The Road To My Future In Law

In the last unit of the Endurance course, we looked into how survivors of an endurance battle came out on the other side. We looked into how they managed to get through and how they were able to come out alive on the other side. For the Action Project, we had to look at our own missions and goals and come up with a survival guide. I chose to take a path in law so I looked into the different things that go along with my mission. It was very difficult come up with some of the parts of the project. I am very proud of the way my project came out and I hope you enjoy. 

__________________________________________________________________

Why?

In my life, I hope to one day change the world. I want to be able to say once I am old that I was able to make a difference in the world. By becoming a lawyer, I will be able to do my best to make sure that no one will be treated unfairly. I really want to be able to not only change someone else’s life as well as my own. I know that with being lawyer I will be able to live comfortably and happy. I think that I have started my journey already by being able to shadow my uncle and see what life would be like. I hope to become someone that can happily say that they help others rather than just helping ourselves.

Lay of the Land

In order for me to become a lawyer, I would need to complete 7 years of study after high school. 4 years of undergraduate studies followed by 3 years of law school (My Future. N.D.). I will be attending University of Dayton for my undergraduate studies. For the 4 years I am there, I will have to take many classes in order to prepare me for the 3 years of law school that follow it. The legal profession requires basic knowledge of the government, as well as its history and processes. Courses in these subjects are advised, so I will have some understanding of the topics before you begin law school. These courses are usually reading-intensive, which is also great preparation for law school. The classes I would have to take are United States and world history, economics, Government, Jurisprudence, Law and/or taxation, and any political science. My legal education will build on writing, analytical thinking and public speaking skills, so courses that showcase my ability to excel in these areas will look good on my undergraduate transcript. The classes I have to take for that is debate, english, literature, logic, philosophy or public policy, public speaking, and writing. Some other helpful courses that I could take are criminology, psychology, sociology, and religion. (Michelle Fabio, 03/19/2017). While at Dayton, I will need to maintain a 3.0 GPA in order to keep my scholarships. When I have to start preparing for law school, I will have to start looking for more scholarships to help me pay for law school. If I maintain higher than the needed GPA to keep my scholarships, it will make my transcripts look better and potentially gain me more leverage to get more scholarships and get into a top law school.

There are many things needed in order to become a lawyer, I would need to earn a bachelor's degree in any subject. Then, I will have to take and pass the Law School Admission Test to attend law school and acquire a Juris Doctor.   Next, I will complete a clerkship at a local law firm to gain experience (optional). Finally I will take state Bar Examination and hopefully find a job at a firm. (Criminal Justice, 2012).

I have decided that I want to pursue criminal and civil rights law. There are millions of lawyers all around the world, there are so many people I can learn from. Law is a very serious and tough subject that requires a lot of time and dedication. There are so many different things that one can learn from lawyers. With the large amount of lawyers that exist in the world I can find thousands for each field of law. There are different things I can learn from different people in each field. In the case of law, there are overarching characteristics and traits that all lawyers follow, but when it comes to the specific sectors of law, I would be able to learn best from someone within the field.

Timeline:

1: Graduate from High School (2017)

2: Maintain 3.0+ throughout my 4 years of undergraduate study (2017-2021)

3: Graduate from College (2021)

4: Get into law school (2021)

5: Graduate from law school (2024)

6: Complete a clerkship at law firm (2025)

7: Take Bar Exam (2025)

8: Get job at firm (2026)

9: Make partner (2030)

10: Retire (2060)

Resources and Materials:

Undergraduate Study (University of Dayton): $229,480

Law School (NYU): 178,674

Bar Exam (NYC): $250

Non- Negotiables:

I think I would be willing to sacrifice the school I attend. I want to be able to get the best education I can and learn everything I can to become a good lawyer, if I have my heart set on one school and I don't end up getting in, I don't want to let that stop me from becoming a lawyer. I think that it really wouldn't matter what school I went to because at the end of the day I am there to learn as much as I can. I would not be willing to sacrifice my job as a lawyer. I am passionate about this and I don’t think I would be willing to give all of that up. I also would not sacrifice my happiness and well being. I think that wherever I end up working, I will need to be happy. I wouldn’t want to work at a place that was not benefitting to my well being because then all of the work I had done would have all been for nothing. I would want to work somewhere that I would be excited to go to every day rather than dreading it.

What if?

There are many setbacks that come with being a lawyer. With the economy and job market only getting worse, I am going to have to work incredibly hard to complete my goal. There are a few worst-case scenarios I could encounter. One could be me not getting enough scholarships to pay for law school or not getting in. Another setback I could experience would be me not getting a job once I was done with school. I think that if one of these things actually happens and I am forced to change my path, I would want to work for a non profit for animals or kids or something. I would work within the finances or something like that. Or I would work within their law division if they had one since I would have to degrees for it. I don't like to think of a backup plan because I want to think that I will not have to rely on a backup plan. I have been working extremely hard all my life and I want to be able to do what I am passionate about and something that I love to do. I want to do my best to help people in any way I can so if need be, if law school or something ends up not working then I still want to be able to complete my mission of helping people no matter what. However I will have to do it, I will do it.

Inspiration:

-You must keep your mind on the objective, not on the obstacle. – William Randolph Hearst

-Set your mind on a definite goal and observe how quickly the world stands aside to let you pass. ― Napoleon Hill

-Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

-If you don’t value your time, neither will others. Stop giving away your time and talents.

-Value what you know and start charging for it. – Kim Garst

-Either you run the day or the day runs you. – Jim Rohn

Map:

This is the structure of a law firm. One day I hope to become partner at a top law firm.

