Pull

Pull

In the story Pull written by B.A. Binns a senior high school student named David took the role as the breadwinner of the house. This was because his father who had separated his mother apparently came back to their residence pleading for shelter. His mom said yes. Unfortunately during the night the divorced couple had an argument. The result of the dispute was David’s dad shot and killed his mom.

            The department of child family services came to put David and his two sisters in a house. A family member wanted David’s sister, Linda in Jamaica. Another family member would receive David in Wisconsin. Fortunately David’s aunt accepted all three children in her home. The family didn’t have to split apart. To support the family David received a job as a construction worker. Linda spends her time playing the same Playstation game. David’s other sister, Barney, attended the same school as David. This was just the beginning of David’s worries.

            Barney was an innocent freshman. David noticed that she was being a bad influence. He decided that they were going to protect her. He took the initiative that they were going to pretend that both of them are going out. This relationship was believable because David converted his surname from his father’s last name to his mother’s legally. David considered that Barney’s friend, Yolanda, and her boyfriend, Malik, would be a bad influence. Yolanda had a false reputation of being a clothing thief. Her boyfriend, Malik, was actually the bad influence for David.

            Malik was a showoff because he had wealth, appearance and athletic ability. The only problem was that he didn’t treat females with respect. One time David saw Malik disrespecting Yolanda. David decided to fight him twice. The second fight occurred in a different occasion. He received consequences for it. He had the option of being kicked out or joins the basketball team and has consultations with a psychologist. He chooses the second option. Later on David lost his job. After these atrocities David’s life started changing.

            At the end of the story David had accomplished many goals. David started dating Yolanda because he finally learned the truth. Malik wasn’t bothering David or Barney anymore. Barney was now hanging out with people who gave her a bad influence. Everything was going well until another tragic event occurred.

            David’s aunt had a stroke. The department of child family services came again to split the family apart. David decided to quit school and work at a job he was offered in Ohio. Barney, Linda, their aunt and another family member moved to a house that David paid for. Yolanda promised that she would wait for him until he came back. In Ohio David wanted to live his desired career as a construction worker.

            Every person in the world has something in common. Everyone has possessions. These possessions can sometimes not be visible. An example of this would be friendships. Friendships are just an idea and not an object. In the story that I’ve just read David happened to loose many possessions. This made me come through a realization. I haven’t realized how important my possessions are that I take them for granted.

            Everyone has at least a mother at birth. The family would most likely shape the child to act similar to their family. In the life of David Albacore he lost this possession. His mother was murdered. His father is paying his sentence in prison. This means that he is the head of the house. He has to be the parent and child at the same time. For instance there’s no one to tell him what is wrong or right. He also has to make these decisions for their siblings. The majority of children are fortunate because if a child does do something their parents will take their responsibilities, but they will also teach them what they were supposed to do. This normally occurs for when a child goes to the juvenile detention center. The parents bail the child out and also make them learn their lesson. The worst part of David’s disruption is the mandatory encounter with the Department of Child Family Services. When this occurs the government becomes the family figure. As the parental figure they start making decisions for the child’s future. In the story the family was about to split up. This is upsetting because Barney would have to live with strangers because she wouldn’t have known the parents or other children. I’ve learned that being part of a family isn’t permanent and it’s better to enjoy it.

            After reading this book I started valuing education as a purpose and not an obligation. In the story David had struggles at school that I had never or will probably never encounter.  For instance David worried that Barney would get abused verbally or physically by other students. Throughout my whole educational life I have never seen this happen to me or someone else. I think this is because teachers in these schools aren’t there to just receive a pay check, but they’re also there to protect the students. The students have also learned to respect others because it’s better to tolerate than to discriminate.   

            Seven months before graduating David was forced to drop out. This was when I realized that I had to be grateful for my education. David had to drop out to support his family and himself. Having an education is a life long possession. Not everyone has the ability of getting an education. David can’t get a diploma. By not having a diploma many opportunities are lost. For instance David will not have the possibility of going to college. College is the pathway of becoming a professional. By being a professional the person has the ability of getting an occupation with a well paid salary. These great salaries gives people the ability of sustaining a family and not have any worries that deals with money. This was an unfortunate decision for David to make because he was going to get a scholarship because he’s a talented basketball player. This meant that David turned down free education. David was going to pursue his career dream as a construction worker. David is young, but he didn’t realize that construction was the only occupation that he can get. If for some reason he gets fired he will have to be willing and work at a place for minimum wage. Receiving an education is a right. When someone doesn’t take the opportunity they will most likely regret it in the future.

