Climate change is an issue around the world and we who are creating the CO2 emissions need to change our ways. “We are creating a hazardous world for us and the future of the planet for our children” as stated by Sharon Begley form “ Are You Ready for More”. What Begley says in the reading she wrote is really true because the weather as she states is not the same as it used to before. This global weather change has caused a major problem because we the polluters are the ones at fault for not being able to be responsible and seeing the issue when it was first brought up. Our ignorance only caused more problem and danger to us and our children and moreover our future. It’s not only us that will be affected also the plants and animals will certainly be too. ““do things in ways we can’t even predict.” Changing temperatures will have a profound effect on the plants and animals among us. Crops that flourished in the old climate regime will have to adapt to the new one, as some pests are already doing. Tropical”(Begley). As the weather changes plants and animals also have the problem of adapting to the new environment. We as humans always find a way of escaping this even though it’ll be hard but, for animals and plants it’s not so easy when there are humans around destroying their homes. And it’s hard for us humans to change too because new buildings and other new ideas of being more friendly to the environment is expensive and hard to adjust to. Many people would agree that it’s hard to change the old ways because it’s always something we do growing up and, it’s true because people don’t like change and the expenses that come with it. “”States and cities will have to make huge investments in infrastructure to handle the encroaching sea and raging rivers.””(Begley). With the expenses in mind, many people would come to this conclusion making it difficult for the change other people want. The U.S. hasn’t made much change when they realized that climate change was a real thing and now, the U.S. and finally seeing it and it’s too late to change the damage what’s done is done now. Other countries have tried new ways of environmentally changing a bit to help. “The U.S. could take some advice from other countries like the Netherlands, which has more than a little experience keeping the ocean at bay” (Begley). America the almighty country should be smarter than this because other countries look up to us, but why haven’t we’ve changed and other countries have. Whether it’s our beliefs or not we should consider the fact that it is true that the environment and weather have changed a lot over the years and it’s terrible. I believe that climate change around the globe is true because we can see and feel it, the world is changing and is no longer how it used to be. We should accept it because the summers in the central valley are much hotter and polluted than before and it’s no joke anymore because change starts now or never. For me, the change will be hard to adjust to as people commonly say but if it’s for the greater good then yes. The changes I would like to do is solar, electric cars, and change to renewable sources to help the environment.             

Immigration is a topic that has caught attention since President Trump’s time in office. This topic has brought a lot of politic attention amongst U.S. citizens, and not only U.S. citizens but also Mexican citizens. On October 23, 2018 many Mexicans in Mexico walked to the border between Mexico and the U.S. and was aired on TV and papers making headlines. This connects to the prompt we will be writing about because its a political and social issue in the U.S. So far, as the 2016 election ended and Trump being in office has also caused separation in the U.S. and the political view of maybe even the world. It’s sad to say that the U.S. is not that mighty and strong as it used to be. And as a young unregistered voter, I’ve realized that I need to step up and start thinking what my political views are about the economy. It is hard to find a job, and to have a steady income now too, because many immigrants are filling in our jobs. “…the surge in immigration since 1970 led to slower wage growth for native-born workers.”(upenn) Many immigrants that come into the U.S. are likely to get the jobs because most native borns don’t want to do that job. It’s been suggested that immigration is only a long-term issue to our economy. “…last few decades suggests that immigration may actually have significant long-term benefits for the native-born, pushing them into higher-paying occupations and raising the overall pace of innovation and productivity growth.” (upenn) But as of now, we are finding it hard to solve in the workforce because of it has mainly become there work. Trump’s so-called build a new wall isn’t our solution to the immigration issue we have. “Trump signed an order to build a wall along the 2,000-mile U.S. border with Mexico. He estimated the cost at $10 billion to $20 billion. That’s the same as the budget for either the Justice Department or the National Aeronautic Space Administration. Trump’s order redirected current funds to cover the cost. But Congress did not approve that funding in the Fiscal Year 2017 budget.”(Amadeo). This is a childish act of a man that is so called our president, and it’s ridiculous that he can’t even represent the U.S. in a mature light. Trump’s assumption of accusing Mexicans being “drug smugglers” is also another reason why the wall is useless. “Trump’s Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said the wall wouldn’t work unless border agents patrolled it. He said the best way to stop drug smugglers was drying it up at the source.”(Amadeo) Even Trump’s ideas of the wall is being counterattacked and called as no help to border patrollers. No wall is needed it’s a compromise and understanding that the countries need to know. Seeing this on TV a lot these days has made me realize what a terrible country the U.S. has been for two years now, and there is still more to learn for the next two years to come since Trump will have two more years in office. Whether we like it or not we can only bare in until then.       

