Thinking About Success

Drew Ferrara

Most to Least Important:

Hard Work

Skill

Opportunity

Luck

I have ordered the words in this order for obvious reasons. First off, hard work is the most important because without hard work, someone cannot be successful. Also, without hard work, a person cannot have skill or opportunities because if they do not work hard and are lazy then they will not be skillful and therefore will not have hardly any opportunities. In addition, if you work hard then you will be successful and have luck in your career. Skill is the second most important because in order to become skilled at something, you have to work hard. Also, if you are skilled then you will have many opportunities to use that skill. Therefore, without skill, you will be without opportunity. Also, if you are not skilled, then you will not have opportunities, which means you are also without luck. Opportunity is third because you have to work hard and be skilled to achieve opportunities. If you have and sucede in opportunities then you will have luck as a result. Lastly, luck is the least important because it is controlled by whether or not you work hard, have skills, and succeed in opportunities. Luck cannot be achieved without the other three words, therefore it is the least important word.

This ant is working hard to feed his colony.

Clothing Industry What I Learned

Zara:
The Cube is a glass building containing Zara's headquarters. Zara expands to China and France. The thing that really interested me was the fact that Zara has an automated underground monorail, which they use to send their clothing to the distribution center. There are 124 miles of track, underground, used to transport clothes. This shows how much clothing they distribute and how successful they are because they built their own underground monorail system in order to quickly transport their product.

I used this site to get information about Zara and how they operate.

Drew Ferrara
History Test Letter


Dear Marie,

October of 1893:

You are too young to understand, but I am leaving Italy. I am traveling to New York in order to start a new life with better opportunities. I wish I could have seen you grow up and gotten to know you better, but traveling to America is the best for the both of us. From what I have heard, from people who have returned from America, I believe i have a very good chance of getting a well paid job and beginning a prosperous life. I am dreading the trip across the Atlantic on the steam boat because of the lack of sanitation and privacy. However, it will be worth it because when I arrive, our uncle Ricardo has room for me to stay with him, in his Italian community, until i can afford to buy my own apartment. Since I have already had a lot of practice at wood-working, I believe that I have a good chance of getting a job in construction and that I will be paid more than when i was working at home. This is all I have to say at the moment and I will write to you when I arrive,

November of 1893:

I have been in America for several days now and realize that it is not as easy as I predicted. Every day I get criticized by arrogant white men who judge me based only on the color of my skin. I have a job as a basic construction worker and I got it relatively quick because I knew how to speak English and could communicate with the locals. My boss encourages assimilation by forcing us to speak English because not everyone in the business speaks the same language. I do not get paid as much as I thought I would, but it is more than I received when working back at home. I still do not have enough money to buy my own place so I am staying in an apartment with Ricardo and his whole family, which is annoying a lot of the time. Also, there is this cool thing called Football which is a really confusing sport. However, me and some other workers bet each other money on which team will win. I usually lose these bets because I do not know who is the better team. I have to return to work and I will write you later.

Sincerely Your Big Brother,
Drew

Health Issues in Native American Societies

Drew Ferrara

Health Issues in Native American Societies

10/27/14

In Native American communities, obesity is a growing problem, affecting kids at a very young age.

Diabetes is the most abundant disease in Native American communities.

Rape is a horrific occurrence in Native American comunities

Alcohol abuse is a major problem in Native American Communities and is the cause for the majority of injuries and sexual assaults.

In addition to health problems, Native Americans also have economical issues

Drew Ferrara

History Essay

10/28/14

Health Issues in Native American Communities

            The second someone is born, is the second they begin to die. Death is inevitable and everyone will eventually die, whether it is from natural causes or like a horrific nightmare. There are numerous scientific studies which show how different foods and substances will negatively affect the body and inevitably shorten one’s life. Health issues, such as obesity and diabetes, cause many problems in the body, such as heart diseases and blood clots. It is proven that the more over-weight someone gets, the shorter their life becomes. This is extremely apparent in Native American communities, where the percent of people who are obese or have diabetes is higher, compared to Caucasians, and is growing. In addition to the apparent health issues, injuries and violence, such as rape, are also a major cause of death in Native American communities. Even though health problems and violence are more common in Native American communities, compared to the remainder of the United States, there are organizations working to reduce these flaws.

