I believe that the way a person dresses doesn’t personify who they are. If you dress a certain way it doesn’t show who you are. You could be a really nice person that has manners and knows when the time is right to speak and when you sit, or even when to go to the bathroom, but you may dress like your tough and mean and like you don’t care about he way you look. But fact of the matter is the way you dress really doesn’t determine who you are, and what you stand for. People think clothes are a reason to stereotype someone that is different from them. When people do stereotype they don’t realize how bad it hurts until they get stereotyped themselves, and they just feel terrible. This doesn’t mean they’ll change. And it doesn’t make it right, not in the slightest bit possible. The way I dress is a completely different way than most people. And some people might think its offensive but really that’s their problem and they can just deal, I mean really is it that big of a deal? I also believe that hair colour doesn’t make you bad, or eye colour, that’s like what Hitler did during the holocaust. He tried to say if you had dark hair and dark eyes that you were a bad person. Some of the most beautiful people have dark hair and eyes, and they are some of the greatest people ever. If life was ever easy it would be more miserable than you make it. What I don’t understand is why do we as humans treat each other like we do? It makes you wonder why the world must be so cold. Would we be happy if we weren’t mean to each other? Would it make us better people? Would everyone get along? The answer to these questions might never be answered.  What would happen if everyone dressed exactly the same and acted the same? You can’t possibly tell me you would be happy that way. Personally I’ve been told multiple times that I dress like I’m in the circus, which I actually think is a compliment. Yes it sounds weird but whatever. I’ve also been told that I look like a freak. Sometimes these words hurt, more than anything. Life would be so much easier if everyone would keep their mouths shut and just worried about themselves instead of others. That’s like in a fire situation; take care of yourself before you help anyone else. There are just so many things I don’t understand about people. Therefore I believe that the way a person dresses doesn’t personify who they are as a person. Get to know a person before you judge them. Think of it this way for one bad thing you say to a person one bad thing can and probably will happen to you. Karma what comes around goes around. It’s the fact of life.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [2:54m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (53)

I believe that without war there is no peace. That without war you can’t have a time of rebuilding for the next. When you get rid of war you get rid of the chance for peace. There isn’t a hugely famous book called “War or Peace,” it’s called “War and Peace.” Without war there is no chance to have the things we like. Things like freedom from control and the freedom of speech. The freedom to own a gun or the right to pursue happiness, the right to a speedy trial of our peers. They are all rights and freedoms brought to us by war. I’m not trying to preach global domination but we need wars like ww1, ww2, and the War on Terror. The press only reports bad things about the war, we never see the good that comes from it. Instead of saying “yay” that no American troops are dying, the press is saying that we are putting funeral homes out of business. We are helping a country with war, and getting rid of terrorists. War is like a filter for the countries involved in it. It purifies both countries involved by getting rid of the problems. I believe that when you don’t fight for something, you will end up with nothing left to fight for. Hitler was an evil man, but he proved something to me. The people who fought against him won their freedom and the war, and those who laid down for him were killed. When you don’t fight, you don’t have anything to fight for. I believe that without war there is no peace. I believe that when you don’t fight for yourself, you lose yourself. I believe that war creates peace, because the day after a battle all sides help the others to gather the dead and all are equal. When we all fight for the good of ourselves, we only help our self. The people who fight for the good of all sides are the people who help the most. There is peace among them no matter what side. That’s why you need war to have peace.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [0:59m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (14)

