Hate crimes and more blogs

        With the powerful presentation in class and our notes on hate crimes i've learned that the world we live in can in fact be a horrible place and bad things do happen. There's so much hate and now rightfully so we have hate crimes to try and stop the hate thanks to President Obama and the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. hate crime laws. Hate crimes are "traditional" offenses like murder, arson, or vandalism with an added element of bias. People go out of there way to commit a crime based on someone's race, religion, disability, ethnic origin, and sexual orientation. In Matthew Shepard's case it was because he was homosexual and the two boys who murdered him took advantage of that and committed the crime out of hate. Matthew Shepard was a innocent boy who was taken advantage of and killed because he was "different " from what these boys thought was the norm and didn't like the idea of a homosexual kid which is when you see that the world we live in is messed up at times. In James Byrd Jr's case he was killed because he was black. The men who killed him were extreme racist and said to have been active members in the KKK which is one of the main things i think of when i think of hate. There's no other group that demonstrates more hate and hate crimes then the KKK. Knowing the KKK is still active reassures me that once again the world we live in can be a bad place.

I'm glad hate crimes are getting more serious and more awareness because we need a solution and quickly and i think we will be able to eliminate all the hate on this planet one day.

















          Another presentation i really enjoyed this past week was A Wolf At The Table by Augusten Burroughs. Augusten is an amazing writer and his ability express his pain and leave the reader with an image is remarkable. The reader always feels bad for Augusten and i've never even read one of his books. The book is all about Augusten's relationship with his father and how much of a struggle his childhood was at times. Augusten grew up with un-stable parents especially his father who was a messed up man. I couldn't imagine growing up in his scenario and most people feel the same way and thats why people are so fascinated with his books. Learning about Augusten has taught me a lot about being able to move on and be yourself. Augusten is able to persevere so can we. He overcomes his mentally un-stable and abusive father and pursue his writing career even though he wasn't so sure about writing as a profession. Augusten and his book can teach us a lot and i really enjoyed the presentation in class and learning more about such an amazing man's story.

second week of presentations

        This week there were numerous presentation on A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah and now i can see why so many kids chose this book for there memoirs. Learning Ishmael's journey is life changing, i dont know if theres many people who can relate to the horrors that filled his life. The videos show in class really emphasized how horrible life was for many kids Ishmael's age in Sierra Lione where he was from. Running from war and seeking your family might be one of the most horrifying things anyone can endure. During his story in search for his family Ishmael comes across a village where his parents are supposed to have taken refuge. When he comes across this village he finds it burned to the ground and bodies everywhere. At this time he was only a boy and finding your whole family killed is the worst thing that could happen to anyone. His ability to keep fighting and move on though is remarkable and thats where people learn to fall in love with Ishmael's memoir.

     Ishmael does some horrible things during his time as a child soldier but it was either that or death or even death for your whole family if you refuse to the rebels request. Being able to survive that lifestyle and escape is takes a lot of perseverance and thats why the picture above. Whats special is Ishmael is able to escape this life and come to America and share his story with us. People here are fascinated by his story because nothing like this happens where we live. Once we here of Ishmael's journey it makes us realize how lucky we are to live where we do in the best country in planet. I really enjoyed learning Ishmael's journey and can understand why there were numerous kids in our class that chose this book.

         The other memoir i really enjoyed this past week was The Open by Andre Agassi. This story hit me really close because i can relate in many ways with Andre's story. When it comes to tennis and sports in general Andre is so revolutionary. He knew he was good at something and made the most of it which anyone can respect. Even though he didn't enjoy tennis most of the time he did it to make his father happy and because he knew he was good. Sometimes i dont like hockey that much because of what it has done to my social life but i continue to do it because my dad wants me to and because im good at it. I want to get a college scholarship for hockey and thats worth sticking with the game. Its the same thing with Andre, he was able to make a career out of tennis even though it wasn't his favorite thing. You have to respect someone who wants to make everyone happy and i see that in Andre. Pleasing his father was so important to him and thats what he did. 

  

      Watching the video of Andre;s last match was also really interesting because you see how thankful he is for the game of tennis. Even though he didn't enjoy the game part of the time he loved his fans and did find joy in tennis eventually. Seeing him show respect to his fans was really special. He was such a good guy and people knew that which was important. He one grand slams and at times didn't even care. He said losing hurts more then winning feels good which also shows you how much he hated failure and disappointing his father and fans. Success was so important to him and that's why he was so special in the game of tennis but in sports in general. Someone who hates failure as much as he did is something special in all of sports. His story is so special and im glad i learned about it in class.

Memoir Presentations

      By far my favorite presentation i saw was the Fab Five. This story is so remarkable and life-changing when you get to the bottom of it. These five men changed college basketball but also changed the game of basketball all together and gave the young black athlete hope. Starting all five freshman was unheard of especially all five being black. One thing i loved about this story was Michigan University, they put the best five players on the court and didn't care what people thought which was revolutionary at the time. Another thing extremely special special about this story was the E:60 done on it. E:60 is a ESPN show that documents the greatest moments in sports and i was able to watch it last year. The first time i saw this film it changed my perspective on sports and thats pretty powerful.

They changed the game and changed the perspective of the athlete which was so important. The athlete went from the norm of the white athlete and corny high shorts and boring white shoes to the acceptance of the black athlete and long baggy shorts and black shoes. You have to put the best possible players on the court and Michigan was the first school to step out of that racist norm. Five black freshman starting for a big university was now a thing. Another thing that was special was the bond these five men formed after there freshman season. They were five all-stars and friends getting the opportunity to play with each other and dominate the game that they love. Even though there journey ended horribly they shocked the world and thats something to remember.

Another memoir i found extremely interesting was the last lecture. Randy Pausch's story is inspirational and heart warming and i really enjoyed learning about it. Knowing you have months to live and remaining positive like Randy did is one of the coolest things i've heard in a while. I cant imagine how i would act and feel if i was in Randy's position. I know i wouldn't be as positive as he would and i would probably be upset that my life was being taken away at such a young age. The last speech he gives at Carnegie Mellon was so inspirational and i would of done anything to have been able to be there and experience that. Being able to joke around and have fun with his audience who he knows feels bad for him was so awesome. My favorite part was when he did push ups showing the audience that he in fact may be in better shape then them and he's dying. I love that attitude and respect him so much for that.

The most disappointing part of this story is what Randy leaves behind. Randy left behind his wife alice and his three children. There father was taken away from them to early and they deserved to know how great of a man there father was. I know they will find out one day how amazing there father was but the saddest part is knowing they wont get to experience him. Even though the story is so amazing and life changing its also very sad and i bet a hard read when you learn that Randy is going to die. All together learning about Randy Pausch and his last lecture impacted me and im glad i learned a little about it in class.