Semester Essay #4 "School Uniforms..."

Most private schools require students to wear uniforms.  Public schools should not have their students wear uniforms.  I am against school uniforms for public schools.  Just because a student has on a uniform does not make that student.  The student makes the uniform.

            Requiring children to wear standardized uniforms stifles their self-expression.  Self-expression is an important part of child development.  Students do not like wearing school uniforms.  Students who are forced to wear school uniforms will only find other, less appropriate ways to express themselves, possibly through inappropriate use of makeup and jewelry.  I believe that public education attempts to strip children of their individuality.  I believe that public education does not meet the needs of children who do not fail in the norm, and that uniforms attempt to force every student into one mold.  Students see standard dress as another way for public educators to remove student individuality where they should be embracing and celebrating diversity.  I believe it is not in the best interest of the child to try to control socialization, which is a part of human nature.  Such use of school uniforms does not prepare children for the real world, in which they will continue to be judged by appearances.

The cost of school uniforms is a negative factor as those who see it as a positive factor.  It is said that it increases the amount of clothing parents will have to buy for their children because the children will still want and need clothing for the hours they are not in school.  Uniforms can be more expensive for a family who buys from second-hand stores or who relies on hand-me-down clothing from friend and family.  Cost is a negative aspect of school uniforms because there is no use for them outside of school.

            Many students do not feel comfortable in a school uniform.  The different types of clothing feel comfortable to different people.  Some students are more comfortable in a specific material or style of clothing.  Uniforms reduce one’s ability to choose clothing that fits individual comfort needs.  I believe children need to feel comfortable in order to maximize learning, and that uniforms can therefore deter academic success.

            Many educators and experts believe that, although in theory uniforms should improve academic, behavioral, and social outcomes, in reality they do not.  It is argued that the studies of schools who in initiate uniforms do not report improvement in any of these areas; therefore if the desired outcomes are not reached, there is no valid reason to standardize student dress.

"Outdoor living..."

     Outdoor living to a person with an apartment in the city would be very different. They are used to a fast pace city with many cars and pollution in the city. Outdoor living is more of a place with many trees and no pollution. There may be a couple planes here and there flying over, but not a lot. It is a wonderful place full of fresh air. Living outdoors, not close to a city gives you the beauty of the outdoor living style. It can give you new skills that you did not have before. The air that you breath is much better than all the pollution from the city. You may be used to living in the city in your apartment, but the experience of living outdoors is a great one. You may not have that electricity that you are used to, but that is what fire from wood is for. The fire can be for cooking can foods. While living outdoors, you still have those good fruits such as berries and some type of trees you can eat. For dinner, you can go fishing.
     I believe, living in this society today with people losing their homes, maybe some people can go try living outdoors for a new experience. Living outdoors can be hard to get use to, but if you get use to it, it can be a very fun thing to do and a great experience. You can adapt to the survival skills and learn how to fish and hunt. Living outdoors is not always the best thing for someone. Anything can happen such as a fire that could get out of control because of all the trees. Other than that, living outdoors can be a great experience and a joy.
    

Semester Essay #3 "Carpooling, Recycling, and Planting trees..."

     A wonderful thing to do in life is to take care of your environment. Carpooling, recycling, and planting trees are all activities that are good for the environment. Carpooling would not only save money on gas, but it would also lower the pollution in the air. Recycling is good for the environment by redirecting waste to serve as raw materials for industry, recycling provides a number of important benefits. Planting trees in your neighborhood really is one of the best things you can do for the local environment and for the planet.
     Carpooling, also known as ride-sharing or lift-sharing can save big bucks on gas, wear and tear on our vehicle, oil resources and reduce all the associated nasty environmental impact associated with driving. When people drive to work, they have room for other passengers. Have you ever noticed how many others around you are driving on their own? In Australia, 83% of people who drive work or study in 2003 did not have a passenger. In the USA, single occupant commuting is around 75% according to census data. There are millions of people who engage in solitary travel to and from work. People drive billions of miles each year, spend a stack of cash on gas and pumping tons of emissions into the atmosphere. A small car emits around .59 pound of carbon dioxide per mile. A medium car emits 1.1 pounds of carbon dioxide per mile. A SUV/4 wheel emits around 1.57 pounds of carbon dioxide per mile.
     Recycling provides a number of important benefits such as, reducing pollution and conserving natural resources. It saves energy by reducing the need to extract and process raw materials to manufacture new products. It also reduces greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide and recycling stimulates the development of greener technologies. It cost at least three times more to dump trash in landfills than it cost to reuse and recycle. Whether you manage a one million square foot Manhattan commercial property or own a small retail business, you can benefit from a recycling waste removal and recycling program.
     Planting trees in your neighborhood is a great thing for the environment and the planet. Trees can provide oxygen and remove carbon dioxide and contaminants from the air. Trees are like the lungs of the planet. They provide habitat for birds and other wildlife. CO2 is one of the major contributing elements to the greenhouse effect. Trees trap CO2 from the atmosphere and make carbohydrates that are used for plant growth. Mature trees can absorb roughly 48 pounds of CO2 a year. The tree in return releases enough oxygen to sustain two human beings. Trees also help reduce ozone levels in urban areas. Trees reduce noise pollution. This is important people who live near freeways.
     Therefor, Carpooling, recycling and planting trees are great for the environment and the planet Earth. These things can save humans lives with less pollution and more oxygen.

