Category Archives: March 2015

March 2015

March 2015

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A Firsthand View of St. Patrick’s Day

March 2015,

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www.techfeast.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/St-Patricks-Day-2015-Image.jpg

Kiss Me, I’m Irish! Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th

I never heard (sadly?) that slogan while growing up Irish just north of Boston some years ago, though years later I remember seeing it on buttons people wore around St. Patrick’s day. We celebrated rather quietly in my family, my brothers and sisters and I wearing some green to school and my mother preparing a “boiled dinner.” This meant corned beef boiled with potatoes, cabbage, carrots and turnips. I loved the saltiness of the beef, but the greasy cabbage not so much.

Also, around this holiday, my mother would bake Irish bread made with buttermilk which made it moist and baking soda which made it rise and left a faint metallic taste. It also had raisins to sweeten it and thin seeds, caraway seeds, that had a strong piquant taste. I sometimes picked these out.

So that’s how we celebrated in my family, nothing exceptional, mostly commemorating the day by eating Irish food. As I grew older, I heard about a big parade in a very Irish neighborhood of Boston, and that many Irish Americans and their friends used the day as an excuse to drink a lot. Either way, quiet or noisy, though the day was meant to honor St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, I believe that now and then Irish-Americans celebrate this day to remember where their parents and grandparents came from—the Old Sod, the Emerald Isle, Ireland! As the saying goes, we’re all Irish on March 17th.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!
May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back . . .
And, until we meet again, may God hold you
in the palm of his hand.
An Irish blessing

By Genevieve Ferrick

Boston Breaks Snow Record 2014-15

March 2015,

We made it! The 2014-15 season was the snowiest season ever in Boston!
Surprisingly, we have received 110.3 inches of snow this year. The previous historical record was in 1995-96, 107.6 inches.

Boston snow
The National Weather Service posted this on their Twitter account when the record was broken on March 15th, 2015 (twitter.com/NWSBoston/status/577246272630980608/photo/1)

We missed a total of 5 school days; it was indeed too much snow.

Do you remember? The MBTA stopped for a week and we suffered trying to go to school...
I seldom do exercise, so it was good exercise walking everyday.

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Snowing!
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Wow!
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Where is the rail!?
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I found a car in a snow bank...

Photo credits:Rina Hirate

CELOP You-Speak: What did you do Spring Break 2015?

March 2015,

We wanted to know what CELOP students did during the Spring Break.  Did they stay in Boston?  Did they leave Boston, and go somewhere warm?  What did they do, and where did they go?  We asked them during lunch break on the first day back!

Times Square!  Because of the screens, you think it's day, but it's night. And we went to the wax museum. The best in the wax museum was Taylor Swift. - Abdulaziz Aldamashqi

Boring. I stayed here! I have to apply to university. I walked around the city and took pictures of the Charles River, and Coolidge Corner. Not so special. - Pongthep (Paul) Termthaimongkol

I went with my cousins to New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Chicago. In New York, I went to many places, like the wax museum Times Square, and Central Park. We took a boat around the city. The weather was warmer than Boston, so I liked it - Ziyad Alqahtani

I stayed here, but I went to Wrentham  Village! I read several books . I could spend a relaxed time in Boston. - Abdullah Aljelani

I stayed in Boston; I went shopping without my children. - Alaa

I went to New York, and visited the Statue of Liberty - Ibrahim

I stayed in Boston and went shopping - Korotoumou

I stayed in Boston with my family and visited a mountain - Claudia

I went to Stowe, Vermont. I went to the top of the mountain and saw the city - Nadia

I stayed in Boston. I stayed in bed after I woke up for three hours - Mohammed

1st annual Spring Break Photo Contest – Results

March 2015

The people have spoken!  Here are the winners of the 1st annual CELOP Sun Spring Break Photo Contest!

1st Place

Photo Contest 2015-1
by Indira Yessimova

2nd Place

Photo Contest 2015-39
by Tarek Aldawalibi

3rd Place

Photo Contest 2015-28
North Church by Eyas Baslouh

4th Place

Photo Contest 2015-17
Passage to Success by Aisha Al-Hafeez

We would like to recognize other photos  we really liked, but that didn't get as many votes.

