Graduation Speech

“A Burning Desire”
By: Andrea Borroel


When I was a little girl I always heard “you can do everything you want” or “you can be  anything you want to be”. I didn’t believe this back then, because most of the time when we are little our parents tell us “you can’t do this” or “don't do that” and we heard many “no’s”. Now that I am much older, I believe it. I believe that people will accomplish everything they want, if they put their mind to it.

One day I was at home, laying in bed, listening to old songs; and looking up at the ceiling. Then I started thinking about my future, and I started to think about all the decisions I’ve made.  Thinking about my future scared me, because I had no idea what I wanted to do, and because I realized I was making bad choices. For the rest of the week I kept thinking about my future.

Then one cold rainy day, after school I was waiting for my mom to pick me up by the front office. Then I see Mr. Bertoletti, my 7th grade science teacher, and he told me something like this, “ You are a wonderful student, you can do amazing things when you want to.” And he said that he believes I will be a successful person.

His words ran through my mind, and what I was thinking was that he was right. I can accomplish what I want, my parents did and so will I. My parents prospered through hard times, and they are successful. I will be successful like them too. The day I talked to Mr. Bertoletti, he helped me realize this: people will accomplish what they want if they put their mind on it. This idea helped me get to this stage, and in the future it will help me get to extraordinary places.

I know that things might not work out the way I want them to sometimes, but I won’t give up because I will have the support of people like Ms. Hauer, Mr. Bertoletti, My family, and my 2 best friends, Vivian and Alexis because they were there through rough times.

Many people in this world live each day with a frown on their face. They think that life is unfair and that we will all die miserable. I disagree with these type of people because life is what you want it to be. You are the only one that is in control of your life, and you are the only person responsible for your decisions, and you will either succeed or fail, but this is all based on your decisions. This is why I believe that people will accomplish what they want, and all they need is a burning desire.

The Boy on the Wooden Box

My essential question was: What was life after the Holocaust? In the book The Boy on the Wooden Box it talks about Leon’s life inside a camp. Leon was nearly 10 when the Germans arrived in Poland, the Germans took many of his rights and then abruptly sent him to a ghetto. The author states that in the ghetto they, “...were packed like sardines into too few rooms, but those rooms were in normal apartment buildings.(113)”Leon was later transferred to a labor camp, and there he was separated from his family. Schindler helped his family by taking them with him and then setting them free. After Leon left the camp, he went back to Krakow and then moved to the U.S. In the article “ “ , it is about a woman named Ms.Fahidi and she tells her story of what happened during and after the Holocaust. According to the article, “Ms. Fahidi lost 49 relatives in the Holocaust, including her mother and sister Gilike, then 11. Her last glimpse of them was on the ramp at Birkenau, where arriving Jews were sorted…” She lost most of her family and was alone after she was liberated. Unlike Leyson, Ms.Fahidi was sent to the camp when she was 18, and she recalls that the camp was not ready yet. After a long time of being alone she found out she had a distant aunt and uncle, and she went to live with them. She later met her future husband through Marximism and wasn't alone anymore. Then officials were looking for survivors so they could ask for forgiveness, so in 2003 Ms.Fahidi went back to Auschwitz. After her visit she decided to write a memoir , ““Because much repeats in history, and if you don’t know what happened and what consequences it has, then it can happen very quickly again.” She found out that a guard from the camp was going to be tried, and she hoped that justice could win.

3rd Quarter Reflection

Many things have happened this quarter. I am almost done with my 10 book challenge, right now I am reading “Ghost of the Spirit Bear”. The book is a sequel to “Spirit Bear”, I am halfway done and so far the book talks about how Cole and Peter are dealing with their struggles. I have improved in language arts, I can use TIQA without struggling and I can choose proper quotes. I also learned skills for argumentative writing. Another thing I have improved in is my research skills, now I use “CRAPP” to evaluate sources because it is much easier; also I know how to find great sources, and I also know how to cite them. I also learned many things about the Holocaust because we looked at different perspectives. Some things I have to work on are turning in homework on time, and managing my time wisely. In 4th quarter I am going to be very responsible because I want to do well in high school, and because I need to get points. I believe my blogs have progressed since last quarter, to improve more I want to add words I don't usually use so I can expand my vocabulary. When I'm in highschool I will use all the skills I learned, especially TIQA, because this will help me in all my classes.

