During one of my most recent Wikipedia deep-dives, I found an article about the Voyager Golden Record: a disk attached to the Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977 that contains 116 pictures and sounds of life on Earth. The collection is meant to serve as a representation of the diversity of life and culture on our planet; it contains greetings in 55 languages, sounds of nature and animal life, and pictures of humans doing human activities. The cover of the disk contains an instructional guide in pictures (shown above) so that a lonely extraterrestrial who might find it is able to play it. President Jimmy Carter has the final greeting on the disk: “This is a present from a small, distant world, a token of our sounds, our science, our images, our music, our thoughts, and our feelings. We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours.”

Jimmy, I think that’s beautiful. Unfortunately, the past 50 years have been quite tumultuous for the Earth. We are not surviving our time. We’ve expedited global warming by a few thousand years, gone through a global pandemic, and experienced the internet. I fear that if extraterrestrials found the disk, they would not be given an accurate depiction of life on Earth as it exists today. So, here are some proposed additions to the Voyager Golden Record. 

1. An photo of the Breezewood highway interchange, to show all of the fabulous colors we have here on Earth
   2. An image of the Capitol insurrection, to make it clear that humans are animals too
   3. Kanye stealing the stage at the 2009 VMAs, to show the importance of sharing
   4. Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, to show our beautiful ecological landmarks 5. “HELP” in many languages, to display our linguistic and cultural diversity6. Black Friday, to show our love of competition
   7. Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump meeting, to show the importance of friendship #bffs

8. Audio of me screaming, just because

Ah, humanity. These are just some of the many possible things we could add to the record. Unfortunately, we’ll likely never know if anyone finds the Golden Record; the Voyager’s communication powers are projected to die in 2025. But on the chance that they do find the record, I hope they enjoy a small slice of all that we have to offer here on planet Earth.

 

 

Este mes, yo no tuve todo idea sobre qué escribir. Entonces, yo decidí escribir en español. En parte porque no tengo creatividad este mes y parte porque en dos semanas yo tengo mi examen de BI (Bachillerato Internacional) por mi clase de español. Yo tengo un poco miedo por el examen porque yo no tengo confianza en mi español. Tenga en cuenta que este blog es una práctica. De todos modos, me permito a hablar un poco sobre mi vida en las semanas pasadas, porque las semanas eran loca. En el once de febrero, yo fui a Puerto Rico con los estudiantes que toman una clase de español en SHHS. El viaje fui muy divertida y aquí son los momentos mejores.

• El Bosque Nacional El Yunque – El Yunque es el solo bosque tropical en los EEUU (Estados Unidos). ¡Vimos vistas muy bonitas y tuvimos la oportunidad a caminar a un río!
• Caminando en Viejo San Juan – nosotros tuvimos mucho tiempo libre en Viejo San Juan. Yo fui a El Morro y yo intenté muchas comidas (hecho de la diversión: una parte de la película, “Wizards of Waverly Place” filmaba en Viejo San Juan).
• La playa de Luquillo – Esta fue simpática porque yo amo nadar en el mar.

La semana pasada, yo celebré mi cumpleaños de 18. ¡Lo pienso, es extraño que yo soy una adulta! Bueno, yo pienso que yo voy a terminar esta publicación aquí porque mi cerebro en dolor de escritando en español. ¡Lo siento, tú necesitaste leer esto, y yo espero que tú tengas un día bueno!

The past months have been FILLED with anxiety about college applications, financial aid, and the idea of leaving the home I’ve grown up in. But…as I have more and more college results coming in, I’m starting to allow myself to get excited for college. So here’s a list of eleven things I’m looking forward to!

1. Getting to do things by myself! Even just the idea of going to get food, or to pick something up by myself, makes me a bit excited.
2. Currently I have a corner of my room that I call the present to future me box- and it has all these things I’ve started buying for when I go to college! Some artwork, a new portable charger, a mug, and other little gifts.  
3. Buying new sheets!!! I’ve been holding off on buying a new comforter because I know my bed will be a different size once the summer is over. So now I am INCREDIBLY excited to buy new ones. 
4. A new computer! I know that as a computer science major, I’m going to need to find a better computer than what I currently have, and I’ve been having fun researching everything I need.
5. A NEW ROOM!!! I can’t wait to have an entirely blank space to decorate- and to meet my roommate! As terrifying as the idea of living with someone I don’t know is, I can’t wait to start something new.
6. Getting to learn!!! I’m genuinely, as nerdy as it might be, excited to learn. Especially when there are so many different opportunities.
7. I’m really excited to meet new people! I know that sounds cheesy, but I can’t wait to just try new things, and make new friends.
8. Finding all the good local restaurants- and the good record stores and thrift shops!
9. Going to STEM classes with more women! And having a fresh start on new note taking habits and study plans.
10. In my family, there’s a tradition of giving a laundry basket of college essentials to the graduate- and I’ve been excited about this since 8 years ago, when my uncle graduated. And now, once a month, I get excited knowing that soon my day will come. 
11. GETTING A NEW LIBRARY CARD. I don’t know why, but this was the first thing that made me really excited to move to a new place. I get. To have. A new. Freaking. Library card. For a NEW PLACE. That is SO EXCITING!!!

I hope that for the other seniors, you’re finding things to be excited about too- and that underclassmen are a little less scared for the future too 🙂