This I believe essay ideas

I believe in the power of making my own mistakes. I would explain how making my own mistakes is important to my development into my own person.

I believe in music. I would explain how it has a different meaning for everyone and can be interpreted in different ways to different people but it can bring people who are completely different together and give them something in common. It is the great equilizer. And it has the power to completely change a person's mood.

I believe in my shoes. I would explain how different shoes serve different purposes but even though they are all different, in essence they all do the same thing, they just look different and do it in different ways. They're diverse.

The Mess That is My Mind-Thought Provoking Questions

First of all I just want to say how hard this assignment answering these personal belief questions is going to be. Reading the introductory paragraph on the question prompts page really hit home for me-the part about family values anyway. I'm having a hard time trying to figure out what I believe and how that differs from the way I was raised, and I'm just going to say that it's not going so well. My parents are trying to tell me what I'm supposed to think, and I'm really not ok with that, but at the same time, I'm not sure exactly what I think either, or how to tell them that what I think is different than what they taught me. I'm so scared of dissappointing them by not doing or thinking the wrong thing but at the same time, at some point I have to figure out what I believe and stand up to them and show them that my beliefs aren't necessarily bad, simply different from theirs. It's not going to be pretty when that happens, but it's inevitable. That quote by Ernest Hemingway sums things up pretty well. But I just wanted to say that that part really hit home for me. This has been on my mind lately, so this will probably show up in these questions because I've been thinking about it so much.

1. ) When were you disappointed when someone made a promise to you that they couldn't keep? Or when did you break a promise you made to someone else?

I can't really think of a specific promise that someone made to me that they broke; not a big important one anyway. There have been multitudes of small promise infractions, like a friend not coming when they said they would, someone telling a secret that no one was supposed to know, or my dad not being able to make it to my volleyball or basketball games because he had work to do on the farm. Nothing really big or significant has ever been promised to me without it actually being followed through. I'm probably really lucky that way. Most people can't say that. Unfortunately, I have to say that I have made promises that I can't keep. This is actually a big part of my life right now, and I'm not going to get into all the details now, but it has really hurt someone and I hate that, but it's just such a complicated issue. A promise is a promise, but sometimes when a person breaks a promise, they felt that they had no choice. Breaking a promise isn't always about hurting the person that it was made to. Sometimes there are unforseeable circumstances involved in breaking a promise. When I break a promise, it's never to hurt the person. I feel absolutely horrible when I do break a promise. I hate breaking promises but sometimes it's kind of inevitable, at least to the person breaking the promise. I hate it when people break promises to me but at the same time I know that when I break promises I just feel like that's the only way.

2.) Have you ever prejudged someone incorrectly based on their appearance or has someone ever prejudged you unfairly based on how you look?

Again, I think of my boyfriend right away. That was probably the biggest prejudgment that I've ever made. As unfair as it may be, when I first started working with him (that's how we met, we worked together) I thought he was a nice guy but just not someone that I would ever hang out with, let alone actually date. He just wasn't my type at all. I had always been into farm boys-mostly because that's pretty much all I knew, and I know that's what my parents wanted for me. And Adam is NOT a farmboy, not by a long shot. Once again I was doing what my parents thought and not necessarily thinking for myself. That's been quite an issue for me lately. But then I started to get to know Adam, and even though he doesn't wear Wranglers and cowboy boots-he's much more of a band t-shirt, black jeans, skater shoes kind of guy-and his taste in music is questionable (heavy rap or techno), he's a great guy. And it simply took getting to know him to see that. I had to give him a second chance, and, more importantly I had to get over what my parents thought and go with what I thought about Adam. That's a major lesson learned for me. I'm sure people have judged me based on my appearance. People assume I have a nasty temper-which can be true, I'm not going to deny it-but if people don't know me it kind of bothers me that I have a bad temper just because of my hair color. And people assume that this isn't my natural haircolor; I get asked that all the time. I'm sure people judge me just as much as I tend to judge other people. It sounds horrible to say that I judge people like that, but everyone does. This is just part of being human.

3.) What skill or area are you still working to make progress?
I'm still working to make progress in many areas of my life. I believe that there's always room for improvement. When we give up trying to make progress, its just giving up. We can always make ourselves a little bit better in small ways, especially mentally. We can never give up learning.