Your Choice:

My goal later in life is to one day own a big house with my family and finally be able to see that all of the hard work I have done all my life has paid off and that it was all worth it.

My Time in Law

In the second unit of the senior class Endurance, we looked more into Dante’s Inferno and talked about the 9 gates of hell. We looked into a lot of different people’s situations dealing with different physical issues. We talked about David Blaine and Laura Dekker and their very different journeys they took to complete their mission. For this Action Project, we were tasked with doing something for 12 hours that would lead to completing our overall mission. I decided to look into law and work with my uncle for 12 hours to see the different aspects of law and what an average day would look like. It was very difficult to complete this project since it was a lot but I think that I was able to overcome those obstacles and make a really good project.
_________________________________________________________________

Autobiography

In the first unit of Endurance, we talked all about other peoples experience enduring different physically and mental challenges. We also tried to endure some challenges ourselves. the first was sitting without moving or talking for 10 minutes, the next was holding ice in our hands for a minute, and the last one was doing a bootcamp with a karate teacher. For the Action Project, we were tasked with imagining our lives in the future and looking at the things we endured to get where we were. We had to write a chapter to an autobiography all about the experiences that led to out future. It was difficult to come up with how my future was going to look since it is so far away. I am happy with the way that my project came out.

___________________________________________________________________

Chapter 1: The Beginning

As I look around the courtroom at all of the people cheering and celebrating I smile knowing that I was a part of making history. The first transgender supreme court judge had just been sworn in. I look at all of the smiles throughout the room and think back to a time when I thought I would never be where I am today.

Growing up, the words “you can do it” were a part of everyday life. I heard them learning to walk, learning to ride a bike, before a soccer game, before a sprint, and many other milestones I passed throughout the years. When I started to get older, more obsitcles started getting in my way. It started small, teachers or other adults would start saying “let him do it.” or “don’t hurt yourself hun.” Throughout my high school and college years when I started getting serious about my career, the same thing started happeneing. Except this time people were telling me that I should “quit while I’m ahead” or that there “might not be enough room for you in this field.” As a biracial female, working in the law industry has not been easy. There has been countless times where I have had doors slammed in my face or been turned away from jobs that “were not for me”.

All my life I have wanted to help people. I love playing sports and was really into ones involving team work. Outside of school, I was occuying my time with playing sports, reading, and arguing with my cousins about silly things. I always dreamed that one day I would be a part of making history in some way shape or form. It wasn’t until my junior year of high school when I started coming up with an idea for my future. I knew where I wanted to eventually be, but I had no idea all of the stuggles and roadblocks I was about to face. Going through my undergraduate studies was easy. I attended a stellar university that I really enjoyed and hope to one day be able to return the favor by donating money. Once I moved on to my graduate studies, that’s when life became a little more difficult. Since I am a biracial woman, I was not taken very seriously by some of my classmates. Everyone knows about the pay gap between men and woman and how there is some discrimination towards black lawyers. When I started pursuing this dream, I was prepared to deal with all of those things, but I will admit, there were many times where I wanted to quit.

The Year 2117

In the last unit of the senior humanities course “Equality” we talked a lot about race, gender, and class. We looked into a lot of different aspects of each of these things including feminism, poverty, etc. For the action project we were tasked with completing a few things. We had to choose one topic to create different pieces of writing for. I chose to create my AP around race. We had to write an Op-ed piece, a newspaper article, a government document, and design a toy. It was difficult to come up with a couple of the pieces but I am very proud of the way my action project turned out. Check out my time capsule down below.

______________________________________________________________

First Black Woman President Is Voted Into Office

Written by: MF

Today in the United States, history has officially been made. Everyone recalls back in 2008 when Barack Obama won the election and made history as the first male black president the United States had ever seen. Since then there have been a couple other male black presidents but never an African American woman, now this has officially been changed. Suzanna Thomas has officially been named the next president of the United States.

Born in Albany, New York, Thomas always knew that she wanted to be involved in politics. From being the president of student council in elementary school to becoming her senior class president, Thomas has already done so much for her community. She started to political journey back in 2109 when she became the mayor of new york city. Since then she has done many things to better the city of new york. When the great trash dump of 2110 happened, she was right there picking up trash and finding a solution.

Sam Johnson, the outgoing president of the U.S., speaks very highly of Thomas. He says that “She is completely qualified if not over qualified. I have complete faith in her and I guarantee that the country will benefit with her as our president.” Johnson and Thomas have had many meetings and Johnson has openly campaigned for Thomas.

With only a few months until she takes office, Thomas has vowed to spend her time on trying to change opposing voters minds about her. “I just want to show them that I was the right decision. I want them to see that I will be doing everything in my power to make America work for everyone rather than just the rich.” Voters like Henry Irwin were a bit hesitant to vote Thomas into office. In a street side interview with Irwin, he stated that he “doesn’t want America to fall into so much debt like it did with President Donald Trump and President Hillary Clinton. I just want to have enough money to be able to pay for my family. I don't want to have to start paying unnecessary bills and taxes again. I just want to be able to provide for my family.”

