The Great Depression Essay - 747 Words

The Great Depression From black Thursday on October 24, 1929, to December 7, 1941, and the attack on Pearl Harbor, America endured many changes concerning The Great Depression. From the Hooveradministration to Franklin D. Roosevelt; the desperate economic condition threatening the United States in the late twenties and thirties only grew worse. The United States was in total economic failure; the previous presidents did nothing to improve our nations status; although, with the election of Roosevelt in 1932 and his unique New Deal coming to office, America was to be radically transformed. This new legislature, although affecting just a small percentage of the population, maintained economic†¦show more content†¦Millions of citizens took advantage of these benefits, and under the NIRA, enjoyed the freedoms and being able to create unions. Under the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) of 1933, even the small population of farmers was recognized by Roosevelts legislation. The AAA created more compe tition by forcing farmers to limit their crop size, thus introducing more farmers for lower prices. Yet, even all of these attempts did not actually help the United States get out of the Depression; America added over six billion dollars to the debt. Although physically the first 100 days of Franklin Roosevelt damaged our economy; in the minds of the citizens, America was improving (Doc D) - there were jobs, food, and money to be collected. Next, legislation was passed to allow the federal government to become an effective regulator in society. The implementation of the new laws controlled businesses and wages, and effectively managed the economy. Franklin D. Roosevelt did an excellent job to leave no one out of his regulation, thus not being able to be criticized by his opposition. Perhaps his biggest gain in popularity with the American people was with the signing of the Social Security Act, which helped the elderly by giving them a monthly check of a set wage (Doc E). With that money, they could purchase the basic necessities of survivalShow MoreRelatedThe Depression Of The Great Depression1223 Words   |  5 Pagesfar-reaching consequences as the Great Depression. This experience was the most extended and severe depression of the Western world. It was an economic downturn that began in 1929 and lasted until 1939. A large amount of America’s labor force lost their jobs and suffered during this crisis. Duri ng the nation’s financial disaster, Franklin Delano Roosevelt became president and made extensive changes to America’s political structure. The effects of the Great Depression had lasting consequences that areRead MoreThe Depression Of The Great Depression1232 Words   |  5 Pagespeople think that the stock crash was to blame for the Great Depression but that is not correct. Both the crash and depression were the result of problems with the economy that were still underneath society s minds. The depression affected people in a series of ways: poverty is spreading causing farm distress, unemployment, health, family stresses and unfortunately, discrimination increases. America tended to blame Hoover for the depression and all the problems. When the 1932 election came peopleRead MoreThe Great Depression Essay1390 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction: The world had faced two main economic problems. The first one was the Great Depression in the early of 20th Century. The second was the recent international financial crisis in 2008. The United States and Europe suffered severely for a long time from the great depression. The great depression was a great step and changed completely the economic policy making and the economic thoughts. It was not only an economic situation bit it was also miserable making, made people more attentionRead MoreThe Great Depression1292 Words   |  6 PagesBefore the crash Before the start of the great depression the United States was a country of great economic wealth, with new technology being invented and a boom in industry. Due to a boom in America’s Industry because of World War One the economy was at an all-time high with a tremendous amount of prosperity. Following the end of world war one the industrial might that America had was being used for peaceful, domestic purposes instead of being used for violence and war. New technologies like carsRead MoreThe Depression Of The Great Depression2071 Words   |  9 PagesPaul Von Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler Chancellor on the 30th January 1933. The Depression did play a vital role in this, however other factors such as the Nazis propaganda, the resentment of the Weimar republic and the political situation of 1932-1933 also contributed to his success. Before the Great