Mandatory Service

I do not believe that it should be mandatory for 18 year olds to serve in the Military or Peace Corps. I think that both the Military and the Peace Corps are groups that people should want to join, not be forced into. If all 18 year olds had to serve, these groups would be full of un happy teens, leaving out others who could actually provide a meaningful service. I believe that as soon as somebody becomes an adult, they should want to be involved in their community. Also serve their country in some way. Even if they do not agree with the current Government, they should still help out because they are a part of this country and together we can accomplish enormous goals. By forcing adults to serve two years, you would then interfere with the start of their life as an adult. Teens graduating from high school would have a busy schedule with going to college. Some might even have to put off their college career for those two years. It would be extremely difficult to serve in the Peace Corps or the Military while being a full time student. Also, if the student had plans of traveling right out of high school, they would not be able to do it! It would interfere with any plans that the student chose to pursue after high school. Also, many high school students turn 18 while they are still in school. This would mean that they would have to be a high school student while serving? I believe this would be difficult and might even get in the way of the students high school life. Forcing someone to perform a meaningful service is of no use. Whenever somebody does not want to do something, they will perform the duty half way and not really take it seriously. Volunteer groups and organizations that were established to benefit the community are not the right places to stick 18 year olds to teach them a lesson or moral charecter. These groups need people who are willing to perform the duties to the best of their ability.

VOTE!!

If my fried told me that he or she was not going to vote in the elections, I would not try to convince them to vote. I would simply fill them in on the pros and cons of not voting. In my opinion, voting is a right not a mandatory thing. Even though i would tell them it is their choice, i would also explain to them that if they do not vote, then they do not have a right to complain about anything that happens in the U.S. if they don't like something, then they are just going to have to sit back and do absolutely nothing. A person who votes is entitled to all the benefits of complaining and dissagreeing with what the president does, but if they did not vote then they have no right because they chose not to care. I would also tell my friend that voting is a privilidge, you get to choose someone who is going to make desicions for you. I would tell him that not voting would defeat the purpose of democracy in our nation. The political system gives power to the citizens to elect the best candidate to represent them. I would also tell my friend that voting is very important, even if he or she does not like the government, they still have to follow the laws, so they might as well do something good for themselves and vote for someone who could pottentially do something that benefits society.

Health Care

I believe that Health Care is a priviledge, not a right. Health care costs the United States so mutch money because there is no way to track down the many people who can not show documentation, and it is illegal to deny them emergency medical services. I am not saying that anyone should be denied health care, I think everyone should be entitled to it but there are certain things that need to be done in order to receive the priviledge. There are so many countries with little or no health care services, and so many people diying from illnesses all over the world. And as Americans, here we are taking our health care for granted. There are many programs through out the United States to aid low income families, aswell as provide services for countries in need. I think that foreigh people in need through out the world, appreciate the scraps of health care they are provided, more than we apreciate our own. I hear many people complaining about having to go to the dentist, or to the doctor for a check up. They never stop to think, and realize that they are lucky to have the opportunity to receive these services, even if they have to pay for them. I also see many people complain about free and reduced price clinics. They complain about the long wait and they even show up late to their free appointments. This is a perfect example of ungrateful people. They expect everything to be handed to them, and in return bite the hand that feeds them. The sole purpose of the medical aid programs that are established by the government, is to aid those in need. Many people love to abuse the system even though they are not really in need. In result, those who really need the help never get it.

Q:Why are the rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmited diseases in the U.S. astronomical?
A: Because we take our health for granted!!!

The government as well as many non profit organizations and charities publicize and provide free information and health care services for prevention, but we take things for granted. There are many clinics in San Diego like: Planned Parenthood, and the Teen health clinic that provide FREE services like STD testing, and Birth control methods. And still, we see un happy pregnant teenagers, and many people with STD's who thought it would never happen to them.

