Assisted suicide

The topic that I have chosen to do is assisted suicide.  I am going to research through the library and the datebases.  I am going to take the side that this is a good thing and it should be allowed.  There are so many people who are in so much pain and they dont have a way out.  I do not think that it would be a bad thing for the world if the person said that they wanted to be given the drug.  It would be a pain free way to die and the person who is suffering would not have to worry about living their last few days in pain.  I also think that it is wrong to denie a person their own right to die.  We put animals to sleep to end their missery so why cant we do the same for a human.

Schools Brace for Young Parents, and Babies (article title)

This article was about New York schools for pragnent teens, or teen mothers.  The article talked about how hard it is for teen moms to get an education with a child.  "It is a School for Continued Education at 22 East 128th Street in Harlem, one of five schools dedicated exclusively to pregnant students or young mothers and one of a total of 41 such centers, most of which are housed inside conventional schools"(New York Times).   The problem that is happening is that there is not enough room for all of the teen moms to attend schools like this. There is also a new law that is going to be going into affect, that will cut off government help for teen moms unless they can prove that they have been attending school.  According to the New York Times,  these schools are already crowded and there is not anymore room for the 4,500 to 10,000 other mothers that need to go to school.  The people around the USA think thata it is the womans fault and they should have to go to school.  I agree somewhat with that statement.  I think that they should have to get some kind of education, but not right away.  It is not always one hundred percent the fault of the woman.  I think that having school that are only accepting teen moms or pregnant people is ok.  It provided them with a place that they know will be able to take care of there child.  I so not approve the idea that all school schould have to accomidate for the teen mothers.  I think that it is their fault that they got in the situation they about ninty percent of the time.  there are always other option that the mothers could turn too.  They could attend school onlline or hire a babysiter to watch their child.  This could be an option for many pregnant teens.  I do agree with the law. on the other hand it would be difficult for some people to attend school, but it is also vital that they go to school graduate and get a job to support their child.  I do not agree with teen preganacy but I think that once they have made the choice and a child is on the way the mother should make a plan for herslef and the child.  School is importnat and all people should be given the same opportunity to attend school.

My Topic

I decided to have my topic be about when I started swimming and how that changed my life.  I started swimming when I was only eight years old.  The reason that I started swimming was because I had finished all of my swimming leasons.  They told me that I could not come back until I turned 15.  My instructor told me to join a swimming club.  That was when I realized that swimming was really important to me.  I joined STORM swim club and I have been part of that club ever since I was eight.  When I urned twelve I tryed out for the highest level my club offered, seniors.  There had never been a twelve year old in that group, so five of my friends and myself tryed out.  We all ended up making it and that was the day that I realized swimming was not only an activity that I did but my passion.  I have made so many of my friends through swimming.  I consider my swimming team my second family.  You know that there are always other people outside your family to talk to about problems and successes.  My coaches are my second parents, I know that I can count on them to be there for me whenever I need them.  They are always there to give me support and advice.  I do not konw what I would do without them.  I always tell my caoches everything and they are always proud of me and my efforts.  Swimming has not been an easy sport to stick with.  The practices are hard and require you to be positive no matter how much you do not want to be there.  I can not even explain how many times I feel like I am going to passout or just collapse from practice.  We work so hard and in the end it pays off.  the sport has changed my prospective of life in an amazing way.  I do not quite know what I would do without it.  I have been swimming for ten years and I still love the sport with all of my heart.  It is amazing to know that you work so hard all season long and then at your final meet you cut time and place in the top eight and know that you accomplished what you once thought would be impossible.  All of the pain and sleepless nights are worth every second.  My life is swimming and I am really excited to enjoy the sport throughout college.  I can not wait to met more people on my team and have a third family outside my state that supports my every decision.  

Brainstorm Ideas

The three ideas that I came up with include: starting swimming in fourth grade, my first job at age sixteen, and when my grandpa died.


The first idea was when I started swimming.  I was in fourth grade when I started swimming on a club team.  All I wanted was to just have a fun time.  I had completed all of my swimming lessons by the time I was eight, and I was told that I could not come back until I turned fifteen.  My instructor suggested that I join a swim club and from that day on I have always been on a swim team.  It has shaped my life a lot since I started.  I swam in high school and now I am swimming in college.  I am so thankful that I joined swimming when I did because it is my favorite thing in the world, and I have met so many of my best friends through the sport.


The second idea that I came up with was when I got my first job at age sixteen.  This also helped shape my life in a large way.  I am a lifeguard and swimming instructor.  I have learned so much about little children from this job.  This is the place that I discovered why I wanted to teach speech in a school.  I learned that not only do I like be around little children, but that I would like to help them improve in any way.  I also got CRP certified for this job which came in handy this summer when I had to save a chocking child.  This job has been so much fun and I would never trade it for anything in the whole world.


The third topic that I picked was when my grandpa died.  I was only in ninth grade when this happened and it was very hard for my family.  This was a time when I learned to value and respect other peoples feelings and just enjoy the things in life that you have.  This was a valuable lesson not only for me but for everyone in my family.  I had to learn to deal with death and see how it affected my dad.  It was the first time that I had ever seen my dad cry, and it was that moment that I realized how lucky I actually was to have a loving and supportive family behind my actions, and feelings onehundred percent of the time.

What defines you?

The most important things to me are my family, friends, and church.  My family means everything to me.  I have two families that support me no matter what I do.  One is my real family, while the other one is my swimming family.  I love being able to talk to my parents about anything anytime of the day.  They would never turn me down no matter how bad of a situation I was in, they would help me out of it. My swimming family is also very important to me.  I would consider them my second family.  I  have a swim team back home and now I have a new swimming family here at USD.  My swimming family back home is very special to me.  The girls on the team are like my little sisters, they call me almost everyday just to say hi to me. I will always feel like I have someone to talk to from one of my families.  My friends are also very special to me.  I can always count on them to make me feel better when I am down.  I love that I can call anyone of my friends and count on them answering the phone.  The friends that I have allow me to feel relaxed and enjoy life.  I am not sure what I would do without them.  Church is also very important aspect of my life.  It is a place that I can go and share my feeling and not be judged.  Church has been important to me since I was a little girl.  The atmosphere is very warm and inviting.  It is also a place that I can go no matter what I do and they will do everything they can to make sure that I get help.  All of these things are important factors in my life.  Without one of them I would not know what to do with myself.