N4. Trayvon Martin

Racism has always been an issue for many years and it’s still continuing today. This situation it’s unbelievable to me and I do not believe that it was self-defense. Trayvon Martin wasn’t doing anything wrong besides walking down the street, it’s not like he was threatening anyone or waving a gun around in his hands; he was doing nothing wrong. I think the main issue is that if anyone shoots another person (of any race, ethnic group, religion, gender)… that person’s guilt or innocence should be decided by a judge or jury, not by a police officer at the scene. The most bizarre part of the police statement is “Zimmerman tells police he killed Martin in self-defense. Taking him at his word, police do not arrest him, nor administer a drug or alcohol test. They also did not run a background check.” Since when do police ask the shooter if he did anything wrong? And just accept his answer? Let the courts decide innocence or guilt, not the officer on duty. It’s very suspicious and unprofessional the way the police handled the situation, I think it definitely has a lot to do about race. I think George Zimmerman should have been at least taken down to the police station and got drug tests, background checks done and much more because the police knew nothing about the guy. They don’t even know why he had a gun on him at the time? It’s just very suspicious and wrong the way this entire case was handled. If this society wasn’t so judgmental and selfish, situations like these could often be prevented. Plus, the only time that self-defense should be used is if another person has something greater than you do. For example, if Trayvon was holding a gun to George Zimmerman, it would have been more reasonable for him to shoot Trayvon for self-defense but Trayvon had nothing to harm George Zimmerman on him. Society in this generation needs to change for the better.

N3. What's A Job?

As of right now, I am not employed, sad to say. Most seventeen year olds are supposed to have a job but I am one of the ones that do not. In my opinion, in today’s economy it’s extremely hard for a seventeen year old to find a job.  This year I did get hired at Darien Lake for the gift shop department which I’m kind of looking forward to. It’s going to be better to not have to constantly ask my parents for money, I’ll have my own money that I earned on my own. I’m more picky that I should be about jobs, I use to work at Carbones Pizzeria and the summer was awful there. It would be ridiculously hot in that building and it just made people dread going in there. Although, in summer I think everyone would be dreading going to work. When I said I was picky, I wasn’t kidding; I would never work with food again, at least not fast food. You come home smelling absolutely disgusting, your hair is all greasy, you’d probably gain twenty-five pounds from being surrounding with fattening food, and fast food restaurants are constantly busy. It’s really scary to me that the kids in my class have a general idea of what they want to do for their future career and I don’t. As I walk through the hall I always stop to see where everyone is going to school and what they’re going for, my names not even up there yet. I’m so behind, I just applied to Genesee Community College because I honestly, have no idea what I want to do with the rest of my life. To me, that’s really scary to think about. I plan on going to school for general studies for two years and then hoping I’ll figure out what I want to do along the way. I like to do a lot of things but it’s hard imagining doing the same thing, every day, for about thirty-fifty years; you really have to find a strong passion for it. I hope I find a career that I’m really going to enjoy.

N2. Spring Has Finally Arrived!

Spring time is definitely one of my favorite seasons. This past winter didn’t really ever arrive for Buffalo this year; it was mixed temperatures the whole winter season. I think this past winter made me want spring and summer even more, it never was too cold but it was never warm enough to break out the shorts and flip flops. Now that the warm weather is upon us, I am loving it. I love waking up in the morning seeing the sun shining bright through my window. I also love the fact that I can wake up, throw some shorts and a shirt on and go out and do so much. Spring is the perfect season to me because it’s not cold at all but it’s never too hot, it’s just right in my opinion. Also, this year is the first year I have had a car. I’m always in the mood to go driving with all the windows down and the sunroof wide open, this weather always make me want to drive really fast too. I’ve come to notice that the warm weather brings happiness to most people. It’s hard not to smile about all the sunshine. During the winter, there isn’t too much to do. This past year, like I said, we didn’t have a winter so there was never anything to do. It’s more exciting now because I know many of us have been awaiting the warm weather’s arrival. The only thing I hate about spring is being in school, especially this past week. I hate the fact that I’m sitting in class and I can’t help but look out the window to the sunshine and know that I’m stuck in this building until 2:25. But then again, it’s even more exciting to walk out the doors because you’re so much more excited to do whatever it is you’re doing. Spring has to be one of my favorite seasons.

