By reading a good book, you can receive
imagination, knowledge, and experience in life. It’s the best characteristic to
get into the habit of because without reading, you cannot get far in your education
or career. The skill of being able to read critically and draw conclusions is
utilized in nearly every aspect of everyday life. It helps you obtain
vocabulary, knowledge, and historical truth, and it comes hand in hand with
your writing skill. Reading is unique amongst other mediums due to the way that
your mind can interact with the creation of the author. Ideas are
easily communicated in an effective, thorough manner. With unlimited
information within books also comes the need to process material faster. With
effective reading techniques, you can significantly improve your reading and
writing skill in preparation for writing papers.
As you
read, you will gradually improve your level of literacy. Reading should be a
source of enjoyment, so it’s alright to read at your own pace; it’s not a race.
Nonetheless, once in a while you may want to read quicker to reach the climax
of a story. Such a skill can only be acquired through time and repetition, but
to master speed you must learn to “chunk.” Through chunking, your eyes are able
to pick up multiple words at a time while reading. It’s inefficient to sound
out each word one by one when your brain already acknowledges the meaning of
each word with a glance. Through practice, you can master grouping a handful of
words at once and improve your reading rate speed within no time. Once
you’re at a comfortable reading speed, it becomes more enjoyable to completely
read through a book.
Reading aids in the development of good
grammar and style. A good book will always utilize different sentence level
structures: appositives, subordinators, etc. When you’ve grown accustomed to
reading the variety of sentences, your mind will adapt it to your writing. It’s
important to switch up sentence structures within an essay to keep readers
interested at all times. You can get your best examples of sentence structures
and style influences from the most amazing teachers: the authors. Readers
should pay attention to how words are utilized and how sentence flow together. It’s
great to use works of literature as simple examples of great quality writing.
From time to time, you may stumble upon
words that you can’t define or topics you may find important. A great way to
keep all your ideas organized is to annotate. Highlighting, underlining, or sticky
notes are one in many ways to pinpoint ideas that you may want to follow up on
once the reading is done. When you come across a word that you can’t figure
out, annotate it and set it aside for later. It’s less productive to stop and
look through the dictionary each time you come across an unknown word. Either
attempt to define the word within its context, or save it for later when you
have compiled enough words for dictionary use. Through annotating, it’s also a
smart idea to mark important characters, plot, and topics. This is useful for
writing summaries, outlining essays, or reviewing for tests. Everything will be more organized, which in
return will allow quicker access for whenever needed.
My professor, Brian Lewis, once said “There’s
a book for everyone. You just have to find it.” Certainly it may seem like
reading isn’t meant for some, but reading comes in many forms: magazines,
comics, poems, etc. There’s an infinite amount of stories to be told and
countless facts yet to be unrevealed. You just have to find the one that fits
your taste. Once you make a habit out of reading, incorporate these techniques.
It will be an efficient tool to get you through school, work, or just life with
time to spare.
We all remember that nostalgic "what if" moment in our lives, when doubt causes us to question if the choices we've made are the right ones – the best ones. It's the moment when we realize the odds of defeating some unbeatable obstacle are slim to none. While people can't deny the power of regret, persistence through hard times will yield the biggest rewards and most meaningful lessons learned. We should use understanding to look back at these past experiences, and to learn and grow from our mistakes. John Di Lemme once wrote that "the key of persistence opens all doors closed by resistance." In “Warriors Don’t Cry” by Melba Pattillo Beals, the author signed up with a group of eight others to take part in a trial of integration at the segregated Little Rock High School in Arkansas, in 1957. Although Melba had to carry the heavy burden of endangering her community, she remained strong for the sake of the future. With the help of her family along the way, she succeeded in giving freedom and equality a new meaning.
