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Charlotte Amalie
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laws of life

Winning Essay's 2003 Laws of Life Contest
Charlotte Amalie High School
12th Grade
1st place: Iambaksye Richardson
Living Creates My Laws
"What is life but the angle of vision? A man is measured by the angel at which he looks at objects." Stated Ralph Emerson. My life has been viewed from so many angles that it in itself lies outside the normal human plane of vision. The "powers that be" only see me as another black teen, a common black man; and how could I forget, they all see me as a Rastafarian! In my life, everyday, every new endeavor is a struggle. Misjudgments and underestimations are just a few of my challenges in life, and if I succumb to them it would be far worse than death. So the question is, "Has life been good to me?" No, it hasn't, life has been harsh, and hard, but I have made life good for myself. I have fought long and hard to change people's perception of me, as well as their perceptions of others like me. I watch expressions change as they hear me speak, I watch eyes grow wide when they see me write, and I watch as heads hurt after hearing my reasoning. Pride in myself, constant struggle, and a will to succeed drives me to show the world that I am not another black person to be placed in the status quo. By following these laws, I feel anyone else could make a change, shock the world, and show everyone that they should never "judge a book by it's cover, it's back page, or it prologue," for that matter.
"Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us." Asserted Jane Austen, and pride in oneself lies in being able to see oneself for who he or she really is and not trying to be what others want. I define pride in oneself as being able to be yourself, let others judge your for who you are and not what they want you to be, being able to try and fail and consequently accept the failure as a learning experience, and being able to be helped when needed. I see myself as a success so why should I let others see me as a failure? Pride is the only thing that at the end of the day I would never give up. It is what defines me and if others can't see that, then they won't even scratch the surface of who I am. There are certain things I cannot do, there are certain things at which I excel, and there are certain things I just attempt. I'm not a quitter, and I can take criticism, provided it's constructive, and I will also take help if it's given. This helps to build upon my pride. With pride in oneself, no one can put you down, and those who try can only help to push you further to your goal.
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"It takes a struggle to gain success," and if anyone knows about struggle, it is I. It was once said that, "As a black man the door to success is already half way closed," so as a black Rastafarian I have to reopen the doors myself. Life is a constant struggle and struggle always leads to great accomplishment in my life, I have learned that all of my accomplishments would never have been possible if they were not as hard as they were. I can recall, while working on the backdrop for my Introductory Night, that I did not sleep for 2 weeks and when everyone saw that stage prop it left them astounded. I remember the night of the show when I worked and still took part in three acts, and as a matter of fact, I remember giving up sleep to finish this paper. I was told that maybe I should classify struggle as determination, but why? Determination is trying to do it, struggle is having to or forcing yourself to do it to the best of your abilities. Struggle builds character and coupled with pride anyone can be a success, in my book.
The last component that I add to my laws of life would have to be a will to succeed. Success cannot be just taught upon, in order to succeed action must be taken. To quit and knowing when to quit, in my book, are two different things. When you quit even before you had the chance you've given up the will to succeed, and that hurts your pride, if you view pride in the same light as I do. Winning isn't everything and second place gives one some thing to aspire to. The only failure occurs when one does not try. With the will to succeed, it is harder to be disappointed if you lose, you just know to try harder next time. To believe in oneself leads to accomplishments and those accomplishments lead to greater pride in oneself.
Remember, A man is measured by the angle at which he looks at objects, and the way one views himself is far greater than how others view him. Pride is what keeps an individual going, the struggle helps you to gain from the experience, and the will to succeed drives you to the end. These may seem like only a few laws to live by, but they weigh heavily on other actions in everyday life. You must believe in and have pride. Before you can do the same for anyone else, you must be able to help in order to be helped, and to win you must be able to take a loss. My philosophy is "Success by any means necessary," and in order to succeed one must have the will. To conclude let me restate that Pride in oneself, constant struggle, and a will to succeed can drive any person to show the world that he/she will not be placed in the status quo, and in following these laws, he or she will make a change, shock the world, and show everyone that they should never "judge a book by its cover, its back page, or its prologue."
2nd Place – LaToya Tyson
Cast Down, But Not Destroyed
What is life? Life is the physical, mental, and spiritual experiences that constitute existence. Can I say that life has been good to me? Life has thrown me many curve balls, but all in all, it's been good to me. There have been three incidents in my short life that have threatened my existence in this world. The death of my father, a serious operation, and a traumatic sixth grade school year have caused me to define my purpose on earth.
