The Musical Interpretation

A music video of Sting's song, 'Why Should I Cry for You'.


'Why Should I Cry for You' is a part of an album called The Soul Cages, which is dedicated to Sting's father, who had then recently passed away. According to Sting's autobiography, his father always wanted to be a sailor, which explains all nautical elements in the lyrics. Enjoy :)

A New Type of Song

I don't know if you know the singer/songwriter Sting. Do you? I'm guessing you would have heard of him at least once. This is one of his songs. I don't listen to his songs very often, but when I do, I repeat it over and over again because it is so good. Here is one that you might try reading. His lyrics are powerful and poetic, characteristics which is not as evident in the songs of today.

Why Should I Cry For You - Sting

Under the dog star sail
Over the reefs of moonshine
Under the skies of fall
North, north west, the Stones of Faroe

Under the Arctic fire
Over the seas of silence
Hauling on frozen ropes
For all my days remaining
But would north be true?

All colours bleed to red
Asleep on the ocean's bed
Drifting on empty seas
For all my days remaining

But would north be true?
Why should I?
Why should I cry for you?
Dark angels follow me
Over a godless sea
Mountains of endless falling,
For all my days remaining,

What would be true?

Sometimes I see your face,
The stars seem to lose their place
Why must I think of you?
Why must I?
Why should I?
Why should I cry for you?
Why would you want me to?
And what would it mean to say,
That, "I loved you in my fashion"?

What would be true?
Why should I?
Why should I cry for you?

Do you think you can relate to this song? Personally, I find it not very easy to understand. What do you think he is trying to say?

A Reminder for Kids Who Are Using Wordpress

For those of you who are writing with wordpress.com instead of blogger.com, you might want to know that for the TAs' or the teachers' comments to show up in public, you need to 'moderate' the comments. You can moderate the comment by email, since wordpress.com will send you an email asking you to moderate a comment when someone comments. Or you can just visit your blog and review the comments people have left. You can easily moderate your comments on your blog as well. If you don't moderate the commments, it will look like no one has commented on your post when people already have.

KMLA Speech Contest Script

In June, KMLA also held an English Speech Contest. Though I know most of the selection process is over, I thought it may be interesting for you to read speeches. Here is mine:

The word ‘passion’ has been bothering me lately. For me, it carries a lot of weight. It implies energy, extreme enthusiasm, and perseverance all kneaded together and sprinkled with―if I may say so―a pinch of insanity on top. In all honesty, I want to be a passionate person. Not that I would cut off a piece of my ear to present to my mistress like Van Gogh―indeed, that is sheer madness and that kind of behavior should be professionally treated―. But I do covet his passion and do admire what he did with his life in general.

To have passion for something seems to be one of the more important things in living out life. I am sure that at one point or another, people have felt what they feel they can rightfully dub as passion. You suddenly are fascinated by something, like an academic subject or activity; you cannot wait to spend time with something or someone; you feel like you would be able to engage in a certain activity for the rest of your life and you would never tire of it. I, too, have had these experiences. But nothing lasts for me. At the end, I am always left empty-handed.

It was always embedded somewhere inside me―don’t ask me when, because I couldn’t tell you―but it was always embedded somewhere inside me that I was supposed to find some yearning or hunger within myself. But I just can’t. And so I’m lost, because I cannot figure out where I am supposed to be heading. That’s when I started to become mixed up about everything. I used to want to study economics and policymaking. Now the wind has blown out of those sails because of the confusion and I find myself starting, from the very beginning, all over again.

 Don’t get me wrong. I am not a depressed person. On the contrary, I enjoy what I do on a daily basis; I love my friends and I try to love my work. I also love learning new things and having wonderful mentors around to help me when I have difficulties.

It is just that, paradoxically, this lack of passion for anything everything worries me, to the point that the worries eat away at the activities themselves. And at least one of these activities is the one for which I feel I should possess passion. I have never been able to exactly place what I am looking for. I guess I simply couldn’t grasp what passion means to me or to other seemingly passionate people. I was asking myself things like “What am I supposed to be passionate about?” “Why am I not pursuing something with fervor?” “Why do I feel so much at a loss for everything?” My head was constantly aching to locate answers for those kinds of unsubstantial yet very disturbing questions. It reached the point where I had to force myself not to contemplate such questions in order to focus on my everyday duties. Does this seem strange to you? Or is there some common ground between you and me?

