Walking into the locker room about to get ready to go to our last football game of the season. I could smell the sweaty equipment from the kids who never take their pads home. The Hempfield Spartans 7th grade team would be ending their season 0-7 if we didn’t win today. As I was changing into my pads my friend mike walked in the room. I said “you ready for tonight”. “Heck yeah” replied Mike.…
Change. From the first breath inhaled to the last, we change hundreds, thousands, of millions of times throughout the entirety. These changes may not always be so obvious, whereas others are blaringly distinct. Change is inevitable, especially as the environment, technology, economy, and people develop. Us, human beings, we are flexible, able to adapt and survive. However, as we adapt to these changes, we can not let these changes compromise our beliefs and principles by which we abide and hold close to our hearts.…
In chapter 12, the key event to me was when Claudia and Finn talked to each other through the keys. I felt many emotions when reading their interaction one of them being happy. I felt happy when they talked to each other because it was a turning point in the story in my opinion. I also felt surprised because at first, I thought by having two keys, there would be a lock that would need both keys to hear and speak to each other. I also felt confused by the way they conversed; How could they now hear each other but not before. I think by having one key being touched, the other key can hear because on page 153 Claudia says she breathed and rubbed on the key making it warm and on page 154 Finn says when he touches the key it's warm.I like the way the author wrote the scene from both perspectives, it gave us the readers a clearer understanding of how both Finn and Claudia felt. I also like how the author described the way both keys affect each other and have a "key" connection.…
This connection that I have with my mother is a dime a dozen if you look at our entirely culture here in America. Less and less families these days actually cook or sit down to eat a meal together which has left many Americans searching for something they have lost. This lost feeling is being capitalized on by television networks by the vast amount of cooking and food related shows that are being broadcasted. Frank Bruni asks in “An Experts Theory of Food Television Appeal”, “For these young people, does the televised cooking have have the appeal of a missive from a lost utopia” (Bruni 111)? I believe he hit the proverbial nail right on the head with this line of questioning and he couldn't be more correct. Young adults who lead busy lives,…
Throughout my seventeen years, I have met and dealt with various groups of people with diverse ethnic backgrounds from school or through my volunteer activities. However, nothing prepared me for my summer job at the new local Walmart store. The first day of my first paying job was also the grand opening day for Walmart at the Dulles Landing store. I have met countless employees and customers with so many different backgrounds and cultures, who communicate with each other in so many different languages. The whole atmosphere at the Walmart store feels like I am in the middle of the busy World Market. There are countless demanding and exasperated customers that I deal with each day at the customer service counter. Through this experience,…
I am the eldest of three to a school teacher and professional musician turned deli clerk. I grew up on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. Like most of my classmates, I qualified for free or reduced lunch. It is difficult for families to find any house to rent year-round, never mind a safe one. I remember in one house we weren’t allowed to jump, or run for fear the floor collapsing. I had classmates who didn’t have enough to eat; one of my best friends in middle school was a foster child whose mother struggled with addiction. I was among the few who, though poor, was well cared for and loved by my happily married parents. I believe that in a “civilized” society no one should have to struggle for the most basic necessities. At first, I was not…
Based on the first day, I loved it and don’t want to go back to the United States for a while. There were prestigious architectures, exciting activities, and many unusual animals. Growing up in India wouldn't be the worst possible life and I wouldn't run out of activities to do for sure. Although, poverty is a big issue nationwide and needs to be brought to the government's attention. Many families are walking the streets, asking other people for money to buy clothes, a house, and provide a life for their children. After the first day life is surely not the same in India as it is in the United States. Some girls in India aren’t thoroughly educated, females aren’t treated the same as males, a caste system is still existing in certain areas,…
I tried my best to fit in but arriving at a completely new area and having to make new friends was an extremely scary thought for me. I didn’t know anyone, I didn’t have any friends, and I felt isolated. All I wanted to do was go back to California to the familiar faces I left behind. As the year progressed, I was forced to break my shell and interact with others in my class gradually becoming more confident in myself and making new friends. The internal battles I had to endure in me becoming more social eventually taught me not to be afraid to build relationships. Learning this at an early stage was very beneficial to me because now I am not afraid to talk to complete strangers and even befriend…
