Sick

Last night, I had a really hard time falling asleep. It was hard to breathe, and I noticed my nose was stuffy. No other part of my body ached or anything, so I just brushed it off. This morning when I woke up, my throat was very soar and scratchy. I feel that my voice sounds different too.
This is the first time I haven't felt well since I moved out. It is SOOO weird having to take care of myself. I have to find a solution for my ailment alone. My mom isn't there to push me into going to the doctor or give me the Dayquil/ Niquil regimen.
After class, I will stop by wal-mart and buy some throat drops. Hopefully they will help and I will not need to see a doctor.

The Uncommon Hero (Example essay)

The Uncommon Hero

What is a hero? A hero may be defined as a strong person who commits courageous acts or a person with tremendous spiritual belief and guidance. A personality trait may label one as heroic. In modern-day society, a hero may be a brave man who is admired for his acts of valor. In literature, a hero is a description much more complex. King David of ancient Hebrew times, Forrest Gump of Greenbow, Alabama, and Erik Weihenmayer of Colorado all qualify as heroes. A hero is not defined by physical strength and agility but by the characteristics of his personality.

In Biblical literature, a hero is depicted differently than one of modern times. David was a poor shepherd’s scrawny son. He did not posses any obvious heroic qualities externally. Heroism in the Bible had a direct connection with the covenant between God and the people. David was very loyal to God and faced great danger, making him heroic although his appearance may lead you to assume otherwise. The Old Testament was written through the anti-hero era in literature. During this period of time, heroes’ physical qualities were remarkably plain, but their belief in God proved to overcome all doubt of their heroics. With God on his side, David destroyed Goliath with one hit of a pebble to the giant’s head.

Some heroes are characterized as such due to the effects they make on people’s lives. Forrest Gump was a mentally challenged boy from Greenbow, Alabama. In spite of his difficulties, he served as an inspiration to fictional and living people alike. He possessed many heroic qualities such as integrity and compassion. Gump showed reliability and honor though almost every aspect of his life. His running to get out of complicated situations would maintain his honor because he would not have to confront situations in which his reputation would be questioned. Forrest promised his friend Bubba that he would help him start his own fishing business. Although Bubba died in Vietnam, Forrest still kept his promise and started the business. When he became wealthy, he split his earnings in half and gave one of the two halves to Bubba’s family. Such integrity is very hard to find in a human being, and therefore is a qualifying characteristic of heroism. Compassion is yet another defining trait. Whether he wanted to or not, Gump was always a caring person from his early childhood on. Despite the fact that Lieutenant Dan hated Forrest, he still managed to rescue him in Vietnam. Dan would hold a grudge for this act of courage for many years to come. In spite of that, Forrest always looked up to Dan and respected him immensely.

Although Forrest Gump is a fictional character, his struggles through life are not fictional and not unique. The early life of Erik Weihenmayer, a now-world famous adventurer, was not trouble-free and was in many ways similar to that of Gump’s. Erik was born with the knowledge that he was one day going to be completely blind. He tried to rebel and deny it, but by the age of fifteen, he was sightless. Erik denied any kind of help and spiraled into a depression. However, when he accepted his situation, he became very successful. He started rock climbing and found that he loved the feeling of the thrill and the sound of the wind. He went to college to become a teacher, and there he met his wife. Weihenmayer fought through adversities and challenges, such as being a blind teacher. In May of 2001, Erik successfully reached the summit of Mount Everest, a feat no blind person had ever attempted and no person would ever imagine it a possibility. Today, he is a middle school teacher and world-class adventurer. He truly serves as an inspiration to both sighted and blind people. Erik proved to the whole world that both the sayings “The sky is the limit” and “If you believe in yourself, you can make your dreams come true” are reality and very much possible. In addition to teaching teenaged school kids, Erik travels all over the world and teaches blind kids how to rock-climb. In Tibet, he took a group to the mountains. They reached 21,500 feet, which is the highest altitude that a group of blind people reached in history. Erik had a very difficult life, but he turned his challenges into advantages.

