0 Dedication To my One and Only God- I was encouraged to put my best efforts into this book. Also, to my English teachers - I was guided properly towards the production of the contents of this book. 1 Acknowledgment As my first book, I strive to put my best pieces together in this collectionwiththehopethatthisbookmayinspireitsreadersto makethebestdecisionindilemmasintheirownlivesdespitethe needs and demands for themselves. Severalofsignificantpeoplewereinvolvedintheprocess, and I want to express my warmest thanks to them: Firstofall,tothemightyyethumbleGod,Ihumblypresent thisimperfectworkofmine.Heismysourceofinspirationand couragethroughoutmyschoollife.InHimIleanandsurrender all of the things that I possess. Secondly,toallofmyteacherandfriendswhohavehelped meinmygrowthandforthecorrectionofmyinsurmountablemistakes. Certainly, I can never thank you enough for all what you have done is priceless and unforgettable. Lastly,myfamilywhohavegivenmeemotionalsupport duringtheprocess.Truly,Ithankyouforyoursupportasthey make me stronger in my school and daily life. 2 Table of Contents Narrative Stories 3 6 10 Descriptive Compositions 14 17 News Articles 20 Feature News 23 26 Speeches 28 Letters Journal Entries 35 Poems 38 Prayer 39 3 The Order (Insert here a relevant photo) 4 I really shouldn't be here, with this gun in my belt, I shouldn't befollowinghisorders.Butthisismydaughter'slifethatisat stake, if I don't do this, then I don't know what will happen to her. Hesaidthathewillmakemeakiller,buttheremustbeanother way, there better be. The air breezed through my face as I opened the door of the building.Sweatrandownmyface,eventhoughitwasair conditioned,butsometimestemperatureisnotthereasonof sweating. People were staring at me, I'm not sure the reason why, but it couldn't be good. I really don't want to do this, but her life --. Ireallyshouldn'tbethinkingaboutthisnow,Ijustneedtofocus on how to get out of this. He keeps on following me. From a safe distance, he kept on remindingaboutmydaughter.Ilookaroundforatrustable acquaintance for me to tell about this matter. Roaming through the hallways,everyguardofthebuildingseemstoknowthematter already, but they are on his side. Now that no person that can help me,therewillonlybeonepersonthatdoesntworkforhim,the target. I went up the elevator to her room, in expectation that no one is with her. Knocking on the solid oak door, I tried to hide the gun until she is convinced of my matter. The door was opened by her 5 personalbodyguard,hewasthesizeofthedoorandwithabrute voice he asked me to come in. Heaskedmeforasecuritycheck-up.Iwasconvincedthat thismanisnotabetrayer,butallhopewaslostasthecheck-up finished without a single beep from the detector. Still, I will have to talk to her. Asking to be alone with the president is not going to be easy, sothistime,withthehandleofthebroomonthecornerofthe livingroom,Ihitthebigmanbythenape.Themanfelltohis knees and lay down on the floor. What have you done? the shocked Madam yelled. Information,littlebylittle,Itoldherofthesituationandin whatdangerisshein.Shockedofthefactthateveryoneisin betrayal on her, her eyes started to glaze. While she was shocked bythematter,Iwasshockedbythefigureinthedarkroom. Coming out of it wasmy daughter with him on her back. He told me to take the shot, but killing is really not my thing. I told my daughter the time we play jumping frogs when she was little,andassoonasshebentdown,Itooktheshotonhisright shoulder. I told you Ill make you a killer 6 Mere Business 7 OneafternoonIwaswalkingonthesidewalkwearingmy favoritetuxedo.ItwasabrightdayandsoIdecidedtoputmy sunglasseson.Likealways,Icarryahandguninsidemytuxedo, just in case that people might come out of nowhere and snatch the suitcase from my left hand. AndhereIam,attheplacewhereIwouldbeamillionaire. ButasIsteppedontheceramictilesoftherestaurant,oneofthe guardssuddenlypointedhisrifleatme.ForasecondIthought that he would kill me, but then he didnt. Name? asked the guard with his brute, deep voice. Its Root Taylor Get in, the Don is waiting for you on the second floor. As I had expected, there was a lot of guards while there were nocustomeratall.Iunderstandthis,butwhatIdontunderstand is why do they need to look at me like that? It was like I have done somethingwrong.ButthenItriedtoreassuremyselfthat everything would be alright. 