaurants with vegetarian options and, as a result, if you want to eat in a restaurant, you have to be very careful with the things you eat.

 

After talking about the cons, we asked her about the pros of being vegetarian. First, she told us that as you have to maintain a balanced diet, then you will have less cholesterol and health problems. In addition to this, you will maintain a healthy diet, obtaining the same amount of proteins like the rest of the people, without injuring other living things. Besides, she told us that, if everybody ate a vegetarian diet, almost all the world population could be fed up. To finish with the pros of being vegetarian, she cleared up that the vegetarian products aren’t as expensive as people think. For example, vegetables and fruits are cheaper than meat and fish.

 

We have talked about the main pros and cons, but many people might be wondering why people decide to become vegetarian. Our interviewee told us that she started to think about the overproduction of meat in the industries, the bad living conditions that animals have in those industries and the cruelty forms that are used to kill them, and finally she decided to help those living beings by stopping eating meat. She also told us that during all the time that she has been vegetarian, she has seen that it is possible to eat well without making animals suffer.

The final conclusion that we have obtained is that, for some people, you cannot consider yourself an animal lover if you eat meat, because although you can have a pet and take care of it, you are causing the death of many animals as you eat their meat. She told us that she would advise other people to start a vegetarian life-style because, even though it is very difficult, then you will feel better by knowing that you have saved lives.

Sleeping is Good

Everybody likes sleeping. It has a lot of benefits we aren’t aware off, although oversleeping can cause some health problems. Several researchers show us that the average time we should sleep is between 7-9 hours a day. Sleeping well has a positive effect in our physical appearance because our limbs are more relaxed, our skin looks better, and we don’t have under-eye bags. However, on today’s post we are going to get focused on other advantages that are less known and that we shouldn’t forget.

• The main advantage is that a good snooze extends your lifespan. A scientific study has discovered that women between the ages of 50 to 80 who slept less than five hours passed away sooner.

• Another really important leverage for students and elders is that it helps improving your memory. For example, if you are studying English, you would do it much better and quicker after a good night sleep because your mind is wide awake. 

• Last but not least it helps reduce stress which is something that most people suffer from nowadays in our society. When you sleep well you have a better control of you blood pressure which plays an important role in your heart and hence you feel less distressed. 

All in all, sleeping enough helps you mentally (mood) and physically. These are some of the benefits, but it also helps to avoid having accidents, to improve your grades or to spur your creativity.

What I want you to see with this post is that, for some hours a day, we should forget everything that surrounds us, like technological devices which can lead to sleep disorders. We shouldn’t take sleeping for granted and as Raymond Jean says: “If you sleep better, you can certainly live better.”

The possibility to choose your future

Do you know that moment in which someone asks you about what you want to be when you become an adult and your answer is “I don’t know it yet”?

Yes, we have to make lots of decisions when we may be unready for it yet.

For example, that moment at the end of Secondary Education in which you have to decide what you are going to do when you finish 4th year. Here in Spain you have about thirty possibilities (including the different types of Baccalaureate, the different types of Vocational Training, “FP” in Spanish, and the possibility of dropping out after Compulsory Secondary Education) and it’s practically impossible to be a hundred percent sure of which of them you are going to choose. But you have to select one. 

And some years after that election, if you want to study at the university, you have even more different options. In Spain there are more than one hundred university degrees. Yes, more than one hundred degrees, you have read that right. It can seem an overwhelming decision to make, but we can also consider it from another point of view. We can face it taking into account that, the more possibilities there are to choose from, the more opportunities there are to study whatever we really like. 

Some years ago, there were not so many possibilities to choose your future. It was very likely that what you wanted to work at when you grew up was not among the degrees to study. Some years ago, if you wanted to study something a bit different, there was not a specific degree for you and you had to compare the subjects of some of the degrees that were available to look for the one that shared some of your interests. However, if you want to study those same subjects today, you will probably find a degree that fits you perfectly or almost perfectly. 

Some years ago, you were the one who had to adapt to the degree in which they dealt with similar topics to those you wanted to study. On the other hand, today it looks like if the degrees come by demand, you will find the subjects you want to study in one degree or another. Obviously, if you are a very fussy person, you may not find one that fits you perfectly. 

The only drawback that this has is that if you are hesitating between choosing one or another degree because you like both of them, you can’t opt for one because the other doesn’t exist. Choose what you choose, you won’t be able to say you don’t have the opportunity to study whatever you like the most. Because, nowadays, you have the opportunity to choose your future.

This piece of news will change the world

We all have one thought in mind, a thought which never leaves our head, always the same concern: global warming. At school, on television, on the newspapers…, they have told us this is a very important problem, but not as much as it really is. This is such an important problem that it will finish with our world in a few years if we don't do something.