Thomas says she is up for the challenge and ready to go head on for the next four years. She will take office in January along with her husband and 3 children. This will be an interesting 4 years, all of America is hoping that Thomas can stick true to her promises and make America equal again.
_______________________________________________________

35th Amendment to the US Constitution:

It shall be unlawful to prevent women from getting an abortion. They no longer need any consent from a man. If a woman is raped or just does not wish to have a child, it is unlawful to try to prevent her from doing what she has a right to do.
________________________________________________________

Dear Editor,

I am thrilled that Suzanna Thomas has been elected president. As a black woman growing up in New York I always looked up to her and wanted to someday be like her. I was just barely old enough to vote i the primary and I am so thrilled that I got to be a part of this monumental moment in our country. I think that Thomas will stick true to her promises unlike the likes of Donald Trump and Hillary. I learned a lot about these terrible 8 years in history class. After Hillary won the election over Trump, many people had high hopes for her. They thought she would stick to her promises about helping the lower class instead of catering to the upper class like Trump did. They were extremely upset when they realized she was just like him. My grandma told me stories that her mother told her about Trumps reign. She told me that a lot of her friends at her high school started disappearing, either because of getting deported or they ran to get away from Trump's immigration law. She thought Clinton would do everything in her power to right the wrongs that Trump committed but unfortunately she just fed the fire of terror. There was so much pain in those 4 years, she never thought we would get out of it.

Now there is a light at the end of the tunnel with Suzanna. I just know that she will right all of these wrongs from the past years. She is someone who I have always idolized and who I want to try to be like when I get older. I am also very interested in politics and I have dreamed of one day being the president of the united states later in my life. I went to as many of her rallies and speeches as I could on the campaign trail. Everyone enjoyed having her as the mayor of New York, I know that everyone will love having her as the president. All of the people who are skeptical just need to give her a chance and I promise they will have a change of heart.

Sincerely,

Mandy Moore
________________________________________________________

Introducing the newest addition to the Barbie ™ family:

Suzanna Thomas: The Current President of the United States!

MF. 2017.

Suzanna comes with a lot of incredible features. She is able to talk and says many things including her campaign slogan “Make America Equal Again” White House, alternate outfits sold separately.

Chicago Teachers Union

In the first unit of the senior course Equality, we looked at equality in gender, class, race etc. We looked into all of the times where sexism and racism had an impact on our world. For the action project, we were tasked to pick a topic that deals with race, gender, class, occupation, etc.  and write a chapter of a history book on it. I chose to talk about the Chicago Teachers Union strikes. Something that was difficult was picking out my topic. There were so many that I wanted to do but I am glad that I chose the CTU. I am very proud of my project.

Hush

In the Ollywood class, we focused on every aspect of filming. We talked about pre- production, production, and post- production. We learned all about the things that go into each one of these categories and how that may affect the way the film looks. We had the chance to go to some very interesting and helpful places and talk to very interesting people. We got to talk to Ron Mix all about a documentary that he made which was incredibly interesting and helpful because we were able to ask him questions about the production of his film. For this Action Project, we were tasked with filming and editing a movie review on a movie of our choice. My partner and I decided to do the movie Hush. You can check out her blog here . The most difficult part of this project was the editing portion. It was challenging to make all of the cut align. I am very proud of this project and I think it turned out really well.
_______________________________________________________________


   

Princess Diana of Wales

In the second unit of the Journalism class, we focused on sound. We looked at a lot of different types of podcast about different things and began to gather different tips and ways to talk about a topic with just your words. For the action project we were tasked with finding someone influential from the 20th century and creating a podcast about them. We had to interview two people and find sound clips of the person we chose. For my project I chose Princess Diana of Wales. Something that I enjoyed about this project was the freedom to choose whoever I wanted from the 20th century. Something that was hard for me was finding which sound clips I wanted to use for this project. I am really happy with how my project turned out and I hope you enjoy it.
_______________________________________________________________________

