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i believe that not every one with a good report card is smart.i realize from a personal expareuse. i remember one day when so students and i were talking about our report card. we came to the conclusion that i had better grade them everyone else. than one of the student made a smart comments towards me, that it was funny how i'm grades are better than theirs but they are smarter than i'm and also told me that just because i got good grades does not mean i'm smart. i was hurt by the comments but i also thought they were kind of funny because i realize i never actually said i was smarter than them or anything like that. that's because i know the student was right. the only reason why my grades were better than their is because i worked very hard for them and did my works. i knew by me getting good grades do not mean i'm smart because deep down inside i knew I'm not smart. my grades just means that i do my work.

Nowadays people are talking about how a man and a woman can only get married and have a relationship. That there's no such thing as man to man and woman to woman marriage. In my opinion, why are you being a hater? If I'm right there's no law where it states that only a woman and a man can love each other. Like, come on! We live in Philadelphia too! The city of brotherly love. Well I guess thats a double meaning kind of phrase. 
A person can love whoever they want to fall in love with. A person can get marry to whoever they wanted to marry. Love is love and there's no gender, kind, or type. If they are not bothering you, why are you going to bother them? All they wanted to do is love. Who doesn't want to fall love anyway? For them loving someone who's the same gender as they are doesn't make them less of a human. Actually, people hating them are the people who's degrading themselves. They're not the problem, the haters are. 
People sometimes say that I'm Christian but I like gay people. Yes, I am Christian and yes, I know how to treat them. I treat them equally. All of us are human beings so I am not going to treat them like trash. I believe what I believe and they believe what they believe. I respect whoever they wanted to be in a relationship with. I am not to judge someone. They love someone and I know the pain of someone going against it. I don't want them to have those feelings and neither should be the haters. 

I dont think you're going to like it if I stop you from loving someone, right? Treat people the way you want to be treated. In other words. STOP BEING A HATER. 

"Be Yourself" well, what if one cannot? Trends and "what's in" is constantly being built off what was "in" before. From 1980's and 1990's, snapbacks were the popular accessary and was apart of the people of that time's attire. As of 2011, teenagers are bringing back snapbacks as if they created something new. Fashion is recycle by the minute and are based on old trends to create new ones. 


Clothes are not the only thing that is recycled in this generation. Slang words such as "dope" which was started in the 1970's is being used and abused by most teenagers in this generation. Famous rapper, Drake, came out with an album titled "October's Very Own" and on that album was a song called "The Motto". Throughout the song, Drake explains that his motto is "YOLO" which is an acronym meaning "You Only Live Once". Teenagers are using this acronym as if Drake created this new rule to live by when he only simply took an old quote and made it into his words. 

This generation of teenagers are known to follow and take in what everyone else is doing. The fact that they follow is not their fault because everything that is out now has been recycled from the past. Before one says, "Be Original" they should first think, "Well,How original am I?" 

There is nothing scarier than my epilepsy. Most people don't understand what exactly epilepsy is. To lose control of a body part is one of the most terrifying things that ever happened to me. My first seizure was the scariest since it was what would be classified as a Grand Mal Seizure which is the biggest and worst type of seizure known to humans. Through my epilepsy I have lost all fear of other things in my life. 
To witness and/or experience an epileptic seizure is something that can scar you for life like it has for me. My first seizure I ever had was a Grand Mal seizure, the worst and biggest of all three types of seizures which go from smallest to biggest: Partial Seizures, Complex Seizures, then Grand Mal or sometimes referred to as Tonic-Clonic Seizures. Grand Mal seizures include the loss of consciousness. 
The night I had my first seizure, I was sleeping and my mom suddenly woke me up panicking. In my head I was asking, "Why is she waking me up and freaking out?" Then I realized I felt something wet on my bed and I looked and I had thrown up. When I realized I had thrown up I tried moving my right arm to get up out of bed since my left arm was broken but I couldn't move my right arm at all, it was like as if the nerves in my right arm weren't receiving the messages from my brain to move and help me get up. As I realized I couldn't move my arm, my mom was telling me, "Tyler get out of bed so we can go to the bathroom and clean you up." I tried talking and telling my mom, "Mom whats going on? My right won't move no matter how much I try moving it." but all that came out of my mouth was gibberish since I wasn't able to put words together right, it was like as if I was a baby again saying random words. While I tried talking I realized that I was drooling and I couldn't focus very well like as if I was still sleeping. 
My mom realized that I couldn't move my right arm and that something was very wrong since I couldn't talk and was drooling so she said, "Tyler hold on let me get your dad. MICHAEL COME HERE QUICKLY, SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH TYLER, I THINK HE HAD A SEIZURE." My dad came rushing and helped my mom get me out of bed and change my shirt since it had throw up on it. I was still out of it at the moment after my parents changed my shirt, they brought me downstairs to the living room and laid me down on the couch and then my mom said, "Michael go call 911." My dad went to the phone and dialed 911 and told them, "My son just had a seizure and needs to be taken to a hospital." Within 25 minutes the ambulance came and took me to the hospital and doctors were examining me and when they were done they told my parents and me, "Your son has Epilepsy, specifically Benign Rolandic Epilepsy. From how he was drooling and couldn't put words together, his seizures seem to be focused around his mouth."
That is all I remember from that night. But since my first seizure, I have never feared anything besides the fact that at anytime I could lose control of my mouth and it could start twitching out of control. Just the thought of losing control of my mouth and not being able to talk for at least 20 minutes terrifies me. One good thing that came from my epilepsy though is it made me stronger emotionally and mentally. Thats why I no longer fear death or any other kind of fear people have. 

