After looking through the This I Believe website, respond to what you read. What were the essays about? How do they relate to you or your peers? What elements of writing do the essays have?
Brainstorm a list of 10 possible topics for you to write a This I Believe essay.
"The Mask Was Stifling Me", by Lucy Freeman, was about feelings. The feelings you get when you are around others and how you feel about yourself. The main focus I feel was love and happiness. Finding love and happiness is much easier when you treat others the way you would like to be treated. After attending a therapy session, the author had realized that she, herself, was not doing all that she could to bring others happiness, and in turn, bring herself happiness. I can relate this to my peers and me in everyday situations. One situation in particular is walking down the hallway in school. When seeing the same people everyday, it can be easy to ignore their feelings. Everyday there are so many people, that when they pass an old friend or teacher in the hall, they put their eyes to the floor and just pass then without a word. When I think about it, how hard, really, is it to just say hey? This is something that everyone should keep in mind.
ReplyDeleteWayne Coyne's, "Creating Our Own Happiness", had a powerful message. He started the essay with telling a story about him feeling sorry for a couple who were standing in the cold, while he was in his warm car. After a minute of pity, he soon grew envious of them laughing, and was suddenly curious as to what was so funny. The message in the story was that happiness isn't a certain situation, but can be made in any situation depending on the person's mindset. Being in high school, there is always someone who has something that you want. This is the first thing that pops in my mind when I read this essay. People, even adults, today need to remember that we are blessed with what we have and finding happiness isn't always about a certain situation, but the big picture when putting life in perspective.
"The Power Of Comedy", by John, talks about using comedy and jokes to get through hard times. He wrote about his mother having a hard time dealing with something and he was determined to make her laugh. She, to this day, remembers that instance of him telling her jokes in the kitchen and her finally letting out a chuckle. The point of the story was that comedy helps us get through hard times and coping with things that are difficult such as death and depression. This I can relate to because of death. I have gone to many funerals of family and friends in the past. Looking back after reading this article, I realize that the only way I got through those times was to make jokes with the family, with either the life of the person who had past or something they would have found humorous.
All of the essays that I have read have things in common. The first thing that I noticed was that they all had personal experiences help them get their point across. Another thing that I noticed was that they were all opinions of the people writing them. Finally I noticed that all of the essays contained cohesiveness. Each story had what they believed in the beginning circled back to it in the end.
1. Sports
2. Family
3. Love
4. Friendship
5. Illness
6. Pets
7. Moving away
8. Religion
9. Dealing with death
10. Future
"No Dream Is Impossible"
ReplyDeleteThe historical essay that i read was about Julia Adams. She had wanted to be an actress ever since she could remember. Her family had looked upon her since she wanted to try something different. So when she reached the age 20 her dream was still there so she had decided to move to Hollywood to pursue them. She went to many studios and no managers said that she had what they were looking for. Then she kept hearing this voice in her head telling her that no dream was impossible. It always told her what to do and she usually always followed it, but sometimes she didn't listen to it and it always ended up lonely and depressed when she hadn't listened to it. She had belief in her self that banished fear and doubt and makes her believe in her self.
"The People Who Love You When No One Else Will"
The current essay i read about was Cecile Gilmer. She was 15 years old and her and her father had gotten kicked out of her stepmothers home. So they were living in a hotel on highway 10 in Houston. She had a best friend named Su Beach. Su had talked her family into taking Cecile in. Su's family had paid for everything for Cecile. They treated her as if she was their own. Cecile's mother had died when she was 7 to a self-inflicted gun shot. Cecile believes that family isn't just the people there when you are born but the people who care for you as you grow.
"Live your life so that you'll have no regrets"
This theme essay i read about was about a lady named Nancy Yucius. She always followed her mom's words of advice "“Live your life so that at the end of it you’ll have no regrets." She had lost her mom in 2001 at the age of 88. She was a teacher for 23+ years. She had 3 children all married and she has 8 grand children and she is married. She was diagnosed with colon cancer. When ever she is feeling up to it she tries to go out and live her life to the fullest.
These stories don't really relate to my peers as much. The story about Cecile does relate. I have a friend who moved in with another family because of the fact that he couldn't get along with his parents. So he could have a better life he moved in with a family that would take care of him.
Elements of writing:
All the stories that i read had emotion and opinion.