WHEN	WHO/HOW	WHAT
0.00-17.612 17.612-39.752 39.752-1.01.813 1.01.813-1.10.543- 1.10.543-1.36.467 1.36.467- 1.46.748 1.46.748- 1.52.315 2.06.715-2.05.945 2.09.650- 2.40.415- 2.41.117-2.45.523- 2.24.470- 4.02.713- 4.04.303- 4.24.693- 4.28.840- 5.11.874- 5.13.379- 5.24.639 5.24.639- 5.48.600 5.27.768-5.46.576	[  Background music}]                 [MF] [Diana] [MF] [Diana] [MF] [MF] [RD] [Diana] [MF] [MNF] [MF] [MNF] [Diana] [MF]	Background music starts (Candle in the Wind by Elton John Instramental) Hi. I’m MF from GCE Lab School today I am going to talk about a voice that had a huge impact on people around the world: Princess Diana of Wales. This voice was important to the 20th century because not only was she a princess, she was also a human rights activist. She spoke on many issues that people face daily and was even able to connect them to her own life. From early childhood, many had felt  they were expected to be perfect but didn’t feel they had the right to express their true feelings to those around them. Feelings of guilt of self revoltion and low personal esteem.   She also focused a lot of her time on children's rights in different countries. She spent her time working with organizations from all around the world ranging from Turning Point to Red Cross . 1989 marks the celebration of Turning point: a charity which, in its 25 years, has gained enormous experience in dealing with problems related to drug and alcohol misuse. Today, Turning Point is the largest national voluntary organization catering to those who drink, drug and mental health problems.   1.36.467- 1.46.748- Although she got a lot of hate for some of the organizations she worked with, she never let that stop her. Diana was born into British nobility and became a princess once she married Prince Charles. 1.46.748- 1.52.315-  I’m going to be talking to my friend who also has a connection with Princess Diana. There are many issues going on in the world. And the one admirable thing about Diana was that she cared so much about these problems. She actually traveled to countries devastated by disaster and disease and tried to connect to the people affected. When no one listens to you, you feel no one is listening to you, all sorts of things start to happen. For instance you have so much pain inside yourself, that you try and hurt yourself on the outside because you want help, but it’s the wrong help your asking for. People see it as crying wolf or attention seeking and they think because you’re in the media all the time, you’ve got enough attention. But I was actually calling out because I wanted to get better in order to go forward and continue my duty or my role as wife, mother, princess of wales. Now I am going to be talking to someone else who also had a connection to Princess Diana. I remember watching her entire wedding on T.V. I don’t know how long it was but it was long. What was also long was the train on her dress, it was like 20 feet long or something. It was beautiful, and the wedding was beautiful, and I watched the whole thing and it seemed like they were in love but, it came out later that it was probably a marriage more of convenience then it was of love. He was, I think, in love with another woman who he ended up marrying after she died but I think that Diana didn’t get along with his mother, the queen, and she felt kind of trapped. But she did her own thing and I think she did a really good job of being the princess and going around and helping people especially people with aids and children. Princess Diana spent so much time focusing on other people’s problems, she wasn’t able to focus on her own. Her marriage was failing and she couldn’t exactly divorce Prince Charles because she would look incredibly bad to the entire country. She had to deal with a failing marriage, depression, and an eating disorder all on her own for a long time while still having a brave face in public. And I think her depression, I guess she was depressed and that was probably because of her life even though it would seem like the life of a princess would be a fairytale but I don't think it was for her. I remember when she died I was in a bar in Waupaca, Wisconsin with my sister and some friends and we were playing pool and it came on the TV that she died in the car crash in London and it was, while no body cried, it was really kind of shocking. Well it gave everybody a wonderful new label: is Diana’s unstable and Diana’s mentally unbalanced; and unfortunately that seems to have stuck on and off over the years.    Diana was able to be a powerful voice for so many people all around the world. Lots connected with Diana in different ways. She spoke a lot about women and connected most of her speeches to them but there were still lots of men that admired her as well. When she died a lot of people, even those that didn't live in wales, were incredibly sad and heartbroken. Background music continues, fades out.

The Meaning of Life

For the first Action Project of the Journalism course, we were tasked to interview someone about what they thought the meaning of life was. We had to compile all they said and write 1,000 words. We then had to take a picture of the person. In this unit we talked all about photo journalism. Something that was difficult for me in doing this project was figuring out what questions to ask. Something I enjoyed about this project was how open it was. We were able to ask so many different questions and get some very thoughtful responses.
__________________________________________________________________

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower is one of my favorite movies/books. It’s all about love, friendship, sadness, and heartbreak. One of my favorite quotes from the movie is “Enjoy it. Because it’s happening.” The quote was said by Charlie--the main character in the film/novel. I love this quote because I think it speaks to everything that happens in life, good or bad. It shows that no matter what is happening in life, you have to keep your head up because it’s happening and you can’t change it. Life is a vast space full of opportunities so “What is the meaning of life?”

Mary is your average mom. She was born in Texas and raised in a suburb of Illinois. She moved to the city to become a grade school teacher. She currently teaches at a CPS language school in Old Town. She has taught many grades from eighth all the way down to third. She is a horse- loving prankster who loves her daughter.

As I lay on a blanket on the roof outside my bedroom, I look at all of the planes soaring through the sky. I hear my mom calling me “Maddie? I’m ready for the interview. Where are you?” I turn around, “On the roof, I’m coming in.” I grab my blanket and walk slowly back up to my window and climb through. I sit cross- legged on the white couch in my moms room while my mom sits down in front of me on her bed. “So mom, what is the meaning of life?” She sits and ponders for a couple minutes. “Mom?” I ask, checking if she is still listening. She finally breaks her silence.

“Do what you want to do, say what you wanna say, love who you wanna love and don’t worry what people think.” She says the last part with a smile. She stares down at my dog Lily who is making an unnecessary amount of noise and lifts her onto her bed. “You can see even with Lily that she's always smiling no matter what and her life is meaningful.” She walks across her room and looks in the mirror.

“Why do you think life is meaningful” I ask looking up from my computer. She looks to the ceiling, thinking about the question. “Not only do I get to do things that I want to do without worry from other people but I also get to give meaning to other people’s lives. A big part of it is to do things for other people and I think making other people lives meaningful is as important as making your own life meaningful. So doing kind things for others and treating all people with kindness is extremely important for making your own life happy. Doing kind things and being good to other people makes my life better but that's not why I do it…” She pauses, “It just goes along with it.”

She walks back over to her bed. I look through my prep sheet and pick another question. I turn to her, “What is your favorite thing in the world that makes your life better?” She thinks for what feels like hours. “You I guess…. Well really horses.” She sighs, “When I had you my life became 100 times more meaningful. It changed everything. It was another person that I was responsible for. To make happy, to feed, to love, to teach. I think having children is one of the best ways to, well for me, made my life meaningful. It wasn’t not meaningful before, but I think having kids changes people's lives. You are no longer only living for yourself you are now living for someone else.”

I took many pictures of my mom that evening. Some from close up, some from far away. It was too dark and cold to take them in the garden, so we took them inside the house. As I adjust the focus, she continues to move positions. I continue to snap pictures of her on my Canon camera. After careful consideration I chose this photo. I chose this one because I think it captures her in her best state: calm. I took it with the portrait setting on my camera so that everything in the background would be blurry so the photo would just focus on my mom.

