Introduction:

My goal for this essay is to show how much violence is in our country and how much we see it on a daily basis. I just want people to be aware of this. I'm proud of the work I put in it and shout out to Christina and Tobi for the peer review.

Constant Violence in US

There are a lot of examples of violence being ingrained in our minds in our society. Whether it be subconsciously or consciously we cannot escape because these factors are all around and are influencing us daily. One example is the media. The media always reports shootings, robberies, and other acts of violence on a daily basis and then go on to the next topic: essentially just glossing over it like its nothing new. The second factor is our own president Donald Trump. At his rallies, he has a history of condoning violence.  What both of these examples have in common is that they’re things that people look up too or look at. These are just some of the many things that we see everyday that affect us and ingrain in our brain. If you go on NBC 10 News you’ll see a violent act that was committed and then right next to it is something light-hearted or even silly. In a article on the NBC 10 news website (April 23, 2019) it stated how the body cameras on the policemen were being used incorrectly as there was a police shooting. Then there was a news report about an Easter Bunny using violence to defend a woman who was being assaulted by a man. To be fair this kind of violence (The Easter Bunny) could be justified because he was trying to protect the woman t. The problem in this situation are the bystanders. During the incident they were just watching the woman get beat up. The people on the sidelines were cheering for the Easter Bunny, they said, ” Beat his a** .” multiple times, condoning that this “Easter Bunny fight the man that was fighting the woman. Later that day we come to find out the man in the Easter Bunny suit is a fugitive from New Jersey with a violent past. Here are three pictures of the incident.

In the first picture and second picture, it’s the man in the Easter Bunny suit. In the third picture is him defending the women by beating up the man with excessive force.  

That was just one example of how violence is ingrained in our brains due to the e daily violence shown on media.

Our own president has taken a part of this in many of his rallies and has been known to instigate violence. During Donald Trump’s various rallies he claimed that he didn’t  condone violence. However, that couldn’t be any farther from the truth.

Donald Trump has been contradicting for the longest time.It’s obvious that during this time Donald Trump was trying to gain people’s votes by saying he didn’t condone violence but, it got to the point where he really doesn’t care what he says during his rallies. Donald Trump really has a history of encouraging violence in our country. The crazy part is when he said, “Knock the crap out of them” people were cheering and supporting him with this statement. This shows that if the people in power think it’s ok others will also think its ok that we have violence in our country.   

One last example out of the many examples out there is The Army Experience Center. In the ACE they try to recruit kids in the army by making them play violent video games. They use these games as a means to unlock the violence that’s inside kids without them even realizing it. Here are some statistics from the ACE,” As of October 12, 2009:

• The AEC had registered nearly 13,000 new visitors

• The AEC had contracted a total of 149 recruits -- 134 for active duty and 15 for Reserves

• The AEC had obtained 72 “quality enlistments," referring to recruits who scored in the 50th percentile or above on the Armed Forces Qualification Test

• On average, 80 people visit the AEC per day

• The HMMWV [Humvee] is the AEC’s most popular simulator”

And this is just for 2009. There were 80 People visiting a day being brainwashed by violent video games so they can join the army. Using video games as a means to gather kids to join the army is kind of sick. The kids don’t know better either, they think they’re just there to play some Call of Duty or something when in actuality the people who work at ACE are evaluating how useful they can be in the army.  

There is a way to solve this. We all need to be careful what we look at what we feed our minds because if we feed our minds violence it’s going to want violence. If we feed our minds kind thoughts and kind actions then our minds are going think positively and do positive things. If we keep just following others like Donald Trump it’s just going to strengthen the hold that violence has on our minds but if we don’t allow to take control of us then everything will be fine. This is why we need to be aware that violence is being ingrained in our mins.

These are just three examples of how violence is ingrained in our brains. No matter how hard we try to avoid it there will be violence all around us, it’s just how society is at this day and age. There are even people out there who support violence as seen in example two. In the end, the many examples out here can ingrain violence in our brains but that doesn’t mean everybody is hostile.  