The Southernmost Point - Nothing says warm and balmy weather quite like Florida and the beach.  How about this image submitted by Huiyan (Jessica) Yu, taken at the southernmost point of the Continental USA? We really like the composition and the colors of this photo! Jessica's open arms seem to highlight the vast expansiveness of the ocean while also welcoming in the warm weather of spring, and of course "here I am at the southernmost point!"  Rina Hirate had a similar idea, and got the 5th most votes for it in this picture.

Photo Contest 2015-7
by Huiyan (Jessica) Yu

Nature Walks - This photo by Abdulaziz Aldamashqi  is a preview of the nature walks to come when the weather is warmer! The below photo taken by Faisal Alsaedi shows a beautiful sunset over rolling mountains and lush greenery.

Photo Contest 2015-15
By Faisal Alsaedi

Winter Melts Away - Most of the above photos were taken outside of Boston.  Let's recognize these great photos for trying to capture the coming of spring in Boston!  In this photo, flower buds overlook receding snow banks exposing soil and vegetation.

Photo Contest 2015-18
Bird Eye View of Buds - by William Cole-French

A warm thank you to everybody who submitted photos!  It was not easy capturing spring.  You either had to travel somewhere, or get really creative in Boston.  But you did it!  Let us know what you thought about the process in the comments section below.  If you want to see all of the photo submissions again, visit the album on the CELOP facebook page.

How to Create a Portfolio

March 2015,

Do you know some majors in the best universities require a great portfolio when you're applying. I strongly believe that students should search what their dream universities require.  It is a small thing to do, but it is a big deal. In this article I will list many reasons for creating a portfolio when you are studying English.

First of all, the admission department needs more information about your past work. They  already have access to your undergraduate transcripts but they need more details.  When I wanted to apply for the top 100 universities in Digital Media, they asked me about my portfolio. However, I had never completed one, so I asked some friends and they helped me to start one. Furthermore it is an easy way to show everyone what  you have done in life, such as design work, media work, fashion, journalism, photography, and art.

When you begin, you have to make a plan for how to create a portfolio in a short amount of  time. Below you can find 9 steps to do it.

portifolio

Alumna Interview with Grace Huang

March 2015

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Photo of Grace; Grace Huang
Photo of Boston Terrier: bucultureshock.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/welcome.jpg
Interview of Grace Huang by Katja Davidoff
My experience at CELOP was very great and I would never forgot the time I spent there. Studying at CELOP helped me improve my English and get to know more about American culture and people.  I also really like the lecturers at CELOP. They are all nice, kind and friendly. Definitely YES. CELOP provided useful courses for learning English. Through morning core course I had a chance to improve my listening, reading, speaking and writing skills. From my afternoon elective courses I could choose the topics I was interested in studying. I chose Readings in the Social Sciences because that gave me some general ideas about global social issues. My favorite activity at CELOP was the field trip to Rhode Island. It was an excellent experience and I got to hang out with classmates outside of class. There were different activities every week that students could join. It was very fun learning English at CELOP. In my class, my instructors led us to learn English through playing. It was a simple way to learn, but it was effective. Another memorable event was the Salem project trip. I went to Salem with my group during Halloween season and researched the stories and the history of Salem. Then, we gave a presentation about Salem and our experience. At CELOP there are so many people from different corners of the world. I did not know a lot about the Middle East. There I met a lot of students from that part of the world and became friends with them. Through them I learned more about their culture. The advice I want to give current students is: "Don’t be afraid to speak!" The best way of learning a language is by using it and the easiest way to use a language is by speaking it. Feel free to have a conversation with someone you don’t know, then you will learn more. Learning a language is interesting! Enjoy it!
Photo Credits
Photo of Grace Huang from Grace Huang
Boston Terrier - bucultureshock.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/welcome.jpg

Why Choose CELOP?

March 2015

Why students across the world choose CELOP?

On Friday the 13th I got an email…

Here I need to say that an awful lot of people don’t like Friday the 13th and some of them superstitiously try to stay at home on this very day. There is a special and hard to pronounce word for this category of people – friggatriskaidekaphobia!

Not me! I love this day because Friday is a holy day for every Muslim and 13 is one of my favorite numbers. And it is exactly this day as I mentioned before, that I got an email. I was thrilled because it was a very important message. I took a deep breath and I could finally open the email.  And yes it happened; I saw the long-awaited message from the University – “Congratulations - you are admitted to Harvard University" OMG !!!! Does anyone understand that people are suffering from friggatriskaidekaphobia?