Depression, the Nazis gained 12 seats and 2.6% of the vote in the May election of 1928. Despite this, by July 1932, Hitler gained 230 seats and 37.3% of the vote in the Reichstag. This is a dramaticRead MoreThe Great Depression1731 Words   |  7 PagesThe 1920’s was a decade of discovery for America. As mentioned in â€Å"who was roaring in the twenties? —Origins of the great depression,† by Robert S. McElvaine America suffered with the great depression due to several factors but it managed to stay prosperous at the end. In â€Å"America society and culture in the 1920’s,† by David A. Shannon there was much more to the great depression. It was a time of prosperity an economic change. Women and men were discovering who they were and their value to societyRead MoreThe Great Depression1551 Words   |  6 PagesThe Great Depression was one of the most devastating events recorded in history. The nation as a whole plummeted in one econ omic downfall. Few individuals escaped the effects of the depression. The hardship of unemployment and the loss of homes and farms were a large portion of the pain caused by the economic crisis. Through all of these sufferings, women had a large impact on society. Women faced heavy discrimination and social criticism during the Depression Even though through research it is provenRead MoreThe Great Depression1186 Words   |  5 Pagesfriends is the true definition of of what the Great Depression really was. It was a time that most people want to never remember or ever happen again. You would think the United States would have learned from their mistakes but it seems we are going down the same road once again without even taking a step back and realizing it. When people talk about the Great Depression not a single person will have anything good to say about it. It caused families a great deal of pain that they will never forget. WithRead MoreThe Great Depression1368 Words   |  6 PagesAfter WW1 the Great Depression had a very late impact on the major film companies in France, when it did, it unfortunately caused several film studios to go bankrupt, then in the late 1920’s to 1930’s many small film companies and groups emerged giving birth to the tendency called poetic realism. Because the large companies who made films with a focus on making money were gone the filmmakers and artists were able to concern themselves with the art of film, they often took poetic innovations thatRead MoreThe Great Depression1133 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,† is a famous quote once said during the Great Depression by Franklin D. Roosevelt. After one world war, great financial fallout, and another world war to follow, the twentieth century was already shaping out to be a handful. When the Great Depression was coming to an end and the economy was trying to turn around, jobs started opening up and a new wave of imm igrants came into New York, the Puerto Ricans. For some the American dream was to come to

International Trade, Asia, Latin America Or From Any Other...

1. ABOUT INTERNATIONAL TRADE. How is it possible that I can go to a supermarket and buy products from Africa, Asia, Latin America or from any other country? Today, this is possible thanks to international trade. International trade is a term referred to the exchange of goods and services across international borders or, in other words, between different nations. In almost every country, international trade represents a large share of the gross domestic product (GDP). Global trade allows people to experience or consume goods and services that are not offered in their home countries. Foreign products like food, wine, clothes, currencies, stocks, and so on can be found on the international market. Not only products are traded across the†¦show more content†¦Countries have been trading goods and services for at least, more than nine thousand years despite the numerous issues that trading all over the world had by then. Nowadays, international trade is recognised as one of the pillars in which global economy is based on. International trade is directly responsible for most of the evolution and the welfare of the modern and industrialised world in which we live. Both goods and services are imported because of several reasons. Foreign goods can be better, cheaper, easier to access or just more attractive than local products. Normally the need of importing is motivated because there are no locally produced goods that can act as an alternative product. This makes imports essential for the growth of a country. A clear example of this urge of foreign produced goods is Japan. They lack of oil reserves and are forced to import the 100% of the oil that they consume. The international trade brought specialisation and labour division alongside with economic development for trading countries as noted by Adam Smith â€Å"Men are much more likely to discover easier methods when the whole attention of their mind is directed towards that single object that when it is dissipated among a great variety of things† (The Wealth of Nations, 1776). 1. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE. International trade has side effects on the economic

