Earth. A magnificent planet, and one of the few that can hold life. So why is human society beating it to death? Earth has limited natural resources, from oil to water. Greed has given us a faster way to lower our natural resources. The recent disaster, the Oil Spill from BP, shows that people want to get a hold of oil no matter what it takes. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is losing the limited oil we do have, but also ruining the water and ruining places near the spill..
The oil spill is spewing more than 35,000 barrels a day. Oil is used every day, powering up airplanes and cars. BP's explosion and leak of oil is making this valuable resource run out. While they might attempt to clean it up, it has killed workers in the actual explosion, and also continued spreading. They brag about how much oil they are cleaning up, but it might be the case that more is actually leaking. Nevertheless, it is good that there are many attempts to clean up the oil spill.
Cleaning up the oil spill is a major priority. The animals (and their environment) are being effected by this spill. Many animals have died because of the spill, and more are at risk. Not only have the animals been affected, but the water has been contaminated. Reaching the loop current may impact wildlife, even if it does not reach the beaches. The cumulative damage is not known because clean up is still going on.
The spill has badly effected locations near were the spill took place. Children can be seen playing in the oil that has already collected on the beaches. Tourism has dropped drastically, and the fisheries are in danger of going out of business. It is also effecting businesses like hotels and real estate agencies. This oil spill might spike prices for certain seafood.
As a consumer, having price increases on anything makes us complain. It will not only effect the economy of certain locations, but seafood prices everywhere might increase. Oil prices might also, but something it definitely effects is the environment for the fish. Earth is a commodity that we must protect for it has given us our shelter, places to grow food, and much more. We must take more action to make sure another oil spill this bad will not occur in history ever again. That action might be to stop offshore drilling and use oil from the Middle East until we find an alternative method to power our oil-run objects.
Jim Rohn once wrote "Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time." A very good statement, which rings true when related to education and experiences with family, friends, and many other things. Along with people not having money to spend for college, some people would want to spend their time on education. A full-ride scholarship would help with the two previously stated, and could also relieve stress on the lives of the person receiving it.
Many parents begin to save up money for their children to go to college. Mine, unfortunately, did not. While they were probably not in the future mindset of college for children, they also have to pay to continue their business going. They still have not set aside money for solely college, I hope a full-ride scholarship would allow them to relax and not worry about helping me pay for college, and also make them proud that I attend college, with everything paid. In result this would make my parents worry free and also myself.
Some people jump right into work as soon as they graduate high school. Not everyone has success stories of finishing high school, and not attending or finishing college, but still becoming wealthy. That is why I'd rather spend more time on education than attempt to be successful at a entry level job. Education will also be able to expand my knowledge on many other subjects. It would also help as a fallback plan, if I attempt to try being wealthy, like Bill Gates, I would have some sort of qualifications to have a job to support the road to being wealthy and successful.
Paying huge amounts of debt can stress people out. The person would have to worry about getting a job and attempting to pay back the loan, or whatever method used to obtain the college money. With a full-ride scholarship the student would be able to relax, and possibly even pay more attention to his or her studies. The feeling of starting a life with no worries, or having enough money saved up, either from work or a different type of scholarship, to start your future can be a great feeling.
Overall, a full-ride scholarship can help out greatly. It would not only help expand my education and help pay because no money is saved up, but also can make life more relaxed and worry free. A person who received the benefit of a full-ride scholarship, might want to return the favor and also attempt to help another student get that same opportunity.
Do you remember back in the day? Not your childhood back in the day, but more like the mid to late 1800's and beyond. American History since 1865, taught by a Dr. Scherer, is the class that I am taking. While people might consider juggling two classes at one time, especially a college level class difficult, I have to juggle both College 101 and two college classes(American History and Intro to Philosophy). College Professors are more difficult, but can at be very good professors. They try to get you involved. My Introduction to Philosophy professor seems to like arguments for philosophical theories, but he also grades and teaches the class like a non-intro class. Which makes it difficult, because from other students views, an Into course and Philosophy was supposed to be easy. Now since I've been taking classes at UNO, it is not really my first week. This has allowed me, though, to learn more subjects and also allow me to juggle about three classes, while still being able to work out with my friends at the HPER building.
