The Youth of the Nation

"Education is taken for granted by many of America's youth."

This is my tentative thesis for essay 1. I chose this thesis because it is something I believe in strongly. I know I can support this thesis since it comes down to my experience alone. Just from the friends that I have, and have had, I can support this.

This topic was the first thing to come to mind when Dr. Wright explained this essay to us. Shortly after, I concocted this thesis. Immediately following the writing of this thesis in my student planner, I wrote down the names of friends, past and present, whose stories could help me support this thesis. At work I met Chad. He was attending classes at Tri-C when I first met him. Ever since he has quit school for a semester, gone back for a year, and decided college is just not for him. Now, just yesterday, he told me that he is bored with staying home and working. I supposed the party scene is just no longer fun and the reality of trying to live on minimum wage is setting in. He wants to go back...and he wants me to go back too.

Then there is Ty. If ever a person by his or her self could support a paper, it would be Ty. Since we were close friends I can safely tell you how he spent high school: fighting and doing drugs. He was asked to leave Brecksville-Broadview Heights High and was forced to get his GED elsewhere. He, too, went to Tri-C. It was perfect and manage for him, who suffers from Manic-depressive bipolar dissorder. One day he just left off going to classes and withdrew from the following semester. He stayed home, partied, tried half-heartedly to find a job, and used his disorder as an excuse.

These are two examples that came to mind during class. When I brainstorm and think over my four years in high school, I have no doubt that I will think of many more examples to support this thesis.

Color Me Butterfly: Domestic Violence

While I was abhorred by Issac and how he took out his all of his anger and frustrations on Eloise, it's really Mattie who holds my attention. I spent the better part of my childhood growing up in a home with domestic violence. Although it was never to the extreme that Isaac takes it to in Color Me Butterfly, I know it's a cycle. Mattie desperately wanted to escape from her father's clutches, she unknowingly sought out a man who had an abusive-type personality. From my perspective growing up around domestic violence, one has to be careful. You have to tell yourself, "I deserve better. I am better than that. I will not let myself be a part of this cycle." If a woman falls into the pattern of thinking that an abusive relationship is all that she deserves or will be able to obtain, that's exactly what will find her. Abusive personalities have their ways of identifying potential victims. So, my request is:

Ladies, put the thought out there for relationships (romantic and platonic) that you deserve only the good in life. And that's what's gonna come to you.

My Educational Philosophy

My educational philosophy is that receiving an education is a privilege and not a right. Many high school age teenagers do not take advantage of the wonderful educational opportunities that are available to them, especially in the United States. Spending four years in high school, I watched some of my classmates sleep through class and even exams. Naturally, many of these same people didn't walk across the stage. Others barely obrtained their diploma. The distracting obsessions with texting, videogames, and dating surprised me. I always approached my education with dedication. Even when I was younger, I worked on my homework assignments on the thirty minutes ride home on the bus. I learn best by reading and taking notes. I'm definitely a visual learner and using flashcards as an aid has seemed to work for me in the past. Charts and diagrams also help me to understand concepts and relationships. My ideal system of education would be a small classroom setting. I think group work is important because its the best way to discover new ideas and new perspectives. Projects are also a part of my ideal system of education. With projects specific to the topic, students can delve into an aspect that they enjoy to make learning more interesting and interactive.