Word Choice Olympics

1. Anxious fans begin to cry as One Direction takes the stage. Teenage girls scream until their lungs give out, singing every song word for word. Mascara runs down a girl's face as the girl next to her holds her head in disbelief. One Direction was on stage, in the flesh. The one in a lifetime experience brought Directioners from every corner of the United States into one stadium.

2. This elderly lady’s last thing to check off her bucket list is to hold a real gun. She got her wish on her 90th birthday. Her fragile hands picked up the cold metal gun as her smile grows wider and wider. The rest of the family jumps out of the way as she points the gun around the room. They laugh together and treasure this moment. But she doesn’t want to put down the gun.

3. Zuri and Lebron sprint from the front door across the freshly cut grass and jump into their father’s arms. He just came home from being deployed in Iraq. The children’s warm embrace squeezes him tightly. His wife runs over next to Zuri and joins in on the group hug. They have not touched each other in 6 months. Tears drip down Lebron’s cheek as he slowly lets go of his father. Zuri does not let go with her hands locked together around her father. Their mother has a wide grin of relief on her face. After a 5 minute hug, their father grabs his belongings and runs across the lawn into the front door.

Coming of Age Rough Draft

     There comes a day in one's life when you transition from a adolescent to an adult. This event is the catalyst to adulthood. It could be as small as getting yelled at or as big as a death in the family. But they all have one outcome, maturity. When the day comes and you acquire this trait, it stays with you forever. The event is tattooed into your mind. It's because it represents the moment you came of age. The day I will remember forever was in 7th grade.
     It was lunchtime and I was sitting with all of my adolescent friends. And it was pouring, forcing all students to stay inside the cafeteria. One of my friends had a bag of melted ice and was daring everyone to put it inside somebody's bag. The cold water bag was being passed around in circles, with nobody daring to dump it in a school bag. It was passed to me several times, but I refused again and again. Someone eventually gave into the peer pressure and did the act. The school bag and books inside got soaked and he told the office. A handful of us got called into the office to give our perspective of the situation. Even though I wasn't the one to get his bag wet, I got in trouble for association.
     I had to call my parents and got a week of detention. But that wasn't the worst of my punishment. I was yelled at by my parents and I got grounded for a really long time. For the times I was at home with nothing fun to do, all I did was think. I went over all of my actions and the choices I made to get me there at that moment. I had done all the wrong actions and made all the dumb choices. I realized I had to be smarter. I had to make better choices of friends. I thought I had done nothing wrong because I didn't dump the water bag. But I was in trouble simce the day I made those friends.
     This day I realized what it meant to come of age. I no longer hung out with these bad influences even if they were the most popular. I chose to be smarter and get myself out of trouble. I realized that this day was actually good for me. I endured the boring hours of doing nothing in my room and the long lectures from my parents to learn that I had to be smarter. I came of age that day because I chose to look at the bigger picture. I would much rather have mature friends than get in trouble and regret bad choices.

