Layer Upon Layer of Grime... free essay sample

Layer upon layer of grime stuck to every square inch of my bare skin. I was homeless. On the streets with no where to go; I had nothing. No family, no money, one pair of shorts, one shirt, one pair of socks, and only the shoes on my feet. I was alone. My senior Christian Service Project involved myself and seven of my classmates immersing ourselves into the life of the homeless in Sacramento, California. The experience began much like that of beginning high school as a freshman. Initially I felt isolated, insignificant, ignored, and invisible. This would change. The very first morning while waiting in line for breakfast at Loaves and Fishes, a non-profit organization in Sacramento that works with the homeless to get them off the street and on their own two feet, I met an older couple. Their names were Chris and Donna. They explained to me that they were parents, and just how much they couldn’t stand to see teenagers like myself on the streets. We will write a custom essay sample on Layer Upon Layer of Grime or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It was at this time that I began to feel a sense of community all around me. I watched as the handicapped received help from the healthy, and people saving each other spots in the breakfast line so the other could obtain lunch tickets for them. Basic acts of kindness such as these often go unnoticed in our busy world. Everyone was there to help one another. There were no cliques. There were just people, of all races, denominations, and all ages. The couple began interrogating me. Why are you here? Where are you from? Where are you sleeping? For every â€Å"I don’t know?† they had advice. This advice proved useful over the course of the week; such as where to find a toothbrush, how to get a shower, a fresh pair of socks, deodorant, and other basic necessities. For the rest of the week they kept a close eye on me. They constantly bombarded me with â€Å"How are you?† and â€Å"Did you eat this morning?† They were complete and total strangers, yet they took me under their wing as if I was their own child, much like my own parents do. The kindness that radiated from the hearts of this couple, and many more people I encountered, demonstrated to me that every little action counts. It is in our nature that we help others. Sadly though we forget about the simple aspects of life, and the most basic ways to make others days just that much better. To have made one person breathe easier is to have succeeded. Whether it be done by helping the little old lady across the street, or serving food to the homeless, every action counts. It was St. Ignatius who said, â€Å"Love ought to show itself more in deeds than in words.† Every action I take in life will stand out more boldly than any dollar I make. To have been a part of a community rather than to live solely as an individual is to have lived truly, so long as our actions speak louder than our words. From having been homeless, it is very possible for one to be an individual and still remain interdependent amongst the community. All it takes is action. A simple hello and a smile to the average stranger on the street, to lending a helping hand builds a worldly sense of community. When the day comes that no one has to walk down the street staring at their feet, and they can say, â€Å"Hello, how are you?† to one another, we will all have succeeded. By the time I left to return home, and my first shower of the week stripped the rancid scent of the streets from my body, people like Chris and Donna proved that acceptance will build community. It is so sad but true that there is more community amongst the homeless than I have seen in most of my own high school classrooms. This is because there exist no borders or boundaries between people. Everyone is an equal. Everyone lives, not only for themselves but for each other, because we all serve a greater purpose than ourselves. It is the community service that I have taken part in that has developed the individual that I have become. I have become smarter, a critical thinker, a leader, and a man for others. Living life with only the bare necessities in the most trying of conditions brought out of me all of who I am. Whether it was finding my way around, writing about my purpose and reason for being there, or helping others; all of my experiences from the week as a whole have shown to me that I can handle most any situation presented to me. On the rugby pitch I am a captain. As a member of the Senior Retreat Team I am a leader. In the classroom I am there to help, as well as to be open to the help that I need. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that, â€Å"Children are all foreigners.† Well then in that case I believe that men and women alike are molded into unique individuals by way of experience. College will be a new challenge, a new experience in my life. It is opportunity. Broadening my horizons can only help me in my quest of discovering what purpose I serve outside of myself. I believe that in serving that purpose we discover why we are here to live before we die.

Four Little Girls essays

Four Little Girls essays When documentaries are filmed, produced, and then viewed, the audience is left with more knowledge and awareness than before having watched it. When I watch a National Geographic documentary on exploitation of indigenous peoples, I become aware of their situation and further understand the cruel world around me. Also, my emotions are stirred up. With the awareness that documentaries bring, also comes the waves of emotional buildup. This is why documentaries are most effective in grabbing an audiences attention on a subject matter having to do with exploitation, injustice, and racism; they show the cruelty and disrespect the victims are faced with. Four Little Girls, a documentary directed by Spike Lee, is an example of this. He interviews those that were involved or held knowledge of the bombing at 16th St. Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. He speaks with officials and professionals, preachers, family members and childhood friends of the four girls killed at this incident. At the same time that these interviews are going on, there are clips from the 50s and 60s of black protesters, marches, and beatings relevant to the political and social crisis of the day. Also included are picture shots of the girls, including their gravestones. Lee incorporates the ongoing Civil Rights Movement with the story of the bombing incident and the four girls that The Civil Rights Movement becomes more real to us when the protagonists are also made real. The victims parents tell the audience through their words, stories, and pictures, of who the girls were and how they lived. They also display the girls badges, awards, certificates, and Bible that one had in her pocketbook the day she was in the church basement attending The white officials, who were more or less viewed as the antagonists, spoke of that same era from their point of view. Through intercuttin...

