We had been driving that day and said I am going to miss our old house and my friends that got me through some of the hardest times and was always there for me when I needed them the most. But the first day we got to our new house I was still devastated and frustrated that we had moved. But when a couple months had passed something I had found was if your willing to go through hard times everything will be alright in the end you will be alright and make new friends,and adapt to the new area.

A few years earlier, before he was sent off to war, people in the army tried to force him out of the army due to his vow to not pick up a gun to hurt. He didn’t let them stop his dream of joining the army.  He kept training in the army boot camp. 

A few years later, he was in the world's deadliest war, World War II. When they got there, they were fighting against the Japanese army, at a place called Hacksaw Ridge. A lot of U.S Soldiers died there. After the war, he was considered a war hero because he was a brave soul without a gun and he saved soldiers from both sides. Some people in the army thought it was a suicide mission while others thought Desmond Doss died during the retreat of Hacksaw Ridge. During the war, the only weapons he had was his bible and his faith in God. He never went into a war without his bible.

After the war, he received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery. He was a man whose courage saved many lives and whose contribution to the war was unlimited. 

In conclusion, this was the documentary of Desmond Doss. He was one of the greatest war heroes. I chose him because he possibly changed the way medics were looked at in the army. Also, he was the first soldier in the army to not hurt anyone. On that day people say God was with him when he saving does wounded men because on Japanese soldier said every time he try shooting his gun is jammed at Desmond either in the head or shoulder it jammed. Those men owed their lives to him the man that saved them from death & torture. Praise the lord that Desmond saved those 75 men form death. Praise America land of the free. 


Here's a video link to the video documentary of  Desmond Doss start watching it at 16 mins then watch video till 22 mins and 25 seconds. 

I was an outsider once, I still am, someone pushed me in the direction; then I led myself the rest of the way there. I have been left out of many conversations because “I wasn’t apart of the group” so, I was pushed away. So many long weeks passed, nothing changed, no one talked to me. No one even realized I was there for days at a time. In the beginning everything was going great. I had great friends to talk to! As days passed, they drifted away, not realizing they left someone in the dark. They left someone with nothing. For weeks and weeks I tried to be in “the group” but nothing worked. A month has passed now, and I have learned not from my mistakes but from my “friend’s” mistakes. If people leave your life, they weren’t supposed to be there in the first place.

Even after months pass I still learn things from it. Being an “outsider” is not a bad thing, it is never a bad thing. You learn to listen, I learned to listen to the things around me. It is a lot less stressful when you aren't in the middle of all the drama. The main thing I learned was to be observant of the things that are around me than to be stuck in my phone all day. Being observant teaches you to realize the small things in life, like a small flower blossoming in a huge field. 

Even a year later, I am still not apart of “the group” but I am not a complete outsider anymore. People say they didn’t leave me in the dark, they didn’t leave my life. They say it just didn’t happen and I am just asking for “attention”. But I really should thank them because they were the ones that showed me the true meaning of life. The little things, to being popular and have a bunch of different social medias. It is living life to the fullest everyday because you never know when it will be your last.

 Let’s just say, for example, you are in School. And you meet this one friend that you know, secretly, that this person will be your best friend. 5 years later. You guys are still friends close as ever but one day she ditches you. She leaves you in the dust. She says it’s because of the way you dress, or the way you look, or the way you talk. But she backstabs you. You go home and cry. 2 weeks later. You convince yourself that you're fine. You tell your mom you are fine, you tell your dad you’re fine. You even tell your own dog that you’re fine. But you're not.

You never will be. You will constantly have trust issues. You will never be able to understand why that person backstabbed you. Never. You wonder why you were the unlucky one. You wonder why it had to be you. But you’re fine. At least that's what you tell yourself.

Friendship is really the only thing you need. This is not my story but I really felt on a high level what she is going though since I also went through this. “I had felt that I was shut out of my best friend's life for no apparent reason.The following weeks were harder. She had a new best friend, while I was alone thanks to the supposed rumors she had spread about me. I felt like I just wanted to lock myself in my room and cry. Every once in awhile my best friend would reemerge to say hi but then would relapse into silence. I began to feel more frustrated. Little things that were normally insignificant, like my mom telling me to clean my room, became a battle. I felt as if I was constantly trying to win my best friend over, but I was never good enough.

Once I realized that I wasn't the one with the problem I could relax. 

Friends who stood by me helped me realize that you can't make people like you and that I shouldn't blame myself. The saying time heals all is partly true. I am healed, but I haven't forgotten. We still see each other in the hallway. Instead of crying when I get the cold shoulder, I have learned to just smile and walk by, not letting it get to me. To this day, I still don't know what happened that week, but I am happy with the people who like me no matter what and for me, that is enough.”