The worst part about knowing a friend with lots of other friends? Getting to know theirs. ​Meeting new people can be stressful. To some, it can come so super naturally. To me... eh. Actually, this time it wasn't so bad.

So, its a warm fall day, and my friend Jael is moving into my cousin's apartment. My friend Amanda and I get there, and she's already all moved in. We laugh in the car, and then we see a whole bunch of people sitting on the porch eating pizza. Moving truck is gone, and we're just sitting there. Extremely awkwardly, we walk up to the porch and I do my "Heeeey guys... whatcha doin'?" They all laugh and say hi. We hug the ones we know and talk to the ones that we don't know so well. Already the group is in such a good mood.

We all decide to walk to the park, and I see this guy in the back talking to two of my friends. I make a witty joke, and they laugh... Then I introduce myself to the new guy. His name is Humberto. Cool. I got a new friend.

I think it's kind of funny how just cracking a joke can allow you to open up the road to make new friends. I'm hardly the person to just go up to someone randomly and say "Hey, what's your name? I want to be friends, because you seem like a cool person. Oh, I can also make you laugh." No. That's weird, and people don't do that. Unless, they do, then that's cool too. However, I'm not really one to do that. I think that when you're around people who can make you laugh, and you can do the same, its easy to open up and knock the barriers down that way the cool new people you're introducing yourself to can feel comfortable without even knowing you that well.

I made a new friend that day, and that night, I made even more. I think it's fun knowing when to crack a joke. Laughter can brighten people's days, and it can influence them to make a joke, and maybe they can meet someone new. Exploring new horizons is a part of life that can sometimes be boring. But, when you spice it up with some laughter... you never know what you might get. Laughter is an essential part of daily life. Laugh at yourself in the mirror, you might see something you never saw before. Laugh at someone else, they might be your new friend. Laugh at the world, and you might conquer something new. Laughter can go a long way. I learned how, it's your turn now.

I believe that everything happens for a reason and you should never regret what you do or say.. One day I'm sitting on the bus and i was just thinking of the way i chose to do certain things. like if i would have just sat there in the car with my grandmother and would have never responded to her last question i would still be living with her. i would have to pay my own phone bill and i wouldn't be on punishment, but at the same time i would have never met some of my friends. the fact that i see that i control and make the choices that affect everything that happens after kind of freaks me out.  every single time ou do or say something there is a reaction to it from both sides weather it is good or bad.

There is always something else you could have possibly said differently. my grandfather came into the house and gave me and my cousins and brothers all ten dollar. my grandmother was like if you wanna spend that then go ahead to the store but you should save you money. so me and my cousins go to the store and get into a fight and end up at the police station. if i had stayed in the house i would have never been in the fight. i would have never lost ten dollars. i would have never been at the police station.

