What if (15)

What if I had not chosen to go to the University of Memphis? Where else would I have gone to college? Why did I choose the University of Memphis instead? What are some things that would have been different if I would have chose to go somewhere else? Am I happy with my choice I made? I was either going to go to the University of Memphis or Ole Miss. The reason I wanted to go to Ole Miss was because I knew it was a good college and most of my friends from high school were going there too. I wanted to stay close to some of my friends and it sounded like a good plan. I would have been able to get more money from being a Mississippi resident and graduating from a Mississippi high school. The main reason I chose the University of Memphis instead of Ole Miss was because they do not make it mandatory for freshmen to live in the dorms. The cost of the dorms, tuition, and books would not have been paid for by my scholarships at Ole Miss, and I did not want to take out a loan if possible. My grandmother lives about ten minutes away from the University of Memphis so I decided to move in with her while I attend there. This way I would not have to pay for the dorms, and it would be a lot closer than my mom's house in Nesbit. The only downside to this is it gets lonely at times being home by yourself. My grandmother does not get home until five everyday, so I am basically alone everyday until then. Overall, I am very happy with my decision to go to the University of Memphis. I have liked majority of my professors thus far. I have saved a lot of money and have made a bunch of new friends here. It would be interesting to see what a semester at Ole Miss would be like, but I would not change my mind about going there for four years.

What if (14)

What if the age to buy cigarettes was lifted from eighteen to twenty-one? What are good things about this? Why would people not agree with this? What could our future be like if this was the new law? I think if the law changed from eighteen to twenty-one, it would be a great thing for the world. I can not stand the smell of smoke and it would not bother me if the law was changed to twenty-five. One of the main reasons I do not like cigarettes is because they can cause lung cancer. Whenever I see someone smoking, I just feel like they are trying to make their life shorter. My mom smokes and it upsets me, but she can not seem to quit. I do not think she is giving it her all to try to quit though, otherwise she would have quit a long time ago. I do not think this will ever happen though, because cigarette companies are making so much profit. There are many ads on television telling people all of the bad things about smoking and what harm it can bring them, however, people are still smoking. They probably do not realize how bad they are killing their body at the moment, but they will certainly see when they keep doing it for a long period of time. Cigarettes are also not good for an athlete. I do not play a sport at the moment, but I remember some of my friends who smoked that were on my high school soccer team. They never were able to keep up with the ones that did not smoke. It really showed how much the smoke was taking away from their athletic abilities. I was ashamed to see them waste their talent for this. I think our future would be a lot cleaner if we lifted the age requirement. Cigarette butts would not be all over the ground and smoke all in the atmosphere. If the age requirement went to twenty-one, maybe more people would not get addicted to smoking when they are young and their minds are not fully developed.

What if (14

What if (13)

What if stem cells could cure cancer? How would this affect people? What are the good and bad things about this? How would the world change from the way it is now? I think that if stem cells could cure cancer, it would be one of the biggest medical acheivements in the world to date. Cancer is killing millions of people and a cure has not been found for this disease yet. If stem cells could cure cancer, most of these lives could be saved. I had a cousin that was diagnosed with brain cancer, and unfortunately she passed away from this disease. If stem cells were to able to cure the cancer, she would have possibly survived the disease. I think people would be affected by this in many ways. The people with cancer would feel there is a strong chance they could survive with the treatment. This would help them stay with a more positive attitude. A good thing about the treatment would also affect the family members of the patient diagnosed with cancer. When I went to St. Jude's hospital and saw all of the patients with cancer, it was hard to smile and stay with a positive attitude for the sick children. I knew that most of the children would die, and there was nothing I could do about it. When I saw my cousin, I tried to stay smiling in front of her and make her laugh, but as I left, I could not hold it in as much. A bad thing about stem cells curing cancer would be the treatment process. During the process, there is a destroying of an embryo, and many people see this as murder. They believe it is wrong it kill the embryo. I think the world would change for the better with this new treatment. Many lives would be saved and rough times would be avoided. Even though it is too late for my cousin to survive, I would hope they still develop a cure and people do not have to go through the same thign my family and I did.