I believe that no one should change for someone else. It makes no sense to do that. Some girl might like a boy but the boy doesn’t like the girl for who she truly is. That’s when the girl changes herself and turns into a different person that never existed. People these days change themselves to impress a boy, get more friends, or to be liked by everyone. Although people think it’s good to change and yes it is, it’s not good to change your personality or who you are for another person or even your own family. I know someone who changed their own life for a boy. She started doing dumb things like smoking drugs, having sex, and even doing sexual things for boys just to impress one boy. People were spreading rumors about her and calling her mean names that hurt her feelings. She was ending up with no friends. Although it is her fault that all that happened I feel bad for the girl.  I would never guess she would do that she would do that for a boy that didn’t even like her and everyone knew he only wanted to do one thing with her. It wasn’t worth giving it up to him but she did. By that time they started going out and everyone was talking about it. I could never see her doing that for a boy, but I was wrong. There are many girls who change for a boy but boys also do that for a girl. The girl might not like the boy because she thinks he is a geek and he hangs out with losers. So the boy starts to change and get bad grades and hang out with people that are so different from him. The girl is starting to like him. It is a great moment knowing someone likes you, but it’s not when they don’t like you for who you are. It hurts when you find out the person doesn’t like you, but you should never change yourself for them it’s not worth it. I would never change myself for anyone and if they don’t like me for who I am then so be it. They don’t deserve me as a friend or girlfriend anyway. That is why I believe that no one should change for someone.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [1:32m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (19)

 I believe in that knowledge is power, and power needs to be used right, because to have an ability and not use it right is like not having one at all.  When I was younger I would ask my family to give me Math problems to show off how smart I was. Then as I got older the Math got harder and harder. Sometimes when I failed in Math, I would wonder why I failed.  Now I know that failing and learning from those mistakes is the smartest thing you can ever do.  Knowledge is more than numbers and papers. You have to add the human element to the mix. Back in my old house my Brother would go on and pick on other kids on the block to prove that he is better than them. But I was smarter than that, I would always out smart him (but he will never admit it).  After a while, I got tired of him being mean to those little Kids.  I told them how to outsmart my brother. After a while my brother got tired of trying to be the bad dog on the block, and now we’ve moved away from that block.      There are two types of Knowledge, Common sense and book Knowledge. When you wrap your mind around something that’s the only thing you can think about. When you’re smart you look back to remember other things to help you. A few weeks ago I had some homework. I started it and then one of the hardest problems I have ever laid my eyes on came up. Then I focused on that Math problem; mind, body, and soul. The next day I felt so proud that I did my math homework. But something hit me; I didn’t do any of my other homework. I believe that Knowledge is power, but common sense is the basis of all Knowledge. I believe that people with the Knowledge should use it, not waste it.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [1:46m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (11)

I believe Illegal immigrants should not be granted legal citizen status in the United States. This is because of many important reasons. One being the issue of insurance. Another being the reason of fair and equal treatment to every body. Insurance is one of the major reasons that cause the opposition of people’s opinions. Although not granted the right of licenses, illegal immigrants still somehow seem to be driving around. And when they crash into us while driving they don’t have insurance so we are left to pay to fix the damages they caused. And if the victim ends up in the hospital they still have to pay the hospital bills, which are outrageous these days. Also, granting them legal status would increase and over populate the country. By allowing the current illegal immigrants citizen status we would be required to grant everyone else who wanted to enter the country access and citizenship. So knowing this everybody would try to get in knowing they can. Once the population has increased, there will be fewer jobs for Americans because the first thing they will do when they enter the country will be to find a job. Then the people who don’t have jobs will go on public aid. And the government will not have enough funds to cover everybody, and they will raise our taxes. Since this is a controversial subject I do not expect you to agree with me, but I do urge you to. But, This I Believe.  

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [1:24m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (16)

