Assignment 7

Role Models Influence Our Lives

In anyone’s life there will always be someone they will look up to, and chances are that person will influence many things in their life. A role model can influence how a person acts, dresses, his or her goals and much more. Everyone has a role model growing up and many will have one, maybe even the same one, as an adult. They help shape who we are and will be while giving us something to strive for. My role model in life has always been the pro skier Mark Abma.

Abma was always training at my home mountain when I was a kid, and when I skied and saw him all I wanted to do for the rest of my days was ski. Without me even realizing he had set up goals in my head. I joined the Apex Freestyle Team and started training much harder on the hill. I also began training off the hill getting in shape and practicing new tricks on trampolines and diving boards. My weekends were not the typical teenager weekend of sleeping in and slumping around all day. I would wake up at eight in the morning make a hearty breakfast and go out to train. I began progressing at a decent pace and soon caught up with many of my friends that were already a part of the team.

I talked to Abma occasionally but soon he was barely ever at Apex. He would be flown to far off locations to film with the production company that had picked him up, Matchstick Productions. But watching him on the screen stomping cliffs bigger then I could have ever imagined inspired me. I had reached a plateau in my learning, I had no new tricks I felt comfortable trying and never really tried to learn anything new. Watching his parts in movies made me overcome this “skier’s block”, I remember the weekend after I watched his latest movie trying to many new tricks to remember. Sure I may have not stomped them all but now there was room for improvement and I was ready to fill it.

The last way I believe Abma influenced my life was how I dressed and acted. The style given to us kind of skier’s may be labeled as “gangster”. But the baggy loose fitting clothing was also accompanied by brightly colored apparel and accessories. I also started becoming much more outgoing, as Abma and many of the other pro’s I had met and knew were always the life of the party. Some people may call our kinds of jokes and humor immature, but once you’re a skier you’ve learned that the most important thing is just having fun. Plus you ski much better that way. Role models can influence a persons life in many ways and everyone will always follow in some way their role model.

Coach Kleats

January 19th, 2010

5723 Neverwrong Drive,
Vancouver, British Columbia
Canada V2A0V3

Mr.Kleats
Coach
Central High School 123 Main Street,
Sportstown, British Columbia,
Canada V2A1W3

Salutations Mr.Kleats,

After watching several of your games and practices I would like to express a number of concerns I have regarding your coaching ethics. Many games and practices you arrive late, this leaves us parents in an uncomfortable position preparing our offspring for their upcoming athletic ventures. As the coach I believe if you were to make the effort to arrive on time or even a bit earlier the team would be run much smoother. Also many of your practices seem disorganized, please consider making a “gameplan” to further improve the athletic abilities of the team. For instance some practices may focus on passing and defense while others may work on offense and cardio vascular exercises to improve the lung capacity of your athletic alliance. Yet another concern that has developed is that as I watch the players on your team I notice that many of team stay on the bench for the entire game. I am positive that neither groups are fond of this as the ones on the bench surely want playing time as I am sure they did not join an athletic bench warming team, and on the other side of the spectrum I am sure your top athletes do experience fatigue on the field and would appreciate the substitution of one of said “bench warmers”. Also it has come to my attention that sometimes to urge to win brings out some words in you that may not be appropriate for an adolescent to hear. I do understand that the situation does arise anger in you and us parents as well, but I can assure you that a positive reinforcement will yield better results to the athletes playing capabilities. A positive stimulus is much easier to absorb then a negative one. Thank you for allowing me to voice my concerns, I understand that the coaching position can be stressful and is not easy. I hope to hear your response to my concerns and congratulations on your 2nd place achievement in last weekend’s tournament.

Sincerely,
Macadamia Madman

Synthesis Essay

A respectful approach of parenting can take on many different forms. However in the two texts “The most powerful question a parent can ask…” by Neil Milar and “Be-ers and do-ers” by Budge Wilson, the most powerful question also seems to be the most respectable. Both texts recite lessons and techniques used by parents to teach their children to establish achievable goals. However not every parent can go about reciting these morals in a way that is respectable to their children.