8 There I saw him, leaning back on his chair. But before I can movecloser,anotherguardstoppedme.Thisguardwasbigger and meaner than the other one before him. Stretch out your arms please, said the guard. He tapped and tappedallovermybodybuthemissedtotapthefrontofmy tuxedo. You may pass. IfeltnervousasIwalkedtowardshim.Thisdoesntusually happen for I had always been confident of myself, but in this case theworstscenarioismebeingkilled,slowly,bythemostfeared mafia family in town. Come and seat, please. Started the Don, gently. "Thank you, Sir. Lets just get straight to the business, shall we? TheStreetSweeper,thebestrifleinItaly.Ithasaclipof 150 bullets. It has a firing rate of 300 rpm. And as agreed, it worth 3,000,000. 9 I have them right here. But after several thoughts, I decided to take BOTH of the suitcases, said the Don, putting his hand in his suit. Directly I ran to the bar stand on my right with my suitcase. The guards were shooting at me but the good thing was that they allmissed.AlsoIstillhavemyhandgunandrifle.Onebyone wereshotdownandcollapselikecuttrees,andtheDonwasone of the trees. Soon, there were only me,the rifle, and the money. Iranawayfromtherestaurantwithbothofthesuitcases withoutbeingcaughtbythepolice.Luckwasonmysideforthe bad thing turnout to be a good thing. Because of the ambush, I got more profit than should have. 10 Won the Respect 11 After the match ended, my heart filled itself with the feeling of guilty and sadness. This day was supposed to be a great day for meandmyfriendsbutIstillcouldntforgetwhatIhavedoneat thematch.Ihadnotforgivenmyselfwhenoneofmyfriends asked me about what happened to me that made mo so sad. I told him what happened during the competition and the incident Itallstartedwhen,myfriendsandIweregoingtocompete in the school basketball competition. This was the latest day of the competitionandallofmyfriendswantedmetowinthe competition.Iwasthinkingthattherivalteamwouldnotbea problem because I and my friends had practice a lot. I judged their powerbeforeknowingit.Afewminutesbeforethematch,the coach told us the strategies. Okay,remembertodoyourbest!saidthecoachafter telling us the strategies at the side of the court. Yes, Sir! shouted the group members simultaneously. MyfriendsandIwerealreadyatthecourtbeforetherival group.Asallplayersinplace,therefereegotinthecourttotart the first session. Plit!Thewhistleshoutedandthesessionstarted.Therival group acted fast by stealing the ball and dunk it to the ring. They 12 scoredtheirfirstscoreinjustaroundfiveminutes.Iunderstand their ability. I judged them too fast. Minutebyminutepassedbutwecouldpasstheirscore.It wasthedifferenceheavenandhell.Thesituationsgothotterand hotter while the audience kept on cheering. Our score was only 3 points while they have twenty three points. We were twenty points awayfromthemwhenthefirstsessionended.MyfriendsandI got out of the court to talk with the coach again. What just happened in there, Reed? asked the coach while he already know the answer to his own question. They play fast. They steal, pass, catch and shoot before we know it, I answered. Iftheyrefast,youneedtobefaster!commandedthe coach. Just try to do your best, win or lose doesnt matter. I didnt have the same thinking with the Coach. I was selfish and still wanted to win the match. I had been observing one boy at therivalgroupandIwasthinkingthathewasthebestinthe group. A thought of playing dirty came to my mind and it sounded like a good idea to me. 13 As the match started, he was the first one to catch the ball. I quickly chased him and blocked his way. Unfortunately, he passed myblocks.Whenhejumpedtoshoot,Iquicklypushedhim forwarduntilhefellandlandedonhisknees.Therefereekicked me out of the court. I tried to lie to him that it was an accident but theruleistherule.IfeltbadforhimbutIfeltworseformyself. Myfriendwerenotcheeringanymore,evenfortheirschools team. My school then won the competition, but not the respect. Becauseofme,thatboynowhashislegbrokenandhe needstostayinthehospitalforafewdays,Iexplainedtomy friend. Reed,haveyouapologizetohim?askedmyfriend.If