The Miracle of Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Miracle of Life - Essay Example Life's Greatest Miracle takes the mystery out of reproduction, but leaves plenty of awe in its place. This film is an appropriate scientific adjunct for birds-and-bees discussions with children and teenagers. However, parents may want to preview the birth scene which, although sensitively filmed, may be too intense for younger viewers. The Miracle of Life records human conception for the first time on film, and much more. Living, functioning reproductive systems are laid bare to the camera, and there is so much to explore and absorb that Nova's expert guidance is much needed and appreciated. The viewer is also able to follow an egg from its follicular development in an ovary, through the delicate, flowery fallopian tube for fertilization, and on to the uterus for development and eventual birth. Likewise, the audience follows the shorter journey of millions of sperm as they develop and strive mightily to reach the egg. Among the stunning sequences shot by the photographer is the incredible voyage of the sperm toward the egg.

Humanities The Age of Reason;Revolution, Reaction, Cultural Essay

Humanities The Age of Reason;Revolution, Reaction, Cultural Response;The Triumph of the Bourgeoisie - Essay Example Different classes of people did their things in a specific manner to avoid collision with the other social classes. The upper class was the most respected class, and it led in many activities. Rise of middle class in politics and culture who supported equality and social justice. The spirit of law and the social contract law was written. All humans were considered equal and had equal rights. All citizens had right to vote. There was a clear separation of powers. There were laws and regulations that governed the people in a particular state. The laws did not favor any individuals irrespective of the social class that one belonged. The intellectual and cultural movement. The great thinkers embraced humanism through the study of literature, music, arts and philosophy. They believed that nature was good and orderly and could be studied. They advocated for religious, political, and economic institutions. According to the neoclassicist, man was guided by his head while on the romanticists; they believed that man was guided by his heart. This is a clear indication that the two schools of though believed that man had a conscience in doing things. Ingres and David painted pictures that were of old Greek and honor. All the figures had a smooth texture and the men had muscles regardless of their origin or background. The neoclassicist painted with invisible brush strokes which made their paintings appear smooth. In romanticism, there was use of brush strokes to show the movement of artwork. Goethe reacted to the neoclassicist to show them that their subjects were too idealized and had no emotion. The romanticist painted dynamic pictures by a variety of colors making them appear real. The industrial revolution had a tremendous impact on the social and cultural change. There was a significant change in the classes and their welfare. The rich culture was about greed, material wealth and social status while the poor culture was to strive

Homeworks and Study Guides in English Essay Example for Free

Homeworks and Study Guides in English Essay I rolled myself, patting and searching for the alarm clock with my eyes closed. When I reached it, I turned it off and got myself up to get ready for school. I barged in the bathroom with my still sleepy eyes, washing my face as I put some toothpaste in my toothbrush. Brushing my teeth, I walked in my closet to choose some outfit. After five minutes of choosing, I throw the clothes at the bed then turned to take a bath. I relax myself as I feel the tingling sensation of hot water seducing my whole body. After fifteen minutes of showering, I finally rinsed and walked out of the shower room. Opening the drawer, I got my hair dryer and make-up. I blow my hair for ten minutes then I dressed-up. Glancing at the clock and seeing that I still have time, I decided to put some light make up. After finishing my mascara, I took a step back, glancing at the mirror to take a full look at my outfit before going downstairs. Today was the first day of my senior year at Jacksonville Highschool. I was wearing a white tank top that showed my flat tummy and my piercing, a pink hollister shorts that showed my long tanned legs, and a high cut converse to finish the look. Fully contented with the outfit, I sighed, running my hands through my blonde hair as I walked out of the bathroom. I took my bag which was hanging at the side of my bed and stormed downstairs. When I finally get down, I went straight to the kitchen to grab my breakfast, which is apple and milk. Yay, the perks of being a vegetarian. I found my dad sitting peacefully with a newspaper in his hands, his eyebrows are scrunching. Good morning dad I greeted him, munching my apple. Silence. He didnt greet me back because he was too preoccupied with the article hes reading. I frowned and stop to look at the front page, which read Boston Bombing. Oh yeah, the latest news. I rolled my eyes, gulping my fresh milk. After I finished my breakfast, I got up, walking outside to find my mom in the garden watering her so-called little daughters. Hey mom Good morning, honey. Have you eaten your breakfast? Yup, Im finished. So wheres Anna? I asked, looking around. Annabelle Jacobs is my best friend. She always picks me up in the morning so that we could go to school together. Oh, she texted me this morning, she says shell be 5 minutes late I rolled my eyes. I know exactly why shes late. She always have those lame excuses telling me that her toothbrush got lost, she run out of panties, the flush wont work, the rats ate her clothes etc. I shook my head at the sudden thought. Okay mom. I kissed her in the cheek. Ill just check on Simon first Simon is the love of my life. Hes a puppy actually, but whatever. I run at the back, finding my shih tzu stiffing some flowers. Heeeeeeeey Simooooon I cooed in a sweet, girly girl voice while picking him up. I spin him around giggling while his licking my face. Gross I know. After a minute of playing around, I heard Annas car pulled up so I put him down and kissed him goodbye. I ran back inside to say one last goodbye to my parents then i ran towards the car as fast as I can. Samantha!!! Anna shouted when I got inside. I smiled at her. Hey there! Whats up?   