4.) What obstacles are you proud to have faced and conquered?
I am proud to have conquered the obstacle of paying for college. I was really worried about how to pay for college, but I worked hard. I filled out as many scholoarship applications a I could. I asked questions. I wrote essays. I didn't give up when I didn't get one of the scholarships that I applied for. And it finally paid off: I got the Dakota Corps Scholarship, which will pay for just about all of the costs of school that I have if I teach in a critical need area in South Dakota for 5 years, so I decided to double major in English and Spanish. I was so excited when I recieved that scholarship. I was also particularily proud when I was able to buy my own car and completely pay for it. That was a huge accomplishment for me, because it made me feel more self-sufficient.
5.) How do you define "hero" and who is your hero in your life?
I personally define a hero as someone who can be looked up to; someone who has accomplished something in their life. It doesn't have to be a save-the-world kind of accomplishment, because sometimes the person who just does the simple things is the most worthy of being a hero. In my life, as cliche as it may sound, my dad is probably my hero. He works so hard to give us a good life, and he's been there for me and taught me so much. He has lived and worked on a farm his entire life and he saved up money to buy the farm that we live on. Dad and I may not always get along, but I do respect the things that he's done.

6.) When did you feel divine because you were able to forgive someone for their mistake? When did someone act divine by forgiving you when you were wrong?
This may sound conceited, but I feel like I forgive people a lot, for big things and little things. I haven't ever held a real grudge. I believe that most people deserve second chances because we're all human and we make mistakes. Sometimes the mistakes are big and sometimes they are small, but we all make them and everyone deserves to have a second chance. I'm definitely glad that people have given me a second chance, because I've made some pretty silly mistakes. Lately I've asked Adam to forgive me for a multitude of things, and I'm so greatful that he's willing to give me another chance. I think it takes a lot of inner strength to forgive people.

7.) What is a quotation that guides your life?
"It is our choices, far more than our abilities, that make us what we truly are."-J.K. Rowling
I love this quote and this is the one that I'm trying to use to guide my life right now. I need to grow up and start to make my own choices and decisions, even if they are different from my parents. It's not going to be easy, but that's the way it has to be.

I believe that people can learn

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14415923

I chose one of the very first essays on the page, called Teaching a Bad Dog New Tricks. In this essay, David, a workaholic bachelor doesn't depend on anyone and doesn't have anyone to care for and likes it that way. He rarely goes out with friends or on dates because of work. One day, however, he wakes up and realizes how empty and lonely his life is, so he decides to get a dog, a chocolate lab named Duncan. Since then, Duncan has taught David many life lessons including appreciation, loyalty, friendliness, and the importance of relationships.
I chose this essay initially because I like animals, dogs in particular. That may seem to be knid of a juvenile way to choose an essay, but not everything is rocket science. Some things really are as simple as they seem. When I began reading the article, I fell in love with the opening line "I believe in my dog." It was so simple and sweet and interesting that I just had to keep reading the essay, and the more I read the more I thought it made an excellent point. Why can't we be more like dogs? That sounds like an odd thing to say, maybe, but dogs truly appreciate the simpler aspects of life like eating the same thing everyday when we wonder what to eat everyday in a kitchen full of food, as David said in the essay. Or how they always seem to love us no matter what we do. I really wish that was a lesson people could learn. That may be overly optimistic and a little bit foolish, because sometimes people shouldn't always be given another chance to hurt us, but sometimes people give up on us too soon when we really just made a mistake and need them to hold on just a little bit longer. Dogs do that. And they show us how important our relationships are and sometimes what we really do need whether we realize it or not. David didn't realize that he needed something in his life that depended on him but when he got it, that's exactly what he'd been looking for. Ironic as it may seem and whether we humans as the "superior" race want to admit it, we can learn a lot from our dogs.

Saying Nothing

Like the title of this piece by Paul McHenry Roberts says, it really is possible to say nothing in 5oo words. People believe quantity equals quality and that they need to take the same position in their paper as the teacher has just to get a good grade. Most papers where students are asked to take a position all come out generally the same with the same obvious points for or against the issue. Roberts suggests that students should take the more unusual route and not use any of the first thoughts that enter their mind in their paper. And if they have a choice of topics, they should choose an unusual, more difficult one only so that it will differ from the rest of the students. Teachers get tired of reading generally the same paper over and over again, and something different will catch their attention. Students should also be descriptive and thorough in writing, but not overly so. Being overly descriptive will cause the reader to lose interest just as fast as having no descriptions at all.
Reading through this article was great. I know I'm guilty of many of those things, like not always being descriptive enough or using cliches when I write. Sometimes I probably pad my papers a little bit, not intentionally, but without even realizing it. Something I hadn't really thought about was how a teacher or professor would feel, reading the same type of paper with almost the same arguments and information over and over again. That would become incredibly tiresome and redundant. Just one student writing about the harder or more unusual topic could make all the difference. Most often I just use the arguments that first come into my mind, and I never thought that maybe everyone else is having similar thoughts and using those thoughts in their papers too. Not sure why, but that thought just never really occured to me, even though it should have. More than anything, this article made me more aware of my writing and the way it could be.

