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Coti Farias
Holly Pappas
English 101
May 1, 2014
Rough Draft – Argument Essay

Government monitoring of internet activity and surveillance cameras are very necessary. The many terrorist attacks that have happened in America have made it necessary to monitor people’s activities in order to ensure people’s privacy. Monitoring internet activity and using surveillance cameras should be put in use because they will prevent any future terrorist’s attacks and find perpetrators on the internet that might be doing suspicious activity. Therefore, to ensure people’s privacy and protection the government needs to be constantly vigilant. However, the government must be careful not to overstep their authority and stomp on people’s rights by collecting unneeded data including credit card numbers, travel itineraries, texts and downloads.

Ordinary citizens need to know who is using the Internet in dangerous ways. For example, who is learning how to make a bomb, who is learning how to use chemical weapons, or who might be planning for an attack on them? People who are using information like this from websites should be considered dangerous and be red flagged by the government. Today, states take in many immigrants who religious beliefs vary greatly. Some radical Muslims, for example, have carried out horrific acts against the United States. It only makes sense to monitor Internet activity because of all that has happened since 911 to the US. Someone viewing how to make a bomb on YouTube needs to be red flagged before he or she gets a chance to commit a terrorist act against the US. Out of necessity the National Security Agency (NSA) has been storing and capturing web pages and later analyzing them (Von Drehle).

Having surveillance cameras in stores, at streetlights and in the city street corners has become routine. It is a great way to prevent any threats or attacks before they happen and later on to catch the perpetrators with indisputable evidence from the surveillance cameras. Now, most stores in America have video cameras for lesser crimes. For instance, theses cameras can catch thieves at stores, burglaries at banks and provide great footage from crime scenes to be used as evidence during court proceedings. Also, police departments have license-plate cameras along with fast-pass lanes to tack cars’ speed and location. In addition, satellites are great for surveillance. For example, by using Google Maps, government agencies can capture the street view and live images of people, cars and more. All this technology is necessary for our protection. A case in point is the Boston Marathon bombing in Boston in April, 2013, which was a senseless act of terrorism that killed and maimed many innocent civilians. In a CNN article, Josh Levs and Monte Plott quotes, “In addition to scrutinizing images of surveillance cameras in the area, the FBI likely was issuing subpoenas for records from cell towers in the area to isolate and trace calls from around Copley Square at the time of the blasts, according to a former federal law enforcement official who now works in the intelligence community” (CNN). That was a truly tragic event for Americans. If it weren’t for the surveillance cameras at the site of the bombings, the government officials would have caught the two brothers who set off the bombs.

However, has the US government’s desire to keep its citizens safe actually infringed upon their personal rights which are guaranteed by the Us Bill of Rights? Has the US government overstepped its authority? Some think is has. They argue that monitoring the Internet is obviously important, but ensuring people’s privacy is just as important; some even sit it is more important. They claim that the NSA should not be listening to people’s phone calls and viewing our emails. Moreover, they also should not be collecting information about bank balances, credit card numbers, text messages, downloads, medical records and even people’s travel itineraries. Alarmingly, this is not all that the government has been doing. According to the Washington Post, “Every day, collection systems at the National Security Agency intercept and store 1.7 billion e-mails, phone calls and other types of communications. The NSA sorts a fraction of those into 70 separate databases.” This means that the NSA stores billions of information about people from the ways we communicate with each others.

By them monitoring the internet, one could argue that the government is invading its citizens’ privacy, which the Bill of Rights ensures. In an online debate about this, results show that 53 percent disagree with this. They say that it isn’t right; they have enough to do instead of watching what we do, there violating the fourth amendment and it’s unfair to the general public. Some people even say that the government is wasting money. One poster from the debate says, “No it would mean a loss of privacy. Everyone should be free to put everything they want on the Internet, and if you think some things are inappropriate such as porn or anything else then doesn’t go searching for it. If the government controls it then they will see all your private issues. I hope then one day you’ll understand what I mean.” I understand how this upsets real people in the world, and they feel that it is unneeded for us but there are important reasons as a whole state it is needed. Even though it is invading are privacy, it is making the world safer for us to live in each day because they can stop something terrible from happening if caught through the internet.

