usafa application essay

Cogress nomination letter:

explain why you are joining a military academy. what are you expecting to gain from the education. 500 word limit.

The military, though at times risky, is a promising area I am aiming for. Not only knowledge for a degree is taught there, but also knowledge of moral character. The moral character taught at military colleges provides skills I will use throughout my life like motivation. Such promises provided at military academies are impossible to be found anywhere else. Being such a beneficial school, I simply cannot ignore it.

I do more than just earn a degree at military academies; I gain character. Military schools teach their students more in dept about moral character than any other. I can earn a degree from any college, but I can only earn true character from military academies.  Military academies teach Skills in character that I will use throughout my life. The military academy and service will strengthen my character in areas like motivation and patience. When I become a doctor, these skills will be tremendously useful. When I treat my patients, I will need to help them with my best quality, one by one. I will need to finish the job with not satisfying but terrific results instead of sloppy ones. In addition to that, I will be working for long periods of time with little sleep, making the motivation skill be put to use. A normal college will get me a medical degree, but it will not master my character.

If I manage to join the medical division of the air force, I will be helping the heroes of the country. While doing my service, I will be saving the lives of those who were saving me. I want to make an injured soldier not have his/her family in neither misery nor worry but rather confident that everything will end up fine. When my brother, Marek Rudak,  was at service, my family was extremely worried about him. We checked the news frequently to make sure that he was alive and unharmed. If I get into the military, I will be the one who will erase these worries. I will be saving the lives of the fallen comrades and helping them get back home alive. I will put a smile on my patient and on the patient’s family.

The air force academy is the school I aim for. Ever since my brother’s graduation at west point, I became motivated to join the military. Ever since then, I developed skills of leadership which I wish to strengthen and put into practice for my country. Being interested in physiology and anatomy, I aim to major in medics. Becoming nominated for the military is a big competition, but I believe that I have what it takes to get into an academy and make a notable difference to all.

(after i get nominated for the military, i send a packet of info about myself and a essay to the academy i wish to attend. in my case im sending to the air force academy)

air force academy essay:

when did you first become interested in the air fore academy and serving in the air force? What started your interest? What Air Force Career field do you hope to enter? What do you expect to gain from the air force academy experience and how will it help you in the air force career? 350 word limit

ever since my 1st grade year I had great interest in joining the military. It was sparked when I went to my brother, Marek Rudak, graduation at west point. After the visit, during my free time I painted my face green and camofasuse into my background, pretending to do a mission to save the country. In my fifth grade year I developed intrest in joining the air force academy to become an aerospace engineer. I build models like the Black Bird and build my own “devices” like a clock, electric toy car and a light bulb screen with unused Christmas lights. These hobbies brought me interest in joining the usafa since it is one of the best schools for it. I joined JROTC during tenth grade where I participated in JCLC. During this mini boot camp, I became more interested in becoming a doctor. Saw how troopers care for their victims and I was inspired to do the same; save lives. The special thing about usafa is that it teaches many careers. I favor the usafa characteristic of providing a flexible choice for my future career.

The careers I hope to achieve is a medical degree and go for the highest, a surgeon. To me, the usafa is the best place to get this degree not only because it is one of the top schools to get it, but also because when I serve, I will be saving the lives of those who have been saving me.

I expect to strengthen my determination in finishing a job that I start and strengthening my patience. This will be very useful in while on duty because I will be more determined to accomplish missions that I am assigned to so, even when the cost can be heavy. As a doctor, I would expect to deal with many patients that are injured during service. I would do my job for countless hours and get few hours of sleep. But with the determination of finishing my job, I will be able to accomplish it with my best quality.

edit/reflection from my group

for alex:
though your topic sentence is catching, it brings me a few questions that i would like answers. your "hooking/first sentence". you stated characteristics like Violence, struggling, death, and survival but where is the violence in the book? back it up. you also use used a vioce that is not meant to be used for such an essay, probably to fill up the minimal required 1000 words. you used unnecessary things/terms like "i mean". your draft is also very short and you will need to expand it if you are to get full credit. also, which question are you trying to answer? it would make it much easier to edit it.
Tiffany:
like the many other first drafts i read, all just have additional unnecessary words that should be eplaced or deleted. you said that you read many books alike the one you are writing about. what stories are you talking about? give examples. and what is the book that you are writing about? you should mention it in the introduction, making it easier for the readers like me. also, if you are to improve the quality of your draft, you should use a different voice. it sounds as if you are chatting with a friend. also, one solution is to add a world connection/hooking sentence at the start that relates 


vincent (gina did not do it): 
you can improve in your introductory. you should make your first sentence a more "hooking/world conection". instead,u went straight to the question. your essay also bring me some questions. what was the book about? you need to give us readers a somewhat bigger picture of the book. what is the plot of the story? just remember that if you do add some more detail abou the book, remember not to put too much that it would ruin the book for those who did not read it yet. you also placed some extra words and sentences. at times you were repedative, probably to reach the 1000 word minimum.