At the same time i would have never met my therapist who help me out with a lot of things and i would have never got sent to this other place where i met another women who is really cool. but in that i got ear of the school i am in now. so what i am saying is the decision you make play on later events and affect who you meet and what you end up doing. im pretty sure that many people can look back and say "damn if i only did this the other way i would have..." but at the same time you say "but then i would have meet..." or  "i would have done..." and say well i don't regret that decision because something good came out of it.

​ I live in a city where a lot of things go unnoticed or ignored. When I was little I used to not care about the world. It was all about me. I didn't care what people ever did for me, I just knew that people did it. Now that I have grown up my belief that everything should be noticed. No matter how small the action it should be acknowledged. 
When I was younger my family and I would visit my grandparents every sunday. My grandparents are not rich, they live in a comfortable home, but they are not poor. When I was younger I used to just toss any loose change I had, if it wasn't a dollar bill I did not keep it. One day I was with my grandfather and I threw a penny up in the air. My grandfather father started yelling at me saying "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!". I immediately turned around and said "It was just a penny". He then said "Even the smallest amount will eventually equal something". This struck me because I knew it was true yet I never thought about it. 
When I went home and thought about what he said that night I never let go of it. Eventually pennies will equal to dollars. Ever since that day I thought never ignore the smal things. That includes small things people do for you. Such as encourage you, cook for you, help you with an assignment, hand you your things you just dropped, anything. Now that I'm older I went back and thanked anyone I could for doing the things that they have done, my mother, my father, any siblings, and especially my grandfather for teaching me this lesson. still to this day I will thank everyone for anything they do for me because I feel if they go through the effort to do these things how hard is it for me to say "Thank you". 

I believe that people that do things that are commonly looked down upon do it for attention and to be cool. For example people that smoke cigarettes in high school I think that it is done for the pure reason to be cool and to look cool. I came to this belief because when I was in eighth grade the coolest kid in our school was considered a badass because she did things that weren’t like what normal teen would do. She would do all these things that were just not appropriate for young teens and she would share her stories. Everyone but me wanted to be like her because they thought she was cool, but I don’t believe that doing bad things is what makes a person cool because obviously the majority of cool people would be like in jail or a drug dealer.

            Once when I was on a school trip we went to the beach and on the boardwalk, some of the guys thought if they stole something that they would look cool in the eyes of the women and be the spotlight of the trip, which they were. No, they did not get caught but when everyone looks back on that day we all think how much more stupid could one get? Now that we are in high school the idea of cursing to be cool and doing bad things to be cool are still around but people have learned that it is not cool to do bad things, except for the few who fall into the trap and have become a follower.

            If a young adult were to look at everything they did through the eyes of an adult they would probably do about 50% of the stuff they did differently and think it through. A lot of the things I do I think of what the consequences would be if you do them and what you get out of not doing the things.  I am a free person and can make decisions that could definitely ruin my future for good, but if you look through the eyes of an adult would it be something that they would do?

            What makes an adult cool? I’m not exactly sure what makes an adult cool because I am not one yet but I know that I have many adult like ways of approaching stuff compared to my colleagues. I believe want makes an adult cool it their sense of humor their wits/wisdom and their person interests such as what’s hip or something like following a sports team. Men do take risks as adults such as going to the bar and getting wasted and maybe having sex with someone but it’s nothing they would do to look cool it just what they do. Don’t make your self do things you don’t want to look cool.

In the last week, death keeps coming up at work. Not because anybody has died, or is close to dying -- because I keep casually bringing it up. 

I should mention that I'm a high school English teacher, so each situation has involved me talking to a bunch of teenagers about death. And they don't like it. When analyzing a funeral scene in a novel, I was getting a lukewarm reaction from the class, so I appealed to their personal senses of mortality: "You guys realize that you're all going to die, right?" 

This did no go over well. To try and improve the situation, I pointed out that I planned on dying before they did. They were equally dismayed by this statement. 

Same thing when I made an off-hand remark in the office about a weekend activity: "So-and-so's got it all planned, so if I die before Saturday, everything will still run smoothly." I got a few surprised looks. "Why would you say something like that?"

I don't really mean it, of course. I have no intention of dying anytime soon. But I usually meet their reaction with a shrug. Why not talk about death like any other topic? It happens every day, all around the world. It has affected each of us in some way, and is the guaranteed shared experience that accompanies life.