As you can see, Friendship is really the ONLY cement that can hold this world together. Friendship is the key on having a happy life.  Friendship is like wet cement. The longer you stay, the harder it’s to leave, and you can never go without leaving footprints behind. My friends, and even my parents, taught me to love me for myself and not to worry about what others think. My friendships I had during a time like this pulled me through tough situations. I had the privilege of meeting the people I know and love the most today, and I’m so happy that it was them and no one else I meet.

Now, no matter what group you are in I know that everyone has felt left out at least once. With me, it was when I was growing up from age 2 to 7 and  My older siblings would be the ones who would make me feel left out. Back then my siblings were “too cool” for me and never wanted to hang out or play with me. In the situation I was in, the group was more primarily because of the fact that they were related and I've lived and been around them my whole life. Back then not only my siblings but their friends as well. On my 8th birthday, my older brother and his friends locked me in my basement for 3 hours in the dark so I  know it doesn’t feel good and can feel lonely but it's not all that bad and can have a few positive things as well.   

Since my siblings liked to tease me it has helped me strive to do good in school. Every time we would get our report cards I would make honors with all A’s and B’s while my siblings would get C’s, D’s, and F’s. Because I hang out with my siblings as much and found a way to use all that anger and negativity into something useful and positive that would benefit me in the future. Unlike my siblings who had to go to summer school, I had the full summer to relax and take a break from school work.

Now It’s ok to be an outsider just don’t dwell on it. Try to find a positive outcome and smile. Now I know people always say it will get better with time, and in most situations it does but if there is a problem going on at home, school, or anywhere else try to fix it. Be the reason why things are the way they are now and make them good.

A few hours ago a young boy was found in his house with pills in his hands and with no heartbeat. This boy was a nice boy who treated everyone the same as they were all family. But the other kids took one look at him and had thought loser. Ever since the first day of school, he has had bruises all over his body but he told no one.

The other kids thought he couldn’t do anything from only one look. But when he had a chance to prove he could do something, they didn’t let him. They thought he couldn’t do it. Like when he had joined the baseball team and the first practice all the kids had made the parents not do any games because they thought he couldn’t do it. Even when he tried to show his good grades to the class just left. 

The only person he could prove his worth to was himself. When he got home every day he had played baseball in his backyard and only score home runs. He would review all his grades to see only 100 there. But that didn’t help.

A few years later he had given up and taken an overdose on pills his mom had. He was gone now, but the memory had still stuck with his brother. He had tapes of his practices and grades from him, along with many more. 

When everyone else saw this they said nothing, but instead cried. Everyone had lost him, they had missed out on making a good friend. They had all judged him and lost him.

The only memorable thing that was said there was, “We had judged a book by its cover. And now we had destroyed a person’s life, a person that deserves to live. He could have had friends and be happy… but he didn’t.”

Something can take a big toll on you is hearing your parents scream at each other. It will make you feel down, it will make you see your family in a different way. When you hear them about you and you start to think that you're the reason that every bad thing happened. Every time they fight, yell at each other, or just ignore each other. Every since I was to I had always what it would be like to have one big Christmas with my family. Not saying I don't like having two Christmases because it's awesome but I had just wondered. Just wondered what it would be like to have just one big happy family and not traveling across Illinois.

Over the past two years, my parents have started fighting more, arguing more, and sometimes it's around me and it just ruins my entire day. I have learned that having separated parents kinda sucks. I have started to deal with it in my own ways, thinking about how it's fine and how its nothing to worry about. But in my head, I know that I will keep thinking about it. A few years ago my whole family had a big camping trip. It had through my head the entire time that all of my cousins have one big happy family and how my aunts and uncles laugh with each other, joke around, and just be happy.

Having a dog or an animal can be a good way to deal with the bad and make you think of the good. Thinking about the bad can make you spiral into so many bad thoughts you cant enjoy your day. What I do if I start to spiral I listen to music or talk to someone who will make me happy. Usually, music makes me think about the good and not be worried. It helps me calm down if I get an anxiety attack. Being around the people that make you happy make a big difference.

 

My parents being separated has made a big change in my life. With always wondering why my dad did what he did to wondering why my mom did what she did. Having divorced parents but a big toll in your life but it’s always good to find someone or something that can make you forget about the bad and make you happy. 

  

Facebook can make you feel more connected by posting photos and liking photos. You can like and comment and make people feel more connected. You can also make people feel good by massaging them and commenting. You should not hate on anybody’s posts or you will make them feel like an outsider.

