Below are some examples of papers I've written, a speech I've "speeched" (as my english class calls it), or other various works. Please take a couple minutes to just look through, as I would much appreciate it. Also, do not feel obligated to read every single one all the way through, because I probably would not do that myself. Thanks!
These are papers that I wrote during my sophomore year of high school:
Witch Hunts, Hysteria, and Steroids
What is hysteria? Hysteria is when people get all paranoid about a “problem or reality” and panic. A witch hunt is when people try to search for modern day “witches”, or the source of the bad things that are happening. There are many examples of hysteria and witch hunts in The Crucible and Good Night and Good Luck. Both of these, along with a modern day example, show the effect that hysteria has on a society.
The Crucible is a good example of hysteria. In this time, 1692, they believed in witches. Abigail Williams, a character in The Crucible, and some of her friends, decided to do things that were bad, and then blamed their actions on witchcraft. Their actions were not supposed to be seen by people in their community. Because their actions were seen by the people in their community, they had to start accusing random people of being witches. There is clearly hysteria in this story because when people were being accused of being witches, people were panicking and getting paranoid.
A more recent example of hysteria is in the 1950’s when the Red Scare was happening. The Red Scare happened right after World War II. Thousands of people in the U.S. was being accused of being a communist, and if they couldn’t prove that they weren’t, they got punished. This is not only unfair, but it also caused a lot of unneeded hysteria. These people that go around blaming everyone of being a comminists are causing hysteria. Everybody was scared to death of being accused of being a communist, therefore this hysteria caused panic, confusion, and very paranoid people.
A modern day example of hysteria is steriods. Baseball players decide to risk their career, health, and popularity to have good stats during a baseball season. That sounds pretty silly to me, but for some reason, they do it anyways. When word slips out about a few players on steroids, everybody panics and starts blaming all the other players and having them tested. Until all of this settles down, everybody is scared that their favorite baseball player will be accused of using steroids, just because everybody else’s favorite baseball player is. People need to stop the panic of steroids in baseball and calm down! Just because one or two baseball players get accused of using steroids, doesn’t mean every other player is using them.
Three events in history that have been witch hunts caused by hysteria were The Crucible, Good Night and Good Luck, and steroids. We need to stop hysteria in todays world by not freaking out and exaggerating every little thing that happens in the U.S. Hysteria needs to stop because if even just one person gets hysterical, then everybody else gets scared and starts exaggerating and panicking also. When hysteria starts, it gets passed around like a game of telephone. When you start with a sentence such as, “Tommy has cooties.”, you end up getting “People who wear tight pants are cool.”. If one person doesn’t start the hysteria, then it won’t get passed around. Once one person doesn’t panic, everybody else will realize its ok.
Teen Mom
How would it feel to be a pregnant teen? Many people are talking all about the TV show “Teen Mom”. Some people think this show is good for teens to be watching while others think it’s bad for teens. I believe that this is a bad show for teens to be spending time watching.
The most important reason this show is bad for teens is because it allows them to believe that sex is ok at their age. Sex is totally not ok at their age. It is not ok because it is so hard to be pregnant when your trying to complete high school, start college, and make money. Only one-third of teens who become moms at an early age end up completing high school and receive their diplomas. When kids are having sex as a teen, they run the risk of becoming a teen mom, it does not matter how much protection they use. My cousin was a teen mom when she was in college. She had to quit college and her job when she became pregnant. It is not any easier eleven years later.
Next, “Teen Mom” is bad for teens because MTV unknowingly gives them the impression that they can make lots of money and become popular when they get pregnant. This is not true in real life. In fact, most teen moms struggle to provide for their newborns. Imagine being a teen mom, they have to get a job to pay for the baby, furniture, and supplies. But wait, they usually can’t take their child with them to their job so their parent(s) have to watch it or, they have to pay for daycare. Many teen moms would also like to complete high school and/or college. To make this harder, most of the time their boyfriend ends up leaving them to take care of their new child alone.
Finally, “Teen Mom” is bad for teens to watch because the show puts stress on the teen moms, and then that, in turn, reals right around and slaps our own teenagers in the face. The teen moms get stressed from wanting to complete high school or college, getting a job, and taking care of their child. Girls who watch this show might not realize how much stress it is and then think it is not such a bad thing to get pregnant as a teen. Then our own teens will be more likely to become a teen mom and get stressed out balancing school, a job, and taking care of their own child. The teens on this show are also stressed because the people that film this show are with the them and following them around every minute of everyday. Being followed around constantly like this puts stress on the teens and it can make them feel like they have to act and look perfect all the time.
This is a speech I gave my junior year of high school:
“Death ends a life, not a relationship.” This very simply means that once a person in your life dies, you still had a relationship with them. The relationship did not just go away because this person died. It does not matter how deep of a relationship you had, how long you knew them, or how close you were to them. The relationship exists forever, you will always remember them and the relationship and the person will be in your mind forever. The only way a relationship can possibly end is physically. If they’re not here physically, you can’t have a physical relationship with that person.
