The greatest asset to my life growing up besides my family were the churches that my family attended. Although we have moved several times due to my father being stationed in various locations with the military, the Baptist churches we have been a part of have been a stable place for me. Currently, I have the privilege of calling South Knollwood Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas my home church. South Knollwood is under the leadership of Pastor Jeremiah Metsinger, a third generation preacher.…
“Slow down, future leaders of America at play,” a sign engrained in my memory as a result of the numerous volunteer trips I took to Mountain Mission School. Mountain Mission School (MMS) is a Christian boarding school and home to many children, who come from devastating backgrounds and poverty. Receiving no government funding, Mountain Mission School located in Grundy, Virginia operates solely on private donations and generous charities from churches all over America. In addition to a school, MMS played a key role in my life. Not only was MMS my home but also my church starting from second grade up until I graduated high school.…
I went to St. Michael School from Kindergarten through Eighth grade, so when it came time to leave for high school, I was not excited for the change. St. Michael was especially small in regards to student population. We had just under three hundred students split between all nine grades. That left roughly twenty to thirty kids per class. I was extremely used too this small environment and not exactly looking forward to the terrors of high school towering over me nor the thought of being lost in the sea of students. Over the years I was extremely imbedded in my academics. I had straight A’s for my entire time at St. Michael. I received the academic achievement award at Eighth grade promotion for having the highest GPA in my class. Despite this, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to live up…
I was a percussionist during my high school tenure. As a school musician during my freshman year, I was in the high school band at both Northwest Christian and Dayton Christian. I went to Northwest during the first two quarters of my freshman and the high school band only had one concert, Then, I switched over to Dayton Christian during the last two quarters of my freshman year. The Dayton Christian High School Band was much larger than Northwest’s and performed two concerts, one at the Dayton Christian Cafeteria, and one out at Cedarville University. During my sophomore year at Dayton Christian, I was part of the high school band and the pep band. I was a bass drummer during pep band season; we performed at a stadium in Monroe every home football…
This morning I attended a weekday mass at All Saints Catholic Church. The church itself is relatively large from what I saw. The exterior had many well-tended trees and bushes, with a sign pointing to the office, and a cross about six feet tall out front by a cement walkway which led to the entrance. The building itself was a taupe color with dark brown roofing and glass doors leading at the entrance. As I walked through the glass doors I was not greeted by anyone, so I followed what everyone else was doing. I noticed a holy water font in front of the doors leading directly to the room of worship. I watched as the casually-dressed Parishioners, all aged at least sixty-five years, and mostly white, middle-class women dipped their fingers into the font and then made the sign of the cross, before entering the worship area.…
When I started Unity High School I thought that we were going to get a lot of work from my classes, and that work was going to be extremely hard. I also thought that I wasn't going to have any free time to do anything because of that, but it turned out to be wrong because the teachers give us a good amount of work but its not really hard. I thought that making friends in Unity would be hard in a sort of way but it was quit easy because everyone else was trying to make friends too. When I first got to Unity I also thought that there was going to be a few school clubs, but there is a good amount of clubs that students can join if they want to join some type of club. I think as a person I have grown more since first coming to Unity because I…
Religion is one of the factors that help to maintain balance in the world. There are many religions in this world. Every religion has its own beliefs and ways of following it. Religions may vary in many aspects. While some religions may have the same beliefs, some will have the exact opposite beliefs. I come from a place where even though there are many religions found I get to observe and practice only my own religion. Even if people are open about different religions, one religion being involved in another is not acceptable for my society. This is one of the reasons why I have always been curious about other religions and their ways of following and practicing it. This is why when I got a chance to go to a Jewish Synagogue as a part of a religious service…
Ever since my first day of school, my parents have observed that I work most effectively within an environment that contains an extensive ethical and organizational framework well as many opportunities to stand out and lead if possible. That is why my parents encouraged me to apply to Chaminade High School, the nearest Catholic school.…
When I was young I followed my two sisters pretty much anywhere they went to school maybe because it was the best school for me probably cause my parents didn't want to drive us three different places. The first school I went too was immanuel lutheran, and let me tell you something I absolutely hated it. Turns out that when a 8 year old boy is hyper he needs to go to go to a crazy house, or that at least what they thought. Looking back on it i think this school was really bad for me growing up for too big reasons, everyone there was white and everyone was christian. So after going to this just white christian school and having no kids in my neighborhood at the time I wasn't very socially educated. After my third grade year at this school I…
Galatians 2:20” I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” Knowing Jesus on a personal level is the greatest thing in the world. When we come to know Jesus all the angels in Heaven rejoice. Having a relationship with the Lord can change your life forever. I love knowing that There is a God up in Heaven that I can go to when things get out of hand. Glorifying God for the rest of my life will be something I will always cherish.…
During the year of 2010, the summer before eighth grade year. I got the chance to participate in a five day youth mission trip in Galveston Texas with my church that went by the name of Oakwood Baptist Church. During the mission trip there would be many different activities that our church group would get to be a part of, such as an outdoor dodge ball tournament, indoor carnivals, and our very own Vacation Bible School. I was able to take part in this amazing adventure, and I couldn’t wait for it to begin.…
I never thought how interesting it would be to visit a different place of worship besides Christianity. Since the day I was born I’ve been a Christian and whatever anyone else believes in is wrong and that they are going to hell if they don’t believe in Christianity. About 3 years ago I visited the International Buddhist Progress Society a Buddhist temple in Naperville. Buddhism from what I learned looks more like a way of life or guidelines to it rather than a religion. Buddhism tells you how you could live life better but doesn’t scare you with the prospect of hell instead you live with ignorance. My own history with Christianity still made me doubt or fear the conquences of going to this temple. Part of me believed that I be punished by…
My time at the community college was used to focus on building a strong academic foundation, specifically tutoring international students English every week as they tried to maneuver through their lives in the United States. I remember during one particular session, a Chinese exchange student told me that when she first arrived in Seattle, she was in a state of euphoria. However, her inability to communicate fluently with her peers hindered her from adapting to the customs in America. Consequently, it impeded her from making her own place in society. Another individual, who emigrated from Eritrea, confessed she was still unfamiliar with having additional resources at her fingertips. She grew up in an area where advanced technological tools,…
I have been a student at Macomb Community College for a year, over my academic career here I have learned a lot more than I thought possible. Before I started at Macomb I had already been through two other colleges, but for academic reasons I left those schools. When I finally got to Macomb I had to register for an English class, in which I just happened to get you as my teacher. I thought the class was going to be extremely easy because it was online, and honestly, I thought that I was pretty good at English. As I went through the class I never really paid attention to all the good tips and skills that you were teaching, I just wrote on the topic as I was told. I never practiced on my punctuations, run-on sentences, or even the development…
During my freshman year of high school I received a letter in the mail. This letter was an invitation to play basketball in Australia, with other boys and girls of my age. The date was September 13, 2011. The letter stated that we would be leaving June 1, of 2012. Of course I wanted to go as soon as I read the letter, but my family was more curious about the trip. We did some research and figured out everything that would be offered on this trip. In my research I read of playing Australian basketball games, snorkeling, swimming in the ocean, surfing, and spending three days on Tangalooma Island. This was enough to convince my family that it would indeed be a fun trip for me to attend.…