At the Turn of a Dime

The only thing I could think of as I stood at the end of the vault runway were my sweaty feet. As a nervous habit, I fidgeted, making it obvious that I felt a little uneasy. It seemed silly that I had trained so many demanding hours to perform this one vault skill, and that I was still anxious. Once I saluted the judge indicating I was ready, I thrust all negative thoughts to the back of my mind and launched into an aggressive sprint hurtling towards the vault. The next two seconds consisted of me holding my breath as I pushed off the vault table and completed a full 360 degree flip until I landed on my feet almost with ease. Immediately, I felt joy swell inside of me as I knew I had just performed the best vault I had ever done in my entire gymnastics career. As I walked back to the end of the running strip, my teammates clapped me on the back giving encouragement and support. The exhilaration I had felt after my first vault supplied me with adrenaline. When I began my second vault, I pounded down the runway with new energy and power. However, once I was in the process of flipping, I knew something was wrong. I ended up landing short, causing my ligaments to jam and tear within my left ankle. The audience that was once before bubbling with exuberance, instantly became deflated and silent as I lay there motionless on the mat. But I didn’t cry, I just gritted my teeth. I didn’t scream, I just shook my head. And I didn’t get up, I just sat there clutching my ankle with one hand while resting my head on the other, face down. Sharp pains exploded through my ankle and I could feel everyone’s stares burning a hole right through me. Needless to say, I probably scared the pants off my parents. From success to disappointment, I had learned that life could change on a dime. After this incident, I dedicated my time to my recovery and I began to understand that in the real world, people experience ups and downs too. Whether it may be about losing a job or going through a heartbreak, it’s the recuperation process that helps strengthen our character. While I was frustrated at first with my injury, I learned to cope with it and began to feel optimistic about how it could help me in the long run. I was determined to not let this slow me down, but rather build it up as a motivation and an extra push. Gymnastics has been my building blocks for life that I will continue to carry with me into the future. All the countless hours toiling away in the gym have given me the basic fundamentals for achieving accomplishments in life. I have been able to utilize these skills that I have learned, such as determination, perseverance, and time management, and use them to my advantage in school and work experiences. Getting home at a late hour every night has forced me to efficiently get my homework done since I know I don’t have a minute to spare, and when I help my parents in their flower shop, I make good use of my time. The principle of time management has been drilled into my head after so many years of steadily keeping my busy schedule on track. I have attained the qualities of patience, dedication, and focus patience in the way that I can accept the drawbacks along the way to achieve something greater, dedication in the way my willingness can persevere challenges without giving up, and focus in the way I can accomplish anything by being mentally tough. I intend to employ these attributes that I have gained from gymnastics as I begin my quest into the real world.

Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 24

Philosophy - Essay Example These are unanswered questions, though various religions offer guidance in this respect. People have made predictions in the past about the end of time also; â€Å"Annie Stanton predicted that a 14.4 mile long asteroid will collide with the earth. Jesus will arrive and a 1000 year period of peace will start.† (Robinson, 2007). No one can tell whether time is a property of the universe or vice versa. Despite the enormous confusion about time, I believe it did always exist and it is immortal, yet the parameters to measure time were different before the formation of universe and will change after the universe will come to an end on the Doom’s day. Man is born with an intrinsic urge to realize the sequence of the worldly matters, and this is what shaped the time for man in the world. Man derives the system of time from the regularity in the routine of nature. Everyday, the sun rises at a certain time and sets at a certain time. It keeps happening so until summers convert into winters to squeeze the time shorter. After the winter season, day starts to elongate. But the changes observed in the solar length of a day over one year keep repeating in the same fashion every year. This caused man to associate his daily activities with the shifts of day and night. Our circadian rhythms are designed and governed by the sunrise and sunset. The routinely motion of Earth around the sun h as the power to harmonize the man’s internal chemistry. The origin of the modern system of time, which everybody follows today, is associated with the birth of Christ. But scientific research on the now-extinct species of animals like dinosaurs suggests that the world had been there trillions of years ago, though such statements are only estimations and have little to do with reality. Everyday a new theory emerges that sidelines the previous one. Various religions teach about the existence of time even after the end of

Rhetorical Analysis (Ad Critique) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Rhetorical Analysis (Ad Critique) - Essay Example The advertisement may look silly and nonsensical. It showed how everybody was moved to dance including the characters in the video game and painting but this silliness made the audience immediately understand what the ad is all about – that it is an energy drink. The audience may not understand what is in the drink or what the ingredients are, but they know that whatever is in the energy can surely make one move. Of course the audience know that the advertisement is exaggerated. But they do not necessarily believe whatever was shown in the ad that even the animals, painting and video character dance. The ad may not be physically feasible but it appealed to the audience’s tickle bone that made the advertisement funny and memorable. In this advertisement, the pathos or emotional is taken to the extreme because other rhetorical device were discarded particularly the logos or logic. In an effort of the advertisement to make an impression to its audience through the use of pathos, it disregarded the consideration of logic. Such, the advertisement did not mind if it made any sense or not. It just wanted to sell its product after all and not to make sense. Mountain Dew knows that it is not reason that makes people buy but rather their emotion. So the approach of the advertisement is to make a point that the audience understands that the product that the advertisement is trying to sell will make them energetic. It was able to achieve this by showing that everybody in the ad danced after the main characters drank the energy drink. Never mind if it is impossible or silly to see a painting dance or a mounted deer or even a dog to dance. As long as the audience finds it cute and made them smile or laugh, then the ad had served its purpose of appealing to the emotion of the audience and most likely, they will buy the product when they see one. The Mountain Dew Kickstart