Career project

This is a project I worked on for my tutor. She asked us to research a career we are interested in. I chose 'politician'. Here is my report:

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Chosen Career: Politician

What does the career do?

Politicians run government at all levels. At the local level, politicians deal with community growth, the city council’s vision, the budget, community planning, and increasing citizen engagement. At the state level, politicians deal with public schools, police and fire organization, water, and roads. At the federal level, they defend the nation, run the post office, build federal highways, and run national parks.

Career prospects - salary, growth, locations, type of people

A mayor in a small town may not get paid, but a mayor in a big city such as New York might get paid millions. State legislators’ pay varies widely, from part time daily pay to over $100,000 per year in states such as California. Governors make between $70,000 and $150,000 per year. Congress and senators currently make $174,000 per year.

 How does studying English help in this career?

Studying how to write is very important because you need to learn how to write speeches. You need to learn how to give those speeches and deliver them correctly and you also need to be careful of what you say and how you say it. The communication of ideas is one of the most important skills that a politician needs to have.

: How does studying Math help in this career?

Politicians need math to deal with budgets. They need to do long term planning and they need to make financial decisions that can affect people for 30 year or more after the decision. Mistakes in these plans can harm the region or even the country.

 How does studying Social Studies help in this career?

Social studies is the most important thing for a politician to study. In social studies we learn about history, culture, and society. To run government it its important to know the history of the area and its people. We need to know why our current legal system exists the way it does in order to to make effective changes.

 How does studying Science help with this career?

Politicians have to decide on issues based on the real world. Issues such as fracking, medicine, and even city planing are all based on science. Therefore it is important that a politician understand the current science and how it works.

 Why do you like this career?

I like this career because you can make decisions that can help a lot of people. If you make it to the presidency you get to live in the White House and you can meet other world leaders. I like the idea of being able to make a difference in people’s lives.

busy couple of months

[Wow, old one, forgot to hit publish]

We have been busy for 2 months, and this is what I did.

After St. Lucia, we went to a boat show in Miami, but then we went to Disneyworld! Animal Kingdom was like a jungle. You can be there for  2 hours and never get on even one ride. The newest ride there is called Flight of Passage in the world of Avatar. And the wait times are up to 3 hours long! The ride is a flight simulator. You sit in the seat like you're riding a motorcycle, and you wear special 3D glasses. All of us loved that ride. It was amazing!

My favorite ride, though, was called Everest. It's a roller coaster. You go up the mountain and a yeti tries to stop you. So you have to go backwards to get away from it. It was so fun that I rode it at least 10 times.

The other ride at Animal Kingdom that I really liked was called Navi. It was a beautiful boat ride, peaceful and amazing to look at.

Epcot has a world showcase where countries like France, the United Kingdom and Germany each have their own food, shows and merchandise. They hire people from those countries to work at Disney. We went to all of them.  In Italy, we went to a restaurant with Kim and James, who are friends of my parents. We ate an Italian pizza and it was so yummy!

My three favorite rides at Epcot were Mission Space, Test Track and Soarin'.  Mission Space has a less intense and a more intense version. The easier one is where you travel around Earth. The more intense one is where you go around Mars, and that was pretty sickening. Test Track is a ride where you can design your own car and then you can see how well you did. For example, you can see how fast or how far it drifts. And at the end of the ride, you can play with your car. Soarin' is a flight simulator ride where you fly around the world. You can see a waterfall and mountains. The smell is so refreshing! And at the end you arrive back at Epcot. It's a cool ride.

Universal Studios, Orlando
At Universal, we had a private tour and there were a bunch of rides. We went to the wizarding world. My favorite ride was the Gringotts ride. It is a 3D flight simulator and it was awesome.  We in Hogwarts, there is a simulator ride, and I closed my eyes for the spiders. Ewww!  My second favorite ride was The Mummy ride, which was really fun. At one point in the ride, a bunch of scarabs pop out and attack. It was creepy!

On the private tour, we got to see how they make video games and special effects for movies. We ate at the Chocolate Emporium, and the desserts were milkshakes in a mason jar that had a whole cake on top of it.  that was in a mason jar and on top of it was a cake. 

Discovery Cove 

Discovery Cove is where you get in the water and swim with fish, stingrays and other sea life. But the most special thing is that you get to meet dolphins.  While we were at Discovery Cove we got a special tour and I got to feed otters. They were very cute and excited about the shrimp they were eating. Some of them were very greedy and not letting others get a turn to eat.  I also got to pet a sloth and touch a armadillo. The armadillo was so excited that it kept wiggling to get out of the trainer's hands and be put down. I also got to meet a epaulet shark named Dingo. The best part was the dolphins. We got to swim with them and feed them. After we were done with the animals, we got to go on a huge lazy river with waterfalls. It was very pretty. 

Seaworld
We went Seaworld, and there  sea world and there are a bunch of things to do there. We did everything that we could in two different days. We saw a bunch of shows and they were all very fun. One of the shows we saw was the Orca show, and that was awesome. There was a splash zone and everyone in it got very, very wet, even in the very front. And people moved up higher in the bleachers. And there was a baby crying because it got so wet.   We saw manatees and if you don't know what they are, they are big mammals or sea cows. These were rescued and they are so cute. My favorite ride was the Manta roller coaster. It is like Superman in that your feet dangle. But you twirl, go upside down and all sorts of stuff.

