Reading 10: Reilly, "The biggest Patriots fan"

     I really enjoyed this article! The story of Sam Berns is extremely motivating and moving, he's a sixteen year old stuck in an old man's body but he doesn't let that stop him from doing and accomplishing anything he wants in his life. I also watched the short video of when he met Tom Brady and the rest of the Patriots team, it was amazing of how calm and cool he was around those guys and especially when he did the breakdown. I know I probably would freeze up out of awe of all the amazing athletes that were around him. I had never heard of Progeria before reading this article, but I had seen a movie once where a guy started off as an old man when he was born and became younger as the years past, I kept thinking about this movie while reading this article.

     It was nice how Mr. Kraft invited Sam to the Saturday practice to meet the players of the Patriots and that he donated a large sum of money to the foundation in order to find a cure for Progeria. Sam Berns is such an inspirational person because he doesn't let his conditions keep him from anything he desires to do. There are too kids who are perfectly healthy that are just as Mr. Kraft put it "Woe is me" and who don't live life as full as Sam. I hope that a cure is found for Progeria because it would be a shame to lose someone like Sam, who truely makes the world a better place.    

Reading 9: Polling? There’s an app for that by, Tiara Brown

     The article this week was extremely interesting because it involves two current FGCU students. It's cool how people are own ages were able to create an app that could possibly be the next facebook. I agree with what Anton Nicola said that everyone is scared to do things, I am definitely a perfect example of this because when I come up with ridiculous ideas in my mind I usually blow them off and never ponder the ideas of them again. The lesson that could be learned from this article is that you never know until you try. This is how great inventions are created, take for instance the invention of the light bulb. Thomas Edison took a chance and the result is something all of us depend on a daily for instant light.

     This story inspired me, that you can pretty much do anything you want in the world if you put your mind to it. These two students are just like me, I can go out and do something unheard of as well. I doubt that it would be creating a really cool app, but hey you never know what crazy idea I will think of next. Next time, I will be sure to write the idea down!

Reading 8, Malala Yousafzai interview with Jon Stewart

     The story this week is incredible! For a girl, only sixteen years of age, making a stand to try to bring about changes to her circumstances is not heard of very often and never when the opposing side is the Taliban. I love how she said that if a member of the Taliban came to kill her, she would explain to him her reasons for education and even that his children would benefit from it. Then he could do what he wanted with her, I think we all wish that we have the kind of courage that Malala has, to be able to not fight and turn the other cheek when someone is trying to hurt you. I was also very impressed that Malala's solution to the problem wasn't war but education instead. It's hard to believe that someone such as Malala, who has gone through so much tradegy doesn't feel hatred towards the people who are responsible for these actions, instead she just wants to bring change through peace; a lesson we could all learn.

     Malala is completely right, the key to a brighter future is education. In America, it's really a shame because kids don't want to go to school or work hard for an education where as children in Pakistan would love to have this opportunity. Malala's story could motivate anyone, I believe. We should all take advantage of this great opportunity we have here in the United States because an education only betters yourself and helps you move forward and be more successful in the world. A lot of kids in America need to hear her story so they realize how blessed we all really are.  

Homeless for 68 Minutes by, Kalhan Rosenblatt

     This week's reading was very interesting and unlike the other stories we have read so far. I have never thought of what it would be like to be a panhandler, like the author I would have assumed it was pretty easy to just ask for money. People asking you extremely personal questions and most likely giving you judgmental looks would be pretty tough to deal with. Especially creepy people like the Creole man asking you if you had a girlfriend/boyfriend like he was thinking she could be his girlfriend or something weird. Before reading this story, I had never thought that the life of a panhandler could be potentially dangerous but it definitely is because you are out there all alone with no one to have your back and especially the police because they might try to run you off or even worse arrest you. 

     This story has definitely opened my eyes to the potential dangers of being homeless. I will definitely think twice when I debate whether giving money to the next homeless person I come across because they're life is definitely tougher and more dangerous than mine. The big stereotype about giving money to homeless people is that they will just buy alcohol or drugs with it, but who am I to judge them and decide what they will do with the money. Some people actually come across some really bad luck and can't afford a simple Big Mac so why not help them out by giving a few dollars when I have plenty to spare.   

Living Like Weasels by, Annie Dillard

     The story this week was very confusing through my first read of it. I had to re-read it two more times and I finally got a better understanding of what it was about. The overall meaning is revealed at the end of the story and everything leading up to it builds the overall theme of the story. The author introduces weasels at the beginning by telling us how they kill their victims including the story of the eagle shot out of the sky and how she comes in contact with a weasel herself. These short stories make more sense once you get a better understanding of the ending. The author even goes as far as comparing herself to a weasel by saying "I missed my chance. I should have gone for the throat." The author is reminiscing about things she regrets not doing in her life. I got the interpretation that the author is comparing us (humans) to weasels by the way we go after things in our own lives like how weasels go after certain prey.

     The use of this strange metaphor to try to compare weasels choosing their food to humans choosing what they want to accomplish in their lives stumped me the first two times I read this story. The author says at the very end that we should grasp our necessity and not let it go which I believe she means our dreams. Ms. Dillard is saying that we must go after our dreams and "seize it and let it seize you up aloft even, till your eyes burn out and drop;", we must not ever give up the sight of our dreams and that we should be as the weasel is with their prey- never letting go of it.

Superman and Me, by Sherman Alexie

     I really enjoyed the reading this week. It's cool how the title "Superman and Me" compared Mr. Alexie to Superman because he is inspiring Indian children to succeed in school, which was the complete opposite when he was in school. This is especially evident with the last line "I am trying to save our lives", I feel that Mr. Alexie is looked at as a hero on Indian reservations today because he is an accomplished writer. This story is another great story of how someone who was unhappy with their situation, worked hard and was able to persevere through it. I honestly got inspired by reading this story.

     I can't believe that Mr. Alexie said that Indian children accepted failure when he grew up, it's just hard to believe that they didn't want something more out of life. The other side of this makes me wonder how bad have we been to Native Americans? Have we been so prejudice to them that Native American children think they have no hope? It's amazing that the author even made it out considering all the negativity that was around him.

Shooting Dad by, Sarah Vowell

     Shooting Dad is my favorite story we have read yet. It was different from all the other stories because it had a positive ending and no body actually ended up dying, which is what I expected to happen. I kind of thought that Sarah Vowell was going to actually shoot her Dad in some way before when I just read the title and not the story. It was cool how the title and the last line of this story go with each other, because she will literally be shooting her Dad even though he will have already passed away.

     This is an extremely cool story of how opposite a daughter and dad could be and how an object brought their relationship closer together. When Sarah Vowell was a teenager growing up, she talked about how her home was like a Civil War battleground because her dad and her were just complete opposites. I think a lot of teenagers go through this type of thing by being the complete opposite of what their parents are like. It's a teenagers way of trying to find independence and their self for that matter. I went through something similar with my Mom, for a good three years we would butt heads about almost everything but then about a year ago I opened my eyes more and saw my mom's view on things and I didn't feel the need to argue back anymore. I guess this was a way of me just maturing in life and it sounds like this sort of happened to Sarah Vowell in some ways. She was able to find something that she kind of enjoyed doing with her father and she even noticed how her and her Dad were alike by her microphone and his cannon.