In recent years, the average weight for an American citizen has been steadily increasing. This is due to the evolution of food from natural homemade foods to the unhealthy, fattening foods we see today. Foods served at popular fast food restaurants are quick and cheap but drastically affect our bodies in unpleasing ways. These affects on the body are enhanced in Native American communities, allowing for an increase in obesity. The preservatives and supplements found in common foods has a unwanted affect on Native Americans because their bodies are accustomed to the traditional foods they once ate, therefore the fake foods we see today are not properly digested and cause obesity, which later leads to diabetes. A study from The Center of Disease Control and Prevention shows that traditional foods help prevent type 2 diabetes and promote a healthier lifestyle due to the natural ingredients. Because of the availability and speed of cheap and delicious food, Native Americans have subsided to eating unhealthy foods because most Native American communities are poor. Because of this, compared to white Americans, Native Americans are twice as likely to be diagnosed with diabetes. To help with this growing issue, the communities are funding local farmers and markets in order to restore traditional foods into the community. If Native Americans return to these local foods, then the obesity rate in these communities will drop, because the local foods are healthier and more suited for their diets, allowing them to live longer.

            In addition, sexual assault has become an enormous problem in Native American communities and occurs regularly. According to New York Times “one in three American Indian women have been raped or have experienced an attempted rape”, which shows that an abnormally high percentage of women, in these communities, are subjected to rape and abuse. The main reason that so many Native Americans are sexually assaulted is due to the lack of police and rape being reported. Only ten percent of rape victims report what happened. Many rape cases are often caused by the abuse of alcohol by the victim, attacker, and sometimes both. According to The United States Department of Justice, one group, called The Violence Against Indian Women Program, has spent 145 million dollars and has created 700 projects to help prevent violence, such as rape, against Indian women. Also, Congress ordered a study to be performed to find the amount of sexual assault on tribal areas in order to help prevent it. In general, injuries, such as from a car accidents or being burned, are often fatal because a large percentage of Native Americans are a large distance away from emergency care, causing them to die more often because they could not receive proper treatment in time.

Works Cited

Diabetes and other Health Issues in Native American Communities: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Native American Injury Fact Sheet: Indian Health Service Portland Area

Five Major Native American Health Issues: Aljazeera America

Native American Rape Issues: The United States Department of Justice

Native American Rape Issues 2: New York Times

Newspapers from Native American Societies: Library of Congress

Film Essay

Drew Ferrara

Film Essay

9/12/14

                Watching movies is a beloved pastime for people all across the globe. There is a wide variety of different genres and styles of movies, which can compliment ones personality. Whether you enjoy documentaries or comedies, there are thousands of movies to choose from. I, and I’m sure I’m not the only one, enjoy movies because it allows me to obtain a mass amount of information or entertainment without having to perform research to find what I’m looking for. The two very graphic movies that our class watched were 12 Years a Slave and Glory, which allowed the audience to understand and empathize with slaves by allowing the audience to experience the life of a slave by showing vivid examples of the hardships in which slaves went through.

                The first movie watched by our class was Glory, which portrayed the 54^th Regiment and their desire to win their freedom. In the movie, the members of the 54^th Regiment, consisting of mostly runaway slaves, went through intense physical training and often were abused by the white superior officers, but they still persevered in order to reach freedom after many years of neglect. Even though the war is long over and segregation among races is almost vanished, I still learn from this movie that the slaves were people too and not property, and were willing to be tortured and even killed in order to obtain equality. The second movie we watched was 12 Years a Slave, which is an adaptation of an autobiography written by the main character, Solomon Northup. This graphic movie allowed me to fully understand the terrifying circumstances and events in which African Americans went through. Solomon, who was one of many free African Americans who were kidnapped, tortured and eventually forced into slavery. The filmmaker’s objective of this movie was to captivate the audience and show them how African Americans were treated like dogs, being swept of the street and sold even if they were free or belonged to another plantation. Since this movie is based on true first person experiences, it allowed me to experience, not only read about, mistreating of human beings for no acceptable reason.

                By watching both of these movies, the audience is able to develop an understanding of the actual events and situations that the slaves went through. As well as being very informative and life changing, this movie was also very enjoyable and allowed me to learn and feel empathy for the slaves, while also being entertaining.

Sources, Film Research – Glory & 12 Years a Slave

IMDB – 12 Years a Slave

IMDB – 12 years a slave awards

Wikipedia 12 years a slave

Paul Byrnes review of 12 years a slave

James Bardenalli review for 12 years a slave

Forbes magazine 12 Years a Slave Cost and Review

Box Office Mojo 12 Years a Slave income

Slate 12 Years a Slave Accuracy

IMDB Glory Awards

Wikipedia Glory Budget

Ashbrook (Ashland University) Glory Historical Accuracy

James Berardinelli Glory review (reelviews.net)

Filmmakers’ goal (historynet) Glory