Okay, lets skip it! It doesn’t really matter. But the point is, and I think everybody knows, that getting into Harvard is a demanding task and it requires tremendous work. I used to work very hard, but I think that there are a lot of ingredients involved in every success story. Aside from some personal characteristics, everyone needs a decent level of English, good essays, helpful advice and some cheerful words during the daunting time of the application process. All of the invaluable and effective assistance I generously received was from my teachers and the personal staff at CELOP.

My teacher this spring semester, Marsha Dean, recently asked us in our Core class - "What is happiness?" I think there are many possible interpretations, and I could say that perhaps happiness is the opportunity to meet good people.

I am happy because I have met a lot of good people at CELOP. My first semester at school was exciting and gave me a lot of experience. I admired my first teachers at CELOP - brilliant Kim Perkins and Imelda Stoffregen. I still remember when Kim told us in class once upon a time – “You’d better practice how to write academic essays at CELOP because it might be too late and more painful at Universities”. Don’t you think that this was very wise advice!?!

Not surprisingly I hit it off with Imelda very quickly because of her natural kindness and patience. She sparked our interest in public speaking, how to start using English with good pronunciation and rich vocabulary.

I could endlessly write about Imelda and Kim, and also about Amelia Onorato, who is the best teacher I have ever known for the IELTS, Judith Di Leo, whose priceless advice helped numerous students at CELOP to get into desirable universities in the United States, Irene Maksymjuk, Shelley Bertolino…..

I know for sure that there are other very strong and brilliant teachers at CELOP. Our teachers from my point of view comprise the Alpha and Omega of the CELOP success story. It is the organization, which attracts people wishing to improve the English language from all corners of our planet. I know it for sure because there are no lucky or unlucky numbers or days. There is only the great art of our teachers giving their students “the pure gold” of their knowledge for everyone from CELOP to take. Don’t miss your lucky chance to learn and experience CELOP.

By Yerkin Tukumov

My Mother’s Guiding Light

March 2015,

Burning ever so brightly, my mother’s light saves me

from the hardships I face daily, the fires I put out;

That beacon streams through the darkness and calls me to reflect

on troubles that beset me, those I cannot neglect;

my mother shines her goodness, nurtures my soul, and replenishes my cup,

because she and I are of the same heart, the same heart, the same heart,

the one that guides us through to the other side.

Thank you, mom.

 

Maria Palermino

October 30, 2014

 

 

Robots

March 2015

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Have you ever become tired of doing your house work? Bored of washing your dishes after a party or of going shopping on a busy day? Have you ever been embarrassed about having to ask your family and friends for help with a lot of things? Don't worry, the solution to all your problems is coming. We will all have robots in the near future, and our lives will become less arduous than before.

The word "robot" comes from a Czech word, which was first used in 1921*, by the writer Karel Čapek. It means hard work in the Czech language. A robot is a machine that is programmed by humans using various computer languages such as Assembly, C++, and Python, and which have varying degrees of freedom and autonomy.

In the past, robots were only used for laborious jobs. For instance, they were used in factories for heavy lifting or to do dangerous jobs. However, nowadays robots are used in a variety of fields. For example, they are used in hospitals to diagnose illnesses, to investigate biohazards, and some have even been sent into outer space.

On the other hand, we need robots to become integrated into our daily lives. We need them to help us clean, fold our clothes and cook for us because sometimes it is impossible to take care of everything that needs to be taken care of! We need help; we need things done on time and without the hassle of obligations that accompany asking favors of others.

People with disabilities could also use robots to help them. For example, some robots are designed to aid blind people with everyday activities, such as simply guiding them around  town.

In fact, each kind of robot is different from the next. Some are designed for very specific jobs, and some are designed to be more all-purpose.

Despite the commonly held opinion that robots are mainly used to vacuum people's floors, there are companies today that make many kinds of robots, even ones that can play the violin.

Companies today produce a wide range of robots, which are used to carry out a wide variety of tasks. In Japan, there are companies that make robots to guard premises, entertain people, and which have many more capabilities.

In short, robots are going to infiltrate deeper into every aspect of our lives, so we need to make sure that they have a positive effect in our lives and in society.

* 1921 source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot

Picture source: www.pcworld.es/archive/toyota-presenta-un-robot-violinista-y-una-silla-de-ruedas-que-sigue-a-su-propietario