steps (the magazine)
DESCRIPTION
This is a sample of my writings.TRANSCRIPT
Inside…
A Harrowing Journey
A Look into American
Society
An Opinion on Sponsorship
2 Steps – May, 2011
3 A Challenge
Some skills are not as useless
as they appear.
4 Sponsorship Babies
Are we breeding a generation of
consumers?
5 False Expectations
A look at the effects of
television on today’s society.
6 The Modern Crusade
Is our role as the protector of
morals affecting our society?
3 Steps – May, 2011
Certain skills, it seems, like words become archaic. Few people know the
ways of a fax-machine, or how to apply just the right pressure to a typewriter. This
is the way I always though of driving a manual transmission car. My parents spoke
of the perfect timing required in the “art” as an almost mythical skill that required
years to hone. I intended to learn but other things always trumped my intentions.
Besides, standard transmission cars are so vestigial. Why should teenagers learn?
I discovered why on faithful Sunday afternoon. My grandpa, a friend to all
frequently borrowed expensive sports cars from the local car dealership. He took
me and the silver Porsche for a cruise along the rural roads of Northeast Arkansas.
Within 20 minutes of leaving the city – known to others as a small town – my
grandpa suffered a minor heart attack. In his last conscious moments, he managed
to pull off to the side of the desolate highway.
Cell phone? Dead. Bystanders? None. After this quick mental check, my mind was set: I would have to tame the Porsche
and drive my grandpa to safety.
Even entering first gear was harder than I ever expected. Gas, clutch, stick?
No. Brake, stick, clutch? Wrong again. After an eternity of frustrating
combinations, the wild beast came to life. As the engine roared, so did my
confidence. The mystic “art” of the timing was over, or so it seemed. The end of
first gear rapidly approaching, the resting roaring engine turned into a screeching
eagle. Having never ridden in a standard car, the noise meant nothing until a jolt of
mental energy struck me. Time to shift into second gear. My mind raced for an
answer and finally my foot released the gas, jammed the clutch, and shifted into
second. Too scared to try again, I remained in second gear for the duration of the
ten-mile stretch. After moving at a slow pace for what seemed like hours, the
unthinkable happened. My cell phone rang. My mother was calling. All my
frustration and joy immediately was directed towards her. After a long
conversation as she was coming to get us, I saw her. As she approached, I thought
of the previous hour and was impressed with my tenacity and courage I put
forward when faced with an overwhelming challenge.
4 Steps – May, 2011
In a world
where money is
everything, so is
corporate sponsorship. Athletes are paid millions to wear Nike shoes, and
companies are paid tremendous sums for product placement deals. Naturally,
corporate sponsors can only be withheld from the bastion of schools for so long. I
believe the corporate world should be allowed to mix with the world of education.
Sponsorships create money; and money creates a better learning
environment. Why should students be denied the benefits of corporate money?
Recently, our school signed a deal with Scholastic. With the money, a media
center with extremely modern technology was built in place of our dilapidated
library. Without the Scholastic name on all the equipment, students could not
benefit from the technology. Withholding the money found in sponsorship deals
from schools is not the way to push education forward as President Obama is so
willing to do. More money means more opportunities, which can create higher test
scores, higher college attendance rates, and even higher
voter turnout at elections.
Schools operate much like businesses. Groups of
intelligent, older people run the schools, while middlemen
relay the decisions to the lowly employees. Sponsors can
mean the difference of billions of dollars over a company’s
lifetime. Why should schools be denied this money?
Schools in cash-strapped communities go through great
trouble to raise money, while a signature on a dotted line is
all that is required. If the question is not why, then it
should be is it our right. Is it our right to deny children
opportunities created by sponsorship money? Denying schools easily earned
money could mean denying children a future.
Some individuals argue that children’s minds are easily influenced and the
constant advertisements might create over consuming children. This indeed might
happen. However, if a child wants to purchase every product line advertised, the
parents should be in charge of sifting through the needs
and wants. The parents, not the schools, would be to
blame. Parents see their children for far longer that the
school does. If a child becomes a young consumer, it is
the parent’s own doing.
Corporate sponsorship makes up a large majority of
our world. If we as a nation have let the sponsors in this far with little
repercussions, then the last bastions should be broken and allows sponsors into
their walls.
5 Steps – May, 2011
Television, in the recent
decades, has become a window into the exciting lives of
the average American. However, the average American does not live the typical
American life. As Ehrenreich correctly reveals, watching television is never shown
as the main activity of any television character. Yet, this is the high point of many
days for many Americans.
The simple fact is: Most television
shows do not portray an accurate timeline
of American life. On Modern Family, a
successful nighttime television show, a
special activity is taking place every
week. It is either Halloween, or the
family is taking a vacation to Hawaii, or
the father is giving the keynote speech at
an important banquet. People tune into
shows like this for that exact reason. Boredom appears to be our greatest fear as a
society. A significant change in schedule is not taking place every week.