you havent, you better do it. It might make you feel better. IknewhewasrightbutthenIthoughtthathewouldnever forgivemeforwhatIvedonetohim.StillIneedtotryevenhe would not forgive me. As I arrived at the hospital, I went directly to the room where he was treated. I entered the room and got close to his bed inch by inch. I said sorry to him while keeping my head low. It was a surprise to me that he said that he had forgiven me. Hewasakind-heartedboy.HeforgavemeevenbeforeIsaid sorry. Iwonthematch,buthewonmyrespect.Hesthereal winner after all.14 How I Wish 15 Mylifehasbeenfilledwithemptiness,thehollowof presenceofamanalwayscometomymindasIhowlin loneliness.Thegolden-brownhaironmyskinoftenwrapsme from the cold night and the hot noon. Busyness always don't go far from my master, but boredom always surround me. ThesunnydaysalwaysmakemesweatasIoftenlookfor distractions to forget my sadness and boredom. How I like it when a flying insect came to my yard, I will chase the insect around in excitement. With my four legs I will sprint across the grassy yard. Butasitgoesaway,myheartfeelsemptyagainasifitisnot enough. Nothingmuchformetodobuttowaitandguardformy master. Often when he brings guests, he will cage me for their fear ofmygiganticbody.Iprotested,butstillheleftmeinsidetill those visitors, and him, left. HowIfeltrejectedandfeared,asifI'mandaggressive monsterwithterrifyingteethandpaws.Ioftenlaydownbythe shades of my house as I think of people's perspective of me. With mourn,Isqueakmythoughtsandfeelinginhopemymaster understandsmypain,butwedifferentcreaturesspeakdifferent languages,andthatleftmewiththehopethathecanunderstand through the glares of my eyes. 16 As I see him in the eyes, I can see that he understands me as he approaches me with hands wide open. With excitement I jump intohislapandcomfort.Tearsofjoyflowsthroughmyeyes knowingthatheactuallyunderstands.Iseehim,stoodin preparing a treat, as I pant in excitement. How I wish we could be like this every day. 17 Cemetery of the Century 18 I was after the movie, when I really need to get home before my parents do, when I got to a fork and I had to choose the route backhome.Theleftwasabright,longwayhomemeanwhilethe right was the darker and gloomier route, but it was a much shorter way home. Ipushedtheold,rustygateopentothedarknessandterror. Myphonewasa2-meterrangedflashlighttolighttherockyand bumpysoil.Asthecoolbreezeswooshedbymyfaceandears,I inched forward, slowly until... Iheardfigures,asiftheywerewhispering.Iwasstiffed. Motionless. And nervous. I tried to turn my head degree by degree tocheckmysurroundings.SweatsjustrandownasifIwas running for a 10 km marathon. With a relief, I just couldn't help myself from sighing. Inches were continued as the fog became thicker. My phone is now dying andtosaveit,Iturneditdownandnowitlightsuphalfofthe distance now. I need to be more careful. TwigsfromtheoldtreescrackedasIsteponthem.Pilesof dirtwerejusteverywhereandtheyareactuallybotheringmeby blocking my way. Another breeze passed by but it was somehow, 19 garlicky.Ikeptoninching.Soon,thefogstartedtobecome thinner and my house was now visible but then... Aroughandstickyobjectfelltomyneck.Frozen.Again.I tried to reach my neck but then I was a shocked, even worse. I ran but stumbled over a carved stone beside a pile of soil. I grabbed the object and bring it to my eyesight...it was just a twig. Iwasnotgoingtotakeanymorechances,Iroseupandput my legs to a careful sprint and jumping over the fence to the front of my house. 20 IntelligentTechnology:NestLearningThermostat and Tony Fadell 21 The Learning Thermostat by Nest does exactly what its name tells:learnitsownershabitsandautomaticallyadjusttheenergy usewithintheownershome.Itisdividedintotwoparts,the thermostat,whichcanbefixedonthewallordisplayedonan optionalstand,andtheheatlink,whichcontrolstheboilerand communicateswirelesslywiththethermostat.Thethermostat itselfhasa24-bitLCDscreen,whichturnsorangewhenheating andshowsapictureofaleafwhenenergyisbeingsaved.The ownercanchoosetohavemultiplethermostatswithinthehouse, witheachcontrollingaparticularzone.EquippedwithaCortex-A8 SoC processor, which is similar to the one in the iPhone 3GS, alongwith64MBofRAMand256MBofstoragespace,notto mentionwirelessconnectivity,thisiscertainlyoneofthebiggest inventions of the 2010s, with many critics lauding its features. 