Then, quite unexpectedly, I came across a potential answer key. It was on the morning of May 10^th, 2012, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She was an alumnus, completing her graduate studies at the university. Now, I don’t think she actually meant to solve my problem. But in her answer I did manage to find a crucial piece to the puzzle. Listen and see if you can find what I found in what she said: Passion is not something you feel. It certainly isn’t possible for the most passionate of people to function solely on the basis of their enthusiasm every single day. But if there is one thing that is common with the people who have a lasting passion for something, it is their consistency in doing their given work. That consistency is what prepares them for their future pursuit of what they are passionate about.

That is what she said. I wonder if you can all easily agree to that. That real passion is not something you feel? Can you? I could. I could, because I knew that any kind of emotional passion that I went through was temporary. This probably is not true for many of you. Then it stands to reason that I still have yet to find my own passion―that is, I had to give myself more time and prepare. Something that is obvious, but I had been looking in all the wrong places. When you cannot make heads or tails of a problem, it is often advisable to start working on the next problem instead. I had been exerting myself on the passion problem for way too long, and it was interfering with the rest of what was on my plate. What she told me then also gave me the initiative to move on, to let the passion problem be for a while, because I wouldn’t get a solid answer anyway at seventeen years of age.

If you are able to identify with the difficulty that I had, then I sincerely hope that what I passed on to you was of some help. Life as a freshman in KMLA is peppered with freak-outs like the one I went through just a few weeks ago. I am told it is natural. For those of you who are in the midst of one of the freak-outs, I would like to say one thing: Seek and you shall find. Thank you.

Reflective Essay: Adora Svitak's Lesson

This is my own version of your third assignment, "writing a reflective essay". I hope you find it helpful. I wrote my essay on Adora Svitak's presentation. Here is the video:

The famous writer of children's books, Dr. Seuss, once said that "Adults are obsolete children." Adora Svitak would certainly agree. She says, "There is a problem with this rosy picture. Children grow up to be adults, just like you." During her presentation, she explains the power that the children have, as people who have the capacity to go beyond the norm. She argues that the learning process between children and adults should be reciprocal. When children are respected as they ought to be, she says, these children will become better adults than the existing older generation―and that is how change can take place.

I, too, am still a child. A grown-up friend of mine is a person who practices Adora Svitak’s beliefs. Even though she is over forty years old, she listens to kids from junior high when it comes to seeking advice. Reciprocally, she is an advisor to many teenagers. She tells me that she learns a lot from talking to me, as well as other teens. Whenever I ask her opinion for different issues I have difficulty dealing with, I find her words insightful and wise. She is the sort of person that understands what I am trying to say. And after listening to Adora Svitak, I am convinced that my friend’s wisdom stems from her willingness to listen to children, and from her deep-set acknowledgement that the children have the ability to see what adults cannot.

It is not easy for older people to listen to the young. I have a younger brother, who has the power to see from a different side. However, I find it very hard to pay attention to him when he gets didactic. The fact that he is trying to teach me how to behave irritates me, especially in the times when I am under duress. From experience, I could tell you that my brother’s intuitive sense that is unique to young children has always helped. Only a couple of years ago, I was in conflict with some of the members in the school council. I sought help from everywhere―parents, teachers, and peers. The one I heard last was my brother’s advice. He surprisingly told me that I should start listening more. This simple piece of logic helped me get through the difficult times and accomplish things I would never have thought possible.

Adora Stivak’s lesson is of the sort which almost everyone understands and can relate to. In that way, her delivery was effective. The sad part is that it is not easy to carry her lesson out into practice. How can children teach adults and teachers like they are being taught? The important point is to start listening to one another, children to adults and adults to children. When they begin to respect each other for the abilities the other has, they will be able to learn reciprocally. Let us not waste the capacity that children have. Rather, let us nurture it and encourage it so that it will become an asset, not only for the children, but for the adults as well.

Introductory Post

Hello. My name is Sohyeon Park, and I am your new TA for the second half of GLPS. I hope you're enjoying the stay here. I am a freshman here at KMLA and an international fields student, which means that I will probably apply to a college abroad when I am a senior. I write for the school English newspaper and am part of EDS, the debate club.


I am at e111 at almost all times, and will only be too happy to help you with any questions you have. I will be reading your posts and tagging up comments as well. If the comments don't make sense, or if you have any questions at all, do tell me, preferably in person.

I'll see you around :)