Everyone has their own definition of the word "freedom" and the memories associated with it. During the 1970s, when the Vietnam War was nearing its end, my parents and their individual families made their way separately across the Atlantic Ocean to live the American Dream. Even though I did not take part in enduring this journey with them, my parents related that their displacement brought them into contact with many unforeseen obstacles. They struggled tirelessly against language barriers, the unfamiliarity of a new culture, and the crippling burden of financial hardship. After suffering through the hardships of war and immigration, my parents attained some semblance of this dream to give my sister and me a normal life. Part of their journey was the transition from Arizona to California, an event which significantly changed my life, but also helped shape me into a stronger and independent person.
We were fortunate living in Arizona, but our family always wanted to end up in California. My dad was living his dream managing his first successful restaurant, Miss Saigon. Ever since my grandma moved to Arizona as our head chef, Miss Saigon prospered due to her talent. But after four years, my grandma itched to move back to California where most of her family on my mother’s side resided. Of course the restaurant could have went on without her - but after much debate, the family decided to take a leap of faith and start a new life in California. In preparation of leaving, Miss Saigon was sold to Steve – my dad’s best friend - and our beautiful house was left unattended until it could be sold. Letters of resignation were turned in, and transfer school papers were readied. Within two weeks, we had said our goodbyes and were on the road to Southern California.
In 2008, the move to California marked the beginning of our persevering struggle. We have grown accustomed to moving back and forth a handful of times, except this time things were different: we had left everything behind to continue my dad’s dream. After getting settled in, the family quickly started where they left off: they bought and renovated a restaurant in Cypress, CA and reused its original name, Pho #9. Everyone had a role at the restaurant that they had to take care of during their free time. My sister and I both went to school, and afterwards, we would be servers during the dinner rush working only for tips. My mom worked at a nail salon every day, so she took care of closing the restaurant and double checking receipts. The ones that were there throughout the day would be my grandma and dad, who took care of everything from cleaning, cooking, to customers. There was a steady amount of customers every other day, but at the end of the month, the profit margin never rose due to the bad location.
Financially, we continued to dig ourselves into a bigger hole. The house in Arizona couldn’t sell due to the bad economy. We continued to pay the mortgage as well as rent for our place in Orange County. As time went by, the sale price on the home gradually decreased to below asking price, until someone finally bought it after a year. It didn’t make up for the cost of a decade’s worth of renovating, but at least it was out of our hands. After a couple years of Pho#9’s opening, things continued to spiral downwards. Our savings was nearly depleted, and my parents had taken out multiple loans during renovation, some even in my name. Even if we wanted to move locations, we couldn’t afford to rent a place where Asian restaurants were booming. While on the verge of closing doors on my dad’s dream, an office next door to Pho #9 proposed a business deal. A couple others in the business plaza had already invested in the proposal, so my parents quickly agreed to hand over the last several thousand in cash. The profit return was said to be available within a number of months, so the restaurant remained open while we waited patiently. After about two weeks, a “For Rent” sign went up for the office next door. Phone calls went straight to voicemail and emails no longer functioned – my parents had been scammed out of their final savings. The only thing left to do was to dust our “For Rent” sign and close up the restaurant for good.
Letty Pogreblin once said, “if the family were a fruit, it would be an orange, a circle of sections, held together but separable.” In times like these, it was important that our family stick together and help each other get through. It was no longer possible to continue renting the house in Orange County, so we moved in with my grandparents that lived nearby. The four of us shared the master bedroom, while my grandparents had the only other available room. The idea was to split the rent with them, but the problem was that everyone was unemployed. My mom took care of us with food stamps that we were now eligible for, along with her pay from the nail salon. My dad sold his car - a ’95 Cadillac - and started carpooling with my mom whenever needed. I even started selling off my personal belongings – clothes, furniture, and video games - on eBay to help out with rent, but also to pay for gas to get me to school. After a couple months, my dad got hired as a server for a restaurant, but everything we earned went towards paying off the mountain of debt we had buried ourselves in. After some time, I decided to take a permanent break from school to find a full time job to help my parents with their burden.
