if i were to die tomarow

When you gave me this assignment I didn’t think it would help at all. Now after the fact now after doing the three days of writing my mind has changed drastically.  Some night I would lay in bed restless thinking about the things in my life that had not gone the right way, the things that if I had a wish I would change the things that keep me up at night. The first night I started to right about 20 minutes before I went to bed and I got all my though down that I usually lay there for an hour thinking about. It was hard for me to get started but after I started writing it began to flow out of me. After I was done I still laid awake think about things after I was down righting but it was not as bad.  Then the next night I used the same process.  This night with a new topic I wrote with and got in all out. Even this night it was a little hard to get started again but once I got the first few thoughts out there it really just started flowing.  This night I feel asleep ever faster than I did the night before.  Now it was time for the third and final night of this assignment.  I came up with another topic that bothered me at nights and I started to write about it.  This night I had no trouble starting to write it and it just flowed out of me and it was even hard for me just to stop at the time limit.  After I was done I feel asleep faster than I have in a long time because I didn’t have these things going through my head.  This project was very interesting for me.  I have never had the opportunity to do something like this before. I said before into this I was very skeptical of this assignment and if it would work for me or not.  It was hard for me to think of something to write about until I thought about the nagging things I think about every night that keep me from getting to sleep.  Yes I really liked this assignment is very helpful for me to write my thoughts down instead of just thinking though them in my head.  It was very helpful for me, because it let me get everything on paper then after the fact it let me just crumble it up and though it away like I was tossing it out of my mind.  In the way that this help me was much unexpected I thought it might work but not as well as it did.  I chose the topic I did because over all I have had a very successful life and I don’t have a lot of regrets but the things that do keep me up at night are my only problems so I decided to write about those.

Gagudju Australian Aborigines

                The Gagudju Australian Aborigines were simple folk. They have been around for four hundred thousand years. To this day there original tripe culture still exists. This is pretty amazing to me.  The way the Gagudju have been around for this long is for the simple things. The first thing is they respect nature, which is odd to me because of the way Americans are today. The second reason they are still around today is because they respect their elders. The reason this is so important is because they are the only ones that know the true culture of the Gagudju.  Through this they would pass down all the information, but today they don’t have anyone left to pass this great information onto. They last reason they are still around today is because they can live off the land.

                The next thing I found interesting about the Gagudju Australian Aborigines tripe was the animals they were surrounded by.  The first one that impressed me was off course the crocodile. It is the kind of all the rivers down there.  The next animal that caught my eye was the kangaroo. I didn’t know that there were two different kinds of kangaroos there. I always thought there was only one kind. But there are two different kinds and one is calmer and the other is feisty and likes to me more out there and jump all over the place and play around. The next animal I liked was the lizard with the loose skin. Which came for the original being cursed but I will get to that in the next paragraph. I loved how it would just run around and I have never seen anything like it before. Next was the boss of it the entire eagle. The eagle is there to look over everything and really the most respected animal.  It’s just so amazing how it can swoop down and grab fish out of the water with its talon. Some after will go feed their young which I liked. Then when it is Australia is going through its dryer stage and the water lowers in will swoop down and grab these huge fish I don’t know how it even picks it up. Then after it gets it and start eating another bird swoops in and scares it off. This other bird is really smart because its beak is not sharp enough to cut into the tough skin of these bigger fist so it waits till after the mighty eagle has done all the work then it swoops in. The last animal the impressed me was this little bird that would work for two weeks to build a shelter. Then after he is done with that he will go and get all these bones and drag them over there and put them under his shelter. He does all of this just to impress a women. I just couldn’t believe it.  Then his man pad was he is trying to get some women back to get burned down so he has to start all over again. That is just so impressive but yet weird at the same time.

                The most interesting thing I found about the Aborigine people was there believes of the dream time.  Were animals turned into people and people turned into animals. Then sometime animals would turn into the land. This is how they got a lot of their great rock faces. This was just so fascinating to me. I think it would be awesome to turn into an animal. Myself I would turn into a lion, horse or bear and maybe chaetae that would be awesome to run that fast. Most of their traditions rely on them believing in the dream time. This was so just interesting to me.

a fun story

I was born on October 28, 1986 in Maryville Missouri. I was born into this world with to great Parents James and Janet Dolan. I had one older Brother, his name was Jeremy. He was born two years before I was. If you have never been to Maryville, don’t come. It was a terrible down to grow up in. Ok maybe not terrible but it is small and there is not much to do. So when it came to my high school and teen years I had sports to make up most of my times. As a Freshman I was a three sport starter in Football, wrestling and track. I was all state in every one of them. I had such a great future. During the next three years of high school I set all the school record in every sport I played in. My senior year I decided to go to Mizzou to play college football. But sports were not my only great thing I had in high school my freshman year I meet this fantastic girl. Her name was Morgan. We dated all though out high school and it was great we were both great athletes so we were the power couple that everyone wanted to be. So she decides to fallow me to Mizzou. College went great, by my junior year I had two great things happen to me I decided to leave college early for the NFL draft and also I proposed to Morgan. It was so romantic. The next thing we knew she was pregnant. So after a year went by life was so great we had a kid and another that was just born and our marriage was going great! I just had the best rookie season of any NFL running back ever and we made it to the super bowl. Then my luck went downhill during the game I was hit and knocked out. I had to go to the hospital and I found out that I had a brain bleed and could never play football again. So we took this in stride and tried to stay I tight family but then we found out that our accountant was stealing money from use so we didn’t have any left so we were going to have to make drastic life changes. We had to move to this new house that small and drafty.  With being out of the NFL and not having a job I had to go out everyday all day and look for work to try to support my family. It was harder then I though moving having my college diploma really was hurting me. But Morgan was being really supportive. This is why i am so glad i am living this great live with Morgan. Times may be tuff but we have each other. We also have our two wonderful kids!