Work sited

https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000004269364/trump-and-violence.html?playlistId=1194811622182&module=tv-carousel&action=click&pgType=Multimedia&contentPlacement=0

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/waging-war/a-new-generation/

https://www.nbcnews.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H3CsKX01ME

Introduction

The goals of this paper is to just tell people that they if they want to achieve their goals they should practice so you can be capable of achieveing your goals. I want people to just understand that if you taake time to imporve your skills it'll pay off in the end. I really proud of what I wrote because it gave me an oppurtunity to reflect and see how much I really grown from this experience.

No Shortcuts

I started to slow down and then... I started to walk...

“Don’t stop running keep going! I DIDN'T SAY STOP YET!!!!” said my coach ferociously.

You could hear the screams of agony fill the room. Everyone was feeling the ache and pains in the hamstrings and I saw the sweat dripping off of everyone. Everyone was putting in the work they needed to succeed in the upcoming track meet, and it was made apparent when we was done running up and down the steps because the smell spoke for itself. All I could think about during practice was pushing myself to go even further beyond, thinking that I could finally reach the gold. Then we started to get acquainted with push-up and all I saw was the dirty, the dusty, and somewhere in between, white floor as I continue to elevate myself to new heights. I started to close my eyes because of the dust but, also of the pain my arms had to endure. All I saw was the blackish red of my eyelids thinking to myself is this enough to get me to my goal.

The following day...

The day of the track meet, I remember it well. It was in the middle of March with a few clouds in the sky but, with the comforting sky blue and shining yellow sun that I know all so well.  It was almost my turn to run the 100 meter dash I heard a guy with confidence saying,

”I’m about to cook yall!”

I started to second guess my abilities...My heart started to race and started beating faster than my legs even move. I could feel an uneasy feeling in my stomach and a nervous drop of sweat starting to drip off of my already hot face. I could hear the the forbidden words from the guy who uses the pistol to start us off saying,

“Next runners take your spots!”

At that moment my heart dropped and I felt my body slowly inching forward to lane 5.

“Runners on your mark!” the man with the pistol exclaimed.

I got into the running position that I practice constantly during practice.  The runners beside me did there own forms and had determined expressions on their faces.  

“GET SET!!!” I slightly lifted my body up and my mind started to go blank like a white piece of paper not yet filled with the colors that makes it was it is.

“POP”  the gun wailed.

I launched myself forward and I can see runners beside me but, most importantly the end in front of me. I could feel the wind hitting my face and how much force applied to each step, quickly getting me to my destination with each second that goes pass. I could even feel my breathing trying to regulate itself to compensate for the speed I was going. Each second that went by I started to not physically see the other runners but, I could still hear the sounds off their feet hitting the ground. Even though my mind only had one goal as I was running, which was to get to the end, I still saw the red color track and the green turf in my peripheral. My arms were moving vigorously, matching the pace of my already tired legs. I was approaching the finish line and my brain started to fill itself with color instead of black and white. I started to remember what the guy said about cooking us in this race and I had a huge smile on my face. I crossed the white line which put a relief in my brain and my heart even though my heart was still racing. I then saw the guy who was talking trash come up right after me with a disappointed look in his face. He didn’t say anything. I started to come back to my senses and I could hear a lot of cheering. I was back in reality. I had a smile on my face but, I could still feel the impacts my feet had sustained from running. Nevertheless, I was happy because I realized that the shining yellow sun was shining on me because that was the first time I heard the golden words.

“You…...Came…...in……..first” my teammates told me.

I was ecstatic. I could not stop smiling my golden smile as my teammates kept trying to congratulate my victory.    

To sum it all up, there is no shortcut to greatness.  If you don’t practice how will you expect to succeed? The answer is you shouldn’t expect it because practicing allows you to improve one’s self and get more skilled at what you do. You need to practice to achieve your goals and watch in the end how all the work you put in it finally pays off. If you try to finesse your way to your dreams you only cheating yourself because when there’s a situation that demands your skill and you have none what then? Where do you go after that? This is why practice pays off because if you practice even the tiniest bit each day you’ll at least start to generate the skill to accomplish your goals.