22 LearningThermostatwasinventedbyamannamedTony Fadell, who also was the man behind some of the worlds biggest innovations of the past decades, the iPod and the iPhone. He was alsotheguywhocameupwithSonyMagicLinkandMotorola Envoyin1994,PhilipsNinoin1998,andFuseMP3Playerin 2000,beforehejoinedApplein2001andinventedtheworlds first iPod in October 2001. He left Apple in 2010, and he focused onreinventingthethermostatandthesmokealarmunderanew company named Nest Labs.

LiketheiPod,Nestproductshavesimpleinterfaces,butthe amountoftechnologicaladvancespackedintoeachonethe company has filed more than 200 patented products, with another 200 ready to go is huge. Even though it was announced earlier in JanuarythisyearthatGooglehadboughtNestforastaggering $3.2billion,wearesurewecanexpectevenmorestylish inventions from the company in the near future. 23 The Golden Land 24 Doyouknowtheinfamouscountrywiththousandsof islands?ThesocalledGoldenLand?Well,thiscountryhasa prettylonghistorywhereIndonesiahasbeencolonizedbymany countries for more than 3 ! centuries. The natural resources of the countrywastheirtarget.Alongstruggleofthefallenheroeshad broughtupIndonesiatoindependenceon17thAugust1945.On 1949,thestruggleofallcountrymenhadtotallystoppedforthe other countries had admitted the independence of Indonesia. Theclimateinthecountryreallysupportstheagriculturein Indonesia.Therichsoilistheotherthingthathelpsthe agricultureinthecountry.Agricultureisnottheonlythingthat Indonesia has. It has a lot of fishes, oil, gold, diamond, and more.ThisisoneofthereasonswhytheycallIndonesiatheGolden Land. Indonesia is also the food paradise. It has many types of food there.Fromlocaltointernationallyknownfood.Thespicesused inthelocalfoodmakeauniquetasteforthefooditself.Many tourist come just for Indonesian food. Thebeautyofthiscountryisdecreasingtimebytime. Trashes are everywhere, on the roads and in the rivers.Floods are everywhere, caused by the trash. The air is really polluted caused bymanyvehiclesandfactories.Peopleonlythinkofthemselves, didnt care about their surroundings.25 Thingshadgonewrongbutthepoliticiansdidntdo anything! They are stealing money while poor people starve. Most ofthemcorruptandletthepoorpeoplepoorer.Thiscountryhas beencalledTheCountryofLawandyetcorruptorsarenot behind bars. ThegovernmentofJakartahasbeenactiveforfewweeks, trying to stop the flood. The people were the cause of the flood but theyaskedthegovernortosolvetheproblemthattheymade! What are they thinking? Thecorruptorsinthecountryarejustincreasing,aswellas thepoorpeople.Thelawseemstobeincreasing,makingthings lighter.Thepunishmentateverycrimedoneisgoingtobe heavier, making criminals think more before they do crime. Here, throwingtrashontheroadisnotcrime,butmostcountries considersotherwise.Maybeevennotthrowingtrashatthetrash bin will be considered as a crime. Thiswasonceagreatandproudcountry,butthenit destroyedbyhumansego.Thefloodwasmadebythetrashes thrown and the country stays poor because of the corruptors taking countrymensmoneybytax.Maytherebejusticeinthiscountry and let this country be proud again. 26 Around the World by 35 For most people, traveling to different places is just a dream, butnotforChrisGuillebeau.Heevenmanagedtovisitevery singlecountryintheworldbytheageof35.Inspirationtowrite thebookofTheHappinessofPursuitandthe$100Start-up came to the travel blogger as he travels around the globe. Chris'slifehasbeenfilledwithmanyexcitementand adventurealonghisjourney.Goingtodifferentcountrieswith different cultures will certainly be an unforgettable experience of a lifetime,insteadofjuststayinginoneplacefortheentirelifefor there is a whole world to go to and explore. Thetravelbloggerusemostofhisdaystotravelbuthe manage to host the 'World Domination Summit' where he will host thegatheringforpeoplewithgreatideasfromaroundtheworld. PortlandinOregonistheplacewherehewouldsettlebetween long-term traveling. Heexclaimed,Travelingisdisruptiveandforcesyouto think differently. I live a fairly routine life, and I like the element