Crowdfunding

 Over the last few years crowdfunding has become an increasingly common way of raising money for entrepreneurs. This practice consist of asking for a very little money -often the same amount that a coffee costs!- to a large number of people who are willing to support you or your idea.

 This method although it could seem silly or tedious has helped many people reach their objectives and earn a lot of money. It is mainly used by artists ,who don't usually earn enough on other online platforms to pursue their career, by small brands whose aim is to grow bigger, or by people who have a great idea but need certain budget to take it into action.

Furthermore, crowdfunding is highly used for solidarity purposes. Many ordinary people use it to ask for money to afford a medical procedure. However, there is a negative aspect about this; some people take advantage of the willing to help of people and lie about having an illness to earn money. This happens very rarely but there are cases when the person has obtained thousands of euros by a lie.

To sum up, as far a I am concerned, crowdfunding is an excellent way to help and support many careers, small business and help people. Nevertheless, it is important to know a little about the person you fund to make sure their project is real and avoid a scam. 

Time to be honest

In today's world it is of paramount importance to be honest, not just at school but at any other field. Moreover, not acting fairly can cause the lost of respect from others, for instance teachers, friends or family, to us. When the damage is done it is very difficult to forgive or forget a lie, thus we ought to avoid dishonesty and always tell the truth. 

As third term is almost starting we have to be more honest now than ever, we are almost at the end of the road and we don't want to throw all the work we have done away. Therefore we must work hard and do our best in order to finish the year with the grades we deserve for all our effort.

Being dishonest is in the long run worse than being genuine and not reaching your objetives. Firstly because you could get caught and you would have to face the consequences. Besides, if you take the easy way the problems will be accumulating so you won't be able to solve them all. Also, the selectivity exam ,which is an exam where it is impossible to cheat, will be the turning point for us who are in second of bachillerato.

To put it in a nutshell, it is the time to be honest. It is a very fulfilling feeling to know you have worked hard on something and you've made it. We have to make sure that when we finish the school year we can look back and be proud of ourselves.

Wearables to help and save patients

The advancement of technology has led us to a new way of supervising our own health, it is "wearable technology", and over the last five years it has become increasingly common. Not only do sport professionals use it to track their health , but also ordinary people and people with many types of disabilities. Some of these light-weight machines are also quite affordable, for instance, you can find watches with many useful functions for prices of around 30 euros.

These watches have many options which allow you to keep an eye on your heart rate (that helps you detect any kind of irregularities), they also count your steps while walking and motivate you to be more active in order to prevent a sedentary lifestyle, and they track your sleep. Furthermore they analyze all the data and give you feedback every day about your activity and overall health.

Moreover, this tech has many more uses, these little clocks can be highly useful for people with Alzheimer, as they can set alarms with the certainty that they'll see them everyday ,as they'd be wearing it. Also other kinds of wearable devices like sensors which can help people who suffer a stroke recover more rapidly, or clothing which can detect changes in cellular temperature to detect tumors earlier.

To sum up, technology is taking a major role in health, it cannot only help us to recover from a disease but also prevent us from it.

Homesickness

 Homesickness is something very common that people always experience when they leave their home and stay in a different country. This feeling of sadness and longing for one's home can make it harder to get used to the new place and to adapt.

This emotion is triggered when you remember your home, friends, family or even food, and you have the urge to go back. It can be a very overwhelming feeling but you need to be down to earth and realize that you are living a new unique experience. Stepping out of your comfort zone is never easy but at the end it is very rewarding.

Although going back home is always an option, you can do several things to improve your situation in a foreign country, in order to make it your new home. You can meet new people, visit interesting cities, try new things and learn about their culture, and of course you can contact your family and friends whenever you miss them.

In conclusion, it is okay to feel homesick. When I've been abroad and it has rained a lot I've missed the Spanish weather but it didn't last long and, now I feel homesick for the other country!

Sleep

 According to doctors, it is necessary to sleep 8-9 hours in order to be well rested and to maximize your productivity the next day. However, people seldom follow this recommendation. In fact, nowadays people sleep less and less, so we can perceive an increase in the number of cases related to sleep disorders , which has also grown exponentially after the lastest lockdown.

This lack of sleep is greatly affected by some factors, such as the blue lights of our screens, which have been proven to reduce the production of melatonin, leading into difficulties to fall asleep. These lights wouldn't be a problem if we did't use our smartphones or tablets two hours before going to bed, but the reality is that it's become a habit to check them right before sleeping.

Another factor is our diet, not only caffeine affects our sleep, but also fizzy drinks and sugar. So if we consume large amounts of that we will have trouble switching off.

Furthermore. Last lockdown completely modified our sleep schedule; we used to go to bed at 10pm one day and the next one at 3am, depending whether we were hooked on a good Netflix show or not. Some of us have got used to the routine again, but some others are having difficulties trying to adapt themselves.

Also, the concern of getting infected is making harder to sleep for some people.

To conclude, it could be said that we should make an effort to sleep at least 8 hours, because it has many benefices for our health and it will improve our concentration. 

Challenges

 What is life if not challenges? In our daily life we usually have no choice but to face different challenges. They might be stressful and overwhelming but, if we look at the whole picture, we do realize that those challenges are key events that build our character and define who we are today.

Every single person has to overcome its own challenge. It could be a personal one, like deciding to step out of your comfort zone, an academic one, like pushing your own limits and getting better and better grades, or a challenge caused by this pandemic; due to circumstances given, many people have to survive through this hard time and to fight many problems like unemployment.

In my case, this year holds me one of the most decisive challenges I have ever experienced, selectivity. To successfully achieve my goals I must dedicate as much time and effort as I can. 

Sometimes you have the temptation to abandon the challenge, when that happens you must keep in mind your motivation, in my case getting to my dream career, an then take a second and focus again, and never give up.

To sum up, Challenges are hard, but if you do your best and do not lose your hope you will probably make it. 

Damned 2020 is finally coming to an end!!!

 I believe we can all agree 2020 has been a very strange year from its beginning to its ending. It has drastically changed the way we live and our own mindset. We had to learn to limit our contacts as much as possible in order to protect them from the virus. That is a really big effort, but maybe this year has made us realise some other things.

On the one hand, this year has made us appreciate some things we had taken for granted. Now, we know the importance of true friendships, we learnt who is going to be by our side regardless of the situation and to value small details like a hug. We have become closer to our family, and now we have more respect for elderly people and our grandparents, as we have missed them and worried about them constantly. Moreover we must also highlight how positive has been the lockdown to our environment, we have proved that we can really do significant changes by slowing down of lifestyle.

On the other hand, this year started with the wrong foot. First, there was a horrible wildfire in Australia which destroyed a large portion of the "Earth's lung" and many animal lives. Second, there were some important tensions between the two giants, the US and China, which could have led to a third world war, but that thankfully stoped just in time. Third, the death of Kobe Bryant.  And finally, this pandemic we are in, and the lockdown. This has definitely been by far the worst part of the year, many people have died ,the unemployment rate is too high and every single person has had a though time.

To sum up, I will say there is hope. The vaccines will improve the situation and by the end of this new year the pandemic might be over. 2021 seems like is going to be a better year.