I should have done better for Freshman College English, but I believe this was for English 60 Pre College English, and I’m ashamed of this document. I’ve written worse mind, oh have I written worse, and some testament to my mental durability can be found in the fact that my mind could function at all with the disease I had.
I have no recollection of the grade I earned for this assignment. I can tell you I should have failed. I counted no less than four spelling errors in the first paragraph. I wish I found it hard to believe that my teachers ignored my problems without insisting that I take steps to correct the defects in my mind.
I will grant that celebrates and celebrities or celebrate and celebrity have a very similar spelling, but a High School graduates and freshman in college have no business getting it wrong.
A few other spelling errors
categories categorize, role vs. roll, excepts accepts, stores stories.
Now let me grant that this is no great piece of literature. Then if you want to get a close look into my life reading my old school papers is one way of doing that, and if you don’t like this I should have something you will like tomorrow.
7th April 1999
And We Look To
We as a people categorize the individuals we look up to in three ways heroes, celebrities, and role models. One can perhaps be all of these at once or any combination of the three. However, often the criteria for celebrity and hero are too different to merge for any amount of time.
First, we have the hero, one who puts themselves at risk for the safety of others. Some very good examples of heroes are the persons of law enforcement. Take for example my friend Joe, Joe works for the LAPD and from what I understand he is one of them more at risk officers. He leaves his home knowing that he may never return. He leaves his home every morning knowing that he may die in the line of duty and never see his wife again. Every day he risks his life for the good of the people he serves and accepts only his unsubstantial paycheck for it, and so Joe is the true definition of a hero.
Then we have celebrities, people who are celebrated for whatever reason. Patrick Stewart the man who played Captain Picard is a celebrity because of his appearance on stage. They have conventions in honor of this man and his role in Star Trek. He could probably retire by selling his signature to many of his adoring fans. He is celebrated not for any valor or personal worth but for his acting ability. He is celebrated and loved for appearances. He stands in the public eye.
One good example of a role model (from what I hear) is Stephen King. He is a good family man, provider, and father. He is a disciplined writer that states “most of what I do is crap, but it’s all worth it because every once in a while I get to do something really worth righting.” Many of us never appreciate the real amount of work that goes in to putting stories together, and the amount of research he does allows the reader to really get a good look at the characters and their lives. The man does his homework so to speak. He is a shining example of talent and discipline.
I would like to note that I didn’t do my homework on Stephen King and so did not know that he had problems with drug addiction when I wrote this essay.
So the three forms of our admiration stand, we will love or hate the individuals that fill these names, but still they are what they are. My friend Joe could be a role model or Stephen King a celebrity. Like it or not, they all inspire, guide, and inform us with shining examples of right and wrong.