Captain courageous draft 1

Jasiu Metkowski

English

Period 5

Captain courageous draft 1

Everything that exists changes over some time, alive or dead. The environment changes (both naturally and artificially). Laws in societies change usually with the goal of improvement, culture changes with the way the society thinks, society it self changes, and life styles change from generation to generation. But one thing that continually changes throughout our lives is our character. Some change from fools to wise men and women and vice versa. We (usually) mature over time, sometimes quickly and sometimes not that rapid, into grown adults. In the book “Captain Courageous” by Rudyard Kipling, he tells a story that proves that one can make drastic changes in their character over time. A spoiled rich American kid named Henry Cheyne changes into a wise courageous grown man.

That the start of the story, henry cheyne has a horrible selfish character. He thinks all about himself, never thinking about those that lived around him, not even his beloved parents that cared so mush for him. After henrey fell into the ocean while sailing over to Europe for some education, he was fished out by some poor but wise fishermen. During his first days on board, henry gave no respect to those on board. He accused his crewmates, including the captain, for things that they did not do such as stealing his money that was in his pocket. He tried to convince them into sailing back to shore with the fact that his rich father was with no doubt going to pay them for the rescue. But without any evidence to prove that he was rich, henry knew he was going to have a long ride on the Where’re here (the name of the fishermen’s ship). The crew knew that if Henry was lying, he would cause their fishing voyage to become a disaster since they already went a long way from the United States. Henry spoke to them in a rude way as if he had superiority over the crew. When Henry was told to go over to speak with the captain, he refused and demanded that the captain was to come over to him. He told Dan “Your dad [the captian of the crew that saved henry] can come down here if he’s so anxious to talk to me. I want him to take me to New York right away.” (pg 11). The captain did come over to him (with great shock) but with a big slap for henry and strong anger.

However, this nasty spoiled character of his was not going to last for long. it was during his trip to Europe he fell off board into the ocean where he would learn discipline and develop a true moral character. After the captain gave him some strong slaps in the face and henry bled a bit, henrey spoke with the captain’s son. The captain’s son, Dan, was much easier and patient with Henrey. After a few chats with the Dan, henry got some advise and tips which he put to consideration and usage. He apologized with sorrow and became a member of the crew once he said “Well, I- im here to take things back [ the negative. They strengthened their relationship to such strength as a family. he got to know the crew members one by one and became a great friend with Dan. Henry thanked the crew member, manual, for saving his life. At first, Henry wished that he could show how thankful he was to Manual by a way such as paying him. but after developing some moral character, Henry realized that paying him with money would be a shameful way to repay his savior. Friendship and graditude was all it really took to effectively show how thankful he truly was. Giving money would be like henry paying Manual as if henry was an employer. While on board, henry learned other things such as temperance, independence, and generosity. He also developed some skills such as navigation, strength (in his muscles and in his character) and how to steer the ship with the help of the wind. These lessons that positively affected his character while on board the where’re here were lessons so priceless, nearly impossible for anyone to find and teach. Henry’s parents were going to be very pleased when they find henry as a totally different mature man. No longer was henry going to be a spoiled brat but a strong adult. These lessons were ones that were to be useful throughout his life. They brightened he future and actual made him develop a future career plan, something that was continiuosly rolling about in his mind.

Ones character can drastically change if pushed to do so. For some it takes little force, but for others like Henry, it can take a mother load. Henry was a spoiled brat but was then pushed by the crew of the were’re here into becoming a much better person. no longer did he just think about himself but also about others. He became a grown up mature man, impressing his family and bringing a positive influence to his family and eventually even his community. He realized that he can not live on his wishes and money alone. We too need to do so. I believe that Kipling wrote this book to inspire others to improve the character of the reader and help those around change into much better people. If we can change into mature people, our society would become a much better one.

reflection question 8

reflection question 8

As I continue reading the book captain courageous by Rudyard Kipling, the character Henry who is a young boy changes. His personality become totally different compared to the time before he was rescued. At the start he was a spoiled brat that was rich and had a horrible character. But by a little more then the mid point of the book, the spoiled boy changes. With a few talks with his good friend Dan (who is the captain’s son) and a huge slap in the face by the captain, Henry eventually got the picture that these sailors saved his life. So instead of showing them an attitude and calling them thieves he started to respect and obey them. His change was shown when he spoke to the captain “So I came to say that I am sorry for what I did” (pg 57). His apology clearly proves for some guilt for what he did. He here is becoming into a more mature disciplined man instead of a spoiled child. Though it was not an easy task at the start, Henry became part of the crew. His hands now came to use not for relaxing activities but rather strong for tasks such as slicing fish and caring heavy loads. he learned how to steer the ship, navigate with the stars and identify different types of fish. He wanted to pay them back with cash but due to his swim, it fell out. But then he realized that money was not what could pay the full cost. His service to the crew, obedience, and respect was all that truly played the price. At this time he was really meant to go to school in Europe. But instead, he got some education far better and important than any one can give him. He was learning how to become a better person, something so school was to ever teach him. If it was not for his fall into the sea, he most like would of remained a terrible child. His family will be most thankful when he returns not only because he manage to survive the fall, but also because the change in his character.