Heroes come in all shapes and forms. Sometimes, a person may be a hero for uncommon and unique reasons. The things that characterize a hero should not be generalized because there are far too many to put under just one category. King David, a Biblical hero; Forrest Gump, a symbolic hero; and Erik Weihenmayer, a modern hero, all possess heroic qualities that are, in some way, tied to one another, but are, however, unique to each individual. Everyone should strive to be heroic in their own sense and to learn from those who are heroes to them.

Mud

Saturday night, I went to the Refuge to hang out with some old friends. When I got there, I saw a sixteen-year-old boy holding a tiny kitten. Being the way I am, I asked him if I could hold it. The cat was the cutest thing I've ever seen. He was a dark tan/gray with bright blue eyes. I asked the boy if he had named him. He told me no, and that he had just found the cat running across Mercer University Drive. I told him to name the kitten Mud. =)
Later that night, I went inside the venue and found the boy again. He told me that if he does not keep him, he'd give the kitten to me. I was overwhelmed. I do not have any kitten food or a litter box or any supplies for a cat. I knew the kitten had a broken foot, and I do not have the money to take him to the vet. I started searching for people to give him to, just in case the boy couldn't keep him. I found a girl named Chloe that really liked Mud, so she asked her mom if she could keep him and she agreed. The kitten did not want to leave my side. Whenever I handed him to someone to hold, he started screaming and looked terrified. As soon as I would bring him back in my arms, he would curl up in my arms and purr. I felt awful for having to give him away and I was SO attached by this point. I went inside to find the boy to see if he was keeping the kitten or not, but he was nowhere to be found.
I found an empty container and filled it with water, helping Mud drink it slowly. After he drank, he stuck his head under my arm and fell asleep. I let him sleep for a little while, then decided that if I didn't give him away at that moment, I wouldn't be able to. I handed him, still sleeping, to Chloe, kissed him, and left.


I miss him =(

Rosh Hashana

This weekend is going to be absolutely fantastic.
My boyfriend is coming with my to my parents' house in Atlanta because this weekend is Rosh Hashana. It is a holiday celebrating the Jewish new year, which will be 5771 as of Friday night. (Yes, the Jewish calendar has been around 3,762 more years than the one we use today!)
Tonight, we are driving up to Atlanta and maybe going out to coffee with my best friend, her husband, and my 1 1/2 year old goddaughter.
Friday will be a busy day. I will wake up, go see my chiropractor, and go to a hair appointment. Then, I will pick up my sister from school and hopefully go get our nails done or something.
Dinner will be at my mom's friend's house, and will consist of my family and my boyfriend, their family of four, and their soon-to-be daughter-in-law and her family. I swear, we're talking about 50 people, more or less. It's going to be stuffy to say the least.
Saturday morning I have to wake up early to get my flu shot, and after that, I don't really have plans. We have to leave by 2 at the latest.
That night, one of my friend's bands is playing in Macon for the first time, so I will be going to that!
=D

My writing process and challenges

The hardest thing about writing my essay was probaby coming up with a topic and actually starting the writing process. I don't actually remember what sparked my topic idea, but I remember thinking that my first roller coaster ride is something I could easily describe in great detail.

I really enjoyed reading other people's essays. After writing and rereading your own essay about one hundred times, you get kind of sick of your own writing. Reading other people's essays was a unique experience and really opened my eyes to what other people were thinking and how other people write. In my own essay, I got very good comments, but I had already known that I had that one problem people kept commenting on.

This upcoming weekend... and the next

This weekend is a big question mark at the moment. My boyfriend is going out of town with his family to the beach, leaving me alone at the apartment. My options are as follows: Stay at the apartment and do absolutely nothing by myself, or go home and do absolutely nothing with my family... Option B sounds better to me! But it requires driving for two hours. Oh well, the things we do to surpass lonliness.
Next weekend is Rosh Hashanah, which is the holiday celebrating the Jewish New Year. It's going to be five-thousand-something... Crazy. My boyfriend was invited to come spend the weekend with my family and I in Atlanta, but it's his mom's birthday and it's important for her that he's there. Understandable i suppose.
If plans go as such, that will be THREE weekends in a row I have not spend with my boyfriend. How depressing =[