What if there was no music in the world? How would this affect me? Why do I need music in my life? What does music do for me? How would my life change from this? I love to listen to music while doing anything basically. I listen to music when I study, workout, drive, and many other things. I usually like to listen to music when I am studying, however statistics show that listening to music while you study is not helpful. I usually will listen to any kind of music while studying. Another time I like to listen to music is while I am working out. I usually listen to rock to try to get motivated for the workout. With the music playing, I can focus on simply working out and not on anything that is bothering me. Another time when I listen to music is while I am driving. I listen to the radio or a CD in my car. I am very thankful for music, because I feel it would be terrible to have to drive everywhere with no music. I remember one time when my radio was messed up and I had no CD's. It was an extremely boring drive and made me think how much music in the car changes everything. Music gives me an escape from life when I need it the most. When I have some problems, I can listen to certain songs that help me cheer up. Music can do many things for me. It can motivate me, inspire me, help me get through problems, and entertain me. I like to listen to music because I enjoy it too. I mainly like the rhythm of the songs and also instrument solos. My life would change drastically without music. I believe it would be extremely boring. Music is just one of those things I am so thankful for and happy that I can enjoy it.

What if (11)

What if I was able to meet any MMA fighter in the world? Who would I want to meet? Would this person be a popular pick among other people? Why would I pick this particular fighter? What makes him special compared to everyone else? If I had the chance to meet any fighter in the world, I would choose Fedor Emelianenko. Fedor is a heavyweight fighter and has a record of thirty one wins and one loss. His only loss came from an illegal elbow from his opponent in the first twenty seconds of the round. The elbow made a cut right above Fedor's eyebrow. The referee stopped the fight right after this. Fedor and this guy fought again and Fedor destroyed him in the fight. Fedor is a small guy for a heavyweight though. He is around six feet tall and about 230 pounds. He fought one person over seven feet tall and weighing over 350 pounds. The reason I would choose Fedor over any other fighter is because of his attitude. He does not talk trash or disrespect any other fighter. He is a very humble guy and down to Earth. He is currently the WAMMA heavyweight champion of the world. There are many other fighters I would love to meet, but without a doubt, Fedor is at the top of the list. I have been a fan of mixed martial arts for a long time, and the sport is getting more popular every day. I love the UFC, but Fedor is not a part of it. The only problem with meeting Fedor would be talking to him. He does know speak English too well, so I would have to talk to his translator most of the time. Fedor is one of the best fighters ever and he is professional about it. He does not show boat or brag. He wins and he respects all his opponents. These are some of the reasons why I would want to choose this particular fighter over any other.

What if (10)

What if I could control the weather? What kind of weather would I choose for certain days? Why would I want this specific weather? What are the benefits of being able to do this? One of the first things I would do if I could control the weather would be never bring around hurricanes. Hurricane Katrina has been one of the most brutal hurricanes we have had and I wish there was a way we could have stopped it from happening. I also would not bring around tornadoes. I remember when I was younger, there was a horrible tornado very close to my house. I just remember everyone being scared and praying that everything will be okay. I am not the biggest fan of snow. I only like it snowing when we are able to get out of school for it. I would probably let it snow a couple times during the winter for that reason. I would keep majority of the year at warm temperatures. One of my favorite activities to do is swimming. If I controlled the weather, I could make it warm enough to go swimming whenever I felt like it. I would also control the weather by stopping thunderstorms. I am not a big fan of storms, but I do not mind it raining. When it is raining, I can usually find myself being able to sleep better. The things I would not like with controlling the weather would be not knowing the surprise of what kind of day it is going to be. Sometimes it is good feeling when you get to wake up and out of surprise, it is a beautiful sunny day or it is snowing outside. I remember when I was younger, my mom would tell me and my sister when we woke up to look outside. We would look out the windows, and see snow everywhere. It was a huge surprise and interesting to see when we woke up. My brother and sister always went to go play in the snow, and I chose to go watch them. I enjoyed being able to see my brother and sister love the snow so much and have a fun time in it. I think controlling the weather would have so many benefits to me. It would be one less worry on my mind at times.