Captain Courageous: question 8

Captain Courageous: question 8

Even though the book I chose to read has many characters, there is one that many can arguable believe that is the main one. In the book captain courageous, a spoiled rich child (known as Henry) falls off a ship but is rescued by a crew of fishermen. Before he fell off deck, he had a horrible character. He behaved as if the entire world was to adore and respect him as a master. His mother never wanted him to feel any sort of misery or discomfort, and so with the loads of money his parents had, they provided him whatever he desired. He got entertainment from others suffering, since he wished the big ship which he was riding to Europe was capable of rushing the small fishing boats in the dense fog. His nasty spoiled attitude caused him to speak in a very rude manner to the crew that just saved him right after they saved him.

“The captain wishes to see you… then tell him to come to me. Tell him to sail back to America. My father is a millionaire and certainly will pay you back. The sooner you get me there, the more you will be paid.”(pg 31)

With Henry’s lack of cooperation, attitude and rudeness the crew doubted he was truly being honest. They said that if he could somehow prove such as showing them a huge chunk of cash, then they will reconsider. But due to Henry’s fall, all fell out of his pocket and into the sea. Because of his poor character, he decided to use a scapegoat. He accused the crew of being responsible of the disappearance of his pocket money which was almost two hundred. But now he is loosing his power. No longer will he be in charged. Henry has no knowledge relating to the sea, how to use it and how to survive. Though he speaks English much more better and has a better idea due to his expensive education, he will no manage to survive at sea alone. He will need to change his additude towards the captain and get some discipline.

family story conections

family story conections

when a group of individuals share a similar goal, their story of how they achieved it (or failed) can be totally different. this is true about all of the family stories i read from my class. but at the same time, many of the stories share several notable similarities. One very popular characteristic that many stories share is the characters’ goals and the theme or situation.

One common type of situation that popped up in several of the stories was a life threatening situation. Many of the stories had that situation where it could me considered luck as why they still exist(ed). My story concluded that my grandma was lucky to survive the Russian attract/murder. Survival and hiding was not only in my story but also in many other stories.

In john’s story, his great grandparents had a friend name Jim who barely survived. Similar to my grandma's story where she hid for survival. My grandma hid in a barrel while Jim hid under floor boards.

he was accused of raping a white women. in the state of Texas at that time would mean that a black man would be lynched. so my grandmothers grandparents hid there friend jim under floor boards. if Jim was found in my grandmothers grandparents house all three of them would be lynched because they where apart of hiding this man." http://astijohnnyboy.blogspot.com/2011/03/family-essay.html

Jim here was lucky to survive and john’s grandparents were brave to help save his life. My grandma’s story as was similar because she too had to hid for survival.

Carly told a story about an uncle who experience a similar situation, though the ending was not such a happy one. Nevertheless, he lucky survived

The plan was not successful; many people lost their lives, others were injured severely. Even those who remained in the train did not survive; the train eventually crashed into the small boulder .My Uncle was among the severely injured. http://bloggerroggers.blogspot.com/2011/03/my-uncles-accident.html

Carrly’s uncle barely survived the situation. He was lucky to make it since he was one of the only survivors. This simialarly happened to my grandma in the story I told. She, however, was the only one survivor.

Another story that is similar to to my grandmother's was Amber's story. Her story also not only had a simular life threating case, but also took place at the same time and close by.

The Germans forced them to work and said that if they didn’t, they would kill their families. My great-grandfather was very frightened and constantly hungry. http://michiganftw.blogspot.com/2011/03/kowalski-family-stories.html

 

 like my grandma's story, amber's grandfather's story came face to face with an enemy force during the second world war. Both of our stories also have the conclusion that we are lucky to be alive.

family cycles

Cycles are in action 24/7. They are sets of events that occur over and over again. There are cycles in our world that have been going on for many long and short centuries. Though they can differ from generation to generation, they always share a few similarities. Some examples of cycles that involve inorganic things include cycles such as the water cycle, carbon cycle and the nitrogen cycle which usually behave the same way each round. But some cycles differ a bit (though for the most part remain the same) in each generation. Some examples of such cycles include the cycle of tradition and culture. In the book The Joy Luck Club narrated by several Chinese women, they all have a cycle in the way they value their culture.