Risky Business Final #2

     Peer pressure is being influenced to do something that they wouldn't have done without that little push from others. If smoking is something you've pledged never to do, peer pressure might be able to change that. One of the worst feelings in the world is the feeling of being left out. So the easy way to prevent that is to do what everyone else is doing, even if it's not the right thing to do. You can see what the popular kids are doing at school or around the neighborhood, but the easiest way to find what popular kids do is on social media. The popular kids post the things they do, then other people copy their actions to try and fit in. They can be small things like buying the cool clothes, or they can be dangerous things like smoking and drinking. Peer pressure on social media is an issue because people are getting peer pressured through just pictures and by people they don't even know. Although social media can help you fit in, the pressure to do so can take you to dangerous lengths.
     Teenagers are influenced to drink and party everyday. Friends might tell them things like, "You have to come to the party, everybody's going," or, "Just one drink, have some fun." But nowadays, nobody has to tell you anything to influence you. You just have to see pictures on social media. "American researchers who studied 1,500 15 and 16 year old students from a Los Angeles High School have found that those individuals who saw more pictures of their friends partying or drinking online were more likely to try drinking and partying themselves." The things people would do to fit in can be physically dangerous to them. The one drink could turn into an addiction. And that addiction makes people alcoholics. Also, seeing the influencing photos of peers drinking online doesn't up the likeliness of drinking by a little. Another study found that, "Teens who have come across these kinds of photos are 3 times more likely to have consumed alcohol." One quick check on your social media feed could make you 3 times more likely to be an underage drinker. Social media makes peer pressure so dangerous because friends, celebrities, and even random strangers can influence someone. Also, being on social media means you have to fit in on social media. People have to let their followers know that they're doing cool things. They feel the need to be aproved by everybody, known and unknown. This condition of needing to fit in has become so common that it has earned a name, "FoMO: Fear of Missing Out... where people are concerned that others way be having more fun than them." The thought of being left out causes people to give into peer pressure. It makes them do wrong things to avoid being called "lame or unpopular". The issue of peer pressure on social media is on a global scale and it's getting more dangerous everyday.
     In school, social status is everything. You have to wear the nice clothes, have the nice things, and have the cool friends. And the way to prove to everyone you have all of these things is social media. Social media has become so important in teenagers' everyday lives that they feel obligated to prove themselves online. "59% of teens feel a lot of pressure to post popular content that makes them look good to others." If a teenager gets a new phone, they feel pressure to post about it so people ask questions. Then, it translates into real life where people ask more questions. When a lot of people want to talk to you, it feels good. Also, social media is open to the whole world which makes the amount of people to impress a lot grander. Pressure from social media builds up and overtakes priorities like school, family, and friends. "One girl in the focus group explained how the pressure to post cool content on Instagram led to the end of a friendship." Social media is all they think about. Although teenagers think that social media is harmless, they are unaware of what is actually happening to them. "...as Facebook interactions interact, self-esteem drops." Teenagers constantly feel pressure from social media.
     "Nearly 23% of high school students use tobacco products... and smoke." And these 23% of high school students feel pressure to post pictures and videos of themselves using these products. These posts are open for everyone to see. In that moment when another teenager comes across one of them, their likeliness of joining increases drastically. "75% of teenagers seeing photos on social networks of other teens smoking weed encourages them to do the same." With so many posts of peers smoking, teens feel they are left out of the fun. It may be fun and make you more popular, but the long term effects are not worth it. The smoke that gathers in the lungs can result in lung cancer and brain damage. But teens want to have as much fun as they can, so they join the 23% of teens that already smoke. Then, the new smokers get pressured into posting pictures of themselves joining the party. It's a peer pressure cycle. "Each day, more than 3,200 people younger than 18 years of age smoke their first cigarette." Peer pressure is dangerous because it happens everyday. Scrolling through social media pressures millions of teens to fall in the cycle without them even knowing.
     In conclusion, social media has turned into something it was not planned to be. It has turned into a gateway for peer pressure. And it was so easy to become this because it is so accessible to everyone. Not only friends and peers, but strangers can influence adolescents online. Drinking, partying, and smoking has increased since the invention of social networks. Also, being on social media alone has given more than half of teens pressure to look attractive to everyone else. This issue needs to be stopped because peer pressure is growing like bacteria. Not everyone has to do the same things to be cool. Social media isn't the way to grow popularity. Be unique to be known. Do things noone else does. Being special is the way to fight peer pressure.

Angry Letter Final #2

98-1632 Apala Loop
Aiea, Hawaii 96701
September 15, 2016

Lifeproof Headquarters
15110 Avenue of Science
San Diego, California 92128

Dear Lifeproof Founder Gary Rayner,

I have been a user of your iPhone cases and products for many years. Your protective cases and safety guarantee caught my attention. I bought one of your cases and I still use it today.

However, I have had some problems with your iPhone 6 case. I did the test to see if the case was waterproof as advertised. I put paper in the empty case and put it in a bucket of water overnight. The paper was completely dry and there was no leakage so the case looked waterproof to me. I took my Lifeproof case to the pool to see if I could play music underwater. I closed all of the compartments, triple-checked everything, and placed my phone underwater. One minute later, my phone's screen acted up and I could tell the case had malfunctioned. I took the phone out of the water and tried to turn it on, but it was broken. Later that day, I put my phone in a big bag of rice and left it overnight. The rice did not soak all of the water out of the phone and it was still broken. The Lifeproof case did not protect my phone from getting damaged by water even though your website states, "submersible to 6.6 feet/ 2 meters for one hour." Contrary to what the website says, I put my phone one foot underwater for less than 5 minutes before my phone started to malfunction. To replace my iPhone 6, it cost me $200 to order a replacement from Apple. The failure of the case cost me $200 and I no longer trust the case in the pool, beach, or shower. Lifeproof did not help to pay for my new phone at all and I believe this is wrong. Also, other Yelp reviews say the same thing. 9 out of 11 Yelp reviews concerning the effectiveness of the case were explaining how the Lifeproof did not protect their phone from water damage. Noelle P. had the exact same issue as me. She stated, "The case was installed correctly and passed a water test before use. Customer service didn't take responsibility for the phone." I believe this is a common issue and I recommend you fix it.

In addition, lately the case has been falling apart. The charging cover fell off, headphone twist cover broke, and rubber all around the case is falling off. Also, when I first got the case, I didn't know how to take off the headphone cover and almost broke it. The instructions should have been more clear to avoid confusion.

Through this all, I continue to use the iPhone 6 case which protects my phone everytime I drop it on the ground. It is still a good product, however the "waterproof" labeling is ill-advertised. To avoid further complaints, I urge your company to remove the misleading label.

I have no problems with the functionality of the other features of your product. I love how it protects my phone in my everyday life, but I feel that you should do a better job of labeling your product.

Sincerely,


Zak Tachino