Q1: When To Pull The Trigger

The use of guns for self defense and what makes it justifiable is a argument which I believe rests on the circumstances of individual cases. If someone breaks into your home and begins to take advantage of your wife then by all means the law should allow you to pull the trigger. If you're walking home at night and you get mugged, pull your gun. If he backs away don't shoot, if he continues to attack and you're unable to reasonably defend yourself, pull the trigger.

 

Sometimes the sight of a gun will be all that's needed to protect yourself. In any case the gun is a source of power. It should only be used when you feel overpowered and unable to protect yourself in any other way. The problem with all of this is that allowing people to carry guns and use them when they feel unsafe creates an enormous loop hole for criminals. The last thing I want to see is this nation become an unsafe, murder-happy, merciless society. Although, I do strongly believe in self-defense. This topic's just one of those things which depend on specific cases and circumstances.

 

 If you do own a gun for protection, please use it with extreme caution and for only the most severe circumstances. Sometimes the intimidation of the weapon is enough to stop a criminal. What's worse than being mugged is killing an innocent man who was maybe just trying to tell you that you dropped your phone. It sounds ridiculous but events like this have in fact happened. Question everything.

P1: Television

When I compare myself to the stereotypical modern teen, I really don’t watch too much television. I don’t spend my evenings watching re-runs of Jersey Shore, or spend hours figuring out why the Kardashians are as popular as they are. Currently my favorite shows include, The Office, BBC’s Top Gear, Southland and anything on the Discovery or History channel. I tend to genuinely enjoy shows where to understand the humor and gravity of situations you must have an understanding of the characters and what they’re about.

In my home there are four televisions. There’s a large television in our family room, and then three smaller screens in my sister’s room, my parents’, and my own. We mostly watch shows in the living room but if we’re watching something before bed, or by ourselves then we’ll move to our bedrooms. I think television is great in appropriate amounts. It can be entertaining, educational, emotional, and informative. A piece of technology which enhances television is the DVR. This allows me to record shows while I’m at school, work, or out with friends. This way I never miss a new episode or show I’ve been wanting to watch.

Over the years, television has received a large amount of negative opinion and comments. I have to agree with the people who say too much of it isn’t good. Too much of anything isn’t good. In personal experience I find television to be enjoyable, and educational. The result on the brain and lifestyle all depends on who’s watching what and for how long.

Television is a technological theme-park packed with movies, episodes, broadcasts, and concerts all available to us at any time of the day. It’s another piece of technology which brings humans closer together, but if overused, it can drive us apart.

O2: College: What We're Really Paying For

This article makes absolute sense to me. The reason some folks are against higher education is because they look at the cost only. Skeptics thrown around names such as Mark Zuckerburg, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates to try and make a point that they dropped out of college and became Billionaires. The reason they dropped out is because they felt something in their gut. They knew exactly what they wanted to do, and how they could do it, or they at least knew their heart was in another place. 

The purpose of college isn’t to obtain a degree. The purpose is to refine your-self as a human being. College is a quirky, stressful renaissance of education and growth and to put yourself through it you’re doing yourself the largest favor. College is a time when we come into our own. We start discovering what we want to do and what we don’t. At the same time, we’re becoming more educated and therefore, useful human-beings. As the article states, College graduates normally do find more success in the job market. It’s not just their degree, it’s who they’ve became by getting that degree. 

This fall I’ll be attending Columbia College Chicago. The tuition there happens to be a bit pricey but when compared to other schools of the same nature, the cost isn’t bad at all. In the future I plan on working in the television industry, possibly a little journalism on the side. Entertainment is my passion and I’d be wasting my time entering a different field. I’m following my strengths and dreams. 

In my opinion, the world we live in has become far less about the strength of the group and more about the strength of the individual. The way I see it, a group is only as powerful as its people and how well they collaborate. It is time more than ever where we must focus on ourselves and what our strengths are. Follow your passions, follow your heart and you will find success.

Original Article:

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/print/2012/03/whats-more-expensive-than-college-not-going-to-college/255073/

O1: Space Shuttle Recycling Program

As most of us know, NASA’s manned spaced operations have been cut. Although optimism still remains for the future, the current cost seemed unfeasible to executives. Now you may be thinking what will happen to all the shuttles? I’ve just read an article published in the Chicago Tribune which explains the future homes of a few of the crafts. The article tells how many are currently being flown to various cities in the United States to be rolled into museums for display. This all seems a bit ironic to me. These titans of technology, explorers of the unknown are now being sealed inside of museums. 

The way the shuttles are getting there is actually quite impressive. They’ll be flown there via “piggy backing” on a regular jet-engine airplane. The article talks about a shuttle headed to New York City and how it took a specific route past the Statue of Liberty and over the George Washington Bridge. I wish I was there when it flew over these landmarks. If I was there I’m sure I would have felt a surge of patriotism. Here you stand on a bridge named after one of our founding fathers, looking at the statue of liberty and all it represents and then suddenly a jet flies over with a space shuttle on top. Honestly, it had to be a breath-taking experience to of been there to see it happen. 