10 Topics:
Bike Riding
Getting dirty with the boys
Respect your elders
Girls Nights
Fears
Motorcycle Accidents
Shootings
Infertility/Miscarriage
Shopping
River bound
"Response To The New Bombs" Chester Bowles
ReplyDeleteIn the historical essay it talked about a man's response to the use of New Bombs. How we learned about them, how to use and make them and how they came from other places. This man doesn't totally agree with how they are used in the world and that it is up to us, as Americans to use our own truths in our everyday lives to get through without the violence and brutality.
"Do What You Love" Tony Hawk
In this essay, Tony talks about his life growing up and how his teachers, friends, and even family looked down on him for wanting to pursue a career with his skateboard. They told him that he would never make it far in life with that goal. Tony didn't care. He knew what he loved to do and was set on doing it and was true to himself. After all of the negative feedback from teachers and friends, Tony proved them wrong. He now has a wife and family and went pro. He is a prime example that if we are true to ourselves we can do anything.
"The 50% Theory Of Life" Steve Porter- Cleveland,Missouri From the theme of Love
In this essay, Steve tells about his views on life. He is pretty much stating that it is split 50-50. There are good times and then there are bad. You have to take each time, deal with it and cherish it. It is your life and you need to make the most of it, even if things are not so good. You learn from your mistakes and you grow as a person. From dealing with the bad times you learn to love who and what you've got and to make the best out of the time you have.
Relation to my peers and myself-
All of these essays talked about being true to yourself and going for the high points. This is something we as seniors have the freedom to do. We all have a whole other world out there to go and explore and to change. We are all capable of doing what ever it is we want to do in our lives and be who ever we want to be. From reading these essays, they give inspiration of doing just that.
Elements of writing-
All three of the essays included a story, and had opinionated outlooks on life. They were all persuasive in the fact that life is precious and shouldn't be taken for granted. They all deal with emotions.
10 Possible "This I Believe Topics"-
Backstabbing/Girl Drama
Going Green/Recycling
Awareness Groups
Volunteering
Curfews
Bullying
Piercings/Tattoos at The Work Place
Living Life
Travel Dreams
Getting Dirty With The Boys!
Girl's Nights
Balancing The Checkbook
Murders
Historical
ReplyDeleteThe historical essay i read was "Cooperation Works Better than Conflict." The author was Dr. Alexander Forbes who worked in neurophysiology. He explained how in the world religion is always fighting with science over certain topics such as how mankind arrived on earth. He also talked of the competition within mankind. What he believed is the only way to survive is to compromise with those who disagree with you. It is better to come to an agreement then spend all of your time and effort on warfare. This relates to me and my peers in that there is always a confrontation happening at school. In order to save time and energy the people involved need to compromise and cooperate with one another in order to live a happier life.
Current
The current essay I read was "Do What You Love" by Tony Hawk. In this Tony was describing how at a young age he received a lot of grief over his occupation choice from teachers and other people. Despite this he kept on skating and did what made him happy. Now as an adult he makes a living off of something that he loves doing. As a father he is trying to teach the same thing of doing what makes you happy to his children. He thinks that by doing something you love more happiness will come than what you get with money. This relates to me in many ways. I am constantly receiving comments from my classmates over every little move that I make. I do my best to ignore them and keep on working at the things I want to succeed in and love doing. My parents have raised me to be the best I can be despite of what others may think. This is exactly what I plan to keep doing with my life.
Theme
The themed essay I read was "Tomorrow Will Be A Better Day" by Josh Rittenberg under the theme of family. Josh was sixteen and heard his father worrying about what misery the future holds. After listening to his worries Josh looked back at pictures of past relatives and thought of all the hard times they had to go through. After looking through these Josh was not as worried as when he first heard his father. Tomorrow will be a better day. He thought that despite all the hard times a person goes through there are just as many good things that happen. In his future is the possibility of during AIDS and defeating cancer. This relates to me in that I am about the same age as Josh, and the same things are happening today in my world. Many people have little money and are going through a tough time in life. Despite this, new technology is still being made and steps to finding those cures are being worked on. No matter how bad my day may be, tomorrow is always a new and better day.
All three essays are about someone's opinion and use a personal story to express it. It may just be the three essays I chose but all of the titles state something positive and uplifting. I thought these titles where eye catching and made me want to read them. They all three started with a little background of their topic or an introduction then worked their way into the body. At the end all three wrapped up their thought with a small conclusion.