Twitter can make you feel more connected by tweeting stuff about what you are thinking about. If your tweet gets a lot of comments and likes it can make you feel more connected with other people. If you hate on anybody's tweets it will make them feel like an outsider

Instagram can make you feel more connected by posting funny photos or videos by getting a lot of comments and like on that post. You can also post photos and videos that aren’t funny that you can get a lot of like and comments. You should never hat on anybody’s posts or it will make them feel like an outsider

That is how those apps can make you feel more connected. If you hate on anybody’s posts you will be the real outsider.

    Heroes can set the standards pretty high because they're an ideal person who always puts others before themselves, they're good people in almost every way and they will not think twice about giving their lives in order to save yours. But not all hero's are this way. Well, there have been a number of people throughout history whose actions have changed the world.

      The internet isn't big enough to write down the names of every single person who has made a difference in this world , because despite how you sometimes feel, there is always some good in this world. The people on this list are a true inspiration to a lot of people.

There are many people in our society that are rightfully seen as heroes. Firefighters, police officers, doctors and soldiers all save lives. Teachers, preachers and scientists strive to make us, and the world we live in, better and athletes give us something to cheer for and aspire too. 

Everyone is a hero in some type of way. Helping animals, people, anything really can make you a hero. Things you can do to become a hero is something like giving homeless people food just for doing that you could become an inspiration to people i doing one thing to help someone out.

People have asked what it takes to be a hero,  so here are  some suggestions.  Don’t think that these are the only way that you can do to become a hero.  But it's a good start.   Keep in mind that it reflects our own personal view of a hero as directed toward improving the lives of others.  If your idea of a hero is someone who scores many touchdowns, someone who sings great songs, someone that makes lots of money. Those are not always hero's just remember that.

    One day in Mid-July of 2010, all of my dad’s side of the family went to my Grandma and Grandpa’s house to go swimming because they were having a cookout. At the time I didn’t know how to swim, so I needed floaties to help me stay up above the water. The day of the cookout I was sitting on the stairs of the pool waiting for my mom or my dad to give me my floaties to put on. While, I was sitting down waiting I seen a surfboard so I tried and attempted to grab it and when I tried, i ended up falling in and i didn’t know how to swim at the time, so i basically was struggling at trying to swim. I was there for at least 3 or 4 minutes struggling to swim. 

Then, out of nowhere i feel myself being yanked out from the pool and i see my dad holding me while i was crying. Just then he sets me down on one of the pool chairs and puts a towel around me, i also see that all my aunts, uncles, grandparents, and my oldest cousin and her boyfriend were all surrounding me. None of the younger cousins were around because they all were still a bit young so they didn’t understand what was going on so they stayed in the pool and my grandma told them not to worry about it and continue what they doing, so they continued to play and mess around in the pool. 

After, everything happened my grandma wanted me to go inside for a bit to cool off since i was crying. So, by the time i go inside i’m dried off and not wet from the pool anymore. My grandma gets me a hotdog and gives me some chips to go along with the hot dog, so i eat and stay inside for about an hour. Then, me and my grandma go back to the pool and my dad puts on my floaties and i go in the pool with all the adults keeping an eye on all of us younger children, that didn’t know how to swim at the time. 

What are the differences of gangs vs. cliques? The differences are that: a gang is bigger and more dangerous to join but the main difference is that they are more likely to hurt somebody and do more things to put them in jail. Where as a clique is: a group of people in a school. That isn't a bad thing because it could get them in trouble if they go to the “streets” they could run in to another group or clique and get into a fight. Cliques aren't as bad as gangs but they can do bad things like a gang. The main reason people will join a gang is to make money for there family. They will join a clique to talk with them and make friends. The bad things about joining gangs or cliques are that gangs a violent so they can get stopped by the police or DEA can stop them if they are doing something that's illegal the consequences joining a gang is you can't leave.  

When I started 6th grade at Peotone Jr. High I made some new friends pretty quick. We made a group and got along really well. We didn’t let anyone break us up. One day I passed this girl in the hallway, she was in a wheelchair, I had seen her before in the hallways, but never paid that much attention to her. Later that day I saw she was sitting alone at lunch, but she had an aid with her. So I went to go over by her and get to know her because I was going to see if she wanted to come sit with us. She wanted to come over and sit with me and my friends at our table, but it was so crowded she couldn’t get through. So I decided that me and everyone at my table would come and sit by her. She was so funny and pretty smart. We all got along so well, we all decided that we should add her to the group. 