Underage Driving in California

Last week when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger passed the bill outlawing driving and using electronic devices by California's teenagers he made a big imposition on the freedoms of people in that age group. Shouldn't issues like that be up to the parents and young drivers to decide? It's kind of a personal issue about knowing what you as a driver can handle. Some young drivers perhaps shouldn't doing more than simply driving, but clumping all teens under age 18 into that category is a big generalization. Some young pople are much more mature than others and would be able to handle the responsibility well. Most teenagers that drive have cell phones for a reason: so parents can know where they are at and if there is some kind of emergency. What if they have an accident and need to contact their parents and let them know what's happening? Now most of the time if an accident occurs, the student wouldn't still be driving, but "accident" is kind of a broad term and there are millions of unforseeable situations that teens can get themselves into that may require a phone call. And what if the parents have some sort of emergency and need to get ahold of their children? If their son or daughter happens to be driving when they get the call and, because of this law they can't answer the phone, the parents will worry because they don't answer. Even though these drivers are young, they have rights too. This law imposes so much on the freedoms of young drivers.
On the other hand, young drivers don't have as much experience driving and are much more easily distracted behind the wheel of a car. Really, this law is about protecting everyone involved. Young drivers can get so involved with talking on the phone and texting while driving that they could be a hazard to themselves and other drivers. Cell phones are a good thing, if used in the right way, and the right way isn't while they're driving. Emergencies happen, but if there is an emergency, usually there's a place where teens can pull over and make a phonecall; that way they're not jeopordizing their own safety and the safety of everyone else. There's always somewhere to stop and call. And if parents have to get ahold of their children, they can have certain check-in points or some other system depending on what they decide is best for them and their teen. This is a law that most parents can agree with and feel secure about, knowing that their rules are not only being enforced by them but by the law as well. This is a law to protect everyone.

Judgements and Perceptions

Yesterday I was reading through Chapter 2 in my speech book, and it was talking about how we all have different perceptions of the same situation and how we judge people. I was forced to think about how I see things and judge people. Judge is such a harsh word-it makes me sound like a mean person. But judging people is just human nature, whether we really realize it or not, we do it. Think about all the different ways we judge people in today's society. After September 11, we stereotype agaist most people of Middle Eastern descent. Some people may not mean to do that, but it still happens. And we judge based on how people dress and look. I was watching America's Next Top Model the other day and it just made me wonder who decides what beautiful is? We as a society care so much about looks and material things. Being skinny and thin in today's society is almost a "must." Who decided that was beauty? I'll never quite figure that one out. Everyday we judge people on things like that, but why? Who are we to judge? There are nine perceptual errors we engage in, sometimes without even realizing it most of the time. First impressions was one of those errors, and that's probably the one that I'm most guilty of. Why are first impressions so important to us? I can't explain it but for some reason they just are. Can't we give people a second chance? For some reason, first impressions are hard to change, no matter how hard we try. I know for me sometimes they can be, anyway. Maybe we feel the need to "categorize" people right away, for lack of a better phrase. Everyone knows certain kinds of people, and maybe we feel the need to put people into those groups. Maybe it makes us feel better about ourselves. If we see someone in a less-than-ideal situation, we take comfort in the fact that we would never be seen "like that." Or maybe we just simply do it without even realizing it. I think that could be the most likely reason. We grow up with all of these ideas and ideals and sometimes new people we meet don't match those ideas and we just judge them without realizing it. Its a type of predjudice, I suppose. We don't acknowledge that we're judging them, because, really, who wants to think that they judge people harshly? But on occasion it happens without us even being aware of it. First impressions aren't really very fair, because people have bad days all the time and aren't always presented to new aquaintences at our best, and they judge us. It's not necessarily right or fair, but that's the way it goes. On the flip side of occasionally harsh first impressions is leniency, and I think I'm pretty guilty of that too. Sometimes we just can't see the bad aspects in people and keep giving them more and more and they keep taking it and walking all over us. In a perfect world, everyone would stick up for themselves and no one would get walked all over, but newsflash: this isn't a perfect world and we do it. Again, I'm not sure why...error in human nature, I suppose. We all have different ways of seeing things, though, which makes us unique. I don't really understand why we judge others, and ourselves for that matter, but as humans we do and I really don't know why. I'm beginning to discover that there's a lot of things that I really don't understand if I take the time to stop and think about them.

