Who am I?

Promp: Who Are You?

When reading the topic, some might think it would be very easy to write about oneself, but it really is not as easy as it seems. This is a difficult question to answer. Obviously we all know the general things that makes us who we are, but there are some things that makes us who we are that we generally do not think about effecting the person we become.

Above anything else I am a loving family member. My family is extremely important in my life and they each impact the person I am. My grandfather has made me the proud and stubborn person that I am to this day. He always taught me the importance of having pride in yourself and the things you do and to have pride in your family. I always try to present myself in a positive way and this is because my grandmother always taught me the importance of acting like a respectable young lady. My parents have made me the driven student I am today, they always pused me to do my absolute best. Each member in my family has contributed in some way in my development as a person.

As well as being a devoted family member I am a very caring friend. True friendship is something that is very important to me. I would rather have a small amount of friends that I trust completely rather than a large group of people I really can not trust. I always try to be there for my friends whenever they need me, because they are there for me. Sometimes you go through things in your life that you can not talk to your family about, and it is a great feeling knowing you have a best friend you can call and talk to, and they will listen and support you. Being a good friend is a characteristic about myself that I see as being beneficial in my development as an individual.

I am also a responsible employee as well as a friend and family member. I have had a job at a pharmacy for two years, and in these two years I have become a more responsible person. When I go to work it is up to no one but myself to get my job done and do it well. Being efficient at my job is very critical and I have learned to do my job the best I can and always work hard at it. Being a responsible and trustworthy employee definately has many positive aspects to it. This year my boss gave me and three other employees tickets to see the Georgia Bulldogs play football, this was a great reward for all of my hard work. I work very hard each day I am at work, because it is very rewarding to know that I am viewed as a valuable employee.

I am all of the things I listed above: a loving family member, caring friend, and responsible employee. I am also just a young freshman in college who is trying to decide what kind of person I want to become. I am constantly faced with having to decide what I want to major in. They want me to decide at nineteen years old what I want to do for the rest of my life. Although I know who I am at this point in my life it is hard to think about the future and the person I may become. I often envy other students who already know what they want to major in, it seems like it must take a lot of pressure off of having to make such a big decision. I keep hoping that one day I will have an epiphany and I will suddenley realize everything I want out of life. This is unlike the things I listed before because I don't know this about myself, but I am trying to slowly learn more about this new phase of my life.

There are many other responses I could have given when asked the question: "Who are you?". I chose these to discuss because they are the things I value the most. Of all the things I am and may become I always want to remain close to my family, a good friend and a responsible and trustworthy employee.

True Love: Maybe Insecurity

Prompt: The Alligator River Story

How much would you be wiling to sacrafice for someone you were in love with? Could you live with yourself knowing you had lost self respect and appreciation? Abigail in The Alligator River Story cheats on her boyfriend whom she loves in order to see him. I think Abigail needs to think a little harder on what love is and what kind of person she is.

Abigail receives a five for being the person with the least amount of respect. After all if Abigail had any self respect she would not have slept with Sinbad while claiming she loves Gregory. Abigail also receives a five because she has someone beat up the guy she loves, and then laughs at him. I do not believe Abigail loved Gregory at all, I believe she was insecure in their relationship and she did not want to be one day without seeing him, because she does not trust him.

Following Abigail, Sinbad receives a four. Sinbad gets a four because he is a jerk and he takes advantage of a situation in order to get what he wants. Sinbad does not have much more respect than Abigail, however he gets a four because he was not the one who cheated. Sinbad is guilty of being a sex driven pervert, who like most guys was only after what he wanted out of the situation. Sinbad knew Abigail had a boyfriend but slept with her anyways.

The third character with low respect is Slug. Abigail tells Slug about the situation she has got herself into and he decides to take action. Slug chooses to beat Gregory up on his own, Abigail does not ask him to, he probably did it because he has been jealous of Gregory and his relationship with Abigail the entire time. Slug would seem more heroic and have more respect if he beat Gregory up because Gregory abused Abigail, but no he beat Gregory up because Gregory no longer wanted Abigail because she was a cheater.

Gregory receies a two because I believe he could have put a little more into the relationship. Abigail seems to be the only one who is trying to get through obstacles so they can be together. Perhaps Gregory does not love Abigail, like she loves him and this might be the reason he does not make any effort to be with her. However, if Gregory did love Abigail he would have worked much harder for their relationship to work.

Ivan receives a one because his character is guilty of nothing. Ivan decides that he does not wish to be involved in anyway with the situation. Maybe Ivan knew what kind of person Abigail was, and what kind of negative relationship Abigail and Gregory had. Ivan made a smart decision to not become involved with Abigail and all the drama she has created for herself.