10 Topics
Large Families
Playing Sports
Playing a Musical Instrument
Variety of Friends
Spending time with grandparents
Goals for the future
Overcoming peer pressure
Being Positive/Stay away from negative people
Respecting elders
Joys of life
"Liberty is Over" by Will Durant is about the world and how it works. The world works in several ways through different branches. "God as the life, mind, order, and law of the world." This to me means that the world is operated by the people that live in it and by their mind, body, and soul. The world today is different from the world in the 1950's but still has the same meaning. As the world changes, so do the people, but the meaning of life always follows us wherever we go.
ReplyDelete"My Father Told me I was Fat" by Cherie from Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin told about a young girl that was abused mentally by her father telling her that she was fat and lazy. This young child wrote to make her life better each night, but would throw away the pain each morning so that her father wouldn't know. She believed that her writing was good but didn't realize it until later that she didn't have to worry about someone telling her how bad she was. Later on in life she learned that all of the abuse wasn't her fault because her father had a alcohol abuse problem and ended his life when she was 31 years old. This relates to life today because many people get abused everyday and put themselves down on whatever they do. I think that every person should be proud of what they do or it's not worth doing, and to stand up for themselves.
"Do what you Love" by Tony Hawk is about doing what you love. In this essay Tony Hawk describes his life in a way that pertains to many individuals today. People are put down everyday on what they want to do in life. Tony Hawk was one of these individuals. When he was in school he was told that he would never make a living by skateboarding but he did! He believed that if he went into a profession that he didn't enjoy that it wasn't worth doing. I agree 100% that every person should pick a career that they love and enjoy going to that job everyday of their life. When thinking about a career most people think of what is going to make the most money for them in the long run and not whether they are going to enjoy the job. It's not all about whether you are rich and famous it's about pursuing your passion.
The essays that I read had writing elements all in common. All of these essays were wrote with a personal story background. They all showed a personal opinion about a specific topic and shown through passion about the topic. Finally I noticed that all of these essays symbolized a feeling throughout the whole story.
Topics:
1. College
2. Sports
3. Outdoors
4. Love
5. Pets
6. School
7. Family
8. Fear
9. Passion
10. Circle of Life
Lucas Ruchotzke's Response:
ReplyDelete"Response To The New Bombs" by Chester Bowles
This article was over the hydrogen bombs being created. It talks about the immorality of the bombs and how we should stop making them being for the fact hey are not required.
This relates to my peers by the way of we are all American. The hydrogen bombs are part of our history we used the immoral bombs against Japan in WWII.
"How do you believe In A Mystery" by Loudon Wainwright III
This article talks about the mystery's of writing songs. Loudon talks about his songs creation and how his job being a musician makes him happy. The music he writes as he states "just comes to him." Most people call him lazy and lucky. When he finally completes a song he is happy and sends a prayer to the sky whatever or whoever might be there.
We must all find the thing that makes us happy. It is a divine gift to find the career that makes us truthfully happy.
"The Making Of Poems" by Gregory Orr
This article talks about Gregory's life and how he survived o write poems. He was a secluded person most of his life after age 12. At age 12 he accidentally shot and killed his brother that lead to his seclusion. He learn to mend his emotions into poetry. He loves to hear others poetry because it shows they too are similar to him. They give him more reasons to live and enjoy life.
We should lean that no matter how bad life gets we must keep going forward. eventually we will find some peace and comfort.
Elements of Writing:
Narrative. These articles all involve the narrators personal opinion on he articles subject. The articles are meant to inspire you to live a moral healthy and happy life.
List of Ideas:
1. Natural death
2. War
3. Corruption
4. Fear
5. Music
6. Wilderness
7. Survival
8. Morality
9. Greed
10. Modern Pastimes
Kaitlyn Abernathy's Response:
ReplyDelete"I Agree With A Pagan" -Arnold Toynbee (historical)
This article was about doing the right thing. It discussed that people should do what is right and in order to accomplish this, people need to realize that they are not the center of the universe. The author discusses that he does not agree with the Christian way of thinking that their religion is best. He agrees with a pagan philosopher that said "the universe is too great a mystery for there to be only one single approach on it."
I believe that this article relates to everybody in the sense that we all need to do what is right.
"The Choice To Be Stronger" -Ursula (Current Day)
This essay was about a woman who had spent most of her life drinking. She continued to drink, even after she had a daughter. One day, she got a phone call that her nephew had been killed in an accident caused by drunk driving. This really opened her eyes, and she stopped drinking. She made the choice to be stronger.
