Austin's Blog

Mansa Musa was a very important Malian king back in the early 1300s. He was also the richest man to ever live. Mansa Musa introduced new forms of taxation and began mining in Mali to reach his absurd net worth of $400 billion US dollars. Mansa Musa was a kind and generous man. He would give away lots of money and treat his servants rather well. My question is, Why was Mansa Musa the most superior and powerful Malian king? Mansa Musa was also a devoted Muslim. He used his money to build mosques and spread the religion. He decided to undertake the hajj. The hajj is a holy pilgrimage to Mecca and is a duty of all able-bodied Muslims and is expected to be carried out at least on in their life time. Musa also made many changes to the government including, revamping the judicial system and dividing the empire into providences. Mansa Musa made a huge contribution to Mali and made many important changes to better the empire.

The  Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a very entertaining and well thought-out book. Junior is a young cartoonist living on a small Indian reservation. He was born with a few medical problems and was made fun of by everyone at school. Rowdy is Juniors best/only friend, besides his dog Oscar. At the beginning of the story Oscar was very sick and Junior's dad had to put him down. They had no money and couldn't pay for Oscar to get help. Junior had no money and was not happy with the life he was living. He tries to make the best of things for the moment. Him and his friend Rowdy have lots of fun together and try to forget about all their problems they are dealing with. This is a touching story and is a truly good read for someone who needs a laugh.

Dylan- Free Post   Landry- Free Post  

Evan- Is Water Wet? (free post) Thomas- Free Post: Snow Days

Juan and Ricardo are twins, both at the age of fifteen. These boys are from Mexico City, Mexico on a foreign exchange trip. The twins have never been on a plane before and have never traveled to the States before. When they heard about the foreign exchange program with a school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana they were eager to sign up. After Juan and Ricardo's parents were finished signing the permission slip and the check the boys grabbed their plane tickets and were heading to Louisiana. Both boys were very scared about getting on the plane, having it be their first time ever seeing one. After a few hours the boys had arrived in Baton Rouge. When they landed the school was greeted by their family they would be staying with for the next two weeks of their trip. When they all walked outside small, white, flurries of snow were falling from the dark sky. Juan and Ricardo freaked out, as well as the other students. This was the first time any of them had ever seen snow. This trip was th

I am researching Masa Musa. He was a king of Mali during medieval times. Information I am finding for Mansa Masa is quite repetitive and is difficult to expand on sub-categories. Overall my research it not going great, but not bad either. I am however interested in learning more about Mansa Masa. Finding information on other Malian kings of that time period will be more of a challenge. After finishing the annotated bibliography just the other day, I would hope the stages will get a little easier. I found the bibliography somewhat difficult. It was like speaking in a different language. I am curious to see how the notecards go without having any instruction given in class yet.

First off, switching schools this fall was a very exciting experience. I learned that I needed to take advantage of my free time and get as much school work done as I can. This is especially important if you play sports. I also learned no to wait till the last minute to start homework. Procrastination only serves as a temporary stress reliever and only builds stress when the due date comes. You will notice a change in some of your grades if you plan ahead and get started as soon as possible. Most importantly, you need sleep. What good does any of this do if you are too tired to participate in class and pay attention. My goal for the spring semester is to balance sports and school. I will try to get most of my homework done BEFORE practice so I can go to practice and then just go home and get a good night sleep. Above all, I will be working towards all As this semester.

At Episcopal for the most part, you have lots of time to complete your assignments and turned in on time. It is extremely helpful to have a study hall and even use your tutorial time wisely. Making the most out of your free time at school and getting your assignments done will create less stress and hopefully lead to better grades. However, some weeks can be more difficult than others. For example, if a break is coming up teachers may give out last minute assignments to get them in before the break. It is helpful to anticipate these weeks and even try to get ahead of your assignments if at all possible. Athletes, it is very important to stay on top of your schoolwork for a few reasons. One, time for homework is taken away due to after school practice. It is important to try to get as much work as possible done in school. Two, you have to do good on your assignments in order to maintain the grade in order to play your sport. Schoolwork seems to be picking up as the school year goes on