Do I look like I’ve lose some weight? She immediately respond. I burst out laughing then I looked at her figure up and down. Annabelle, well Anna, look a lot like me. We have the same weight and height. Were also popular in a way, but we didnt like being the center of attention so we stay low. The only difference we have is our hair. She has brown hair while me, well Im blonde. Ugh, you have a perfect figure. Why do you have to work your butt out? And yes, youve lost some fats Really? Yay! She screeched. You see, I need to work out because Im planning to eat a whole box of pizza later She added. I rolled my eyes. Yeah, right. So, whats the plan? Well, I was thinking that maybe we should go shopping after school. Youve got your credit card in you, right? She asked. Uh yeah, sure. Meet me at my locker around four I said, finishing the conversation. She parked the car then we walked together inside the school grounds. We made our way to our lockers since our lockers are right next to each other. I opened mine to get my history textbook, -since its my first class- switching it with my english. Closing my locker, I said goodbye to Anna, telling her to see me at lunch because we dont have the same schedule for the first four classes. We waved goodbye to each other and started walking the opposite way. After a minute of walking and goofing around, Im finally face to face with the door that leads to my first class. I took a deep breath before opening it. Just as I was turning the door knob, a boy passed quickly to get inside first, causing me to fall backwards with the rest of my stuff. What the hell I said in a low voice. I heard him groan in an annoyed voice, then he started walking back towards me, closing the door in the process. Hey, no need to swear neighbor Then it hit me. I looked up, wide eyes to see my oh-so-handsome neighbor aka the most popular boy in school, Spencer Young. You see, Ive known him since we were young. Our mothers, both Filipina, were married to some Canadian which means were half filipino, half american. I also know a lot about him since our bedroom are next- well, lets just say parallel to each other. I know that he loves switchfoot, the script and matchbox twenty because his room are full of their posters. I also know his favorite book, food and stuffs. And also when I was 14, in my sophomore year, I used to have a little crush on him ever since the first time I saw him half naked walking around his room. But that was freaking before. I got myself up, thinking of shouting at him for his rude manners. But before I do that, he spoke first. Sorry about that He said, pinching both of my cheeks. I was thinking of pushing him back. But I sighed, realizing that were already late in class. Instead, I rolled my eyes, ignoring him as I made my way inside the classroom. When we walked inside, the class went full silent at first. Then, they started whispering to each other, probably wondering why their Queen Bee and Mr. Popular are together. Yay, perks of being a popular student. Mind explaining to me why youre both 5 minutes late, Ms. Reynolds and Mr. Young? Our professor, Mr. Lantican asked. Wow. I didnt realize it took that long outside. Spencer speaks first. Well sir, w-we bumped into each other a-at the hallway He stuttered. And it took 5 minutes? Well done, kids. And good job at lying. Now, as your punishment, I want you both to stay here after class and go straight to the detention room to- WHAT?! I shouted, startling the whole class. I cant believe it. I really cant believe it. This is my first time to get a detention and I know for a fact that I didnt deserve it. No offense sir, but Im a straight A student and this will greatly affect my grades. I stopped, catching my breath. And just so you know, I have a scheduled meeting with- I stopped, realizing that im pushing the limits. Never mind I gave up, finding the way to my seat. Yeah, detention at the very first day of my senior high. Great right? Spencers POV I stare at her from a good distance. She sits at the front row with some geeky nerds while me, well, Im at the far left side of the back with Blake Morgan and Nathan Brooks, my bestfriends. I felt really bad that I bumped her earlier. The detention will surely drive her crazy, and it was all because of me. She always makes sure to get perfect As, which I couldnt understand. Its like shes going to die if she gets B or lower. I look up at her again memorizing her perfect back features, hoping that I wouldnt get caught, but i was wrong. HOLYSHITBALLS Blake and Nathan both hissed. WHAT? I said, wincing and rubbing my ears. We can tell it dude This time, its just Blake who spoke. Ugh. What is it, again? You like her right? I mean, Samantha Reynolds Nathan spat. WHAT?! Oh no, youre seeing it wrong man. I spat back. Okaaaaaaaaaay, whatever you saaaaay maaaaan They both sang in a girly voice. I rolled my eyes. It was a misunderstanding. I, Spencer Young, will never stoop that low. Sure, shes rich, sexy, gorgeous or to make it short, shes miss perfect. But shes not really my type. I dont know though, because in some way, I find her actions weird and cute. My room is facing hers and I can see all of her actions or whatever. Her room is very neat and she always make sure that all her things are in place. She also has a very strict schedule of sleeping, waking up, exercising and eating. Not that Im stalking her, of course. Anyway, I really dont understand her. I feel like shes hiding something even from her next-miss perfect bestfriend, Annabelle Jacobs. And thats what Im going to find out. Finally, the bell rang signaling us to our next class. I stand up, eagerly wanting to get the hell out of here before our beloved old teacher call up to me. But then again, I was wrong. Mr. Young and Ms. Reynolds can I have a word with you two? Mr. Lantican asked. I groaned mentally, turning back to face his old crooked face. I saw Samantha glaring at me. Man, was she sexy. I shot her an apologetic look before walking towards Mr. Lantican. Yes, Mr. Lantican? I asked, raising an eyebrow. He took a deep breath before answering I want the two of you to be at the detention room at exactly four. Have I made myself clear? Yes sir We both said. Okay, the two of you may go now He finally dismissed us. Thank you, sir. I said lastly to him then I got out of the classroom. Just as I started to make my way upstairs to my next class, I saw Sam alone leaning at one of the bars, smiling at me. Confused, I made my way to her. Whats with the smiling, Sammy? I asked. Thank you, Spence She suddenly said. I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion. What was that? A while ago, she was throwing fires at me by the way she glares. And now? Man, was she bipolar? Fo-for what? I manage to say. Ive said enough, Spence. I just want you to know that Im very happy that you save me She look at me gratefully then suddenly, she kissed my cheek, then left. I was pretty sure that my jaw hit the ground. Samanthas POV In chemistry, which is my third class, I loiter towards the back of the room, waiting for everybody to file in their seats. Mr. Maruso has this rule that whoever you choose to sit with on the first day of class, becomes your lab partner for the entire year. Needless to say, seat selection is definitely critical. Since the sciences arent really my thing, I search around for someone who I think might do well with the laboratory stuffs. I mustve been busy daydreaming; thinking about what happened earlier because when i look up, they are all paired up. Which leaves me standing awkwardly at the back with my books. Embarrassed, I scan the room until I spotted two empty chairs in front. I made my way there and I can see that my suppose-to-be-partner isnt there. I wonder if he or she is just late or absent. I sighed heavily, praying in every god that he or she better have some brains or else Ill be doomed. Five minutes later, Mr. Marusos disscussion of safety precautions and proper handling of equipments was interrupted by a student who just barged in through the room. I turn around to look at my partner which is†¦.. OH BLOODYHELL is that Spencer? Oh great. I forgot that we also have the same class. But really, this cant be happening. It will be too friggin awkward to have him as my partner. Not to mention, FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR. You see, the moment I kissed him earlier, I immediately regret it. I was also shocked. I didnt know what comes through my mind or what made me do that I REALLY DONT KNOW. I guess I was just so grateful from the fact that he saved me from the shopping plan Annabelle and I were going to have. Shoping isnt really my thing. Especially with Annabelle. I brought all my clothes, shoes and bags online. And Anna, being Anna, you