Labor Day Weekend

This Labor Day weekend was an unexpected one. I had absolutely nothing planned and it was all very spontaneous. Friday morning, I realized I had absolutely nothing better to do than to go to my parents' for the weekend. They live in Atlanta, and making that drive is not my favorite thing to do. I called my mom and asked her if it was alright if I came. She was shocked I had to ask. So I quickly packed and headed up there.
When I got home, my little brother told me that they just plugged up the Wii Fit and that he wants me to play with him. I decided that would be a great idea because I really do need to work out. Let me tell you, that thing WORKS! Friday night, my mom made a big dinner. I had my best friend, her husband, and their baby Elizabeth (who is my goddaughter) over. After that, I was totally exhausted and went to bed.
Saturday was a lazy day. Didn't do anything but go to the store, drive my little sister around, and play some more Wii Fit with my brother. By the end of Saturday, I was SO sore from it! Saturday night I watched Pitch Black with my parents. I thought it was a really dumb sci-fi movie at first, but the farther into the movie we watched, the better it got.
Sunday morning, my dad had plans to get up early and go to Savannah for the day. However, those plans changed because the whole house ended up waking up around noon, and it is a five hour drive to Savannah. I decided to look up prices for the Georgia Aquarium because we have no been there yet. When I looked at prices, I saw a joint ticket for the aquarium and an exhibit called Dialog in the Dark. I quickly looked up tickets for that instead and found that they were cheaper. As a group of six, we went to Atlantic Station to go to Dialog in the Dark. The exhibit is basically a day in a blind world. You do day to day things, such as walking in the park, going over a bridge, riding a boat, crossing the street, and ordering a soda all in complete pitch darkness. You can't even see an inch away from your eyes. When we got there, the workers gave us poles that blind people use to maneuver their way around. Surprisingly, this pole was my 'best friend' as the instructor promised it would be. It was definitely a unique experience that I think everyone needs to do at least once during their lifetime. It's amazing that a simple thing such as sight, which we obviously take for granted every day, is so heavily relied on every day. The world is a much different place in the dark.
Monday morning, I woke up and drove back to Macon. When I got back here, I studied for HOURS for my math test. Hope I did well =]

