This is a Metaphorical Mirror

In the same way that a painting consists of calculated brush strokes and shadings, or in the same way a poem consists of a small but specific percent of all the words in a language in an order precisely chosen by the writer to convey her thoughts, a photograph is a moment from the photographer's life, a moment elected of many to offer a glimpse into the photographer's mind. In the same way that art ranges from realism to impressionism, a photograph portrays reality as either untouched, slightly edited, or over exaggerated to the point of fantasy. Despite this, photography is not a lie, in the same way that music and dance are not a lies. They are art forms, expressions from the heart, tangible depictions of human imaginations. If film can be considered an art without being ridiculed, then why not photography? A film is simply an extended compilation of photographs. Perhaps the objections begin in the idea that anyone has easy access to taking photos, therefore a photographer ...

When coined with the term "youth," the idea of paramount beauty, strength, and mobility come to mind. For this reason, it is more common to see young people do foolish things than older, for the older are burdened with the aftermath of their foolish years; in fact, the more foolish things done, the greater the burden that is strung later on. Here's an illustration of my vague words: Over a century ago, the world met cigarettes for the first time. At the moment, cigarettes were deemed as innocent, and even helpful trends, enhancing the overall coolness of an individual.  Everyone played with them, eventually initiating their addiction in their early years. It became the norm to smoke cigarettes during meals, on walks, whenever feeling down, etc. Forty years too late, after seeing lung cancer and emphezema cases skyrocket, people then realized that what they were playing with in their mouths launched severe health defects, overall intensifying the later burden they wou...

    The prompt for my in-class essay regarded whether or not college was worth the cost. I used the college-bound mindset of myself and my peers at Troy High as an example in my synthesis, and this whole idea then prompted me to ponder why it is that we spend so much time thinking about our futures.     Don't get me wrong- planning ahead is great. It's smart to set goals and work to achieve them, but my argument begins when this completely engulfs your present youth and all the opportunities around you now by becoming all that's thought about or the main reason any action is completed. It simply becomes overbearing. After all, if half your life is spent in tireless effort to make the other half more enjoyable, the average level of enjoyment in your life is just, well, average.      Franz Kafka wrote, "let the future sleep for now, as it deserves. If you wake it too early, you get a groggy present." To add on to this, the present quickly transforms ...