Forrest Gump Chapter One Free Essays

string(160) " maybe it would hep me to be like everbody else, but after I been there a little wile they come an told Mama I ought’n to be in there with everbody else\." Chapter One Let me say this: bein a idiot is no box of chocolates. People laugh, lose patience, treat you shabby. Now they says folks sposed to be kind to the afflicted, but let me tell you — it ain’t always that way. We will write a custom essay sample on Forrest Gump Chapter One or any similar topic only for you Order Now Even so, I got no complaints, cause I reckon I done live a pretty interestin life, so to speak. I been a idiot since I was born. My IQ is near 70, which qualifies me, so they say. Probly, tho, I’m closer to bein a imbecile or maybe even a moron, but personally, I’d rather think of mysef as like a halfwit, or somethin — an not no idiot — cause when people think of a idiot, more’n likely they be thinkin of one of them Mongolian idiots — the ones with they eyes too close together what look like Chinamen an drool a lot an play with theyselfs. Now I’m slow — I’ll grant you that, but I’m probly a lot brighter than folks think, cause what goes on in my mind is a sight different than what folks see. For instance, I can think things pretty good, but when I got to try sayin or writin them, it kinda come out like jello or somethin. I’ll show you what I mean. The other day, I’m walkin down the street an this man was out workin in his yard. He’d got hissef a bunch of shrubs to plant an he say to me, â€Å"Forrest, you wanna earn some money?† an I says, â€Å"Uh-huh,† an so he sets me to movin dirt. Damn near ten or twelve wheelbarrows of dirt, in the heat of the day, truckin it all over creation. When I’m thru he reach in his pocket for a dollar. What I shoulda done was raised Cain about the low wages, but instead, I took the damn dollar an all I could say was â€Å"thanks† or somethin dumb-soundin like that, an I went on down the street, waddin an unwaddin that dollar in my hand, feelin like a idiot. You see what I mean? Now I know somethin bout idiots. Probly the only thing I do know bout, but I done read up on em — all the way from that Doy-chee-eveskie guy’s idiot, to King Lear’s fool, an Faulkner’s idiot, Benjie, an even ole Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird — now he was a serious idiot. The one I like best tho is ole Lennie in Of Mice an Men. Mos of them writer fellers got it straight — cause their idiots always smarter than people give em credit for. Hell, I’d agree with that. Any idiot would. Hee Hee. When I was born, my mama name me Forrest, cause of General Nathan Bedford Forrest who fought in the Civil War. Mama always said we was kin to General Forrest’s fambly someways. An he was a great man, she say, cept’n he started up the Ku Klux Klan after the war was over an even my grandmama say they’s a bunch of no-goods. Which I would tend to agree with, cause down here, the Grand Exalted Pishposh, or whatever he calls hissef, he operate a gun store in town an once, when I was maybe twelve year ole, I were walkin by there and lookin in the winder an he got a big hangman’s noose strung up inside. When he seen me watchin, he done thowed it around his own neck an jerk it up like he was hanged an let his tongue stick out an all so’s to scare me. I done run off and hid in a parkin lot behin some cars til somebody call the police an they come an take me home to my mama. So whatever else ole General Forrest done, startin up that Klan thing was not a good i dea — any idiot could tell you that. Nonetheless, that’s how I got my name. My mama is a real fine person. Everbody says that. My daddy, he got kilt just after I’s born, so I never known him. He worked down to the docks as a longshoreman an one day a crane was takin a big net load of bananas off one of them United Fruit Company boats an somethin broke an the bananas fell down on my daddy an squashed him flat as a pancake. One time I heard some men talkin bout the accident — say it was a helluva mess, half ton of all them bananas an my daddy squished underneath. I don’t care for bananas much myself, cept for banana puddin. I like that all right. My mama got a little pension from the United Fruit people an she took in boarders at our house, so we got by okay. When I was little, she kep me inside a lot, so as the other kids wouldn’t bother me. In the summer afternoons, when it was