The Power of Media - 891 Words

Media has the power to strengthen the changes in our social, cultural, and political values. The improvement of media has increased the spread of ideas and has made communication more convenient. Television, Facebook, and Twitter are all considered mass medias because they provide people with entertainment, and it is where the flow of ideas is disseminated. In James Fallows essay, â€Å"Win in China!† he states that media encourages the Chinese to follow their dreams, such as becoming an entrepreneur. Through television, people are able to see real life activism take place, which encourages them to coin the definition of success. Media is motivating the Chinese people to try and improve their lives by shying away from their traditional†¦show more content†¦The term was first used with the advent of newspapers and magazines. However, with the passage of time, the term broadened by the inventions of radio, TV, cinemas and Internet. In the world of today, media has become almost as necessary as food and clothing. It is true that media is playing an outstanding role in strengthening the society. Its duty is to inform, educate and entertain the people. It helps us to know current situation around the world. The media has a strong social and cultural impact upon society. Because of its inherent ability to reach large number of public, it is widely used to convey message to build public opinion and awareness. Purposes: Mass media can be used for various purposes: Entertainment: The original idea behind the creation of various ‘media means’ was to entertain masses. Radio, TV, cinemas and magazines spend most of their resources targeting on entertaining items and programs. Because of the growing population and developing lifestyle, the demand for more entertainment is increasing. Every year billion of dollars is traded in entertainment industry. News amp; Current Affairs: One of major duties of media today is to inform the people about the latest happening around them and the world. They cover all aspects of our interest like weather, politics, war, health, finance, science, fashion, music, etc. The need for more and more news has evolved into creation of dedicated TV amp;Show MoreRelatedPower of Media2736 Words   |  11 PagesPOWER OF MEDIA INTRODUCTION The media reaches over a 100 million people a day. Due to its tremendous audience and the impact it has, the media has been able to change public opinion, American policy, and even American history. The medias powerful influence can be seen through its portrayal of major events like the Vietnam War, The Spanish-American War, Watergate and several others. Through the years the role of media in publish affairs has changed as its influence has grown. TheRead MoreThe Power Of Social Media1141 Words   |  5 PagesGroundswell is a book that focuses on the power of social media and how businesses have to learn to harness this power to remain competitive. The book is full of practical ideas of how the groundswell works, why it is so important in today’s business world and how to use it to maximize your marketing potential. The book gives examples of how some well known companies use social networks, blogs and other online platforms to learn how customers feel about th eir products and also provides explicit tacticsRead MoreThe Power of and the Powers Behind Mass Media901 Words   |  4 PagesThe Power of the Powers Behind Mass Media Mass media is a powerful method of communication, entertainment, education, and socialization. The necessity and the relevancy of mass media becomes more prominent and urgent in the 21st century world, as the 21st century landscape is exceptionally more mediated than in previous eras of human history. It behooves producers, distributors, and consumers of mass media to understand and consider the interplay between power and discourse within the contextRead More Media Power and Media Bias Essay995 Words   |  4 Pages The powerful media barons have always altered broadcasts to achieve their personal or corporate agenda. What purpose does the media serve now? Measuring Bias on Television by Barrie Gunter has elaborated on the idea that news was originally set up to act as a national tool to stir thoughts. But is it? No! Is the media even enlightening the public now? After careful speculation of mass media and the communication world, I am under the impression that broadcasts have bee n used to entertain, frightenRead MoreThe Power of Social Media1480 Words   |  6 PagesCritical Analysis of the Power of Social Media Critical Thinking for Foundation Skills for Graduate Management Date submitted: November 29, 2011 Social media is not a new concept to our society, it has been effect from the 1950’s commencing with the phone era but has