Dead Poets Society

           Yesterday afternoon I was a in my house searching for something to watch on the TV, and I ran into this movie. “Dead Poets Society” is a 1989 movie directed by Peter Weir. It is set in Vermont, United States, at the Welton Academy campus. This is an isolated campus, thus the students should not have any contact with the outside world, according to the Academy rules. The movie occurs during the 1950’s, when the American society was very conservative. There, a group of seven students take an English course which is now being taught by professor John Keating (who also attended Welton during his youth), and his ways of teaching make his student’s views about life change.

The main character, Neil Perry, is an excellent student who lives under the constant pressure of his father to become a medicine doctor. But what Neil really desires is to become an actor, regardless of this father’s opinions. On the other hand, Todd Anderson just joined the Academy that year, and he is immediately compared to his older brother, who went there some years ago. He is a very shy person, and is afraid of speaking in public due to a stuttering problem.

Since the first day of the class, professor Keating shows that he is a different kind of teacher. He goes by the motto of “carpe diem” or “seize the day”. This concept goes deeply into his students minds. He challenges them to think by themselves, instead of following the conservative ideas of Welton. Neil takes the words of professor Keating seriously, especially when he finds in an old annual Keating’s picture with the words “dead poets society” under it. He does some research and discovers that the professor and a group of his classmates used to get together in a cave, where they would read poetry and talk about their hopes and dreams.

The seven boys, Neil, Todd, Knox, Charlie, Richard, Meeks and Pitts, go to the Indian cave, where they would get together during the following weeks, to read poetry, play music and have fun. The cave is a space where they can be themselves, express their own thoughts, and share with the group what is happening on their lives. They are very supportive of each other. Neil tells his partners that he will be acting on a Shakespeare play (he forged his father’s signature to join the cast), and he is very excited about it. The day of the presentation, he delivers a great performance, but his father gets very angry and decides to take him home to send him to a military school the very next day. Saddened by this, Neil takes his own life that same night.

During this confusing period after Neil’s death, the Academy leaders, which always disapproved professor Keating’s teaching methods, use him as a scapegoat and blame him for putting ideas into Neil’s mind, which eventually led him to his death. Mr. Keating is removed from his position as English teacher, but the group of students showed their support until the end. At the end of the movie, Todd becomes a new person; he is no longer shy and afraid of expressing his opinions publicly.

The movie shows how important the role of a teacher is to his students. The teaching methods of Mr. Keating challenged his students to think out of the box, to take the extra mile, and free themselves from the conservative ways of Welton. If a teacher does not take advantage of this position to influence positively his students, then his work is not complete. Taking chances on new ideas and methods is a commitment which all teachers must embrace, and it is guaranteed that his students will always be grateful for this decision.

by Andres Brenes

Costa Rica...

Costa Rica is a small country located in Central America. It is famous for many different things, such as ecology, tourism and the kindness of the Costa Rican people, but there is also another aspect for which the “ticos” are known for, its culture.

The Costa Rican culture embraces a variety of particularities that may seem strange to foreigners. For example, the way a tico will give you directions to get somewhere is very unique.

Even though most of the streets and avenues have names or numbers, people are not used to them, and they would refer to them using points of reference such as “de la pulperia de la esquina” (from the corner store) or “del antiguo higueron” (from the old fig tree). Let’s say you need to get to the nearest bank agency downtown and you ask someone in the street how to get there. He or she would say: “de aquella esquina que ve alla, camine 200 metros hasta llegar a una casa que tiene tapia blanca, de ahi son como 25 metros para abajo” (meaning from that corner you see over there, walk 200 meters until you reach a house with a white fence, from there it’s around 25 meters down). It will be a miracle if you don’t get lost, especially with the meter amounts. One block, regardless of its measure, will always be 100 meters. So be prepared to ask a lot to get to the bank agency.

            Another peculiar thing about ticos is their sense of time. This does not apply to all Costa Ricans, but there is a concept which is called “la hora tica” (the tico time). Let’s imagine that you would like to meet a friend to go for a cup of coffee and he tells you that he will see you at 3:00pm, “hora tica”. This means he will probably be from to 15 to 20 minutes late, at least. And it is not because he wants to, but most ticos would not be offended for his tardiness, most likely both will get there at the same time.

            Finally, some Costa Ricans tend to leave everything for the last possible minute. Procrastination is a rule for them. For example, on the last days of December you will see huge lines of people trying to pay their car’s registration or “marchamo”. It is very common to wait until the last day to do this. Only a few will pay this as soon as they can.

            But even with its peculiarities, although some of them may be thought of as flaws, the ticos will treat a tourist with a warm smile and respect. So don’t worry if you get lost a couple of times, or if you have to wait a few more minutes to meet someone, they will still make you feel as welcome as if you were home.

by Andrés Brenes



Differente Bad date Stories...!!!

Bad Story #1

Okay, I met this guy, we'll say Rick. Anyways I was 15 and he looked about 5 years older....which is what he told me. I didn't think it was gonna go past a date so when he asked me to dinner I accepted. The date was great, we went to see a scary movie which made me end up sitting in his lap with his arms wrapped around me. The date ended with a nice long kiss. We talked to eachother on the phone for hours each day. We saw eachother throughout the summer and got close but kept it to small dates. I had to go register for school and I saw him there. So I ran up to hug and kiss him and he wouldnt touch me. I shruged it off and got my stuff. I went home and called him and he said we couldn't see eachother anymore... I was crushed. First day of school came around...and I saw him... Turns out he's NOT only 5 years older...turns out hes about 15 years older and also my Geography teacher! It was SO embarassing! Everyone knew! It's the worst class of my life

Bad Story #2

I was about 13 or 14 at the time, and hadn't started dating boys yet. I was doutful as to wether I'd find someone who I liked, or who was as... slightly unusual as me ( my friends seem to think I'm a bit wacky. I guess they're right.). Anyway, some people decided to set me up with a friend of theirs who I'd never met. He was from a school which I thought of as full of stuck up prats, but I decided to give him a chance. Since it was my first proper date, I was quite excited, and we met for coffee that same week. Suffice to say the actual date was uneventful; we must have both been very awkward, and discussed music, politics, etc. Despite not finding him very interesting, I decided to contact him a few days afterwards, to see if he wanted to see me again. He seemed to think well of me, so I was surprised to recieve this message back: "Please don't contact me again as I plan to kill myself very soon. Goodbye." I didn't try and get back to him after that, and to this day I'm not sure what became of him. Perhaps "Let's just be friends" would have sounded better...

Bad Story #3

Ok.... This wasn't really a date, but It was still HORRIBLE!!! I went to a football game with a group of my friends and I was getting really depressed because everyone of them had a date, but me. Well this really hott guy walks up to me and starts complimenting me. I end up on his lap and he's all over me, but he was soooo sexy so I didn't mind. Well after the game, he was kissing me and hugging me, so I expected him to try to do something..... well he says he has to go and he kisses me and gets up to leave, but first gives me his number. So, the next day we texted like all day and I was waiting for him to ask me out, but he didn't. I then found out from one of my friends who knew him, that on the way home from the football game, he was all over another girl and they were going out!!!!!!!!!!!! I WAS SOOOO PISSED!!! Like 2 months later, I was at homecoming and I saw him there all over the other girl!!!!! And when he saw me, he says " oh hey, i think i remember you, vaguely...." nd then he walks away to make out with the other girl!!!!! I was CRUSHED. He pretended like nothing had happened between us!!!!! What an ASS!!!!!!!!!