Poison

          May 20, 2008, the spring of my junior year of high school was when I heard that my father was going to jail for 18 months due   to multiple infractions of drunk driving. As a result senior year was hard for me. I was living with my twin sister in our uncle’s house. It was not a home, but merely a living arrangement. Despite the adversity of living in a place I felt unwelcome; I worked so hard to show my father that if I could succeed, he could too. However, the night he was released my boyfriend, Will So, and I met with my father to see our new condo. When I walked into the room at the Ramada Inn I was welcomed by the almost forgotten scent of Old Granddad Whisky. It wasn’t much longer before I realized his lips had touched the bottle. “You’re just being paranoid,” Will said, but I knew better. Slurred speech, stumbling, the nauseating smell; I could just tell he was drunk. When we dropped him off I waited for my dad to t urn the corner before I ran into the bar that was attached to the inn. I asked the bartender if she had been working all night. She curiously answered, “Yes.” I slowly took a picture of my father and me out of my wallet and asked, “Did you serve this man?” The next thing I know I was collapsed in the parking lot, crying. My heart was broken.

            I never knew how much alcohol could ruin lives. It ruined the respect I had for my father. It depleted all self motivation and killed my entire sense of senlf. It’s been two years and I’m still trying to revive it. Will my life ever be rid of this poison?

Word Count: 300

Educational Influences

The Best of Both Worlds
     My passion in education has always been geared towards the social sciences. I took AP Psychology with Ms. Weinhold. I had never had a teacher like her before. She was so engaged in her lessons and did everything and anything to help her students succeed. However, when it came down to the difficult stuff, she was brutal. She knew what each student was capable of and pushed them to their full potential. She was the best teacher I’ve ever had because she pushed me to reach my potential. She was tough but she was clearly the best of both worlds.



Bobby Joe Burnout
     Mr. Gounaris was my eighth grade English teacher. The entire year all we did was talk about theme. I felt like I didn’t learn anything. The weirdest part about him was his method. He would record over good songs, classic songs, and destroy them with pointless lyrics and scratchy voiceovers. Mr. G would say that a pseudo artist named “Bobby Joe Burnout” recorded the songs while we had to figure out the theme of each musical train-wreck. I swear, I learned nothing of substance that year in English. He was clearly the worst teacher I’ve ever had.



Word Count: 199

Believe Freely

       Although it is a sensitive subject I believe that every individual has his/her own beliefs. Whether it be Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc., religion is a personal decision, meaning that every person has a choice in what they want to believe without discrimination.
Many families force their ideals onto their children as if they are born into that belief. I’ve even seen schools represent particular faiths and educate their students in that one religion while others teach the belief of evolution.
I believe that faith is an independent practice, not a group activity. Why is it so hard to understand that every individual is born with the right to hold their own views without external influence. Religion is personal. If people are so touchy regarding their own religious beliefs, they should respect others’ opinions. How would they feel if the reciprocal action occurred and their beliefs were questioned. This concept applies to all systems and individuals.
No matter where it comes from, outside influence on faith needs to stop. Judgment is thrown down upon people of certain faiths. They are discriminated against because people are brainwashed by their surroundings to believe that their belief is the only one. My friend Rachel once said to me, “I honestly believe that all religions lead to the same thing, the end of life. And what happens after that is up to what you believed in.” I may not have a personal story, but I’ve always felt strongly about this. I believe that her statement is absolutely correct. I believe that all religion is the same in context not content and that people shouldn’t discriminate based on faith. I believe that people should have a right to believe whatever they feel is right and be able to feel okay about it.

Word Count :296

I believe that people should be able believe whatever they feel, be to feel okay about their decision and not be discriminated based on that.

Belief Brainwashing

Although it is a sensitive subject, religion is an important topic. Every individual has his/her own beliefs. Whether it be Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, etc., religion is a personal decision. Decision meaning that every person should have a choice in what they want to believe.