In conclusion, it is very important to have the government monitor the internet so the United States doesn’t get attacked again in any manner. By them monitoring it will make the world a safer place to live in. If anything like 911 even happens again, wouldn’t you like to know that it could have been stopped if they monitored the internet activity because someone was plotting an attack on America? Monitoring in general is important for America, to know that people aren’t trying to hurt us, and even for children safety online.

Work Cited:

Drehle, Dave V. “The Surveillance Society | TIME.com.” US The Surveillance Society Comments. TIMES, 01 Aug. 2013. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.

Levs, Josh. “Boy, 8, One of 3 Killed in Bombings at Boston Marathon; Scores Wounded.” CNN.
Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.

Preist, Dana, and William M. Arkin. “A Hidden World, Growing beyond Control.”
Washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post, 19 July 2010. Web . 28 Apr. 2014.

“Should the Government Monitor the Internet?” Http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-the-
government-monitor-the-internet. Debate.org, n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.

Research Question: Should the government monitor internet activity?

Sources:

http://nation.time.com/2013/08/01/the-surveillance-society/

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/11/nsa-internet-surveillance-email

http://www.infowars.com/the-u-s-government-is-monitoring-all-phone-calls-all-emails-and-all-internet-activity/

http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-the-government-monitor-the-internet

Coti Farias
Holly Pappas
April 15,2014
Final Draft Annotation

It was nearly 70 years ago the U.S had adopted the food stamp program which was a experimented government program. It began in May of 1939, when a unemployed factory worker known as Mabel McFiggin was one of the first people to collect food stamps during the Depression-era. Food stamps helped aid the people struggling with supplying themselves with food. In this article written by Randy James, he stated that “Food stamps originally came in two colors: recipients bought orange stamps, which could be used for any kind of food, and they were given half that amount in free blue stamps, which could be used to buy designated surplus foods (all but the most destitute had to make some payment to receive food stamps until 1977)”. In this article James explains how the two different colored food stamps represents two different kinds of benefits and what can be purchased as well as what can they receive with them. In this article from Times, James states that “about 20 million people made use of the original food stamp program, but its popularity dwindled as prosperity returned, and the program was stopped in 1943”. What this means was the food stamp program was a successful program to help aid struggling people.

The amount of money a family can receive depends on many of several factors such as the number of people living in the household. It also depends on the source of income the household is receiving this is to determine how much a family can receive from the food stamp program and if they qualify. Also the source of income varies from employment, child support, and social security. The expenses will count toward your benefits such as rent, electric bill, gas bill and the cable bill. The family size can size from two to six or even more family members. The more family members you have living in the household the more likely a family can receive benefits but if you receive a source of high income this can affect the qualification of the food stamps. A family who receives more than the amount to qualify for can affect SNAP benefits and could decrease the amount of food stamps they could receive this SNAP Standards (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program).

In the article “Cut in Food Stamps Forces Hard Choices on Poor” from the NY Times, writers Kim Severson and Winnie Hu states that last year during November, people who had received food stamps were cut on their benefits. The article interviewed people that received these benefits and who got cut during this time. One lady said “I try to get most of the things my daughter eats because I can hold the hunger — I’m an adult — but she cannot”(N Y Times) This is so sad that parents are suffering because they are trying to give everything to their children to eat because of a cut in their benefits. Another person who got hit hard during this cut was Leon Simmons, 63 he says “I don’t need a whole lot to eat,” he said, who spends more than half of his monthly $832 Social Security income to rent a room in an East Charleston house. “But this month I know I’m not going to buy any meats.” This reduction in benefits has affected more than 47 million people like Mr. Simmons says N Y Times. Cutting benefits for people that receive this money, impacts them greatly. Cuts like this can change how a person eats from healthy to unhealthy, having less money to buy groceries means that they can not purchase fruits and vegetables for proper nutrition for a person. This means that if the cut was very large, someone will now go from eating fruits, vegetables and meats to buying frozen dinners and packaged food which has high sodium. A decrease in food stamps have a negative effect on the people who are aided by it because it is one way they support themselves and with a cut their everyday diet is affected as well.

