The Joy of Winning
"Oh my God!" was exclaimed into my right ear and resonated above everyone in the room. My heart was thumping because I wasn't exactly sure what was happening. I wasn't excited to be going or even pleased. All I could think about was, "What did I get myself into? I shouldn't be here, I don't deserve this."
It all began on one of the most disastrous bus rides I have ever experienced that doesn't include a wreck. I was going to Grand Junction for the Western Slope Science Fair. I didn't even care about what I was about to do. I knew my information well enough just to get through the day. Then the storm hit us. I looked out the front window of the bus and peered out into the ferocious blizzard. The heater was not working on the right side window. On top of not being able to see, we had just hit a construction area where I wasn't sure what could be on the road.
An hour later than expected, we got out of the bus and headed for the auditorium where we were to set up our projects. After sprinting inside to keep my board protected from the elements, I walked with my fellow participants and set up my project. I didn't care at all about how good my project appeared in the eyes of the judges.
After I had set up, I got ready to go to lunch, since most of my companions were ready to eat. We all went down to Mesa Mall's Food Court where I had sausage pizza that had grease dripping down onto the plate. After I was finished eating, my friend Jimmy had to buy a CD, so we flew down to the FYE Music Emporium. As we ran out to the bus to go back, a hailstorm picked up. The hail felt like a thousand needles striking me at the same time and there was no way that I could open my eyes completely....
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...fifth, but when that went by, I knew it was not meant to be. Third place went to the guy next to me that the judges liked so much.
The announcer then went through a long speech explaining what the top two places meant. He said how they got to go to the International Science and Engineering fair in Louisville, Kentucky. He called my name to go up to receive second place for going to the International Science and Engineering Fair, but I received first at the Western Slope Science Fair.
"Oh my God!" was echoed through the room and I couldn't believe that I was walking up to the stage. This wasn't right because I shouldn't get the award, or should I? I knew the answer as soon as it was placed in my hand. It was going to be a long ride, but I deserved every bit of it. I had shown the judges that I knew what I was doing and was confident at all times.
The first team I ever played for was Tobers Party Store. For some kids growing up, baseball was just another way to pass time during the summer, away from the grind of public school. For me it was everything. From the moment my eyes snapped open in the morning, until the time I slipped away to sleep, I had baseball on my mind. I loved to play baseball, watch baseball, and talk baseball. Nothing else mattered. Eating and sleeping were just "necessary evils" that took precious time away from my hobby. I anxiously awaited the day when I would be drafted into the professional ranks after a successful college career. Bubbling with excitement, I would explain my inevitable career path to anyone who would listen. Of course, the responses were less than empowering. "Do you know how good you have to be?", and the tried and true " Go to college and get a real job", were two of the more popular sentiments that the "opposition" hurled at me. Naturally, in my 10 year old mind, I knew they were delusional and I would prove them wrong.
Akbar was considered the best of the Mughal rulers partly because of his tolerance of all religions. Akbar did his best to unify the Hindus and Muslims by giving both religions positions in the government. Traditionally, only Muslims would could be rulers zamindars while most of the population was Hindu. Akbar also married women of both religions, as an attempt to unify Hindus and Muslims. Akbar himself was interested in religions, inviting different people to discuss other religions with him. Akbar's greatest impact in trying to unite the Hindus and Muslims was creating the Divine Faith religion, but most people did not convert. When Akbar died, the following rulers did not support the same religious tolerance policy that he had. Aurangzeb tried to rid the empire of all Hindu. This caused revolts from both Hindus and Muslims, which created a period of instability allowing Europeans to come and take
Halfway up it was beginning to look doubtful, the wind was picking up and everyone was getting out rain gear to prepare for the storm. I voiced my doubts to Phil and he said we might as well keep going until the lighting got too close. So we did. The thunder grew in volume and the echoes magnified the noise to a dull roar sometimes. Then suddenly it began to ebb. The wind died down and lightening came less frequently. I exchanged relieved looks with Phil after a bit, but kept the pace up--I didn’t want to take chances. Eventually it hit us, but by then it was nothing more then a heavy rain. We kept moving, if slower, and made it over the ridge with no other problems. That night I enjoyed the meal a little more and slept a little deeper realizing how much is important that easily goes unnoticed until something threatens to take it away.
In the second stanza, Piercy describes the girl as healthy, intelligent, and strong (7-8). Yet these positive equalities alone, could not keep people from criticizing her, so the girl feels inferior. “She went to and fro apologizing,” which demonstrates her collapse of confidence with the people she is surrounded with, who kept putting her down (10). She gives in to the hurtful things people say about her: “Everyone [kept] seeing a fat nose on thick legs” (11). The girl thus lets people push her in the direction of society’s standard of beauty, instead of affirming her own unique beauty.
This is what I had been hoping for the entire year. I had been to many that were quite the same to this one, but none that could give me the same enduring edginess and serenity that I was feeling right now. My eyes skimmed across the hundreds of people who were all there for the same reason as me. Striving to be out of the sweltering sun, but not out of clear view of what I came for, I lead myself in a mighty search for the spot for which I belonged. As I sat down, I prepared myself for the pain that I was going to feel about an hour later. I always forgot how sore I would get from sitting on the bleachers for so long, but every time I approached them, I would remember and smile.
