My New Song, Pain

Pain is real,

Yet it's in my imagination.

Does this mean,

That I don't know what to feel?

Look at my face,

Can you tell what I am thinkin?

Cause I don't know,

What's going on inside me.

Please!

Tell me what's going on!

Please!

Tell me!

Oooooohhhhh.

Tell me

Walking down the halls,

Why is everybody staring,

I doubt it's cause,

I'm so freaking amazing

I wonder how,

Humans got to be such haters,

I've grown a fear,

Of coming home in tears

Please!

Tell me what's going on!

Please!

Tell me!

Oooooohhhhh.

Tell me

Things have happened to me,

And I'm not saying this untruthfully,

I have notches in my heart,

Marking my pain

Is it everybody,

Though I can't wish it on anybody,

I wish life wouldn't be this way,

And I'm sorry to myself and everyone else,

But it's never gonna happen,

No, it's never gonna happen

Please!

Tell me what's going on!

Please!

Tell me!

Oooooohhhhh.

Tell me

      I have just finished writing the lyrics and guitar chords for my second song, Pain.  As you may have guessed from the title, it is about my life's experience of pain from bullying.  The song also hints that my worst bully happens to be myself.  Without realizing it, people inflict mental pain on themselves when they question themselves.  Self inflicted pain is worse than the pain brought to you by others, because the most important thing is what you think, not what they think.
     The first stanza is about how I have felt pain, so I know what it is, but my mind is astray because I'm not sure where it's coming from.  The second stanza goes on to almost plead for help, because I need someone to tell me where my thoughts are going.  They are swirling around my head, picking up the bad, and leaving the good thoughts behind.  I feel as though finding bad is as easy as finding a lit flashlight in a small, dark room.  Finding good thoughts in your head is like trying to make out what a tiny voice is saying under a roaring crowd.  The chorus is finally asking why I can't find me inside myself, not the one that tells me I'm ugly, but the one that tells me I'm beautiful..
     The third and fourth stanzas are giving examples of what happens to me.  I truly do wonder, why in the world are humans so hateful towards each other?  When I wrote this line, I really meant everyone, including me.  We are all hateful, and if not to others, than to our selves, like cats chasing their tails.  These two stanzas are more about being hateful towards others than they are about being hateful to ourselves, though.  The last two stanzas sound the angriest, express me the most.  It first explains that I know what it's like, and I have scars to prove it.  Each time I was bullied, it was like a little piece of my heart was carved out.  The next stanza wonders and hopes that it's not just me going through it, though I don't really want it for anyone else because it hurts you so badly.  At the end of the stanza, I speak the truth and say sorry, but that is the way humans were made, and unfortunately, they're not changing anytime soon, if ever.

I hope you enjoyed reading my song and short essay about it.

-Meredith

Should College Athletes Get Paid?

Middle School 51 Meredith Lunceford

English 1/27/2014 707

Should College Athletes Be Paid?

     The NCAA has a rule that college athletes aren't allowed to be paid, and this rule is being heavily debated by many people. They have been looking at the athletes' busy lives that include of many hours of practice. Their schedule is so full, between school and their practice, that they have no time to make money for themselves, wrote Aaron Cheslock. If a person can't make money for themselves, someone must give it to them. Aside from that, some players make billions of dollars for their schools, and don't get anything out of that. It's not fair to the students that young adults, some still in their teenage years, give everything of themselves to their sport, and then they don't get enough out of it.

     Micheal Wilbon implies throughout College Athletes Deserve to Get Paid that any student who makes money for their school deserves to get some of it. He writes that the NCAA makes $10.8 billion because of the players who don't see any green at all. That is almost $11 billion, too much money to be ignored. Aaron Cheslock says in Should College Athletes Be Paid? that a student athlete, Fluker, who had experienced homelessness and poverty stated that he,“just like every other player, didn't see a dime” and another athlete, Rojers, was said to never had been paid as well. That's just two students among many that don't get payed though they practically pay for their school to continue to run. CNN Money published a video that has multiple people say that everyone can make money but the players.Cheslock said that they made “45 million in profit that year.” That's only what one school made.

     There are many alternatives in how the players could get payed because in the video NCAA Holds Firm:No Pay for Play people say that not every school makes money. They could be given food after every practice, no matter what time it is, because they don't have cash. Sports are dangerous, so if an injury stops an athlete from playing anymore, they shouldn't have their scholarship revoked. They could also be given the promise that their kids and grandchildren, etc. could go to that college for free. The video made by CNN also said that they have a room with nice and comfortable furniture, which might be a good place to hang out in after practice. Maybe schools could make their players' rooms nicer and more comfortable, supplied with a small refrigerator filled with food. These are only a few of many ways that colleges could pay their athletes.

