Personal Narrative - Baptism Essay -- Personal Narrative Essays

Personal Narrative - Baptism I took my first step down into the font and thought. Baptisms are funny things. The brightness of it all is profound. It seems as if there is one brilliant mirror reflecting boisterous cheer everywhere. The idea is to pack as much happiness, either real or faked, into one too-hot room in the hope that it will be absorbed into the absolutely petrified soul of the prospective individual about to be baptized. The joy was so thick that it bounced around the walls and the floor searching for something to absorb it, something to hold it in permanently. The beams certainly had many obstructions to navigate around. There were too many fat women with satiated grins made wider still by the application of inordinate amounts of heavy crimson lipstick. Hair that reached ever upward in a maddeningly vertical gyre, as if they were competing with steeples in an effort to be closer to God. Maybe they thought the preponderance of hair would be a better conduit for God. With all the glistening hair spr ay, their hair had to be a conductor for something. Maybe there was a lightning rod tucked inside the cocoon of hair. Indeed, the hair imparted a degree of luminosity to the scene. At just the right angle, the artificial light would hit the summit of hairdom and create an angelic halo around their persons. Perhaps it was one big conspiracy. Perhaps some secret Relief Society tome specifies that women should wear eye-dizzying lipstick and hair spray in proportion to their weight. That made it all so bright. The Spirit, this pure being of truth, was being artificially implanted into the baptismal font through the use of cosmetics and cover-up. The brethren ruined the conspiracy theory, or maybe they just didn't have ... ...ed her head against my chest, tucked it among the folds of my baptismal clothes, seeking the light she radiated, seeking the unproven power I wish I had. It was a power that even my grandma couldn't define, though I knew she had it. The power of tension, the power of electrons, even the power of gravity paled in comparison to the power possessed in this embarrassed but strong old woman standing at my side. I wondered why everyone didn't come to gain this power. But I already knew the answer. The truth behind this power could not be given in equations stitched on the back of a lab coat. It could not even be obtained by simply reading of its source. The power is personal to us all. It is different for everyone. My grandma found her truth and her power, and I found myself clutching frantically for the beams of light that raced joyously out of her still trembling frame.

Head Start Speech

First of all let me just start out by explaining a little bit about Head Start. Head Start is a preschool, or pre K program that caters mostly to children that are part of low-income families. They also specialize in helping children with disabilities. Created in 1965, Head Start is the most successful, longest-running, national school readiness program in the United States. It provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families. Head Start works on 5 different areas of development: Social/Emotional, Fine more, gross motor, cognitive and language development.Their daily curriculum includes all 5 areas of development. Nearly 25 million pre-school aged children have benefited from Head Start. I became involved in Head Start when I was just 4 years old. I attended Head Start as a student. Three years after graduated from Head Start, my mom began working for them. She started out as a cleaning lady and after a few years moved up the chain to cook and then eventually a teacher. So, since I was about 7 years old I was volunteering. I loved being around the children, the teachers and just the setting in general.When I was old enough, I also began working at Head Start as a teacher’s aide. I later went to work for the University of Idaho Children’s Center, where I figured out that I wanted to work with children as a career. In recent years there has been talk with in the federal government to pull the funding for Head Start. The reasons that are circulating are that there is no proof that Head Start works long term, although there is proof that I works tremendously until around the third grade where children begin to even out with one another.They say that in order to justify the need for the nearly 6 billion dollars that Head Start receives yearly, there needs to be hard proof that it is a program that works. To that I say: Talk to any parent of a child that attended Head Start. Do some research on the internet? If Head Start were a program that did not work then why would it me the longest running program out there. The NAEYC has given them annual accreditations for over 25 years. Head Start, in the area of Pre K education is considered the standard. It is what all programs are expected to mimic.There is proof that long term, all children that attend Head Start are 9% more likely to complete high school or the equivalent. African American students of Head Start have been proven to be 12% less likely to be convicted of a crime. Head Start is not meant for getting people ready for life after school but to bridge the gap for children that are struggling to start grade school. Without Head Start many of those children would go into kindergarten without the proper knowledge of numbers, letter recognition, the alphabet and many other skills.I have a statement that I would like to read from a parent of a child with disabilities that did attend head start: â€Å"Ha ving a child with disabilities is not easy. Since enrolling in Head Start, I have received the best possible care for my child. They are very supportive in helping get the services that I need to help my child succeed. Head Start is always there when I need someone to talk to or when I need some help for my child. Since my child has been in Head Start, his doctors can’t believe the progress that he has made. No one ever thought that it would be possible for him to get where he is now.We owe it all to Head Start. † Head Start Parent from Evansdale, Iowa -Gavin -Charlie’s Story Now if Head Start were a program that did not work would it have made such a large impact on all these children? And these are just a few of the over 25 million children that have benefited from Head Start. So I say to you that if on the ballot you see anything that will pull funding from this wonderful organization, that you will at least take the time to visit a local center and observe wh at goes on daily; take the time to talk to a parent that has a child in head start and listen to their experience with the program.

Essay on Addictions to Smoking and Alcohol - 836 Words

Addictions to Smoking and Alcohol A lot of people suffer from the consequences of smoking and drinking alcohol, which often leads to addiction. The word addiction is a very powerful word in this sense, as it means the physical and psychological craving for a substance that develops into a dependency, and continues even though it is causing the addicted person physical, psychological and social harm. The disease of addiction is chronic and progressive; it can lead to extremely dangerous outcomes. This applies to both smoking, and alcohol addiction. Smoking is not just a bad habit, but also a complex addiction. Experts believe that nicotine exerts its powerful addictive effects by†¦show more content†¦Smoking increases the risk of suffering from heart diseases, stroke, other lung diseases and other respiratory illnesses. The body develops horrific reactions to the daily onslaught of smoking. It damages the blood vessels in the legs and arms for example, which lead to restricted circulation and even amputation of the limbs. Also, a smoker addict will eventually start getting eye irritations (which leads to blindness), foul smelling hair, hair loss and even start developing a loss of smell. All of these reactions are due to the dangerous chemicals cigarettes contain. One example of such a chemical is hydrogen cyanide, which can lead to headaches, nausea, dizziness and vomiting. Whilst breaking the physical addiction to nicotine is hard, for many smokers breaking the habit - the psychological addiction - is much harder. This is mainly because smoking is likely to have become deeply ingrained over many years, and has therefore become an integral part of many emotional occasions. Sad or unhappy, bored or having to concentrate hard, happy and relaxed with friends - cigarettes are likely to have played a part in almost all of these situations. 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