real hot, she used to put me down in the parlor an pull the shades so it was dark an cool an fix me a pitcher of limeade. Then she’d set there an talk to me, jus talk on an on bout nothin in particular, like a person’ll talk to a dog or cat, but I got used to it an liked it cause her voice made me feel real safe an nice. At first, when I’s growin up, she’d let me go out an play with everbody, but then she foun out they’s teasing me an all, an one day a boy hit me in the back with a stick wile they was chasin me an it raised some fearsome welt. After that, she tole me not to play with them boys anymore. I started tryin to play with the girls but that weren’t much better, cause they all run away from me. Mama thought it would be good for me to go to the public school cause maybe it would hep me to be like everbody else, but after I been there a little wile they come an told Mama I ought’n to be in there with everbody else. You read "Forrest Gump Chapter One" in category "Essay examples" They let me finish out first grade tho. Sometimes I’d set there wile the teacher was talkin an I don’t know what was going on in my mind, but I’d start lookin out the winder at the birds an squirrels an things that was climbin an settin in a big ole oak tree outside, an then the teacher’d come over an fuss at me. Sometimes, I’d just get this real strange thing come over me an start shoutin an all, an then she’d make me go out an set on a bench in the hall. An the other kids, they’d never play with me or nothin, cept’n to chase me or get me to start hollerin so’s they could laugh at me — all cept Jenny Curran, who at least did n’t run away from me an sometimes she’d let me walk nex to her goin home after class. But the next year, they put me in another sort of school, an let me tell you, it was wierd. It was like they’d gone aroun collectin all the funny fellers they coud find an put em all together, rangin from my age an younger to big ole boys bout sixteen or seventeen. They was retards of all kinds an spasmos an kids that couldn’t even eat or go to the toilet by theyselfs. I was probly the best of the lot. They was one big fat boy, musta been fourteen or so, an he was afflicted with some kinda thing made him shake like he’s in the electric chair or somethin. Miss Margaret, our teacher, made me go in the bathroom with him when he had to go, so’s he wouldn’t do nothin wierd. He done it anyway, tho. I didn’t know no way of stoppin him, so I’d just lock mysef in one of the stalls and stay there till he’s thru, an walk him back to the class. I stayed in that school for about five or six years. It wadn’t all bad tho. They’d let us paint with our fingers an make little things, but mostly, it jus teachin us how to do stuff like tie up our shoes an not slobber food or get wild an yell an holler an thow shit aroun. They wadn’t no book learnin to speak of — cept to show us how to read street signs an things like the difference between the Men’s an the Ladies’ rooms. With all them serious nuts in there, it woulda been impossible to conduct anythin more’n that anyway. Also, I think it was for the purpose of keepin us out of everbody else’s hair. Who the hell wants a bunch of retards runnin aroun loose? Even I could understand that. When I got to be thirteen, some pretty unusual things begun to happen. First off, I started to grow. I grew six inches in six months, an my mama was all the time havin to let out my pants. Also, I commenced to grow out. By the time I was sixteen I was six foot six an weighed two hundrit forty-two pounds. I know that cause they took me in an weighed me. Said they jus couldn’t believe it. What happen nex caused a real change in my life. One day I’m strollin down the street on the way home from nut school, an a car stop longside of me. This guy call me over an axed my name. I tole him, an then he axed what school I go to, an how come he ain’t seen me aroun. When I tell him bout the nut school, he axed if I’d ever played football. I shook my head. I guess I mighta tole him I’d seen kids playin it, but they’d never let me play. But like I said, I ain’t too good at long conversation, an so I jus shook my head. That was about two weeks after school begun again. Three days or so later, they come an got me outta the nut school. My mama was there, an so was the guy in the car an two other people what look like goons — who I guess was present in case I was to start somethin. They took all the stuff outta my desk an put it in a brown paper bag an tole me to say goodbye to Miss Margaret, an alls of a sudden she commence to start cryin an give me a big ole hug. Then I got to say goodbye to all the other nuts, an they was droolin an spasmoin an beatin on the desks with they fists. An then I was gone. Mama rode up in the front seat with the guy an I set in back in between them goons, jus like police done in them ole movies when they took you â€Å"downtown.