A New Beginning

Well, I'm 18 years old and high school is over. Now I'm enjoying my summer before fall classes being at FSU, and I'm really just trying to figure out what it is exactly that I want to do with my life. After graduating high school I thought that I'd be spending my last summer before college by just going out and enjoying everything that I love, but honestly, I've just been sitting here at home and not really doing much of anything. That might sound insanely dull but if you think about it, it's not all that bad. I've been able to spend a lot of time with my family, which is always a good thing. Considering that my grandmother died a year ago, it's nice to really just kick back and enjoy your time with the ones that you love. I always figured that I had to travel and do all of these incredible (and expensive) things in order to be happy, but really that's not the case at all. With only two weeks left before I leave for university, I can't help but think about how my family will function without me being present. I mean out of all of my siblings, I'm the more sensible one. I predict a really comedic train wreck, but hey, that's family right? I probably shouldn't worry about them too much. I know they'll be fine. But the real question here, is will I be fine? I'm preparing to embark on a new chapter of my life. I'm slowly yet quickly becoming an adult, and I'm not sure if I can even handle it. It's like everything is happening at once. I guess the best way to describe the feeling would be to compare to sitting in a classroom, where everyone is understand the teachers ramblings except for you. I don't know what my next steps are supposed to be, and what's scary is that I can't rely on my parents or anyone else to tell me what to do. Starting now, everything will be 100% on me and myself alone, and I'm just not sure if I'm ready for that type of responsibility. Despite all of these somewhat negative feelings, I am pretty ecstatic about going to college. I am in love with my school, and I felt right at home the last time that I visited. With two weeks left until I make my big transition, I am prepared to do what it is necessary in order to work towards my life's end goal. I'm ready for something new. I'm ready to start anew.

Equality For All

For some reason, this society is too buried withing denial to really accept the fact that there is an issue with equality within this nation. Now I may only be 18 years old, but even I am aware at the utter corruption that is prominent. For example, did you all know that in 29 states it is perfectly legal to deny a job opportunity or fire a person solely based on his/her sexual orientation? Personally I find that to be utterly unconstitutional. It shows that a person, even though they may have exceptional credentials and the appropriate needs to satisfy the position, they can be denied the job because they happen to be a homosexual or bisexual, or anything other than heterosexual individual. Now moving on back to my original point, I see way too much corruption in my everyday life to believe that there isn't a problem. Whether it be from the treatment of women, the treatment of individuals who are of a different faith, racial equality, or gay rights, there is a very prevalent issue amongst the individuals of this society. Why can't we all just learn to get along for once? Why must people be denied their basic human rights? Ok, so it's wrong for a woman to get an abortion? It's wrong for gays to be married? It's wrong to have Muslims in our towns? It's wrong for minorities to want to succeed? The only thing that I see that is wrong, is the close mindedness that has developed. We are the United States. The land of the free, and the home of the brave. Why must we all have to fight for our human rights? I hear so many people complain about there being too many Feminists, or too many Gay Rights activists. Well let me tell you something. If we wouldn't have taken the rights of these individuals in the first place, then there wouldn't be a need for all of these movements. When is America going to wake up and realize that our current condition is what's really setting us back? When will we see that until we fix our internal issues, we won't really be making progress at all? It's getting really tiring having to constantly express these ideas. Like I said before, I'm only 18. What do I know? Well I know what it means to treat someone like a decent human being. And for the rest of my life I want to do something to help all of those who need it. I want to give people a reason to continue on and to live life happy. I want equality for all people. I want to show this country that we can be fixed.