only recently been mainstreamed into our culture and business world. The late 1960s saw the existence of the internet as a network but the World Wide Web officially developed in 1991. The first social network was recognized inRead MorePower And Pleasure Of The Media1488 Words   |  6 PagesPower and Pleasure in the Media. By Andrew Clements 10185344 Figure 1. Media plays a significant role in controlling societies thoughts, actions and beliefs through complex messages and conventions. From the moment we’re able to see, think and understand, we interpret these messages and conventions instinctively. These in tern quite literally shape the way we think, view or perceive stereotypes– or in other words â€Å"contextualize† us. An example of this is evident in Figure 1, which depictsRead MoreThe Power Of Mass Media2392 Words   |  10 PagesRandy Butler Gender and Culture December 16, 2014 Final Project The Power of Mass Media in Todays World: The Perceptions and Realities Behind the Curtains It’s a Thursday night and Jessie is sitting down, munching on some chips and dip, and watching the weekly episode of Scandal with her friend Mary in the dim light of their living room. A scene comes on the television with two gay men intimately approaching each other, about to have sex. For a minute, the girls are tensely sitting in silenceRead More The Power of Media Essay1832 Words   |  8 PagesMedia has the supremacy to influence millions of individuals through countless formats. Media is everywhere in our daily lives, in television, motion pictures, and radio, influencing what society consume to what society wear. â€Å"Media is a very powerful tool capable of mobilizing people’s contemplations and ideologies† (Mock 2004). Most people find television an escape from their hectic daily lives. In our society today, there is an ongoing debate about violence in the media. Media violence has beenRead MoreThe Power Of Large Media Corporations1426 Words   |   6 PagesUnderstanding the world around us is significant because it gives us the power of knowledge. The media provides us updates about events within our community and around the world. However, we are presented with the same biased points of view from various sources. Our options are limited because large media corporations have control over what we read, listen, and watch. These large media corporations have taken over the media industry, control how and what information is brought to one, and have aRead MoreThe Political Power Of Social Media923 Words   |  4 PagesAs of 2015, Facebook and Twitter have a total of 1.49 billion and 304 million active users respectively. This rapid rise and popularity of social media has allowed for the dispersion of ideas quickly and effectively on a global scale; in such a way that is unparalleled to any time in history. Therefore, the rise of social media has created a new, immensely powerful form of Civil Society Two. A form that has the abil ity to create political unrest and outright revolution in the modern states. In reference

Flannery O’Connor’s Short Story A Good Man is Hard to...

Flannery O’Connor’s Short Story â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† Flannery O’Connor’s personal views on the justification of religion and the resulting world or corruption and depravity are apparent in her short story â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find†. She analyzes the basic plight of human existence and its conflict with religious conviction. The first two-thirds of the narrative set the stage for the grandmother, representing traditional Christian beliefs, to collide with The Misfit, representing modern scientific beliefs. The core of symbolism and the magnet for interpretation is at the end, the conversation between the grandmother and The Misfit. The conversation represents the examination of the clash between animal and metaphysical human†¦show more content†¦This is the central dilemma of human consciousness. We are mindful of ourselves but we are also basically animals with violent tendencies and primitive drives. Everyday, these two selves collide. The understanding or awareness of each person demands that we r ise above our primeval instincts, and with this demand comes a need for meaning, a purpose beyond the material restrictions of our bodies and the world we see around us. Otherwise all that is left, as The Misfit comments, ...its nothing for you to do but enjoy the few minutes you got left the best way you can--by killing somebody or burning down his house or doing some other meanness to him. No pleasure but meanness, he said and his voice had become almost a snarl. Yet, any belief beyond what we see and what we can touch or hear or smell or feel is just that, a belief. Consequently, any religious or spiritual