Dory "I got the Image..."

The colors are baby blue, dark blue, bright yellow, white, and red. I hear the bubbles as Dory "the fish" swims. The mood is relaxing. The emotion is happiness and excitement. The taste is salty bubbles.

          

"A time when I was totally happy..."

     The time when I was totally happy was the beginning of the sumer in 2009. It was a time for family to be together. My family and my aunt's family from my dad's side of the family. There was my uncle, aunt, big cousin and my little cousin. Both of my cousins are girls. My older cousin is twenty-two and my little cousin is fifteen years old.
     They call my dad, telling him they just got off the plane and to pick them up. My dad has a large truck, so I decide to go with him. I am so happy to see my uncle, aunt and two cousins. I don't get a chance to see them a lot. Maybe, I get to see them once a year. When they come out the airport, they see us and we see them. I get out to give them all hugs and help them get their luggage in the back of the truck. As they get into the car, everyone is happy to see one another.
     The reason my cousins and their parents came to Inglewood from Modesto is that there was a weeding to go to. There were another cousin of mine that was getting married. That was avery happy time of my life.

Semester Essay #2 "Do you believe extraterrestrial life exists?..."

     There has been questions for many years about life on other planets. I do believe there is life on other planets. I remember years ago, scientist had talked about living organisms on the planet Mars. Humans and living organisms on earth cannot be the only living things in the universe. There has to be others.
     It is possible to have life on other planets in the universe. Finding that there is life on other planets may be difficult to prove. Scientist do not know exactly what form of life is on other planets outside our solar system, so it might be hard to search for. The universe is a huge place. Radio signals and space vehicles travel too slow to allow scientist to find life that is very far away.
     Mars is the most likely planet to have life on it. The conditions of Mars turns out to be similar to the conditions in Antarctica, except for the lack of oxygen. Scientist guess that forms of life might be able to survive on the planet Mars. Mars may have grabbed the headlines as a potential site of extraterrestrial life, but Venus may have been the original source of life in our solar system. Four billion years ago, the sun was forty percent cooler than today. At that time, Earth and Mars were probably frozen. Venus is closer to the sun. Four billion years ago, Venus may have had warm liquid oceans and a mild climate. Venus may have been the best haven for life in the early solar system. With nine-hundred degree Fahrenheit surface temperatures and an atmosphere permeated by carbon dioxide, chlorine  and sulfuric acid clouds today. Venus seems inhospital to our kind of life. It is even possible that life on Earth may have evolved from life forms provided by Venus. Venus may have a better environment for nurturing life more than on Mars. Venus has a chemically lively surface and atmosphere that could provide organisms with energy and nutrients. It is possible that Venus could have tiny microbes in its clouds particles. Venus is the closet thing Earth has to a twin. Studying Venus is the way scientist learned about the problem with Earth's ozone layer.
     In conclusion, Venus and Mars are the closet things to having life on them. Venus is like earth in some ways. Mars is a place like Antarctica, except it has less oxygen. This universe it to big for Earth to be the only planet with living things on it. There can be what we think as aliens, but those alines could think of us humans as aliens. I believe there is extraterrestrial life.

Semester Essay #1 "Drivers license at the age of sixteen..."