What if (9)

Maybe schools and colleges should give longer summers. What are some things a longer summer could help me accomplish? What would I spend a longer summer doing? What are the bad things about having a longer summer? Would this change be better or worse for the schools and colleges? How would this affect the student's grades? If we had a longer summer, I would be extremely excited at first; however, I think this would have a bunch of pros and cons to this. One of the things I would be able to do more is go out of town. I recently got a Six Flags season pass, so if we had a longer summer, I would be able to put that to good use. My uncle and cousins are going to Texas this summer to go to Six Flags and some water parks, and they invited me to go with them. My summer is usually busy, so if we had a longer summer I would be able to pick some dates that I could join them on. Another pro to having a longer summer would be I could visit more of my old friends from high school. Since I have been so busy during the school year, I have not had a chance to see them. I usually get to see some of my friends during the summer, but I do not get to see everyone that I wanted to. If we had a longer summer, I could go visit some that live farther away.I would also be able to go see some of my relatives in Oklahoma. I have not seen them in a couple of years, so it would be great to go visit them. Unfortunately, I am taking summer classes this summer, so I will not be able to do what I usually do during summer. I will not have as much freedom like my past summers. However, if we have a longer summer, I could spend more of it not having to do school work. There are some bad things that about having a longer summer. One of the main things is you would have to go to school longer during the year. If the summer gets longer, then the school year will too. I have bee counting down the days until school gets out for a while now, and it would be terrible if we had to go any longer than we are supposed to. I think this change would be better for the students, but not for their grades. I think the students would enjoy a longer summer, but they would forget more information they learned during the year. They would come back to school and forget almost everything that they worked for an entire year to learn. I think their grades would decrease from the previous year. I certainly wish at times that we had a longer summer and wonder what all I could enjoy with it.

What if (8)

What if I had an older sibling? How would life be different than it is now? What could I learn from that older sibling? Would I enjoy having an older sibling or be thankful that I am the oldest? My mom has three children and I am the oldest. I have a younger brother named Conner and a younger sister named Madison. I know I am a role model for them and they look up to me for a lot of things. Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if I was able to look up to an older brother or sister for anything. One of the good things about having an older sibling would be I could learn from their mistakes. Since I am the oldest, I am more likely to make all the mistakes. They would also be able to help me with homework if I needed them too. I usually help my sister with her homework if she asks me. It would have been nice to have someone like that when I was in middle and high school. If I had an older sibling, I could also go to them for advice if I had any other problems. If I did not want to talk about the problem with my parents, I could go to my older brother or sister instead. There are many things I would learn from the older sibling. I would look up to them and try to be like them. If I had an older brother, maybe he could help me get better at some sports. He could put me through some training to take me to the next level. There are some reasons why I am glad to be the oldest though. I would rather make the mistake the first time and my sister and brother learn from me. I would not want to see them get in trouble over making one bad decision. I also like them looking up to me. I try to set a good example, and want to be as successful as I can be. If they see me succeed in life, they will know they have an equal chance of doing that. They will just have to continue to go down the same path I did and they would achieve this.

Outside Event 3

I attended a reading at Burke's Bookstore on April 1st. Molly Crosby was the author reading from her book titled "Asleep." She basically told us the book was about a sleeping sickness that made people stay asleep for various periods of time. Some people would never be able to wake up again from this disease. These particular cases happened around the 1920s. Molly Crosby read to us a prolouge from her book. The prolouge was about her grandmother who had the disease during this time. Molly said her grandmother eventually woke up after 180 days of sleeping. After her grandmother waking up, Molly said her grandmother seemed to live a normal life giving birth to four children, but the family members always knew something had changed about her after the sleeping sickness. She had not been completely there in the head. I thought Molly's reasoning for writing this was amazing. This was a thing that happened personally with her grandmother, and there are many others that have suffered from this disease. Molly wanted to figure out what exactly happened with her grandmother and why. I believe this gave her the motivation to keep researching and trying to find out all that she could about the disease. Molly was asked a question about her researching methods. Molly said she would go and read old journals and records of patients with the disease. Some of the records in certain buildings were burned away unfortunately. I thought that if these records were not burned, maybe there could have been better information regarding the sleeping sickness disease. Molly told us that she was inspired by Dr. Oliver Sacks. Dr. Sacks wrote a book similar called "Awakenings," which Molly talked about for a few minutes. I liked reading the book by Dr. Oliver Sacks, however, I thought Molly Crosby did a fantastic job of writing in her book as well. She seemed more informing to me and I was able to get a better sense of the disease. It was also interesting hearing the part where she talked about the frontal lobes. The lobes are not completely developed until your mid 20's. We learned that in psychology this semester, and it was very interesting how all of this was relating to each other. Overall, I thought this was my favorite outside event this year. I liked the subject matter that was being discussed, and it was interesting to see a good example how science and english go hand in hand. The research is difficult and takes a large amount of effort to get done correctly. I thought Molly Crosby was an extremely intelligent woman and I enoyed being able to listen to her talk.

