Mental health is an issue that people don’t normally see as important. Some think that people who have mental problems are just weird and not trying hard enough to overcome them. However, this thinking is old and outdated. Mental disorders are commonly found throughout the United States. There are different categories of mental disorders. The disorders are categorized by the severity, the part of the brain that it effects, and the physical appearances that it portrays. However, just by looking at the outward appearance of someone is not a way to determine if they have a mental disorder or not. If you have a mental health issue there are places you can go to get help. One example of these places is your local branch of Unity Point Clinic. They have resources to help people dealing with a mental illness whether it be sever or mild.

Bullying is a big issue today. When people think about the person who does the bullying they generally picture a large kid who resorts to physical violence to intimidate other children to do what the bully wants. However that image is not exactly correct anymore. What I mean by that is that there are still those types of bullies but there is now a new image. The new image is a person sitting at one computer and writing terrible things about another person, while pretending to be someone else. One instance that I was told about a few years ago was a girl who had met a boy online who made up his entire life story and got her to trust him with everything. This was actually not a boy it was a girl from  her school pretending to be a boy who then used this fake person to bully the girl into doing what every the bully wanted. The bully posted an inappropriate picture of the girl and spread secrets that she had told the “boy” in confidence. Awareness needs to be raised to young kids who are just starting to use social media. They need to be aware of what could go wrong. People need to crack the case on bullying, if the bullies are confronted this won’t happen as much. We need to teach kids that stranger danger also applies to the internet. This is a message that has been shared with high school and middle school students; however, I feel that all ages need to be aware of internet dangers. 

Literacy is important to better oneself and his or her understanding of the written word. Literacy, for those who are unaware, is defined as the ability to read and write. Reading and writing are basic skills for anyone who has gone through school. Literacy has become an area of high need in schools, because more students coming into schools have not been given the proper upbringing in the fact that they are unable to read and write at the level they need. The methods that are used to teach these basic building blocks are outdated. Teachers need a new approach to teach this life skill. To look at this from a statistical standpoint, about 14% of U.S. adults cannot read, and approximately 19% of high school graduates cannot read (literacy statistics).

 

 Works Cited

"Mental Health & Substance Abuse." UnityPoint. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2014.

"Statistics." NIMH RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2014

"Bullying and Suicide." - Bullying Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2014

"Welcome to Bullying Statistics." Bullying Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2014.

“Teaching the English Language Arts.” Handbook of Research on Teaching the English Language Arts. London: Routledge, 2011. Credo Reference. Web 9 Jan. 2014.

“Illiteracy Statistics.” Statistic Brain RSS. N.p., n.p. Web. 09 Jan. 2014.

“How to: 5 Ways to Help Functionally Illiterate Adults.” Good. N.p.,n.d. Web 09 Jan. 2014.

The three topics that I have choosen to look at further in order to write my persuasive essay are; homelessness, Sweatshops, and Taxation and Tax reform.

My stance on homelessness is that it is their own fault that are living on the street or in shelters. I don’t care what happen to you but if you can’t help yourself we can’t help you.

My stance on Sweatshops is that they are wrong in more ways than one and that they are no longer necessary and not longer acceptable.

My stance on Taxation and Tax Reform is that it is crap and they need to be fixed. Tax is unfair period, why should one person pay a higher tax percentage than another. If the governement only needs 10% of lower income why do they need 39.6% of someone elses income. The government needs to pick one percentage for across the board. By having tax brackets they are being selfish and greedy. 

References

"Homelessness." Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 12 Sept. 2005. Web. 31 Oct. 2013. <http://www.2facts.com/article/i0500010>.

"Sweatshop Labor." Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 15 July 2013. Web. 31 Oct. 2013. <http://www.2facts.com/article/i1800240>.

Taxation and Tax Reform." Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 28 Jan. 2013. Web. 31 Oct. 2013. <http://www.2facts.com/article/i1800040>.

Informative writing brainstorm

From my informative writing essay I am going to write about one of the following topics. I am either going to write about the best way to pick the college that is right for you, or the responsibilities that come with babysitting.

If I end up writing about how to pick the best college, I will write if from the aspect of how experts say you should pick what college you go to. There are many important things involved with how to pick the best college for you. So of which I didn't even think about until I myself read about how to pick the perfect college. I feel that I am an expert on this because over the summer I visited five colleges and wrote out the things that were important to me in order to pick the perfect school.

If I write about the responsibilities that come with babysitting I will share the research of experts on how to properly care for, and discipline children of all ages. I am an expert on this topic because I babysit for my cousins, a few families around here and I run the nursery at my church.

Blog#4 informative writing

The instructions for making fresh pizza at home are as follows. First, buy a ready-made crust and a can of pizza sauce from the store. Preheat your oven to the temperature suggested on the pizza crust package. Then, steam your vegetables for the toppings and cook your meat of choice. Spread the pizza sauce on the crust. Mix the vegetables and the meat together. Sprinkle the topping over the sauce. Next, top the pizza with a blend of your favorite cheeses. Finally, put the pizza in the oven and bake until the cheese is melted. All that is left is to eat and enjoy.