     Teenagers should get their license at the age of eighteen years old instead of sixteen years old. When a teenager gets their license at the age of sixteen years old, that is another car accident waiting to happen. The rate of a car accident from a teenager is about ten percent of the U.S population, but account for twelve percent all fatal car crashes. Each year, over five-thousand teenagers of the ages sixteen to twenty die due to fatal injuries caused by car accidents. About four-hundred thousand drivers of the age sixteen to twenty are seriously injured due to car accidents. Drivers (both female and male) under the age of twenty-four account for thirty percent or twenty-six billion dollars of the total cost of car accidents in the U.S. The death rate for teenage male drivers and passengers in car accidents is more than one and a half times female teenage drivers. Male drivers between the ages of fifteen and twenty, thirty-eight were speeding and twenty-four percent had been drinking and driving. 
     Teenage drivers tend to underestimate hazardous driving situations and are less able than older drivers to recognize dangerous situations. If you were to ask yourself why teenagers should drive, you have no list. I found that your rear lobe in your brain, the one responsible for reflexes, does not mature until you are the age of twenty-nine years old. This is why teenagers have the number one spot on the highest driving fatality rates in the U.S. Teenagers are not responsible enough to be driving at such a young age. Most teens may see driving as being fun rather than just as transportation. Some teenagers may just go joy riding in a car for fun at night or during the day. They may go at night because they believe there are no cops anywhere around and to find a street where there are not any cars to be able to drag race. Drag racing can mean speeds of one-hundred miles per hour.
     Many teenagers go to parties from about eight till two in the morning most of the time. Many teens drive to parties which means they drive back home at about two o'clock in the morning. At many of these parties, there is drinking going on so many of these teens that are deriving home at two in the morning can be drunk. Not only can they be drunk, but also sleepy. That is not a good combination at all. You will either fall asleep at the wheel, or get into a bad accident due to being drunk. A lot of these teens love to give rides out to other teens so they have some people in the car with them. They turn the music up loud. In this case, they are not able to hear anything going on outside of the car. Your friends could be in the car talking a lot so you would not be able to concentrate on the road. This is how so many accidents happen with teenagers.
     The thing teens love to do the most is text message. Teens text when they wake up before they do anything else. They text during school, while they eat dinner, and many other things, but the most dangerous is texting while driving. Texting and driving is just as bad as driving and driving.
     The driving age should be changed from sixteen to eighteen. To many people are getting killed because of teen car accidents.

Type of doctor...

I would be an Optometrist Doctor. It is not technically a medical doctor, but a doctor of optometry. I would conduct eye examinations, prescribe glasses and contact lenses, and diagnose some eye diseases. I would check people eyes pretty much everyday for appointments to see if they need glasses or not. If they do, then I would have to prescribe the glasses. The glasses have to fit and the patient would be able to pick which ever one they want. Their glasses can even be like sunglasses, but jus with prescription on it. That would be the job of an Optometrist Doctor (eye doctor).

Twenty feet tall...

Imagine if I were twenty feet tall. That is about two stories tall. Walking around at that height is crazy. I could do many great things at that height. When someone needs a ladder to get something or put something up at that height, I can do it. For me to be that tall, my arms are probably at least eight feet wide (one arm). I do not think anyone would let me play basketball because it would be so unfair. Really unfair for a lot of sports. I would need a two story house with no stairs in the house so I would be able to fit. My car would have to be custom made. If I were walking in the mall, I could look on the second floor inside the stores without being on the second floor. It would be good, but also bad in some ways being that tall.

One thing I am really good at...

I would say I am good at many sports such as martial arts, football, basketball, and golf. I am going to pick basketball in this case. I have been playing basketball since the I was the age of three years old, starting in the four and five years old league at rancho park. Ma father use to work with me all the time with basketball, but not as much anymore. I would say my best feature in basketball is to shoot. I am a shooting guard and a great shooter. That is probably what i practice the most. Basketball is my one true love and my life.

New kind of Sandwich...

My new kind of sandwich is very different. It may not be something people may want to eat, but yet it is a NEW kind of sandwich. My sandwich would come straight from the beach. The sandwich would be of seaweed with sand and good fish to hold the sandwich together. The fish would be cut into squares to really look like a sandwich. The seaweed would hang out the sides of the sandwich. The sand would be wet and able to connect to the fish and the seaweed.

Something you've won...