MF. (MOM) 2016

Once the picture had been chosen, I started thinking long and hard about what my mom had already said. Besides the fact that she jokingly not jokingly said horses made her life go ‘round, she said some pretty true stuff. She got deep down into my questions and was able to give me thoughtful answers. “Did you think about this question all day or something?” I asked her. She started laughing, “Actually, I asked my 3rd graders what they thought the answer was. They gave some pretty 3rd grade answers, but then they started giving interesting ones. I thought about their answers and was able to gather some new ideas from what they had said.” She smiles, “To think I got advice for your Action Project from 8 year olds blows my mind,” she starts laughing. We sit in silence for a few minutes. “Alright. I have another question for you.” I say. “What came first, the chicken? Or the egg?” She groans, “Ugh you know I hate this question” She lays on her bed with her eyes closed, hopefully thinking about the incredibly annoying question I just asked her. She finally answers quietly. “I don't know. I was raised catholic, and to believe that God created everything in the world, including the world, but as I grew older, read more, and went to school more…” she begins to whisper. “I stopped believing in all that stuff, like creationism and realized that evolution is how humans came to be.

As the interview drew to a close I had just one more question for my mom “What is the best part about living?” I ask. She turns slowly to me. “Sleeping. Laughing. Making people smile and making people happy.” She asks me to repeat the question. I do. “Waking up after getting a full night’s sleep. That has to be the best feeling ever.”

Loving v Virginia

In the last unit of the Policy class, we focused on the Judicial branch of the government. We looked into what makes up that section of our U.S. government and how someone gets appointed to that position. This wrapped up the policy aspect of this class because we ties it all together with the people that decide the fate of people that disobey the laws. They are the ones who are able to explain the laws. For the last action project of my junior year we were asked to research a supreme court case and look at the verdict and create an opinion on it. I decided to chose the Loving v. Virginia case which debated interracial marriage. I decided this because once I read about this case I was very interested because I think it holds a lot of ties to things that are going on in the U.S. right now with LGBT laws and things like that.  It was challenging to pick a case in the beginning since there have been so many but I am happy I chose the Loving v. Virginia case. I am very proud of the way my project came out. I found a lot of good information on my case and I was able to put together a thoughtful argument.

The Vietnam War: Was It Just?

In the second unit of the Policy class we talked about the Executive branch. We focused on the different types of people that work in the executive branch and what their jobs are. For the action project in this unit, we were asked to look into a war and decide if the war was just or not. Something that was challenging for my in this project was picking a war. There are so many wars that the U.S. have been involved in. I am proud of the way my essay came out and I think that the war I chose had a lot of interesting information that made my essay very well- written.

____________________________________________________________________

Wolfe, Frank. Protesting the Vietnam War. (1967). Flickr. Web.

The Vietnam War: Was It Just?

There are many reasons why the Vietnam war was fought, as well as many underlying reasons. The war was fought in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. The main cause for fighting this war (in the beginning) was to keep France was taking back control of the Vietnamese land and to reunify Vietnam. Once they had defeated France, communism became a very pressing issue in North Vietnam The Vietnam War took place from 1955 to 1975 and involved over 21 countries including France, Japan, UK, North and South Korea, China, Soviet Union, Cuba, Cambodia (during the time of the Khmer Rouge), Australia, etc. Many of these countries were allies of the major opposing sides - North and South Vietnam. In the case of the U.S. we were allies with France so we stepped in to back them up. on March 8, 1965 to Some tactics used by the different sides were guerrilla and tunnel warfare and full-time soldiers. Tunnel warfare, in particular, was a significant feature of this war. Vietnam created hundreds of tunnels that would lead to trap doors, holding cells, etc. which were used by North Vietnamese guerrilla soldiers to get in and out of enemy territory without being detected. The south side of Vietnam wanted the entire country to become communist. The south opposed communist rule and when the U.S. saw that there was tension, we installed a government in Southern Vietnam to make sure that communism didn’t win. The Red Scare made everyone in the US afraid that communism would take over the entire world so they thought that they needed to protect their allies and any other country that they possibly could. By doing that we caused a widespread anger that caused the North and the South to go to war. We did not have a solid reason to join this war-- it was just for the Vietnamese to fight, but I don’t think that U.S. involvement can be considered just because we clearly were afraid of the possibility of communism stretching around the world, but involving ourselves and causing a lot of problems in not only Vietnam but the U.S.

The Vietnam War lasted for about 20 years, which means that there were 5 presidents that served throughout its course each of them got us more and more involved in a war that had nothing to do with us. The 5 presidents who served were, in order: John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Beginning with Kennedy, he sent 10,000 “advisors” to train Vietnamese soldiers. Moving on to Johnson, he did quite a lot for this war. In 1964, the Gulf of Tonkin incident happened and Johnson was given the ok signal by congress to wage war. Johnson sent ground troops to Vietnam in 1965 and began Operation Rolling Thunder. In 1968, he began peace negotiations, which were continued in Paris by President Nixon, who started the retreat of the American troops right after the Vietnamisation of the war in 1969. After many violent anti-war protests, Nixon finally brought all American ground forces home Vietnam in 1971 and the Pentagon Papers were released by the Pentagon. President Johnson stated in his campaign that he would not ever send troops over to Vietnam; which he then went back on. He sent troops without an official declaration of war. In the beginning of U.S. involvement, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution which was very important in our involvement because it started a lot of fighting after congress gave Johnson the “ok” to take any measures he deemed necessary to keep Southeast Asia (Yoshua Wuyts, What Was the Role of Each Individual President in the Vietnam War).