Pregnancy Discrimination on the Court

Pregnancy Discrimination on the Court

            In Fort Worth, Texas a senior’s worst dream had come true.  She had become pregnant and the dad was not in the picture. Mackenzie McCollum had a lot going on in her life she was a: musician, honor student, community volunteer and finally the varsity volleyball setter.  Mackenzie never came off the court she was one of the team’s best players.  When most teenage girls become pregnant they drop out of everything and do as little as possible besides being pregnant and trying to deal with that.  Mackenzie was different though she wanted to fight and stay on the court and finish her senior season, but with this description came discrimination that she never thought would come.  With her Christian faith it put the talk of abortions to rest and now it was just about having this baby. Also doing what she had to do to gradate and play volleyball. To remain on the team she had to go to a doctor and get cleared to play.  With the great news of being cleared came the start of the first of the controversies.  With her absence from the court until she got cleared her team mates wondered where she was.  She had keep her pregnancy a secret form everyone and didn’t want anyone to know about it, this way no one would treat her different. At a team meeting during her absences the coach received many of questions about where she was. Instead of keeping it to himself he told the whole team and violated student privacy policies.  That day after practice Mackenzie received text from all her teammates asking about her pregnancy.  Even being back on the team it wasn’t the same.  Her coach had cut her time and had tried to tell her it wasn’t because she was pregnant but she knew it was. She believed that he had done it fearing what over schools and teams would think of the school having a pregnant volleyball player.  This whole thing bothered her so much that she almost terminated the pregnancy. This controversy was not over,  after the season Mackenzie’s mother and her fought the school on their polices about pregnant athletes. They wanted this rule to change, that way no one would ever have to go through what she had too.  As Mackenzie’s Mother said it best “just because your pregnant doesn’t mean life is finished and over and you should sit at home and eat bon bon’s and watch soup operas and keep your feet up.”

This story can represent a couple of the theories but I am going to talk about how this fits with the fundamentalist theory.  Mackenzie is a girl who made a bad choice as many high school girls have done and became pregnant. She fought though it and fought to stay on the volleyball team the one thing that she loved the most. She has set a new standard for pregnant athletes and discrimination against them.  This story can be inspiring to many young girls out there who have made a bad choice but yet with this story they can fight though it and be successful like Mackenzie.

A Diamond in the Rough

A Diamond in the Rough

            This is the story of a boy that goes from homelessness to NFL super star. At the age of seven years old Michael Oher’s father died and his mother being a drug addict left him to fend for himself on the streets.  At the age of 16 he was six feet four inches tall and 315 pounds.  After staying with a friend one night, the friend’s father was intent on taking his son to a private school to gain admission.  Michael tagged along, and despite concerns from the school about his academic progress, Michael was also accepted to this private Christian school.  On a snowy Memphis day Michael was getting off the bus in t-shirt and shorts.  He was heading to the gym to get warm when the Tuohy family, drove by and stopped him. They had a daughter who went to the same school he did.  They offered him a ride and took him back to their home.  After time with the Tuohy family Michael’s life turned around.  They supported him and gave him food and clothes and were there for him. When Michael started at the private school he had a .4 gpa.  By the time he left he had a 4.0. Not only did he improve in the classes room he also got a chance to play sports after improving his grades.  He ended up playing football and was the number one offensive lineman recruit in the nation.  By this time the Tuohy family had become his own and they adopted him.  With his new dad being a basketball star and him mom being a cheerleader from Old Miss he decided to go in there footsteps and play football there.  Now in 2011 with the support of his new family Michael is getting ready for his third season in the NFL as a member of the Baltimore Ravens.

            This is a great example of the functionalist theory.  This kid went from homeless to NFL super star.  All he needed was the right family to raise and nurture him.  This is what is good in sports is when you can take a guy like this with a good heart that just wasn’t given the greatest parents to get a second chance at life. Everybody deservers that second chance in life, when the cards they were dealt were not that good. When he started at the private school he couldn’t even read. He went from a .4 GPA to a 4.0, and then when he went to college he made the dean’s list. That part of the story is amazing in its self that a kid with no schooling until he was sixteen could do that much, all he knew were the streets. This was a great story and I wish more kids out there could get second chances like Michael got.