or anti-religious and anti-spiritual ideology one wishes to take is a leap of blind faith. Eventually, as The Misfit perceives and in due course the grandmother perceives, the world of religious dogma and sacred creed are no match for the systematic observation based and amoral context of the modern world. Thus, we are left with no answer as to the existence of a Supreme Being and with no means to answer that question. Accordingly his frustration is not with Jesus and whether or not HeShow MoreRelatedFlannery O’Connor’s short stories â€Å"A good man is hard to find† and â€Å"Revelation† share many700 Words   |  3 PagesFlannery O’Connor’s short stories â€Å"A good man is hard to find† and â€Å"Revelation† share many similarities. While â€Å"A good man is hard to find† i s about a family that goes on a vacation that ultimately results in all of their deaths. â€Å"Revelation† is about a woman who is very judgmental and looks down on people. In the end both characters have revelations that contrast with who they are and how they portray themselves to the world. The protagonist in ‘Revelation† is Mrs. Turpin, and she depictsRead MoreA Family Vacation to Florida in Flannery OConnors Short Story, A Good Man Is Hard to Find631 Words   |  2 PagesIn Flannery O’Connor’s short story, â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard to Find,† a family, including the grandmother, Bailey the father, the mother and their two kids named John Wesley and June Star, are about to take a family vacation. The grandmother wants to vacation in Tennessee instead of Florida like the rest of the family. She tells Bailey about an article on an escaped inmate named â€Å"Misfit† that is suppose to be heading towards Florida. The family does not pay her any attention and the next morning theyRead More Flannery OConnors A Good Man is Hard To Find Essay1144 Words   |  5 PagesFlannery O’Connor’s A Good Man Is Hard to Find is one of the most well-known short stories in American history. A Good Man Is Hard to Find is a disturbi ng short story that exemplifies grace in extremity as well as the threat of an intruder. The story tells of an elderly grandmother and her family who embark on a road trip to Florida. The grandmother is a stubborn old woman with a low sense of morality. While on the trip, the grandmother convinces her son to take a detour which results in a brokenRead More Flannery OConnor: A Twentieth Century Fiction Writer Essay829 Words   |  4 Pageswritten about Flannery OConnors short stories and novels. There is a significant amount critical analysis about Flannery OConnor because she used so many styles that have not been used before. Flannery OConnor ranks among he most important American fiction writers of the twentieth century. Flannery OConnor was born in 1925 in Savannah, Georgia, and lived there until her family moved in 1938. OConnor and her family moved to a small Georgia farming town named Milledgeville. When Flannery was 15 yearsRead MoreThe Moral Structure Of Flannery OConnors A Good Man Is Hard To Find1148 Words   |  5 PagesWorks Cited Bonney, William. The Moral Structure of Flannery OConnors a Good Man Is . Studies in Short Fiction, vol. 27, no. 3, Summer90, p. 347. EBSCOhost, pulaskitech.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=afhAN=9705041482site=ehost-livescope=site. The ten stories in Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man Is Hard to Find circumscribe a moral and thematic center (Bonney). William Booney’s article was written as if the grandmother is actually grasping the savingRead MoreA Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery OConnor1196 Words   |  5 Pagesfamously known as Flannery O’Connor in 1953, wrote the short narrative titled â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† (Scott 2). However, it was published two years later in 1955, in her second collection of short stories. This particular collection presented the author as a key voice in the ancient American literature world until she met her sudden death in 1964 when she was only 39. The collection also won her tremendous fame, especially concerning her unmatchable creativity and mastery of short narratives (SeelRead MoreThe Life Of Flannery OConnor Essay1099 Words   |  5 Pagesan author’s life on their writing is vast. Many people do not see the large influen ce of an author’s childhood on their writings, but it plays a major role. The life of Flannery O’Connor is no exception to this. The great Catholic lifestyle of her parents helped persuade her writing of, â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find.