More occurrences like this have already been planned and performed. Reading about happenings like this reassures my faith in this country, the people and our economic state. Although NASA has cut manned missions to space they do plan on returning to the future, but this time in more technologically advanced crafts which can carry astronauts to farther distances more safely. Who knows what will be parading around our skies two hundred years from now.  

Original article link:  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-shuttle-enterprise-newyorkbre83q0x6-20120427,0,5234797.story 

P4: Tuesdays With Morrie, Change, and Character

I've been reading, "Tuesdays with Morrie." As I've been reading, I've slowly been opening my eyes to how I view other people, as well as how I view myself. I feel I can closely relate to the character and author, Mitch. He's focused on the future, focused on his job, carrying an "every man for himself" mentallity and letting his friends and family slip away.

Lately, I've been extremely focused on moving up at work, getting out of high school, and becoming an independent self-sufficient indivual. One of my long time friends has virtually disapeared, my band's falling apart, and so is my relationship with my family. I'm more stressed-out and short-tempered than I've ever been. I have been letting petty school asignments go to focus on working more and filling out scholarship applications. I've never felt such a surge of arrogance and pride run through my veins. I can't let things go on like this much longer, I'm driving myself insane.

I'm not sure how to ease-up on myself or others. I'm only seventeen so I'm going to attribute these behaviors to stress, change, and just growing up. As always, I maintain the ability to rise above the situation I'm in and analyze it. I don't always have the answers, but I can identify problem. Being away from everyone next year is going to be interesting. I'm excited and opptimistic about the move. I'm going to give it my all and continue trying to become the person I've always wanted to be. Things are coming together and I feel I've been learning, or at least making myself aware to a lot of good lessons lately. I need a good nights sleep, and a day off from everything. I'll leave you with a couple good quotes from the story. Enjoy!


"You closed your eyes. That was the difference. Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them too-even when you are in the dark. Even when you're falling."

“Accept who you are; and revel in it.”

P2: Senior Accomplishments

This past September, I wrote about my goals and aspirations for the upcoming school year. With less than two months left of my senior year I figured now would be a good time to check back to see where I stand.

When I read this assignment I didn’t think much of it, although when I read the post I realized how much I really have accomplished. An extraordinary amount actually. Reading the post fills me with nostalgia. September didn’t seem that far away until I read what I wrote back then.

At the time I was still considering attending Buffalo State for a few years and then moving out to Chicago where I would finish my education. Since I wrote that, I applied to Buffalo State, and Columbia College Chicago. I was accepted into both, visited both, and then won the Presidential Scholarship at Columbia. Buffalo State may be a good school, but Columbia is located in the heart of downtown Chicago. With twenty-two renovated high-rises located in the South Loop of Chicago, the third largest city in the United States will be my campus this fall.

 

Another topic I discussed was my band. I wrote about how we planned to record a few songs in New York City and at the Goo Goo Doll’s recording facility right here in Buffalo.  Plans turned to action and we accomplished everything we planned. We also had the opportunity to meet and talk for a bit with Robby Takac, Goo Goo Doll Bassist. He’s a very humble and cool guy. The whole process was inspiring. New York city was absolutely amazing. We were there for an entire week. Navigating the city, and living there was a great time full of memories I’ll forever treasure. Another cool thing which happened there was meeting my drummer Jeff’s godfather. I found out that he happened to be an executive at SirusXM Satellite radio. One day he invited Jeff and I to lunch. We felt like rock-stars having an appointment with him on the 36^thfloor of The McGraw Hill building in Times Square. He gave us a tour of the company’s headquarters and then took us out for lunch. What an experience, honestly.

With the last few weeks of my high school career flying by I look forward with excitement. Some students are filling up inside with fear. They’re leaving the place which played home to what they consider the best years of their lives. I sure had some great times and inspirational experiences, but my life’s just about to begin.

Group N: Interview with Tara

I just had the absolute pleasure of interviewing fellow bulldog member, Tara Hammerschmidt. Might I say, she’s quite the young lady. She told me her name is Tara and her mom gave her the right. This response was very dry and I have to say it did make me chuckle quite a bit. She told me her favorite band was anything but Larrabee. After that cruel remark I assumed she must like the differently pronounced and spelled band, Larrabe. On the average Friday night she finds herself going to McDonalds for dinner, going home to talk to herself, doing girl things with her friend Cindy, making popcorn and then watching a girly movie before bed. I asked her for a few keywords about herself, she responded with the following: outgoing, motivated, intelligent and positive. When asked manual or automatic transmission she quickly responded with automatic. This actually surprised me, especially since she earlier told me that her dream car was a Chevrolet Corvette. She couldn’t mean driving an automatic corvette could she? I don’t think so! Anyways, her favorite food is Mexican, presumably Mighty Taco. When asked if she enjoyed this interview, she responded with,  “No cuz I had to talk to you.” She did though mention that she considers herself to be a “mac” and that is very well. The interview in my mind went well. I got her to talk about a few tough issues, many of which she denied to comment on or made me promise not to put it in my article. That’s all she spoke!