.... health. I saw my father go from a well-built six foot two inch construction worker to a skinny very sick man. My mother pulled me aside one day about a week after we all found out he was terminally ill and explained to me what was going to happen. The next day I went to go see him at the hospital. The minute I saw him I started to cry he grabbed my hand and told me “stop crying it’s not that bad “ The family tried to convince him to get the treatment he needed to stay alive a while longer but he refused. He passed away a month later. One thing my father asked me was not t .....

.... the world's greatest advocate of off-season learning. Besides, I was only fifteen and the workplace just wasn't ready for me. So I thumbed through the course book, singing a chorus of no's until I arrived on the Debate and Public Speaking page. There resided a large photograph of a boy confidently standing behind an ornate podium, clearly frozen in the middle of some captivating and influential argument. I read the passage describing the course and was immediately sold. How could a stuffy math class or a trivial course in art compare to “a course that teaches students the skills an .....

.... then noticed it wasn't a person. It looked like a hologram, but you could see and hear him. He seemed to be pleading for his life. I could not see whom he was talking to, but I don't think it was a person. The man was balding and looked like he was in his upper forties. He was saying, "I am sorry for coming into your house. I thought it was empty. Please! Please! Let me go. I won't say anything; I didn't see you murder him. No! Don't! Ahhhhhhh! Stop..." Then he fell to the floor after I heard a sickening crack. I raced out of that room only to find myself in the hallway again. I decided it .....

.... the new territory. I often think of Robert Frost’s “The Road Less Traveled” when passing through these sections. Sometimes I sit and observe all of nature’s critters at work: rabbits digging, squirrels playing, and birds chirping. I also enjoy the wonderful views nature has to give. It is absolutely breathtaking: the colors of the flowers in the springtime. Bright yellows, warm reds, soft blues and hushed purples paint the mountainside a beautiful rainbow. I like to write poetry when I’m surrounded with such beauty; not necessarily about what I see, but how I feel and what .....

.... cars, including the president's limousine, and how despite having broken two legs, an arm, in addition to various other body parts too numerous to mention, I managed to drag myself out of the wrecked car (A job for the Jaws of Life, for sure, had it been any other person but me in that car), and then how I managed to haul all of the other survivors, among them the president himself, out of their cars, and to safety, only moments before a small fire that was caused by the crash reached the gas tank of one of the cars causing a breath- taking chain reaction of explosions and fires seen .....

.... tips. The glowing monitor emitted delightful rays that pleased and calmed my eyes. Oh yes, it was great to be home. Of course, this does not even compare to the long and never-ending hours I would spend on this machine. Although my bedtime was supposed to be around 10 or 11 in the evening, I would manage to stay up on this computer until sometimes as late as 3 in the morning, and this was on school nights as well. I never really realized how serious this was, until one day my best friend Trevor called me up on the phone. He told me about a hot new movie that was out, and I found myself .....

.... life was going to be, unconsciously pushing the pedal harder and harder acting like a knife as he mercilessly cut a path through the wet night air. All of a sudden there was a sickening thud as the car hit something rather large. Shit!. I don't have time for a pathetic, dead animal! Jack slowed and pulled the car to a halt on the gravel. Turning the engine off, he sat listening to the patter of the rain in a state of total disbelief. Glancing at the dull glow of the clock which read 10:45 and leaving the headlights and wipers on, he reluctantly opened the door and got out of the car to quic .....

.... Then Amina's mother teaches her to draw patterns from the Koran. Amina likes to draw the patterns and she is no more confused. Next day at school, they're all going to draw nice Christmas cards. Amina draws the patterns that her mother has just taught her. The teacher tells her to draw people instead, and she throws away the Christmas card with patterns on it. Amina refuses to draw people, and reminds the teacher of what she'd told Amina the other day. The teacher tries to behave nice and convinces Amina that she will put Amina's picture next to the others'. During the two discussions the tea .....

.... three minutes. Working in the safe was one of the most accountable and trustful positions in the warehouse. I mastered how to operate the safe machine, count and balance the drops (money bags coming from the registers), and deposit money to the bank. The second reason was the idea of meeting new people, learn about their cultures, and find out about different ethics. Knowing that United States is a land of immigrants, I was glad to meet some of those individuals other than my race. Every time my regular customers would come to shop, I would discover another of their traditions and beli .....

.... in the front row. I turned around and took a quick peak at the class; scanning the room for someone to talk to. When I saw no opportunities I began to get a bit timid, but as soon as the bell rang I felt all right. We went through the motions for awhile: filling out paper work, introducing ourselves, all the first day stuff. I heard a few kids say they were new to the area, of which Brian Vedder was the only boy. He wasn't much to look at, not a soap opera star, or a great athlete, just a regular kid. Nonetheless I thought I'd like to meet him and talk to him later on in the day. By t .....