There are many requirements to be eligible for food stamps in Massachusetts. You must live in Massachusetts, meet the financial eligibility requirements, have a social security number, must be a U.S Citizens, and meet the work requirements. Other ways you can receive this benefit is if you’re homeless or pregnant. If you do not have a stable home to sleep at it’s considered as homeless, they will then decide if you quality. Some people can not receive SNAP assistance because of certain reasons which include; non-citizens, don’t have a Social Security number because of immigration. Seniors and people with disabilities can apply for food stamps and get accepted. Seniors and people with disabilities applying is different than others. They do not have to meet food stamp work requirements, can have a telephone interview or home visit instead of going down to the office for an interview. You can apply for food stamps by filling out an application and either bring it, send it, fax it or complete it online to the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA). The DTA is in charge of the food stamp program and makes the decision if you apply or not. You can also apply at your local Social Security Office if you receive SSI benefits.

Other programs to help families are utility bills and telephone services. When eligible for SNAP benefits families are automatically enrolled in the utility discount rate programs. This includes help assistance with heating, electricity and gas. If you apply you can get 10% to 15% off the utility bill. Telephone services that can be provided if eligible are either SafeLink Wireless or Assurance Wireless. Theses telephone services provide a free cell phone with free 250 minutes.

Work Cited:

Severson, Kim, and Winnie Hu. “Cut in Food Stamps Forces Hard Choices on Poor.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 07 Nov. 2013. Web. 09 Apr. 2014

James, Randy. “Food Stamps.”Time. Time Inc., 14 Sept. 2009. Web. 09 Apr. 2014.

SNAP Program Income Eligibility Standards

General Eligibility

Other Benefits

Utility Discounts

How to Apply

How much money can a family receive?

The amount of money a family can receive depends of many factors in the household. It depends of source of income, expenses you pay for and family size. The more family members you have the more much your likely to receive but, if you receive a source of income the amount of money for SNAP benefits can decrease. For example, a family of three with a mother and two daughters; if the mother is on disability and a daughter is working the amount of money will decrease because there is a source of income in the household. (SNAP Program Income Eligibility Standards; http://www.massresources.org/snap-financial-eligibility.html#deductions)

Who is eligible for food stamps? (http://www.massresources.org/snap-general-eligibility.html)

There are many requirements to be eligible for food stamps in Massachusetts. You must live in Massachusetts, meet the financial eligibility requirements, social security numbers, must be U.S Citizens, and meet the work requirements. Some people can not receive SNAP assistance because of certain reasons which include; non-citizens, don’t have a Social Security number because of immigration. Seniors and people with disabilities can apply for food stamps and get accepted. Seniors and people with disabilities applying is different then others. They do not have to meet food stamp work requirements, can have a telephone interview or home visit instead of going down to the office for an interview.

Are there other programs to help people like food stamps? (http://www.massresources.org/snap-benefits.html#otherbenefits) (http://www.massresources.org/utility-discounts.html)

Other programs to help families are utility bills and telephone services. When eligible for SNAP benefits families are automatically enrolled in the utility discount rate programs. This includes help assistance’s with heating, electricity and gas. If you apply you can get 10% to 15% off the utility bill. Telephone services that can be provided if eligible are either SafeLink Wireless or Assurance Wireless. Theses telephone services provide a free cell phone with free 250 minutes.

Where can you apply for food stamps benefits?(http://www.massresources.org/snap-apply.html)

You can apply for food stamps by filling out an application and either bring it, send it, fax it or complete it online to the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA). The DTA is in charge of the food stamp program and makes the decision if you apply or not. You can also apply at your local Social Security Office if you receive SSI benefits.

Do you need to have a drug test to be eligible for it?
When did food stamps begin and why ?

How much money can a family receive?
Who is eligible for food stamps?
When did food stamps begin and why ?
Are there other programs to help people like food stamps?
Where can you apply for food stamps benefits?
Do you need to have a drug test to be eligible for it?