I have won many things in my life. Something I have won was MVP of a basketball tournament held at Taft High School. It was my first year of high school. I was playing junior varsity as a freshman. It was our second tournament of the pre-season. I would say I did ok our first tournament. In this tournament I played much much better. I averaged about twenty points a game. I started the first game. As the game started, we got the tip-off and i got the ball. I run down and shoot a fadeaway jumper and nothing but net. I was feeling it this game. I ended with twenty-two points this game even while getting hurt right before halftime. I did finish the rest of the game. I scored eighteen points in the second game and twenty-one points in the championship game.

Superpower...

The superpower that I would most likely like to have is to have super speed. To have the ability to run and move extremely fast. I would be using superhuman reflexes and seemingly violate certain law of physics. I would never get tired. When you think about it, I would never need to drive anywhere. I would not even need to get on a plane to go across the globe. I could run on water. Having super speed means I can run around the world faster than you can blink.

An afternoon with my Grandmother...

I would love to spend time with my Grandmother on my dad's said. She is always traveling which is a great thing and lives in Florida, so I never spend any time with her. I would ask her about her life and what life was like back when she was little. I would ask her how much different it is now then it was when she was a kid. What type of activities did she do when she was a kid and many things of that subject. I would cherish that moment because I never know when it will be the last moment for her.

Visit the moon...

I would visit the moon because I believe it would be a great experience and I would have great time with no gravity to keep me on the ground. It would take three days, three hours, and thirty-nine minutes to get to the moon. It seems long, and i believe it would be long but I would be able to handle it. I believe I would learn a lot from going to the moon and on the way to the moon from someone who knows what they are talking about, when talking about the galaxy. I would have fun on the trip to the moon.

How someone can earn money my age...

Someone the age of sixteen can make money many different ways. It may not be a lot of money for an adult, but a good amount for a teenager. One way a person my age can make money is by getting a job at a restaurant, a fast food place, or a clothes/shoe store. A person my age can make money by doing little things for different people in the community like walking their dog or mowing their neighbors lawn. They can sell things on eBay or have a garage sale. If you are good at using computers, you can create a background for Myspace or Twitter or you can create a website.There are many ways to make money for teenagers.

The Baby Dragon...

The Baby Dragon had no one to live with. His parents left him two days after he was born. He was stuck at the top of a tree in the forest. There was a man hunting in the forest and heard the baby dragon crying. He climbed the tree, got the baby dragon and fed it meat that he had to capture other animals. The man took the baby dragon home and put it in a cage he had bought for it. It was an unusual dragon. The dragon had a disorder and could not grow to be a regular size dragon. Dragons usually grow to be the height of fifty to sixty feet tall. This dragon grew to be only ten feet tall. This dragon only lived to be fifty years of age when regular dragons can live up to two-thousand years old.The man kept the dragon until it died.

Haiku...

These Haiku poems,
Flor from the Spirit within,
Like a tree breathes air.

A flame burns within,
Bright, steady, giving light.
I feel peace, love, joy.

Love nourishes me,
when it is offered freely,
like Sunshine in Spring.

We open to love
as water flows across rocks,
without resistance.

Trust intimacy
and dance with the mystery,
like a Hummingbird.

Trust is like crystal.
Once shattered by emotions,
Hard to repair.

Showers of blessings,
Rainbows appear in the sky,
Pots of gold nearby.

Oh, where does time go?
Sun comes up and goes down.
Quickly days go by.

Last night of the year,
Birds and trees feel no difference,
Humans celebrate.

As the Earth rotates,
The Sun stands still in the sky,
Yet appears to move.

Summer...

My favorite season is the summer because everything happens during the summer. All the parties, theme parks and many fun events. It is hot so everyone may go somewhere to go swimming. During the summer, the family goes on vacations to Vegas, Florida, and any other place we may go. The summer is the best and my favorite season of all.

Game show...

The game show I would be on is Deal or no deal. I pick the number four case because that is my favorite number. As i'm going through the cases, I am picking the high number cases which is bad. I should be getting the low cases. The lower the cases, the more money I get. It comes down to the million dollar case which can be mine, and the dollar case. I ask to open my case to see if I have the million dollar case and it turns out I have the dollar case. I only got a dollar for playing the game show.

Best about my home...

The best thing I like about my house is the backyard. We have a basketball court in the backyard and that is my favorite thing to do. The court in the backyard is painted with different basketball teams such as the Lakers, Bulls, Spurs, and Blazers. Whenever I play basketball, many kids come over to play and we have two on two's or three on three's. It is very fun when we play and very competitive. The backyard is my favorite thing about my home.