wont like it. She was sooo shopaholic. She buys all the possible clothes and shoes she can get. One time, she runs out of money and im forced to let her use my credit card. Not that Im selfish, of course. Its just that Im saving some of my money for my own car. Nobody knows about that except Simon. Shaking my thoughts, I look at Spencer again only to find him talking to Mr. Maruso. He was probably saying some crappy excuses or whatsoever. I saw them nodded in agreement then Spencer turned around to look for some seat. Our eyes met as he spotted the empty seat beside me. Oh bloody great. He raised his eyebrows at me, doing his famous smirk that showed his dimples. How cute. He made his way to his chair. Hey partner, Sammy I rolled my eyes. Dont call me that. It sounds gayish He laughs in a carefree way So does Spence I tried to hide my smile but I couldnt. Minutes passed and we stopped talking to scribble some notes that our professor told us to copy. As I was writing, I notice him looking down at me whilst playing with my hair. How romantic. I stopped writing. What?! I asked. A little annoyed. Nothing. I was just wondering why little miss perfect is bipolar He said coolly. I gritted my teeth. First, Im not little. We have exactly the same height. And second, Im not bipolar He raised an eyebrow Oh really? I thought- Ahem He was interrupted by a girl. We both turned our heads to see who may that be. Unsurprisingly, its Lilly Thompson, one of the oh-so-popular girls. What do you want, Lilly? I asked. This time I was really annoyed. How dare she interrupt us? Youre flirting with my boyfriend She hissed, faking smile. My eyes went wide and I look at Spencer. He too, has the same expression as me. Will someone please tell me what the heck is happening? Pardon me? I dont even know you Spencer spat. I turned to look at Lilly, who was faking hurt. What do you mean? We chatted on facebook last week and you ask me to be your girlfriend. Dont you remember? She asked in a flirtatious way. Someone give me a bucket Spencer raised an eyebrow. Well, that isnt me. Nathan and Blake knows my password. Theyre the ones who probably ask you out. Besides, I havent open my account for ages. You should go and ask them. He sighed. Lilly was close to tears. So you mean, I dont stand a chance to be with you? She said in a weak voice. This time I interrupted. You slut, will you please cut the act? Just look at him. This- I gestured at spencers body. -is the definition of perfect. And you? Youre just a whore who has nothing to do but to seek attention. I finished. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Spencer smiling at me. I ignore him as I gave Lilly the death glare. But this time, she looked angry as hulk You bitch! She shouted, causing some students to look at the three of us. Is there a problem? Mr. Maruso asked. I turned to answer him Oh yeah, theres a snake wandering around here. Poor snake, SHE probably doesnt know where she belongs. I fake crying, causing the whole class to errupt in laughter. I smiled proudly to myself. Good job, Samantha! At that moment, the bell finally rang. Talk about being saved by the bell. I quickly grab my things, said a quick goodbye to Spencer, then I hurried to the door to meet Annabelle at the cafeteria. When I got there, everyone at the school had already heard about the confrontation. Yeah, news travels fast in Jacksonville Highschool. I saw Anna already buying her lunch so I catch up next to her in line. Yo anna I said while putting a carbonara, salad and a boxed milk at my tray. Hey there, Sam. Soooo, fighting with Lilly huh? She asked, waggling her eyebrows. I rolled my eyes. She made me do it I said, finishing the conversation. After paying the bill, we made our way to our table which is located at the far side of the cafeteria. Our table is the circle one with the four silver chairs. Actually, its just the three of us who sits there. Me, Annabelle and our boy-bestfriend, Max Carter. We found him already sitted, stuffing sandwich in his mouth. When he notice us, he greeted us with a smile. Yo girls! So hows the two queen coping up? He asked. Anna raised her eyebrows Coping up? Haha, were fine. As always I added, winking at him. Time passed and were already finished with our lunch. Max started telling us some jokes which cause Anna and I to laugh hysterically. That is until Spencer Young decided to come at our table to remind me of the detention. I know I said, giving him the death glare and signaling for him to leave before I pull out both of his mighty eyeballs. Thankfully, he obeyed and left. Slowly and carefully, I turn to face the now angry Anna who was looking at me with an intense glare. I-im sorry, anna I stuttered. I was looking at the floor, twiddling my fingers. I was waiting for her to shout at me but instead, she put an arm around my shoulder, looking worried. What happened? She asked. You know that this is your first time getting a detention right? I nodded. Well, Spencer and I were late and Mr. Lantican got mad I explained. This is unfair She said. What about our shopping?She raised an eyebrow. Great. I really expected that. I was thinking of shouting at her, telling her that she has so many freaking goddamn clothes. But instead, i come up with an idea. Well, Max will be honored to accompany you I said, smirking at Max. Max widened his eyes in horror. I AM NOT GOING NEAR THE VICTORIAS SECRET! He shouted dramatically causing all of us to laugh again. I guess well just go shopping on friday night then Anna said. I rolled my eyes. Yeah, sure. NOTE: On friday, make sure to forget my credit card at home. Spencers POV After lunch, i made my way to the locker room to change for the basketball practice. I flicked the combination to my locker and opened it. Just as I was grabbing my clothes, Blake came up behind me. Spencer! You ready? He asked. Yeah, give me a second to change I said, going inside the comfort room. Seconds later, I got out of the comfort room, completely dressed. I grab a bottle of cold water and started gulping. I need to stay hydrated. So, do you like her too? Blake suddenly asked. I scrunched my eyebrow in confusion. What are you talking about, man? Are the two of you going out now? He asked again, ignoring my question. I glared at him. Who exactly are we talking about, blake? I spat. Uh, Lilly Thompson. He said nervously. Huh? Who is Lilly and why are we talking about her? I dont care about her, duh. Then it hit me. YOU! I shouted. It was you who chatted her! He rubbed the back of his neck. Sorry, man. Its just that- Let me guess I interrupt him. You like her. Am I right? He nodded. Yeah. I really liked her since we were sophomore. I know a lot about her and i know that she likes you so much. Thats the reason i used your account without permission. To be able to talk and ask her out He finished. I sighed. I forgive you, man. But i wont trust you anymore. Im going to change my password the moment i got home. I joked, then i continue. You shouldnt be ashamed to ask her out, Blake. Im sure shell like you I said, finishing the conversation. Thanks, man He said, punching my arm lightly. We made our way to the court where Nathan was. We saw him sitting and waiting impatiently, spinning a ball in his thumb. When he saw us, he shouted. You two! What took you so long? He asked in an annoyed voice. I faked sigh. Sorry, nate. We cant take it anymore. I replied, smiling flirtatiously to Blake. Blake just laughed while Nathan, realizing what im talking about, gave us a dirty look. Youre both disgusting He said. But you love us I cooed, patting his shoulders. Come on, lets play Somehow, we managed to play