This essay can relate to many people. Some people don't have a grip on their life, and need to chose to be stronger.
"The 50 Percent Theory of Life" -Steve Porter (Theme)
This essay was a man's theory of life. It's called the 50 percent theory, and basically it means that half of the time things will be better than normal while the other half of the time things will be worse than normal.
This way of thinking could potentially help many people. When something bad happens, people are down and depressed about life. If one were to believe in the 50 percent theory of life, they would believe that even though something bad had happened, something equally good would make it even.
Elements of Writing:
All three of these articles contain a personal story. They all tell of very good ideas that the authors have come up with. Each of these ideas is something that the authors truly believe in, and the authors lead their lives according to what they believe in.
List of Ideas:
1. Life Is a Dance
2. Life Is a Song
3. Be Nice
4. Read Books
5. Trust
6. Love Freely
7. Give Thanks
8. Get Back To Nature
9. Take The Road Less Traveled By
10. Trust Your Intuition
Libby Mae Eickert's "This I Believe." Response
ReplyDeleteHistorical- The first essay I read was Ursula's, "The Choice to Be Stronger." This essay was about how the author stopped drinking when her nephew died in a car crash when he was drunk. This relates to my peers and I because we are almost at the age where most of us will get involved with experimenting with alcohol. In my own opinion, I think that it's a waste of time to get drunk; when I could be doing something better with my life, like reading a book or play outside with my nephews.
Current Day- The second article, "Returning to What's Natural," by Amelia Baxter-Stoltzfus is about how you can always change your place and the outside of yourself but you always know that you can still be you on the inside. This relates to us as seniors because we will be graduating this coming May and going on to the next step in our lives. Like Amelia said, We can't stay toddlers and teenagers forever, we have to grow up. I agree with this even though I love this school and don't want to leave. I have to move on with my life no matter how much I don't want to.
THEME ESSAY- The last essay was, "The People Who Love You When No One Else Will" by Cecile Gilmer. Gilmer talks about her living with her dad in a hotel until her friend and her family took her in. Before she moved in with them, she thought the only person who would take care of her was herself. She talks about how they took care of her when she was growing up, treating her as if she was their own. I think that this article relates to my peers because, I have heard of these types of these situations and some teenagers or younger teenagers have had this happen to their family. There are families that have this happen to them everyday, all around the world. It makes me happy to hear this story has a happy ending because many don't get to have a happy ending.
Mareah Adolphs
ReplyDeleteHistorical Blog
For my first story I read A Morning Prayer in a Little Church. This story is told by Helen Hayes. She is a famous actor. This is about her daughter dying of polio. She goes to a church and finds her religion again. It took her daughters death to realize her religion is important and there are people there to help. There are also people who are willing to listen.
Happy Talk
Current Day
For my second blog I pick one by Oscar Hammerstein II. He talks about the realities in life. He describes that an unhappy man is eager to talk about what is wrong with the world. He believes that he is happy because he has lost people and learned to deal with the hurt. He believes that it is fine to make mistakes and live life the way its supposed to be lived.
A Duty to my Family, Heritage and Country
Theme:Family
This essay is about a girl who lived in China. She talks about how school is top priority. She talks about having homework during lunch and how tough her classes were. She knows how many sacrifices her family gave for her to have a good education. She believes in doing well and wants to honor her family by doing really well in school.
These essays can relate to seniors in high school too. The first story can relate because we have all lost someone. Most of the time you just want to turn away from faith and what is important. People our age are the worst about going to church. For this person in the story religion really helped them. The second story is especially for seniors. This story talks about life. Being a senior we really have to start thinking about what we want to do with the rest of our lives. We have to live life like we want and try to be happy about it. The 3rd story talks about education. The girl in the story knows it is important to learn in school. This year we have to get as much out of it as we can. Next year will be a lot different and we want to be prepared for what comes next.
All the essays are opinions and show someone's feelings. Also these essays tell little stories about someone's life experiences. Also in a couple of the stories it relates to life lessons and how life is important to live in the moments that count. They all have a purpose to tell their story and give advice. These are all open-writing style. The audiences could be anyone in the general public.All of these stories are in 1st person point of view.