Effective communicator

Discussions during class are really fun. In Ms.Ducat's English class last year, i really enjoyed being part of them. I am a very opinionated person and during class discussions i tend to share a lot of my oppinions about a subject. I have been a an effective communicator not only when talking about my opinions, but also during class presentations aswell. Through out my high school courses i have had to do many presentations to both the class and teachers. I have done the most presentations during my leadership course. Every year, i have done presentations on subjects like, Dining Etiquette for our formal Cadet Ball and First Aid. I have also been an effective communicator as an instructor for after school practices in JROTC. I have communicated with the cadets, teaching them JROTC knowledge and drill. Also, during the summer, the upper level cadets plan and execute a program called Train the Trainer. In this program, we teach the second year and above cadets things like propperly filling out forms and documents, conducting drill and conducting physical training. I was the instructor for forms and documents. I had to present to the cadets and teach them how to propperly fill out JROTC forms. Through out my career in JROTC, i have been interviewed by KUSI and the Union Tribune for different reasons. In ninth grade, i was interviewed in an article called "Aiming High" in this interview, i talked about the JROTC marksmanship team and our accomplishments in winning the California Junior Olympics and being awarded the Gold Medal. I was also interviewed by kusi for the same reason. Along with one of my teemates, I spoke in front of the school board several times to defend the marksmanship team when the topic of terminating the program arised. On December 18, 2009 I was interviewed by Kusi about the Annual Joint Brigade Food Drive we hold every year. I talked about our meaningful service learning project and our accomplishments during the food drive.

Problem Solver

I have been through so many things during high school. Dealing with problems not only in class or with friends, but also at home and during my extra curricular activities. Being a problem solver as a teenager is not always easy, but i did my best. In JROTC just like in any other team or sport, we have arguments amongst students. We also come across many obstacles. As a cadet, i learned the 8 step problem solving method. The first step is to gather data. Here you inform yourself of every general aspect of the problem. The second step is to diagnose the data you gathered. You really think about the problem in this step, how it happened and why it is a problem. In the third step you elect and prioritize your objectives, this means you look at what you want to positively accomplish to fix the problem and prioritize what needs to be done first. The fourth step is to Create and analyze alternatives. In the fifth step you select one of the alternatives then plan the action steps to carry out that decision. The seventh step is to implement the plan, then study the results. When you study the results you really need to think about the problem and ways to prevent it from happening again. This also gives you reference on how to solve it if something similar happens. I use this problem solving method when my problem is complex. During class i always come across time managing problems. For example, i have a lot of homework in one night. When this happens i prioritize the homework that is of most points and importance. This helps me to get things done with time and at the same time helps me spread out the homework.

Technology Producer

It would be highly ironic if I did not take any science or technology courses during high school, being that I attend the school of Science and Technology. In ninth grade, I completed a course on computer applications with Mr.Kleinstuber where I leaned to use Microsoft programs like Excel, word, power point, and publisher. In this class I also created an avatar that was created like as website. I was also enrolled in the Sci-Tech class with Mrs.Rose. In this class, I created many power point presentations on topics like Down syndrome. As the Special Projects Officer in JROTC for two years now, I have created monthly newsletters on publisher for the cadets in my Battalion. One of my most important duties is updating the SDHS AJROTC webpage. I had no clue how to update a webpage and since a new version of publisher was installed in the computer, this year I started from scratch and used publisher to create a new version of the webpage. This task was very time consuming because I had to explore publisher to learn how to do everything. I work on my computer to create all announcements for upcoming events. I have also been a technology producer by being the JROTC photographer. I take pictures at all events and competitions and I keep them all in an electronic scrapbook on our school’s server. Also, while using blogger.com I am being a technology producer as I type. Technology is a huge part of our society, I feel very lucky to attend this school because I know I have learned things that will highly benefit me later on in life.

Collaborative Worker

Throughout my High School career, I have been a Collaborative Worker in many ways. In the classroom, I have coordinated with my instructors to fully understand things discussed. I often contributed with my personal thoughts and oppinions during discussions. In my four years, I have worked with my peers in numerous group projects. In these projects, I always did my very best to contribute and combine my skills along with my class mates to have an awesome final product. During my Peer Education course last semester, I collaborated with my group members to create meaningful lessons for our peers. We would divide the tasks equally, giving everyone in my group responsibilities. We also had discussions about the lessons we wanted to teach, aswell as incorporating all our ideas. In my JROTC leadership class, I have worked along with other cadets to accomplish different tasks. For example, during the community service events that we participate in, we all work together to run water points, pass out water to the runners, cut fruit, and clean up after the event.
In JROTC, I am the cadet in charge of public affairs. This means that i am the point of contact for special projects. During the past two food drives, I coordinated with Tiffany Alcantara from the San Diego Food Bank to set up our annual food drive. I also worked along with ASB in order to have school involvement. Also, I work with Mr. Robledo and the Yearbook Staff while creating the two JROTC yearbook pages. Being a Collaborative Worker Has been the quality that I have shown the most throughout High School.