One day when I noticed that Keleigh didn’t come to school for 3-4 weeks. I was starting to wonder about her, so I asked the aid where she was. THe aid said her family was thinking about moving. I was shocked, stunned. I wondered why they would want to move, so I went over to her house and asked her for myself. When I got there she had a cast on. I didn’t know what to do, I was speechless. She said someone was playing in the street and didn’t see her when she was crossing the street, The ball they were playing with hit her and broke her arm. But it wasn’t just that, Keleigh had said that a lot of people had been teasing her and being really rude to her lately that her parents thought it was time they should move. I was so sad and didn’t know what to do. She had said she had felt like an outsider and that our group wasn’t the reason it was just everyone else that lived around them had been really mean to her about what she was doing even when they were doing it. She felt really abandoned. 

 I was so sad I had to tell the group. They were all so shocked too and wondered why anyone would ever so that to her. We all tried to convince her that she should stay, her parents felt so moved that they would try to do that for Keleigh so they gave us one week before they moved to get everyone at school to get along and get to know her or else they would be moving. We all did anything we could to get everyone to get to know her. We had introduced her to tons of people and walked to and from school together. We never really realized how everyone else was treating her. In that one week he had gotten almost every 6th grader to meet her. She was so happy she could finally stay in Peotone without people making fun of her I was just glad that she was happy because I was just about to tell them that my parents had sold our house and that today was my last day. When I told them they asked what they could do to help I told them we were leaving today. They were devastated. I said my goodbyes and I moved to Manhattan. 

It was a normal July day, to say the least. At least that’s what I thought. I walked downstairs to see my mom on the phone with my aunt Sandra, she looked really devastated and I got a little worried but I thought nothing of it. She then got off the phone, walked over to my dad and started talking. I followed to see what had happened. She explained that my aunt Blanca had been diagnosed with acute leukemia. As soon as I heard that I started to worry. Lots of questions circled my head and with me only being 7 years old I did not even know what type of cancer it was. I was really worried about my aunt and I hoped she was ok. My mom also got very worried and she was scared for my aunt. My mom called my aunt Blanca to see what was going on and she explained that she had a bad fever and was really weak so she went to the E.R to get checked out. When she did the doctors had found an abnormal amount of white blood cells. They took a couple more tests and diagnosed her to have leukemia. The doctors said that without a transplant, her prognosis was bleak

She needed to undergo a bone marrow transplant so all of my family got tested to hopefully be a match with her. While my family individually got tested she was doing chemotherapy. Sadly no one was a match. This got everyone really worried since she really needed a transplant.  We were desperate, so my dad made a fundraiser to hopefully find a match. Six months later we were so lucky to hear that she actually found a match from the fundraiser. Then January 7th, 2015 she underwent a successful transplant. Her doctors said the next months and years were crucial in making sure my aunt's body doesn't reject the transplanted cells and that leukemia doesn't come back. 

My aunt was one of the lucky ones. She was strong and lucky enough to get cancer free. I never thought that I would be in a situation where someone I loved could potentially be gone forever. From then I try to appreciate the little things in life because life is way too short. You never know when it all could potentially end. So cherish the moments with the people you love since it could all end in a second. 

Is Friendship really the only cement that will hold the world together? Well in my opinion yes. I mean that would be the key to world peace which has been wanted for hundreds or maybe thousands of years.

In the world people have been blinded by selfishness not thinking about how others could suffer by one small decision. In many countries there are decision that nobody wants except the leader and that leads to stressed out citizens. Many people are forced into war including children. None of these people chose this life they were just born into it. Children have been taken away from families to fight in war. So do we really need war for peace or do we need friendship for peace?

Friendship is so powerful that it is one of the main things that help people get through war. In war each soldier must trust others to keep them alive and in return he/she will do the same. Your life is not in your hands but in others, most of the time they will do what they can to make sure you live. There is a well known quote saying, no man gets left behind. Whoever created this quote was a wise man/woman. In war it doesn’t matter what side you’re on, you must count on others to survive. 

Besides war there are many things that causes many deaths. For example hunger leads to a tragic death but is not uncommon. In fact 9.1 million people die from this each year. Though many people have tried to solve this problem it is still a problem. There are many reasons why there is hunger one of the reasons are there enough people helping. Some people don’t have enough money to help, some people don’t care about helping, and some just don’t think about it often. 

There many times when you and even me are sucked into are own problems and so we don’t even think about others. In middle school we worry about homework, the big test that might be coming up, are parents finding out you did something you weren’t supposed to, and if you have little siblings you will sometimes hope they won’t bother you. But in other countries and here people worry about life or death and much much more.

So can friendship solve these problems? Is it truly the only cement that will hold us together? Remember never stop thinking about others and at least try to help others in need.