10 Topics:This I Believe
Exercising
Reading
Family Gatherings
Sports
Having Friends
Traveling the World
Going to College
Serving our Country
Helping the Community
Living life to the fullest
A Morning Prayer In A Little Church
ReplyDeleteHelen Hayes
This essay was about a woman who struggled to deal with her daughters death. She had cut God out of her life and she did not have the strength to ask him to help her daughter get better. Each morning she would go to a small church near the hospital and pray that she could understand about what was going on and that she could reach Him. In doing so, she realized that he had given her her answer when she saw all the people coming into the church to pray also. She also realized that she can't do everything alone like she once thought she could. This relates to my peers and I by letting us know that life is something that you can't go through alone. There will come a time in life where you need to ask someone for help, whether you want to or not.
Remembering All The Boys
Elvia Bautista
This essay talks about the author's brother who was killed in a gang shooting because he liked blue and not red. When she goes to visit his grave, she puts flowers not only on her brother's grave but also on the grave sights of all the people buried there who like red. Some people say to her that it is a bad idea to do that, while others say it is heroic. She feels that neither is correct, she just wants to make all the graves in that cemetery less lonely than they already are. She does so by putting flowers on them. I can relate this by not judging people on beliefs, appearance, or size, but instead listen to what they have to say and make them feel equal.
Theme-Illness
The Kindness Of Strangers
Daniel Ferri
This essay is about a man's son who was born just as Hurricane Katrina was approaching the Gulf Coast. Soon after he was born, he suffered from seizures, which they later found out that he'd had a stroke. It was when he was at the hospital with his son that he realized that in that time of need he depended on strangers more than anyone else. The nurses and doctors were the people who took care of his son and watched him cry as he held his son. This can relate to my peers and I because at some point in time we will all rely on a stranger, whether it be a doctor, a person you pass by on the street helping you with directions, and many other ways that a stranger can be depended on.
All three of these essays are based on the author's personal stories. When the essays were written, they used a personal experience that they had at one point in their life. They also are all opinions. Even though they all seem like something that should be done by everyone, they aren't saying that it has to be done that way. All of the titles go along with there essays and are all good at telling what the article will be about. They also all had a detailed body that explains their point of the essay and why the believe what they do. They are also all told in first person point of view because they have lived through what they are telling.
Finding The Right Path
Helping Out My Parents
Dealing With Seizures
Universities And Private Colleges
The Importance Of Grades In High School
Extracurricular Activities
Traveling Abroad
Spending Quality Time With Family
Learning How To Play An Instrument
Making Your Own Decisions
HISTORICAL: Uniting Into A Proud National Family
ReplyDeleteLicia Albanese
This essay was about a woman who came to the United States from Italy. Her idea of America was that it was a strong country with no fear, and a country that looks strongly to the future. She believes that in order to keep such a great nation strong, we must unite with our neighbors and friends and develop a bond that will keep us closer to each other. This, she believes, will help us conquer all of the uncertain things that may come our way.
This relates to my friends and me because in the world that we live in, it is important to be kind to others and stick together. With friends to lean on when we are down, we can get through our struggles more easily then if we were going through it alone.
CURRENT: The Faith That Brings Me Peace
Betsy Chalmers
This essay is about the wife of a man who has been in prison for almost 30 years. She talks about how even though it would have been easy to give up on her husband years ago and leave him behind for a more normal life, she chose to stay by his side. Even though this was not the life she had planned on living, she still believes in faith and keeping the vow that they made when they married, to stand by each others' side no matter the circumstance. She describes how it isn't easy to sacrifice what other couples have that she never got to experience. She has made the decision to continue to be faithful to her husband, whether innocent or guilty, and also be faithful to the God who has helped her through these troubled times.
This relates to me because I know that when things get tough, to not abandon what I believe in, but stand by them. Even if there are times where I think that nothing else could go wrong, I still need to live my life in an honorable way instead of fleeing from my problems.
THEME: A 'Silent Night' That Brought Healing
ReplyDeleteSteve Banko (I chose the theme of courage)
In this essay, Steve Banko describes a life changing moment for him during a time when he was hurting. Steve was fighting in the Vietnam War when he was severely injured. His leg had been torn up from bullets, and he also had burns and shrapnel throughout his body. On Christmas Eve he was being treated in a Japanese hospital in another attempt for surgeons to save his leg. While he was laying in bed, sulking in his pain, he heard Christmas music and realized that it was Christmas time. The words of "Silent Night" specifically spoke to him as he heard a man next to him completely wrapped up in a cast moaning. He then realized that he was not the only one hurting, and he did not have it as bad as this man. He asked to be pushed closer to the man and he held his hand in a gesture of showing that he was not alone.