† Flannery O’Connor is regarded as one of the greatest supporters of Roman Catholic writings in the twentieth century. O’Connor was born in Savannah on March 25th, 1925 and her parentsRead MoreO Connor s Life1323 Words   |  6 PagesKnown for her short stories and well known novels, author Flannery O’Connor has been a vision of American literature for the last eighty years. Born and raised in Savannah, Georgia during the Great Depression, O’Connor grew up during an era of hardship and trouble trying to focus on her studies while her family was battling financial difficulties. During this time of O’Connor’s life is where her short stories begin to form and her desire to share her experiences of love, friendship, and life blossomedRead More Violence Leading To Redemption In Flannery OConnors Literature1482 Words   |  6 PagesRedemption in Flannery OConnors Literature Flannery OConnor uses many of the same elements in almost all of her short stories. I will analyze her use of violence leading to the main character experiencing moral redemption. The use of redemption comes from the religious background of Flannery OConnor. Violence in her stories is used as a means of revelation to the main characters inner self. The literature of Flannery OConnor appears to be unbelievably harsh and violent. Her short stories characteristicallyRead MoreA Good Man Is Hard And Find By Flannery O Connor1190 Words   |  5 PagesIn Flannery O’Connor’s short story â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard to Find†, O’Connor tells the story mainly on the emphasis of the grandmothers prospective. The grandmother was never named in the short story, only leaving the reader to guess if this story was how O’Connor portrayed a feeling toward society and religion. In order for the reader to understand the point of view of the story, the reader must look at the back ground of the author. Born in Georgia, where the story takes place, O’Connor was raised

Edouard Manet and Francisco de Goya Essay Sample free essay sample

An effort to find Manet’s place by an analysis of the strictly artistic values in his images –in this instance we are concerned chiefly with the plants of his early period–is peculiarly hard because the stuff available is non sufficient to enable us to organize a judgement as to the highest values. The plastic values. by which we mean the expressive and tactile values. those of motion and infinite. and in conclusion of composing. hold nil to make with the determining of Manet’s topographic point in art. for they can barely give rise to dissension. The place to be assigned to Manet depends wholly on the strictly artistic values. Among these colourising and color-harmonies. which are of great beauty in his plants. represent the least of import class. for nowadays they can be assessed by criterions comprehendible to all. The two higher classs of artistic values. to be found in the plants of great Masterss and hence besides in those of Manet. We will write a custom essay sample on Edouard Manet and Francisco de Goya Essay Sample or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page have hitherto barely been established as phenomena. allow entirely been given a nomenclature. In the instance of one of the two. the usage of Grey. which holds an about supreme place in painting. non as a colour to be arranged with the other colourss but with pretenses to single beauty. the best term one can utilize is possibly â€Å"value of gray tones† . The frequence with which such tones occur in Manet’s works raises them to a higher degree than. for case. those of Van Gogh. But his existent topographic point is determined by the values which ensue when the Grey tone values are brought into contact with other colour values which are suited to them. without being blended to organize harmoniousnesss. and which have sufficient character to retain their independency. In such instances of artistic polyphonic music. it is best to talk of â€Å"melodic values† . Several old ages were to go through before Manet’s manus gave birth to a â€Å"sacred text† which it will be our undertaking to see and construe. For his experiences in the Louvre still dominated his head and he could non liberate himself from them in a twenty-four hours. Nevertheless in many of his images from this period we can observe elements. from the entirety of which the high quality of his personality was to emerge. He painted a portrayal of Antonin Proust. whom he had known as a kid at the College Rollin and afterwards at Couture’s studio. the same who later. as Minister of Fine Arts. frequently gave him friendly aid. He besides painted the â€Å"Absinthe-Drinker† . on seeing which Couture exclaimed: â€Å"There is merely one absinthe-drinker. and that’s the adult male who painted this crackbrained image. † He painted the â€Å"Child with the cherries† and the â€Å"Concert in the Tuileries Gardens† . one of the most ch erished paperss we possess refering the Second Empire. in