Have you ever been so frightened you’ll never forget that moment in your life? Fear can have a long-term effect on people’s mental health and can affect their physical health as well. Fear is a very powerful emotion that can be very well a positive thing a can be a very much a negative thing. This is also present in real life when people dream because when they have a nightmare it can stick with them  When people are dealing with a threat to their existence, they let fear rule their behavior. As a result, they cannot fully be themselves and the threat of the fear will constantly haunt them.

In the “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding there are a bunch of boys stuck on a Island and the main character is a guy named Ralph.  In this scene there are two twins who are names Sam and Eric. They are talking to Ralph about their “encounter” with the beast. ”The beast moved too-’ That was awful. It kind of sat up-’ The fire was bright-’ We’d just made it up-’-more sticks on-’There were eyes-’ Teeth-’ Claws-’ We ran as fast as we could-’Bashed into things-’ The beast followed us”(100). You can see obviously that the boys were scared and all that jazz but what the boys didn’t know was that there was literally nobody following them. When they were mentioning the description of the beast, that was just their imagination and you can see it’s having a mental effect on their brains because what they are describing didn’t happen. They probably just heard some noises and they thought that was the beast and started running, either way there wasn’t any beast in this scene.

A little later in the book there is a scene where there is a boy that is named Simon who is having a conversation with a dead pig alone in a forest, which is called the Lord of the Flies. ”We are going to have fun on this island. So don’t try it on, my poor misguided boy, or else-...Simon was inside the month. He fell down and lost consciousness”(144).  In this quote you can see that fear has affected Simon too because he is literally talking to a dead pig and the reader is to believe that the pig is talking to him. Simon’s fear got to a climaxing point as you can see since he put his head in the dead’s pig mouth and went unconscious. If they never even heard or saw the beast this whole scene wouldn’t have happened. You can see that Simon is not himself and isn’t functioning fully since he is in this state. This beast senario is having mental issue with him and is having a hard time in this scene.  

Now a little after the previous scene we see Simon again with the Lord of the flies on his head is trying to tell a group of boys about a dead man on a hill. ”Simon was crying out something about a dead man on a hill. Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in!...The beast struggled forward, broke the ring, and fell over the steep edge of the rock to the sand by the water...they could see how small a beast it was; and already its blood was staining the sand.”(152-153) In this quote you can see that the group of boys were definitely not themselves because they were chanting a really morbid chant. They were so blind that they didn’t realize that the person they was hurting was there fellow comrade Simon. Then later in the scene he ends up dying because of their ruthlessness and how much fear had control them to the point where they took a life of a person, their own friend. They were so obsessed with the beast that they were going to kill it no matter what but the things is there was never really a beast.  

A real world example of this is dreams. In some of the websites it was explaining that the environment can affect people’s behaviors and how they function. Also, dreams are also powerful because if you remember them it can stick with you. This is important to remember because when you have fear it can have a mental and physical impact on you.”The environment can influence mood. For example, the results of several research studies reveal that rooms with bright light, both natural and artificial, can improve health outcomes such as depression, agitation, and sleep.”(Found here) It said this in one of the articles and basically it’s saying that being in a good environment can improve your health physically and mentally. “The environment can create or reduce stress, which in turn impacts our bodies in multiple ways. This is because our brain and our nervous, endocrine, and immune systems are constantly interacting. As neuroscientist Candice Pert puts it, "What you are thinking at any moment is changing your biochemistry."(Found here) This is also stating evidence that depending on the environment it can decrease or increase stress. When your stressed you can’t fully be yourself and you’re going to be worried about every single thing in your life just like in the novel.

Having fear in your life can have a very dangerous impact on you both physically and mentally. When you’re being threatened, it can cause you to do things you wouldn’t think of doing until you’re in the moment. In that moment fear is ruling their behavior and it is allowing to dictate their actions and choices that they make. Just like in the lord of the flies dreams in the real world can impact you to the point where you act out of your normal character.

Works Cited

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies, New York: Penguin, 2006.

Kollmuss, Anja. “Mind the Gap: Why Do People Act Environmentally and What Are the Barriers to pro-Environmental Behavior?” Https://Www.tandfonline.com/Doi/Abs/10.1080/13504620220145401.

