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.…
I use the advice you gave Dan almost every day. I get teased about my schedules. I just asked my daughter to tell me what we have to get accomplished by ten tonight. She gave me a list of things and I wrote them down. We worked together to plan the order of events to make sure everything gets done. Both of my girls write out list when there are multiple tasks to complete in a day. This shows that it is a learned behavior for those who do not use sequence at a use first level.…
My mother, sister, and I were driving down Highway 124 on a hot July day when my mom screamed and slammed on the breaks. Fear rushed through our bodies. Outside the car window, a short young African American man was launched into the air. As he came down, a loud boom sounded as his body helplessly rolled off the hood of the faint green Toyota Corolla in front of us. The man lay motionless in the road while we waited for what seemed like hours for the driver to exit the car. His red shirt and gym shorts were ripped. The driver of the opposing car threw the vehicle in reverse in a spasmodic action in an attempt to end the man’s life. The injured man made an effort to crawl onto the Wendy’s sidewalk, forcing his body up on the curb to evade the car. The driver drove up onto the curb and blew its tire, just barely missing the wounded man. Realizing the driver would stop at nothing, my mother drove her white suburban in front of the car, blocking the violent perpetrator from doing any further damage.…
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.…
Life is like a masquerade, everyone wears a mask to conceal their flaws, weaknesses, fears, and past mistakes. Everyone wears a mask to hide the fact that they’re human. Humans aren’t perfect; humans fuck up from time to time and sometimes, failure can lead to success. Failure can lead society to a different path, a brighter future. The wisest and most intelligent people are the ones that make mistakes and learn from them.…
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…
Norms form demeanor by providing restrictions within which individuals obtain social consent for their actions. They give us guidelines showing us how to behave. We all monitor and go alongside with what other individuals are doing around us. For instance, if I go to a restaurant and I see everyone eating with their hands that’s going to make me want to eat with my hands because I don’t want to look like an outcast by eating with utensils. It was in fact challenging for me to break this norm of having my back opposite of the people in the elevator since society can influence our behavior. I wanted to have my back facing the back of the elevator the entire time. Most norms are easy to do since there aren’t many consequences beside a foul look…
Samantha was my savior and protector till the struggle of social life took over our compact minds. I remember when Samantha and I first met in Kindergarten; I had just back to Fort Hood from Germany and hardly spoke English. I was the middle of the school year, kids had just come back from winter break and everybody knew each other by then but me. My new teacher had seated me next to Samantha and Sam welcomed me warmly. Sam would help me with assignments and talking to other kids and stood up for me against cruel kids when no one else would from kindergarten to third grade. I saw her as not only my best friend, but also my hero. However, Sam became more distant throughout the years and started talking to me less, but I didn't think anything…
After my second year in high school, I made a decision that would turn out to be life changing. This decision wasn’t life changing in the way that getting married or going to college would be, but I really learned a lot about myself that summer. What I’m about to tell you is what happened when I switched from Marching Band to Football. I will explain to you why this switch was such a big deal to me and what I learned about myself from it. Switching from Marching Band to Football after my Sophomore year of high school changed the way I saw myself because I found I have a strong enough will to follow my heart despite controversy with others, I have a strong desire to be in control of my life, and I have an aggressive side that had not shown itself before.…
Each and everyday people walk the halls of this school. You see people walking on the streets in their neighborhood. They are all walking forward. Why? That is what is normal. We have been doing it this “normal” way since humans could walk. Baby's first learning to walk don't walk backwards do they? No, they are biologically programmed to move forward. I wanted the breaking of my norm to be obvious. What better way than to walk backwards and go “against the crowd”.…
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.…
Have you ever been through an experience where you moved to an unfamiliar location by yourself? I had the opportunity to do just that when I left my hometown in Hong Kong and come to America for a better education. I was only thirteen years of age at the time. Giving me the chance to come the U.S was the greatest gift that my parent has ever given me in my life. I appreciated them for providing me this valuable and precious chance for my thirteen years old birthday present.…
“Graduation, the hush-hush magic time of frills and gifts and congratulations and diplomas.” You weren’t lying when you said that Maya Angelou. May 19th, 2013 I had dreamt of that day for almost four years. I know I can’t be the only person who feel this way. I remember it as if it was just yesterday. So many different emotions going through my mind all at once. Happiness, Sadness, I felt relieved because it was almost over but at the same time I felt anxious and overly excited to just leave and go far away. 389 seniors were going to walk across the stage and receive their diplomas. After all, our class had the biggest percentage of graduates who were actually…
Growing up in Kokomo, Indiana there wasn’t much to the daily life in my hometown. I’d like to believe this is me telling the story of how through hard work and perseverance I could achieve my goal in high school. A goal that many told me was unachievable and stupid to pursue. What is this goal you wonder? My goal was to play Basketball at Kokomo High School.…
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.…