In “Be-ers and do-ers” a mother has high hopes for her young son to grow into a “do-er” even though it is clear from a very young age that his personality reflects everything you could imagine of the typical “be-er”. The mother tries to force her thoughts and beliefs on him and grow him into a figure much like herself. The son disregards his mother’s teaching and instead follows his own feelings on how he wishes to live life. In the end he ends up living the life he wants to live, and it is still a respectable one. In my opinion a mother forcing her ideas on her son is not a very respectful way to conduct parenting. Instead lending a guiding hand while making suggestions on directions in which to go on and nurturing developing idea’s and logistics of the child’s personality is much more respectable way to help him or her establish goals.

In “The Most Powerful Question a Parent Can Ask” Neil Milar simply asks the reader one simple question. “What kind of children do you want to raise?” The answer to this of course will be primarily the same. Parents will want to raise “well rounded, confident, considerate children that show gratitude and appreciation for all that is given to them”. Neil Milar then proceeds to ask, “Will the current behavior in your household make that happen?” The text goes on to talk about how the secret to raising the perfect child is to make him or her responsible for their own well being. A child who can prepare him or herself for school or contribute to preparing dinner go on to become the respectable kids. Milar also explains the responsibilities must be given slowly at first and rewarded. Then slowly add more and “as soon as they are ready. Hand over responsibility for their well being to them”. I believe this is a much more respectful approach to parenting as it teaches the child how to be self sufficient in a not only practical but also caring way.

In my opinion an assessment of “The Most Powerful Question A Parent Can Ask…” and “Be-ers and Do-ers” shows “The Most Powerful Question A Parent Can Ask” as the more respectful approach to parenting. Both texts are based upon showing your child the right path, but Neil Milar’s approach of slowly building up while giving rewards for good behavior seems far superior to simply forcing beliefs on a child and expecting to see results.

Assignment #5

Affirmative

An increase in profanity or foul language is indicative of a decline in society's morals. This is such a question that should not even be considered for debate. A rise of ill-mannered human behavior and the fall of the idea of a peaceful, respectful world surely demonstrates an exponential decline in society's morals. Take for example foul language being used on televisions that are broadcasting all over the world to people of all ages, including children. Is this what we want to show the youth of our world, that the correct way to respond to argument and debate is simply to raise ones voice and proceed with foul mouthing your opponent with an over sized vocabulary of profanity? What of the people in this world striving for peace. Should peace not include a respect for others? A concept of learning to understand an individuals point of view and showing a person respect whether or not you agree with their take on a subject, the increase in profanity will yield the opposite of this in our future society.

Negative

Many of the individuals reading this will undoubtedly be from a country based on freedom. I would primarily like to bring up your freedom of free speech. Your very own country was based upon the idea that you can voice your opinion in any way you see fit, and that you as an individual reserve the right to how you will voice your ideas and views. A rise in foul language is in no conceivable way indicative to a decline in society's morals. It is simply the citizens of a country flexing their rights and using them. We all have the ability to think and judge a person based on the way they speak, act and many other factors. Profanity as an expression of ones self is in no way harmful to morals of any sort it is simply voicing your point of view in the form of speech you see fit. If you believe a person deserves to feel your anger by voicing profanity at them it should be fine to do so. As the famous line goes, "If you don't flex your rights you're going to lose them".

Dave Cooks the Turkey

"Sure I can do that" is the response Dave gives his wife Morley when he agrees to take care of the turkey dinner for christmas. He has no idea how big of a burden this turkey will turn out to be. Stuart Mclean the author of the Vinyl Cafe stories uses many humor techniques to bring his stories about an average family living in toronto to life. Situations that the listener can relate to will often peak more humor for that individual, and Stuart Mclean is a master of the its funny because its true technique. Many families deal with frustrations as they try and cook the perfect turkey dinner for christmas. In the story "Dave Cooks the Turkey" Mclean uses Dave to ilustrate a hilarious series of events of Dave trying to take care of the task on his own, including forgetting to buy the turkey, having to go to a hotel to have the turkey cooked in time, all while drinking scotch and navigating through encounters with his neighbor Jim and his mother. Another technique he uses is imagery. "Standing in their bedroom staring at each other, incomprehension hanging between them" is a good example of this, as it is easy to picture Morley and Dave standing in disbelief at each other. Many of his jokes utilize this technique and because of how his humor generaly relates to the everyday person it makes it even easier to visualize the settings and situations Mclean describes. His humor is a Canadian classic and is known all around the country.