“What Impact Does the Environment Have on Us?” Taking Charge of Your Health & Wellbeing, www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/explore-healing-practices/healing-environment/what-impact-does-environment-have-us.

“Impact of Fear and Anxiety.” Taking Charge of Your Health & Wellbeing, www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/enhance-your-wellbeing/security/facing-fear/impact-fear.

“The Impact of Dreams on Your Social Life.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/dream-catcher/201105/the-impact-dreams-your-social-life.

Hey mom. Why did I get home so late? I was out. Where? I was at shoprite and got some apples, doritos, and cheetos. My receipt? I don’t have one.

Yes mom, I did steal that food. You want me to tell you why? I stole that food because I’m hungry and we’re poor. I stole that food so we can all eat. I stole that food because there are some days where I wake up and there is no food to eat. I STOLE that food because I’m sick and tired of being the poorest student at school and being made fun of for that, so yeah mom, I did steal that food. Why do I have to return the food? They’re not going to miss the food. Well it’s not my fault I stole that food. The only person you can really blame is yourself. You would have done the same if your were in my shoes.

I know you raised me better and I know I’m your son Kahlil, but I am the same Kahlil that is a 15 year old poor kid who doesn’t even have a bed to sleep on at night. My name is Khalil and I don’t even have food in my cabinets and I have to sleep cold on the floor with no covers while there is a draft coming from the cracks in our broken down walls, in our broken down house because the heat doesn’t work. It’s not my fault that we’re poor. You want me to tell you what else I stole? I stole this Wallet! I stole it because WE NEED MONEY TO LIVE! It has three 100 dollar bills, five 20 dollar bills, a dollar bill, and a 200 dollar visa debit card. I thought that it would help with the bills you pay, and to buy food, and even buy a t.v. We are so poor, that we may as well be HOMELESS. Everytime when I go to school, I get bullied because of my cheap shirt and my cheap shoes or I get laughed at when they say I probably don’t even have a bed to sleep on which they’re right, I DON’T. I am fed up. Now leave me alone mom. I’m grounded? Why? What am I grounded for? For being poor? Am I grounded for wanting to have things that I don’t have. Is that a crime? Is being poor a crime? It’s not fair being poor and it’s not fair that I am being grounded for that. Why you calling dad? Please don’t call...

Hello sir. Yes I stole some food sir, and a wallet sir. I know my name is Khalil and I know I’m not acting like I’m your son but, it’s not my fault that I stole that man's wallet and it’s not my fault I stole some food. WE NEED MONEY! Why don’t you understand that? We need that MONEY to make sure our bathrooms work. We need that freakin MONEY so we can have electricity, and we need that MONEY so my classmates won’t make fun of me because I can’t even wash up. How are you even going to get money sir, I just got more money by stealing then you make in a freaking year. I don’t want to go to my room! Please I’m sorry sir. Don’t beat me...sir.

I was 13 years old in 8th grade and it was the day of my trumpet performance at Kipp Philadelphia Charter School right next to the broad street line on Leigh. Earlier that day I woke up realizing that today was the day that I would be playing an original solo to the entire school. I was so nervous, that I was sweating a vicious storm of sweat. I went to the bathroom to wash my face and brushed my teeth. I looked in the mirror and let me tell you I could see the sweat dripping off my face.

I wiped the intense sweat off with the bathroom towel and walked down stairs to get some breakfast. After I ate breakfast I gathered my bookbag, my trumpet, and my rain jacket because the news said it was going to rain. I walked to where my school bus usually stops and it started to rain. When the bus came, I got on and went to sleep half wet. As I awoke from my slumber, getting ready to get off the bus, my back was so stiff I had to stretch until my bones screamed. I got off the bus and saw my friend Jordan, who was also my rival. He played the flute and we competed in almost everything except grades. My rival in running speed, solos, you name it. When he played that flute his style was unique from the style of a flute normal flute player. Instead of the exquisite soft sound you would get, a rock and roll harsh sound came out of it and, people liked that about his solo. I personally liked his solos as well because it was a style of where you wouldn’t expect that coming from a flute and the flow of the rock solo was amazing.