Outside Event 2

On Thursday March 4th I went to the readings at Burke's Bookstore. The first reader of the night was Richard Bausch and he read to us from his book "Something Is Out There." When we first arrived to the bookstore, we noticed gthe parking lot was full so we could tell it was going to be a little crowded. When we came through the doors, there were way more people than I had expected to be there. Unfortunately I had to stand through the entire readings that night. Before Richard started reading, his daughter sang some sings along with playing her guitar. I enjoyed her music and thought it made a peaceful environment. After she sang a couple of songs Richard started to read from his book. He had read only about a sentence, and then someone asked him to speak louder. Ironically, it was his wife who actually helped alot with getting the event together. I thought that was pretty funny when she said that. The story he began to read was titled "Immigration." It was about a couple with different ethnicity's trying to both become residents in America. Basically, the couple seemed stressed and barely made it on time for their appointment at the I.N.S. Offie. Richard would use some accents that I thought were interesting and even kind of made me visualize what the couple would look like. However, it was hard for me to give full attention to the reading, because I was rather uncomfortable. I had to stand the entire time and also was shoulder to shoulder majority of the readings. After he had finished reading, Wyatt Prunty read some short poems to us. He was actually pretty funny and he was more entertaining to me. He made me laugh quite a bit during his readings. Even though I was uncomfortable, I still enjoyed the readings that night. I just think that I would have liked them more if I was sitting relaxed in a chair other than standing the whole time.

Outside Event 1

Last Thursday I went to Burke's Bookstore and listened to Danielle Sellers read from her latest book called "Bone Key Elegies." She read several poems to us from her book. Danielle seemed a bit shy in the beginning of the event, but seemed to get more comfortable after reading more. Her voice was soft but she read loud enough to hear well and she was really nice to the audience. She did not put a lot of emotion into her reading though, which I thought she could have done more. However, her writing was interesting and she made you feel like you were in the poem with her choice of words. She seemed happy to have as many people come in the nasty weather that was going on. One thing I noticed was she gave a abundance of pauses in her reading. This was very helpful for me because I could sit and visualize everything in the poem. I could think of all the detailed descriptions she was talking about. When she read her poem "Winter Elegy," it made me think back to my winter break and having dinner with my family during Christmas. I had a somewhat short day dream during this, but then came back to reality to hear the rest of the poem. Her poems were not long at all though. After reading some other short poems, she mentioned the next one she would read would be a favorite from Mrs. Wendy called "Manhatten Bodega." There were some people that came into the store during this reading, but it was fascinating how much attention they had for Danielle's poem. The audience members were very interested in her readings and it was showing. The room was quiet with everyone listening contently. After she had finished her readings from her book, she said she would be reading some of her love or "anti" love poems. I enjoyed hearing these poems as well because I had written some love poems for high school english all year. She only read for about thirty minutes or so, and I was really wanting to hear more from her. She would get into one of the poems and then leave you whereas you would want her to continue on, but she could not read her entire book to us. Overall, I thought she read the poems very well and I would be happy to go to another reading from her in the future.

