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Barcelona is the skateboarding capital of the world. It is a Mecca that skaters from all over the world recognize and dream of being able to skate. While many other places around the world are very recognizable for skaters, like: Los Angeles, Copenhagen, Tokyo, Berlin, San Francisco, and New York, nothing compares to Barcelona. This makes one think, what drives skaters to continue to come to Barcelona? If one were to ask any skateboarder this question, their answer would be obvious. It's the spots! All over the city, Barcelona contains some of the most infamous spots in skateboarding history. This is an undeniable fact of what brings skateboarders to Barcelona, but what is it that drives us to come back? This is the more crucial opaque question. Most skaters would probably not know how to respond because they haven't thought much about it. Spanish culture is much more accepting, inclusive, laid back, and not time-oriented compared to the culture of the United States, where skateboarding began. The incongruent culture causes many Americans to have negative stereotypes and outlooks on skaters. Unlike the United States, Spain has almost identical characteristics to skateboard culture, bringing skaters back to Spain. Skateboarding has immensely integrated into Spanish society not just because the places to skate in Spain are extraordinary but also because of their analogous cultures.
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 Though there are many themes throughout Walden, to find one’s self is the most important theme from Walden. Finding one’s self, allows people to understand themselves and show their true personality.
 Kindergarten, a place where many high school students want to be. Some students wish they could be back in preschool because of the stress free learning environment. In the article “What if High School were more like kindergarten?” Ashley Lamb-Sinclair talked about how many high school students are stressed out and may actually learn better in an environment with hands on experience. She observed some kindergarten classrooms and noticed many things that she wanted to apply to her high school students. Her main argument explained how education is important, but learning is much more important because it causes people to focus and become more intelligent while remembering the things they are taught.
 Even though the internet is a great source for information and has created many opportunities for growth, online learning is inferior to face-to-face learning because of the loss of physical and social interaction.
 Skateboarding saved my life. Almost 14 years ago, the last day of 3rd grade, I started skateboarding. Right when school got out my brother, and some of his friends went to a park in the attempt to learn some of the fundamentals of skateboarding, I was just tagging along. We attempted to learn how to ollie, the most basic skateboarding trick, that warm summer afternoon, and ever since then, I was hooked. I would practice ollieing every day, and I even convinced my parents to buy me my first skateboard from my local skate shop. The board was a cheap Speed Demon complete, and it was not the best board, but it was all I needed to start. For all of us, skating was so new and infant that we would skate for hours in our driveways trying the same trick over and over. This new foreign activity was turning into an addictive drug, I couldn’t live without it.
My dream consists of a life where I can be happy and excited to get up every morning knowing I'm doing what I love. The book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer talked a lot about doing what you love and finding your passion, and it really spoke to me. In a letter to Ron Franz Chris was explaining how he should change his lifestyle and Chris stated "So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future." (57). I believe being an American allows you to do what you love, Chris did that. This shows how people are so used the social norms that no one wants to follow their true passion because they are scared. I try to do everything I can to live a life where I am happy and where I am doing something I love to do. I believe that society is brainwashed and are too scared to take risks and follow their true passions.
We should continue attempting to control invasive species. Even though it is hard and often impossible to control invasive species, it is still worth trying. It is usually too hard to prohibit invasives because the policies can’t be implemented quick enough due to time lags. One problem caused by invasives is they can spread diseases. Many invasive alien species can carry foreign diseases that can be deadly to other species and sometimes even humans. We have the ability to try and limit these invasive species and if we are successful, we could save lives. It is worth the time and money to try and control invasive species that spread diseases to attempt to save lives. Another problem with invasive species is that they can contaminate water systems and destroy habitats. It is essential that we protect the native species and even our water supplies. It is, again, worth spending money to attempt to control these invasive species regardless of how difficult it is, due to the potential dangers the invasives cause to humans and the environment.
 Power is something many people search for. They want to be able to lead and become the one in charge. But when people achieve this power they don’t know how to use it and usually abuse it. Many leaders are good but in most cases leaders will abuse their power and use it poorly. In the Play MacBeth by William Shakespeare MacBeth is a Thane that kills a good friend named Duncan so he can become king. His wife Lady MacBeth and himself both gained the power they believed they wanted but in reality, they did not want. They both became so obsessed with power that it began to deteriorate their life and killed all of their relationships. Even though power can gain one more connections, when one becomes obsessed with power it will destroy their relationships because it causes people to become oblivious of their surroundings.
 Personal identity is different for everyone, it is what makes us who we are, and it is what makes us unique. Each person's identity is distinct because of a multitude of factors that change the way we perceive the world. The way we were nurtured impacts the way we react to certain situations and understand others. The cultures we reside in and the cultures that surround us change the way we act, so that we can fit it. Personal experience also changes the way we identify ourselves because of the way we interpret and analyze these experiences. Many believe that genetics is the main contributing factor in our ever-changing identity. They think that genetics accounts for the majority of differences in our identity. Some experiences and variations are out of our control and unrelated to genetics, which causes our identities to change. Anything can impact our individuality, the small subconscious things that slowly change the way we are, and even the big traumatic or ecstatic moments that can quickly adapt our identity. Regardless of the event, we are always changing, and not the same person we were last year, last week, or even yesterday.