"Life is Beautiful" and "Night"

While I was watching the movie “Life is Beautiful” , I made many connections with the book “Night”. When the movie started everything was calm and normal, Guido had a job and was in love with Dora. In the beginning of the book, Ellie said how he lived in sighet and that he used to study with his mentor. When Guido and his family were put on the train it reminded me of when Ellie was put on the train, and how many families were separated. This was very sad because the Jews had no idea where they were going, the people that were optimistic and full of hope thought they were going someplace better. When the train stopped I think Guido and his family were at Auschwitz, just like Ellie. Then the people were split into different lines and taken to a different part of the camp (the old were taken to the gas chambers). When the Jews were taken to their barrack, a Nazi came and told them what was gonna happen. Guido was taken to get a medical inspection, just like Ellie, and they were checking their mouths. Another connection I made was when Guido was killed and his son survived at the end because in “Night”, Elie’s dad was also killed but he survived.

The book “Night” and “Life is Beautiful” have many similarities and differences. In the movie, the main character is a man named Guido. Guido is an Italian Jew that had a wife named Dora, and a child named Joshua. The movie has humour, suspense, and the mood is not as depressing as the book. When Guido was at the camp he had to do hard work, he also had to protect his kid by hiding him. Guido told his kid, Joshua, that they were playing a game and if they got 1,000 point they would win a tank. Joshua was little, and he believed his father. At the end of the movie, Guido dies, but his son and wife Dora survive. Guido was hopeful till the end, he thought he was going to survive and everything would go back to normal. In “Night” the main character is Ellie (the book is in his perspective, and it's a real story), he lived in Sighet, and studied with his mentor because he was pious. In the memoir, Ellie is very detailed and explicit. When he got to the camp he said, “Not far from us, flames, huge flames, were rising from a ditch. Something was being burned there. A truck drew close and unloaded its hold: small children. Babies! Yes, I did see this, with my own eyes... children thrown into the flames.” Ellie was very graphic in his memoir because he wants people to know what happened. The mood of the memoir was sad and full of melancholy. Ellie lost all hope, he lost his family and everything he had. Both pieces show suffering death, hope, family, and survival. Ellie and Guido had a family, they were separated when they got to the camps. Guido’s uncle, Tio Leo, was sent to the gas chamber, just like Ellie’s mom and sister. They both loved their families very much, and they both suffered of starvation and felt weary. They did their best to survive in the camp, Ellie survived and told his story, Guido died but his son told his story.

The movie’s perspective is in 3rd person point of view (3rd person omniscient). If the story was in 1st point of view, the movie would be more suspenseful and the mood wouldn't be as joyful as it seems. If it was in Guido’s perspective (1st point of view) then we would of seen all the work he did, all the things he felt and thought. This would of changed the movie completely because it would of been more detailed like the book. If the movie was in Tio Leo’s perspective, than we would've known his concerns, and we would of seen what happened in the gas chamber. If the movie was in Dora’s perspective, than the movie wouldn't be as interesting because the woman didn't do hard labor like the man, and we wouldn't know what was going on with the kid Joshua.

In the movie, life was shown as beautiful because it showed love and hope. In “Life is beautiful” we see how Guido and Dora met, it was very romantic and it was like a fairytale. Dora and Guido ended up falling in love and they got married, they had a child named Joshua. Guido opened the bookstore he had always wanted, and he took care of Joshua. When they were being taken to the camps, Guido told Joshua it was a game. He protected his child, and he was shown as a really good father. In the camp he used the speaker to send a message to his wife. He also played a song he and his wife knew, he did this to give her hope. At the end when the Nazi was taking him to the back of a building, he did eye contact with Joshua and he acted like nothing bad was going on. Unfortunately, Guido was killed when he tried looking for Dora, but he saved his son.

Night Blog: How do Elie's experiences during the Holocaust change him as a person?

           Throughout the memoir Elie Wiesel changed drastically. He was 15 when the Germans took him to a concentration camp. Elie lived in Sighet with his father, mother, and sisters. In the book it says, “My father was a cultured, rather unsentimental man. There was never any display of emotion, even at home. He was more concerned with others than with own family” (2). This quote shows his dad was sort of orthodox by not showing his son any affection because some people believe showing emotion means you are weak. Even though his dad doesn't show any love, he knows he loves him and Elie loves him back. Elie believed in God very much and he prayed everyday because he had so much faith in him, and he even decided to find a mentor. Wiesel used to be very pious at the beginning , in page 3 it says, “Moshe the Beadle...talked to me for long hours of the revelations and mysteries of the cabbala. We would read together, ten times over, the same pages of the Zohar. Not to learn it by heart, but to extract the divine essence from it.” This quote shows that Elie is looking deeply into the cabbala and the Zohar to learn as much as he can because he is very interested in his religion, and he has faith in God.