What if (7)

What if we were snowed in for an entire week? What would I spend my time doing? How would this affect my school work? How would school be when the week was over? If we were snowed in for an entire week, I think it would be awesome. We would not have to go to school and have another break. I would be able to sleep in every day and not worry about getting up early and ready for school. If we did not have to go to school for the week, I would have a lot of time to catch up on my studying. I could review a bunch and catch up on my homework. I would probably watch a bunch of television too. If the roads were not so terrible, I would also go hang out with some friends. I may even go sled and have fun in the snow. Iam not the biggest fan of the snow, but I think it would be fun to have for a little bit. I would definitely not stay in the house all week by myself. I would go insane from the boredom and studying. I would most likely go watch some movies and enjoy the break as long as it lasts. I would also go back to Mississippi and see my family there. I would see get to play with my brother in the snow and maybe even get him to sled. I think he would have a blast. Whenever the week would be over and we would go back to school, there would have to be a bunch of catching up. Most assignments could be emailed but for some classes, the teacher would just go over a bunch of material at a speedy pace. The week of not going to school would be really fun, but I am not sure the week after would be worth it.

What If (6)

What if I won a million dollars? What would I do with the money? Would I use the money wisely? If I had won a million dollars, I would put most of the money in the bank and try to save as much as I could. I would help my family pay for some things to make life easier too. I would buy a better car first of all.I would not go out and buy a Ferrari, but I would get a car that would always be reliable for me. I would never have to worry about something going wrong with it or have to put more money into it. I would finish paying for my mom's house and car for her. This would be very helpful for her and she would not have to work as much. I would have to think logically about the money though, because a million dollars would not last a lifetime if I spent the money carelessly. I would save enough money to pay for college for my brother and sister. I would hope they would be able to get their school paid for with scholarships, but would be there just in case with a backup. After I had won the money, I probably would have went on a vacation. I would not go spend so much, but I would enjoy and have a fun time. I would also donate some amount to a charity. I would not feel right if I spend all the money on myself, and not helped anyone else with it. I would most likely donate to Saint Jude's Research Hospital. If I had a million dollars, I would still watch my money, but it would give me a little backbone if anything happened. I would just try to spend on all the needs and save later for all my wants.

What If (5)

What if I was able to control time? What would I want to skip through? What would I want to go back and change? What are some moments I would want to pause? If I was able to control time, there are many things I would want to skip through. I could control time and skip through many things that I thought was pointless and time consuming. First of all I would fast forward through some of my classes that were boring. I would also fast forward through my studying for my classes. Another thing I would want to skip through would be commercials. I hate it when I am watching a movie on television and as soon as it gets to a good part, it cuts to a commercial. I would not have to worry about this problem if I was able to control time. I would fast forward through working out too. It would be great to be able to skip through the actual working out part but at the same time receive the benefits from it. There are also some things I would want to go back in time for. I would want to go back to elementary school and see all my old friends and try to remember most of them. It would be fun to see all of them and to see how much they have changed. I would also rewind back to first semester and study way more for chemistry. I did not make a C in the class, so I have to retake it this semester and it is putting me behind. I would also want to pause life at times too. I would want to pause right when my alarm clock goes off in the morning. That way, I could get as much extra sleep that I need before I start my day. I would also want to pause some special moments and want to think about life and how grateful I am. One specific thing I would pause would be when I scored the winning goal in our game against Starkville. It was a great game and one of the best moments I had playing soccer.

What If (4)

What if a disease such as Ebola Zaire had an outbreak in Memphis? How would people react? What would I do ? How would I react to this outbreak? Ebola Zaire is a disease that has a 50 to 90 percent mortality rate. Basically if you get this disease, nine out of ten times, you are going to die from it. There has not been a cure found for this type of Ebola virus. If there was an outbreak of this disease in Memphis, I think everyone would go crazy. They would rushing out of the city as fast as possible. Everyone would be worried that they have the disease and would asked to be checked for it. The city would be in chaos. The government would have to get involved somehow, but I do not have a clue what they would do. They would probably make sure everyone stayed calm and try to make them less worried as possible. They would have to control everyone in the area too, but this would be way harder to do than it sounds. There would probably be a lot of violence going on while this is happening to. I would try to stay as calm as I could be and make sure not to be outside by anyone. For all I know I could have it and give it to someone else, or someone else could have it and give to me. I would have to get checked if I was carrying the virus though. If I was not carrying it, I am not sure what I would do. I could either try to leave the city and take a chance of catching the virus, or I could stay contained in my house and wait. If a virus like this one came around Memphis, the number of deaths could range up from a few people to thousands. The disease could even spread to other cities, and then possibly to other states. If the situation did not get taken care of, the entire country could possibly be doomed.

