This I Believe
Alexis Gonzalez
11/13/2011 W2 Mistakes are a part of being human, so instead of being ashamed you should appreciate them for what they are. They are precious life lessons to learn from which build character and personality. I rather learn from my mistakes than to live life with regrets, nobody is perfect and it is my opinion that you have to take the good with the bad. Through my experiences, I have learned that mistakes and obstacles come but with perseverance and motivation, one can overcome pretty much anything. Mistakes are a part of the dues one pays for a full life. If you know you made a mistake then you will know what you did wrong. The experience you earn from the mistakes you make will be helpful for the rest of your life if you choose to learn from them. When you make a mistake it means you did something wrong, but it also means you attempted something with the possibility of failing at it. Their is nothing wrong with with making mistakes they only make you wiser for the next time you will think harder about the decisions you make. The mistakes I make I try not to be ashamed of them, but try and learn from them and not to make the same mistake again. Like everybody I do have regrets and I have made mistakes but that is all a part of life so I choose to appreciate them. The thing about a mistake is that you don't see it coming. If you could see mistakes coming then you wouldn't make them because they aren't made on purpose. You cant change a mistake so your forced to deal with it. If you just think about what you did wrong then you will eventually appreciate it for the experience. If it is a fatal mistake that you can not appreciate it then just learn from it. I feel that their is no point in being ashamed or having regret for a mistake. Your going to make mistakes in your journey, its a part of living. So I'm going to appreciate every mistake I make and just learn from them. Alexis Gonzalez 8-28-11
“School Cheating Scandal Tests a Towns Value” Plagiarism has become a huge controversy in the American society. A huge argument broke out in a small high school near Kansas City between teachers and students. Christine Pelton found her students papers to be very similar in text. A text not commonly used by the students. As she looked more in depth as to where they got the text she stumbled upon many online papers with similar or exact wording. The teacher decided to give each student a failing grade for the paper and possibly for semester. The issue was brought up to the school board by the parents. Teachers, parents, and the school board all sat down in a gym in order to discuss the situation. Mrs. Pelton along with other teachers agreed that there was no excuse for plagiarizing. They needed to learn their lesson of having good morals and accepting the consequences. They wanted the parents to stand beside them in order to teach them that they need to take responsibility and learn to do things on their own. Yet that didn't exactly happen. Parents stuck by their children's side. They complained on how they didn't know what plagiarism truly meant and was not right for anyone to just fail the semester or grade. They continued to complain for their children and do all the work. I believe that the parents should've of listened to the teachers and look at the evidence on why they were being accused. Instead they were blindsided and stood up for the students no matter what. Parents didn't realize how much damage they had caused. This was a lesson to be learned for the student. It was to teach them to have good values and accept the consequences. |
Alexis Gonzalez
English 1020 R1 9-3-13 “Six Trillion Miles High” 1) photography captures the smallest details in life that we are unable to see or recognize. A perfect example is an article called “Six Trillion Miles High” written by Robert Silverberg. In this article he comments and explains the beauty and amazement that one picture can bring up. "We are peering back seven thousand years in time" says the author "to watch those stars being born." He is "astonished" that those 3 pillars form our great stars of today. What got him the most was the fact that the human race captured this picture in 1995. With this thought in mind he reflects back on several hundred years “and how not to long ago other great discoveries were made. This Leads the author to the conclusion that we are very smart "life-form." 2) In the picture you see three objects which are now known to be gas clouds. These clouds form " massive" stars that form at the tip of the pillars. although they look like "cotton candy" we are actually observing the formation of a new star. 3) a) Robert Silverberg stated “If one end of the smallest of them were to be attached to our sun, the other end jut out into space well beyond the orbit of Pluto” b) The photo gives you a lot to look at. The three pillars are different sizes and each remind the author of a particular item or moment. They are placed in front of the blue sky with stars surrounding it. c) The Author is looking at one of the best pictures he has ever seen. He believes its one of the best pictures in history of photography. Alexis Gonzalez
