Is Bigger Better?

“Living (and Dying) Large” by Ali Bizzul is all about football players and their weight gain. Many players are trying to gain weight in attempts to be more desirable to future coaches. While this seems smart, it is actually very dangerous. Players who are obese and overweight have a greater likelihood of heatstroke, heart disease, and weakening of their cartilage. Even though coaches say that weight is not as important to them as skill, the players just aren’t getting the memo. This essay was an eye-opener to me for many reasons. For one, when people, myself included, think of athletes we picture fit individuals. More often than not, I never think of serious athletes as being obese. According to this essay, many football players—linebackers in particular—are in the overweight to obese levels of the BMI scale. For two, players often know about the health risks, and even the deaths, caused by obesity. It’s hard for me to fathom how an athlete can know about something that serious and not try to correct it or make any effort in prevention. In high school, I was a varsity basketball player until I was forced into retirement by a heart condition; if there was anything I could do to prevent getting that condition and save my basketball career I would do it in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, my condition wasn’t preventable nor was there any warning. These athletes have plenty of warning. They need to take advantage and protect their futures in athletics!

Welcome to Dreamland

My town is in a panic, a woman will be coming to our town. This woman is the most feared woman in America. She comes in and takes over towns within a week leaving missing children in her wake. My family (consisting of my parents, sister, and boyfriend) start preparing for the onslaught that will ensue. The woman will tempt us with what our hearts have desired our entire lives but it’s fake. Don’t fall for it! We go over this for hours every day, when finally one night, the woman’s stretch limo pulls into our driveway. She is trying to read our hearts, trying to find a way to brainwash us. We hide. She drives away, on to the next house. The next day, my boyfriend Ryan and I head to the supermarket and are met by a barrage of uniformed men; unnerved, we quickly walk past and see a cage full of puppies. The exact puppy we had seen and longed for just weeks earlier was hopping and playing in the little cage! It was part of the woman’s trick! If we stayed, she would brainwash us and we would surely disappear. I yanked Ryan away, trying to remind him what we had been learning but it wasn’t making sense to him. We kept walking down an aisle and ran into a group of Ryan’s friends. This would be the final trick that would entrap my boyfriend. He ran off with them to the woman’s camp. I ran home as quickly as I could and prepared my bag, informing my family of the tragedy. Ryan’s only chance for survival was if I could find and rescue him. I searched the countryside and eventually discovered a checkpoint by the men in uniform who would let you into a large shed. Apparently that day was visiting day and they let me in. I walked in cautiously, my eyes darting around the room searching for Ryan. I found him! He sat behind a table, offering raffle tickets to the crowd. I ran up to him and pulled him aside, talking a mile a minute trying to reach the old Ryan. I told him to meet me outside after the visiting assembly and we would escape. Then, my alarm went off; waking me up for my day. My heart racing, I climbed out of bed. What in the world had just happened?

Antigay Discrimination

After reading “The Legacy of Antigay Discrimination” by George Chauncey I just sat in shock for a few minutes. Personally, I feel no discrimination towards gays because what people do is their own business and I feel any kind of love is a beautiful thing. When I read this article it just made me sick at how the LGBT community was treated. I remember being taught, in great detail, about the Civil Rights Movement for African Americans and all of the horrible actions taken against them. Throughout all my years in my history classes, I cannot recall ever learning about the discrimination the LGBT community faced in the history and even today. Why should any racial or social group be considered more important than any other, especially when it comes to teaching students about the history of the United States. This makes me question what else our society has failed to inform us of. I am also infuriated that we continue to call ourselves members of a “free country” when it has clearly been anything but free for many of our citizens. My anger of reading this just will not subside. How can people have their rights stricken from them just because of who they choose to love, what color skin they have, or any other reason. In case the people of this country have forgotten, but the only reason we were founded was to escape religious persecution. The settlers themselves were escaping the situations that we have been putting other groups through. Wake up, America. This is insanity.