Personal Experiences

One major experience that I have had that has changed my life was when I found out that my best friend (at the time) was lying to about pretty much everything that I had known about her. I was a horrible experience because I thought we were so close and I shared EVERYTHING with her. It was awful I had known her for most of my life but had I really. If I had never found out about the things she lied to me about I would have bigger trust issues than I already do. I hope that know one ever has to go through the pain of finding out secret that a "best" friend has kept from you.

Another major life changing experience I have has was the amazing summer where I really grew into the person I believe I was destined to become. I went on a missions trip and met people who came from a similar background as me and also helped me out with things that I was going through at the time. My missions trip experience then led me to my experience at chrysalis. That summer left a lasting snowball effect, in a good way.

These experiences go hand in hand and have really shaped me into the person I am to day picking the one I am going to write about is going to be a lot of work. I do know however that the one I pick to write about will be great because both experiences are close to my heart.

My Summer Experience.

 This summer was hectic. My cousin Lany got married this summer. She is a pinterest-aholic. She decided that she wanted 30 cakes (one for each table at the reception as the center piece). She asked me to help make them. In my family that translates to someone will bake them and I will decorate them. (I have gotten pretty good at it!) In order to understand why everyone in my family asks me to decorate and make them cakes, you need to know it’s because when my mom was younger she used to do it for everyone and I inherited the know-how, so now everyone in my extended family asks me. However, having to make 30 cakes in a week is no small task so my family helped me. My grandma, my mom, and two of my aunts baked the cakes the day before I decorated them. So the Thursday before Lany’s wedding we all got together at my house and filled and decorated 32 cakes (my grandma made extra just in case). At this point in the wedding chaos my grandma was driving my Aunt Tracy (mother of the bride) crazy, because she just showed up at her house everyday to “help.” No one asked her, she just showed up. So, it was Thursday about 24 hours before the wedding and my entire family shows up at my house. It was 3 of my aunts, my sister (from out of town), my mom, my grandma, my great aunt, my second cousin, my twin cousins, Lany, Lany’s maid of honor and me. Needless to say, my house was packed! After about an hour we got a system going, my great aunt and second cousin mixed up the frosting, my Aunts leveled the cake layers, my grandma and mom stacked and filled, I decorated, and my other aunt put the cakes in the boxes. This system worked really well, we had all of the cakes done in about 4 hours.

 

The next morning we reconvened and delivered the cakes to the reception hall. Have you ever driven a car with 30 cakes in the back that had to be perfect when you got to where you were going? Let me tell you, it is difficult and nerve racking. After a slow and steady drive to the reception hall we all met up again and carried in the cakes. Now my grandma announced that she was going to hold the door open for everyone as they carried in the cakes. I thought this part was going to be boring and tedious but it was actually entertaining. It was entertaining because it was suggested that we take one at a time to keep the cakes from sliding in their boxes; however, my youngest aunt felt that doing it that way would take too long, so she took two at a time. Needless to say when she carried them she leaned the boxes together and they made a v-shape. Grandma was not happy with her. Then when she was taking in the last two cakes she lost her grip on them and they fell to the ground. The box exploded and there was frosting everywhere,  and grandma lost it. It was a good thing she made to extra cakes because my Aunt had just ruined 2 whole cakes! It was a mess to clean up and my grandma started yelling. This was the only time in my entire life I have heard my grandma yell, she was angry. Her face turned such a deep red it was almost purple she yelled, “Brook, I told you to take one at a time! Why are you being so stubborn today did you leave your brain at home?”

 

 Then the hardest part… was taking the cakes out of the boxes placing them perfectly in the center of the round tables and not denting the frosting with your fingers or the side of the box. Finally, after all of the hectic was done the reception area was set up beautifully. Most importantly Lany and Mason got married and got their happily ever after. In conclusion, the whole stressful situation was worth it and an experience I will never forget.

Writing takes time, I like my writing to be simple but full of impact on the reader. Writing became important to me this summer, because I had to write one essay that would impact the rest of my life. That essay was my college application essay. I was so scared when I started it just knowing that this essay could help or hurt my college chances. This paper wasn't long but it was important.I feel like I handled it pretty well for being so freaked out about it. when I have important writing assignments like that I always proof read at least three times and then I have someone else proof read it after that. I learned this summer that essays and papers are never really as bad a they seem. I feel that my writing ability have vastly improved since my first day of freshman year, and only improving. I am still not a perfect writer I have a lot to work on still such as different formats and styles of writing. However, I feel that I am a strong writer emotionally and mechanically. I am far from perfect in all of these areas and I have high hopes that this class will help me and prepare me for when I go away to college. The entire process of writing takes time, not only to write it but to proof and perfect the writing piece.

I hope to learn as much as I can this year because I view this year as the make or break year. Having two college level classes this year means that I get a small dose of what college will be like. I am hoping to learn this year how to handle multiple assignments and essays all at the same time. I want to learn how to effectively manage my time, for not only college prep but the future. In this class I look forward to practicing writing in different formats (such as MLA and APA). I look forward to the challenges this class holds for me.