The Value of Gym Classes

Authors note: This is an essay we had to right for Fitness. This is my take on it.

We’ve had a variant of Fitness classes in this school district since all way back in Kindergarten. Back then we just called in gym. When we got into Horizon, it was called PE. Now that we’re here in Asa, it’s just called Fitness and Health. In every variant of the class, it has always provided a lot of value towards me.

Gym class has always provided me a good amount of exercise. I don’t play many sports anymore and I need to get some somehow. Gym has been my primary source of exercise for a while now. I feel like it has helped me improve my health and I feel a lot more comfortable running and moving around now, near the end of middle school, than when I started it.

Not only has it provided me exercise, its also given me some fun with friends. Playing a game or just passing a ball back and forth at the start of class, we get a lot of time to talk and just have fun. It also helps gain new friends as well.

Gym and physical activity is very valuable to me. I think gym is a very important class class to help keep us fit and healthy and also give us some social interaction. It’s an essential break we need from just sitting in a classroom working all day.

The Circuit Inference Analysis

Author's Note: This is a Inference Analysis on the short story "The Circuit" by Francisco Jiménez. 

The Circuit is a very interesting short story. The story is about a poor hispanic family that works in farming fields. Whenever they start to run low on money or a certain picking season ends, whether it be strawberry or grape picking season or whatever, they need to migrate to a new place to keep getting money. While I didn’t exactly understand at first, The Circuit definitely has a few things you can take from it.

The main character has to move and leave his home after every harvesting season. Moving is a very hard thing to do sometimes. After you finally get get used to the home, you don’t want to leave it. You become too used to it. You’ll miss it. I think the writer was trying to describe and teach how hard it is too move to a completely new place. He couldn’t sleep the night before the move. He hated the idea so much.

His family lived a harsh life, especially when they moved to their new home. All they did was work, work and work more. They didn’t even get a proper home, they got a dirty garage to sleep in. Eventually when November came he was able to finally go to school after having to hide out of site from the cops for not going. He was alone, scared and nervous. He met a teacher who became his friend who taught him how to play a trumpet. He was finally happy again with his new home.  But then the season was over and they had to move again. That’s a pretty harsh life and I think the writer was trying to express how hard some people have got it.

In conclusion, The Circuit was a pretty good short story. While there isn’t exactly any direct moral or lesson to be learned if you ask me, there still something to be learned. Not everyone’s got it so easy.

Forced Labor

Authors Note: This is a short creative piece I did off an inspiration I got when learning about sweatshops in Social Studies. This isn't necessarily a sweat shop as much as it is a prison where people work, but you get the point. 

We wake up at 5 o’clock sharp every morning. No later. The orange sun barely rising in the dark, black sky at dawn; we dress quickly before we get warned a second time.  We pace our way in an orderly fashion through the bland, dimly lit corridors with guards shoving the points of their guns in our backs.  They escort us to our dirty work stations -- all our supplies sitting there waiting for us.  We pick up our sewing materials and begin the boring, tedious process over and over and over again.  There are no breaks. No talking. No escape. No hope. Just work. All day, every day. Forever. If you are working too slowly or fall asleep, you’re beaten nearly to death. If you attempt at saying as much as one word, the watching guards are more than happy to pull the trigger pointed at your head. 

Homophobia Rant (Revised)

Authors Note: I revised this a piece a little bit, fixing a few things I felt could be improved.

Homosexuality has become more and more relevant in America as time has gone by. I personally am not a homosexual nor have I ever knowingly met a homosexual in person, however I have met a few over the internet. I can assure you that they are completely normal people that act just like everyone else and I completely support their rights. Can someone please explain to me a good reason why there so much hate and discrimination towards them? Homosexuals deserve every single right you and I have, and the hate and negativity towards them needs to stop.

Discrimination has been relevant in America’s history ever since we started this nation; whether it be racism or sexism. Ever since then, women and race rights have since been resolved in some way. However, gays seem to still not have completely equal rights or respect in most places. This hate towards gays is the same kind of discrimination! Who cares what sex, skin color, religion, or sexuality people have? People are people and should be treated equally no matter what. What right does anyone have to say two people who love each other shouldn’t be able to marry, let alone make it illegal, just because they happen to be the same gender?

I understand it’s a religion thing, but isn’t this country all about freedom and freedom of religion? Our laws shouldn’t be centered around a certain religion if we are free to believe whatever we want. Why is it anyone else’s business in the first place? If someone personally believes a homosexual is going to burn in hell for being the way they are then power to them, but why do they feel the need to shove their believes in peoples’ faces? If it’s not any of your business, if it’s not even affecting you, if they mean no harm at all to you why should you care so much? Leave them alone and let them live their life without being harassed for once. Everyone has different beliefs; learn to respect that.  

                                                                                                                

 People typically claim that homosexuality is a unnatural and is a choice. If that is the case, how come some animals, who cannot make choices the same way humans can, have been found to be homosexual? Penguins, Amazon dolphins, lions, elephants, giraffes, sheep, lizards, dragon flies and many others have all been found to be homosexual before. Do these animals necessarily decide they to be gay? No, some are just born with a different attraction than others. It’s the same for humans. It is most certainly not a choice. It is more of a preference, you can’t just change it, it’s just who you are. For instance, let’s say we lived in world where almost everyone loves straw berries. In that world, let’s say instead of liking strawberries, I preferred blueberries. You wouldn’t be able to force me to like strawberries or make me not like blue berries. It’s just who I am and what I prefer. If I don’t like strawberries, I don’t like strawberries. It’s that simple. It’s a preference.