Don’t have to be Affluent to get a Surrogate

Don’t have to be Affluent to get a Surrogate

            In the United States there are many families who can’t have children of their own.  When most people have this problem there are a few different ways, out there that you can go about trying to get a child.  One of the most popular ways is to use a surrogate mother.  This is where you use donor sperm from your husband or a sperm bank to put inside a woman of your choice to bare your child for nine months. Not all Families have to be affluent to get surrogate mothers.

            Many issues come up when you’re talking about what kinds of families get surrogate mothers. The first issue that comes up is the financial issue.  In some cases surrogacy can be expensive but it depends on many factors.  It depends on whether you’re going through a friend or an agency to find the surrogate. The next thing that comes up is weather the surrogate has health insurance or not. If not your make have to pay up to 30,000 dollars for health insurance for her witch might be rougher on families that are not affluent. Although that’s not a deal breaker they would just need to find another surrogate.

            The next issue that affects families that are looking for surrogate mothers are there family type.  There are many different kinds of families out there now in this world. There are families who have a mother and a father. Then there are those who only have a mother or a father which makes the trip for a surrogate harder sometimes. Then there are those families that are gay or lesbian and those pose even different problems. 

            The last issue and really the most important is what the family atmosphere is like.  Some families have two happy parents and some families have issues. Some have parents who fight all the time. In some the fighting is caused by alcohol or even drugs.   Even in some families you have spouses who are not faithful. This is all a part of the family atmosphere that you are trying to bring a baby into.

            One percent of the baby’s born in the United States are from Assisted Reproductive Technologies. Of these one percent the qualifications is not that you are affluent. That’s not how you get to have a surrogate mother. You need to be a family that is surround by love and people who support them. Also they need to be families who have a good atmosphere.  These are the real things that matter when families are being chosen weather or not they get a surrogate mother. It’s not all about having money.

Bibliography:

Jamie Williams. “Myths About Surrogates / Gestational Carriers.”  www.Resolve.org. Tuesday July, 26 2011< http://www.resolve.org/national-infertility-awareness-week/myths-about-surrogates-gestational-carriers.html >.

Susannah Baruch. “Gene Watch.”  www.Council for responsible genetic.Org. Tuesday July, 26 2011<http://www.councilforresponsiblegenetics.org/genewatch/GeneWatchPage.aspx?pageId=349&archive=yes>

the play communion paper reaction if you didnt see it

The genre of communion was a tragicomedy. I say this because it has the story line of a tragedy but yet I thought it was funny too so I think it was a tragicomedy.  The playwright of communion is trying to tell us those love lives on and can be passed from anyone. Sometimes you don’t think you’re important to someone but you really are. I know this from just how the play went and how Jane had so much love from here friends and how she was so lucky. I relate to this because I know any time I have a problem that my friends with be there for me! And I will always have people who love me. It relates to the act of communion in church were your around friends and you communicate and talk about thing and have people who are there to support you and that’s what Jane and her group had. The first convention I saw was the fourth was the is invisible. The next one I saw was the arch ways that lead into another room. The last thing I saw was the step down and how it split the room in half and showed they were moving from room to room. The first element I saw was the costumes. The really set apart each actress and fit there personality.  For example Jane had a really conservative outfits and that’s her personality. Now on the other had her sister is a little more out there so she had a different outfit with the shorter skirt that fit her. Another element I saw was the wine. It really made there party and help loosen them up.  The next element I saw was the weed. I didn’t see this coming but when they took it out I saw that they were not all goodie goodie girls like I thought.  One element I saw was the furniture was fancy I though and it gave me the impression that Jane was doing really well. This may sound bad the I related most to David. He was not in the play for very long but I saw the most connection with him. And it’s not just because he was the only man. My connection with him was what he had to go through with Jane. Being with her and getting so close to her and then her leaving him I have been though that.  Then after the fact when he talked about her teaching him so much about himself and about their relationship that reminded me and one of my friends. The conflict he faced was moving on after Jane left him for her husband. And I saw him change not in the time he was on stage but from the stories they told that he moved on and got married and was really happy. Just how soft spoken he was really gave me the empression that he was a nice kind man.  It also revealed that he really did care a lot about Jane but he had moved on and wanted to teach her what he had learned.  This play was art because it put a message out there it was not on a canvas but it was acted and it moved me. It a way that made me feel things!  What I got from this was the you never give up, your friends will always be there and finally that pass the love on and it will be passed on to you.Yes this was first true play and I really  enjoyed it. I have only ever seen musicals. What added to my enjoyment was that I could related to all the people and it send out a great message. Nothing really subtracted from this play for me. Most people im sure said the cursing took away from the play but I really didn’t think there was that much. Being around football players all day really you here worse language than that.  We discussed about the real Jane and knowing she was alive and a real person was going though everything that was being acted up there made it all the more hit home and made it more meaning full. Yes I would recommend for my friends to go see this play I think they would all really enjoy it and have a great time like I did.  I liked it because you were up close and personal with the play and I liked it that was. It’s a lot more enjoy able for me that way.