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.
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