During these desperate times, it was only normal for our family to turn to God to answer our prayers. I began to feel trapped in this never ending cycle of work and paying off my parents’ debt. Praying was the only thing left that helped us remain strong. Attending church became a regular thing since it was the only time that the family was able to spend time together. Around summer time, some family members from Arizona came to visit for vacation. As we gathered to have lunch, it became a long meeting about our financial troubles. This was also the first time in many years that I saw my mom break down in tears. Our prayers were finally answered: my aunts and uncles wanted to take care of our problems. A couple thousand was given to my dad to buy a used car. The rest decided to take over paying off the debt monthly, while the money we make can go towards bettering our lives. For once, things were starting to look up again.
As we gradually rebuilt our family’s foundation, things were starting to look on the bright side. My dad got promoted to assistant manager, but he also had to take on more hours. Although it meant less time with the family, it was his way of quickly getting back on his feet. I also got promoted to computer sales, which I continued working full time. This time around, I was able to save everything I made. By the end of the year, I was able to move to northern California. Living on my own is surprisingly hard, but I gained a lot of experience taking care of myself during our hard times. I also started going to school again, but this time it was different. I’m going to try my absolute best in graduating, in hopes of someday allowing my parents to retire early.
When we journey through life, there will be countless times when we want to give up. Instead of taking the easy way out, we should learn from it and push forward. I grew up spoiled by my parents until I got a wake up call that motivated me to keep my priorities straight. By experiencing these hardships, I have been molded into a stronger, more capable individual who would never allow my family to be in poverty again.
(The song represents society's image of marijuana, while the slides show the reality of it's progress)
Marijuana has been spoken ill of for over a century in America. This “drug” is associated with negativity, and its street names are wide and many: grass, hash, hemp, bud, pot, herb, chronic, dope, weed, mary jane, and cannabis. Even those who are against it cannot deny its popularity; TIME reports that 42% of surveyed American adults reported have tried it. What many don’t understand is that humans have positively interacted with marijuana since the beginning of recorded history. The depth of marijuana’s practical uses, both medicinally and recreationally, is lost in the battle of undeserved rep it’s generated. Despite the legalization of marijuana in Washington and Colorado in November 2012, the government may soon impose federal law and overrule the states’ decisions. I strongly believe that the legalization of marijuana is a groundbreaking stepping stone to positive economic and health benefits, and it’s important that the public learn to debunk its negative image.
Marijuana has always had a significant place in history, first brought to the New World in the 15thcentury by the Spanish (CannibisNow). There are over 30,000 uses for hemp, and it’s environmentally responsible with biodegradable properties. It’s a durable plant used to produce seed, pulp, and medicine.Historically it’s been used as food, in textiles, and for medical use in 2737 BC by the Chinese for labor pains (CannibisNow). It was a principal crop at Mount Vernon, where George Washington lived, and at Monticello, Jefferson’s plantation. Most famously, humans have used it for paper and fuel. It was once estimated that if hemp were legal, it would replace over 65% of all wood paper products. Conspiracy theorists maintain that it is the heads of the paper industry that support against its decriminalization.
Marijuana is not particularly addictive, and acts as a boundary rather than the harmful, so-called gateway drug many believe it to be.In fact, most marijuana users never use any other illegal drug and most users only smoke infrequently. According to a Federal Institute of Medicine study published in 1999, less than 10% of marijuana users ever meet the clinical criteria for an addict. Tobacco and alcohol, both legal in America, showed 32% and 15% of dependent users. There are numerous cases of death from alcohol poisoning and nicotine overdose. The National Institute of Drug Abuse states that “cigarette smoking kills an estimated 440,000 US citizens each year,” more than alcohol, illegal drug use, homicide, suicide, car accident, and AIDS combined. It can damage almost every organ in the body and cause many forms of cancer, including the common lung cancer. A regular smoker can chain smoke through a pack of cigarettes a day, but a regular cannabis consumer can remain medicated for hours from lighting up only once. Only weed’s illegality makes users more vulnerable to the influence of other, more dangerous drugs. As reported by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 64.3% of illegal drug users used only marijuana in the past month. The other 35.7% gain exposure to other drugs through illegal purchases, as an opportunity for the dealer to push their products. According to Brown University, it’s also virtually impossible to overdose from marijuana.