smoothly for one and a half hour. When were finished, the three of us jogged our way back to the shower room, dying for a cold shower. When were finished with our cold showers, we separate ways to go to our last class. I check my schedule to find out what class am i having. French. Oh oui, mon sujet favori! Just as i was making my way, i remember something. Something that ive been dreading to know. I turn around, running downstairs to catch up with Blake. I saw him making his way to the registrars office. Blake! I shouted. He turned around. Huh? He asked, confused. I ran towards him. I have a question I said, panting. He laughed. Is it that important that you have to- Why Lilly? I interrupted. He looked at me, startled. What do you mean, man? He asked, raising an eyebrow. I sighed. What made you like her? I asked again. He just look at me blankly for a couple of seconds. Finally, after realizing what i meant, he let a huge sigh of relief. Okay, fine. You see spencer, you wouldnt just want to know the outside, arent you? He asked and I nodded. Then he continue. Think about it. For you to know the person completely, you have to also see the inner beauty. For every person in this world, theres a reason why theyre like that. Theres a reason behind why their attitudes and personalities are like that. Thats why we should not judge first. He said, looking at me sadly. You know, I always thought that Lilly will be always like that. People keep saying that shes a bitch, a slut, a whore, an attention seeker but you know what, spencer? In my eyes, i see her differently. The minute i saw her at the orphanage playing with the little kids, man, i was lovestruck. I didnt expect that, especially from a Lilly Thompson. Shes a type of girl who would change her attitude so that people will not recognize her nor to be able to see through her. Thats what made me like her, spencer. He finished, smiling mostly to himself. I was pretty sure that there were tears forming in my eyes. Gayish i know. I, uh- thanks a lot, blake. And, good luck. I stuttered, patting his back. No worries He shrugged. I checked my watch. Three minutes till the last bell. Uh, spencer? Blake called. Yeah? Always remember, dont judge the book by its cover. And, if you like someone, learn to love her flaws first. He finished, then he left. Samanthas POV I stared at the clock, counting the time in my head. 56 57 58 59 RIIIIINNNGGGG! Shoot. I got up as fast as I could then hurried my way towards the door then down the stairs. Great, I thought to myself. Its just a detention, Sam. Calm down. Its just a detention. just a detention Just a fuc- SAM! Someone shouted, taking me into realization. I stopped in my tracks to find whoever who was calling me. I saw Spencer waving at me frantically, gesturing the way to the detention room. Right. What the hell am I thinking and why am I walking the other way?! I shrieked, thinking to myself. I made my way to Spencer who was now laughing like theres no tomorrow. Embarrassed, I tried to cover up. Why are you laughing? I asked, faking innocence. He stifled some laugh. You looked a little.. lost. Do you really study here? Why are you walking the other way? You do know that the detention room is here, right? He asked, pointing to the room. Who said that I was going there first? I asked, keeping my face blank. Where were you going, then? He asked, challenging me. To the ladies room I said confidently, hoping hed buy it this time. He just stared at my blankly. Then he started laughing. Harder and louder this time. Samantha! HAHAHAHAHA! Youre f-fucking hi-hilarious! The la-dies room i-is upsta-irs! He manage to say between laughs. My mouth formed a small o as I realize that he was right. I was left utterly speechless and really embarrassed. I can feel my cheeks turning bright red. I look up at him and hes still laughing. This time, with no noise coming out. Are you done making fun of me? I asked, raising my eyebrow. He finally stopped laughing, clutching his hard-abs stomach as he spoke. Yeah. You didnt tell me youre a good comedian, Sam. I rolled my eyes. I know right? Its one of my hidden talents. Absolutely right. By giving me a good laugh everyday, I wont have to work out anymore. He waggled his eyebrows at me. I smiled. This man surely made my day. Who would have thought that Mr. Spencer Young is like that? Maybe, if we hang out a long time ago, we would be bestfriends by now. And did I mention that he looked hot in his outfit? From v-neck to skinny jeans, perfect. Are you done checking me out? He asked, gesturing to his body. I rolled my eyes and started walking towards the detention room, worry and nervous free. As we walked inside, we realized that were not the only ones who got detention. We saw a girl and a boy -probably freshman- lurking around the room waiting for Mr. Lantican. At last, he came inside, holding a cup of coffee and a large notebook in his hands. We all stand up to greet him. Good afternoon, sir. Good afternoon, kids. He replied. Now, I will group and assign you all to your works He said, looking and flipping through the notebook. Lets see Luke and Miley both of you will be at the movie room to fix all the cds and equipments He finally said. The two student nodded, then left. As for you two- He said, looking at us intensely. -Ill be assigning you to the library to fix and rearrange some books. You may now proceed He finished, then left. I made my way to the library with Spencer, eager to finish the task. We stormed downstairs, taking a left to the library. When I opened the door, we were surprised on how messy it was. Youve got to be kidding me. We cant finish this in one hour What happened here? Spencer asked. I dont know I said, stretching. Lets get working. *After one hour* Woooooh! I shouted, wiping my head with the back of my hand. Weve been cleaning for an hour, throwing and stacking some books here and there. Spencer isnt much of a help though. While I was working my butt out, rearranging some books, he thought it would be fun to just sit there and draw some silly faces on the book covers. But somehow, thankfully, weve managed to clean the library. When were contented with our work, we turned the lights off then we headed out of the school. Uh, Spencer? I asked, realizing something. Yeah? He replied whilst looking at his watch. I-uh, would you give me a lift? I mean, Anna is usually the- No problem, milady He interrupted. I smiled at him. Thanks. As I got up to his car -which is a grey Porsche carrera gt- I pulled out my phone and saw that I have two messages coming from Anna and mom. I opened moms first: Honey, where are you? You didnt tell me youre going to be late I immediately hit the reply button: Sorry, mom. Just got detention. Ill explain it to you later, love you. After sending, I read Annas message: Hows detention with Mr. Young? ;) I smiled, typing: Weve been asked to clean the library. I hate to admit it, but its fun. Never thought Mr. Young has a great sense of humor ;) I hit the send button then I put my phone back in my pocket. Minutes passed and I started to feel some awkwardness so I decided to play some music. I reached for the Switchfoot album, then pushed the CD inside. I stared at the window just as while You was playing. Great. I look like an emo Theres always something in the way Theres always something getting through But its not me, its you At exactly 6:00 pm, Spencer pulled up in front of my house. I thanked him and waved goodbye, then he left. I sighed heavily, thinking of the very tiring day. I pushed myself to the door and I walked inside. Moooom? I shouted, looking for her. At the kitchen! She shouted back. I made my way to the kitchen, dropping my bag at the bottom of the stairs as I walked by. MOM!