Just because you love someone does not mean you have to see them everyday. In mature and truely loving relationships couples understand this, and they also know healthy relationships have trust. Abigail and Gregory's relationship was not love, if anything it was probably lust. If they really were in love Abigail would not have cheated on her boyfriend in order to see him. The relationship of Abigail and Gregory was lacking trust, love and maturity, these three things are important to any successful relationship.

Living Your Life Your Way

Prompt: Metahysical Assumptions

Everyone has a metaphysic assumption. If you are living your life for God or any other higher being that is an example of your metaphysic assumption. The Greeks lived their daily lives to please the Gods, this was their metaphysical assumption. Metaphysics' is suppose to answer the question: "What is the nature of reality?". This is different for everyone and this is what makes our culture so different and diverse, because we all have different metaphysical assumptions.

Many people search their entire life to find something that they stand behind completely, it can be a religion, a person, or even an idea they support. You always hear about people saying they need a vacation so they can find out who they are. Searching for your identity and being an individual are examples of metaphysical assumptions.

Living my life in a positive and moral way are two of my metaphysical beliefs. In my family growing up my parents instilled values and morals of family, respect, and religious beliefs. However, as I grew up I made many changes, although changes were made I still find my religion, values, and morals very important to myself. My belief in God is the most important of any metaphysic assumptions I have. I believe God has put everyone on this earth for a purpose, living your life to fufill God's purpose for you is the metaphysic assumption that most believers in God share. Some people believe their purpose is to testify about God and help individuals find Christ, for others their purpose may be to become a wife or husband , or become a loving and caring parent.

Maybe you believe in a higher being or maybe you do not but we all have something we are living for. As individuals our metaphysic assumptions are often different than the people around us. Individuality is what makes the world diverse and it creates excitement. After all if we all had the same beliefs we would probably get bored with our lives. Everyone has different metaphysic assumptions and it is important to respect everyones belief about their purpose in this life.

Trying to see Mailer's Book Differently

Prompt: America as Empire?

Reading Norman Mailer's book "Why Are We at War?" was a hard book for me to read, due to some of my beliefs and values of our country. Although I did not fully agree with Mailer's ideas on the war and our President I tried to understand his point of view. Norman Mailer says "When you have a great country, its your duty to be critical of it so it can become even greater." This quote from Mailer encouraged me to try and see things from a different perspective.

Mailer says that President Bush pushed us into this war because he wishes to have a global empire. "Behind the whole push to go to Iraq is the desire to have a huge military presence int he Middle East as a stepping stone to taking over the world." Contrary to Mailer's idea I believe we are in this war because we must defend our country. Although I do not agree I tried to see how someone might think as Mailer does. Mailer states that we are in this war not only for emperialism but also for oil. This is an idea I do agree with. Oil is becoming increasingly expensive and I am sure President Bush must believe the Middle East might be more generous with their oil reserves if we liberated them.

Along with wanting oil Mailer also says the Middle Eastern Countries dislike America because of our commercial culture. Our country is very commercial and other countries see this and think all Americans live like Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan. We all know this is not true but teenagers in other countries see those few people act obnoxious and they think the whole population is just like that. Teenagers in other countries look at our young generation and think that we have more freedom than they do, but honestly we do not, it seems this way though because our cultures are so different. Middle Eastern people do not like how our country is effecting their younger generation. The adults in the Middle East feel as if we are taking the religious and moral values out of their youth.

Although Mailer makes a good point of our country wanting the oil from the Middle East and our influences effecting the younger generation negatively, I still find it hard to believe we are not just trying to protect our country. Living in Central Georgia, I often pass the Warner Robins Air Force Base. As I see the many people driving into the base the thought has neve came to me that their job was to create an empire for President Bush. I believe that when they drive to work, they are doing what they signed up to do, and this job is to protect our country.

Global Empire: No... Protecting our Country

Why Are We at War Blog

Would you consider defending our country a quest for empire? In Norman Mailer's book "Why Are We at War?" Mailer states that he believes we are at war because our President wants a global empire. I believe we are at war because we have to defend our country and keep our civilians safe.

Mailer states in his book: "Behind the whole push to go to war with Iraq is the desire to have a huge military pressence in the Middle East as a stepping stone to taking over the rest of the world." Mailer believes that President Bush is trying to create a global Empire. "The underlying motive remains George W. Bush's underlying dream: Empire!" Norman Mailer's point throughtout the entire book is to show the President's desire for a global empire.