M4. Summer Summer Summer

  Last summer was easily one of the best summers of my life. I went to North Carolina for a month. I stayed with family and it was unbelievably hot. We went swimming almost every day.  My Aunt, four cousins, and myself all drove to Daytona, Florida for a week and stayed on a Mexican resort that was right on the beach.  When we got to the resort, our room wasn’t ready for four hours so we decided to go on the beach for the day. While we were all on the beach, we saw dolphins swimming. They were so close to the shore that surfers were right behind them on their boards. There were so many people at our resort and the beach. I’m terrified of the ocean so I was literally running away from the water as the tide came towards me.  A couple days from being there we found out that there was supposed to be a hurricane only an hour away in Orlando. One morning my Aunt I got up before anyone and decided to go running on the beach.  The waves were huge from the current. As we were running we saw a lifeguard rush into the water, we both stopped and looked into the water and we saw nothing. As we kept standing there another lifeguard rushed into the water and we saw it. There were two foreign boys past the buoys in the water, we couldn’t believe it! We were so scared but we couldn’t look away, we kept seeing their hands waving and their arms rushing above the water. The lifeguards pushed their way through the currents and approached them. They were saved and as they came back to the shallow water they weren’t alarmed. They almost just drowned and they were acting like it never happened, it was amazing. During the time in Florida I also got sun burn which was horrible.  I couldn’t wait to get home; I missed my parents so much. When I got home we were almost moved into our new house. Last summer I think I grew up a lot. I realized that I was about to be a senior in high school and it was time to step into the reality. I have a good idea of what I want to do and I’m glad I had the amazing summer I did. I can’t explain how much I’m looking forward to this upcoming summer.

M3. Never Again Will I

I have about a million embarrassing moments that I’ve unfortunately experienced throughout my seventeen years of living. There are many stories that I could tell, about falling, about something I shouldn’t have said, about something I did… there is many things. Anyways, over this past summer I went to Florida with some of my family that lives in North Carolina. I have never been a big fan of water, and one of my biggest fears is the ocean. We stayed at a resort that was directly on the beach and I honestly loved it. My cousins always wanted to go boogie boarding and I would be the one to sit back and watch them all in the water, which was fine. In the resort there were people from all over, there was this boy that I had my eyes on the entire week we were staying there. I was sitting and he walked by and smiled at me on the beach, he was walking into the water so casually… He made it look like it was no big deal and that there was nothing at all to be afraid of. I looked at my Aunt and she said “Devyn, you should go, you don’t have to go in deep but just go so he sees you and maybe he’ll start talking to you”  as she was saying this she had a big smirk because she was almost positive that I wasn’t going to do this, but I did. I have no idea why I thought this would be a good idea but I started walking in and I realized he was going farther and farther but I didn’t care. I was doing really well; I didn’t have a fear in the world. I was about up to my knees which was a huge deal and he saw me, I thought he was waving me over so I started walking faster toward him. As I almost was to him I couldn’t help but notice this rather larger child sitting in a tube, he kept getting in between us and I was getting really mad. I tried running around him really fast but he bumped me and I fell down. I was under the water and I was freaking out because I realized that I was in the ocean under water. I started running for my life back to the beach and while I was freaking out… I couldn’t help but notice that the boy that I thought was interested in me was waving another girl, HIS GIRLFRIEND over to him. They both stared me because I was making a complete idiot of myself. This was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life.

M2. Don't Do It, It's Not Worth It

 I have always been against texting and driving. My Dad is always talking on the phone while he’s driving and whether you can do it or not, it’s always dangerous. In my opinion, talking on the phone is way better then texting and driving because you’re not staring down at your phone. I started driving in October and I tried texting and driving and I almost went off the road, it’s extremely dangerous. There are always new drivers and you can never trust the people in cars around you. Driving can be fun but it’s also something to take very serious, one mistake can easily result in a huge accident that can change someone’s life.. or end it. I honestly don’t see a problem from texting at a red light or at a stop sign but I still wouldn’t recommend to do it. There are so many people, mostly young people that text and drive and they don’t understand the risks. They’re not the best drivers to begin with and they give themselves way more credit than they should, I am one of these people. I’m not the best driver out there, I always try to text and drive and I find myself going into the other lane or going off the road and the moment you realize, you stop. You should stop at least, it’s really dangerous. “Previous academic studies—much more scientific than ours—conducted in vehicle simulators have shown that texting while driving impairs the driver’s abilities. But as far as we know, no study has been conducted in a real vehicle that is being driven. Also, we decided to compare the results of texting to the effects of drunk driving, on the same day and under the exact same conditions. Not surprisingly, Car and Driver doesn’t receive a lot of research grants. “ In conclusion, there is no reason, at all to text and drive.

M1. St. Patty's Day Take Over

I never have been a big fan of St. Patrick’s Day, I was never against it or anything, I just have never done anything big to celebrate it like others. This year I took on the opportunity of going to two parades for St. Patrick’s Day. On Saturday I went to Lancaster for the parade that was in the village, it was a lot better than I was expecting it to be. There were a lot of different parts to the parade, there were a lot of children from the community that participated in it and I really ended up enjoying it. Saturday night I went to a St. Patrick’s Day party and it ended up being really fun. Saturday night, I couldn’t believe the amount of cops that were roaming around the villages. Then, Sunday I made it downtown for the big parade that everyone seemed to be talking about. I could not believe the amount of people that were downtown for this parade. In past years, many people have told me how fun it is and that they always go but I never have had a desire to go and see it. As I was walking around I saw a lot of interesting people… a lot. The parade was really long; it wasn’t just a quick parade. I really enjoyed watching all the different parts to it and the creative activities that went along with the parade. I’m not the least bit Irish, I don’t even own a green shirt, I was probably one of the five people without a green shirt on. I wore a white shirt and people were honestly looking at me like I had twelve heads. I really enjoyed going and celebrating St. Patrick’s day once, I will now look forward to it in the future!