- I immediately talk. -Im so sorry. I didnt mean to be late in class, I swear it wont happen again and I just want you to know that Ill still be getting straight As and also- Samantha! Calm down! Were not mad, okay? She interrupted. I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion. Huh? Why are you not mad? Youre supposed to be shouting at me for letting you down. I said in a weak voice, tears starting to fall. Shhh, Samantha. Dont ever think about that. Actually, your dad and I were happy that it happened. Youre experiencing the things youve never experience before. Were so proud of you, honey. I stopped crying then I studied her face. Was she serious? Things that Ive never done before? That would be parties, drinking alcohol, taking drugs and sex. I stared at her in horror. Sam, are you okay? Mom asked, waving a hand to my face. She must have noticed that im not breathing. I came back into realization. Uh yeah, mom. Im just.. tired. I should go up and change now I said, kissing her cheeks. I walked pass the dining room, grabbing a banana to calm myself down. I picked up my bag and jogged my way upstairs. Just as I was about to walk inside my room, my father appeared in the hallway Your moms right, Sam. You should live your life the way you wanted. He said, holding back tears. I just nodded then I locked myself inside the room.

Reflecting On Ones Practice Nursing Essay

Reflecting On Ones Practice Nursing Essay Striving to become better at what one does entails reflecting on both the positive things that one has achieved and the mistakes committed in the process of performing ones duties and responsibilities. Reflective practice focuses on the learning that has evolved and correcting what has been done wrong. This essay assesses my professional, clinical development through an analytical reflection from a patient seen in the Emergency Care Centre (ECC), as part of the holistic health assessment module. The assessment model used in the consultation will be examined, together with theoretical and evidence based practice, and how this has helped developed my approach, linking decision-making and best practice outcomes. Following Gibbs (1988) model of reflection, I shall establish the integration between theory and practice. This model identified six stages involved in reflective practice where at each stage the I would ask myself a number of questions leading to the final stage of an action plan. It begins with selecting a critical incident to reflect upon followed by keen observing and describing of the incident, then analyzing my experience. This is followed by interpreting the experience and exploring alternatives leading up to an action plan. This is is a cyclical process which enables continual retrospective reflection. II. Reflective Practice Reflective practice has been a key underpinning of qualified nurses since the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting (UKCC) (1992) required them to keep a professional portfolio. As professionals, we are accountable for our ongoing learning and self development, providing the best care to our patients. To ensure this, we need to focus on our actions and skills to be able to meet the demands of patients, colleagues and professional bodies. In order to be reflective practitioners, we need to be reflective thinkers. Reflective thinking is thinking that is aware of its own assumptions and implications as well as being conscious of the reasons and evidence that support the conclusion (Lipman, 2003, p.26). John Dewey defined reflective thinking as an active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusion to which it tends (cited in Martin, 1995, p.167) . Reflective thinking leads one to be more self-aware so he can develop new knowledge about professional practice. Reflective practice has been recognised to be an important tool for professional development. Rowls and Swick (2000) agree and observed that practitioners who regularly reflected enabled them to develop their skills and the way they deal with patients. Schunk and Zimmerman (1998) describe how a self- reflective practice allows us to monitor, evaluate and adjust our performance during learning. Adjusting strategies based on assessment on our learning helps to achieve the goal of learning and identifying the activities well suited to our situations (Schunk Zimmerman, 1998). However, practitioners often found the process quite time consuming and there was a greater fear of becoming introspective or being critical of oneself too much in practice. It is likely that one can be too engrossed in his reflection that he gets to neglect the delivery of a great work performance. Schons theory outlines two different types of reflection that occur at different time phases: reflection on action (Schon 1983) and reflection in action (Schon 1983). Reflection in action is often referred to the colloquial phrase as thinking on your feet a term used to being able to assess ourselves within a situation, making appropriate changes and still keeping a steady flow in the process. Reflection on action is when reflection occurs after the event. This is where the practitioner makes a deliberate and conscious attempt to act and reflect upon a situation and how it should be handled in the future (Loughran 1996). This means while performing a professional task, and one keeps thinking if what he is doing is right, he is doing reflection-on-action. After the task, he gets to evaluate what he has done right or wrong, and at that point, he is engaging in reflection-in-action. I am aware that I practice both kinds in my profession. However ,Fry, Ketteridge and Marshall (2003) seem to take a balanced view and define reflection to be an integration of existing knowledge and new knowledge. This implies that as a reflective practitioner, I should always evaluate if my current knowledge is still applicable, and in updating myself, should be able to incorporate my new learning with what I already know. My Own Practice I have been an Emergency Nurse Practitioner for the past 6 years. My task was mostly seeing patients in the emergency setting with minor injuries. I took this course to gain further knowledge and revise what needs to be improved in what I previously learnt during my 15 years as a nurse. Basically, I assess patients with localized problems (i.e, sprained ankles, lacerations, painful joints, minor head injuries etc.). I found it very daunting having to deal with the person as a whole again and investigate multiple systems (respiratory, cardiac, muscular, etc). Having attended tutorials regarding the assessment of these systems using the inspection, palpation, percussion and auscultation (IPPA) methods, I was eager to practice what I have learned and felt ready to assess a patient. Reflecting on Ones Practice In the tradition of Gibbs (1988) reflective practice, the first step is concentrating on one particular example from my own work experience. One incident that is worth reflecting on was my encounter with a patient with left-sided chest pain. I immediately thought that the patient was suffering from cardiac chest pain, but upon further examination, I found out that the patient actually had a recent chest infection which was treated by a GP with antibiotics. The chest infection was resolved, but the patient was left with residual chest pain. It turns out that it was mild pleuritic chest pain after all. In this incident, I initially felt confident in my diagnosis of cardiac chest pain due to my years of experience as an emergency nurse. Such vast experience