Prompt:
Choose an issue of importance to you-the issue could be personal, school related, local, political, or international in scope-and write an essay in which you explain the significance of that issue to yourself, your family, your community, or your generation.
Essay:
In an overly litigious society, we are always on the lookout for someone to blame for our problems. The lack of individual personal responsibility is a major concern in our society. You can hear, or overhear, it almost anywhere: the bathroom at a bar, your classroom, the next booth over at a restaurant, and even in your own home. A reason why someone was incapable of doing something. You hear someone say "I do not know how we can be expected to show up for a class that begins so early," or "pay attention throughout a class that goes so long," as if that person did not register for that class knowing full well what to expect. I think the mindset that are lives unfold in spite of our choices is a dangerous concept for society to adopt.
Take a look at the mortgage crisis going on in America. People were approved for loans, despite being incapable of maintaining the necessary payments. Now certainly it is deplorable for financial institutions to play on the hopes and dreams of these individuals, but it is not as if Wells Fargo broke into someone's home at night and forced them to apply and then accept a loan at knife point. If these people had looked at their finances and said to themselves, "as much as I could use this money, I simply cannot afford to accept this loan at this time," the crisis could have been averted. It required a degree of complicity on the part of the lenders and the borrowers.
I have grown so weary of listening to the myriad of excuses people toss about so casually. It could have something to do with my background in the Marine Corps, but I would like to think It has more to do with me personally. I understand that people fail; I have failed on countless occasions, but my failures are ultimately mine and only by accepting them can I begin to improve myself. I went to a rural high school with a terrible academics program. For half of my algebra two class, my classmates and I were left bookless and directionless when our teacher took an extended leave of absence. I came away with very little from the class and the next year when I attended a different suburban school, I found myself ill prepared for further math classes. I ended up being placed in a remedial math class. It would have been easy to give up on math; I could have said it was all my old schools fault, which would have only been a half truth. I would have been the one who decided to quit; the final choice would have been mine. I did not give up, instead I took responsibility for my shortcomings and addressed them.
It is too easy to look at our lives and find all the reasons why we are not to blame for how events in our lives are unfolding. Obstacles will appear in every life and they are not always of our own making, but if each person took a proactive stance in dealing with these obstacles they would be more likely to overcome them. At least if each person was willing to face the part that they have played in their failures, they might be more likely to avoid repeating them.
Choose an issue of importance to you-the issue could be personal, school related, local, political, or international in scope-and write an essay in which you explain the significance of that issue to yourself, your family, your community, or your generation.
Essay:
In an overly litigious society, we are always on the lookout for someone to blame for our problems. The lack of individual personal responsibility is a major concern in our society. You can hear, or overhear, it almost anywhere: the bathroom at a bar, your classroom, the next booth over at a restaurant, and even in your own home. A reason why someone was incapable of doing something. You hear someone say "I do not know how we can be expected to show up for a class that begins so early," or "pay attention throughout a class that goes so long," as if that person did not register for that class knowing full well what to expect. I think the mindset that are lives unfold in spite of our choices is a dangerous concept for society to adopt.
Take a look at the mortgage crisis going on in America. People were approved for loans, despite being incapable of maintaining the necessary payments. Now certainly it is deplorable for financial institutions to play on the hopes and dreams of these individuals, but it is not as if Wells Fargo broke into someone's home at night and forced them to apply and then accept a loan at knife point. If these people had looked at their finances and said to themselves, "as much as I could use this money, I simply cannot afford to accept this loan at this time," the crisis could have been averted. It required a degree of complicity on the part of the lenders and the borrowers.
I have grown so weary of listening to the myriad of excuses people toss about so casually. It could have something to do with my background in the Marine Corps, but I would like to think It has more to do with me personally. I understand that people fail; I have failed on countless occasions, but my failures are ultimately mine and only by accepting them can I begin to improve myself. I went to a rural high school with a terrible academics program. For half of my algebra two class, my classmates and I were left bookless and directionless when our teacher took an extended leave of absence. I came away with very little from the class and the next year when I attended a different suburban school, I found myself ill prepared for further math classes. I ended up being placed in a remedial math class. It would have been easy to give up on math; I could have said it was all my old schools fault, which would have only been a half truth. I would have been the one who decided to quit; the final choice would have been mine. I did not give up, instead I took responsibility for my shortcomings and addressed them.
It is too easy to look at our lives and find all the reasons why we are not to blame for how events in our lives are unfolding. Obstacles will appear in every life and they are not always of our own making, but if each person took a proactive stance in dealing with these obstacles they would be more likely to overcome them. At least if each person was willing to face the part that they have played in their failures, they might be more likely to avoid repeating them.