Therefore, we rely of television to fill the boring spaces. Why try to make
excitement when a simple click of a button can transport anyone to a fun-filled
universe? The answer most Americans find is that easier is better, therefore
television is better.
Americans have also created a sense of entitlement about themselves.
People expect many things to be given to them with minimal effort. It has been
this way in the United States for hundreds of years. During the age of trusts and
monopolies, Duke, Stanford, and Carnegie were amassing fortunes. Many people
expected, not wanted, money from the millionaires. The
false expectation was intercepted with a harsh
“Why, you should work hard for your money as we did.”
Carnegie and the other millionaires had a point.
What entitlement to money do Americans have? This
question actually applies to everything. Why should
Americans receive excitement for zero work? People
want exciting lives, but don’t want to work for them.
Television creates the fantasy of an exciting life style,
which is more than enough for the average couch potato.
A false sense of expectation, catalyzed by the exciting world of television
can spell disaster for the American people. A sense of entitlement is just a
communist system in which an equal wage creates no motivation. A communist
government would mean the end of the fabled American innovation. If we allow
ourselves to fall into the communist-like trap of entitlement, the American way of
life will cease to exist. Television is certainly not the start of this dangerous pitfall,
but it is certainly a deceptive sign pointing towards it.
6 Steps – May, 2011
Today’s society constantly alleges that moral battles must be waged. If it is
not Fox News carrying on endlessly about the infamous “War on Christmas,” it is
Christian extremists protesting gay weddings. My question for the moral
crusaders: Who cares?
Exchanging charity for grades, it seems, is the next up on the crusaders
line-up. The charities receiving the donations are the ultimate receivers, and a
moral crusade would only hurt the charity. In our high school Beta Club, points
are needed to continue into the next year of club membership. Donating to
charities is a good way to earn points. If a student remains active in
the club through twelfth grade, a special graduation cord and
more scholarship opportunities are bestowed. Not one person
is raising hell about this practice, yet it is essentially the same
as exchanging donations for grades. By earning better grades,
a student receives a special graduation cord and more
scholarship opportunities.
The way Americans tend to consider themselves as the
protector of morals has existed for decades. Before the United
States entered World War One, Wilson described the need for war as a need for
protection of democracy. From that point onward, millions of lives have been lost
to moral crusades. However, are morals not opinions? If they are, who are we to
classify morals as good or bad?
In Donna Leon’s Death at La Fenice, an Italian detective
scoffs at the way millions of Americans hold themselves above
the ethical heads of the rest of the world. While drinking bee, he
the detective remarks about how a “dry” area does not exist in
Italy. Therefore, my viewpoint of the moral conscience of
Americans is obviously not confined to this work. Millions of
Chinese citizens undoubtedly believe their Communism to be far
superior to our Capitalism. So why, they wonder, can the pesky
Americans never leave us be? The answer lies in the history of
our country. Americans believed themselves to be better than
Catholics, blacks, Muslims, and even most Europeans from the
beginning of our country’s history.
Americans have and probably always will believe themselves to be superior
to everyone. Therefore we cannot allow our moral crusades to reach matters so
insignificant that we outcast everyone. This would likely lead to the end of the
American people all together.
7 Steps – May, 2011
A challenge...
All standardized literacy tests seem to be the same. They all seem to
involve cheesy essay prompts. While preparing for the literacy end-of-course
exam given at the end of the junior year, I wrote this essay as practice. As a
thinker, I was required to devise a clever way to answer the prompt. While little
analysis was required, a great deal of sophisticated writing was necessary. This
essay did little too enhance my skills but it did give me an opportunity to flex my
brain muscles.
Sponsorship Babies…
The tremendous power of deep, analytical thinking is best expressed by the
argument essay. Along with writing in a mature style, a deeper issue must be
explored. This argument essay was one of my first attempts at taking a prompt and
linking it to a deeper issue. As a writer and reader I grew little. However, the deep
thinking required stretched my mind into new realms of thinking.
False Expectations…
Arguments do not always involve just a prompt. This essay was my first
experience writing an essay from a quote. Not only was mature writing and deep
thinking required, analytical reading was also a must. The quote required
dissecting to find the issue. As a reader I grew with this experience, as all three
mind sets were required for success.
The Modern Crusade…
Every person in the world, at one time in his or her life, has learned a
valuable lesson. This argumentative prompt did just that. Sometimes deep thinking
sends people off on a tangent that results in by passing the subject-matter. I fell
into this devious trap and found myself straying like a sheep. I was able to pull
myself back into line. This experience allowed me a valuable lesson as a writer.
8 Steps – May, 2011