The family legend that I chose to tell involves my Aunt Shawn and how she made the Olympics in 1980. My Aunt Shawn is the oldest sibling out of the five kids in my dad’s family, and was a competitive swimmer throughout the early part of her life. Her swimming was so good that she got a scholarship to swim for Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. While at Auburn she became one of the top backstroke swimmers in the nation and qualified for the Olympic trials to try to get into the 1980 Olympic games in Moscow, Russia. At that time Russia was the Soviet Union and in the Cold war with us here in the United States. Swimming was also not the only thing she would get from Auburn, while there she met her future husband and she might not have realized at the time but her hometown for the next thirty years. After swimming her way through the trials she qualified to swim in the 1980 summer games in the Backstroke competition and our family would be able to say we had an Olympic Athlete in it. There was just one issue involved with this, the United States decided to boycott the Olympics that year. …show more content…
The two countries did not like each other and were on the verge of destroying each other with a couple of bombs. Although the main reason for the boycott was President Jimmy Carter’s problem with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. He decided that if they did not pull their troops out then he would start a boycott and ask others to join. His response did not make the soviets stop the invasion so in 1979 he decided that we would not send any athletes over to the games. The United States boycott of these games would lead to the Soviet led boycott of the 1984 games in Los
The athlete I chose is Natasha Watley. She is a professional softball player and the first African-American female to play on the USA softball team in the Olympics. She’s a former collegiate 4-time First Team All-American who played for the UCLA Bruins, the USA Softball Women’s National Team, and for the USSSA Pride. She helped the Bruins will multiple championships and also holds numerous records and one of the few players to bat at least .400 with 300 hits, 200 runs, and 100 stolen bases. She’s also the career hits leader in the National Pro Fast pitch. She won the gold medal in the 2004 summer Olympics and a silver in the Beijing Olympics. She was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014.
The Gallaghers are a large family unit under patriarch Frank Gallagher. Due to Frank’s deteriorating health condition, and social functioning as a result of severe alcohol use disorder, his oldest daughter, Fiona, was thrusted into the role as head of family. Fiona has 5 younger siblings that she cares for, and when Frank attempts to reassert his fatherly role, has to fight for position as the caretaker of the family.
Among the many reasons for the Black people to migrate to the North were: the subordinate status of the Black people to the whims of the white communities; a belief of more opportunities for jobs, education, and the freedom to live the lives guaranteed them in the 13th,14th, and 15th amendments to the constitution of the United States of America, and to be free of the extreme punishments for noncompliance of the Jim Crow Laws inundated throughout the southern states after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. The Ida Mae Brandon Gladney family was an example of these migratory people.
The Anderson family is an African-American pair of grandparents –Ernie and Audrey—raising their daughter’s three children. Their daughter and her husband were killed in a car accident recently; however, the grandchildren had been living with the grandparents before this untimely tragedy due to financial hardships experienced by the family. There are three children, two of which appear to be adjusting well, and have supports in place. The main concern of Ernie and Audrey surround their 3-month old granddaughter, Artesia. Artesia was born with an extremely low birth weight, and has faced other health problems since delivery. While Artesia’s mother was pregnant with her, it was reported that they had been living in a car. Artesia’s mother did not receive proper medical care, as well as engaged in proper self-care, during the pregnancy due to her
The US was already planning on boycotting the 1980 Moscow Olympics, and tensions were already at an all time high. This is what made the game between the Soviets and the Americans. It not only seemed like an underdog victory for American hockey, but also "a victory in an ideological struggle", as someone who wasn't even alive during the Cold War this is a difficult thing to understand. The competition with the USSR in everything doesn't happen with other nations in the same way it did when the Iron Curtain was still draped between Eastern and Western
The very small percentage of athletes that can make a living off of a sport that they love to do, is a very special thing. The phenomenal athletes that can make that happen are role models for children, teens, and some adults. Sports enthusiasts will quote things from the best leaders, motivators and competitors to share with their children, students, colleagues, and fellow athletes. Being a three sport athlete has given me the full experience of being around those tremendous athletes. I thoroughly enjoy playing sports, I have since I was a little boy, and sports are a huge part of my family. At all family gatherings after we eat, have fun outside, we gather around the table or the television to either talk of sports or
Growing up my parents ran a little lake on the outskirts of my hometown of Shelbina here in northeast Missouri. I was the "tough" one out of my family by the time I was in the ninth grade I could use two weed eaters at the same time and pick up the back end of a golf cart. At 5'3 and wearing size 16 I was big girl and was often made fun of by my peers. I wanted to be something other than the "fat girl" at school. So I became stronger than an ox and used that to my advantage. My high school coach seen me one day bench pressing a picnic table and begged me to join the weightlifting program. I excelled at the class and became known as "Pipes" I went from being the chunky girl to being the girl that was respected for my bench pressing and squats. My coach believed in me and that was all I needed to continue to do my best. That year I made a C average except for weightlifting where I got an A and earned the respect from my peers and my coach.