I personally have had two relationships end physically in the past five months. One person that I can’t physically have a relationship with anymore is my 2nd cousin Taylor. I know i’ve already told you his story, so i’ll spare you guys. He lived with his parents and his two brothers in Holland, MI so I didn’t get to see him very often, but when he got sick, we went to visit him in the hospital and we took presents with us, but he didn’t really seem to appreciate them very much. But let’s remember: 1. he was five years old 2. he was on steroids at the time that we went to visit him. He was so cute when he was on steroids. When he was on steroids, he was very moody. Now, up until this point, we had called him TJ, which stands for Taylor Joseph. But now, he didn’t like us calling him TJ because his name was Taylor. His dad enjoyed showing people Taylor’s moodiness by asking him why he was grumpy. When he would ask this, Taylor would respond by saying, “I’M HAPPY!!” It was the cutest thing ever. Also, at his funeral, they had the little folders that they usually have at funerals, and on it is a picture that Taylor’s dad took of him at their home three days before he died. It’s a picture of him wearing a superhero cape, with the letter T on the back, that was made just for him, and he’s trying to shoot webs out of his hand like spiderman.
I remember Taylor being my little buddy when he was about 2-3. A few years ago my mom’s whole family got together around Christmas in Michigan to take family pictures. The whole family getting together was a big deal for us back then because there was about 35 of us from my grandparents down, and some of them lived in South Carolina. We got together at my cousin’s church. In the church was this huge gym that some of the family was playing in when they weren’t busy taking pictures or being in a picture. I also remember Taylor practically clinging to me that day and taking him up to the big window that overlooked the gym and that my cousins and aunts and uncles playing in. He observed the kids playing as young children often do and it was just so precious to observe. And now, even though he’s dead, my relationship with him did not simply vanish into thin air. I still have a relationship with him, it’s just different because he’s not physically here.
Another person that I can’t physically have a relationship with is my Grandpa. He lived with my Grandma in Gobles, MI so I didn’t see him very often after we moved, but when I did see him, I always enjoyed it. My Grandpa had a farm and lived out in the country. When I was little, I remember going “down” to the farm with my two older cousins. I remember watching and helping him take care of the cows and chickens and cats. And in the summer he was always wearing t-shirts that had the sleeves cut off so they were more like tank tops. When he died, the grandkids were each allowed to take one of them, and I brought one to show you guys today. I loved these shirts that he wore because I saw him in them so often. This is one of the things that I remember most about him because he wore them so often. He wore them so often that in the summer, he always had the best farmers tan
As I got older, and gas got more expensive, we moved down here to Dowagiac and also my life in highschool got more busy, I wasn’t able to see him as much. But when I did, it was always so special. I loved the memories of me and my mom going to their house during the summer. We went there for a day once a week. We would go there to have lunch, visit, and help them out. Because by this time, they weren’t physically very stable and my Grandma had a series of strokes.
This is a paper I wrote my junior year of high school:
Income for College Athletes
Should students who play sports get paid to play during college? Some people say that college athletes should be paid because it will make them want to stay in college longer or because people believe that getting paid could reduce negative activities of college students. Other people say they do not deserve to get paid because they should be focusing more on learning in college than on sports or because they could become very greedy if they are paid. I personally think that it is not a good idea to pay college athletes. I believe that the bad effects to being paid outweigh the good effects, against other peoples’ opinions.
I believe sports players should not get paid to play sports in college because, if we do pay them, the cost of education will be unnecessarily raised for every student so that the college can use that little bit of extra money to pay the athletes. It would not be at all fair for the cost of college to be raised for every single person that attends that college because the vast majority of students have trouble paying for college without extra money being added on to that amount for athletes to be paid. Also, if they were to start paying college athletes, the students are basically paying other students at that very same college to play sports. Students should not be paying their fellow classmates to simply play a sport.
A second reason I believe that college athletes should not get paid is because if they do pay them, our society could see an increase in the use of performance enhancing drugs. If these athletes were to be paid, they will get paid by how much and how well they play so their goal will always be to play more and better. The athletes, with their naive minds, will soon realize that the only way for them to improve more and faster than humanly possible is to take advantage of performance enhancing drugs. Which obviously to more prudent minds, is not a good thing and should not be happening. I believe it is considered cheating and is very unfair to other players. Performance enhancing drugs give them more muscles, improve strength, and improve mental performance. Athletes can be severely punished for using drugs to make them perform better and athletes being punished for that is a good thing. If we decide to start paying them for playing sports, it will tempt them to use performance enhancing drugs.
Some people may say, “Paying college athletes will promote more college attendees.” I can see how this would initially sounds right, but if we take the time to analyze that statement, it does not make sense. When colleges start paying their athletes, the prices of attending college will increase for every student at the college. The price of attending that college going up for everyone will not make new students want to visit or attend that college because most students struggle to pay for college without those added costs. The prices increasing could also drive away current college students. I personally believe paying college athletes is a waste of money. If we do not pay them and not waste this money, more students could go to college because more people will be able to afford the education they will be getting.