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.  

The Price We Pay, by Adam Mayblum

     This was an amazing first hand experience of September 11, 2001. I couldn't believe the courage it took the author to write this only one day after the horrific attacks. I liked how the author went through a timeline of what happened when he was trying to get out of Tower 1; this gave the reader a sense of what he went through that day. This story was remarkably different from the other two stories we just read, though it is a tragic story, it became positive towards the end and made the reader feel proud to be an American.

     The story of Harry Ramos was one of the most inspiring stories that occurred that day. Harry Ramos was just an everyday person who became a hero in his time of need. I hope, if I'm ever put in a situation like the one Mr. Ramos was put in, that I would act the same way he did. Mr. Ramos is a true hero because he gave his life even though he didn't know he was going to not make it out of the North Tower alive; he refused to leave someone behind. He was among many people who gave their lives that day by trying to help others.

     Like in the second story, the author felt a sense of responsibility for what happened to his friend and the firemen who tried to go up and save him. He realized that the firemen would have gone up regardless, so this relieved him of any responsibility for their fates. I felt like the author nailed the spot in the last paragraph by saying that the attacks only made America stronger by uniting us all to help each other and that the terrorist failed in terrorizing us. The ending was extremely strong, especially the last sentence, "The very moment the first plane was hijacked, democracy won." because the author was saying as soon as the terrorist decided to go through with the attacks, Americans started helping Americans as seen with the passengers who fought back and took control of a hijacked plane that later crashed into the ground near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.    

Darin Strauss on This American Life

     Darin Strauss's story is very tough for someone who hasn't been put in that situation to try to understand. If I were put in Darin's shoes, I probably wouldn't be able to live, with myself and I would be just as distraught as he was. He felt this immense amount of guilt for hitting Celine Zilke, even though there was "no way he could have avoided the accident". The guilt stayed with him through a large chunk of his life, and it affected the way he lived. He then felt that he had to live for two people after what Mrs. Zilke told him, but all of us know that sort of thing is tough to do. I felt that the background music took away some of the power and effectiveness of the story; it would have been better if it had been left out.

     It's awful how Mr. and Mrs. Zilke told Darin that no matter what they would never blame him and then less than a year later sued Darin for 1.5 million dollars. I understand that the Zilkes were hurting really badly but they made a promise to Darin, and they broke that promise with the lawsuit. Mrs. Zilke even thought that Celine's diary entry for that day was odd because Celine had written, "Today I realized I am going to die." This was her goodbye note, and it shows that she was going to commit suicide in some way. That way just happened to be riding her bike into Darin's car.

Once More to the Lake by E.B. White

           I personally made a connection to the story Once More to the Lake by E.B. White because my father used to take my brother and me every summer on a fishing trip to a lake that sounds very similar to the one E.B. White describes. We would camp and fish for a whole week and do everything E.B. White wrote about in the story. This gave me the ultimate feeling of summer just as it did for E.B. White. Those were some of the best memories with my father and brother, and I will cherish them forever.

           I really liked how the author conveys the connection of the lake to his childhood and now to his adulthood. Going back to the lake, the author can revisit his childhood, the only reminder that he is an adult being the sound of the outboard motors. E.B. White feels awkward because he sees the lake and the surrounding areas through his boyhood eyes even though he is now a man. It's true that we can go back to places we've been to as children and somehow return to that childish state and view the area the way we did when we were young. That's the way I feel whenever I walk into a place like Chuck E. Cheese's.