            The story Pull made me realize how possessions are vital and shouldn’t be taken for granted. The story also had many other messages. For instance the topics that stuck out were responsibility, determination, judging people and being decisive. This book was published in the year 2010. This means that the story is actually relevant to the teenage society today. The struggles that teenagers suffer during the 1900’s are different than the struggles of a teenager today. This is why students should read books like this one to confront their problems.

  

    

       

Roxanne Bookman: Live at Five

            

     In the story Roxanne Bookman: Live at Five written by Cathy Warren demonstrates a young girl determined to win. Her passion for winning commenced at a baseball game as her opponent team happened to have her rival Claudia Slooder. Roxanne was the spotlight of this baseball game. This was because it was the bottom of the last inning. Both teams had a tie of 13 runs. Roxanne’s team was up at bat. The bases were loaded. Everyone in the team told Roxanne to break the tie by getting to ball 4. Up at the plate Roxanne didn’t even move the bat for the first three throws. On the fourth throw Roxanne had a feeling that she could have scored a home run. As she predicted she hit the ball. Roxanne started running through all the plates. As Roxanne reached the last plate her friend, Abby, advised her that they had to go through another inning because of her. Roxanne didn’t realize that the ball was caught and it had become the last out. In the extra innings the tie ended by the opposing team winning. Roxanne was disliked by her own team by her action of courage. The results were devastating. The other team won the championship. They’re coach also lost the best coach award for coming in second. The awkward part happens to be that Roxanne’s coach happens to be her teacher for the year a week after the team lost. Roxanne knew that she was disliked, but she wasn’t worried about that. Instead Roxanne worried about her coach’s change of personality.  

            Roxanne tries to alleviate her coach’s feelings for nominating him as best teacher in the local news station. The ironic part is that the other teacher nominee happens to be Claudia’s teacher. As it turns out there were devastating results again. Claudia Slooder’s teacher receives the award. Roxanne is still not going to give up. So she decides her class will compete with Claudia’s class in a televised competition show. She knows that there’s a large chance at losing. This is because she is the team captain with three of her friends forming part of the team. Roxanne’s determination seems contagious with the other team members. The competition consists of two rounds. In the first round the questions are only worth one point. In the second round it’s worth two points. In the first round Roxanne’s team dominates by eighteen to zero. Roxanne finds it awkward that her team has such a great advantage. So she speaks to Claudia. Claudia tells her that she is terrified by the cameras. Roxanne advises Claudia to think of them as foreign insects. To that surprise in the second round there’s a tie of 24 points. She breaks the tie by answering the question correctly. The results are that Roxanne and Claudia become amicable to each other and Roxanne has received her chance to celebrate a victory.

            This book realized me the significance of my experiences. Last week in short notice my chemistry teacher told me if I could substitute a student that was in the chemistry league. I said sure. When I said that yes I hadn’t realized that I was a student in the advance level while the other students participating in it were in the honors course. So I studied really hard that day. The results were that the high school beat the opposing team. This story reminds me that being smart isn’t the key to winning at a competition but trying to be is.

            In the story that I just finished reading made I realized that a teacher can be really important to a student’s life. Roxanne wanted her teacher to be happy. In fourth and fifth grade we also had that type of care for our teacher. Back then Wal – mart had a teacher competition. In order to be accepted students had to write why their teacher was important to them. Our class and many other students wrote essays telling how that teacher was important to them. Our class and many other students wrote essays explaining how our teacher was important to them. In an ordinary day my teacher was sent a letter from Wal – Mart that explained said that she had won the best teacher award. Our class went with our teacher to receive that award. A newspaper and television broadcaster came to interview the class. My teacher’s award also came along with other benefits. The school received money from Wal – Mart. Our class itself also received money from Wal – Mart. That teacher was great because she helped out any students without any restrictions.

            In this story I’ve learned that having foes might end up regretting it. This was because Claudia used to consider Roxanne as an enemy. As it turns out if it was not for Roxanne giving her advice, Claudia would have had to receive a defeat of 26 to 0. This also happened to me this year. There was this student that showed his disapprove ness by annoying me. Three years later we meet again. As it turns out he starts talking to me so he can get some help from me in class. This story makes it clear that saying I hear, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

            Lastly Roxanne demonstrated that doing what is right might be regretful, but if you keep trying at it it’ll happen. I refer this to Roxanne’s fault for losing the game. I had a similar experience like her last month. When I was playing soccer in gym I was surrounded but I needed the ball to advance. My decision was to kick the ball backwards, but facing forward. As I turned around I realized that I created an auto goal. People on my team were booing me, but the other team was cheering for me. So I became determined to make a true goal this time. On the following day I made the goal. The most ironic part was that our team remained undefeated. By reading this book has taught me, that in order to make winning enjoyable you have to be determined at doing it.