”What’s up Charles?” Jordan said.

“Nothing much.” I said, knowing that I was extremely nervous.

“Cool, you ready to perform today?”

“Yeah.” I said in a calm tone, trying to convince him and myself that I was ready.

“Cool, see you at the performance!”

“See ya.”

Later that stressful day as I was warming up with my powerful trumpet, my best buddy John came over, and he was the best saxophone player at my school, and his solos were the flows of a jazz tune that makes you sway your hands and hips to side to side. His creative improvisation would always get you to smile. He’s unpredictable and I love that about him. Also right next to him was the best Trombone player in the school and his name was Tyreeq. When he played that Trombone it would produce such a rich, deep, and powerful sound. His solos were simple but his technique on the sound of his instrument was why he was the best.

“Hey Charles!” said John and Tyreeq happily.

“Are you ready for the solos, the performance starts in 5 mins” Tyreeq said.  

 “I guess.”

“I’m just so hype!” John said with a huge smile on his face.

“Same!” Tyreeq said.

They both went to their band section and it was finally time to start. It was a massive crowd of the whole school gathering together to watch the performance. We played “Get funky”(We called it Get funky but it’s called Get lucky”) Last but not least we played Superstition. Everyone was screaming and cheering when we played superstition, which by the way is a classic soul song by Stevie Wonder. I was the first to play the solo. I got up there and I started to sweat so much that it was literally seeping down my back and my legs and it was really uncomfortable, but as soon as I blew into my trumpet I lost myself in a jazzy solo that I didn’t know I was capable of. It felt like I was in a whole different world because when I played that solo it was the nicest, cleanest, and most majestic solo I have ever created in my life. After my solo everthing was a blur because I was lost in the majestic flow of music but, I can say that all 3 of my friends, Jordan, Tyreeq and John did just as good as me with their own amazing styles. From this  performance, I learned that if you try your best and have fun then you may discover a hidden talent that you never knew you were capable of. I also learned that I was the best trumpet player at school.

Printmaking is a form of art that you first make a art and then print on a different paper. There are lots of different forms of printmaking like woodcut and engraving. Printmaking is important because it is a cheap and cool way to make quality art. Also you can make copies easily if you wanted to. Printmaking is revolutionary because when printmaking was introduced, lots of people came to like printmaking, and some used printmaking themselves. Again printmaking is se easy to do, anyone can do it if they have the materials.

Stanza 1: Yo soy Carlitos

              Nosotros vivimos

              Tengo una madre

              Su nombre shelly oh----oh----- oh oh oh

             Yo soy un niño

             Yo soy pequeño

             Tengo hermano

             Yo soy cómico  oh------oh--------oh oh oh

Stanza 2:  Yo veo mi amigos

               Yo oigo mi primos

              Yo saboreo mi cheerios

              Yo huelo mi sobrinos (fan my nose)

              Yo tocooooo la mochiiiiiila a a

Stanza 3: Toco la trompeta

             Por mi familia

            Yo practico en en mi silla

           Juego video juegos

           Súper súper mario

           No me gusta wario

           Me gusta corro y me gusta beboo

           Me encanta corro rapido oh-------oh-------- oh oh oh

Stanza 4: Tenemos familias

             Mucho mucho niñas

             Yo necesito no necesitamos

             Hablamos ingles

             Tú tú comes no (pause)  comemos

            pizza , pollo, y tocinos. Oh----oh------ ja ja ja

           Somos divertido

           Somos simpatico

           Nosotros no antipático Oh-----oh------ ja ja fin.

I made the slide the way it looks because well, it describes exactly who I am like when I put lines connecting to one big idea which is passion. Also the values of my color is mostly light blue which generally gives a cheery and happy vibe. I added the clouds  and rainbow to show what the inside of my mind is like. I also added the charlie chaplin quote to show that I like to laugh and have a good time because,”A day without laughter is a day wasted.” Also I added shapes that are either rectangular or square to clearly identify what my passions are. The space of the slide is generally positive from having fun playing video games to getting inspiration from playing my sweet trumpet. My endnote is this I just like to get good grades and have fun.