exposed me to a variety of symptoms and its diagnosed illnesses. My confidence also came from having attended enough tutorials regarding the assessment of symptoms manifested by different body systems. Upon reading the patients notes, the symptom of left-sided chest pain immediately made me conclude that it was cardiac chest pain. I know that merely reading the patients notes is not enough in coming up with conclusive diagnosis. The clinical evaluation may include the basic inspection, palpation (feeling with the hands), percussion (tapping with the fingers), and auscultation (listening) (IPPA) (The Free Dictionary, 2013); CURB 65, which is a simple well-validated tool for the assessment of severity in community acquired pneumonia (CAP) is another essential evaluative method in checking the presence of a deadly respiratory diseas e. The Ohio State University College of Medicine (2012) shares its guideline in the use of this approach. CURB is short for checking the patients confusion, blood urea nitrogen, respiratory rate, and systolic blood pressure. If the patient seems to be delirious or confused, then he is given a score of 1 on the confusion item. If his blood urea nitrogen value is greater or equal to 20 mg/dL, then it also garners a score of 1. A respiratory rate that is more or equal to 30 breaths/minute is also credited for 1 point. The same is true for the systolic blood pressure if it is less than 90 mm Hg or a diastolic blood pressure less than or equal to 60. If the patient is 65 years old and above, then it also gains 1 point. Computing all the points, if the patients score is 0 or 1, then he can safely be treated as an outpatient. However, a score of 2 may indicate that he needs closer supervision when receiving outpatient treatment, or he may be recommended for inpatient observation admission. Most of the time if the collated score of the patient is 3, 4 or 5, then this usually means the patient needs to be confined to inpatient treatment (Ohio State University College of Medicine, 2013). Clinical judgment of the professional is necessary for a decision to be made for the patient. (Karmakar Wilsher, 2010). Still another evaluative method in examining the patient is the Pulmonary Embolism rule-out Criteria (PERC) (Hugli et al., 2011). The thorough process it entails determines if there is a potentially life-threatening cause of chest pain which may include pulmonary embolus, acute coronary syndrome, aortic dissection or tension penumothorax (King et al., 2012, para.3). If the patients chest pain becomes worse when he is applied deep inspiration and recumbency, then it is likely that it is due to a pleuritic cause. With Gibbs reflection model, so far, the first three steps of identifying a critical incident, observing and describing of the incident have already been done. Now comes analyzing my experience. Triage notes stated a 57 year old female who was suffering from left sided chest pain. Observations were blood pressure ; 184/78, pulse ; 74, respiratory rate; 16, saturations on O2; 98%. I had decided to take this patient and perform an assessment on her. The immediate thoughts were of cardiac chest pain as it was stated to be left sided in nature. Since starting the health assessment module the cardiac patient was the system I was least confident in, in the assessment process. I was anxious before seeing the patient. I had concluded that she was suffering from a cardiac chest pain, and imagined her to be requiring some form of intervention from the cardiac team. However, when meeting the patient and gaining further medical history it was clear that she was in fact a stable patient with a different complaint from my first impression. She had recently been treated for a chest infection by her GP, she had undergone a course of anitbiotics, amoxicillin 500mg for 1 week, after which she had felt much better, but over the following week had been left with a residual left sided chest pain which was worse on deep inspiration. She had initially had an expectorating cough, which had now resolved to an occasional dry cough. After a thorough assessment including IPPA, baseline observations, chest x ray, bloods including D Dimer, full blood count, UEs, cardiac enzymes, and a Wells score to rule out PE, the patient was diagnosed with pleuritic chest pain or pleurisy by the Doctor. (see appendix 1) Initially, I was uncomfortable evaluating the patients condition because it was my first patient with a cardiac problem.Throughout the assessment process I felt uneasy with the knowledge that I had initially made a judgement about the patient without even meeting her. It made me revise my approach to patients as a whole and not jump to conclusions before all avenues had been investigated. I was humble enough to accept my mistake when it was confirmed that it was a mild pleuritic chest pain, garnering from the information from further examination and history taking. I felt the need to read up on cardiac chest pain and push myself into seeing patients with that particular problem so that I can overcome my apprehensions. Next in Gibbs model is the interpretation of my experience. The interpretation of the patients condition from the initial triage notes made me aware of myself making a judgement before setting eyes on the patient. This concerned me and made me question my actions. I understood that I was nervous and uneasy at the thought of assessing a patient unaccompanied, and with hindsight put too much pressure on myself regarding responsibility and duty of care. I recognised the need for me to understand that I was gaining knowledge and skills as part of the degree module that I was completing, this didnt require me to diagnose the clinical conditions of the patients, but facilitated in the learning process of assessment skills and putting into place ideas of diagnosis / differential diagnosis. It also made me reflect on my thought processes regarding making snap judgements without gaining further information. The last stage in Gibbs model entails creating an action plan. The experience I have just analyzed made me realize that the current knowledge and experience I currently have are not enough. I need to learn to be more open in my evaluation of the patients symptoms, and hold my judgment until I have completed the necessary information derived from both examination tests and consulting the medical history of the patient. The fast rate of change in the medical field necessitates health practitioners like me to constantly update myself of current trends and the latest methodologies in nursing care. I should also remind myself all the time that the patients welfare comes way before my own ego in terms of priority. Conclusion Through reflective evaluation I was able to adjust the way I assessed patients with chest pain. I relaxed considerably more and let myself enjoy the assessment process. I was able to consolidate the new skills I had learnt and put in place a methodical process of evaluating differential diagnosis. I understood that the official diagnosis was going to be made by the Doctors mentoring my practice which considerably lessened the pressure I put on myself. Through this reflective process it became evident that good and bad working practice can be monitored and evaluated. Mistakes can be avoided and good working practice can be upheld. Although the feelings initially were disheartening, support from colleagues and my own learning outcomes have helped me progress and develop my skills of assessment. As Atkins and Murphy (2003) suggest that reflection should be made in times of uncomfortable feelings and thoughts surrounding a situation.