This essay relates to me because sometimes I get wrapped up in all of the things that I thing are going wrong in my life. At times, I tend to become self-absorbed in my pain and forget to stop and think how lucky I am that I do not have it as bad as other people my age. I know that we all take life for granted sometimes, but we need to realize that our lives could be a lot worse.
All three of these essays talk about the opinions or beliefs of the authors. They all describe personal stories and how these events have effected their lives. All three of the essays are open writing where the authors style of writing is more laid back. The titles of the essays all relate to the authors' stories and their "life-changing" moments. The audience of all three essays are the same. They all will be read by people looking for motivation or encouragement. All three of the essays start with a little background information on their lives and how their "stories" got started. They then have a body with the main idea of their story and their experiences. They all then wrap up the essay with a statement about their beliefs and how the event changed their thinking or beliefs.
Spending Time With Grandparents
The Importance of Family Connection
How Vacation is a Way to Bring Families Together
The Importance of Individualism
Standing Up For What You Believe In
Playing Sports
Living Life For Today
Respecting Others
Deciding My Future
The Importance of Faith
Nicole Gruhn
ReplyDeleteEnglish 12
18, Aug. 2010
Historical Essay-
“The Fellowship of the World”
By Niven Busch
This is an inspirational essay about the different outlooks an individual can choose to have about life. This essay is about making choices. Whether you choose to be alone or interact with others. This essay also talks about trusting in God. This essay discusses the many different types of people that you will encounter throughout your life.
I can relate to this essay because he talks about riding his horse. This essay shares an Old Spanish saying, ‘“When I am on my horse, only God is taller that I.”‘ I can also relate to the fact that he does not particularly enjoy the city life. He would rather ride his horse than in a taxicab.
Current Day
“I Will Take My Voice Back”
By Quique Aviles
This essay was about Quique’s addiction to crack. Quique has fought to do his best, but still people seem to focus on the bad points. Some individuals choose to see the worst in people. The bad choices in a persons’ life often override the good decisions.
I can’t relate to the addiction of crack that he had. I can however relate to the fact about people always judging one another. There is peer pressure surrounding us everyday pushing us to make the right choices in life.
Theme – Courage
“I Am Still The Greatest”
By Muhammad Ali
This is an enlightening essay. Muhammad tells his story about believing in yourself. If you believe in yourself and set you mind to it, you CAN reach your goal. If you believe and have faith you can do almost anything. Muhammad made it big with his boxing career. All because he believed in his self ever since he was younger.
This is my senior year, my last year at East Central High School. We all want to go out strong so we will not be forgotten. A majority of my classmates plan on going off to college. Therefore we need to believe in ourselves so we do not get discouraged.
All three of these essays are full of inspiration. These essays help to remind us of the important things in life. If we all have courage and believe in ourselves, most anything is possible. The three essays I chose help to remind me about the choices I make and how they will impact my whole life.
The first essay that I read was titled "Faith Over Fear" it was written by Barbara Stanwyck and was broadcasted during the 1950's. It was about her believe in God and how we must always have faith in the things that we believe in. Even if we are in fear of doing something we must remain faithful to it, so then we can overcome the fear. She was an inspiring dancer with a dream until she was ran over by a horse and the doctors told her that she would be paralyzed, thus becoming her knew fear. Not only did she recover but she followed her dream and became the dancer that she wanted to be. These kinds of stories are all around, and it takes a strong person to admit their fears, but it takes an even stronger person to overcome them.
ReplyDeleteThe second essay I read was "Do What You Love" written by Tony Hawk. This essay can be related to a lot of different things; things like how harsh the world can be just because of something you're good at and how people can disrespect you for following your dream. Many people looked down on Tony Hawk just for having a dream and not only did he have a dream he pursued it. The one thing that stops a lot of people short of their dream is the lack of pursuing it. Nobody can make your dream happen, its not something you're going to wake up and have, it something that you're going to have to work for and it won't come easy. People say dreams come true, this is not true, dreams don't happen they are made, and the only way to make it is through hard work that is accomplished from determination and drive that you have inside yourself.