During their young childhood years, the mothers (of the authors) somewhat lacked an appetite to preserve their Chinese family culture but eventually they favored it. in the chapter Scar, An-Mei (one of the mothers) was thought to somewhat lack culture as she floated in her own world. Her culture absence was shown when Popo protested “Too late, too late” (pg 45).But this absence did not last forever. She eventually “came back” and that was proven when An-Mei gave a chop of her flesh for a stew. No one would freely go through such pain unless there was a reason such as value or importance.

This abandoning and returning to culture was not only done by the mothers but also by their daughters. Though the mothers did indeed try to hook their daughters to the Chinese culture, the American environment washed them away. This was proven when Lindo described her daughter as being Americanized “They [Chinese] already know you are an outsider.” (pg 253). The mother saw that she lost her Chinese character. At the start during her daughter’s young days she did not care. But once she heard this, she was disappointed. She regretted that this was the case. But during her visit to china, she realized something about herself. She realized that even though her American character would prevent her from blending into the Chinese environment, she still was Chinese. She still had the blood of a Chinese woman.

family story: grandma's prayer survival

Stories have been said throughout the centuries. There are ones made up to explain why something is so (though many times they are not the actual cause or reason), told in court to explain what really happen and who is truly responsible for the cause, for entertainment/pleasure such as comedy , and to tell about our past and history. Your past does not only include your life but also the life of your ancestors. Stories and events of your family are very important things to listen and pay attention to. No matter how shameful or embarrassing it may turn out to be, it is crucial for us to know about our past. It makes it easier for us to be thankful and honorable for what we have and had. Knowing our history can be very useful too when it comes to making decisions.

The family story that I am about to tell is about how my grandma (my dad’s mom) managed to survive a scary and horrifying situation during world war two. Though it was a horrible seen indeed that would not be bad if forgotten, it was a time of my grandmother’s childhood that can not be forgotten. In a sense, this horrific scene actually played a major and positive role in shaping my grandmother’s character of who she is today.

During her early young teenage years my grandma lived by the north eastern border in a somewhat small city known as Wilno (though today Wilno is no longer part of Poland anymore ever since the new map introduced after World War two). Life was nice. But in 1939 things took a turn. The Germen Nazis invaded from the west and in only in a matter of weeks, the Russians from the east. Though resisted with great attempt, Poland was not ready for the war so they were not prepared to hold off the two fronts.

My grandma told me what it was like to survive under Russian control. Though not know to be as horrible as the Nazis, they did do some unbelievable cruelty that matches up with the germens. It was not safe for anyone to go out on the streets anymore. Piss a Russian soldier off and pow! Pow! A single shot in the head to an instant early grave. The Russian soldiers showed no mercy nor respect for the Poles. The Russians treated the poles as nasty useless objects. They behaved as if it was their goal or destiny to eliminate the Poles so that they can expand their nation. They treated them as if their lives did not really matter. They were now wild animal. They found it entertaining that Poles and their other enemies got murdered.

The Russians and Germens shot whoever they really wanted to. Unless told by a leader, they shot whoever they pleased to. Time to time the Russians would have rounded some Poles, made them get into single file lines and fire at them. My grandma was well aware that this was occurring. One day she decided to go to a daily noon mass at the big Roman Catholic Church, even though she went every Sunday. And while she was there she prayed for protection. With all the violence and chaos, she knew life no longer was as safe as it use to be. After the mass she had a warm feeling from God that some Russian troops were approaching so she hid herself into a damp wooden barrel that stood right next to the corner of the church. She thought it was embarrassing seen but instead it turned out to be a blessing miracle. And sure enough, a large vehicle with several Russian troopers came. They rounded up all who were near by (children, men, and women). Some tried to flee but had no luck at all. They were shot right in the back and collapsed dead. In Russian, the troopers made the crowd line up. Whoever disobeyed any order or broke the silence was shot. If one did not understand the Russian commands and if that person was caught, he or she would have been shot. A step or so behind the move/motion commands and click pow you are dead. She was horrified by the scene and was praying that no one would give her position away. As my grandmother watched through the hole of the barrel, slowly eventually all of the people were dead. Soon she began to smell smoke. The Russians were burning the dead bodies of the Poles. Blood was flowing everywhere from the bodies. My grandma hated the horrible smell from the smoke. It felt like hell in the barrel. But it was worth the cost because if she popped up, she would have been shot dead as the others were. Eventually a strong wind blew the fumes away. However, for safety reasons, she did not leave the barrel unit about long half hour or so went by. There was blood on the ground and the remains of the dead bodies laid everywhere. It felt as if she was the only one alive in the hell ghost town. After this, my grandmother became far more religious and took it more seriously. She prayed more frequently (every night before going to sleep) and to this day she is greatly thankful. It was thanks to her prayer and faith that saved her life.