  Many families force their beliefs onto their children as if they are born into a certain belief. They are raised, many their entire lives, in that faith and as a result are restricted from exploration due to set limits. Schools represent particular faiths and educate their students in that one religion. Evolutionary perspectives are taught within the educational curriculum. Although it may not be considered a religion, evolution is still a belief. These narrow-minded influences are hindering the curiosity of the naïve who need to discover faith on their own. Faith is and independent practice, not a group activity.
 
     No matter where it comes from, outside influence on faith needs to stop. Stop the belief brainwashing! I personally can't stand it. People should understand that every individual is born with the right to hold their own views without external influence. Because he topic of faith is so sensitive, it should be implied that it is also personal. If people are so touchy regarding their own religious beliefs, they should respect others' opinions. How would they feel if the reciprocal action occurred and their beliefs were questioned. This concept applies to all systems and individuals including but not limited to schools, families, and friends. Give people the chance to explore and expand their minds, opinions, and beliefs. Therefore every individual has a right to their own beliefs, and in this I strongly believe.

Word Count- 288

A Generation Full of Irony

    The concept of the irony in this generation comes from a line of teenagers who strive for originality, but never achieve it. Generalizations can be made about today's youth such as they lack originality, try too hard to avoid being stereotyped, and care too much about what others think because they want to be unique.
     In fact, these teens try so hard that they become the mainstream of what we can call the "anti-mainstream." In simpler terms, their attempts at being different identify with everyone else, and therefore becomes the norm.
     

Murder at the Mansion....?!

     Every teenager in Perry Hall, Maryland has heard of the Perry Hall mansion. Supposedly, this historical building on Peppermill Road is haunted. Stories have said that when looking onto the property at night, lights flicker and ghostly apparitions can be seen through the windows. Of course, this attracts skeptics and ghost hunters alike.

     This mansion and its property were the beginning of what is now Perry Hall and was home to English settler Harry Dorsey Gough in the 18th century.  Gough was a wealthy man who often hosted boisterous parties and gatherings. One of the legends says that Gough invited a Methodist group to his house for a party and after, Gough went to see some of his guests off. When he returned he saw his wife Prudence and one of the slave men together. He brutally beat Prudence, murdered her adulterous lover, and tortured the others. 

      Although graphic, this story shows historical and cultural contexts including religion, racism, and sexism. The Perry Hall mansion is of historical importance in my hometown as well as an icon for the curiosity of the town's inhabitants.
      Places such as this need to be preserved because they hold such historical importance. The mansion should be preserved not only for that reason but also because it is a popular haunted attraction, just like the many haunted castles in Europe. For, as all Perry Hall teenagers know, it is a right of passage to attempt to break into the mansion to find out what ghostly inhabitants await those who dare to enter. In regards to my personal visit to the mansion, I can honestly say that the spook skeptics are wrong.
     

Gough's Ghostly Mansion

     Every teenager in Perry Hall, Maryland has heard of the Perry Hall mansion. Supposedly, this historical building on Peppermill Road is haunted. Stories have said that when looking onto the property at night, lights flicker and ghostly apparitions can be seen through the windows. Of course, this attracts skeptics and ghost hunters alike.

     The mansion was home to English settler Harry Dorsey Gough in the 18th century. Gough was a wealthy man who often hosted boisterous parties and gatherings. One of the legends, the one that makes most sense to me, has it that Gough invited a Methodist group to his house. After the party Gough went to see some of his guests off. When he returned, he saw his wife Prudence and one of the slave men together. He brutally beat Prudence, murdered the slave, and tortured the others. 

      Although graphic, this story shows historical and cultural contexts including religion, racism, and sexism. The Perry Hall mansion is of historical importance in my hometown as well as an icon for the curiosity of the town's inhabitants.
      Places such as this need to be preserved because they hold such historical importance.This mansion and its property were the beginning of what is now Perry Hall. The mansion should be preserved not only for that reason but also because it is a popular haunted attraction, just like the many haunted castles in Europe. For, as all Perry Hall teenagers know, it is a right of passage to attempt a "B&E" at the mansion to find out what ghostly inhabitants await those who dare to enter.
      

Word Count: 223