Shrey Desai

Perseverance

2011-10-13T21:19:00.000-07:00

Perseverance is a strong word. It means that you don't give up until you achieve your goal. I have had many situations in when I had to show some perseverance to reach my goal, and not to fail myself and others also. I have also seen my most favorite athletes and public figures like Leo Messi and Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs also go through those kind of things.

I think everyone should have perseverance because it drives them towards their goals and makes them never give up no matter what. I read this old Indian folktale where there was a prince named Arjun, and there were thousands of other princes trying to win this one princesses's heart by doing a hard task set up by her father. The task was to shoot the eye of a fish, and the fish was on a wheel; the wheel was turning super fast.

All princes failed, but Arjun was the last one. He didn't let his surroundings bother him, he shot the arrow, and hit the fish's eye. He got the princess. The princess doesn't matter, but the fact that he had perseverance and shot the fish's eye means that he was looking straight to his goal, and not taking anyone else's opinion in his mind.

When you have to drive to achieve something in life, remember the saying "always look at the fish's eye".

Swimming

2011-10-12T21:23:00.000-07:00

I really take pride in the only sport I do, which is swimming. Swimming is something that refreshes me when I'm tired, makes me alive, and washes me away from all worries that I have. School is something that bothers me a lot sometimes. Whether I'm dealing with social or academic problems, it gets really tough times. Sometimes, I get into fights with my friends and I don't enjoy their company, or we disagree on something bad.

Whenever I jump into the swimming pool, I think of nothing but swimming. My favorite strokes are freestyle and butterfly, and I'm pretty good at them. My 50-freestyle time is 26.02 seconds, and I can do 100 butterfly in less than a minute, which is pretty good for my age group. I also enjoy breaststroke, and backstroke also.

When I first started swimming, I started in the DACA Swim Schools. The teachers were quite mean and demanding, and made me sad :( I was only 4 and a half when I joined, and the first day, they put me in the deep end. The water wasn't that clean either, so I didn't really enjoy that. Then I moved to a place called AVAC in which I became an alumni from that school because I did a great job once I graduated. The last level there was called Hammerhead, and that was a pretty tough level to pass.

Now, I have moved back to DACA, except the situation is much better. I started in Emerald, which is an advanced pre-competitive level. Then I skipped Orange, and I went straight to Blue. It's very challenging in Blue, but I manage. My coach is a really nice teacher, he drives our swim team to success.

Overall, I love swimming, and I'll swim for the rest of my life. I want to be really good at butterfly like Michael Phelps, but haha! I won't make it to the Olympics :)

Summer Camp

2011-10-11T21:03:00.000-07:00

Recently in the summer, I went to a summer camp program in Stanford University. It turned out to be a blast, and I met many new people and met lifetime friends, even though we were only there for two weeks. In the beginning of camp, when we all met together, we hardly knew each other. By the time the two weeks were over, we were literally crying and hugging each other, never to see each other again.

We connected on Facebook, making a special group for ourselves. For myself, after deactivating my Facebook account, I couldn't talk to all the international friends that I made. Instead one of my friends from school joined and she has been telling me all about what goes on :)

In the summer camp, I took a Math class, and it was lots of fun, especially when we build hex-cubes of the 4th dimension, and we watched a couple of really awesome animated geometry videos. We had lots of great times, and we played lots of sports, and games! I will really miss all my friends from camp.

Found Poem // Rab

2011-10-10T21:22:00.000-07:00

This found poem is about Rab, the character from Johnny Tremain.

Eagerly, rudely
Was a glimmer
Crisp, sparkle
You shan't insult.
I'm sorry, secondly
No more talk
Might have been
Happiest, screaming.

Dark skinned boy
Give the limes
Worse to worse
Here by, times.
Out of jail
Flushed and happy
From an apprentice?
Court that day!

Out with them
Once or twice
In the harbor
Now, they'll fight.
Been so brave
Of pewter cups
Last delicate touches
To the, ducks.

Breaking cinnamon bark
Agreed to violence
Now this morning?
Sly as fox.
Much any more
His hands shook
Cilla visited him
Johnny grew angry.

Finish your sentence
Long and tight
Riffraff, in here
All his might.
Help him, once.
Go there, twice
That Rab, here
His Majesty's might.

All is well
Battle, fought clear
Damaged, Rab is
For, dazed near.
Bullet, shot wide
End is near
Foreshadow, for else
The mist, clear.

PLCA Movements

2011-10-09T16:05:00.000-07:00

So if not everyone knows, I've started an organization called PLCA Movements (Peace, Love, Care Association). In PLCA, we do projects which help people and animals on a global surface. Some of our recent projects are the Tanzanian Orphans Relief Project and STSA (Save the Sharks Association).

Tanzanian Orphans Relief Project - Helping an orphanage in the Olasiti Village of Arusha, Tanzania with energy problems and financial support. More information will be released soon. Visit the blog - http://tanzanian-orphans.blogspot.com

STSA (Save the Sharks Association) est. 2010 - STSA is an association to help stop shark finning worldwide, especially in places like Japan. This project is somewhat recent and not much information has been released.