Whenever  I hear this story, it makes me ask a question. It makes me ask “so am I lucky to be alive?” .if my grandma did not receive that miraculous message, then I would most likely not be here. But if I consider myself lucky to be alive, then that would mean everyone is somewhat lucky. We all experience life threatening situations.

I believe stories are passed down the generations for many reasons, particularly for the great benefits they provide. Even though we today are capable of recording on files and paper, such stories should never be put aside or forgotten. The stories we hear today help prevent the future generations from forgetting what the family went through and what should be gone through. It is important to pass down such family stories because it allows us to establish a better and bigger idea of who we are and how we came to be. It is important to know about what your family went through. It is like learning about the history of a nation. If stories are not passed down, we (which also the future coming generations) will never know who or how we came to be. Not knowing our history can cause several negative effects. If we do not know who helped us or disrupted us, who are we to thank? Who are we to give credit? Who are we to blame? Listening to these stories can make a huge positive impact on our lives. They can cheer us up such as through jokes and comedy, help us with making wiser decisions and help avoid making the same mistakes of the past, and they can help shape our character. This is what drives us forward and causes progress and success to occur, helping identify our true identity.

intro's purpose :when the truth hurts, lying is the ticket out

I believe that the purpose of Amy Tan's piece was to inform the audience what the following parts were to be about which is that there are times when lying is the best thing to do, and times when honesty is the best.

In the intro, the mother lied to her daughter for safety reasons. The mother tried to sound persuasive by lying. Her daughter wanted to bike unsafely by the streets so she lied by telling her “it [the fact that she will fall and cry if she bikes by the corner when not to] is in a book, the Twenty-Six Malignant Gates.” (87). she most likely was lying when she said this because after some questions from the daughter, the mother was proven to of stated false evidence to back her statement up. And even though she said something false, her prediction of the fall was totally accurate. If the mother did not tell the lie, the daughter would have been injured sooner. If the daughter went with the lie, she would of not of been injured.

Lies sometimes are one of the best ways to support a person. In the part The Voice from the wall, Vena, the daughter many times lied to keep her father happier through her translations due to his poor Chinese. When her mother was giving birth, the son was not in good shape and dying. She was saying things in Chinese which the father asked for a translation. So she translated “She says we must all think very hard about having enough baby. She says she hopes this baby is very happy on the other side.” (112). This was not what she said. Rather, she was saying crazy things and stated negative things about herself, bragging about the great guilt she has for herself. Because of her father’s great sadness, she tried to prevent him from getting any worse by lying to make it sound not as terrible.

The purpose of the introduction was to inform the audience about what is ahead which was some usage lying. Because of the lies, vena’s father did not fell as sad if he heard the truth. Because of the lies mentioned in the introductory, the daughter at least got a warning that there was a consequewnce if she disobeyed. Though it is good to be an honest person, it is sometimes best to avoid it to prevent any harm since the truth can sometimes greatly hurt.

family reflection question

Like many other questions that relate to family life, it almost always depends. It depends on how you define “honor”. Of course you should show respect towards your family. It is rude and wrong to not honor what your family does for you. It takes loads of effort and sacrificice  to hold a family and especially tiring for raising a child (usually). Parents dedicate their time of freedom to the family. They have more work to cover which could greatly shrink the possible time for pleasure. This is why parents should be honored and respected. The purpose of their decisions is to improve the life of a family, even if they might not sound right or fair. But, there are situations where the decisions are made for a bad cause or unnecessary. This is where the question can be shaky and turned against. Families many times follow a tradition or culture. Children, however, many times wish to follow the culture of their day than their parents’ style.

For the most part, Popo was strongly in support of the fact about honor. Whenever her the son disobeyed the honor code to adults, she became tempered and unusually violent. She slapped, pushed and spat in Ani-Mei’s son whenever he seemed to dishonor in any way. Ani-Mei, however, was not such a fan of their honor code. She in a sense was a rebel. She wanted to move to the United States and start a new life with a new family. she did not care if her children knew any Chinese. But there is a part in the chapter “scar” where she strongly honored her family. She chopped off a piece of her flesh for a soup, some kind of tradition. This would most likely not be done if she was such a rebel. All that pain is not worth it for a rebel. However, there are some possible reasons for this. Maybe she wanted to make it up for all those rebel years. She might have changed her thoughts on the account of family honor, now believing that it is more important.

response to Amy Chau's false assumptions

"Chinese parents can get away with things that Western parents can't. Once when I was young—maybe more than once—when I was extremely disrespectful to my mother, my father angrily called me "garbage" in our native Hokkien dialect. It worked really well. I felt terrible and deeply ashamed of what I had done. But it didn't damage my self-esteem or anything like that. I knew exactly how highly he thought of me. I didn't actually think I was worthless or feel like a piece of garbage."


this sounds extremely familiar to my life. though my mother longer his here to force me into playing an instrument, my parents still try their very best to keep me in being more of my original heritage and try to prevent me from becoming more American. They are very cautions on allowing me in hanging out with those of different races, but if that friend is Polish or at least white, then they allow me to stay as long as I want.


