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!