† Cept we didn’t go downtown. We went to the new highschool they had built. When we got there they took me inside to the principal’s office an Mama an me an the guy went in wile the two goons waited in the hall. The principal was an ole gray-haired man with a stain on his tie an baggy pants who look like he coulda come outta the nut school hissef. We all sat down an he begun splainin things an axein me questions, an I just nodded my head, but what they wanted was for me to play football. That much I figgered out on my own. Turns out the guy in the car was the football coach, name of Fellers. An that day I didn’t go to no class or nothin, but Coach Fellers, he took me back to the locker room an one of the goons rounded me up a football suit with all them pads an stuff an a real nice plastic helmet with a thing in front to keep my face from gettin squished in. The only thing was, they couldn’t find no shoes to fit me, so’s I had to use my sneakers till they could order the shoes. Coach Fellers an the goons got me dressed up in the football suit, an then they made me undress again, an then do it all over again, ten or twenty times, till I could do it by mysef. One thing I had trouble with for a wile was that jockstrap thing — cause I couldn’t see no real good reason for wearing it. Well, they tried splainin it to me, an then one of the goons says to the other that I’m a â€Å"dummy† or somethin like that, an I guess he thought I wouldn’t understand him, but I did, on account of I pay special attention to that kind of shit. Not that it hurt my feelins. Hell, I been called a sight worse than that. But I took notice of it, nonetheless. After a wile a bunch of kids started comin into the locker room an takin out they football stuff and gettin into it. Then we all went outside an Coach Fellers got everbody together an he stood me up in front of them an introduced me. He was sayin a bunch of shit that I wadn’t followin real close cause I was haf scared to death, on account of nobody had ever introduced me before to a bunch of strangers. But afterward some of the others come up an shook my hand an say they is glad I am here an all. Then Coach Fellers blowed a whistle, what like to make me leap outta my skin an everbody started jumpin around to get exercise. It’s a kind of long story what all happened nex, but anyway, I begun to play football. Coach Fellers an one of the goons hepped me out special since I didn’t know how to play. We had this thing where you sposed to block people an they were tryin to splain it all, but when we tried it a bunch of times everbody seemed to be gettin disgusted cause I couldn’t remember what I was sposed to do. Then they tried this other thing they call the defense, where they put three guys in front of me an I am sposed to get thru them an grap the guy with the football. The first part was easier, cause I could just shove the other guys’ heads down, but they were unhappy with the way I grapped the guy with the ball, an finally they made me go an tackle a big oak tree about fifteen or twenty times — to get the feel of it, I spose. But after a wile, when they figgered I had learnt somethin from the oak tree, they put me back with the three guys an the ball carrier an then got mad I didn’t jump on him real vicious-like after I moved the others out of the way. I took a lot of abuse that afternoon, but when we quit practicin I went in to see Coach Fellers an tole him I didn’t want to jump on the ball guy cause I was afraid of hurtin him. Coach, he say that it wouldn’t hurt him, cause he was in his football suit an was protected. The truth is, I wasn’t s o much afraid of hurtin him as I was that he’d get mad at me an they’d start chasin me again if I wadn’t real nice to everbody. To make a long story short, it took me a wile to get the hang of it all. Meantime I got to go to class. In the nut school, we really didn’t have that much to do, but here they was far more serious about things. Somehow, they had worked it out so’s I had three homeroom classes where you jus set there an did whatever you wanted, an then three other classes where there was a lady who was teachin me how to read. Jus the two of us. She was real nice an pretty and more’n once or twice I had nasty thoughts about her. Miss Henderson was her name. About the only class I liked was lunch, but I guess you couldn’t call that a class. At the nut school, my mama would fix me a sambwich an a cookie an a piece of fruit — cept no bananas — an I’d take it to school with me. But in this school they was a cafeteria with nine or ten different things to eat an I’d have trouble makin up my mind what I wanted. I think somebody must of said somethin, cause after a week or so Coach Fellers come up to me an say to just go ahead an eat all I wanted cause it been â€Å"taken care of.