What If (3)

Maybe facebook should have never been created. I always get on facebook when I get on the computer. It really doesn't matter how much homework I have, it is just kind of an addiction. If it was never created, then I would be able to focus more on my homework. If I was able to do more homework, then I would be able to have more free time to do things that I actually enjoy. I would be able to get back into working out and not worry about wasting my time to do homework. I have not been able to work out at all because of school and work. I also probably think laziness is an issue too but we do not need to go there. Majority of college homework is online and I think this is a major downfall. It is so easy to open up another browser and get on facebook. Then you look at the time and hours have passed while you have been wasting your time talking to friends on there. If facebook was never created, then I would not have to worry about this problem. I think this would not only benefit for me either. I am sure there are a bunch of people that agree with this. I would miss being able to talk to my friends easily but I could always just call them or something. I could just try to do my homework and tell myself I could get on facebook after, but it is just too tempting not to just check it for a minute. After you say you will just check it for a minute, you kind of get stuck on it, and it is hard to leave. I will get off of it and then like twenty minutes later I would log back on. Ultimately if facebook was never created, I would just be able to focus on my online homework more and then have more free time to hang out with friends in person than have to talk to them on the computer.

What If (2)

What if I was told by a doctor that I had less than a month to live? What would be the last things I would want to do? How would I react to this? Would I be able to do anything? How would I let my family know this? Well the first thing I would do would be to go about four other doctors and confirm that the news was correct. The doctor that I first saw could have been mistaken, so I would just go and check to be sure since my life is on the line. If I was told that I had less than a month to live, it would completely make me think differently about life. One of the most important things I would do in my last month would be to say my goodbyes and tell everyone in my life how much I appreciated them and love them. There would be so many emotions going on with my family. I would try to make it seem like everything will be okay, but I am not sure that would be able to happen. I would also go to church and pray every chance I got. Then after I would do these two most important things, I would try to do some fun things with my family. I would want to go an amusement park somewhere. I would not mind going to Six Flags in Texas. We could go to the Slitterbomb Water Park too, which I have never been too, but my uncle told me it was something I had to do. I think this would be a very fun thing for my family and me to do together. It would always be in the back of my mind that this would be the last time I would do something. Basically I would be my loved ones for the remainder of my life on Earth and pray and enjoy every minute I was given. I would try to keep my spirits high and seem happy with everyone.

What if ?

What if I had superpowers? What if I was able to fly, be invisible, have super strength, see into the future, or heal people. If I had the power to fly, I could travel to any place in the world at any time. I would never have to worry about the increasing costs for gasoline. If I was able to fly, I would never have to worry about being late for school, work, or anything ever again. I think I would have the most fun with the power of flying. If I had the power the become invisible, I could make myself disappear in embarrassing situations. I could travel to various locations and be a spy for the government to catch any terrorists or criminals. Criminals would be more afraid to do any crime activity and the crime rate would decrease. If I had super strength as a super power, I would be able to stop automobile accidents happening and this would save many people's lives. I could also be able to help many people move things that would be nearly impossible to move for the average person. Another thing I could do with super strength as a super power could be to defend many of the weak and helpless. If I had the power to look into the future, it would be really scary but at the same time the most beneficial of my powers.I would be able to prevent any catastrophic disasters from happening and this would save a tremendous amount of lives and problems. Also if I had the power to see the future, I would not have as many questions to ask. The downfall to this would be nothing being a surprise to me. I would always know what is going to happen or would happen with me, and it would possibly be boring always knowing what is coming next. If I had the superpower to heal, I would be able to keep my family and many others from suffering from any sicknesses and diseases. I could put myself into dangerous situations to save others and not have to worry about getting severely injured and not recovering. This would be a safer way to protect people if I had the chance to.