Resolved: Justice Requires the Recognition of Animal Rights (AFF)

2011-10-09T15:51:00.000-07:00

Resolved: Justice Requires the Recognition of Animal Rights

Affirmative.

I’d like to recognize [opponent] and [judge], thank you for taking the initiative to come here on this [day] [time of day].

COLOR KEY

main areas

additional notes

additional evidence/facts

type of argument

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Definitions
Animal - A living organism that feeds on organic matter, typically having specialized sense organs and nervous system and able to respond rapidly (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
Justice - The quality of being fair and reasonable (Merriam-Webster Dictionary + 23 other sources from Google.com)

Value/Criterion

- Inherit value in this debate is justice, specifically just society, meaning that if I can convince you that society becomes more just, when we recognize animal rights then I win this round, however if my opponent proves that we don’t become more just society with animal rights, then (he or she) wins this debate round.

Arguments/Contentions

Pathos

A- Animal Testing is cruel (how animals are treated in labs by scientists)

R- Reasoning for this argument

+ Over 15 million animals are used in testing every year

+ Kept in plastic boxes and wire cages

+ Thousands of animals aren’t given pain killer medicine

+ Animals are euthanized/put to death after treatment

+ Not many laws on keeping the environment clean in the labs

E- DoSomething.org, IACUC (Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee)

A- Analysis for this argument

+ Animals should be released from animal testing

+ If not, better environment situations should be provided

Logos
A- The philosophy of animal rights is fulfilling (there is a moral imperative to give animal rights)
R- Reasoning for this argument
+ Many of the great traditions in ethics, both secular and religious, emphasize the importance of four things: knowledge, justice, compassion, and autonomy
+ The philosophy of animal rights is no exception
+ Our choices should be based on knowledge, compassionate, and freely made
+ Animal rights calls for individual self-fulfillment
+ Quote from Henry Salt "Humaneness is not a dead external precept, but a living impulse from within; not self-sacrifice, but self-fulfillment."
E- Culture & Animals Foundation, Christian Science Monitor, NYTimes, The Hoya, Henry Salt
A- Analysis for this argument
+ Many people would be free once animals are given rights, no constraints, all fulfilling (there is a scientific community otherwise who get fulfillment by publishing researching papers on animal testing, but generally speaking)
+ All animals should be free, without any constraints to life
+ Simple and regular justice

Ethos

A- The philosophy of animal rights is rational
R- Reasoning for this argument
+ It is not rational to discriminate non-human animals arbitrarily
+ Discrimination against non-human animals is arbitrary
+ Wrong to treat weaker human beings, especially ones who are lacking in normal intelligence
+ Recognizing animal rights is rational, other statements are irrational

+ include a piece of information from Michael Vick – dog fighting
E- Culture & Animals Foundation, E.F. Schumacher (internationally famous influential thinker)
A- Analysis for this argument
+ By recognizing animal rights, we are helping those who are weaker than us
+ We are helping everyone, and being rational to other animals who cannot stand up for themselves
+ Instead of being the bully, we can take a notch up to help them instead of hurting them

Logos
A- The philosophy of animal rights is scientific and unprejudiced
R- Reasoning for this argument
+ Respectful of our best science in general and evolutionary biology in particular
+ Quote from Charles Darwin (courtesy of NYTimes) "...humans differ from many other animals "in degree," not in kind..."
+ Quote from Jane Goodall (courtesy of NewsWeek) "There is no fundamental difference between humans and the higher mammals in their mental faculties."
+ Racists are people who think that the members of their race are superior to the members of other races simply because the former belong to their "superior" race
+ There is no "superior" or "inferior" gender or race
+ Quote from Dick Gregory (courtesy of Health.com) "If you can justify killing to eat meat, you can justify the conditions of the ghetto. I cannot justify either one."
E- Culture & Animals Foundation, NYTimes, Huffington Post, NewsWeek, Health.com, Charles Darwin, Jane Goodall, Dick Gregory
A- Analysis for this argument
+ We should respect everyone/everything even if they don't have a stronger advantage
+ Humans shouldn't be speaking "racist" just because we have more rights

Ethos
A- The philosophy of animal rights is socially progressive
R- Reasoning for this argument
+ The greatest impediment to the flourishing of human society is the exploitation of other animals at human hands
+ True in the case of unhealthy diets, of the habitual reliance on the "whole animal model" in science, and of the many other forms animal exploitation takes.
E- Mahatma Gandhi, NYTimes, Huffington Post
A- Analysis for this argument
+ Animals are equal in our society
+ Examples, pets, are important in our lives

Hola!

2011-08-03T11:33:00.001-07:00

Welcome to my personal blog, I'll be sharing some things, and check out the tabs above to see what I've been upto! I took this picture in London :)