Patriotism Responce

Patriotism is still very important to American Tradition, that's why we say the pledge every morning. We need to do so to remember the struggles and patriots we've lost, and that we are still strong. The heroes and heroins serving in Afganistan deserve respect. As if Being away from your families for months at a time wasn't enough they have to live in one of the most dangerous places on earth, knowing that at anytime they could lose their lives, trying to keep us safe; that's a true patriot.

Depression

Depression is something that many people suffer. Tiredness, sleepless nights, and in severe cases thoughts of suicide are very common symptoms. In fact over 20 million Americans are suffering from depression right now. Ernist Hemmingway's "A well lighted place", reminds us to live every day like our last and forget the past.

One very common reason of depression is having no wife, girlfriend, or fiancé in your life. Hence, the old man in the Hemmingway story. He had no wife or girlfriend, and had nothing to do with his life but get drunk drinking Brandy every night. Imagine having to live like that man, alone and drunk. A sad life indeed, which is most likely the reason for suicidal actions, like the man attempting to hang himself, another great example from Hemmingway.

Although, one of the biggest causes of depression is caused by something that may be very surprising to us, money. People say "Money makes the world go round.", which might make it a seeming innocent suspect when it comes to depression. But for some unknown reason people become depressed because of their wealthy style of life. The most likely cause that I found was that, usually when your wealthy you tend to become more famous, right? Then when you become more and more famous people tend to look at you with a different perspective. A great example of this kind of situation is Kate Gosslin's life; she became wealthy and people started to treat her differently. Like the man in our the Hemmingway story.

So maybe money cant buy happiness, maybe the source of happiness is our loved ones. The man in the Hemmingway story definitely didn't have very many loved ones, and he tried to hang himself! This is a great reminder to keep your loved ones close, and live every day like it's last.

A Tiring Day

I don't really know what to write. So used to being told what I have to respond or write about. I guess I'll just start writing and see how it goes. Um, today is Thursday the 15th I am currently sitting in my spot trying to think of something to write about. Oh, I know, tonight I have a football practice last of the week before we play Mukwonago, our home opener. To tell the truth we don't really have a great chance of beating them,but we'll definently try. Last week's game was away all the way in Burlington, we had to get up at like 5:00 a.m. to make the bus at 6:15. We drove over an hour to get there because traffic was bad. When we arrived there wasn't much time for warm ups. The first half was brutal, I guess we were still tired from waking up so early. Although when the second half came around we scored two touchdowns although it wasn't enough to win. After that my day still wasn't over yet. I had to drive another hour back while all my equipment was soaking wet, and once the drive was over we had to go to my sisters' soccer game. which conssumed another hour of the day. Then I finally got home to watch the Packers at 3:00 p.m. I fell asleep after the first quarter and woke up that night at one in the morning wide awake. So I made some food and headed downstairs to play PS3 so I didn't wake up anyone else.

Trust

Trust is one of the most important aspects to a healthy lifestyle. But sadly, there is a great dearth of it. How many people can you actually trust; one or two? Then again, can you know exactly what they’re doing behind your back? This happens to be one of the biggest problems in our modern day, and it is why trust is the most important aspect to a comfortable style of living.
Although, if trust is only helpful in creating a healthy lifestyle, the short story The Treasure of Lemon Brown, by Walter Dean Myers, is an altered version of trust. When Lemon Brown and Greg first met in the old and rickety house, they defiantly didn’t trust one another. But when they were both threatened by the group of men attempting to loot Lemon Brown of his treasure, the trust level between the two spiked. The fact that they were both put into a dangerous situation created a bond, in which they had to rely on one another to remain safe. Trust became a matter of survival for both of them.
The same is true with football. You need to trust that your teammates know what they’re doing and that their actions will keep you safe. Let’s say you’re lined up in the backfield, ready to take the handoff straight up the gut. But there’s one problem, a defender, almost double your size is sitting in your designated hole. Would you feel more comfortable knowing that you’re going to face a crushing impact, or that one of your linemen will clear the hole for you? This was one of my personal experiences while playing football. Luckily, I trusted that my linemen could clear the hole, which they did. The result was a twenty yard dash to put us in scoring position. I trusted my linemen and it gave me confidence, which in turn gave me an ability to run aggressively through the hole and make the big play.
As you can see, trust is very important. It may change in quantity with a blink of an eye, or take years to develop. Between athletic and fictional events, trust is very important to a healthy lifestyle.