My parents behave like her parents. If dare to say something that is against them, they would call me something quite negative. They always use the excuse “because I am an adult” whenever they both to violate their own words of some sort. Though this is unfair, I get loads of discipline and improvement in my moral character.


I strongly disagree with what she says that Chinese mothers are superior. She is comparing with the entire world and that assumption can easily be proven wrong. She thinks that Chinese mothers are the only ones who actually raise their children correctly and that is totally false. She thinks it is only Chinese care the most about their children's grade but that is a false assumption. China doe not even have the world's best education system (though it is good).

john posted our ch 11

john posted our ch 11

connections with egypt and animal farm

there are some huge connections between Animal farm (writen by George Orwell) and what is going on in egypt and several other contries today. Hopefully, Egypt's situation will not conclude as it did in Animal farm

one strong connection between the two is the fact that the leaders have fear and annoyance of the other animals and pigs. Napoleon, for example, had great fear of some of the pigs, particularly Snowball. snowball was in a sense a threat to Napoleon because he knew that he was one of those who was able to overturn and take his power away. to do so, napoleon used his fearsome dogs to kick snowball away. the leaders in egypt no long ago had a similar fear. but what they feared was not only the people but also the internet. this is why they shuted off the internet. the leaders knew if the information about what  they were up to (abusing thier power and keeping thier nation in poverty while they have an easy life), they would develope more enemies. this would also cause other nations to get involved and then they would be totally busted. they wanted to hide thier deep secrets, though they have not made any progress at all.

Another connection that Animal Farm an the uprising in many coutries today is that the people can be fooled easily if they are persuaded. All the leaders need to do is make some blank promises and sound wonderful. Then everyone is in favor of him or her. They use excuses so the support remains strong. In egypt, for example, the leaders said that they where having an bad situation and emergency laws were in use as a reason for their unwise decisions. The pigs did something similarly. When they violated the constitution they established and the animal questioned why they violated it, they played played around and even changed their laws to benefit themselves instead and excludes the animals. The fiddiling with the laws is they the egyptian emergency laws. The laws were established originally to benefit the entire country. Instead, it benefited the leaders more than the people.

conections with egypt and animal farm

there are some huge connections between Animal farm (writen by George Orwell) and what is going on in egypt and several other contries today. Hopefully, Egypt's situation will not conclude as it did in Animal farm

one strong connection between the two is the fact that the leaders have fear and annoyance of the other animals and pigs. Napoleon, for example, had great fear of some of the pigs, particularly Snowball. snowball was in a sense a threat to Napoleon because he knew that he was one of those who was able to overturn and take his power away. to do so, napoleon used his fearsome dogs to kick snowball away. the leaders in egypt no long ago had a similar fear. but what they feared was not only the people but also the internet. this is why they shuted off the internet. the leaders knew if the information about what  they were up to (abusing thier power and keeping thier nation in poverty while they have an easy life), they would develope more enemies. this would also cause other nations to get involved and then they would be totally busted. they wanted to hide thier deep secrets, though they have not made any progress at all.

Another connection that Animal Farm an the uprising in many coutries today is that the people can be fooled easily if they are persuaded. All the leaders need to do is make some blank promises and sound wonderful. Then everyone is in favor of him or her. They use excuses so the support remains strong. In egypt, for example, the leaders said that they where having an bad situation and emergency laws were in use as a reason for their unwise decisions. The pigs did something similarly. When they violated the constitution they established and the animal questioned why they violated it, they played played around and even changed their laws to benefit themselves instead and excludes the animals. The fiddiling with the laws is they the egyptian emergency laws. The laws were established originally to benefit the entire country. Instead, it benefited the leaders more than the people.

Animal farm question 1

A command is not always obeyed and/or agreed upon. Unless you are involved in the military or some sort of stick order system, people will not nessasarly obey you. People usually would like a reason for their orders, making sure that what they are to do is not a waste of their time. But there is something that can increase your chances of people to follow you even in the most rediculuos and doubting situations. It is persuasion. In the book animal farm written by george orwell, the most intellegant creatures on the farm, the pigs, were grasping the other animals attention through persuasion. However, not all the pigs persuaded the farm animals the same way. Major and Napolion both had different ways in gatting the other animals to follow their orders.

Major, the pig that inspired the animals to revolt against the humans, persuaded the farm through using words of wisdom and agreeing with all point of views of each animal. This is shown in his speech when he questioned “how many thousands of gallons of milk have you given? [...]  [to hens] how many of those eggs have you laid in this last year, and how many of them have hatched?” (pg 29). Here major is pointing out to the farm that their life is miserable. What makes his speech so persasive is that he uses real life examples as evidence to back up his point. His words of wisdom cannot be argued against or proven wrong. Major was able to reason out in a way which made the animals freely followed him.