Certain Events Mark the Beginning of Maturity

There are certain events in a person’s life that when looked back upon reflect a point in which the origins of their maturity begin to be reached. It is normally a large array of events that all in turn contribute to the final result of reaching what we have called maturity. I myself can recall three main events that contributed to where my maturity level is at today.

The first event happened when I was fourteen. Needing money to afford the new ski gear I wanted I realized I was in need of my first job. After working tirelessly to produce the best resume I could muster at such an age, I managed to get an interview at the local Wendy’s. In my opinion that interview marks the beginning of my maturity. Before the interview I made sure I was wearing clean clothes and that they were not baggy enough to be considered socially unacceptable. I practiced running through probable interview questions and answers with my dad, I even went as far as to look up background information on the company. When I went for the interview I focused on being courteous and polite. Darren, the manager that my interview was with, seemed to think the impression I made was adequate enough to deserve a job. Maturity is defined as the state of being fully grown or developed, and I believe that mine and everyone’s first job marks a beginning step in that direction.

The second event occurred as a result of the first event that I mentioned. I had always been somewhat handed things up to that point in my life. Since I was now making my own money my parents thought it was time for me to realize the value of money and how all the little things do indeed add up. It was time for me to open my very own bank account filled with the money I was earning and a debit card just for me. That first month was probably one of the biggest surprises of my life as I realized I had spent four hundred dollars on food and small things alone. This event taught me to manage my money and most important of all not take the small things for granted. I learned to regularly check on my savings as well as keep a mental tab going and even created a system in which I could determine how much money I was able to spend for each week. Now managing school, a job, and my cash flow, I was much more independent. Which, as mentioned before is another step towards being fully grown and developed.

The final main event that I attribute to my maturity level was when I realized what I wanted to do if life, and what I knew I had to do there. I had the epiphany that if I wanted to get into a good university, my grades had to show I was ready. Starting in grade 11 my average went from a 62% up into the 90’s. I can’t really describe it much, besides the fact that I realized I had to start trying if I wanted to get to where I wanted. Using my past experience it was quite easy to set goals and make sure I reached them. My teachers were impressed on my new found work ethics and amazed at the results they were yielding. Overall I think there are many different events that contribute to a person’s maturity. They are different for everyone, but they all include settings goals and learning to be more independent.

College Application

Dear College,

I feel your question is much too broad; for every single moment of my life has been a significant experience or accomplishment. When I was a mere child freshly spat from the womb, I learned to add, subtract and even multiply using a combination of my hands and toes. I learned to communicate my results using a complex string of burps that was similar to Morse code. As a toddler I was once faced with the challenge of creating a staircase to reach the highest counter to attain a very valuable item. After building a magnanimous staircase that even the worlds best architects would acclaim I reached not the cookie jar but my mothers car keys. By the age of 5 I was participating in street races and winning not in the lowered done out vehicles you see most kids driving but in my mother's mini van. Yes my driving skills were soon recognized by Nascar and at age ten I was drafted to drive the Presidents Choice car. Before you ask yes I have met the president and he is a very nice man. After realizing how bored I was with racing I left at age ten and a half. At that point I was too smart for any school; having read more books than the average library has to offer I decided to try my luck at teaching. As you can imagine a ten, almost eleven year old trying to find work at some of the worlds top university's is a challenge. After finally being granted the privelage for a small interview I immediatly was offered a position at Harvard. I have taught everything from law to quantum physics and have been continually [incomplete]