Option One: Write one paragraph about a place or an event that has influenced who you are. Why is/was this place or event so important? How did it shape your morals or beliefs? Be sure you include a topic sentence, specific examples that support your topic sentence, and a final concluding sentence that wraps up your ideas.

I had been in the hospital a couple years ago and it had been the third time that I had been in the hospital in a 2 year span. It was important to me because it shaped my beliefs and who I am as a person. It shaped my beliefs in a way that it taught me to be thankful for every day that I have to live. In another way it taught me trust God witheverything that I have. In the end that event shaped who I am as person and how I live this life.

1. In the selection called "Peer Pressure" George states that "friends have more influence on one another's lives than almost anyone else does, especially in those teenage years when kids are trying to discover who they really are. So hooking up with the wrong crowd can really get you down."Do you agree with his comments? Why or why not? Have you seen other people try to pressure their friends to do things? (Good or bad) Have you felt pressure to behave in certain ways because of your friends? WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED: Visit the blogs of your group members, read their comments, and leave one comment in which you agree or disagree with something they say (and explain why) or ask them a question about their response.

I would say that I agree with his comments that friends have more influence on one another more than anyone else does because friends can either have a positive effect on you or a negative one. Many people feel the need to fit in with the crowd so they act a certain way in order to be accepted. Sometimes the wrong crowd can drag you into a situation that in the end you regret. I have seen this many times in the way that people talk with different groups of people or with how they act so different with the people that they are trying to impress.

Assignment #1

1. Why do you think Rameck made the choices he did? He knew right from wrong, so what motivated him to choose the "wrong" path as a teen?

I think that rameck made the choices that he did because he had experienced many bad things in his household. For example his mother was a crackhead and his father was a heroin addict. There were many times that he wanted to fit in with the kids in his neighborhood. His father eventually left he and his mother.



2. Considering both his parents were drug addicts, was he really responsible for his actions? Explain your opinion.


Overall he was not responsible for his actions because he was influenced by what his parents were doing. Therefore he started to hang out with bad people who had a negative effect on him. His parents weren't really there for him in his life which caused him to be more independent. In the end he met Sam and George who were more interested in him as a person.


3. Are young people responsible for their actions if they have no good role models or people to teach them the right way to live? Explain your opinion.


I feel that young people that have no role models are responsible for their actions. The reason is because they have no one to point them in the right direction. In the end they grow up leaning on their own understanding. This causes them in most cases to have hate towards authority and other adult figures.



4. Who are the biggest influences in your own life? In what ways have they shaped you? What have they taught you?



In my experiences in life my parents have really been the ones to, in a way, shape my personality and my character. They have not let me fall short of what I am capable of doing. Over the years they have taught me how to have responsibility for my own actions. This has been a huge catalyst in shaping my character.