Napoleon uses a different way to persuae his audience into following him. Whenever he fials, he always uses a scapegoat to keep the animals following and supporting him, thinking it is never his fault. Napoleon frequently used Snowball as the scapegoat. An example when this occurred was when he proclaimed “Comrades, do you know who is responsible for this [ the dystruction of the windmill]? Do you know the enemy who has come in the night and overthrown our windmill? SNOWBALL” (pg 82). It is very unlikely snowball played part in the dystructon of the windmill. The night of the windmill’s colaps, there was a heavy storm that was so strong it managed to rip off part of the roof and that is most likely the cause of the collapse. Ever since napoleon took charge, he never took resposiblilty for milstakes. He always tried to make himself look clean and as an ausome leader. Napoleon also began to rule the farm but no longer for the animals but rather for napoleon himself. Things changed forever. Napoleon no longer carred what the other animals thought. He did not need to. He started to use a new form of persuasion; fear. Now napoleon had some fersive dogs that would do anything he told then to do. The dogs had the ability to kill on order, so no longer did the animals have the ability to disagree but they had to do everything as told. They had fear from their government.

There are two main ways one can persuade someone into following his or her order(s). it is either achieved with agreement and benefits/changing ones mind, or it is achieved by showing fear such as devastating penalties, that communism is all about. Major had the words of wisdom that were able to turn the tides and bring a new life for the animals. Unfortunately the wise pig died and chaos began to arise. Major inspired the uprising for the benefits of the farm and himself. Napoleon however used fear to drive his government . he used his killing dogs that had the ability to kill anyone napoleon ordered to be killed. Since napoleon had such superiority, he became tempted and abused his power. No longer did napoleon rule for the animals but rather for himself .Napoleon made the farm treat him as a king which all must worship. He no longer focused on the benefits of the farm but rather all for himself. He had all the power ( thanks to the dogs) and there was no one there brave enough to fight back and say that it is wrong.

debate post: wiki links

Wiki links can be benificial for a society. It is better to know the truth of what is going on then just carrying on not knowing full detail behind what your leaders are up to. You can never trust anyone in our modern day world so you should never assume wiki links is foolproof. But if what is said is true, then there will be positive feedback.

Wiki links has informed its readers about the mischief our government is up to. It has informed us about what truly the US military is up to in the Middle east. It informed the reader that the US has done more damage to their government then it claimed to have helped. The troops mistreat and torture their prisoners who many are innocent. The US has “accidently” shot far more innocent civilians than they claim to have had. This information, if true, tells us that we are doing far more damage to their society than repairing it. This encourages and and angers those who read this. Not only would they be disappointed for the fact the US is causing problems and killing innocent lives, but they would be mad that their leaders have lacked honesty and fooled many into this war. It is more benefical to know the truth and follow it than to be fooled.

Though wiki links may be benifical for a society, it is definently devastating for the government. When wiki links informed tunisia about how their government was just taking advantage over them and used their power for them selves, the people of tunisia rebelled and things became violent. Releasing this secrete brought violence and anger from the society, putting the government’s lives at risk. And what if wiki links stated a false statement (purposely or accidently)? That too would be devastating not only for the government but also for the people.

Though devastating for the government, wiki links can be benificail to a society. if wiki links is truly honest, the society benefit.  They can know if they are being cheated and simply used for the governments personal life and pleasure. Then the people can know if their support and dedication to their leaders is truly worth the cost.

political power

Political power can corrupt the people who attain it. Great power brings great responsibility. If the power comes in the hands of the wrong  person, the group or nation is heading into a troubling dark situation. However, if the government has some limits to the power and what one can do, then they are in a much safer situation.

If there is a lack of limits for the government, then it becomes more tempting for leader(s) to abuse their power. If the leader(s) become abusive, no longer would the people support their leaders. No longer would the people desire to follow them. Dictatorship is on no citizen’s wish list. Those who are abusive no longer would be ruling for the people but rather for themselves. More enemies would arise and many would no longer desire to obey, causing hatred to flow and cause violence. If the people no longer freely follow, then the government would need to force them. To force the people to follow, the government does so by using fear. To fear a society, the government uses severe penalties. Take the soviet union as an example. In Poland, if one did not follow or was thought to be a threat against the communist government, he or she would be arrested or even shot. These leaders are serious on having people to follow their orders and demands. My dad grew up when Poland had communism and life was tough. To keep the people from disobeying, spies were used. No longer was it possible to trust anyone since he or she could be working for the communists, including young teens. The Russian communist rulers were more desperate to preserve their form of government and more controlling. Many who disobeyed were sent to the freezing no mans land of Siberia in camps.