     There are also many people on the NCAA's side that believe that student athletes shouldn't be paid, and there is no disagreeing with some of their points. Jeffrey Dorfman believes that with their training, scholarship to the school, physical therapy, tutoring, and other things that they already “benefit greatly.” He also says that all of this stuff can add up to a total cost of 125,000 dollars. He writes “That sounds to me like they are getting paid.” Thinking about it that way, they are getting paid, but what if a student needs some shampoo or some more toilet paper and they don't have any cash to go to the store and buy it? If they want to go out for dinner once in a while, they can't afford it, and if they are at practice late and they don't make it back in time for dinner, they don't eat. As well as that, they miss some school when they're making time for their sport.

     The student that wrote this essay can only hope that this will make a difference in such a large debate. The issue will most likely continue for months, if not years, until a choice is made, and the rule is changed or kept. The stories will be changed, and people's opinions will be changed as well, but this essay will always stay the same, nothing changed in it's opinion. It states that college athletes deserve to get paid, and it stands strong.

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie

     Reading Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie over the past few months has been very interesting because it is such an intriguing book.  Steven changed so much in the book, and the changes weren't expected, as they are in many books.  Another thing about this book that made it special for me is the fact that I can relate to it so deeply.  Steven had so much pain because his little brother, Jeffrey, had cancer, and this touches me because my mom had cancer just over two years ago, and it was quite hard.  Seeing how another person might cope when they see a loved one having cancer was very different.

     When my mom was originally diagnosed with stage three breast cancer, all I knew was that was a disease.  The not knowing may have hurt me more than if I had known.  Steven knows exactly what it is when he finds out, and it makes him feel like someone had just punched him in the stomach, and it put him into denial.  When I found out, I went straight to the guidance counselor's office, because I am the kind of person that must talk about the pain to let go of the pain.  Steven keeps it a secret for weeks, until someone tells a teacher.  It is strange that how people deal with their pain can be so different from how you might. Another thing that's different between us is that he had to man-up so much, where I didn't so much because I was younger, and my older sister was given that responsibility.  I now wonder how that may have affected her, and she doesn't like to talk about her pain, like Steven.  Maybe she was in a silent denial, similar to him. The last difference between us is that it didn't change my place like it did for Steven.

     Steven changed enormously, almost like he was a new person.  He had for many years been in love with a girl named Renee Albert, the eighth grader who was sought after by all the boys.  He hadn't realized that a beautiful girl that liked him very much was sitting right next to him.  Renee was also on the top of the schools hierarchy, unlike Steven, a geek with "inch thick glasses."  It is slightly ironic that they got to be best friends throughout the book.  He also really stepped up in his family trying to keep Jeffrey busy and watched after, made him feel comfortable when he was at doctor appointments.  He became a man to everyone, and that is admirable, and I know that if there was a sequel, carma would come around, and give him something special.

Book Club Response

     How does society put pressure on the characters in our books?  Pressure put on the characters in our books caused them to have trouble with finding where they belong.  It causes them to make decisions that are not great, or make decisions they don't want to make.  The lesson that can be extracted from this question and statement is that you need to make decisions for yourself, for your needs, and these decisions can't be affected by the people around you.  There are many paths a person can take, and that is why there are books.  Books show you through real and fictional examples how you will be affected by your choices, and help us decide what to do.

     The book I read was Wonder, a book about a boy named August.  August's face is deformed, and has trouble with people accepting him because of how he looks.  He had been home-schooled all of his life and 5th grade is his first year in "real" school with other kids.  Jack is one out of two friends he is able to make in the beginning of the year, but on Halloween, he hears something different.  Jack says to Julian, a popular boy, that he isn't really friends with August.  He actually does want to be friends with August because he is so nice and fun, but he is scared that he will not have any other friends.  Pressure was put on him by popularity, and he broke under the weight.

     There are many other people in this book that are socially affected by August's appearance.  His sister, Via or Olivia, depending on who you are to her, is one of those people.  She has carried the "sister of a deformed kid" for so long, and this is her first year in highschool, and a chance to have a fresh slate.  Olivia doesn't tell anyone about her brother for a while because she wants to be known for herself, and have real friends, not just people who feel sorry for her.  Through out this book, I wondered what Auggie's parents were thinking, wondering if they thought he was normal, that they weren't emotionally affected by it.  The only person that you got to truly see and read about that doesn't care what August look like is Summer.  She first sits with him because she feels bad for him, but it blossoms into true friendship.  Honestly, I would have trouble with maintaining a friendship with Auggie, and in a way, I'm amazed that she can do it.

