This year, I'll be a returning EMC student, and I'll be sticking primarily to the same general topic at hand—that being Marxism. Exploring this subject last year, I discovered that it's one of the few things I enjoy doing voluntarily. Rather, it's something I prefer doing over most anything else. It's something I'll always try to find time to do during the week. Whether it be over lunch, before Volleyball matches, or at 2 a.m. on a restless night, I'll probably find the energy, curiosity, and motivation to inquire, listen, watch, and design all different sorts of things involving my topic at hand. The difficulty level of my classes and the stresses they'll bring will probably be worse than last year, but hopefully not much more. I'll have those initial few months focused more on college applications, but even then, I'm anticipating a bit of the load. I'll also be taking AP Calculus BC, which I predict will be a bit of a struggle based on my older sister's experience. Outside of school, I'll be involved in similar activities as last year from school and club Volleyball, extra French classes, piano, and potentially a job (if I can get hired). The biggest problem I faced last year concerning EMC was that I was sometimes too willing to put my curiosity above the basic demands of other classes. I enjoy the rabbit holes I sometimes fall into, but it often gets in the way of other classes, and will probably be something I'll have to deal with again this year.
My favorite TV show would probably have to be Invincible, which can be found on Amazon Prime. Invincible is an adult animation series that's set in a society where a privileged few people are born with superpowers and grow up to become saviors of the world. It follows the life of a high school boy whose father is one of the strongest and most well-known superheroes alive. As the protagonist, named Mark, grows and develops his powers, he faces the struggles of meeting his father's high expectations while also uncovering his dark truths. I can see myself relating to Mark, but not directly. Personally, I feel like I've disappointed my parents enough to the point where I don't feel overburdened. There are times when the mess in my room, the mood I'm in, and my presence in the house disappoint my parents, and obviously then disappoint me. But I feel like what I relate to Mark the most is his sense of confusion, indirection, and insecurity. He knows what his father wants from him, but he doesn't know what he wants from himself. He's not sure if the life of a superhero for which he's worked all his life is the dream of his father or of his own. I can relate to that, just like probably almost everyone else. It even goes down to the most insignificant little things, like making my bed. I ask myself, "Am I placing this pillow on this side of the bed so that I'm more organized for when I go to bed, or so that my dad doesn't go off on another of his half-hour rants on how making my bed in the morning is just as important as drinking my glass of freshly squeezed orange juice?" I feel like it's a bit of both, but in the end, I do think it's good parenting. I remember years ago, someone once told me that I was fortunate that I had parents who let us eat fast food only once every three weeks. I was confused at the time because I used to think french fries deserved to be eaten every day, but I now realize what they meant. Who raises you, and the standards they hold you at really define who you become, especially who you expect yourself to become.

Last year, my biggest challenge with EMC concerning motivation was organization. I had enough curiosity to have the motivation to study and explore, but because I wasn't organized, I felt like a mess. I had a goal in mind, but the path always ended up being the rockiest one. And because the path constantly strayed, my goal always got foggy towards the end, leaving me with not much time to accomplish my initial goal. I don't really have a specific favorite memory of inside a classroom from last year, though I do have a time period of a certain class that I did really enjoy. I remember that at the beginning of my junior year, in my AP English Language class, we held what was called "Socratic seminars". The whole class would participate in a discussion on typically a very philosophical question. It reminded me a lot of the discussions I would have with my father on car rides or at family dinner time. As for my favorite memory outside of school, it'd probably have to be the time my father and I went to visit Stony Brook University. It wasn't the visitation that stood out, but rather the time we spent together at the beaches and walking around. I was the designated driver at the time because he had neck problems, so it bothered him whenever he drove. I remember almost getting into a car crash at some point... but we still got back in one piece, and that's what matters.
The traditional way of grading I think is fair. But how we approach the concept of what is being graded is where I think it should differ. Regarding tangible things like academic studies and comprehension, a common standard for the general public should be relatively fair. I sort of view it as climbing a mountain. The peak of the mountain will always be the same for everyone (in the case of grading, the numeric value of expectation should be held equivocally to everyone), but how one reaches the peak varies. Some prefer taking the harder and more direct path, while others prefer the easier but lengthier path. Having grown up in a world where we evaluate our academic successes based on numbers, I can't imagine a world without it. I had a short experience in a world where our assignments were graded not on numbers but on whether or not we passed. What I found was that my motivation dropped. Instead of trying my best on each assignment, I'd put in just enough effort for it to be considered a "pass". I think numeric grades help me with a goal and with motivation.
What I'm looking forward to the most this year is firstly being able to meet up with my friends that I haven't been able to meet up with yet over the summer. Secondly, I'm excited for it to be my last year of high school, and to have that senior experience. I'm afraid of possibly becoming infected with senioritis towards the end of the year, but I intend to try and fight it off. Lastly, I'm looking forward to college applications. I know the next coming months are going to be extremely stressful, but just thinking about the following years and living that college experience helps with distraction. I want to pursue what I like, and find people who have the same passions as me and who can both guide me and struggle beside me. I plan to have everything done and submitted by November, leaving Thanksgiving stress-free. Though I won't be able to do anything to get rid of the fog of anticipation hanging around Christmas and New Year for acceptance letters, I'll be hoping that the hard work I'll be putting in in these coming months will pay off by then.

This year, I knew that I wanted to continue with Marxism. I spoke a lot with my dad about ideas I had, and I remember that at first, I was thinking of doing a similar analysis I had done with Cuba last year, but this time with China or Russia. Then, my father gave me the idea of maybe instead doing Italy. Being an Italian, it's close to home. It was also an opportunity to get to know Gramsci much more. I had heard of his name already before since he was the one who coined the term "hegemony", but I never really fully grasped what the word meant and who Gramsci and his philosophy were. Over the summer, listening to many podcasts, I also realized just how intertwined the history between Socialism and Fascism was. Socialism, a concept that can pretty much be traced all the way back to Thomas More's book Utopia, gave the path to the birth of Fascism, which was unearthed in Italy by the infamous Mussolini. But, if there's one thing that I really got out of the loads of podcasts and books I've given a glance to over this past summer, it's that it is all very complex, and something that would require a lot of analysis. Having the background knowledge I now have of Marxism, mixed in with the vague understanding of Italian history, it's probably a hefty topic for this year. I'll be sticking with only 20th-century Italian-Marxist thinkers, while also taking into account the political and social issues of that time period. I'll be trying to stick to Marxism, but from what I can gather thus far in my research is that it's going to be almost impossible to stray clear of any talk about Fascism. Fascism has had an important part in the Italian history of politics in the 20th century, and it was the ruling political party during the time of Gramsci, so it's expected for it to have contributed to his thinking.

1. What is Antonio Gramsci's philosophy, and how does it compare to the PSI's ideology?

2. What was the PSI's and/or PCI's relation to other self-declared communist regimes in the 20th century (in particular Russia)?

3. What is the correlation between Fascism and Socialism?