Speech Reflection

Today, overall I think that I gave a reletively lower quality speech than my others. This happened because I am more comfortable creating my own speech than reading a poem that somenone else had already written. I am also more comfortable writing my own speech, getting the facts on a topic that I get to choose. For example, my speech on wrestling recieved a better score than the one I read today.

THE MISSION

“Alright,” I yelled, “chutes on and harnessed, we deploy in exactly two minutes.” All twenty-five of my Marines jumped out of their seats and started harnessing their chutes. I watched them as they worked. Men were helping one another strap up, hugging each other and saying, possibly, their last goodbyes. Our division was like a family, sticking together, caring for one another. That’s the only way I could describe us.
“Time’s up!” I yelled over the whispers of my crew. I was starting to feel the adrenalin flow through my veins. “Let’s fly.” I said, grinning a bit, trying to bring a little faith and excitement to my squad. A huge door slowly opened behind me. I turned around to see the huge, black sheet of sky with millions of stars twinkling so peacefully. The roar of the plane’s six engines was deafening, then I jumped.
The thrill of free falling rushed through my body. The wind was deafening, yet I couldn’t help myself but scream in excitement. For a moment I had completely forgotten the mission before me, that was the best moment in the entire mission. As I neared the earth, in one quick, jerky movement, I yanked on my chutes rip-cord. I felt an immense force slam against my chest. I seemed to floated in the air for a moment. I looked up to check for tangled lines or any flaws in my chute, all clear. I looked down to begin my landing. I hit the ground, landing on my toes and bending my knees to relieve the impact of the earth. I stood up unbuckling my harness and chute. When the harness slipped off I drew my weapon.
I scanned the area around our landing site for any potential threats, nothing but sand. Then all around me Marines started hitting the ground, unbuckling their chutes and scanning the area as I was. I looked up, the sky was clear, almost like nothing had ever happened. I stood up, put on my helmet, flipped on the night vision and headset. “Report in.” I said to the squad leaders. “Red Leader, over.” One would say. “Blue Leader, over.” Another would say. After everyone had checked in I could take a deep breath, everything was going as planned…so far. As we approached the designated ridge ahead, I turned to everyone behind me, and said confidently, “As of now, Operation Arrest is a go.”
The five squads fanned out to cover more ground as we cautiously maneuvered towards the ridge of sand. When we reached it I took another look around to make sure we were still safe. Then I turned to start up the, cold, dark, and motionless platform. Around half way up the ridge I stopped to look around. I looked to my right, then to my left. There were three squad leaders to my left and two to my right. I looked down to see how far I was, but all I could see were twenty-five determined and bloodthirsty faces staring back. I couldn’t help myself but smile. I turned to continue my way to the top. Before I knew it I had reached the top of the ridge. I stood up; took one look at what was left of Ghanzi, then turned to help some of the others up the ridge. The squad leaders did the same. Once the last soldier was pulled to his feet, I looked down at the cold, dead ridge and spat. I turned back to Ghanzi. The city was dark, except for a few scattered flames from burning cars and chemicals.
I turned back to my men, “As you all know from briefing earlier, three men of my choice will serve as lookouts at this position, I am changing that. I know command won’t like it but, what they don’t know won’t hurt them, plus I think it’s for the best. Instead I want two lookouts and four snipers, any volunteers?”
A few men stepped forward.
“Thank you.” I said, “Now headsets on at all times, and you better be there to answer.” I said assuring myself there would be no fatal mistakes. “Yes sir!” they replied. “Good, now everyone else you’re under the direct command of your squad leader. Squad leaders, you’re under my direct command.” I said making sure we were all clear on whatever lied ahead. “Yes, sir!” they all answered back. “Alright then, let’s move out.” I said already starting my way down the other side of the ridge.
Climbing down the ridge was almost the same as climbing up, cold, dark, and motionless. The only difference was that all the troops were above me and now, I was nervous. When I reached the bottom I scanned the sand once again, but this time it was different. My veins were flooded with adrenalin; my heart was racing, ready to jump out of my chest. One of the squadron leaders landed behind me. In a flash I turned around faster than I thought was possible, aimed my gun, and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened; I stopped and took a long, deep breath. I looked up at the squadron leader. “Sir…I think your gun is still on safety… thank you Lord!” he said pointing to the sky. I walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder. “He’s on your side,” I said, “and so am I.”
Soldiers started appearing behind him. I looked back up the ridge only a few men were still making their way down. I turned back towards Ghanzi; soldiers all around me were scanning the area. “Nice job men.” I said trying to give them some support before we went any farther towards the city. I looked back toward the ridge, the last man jumped down.
