[CE] Passionate Player

I was looking through Google Reader when I came across this video on this incredible rugby player.

Six-and-a-half years ago under-21 England rugby player Matt Hampson was paralysed from the neck down while taking part in a scrum. However, despite the horrific injury he refused to turn away from the sport and decided to raise money for others who have suffered sporting injuries. Al Jazeera's Lee Wellings reports.

I have never loved something so much that I would refuse to pull away from it even after a serious injury. I can only imagine how Matt Hampson feels. First off, I would like to reiterate how he was paralyzed from the neck down for participating in the rugby match. Before I was allowed to take part in the Alameda Islanders Rugby Club, I had to sign papers that said that I was aware of the possible injuries that could happen during a game. Although they listed serious injuries, I thought of them as rare occasions that almost never happen, yet here is a story of a man to whom it was occurred to and who is helping others affected by those problems as well.

I find it really inspiring that he continues to place himself in the rugby environment. On top of that, he is placing his attention on those who have been seriously injured by sports. If I were placed in his situation, I would not want to look at rugby anymore. I would blame rugby for my injury and convince myself that it would have been best if I never took part in it at all. I admire him for turning his experience into inspiration for others and helping those in need.

[RE] Tests Suck

Check out what Trevor had to say:

Stupid mistakes on tests have always been a re-occurring factor in my test-taking over the years, and it sucks that even though a lot of people get the concept, their grade is drastically changed because of a few little errors that contributed to a loss of a ton of points.

As he mentioned in his blog, many students are sick of this. It sucks how much we may study, or how much we practice for tests and quizzes and still end up receiving a less than satisfying  grade. It is not even that we do not or cannot grasp the concepts, it is the little mistakes that get us the most.

In my situation, this occurs the most in math. I am taking AP Calculus and it seems like everything has to be so precise! It sucks because I suck at remembering what seems like intricate details. I might get a few points taken off due to the way I worded my answer, or even in what form I presented it.

I recently got one of my quizzes back and I lost a total of 12 points because my calculator messed up my answer. Everything I did was correct: the way I inputted the equation, the steps I took, the values I searched for. However, that did not matter because my calculator did not give me the right answer. I was off by a few decimal places. A few decimal places. I lost the potential 12 points because my calculator was off. That is a whole letter grade. Whatever, not like I need to pass, right? Sarcasm. I hate tests. I wish that when it came down to it, things were not so exact and things did not need to be so accurate. I wish that as long as we got the process down, we passed.

[BC] Suuuper Rough Draft

Ever hear about certain situations that people have been through and how it has changed them? Ever wish you could have been there for them and prevented the resulted outcome? I have. There are so many people in our society who want to reach out for help, but cannot bring themselves to. In addition, there are those who reach out for help, but do not receive any. I would like to make a difference in someone's life in a sense that they will make the right choices that lead them towards a successful, happy life.
Growing up, I become exposed to people suffering from a variety of problems. Despite one's opinion on these problems, they were a big deal to those experiencing them. Rather than turning to someone for a solution and asking for help, they would turn to alcohol or drugs to relieve their pain. However, there are occasions where people try to get help, but it is not available to them. Rarely, some end up in a dark place, feeling completely lost, and no longer see the purpose in continuing to live their everyday lives. I wish I got to these people sooner; I wish I knew how to change the direction they were heading.

The outcome of each of these people could have been easily avoided and prevented if they had someone there for them. It disappoints me to see them adulterate themselves slowly by consuming drugs and alcohol. Nearly everything about them changes: their behavior, perspectives, speech, etc.  It is not easy to watch someone diverge, seeing how they are and how they used to be. Mind that I am not saying that the entire human population should stray away from drugs and alcohol. People should be able to control when they want to consume those substances, rather than feeling the need to.

Something about these people ignites curiosity in me. These people had a hard time finding people they could trust with their issues, such as counselors. On the other hand, some of these people may have not wanted to open up. I want to be able to recognize the signs of a struggle and persuade the subjects to inform me of their dilemma or use the context of what I have to find out. For those who have no one to turn to, I want to be able to be there for them as a sympathetic, understanding, patient listener.

Our world is filled with so many people. With our population nearing 7 billion, individuals are more likely to become overlooked. Adolescents experience more than a bearable amount of pressure. Before they take the wrong turn down the road, I would like to help them in dealing with their situation. The alcohol and drug consumption percentage among people is increasing. I would like to make these people one less statistic and reveal their true potential. People will surprise you.