In The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald money, power, and the fulfillment of dreams is what the story’s about. On the surface the story is about love but underneath it is about the decay of society’s morals and how the American dream is a fantasy, only money and power matter. Money, power, and dreams relate to each other by way of three of the characters in the book, Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom. Gatsby is the dreamer, Daisy cares about money, and Tom desires and needs power. People who have no money dream of money. People who have money want to be powerful. People who have power have money to back them up. Fitzgerald writes this book with disgust towards the collapse of the American society. Also the purposeless existences that many people lived, when they should have been fulfilling their potential. American people lacked all important factors to make life worthwhile.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's most famous novel, The Great Gatsby (1925), is about many things that have to do with American life in the "Roaring Twenties," things such as the abuse of alcohol and the pursuit of other pleasures, including that elusive entity, the "American dream." Mainly it is the story of Jay Gatsby, told by Gatsby's friend and neighbor, Nick Carraway, a bonds salesman in New York. Three other important characters are Daisy Buchanan, Tom Buchanan, and Myrtle Wilson. Nick is distantly related to Daisy, whose wealthy husband, Tom, went to college with Nick. Myrtle is married to a mechanic but is sleeping with Tom. Fitzgerald's novel seems to affirm the Biblical adage that the love of money is the root of all evil, for his characters value money inordinately. And this attitude is a central moral concern of the novel. Fitzgerald's characters erroneously believe money can buy them love, friends, and happiness.
“If wealth was the inevitable result of hard work and enterprise, every woman in Africa would be a millionaire” (George Monbiot). In his novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald describes the decay of the American Dream and the corrupt and materialistic tendencies of the American elite. The principal character, Nick, who also serves as narrator, is indecisive but attentive. He lives in West Egg on Long Island Sound, surrounded by immense prosperity and luxurious titles. Gatsby, Nick’s neighbor, is portrayed in an air of mystery and uncertainty, but it is learned that he is a man of around thirty years old who grew up from an impoverished childhood in North Dakota to become exceptionally wealthy. As a military officer in Louisville in 1917, Gatsby met and immediately fell in love with Daisy Buchanan for her aura of elegance and charisma. Throughout his novel, Fitzgerald focuses on Nick’s relationship with Daisy and Daisy’s friend Jordan Baker, and specifically on Gatsby’s unattainable goal of winning Daisy’s love through power and wealth. In the process, an atmosphere of superficiality, discontent and deceitfulness is created through the immoral actions of the primary characters. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby turns the American Dream into a nightmare by revealing issues of unrestrained materialism, moral emptiness, and social hypocrisy during the 1920’s.
...est for the finalists, and was satisfied with the fact that I had tried my hardest and put forth my best effort. Though I was not the champion, I did not wish misfortune upon those who bested me; I respected and admired their abilities instead.
The symbols and imagery used by Kate Chopin's in “The Story of an Hour” give the reader a sense of Mrs. Mallard’s new life appearing before her through her view of an “open window” (para. 4). Louise Mallard experiences what most individuals long for throughout their lives; freedom and happiness. By spending an hour in a “comfortable, roomy armchair” (para.4) in front of an open window, she undergoes a transformation that makes her understand the importance of her freedom. The author's use of Spring time imagery also creates a sense of renewal that captures the author's idea that Mrs. Mallard was set free after the news of her husband's death.
It was the day of April 13, 2000. I woke up at exactly 12 o’clock because my boyfriend was to pick me up at 1 like we planned the night before. The day looked quite nice, but I was in a fowl mood. I got into a car accident the night before and had a huge argument with my parents about the car. I finally dragged myself into the shower and got ready in half an hour. Then I went downstairs, sat on my couch, and repeatedly told myself the day would hopefully turn out better than last night. At around 1:15, my boyfriend came to pick me up. We took the 5 freeway to the 57 since it was the only way I knew how to get there. As we approached the 134 freeway, my girlfriend veered to the right, taking the 210 which was wrong way and got us lost. So, we exited the freeway and got back on the right track. Then finally, before long, we reached Norton Simon.
I smiled with an uncertainty of having not given him what he wanted. He gathered up his camera and turned to go ask the same question to the other cast members. Their answers were short, and silly.
With shaky knees, I hesitantly made my way up the large white steps. With the back of my hand, I brushed away a few salty tears of relief. As I stood at the top of the podium and looked up into the packed stadium, my mind drifted back to everything I had gone through to achieve this moment, the day I became a state champion.
That was the best night of my life. Chris was and still is an amazing, beautiful girl that I am, proud to say, still going out with and have a strong relationship with. She amazed me then and she amazes me now, and her eyes are still like two pearls fresh out of a pair of clams. I'm a lucky guy for having a girlfriend that is 'made out of the stuff dreams are made of.'
I jumped out of the car with my two sisters and ran to the bathroom. When we left the bathroom, we walked back to the car. We saw that our dad was still putting gas in the car, so we went into the store to buy some sweets. I bought “warheads” that said extremely sour, and a bag of chips called “baked with fire” that looked like they would taste really hot. When we purchased our food, we walked back to the car. As soon as we started driving, I opened my bag of chips. I was so scared that they would be extremely hot. For that reason, I also bought a bottle of water. I opened it before I took a bite out of the chip. Luckily, they were not hot at all! I grabbed my sour candy and tasted it. My face changed so quickly; that I started to squint my eyes and point my lips. I could not take another bite of it because it was really sour! Eventually, I was not hungry anymore. Probably because I ate my whole bag of chips and a sandwich. When I finished eating, I was feeling exhausted, so I took a long nap. I woke up, and dad told me that we only needed to drive for one more hour. While we were driving through town, we saw a row of trees on fire! It was so smoky that we could barely see the street we were driving on. I felt scared for life and terrified that we might crash. After a few more minutes of driving, the smoke cleared up and we could see again. Finally, the hour passed and we arrived in California. Mrs.