The death of my father had shocked and confused my tender life, but my mother, Sylvia Tyson, has been an angel who rescued me. She has molded me into the person that I am today with the help from the Lord. At the age of eight when my father passed away from kidney problems, I wondered if I will ever be the same again. I isolated myself from others and never said much even to a point I had stopped eating for three days. My mother got me out of that deep depression and told me to move on and keep my head up. I knew she felt what I was going through because she was also grieving, but she stayed strong for us. She became my role model, my father, and my mother. She made many scarifies to make ends meet, after dad left us. She would always put her children before herself and I appreciate her for that. She tries to please her children in every way and makes sure her children succeed. Now I am more matured, I realize the hardship my mother went through, and appreciate her for that. One day I will return all the gratitude that she has shown us. Her love and strength have comforted me when I was in deep sorrow, and I was given hope that one day I will see my father again.
Another incident that threatened my existence but gave me a new perspective on life was my operation. At the age of ten I suffered from appendicitis. At that time I noticed that my abdominal area was causing tremendous pain. Then everything that I ate came back up and I felt like I was paralyzed. Then my mother got worried and took me to the Walk In Clinic. The doctor observed me and only made the matters worst. The medication that he gave me caused my appendix to burst. A doctor noticed what was wrong with me the moment he saw me. He said I had to go through surgery right away. He told us what was the problem and my mother and I got scared. The doctor said he had to operate on me immediately or I can lose my life. As I entered the emergency room I was asking myself
if I would ever wake up. I was constantly asking the doctors will I be alive. When the operation was over and I realized I was alive, I was so happy. At that time I barely could have walked and I could not eat for two days. I also couldn't lie down flat on my back because the poison needed to drain out of my body. I stayed in the hospital for five days then it was time for me to go home. My mother bought a recliner so that I can sleep or sit upright. She cleaned and changed my plaster everyday. Several days later it was time for me to take out my stitches. Apparently, the doctor forgot to remove one staple from inside of me.
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It later caused my intestine to fall out through the second hole. This situation left my mother and I scared again. I could have died three times because of this one operation, when I received the wrong medication, trying to avoid the poison that remained in my body, and the staple that was left inside of me while I was healing. Therefore, I value every single day of my life.
This final incident threatened the development of a positive self-image and my self esteem, but the intended effect was reversed. During my elementary years I was always being picked on because I was much smaller and younger than the other children. Because of my dark complexion, some students called me "blacky", "ugly" and other names. I felt sad and depressed everyday but never did show it. Everyone hated me including my sixth grade teacher. She complained about the things I wore or how my hair was styled. She told me that I couldn't write and was emphasizing that I wasn't going to make it. There was nothing bad left to say that my teacher didn't tell me. I wished I was anything else but myself. It seems as if everything I did was always a problem to her. There were days that I went home praying to be pretty and smart. Then one day my prayers were answered. From that day I left the sixth grade class, my life changed for the better. From seventh grade to the present, I have the honor roll. The other half that I prayed for came through too. Every day at least two to three people tell me that I am very beautiful and have a lovely complexion. Then on e day I really looked in the mirror and a dark skinned beauty stared back at me. People have mentioned that I should compete in pageants or model. With that encouragement and new confidence, I ran for Miss CAHS Homecoming and won the Miss Upward Bound Pageant.
All of these experiences that I went through taught me valuable lessons. I learned that here is hope even after death and even though we grieve, life must go on. I learned to appreciate a second chance at life, and to let no one despise my youth and cause me to loose sight of my goals. My experiences have defined who I am and have caused me to recognize and appreciate my beauty, inside and out.
3rd Place- Nkosi Thomas
Improving the Quality of Life
In my opinion life is about change, a change for the better. Most people at some point in life would like to change something about themselves. They would like to do something to improve their quality of life. I have found myself in this situation. I look at my life and see that many things that I can do to make myself a better person. There are millions of things keeping many people, (myself notwithstanding) from being perfect. However, there is usually always one thing that sticks out and would make a huge difference in our lives. One thing that I could change about myself to improve my
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life, is the fact that I procrastinate with any task that I must complete. There are several ways that my life would improve if I stopped procrastinating. Three significant improvements that would occur in my life if I stopped procrastinating are; an improvement in my grades, a reduction of stress, and I would not be penalized for my procrastination.
