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I think the truth is hidden, hurtful, powerful, and important. In the novel The Hate You Give, a 16 year old girl named Starr solely witnesses police shoot and kill her unarmed friend Khalil. After this event, she is presented with an option to take an activist role despite the danger or stay quiet to protect her own image. This novel made me realize the contradiction between how truly important the truth is and how despite this, people continue to prioritize other factors above it. People are so willing to cover the truth up if it is unflattering or scary. Starr ends up speaking out against what happened and defends Kahlil's honor. In doing this, she reveals an important message about the inequalities in today's world and how significant the truth is. I think the truth should be sacredly accepted in is barest form despite its implications or what it reveals about our society. Then and only then can real progress be made. It is my hope that the truth can emphasize a need for change and result in fewer innocent people suffering.

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October Sky is a movie that I connect with because it is all about securing your freedom in the face of adversity. To me, freedom is not something you automatically have, its something you have to work for. It involves proving people wrong and breaking the stereotypes that surround you. In this movie, Homer Hickam is a teenage boy growing up in a dead-end coaling town. He is destined to be a miner like everyone else in the community, despite his obsession with space flight. Everyone tells him he will never be anything but he proves them wrong and ends up working for NASA. I believe that freedom is, in its simplest terms, believing in yourself. If you are confident with who you are, you are an independent individual who cannot be restrained and can achieve anything you put your mind to.

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October Sky Official Trailer #1 - (1999) HD

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Love should be carefree. When you are with someone you love, you should be able to find excitement in the mundane. "American Country Love Song" by Jake Owen portrays an simple yet idyllic love story between two teenagers living in a small town. They have no worries and are enjoying their time together. While love doesn't seem to be like this in most cases, especially when times get tough, I believe that it should. People overcomplicate love and once they have it they don't appreciate it; they let life distract them. Love is an enigma which makes it amazing; you have intense feelings for them but they make you feel comfortable, they help you through tough times but distract you from your stress, and they love the things that you hate about yourself. Love should be like this for everyone, and if I have a chance to have a love like this, I won't squander it.

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Jake Owen - American Country Love Song (Lyrics)

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I believe that nurture is a more potent force than nature. Experiences in your environment play more of a role in shaping you than your DNA does. While I contend that DNA can influence your intelligence levels and physical characteristics it is your experiences who influence your outlook on life, your values, and your personality to a greater extent. John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" is the perfect example of how someone's hometown and family helps define them as a person. The emphasis on roads and mountains illustrates that the path you take and the people you encounter shape who you are as a human being. Like this song illustrates, I feel an unspeakable connection to my family and believe whole-heartedly that I would be a different person if I was raised in a different household, especially if it was in a different region with a different socioeconomic situation.

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John Denver ♥ Take Me Home, Country Roads  (The Ultimate Collection)  with Lyrics

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In some cases, I believe that some things are beyond our control and have to do with external and internal forces. There is a poem about a man asking why he never saw God's footprints beside him when times were tough. To this God replies that when there was only one set of footprints, it is when God carried the man. I believe that terrible events and obstacles fall into our life that we have no influence over, however, I also think that God only gives us what we can handle. He does not want us to be crushed and is there to help us through. This naturalism outlook does not undermine freewill but rather explains why bad things tend to happen to good people.