Venezuela: Culture, Religion, and Health.

ADA: An Important Piece of Civil Rights Legislation.

Aspergers Disorder.

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BB Cream, What Is It?.

 

I have a special place that no one else can own, a place that has no limitations, is eternal, and is priceless. I can do many wonderful things in my special place. It is a place like none other. Can you guess where this can be? My special place is small but still the largest place on earth.

The mind is a wonderful tool that allows us to do many things, including what many people may consider to be impossible to accomplish in real life. In my mind, I can be anyone I want to be. I can be a nurse employed at a hospital full of children diagnosed with cancer. I imagine helping a child vomiting fiercely after she had received her chemo treatment, and trying like mad to coax her through her pain and discomfort. Maybe I’m the doctor who is suturing the laceration that is spurting blood everywhere, while trying desperately not to see that this accident victim could be one of my loved ones. On the other hand, I can even perform the heart transplant that saves the life of someone’s father or mother, who is barely clinging to life with every surge of oxygen that is pumped into their lungs. But, most of all, I can just be me and travel around this wonderful world without leaving my home.

An absolutely wonderful feature about my special place is that I can go anywhere I want to go. I might be in Hawaii surfing the gigantic waves that span for miles and tower over me as high as two or three-story buildings. Maybe I’m sun bathing on the beach with hot grains of sand seeping between my toes and sun drawn beads of moisture forming all over my body. Then I can be sitting by a roaring campfire listening to the sounds of the crickets singing from their hiding places in the tall green grass. I can spend countless hours looking up at the clear evening sky, gazing at the stars and looking for constellations hiding within. I’d memorize the fresh scent of the cool evening breeze carrying the aroma of fresh cut grass as it blows softly through the trees.

In my special place I can put all my thoughts into words and pictures. I can give my words feelings. I can display my ability to group words together and express many different emotions. I am able to express feelings like the love, anxiousness, stress, excitement, pain, and even anger I felt when I gave birth to my children. That precious moment of arrival of the infant who represents the innocence and miracle of life that spent nine months growing inside my body. I write words about visions of my past that invade my mind: I have countless memories of people who have influenced me while growing up and individuals who have made an impact on my life, humorous scenes playing over in my mind like displaying the first fish I caught while fishing with my Uncle, the vivid memory of the first wedding I was in as a little flower girl, even the first time I fell in love at age sixteen and thought it was the biggest event that happened in my life. But most of all, I can put words to the love, thankfulness, and feelings of being very blessed each time I look into my loved ones’ eyes. I realize how much they mean to me and how empty my life would be without them.

Yet another unique thing about my special place is that I can make the world a better place. I can take away all the hatred that has claimed the lives of many innocent victims without mercy. One of the greatest examples is the terrorist acts carried out on the World Trade Center and the planes that never reached their destinations. I can cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, which are destroying the lives of children and adults. I can make all the weapons disappear to eliminate all the mindless killings, like children shooting children in schools. I’d make wars non-existent so that our loved ones won’t have to leave home with the uncertainty of whether they will ever be with us again. But, most of all, I can make the world a loving and beautiful place where my children can be happy and free, and never have to know what fear feels like.

My mind is my most special place of all. With it I can escape the ugliness and imperfectness of the world. In my mind illness and hatred cease to exist, while eternal life and endless love will reign forever. In my mind I can be who I want to be without persecution, I can go wherever I want without boundaries, and I can say whatever I want to say without being judged. Finally, I can make my world the most beautiful place, and that place can only be “Heaven on earth”. Next time you need to get away from the world just sit back, close your eyes, and imagine yourself in your special place. Let your mind show you the beauty you have hidden deep inside your soul.

 

Do you think sixteen-year olds should be allowed to get a driver’s license?  Statistics show that on in five teenage drivers crash within their first year driving. Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for 15 – 20 year olds, accounting for more than forty percent of fatalities. [The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.] I know there are many parents who just don’t feel that children are responsible enough to drive at the age of sixteen. I believe that teens can drive responsibly when parents take time to teach them. The best teachers our children have are their parents. The agreement parents and teens can have is a Parent/Teen Driver Contract. We have “walked in their shoes,” so we know what techniques worked to help us become good drivers.

Many parents feel sixteen-year olds are too incompetent to drive, too young to understand what we teach them, too easily persuaded by peers to take risks while driving. Think about it, how many mistakes did you make when you were learning to drive? How many times did you go through a yellow light because you were in a hurry? We must be a good example for our children. Our young drivers will copy our bad habits so we must do our best at all times when driving. Teach your new driver about driving and the technology behind it. An example would be to teach them about the differences between front-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive vehicles. Demonstrate how different features work, especially safety features. Give your young driver as many supervised practice sessions as you can. Monitor and control driving privileges. Studies show that teens are less likely to take risks when there are ground rules. Let them learn at their own pace. Parents and teens will have the best results if they reach an agreement on some basic ground rules.

Have you spent any time with your teen while they were driving? Did you take time to guide them? Sure, teens will take risks if they think they can get away with them. That doesn’t mean they can’t become good drivers. It does mean they need structure and rules which comes from parental guidance.  Talk about a Parent/Teen Driver Contract and the many driving issues you should cover. It may take time to reach an agreement on both sides but it will be worth it for everyone. Discuss topics such as driving, school, working, dating, and more. Don’t be afraid to base driving privileges on whether teens stick with the agreement you both signed. Many concerned parents worry less when they work with their teens in the ways we’ve discussed. New teen drivers are less frightened or intimidated by their parents when they have an agreement.