I believe in praise and kindness. If you want someone to do something for you and you ask them in a kind way, they’ll be more likely to do what you ask. If you praise them afterwards, they’ll be more likely to do it again. However, if you tell them to do something in a harsh way and don’t even acknowledge it when they actually do it, they probably won’t want to do it or won’t do it at all. When I am told to do something, I don’t usually do it if I don’t want to or have no motivation, especially if I’m not asked politely. For example, my room is messy, and no one important is going to be in it anytime soon. Therefore, I don’t really care about the mess. Then my mom comes in and yells repeatedly in a disgusted voice “CLEAN YOUR ROOM! NOW!”  She hasn’t given me a reason nor a motivation. Then she starts yelling that she’s going to ground me.  Now I have a small motivation: to not get grounded. So then I pick up my room a little, but I’m put in an annoyed and bad mood, so I don’t do a very thorough job. Then she just comes in and yells that she wants EVERYTHING picked up and that it HAS to be spotless. Yet in my mind, I’ve done enough. One day I was at a dog training class with my puppy. The trainer was saying, “Dogs are just like kids. If you ask them to do something in a harsh way, they won’t do it. Use a happy and nice tone of voice and teach them gently. And if you don’t praise or reward them afterwards, they won’t do it again.” I realized he was very right.  That’s when it hit me. My mom has never asked me to do anything in a polite way, and if I do it, I don’t get praised or rewarded afterwards. I have no reason or motivation. Yet if she said something like, “Allison, we’re having your Great Aunt from Chicago visit, can you please clean your room?” and said something like “It looks better now, good job!” or “Nice work, here’s $10 dollars” then I would definitely be more willing to do what she said. I’m more rebellious towards people who don’t ask me to do what they want in a polite way or praise or reward me after I do it.  When other people ask me nicely and praise me then I usually do what they want. I’m not the only person that feels this way, I’m sure most people, including you, do. Next time you want someone to do something you want them to do, ask them in a kind way and either praise or reward them afterwards. If it’s reasonable, they will most likely do what you ask and will be more likely to do it again when you want them to in the future.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [2:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (15)

I believe that everyone can achieve their goal, because when you put your mind to it you can do it. I believe this because everyone has a problem in their life and they always get through it. Or they will try to. Many people don’t give it any effort to fix the problem and all you have to do is put your mind to it and think about it and you can get through all the hard times. 

I have had a lot of problems in my lifetime but I always try to get through it. I wasn’t doing too well in school and I was getting in a lot of trouble but my parents and everyone else knew I could do a lot better and achieve all of my goals. One day I was just getting tired of getting in trouble and not being able to go anywhere because I was not doing my homework. Lately I have been doing my work and trying to get it done and if I don’t get the work I will ask for help because I know that I can do it. I was getting a lot more help from my parents and I was able to do stuff with my friends again and my teachers told my parents that they can see a huge improvement! I was very excited that I was doing well and I know that it will pay off in the long run. 

I actually think to this day if you don’t turn your homework in on time it is actually more work to do because you have the homework to do in class for that day and then the make up work. That is just to much and you should just do your work when the teacher assigns it so you don’t have to have extra work to do. To this day I’m working hard to keep up all of my grades and do well in school because I want to make it in high school and I want to achieve all of my goals. I want to make it to college and get my doctors degree because I think it would be a lot of fun to help people out. And I will not be able to go there and get a good job if I don’t believe in my self! This is just not for me this is for everyone! It doesn’t matter what you look like or who you are it just matters what you want in life. All you have to do is put your mind to it and work hard and you will achieve your goals! 

 Standard Podcasts [1:39m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Hits (10)

I believe that everybody can be famous, because everybody has talents. I’m going to be famous. I’m going to be a famous sports person .I can be a famous basketball person because I’m good at dribbling the ball and shooting the ball .In Lisa Long’s first game she scored 102 points in the 1^st quarter and the people forfeited out. I believe that I can make the cheer squad next year because, I was on a cheer squad before came to Illinois I was on a squad.  I believe that I can be a rapper. I can rap but they are funny raps. This summer I made a rap that’s super cold. Every since then I have been making raps off of almost any kind of beat.  I believe I can be a singer too. I used to be in a choir. I believe I can be a cheerleader because I am very flexible. I would be able to make it big time because I’m me. I’m not a violent person. I don’t stab people. I don’t catch attitudes really fast. I’m a really fast learner and I’m fun to be around. That’s why I believe everybody can be famous. Some can rap, sing, and dance. That’s why I believe everybody can be famous.                                                    

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [0:58m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player | Hits (13)