to what degree do you control your thoughts?

Honestly i feel like we have almost no control over what we are thinking about. One moment i am thinking about something good or nice then out of nowhere i start to think about the things that can go wrong, or someone dying. I think tv shows have it right when they say you have a little devil and angle telling you what to do. Also it's the same with your dreams. your conscience is the one that makes you have your dreams.

Write about something you collect or would like to collect.

When I am older and have a steady job i would like to collect original soccer shirts and sweaters. I want to have a whole closet just for them and try to get them autographed. I know some people have these collects but they don't wear the jerseys, but i think that if im going to spend money on them im going to wear them. I wouldn't want them to be a waste of money. eventhough i don't have a job right now, i have started with my collection and barely have 5 jersheys. Im hoping once i graduate from highschool i will start to buy a couple more.

how would you spend your time if you were retired?

the first thing i would do is buy a new home for me and my family. After i have that done, I would travel the world. i know that sounds like a stereotype for every person who is retired but it seems like a very great life to have. The first place i would go is somewhere in Europe. I always wanted to go to England just to go to a soccer. The games over there seem much more exciting than the ones we have here. Ater i have done all that, i would just stay home and relax for the rest of my life.

Civil Engineering

One job i have reall been looking into has been civil engineering. Civil engineering is an architect that deals with the everyday needs of people like bridges,  roads, canals..etc. I always wanted to be an architect but i feel like this would be more helpful for the world. The median salary is around 75 thousand a year. You need to have a major in civil engineering which takes about 3 to 5 years. You need to have your bachlor in engineering and with this you can choose from a variety of different jobs. You can either get an undergraduate (BEng/BSc) degree or a masters. There are alot of different jobs because the country is getting more advanced and bigger so the country is in need for more engineers. People think that it is growing occupation and there will be lots of new jobs in the next couple of years. Some advantages is that your schdule can be flexible because of where you are going to be working at and the times too. a disadvantage is that it can be stressful because you would have alot of work to take home. you have to get everything right because you ae designing things.

Death Penalty

My topic is about death penalty. My research question is should the death penalty be banned in the United States. 80 percent of the teenagers surveyed said the death penalty should not be banned. One student states “ some people don’t deserve to live” but on the contrary another students makes the argument  that “the victim’s family will push for it” so it’s better to get rid of it once in for all. some major questions that can be asked about his topic is : Is it inhumane?, What do victims families think of the death penalty? and Who was the latest victim of this harsh punishment?

         Most of the American people believe the execution of criminals should not be banned. Though, in the recent years there has been a decline in support for the death penalty. The supreme court  have been looking into it more because of its ethics. In Supreme Court Takes Up Lethal Injection, the author states “This is the first time in more than a century the court has examined a method of execution.” (Totenberg) because the injection, they would use the electric chair to execute people in the death row. They changed it because they believed the electric chair was unconstitutional and switch to a less painful procedure. The same author states, “Thirty years ago, death by lethal injection was conceived of as a more humane way to execute the condemned.” (Totenberg)

         The families of the diseased  have different views on executing the person who took the life of their loved ones. One article states, “The death penalty process is a traumatizing experience for families, often requiring them to relive the pain and suffering of the death of their loved one for many years.” (Death)

 They can also be very expensive to the government and the families feel like if can be a waste of  the states money. This same article says, “Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on the death penalty each year.” (Death) The country can be wasting millions of dollars on something that is unhumane.

      

The latest convicted to be executed has been Donnie Roberts. This just happen on October 31, 2012 in Texas for killing his girlfriend. The author of “Execution of Donnie Roberts a Grim Milestone for Texas and Rick Perry." stated “At trial, Roberts changed his story and testified that he fired at Bowen because he thought she was going to shoot him with a pistol. Exactly a year after the crime, a jury found him guilty of capital murder and later sentenced him to death.”(Dart).Some people feel this man was insane because of what he reported authorities. “In his confession, Donnie Roberts, a 32-year-old laborer, told police that he had a crack cocaine problem and would go to bars, get drunk and look for drugs. According to the police report, he said: "I pointed the gun at her and I said: 'if you'd just give me some money'. And she said 'No'. And then I said: 'look, it doesn't have to be this way'.”(Dart)

 

 

The

What if the person being trailed is innocent and the state kills him? There has been cases where people have gotten freed after being in death role. This is why people argue that the death penalty can be done on the wrong person and should be banned. The authorities can find new information on the current convict and be proven innocent. The death penalty can also be inhumane and against all rights of a human being. 17 states including Illinois have banned the death penalty because of constitution rights. I have learned that most of the country feels the death penalty should not be banned because some criminals deserve it. This showed in the survey that was conducted on teenage students. The number of states who have not banned this punishment also support this theory. Still there are people who think a more cruel punishment would be a life sentence in a prison rather than having them killed by a lethal injection. My perspective on this topic has still not changed. I feel like the death penalty has no real purpose because I think life sentence would be a better punishment for convicts. Maybe one in every 10 convicts does deserve the death sentence but it has to be a really harsh crime to deserve it. The most important information I have gather is that most Americans feel the death sentence comes in handy when you are a dealing with someone who has such a twisted mind and is capable of killing another human being.  

 

Tom.

 

Totenberg, Nina, and Eric Weiner. "Supreme Court Takes Up Lethal Injection." NPR. NPR, 07 Jan. 2008. Web. 01 Nov. 2012. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17894650

"Death Penalty : Death Penalty Can Prolong Suffering for Victims' Families." Death Penalty : Death Penalty Can Prolong Suffering for Victims' Families. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2012. http://www.deathpenalty.org/article.php?id=56.

Dart,

Tom. "Execution of Donnie Roberts a Grim Milestone for Texas and Rick Perry." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 01 Nov. 2012. Web. 01 Nov. 2012. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/01/execution-donnie-roberts-texas-governor-perry>.