           After being in the concentration camp for a while Elie saw horrible things, like people being burned,  this made him see life different. In page 31 Elie states that , “For the first time, I felt revolt rise up in me. Why should I bless His name? The Eternal, Lord of the  Universe, the All-Powerful and Terrible, was silent. What had I to thank Him for?” This quote shows that Elie is questioning his faith, and he's starting to lose his faith in God. This part of the memoir is important because it shows what he's struggling with and how he feels. After his father’s death Elie said, “I did not weep, and it pained me that I could not weep. But I was out of tears. And deep inside me, if I could have searched the recesses of my feeble conscience, I might have found something like: Free at last!...”(106). Elie’s dad was very sick, he was all he had left and he did so many things to help him, but he couldn't not save his dad. Elie used to give him his ratios and stay with him to make sure he was alright, his dad in a way stopped him from doing crucial things (like eating). Even though Elie says that he says that, he still cares and loves his father because he admits later on he felt guilty for thinking that. 

           At this point Elie is starting to give up on his life because because he lost everything he had, and he thought he was going to die. After a child was killed in front of all the Jews Elie says “... I no longer pleaded for anything. I was no longer able to lament. On the contrary, I felt very strong. I was the accuser, God the accused. My eyes had opened and I was alone, terribly alone in a world without God, without man. Without love or mercy. I was nothing but ashes now, but I felt myself to be stronger than this Almighty to whom my life had been bound for so long” (65). This quote shows that Ellie doesn't have faith in God because he did not help him, and because Elie thinks he's unfair. In other words Elie is not pious anymore, yes he still believes god exists but he doesn't dedicate his life to him like he used to. At the end of his memoir, Elie says, “I remained in Buchenwald until April 11. I shall not describe my life during that period. It no longer mattered. Since my father's death, nothing mattered to me anymore… I spent my days in total idleness. With only one desire: to eat. I no longer thought of my father, or my mother. From time to time, I would dream. But only about soup, an extra ration of soup” (107). This quote shows that Elie doesn't think about his family that passed away, instead he is focused on getting enough food so he can survive.

           At the end of the Holocaust Elie was a completely different person. In the last page Elie claims, “... I wanted to see myself in the mirror hanging on the opposite wall… From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me. The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me” (109). To me this quote means that Elie feels lost because he doesn't know who he is anymore. Elie had everything he needed, but then the Germans came and took it away, Elie at this point probably is very disheartened.

Butterfly Project

"Concert in the Old School Garret"

White fingers of the sexton sleep heavy upon us.  
Half a century  
Since anyone as much as touched this piano.  Let it sing again  As it was made to yesterday. 


Phantom hands that strike softly or that thunder
The forehead of this man heavy as the heavens before it rains. 


And the springs
Under the weight of excitement, forgot to squeak
Half a century it is since anyone as much as touched this piano. 

Our good friend Time  
Sucked each figure empty like a honeybee  
That has lived long enough  
And drunk enough honey  
So that now it can dry out in the sun somewhere


Under the closed eyes, another person sits
Under the closed eyes, he seeks among the keys  
As among the veins through which the blood flows softly  
When you kiss them with a knife and put a song to it. 


And this man yesterday cut all the veins 
Opening all the organ’s stops
Paid all the birds to sing
To sing 


Even though the harsh fingers of the sexton sleep heavy upon us  
Bent in his manner of death, you are like Beethoven 


Your forehead was as heavy as the heavens before it rains


-Anonymous 

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Berlin Memorial Activity

          During the Berlin Memorial Activity I learned that in 1933 Hitler made many rules that restricted Jews from doing fun things and also from having a job. Then in 1934 he didn't make as many rules so he didn't scare the Jews and he could keep as many Jews in Germany as possible . I also learned that the death of a German official was an excuse for the Nazi’s to create the concentration camps and start genocide. Another thing I learned is that Hitler made laws that made Jews almost starve to death and they couldn't escape.

          I think the Berlin Memorial was built to remember all the lives that were lost during the holocaust. The holocaust is a very devastating time in history and it's important to remember it because if we forget it, than it could happen again. Another reason I think the Memorial was built is because those 13 years of Hitler ruling was evil and we can learn from things like that.


          Some years during the holocaust the number of laws was low like in 1934, 1935, 1937 and 1940. In other years there was more than 5 like in 1933, 1938, 1939, and 1942. During these years approximately 6 million Jews died, the few that survived are very lucky because they were able to continue their life and maybe change the world positively. I think Hitler probably planned how many laws e was going to make each year to not alert Jews. This way people who were Jewish got used to it and they didn't run away.


         I think the restriction/law that would be the most trouble dealing with is “Jews not allowed to emigrate” because then you wouldn't be able to escape and save your family. I really wouldn't care if I died unless I knew my family was safe and they survived the holocaust. I think this law is like a death sentence, but worst because you wouldn't see anybody you cared about ever again and you would never know what happened to them.