which he himself. Baudelaire and Theophile Gautier all figure. He painted the portrayal of his parents. in which some have seen the influence of Frans Hals. a image in which the ruling component of the gray tone already makes a winning visual aspect. In 1861 he painted the â€Å"Child with a sword† and in the undermentioned twelvemonth the â€Å"Vagrant Musicians† . before which we used to sit so frequently before the war. to imbibe in its exhilarating and at the same clip calming browns. merely as we used to travel sometimes to the Gallimard Collection to bask the Grey of a small still-life of oysters which he painted one twelvemonth before. Grey now begins to look in many fluctuations in his images. from the baronial dark tone to the Grey in his â€Å"Street Singer† . which Zola called â€Å"soft and blond† . From now on this â€Å"blond† Grey of Manet’s will take its topographic point beside the aglow Grey of Titian. the terrible Spanish Grey of Ribera. the blue Grey of Velazquez. and the many others characteristic of Guardi. Lenain. Chardin and Corot. An indispensable component of his art was therefore added to the others. and several images of this period. such as the portrayal of Victorine Meurend and theâ€Å"Young adult male with a dog†. already show in a perfect signifier the pure artistic countenance of Manet and the full beauty of his work. Rolling companies of Spanish vocalists and terpsichoreans provided him with theoretical accounts for images in Spanish costumes. He felt more and more affinity with Velazquez. El Greco and Goya. He painted a Spanish concert dance. a matador toasting the crowd. a immature adult female in bullfighter costume. a immature adult male dressed as Majo. the guitarrist. which brought him an honest reference from the commission of the Salon. These full he pointed. and they form a sort of aura unit of ammunition that priceless and decisive work. the first by his manus which may be regarded and interpreted as a â€Å"sacred text† : theâ€Å"Lola de Valence†. Let us see this image as we now see it in the Camondo Collection at the Louvre. Originally it had a impersonal background. Manet added the background of dark theatrical scenery subsequently. But it is this background. in its relationship to the remainder. which heightens the quality of the image. which gives it an extra value. hard to accomplish and seldom realized. to be found merely in the plants of the greatest Masterss. In order to understand in what this value consists. allow us compare the image with two others which hang close-by. One is a stable scene with Equus caballuss contending. by Delacroix ; the other is Corot’s famed image of a studio. Two different sorts of artistic values are realized in these. In the Delacroix we find steadfast colour values of green. red-brown and gray-white which blend together to organize a complete harmonic value. In the Corot there is an copiousness of Grey tones. of imperial descent. for their history begins with Titian and they were bequeathed to the godly household of the chosen. Both these classs of artistic values are to be found in copiousness and assortment in the â€Å"Lola de Valence† . The frock is a harmoniousness of black. green and ruddy ; in the upper portion of the garment delicate pink and light blue are brought into agreement with the red of the coral necklace. But the copiousness of Greies is overpowering ; they are introduced in the head covering and the crystalline wrap. and their consequence is heightened by the Grey of the floor and the shoe-ribbons and by the Corot-esque Grey of the fan. But in add-on to these values of colour. harmoniousness and Grey tones. there is another value nowadays in theâ€Å"Lola de Valence†which is missing in the Delacroix and the Corot. In order to find it. allow us say that the colourss in a image do non be given towards one another. make non accomplish mutual finding or intermix to organize a harmoniousness. but retain their ain independency and. without doing any grants. are placed beside a Grey tone which. trusting on its ain beauty. likewise maintains its independency in the image. There is such a image in the Louvre. a still-life by Chardin. normally ignored and hung instead high. in which with about the same colourss as in the above-named stable image something basically different has been achieved. In this Chardin the viridity of a cabbage-head and the chocolate-brown red of a piece of natural meat do non intermix to organize a harmoniousness with the Grey of the table-cloth. For as this Grey is non. as it is in Delacroix. a colour. a derivation from white. but stands in the image like an isolated dearly-won object as an absolute Grey tone value. it follows that the green and ruddy likewise retain an independent being. Alternatively of