After reading Orwell’s Animal farm book, I believe he would totally agree that political power would corrupt the people who attain it. It is extremely tempting to abuse it if no one is there to stop you. Eventually this could play around with the leader’s mind, believing that he or she has nothing to loose or fear. They begin to feel over confident and more arrogant, thing only on ways of benefiting themselves rather than their society

elite college debate

After reading through all the articles that either said going to elite college or univercity is what you should aim for or it is a waste of time, I had a bit of a difficulty of judging which one was the best. Perhaps this is because my bull shit detector was a bit too sensitive, beeping nonstop in my mind. Since I had such a difficulty, I decided to write about the one which I found the least persuasive; Skip the Admission’s game by Kevin Carey

There are several reasons for my lack of support for the article. One reason (if not the main reason) is that it had a poor style and voice. When I read it, to me it sound as if a 4^th grader from elementary school wrote this. This is not what I expected to get out of reading this since the true author, Kevin Carey, had a college degree. If he was to participate in Ms. Valdez’s class, he would have a long way until he stops receiving Ds and Fs. His title does not sound relevant to what he has to say. “skip the admission” sounds as if he is trying to persuade students to avoid working like crazy to get enrolled into elite colleges.

There were several parts in the article where he focused on assumptions. An example is   “They're nice places to hang out for four years and you'll probably learn a few things”. This is no nessasarly true in all elite colleges. Some strongly limit socializing like military colleges. Here he is describing colleges as a day care since he mentioned “probably a few things”. In college, you are training yourself to master in a field, not to just learn a little and socialize. However, this article did have a few parts that my B.S. detector did not go off beeping like crazy. There were parts some reliable facts where use to support his point and cited his sources, though it would take a while for someone to find the parts he took since his source was continuous. An example where this progress was shown was where he stated some data from Community College Survey of Student Engagement.

reflection: handicap

Having a disability has interfered with many lives throughout history. Luck of us discrimination on disabled is not as common and we have cures and operations that can improve and cure a disabled. After reading   Lhadze’s blog about diability, saw it related to my life.

Disability issues are common all over the world. People are born mentally & physically handicapped. Even if they can't walk or hold still it does not mean that they are not human. These people deserve all the rights everyone else.

How would you like to be in a wheel chair for the rest of your life? I mean we all dream to be on top, famous, or happy, but when we treat these people so rudely you don't how much we hurt them making them feel so much lower.

I know how it feels like to be “handicapped” since I have epilepsy. Though I am more fortunate than those who unfortunately have several seizures daily and those lost their ability to walk, my life is limited. I am advised to avoid activities that require loads of energy such as cross country running and a few games at PE when my team really needs everyone. I am also forbidden to eat carbohydrates (which include sodas, treats, pastries etc) and that I frequently violate. These rules can become so controlling I frequently ignore them, increasing the chance for me in having a seizre. Many of my dream jobs I had became erased from my future. No longer can I become an astronaut, a pilot, or an athlete since these I dream jobs just listed put my life at risk I have a seizure.  Though I luckily have auras (a feeling before a seizure), they only give me about a 10 second warning before they occur.

But disabilities do not only provoke insult at times, but they can also cause crazy worry. Whenever I have an attack many panic like crazy (understandably). After I had a seizure in 6^th grade in middle school, my teacher from then on treated me as if I was the most delicate thing on the planet and anything can kill me. This drove me crazy.

something i do before school

I had trouble with thinking of a topic to write about for my free blog post so I decided to write about the additional class that I have been taking for a while which is JROTC at encinal high school (JROTC stands for Junior officer training corps). JROTC is much more easier than I thought it was going to be and yet I learned a lot from it. I not only learned about how to operate a rifle and how to use it (it is much more than just aiming and firing) but rather discipline, leadership and a bit of history of military, particularly weapon development. But my favorite part of JROTC is the uniform. I can participate in activities and teams like the color guard and rifle team and get medals and badges.

Though it requires me to wake up a bit earlier and become a faster biker since I need to bike from encinal to ASTI within less than ten minutes (though MR. Farger is a bit forgiving to me since he too went for ROTC in the past), I find JROTC something worth my time. It would make my resume look shinier and increase my chances in getting enrolled into an elite college or university and one that I am aiming for though my chances are extremely slim; the United States Air Force Academy. But I had some trouble in getting enrolled. I was not able to get enrolled within the first month. One of encinal’s office ladies that was to enroll me into the program told me that period 0 is full therefore I can not get involved. But earlier she said I am welcome to join. She asked me why my name did not pop up when she searched the system. Once I told her it was because I am a student at ASTI, she from then on refused to enroll me. So I went to the teacher, 1^st sergeant Allen (seriously strict but a funny friendly guy) and asked him and with his help I got into the system. And now I go each day to JROTC learning something new each day that can help motivate me into a better citizen.