There were a couple policies put in place during the Vietnam war by the U.S. One of the most important policies was the draft that began on December 1, 1969 and called on all men born from 1944-1950 to participate in protect their country. President Lyndon B. Johnson proposed it so that we could have enough soldiers to serve in this army. He had previously said he would never send people to fight in Vietnam. He then was persuaded by the National Security Council to send troops without an official declaration. The National Security Council is a group that ensures the safety of all Americans and they felt that it was necessary to wage war in order to do that to their best ability. It was intended to give the U.S. more soldiers to fight in the war. There were 6,058,000 soldiers sent to Vietnam through the draft and 3,029,000 soldiers were volunteers (Bia Ku, The Vietnam War Draft).

The draft was hated by 80% of the population (Shmoop, Politics in the Vietnam War). People felt that the draft was just a way for the government to kill off a lot of people and it wasn’t fair to be forced to go out and die for their country. People became “draft dodgers,” which means that they either faked being mentally/physically ill, fled to Canada or Mexico, pretended to be gay, etc. In 1970, the draft faced its highest resistance rates ever. People began burning their draft cards, which is illegal, as a sign of protest. By 1972, 200,600 people had resisted the draft. I think that the draft was unjust. The draft was made up of 25% poor men, 55% working class men, and 20% middle class men (Bia Ku, The Vietnam War Draft). The board at the draft center would have to look through an applicant's draft status and usually would defer upper- class applicants. This is not fair because the draft forced men to go fight for something they may or may not believe in. Some people, because of their religion, did not believe in fighting in wars and were forced to because of the draft. He was initially not keen on the idea of sending troops to Vietnam, but was told by his advisors that he would be seen as a “weak and spineless president” if he didn’t send troops. He went back on his promise and ended up proposing the draft and sending over 2 million men to war. The consequences were pretty severe. The government faced a lot of backlash from the draft and people were incredibly angry about being forced to go fight and potentially die for their country. S The draft was hated by majority of the population. People felt that the draft was just a way for the government to kill off a lot of people and they thought that it wasn’t fair to be forced to go out and die for their country. People became “draft dodgers” which means that they either faked being mentally/physically ill, fled to Canada or Mexico, pretended to be gay, etc. In 1970 the draft faced its highest resistance rates ever. People began burning their draft cards which is illegal as a sign of protest. By 1972, 200,600 people had resisted the draft (Bia Ku, The Vietnam War Draft).

The Vietnam War had was fought for several underlying and immediate reasons. The war itself that was between the Vietnamese and France (which then turned into North Vietnam vs. South Vietnam) was just.France wanting to retake control of Vietnam was both unfair and unnecessary, and communism and the separation of Vietnam was a very pressing issue that scared a lot of Americans. I do not, however, support the involvement of the U.S. in this war. I think that we just nudged our way in and caused a lot more problems in both Vietnam and our own country. The U.S just jumped into a war that they weren’t meant to be in. We tried to fix something that wasn’t our job to fix. This war caused tension not only in Vietnam, but in our own country as well. It pitted people against each other and caused a giant resistance party to form because of the draft. President Johnson lost a lot of trust from the people of the U.S. after he went back on his promise and sent over 2 million men to die in a war that had nothing to do with them.

Citations:

Bia, Ku. "Vietnam War Draft - The Vietnam War." The Vietnam War. The Vietnam War, 9 May 2016. Web. 10 May 2016. <http://thevietnamwar.info/vietnam-war-draft/>.

"Guerilla Tactics: An Overview." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 10 May 2016. <http://www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/guerrilla/>.

Shmoop Editorial Team. "Politics in The Vietnam War." Shmoop. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 10 May 2016.

"U.S. Involvement in the Vietnam War: The Gulf of Tonkin and Escalation, 1964 - 1961–1968 - Milestones - Office of the Historian." U.S. Involvement in the Vietnam War: The Gulf of Tonkin and Escalation, 1964 - 1961–1968 - Milestones - Office of the Historian. United States Department of State, n.d. Web. 10 May 2016. <https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/gulf-of-tonkin>.

War Team, The Vietnam. "From 1965 to 1973: The United States in Vietnam by Year - The Vietnam War." The Vietnam War. The Vietnam War, 18 Mar. 2014. Web. 10 May 2016. <http://thevietnamwar.info/1965-1973-united-states-vietnam-year/>.

Wuyts, Yoshua. "What Was the Role of Each Individual President in the Vietnam War?" What Was the Role of Each Individual President in the Vietnam War? Quota, 16 Mar. 2011. Web. 10 May 2016. <https://www.quora.com/What-was-the-role-of-each-individual-president-in-the-Vietnam-War>.

Save the Animals!

In the first unit of the Policy course we focused on the Judicial Branch. We talked about different policies that have been put in place by our government and we went into depth about who makes up the Judicial Branch. We got the chance to go to a city council meeting and see the way our city handles its problems. For the action project in this unit, we were asked to find an act or a law that we didn't like, wanted to change, or wanted to put in place and write a letter to an official explaining it. I decided to write about the Endangered Species Act and I addressed it to Senator Rand Paul. In the beginning, it was hard to find a law that I wanted to do since there are so many I am passionate about. I am glad that I chose the Endangered Species Act because I am extremely passionate about this Act and there is a lot of background about this act.

_________________________________________________________________________________

April 26, 2016

The Honorable Rand Paul

United States Senate

167 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, D.C.