When I told one class about my experiences this week, a few students agreed with my viewpoint. "I fear the moment of death, but not the fact that my life will end." A few people nodded their heads in agreement. I thought about all of ways our discussion could go on this subject: what happens after we die? what makes a good death? how should we honor the dead? 

Another student reflected on the fact that she felt like she might be wasting her life sitting at home and playing video games, when she should be out making memories. "Life is short... I'm almost seventeen." 

I know many adults would laugh at that statement -- but I think most grown-ups are trudging towards death with far less awareness than the students in my class. If we can acknowledge death, even in the background, then I think we can live a better life. 

Walking through the hallways in class you can tell that no two people are the same, but why are so many people judge for being so different. Whether someone dresses out of the ordinary or just they aren't afraid to be themselves everyone looks at it as a problem. I look at it completely different.
I strongly believe that people should dance like no one is watching, sing like no one can hear them, live like it's heaven on earth, and to love as though you never been hurt. In order to do these things you have to be yourself. 
I remember at the start of wanting to come into high school I was nervous about whether I would be accepted or if people acted the way I did. As i went through my first week of high school I realized that no one is going to act the way I do, laugh the way I do, or in all just be me.
I learned that it is fine for me to be that different person, because with everyone being so different it makes the world go round. I was looking at a show The Fairly Odd Parents and remember a specific episode were Timmy wished that everyone was exactly the same so he could stop being bullied.Through out the show he was enjoying the fact that everyone was the same, but as time went on he started to realize how boring life was for the fact that everyone wanted to be the exact same. 
America is made up of billions of people with no two people the same. People who have different opinions on the same topic, enjoy different types of music, or may be from the same culture and eat a different type of food. I look at it as though if someone has to change the way they are just to fit in a crowd they aren't being true to them self. As the saying goes rather be loved for who I am then who I'm not. Fitting in may same like the easiest thing to do but as life goes on I have learned the different the better. 

Ever since I was little my mom has always said "everything happens for a reason." This quote has always stuck with me. It makes it easy to fall back on. 

About 3 years ago my grandma passed away. This was a hard thing for everyone in my family to deal with. My family is on the small side, with about 10 close members. So losing my grandma, which was the first person in my life to die, it was extremely hard. My grandma died on July 7. The last holiday we all spent together as a family was July 4th and we made sure it was special. From the day we found out she had cancer and that the cancer was slowly just going to kill her, we made every day amazing and with her. 

My grandma had been on oxygen tanks for as long as I could remember and basic everyday tasks were a big struggle for her. She did a lot of sitting and eating and asking us to get her things from around the house. When we went out I use to roll her tanks around and everyone watched her close to make sure she was doing okay and wasn't straining herself. I know she had a hard life.

The doctors told us she was going to live for about 3 more months but within the following 3 weeks she got extremely sick and passed away, and she passed when she was alone in the room and soundly in her sleep. I know she was a strong woman and held on as long as she could. 

She meant so much to us, and dealing with this is still hard to this day, but as my mom has always said, "everything happens for a reason." We try to keep this mind set when dwelling on the lose. It was time for my grandma to be put out of her suffering and to relax. God had called on her and wanted her to come home. The death of my grandma was suppose to happen and it had been planned from the day she set foot on this Earth that on July 7, 2009 she would part from us. 

This lose is still hard to deal with, but knowing that this is how things are suppose be and that she is happy and enjoying herself, it makes me able to bare with the absents of her. I know one day I will join her and so will everyone in my family; we will, one day be a whole family again. 

And that day I know is planned out and I will wait for that day to come. 

​ I believe that girls and boys can be just friends. Nothing more than that. They can keep it on that level. Many people think other wise but I never have.
When I was a kid my mom had a friend and her friend had a son. This little boy and I grew up together. He was the first one to know everything about me. My first pet. My first kiss. My high school acceptance. My family problems. Everything. But somewhere along the line we started getting comments about us being a couple. We understood where they were going but we never went out, frankly we were to much like brother and sister to even think about that. Then once we reached our high school years we really were getting drilled with comments. People would tease us all the time. He's had girlfriends, none of them liked me because of the friendship that we had. 
Out of this, I don't think I would be the way I am around guys if I didn't have that friend in the first place. I think you need to have a friend of the opposite gender to really be able to get to know other ones. Honestly, I think boys are a lot more fun. With girls there so much competition and its not worth it. Boys are so much more comfortable to be around, not for the attraction, just to have fun with. 
One  of my other best friends, who is a girl, never really had a guy friend. She's 16 years old and she's practically afraid of the male gender. But if you think about it you could actually understand why she would be like that. If you aren't exposed to something then you most likely going to avoid it. 
I still do talk to my first boy best friend. He is probably one of the closest people to me. I believe that everyone should have someone of the opposite gender to talk to, and to understand.