Juvenile Offenders Prosecuted as Adults

     Should juvenile offenders be prosecuted as adults?  This is a very serious matter affecting many minors' lives.  There are many people voicing their opinions on this situation.  These opinions have helped me build what I think.  I believe that juvenile offenders shouldn't be charged as adults unless they have committed first degree murder or rape, what I think of as the worst crimes.
     Juvenile offenders should be given a second chance.  They are under aged, and if they are under eighteen, they are not adults and shouldn't be accounted for as one.  Adolescents have a greater chance of rehabilitation, or getting mentally better than adults have.  The article states that ninety percent of teen offenders do not become adult criminals, and this is a large cut.  That is only a tenth away from being one hundred percent.  The article also says that scientists have proved that the part of the brain that provides impulse control isn't yet fully developed in teenagers.  Looking at what a young teenager did doesn't secure what he will do in the future.
     For serious crimes like first degree murder and rape, it is largely unfair to the victims for that person to not be punished.  If your sibling, child, or relative was killed by a person meaning to do so, it would hurt all the more, wondering why in the world someone would hate them like that.  You would want to seek revenge, and I believe that you could do something horrible in the process.  When a person is raped, it puts a large mental scar in you.  It could be very hard to feel comfortable again with anybody.

People should be punished fairly to what they have done.

How to Salsa in a Sari Character Change

     How To Dance In a Sari is by Dona Sarkar.  The book is about a sixteen year old girl named Issa who is not accepted in the social circuit at school because as most people would say, she's a nerd.  Issa is living happily as a wallflower with perfect grades and three great friends, one of them being her mother, Alisha.     The one thing she isn't happy with is the future with twists and turns she has no idea about.
     It all begins when her boyfriend Adam dumps her for popular Cuban beauty, Cat Morena, her arch enemy.  Issa's insides twist into a not she thinks will never untie.  It then hits her quite hard when Alisha tells her that she is engaged to Cat's father, Diego.  All she wants is to break them up and ruin Cat's life in the process.  Cat pretends not to care that she has to share everything with her soon to be sister, including her dad, which is the most important thing to her.  Issa uses this and all the money Diego has to her advantage.  She becomes a new Cat, complete with designer bags, a posy, and a voice used specifically bringing people down.  When she finally and completely switches places with Cat and s badmouthing her in front of many people, her friends see her as the person she has become and leaves her.  After these incidents, she realizes how  bad she has gotten and how good Cat is, especially with her mom, Alisha.  Issa misses the people she loves and must work herself hard to return to the nice, straight A person she was, and must find a relationship with Cat.
     I have seen this particular kind of character change in many different books and movies.  I have noticed that most people in these books and movies do switch around their lives in anger and resentment.  This book was slightly repetitive for me, but was no humdrum.  I have come to realize that there is a major lesson in them.  Sometimes, the most horrible people need love to become better, not hate, and in the end, loving is the same amount of work.
   

Character Change in Elsewhere

     Elsewhere, by Gabrielle Zevin, is about a fifteen year old girl hit and killed by a cab. Liz, the girl killed must understand her new life in Elsewhere, her after and before life. In Elsewhere, time travels backwards, so every day, Liz gets younger. When she first gets to Elsewhere, she hates everything about it. All she wants is to go home, but without realizing it, she will going to find almost everything she wanted on the Earth.

     When Liz gets off the boat bringing her to Elsewhere, she is surprised to see her grandmother and wonders whether it is all a dream. On the ship there, she didn't understand anything that was going on at all, and when she did realize that she was dead her heart split into two. Liz spent hours at the binoculars that let her watch her friends and family. I noticed that watching the people she loved every minute of every day hurt her more. When she left the binoculars to work her avocation as a dog interviewer, therapist and welcomer for new dogs in Elsewhere, she found happiness. I think that her job numbed the pain because she was focusing on other problems that weren't hers. It brought her attention away from what she could be doing if she was on Earth and living in the now, or then.

      Another thing that helped her was Owen. Owen arrested her for going to the Well, a forbidden place where you can make contact with people. After this incident, Owen did Liz a favor and they became fast friends. Owen was still getting over is wife from Earth, but he fell in love with Liz anyway. They both got younger, and they always stayed together. Though they might have looked different, I believe that their hearts stayed the same. This unexpected love, along with the love from her grandmother filled the holes in her heart and stitched the two pieces together. This book explained to me that anything can happen. Any love, and any happiness.