ofadventureeven'softadventure'thattravelingbrings.The enjoymentoftravelingisinthejourney.WhenChriswentto 27 Comoros, a small island off the coast of East Africa, he ran out of money.Hewasleftwithhiscreditcardsthatarenotacceptedby theonlyATMontheisland.Hehadtopay50Eurosforthe reclamationofhispassportthatwasconfiscatedbythe immigrationauthorities.Acompletestrangerwaswillingenough tolendhimmoneyafterChrispromisedtorepayhim,somehow. That was the experience give a hope that there are still kind people in this world. Evenaftervisitingallthecountriesintheworld,Chrisis planningmoretripsasheissettingaGuinnessWorldRecordin Portland. There's always more to be done and more places to visit which is exactly the way I like it, explained Chris. 28 A Patch of Hope 29 Mymanytripstothebeachhavealwaysleftmewondering, whypeopledontcaretothrowtheirtrashinthetrashbin?Why theocean?Donttheyknowthiscouldleadtopollution,thatthis could worsen the garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean? Some of us may not even know the existence of the garbage patch.Now,letmetellyou,agarbagepatchisnotjustapileof garbage,itisapileofdebristrappedbythemovementofthe oceangyre.Thecurrentiscausedbythemovementofthewind and is still trapping in debris. These are mostly plastic bottles that we throw to the ocean. Some of the debris were able to reach the oceanfloor,andthat,Icantellyou,isreally,reallydeep.The patcheswereusuallymadeoutofmicroplasticsthatwecannot see with our bare eyes. The garbage patch is no doubt a threat to marine life near the ocean gyre. Some organisms may think of the trash as their food. So lets take the Loggerhead sea turtles for example, the may think of plastic bags as their food, jellyfish. This could lead to death of marine life. Rightnow,theGreatPacificGarbagePatch,intheNorth PacificOcean,isintheprocessofcleaning.Theyusetheocean currentstotransportthefloatingdebristoaplatform.Thisidea camefromBoyanSlot.Someofyoumaythink,Whydontwe 30 just use a net or perhaps a vessel? The reason is that nets may not only take debris but also marine creatures, and vessels will take a lotofexpenseandtimefornotmuchorganizationsandpeople contributeinthisproject.But,withSlotsidea,abouthalfofthe debris taken out of the water. Dontthinkthatpeopleiscleaningthepatch,wekeepon throwingtrashtotheoceanandrivers.Instead,weshouldhelp, start small by not throwing trash to any bodies of water. This is a very simple thing to do, but yet people still carelessly throw their trashtoanywheretheydesire.Letusstartamovementofcaring for the environment we live in. Use less plastic products and throw trashes in the trash bin could lead us all to a better world for us to live in for there is still hope. 31 Bandung, May 8th, 2015 Dear Mr. Editor, Recent incident of Keiko the killer whale killing an instructor during a performance at a water park has brought up the attention ofalotofpeoplearoundtheworld,andIbelievethatthe condition of this marine mammals is the cause of the murder. It is in this light that I want to convey my objection Recentresearchshowsthatcaptivityofthesemammals decrease their life span because of the synthetic environment they wereputin.Alsotoincludethestressintrainingfor performances.Insomecases,theyddddsevenlackofphysical contactfromhumanoreventheirownkindbecauseofcertain reasons.Becauseofthesetreatments,thesemammalsoften becomeunderweightandlivewayshorterthanitshouldhave been. This often cause the birth rate in captivity to be lower than normal rate in nature. The chemicals used in the pool are the cause of blindness and certainskinproblemsforthesepoorcreatures.Spacelimitmay 32 lead these creatures to boredom and often, abuse themselves that they bang their own heads to the walls of the tank. We cannot let these people to captivate the creatures for the reasonofamusementorevenprotection,becausecaptivating these creatures will only shorten their life and decrease their birth rate. Pleaseconsidertoincludeanarticleaboutthistoincrease theawarenessofthestudentsandalsothepeoplearoundthem aboutthisanimalabuse.Ilookforwardtoreadthearticleofthe matter. Yours faithfully,