Worked at a football game...

My job would be a Quarterback for the San Diego Super Charges! My job is to keep our team together throughout the game and put points up on the board. It is fourth and ten on my own fourteen yard line with two minutes and fifteen seconds to go. I throw it deep to my main receiver for a forty yard gain. I scramble the next play and gain sixteen yards on the run. I am now on the other team's thirty yard line down by seven points.There is forty seconds left and the clock is still running with no timeouts remaining. I make another run for it and gain twenty yards on the run with twenty-five seconds left. I run a hurry up offense. I throw it to the corner of the end zone and touchdown for the Chargers. We decide to go for two points and we make it and there is only nine seconds. We are up by one point. The kicking team kicks off and they down it in the end zone. They try and throw it deep and it is an incomplete pass. We win the game.

Four years ago...

Four years ago, I was twelve years old. I could not drive and have my license. I would not be able to stay out late at night and I would have a curfew at the age of twelve. I would not go places by myself or just with friends anywhere I wanted to. I would not go to as many parties as I go to right now. At the age of twelve, I could not apply for college to go to college the next school year like I can now. At the age of twelve, I could not dunk and now I can. Those are the things I can do now that I could not do four years ago.

Monkey as a pet...

A monkey as a pet could be a good, but bad idea. A good idea because it is a cool bet to have and a lot of people say they would like to have a monkey as a pet. A monkey is a smart animal. A bad idea to have a monkey as a pet is because every animal has a mind of its own, and a monkey can turn on its owner. A monkey is a dangerous and fun animal. If the monkey turns on its owner, it can seriously injure you or even kill you. A serious injury from a monkey can leave you in the hospital for months. Its the person's choice whether to have a monkey as a pet or not. My opinion, I would not have a monkey as a pet.

Youngest Person I know...

The youngest person I no is a year old. She is a fifteen month baby. She is my godsister. Her and her parents live in riverside and we go to visit them every time they have some special occasion such as memorial day or anything of that caliber. She is a good baby, does not cry a alot, but when she does, it is annoying. It is alright though because she is a baby. I've only seen her about three times. Overall, she is a good baby girl. The youngest person I know.

Oldest person I know...

The oldest person I no is my Great Grandmother on my fathers side. She lives in Miami Flordia and my family and I go to visit her every summer. She is ninety-one years old. She is a very healthy lady. She can walk fine witout a cane or anything to keep her up. She speaks well and is still able to cook very good meals. She lives right by a river. The river is basically her backyard. There are aligators in the river and lizards in her backyard. She is not afraid of them at all and feeds them for fun, but not keeping the lizard as a pet. She takes pictures of the aligators whenever she sees one. I've never seen a aligator when i go but she has pictures to show us. My great Grandmother is a wonderful lady, nice, young, and healthy.

Paint your bedroom walls...

I would paint my walls with everything that has to do with basketball. I would paint different teams such as the Lakers, Nuggets, and many other teams. I would paint players jersey's on the wall such as J.r Smith, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, and many more who I can think of. I would paint basketballs all over the walls and the background would stay white. That is how my bedroom walls would be painted if I could paint it.

The Bat Who Couldn't Fly

The bat who couldn't fly was lonely all the time. No other bat would want to spend time with him because he was different from all the rest of the bats. Later on, there was a bat who also didn't have anyone to hang out with so they hung out. It turns out that this bat is the faster flyer in the group. Somehow, the fastest bat teaches the other bat how to fly. When he learns how to fly, the group of the bats wants to know how he learned to fly. Neither bat told them so the two bats went off along with one another to live with each other happily after.

Lunch with a famous person...

The famous person I would want to have lunch with is Michael Jordan. He is the greatest basketball player to ever play the game. I would ask him about his life and how hard he worked to get to the point where he became the greatest player in basketball. I would ask him if he thinks that there will be someone else in the world to become a better basketball player than he was. We would talk about all his basketball workouts and how to get better at the game because basketball is my favorite game.

Brothers and Sisters...

I have an older brother and a younger sister. My brother is twenty-five years old and my sister is fourteen years old. My little sister is the most annoying person in the world, but i still love her and would do anything for her. Shw always ask for me to do something for her. My brother on the other hand treats me how he wants to be treated. He buys me things without me even asking. He is a brother anyone would wish for, but if I do somthing wrong, he is on me like white on rice. I have a great family with a lovely brother and sister.