The third essay that I read was titled "The Faith That Brings Me Peace" and was written by Betsy Chalmers. This essay was also about faith, but it was about a different kind of faith from the first essay. This is the kind of faith that keeps people together, it is the kind of faith that stands for true love, and it is the kind of faith that is everlasting. Betsy Chalmers is a women full of faith, she married her husband at age 20 and he was sent to jail when she was 22. Two years ago when she wrote this she was 50 and he was 55 and is still in jail. That is close to thirty years of faithfulness and she only gets to talk to him twice a week for only twenty minutes. I think that this shows how strong true love really is. True love is a bond that brings people together even when they are separate and this essay proves that. I hope that I will experience true love someday, but I hope that whomever that may be with won't be separated from me like that.
Sports, family, relationships, animals, traveling, war, politics, friends, the river, faith
Nicole Gruhn
ReplyDelete10 Topics
Growing Up In The Country
The Importance of Family
The Importance of Friends
Having Faith
Music
Individualism
Dreaming
Love
Future Decisions
Laughing
Memories
The first essay i read was called "How to Refill an Empty Life" by Albert J. Nesbitt. This essay is about a guy who has everything he could ever want, but he feels like he has nothing. When he stopped and actually thought about what was wrong, he referred back to his childhood. He started to remember some of things his mother told him while he was on his way to Sunday school. When he finally realized what he was doing wrong, he started to apply the correct way to his everyday life. After that his life became extremely good for him.
ReplyDeleteSome of the time when im really out it and i know im doing something,i refer back to the past and see how i changed it back then. The past is a good thing to refer back to. It will always lead you into the right direction.
The second essay i read was called "Fighting the Strength to Fight Our Fears" by Terry Ahwal. This story is about this girls past and how fear played a huge part in her life. This was during the Israeli occupation. She would sneak out of her house and try to go over to her grandmothers house. Well every time she would try to go over there, she would have to hide from the soldiers. If she ever had gotten caught, the soldiers would have killed her on sight. To make sure she never got caught, she would always hide behind something. Most of the time it would be a truck. Her heart was always racing and she was so scared. To make her heart stop racing she would think about the words her mother had said to her when she was little. Those words alone calmed her down. Her mothers words kept her alive!
I remember some of the things my grandma has said to me when i was little, and when i recite them now, it helps me get through my life. The words she has said to me has helped me so much through my life.
My third essay that i read was called "I Believe in Laughter" by Kelly. This story is about this girl who has always been a klutz. No matter where she goes or no matter what she does, she always happens to be a klutz. Either she trips or she falls or anything like that. She always finds a way to make fun of herself for all of her klutziness. She embraces all of her klutziness.
I still remember when i went through that stage. When i was little, i sure was a klutz! Like every where i went i always made a fool of myself.
10 Things i believe in- playing sports, eating food, exercising, going to school, making friends, being close to your family, always be responsible, relationships,
working, driving.
“A Mask Was Stifling Me” by Lucy Freeman
ReplyDeleteLucy had acute sinus, which made her stomach upset and it made it hard for her to sleep. She went to a doctor to get the physical symptoms taken care of, but she felt like something was missing. She did not accept herself and it was like she put a mask on over physical symptoms like they did not exist. One day she fell in love with this one guy and he showed her how to live life. She found out that she should not hide herself behind a mask and let her real self be shown. She found out that in order for her to be able to love others and to be loved she had to be accepting of herself. This relates to me because in order for me to be happy I have to be accepting of myself.
“Do What You Love” by Tony Hawk
Tony has been a skateboarder for 24 years. He believes that you should do what you love even if it is scorned or frowned upon. When Tony was in high school, his “careers” teacher made fun of him in front of the his class because he was a professional skateboarder. He said he was not going to make it in the real world and that being a skateboarder was just dumb. His son was asked what his dad does for work. His son answered that he has never seen his dad work. Tony says that he knows that skateboarding does not look like hard work, but he says he it is hard work because you have to land tricks and other things.
“The People Who Love You When No One Else Will” by Cecile Gilmer
Cecile had lived with her father in a motel because her father’s marriage was in trouble, and her stepmother had kicked them out. Her best friends family took her in. They went to every one of her events and made sure she had all the things she needed. They were there to care for her when she had no one. After everything she has been through she is big on family. The family she is big on is not the family that was there for her birth, but the one that was there for her when she was living in a motel.
The three essays were all stories given by the person on their life. The essays were held together very well. The three essays also had an emotion that each person was feeling.