Satya Principal 33 Bandung, May 12th, 2015 Dear Mr. Editor, Iamwritingthislettertoexpressmythoughtsandfeelings fortheenvironmentwelivein,withthehopethatyouwill considerthistohelpincreasingtheawarenessofenvironment protection. The world we live in today is not the same world we live in a few decades ago, technology has risen and improved from time to time,butofcoursetechnologyalsocreatedbadimpactstoour environment.Smokesfromthefactoriesandvehiclesarecausing ouratmospheretodeplete,leadingtheearthtoglobalwarming. Wastesfromfactories,asweknow,arethrowntothebodiesof water and kill many organism around it. Not forgetting the plastic products that are stacking up and pollute waters and land. Fromthingsweseethatanactionshouldbetakeninorder fortherewillbeachange,andinmyopinionasschool community, we can do so much more to help our environment than just as individuals. For this, we should encourage the students and teacherstopromotethesloganReduce,Re-use,Recyclein schoolenvironmenttomakeourschoolgreenerandmore 34 environmentalfriendly.WecanalsomakeanEnvironmental Week,witheventsandtalksabouttheenvironmentwillsurely increase the awareness of the students and teachers. Activities can be such that students are to compete in recycling used products to create new inventive and useful products that we can use in daily life. Suchactivitieswillnotonlyincreasetheawarenessofthe studentsandteachersoftheenvironment,butalsoincreasethe creativity of the students in solving world problems such as waste problem through recycling. Ihopeyouconsidertoincludeanarticletotheschool newsletterregardingtheenvironmentalproblemtoincrease awareness and care for the environment.Also please consider my ideas for the activities we can have for the environmental week to besuggestedtotheprincipaloftheschool.Thankyouforyour appreciation of my thoughts and feelings. Yours faithfully Satya Principal 35 Journal Entry: Bullies 36 Have you ever been bullied by your friend? If you have been, then you know exactly how it feels, to be me. Bullies got their fun by bullying others and feel powerful, they bully us physically and alsomentally.Theybullyotherpeoplebecauseofthousandsof reasons. At the first time my friend was just teasing me and it wasnt sobad.Daybydayhisjokesaboutmewastoomuchandhe startedtohidemybelongingssothatIwouldbepanicked.He alwaysgavemythingsbacktomeafterIaskedmehimtogive them back. Till one day I shouted at him when I caught him hide my pencil case.I felt bad for making him cry. I tried to apologize to him but it wasnt accepted. Bulliesbullypeoplebecauseofjealousy,madness, excitement,andotherthousandsofreasons.Maybetheyare jealousofotherpeoplessmartnessandsuccesses,ormaybe theyremadatotherpeoplebecauseofthereactionsonthem. Bulliesmightthinkthatbullyingisexcitingforthem,itcouldbe anotherreason.Therearemorereasonsofwhybulliesbully people which the bully itself dont know. Bullies hide their fear by showing others that they are strong. They may have family problems which they show in their schools 37 bybullying.Theiremotionsareexpressedandrelievedbytheir actions, which is bullying other people that are innocent and dont know anything about their problem. I think it was a good thing that I was bullied so that I can get thingmoreseriousandreadytofaceotherpeoplethatdontlike me.Ineedtofacethetruththatiftheydontlikemeforsome reasons.ThingsIneedtodowassupposedtobedonebefore everything was too late to be done. It was a sad thing to lose one of my friend but the sadness doesnt worth for he is a bully. 38 Haiku Natures the beauty Beautiful and colorful Truly amazing Nature is a friend Nothing can separate us Never forever Alive, non-alive They still are part of nature Part of family Plant and animals They are part of the nature Part of the beauty Natures source of strength Way more powerful than us Live longer than us Beauty of the world Nothing will ever replace Number one she is Nature fills our need Helping us to survive well Survive till the end Nature is a source A source of all human life Limitless she is The blue sky darkens The green fields are now browning And its us to blame Flood are everywhere Global warming is the cause Dryness soon will come Nature was nature And now she is not herself Not any longer The nature has changed Let us together help her And be her old self