I would argue Mailer's idea on emperialism based on the fact that it is the President's job to keep our country safe. Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness are freeedoms we are guaranteed in the United States, and after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 as a country we felt as if our rights were invaded by the terrorists. After the attacks it became the President's duty to ensure our freedoms were not taken away from our country.

As a country if we do not value our freedoms, they can easily be taken away by terrorist groups. If our President had chosen not to go to war, the terrorist would have known that we would back down from anything they ever did to us. Without defending our country we make ourselves and our freedom an easy target for terrorism.

President Bush told the country that the reason for going to war was because of the threat of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism. I think protecting our country and our families is a good reason for war and the President made a good choice to protect his country and ensure our freedom.

I understand many people do not agree with war under any circumstance, and I respect their opinion. I also understand that if their life or the life of someone they loved, were directly affected by the terrorists, their views of war would definately change.

No one wants for innocent lifes to be lost, yet many innocent American lifes were taken in September 2001. We must do what is necessary to keep our country safe and preserve our freedoms that we value so much.

Homosexuality: Elementary Students Easily Influenced

Prompt: Human Rights v. Majority Rule

Every individual is guaranteed the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Although it is not ethically right for a homosexual to be refused a job because of thier sexual orientation, I would agree with the majority rule of not allowing this in the education of our young children, who can be easily influenced.

Young children especially kids in elementary school are easily influenced by the adults in their lives. In grammar school we spend more time at school than we do in our homes, so whose to say a young child would not be influenced by their teacher? Homosexuality is a hard concept for many adults to understand, so imagine how confusing it would be to a young student, who does not know anything about the different types of relationships people may have. If I were a parent of a child with a homosexual teacher I would be very concerned and I believe parents have the right to be worried with this. Discussing sex with their children is a hard topic for many parents to discuss with their teens, so imagine an eight year old child asking their parents about homosexuality.

Homosexuality would not have any indication of what kind of teacher one might be, however this would be difficult for many to understand. Human rights are taken from natural rights that God provided, so families heavily influenced by their faith would definately not be supportive of a homosexual educating their child. Political views would also be an issue in this discussion, the liberal parents may be more accepting to ideas of homosexual teachers than the right winged parents.

Without human rights our country would not be as prosperous as it has been, because with these human rights we have freeedom to follow our dreams and live our lives how we see fit. Human rights are definately important, yet majority rule can not be overlooked. If one person thought of human rights while one hundred million followed the majority rule, it would be extremely difficult to ignore the majority and make judgement based on human rights.

The issue of having a homosexual educate our young generation is a very significant issue that effects many people, not only the children but also the educator. Homosexuals should not be thought of as people without human rights, however when it comes to influencing young, easily influenced children, I would definately say the majority rules, and this not be allowed.

Surrender to Terrorists?

Prompt: Hijack!

Many people do not like making decisions, edpecially when they know they are not the only ones affected by their decision. I could not imagine being the president and having to make a decision that would effect everyone not only in our country, but also the lives of people in foreign countries as well. The topic of terrorism has caused our President to make many decisions that effect our country.

Choosing to release criminals back into our society or choosing to let terrorsits attack our country would be a very difficult decision. Although it would be a hard decision to make, I would choose not to release the convicted criminals. Our country has views on foreign policy that state: we will not make any concessions to terrorsists and strike no deals, we will bring terrorsits to justice, isolate and pressure any state that supports terrorism and we will support countries that work with the United States against terrorism. Choosing to release the convicted criminals would not follow our foreign policy on counter-terrorism. By choosing to release the criminals we would be giving into what the terrorists' want, and they will feel as if they have defeated our country. Surrendering to terrorism would only lead to terrorism increasing and we would no longer be a free nation. In releasing the criminals, there would be an endless amount of crime and death and we should not release people who have been convicted of a crime because it would show that our government can not be take seriously.

There are numerous moral principles to contemplate when deciding to release the convicts at the demand of the terrorist or deciding not to surrender to what they want us to do. Should we give up these lifes to the terrorists? Should we back down from a group of cowards who would love nothing more than to see our countries stability shatter? Do we want to back down from a group that would love nothing more than to see our country cower and wants us to live our daily lifes in fear? These questions would weigh heavily on our President as he would make this decision, and are important questions to ponder when you are making such a life changing decision.

Our countries biggest task on terrorism is trying to prevent terrorist attacks from happening again. Our President has made many efforts to stop terrorism and to make our country safe so that we can live independently and not have to worry about terrorists.

Deciding to not release the criminals would be a very hard decision. Although ithis would be a hard decision it must be made to show terrorists that we will not back down and we will not surrender to their acts of terrorism. As citizens in this country we value our freedom, we get to value this freedom because we live in a coutnry that stands proudly for what is right for our people.