This is no problem to Trump, who doesn’t believe in this danger and won't help for research. Hopefully, the best scientists  in the USA continue investigating despite of him. There is one scientist who may have found the solution for our most important problem in this aspect, which is the pollution of the seas. 

Sarah Molina (who has Spanish backgrounds) is said to win the Nobel prize this year because of finding the solution to a problem we are all thinking about. The parents of Molina came to the USA in search for a better life, her father achieve the American dream and, thanks to this, Sarah has always had the best education and she could continue investigating about the global warming with her own money and no with public grants, because Trump wouldn't help on something like this.

The final solution is the result of a combination between molybdenum, hassium, platinum and ununoctium. Mixing all this in a huge quantity and the accurate measurement will make that all kinds of plastic get dissolved; this has already been proved successful. There are other mixtures to eliminate other kinds of elements which are also polluting the seas. Although these ones haven’t been proved yet, we are quite sure that Sarah is right.

As most people who read this blog are from Spain, I am glad to say that the first places which Sarah wants to help are in the most polluted coasts of America, but also in Spain! As she is from here she doesn’t forget her origins.

To sum up I think this is one of the best news I’ve read in a very long time, because we are clearly living in a world where it is better to have lots of likes to a post than having a clean planet, despite the certainty that it’s going to disappear before we think if we don't act now. I hope this will open your eyes to stop polluting the only planet we have, although, at least, it seems that now we may have a solution.

Education and the Internet

The Internet is a huge source of information. Everything you want to know about, you can find it in the Internet. Not so many years ago, if you wanted to expand your knowledge, you had to go to a library, search for a book and, if you were lucky, you would find one of your interest.

Nowadays, if you want to know something, you just have to type it in the browser and immediately you will obtain results about your search.

The Internet is a very powerful tool but it can be dangerous: not everything that you can find in the Internet is true and, by downloading files and programs from an unknown source, your computer can become infected by viruses and other types of malware.

The Internet can be dangerous, yes, but if you use it carefully and in a sensible way, it can be very helpful to you.

The internet can not only be used for searching information, but for learning and practising your knowledge too. There are plenty of courses in the Internet about several disciplines like languages, maths, geography, biology… and some of them are free. You can also use the Internet to communicate faster with your teacher and classmates to solve your doubts. There are some platforms in the Internet specifically designed for didactic use that can be a good support for your school classes.

The Internet, along with books, is the great adversary of misinformation for many people. Nowadays, if you don’t know something, it is because you haven’t searched for it.

All in all, it’s important to think about the Internet as a very productive additional way of learning, not as a substitute for schools. I’m not talking about being a self-taught person. I think the Internet and the school are very powerful by their own, but they are even more powerful when you combine them both together.

What to watch in 2019

Yesterday I was watching YouTube on my phone when suddenly an advertisement of one of my favourite series came up. It was of Game of Thrones. I became  really excited and I remembered  how I got hooked to this series. One day, I was talking with my aunt about series see had watched. I wanted her to recommend me something she liked and thought I could enjoy. She then told me about Game of Thrones and how see was hooked on it. 

She sparked my interest in it and a few days after I started with it. I got so hooked that I finished the first season in one day. I continued watching it and suddenly I realised that only one season was left. I finished the last season and I felt a little bit sad because I loved the series. However, the next day I called my aunt to tell her that I had finished and she told me that the last season was going to be released in April 2019. In that moment I became really happy, although I knew this time it was really going to be the last time I watched new episodes of Game of Thrones. Now I am looking forward for April to come so that I can see the new season. I suggest everyone to watch it with their family or friends, but if there is someone that doesn't like to see blood or harsh scenes I don´t recommend you to watch this series. If you feel like you are going to like it, go and watch the previous seasons, so that you can enjoy the last one in April. 

Furthermore, also in April 2019 one of my favourite cinema sagas is going to finish. I am talking about The Avengers. I got hooked to this saga because of my cousins; they asked me one day if I wanted to go to their house to watch the first film. I liked it so much that I have seen all of them more than 5 times. Moreover, I have also seen other Marvel movies because of this saga. I think that these movies are not only for children but also for older people, you can watch them with your family or with your friends.

All in all, I can say that I am really looking forward to this April. It makes me a little bit sad that two of my favourite things to watch finish, but at the same time I really want to see how both end up. I also like to think that even though afterwards there will be no new episodes or movies, I can still watch the old ones again. Maybe even one day they will decide to film extra seasons or moies. To conclude, I would like to say that I think that if you haven't seen any of them this is the moment to take a seat and start doing it.