10 Topics:
Going To The Beach
Friendship
Respecting Your Parents
Family
Sports
Future
Pets
Music
Being Nice To Everyone
Exercising
Historical
ReplyDeleteThe first this I believe essay I read was "A Morning Prayer In A Little Church" by Helen Hayes. In Helen's essay she explains how she had never had the feeling of compassion in her life. She had never felt love from her neighbors or the feeling of people wanting to help. She had always felt if anybody was going to help her it had to be her. When her daughter passed it all changed. Through a church prayer every morning she felt the love of her neighbors and she felt that people were there for her for the first time in her life. By her daughter passing her life was changed forever in more than one way. This can be related to my peers by people never feeling very well liked around school, but when something tragic happens to that person everybody comes together at school to comfort that person.
Theme
The next I believe essay I read was “Love is Trust and Faith” by Shirley. In Shirley’s essay she told a story about a girl named Natasha that battled anorexia. When it got really bad everybody gave up on her, including her whole gymnastics team, and her parents sent her to an institution far away. She wanted to stay home but since everybody had given up on her she got sent away. The moral of the story is to never give on on anybody and to have love and faith in your self and your peers. This relates to my peers when we are playing sports and some team members give up on the team like Natasha’s team gave up on her. We should always have love and faith also and never give up.
Contemporary
The last essay I read was “My Father Told Me I was Fat” by Cherie. In Cherie’s essay she explains how her father would tell her she was fat and stupid and she believed it for 31 years until her father committed suicide and she then realized that she was not fat and stupid and did not have problems, he did. It took her 31 years to realize she was beautiful and intelligent. This related to my age group when people bully other people and those people believe it. The people that are being bullied think that they are the ones with the problem but really this is not the case. They will all someday figure it out just like Cherie.
All of the essays that I read have personal experiences that relate to figuring things out about themselves. All of the people who are writing them realize something about life and themselves in the end. Every essay read ends in a positive way also.
10 things I believe in
1 Shopping
2 Friendship
3 Love
4 Working
5 Future
6 Fitness
7 being independent
8 the beach
9 spending time on something worthwhile
10 money
Historic
ReplyDeleteThe first essay that I read was "The Sum Of All Wisdom" by Muhammad Zafrulla Khan. In this essay he talked about his beliefs towards god. He talked about all the prophets of God like Buddha, Jesus, Moses, Krishna, and Abraham. He talked about how his faiths have gotten him to where he is today. This essay effected me because he said what he believed and he didn't care what any one thought.
Theme
My second essay that I read was "Recovering the Hope Of the Children" by Tj Turner. He talked about all of the awful things he saw in Afghanistan. He talked about the looks of despair on the faces of the adults in Afghanistan, but he also talked about the children who showed no despair on their face. He also said that a great way to make Afghanistan a more stably safe living area was by the power of the teddy bears. The power of teddy bears came when he was driving out of a valley his team and he saw an old man and his grandson walking down the side of the road, as they slowed down to pass them TJ stuck a bright blue teddy bear out the window for the young boy who gladly took the teddy bear. After the child took the bear his grandfather said thank you in Arabic to the team and TJ. This essay effected me because after the whole 911 incident the TV made us think all the people over there were just like those people who caused 911. After reading this essay I no longer feel that way towards those people, because i now know that I’ve got it really really easy compared to them.
Present day
This essay that I read is called “Disrupting My Comfort Zone” by Brian Grazer. In this essay Brian talked about how an athlete will literally push themselves to the edge just to get better at a certain type of sport, he said that he felt like an athlete but in a different way instead of physically pushing himself to the edge he decides to push himself mentally so that he can intellectually grow. He uses the word grow because one of his favorite quotes is that if your not growing then your dying so he says that he would rather grow than die. He talks about how at 45 he decided to take up surfing to push his body and mind to the edge. I was effected by this essay because I am an athlete and i push my self over the edge on more than one account. I also like the quote that he likes also because its basically saying that if your not up doing something then your sitting down dying. I also like this essay because i wouldn’t mind taking up surfing but we don’t usually get 3 foot swells not to mention 12 foot swells so I don’t see my self doing that.
10 things i believe in
1. Football
2. Basketball
3. My Brothers (my teammates)
4. being a leader
5. my car
6. Hanging with friends
7. My Girl friend
8. helping my friends
9. my dream car
10. my senior year :’(
Lib's Ten Things I Believe
ReplyDelete1. Go on to college
2. Cheerleading
3. Senior Year
4. My Family
5. My Friends
6. East Central
7. People to People
8. My Dogs
9. My Music
10. Movies