intermixing and harmoniousness we have a contrast. which gives rise to a polyphonic melodic value. ( Merely every bit. in music. sounds which are suited to one another may happen together without uniting and be side-by-side. ) This some value is found in theâ€Å"Lola de Valence†. where the Grey. touched with pink. of the wrap. which is of considerable length and passes round the caput. exists sideby-side with the sometimes grey. sometimes chocolate-brown black of the background of theatrical scenery. It is besides found at the critical point where the Grey of the drape is contrasted with the black of the frock. If the values of colour and harmoniousness delight our senses. and the Grey tones give us inward satisfaction. the great melodious values such as we find here have the power to supply us with a critical experience. to promote and affect our heads. It is therefore possible to delegate an order to such values. provided each of them is realized on an every bit high degree. To sum up our feelings of theâ€Å"Lola de Valence†. we perceive that the illustriousness of Manet is due non to the brightness and elation of his images. but to the beauty of his values of colour and harmoniousness. to the dramatic differentiation of his abundant Grey tone values. and above all to the great melodious values. the sublimes that painting can make and accessible in their highest grade merely to the really greatest creative persons. The Art of Francisco de Goya What strike us most when we try to distinguish the work of Manet with Goya’s art are its violent contrasts and disconnected interruptions of continuity. His visit in Italy was rewarded by certain local celebrity corroborated by a group of of import committees. The legal guardians of El Pilar asked his coaction in the ornament of the new church. The Aragonese aristocracy became his clients in the ornaments for the Palace of Sobradiel. The spiritual communities became his frequenters with the wall paintings of the Carthusian Monastery of Aula Dei. His first picture in El Pilar was a big composing stand foring theGlory of Heaven. finished in 1772. and executed in the vault of the small choir. This is a timid and cold imitation of the Italian frescoes inspired by the ceiling ornaments of Tiepolo in the Royal Palace at Madrid. Not skilled in abridging. Goya avoided Tiepolo’s antic ocular angles. but adopted his strategy of composing and lighting. Thewall paintings from the Palace of Sobradiel( Saragossa Museum ) little composings painted in oil on a readying of dark ruddy colour uncover his overpowering passion for look which. in this early phase. often made his pulling inaccurate and the lighting harsh and false. Although the predominant and flooring combination of ruddy and xanthous gives a unusual visual aspect to these pictures. they possess in embryo. what Goya was to show subsequently. Figures and curtain are good articulated and. despite a Baroque feeling. consciousness of Mengs’ theories is evident. They are by and large considered modern-day with the pictures of Aula Dei. but their affinity to the Sacristy of Fuendetodos may bespeak a clip even earlier than the dated ornament of El Pilar. The Sobradiel and El Pilar ornaments are a natural effect of the combined influences of Italy and Madrid. In the pictures for the Carthusian Monastery of Aula Dei. Saragossa. Goya displays a more monumental manner. prefiguration subsequently figurative types. Lighting effects are still Tiepolesque. but the cloudy Baroque quality is virtually abandoned. The Epiphany is an experiment in simple figures. strongly lighted. against a dark background. but in theBirth of the Virgin. another lighting experiment is essayed ; the individual visible radiation beginning is modified by a complex symphonic music of reflections–a technique favored in ulterior pictures. The Saints of the Church of Remolinos are close to the Aula Dei manner. From 1785 to the terminal of the century Goya enjoyed the most superb period of his calling. Despite the awful unwellness of 1792-1793. the great turning-point of his life. and despite occasional oversights into the facile and insignificant. he came steadily into his ain. developing a technique and manner whose consummate easiness and freedom were matchless. He worked difficult. lived intensely and tried his manus at every possible genre: official portrayals. portrayals of friends. portrayals of kids. tapestry sketchs. cosmetic pictures. spiritual images. mural pictures. genre scenes. allegorical images. drawings and etchings — a blazing of mastermind illuming up the somber. endangering sky of the late eighteenth century. To this glorious originative period belong four chef-doeuvres: the frescos in San Antonio de la Florida ( 1798 ) .The Caprices ( 1799 ) . The Family