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Jonatan Pacheco-Barrera
Dr.Preston
Open Source Learning
8 June 2015
This year in thus course has been really different. Its like something that I havent gone
through in a class. Ive never gotten this much freedom and never been trusted by a teacher so
much like Dr.Preston has. At first I acted like any other high school student would and did
nothing. As the year went on it got boring. Doing nothing in class that I could be doing so much.
So I decide to grab the bull by the horns and take on Dr.Prestons challenge. I did my work.
Honored his word. If I dont say so myself I deserved and I am glad I took his offer and road it to
the bitter end. Others didnt take his offer and just did nothing and acted like any other high
school student would.
Fiction has been called "the lie that tells the truth." That is a little quote I found on my
teachers blog. Three books that I read this year that spoke out to me was Fahrenheit 451 by Ray
Bradbury, the Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, and Brave New World by Aldus Huxley.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury spoke to me because it talked about everyone being afraid to
learn and just following directions. This reminds me of high school. Having to listen to
directions all the time and students being afraid to learn something new. Then somewhere toward
the end you finally find someone that is willing to learn something new with you like I and Guy
Montag, main protagonist in the book, did. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger spoke to me
because Holden Caufield, the main protagonist in the book, is a trouble maker and not caring
what happens to him when he get expelled and all that stuff when youre a trouble maker. So all

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this related to me because when I was in Junior High I was a huge trouble maker and got
suspended. Last but not least Brave New World by Aldus Huxley spoke to me because of the
whole world and society is put into sections and people are used to using drugs. Kind of like
being in the real world that we live in today. Everyone saying they need to use marijuana to get
relived from there stress, but thats a bunch of crap.
A passion that I got reconnected to was refereeing soccer. I just got started doing it again.
On Saturdays in a recreational league and Now Sundays in a more competitive league, near
Tommies Kunst Jr High. Im going to keep learning this passion by going up more in ranks. Im
going to start doing clubs up next and hopefully when I graduate high school referee high school
soccer.
Something that made me laugh in class this year was every time someone would come
late to class Dr.Preston would chew them out and they would be so confused and not know what
to do or say that I found it to be super funny.
There was a lot of masterpiece presentations these past three weeks. A lot of really good
ones, mediocre ones, and, not to be mean, some bad ones. Including mine. Mine was terrible if I
dont say so myself. The masterpiece presentations that spoke out to me was Chase Kellys,
Emilio Zarates, Antonios, Isaiah Borjas, and Bridgette Lopezs. All these presentations were
really good because they all presented about something they loved or were passionate about.
Chase with rap. Bridgette with divorce, Antonio with racism, Isaiah with cutting hair, Emilio
with skateboarding. The way Isaiah looked when he was cutting hair and talked about it I knew
that he loved doing it. The way Bridgette talked about divorce and explained it. Also how open
she was to questions we asked. Antonio when he was talking on how he got discriminated here in
the U.S. and back in Mexico. Emilio when he messed up on a trick and fell, he would get up and

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try it again until he landed it. Last but not least Chase. When he rapped for us some of his verses
in class I knew he loved it. Also I would see him freestyling out at lunch.
Am I hero? Well Im not sure. A hero can be thought as a lot of things. They call Bruce
Jenner is now called a hero for become a transgender. When a U.S. soldier who lost an arm and a
leg in Afghanistan and is now a marathon runner comes runner of a hero. Im not sure what a
hero is. So in the standards of our society I am not a hero.
This year Ive witnessed many, many fallacies at my school. Appeal to authority. I dont
have a say in anything. Whatever the teacher says go theyre the adult they have the final word.
Appeal to tradition. Im not using the tablets because Ive always done it this way. Well we are
in the 21st century why not just never change your style and stay back in the dinosaur age.