I turned back to the city, a small flash of light, then a “BAM”, and a horrifying scream. I looked to my left; a fallen soldier lying on his back in the cold sand. He was screaming for help, holding his stomach with one hand and grabbing at the sand with the other. I rushed over to him kneeling beside him; a few other men did the same. I reached for the hand covering the wound and pushed it off his stomach. There was a clean hole right in his lower rib cage. “Everyone, get down!” I yelled making sure this was the only man who would fall before reaching the city. I looked up at his face. He was sweating, yet as cold as the sand around him. He looked at me; that face I will never forget. Then his head fell back, his moaning stopped along with his struggling. I took the dog-tags from his neck and put them in my pocket. I said a prayer to myself, took a rag out of my back pocket and placed it over his face. Anger and rage now replaced the mourning in me, now it was personal.
“Alright, let’s go.” I spoke calmly, trying to keep my cool. I stood up and began to make my way toward the city once again. The closer and closer we got to the city the more you could smell the toxic fumes and gasses from piles of ruble and debris. This seemed to build the tension between our squad. I could now see the carnage of terrorist work. Before I knew it we were at the city’s steps. I crouched a little lower. I spotted an old car rusty and burnt, I rushed over to it. The cold sand below my feet suddenly turned to hard concrete. I looked back at my squad, the fear was now showing in their faces. Some of the men had their eyes fixed on the carnage ready to fire on anything that moved, some of the men were looking at me waiting for me to make their next move. I looked over the hood of the car, there seemed to be no sign of life anymore. I turned back to the squad leaders. I motioned my hand to signal an all clear. Everyone started to advance down the barren road. It was cold, dark, and dead, just like the sand.
“Sir,”, a voice said over my headset, waking me from my daydream, ”I have visual on a group of men, about three blocks southwest of your position.” I thought for a moment. “Do you copy sir?”, the soldier asked. “Yea, I copy soldier,” I replied, “just thinking.” For a few moments, I thought, letting the conversation die. “Alright, I’m gonna give you an clearance to fire when we’re just around the corner from the hostiles. Radio me before you open fire.” I told him. “Yes sir. Over and out.” he answered. I took a look around; soldiers were looking back from all around, listening intently to our conversation. “Men it’s go time.” I said. You could hear a heart beating that moment. “Let’s roll.” I said beginning my trek towards the men. I was looking left and right, head on a swivel, looking for any undetected threats. Then I heard very faint voices in the distance. I held up my hand, everyone stopped. I spoke onto my headset, “How far are the hostiles from our current locations?” I asked. “Just around the corner.” the look-out said. “Do I have clearance?” he asked again. “Yes, you’re clear to fire.” I answered. I positioned myself, ready to jump around the corner, and open fire. Sweat was running down my face as I waited for the same gruesome sound our own soldier had made back at the ridge.
Then, the horrible shriek of pain. I jumped around the corner and started firing rounds at the bodies. BAM, BAM, BAM, was all I heard. I stopped firing for a moment to see what damage I had done. I saw three men on the ground, blood all around their bodies. Four other men were crouched down, holding their heads down with their hands. One ran out to aid a dead man, I aimed my gun to shoot… but he had no weapon. I froze for a moment, the thought that I could have killed an innocent being ran through my mind. I started moving towards him. “Hands up!” I yelled. He continued to crouch over the body. Then he turned, but the ‘he’ was actually a ‘she’. I lowered my weapon to aid the woman. I rushed up to her. A man popped up from behind a car, a loud bang, and nothing but black. I heard shouting and guns firing for only a moment… then nothing.
I remember waking up for a moment. I saw a bright light and heard the sound of a chopper. Then it was black again. I woke up once again in a small room. There were white walls and a few chairs in the corner. I looked down at my hands. There was a needle in my arm. It had a tube running up to a machine. For a moment I thought I was dead. But then a woman walked in the door. “Hey look who woke up.” she said. “Don’t worry you’re gonna be just fine.” she assured me. “Where am I?” I asked in a daze. “You’re in a hospital.” she answered. “Never seen a hospital this big in the Middle East.” I said in a surprised state. “You’re in New York not the Middle East, silly.” she said. I nearly jumped out of the bed. “What? I can’t be in America they need me back their.” I said in a more aggressive tone. “No, you’re done with your career in the Marines.” she said. I felt a sharp pain in my bicep, then nothing once again. I woke up, lying on my couch, in my apartment, my parents and friends were gathered around me, giving me encouraging smiles and gestures. I could see get well cards scattered all over the room. Then I laid back, closed my eyes, and slept. I was done in the Marine Corp and I had to deal with it.