of Charles IV ( 1800 ) . The Portrait of the Countess of Chinchon( 1800 ) . Of the seven pictures made in 1787 to adorn La Alameda de Osuna. The Swing. The Accident. The Coach attacked by Bandits and The Greasy Pole now belong to the Duke of Montellano. Madrid. and The Injured Mason ( or The Building of the Castle ) and The Procession to Count Romanones. Madrid ; The Herd of Bulls was once in the De Nemes Collection. Budapest. These subjects are typical of those Goya was so utilizing in the tapestry sketchs. and in fact TheSwingingandThe Injured Masonwere practically duplicated in two such sketchs now in the Prado — with this difference. that here there are fewer figures and the brushwork is perceptibly freer. Bibliography

International Lemonade free essay sample

â€Å"Experience is not what happens to us, but rather what we do with what happens to us.† Anthony D’Angelo The experiences I have had while traveling are some of the most unique, crazy, hilarious and significant ever. They have taught me so much about myself and life. Aside from learning that my true passion is traveling, the most important thing I now know is that you must make the best of every situation, or you will never enjoy anything. For most, vacation conveys a sense of relaxation, perhaps a summer home or beach, but my family isn’t most people. Our summer home is parked in our driveway ten months of the year. People have told me I could write a book about our family vacations, which is fitting because I want to be a writer. The ingredients to a Kriedel family vacation are chaos, disorder, the open road and, of course, too many people packed into a motor home. We will write a custom essay sample on International Lemonade or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Since I am the youngest, I especially suffer from this last problem. While my brothers and sister get to sleep on a real bed, I spend my nights on a two-foot wide board suspended between the driver’s and passenger’s seats. But I have no reason to complain. As I lay in my â€Å"bed,† I just think about how beautiful it looks when the sun sets over the Badlands or the rush of freedom I feel when standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon. So even if it’s over 100 degrees in our crowded RV, I can’t get mad at my father for not spending extra money for electricity because he’s given me the opportunity to see and experience the beauty of America. Although family vacations had revealed travel as my true passion, it was a bit harder to make my parents understand this. But after begging, some crying, and a lifetime of being a good kid, my parents finally agreed to let me go on a school trip to Europe. After it was postponed sophomore year, just getting to Europe felt like a privilege. Since I had already learned the value of optimism, I didn’t let a little jet lag in London, a lot of rain in Paris, and continually getting stuck with the smallest hotel rooms ruin my trip. I knew there was no use whining; after all, I was simply experiencing the realities of life, the good and the bad. So when jet lag wore off, the weather was perfect, and I eventually got the biggest, best room in the hotel with an absolutely stunning view of the Alps, I was on cloud nine. Europe proved to me that being happy when things don’t go right only means you can be ten times happier when they do. Europe also taught me more about myself than I thought possible. I learned that I can’t read a map, but that getting lost is never a bad thing; it just gives you additional experience. So long as you remain optimistic and believe in yourself, you can get through anything. I couldn’t have learned this better than when my friend got lost in Switzerland. Usually, I am afraid to talk to strangers, even in my native language. But when I knew my friend depended on me, I put aside my fears, gathered my courage and knowledge of the German language and asked strangers, â€Å"Eine dame? Schwarzes haar?† Even though I couldn’t understand their replies, their points and nods told me that my friend was just up the hill. I was happy to find her, but I was even prouder of myself for finding her. They say that when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. I guess I’ve drunk a lot of lemonade in my life, but I can say that I’ve enjoyed it all, no matter how sour it tasted at the time. Bad experiences, good experiences, they are all part of life, so you might as well enjoy them. Whether I’m traveling in America or anywhere else in the world, I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to learn these lessons, especially while so young. I hope to live the rest of my life with this same attitude, no matter where my future lies, but I do hope to keep traveling and especially, always to keep learning.