According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, six million European Jews were killed in the Holocaust. Within the six million was a famous family that had only one survivor. This family was the Frank family. The Frank family faced many difficulties due to the rise of Hitler. Experiencing hardships in their early life led to the decision that the Frank family made about going into hiding. At first, Otto Frank was very successful in life before the rise of Hitler. However, the Frank family faced many issues in Germany until they felt that they needed to move. Lastly, the Franks' living conditions in Amsterdam were stable before the invasion of the Nazis.
The Soviet Union did not listen to the ultimatum given by President Carter regarding the 1980 Olympics. They kept their troops in Afghanistan, leaving Carter to follow his ultimatum and boycott the games. They let the United States boycott the games, and the Soviet Union went on to win 195 medals total, with 80 of them being gold. The 1984 Olympic games were set to take place in Los Angeles, California. They said it was their way of “returning the favor”. They didn’t think America could contain the outbursts, but also claimed that their decision didn’t involve political reasoning (Historical Past). 13 other nations joined the Soviet Union in boycotting the games. The United States did not agree with their decision. President Ronald Reagan said that it was “a decision for which there was no real justification” (History.com). The Soviet Union claimed that they didn’t feel safe, but the United States claimed they indeed would be safe. They still chose to boycott the games. This related to the 1980 boycott because the United States boycotted the games in 1980 as a response to the invasion of Afghanistan, and in response, the Soviet Union boycotted the games in
THOSE OF US WHO grew up in the 1950s got an image of the American family that was not, shall we say, accurate. We were told, Father Knows Best, Leave It to Beaver, and Ozzie and Harriet were not just the way things were supposed to be—but the way things were
To qualify for the Olympics is a big win for anybody who does regardless of which country you represent. We need to be pushful in life to be able to get what we want. Being in a country during great depression can be very challenging; desires to be in the Olympics can be ruined. I would believe I should have to struggle in order to gain a living rather than think of the Olympics. They are many talented people out there who have the ability to be famous at a sport but lose hope due to their current situation.
and the Soviet Union for global power, and was the de facto declaration of the Cold War between the two nations. The Truman Doctrine had proceeded the push for America's foreign policy to provide military and economic assistance to protect nations from communist aggression. Many events that occured during this period of tension had shaped the nature of the war. The space race in 1957, in 1962 the Cuban missile crisis, the boycotts of both the 1980 summer Olympics held in Moscow and the 1984 summer Olympics held in Los Angeles. The Cold War had designed how future U.S.- Russian relations will be
I had never really been a part of a team that had a chance to win something, but the potential was always there. I finally got my chance to be a part of such a team my sophomore year of track. Mr. Jones, the head track coach, had decided to experiment with some different races to gain more team points. Since the girls' team lacked a medley relay, he placed Cindy, Kim, Susan and I in those spots. Cindy would run the 400, Kim would run the 200, and Susan and I would start the race off by each running the 100. We all had worked viciously to earn those spots by running off against our teammates.
“..to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse,” Those are the words every couple say right before the official status of husband and wife. My Mom and Dad dated in college during their sophomore year. That next year, my Mom was pregnant with twins at the age of 21.My Dad was 22. Since my family is heavily into our faith, the next thing for my parents to do was to get married.My parents stayed married for 13 years. Up until my seventh grade year , my life was pretty close to perfection. My parents was basically the happy couple.They would get my sister and I ready for school in the mornings. They would cook together and read my sister and I stories at night. However, everything slowly started to change. I started to notice the little things my parents liked doing together. Some dinner nights, and breakfast mornings would be my sister, I, or just only my
Life is all about evolution. What looks like a mistake to others has been a milestone in my life. Even if people have betrayed me, even if my heart was broken, even if people misunderstood or judged me, I have learned from these incidents. We are human and we make mistakes, but learning from them is what makes the difference. I was a great student at the time; never did I think about quitting. My family bloodline has nothing but warriors and legends. Every generation left there name in a way that people would remember. Now it 's my turn to show my family what I 'm capable of. The thing that makes me so different between my family and I is, I will be the one that will have the title of a legend at a young age. I keep telling my mother, " Don