Even if it was unnatural and was a choice what difference would that make? If it’s not hurting anyone or affecting anyone, why does it matter? Like I said before, this is a free country isn’t it? If it is a choice, they should have the right to make that choice. We do unnatural things every day anyway. Is using technology natural? Are drugs like caffeine natural? No. So then so what? What does something necessarily unnatural have to do with anything? It’s ridiculous.

Gays are also often bullied if they ever come out of the closet or show signs of being gay; especially in school years. This can often lead to depression and even suicide.  These people never decided to be the way they are or who they would be attracted to and they are being punished for it; they are being told these feelings are wrong and they can’t feel that way. What positives come out of forcing people to repress their sexuality? What positives come out of keeping them from marrying? How does it fix anything? It just makes things worse so what’s the point?

I’m really tired of all this negativity and discrimination towards homosexuals. They seriously don’t deserve any of it and it really needs to stop. I just hope for a future where stating your sexuality in public will be as normal as it seems to be on the internet. Where having a different sexuality will be completely normal and that no one will be treated unfairly for it. 

Homophobia Rant

Author's Note: This is a rant essay about homophobia. I meant to revise and add more stuff to it to work more towards my goals, but I ran out of time. I mainly meant to work on voice. 

Homosexuality has become more and more relevant in America as time has gone by. I personally am not a homosexual nor have I ever knowingly met a homosexual in person, however I have met a few over the internet. I can assure you that they are completely normal people that act just like everyone else and I completely support their rights. Can someone please explain to me a good reason why there so much hate and discrimination towards them? Homosexuals deserve every single right you and I have, and the hate and negativity towards them needs to stop.

Discrimination has been relevant in America’s history ever since we started this nation; whether it be racism or sexism. Ever since then, women and race rights have since been resolved in some way. However, gays seem to still not have completely equal rights or respect in most places. This hate towards gays is the same kind of discrimination! Who cares what sex, skin color, religion, or sexuality people have? People are people and should be treated equally no matter what. What right does anyone have to say two people who love each other shouldn’t be able to marry, let alone make it illegal, just because they happen to be the same gender?

I understand it’s a religion thing, but isn’t this country all about freedom and freedom of religion? Our laws shouldn’t be centered around a certain religion if we are free to believe whatever we want. Why is it anyone else’s business in the first place? If someone personally believes a homosexual is going to burn in hell for being the way they are then power to them, but why do they feel the need to shove their believes in peoples’ faces? If it’s not any of your business, if it’s not even affecting you, if they mean no harm at all to you why should you care so much? Leave them alone and let them live their life without being harassed for once. Everyone has different beliefs; learn to respect that.  

                                                                                                                

 People typically claim that homosexuality is a unnatural and is a choice. If that is the case, how come some animals, who cannot make choices the same way humans can, have been found to be homosexual? Penguins, Amazon dolphins, lions, elephants, giraffes, sheep, lizards, dragon flies and many others have all been found to be homosexual before. Do these animals necessarily decide they to be gay? No, some are just born with a different attraction than others. It’s the same for humans. It is most certainly not a choice. It is more of a preference; you can’t just change it, it’s just who you are. For instance, let’s say we lived in world where almost everyone loves straw berries. In that world, let’s say instead of liking strawberries, I preferred blueberries. You wouldn’t be able to force me to like strawberries or make me not like blue berries. It’s just who I am and what I prefer. If I don’t like strawberries, I don’t like strawberries. It’s that simple. It’s a preference.

Even if it was unnatural and was a choice what difference would that make? If it’s not hurting anyone or affecting anyone, why does it matter? Like I said before, this is a free country isn’t it? If it is a choice, they should have the right to make that choice. We do unnatural things every day anyway. Is using technology natural? Are drugs like caffeine natural? No. So then so what? What does something necessarily unnatural have to do with anything? It’s ridiculous.

Gays are also often bullied if they ever come out of the closet or show signs of being gay; especially in school years. This can often lead to depression and even suicide.  What positives come out of forcing people to repress their sexuality? What positives come out of keeping them from marrying? These people never decided to be the way they are or who they would be attracted to. I just hope for a future where stating your sexuality in public will be as normal as it seems to be on the internet. That having a different sexuality will be normal and that no one will be treated unfairly for it. 

Imagination

Author's Note: This is a simple poem I did for a creative piece.

The child's imagination is the engine to the world

When it runs out of fuel it transforms 

The toys stop battling and remain still

Their grand castle deforms to an old wooden desk with crayons and dried up markers

The forest surrounding the castle morphs into a new setting; a young boy's bedroom

Exciting Games

Author's Note: This is a poem where every first letter starts with the last letter of the last word. It doesn't make that much sense but it's hard to with these kind of things.

The

Earth

Had

Done

Exciting

Games

So

Opposing

Games

Sounded

Dumb

Every

Young

Girl

Laughed

During

Games

Somewhere,

Even

New

Watchers

Saw

What

The

Exciting

Games

   Showed.