A History of Sexually Transmitted Disease

This essay examines the current and historical relevance of sexually transmitted diseases. It focuses on current and historical infection rates, the causes of these rates, and current prevention methods. This paper examines the current and historical causes of STDs with a particular focus on chlamydia, HPV, gonorrhea, AIDS, and herpes. It uses statistics and several graphs in order to show the growing trend of STDs, the cause for that growth and concludes with methods of prevention. Sexually transmitted diseases appear to have always been a societal menace. At least, that is the impression garnered from recorded history. There is evidence of gonorrhea outbreaks dating as far back as 2200 B.C.E. (Spongberg, 1965: 23). Since that time, numerous new STDs and countless variations and mutations of existing STDs have arisen. Although infection rates have remained relatively constant throughout the ages, there have been occasional spikes as new diseases become prevalent. In the early 1970s, a surge of previously unknown STDs caused infection rates to soar to record heights (CDC, 1998). Today, there are an estimated 333 million cases of STD infection (WHO, 1996). This is a staggering number, compared to the estimated 150 million of 1960 (CDC, 1998). Fortunately, in the past two decades our medical technology has allowed us to treat and sometimes totally cure STDs that have existed for centuries. Our medical understanding of STDs has also reached new heights, allowing us to educate and inform the general public of the risks involved with unprotected sexual intercourse. However, while one might expect that our new arsenal of knowledge and medicine would be ample weaponry against STDs, infection rates have continued to rise over the last few decades (WHO, 1998). Although infection rates have slowed slightly, sexually transmitted diseases are still as prevalent, if not more so, than they were a generation ago.

Hospitality Information paper Term Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hospitality Information - Term Paper Example become a priority for many hotels as the industry growing very fast, so there is a need to conserve energy not to mention the customers’ preference for hotels that have gone green. In the hotel industry, going green means many things. Green technology, which was once used as luxury in hotels is now a very important idea to adopt that is seeing unwilling hotels lose customers and profits. Different hotels embrace the green technology in different ways. This may include recycling waste in the hotel, reusing materials such as towels, using solar and wind energy, making organic food whose waste could be easily disposed and decreasing the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere among others (Kasavana, 2008). There are many ways through which hotels can use green technology. Conserving energy is very important in any industry and many ways are available for obtaining this objective. A common way is using solar energy that makes use of the renewable energy from the sun. Some hotels have solar panels installed in their buildings. The solar cells in the panels get energy once exposed to the sun and change it into electricity that can be used to perform many activities needing electricity. A plus for solar energy is that it can be kept safe for later use, and it does not harm the environment in any way. When used in place of electricity costs of producing electricity and level of pollution decreases. Wind energy that does not harm environment can also be used in places with a lot of wind where wind turbines move with wind and produce electricity. Solar and wind energy are a good strategy to green technology because they make use of the available natural energy reducing the need for power fro m electricity plants and also do not produce greenhouse gases that harm the environment(Hotels Going the Green Way with Technology, 2013). The design of hotel buildings also plays a big role in using the green technology. With the use of more environmentally friendly

Monopoly Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Monopoly - Essay Example Another is the absence of any other company with products or services that can be compared to that offered by the monopolist. And lastly, there are factors that can contribute to the action of monopoly such as the barriers to the entry of other products or company (Klein; Sowell 80-87). Another important characteristic of the monopolistic company is the capability to control the price of the product in the market. This can be one of the main reasons that anti-monopoly policies are being implemented to be able to protect the consumers with regards to the uncontrollable increase in the prices of products and services. There are different products and utilities that can be classified in a monopolistic market which include gas or fuel, electricity, water, cable TV and telephone serve companies. To be able to achieve an understanding of the principles of monopoly in the market, the study of the different companies in the global market is undertaken. These companies are involved in the service and manufacture of the products classified under monopolistic market. In the UK, one of the current issues though there is a deregulation with regards to monopolization is the perceived control of the National Express over the train routes as a result of the recent take over of the Greater Anglia trains franchise in September 2008 (This is London Website). The said example can be attributed to the result of competition that favored a particular company to excel. Basically, the competition that initially occurred can be stopped due to different factors such as failure of competitors or achievement of better market share of leading companies resulting to greater advantage and can ultimately arise to monopolization. Another influential company in the British market is the British Telecom which is involved in a wide variety of telecommunication services initially in UK and then expanded to the global market. The said company had