R2 5/17/10 Blood Doping The tip of the cold needle penetrates into the skin in search of a vein. Slowly the cold refrigerated blood is inserted into the body, they feel the blood pumping within all the veins. The adrenaline kicks in and the mindset of winning begins. “Blood doping is the practice of boosting the number of red blood cells in the bloodstream in order to enhance athletic performance” (Blood Doping). This practice began in the 1970’s but was not outlawed until 1986. Yet gold winning medalist have used several ways to continue blood doping. This is considered cheating. We never truly know who the winner is. Blood doping is banned from any competitive sport. It takes away the purity and competitiveness of the game. Blood doping has different methods, enhances endurance, can be abused by athletes, have serious side effects, helps medical issues, and can be tested. There are two methods in which blood doping can be performed. The first method is known as autologous transfusion. What it means is that the recipient is using his/her own blood that has been collected and stored (qtd. Blood doping: Methods, effects). After several weeks they re-inject their own blood back into their system. The second method is known as homologous transfusion. This method requires the blood of a compatible donor (qtd. Blood doping: Methods, effects). This blood must go directly into your bloodstream. No matter what methods are used, there is only one main goal in mind. This goal is to increase the number of red blood cells in the body so that it contains more oxygen that the organs can feed on. The cardiac output of an athlete is difficult to manipulate and the distributions of cardiac output is at the maximum rate during competitions.Therefore, the only method to enhance the physical performance left to increase the O2 content in the artery is by enhancing the hemoglobin mass( Blood Doping). Hemoglobin in the blood carries oxygen from the respiratory organs to the rest of the body where it releases the oxygen to burn nutrients to provide energy to power the functions of the organism. Blood doping gives athletes a great advantage.Yet it is not fair for other competitors. While other competitors work extremely hard they do not have the advantage of extra oxygen, decreasing their chances in winning. Blood doping is unfair not only to the competitors but the fans, and audience. They are led to believe that they have worked hard to get the title of a winner, when in reality the athletes are injecting their glory. With the exhaustion reduced it gives athletes the opportunity to get ahead easier. It increases the amount of oxygen that can be delivered to muscles, improving recovery (What Is Blood Doping?). Lance Armstrong was not the first athlete to get caught up with illicit drugs, and will probably not be the last. Yet he is a perfect example of how he abused blood doping. Armstrong started blood doping in the mid 90’s and from that point on, never stopped(Lance Armstrong Admits Using). He won 7 tour de france titles in a row. Lance Armstrong commented that in his opinion he did not believe that it was humanly possible to win without doping. Armstrong just said he doped between stages of the Tour de France. This gave him an extra sec to win between his breaks. Blood doping can have very life threatening side effects. There can be thickening in the blood, which increases the strain on the heart. This is particularly dangerous when the heart rate slows down, such as during sleep (EPO and Blood Doping). These effects may also result in stroke, pulmonary embolism, cerebral embolism and heart disease (Blood doping: Methods, effects).When using homologous blood transfusion, there is always the risk of contracting a virus present in the donor blood (Blood doping: Methods, effects). These effects can be life changing in a bad way to any blood doping user. People are not aware of how dangerous this can be, and if they are aware, the continue to abuse blood doping in order to win and get ahead. While it is lead to believe that all types of blood doping is bad, others may differ. Autologous method is used medically. Patients use this before any type of surgery. Because of all the blood loss throughout the surgery, they can depend on autologous transfusion. Yet a procedure must be taken in order to perform this. In order to consider this you must have a good healthy stance. You cannot by any means have some type of heart condition or an active infection. The physicians must give you consent and an authorized prescription. There is no age limitation so anyone can perform autologous transfusion. Medics have been trying to find a way to test blood doping. It is a very difficult process because its very hard to detect. Medics have managed to find a way of detecting blood doping users. Even though this is not 100%, we are able to stop and suspicious activity within the bloodstream. Blood doping has become a more universal issue. The awareness is spreading and should not be ignored. This is a form of cheating and should not by any means be taken lightly. When cheering on an athletes, make sure their truthful players. It’s impossible to look at someone and know what they have done, but with a background check its possible to learn plenty of things. This is a way to learn from mistakes and to not follow them. Yet it is important to keep in mind that not everyone abuses blood transfusions. The medical field needs these transfusions for the health of the patients. Remember that it can help people in more ways than one and they are not always good ways. With determination and strive there is no need for cheating |