† Hot damn! Guess who should be in my homeroom class but Jenny Curran. She come up to me in the hall an say she remember me from first grade. She was all growed up now, with pretty black hair an she was long-legged an had a beautiful face, an they was other things too, I dare not mention. The football was not goin exactly to the likin of Coach Fellers. He seemed displeased a lot an was always shoutin at people. He shouted at me too. They tried to figger out some way for me to just stay put an keep other folks from grappin our guy carryin the ball, but that didn’t work cept when they ran the ball right up the middle of the line. Coach was not too happy with my tacklin neither, an let me tell you, I spent a lot of time at that oak tree. But I just couldn’t get to where I would thow mysef at the ball guy like they wanted me to do. Somethin kep me from it. Then one day a event happen that changed all that too. In the cafeteria I had started gettin my food and goin over to set nex to Jenny Curran. I wouldn’t say nothin, but she was jus bout the only person in the school I knew halfways, an it felt good setting there with her. Most of the time she didn’t pay me no attention, an talked with other people. At first I’d been settin with some of the football players, but they acted like I was invisible or somethin. At least Jenny Curran acted like I was there. But after a wile of this, I started to notice this other guy was there a lot too, an he starts makin wisecracks bout me. Sayin shit like â€Å"How’s Dumbo?† an all. And this gone on for a week or two, an I was sayin nothin, but finally I says — I can’t hardly believe I said it even now — but I says, â€Å"I ain’t no Dumbo,† an the guy jus looked at me an starts laughin. An Jenny Curran, she say to the guy to keep quie t, but he takes a carton of milk an pours it in my lap an I jump up an run out cause it scares me. A day or so later, that guy come up to me in the hall an says he’s gonna â€Å"get† me. All day I was afraid terribily, an later that afternoon, when I was leaving to go to the gym, there he is, with a bunch of his friends. I tried to go the other way, but he come up to me an start pushin me on the shoulders. An he’s sayin all kinds of bad things, callin me a â€Å"stupo† an all, an then he hit me in the stomach. It didn’t hurt so much, but I was startin to cry and I turned an begun to run, an heard him behind me an the others was runnin after me too. I jus run as fast as I could toward the gym, across the practice football field an suddenly I seen Coach Fellers, settin up in the bleachers watchin me. The guys who was chasin me stop and go away, an Coach Fellers, he has got this real peculiar look on his face, an tell me to get suited up right away. A wile later, he come in the locker room with these plays drawn on a piece of paper — three of them — an say for me to memorize them best I can. That afternoon at the football practice, he line everbody up in two teams an suddenly the quarterback give me the ball an I’m sposed to run outside the right end of the line to the goalpost. When they all start chasin me, I run fast as I can — it was seven or eight of them before they could drag me down. Coach Fellers is mighty happy; jumpin up and down an yellin an slappin everbody on the back. We’d run a lot of races before, to see how fast we could run, but I get a lot faster when I’m bein chased, I guess. What idiot wouldn’t? Anyway, I become a lot more popular after that, an the other guys on the team started bein nicer to me. We had our first game an I was scared to death, but they give me the ball an I run over the goal line two or three times an people never been kinder to me after that. That highschool certainly begun to change things in my life. It even got to where I liked to run with the football, cept it was mostly that they made me run aroun the sides cause I still couldn’t get to where I liked to just run over people like you do in the middle. One of the goons comments that I am the largest highschool halfback in the entire world. I do not think he mean it as a compliment. Otherwise, I was learnin to read a lot better with Miss Henderson. She give me Tom Sawyer an two other books I can’t remember, an I took them home an read em all, but then she give me a test where I don’t do so hot. But I sure enjoyed them books. After a wile, I went back to settin nex to Jenny Curran in the cafeteria, an there weren’t no more trouble for a long time, but then one day in the springtime I was walkin home from school and who should appear but the boy that poured that milk in my lap an chased me that day. He got hissef a stick an start callin me things like â€Å"moron† and â€Å"stupo.