What is silence we ask? Silence, in my opinion, is people that can’t talk to stand up for themselves or stand up for others. What we usually don’t know is the power of it. The power that makes us all step aside and, watches like a bystander watching someone bully someone else. Do we really want to be like that and, watch the poor person be hurt or even ourselves?  Clint Smith a teacher that went on Ted Talks made a poetry of “The Dangers of Silence”, in which he explained his life growing up living in silence watching others get hurt and beaten because of his ignorance. Smith said, in his class, he talks about his truth in order to help the students open up and be more comfortable in the class. “These rules were read critically, write consciously, speak clearly, and tell your truth.” As Smith went on in his poetry he explains the realities he went through to help him tell his truth. Like when his friend came out gay, and he did nothing to help his friend. “The only thing he did was watch as his friend Christian get beaten up for being gay.” Smith felt helpless because he couldn’t even stand up for his friend. The quote that is my favorite form Smith is when he said, “I couldn’t use my locker for weeks because the bolt on the lock, reminded me of the one I put on my lips..” This quote is very meaningful to me because it reminds me of myself too. Instead of speaking up for myself and others, I always end up never saying anything and watch as others yell and get mad at each other or me. Causing me and the people around me to be mad or upset at the same time too. And one Quote that I find so real and can relate to is the one where Smith said, “ When the woman at the fundraising gala said I’m so proud of you. It must be so hard, teaching those poor, unintelligent kids”, I bit my lip, because apparently, we needed her money, more than his students needed their dignity.” This makes me feel really relatable because it’s true, and how we make money and fundraising events. And being a student and student-athlete my elementary to high school career; I understand how it feels to fundraise like that and have that thought in the back of my mind. Like I only want your money to help me I don’t need your talking, just give me your money! No joke that’s how I felt every time I fundraise for both school and sports. My a-ha moment was when I went to work and was too afraid to talk to my co-workers. Reason being is because I just got to know most of them recently a few months back when we came back from construction. And, what happened was I have three managers that I really don’t like. But growing up my mom said,  if you don’t like someone or hate them, you better not say anything mean to them be nice and honest. My mom basically told me to be two-faced shaking my head, but to be honest, if you have nothing nice to say just shh about it. And still, today I feel hesitant to talk to my co-workers because some of them I know but, some I don’t, and it’s intimidating to talk to some of those people.

Maternity leave for working mothers is an issue that is big in the U.S. It’s embarrassing that we don’t give working women days or weeks off when they have kids. And not only that,  some of their co-workers even embarrass them at work. It’s sad that some people don’t understand working mothers and how hard they work to try and balance taking care of their child and getting work done. After giving birth, millions of working women go straight back to work too horrifically soon as stated by Jessica Shortall’s speech from Ted Talks. Many working mother’s write to her telling her there stories at work after weeks of giving birth. Most of the stories were all horrifying and sad. All of which are from total strangers who wrote to Shortall. Women make about 47% of the workforce and are the breadwinners in 40% of households in the U.S. , we are also a huge part of the economy from our paid work. Shortall also goes on to say that it’s not women’s fault for wanting to have kids and that women should bare the consequences? It’s not solely women’s fault that they want kids. About 88% of working mothers don’t get a minute of paid leave, FMLA a program to help working mothers most of the time doesn’t work because most don’t qualify for it. The U.S. and a few other countries like Papua New Guinea are the countries with no paid leaves for working mothers. John Oliver stated that 183 countries have done more for working mothers on maternity leave.  Shortall also goes on to say that we need to work and have babies because most working women are choosing not to have children. The birth rate in America is 2.1 live births but now its 1.86. We need babies for our future and the future jobs, economy, and etc. One of my connections to this is that one of my managers at my workplace is on maternity leave. I personally think that this is a huge problem that a great country like the U.S. has not found a solution for this issue. It’s surprising to know the statistics of how the U.S. and other countries compare. The material used in class was to help us analyze rhetorically on the author’s reason for writing, purpose, the audience, topic, and issue. Will I use this in other classes now and in the future? Well yes, because it gives guidance to how I should write to my audience, purpose, and etc. As for now I still need to learn how to use it to write, I hope that I’ll have more knowledge in how to use this to write in my essays and posts on social media. My a-ha moment was when I was studying with my friends trying to catch up on homework as, I kept reading an article in my mind I didn’t understand what the article was saying on the website. After I struggled for a while, then I was like a-ha I should use rhetorical analysis to break down the article and got my homework done. It help me understand the article so much better.