A Day No Pigs Would Die Reflection

I think that the story, A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck has many different moral lessons. One of these moral lessons that I had picked up on was that at any given time you may have to grow up or mature. The example used in this story is when his father dies and young Rob has to mature and run the family farm. I think that this is a great example and that it represents an event in life that we will all have to go through. Another thing that I have learned from this novel is that change is an ever-occurring event that can be for the better or for the worst. The example of Rob’s father dying and him having to take responsibility for the farm can arguably be for better or for worst in my mind. Yes, it’s better because it has given Rob a sense of responsibility and has learned a few lessons. But it may also be a bad thing considering his father was a great teacher, mentor, and role model to Rob. Then again he could teach and mentor as much as he would have liked but he knew that Rob needed to do it all on his own at some point. That’s the biggest lesson I got out of this story, but I’m sure there’s more.

Humans are Different

Throughout history, leading all the way up to our modern day world, people have made uneducated assumptions. Christopher Columbus and his alleged discovery to the racial problems the United States all were based upon uneducated assumptions. Some have benefited us and some have hurt us. Christopher Columbus assumed he would end up in India but instead he ended up in the modern day country of the United States: where would we be if he didn’t go the route he chose? Then again where would we be if we had not assumed that African American’s were uneducated or mindless and had treated them equally? Humans are Different, by Alan Bloch is a vague reflection on the different assumptions we’ve made over the course of history, but it also teaches the reader to make more intelligent decisions.
In Humans are Different, a clumsy robot accidentally murders the last human being in their solar system. This is a pretty unrealistic example but it has a hidden lesson to be learned. The robot assumed that the human was just like him and all other robots, and just tried to fix the human when he became ill. But he assumed before actually knowing, which in turn cost the human his life. That goes to show that you should not make assumptions but instead get the facts yourself and then discern the important information.
Throughout history people have made assumptions like the robot in our story, although sometimes it has turned out well and other times it has injured entire nations. A great example of an assumption turning out well would involve Christopher Columbus. In the year 1492 Columbus set on a journey to find a quicker shipping route from Spain to the Indies. He assumed that if he went strait through the Atlantic Ocean he would end up at his destination, but instead he ended up running into the modern day continent of North America. Lucky for us Columbus’s navigational assumption allowed us to live in the United States.
Then again assumptions have not always turned out in our favor. From around 1654 to 1865 most slavery had been legalized in the Southern United States. The South assumed that African American people were worthless, and that they could be sold for property to the richer Caucasian people to work in their fields. This assumption by the south was strongly disagreed upon by the Northern states, which became a disagreement that started a civil war splitting our country in two. To our luck people like Abraham Lincoln stepped forward to fight and end slavery in United States. The point is that assumptions are not always factual, and in this case one of them nearly ripped our country apart.
From Christopher Columbus to slavery and even to the robot in Humans are Different we have learned not to act on every assumption. It is best to not make assumptions, but instead to take the time to get the facts, then act on them.