Revelation...kind of

Why do people do the things that they do? Sometimes it seems so pointless. I heard about some businesses in Watertown getting broken into and held up this weekend, and it just makes me wonder why on earth someone would do that. It seems pointless to me because it only makes situations worse for those people involved. There are so many more effective ways than stealing from a convenience store to get the things that you want. Sure, it might sound like a good plan at first, and they may get away with it for awhile, but eventually they'll get caught. It's inevitable. And when that happens, their situations will be so much worse and harder to control. Why would anyone want to risk that? I certainly wouldn't and I really don't think many people would, but yet things like that happen every day. It doesn't make sense tko me. But then I was flipping through channels on tv and happened to see a little bit of a show-to be honest I'm not even sure what it was called or what channel it was on- but it was a show where they were talking to homeless people and asking them questions: what it's like being out on the streets, lifestyle things, and what happened to send them out there to live like that. One man replied simply that he couldn't help it-he had no choice. He lost his job and couldn't find another one, although he used all the resources he had in looking for one. After being unemployed so long, money began to run low and payments couldn't be made and he simply couldn't keep up with the money situation and he was kicked out of his house. After that, he really couldn't find a job because he had no home and hardly any possessions and no one would hire a man who lived out on the streets. Hence the reason he was homeless and living on the streets. And that made me think about the people holding up those businesses. What if they're in similar situations? I'm not saying at all that I'm condoning what they're doing, but what if they truly think they have no choice? Who knows what people will do to try and fix their situations? They can't really be blamed for that. It's certainly not the best way to fix the problem, but it might be the only solution they can come up with. Maybe they have kids to feed and bills to pay, and with today's crazy economy sometimes things just don't even out and people come up short. Maybe things aren't always what they seem and there's more to the story than we know. I always used to have such contempt for people who did things like robbing a convenience store, but I never thought about it from the other side before. It could be a last ditch, desperate attempt to save things. Now I don't know what I think for sure. I think that robbing is wrong, definitely, but I also think that sometimes there is more than meets the eye. It all depends on the situation I guess. Its not always black and white, good or bad.

Fish and worms...I don't get it

I'm not really sure where this is coming from, but for some reason today I was thinking about fish...just kind of out of the blue, for no particular reason. I like to fish, so maybe that's why I was thinking about it. Getting to the point though, I just don't understand why, when you're fishing, you can catch a little fish and throw it back into the water, and sometimes they just keep coming back and eating the worm again and again to get themselves caught. I just don't understand it. I realize that the fish have got to eat, that's just a fact of life, and I understand that. But I just kind of think they should be smart enough to at least be a little bit scared of the worm and not go swimming up to the very first one they see after getting caught. God made animals with instincts to follow, which I suppose is why the fish does that. But didn't God also make them smart enough to make choices? I suppose that's a choice that the fish has to make: decide to take the chance of getting caught or eating. Either way they could die. It all comes down to choices. The same thing could be said about people. Why do we make the choices that we do? Sometimes it seems like we have so many choices to make and we end up making the wrong ones. I hate not knowing whether I should just go with my gut feeling or if it needs more thought. Sometimes I wonder why we have the power of choice... it complicates things, but then again we wouldn't be happy without it. That's what makes us human. It confuses me, but some things just aren't supposed to make sense to us.

My Writing Style

When I write, I am like rain. Now that may not make sense right away, but stop and think about this: rain can be either nice and soft and comforting, or it can be dark and heavy and damaging. My writing style is just as unpredictable. Just like with a rainstorm, before it begins it's sometimes difficult to tell what it's going to be like. With some writing projects, I'm organized, efficient, and have a clear outline and path to follow, which could be compared to the nice, soft rain. Other times, however, it is disorganzed, all over the place, and has no clear direction or purpose. I'm just trying to get my ideas down on paper so I don't leave anything out and worry about the cleanup later on. I compare this to the hard, heavy, damaging rain that brings a flood. The rain comes fast and leaves a mess to be cleaned up later on. And sometimes when I'm writing, I'm not always very clear or I make my paper too long by putting in too many details, but other times I don't add enough. That could be compared to the length of a rainshower. Then we work through it clean it up and organize it and it all turns out well and looks good. In my mind it just makes sense. I find that most things make sense in my head but not as much when I try to explain them. For the most part, I really like writing, even research papers. But I can't say my writing style is anything noteworthy. It really varies depending on what I'm writing. The only thing that I can say for sure about it is that it changes and is unpredictable, just like the rain.

This is new...

Well this is pretty cool, I've never had a blog before...this could be kind of fun. We had to set this up for my Honors 101 Comp. class to do reflective journaling. I think this'll be fun, definitely a creative new spin on writing.