I was playing outside with my friends and it was just a good/amazing day in general. Then my dad and my step mom got home and they looked like they were sad so I asked what was wrong. And they told me that something happened at work. So I was like okay. And I started playing with my friends again. Then I saw one of my dad’s friends come to the house with what I saw a letter but I don’t know what it was. Then more and more friends came over so I thought that it was like a party or something. Then it got late outside so I went inside and into my room because it wasn’t a party. About a hour after all the people left. My dad called me, my brother, and my step sister downstairs and what he told us changed our lives forever. He told us that our grandma died from a heart attack. Then it all came to me why they were crying, why all the friends came over, and why they told me something else. Then I went straight into my room and just thought to live life to its fullest because anything can happen at a blink of an eye. And to be grateful for anything.

That is the night that my life changed. And the night that I learned a lot about life.

“Ask not what your country can do for you...ask what you can do for your country.” This famous quote was said by the man himself, John F. Kennedy, and he did exactly that.

On May 29, 1917, the 35th President of the United States was born. He was born into a fairly wealthy and Irish family. He grew up with 2 loving parents and 9 “extraordinary” siblings. John, or “Jack” as his family called him, was a very poor student and a questioning child. He didn’t like school much. However, he excelled in English and history. But school is where is fame all began. When he was a senior in high school,  he wrote a paper about why Britain was unprepared to fight Germany in World War II. This received so much attention, that it was published into a book called “Why England Slept”. It was so popular that it sold about 80,000 copies. 

After graduating from Harvard College, he was assigned to control a torpedo boat in the South Pacific. His boat, PT 109,  ended up crashing into a Japanese was ship and split into two. He ended up with a very bad back injury. After that incident, he worked as a reporter for the Hearst Newspaper to recover. 

Then in 1946, he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives. John felt that working in the House of Representatives was quite dull and felt that he wasn’t getting enough attention nationally.  

In 1952, he was wishing for more of an experience. So he ran for the U.S, Senator. While he was working, he met his beautiful wife Jacqueline Bouvier. They soon got married. He started to suffer from frequent illness. He had to get surgery. However, he wrote another very popular book called “Profiles in Courage” that won a Pulitzer Prize. He ended up being in the Senate for 8 years 

8 years later, Kennedy decided to run for president. At age 43, he was the second youngest American President in history. His greatest accomplishment came in the arena of foreign affairs. He created the Peace Corps by executive orders in 1961. He also created the Alliance for Progress. He made a lot of suggestions that would help citizens. For example, making programs to help people become more social and help schools with education. He also ended up cutting down a lot of taxes. He also was a big part of civil rights. He helped Martin Luther King Jr. with giving his speech. Eventually, it paid off,  because his bill was sent and they passed it as the “Civil Rights Act” in 1964. 

November 22, 1963, just a normal day, Kennedy and his wife flew to Dallas and just landed. He was walking about the streets and everything seemed normal. Shortly after 12:30, as a motorcade went through downtown, shots rang out. Kennedy was shot twice. Once in the head and once in the neck. Shortly after he arrived at a nearby hospital, it was announced that he was dead and was killed by Harvey Oswald. This was a tragic event and it will forever be engraved in history. 

 

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My name is Jacob Jordan this how i made the biggest mistake of my life.

I was only 14 years old when my friend got shot and killed do to gun violence. Me and him were friends since kindergarten. The thing is i didn’t know he was in a gang the west side schoolers.

 

So i walked home from school one week after he got killed then a white car with black windows rolled up to me and me and asked me was i Jordan's friend. “Yea” OK cool hop in. Nah im good. Jordan ways in my gang the west side schoolers. OK. He talked about you all the time. OK and your point is? Join us so you can continue his legacy. Why was he a big name on the street or something? Yea. OK. I could do that for him. OK.  You go to school? Yeah. skip it meet us at 167th street at the shoe store it’s our hideout. OK. 

 I woke up and i walk to the show store. I met up with daquan. Lets go to the other gang territory where Jordan was shot. We went to the the east side of the city he told me i need a gun to make it in the gang and for my protection. That's when i knew things would change and i could get shot. So we scoped everything out and i looked good. I asked him why we went over there. He just gave me the side eye. That's when he told me he needs me for something tomorrow. I asked what is it he said don’t worry about it just be here. OK.

I went to the location he told to go and there it was my faith was just waiting they for me not knowing that Jordan legacy would end right there. Next i know i am in a hospital bed. I asked the doctor what happened he said you got shot and you are lucky to be alive. That's when i know that this life is not for me so i told him what know. He said you have to be in a wheelchair for the rest of your life. That’s when i knew i failed my friend and myself.