20510-1704

Dear Senator Paul,

What if, all the sudden, all the animals in the world were gone. Sounds insane considering they are a huge part of our ecosystem but that is the direction we are heading since people keep hunting and poaching animals which is causing them to go extinct. The endangered species act of 1973 has not been protecting the lives and habitats of animals like it says it, and it needs to be changed. I read about your Endangered Species Management Self-Determination Act which states that you would like to take away this act and let poachers freely kill any animals they choose and I am writing this to explain why that is a terrible idea. As a senator you have a lot of power over the acts that get put in place. Putting your Self-Determination Act in place would result in many species going extinct. This act needs to be updated, but not deleted. Here is why:

Since this act was put into place in 1973, 50 different species were placed on the endangered species list. Here are some interesting facts about a couple of these animals.

The bengal tiger was becoming endangered around the time the act was passed, but the act began to save their habitat and they began to grow their numbers again; but then the demand for tiger skin began to grow in Asia and poachers began killing thousands. As of right now, there are only around 2,500 left in the wild.

The white rhino has been endangered since the early 20th century. People viewed rhinos as vermin and were set on exterminating every last one of them. This act did not help these animals or their habitats. There is currently 1 male left in the entire world and it is protected by armed guards at all times to save it from poachers. This single rhino's horn was cut off and sold because of the keratin it's made of. Even without the horn, poachers will even take toenails because they are made of the same thing. There are only 5 species of rhinos left in the world. A rhino horn is the third most sold item after arms and drugs.

The giant panda has been endangered for an extremely long time. Currently, there are only 1800 pandas left in the wild. With the growing population in China, their habitats are getting destroyed. Not only are they seen as very important figures in Chinese culture, but they help the bamboo forests continue to grow by spreading seeds and growing the vegetation. The forests where they live are also home to many different endangered species such as dwarf blue sheep, multicolored pheasants and other endangered species, including the golden monkey, and crested ibis. Without the pandas, some of these animals could have gone extinct a very long time ago.

As human beings, animals do a lot for us. I myself have quite a few animals living in my home and when I go to college I want to study to be a marine biologist. There are many marine animals that are also going extinct due to fishing nets, oil spills, etc. Animals are a huge part of our ecosystem and help us keep this Earth alive. Imagine one day waking up and never seeing any animals in the entire world. Almost every type of animal does something for the earth that keeps it alive. If we continue at the rate we are currently at, all animals could eventually end up extinct. Some people rely on animals in even deeper ways such as blind people relying on their service animals to help guide them, people with mental illnesses have animas to make them happy, etc. Clearly animals make impacts on people.

You may say that some animals need to be killed as food for everyone on this earth or to make money. That is true but animals that are just being killed for sport or for small parts on their bodies are not worth it. These animals keep us alive. If the roles were reversed, would you enjoy being poached and shot at just to get one of your toenails to sell for fifty bucks? It's not fair to these animals. We should just allow them to leave peacefully and anyone who disagrees with that law should be persecuted.

If you pass this law, the lives of all animals in the US will be in danger. Animals play an important role in keeping everyone and everything on this earth alive. If we continue to ignore this act and keep killing off all of these species, every animal will disappear. If we kill all the animals, we kill ourselves. I really hope you will consider updating this act and not following through on your idea. For the animals safety as well as our own.

Sincerely,

Maddie Fister

_________________________________________________________________________________

Works Cited:

Hartl, Brett. "Senate Republicans Take Aim at Endangered Species Act." Senate Republicans Take Aim at Endangered Species Act. Center for Biological Diversity, 6 May 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2015/endangered-species-act-05-06-2015.html>.

Barnes, Simon. "Loneliest Rhino in the World." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 16 Apr. 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3040970/Loneliest-rhino-world-Surrounded-armed-guards-s-male-breed-victim-evil-trade-s-wiping-giants.html>.

"Bengal Tiger." WorldWildlife.org. World Wildlife Fund, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/bengal-tiger>.

Dillon, Tom. "Giant Panda." WorldWildlife.org. World Wildlife Fund, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/giant-panda>.

"Species List." WorldWildlife.org. World Wildlife Fund, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/directory?direction=desc&sort=extinction_status>.

Tales of Racial Discrimination

In the last unit of the Argument class, we were asked to take a position on an issue, identify our opposition and seek a solution through synthesis. In this unit, we learned about synthesis which is the resolution or solution to an argument. We looked into the fight for Civil Rights and the different arguments that come with it. The hardest part of this AP was figuring out which topic I wanted to take a stance on. There are so many oppositions in America right now that it was extremely hard to chose. I learned a lot about the country I live in and how there are still people who are so stuck in the past that they still agree with discriminatory ideology. Enjoy!

Tales of Racial Discrimination 

Thesis:
The definition of police brutality is the use of excessive and/or unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians. “Excessive use of force” describes a force well beyond what would be necessary in order to handle a situation, for example, firing 24 shots at an unarmed suspect who is running away from an officer. In the Declaration of Independence, our country states that all men are created equal, yet there are still people getting arrested or killed just because of the color of their skin. When it comes to the issue of police brutality, I believe that all law enforcement officials, especially police officers, should be required to wear body-cams when on-duty. This way, there are fewer opportunities for cops to get away with wrongfully injuring or murdering suspects or individuals they encounter.