The Pearl

If you found an extremely valuable item, what would you do with it? Would you, A, keep it? Would you, B, sell it? Or would you, C, leave it where you found it and pretend like you’ve never seen it in the first place? Well answer C would have defiantly helped Kino, our main character in the story The Pearl. When Kino finds a pearl the size of a seagull’s egg he obsesses it, and eventually pays the price. The story The Pearl is the perfect example of what will happen to a person when they become obsessed with an object of great value.
Picture this you go out to sea in your boat to go find some pearls. After a while of scanning the water for any oysters you see a cluster under the water. You dive in to retrieve the cluster. You come up and climb back into your boat and begin to break open the oysters. Then you see it, a pearl the size of a seagull’s egg! The pearl that could change your life, glistening in the palm of your hand. Lucky, as it seems at first, but think about this, all the things that this pearl could do to you. It could make you richer, of course, but all those things it could do to your mind, your reputation, to your loved ones. Instantly blinded by wealth, Kino didn’t think about those horrible things that could happen to him. Unfortunately he paid the price.
When an individual becomes so self-consumed that he doesn’t see what’s right in front of him, higher educated individuals begin to seize the opportunity to take advantage of the less educated individual. The Pearl is the perfect example of this situation. When Kino attempts to sell his pearl for, what he thought was a reasonable price, the higher educated pearl buyers rejected his offer and lowered his for their own convenience.
Obviously Kino rejected their offer. He thought his find was much more valuable and the money would be more than enough to change his life. Thoughts of wealth, fame, and his life with the money, are replaying over and over again in his mind. Kino is so determined about getting this money that to help is family, that he’s actually slowly ripping himself farther and farther from them, almost becoming a threat to Juanna and Coyotito.
Eventually, Kino would have to pay a very large price for letting himself be swallowed by greed. He thought he was doing the best for his family, but tragically other’s attempts to steal the pearl from him cost Kino his son’s life. This event is defiantly horrible, but the pearl could have defiantly done more damage to Kino’s life if he were to hold onto it any longer.
In the end Kino realizes that the pearl has cost him more than it could have ever given him. In a desperate attempt to end the pain and suffering it has caused him and his family he throws the pearl back into the ocean. As the reader I have to wonder if this pearl will ever cause another person as dearly as it has Kino. No one should ever have to pay that price again. The Pearl perfectly shows what happens to a person when they become obsessed with great wealth.