What would you do if you could give away an unlimited amount of money?

I think the first thing I would try to do would be to get rid of poverty. I’m not the nicest person but I just hate seeing little kids in commercials asking to help them and donate. I would just want everyone to have the basic stuff like food and shelter. When homeless people are begging for money outside of stores I feel sort of bad because I can’t really offer much. I would try to help people like that find a job or a home. That is to a point because if I know that homeless person is on drugs or is an alcoholic then I won’t. I would also try to help out my family and friends who need it. I would give money to things that could affect me in the future like schools and other government funds. I would repay all the money my parents have spent on me and help them save money for when they get old and have to retire. I would put money in a certain bank account for when my kids grow up and they need the money for college.

Why do you want or not want a four-wheel-drive vehicle?

One main problem in our society is transportation. Since we don’t live in small cities anymore, we have to find ways of getting from place to place. The fastest way is to travel by car. It may not be the cheapest because of the gas prices nowadays, but it’s probably the most comfortable. Most people, like me, don’t really enjoy riding public transportation every day to school because it can be very dirty at times. People on the bus or train can be rude to you or just ignorant and I just don’t like the deal with that sort of stuff. I feel like owning a car gives you the freedom to go anywhere you want and for a teenager that is very important. Like I said before, owning a car isn’t cheap or good for the environment but at this point, I don’t really care anymore. I just want to stop riding public transportation as soon as I can. I hate waking up earlier to take the bus, and then you have to wait for it in the bus stop. It is a horrible feeling when it is very cold out and you are standing there, freezing.  

Create an ideal college campus and describe it.

I want to attend a university with a massive campus. I want to see new people every day and make lots of friends. I feel this way because I go to a small high school with only around one thousand one hundred students. You get tired of seeing the same faces every day. That’s why I would love my college to have over 20 thousand students. I would also like to have a lot of diversity because my high school doesn’t offer that. Also it would have lots of different entertainment places outside or around campus like movie theaters, bowling alleys, and parks. It cannot be a food desert because I am always hungry so I have to have different places where I could get good and affordable food every day. I would also like it to have modern architectural structures so the school won’t look old. There has to be a lot of open area as well for students to be able to walk around freely. The perfect place to have it would be around half an hour away from a big city. The university has to offer lots of different majors so it can attract lots of different people.

Who is or was the greatest athlete, in your opinion.

In my opinion, Lionel Messi is the greatest athlete of our time. For people who haven’t heard of him (which is very unlikely), Messi is a professional soccer player who plays in Barcelona. Standing only 5 foot 7in, this man can take on anyone with a ball on his feet. He is only 25 years old and people already compare him to the great Pele and Maradona.  He has won the best player in the world multiple times and is on his way to becoming the greatest soccer player of all time. In Argentina, his native country, people adore him and some people even consider  him as a god or someone out of this world. He isn’t selfish on the field and yet manages to score the most goals in the league and also has the most assist too. With all his accomplishments, Messi is still very shy and noble. He is a tremendous human being and I admire him for all he has done for the less fortunate people. He has worked with multiple charities as well as created his own. I feel like a professional athlete has to be a role model in and out of the field to be considered the greatest of all time.

spring

Spring

Its spring its spring
Oh I just can’t wait
To find fruits on the vases
And flowers on my plate

I want to hear the warm sun
And feel the robin singing
Watch the scent of the flowers
And smell the butterflies flying

Its spring its spring
I’m so full of glee
For the people will bloom
And the flowers will be happy

The gray fields shall be covered
With the magic of the meadow
And the brown sky shall be painted
With the blossoms of the rainbow

Its spring its spring
How can I be blue?
For it is the time of spring
And only the spring brings you

The author is most likely in winter and spring is really near. He seems energetic and happy about it because he explains it in a very positive way. everything he says is very colorful and he feels spring is beautiful. this is how i feel when spring has finally arrived. it is like the best feeling because you get to get out of  the house and spend most of the day outside.

I love my family so much

To be apart of a family like mine
is so divine
where love is shown
hurt is shared
our love for each other is never impaired

we talk
we laugh
we cry
but we are a family
and we do it all together
for as a family we do it all as one

for we are family
a family full of strength
a family full of love
a family no one can touch
that's why I love my family so much

my family is my life and always will be forever

basically this poem talks about how lucky the author is to have a family that is so loving and caring for each other. He says lots of things like talk, laugh, and cry together which means they are very close. Also most people who have families like this are most likely to be out of trouble compared to a person who never had thier family. I can relate to this because i have a very close family with lots of cousins. I actually like spending time with my family because they are very fun and crazy. They can also be loving and supporting when they have to be. Friends come and go but you only have one family. no matter what our religion or ethnicity, we all have our own family.

My childhood

my childhood was the time when i was innocent
when the world seemed to be fair
when my universe was around my toys

my childhood was the time when 9i lived in dreams
when everyone was selfless
when everyone appeared to be a friend

my childhood was the time when my life was full of colours
when sorrows never knocked my door
when smile was gift presented to everyone

my childhood was the time when love was pure
when there were no obligations
when tenderness prevailed

my childhood was the time which is long gone
tears flow from my eyes when i go back in my childhood
my childhood will never come back but
the child in me will never go

This poem is about a man remembering about his background. He is trying to say that once you gro older it all changes. You no longer are innocent and the world is no longer accepting. I find this poem interesting because all that it is saying is true. These are the feelings you get when you think back to your childhood, how we wish things can go back to how they used to be. everyone is friendly and no one judges you like teens and adults do nowadays. It makes me feel like im not different from anyone else because we all get those feelings.. I like how the author ends it because we can all act like children from time to time.