Ballet :: essays research papers

?Audience: Parents who want to enroll their children in a ballet class for the first time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As a child I was very active in ballet. When I first asked my parents to let me enroll in a ballet class, they were skeptical. They weren’t too sure of what a ballet class consisted of or what kind of exercise I would have to undergo. My parents researched in books and magazines, but they didn’t understand the ballet terminology. When they went to speak to a ballet instructor, they got a better understanding of what I would be doing in class. Now that I am older and have started to teach my own ballet class, I want my students’ parents to understand what the class consists of. I have written an easy-to-understand overview of a ballet class.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Technique levels in ballet fall into three categories: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Students advance through the different levels according to their skill level. This is much like football. A football player begins playing in junior high, then moves up the high school level, and then the collegiate level.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Next, we move onto the barre, a rigid piece of wood or metal longer than it is wide. A barre is used to help give support; it may also be used as a handle. The barre is a well-designed step-by-step process which brings out the best in dancers muscular and mental receptivity. We will begin working with the feet, then the legs, hips, upper back, and torso. The barre helps the student concentrate on one leg at a time. It also helps the students gain confidence to help them balance on one leg at a time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are various exercises that can be performed on the barre (e.g., warming up the calf muscles or warming down after class). The tendu exercise helps to warm up the achilles tendon and calf muscles. The French word tendu means to slide the foot without lifting the toe from the ground while keeping both knees straight.

Early Arizona Women in the Mormon Faith :: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Early Arizona Women in the Mormon Faith Imagine traveling across country, in uncharted territory without air conditioning. Believe it or not, thousands of people did it. These pioneers had to protect themselves, make good of the resources around them and try to have a normal family life on top of this. As if this was not hard enough, Mormon women had a much tougher challenge to face; they had to keep faith and teach the word of the lord to all they came in contact with. Many challenges had to be overcome even once they settled, building a house, a community, and a church, not to mention the boredom and loneliness of being far from their families. Pioneering was done mainly throughout the mid to late nineteenth century in America. Women were responsible for tending to the children, cooking whatever their husbands (or fathers or brothers) may have caught that day and cleaning. There were times when animals were hard to find and no kill was brought home that night to feast on; the women had to then compromise and pick plants around them and boil them into a soup. The types of animals that were mainly found were deer, buffalo and occasionally a dog was killed to feast upon. Some of the fears of traveling to Arizona consisted of Indian attacks, robbers and family and, or friends dying along the trail. Not all tribes of Indian’s attacked traveling settlers. In an account told by Mrs. Elvira Martineau Johnson, who, in 1876, traveled with her husband to Moen Copie tells of how Navajo Indians wanted justice, not revenge. According to her, three of the tribes cattle were killed and the Navajo’s wanted to know by whom. The head of the settlement, Jas S. Brown, was hospitable and fed the Navajos while he tried to get to the bottom of the story. Brown and the Navajos traveled to another settlement not far away and discovered half-starved colonists. The colonists admitted to killing the three cattle and explained they thought the cattle were owner less. Because of the time and effort Brown devoted to solving the problem, the Navajos were satisfied and did not ask for any reparations.1 Flagstaff became one of the first Mormon settlements in Arizona.