A Secret for Two

Depending on something your whole life and then realizing one day that it wasn’t there, can really have a devastating effect on your life. An example of this might be if you’re on a plane and the pilot has a heart attack, whose going to fly your plane. Now you might say that’s highly unlikely, but that’s precisely when it happens, it happens when you don’t expect it and when you can’t stop it. ”A Secret for Two” is a great example of that and man’s struggle to deal with the unexpected.
Most of us have experienced things like this happening all around us and have seen how it affects everyone that was associated with it. We have seen nine-eleven victims’ families suffering from the loss of a loved one. We’ve seen families mourning over the death of a family member fighting in Iraq. It’s not an experience that anyone needs to go through and it can devastate entire families. Fortunately most people don’t have to experience these events, although it sadly happens much more often than it ever should. Although this horrible situation has never happened to me before, I can still imagine what these horrible events would do to people.
A great example of a situation like this would be the recent 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti Tuesday, January 12th just before five p.m. This earthquake demolished schools, hospitals, and homes, leaving these people with nothing except the loss of loved family members, lack of supplies, and no hope. Just imagine, one minute you’re doing your daily chores and the next your house and belongings are nothing but a pile of rubble. Imagine how severely all of those people needed to deal with the unexpected, and how we struggled to provide all of the devastated victims with needed medical supplies, food, and water.
Another natural disaster that represents this might be the category five Hurricane Katrina that hit our southern border, devastating cities such as New Orleans, 105 billion dollars were spent to help rebuild New Orleans and Mississippi alone. Over 1,800 people lost their lives to that storm, and over 700 went missing. This deadly monsoon truly tested mans’ ability to deal with the unexpected.
All of these events are examples of man’s weakness to deal with unexpected events; from nine-eleven, to Hurricane Katrina, and then to Haiti’s devastating earthquake, man’s struggles are everywhere. The only thing that keeps us going is our ability to commit to something and to overcome adversity; to keep going, even though we might end up losing more than we gain. “A Secret for Two” is a great example of this and man’s struggle to deal with the unexpected.

Football

Football


The sound of helmets clapping and pads slapping while crushing against each other is the reason I love the quick, hard hitting sport of football. Athletes leave it all on the field for 60 minutes, every weekend, to achieve the prize of postseason wins at the end of the season. The American sport football is the most loved since athletes, fans, and coaches alike give their all to be the best.
Because football is so common in America, there are many leagues for all ages. One of the first leagues you can participate in are called Junior or Youth leagues. These leagues are used for teaching kids the basics of football. After you get to old for these leagues you can play for a high school team. There are many different teams for high school, including Varsity; the team with the best players is usually the team that everyone comes to watch. Junior Varsity is another team in high school. This team usually contains the backups for Varsity and the players not good enough to play at a Varsity level. The next team is freshman; this team is for the new high schoolers. All these leagues are in high school although the next level of football only looks at Varsity players to recruit to their team. This league is College teams look at players in high school to give athletic scholarships. If you go to play football in college you get to play on Saturday. If you can make a difference on Saturday you might be able to play on Sunday. This is where the next league comes in, the National Football League, or otherwise known as the NFL. Though, only the very best go to the NFL even some of the best don’t make the cut. But for those who can make it they get paid millions of dollars along with fame and fortune.

If you want to be able to do all these things you need to learn the rules. Football has many rules. These rules are worth different punishments. The more severe the penalty the more yards you give up. For example, a holding call is enforced when an offensive or defensive player holds the jersey of a player not carrying the ball and is worth ten yards. A larger punishment penalty like a face mask is worth fifteen yards for an intentional and five yards for and unintentional penalty. One of the most severe penalties is called unnecessary roughness. Unnecessary roughness is when one player intentionally attempts to injure another player after the play is called dead. This penalty is worth fifteen yards or if very severe ejection from game or suspension from league. Unnecessary roughness is closely related to a personal foul call. A personal foul is called when a player intentional commits a very serious version of another penalty or starts to jaw off to the referee. This penalty has the same results of unnecessary roughness. Some rules are not for on the field and have an enormous consequence. A few of these penalties are using performance enhancing drugs related to steroids. These drugs are known to make you stronger, faster, and have more aggression. Using steroids can get you suspended from your league.
Even if you don’t do any of these things you still must have a ton of determination, pride, and will to win. I’ll tell you why. You must have the determination to win every game and to give all you got to your coaches and teammates. Pride is important because if you don’t feel good about what you do won’t want to do it anymore. Of course you absolutely need to have the will to win every single game. If you have a will to win it will lead to your will to get up every morning, go to practice, study plays, work out, get stronger, and be the best. That’s what it takes to be a football player.
The most loved sport in America is football because you have to give it your all. So go be the best football player you can be, and you just might go far.