Script

Nadir Meeks

 

            I used a zoomed picture of a bass so that it only shows the body and part of the neck. Then I put what each string is in music terms such as “E” or “G”. After I named each string I then I made it so that the string say something to represent that I prefer bass. Then I put “bass” in the corner of the slide so those who don’t know what the instrument is now know. I chose to use purple for the words so that they stand out and are easily legible.

Slide Explination

 

            This slide explains my obsession for reptiles. Everything on this slide has to do with reptiles. The thing that I wrote “scaling the road to victory” because I think I have a good future.

 

Script

 

            http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2008/08/learning-from-the-design-around-you-ikea.html

 

http://zachholman.com/posts/slide-design-for-developers/

 

http://www.garrreynolds.com/Presentation/slides.html

 

            The things that I learned from these web sites is that you need to;

 

1.     Keep it simple

2.     Limit the amount of words

3.     Use color well

4.     Make the words big and simple

 

 

 

 

For technology We had to find websites for a slide. I learned from the websites on moddle and from stuff I learned in class like using alpha. I choose the background for my slide because it makes all information on the slide easy to see.  The picture of the turtle is there because it’s the best picture I could that would go with my background. I made my name big so it would be the first thing people would focus on and to show what I would rather be called “Matt” instead of my full name. The picture of the house is there to show that I live in a normal home just like most people.

 

​

 

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20111105/OPINION03/311050016/State-s-curfew-meets-constitutional-standard

 Curfews have reemerged recently as a popular option for policymakers in their efforts to deter juvenile victimization and delinquency. Imposed on and off since the turn of the century, curfews tend to receive increased attention when there is a perceived need for more stringent efforts at social control. For example, curfew ordinances were originally enacted in the 1890's to decrease crime among immigrant youth. During World War II, curfews were perceived as an effective control for parents who were busy helping with the war effort. More recent interest in juvenile curfew ordinances came as a response to growing juvenile crime during the 1970's Curfew laws vary with respect to the locale affected, timeframe, and sanctions. Most restrict minors to their homes or property between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., with some jurisdictions allowing exceptions for weekend nights or summer months. Many curfew ordinances provide exemptions for youth who are going to or from a school-, religious-, or civic-sponsored event. Youth traveling from places of employment or responding to emergencies often are excluded from curfew provisions as well. Several ordinances allow unrestricted mobility for youth who are married, accompanied by an adult, or traveling with a parent's permission. 

In addition, some curfew laws impose more stringent curfew parameters in specific zones of the city, usually in targeted high-crime or commercially important areas. A recent example of this type comes from the city of Austin where, in 1994, the city council took action to limit youth activity in the nightclub district of the city. In that area, the curfew begins at 10 p.m. each night, compared with the 11:30 p.m. curfew for the rest of Austin. This isn’t a good year because there is still problems going on with this issue, there are people under age still outside pass 10:00 pm. They can get in trouble if they are being seen out side under age with a crew, they can be blamed for flash-mob or any other thing out there that kids are being blamed for. Teens can be fine with being in the house at this time but they just chose not to listen and follow what there friends are doing, and that’s what will screw them up. I didn’t notice anyone working on this currently since this law has passed on October27th. 

Theirs really nothing anyone can do at this point but if anything do come up they can always address it to someone. I just think curfew is important because is respectful of the responsible party's time. For example, if a curfew is set by your parent or guardian, it is respectful to the them to be home by it. Otherwise, they are left worrying about you and left to decide if they should start an emergency search for you, etc. If a curfew is set by city officials, it is important because it allows law enforcement officials the ability to know right off that someone out after curfew is most likely causing trouble. It would also allow the city quiet time, in which residential folks could count on being able to sleep without noisy cars, yelling or other disruptive behavior.