Despite how we all feel about our teenagers and their ability to drive, they can be better and safer drivers when parents take time to teach them. Parents and teens can work together to produce a contract that will satisfy both their needs. With the information I’ve provided, you can see that there is an option that will make everyone happy. The bond between you and your teen will be stronger because you trust them to be the responsible and safe driver you taught them to be.

*Note: This paper was written for an English 101 class in 2005.

Image provided by “Transition Haven” at http://www.transitionhaven.com/parents-of-teens-workshop/

When a child begins learning to speak words and sentences, parents use less “baby babble”. Parents help their children develop their verbal skills by speaking proper language to them.  The bond between children and parents grows to different heights once they have this ability to communicate their thoughts and feelings. As time goes on and the children mature, this “communication bond” becomes a “communication gap”. Teens feel that their parents don’t understand what their lives are like, or their need to be independent and make their own decisions, and finally teens feel that parents are too hard to talk to because they are too busy with their own responsibilities that they don’t have time for them. The lives of teens become much more complicated than they were as young children.

When a child becomes a teen they face so many new issues in their lives. Teens begin feeling emotions that they never had before. They develop feelings towards their peers. Little Johnny’s feelings for little Suzie were no longer categorized as “friendship:. The bond grew even stronger and they became  victims of cupid’s arrows. They live with daily pressure from peers to do things they wouldn’t normally do; such as drugs, alcohol, smoking just because it’s the “in” thing to do if you want to be part of the popular crowd. Oh and we mustn’t forget the phase where teens grow out of the “help me” stage and into the “I can do it myself” part of life.

We’ve all been at a point in life where we didn’t think we needed a parent to help us anymore. We were all grown up and could handle big decisions on our own. Life had changed and we were trying desperately to change with it. Mom doesn’t need to pick out our clothes for us anymore or pack our lunches for school. Dad needs not to take us by the hand and show us how to mow the lawn or how to clean the windows outside. So it’s because we didn’t need their help that we talked less. We grew apart and went our separate ways. With independence came less time spent with parents.

Teens started doing their own things and were hardly ever home. One night they were going to friends’ houses, going out on dates, sporting events and extracurricular activities, or even working after school jobs so they had money for their own cars and for dating. The girls were busy trying to find ways to get the boys to notice them. Parents were busy with working, family socials, taking care of the home and bills. This left moms and das too preoccupied to listen to what children had to say or to think about what children were up to. As the lives of parents and children grew farther apart the teens would feel less comfortable talking with their parents. For example, it was hard for many teens to consider talking to their parents about dating and sex. Many times it was just as hard for parents to answer their questions about these topics when their child did find the courage to ask. I have noticed as years have passed that the gap between parents and teenagers is still around.

It’s hard when lives change and people are so caught up in the necessities of life that they forget the needs of life. Parents forgetting that they need to take time out for their children no matter how grown up they are, and these young adults understanding that no matter how big they get their parents will always be there for them and will always want to be a part of their lives. Everyone gets sidetracked during their lives and doing things for themselves from time to time. Too often it takes tragedies to bring families back together, and to reopen the communication lines that haven been waiting to be shortened to a closer relationship once again.

*Note: Written for an English 101 paper in 2005.

 

Cell phones are becoming more and more popular as time goes on. People are using cell phones to accomplish many tasks. Although these phones are making life easier for us, there are many questions that need to be answered. With the many functions cell phones have, some people are wondering if they really are good to own. Cell phones with built-in cameras raise many questions like: Are students using them to cheat on exams? Are pictures being taken unsuspectingly of our children or loved ones? Should there be guidelines that cell phone users would have to follow? There should be strict laws for the use of cell phones like any other toy we buy. Let’s take a look at school students for my first example.

Many students have cell phones to keep in touch with friends and family. I use a cell phone for emergency contact while I’m in school and that’s all. I can understand the concern teachers have about whether students are storing information on their cell phones to use for school exams. Cell phones are so small that they are easy to hide which would make it easy for someone to cheat. Then there’s the constant disruption of class because someone didn’t turn their cell phone off. Don’t they know that cell phones can be set to vibrate for incoming calls during class? Are students using the camera feature to take pictures of exams? Students shouldn’t be permitted to have cell phones in the classroom at all. The penalty for breaking these regulations should be the same as if they were caught smoking a cigarette where they are not permitted to do so. Then there’s the concern of pictures being taken of unsuspected models.

How many times have you walked by someone talking on a cell phone? Have you ever wondered if they were taking pictures without you knowing it? What a scary thought in these times of child pornography and kidnapping. These people can also download these pictures, edit them, and send them over the Internet. Wouldn’t it be surprising to log on to the Internet to see a picture of your face with another persons’ nude or semi-nude body? It’s really not all that hard to accomplish and it could ruin your life. I would have to say that my heart would break to pieces. I believe there should be very strict guidelines when it comes to cameras. I can understand their need for emergencies but I can also understand that built-in cameras aren’t necessary for everyday life.

In conclusion it is very important to have guidelines for people who have cell phones. We need to be sure that our children aren’t cheating in school. We also need to ensure our safety by taking cameras off cell phones. Children at all schools should have lockers they can leave their cell phones in during class time. Stricter guidelines will make us all feel more secure and safer.

*Note: This paper was written for an English 101 class in 2005.