Joliet Central High School

Joliet, Illinois

Teacher: Michael Reilly

 

Improving The Quality Of Life

by Shannon Fitzgerald
Grade 11

 

 

“No man is  an  island,  entire  of  itself,  every  man  is  a  piece  of  the  continent,  a  part  of  the  main.”¹ Every person has a purpose in life; no one  was  put  on  the  earth  to  just  take  up  space. While some view their lives as a waste, others take life as it  comes  at  them, and  they  live  their  lives  to  the  fullest. There is not enough love, and  too  much  greed.  Everyone has different needs and wants, and one person  can  make  a  difference.

 

 Some  people  are  rich,  and  some  are   poor, but  what  makes  a  sad  rich  man  different  from  a  happy  poor  man?  The difference is that the rich  man  might  be  lonely  for  company, with  money  as  his  only  companion,  while  the  poor  man  might  have  a  loving  family. Society as a whole might say that the  rich  man  is  more  successful  due  to  his  abundance  of  wealth,  possibly  implying  that  he  has  a  better  quality  of  life.  The  poor  man  on  the  other  hand,  is  thought  of  as  having  a  low  quality  life  due  to  the  fact  that  he  made  no  contributions  to  society  what  so  ever.

 

 What does it  mean  to  have  a high  quality  life?  And if you wanted to improve  your  life,  how  would  you  go  about  accomplishing  that?  No one really knows the  answers  to  these  questions, but  we  have  a  fairly  good  idea on  how  to  improve  life.

 

The problem  is  that  there  are  so  many  people  in  the  world,  and  everyone  has  different  needs  and  wants.  Once  again  we  use  the  example  of  the  rich  man  and  the  poor  man.  All  that  the  rich  man  wants  is  a  family  to  love,  and  for  them  to  love  him  back.  The poor  man,  however, does  have  a  family  to  share  his  love   with.  All he wants is to  give  them  a  nice  house  and  nice  furnishings, mainly  material  things.  “ And  in  the  end,  the  love  you  take  is  equal  to  the  love  you  make.”²

 

 There  are  many  positive  effects  in  our  communities, playgrounds, organizations, school programs, and community sports.  Many of which bring  the  people  of  the  community  together.  However,  there  is  not  enough  love  and  there  is  too  much  greed.  In  order  to  make  our  lives  more  enjoyable, we  need  to  focus  on  more  essential  things,  instead  of  material  things.  There are too many people  worried  about  themselves, and  not  about  others.  Schools  and  some  organizations  arrange  food  drives  around  holidays  such  as, Thanksgiving, Christmas,  and  Easter.  They  seem  to  help  many  people  and  give  them  something  to  eat  during  the  holidays  but  the  problem  is  that  if  people  are  hungry,  they  are  hungry  three hundred  and  sixty  five  days  a  year, not  just  on  holidays.  The  fact  is,  that  some  people  think  that  their  one  day  of  giving  is  enough  for  the  fulfillment  of  the  whole  year.  There are  also  many  clubs  in  our  communities  that  are  associated  with  children, Big  Brothers/ Big  Sisters, United  Way, YMCA, and  many  more.  They  help  to  keep  children  off  the  streets  and  give  them  a  place  to  go  after  school or  on  the  weekends  and  help  to  prepare  them  for  life’s  many  challenges,  even  if  the  lesson  comes  from  playing  a  sport,  the  children  learn  it  for  themselves  and  are  more  prepared  for  the future. “ The  influence  of  a  single  adult  reaching  a  youngster  at  the  right  moment  cannot  be  underestimated.”³

 

Everyone  in  this  world  was  out  here  for  a  reason.  If  we  all  do  one  thing  to  head  towards  one  main  goal,  then  we  can  accomplish  anything.  If society  causes  a  problem  then  we  can  also  fix  it. Take pollution for example, if  everyone  cut  back  just  a  little.  For  instance, not  letting  the  water  run  while  you  brush  your  teeth, or  taking  the  amount  of  food  that  you  know  you  will  finish. Just the  little  things  can  make  all  the  difference  in  the  world.  Some think, I’m just one person  what  can  I  do?  Nevertheless, think of all of  the  people   who  put  their  minds  to  one  goal  and  came  up  with  great  results.   Jonas  Salk   developed  the vaccine, Thomas polio Edison  invented  the  light  bulb  and  the phonograph. The fact is, that  they  did  not  give  up.  Everyone has  a  purpose, everyone  is  different, and  each  individual  person  has  there  own  talents.  Maybe you aren’t the next  Bill  Gates  or  Orville  and  Wilber  Wright, but  you  do  have  your  own  strengths  and  weaknesses.

 

Concisely,  I  deem  that  the  world  could  and  would  be  a  better  place  if  everyone   wanted  it  that  way.  Everyone  has  a  reason  to  be  on  this  earth  and  no  one  should  view  his  or  her  life  as  a  waste.  Talk  is  cheap. People  don’t  really  care  about  what  you  say, they  care  more  about  what  you  do. Improving  someone’s  life  takes  more  than  just  giving  them  food  or  money, it  takes  time  and  love.  We  need  to  think  more  of  others  and  change  the  world  one  person  at  a  time.

 

1. “ Every  man……of  the  main.”   John Donne.

2. “ And  in….. you  make.”  Paul  McCartney.

3. “ The  influence  of…..be  underestimated.”  Patricia  Hersch.

 

Questions

 

1-How does  society  invest  in  marriage  in  the  U.S.A  and  in  Manus?

    

By paying for weddings and  then also,  if  it  doesn’t  work,  paying  for  court  and  a  lawyer.

 

2-Interview 10 married people.  State the length of each one’s marriage and a line or two of advice on how to maintain a long healthy marriage.

   a. 25 yrs.    Wouldn’t  know, I’m not sure how we made it this far.

   b. 5 yrs      Love is the most important, it gets you through everything.

   c. 13 ½ yrs   All  you  need is love,  but  you have to compromise too, otherwise you end up fighting too much.

   d. 8 yrs   Love, honesty and each other are all you need.

   e. 17 yrs   Spending time with him is fun, and if I don’t see him enough, then I miss him, but at least I know  that he will always love me.

   f. 1 ½ yrs   All that we need is love. I’m happy when he is.

   g. 5 yrs.  Love, honesty, and trust are the most important things, but sex is nice to have too. ( that’s what they said.)

   h.8 yrs.    Thank god I have tolerance for him. I have found out that it is difficult to live with, but worth it. I think that its because he is a male.

 

3-According to Richard Eckersley, what should our collective goal be?

   It should be to live happier, healthier, wealthier lives, and to strive for peace and prosperity.

 

4-Write a worthy goal for your community.

   To ensure safety in schools, and public places, to protect the homeless, abused or hungry, and to provide them with what they need. Also to make the world a cleaner place.

 

5-Comment on the excerpt from “Tomorrow’s Child”.

I think that it is sad that we need to make a mother in doll form for lonely children.

 

6- How does the fact that the U.S. a democracy……lawyers?

Lawyers help to create public  responsibility. They help to settle disagreements about social customs. Lastly, they help to organize small problems before they turn into big problems.

 

7- Ms. Sullivan….punitive damages or regulations?

   Punitive damages are better because they deal with little problems at the same time, so that all the little ones don’t turn into one big one.

 

8-

 

9- President Clinton’s anti-poverty…

  At this point, I think that we are willing to try anything, it might work and if it doesn’t, then there is no harm done.