My grades could be much better if I didn't procrastinate. I would turn in all of my assignments on time, and I wouldn't have to worry about loosing points for handing in work after a scheduled due date. I would make me a much better student. I would have time to do all my work neatly and properly, and I would be able to do everything to the best of my ability. Procrastination is an unnecessary waste of time that just keeps me from achieving my goals. It is a block in the path of life. It makes people think of me as incapable or less capable than I really am.
Procrastinating is the stimulus for most of the stress that in my life. Because I am always trying to rush things off at the last minute, I lose sleep staying up all night trying to write a paper, or I end up worrying about meeting a deadline in time. To have to consistently worry about things that don't have to take place in my life is a serious hindrance to my progression in life. I have the pressure of coming up with ideas all at one moment without time to plan how I can expand and accentuate my thoughts. It leaves my work limited and uncultivated. I can't say everything I want, that might be an important prerequisite to carrying my work to the next level of audience satisfaction.
When I procrastinate, I am penalized in several ways. Some ways are more obvious than others, but I am always penalized. I find myself being punished for my procrastination. I am not always necessarily punished by someone else for my actions, but by a simple and natural consequence of my behavior. For instance, I would be up all night trying to complete a paper in time for a deadline. My punishment would be that I would lose sleep and would go through the next day looking and feeling tired and I would be left without the ability to function efficiently. In an even worse scenario, my teacher would take points away from my grade for missing a deadline. One of the penalties I hate most though is the long talks with my parents about being irresponsible and careless. Them telling me that I have a lot of potential and I'm just sitting and wasting it. That is the hardest part for me because I like to see myself as a talented person who will be successful in all endeavors. Also, most people like others to think well of them, and to have people, especially my parents, telling me how irresponsible and careless I am is very displeasing. I think of all of these consequences, as correctional actions for not doing what I know should be done, which is senseless and easily avoidable.
The effects of procrastination all have a negative impact on my life. It contradicts my goal to make my life as pleasurable as it can be. I feel that I (along with all others) must plan to live my life comfortable, so that in the end I can look back at my life and thank God for giving me the opportunity to have such wonderful experiences.
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Procrastination encumbers my ability to fully enjoy this life that God has a graciously given me, and I regret the fact that it is one of my biggest downfalls. It is something that I shall work on and something every person should avoid in life.
11th Grade
1st Place – Shaneca Charles
"I do not want that child"
Whether it is through giving a child up for adoption, abortion, or just plain abandonment, every year, hundreds of children suffer because a mother or father decided, "I don not want that child." Unfortunately, I am a part of that group. This essay, this Laws of Life essay, addresses this issue from the point of view that is too many people seem to ignore. Too many times people argue that it is wrong to abandon a child. Yes, this may be true, but too many people forget about the true issue at hand, the effect it will have on the child, and the battle that we have to face alone. I think that the most painful moments where when I grew to realize that I came from a broken family, I began to question my self worth, and then realized that nothing I can do will make it different. Being abandoned by my mom has taught me three important values in my life. I am somebody, I will succeed in life, and I will grow to love even when I am unloved.
I am somebod
y. I have a purpose, and I have a future. I believe that no matter what your circumstances are, they do not determine who you are, but are rather placed there to make you into the greatest person you can be. Coming from a broken family might cause one to think that they are less than someone else, or that it was their fault, causing lack self-esteem. I was almost at this point, until I realized that, "It was not my fault; it was not because of anything I did." Nevertheless before I came to this revelation, my mind was plagued with the thoughts and questions that badger the minds, "What did I do wrong? Maybe if I were different, she would have loved me." However, I came to become conscious of the fact that I was someone without her being there for me. I now possess that self-confidence that I at one period in my life greatly lacked. My trust in god and my self-confidence has kept me along the years. I know that everyone has their one specific purpose in life, and just because I may not have grown up in the "perfect family," it does not exclude me form the group of people with a purpose. I can look towards my future and be confident that I will succeed.
Booker T. Washington once said, "I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed." I will succeed in life. I have to succeed in life. I have to prove to myself, and to everyone else, that I am, and that I can. Even without my mother. I consider myself to be quite successful.
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