Spanish Conquest of South America Essay Example for Free

Spanish Conquest of South America Essay The Age of Exploration was an important time period in history without which the modern map would not be as we see it today. During this era, Europeans had a sudden urge to explore, discover, a feeling they had never had before. With the advancement in technology, the Europeans, as well as the Asians were able to explore the uncharted seas and discover the unknown land. During this time, many discoveries were made, but the one most remembered is the discovery of the Americas. This was a big discovery which added a whole new continent, never known about, onto their map. As soon as the land was discovered, so was the curiosity of the Spanish. The land was soon inhabited by the Spanish as well as the indigenous. The two races lived side by side happily, but soon the Spanish greed for gold, glory became too much and disaster struck. Whole communities were torn, murders committed and whole communities exterminated. Genocide: a terrible crime against the indigenous. Apart from the wars, more deaths were occurring, however they were not intentional. Both Spanish and the Indigenous were falling victims to new diseases. There were many reasons for death/murder whether intentional or not but no races or cultures were put to extinction due to the attack by the Spanish proving that the Spanish Conquest was not a genocide. After the discovery of America, the Spanish had access to a whole new continent, a whole new way of life as well as people. The Spanish were eager to lay claims on whatever they could, build their power, and gain wealth. The Spanish built communities, they scavenged for the land, for power and for control. The Spanish bred happily, sharing their way of life with the indigenous, learning new techniques, mastering technology and living peacefully. However, soon the Spanish wanted more; their greed was for more than what they had and soon war struck out. To gain power, land and wealth, the Spanish attacked the indigenous, taking as much as they could. The war raged on until the Spanish had full control, the indigenous people were forced to retreat. The land was destroyed. The Spanish had killed so many for a mere piece of land. Exploration wasn’t always safe. It exposed the explorers as well as the indigenous people to diseases, foods, animals they had never encountered before and this was going to prove dangerous. The indigenous people were exposed to diseases such as Influenza or Tuberculosis against which their immune systems had no power having never encountered them before. These diseases killed more people the wars fought between the Spanish and Indigenous. As the time passed, the indigenous people developed immunity against these diseases however these diseases never stopped and forever remained on the island infecting and maybe even killing more people over time. This effect didn’t happen only to the Indigenous. The Spanish were also exposed to new diseases such as Polio and Hepatitis which were even carried back overseas to Europe infecting a much larger population. Apart from only the diseases, new foods were also stumbled upon. These foods could make you fatally sick due to the fact that your body (as with the diseases) has never encountered them. Some foods that the Spanish came across were Tobacco and Tomatoes while the indigenous came across Coffee and Rice. During the Spanish Conquest of South America, many deaths occurred. There were intentional killings through the wars and equally unless more due to the exposure to a new environment. The Spanish killed many people, destroyed many communities, however they did not exterminate whole races as in the definition of genocide. Races or cultures might have been put to extinction later due to the diseases that were imported to America from Europe. The Spanish killed and destroyed however no races or cultures were put to extinction by this attack proving that the Spanish Conquest was not genocide. The Age of Exploration was an important time period in history without which we would not know of half the world available to us. Now the Europeans too to exploring the seas, discovering new land, it was now that the continent of America was discovered. This was an exciting new discovery for the Spanish. The Spanish were eager to inhabit the newly found land and gain power and wealth. They found the indigenous and continued living peacefully together. The Spanish greed soon became more than they could handle and war was started. However, those were not the only problems occurring in South America. The Spanish had brought with them diseases. People were dying everywhere, but was the question is whether it was genocide. Looking carefully, we can conclude this was not genocide as there were no cultures or races put to extinction by the Spanish.

Scars of Sethe and Paul D in Toni Morrisons Beloved Essay -- Toni Mor

The Scars of Sethe and Paul D in Beloved Scars are undoubtably an incredible means of storytelling in Beloved. No matter how a person changes or what happens to them, these marks are another bit of tangible history, following each of them wherever they may go. These physical characteristics are what one can believe in, more than what is said or written. When written and oral language can many times not be trusted, physical characteristics provide another more certain form of communication--one that cannot be biased or altered. People not only know the identity of someone by knowing their scars, but each scar tells a story of what a person has gone through. Sethe's back and the scars caused by her beating are important in the story in terms of telling a story of what she's been through, providing a way in which she and some of the other characters may connect. For example, Paul D learns more about Sethe and is able to connect with her through her scars. When Sethe first attempts to explain to Paul D what had happened to her on pages 16-7, he has trouble understanding the true...