Study groups are given for American History class with other fellow Summer Scholars. This helps us with our studying and not getting to far behind. The conversations can sometimes be funny, but sometimes we have to focus if some of us are stuck on anything. I don't really know what else to say about study groups. The RTA and students are all great. Along with Study Groups, which run on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we have College 101. This class runs every other day. It seems helpful, because it allows us to research for colleges, show us how to sign up for scholarships, and even help us make our resumes better.
College life, in general, is much more open. You can leave the campus whenever you want, eat anytime you want, and even walk out of class(for something important). The professor is not there to be your babysitter. Since this is the time you pay for your education, you should know that if you skip class or fail at it, it is your money. The parking is a pain, since almost all the parking lots are full. I, fortunately, had the opportunity to join a program called "UNO/OPS Program" during the second quarter of my Junior year. This allowed me to be on campus during my school year and take courses, all paid for. Summer Scholars, has helped me better prepare myself for college, because I rarely studied for my World Civilization class, and I did not have a study group. Everything was on my own, but with the help of fellow classmates, it will allow me to know a better method of studying and let me use classmates to help study.
Remember the elementary school days when making friends was so easy? Well, this is pretty much like that. I’m not a very loud person, and shy to a certain extent. Arriving to this place called “Scott Residence Hall,” for Summer Scholars made me feel nervous for many reasons. A feeling of getting to know people on a close level was something I thought I could not do so easily. Usually it takes awhile for me to open up and talk, but this was different. I did not talk much the first half of the day at the dorms, nor on the bus ride to Carol Joy Holling Camp in Ashland, NE, but something happened. This something was change, and I was able to meet these strangers that were put in front of me and know them on a more personal level. With this occurrence of my life I now believe that Obama did keep his promise in bringing change, even though this wasn’t how he meant it. The quote “Strangers are just friends who you have yet to meet,” is a quote that rings true for the week-long stay at the dorms with my roommates Josh, Danny, and Will.
The activities that we did were interesting to say the least. At Carol Joy Holling Camp we had many types of Co-Op team building, or trust-building exercises. Being split into three groups, mine being “Super Fly,” I was able to connect to my group, and as the name suggest, build trust. The high wire courses, both individual and teamwork orientated, were a great way to push yourself, and your group members to do what they think is impossible. Supporting and trusting your group mates was the main objective of all the obstacles. The Individual high wire, you had to trust your team mates that they would not let go of the rope. I did not think that I would be able to climb the top of a lot of the obstacles on my first try, but I attempted to push myself, and possibly set an example that anyone else can do it too. The teamwork high wire course was the one I really enjoyed. We worked together, even as moral support, to get across bridges, wire, and a zip line. Not only did we do Co-Op team building, but we had a dance party(Once my friends left I got pulled into the middle to dance, I do not know how to dance, but observed what everyone else did and attempted to and probably failed), Mojo Hunt(3rd place), went to the HPER, and much more.
As the days progressed, everyone was able to get along and be good friends. We did a lot together like: hanging out, watching movies, playing volleyball, and eating together. Even though we are out of the dorms, we are still going to class together! I think living at the dorms before class was a great idea. This is mainly because you could already have connections with your classmates and new friends once you walk into the classroom. The class I was assigned, American History, had readings the first day of the class. With the activities prepared for us and having to do homework, I was able to follow along and not get left behind. Due to the time class is, I had to decline an interview for a job offering I applied for. This made me have no outside commitments, but the only time I did leave was on Tuesday from 6-9PM to go to…SCHOOL! I had already been taking Intro to Philosophy as a night class and, unfortunately for me, I had been given an exam a week prior to Tuesday, which was due Thursday, June 10, 2010. The RA’s were willing to let me school an activity to finish my take-home philosophy exam, but I declined to participate with other students. I enjoyed the experience so far, and do believe that the experience has brought me confidence and brought me out of the comfort zone.