Lost at Sea

Lost At Sea

When six men embark on a 600 mile race from Galveston to Veracruz, Mexico tension builds. The thought of being on a boat in the middle of the ocean with twelve foot waves slamming into your vessel is unbearable. Yet these brave men leave port to begin the grueling race. The article lost at sea is the perfect example of the human instinct to survive in an unusual environment.
All the warning from the gut feeling at port to the radio weather warnings telling the crew that the boat was going to be battered was a sure sign the boat didn’t have a good chance of making it to the end of the race.
Eventually there’s no more time for warnings. At about 11:30 p.m. Travis Wright, a student at Texas A&M, jumped from his bunk to do his share of night watch. He jumped into a puddle. A puddle under the deck of a boat is the definition of bad things to come. He lifts the floorboard and a geyser of ice cold salt water smashes into his face. The water is coming in so fast they would only have about ten minutes to get everyone off the doomed vessel.
At this point in my reading I started to think about the Titanic and how hard it would be to get all of those horrified people off the boat and safe. Although these men didn’t hit an iceberg and everyone had a life vest this horrible and unfortunate event would still strike fear, panic, and desperation into anyone. It will make anyone not want to sail or be in the middle of the ocean. Just the thought of your boat or vessel sinking 80 miles off shore with no one within 15 miles of you is the most gut retching, heart sinking, horrifying situation anyone could be in.
After they manage to get everyone above deck they all grab onto anything within reach while the boat lurches onto its side. They all struggle to get their life vests on and fastened. One after another the men start to plunge into the freezing, black, and violent water. All the men swim for their lives, to get away from their doomed vessel.
At this point it starts to sound like there is no hope at all. Yet, all of those men still fighting for life is tremendous. The human instinct to live is above all instincts. It could be the difference between life and death in the situation these men are in.
If the instinct to live is the number one instinct, the instinct to help one another is the second. For a very long time those men floated on the ocean surface. All of that time those men helped one another survive. Then they get even more help. At about two a.m. a coast guard helicopter makes a low pass over the surface and spots the men. A rescue diver named Albert Shannon dives into the water. He lifts each man into a basket connected to the helicopter by a wire. Then the men are flown back to Galveston and rushed to the University of Texas Medical Branch. What those coast guards do is save lives and they did their job to an almost complete perfection that night.
Unfortunately all but one of the men, Roger Stone, one of the two safety officers, aboard the vessel survives their grueling encounter and recovers in a hospital in the University of Texas Medical Branch. That is why being lost at sea is the most incredible example of the instinct of survival going into play.

Improved Intros

“The Clearing”

Competition is a part of life. Whether it’s between you and another individual, or just in sports, there’s always some sort of competition. But why, why compete with one another if you can join forces and be twice as powerful as you were alone? “The Clearing” is the perfect example of how working together is more effective than fighting one another.



“A Secret for Two”

Depending on something your whole life, and then waking up one day and to realize it wasn’t there, can really have a devastating effect on your life. An example of this might be if you’re on a plane and the pilot has a heart attack, no one to fly your plane. Now you might say that’s highly unlikely, but that’s precisely when it happens. It happens when you don’t expect it and when you can’t stop it. ”A Secret for Two” represents, man’s struggle to deal with the unexpected.
“The Circuit”

Having to move constantly with your family takes a toll on every member, but takes a bigger toll on your own self-esteem; wanting everything while many people have nothing. “The Circuit” will teach the reader to appreciate what they have and to not focus on what they don’t have.



“The Black Stallion and the Red Mare”

Loyalty can be very hard to commit to. It can also be a very hard decision to choose who to be loyal to. One of the hardest decisions in my mind would be a decision between an old friend ad his bad decision or something new that could defiantly benefit you but would go completely against your old friend. The short story “The Black Stallion and the Red Mare” is a great example of this situation and can teach the reader many things.