MindEraser

Knees buckling, hands shivering, I walked onto the platform. The wait that seems like forever is beginning. I sit down in the purple contoured seat, which I quickly realize is quite uncomfortable. I feel my stomach clench tighter, and I grit my teeth. Slowly, painfully, I lift my arms and grab the safety harness. Pulling the harness down over my head seems to be more of a challenge than I had anticipated. Gravity is my enemy today. I manage to hold all the air I can in my lungs and with all my might, pull down and buckle the harness into place. The announcer’s bored, nonchalant voice fills the amplifier, stating to keep our hands and all extremities inside the car at all times.
“Deep breaths,” I tell myself. “The sooner it starts, the sooner it will be over.”
A harsh thrust brings me out of my attempt of relaxation. My friend Brittany looks over her harness at me and smiles as big as she can. I lean forward, fake a smile, rub my sore calf, and sink back into the seat. The worker pushes the flashing neon red button and we jolt forward. I hold on tight as the seats begin to lean back. My eyes shut tight, afraid to relax and look at the view. The ride, creeping up the steep slope, decreases in acceleration, nearly stopping. Handlebars are provided on the harness; however, they are no help due to my perspiring hands. My stomach flips anxiously inside of me. I open my eyes in a nervous twitch only to see blue sky, and before I could close my eyes once more, the seat was leaning forward. Down was my only view.
The beginning of the week starts like any other. It is Monday night and I have finished my homework like mom asked. As routine goes, I watch an hour of television until dinner is served. A commercial comes on as soon as I click the ‘On’ button. Children screaming, waving their hands up in the air as they glide down the roller coaster tracks is what I see. In the next frame the family gets off of the ride, holding onto each other, smiling in merriment.
“Six Flags: Elitch Gardens! Have a blast!” announces a comical, childish voice.
I have never been to Six Flags, and this commercial has sparked an interest. Running to the phone to call my best friend, I quickly repeat the name of the amusement park in my head so I will not forget. Brittany’s mother, Amy, answers the telephone and politely asks me how I am. Enthusiastically I ask her if Brittany and I can go to this awesome amusement park called Six Flags Elitch Gardens over the weekend. She giggles out loud and answers calmly: We are much too young to go to a giant amusement park on our own. Disappointed, I say nothing but stay on the telephone. After a couple seconds, she exclaims, “Actually, we have no plans this weekend. How about I take you two?” Giddily, I ask my mother for permission to go. The date is set: Saturday at 11 am.
The whole week, I make sure to do my homework every night and do well on quizzes so I will be allowed to go to Six Flags. When Saturday rolls around, I wake up extra early and get dressed in light khaki shorts and an old t-shirt my mother bought at a thrift store. Fruit salad is what I eat for breakfast because of the simplicity. The butterflies in my stomach won’t allow much more food. Amy honks her car horn, startling me although I was expecting a noise soon. I run out to the minivan with my mother by my side. After big bear hug, I hop inside.
The ride to downtown Denver is a blast. We listen to bands such as N*Sync and A-Teens, teen hit sensations and our absolute favorites. Amy tells us that in the gargantuan park, we must stay next to her at all times and let her know if we need anything. I am so terribly excited, but in one instant, the entire thrill evaporated into thin air. Roller coasters soar high in the early morning sky, hundreds of feet above the dirty, colorfully painted concrete ground. My stomach sinks. Nobody told me this park was full of monstrosities. The horror, shock, and utter disbelief runs through my little veins, reaching every inch of my quivering body.
Walking through the park, I’m a daze. My main goal is to stay calm and not show Brittany or Amy that I am in fact, terrified. The MindEraser, staring me blankly in the face, is a shocking structure filled with sharp twists, astonishing speed, and unavoidable loops. Brittany grabs my hand, stares up at the menacing sign, looks at me with a devilish twinkle in her eye, and pulls my arm towards the entrance. A twenty minute wait is not long enough to calm my nerves, but just long enough to make sure I am perfectly petrified. We are next.
Knees buckling, hands shivering, I walked onto the platform. The wait that seems like forever is beginning. I sit down in the purple contoured seat, which I quickly realize is quite uncomfortable. I feel my stomach clench tighter, and I grit my teeth. Slowly, painfully, I lift my arms and grab the safety harness. Pulling the harness down over my head seems to be more of a challenge than I had anticipated. Gravity is my enemy today. I manage to hold all the air I can in my lungs and with all my might, pull down and buckle the harness into place. The announcer’s bored, nonchalant voice fills the amplifier, stating to keep our hands and all extremities inside the car at all times.
And then it was over. Just like that, relief floods my body. Imagining myself riding straight up and directly back down. Twists and turns and loop-de-loops caused this ride to be high in velocity and, surprisingly, enjoyment. No wonder this ride is called the MindEraser; I can think of nothing other than the pure joy and freedom I felt while upside-down or falling down a ninety-degree slope.
“Nothing to be scared of now,” I tell myself. And from there, we continue or adventure through the amusement park.

Relationships- #1

My boyfriend and I have been dating for almost a month. It's been a great time and I have been very happy, happier than I have been in a very long time. But along with any great relationship come hardships and things that you must overcome.
Yesterday, my friend Meg posted a status update on facebook about how her boyfriend came over her house with flowers and soup because she is sick. Part of me became jealous at that, although I am very happy for my friend. I was jealous because I do not think that my boyfriend would come bring me flowers if I was sick, or even anything close.
We have a very strong and honest relationship, so I just explained how I felt about it.
His response: "You can't plan sweet things. It's the spontaneous act that makes it sweet."
That was a good enough for me! Hopefully something awesome will happen sometime soon. I'm hoping for a surprise on our one month anniversary, but I do not want to get my hopes up. All I know is that I'm planning something sweet.