Hilton Head
We stayed at the Hilton Head RV Park for 3 weeks and it was a beautiful RV park except for our neighbor. He was watching tv all night for 8 to 3 in the morning and he was very annoying. He also had a leaf blower, and he was obsessed with it. He did it every single day.

While in Hilton Head, we went to see a light house. It was also a museum and each level had a different theme and different things to look at.  We also went on a sailboat,  and my favorite part was the nice breeze. That was also sailboat my parents are going to buy at the end of the year. After those two things, we ate out and had some seafood.  One day we went to historic Beaufort where the Civil War began.  We went in a carriage ride in the old town. We also looked at some houses in Hilton Head, because we are thinking about living there when we are done RVing. I think I would like to live there, because I liked the houses we looked at.

Trip to Saint Lucia

In January we went to Saint Lucia for vacation. The people who went were me, Erin, my dad, my mom,  my brother, my grandma, and my dad's sister Amy.  We did a lot of activities.

One of my favorite activities was the zip line. Unlike other zip lines that we have been on, we had to hold the line and control our speed.  There were 12 lines through the rainforest. In the middle of the zip lines you have to cross a shaky rope bridge, but you are attached to a safety line. It still was a little scary for me.

On another day we went on a catamaran and went snorkeling. We saw fish and fish and more fish, coral and sea urchin.  I swallowed a bunch of salt water -- yuck. After the boat ride we went for lunch at an oceanside cafe and they had a kitten that ate scraps of food we gave her.

Toward the end of the week, we went horseback riding on the beach. The scenery was beautiful, but we also saw people living in poverty.       

We also went for a bike ride in the rainforest. On the bike ride we went to a 40 foot waterfall. During the ride, my grandma fell off her bike very slowly and landed on a plant and its was funny (because she didn't get hurt). We were supposed to ride across a bridge but me and grandma walked our bikes across the bridge because it was narrow and rickety.

One weird and funny thing that happened was we had left some stuff on some chairs by the pool and there were some evil people who stole our chairs. They just moved our stuff aside and took our chairs when we were right there. We explained we were using them and they just ignored us.  And for the rest of the week we called them "the chair stealers" and whenever we saw them, we joked that we were going to start a fight.

Overall I think it was the best trip I have ever been on.   The weather was perfect and the scenery was beautiful.

George W. Bush Presidential Libray

Recently, I went to the George W. Bush Presidential Library in Dallas, TX. I learned that, for only the second time in our history, a father and son became president. The first time was John Adams and John Quincy Adams. Then the second time was George H W Bush and George W. Bush. George W Bush was president during the 9/11 attack on the two twin towers in New York City. In that attack on the World Trade Center, two planes crashed into the towers. Another plane crashed into the Pentagon. A fourth plane crashed into a field in Philadelphia.

George W. was also president during Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. In the museum, we got to do an exercise where we got information about the disaster. We got to then decide whether to send in troops to help.

George W. also had two dogs and two daughters. One of my favorite parts was that he met the Queen of England for a dinner party. It looked very fancy.

Lastly, I learned that George W. signed the No Child Left Behind Act. This was a program about  Education and did not  turn out the way he wanted it to.

Overall, i think he was a respectable president.

John F Kennedy at Dealey Plaza

While we were in Texas we went to the Dealey Plaza Museum. Dealey Plaza was where John F. Kennedy was shot, and the museum describes what those days in 1963 were like.

John F. Kennedy became president in 1960 when he defeated Richard Nixon. JFK's wife was named Jackie. They were very popular.

Durning his presidency Kennedy made several famous speeches, including his famous "Ask not..." speech, and a speech announcing the space program.   He also dealt with the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba, where the US was defeated.   Later, he dealt with the Cuban missile crisis, where he showed his strength and got USSR to back down and remove their missiles from Cuba.

Kennedy was in a motorcade in Dallas in November 22 of 1963 when Lee Harvey Oswald shot Kennedy. Kennedy was pronounced dead about half hour later at the hospital.  Lee Harvey Oswald was killed two days later as he was led from the court house.

Lyndon Johnson took the oath of office on the presidential plane, Air Force One, before they left Dallas. Normally the president takes the oath of office in Washington, D.C.

The museum was very well done. I felt very sad while watching the funeral. The things i will remember most is that the spot where Kennedy died and seeing the window where the shot came from.

Seeing everyone in Minnesota

When we went back to Minnesota lots of people wanted to see us and we said yes. We had people over and playdates and other stuff. One of my favorites things was going to Murray's Restaurant for lunch. another day we went  to lunch at the new Eagle Ridge school  . Yet another day we went to a   Gophers game to see my big brother march . One day me and Erin went to a friends house for playdate and we did Nerf gun wars. Another day our family went to Canterbury to see the wiener dogs race which we always enjoy .

At Canterbury  some friends came to watch it with us and we had pizza and we had ice cream and my brother was there too and I also had gummy worms which were so yummy.

Seeing a total eclipse

In August of 2017, there was a total eclipse of the sun that crossed the United States. We went to Missouri  to see it. 

On the morning of the eclipse, we checked the weather and it was going to be cloudy, so we had to drive 2 hours to find clear skies.   We all wore special glasses to see it or we would be blind. When the moon blocked the sun it turned dark outside and cold as well  and some of the house lights outside turned on and the sun looked like a black hole.   We saw Venus during the day.

We also saw a stealth bomber fly in front of the partially eclipsed sun which was awsome to see.

It was worth it to drive 2 hours to see the eclipse.