[Free] Kids These Days

Ever take a look at the younger generation now and think to yourself, “I never had that when I was younger”? I have. It is ridiculous what parents are buying for five year olds nowadays. Most kids these days have DS Lites, Wii’s, iTouches, cell phones, and the list goes on. When I was a kid, I was lucky if my parents gave me the Gameboy Color or the Nintendo 64. Back then, we played with board games and games like hide and seek.  With technology advancing, the prices for these devices decrease, making it more affordable to obtain for kids.

I was at work the other day and I was left in charge of the YEZ room. For those of you who do not know, the YEZ room is a room in Bladium where kids can play on the computers, watch movies, or play with the Wii consoles.  Surprisingly, one of the kids pulled out a board game rather than diving into the giant bean bag chairs and staring at the tv. More kids came around and joined us in our games. We ended up playing: Chutes and Ladders, Candyland, Connect 4, puzzles, and hide n’ seek. It was really fun playing these games with the kids. Like every other person, I miss being a kid when these were the only games we had to worry about. It is good to see that kids actually do play these games and are still being introduced to them.

[CE] Gay Soldiers

Did you know that the U.S. lifted the ban on gay soldiers ?

Military recruiters are now accepting enlistment applications from openly gay people, Little said.

The law had allowed gay men and women to serve in the military only if they kept their sexual orientation a secret.

Previously,  gay people were not allowed to enlist in the military if they were open about their homosexuality. Why? Keeping it a secret does not change the fact that they are gay. Keeping it a secret does not improve the overall performance of the army. If anything, forcing soldiers to silence their voices and hide their sexualities would adulterate their performance because they are emotionally distressed.  Would people turn their backs to soldiers because they are gay?

Although there are people in society who are still opposed to the gay community, wouldn’t they still have respect for the soldiers because they are risking  their lives each and every day for the safety of the nation? Doesn’t that count for something? There are many in our nation who would not be willing to join the military and feel that the safety of our nation is not as valuable or important as that of their own lives. These men and women stepped up to the plate and took initiative. Gay or not, they are contributing towards a bigger cause. We should admire them despite their sexuality.

It is good to see that America is slowly accepting gay people, providing them with more rights and freedom. Many no longer have to hide how they feel because it is becoming more and more respectable. It takes a lot of courage to open up to everybody, admitting how one is homosexual, because we know that some will be more inclined to subject against them.

[FREE] "Hate to burst your bubble but..."

               It bugs me when there is always that one person who always has to be right. No matter what the topic is, that person feels the need to put in their opinion and argue that it is the correct way to approach the situation. Let’s say, for example, someone says that the sun is a million miles away when it is actually a billion miles away. That person would feel the need to correct that mistake and lord it over them. Was it necessary? No. When we correct people, we are making them feel smaller than they are. What we are doing is making ourselves feel more important at the expense of someone else. Will it make a difference in their lives how many miles we are from the sun? No. Will it make a difference in our lives? No. Then, we might as well let them believe that the sun is millions of miles away.

                Ever have an amazing experience or accomplishment that you were excited to tell one of your friends? Course, we all have those. Ever have the other person rain on your parade? Ever have them feel the need to top your story time after time? Really now? Couldn’t they have just let you have your moment? I was reading a book and it said that most of us are just trying to impress the other person. Well, it was discovered that the most effective way of impressing the other person is letting them know that you are impressed by them. Other responses will make that person think that “you are a fool who doesn’t know his way around.” Just a thought.

[RE]"Threats"?

Yesterday, Sutherland brought up a good point during class,

"(...) can and should governments have anything to do with the clothes we wear? Or where and how we pray?"

The government should not have a say in how we dress. The way one dresses is equivalent to how one chooses to express his or herself. One of the rights we have in this country is the freedom of expression. Wouldn’t it seem odd to fine or imprison a citizen due to the way they were dressed? “You are under arrest for wearing a head dress.” It does not seem exactly the most threatening thing to arrest or fine someone for. There are reasons why it could be a threat- such as people with head dresses can potentially rob a place and get away with it- however, not everybody in head dresses have the objective of committing a crime. How do we differentiate the two? We cannot. We would just have to wait until a crime is committed to take action. Otherwise, we should give people the benefit of the doubt. We are all innocent until proven guilty.

                In addition to our freedom of expression, we as citizens have freedom to practice any religion we desire. This implies that we can pray wherever and however we would like as long as it is not disruptive. I have never heard of praying being an issue unless the bystanders make it an issue, but that is just it. The bystanders are the ones making it a problem because they are not comfortable with the practices. If people accepted the praying sessions, then there would not be a problem. Have you ever heard, “That person was praying, which prevented me from carrying on with my daily life”? I have not. Unless they are physically in the way, I do not see the issue. Being physically in the way is another story; it is different than praying being an issue.