† Some other people was watchin an then along comes Jenny Curran, an I’m bout to take off again — but then, for no reason I know, I jus didn’t do it. That feller take his stick an poke me in the stomach with it, an I says to mysef, the hell with this, an I grapped a holt to his arm an with my other hand I knock him upside the head an that was the end of that, more or less. That night my mama get a phone call from the boy’s parents, say if I lay a han on their son again they is goin to call the authorities an have me â€Å"put away.† I tried to splain it to my mama an she say she understand, but I could tell she was worried. She tell me that since I am so huge now, I got to watch mysef, cause I might hurt somebody. An I nodded an promised her I wouldn’t hurt nobody else. That night when I lyin in bed I heard her cryin to hersef in her room. But what that did for me, knockin that boy upside the head, put a definate new light on my football playin. Next day, I axed Coach Fellers to let me run the ball straight on and he say okay, an I run over maybe four or five guys till I’m in the clear an they all had to start chasin me again. That year I made the All State Football team. I couldn’t hardly believe it. My mama give me two pair of socks an a new shirt on my birthday. An she done saved up an bought me a new suit that I wore to get the All State Football award. First suit I ever had. Mama tied my tie for me an off I went. How to cite Forrest Gump Chapter One, Essay examples

Finding Athena free essay sample

Coffee hits the bloodstream like an elixir, and again starts another day like most days of lethargy: classes, exams, high school. It’s not that I don’t love it, I do. I love holding a new book in my hands, daunting and unbelievable lists of classics and bestsellers, learning about everything from women’s rights to international culture to subculture of entertainment. But there’s so much you take from five days of school and ten hours of studying each day. There are so many capes I’ve put on: girl, scholar, otaku (Japanese for comic/anime-book geek), etc. It seems that whenever I surprise someone I surprise myself. A burst of laughter or unexpected expletive manages to register higher on the social Richter scale than a hidden tattoo or dropped mutilated frog (which is actually pretty common for a co-ed bio class.) Yet I’ve managed to become a girl who forgets to smile, who seems to take herself too seriously, too quiet to be anything but nice. We will write a custom essay sample on Finding Athena or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Sometimes, when I come home, I realize just how long I’ve held my breath, how my face had turned to clay from my own carving. Sometimes, you need to take off your own mask. But, soon night creeps over, like a shadowy cloak, sporting a few sequins called stars and one moon. Water runs down my throat, scentless, tasteless, unperceptively vital and powerful. Donning pants that seem whiter than kabuki makeup while a dark belt encompasses my waist. There is no Gotham and there is certainly no Batman. There are no special gadgets or secret bat caves. But just two blocks away, is a small place with transparent walls and warriors inside, already training as I arrive. I step into my Taekwondo studio, alone and ready. It took me 13 years to finally register for martial arts. Years of unrequited efforts toward various athletic activities: tennis, modern dance, hip-hop, etc., had left me feeling embarrassed and inadequate. I had already had a deep respect for sports like karate, but needed the initiative to sign up myself. Martial arts are probably one of the best things left in this world that had such a gorgeous history and mythology and power behind it. Most people think Martial arts is about violence. It isn’t. It’s empowerment; owning your anger, your body, your strength. Martial arts was probably one of the best things left in this world that had such a gorgeous history and mythology and power behind it. Growing up I had no lack of beautiful strong women who encouraged and inspired me to do nothing less than what I was capable of, such as my grandmothers, my sister, and my mother. But growing older and more aware of my society, I see the lack of attention brought to strong, intelligent female depictions without five-inch cleavage or leather. But each year that minority grows larger with more beauty and hope and I hope to become someone inspired by such, or someone who inspires such strength This isn’t some Bruce Lee feature or feminist tirade. Taekwondo was about finding something that was mine, which allowed myself to become something other than a scholar or a twin, but also a warrior, which is always genderless. Strength meant finding and sticking to passion, diligence, and myself.