Amancio Ortega Scholarship

In 2018, two students of our high school (the IES Virgen del Espino) obtained the Amancio Ortega scholarship. This is going to be the subject of this post.

This scholarship, for those who do not know, consists of one year of paid studies in the United States or Canada. To be able to aspire to the scholarship, it is necessary to fulfil certain requirements, among them, to have a 7 of average grade in the 3 first years of ESO and an 8 in English. If they meet these requirements, candidates must submit to a pre-selection test. This consists of Oral Comprehension, Written Comprehension and Written Expression exams.

The tests were held during the month of November in the capital of each community. There were different options depending on the city in which you lived in. For example, if you lived in Soria, you could choose between doing it in Valladolid, Logroño or Zaragoza. Our two students did it in Zaragoza. You could also choose the day and the time. Both candidates chose to do it on the same day, but they did not agree on the time: one preferred to do it in the morning while the other did it in the afternoon shift.

If you study English, French or any other language in the high school or at an academy, you will have noticed that the exams are of the same kind that you do each year, but there are two missing: the Grammar and the Oral Exams. There was no exam of the former type, but there was one of the second. During the last two weeks of January, the 1800 pre-selected candidates did their Oral exams. They consisted of talking about 3 minutes on a personal topic, such as family or hobbies, and then answering the questions of the interviewers, everything, of course, in English. In this case, it was not necessary to move to another city, since the test was done via Skype.

From the 1800 pre-selected candidates that we have mentioned before, only 600 won the scholarship, 100 of them from Galicia (remember that Amancio Ortega is Galician). Our two students belong to the small group of 500 winners from the rest of Spain that next year will go to North America to study.

It only remains to know where exactly they will go! USA or Canada? Sun and beach or mountains and snow? Will they return tanned or pale? It seems that we will have to wait to guess...

Women's rights

2018 has finished and, without any doubt, it has been one of the most symbolic years for women. During these twelve months, millions of women around the world have joined their forces to fight against male chauvinism and patriarchy with the intention to create a world full of equality.

Although there are still millions of femicides and a lot to fight for, in this post I am going to highlight the situations that have shown us the fact that this movement is about to finish with inequality. It is also necessary to mention that those women who participate in it are supported by millions of men.

The first situation I will highlight is the great strike called on the 8 th of March in Spain. Its slogan was “The World Stops Without us!” and women showed it to us by paralyzing the country as they did in many other countries, teaching us that nothing would work without them.

We also have to focus on the great number of women that have received an award this year, but we have to emphasize on the historical Golden Globes Gala, dedicated especially to them. It is worth mentioning the historical fact that, for the first time, a woman has been awarded with the Chemistry Nobel Prize and another one with the Physics Noble Prize in the same year, recognizing women's relevance in different working fields.

And last but not least, I want to stress the reduction of gender pay gap between men and women in some countries. There is still a lot of difference, but this is one of the best measures that the government has taken to join the fight for equality.

I could mention a million situations that this daily battle is achieving for changing our lives and our world into better ones. We cannot forget that, for the first time in Spain, there are more female ministers than male. In 2018, Saudi women were finally allowed to drive, and the “Me Too” movement, which has uncovered many sexual harassment cases and condemned them, was born. The fact that a lot of things have been achieved these last years doesn’t mean that we have to stop fighting, so I hope this 2019 everybody will join the movement and fight for equality, that is the real meaning of feminism. Let’s fight with them!

A helping hand

Hello fellow readers! This is our blog about good news. Today I will report about a kind act that some teens carried out in the European School of Madrid last month.

These students have created a hand prosthesis using a 3D printer for a disabled classmate. An organisation called Enabling the Future has teamed up with this Centre. They give lessons to the kids about values and carry out real projects to help them in their future job appliances.

In this Centre, new technologies play a fundamental role for their students’ education. They dispose of a digital immersive classroom where subjects are taught using modern technologies such as virtual reality glasses or 3D printers.

Back with the left hand prosthesis, teachers and students cooperated creating several phases of the design, so all the students could participate. They started by modifying and designing the pieces, phase in which ESO pupils worked on. Then their 'TIC' professor printed the piece. He stated that this process had been very tedious as he needed to make the prosthesis strong and resistant. Then primary schoolers worked on assembling all the parts. Finally, students of 'bachillerato' created a complex system of tensors which gives the hand its functionality.

The School has carried out a unique project in which all students have participated while they have worked values like respect and solidarity.

Hello guys!

Hello guys! Welcome to our place!

This is Game of Posts, a blog by students from the High School Virgen del Espino in Soria (Spain). We are 15 years old and we would like you to form part of our world. We want our blog to be a home for good news: no more catastrophes and cataclysms.

Let's be positive! We hope you enjoy it!