 The American dream is a lie! During the Roaring 20’s corruption and illegalities took over the American dream making it a failure. Many people became bootleggers, with the abolishment of alcohol, and mostly focused on the idea of materialism and consuming. In the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald it explains how corrupt and tainted the American dream was at the time, and is known as one of the greatest novels for its realistic depiction of the 1920’s. The characters lives were destroyed by corruption, death, and lies while searching for their dreams. Though there are many themes throughout The Great Gatsby, destruction of the American dream is the most important theme from The Great Gatsby because the pursuit of the American dream affected all of the characters. Corruption surrounding the dream tainted and distracted the characters from reality.
 America has a big problem with obesity, not only does obesity affect American adults but it also affects many children as well. An enormous contribution to the problem with obesity in America is the massive consumption of sugar, and sugar alternatives that seem healthier. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention 39.8% of Americans were affected by obesity between 2015 and 2016 (Overweight & Obesity). This is a huge issue because of all the health issues associated with being obese like diabetes for example. Many Americans work to fix this problem by taking sugar out of their diets, switching to non-nutritive sweeteners. These non-nutritive sweeteners seem to be a great alternative as they do not have any caloric value but grant the same satisfaction from the foods people desire. The switch to greater use of artificial sweeteners has increased production of diet drinks containing no sugar, and other foods attempting to replace sugar for these more attractive sweeteners. The main issue with is this change from fructose to non-nutritive sweeteners is that there are a lot of potential dangers associated with non-nutritive sweeteners. In the U.S there are six approved artificial sweeteners by the FDA including acesulfame-K, aspartame, neotame, saccharin, sucralose, and advantame. Each of these sweeteners has their own recommended acceptable daily intake. Studies have been done on all these sweeteners individually with many conflicting results, causing confusion to whether they are beneficial or harmful to one’s health. Non-nutritive sweeteners can be detrimental to one’s health because they may cause a variety of health issues while increasing appetite.
Killer whales, or orcas, are friendly animals and are not dangerous. Orcas are magnificent animals that have emotions and feelings for others just like humans. The documentary Blackfish directed and produced by Gabriela Cowperthwaite was created to inform everyone about how poorly orcas are treated. The main goal was to persuade the audience that the small confined pools, that the orcas live in, affect their physical and mental health. The first time I ever saw an Orca was when I was in 8th grade. My family and I went to Alaska on a 40 mile backpacking trip, and while we were driving to the trailhead we stopped at a pier and saw something beautiful. It was a huge Orca splashing out of the water putting on a show for all of the spectators. I would have never expected to see a creature so big and majestic in the wild. The documentary uses real life experiences along with intense imagery to help strengthen its argument. Cowperthwaite’s argument is effective because of the different ways she incorporated graphic imagery and real experiences to help build a deeper connection with the audience.
 On March 16th, 1968, one of the most horrific events occurred during the Vietnam war called the My Lai massacre. This horrific event involved the mass killing of the citizens of My Lai. The majority of the people killed were unarmed civilians, not soldiers, and they were brutally murdered, and raped. Up to 500 civilians died, most of them being young children and women (My Lai Massacre). The massacre started as a typical search and destroy mission with the intent to destroy Vietcong resources. The U.S soldiers aimed artillery at the rice paddies around My Lai, but many shells landed near civilian homes. Their goal was to harass the enemy soldiers, the only issue is that there were no Vietcong in My Lai at the time. After the artillery, the U.S army decided to go into My Lai. The soldiers were not under any fire from the Vietnamese civilians, but the constant bombardment from their helicopters made it seem as if they were under fire and there was a threat in the town. Unknowing who were civilians and who were Vietcong soldiers, the U.S army was ordered to kill all the villagers of My Lai (Levesque). After the mass killing, the U.S army tried to cover up the massacre, realizing how terrible it was. They were unable to successfully do so, letters began to appear, and the word got out. This struck a substantial controversy, and many people were put to trial including Lieutenant William Calley, who led the assault and was sentenced to life in prison (Schweikart, 741). His sentence was reduced twice, to only three years in prison (Zinn, 479). The Mai Lai massacre was unjustified because the soldiers knew what they were doing and whom they were murdering.
Skateboarding is not just a sport, activity or a hobby; it is a lifestyle, a way of living, and a subculture that helps brings people and communities from all over the world together in beautiful ways. I have personally seen people transform from years of drug addiction and drug use to sobriety just because of skateboarding. It is truly amazing the power of skateboarding and its effects on surrounding communities. Skateboarding is nothing like its stereotype, it is a way for people to find and learn more about themselves.
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