Evidence:
Look at people like Donald Trump or the KKK, they are real human beings who still think that one race is inferior to another. The 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act was a couple years ago and although people say we have come far, to me it feels like we are traveling back in the wrong direction. This country isn't going to last for very much longer if this ideology is still present. The number of people who feel like this is only growing with each Trump rally, or KKK meeting. This matters to me on a personal level because I am half black and half white. I have witnessed racism first-hand and I have seen the damage it can do. The US advocates for every person of every race to be free, but when citizens try to change that, our local and state government doesn't seem to do much to stop them. It is a proven fact that “A black man is three times more likely to be searched at a traffic stop, and six times more likely to go jail than a white person” (Jeff Nesbit, USNews). Racism in any form needs to be stopped. To go into further detail about this topic, police violence against black Americans has become a nation-wide problem.

The line between black and white is so thick that children are getting exposed to it the minute they are born, and in ways that are punitive. For example, “Black preschoolers are far more likely to be suspended than white children. Black children make up 18 percent of the pre-school population, but represent almost half of all out-of-school suspensions,” (Jeff Nesbit, USNews). In murder cases like Laquan McDonald, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Sandra Bland, and many others, these young people’s lives were cut short by a policeman for no reason. The dash cams that are currently found on police cars are terrible quality and can be tampered with, as appears to have occurred in the McDonald murder in Chicago. Evidence can be deleted and changed, which is why most of these cops don’t end up being charged with murder. Body cams would help give a better insight about the actual incident so no one can get away with murder. In the McDonald case, “A police dashcam video from last October clearly showed the African-American teenager walking away from police when Officer Jason Van Dyke unloaded his gun, striking Laquan 16 times.” (Marilyn Rhames, Huffington Post). It was completely unnecessary to shoot this teen 16 times; a friendly reminder that the mayor didn’t release the video for over a year after the killing happened (ABC 7). The people that we hire to keep us safe need to be checked out to make sure that we are putting the right people in charge of protecting our country.

Antithesis:
The opposition believes that although police killing innocent people is a terrible problem in today’s society, body cams are not going to change that. Some crime officials state that “body cameras are seen as an invasion of privacy, as they provide state-owned footage. When police cameras are on, they will capture everyday civilian and police behavior that does not necessarily need to be recorded. Do all defendants want their arrests recorded? Do all bystanders want to be in those videos when shown in court?” (Eric Baum, Newsmax).

Evidence:
The opposition says that this will not solve anything because these cameras can still be tampered with which would keep us stuck in the place we are at right now with this problem. In the case of Rodney King, an African American man who was beaten to death by white police officers in Los Angeles in 1991, a witness named George Holliday recorded the incident which was then broadcasted around the country. The officers claimed that King was resisting arrest but it was clear in the video that the police officers were in fact beating him harder than what was needed. The police on trial said that King was on PCP at the time of the killing. In court that was proven to be mistaken, but the cops were still acquitted. Although body cams might be helpful in some cases, it is not reasonable to equip the entire police force with them; this technology is expensive. The country does not have enough money to pay for these. It just isn’t plausible. The opposition might also feel that trying to attack racism in this way is futile, claiming that black people are going to continue to get oppressed no matter what we do to stop it. Police need to be watched, but not with body cams. Racism is clearly still going to happen no matter what, but we as citizens of the USA should try to promote fairness and equality in our society.

Synthesis:
Both sides can agree that the violence that has been going on is a problem. People are getting killed for no reason and that needs to be stopped, and racism as a whole should be stopped. Both sides can also agree that police need to be watched and checked to make sure our country is putting the right people in charge.

The synthesis for these two arguments would allow mandatory background checks on police. There would also be a better quality dash cam that will record everything and make sure cops can’t get away with murder. I do agree with the opposition that body cams may not a plausible solution. If that is the case, then citizens should be able to record police if they witness a case of brutality and upload their video evidence directly to a non-biased police review board. Also, racism in schools and jobs needs to be lessened. There should be equal opportunities for everyone. The color of your skin should not determine how much money you make. If a white person and a black person are doing the same job, they should be paid equally. The opposition agrees that racism could be stopped for good in America. If these changes were implemented, it would allow for a more fair and just country.

Questions for the Opposition:
1. Why are innocent black lives not as important as other races?
2. Where is all of the money that could be used for these cameras going?
3. Should it be legal for people to record police?

Questions the Opposition Might Have for me:
1. Why should police who are truthful and trustworthy be forced to wear body cams?
2. Why should civilians’ privacy be invaded by body cams?
3. Since body cams also be tampered with, wouldn’t we remain where we are now?

Works Cited:
Bail Set at $1.5 Milllion for Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke, Charged in Laquan McDonald Shooting." ABC7 Chicago. ABC7, 30 Nov. 2015. Web. 17 Mar. 2016. <http://abc7chicago.com/news/jason-van-dyke-posts-bond-leaves-jail/1103665/>.

Baum, Eric. "5 Pros and Cons of Police Wearing Body Cameras." Newsmax. N.p., 30 June 2015. Web. 16 Mar. 2016.

Nesbit, Jeff. "America, Racial Bias Does Exist." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 13 Jan. 2015. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.

Nesbit, Jeff. "Institutional Racism Is Our Way of Life." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 6 May 2015. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.

Milligan, Susan. "The Struggle Goes On." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 28 Apr. 2015. Web. 14 Mar. 2016

Rhames, Marilyn. "Laquan McDonald and What My Dying Father Told Me About the Chicago Police." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 10 Dec. 2015. Web. 15 Mar. 2016.

Vertesi, Janet. "The Problem With Police Body Cameras." Time. Time, 4 May 2015. Web. 16 Mar. 2016. <http://time.com/3843157/the-problem-with-police-body-cameras/>.