Medical Marijuana and Its Uses and Effects

Hastings Center Report, 36(3), 19-22. Cone's credibility as a trustworthy author is indisputable, because of all of his accomplishments. He was a professor of anesthesiology at the University of Pennsylvania medical school, the chairman of the Society of Academic Anesthesiology, and of the Medical Society of the District of Columbia. Cone's formal article mainly focused on the lack of scientific evidence of the therapeutic use of marijuana, and how people were being prosecuted for using medical marijuana even though it was legal by state law.His purpose throughout was to motivate scientists to perform research and testing of medical marijuana. He began taking about the Supreme Court case of Gonzales v. Rich, which ruled that the production and use of home-grown marijuana can be criminality. Rich legally grew marijuana for her own medical use under Californians Proposition 21 5, but she was still prosecuted by the federal government. Cohen cleverly used Roach's example to show that me dical marijuana needs further testing to show the extent of its benefits.He manipulated the audience's emotions by describing Rich as a 39 year old mother who had struggled with disabling ailments since she was a child, yet miraculously marijuana made her strong enough to stand p and learn to walk again. Cone's tone throughout the article was very skeptical. For example, he referred to marijuana as an unproven therapy, and compared its use without scientific evidence to using liniments of turpentine for curing cancer. He also used pathos and logos to depict the political barriers to obtaining valid studies of medical marijuana.For example, Cohen used the story of how he had to wait four years to try to obtain marijuana legally from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NADIA) to perform clinical studies of its effectiveness, and then later was rejected. Cotter, J. (2009). Efficacy of crude marijuana and synthetic delta-9- dehydrogenation's as treatment for chemotherapy-induced nause a and vomiting: A systematic literature review. Oncology Nursing Forum, 36(3), 345-352. Jaime Cotter's credibility as an author could be seen as reliable, although he has only written one article on medical marijuana.Cotter is an oncology clinical nurse specialist at Aurora SST. Lake's Medical Center in New Berlin, WI. , which affects his perspective on the uses of medical marijuana, which is that marijuana is better for treating patients with chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINE). His targeted audience was mostly nurses and physicians. The goal of Cotter's article was to evaluate side effects and patient preference of smoked marijuana to the oral version of marijuana, TECH. Also he wanted to encourage fellow nurses to suggest the use of the TECH for treatment of CINE to their patients and physician associates.Cotter's article gave a general overview of the history of marijuana and its uses, and it compared smoked marijuana to TECH and placebo for treating CINE, by gathere d research from published scholarly articles. He used logos to convince his audience f the impossibility of death by a marijuana overdose, by reporting that the absence of cannoning receptors in the lower brainstem makes the probability for lethal overdoses impossible. Cotter also honestly stated that the adverse side effects of medical marijuana such as impaired memory, distorted perception, and anxiety.He continued is persuasive remarks by stating that all drugs have their own unique side- effect, which is undeniable. Hathaway, A. D. , & Roister, K. (2007). Medical marijuana, community building, and Canada's compassionate societies. Contemporary Justice Review, 10(3), 283-296. Hathaway and Rosette's credibility paled in comparison to the other authors even though their Journal was well researched. Hathaway works at the University of Gulch's department of sociology and anthropology, and he has a PhD. Roister also has a PhD and she works in the department of public health science at the University of Toronto.The main goal of their Journal was to shed light on the obstacles that patients go through to obtain medical marijuana, and to expose clandestine communities like compassion clubs that helped patients to gain access he medical marijuana. The authors' stance was in support of medical use of marijuana. Their Journal was mostly give out general information on the historical and present use of medical marijuana. Their main focus was to elaborate on the difficulty of patients to achieve access to medical marijuana through physicians, and how it caused them to go to other unreliable sources to gain medical treatment.The authors gathered research by going to a compassion club to perform face-to-face interviews with people that used marijuana for medicinal purposes. The author used he interviews as a way to manipulate the audience to believe that the compassion clubs were a safe haven for patients seeking marijuana treatment. They depicted that the clubs provided a wealth of information about medical marijuana and spared the patients form the dangers of buying street drugs. Season, M. J. , Fast, J. A. , Maria, M. , & ABA-Shears, N. A. (2007). Medical marijuana and the developing role of the pharmacist.American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 64(10), 1037-1044. The authors of this text are highly creditable, because they all reactive within pharmaceutical companies, and some are practicing pharmacists themselves. That fact totally shaped the goal of their article, which was to encourage fellow pharmacists to learn as much as possible about the medical and social histories of marijuana. The authors perspectives on medical marijuana was that it is a drug that should be used with caution and can have potentially adverse side- effects, especially if it interacts with prescription drugs.The authors used logos to convince the audience that the lack of scientific research is due to the fact the deiced marijuana is tightly regulated product, and i ts quality clinical trials are limited. The authors used ethos by naming prestigious institutes such as the Institute of Medicine and the House of Lords to support their claim that medical marijuana does have some value. The authors also made unsupported claims of marijuana being associated with adverse effects that impair the cardiovascular, respiratory, and nervous system. Tooting, W. , Collect, J. , Shapiro, S. & Ware, M. A. (2008). Adverse effects of medical cannabises: A systematic review. ECMA: Canadian Medical Association Journal, 178(13), 1669-1678. The authors article overall is creditable as a source for general information on medical marijuana, but they sometimes make claims without any proof to support them. All of the authors have occupations relative to health care. This whole article in a nutshell, was about a systematic review of medical marijuana by evaluating eligible articles that were published in the past 40 years, their results, and their interpretation.The pur pose was to report known adverse effects of marijuana, so their Journal could inform physicians, policymakers and the public. The authors used logos in the way that they performed systematic review, so that could persuade their audience that they were creditable and well informed. Also they used varied types of graphs to visually show their results, and to impress the audience. According to the authors, medical marijuana has a risk factor for psychosis, cancer, and neurologist effects.That study was focused on the recreational use of marijuana, so it cannot be trusted, because it is not relevant to medical uses. Ware, A. M. , Kahn, M. , Assertive, A. (2006). Is there a role for marijuana in medical practice? Canadian Family Physician, 52, 1531-1533. Ware, Kahn, and Secretariat's Journal was highly credible and useful. They all had professions that relate to health and medicine, so they could easily be declared reliable authors. Ware was a practicing pain physician and assistant prof essor in anesthesia and family medicine.Kahn was medical director of the addiction medical service and head of the alcohol clinic at SST. Josephs Health Centre for addiction and mental health. Also Assertive was a staff physician at SST. Josephs Health Centre and a clinical researcher. Their Journal entry was basically two opposing sides debating on whether marijuana use belongs in medical practice. The authors' goal was to show both sides of the marijuana debate to educate patients and physicians. Both side made strong points that supported their opinions.For example, the side for medical marijuana stated that marijuana could be cultivated under controlled conditions, which could reduce the risk of patients being prosecuted, and it could be documented and monitored as part of standard care. On the side against medical marijuana, they stated and oral TECH and a buyback spray are available, which is safer than smoking dried marijuana. Also they declared that patients that use marijua na are in a high risk for adverse effects like dependence and psychosomatic impairment, due to approved daily amounts that patients can consume.