Taking a Stand

A couple of years ago, while I was still enduring junior high, I decided to take a stand against one of my best friends. She and I would fight almost everyday, and she would say extremely hurtful comments abut me. She told me that I was fat and that I had no real friends. After we had gotten over many arguments, my friend decided to start drinking, smoking, and engaging in other harmful activities. She kept trying to persuade me that there was nothing wrong with the activities she was doing, but I did not agree. I told her that she was wrong and that she was going to ruin her life. As my friend kept bad mouthing me and ruining her life, I decided I had to take a stand. I walked up to her one day and declared our friendship over. The conversation turned into a full blown yelling match as I voiced my opinion about what she was doing to her life and mine. I screamed at her until my face turned blue to stop ruining my life, to stop saying bad comments abut me, and most importantly to stop trying to make me do activities against my will. My old best friend and I are no longer friends, but I bettered my life by deciding to finally take a stand.

Friendship

Julius Caesar, a play written by William Shakespeare, does not show very good friendship. The saying "Keep your friends close but your enemies closer" applies undoubtedly to the play.

Within the play, Brutus was persuaded, quite easily actually, to help in the conspiracy against Julius Caesar. Brutus was a beloved friend of Caesar's, yet he did not care to kill his friend. Brutus believed that the murder of Caesar was the best course of action he could take in protecting his country. He believed that Caesar had become too ambitious. Brutus became full of guilt from what he had done though. Brutus could finally withstand his conscience no more, and he killed himself.

Cassius was different though. He would be kind to people, but later he would begin to tare them down. Cassius did not care much for friendship, he just wanted power.

Julius Caesar was all too trustworthy of his 'friends'. He believed that all the other politicians were his friends, but they conspired against him and killed him. Caesar thought that he had loyal trustworthy friends, but he did not look close enough to tell that they were all frauds.

In the end, people do not need to decide so quickly who their friends are that they do not truly see them. A 'friend' could quickly turn around and stab them in the back.

Life as a Sophmore...So Far

When the school year first began, I was not sure if being in high school was so great. Ever since the first day of school, I have been assigned excessive amounts of homework each night. The homework is not very difficult, but the amount assigned is a little overboard. Some of my classes have turned out to be quite difficult as well. I struggle everyday to receive good grades in Chemistry, but the tests are extremely hard.

Not all high school life is dreadful though. The amount of extracurricular activities and clubs have doubled since my three years in junior high. I joined many clubs, six to be exact. I like the fact that the club meetings are during lunch. The lunch time meetings provide more time to discuss projects that are happening within each club. Some of my classes may have turned out difficult, but others are unthinkably easy. My Spanish class and my geometry class are two classes that I never dread going to. I have very good teachers for all of my classes which makes even the difficult classes seem easier.

All in all, high school is not as fun as everybody says, nor is it as difficult. I was lucky to receive great teachers who will always help me, and my friends are even greater.

Mark Antony

My English class has recently started reading Julius Caesar, a play written by William Shakespeare. In Julius Caesar, Mark Antony shows great leadership skills.

Within scene two of act three, Mark Antony speaks out to the people. Being able to speak out about Caesar's death, Mark Antony quickly calmed the ravenous crowd and grabbed their attention. Mark Antony was able to influence his fellow countrymen to follow him and to listen to him.

Mark Antony, being extremely influential, can be compared to the presidential candidates of our time. The Presidential candidates speak about ideas that could improve the country. The candidates tell their ideas for strengthening the country, and the most influential candidate wins the votes and gets elected.

Seek first to understand, Then to be understood

In the book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens, Sean Covey describes how to seek first to understand and then to be understood. According to the book, the replication of Sean Covey's ideas should improve relationship skills. I remember a time when I was at School and one of my friends needed a good ear, and all I did was exercise my selective hearing. I realized that she really needed my to understand her, and I felt extremely terrible.

Standing in the hallway at school, I realized that a geed friend of mine, Stacy, was walking toward me. When she arrived by my side, she began to talk. I was not really listening to anything she said, even though she seemed upset. Every time she would ask me what I thought of her situation, I would reply "Oh that sounds interesting:, of "Wow! That is not very good." Stacy realized that I was not paying her any attention, and became upset. She then walked off without another word.

The next day at school, Stacy did not even mutter a single word to me. I could not figure out what I had done to her. Then all of the sudden I remembered my inconsiderate behavior from the recent day. I felt so ashamed of what I had done, so I went and apologized to Stacy. She was a good friend, so she forgave me even though I had been so rude.

I now realize that I should be more considerate, and that I should try to understand people better.

In the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, Sean Covey, the author, tells us that we should be proactive. I remember one time when I was proactive even though my brother would not stop bothering me.

I was sitting in my room doing my homework when my little brother barged in and started disturbing my belongings. He started picking up everything and placing each object in a new place. Once he realized that he was not having fun destroying my room, he started asking me really dumb questions to which he already knew the answers. My first reaction was to yell at him, and to tell him to "Leave my stuff alone! My things do not belong to you and I know you will break something because you break everything you touch!" At that moment I remembered what Sean said about being proactive, and instead of yelling at my brother, I told him to "Please stop, and when I finish my homework, I will play a game with you."

I felt good about what I had done, because I had told my brother to stop so I could finish my homework, and I had made him happy by telling him that I would play with him.

Why I Like Science Fiction

The novel The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells is a very interesting book that kept my interest of science fiction flowing http://www.bartleby.com/1003/. I have always enjoyed science fiction because I love the fact that anything can happen at any given point. When I was younger, my brother and I would always watch Star Treck on television in our spare time. All of the transporting, warp speed, and living on a ship in space really interested me, and still does. The suspense of science fiction books also interests me. I never know what will happen next and I like the surprise.If I were to recommend any genre to someone to read, the genre would be science fiction because the genre is very hard to lose interest in, and unlike most genres, getting bored while reading a science fiction novel rarely ever happens.