The most controversial use has been marijuana’s medical treatment. It has been proven to effectively treat AIDS, rheumatism, glaucoma, arthritis, and other conditions including cancer. By legalizing it, marijuana will be even safer to consume through federal regulation. Marijuana is commonly used by cancer patients to reduce nausea as a pain reliever, as a sleep aid, an antidepressant, and to create an appetite. Recently, marijuana made headlines when a team of Spanish scientists proved that THC significantly reduced tumor cell proliferation in brain-cancer patients. Harvard University scientists reported that THC slows lung tumor growth and prevents it from spreading. Like a “heat seeking missile, THC selectively targets and destroys tumor cells while leaving healthy cells unscathed” (Daily Beast).
Marijuana has not clinically been proven to increase the risk of cancer, but positive results continue to show. Several studies have proven that long term smoking with weed will not lead to any elevated cancers of lung, breast, or prostate. It was actually shown to have reduced the risk of head and neck cancer in a 2009 population based case control study (Reuters). While short term memory is clearly affected by marijuana, people under the influence have no trouble when sober; the impairment lasts as long as the intoxication. No scientific evidence exists that long term users negatively suffer from loss of long term memory or other cognitive functions. CNN recently released a field report on the effects of marijuana on driving, motor performance, and perception. Unlike alcohol, which tends to drastically increase dangerous driving practices, drivers are often more cautious. Most of the problems were related to slow driving or frequent hesitation. Volunteers in the field report tested “escalating levels of stupor against the new baseline legal limits in Colorado and Washington.” (CNN) The finding was startling: users had to go five times over the legal limit before their driving became impaired.
Legal marijuana is estimated by Easton, an economist, to be a $45–100 billion dollar industry (Huffington Post) that can economically benefit our society. TIME reports that weed growers account for $14 billion in sales a year, making marijuana California’s most valuable cash crop. This is all untaxed profits for the illegal producers and “pushers.” Marijuana prohibition costs taxpayers $41.8 billion dollars a year. The government should be using potential tax money to lower our debt crisis or to support ailing public school districts. Through permits, Mendocino County raised $500,000 in 2011 for the Sheriff’s department. Oakland raised $1.3 million in tax revenue (Huffington Post). As of July 2011, there were more medical dispensaries in Denver than Starbucks franchises. Legalization will open up the door to a wide variety of other economic benefits such as farming, transportation, clinics, and vendors. There is so much unrealized revenue going to waste at the hands of illegal drug dealers.
Illegal marijuana is a $36 billion a year industry where the penalty for possession is abnormally high. According to the FBI, police prosecuted 858,408 persons for marijuana violations in 2009 alone. Marijuana arrest account for more than half of all domestic drug arrests, and marijuana inmates cost prisons $1 billion a year (Alternet). There are already overflow problems in our nation’s cells, and tax dollars should be used arresting and punishing criminals who have committed a more serious breach of law. More legal vendors would lead to a lower crime rate. According to some studies, the crime rate within a certain radius decreased after a legal vendor opened up shop. In the areas where vendors closed down, the crime rate went up.
Marijuana has been around for a very long time, and it’s not going anywhere. It has helped humanity in the medicine world and continues to break new barriers every day, such as reducing the risk of cancer. Although many still impose the idea of its legalization, they cannot deny the fact that it can benefit us therapeutically and financially. Colorado and Washington has taken the first step towards its recreational use, but it’s still up to us to help the rest of society realize that marijuana has always had a place in our world.
Works Cited
Bradford, Harry. "4/20: 16 Ways Marijuana Affects The Economy." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 19 Apr. 2012. Web. 05 Mar. 2013.
"Could Smoking Pot Cut Risk of Head, Neck Cancer?" N.p., n.d. Web.
Lee, Martin A. "Marijuana Fights Cancer and Helps Manage Side Effects, Researchers Find." The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 06 Sept. 2012. Web. 05 Mar. 2013.