Was there an event in your life that changed the way you act as an American. There have been many events that have shaped my American identity. The event that has really shaped my identity the most was the Sandy Hook school shooting. This event has made me be more mindful of my choices. It has changed the way I live my life and how people see me today in many ways.…
Identity and personality are what makes each individual unique. Everyone has experimented different life periods which come with different life experience. Self-identity develops who we are and how we are shaped into the person we are today. In my 16 years I have learned life lessons that come from past experience and that have influence on me in many different ways.…
Samuel, I really enjoyed your post as I like hearing about other people’s family history since mine is so diverse. With your skin tone, eyes, and hair I can see why someone may say you look Hispanic. At least you take it in stride. Today, too many people get offended when someone calls them the wrong race or ethnic origin. It is really good that you continue your family’s tradition of cooking Greek and Italian dishes and I hope your children continue that. My family has been in this country so long and has so many nationalities in the mix that we have Southern traditions instead of a specific country. I do enjoy researching my family’s history. I do not have anyone famous in my family so far, but my great-great grandfather, Private John Henry Gwathney, did manage to survive the Civil War while serving under General Nathan Bedford Forrest.…
Ever since I was born, I was a military brat. Not knowing where to call home, or if any place could be home, I moved. I moved six times, four of those places were towns that nobody could think about. Germany, North Carolina, Alaska, North Carolina, Germany, and Alaska, yet no place to call home. May 22, 1999, my first day on this world; Kronach hospital had its first American baby in their hands, yet they acted like I was a different species. The only event I remember was when I was about one. While I was one, I grabbed everything in my reach, even a grill handle. As a baby, I did not know that the handle was moving, the grill top had smashed my thumb. Ever since that event, I now have a starfish mark on the side of my right thumb from where the stiches were.…
It is an awakening, a revival, and the beginning of a wondrous journey. This was my first day in United States, I felt lonesome and desolate, these emotions were just like a monster that destroyed all my positive thoughts. Language and culture differences made me nervous and frustrated, and also hindered me from being able to integrate into the new environment. I was reticent and apathetic when I first entered school and since I don’t talked a lot, only a few classmates wanted to be close to me. I wanted to have more friends, but I didn’t know what to do so I waited for people to come to me. Apparently later, nobody came up and made friend with me. I realized that waiting was not helpful, stepping up and talking to people could eventually benefited me more than any other things. So I started to open myself to people around me and be affable, communicative, and helpful to them. Gradually, my personality became more outgoing and enthusiastic, some people liked to talk to me and some even wanted to share their ideas, opinions to me. My life is becoming interesting and exciting, everyday I get to know various people and enrich myself by learning from them. My experience of language and culture was just as my social life where I afraid to talk and ask. It was unacquainted in the first time when I asked question to a person in the street. But several times of trying and practicing helped me to be more accessible…
Traveling into the Indian Territory, we were being angrily chased down by three Indians furiously shouting at us. Dashing through the thick forest, the savage Indians were throwing spears and shooting arrows that narrowly missed us. Although neither Gideon nor I was mortally injured, I did suffer from a nick from an arrow piercing near my ear. Thankfully, a group of burly fur traders approached from the side, which frightened the Indians to run away. Acknowledging that Gideon and I were inexperienced travelers in the west, they offered us protection in exchange for some valuable possessions. As a consequence, knowing that they were our best alternative for survival, we gave them our antique gold pocket watches and assumed the identities of novice fur traders. From that point on, we followed them through the west and adopted their skills for efficiently hunting animals and keeping warm in the harsh, cold weather. During one of our rest points, we approached a large Cherokee settlement located in Park Hill in which our group leader was friends with the Cherokee leader John Ross.…
Football has always been a big part of my life. As a young boy I would day dream of making insane touchdowns, making tackles that would leave man stuck in the ground, and even winning the heisman trophy. In 7th grade I had begged my mother endlessly to sign me up for pee wee football because she would always worry about the risks of football. After finally getting her to sign me up, we went straight into the season. I chose to play running back because as a 12-year-old I was remarkably fast having timed 5.3 in the 40 yard-dash. After a few weeks in the season we approached the playoffs and found out our opponent for the first round of the playoffs were the jaguars who were undefeated. Our team didn’t have the best chemistry on…