Can some things be taught or are most things inborn? Persistence is to learn to keep moving forward in spite of how difficult something is. It’s about staying positive through out difficult obstacles to reach a goal. Goals you could reach while being persistent might be buying a car or house, getting a degree, or even trying to get a promotion at work. Sometimes trying to reach a goal can be difficult and you may want to give up but the question still remains who can teach persistence?
In the article “Persistence is learned from Fathers, Says Study” by Mikaela Conley states that “persistence can be taught from fathers by those who listen to their children, having a close relationship, set appropriate rules, and also grant appropriate freedoms” (Conley 9). Fathers who commit to doing this with their children can lead them to a successful path in the future. Teaching persistence is like climbing a ladder, you must teach one step at a time. Showing a child how important and meaningful something is can be done by encouraging them even if they don’t believe in themselves so they can reach their goal. For example, if you tell your child to keep on trying especially when they receive a bad grade in school they will strive to do better next time because you’re persist to keep on going. By letting them know not stop because something is difficult in life like school is teaching them how to be persistent.
Not only fathers can teach their children to be persistent but other family members as well. In Tristan’s memoir he talks about how his parents and grandparents continually reminded him about never giving up on the challenges he had experienced and had to stand up to every challenge that came his way. Tristan’s parents and grandparents taught him how to overcome the challenges like learning how to ride a bicycle step by step. Learning how to ride a bicycle takes times, even though it can be easy with training wheels but a difficult experience to transition from training wheels to riding without it. They pushed him not to give up because he would get it one day. Over time he finally managed to ride a bicycle without training wheels because of his grandparents were so supportive toward his difficult struggle to ride a bicycle.
Even though parents can help teach how to be persistence so can Health Care Professionals. In Jeff’s memoir he states that he had a difficult struggle with his weight during his high school years. He also wanted to play football but because of his weight his blood pressure was too high. He struggled a long time dealing with this but over time someone helped him. His mother’s friend, a nutritionist had helped him with some knowledge how to live a healthy lifestyle. The nutritionist taughted what’s good to eat and what’s not, good eating habits and how to read the nutrition facts of products. He struggles with his weight and want’s to do something but doesn’t know how till the nutritionist helps him. He then sets a goal to lose weight from all the advice he had received. He started going to the gym to achieve his this goal over time. Losing weight can not happened over one day or one week it takes lots of time, dedication and persistence toward reaching the goal. Having a health care professional teaching someone how to reach a goal with some basic knowledge on a topic has taught Jeff how to be persistent to lose weight in this milestone in life. Not only has he learned a lot about the body works but he now has the mindset to reach his goal in the future.
Although parents, grandparents and health care professional can teach persistence in the article “Can kids be Taught Persistence?” by Jennie Rose quotes “ that’s a skill that parents can certainly help their children develop – but so can teachers and coaches and mentors and neighbors and lots of people” (Rose 4). This states that parents can teach persistent but community helps can too. For example, teachers can help students with learning math like fractions and to keep trying to solve the math problem until it’s solved. Coaches can by learning to deal with failure when they lose a game. Mentors teach how to be persistence by guiding students to the correct lane and helping with life issues.
However, persistence takes time to overcome, it’s about wanting to get somewhere – reaching the top. Almost like climbing a mountain, as you climb you see the top as much as you want to get to the top to see the view. You must continue to struggle each step to reach the goal. Anyone can teach you how to be persistence from parents, grandparents, health care workers, teachers, coaches and much more but it all relies on you doing the continued effort to reach top of it all. You must put everything in to get what you want in life, the people helping you is just one step closer to the prize.

Work Cited Page:

Conley, Mikaela. “Persistence Is Learned from Fathers, Says Study.” ABC News. ABC News
Network, 15 June 2012. Web. 03 Mar. 2014.

Rose, Jennie. “Can Kids Be Taught Persistence?” MindShift. Blogs.kqed.org, July 2012. Web. 03
Mar. 2014.

http://tristanridesflat.edublogs.org/2014/02/17/memoir-final/

http://jeffstew.edublogs.org/2014/02/03/memoir-rough-draft-persistence/

Persistence by definition means a continued effort; to keep trying. I would say I have always been very persistent in life. This would be a trait I seem to get from both my parents. I grew up in a middle class family, where both my parents never finished high school or even went to college. Over the years of growing up they have taught me how to be understanding, smart and persistent.
It seems like it was just yesterday I was only 12 years old laying in my bed because I had school the next morning but I couldn’t sleep so I was up just listening to my mom and dad talk in the living room with frustration, it was silent all around the house both my brother and sister sleeping. It was so quiet you could hear a pin hit the wooden titles down the stairs and I was wide awake in my room in bed stirring up at the ceiling trying to overhear my parents talking in their frustration. I was trying to understand why my mother and father would always stay up late for during the night in the living room talking for hours about money and how they were gonna manage it. Many thoughts were going through my head trying to understand why they worried about money all the time if both of them had jobs. It was when I decided to get out of my bed so I could go down stairs and ask them what was wrong? and if everything was ok? As I made my way to the stairs my dad heard me walking down the stairs and had asked why I wasn’t in bed. I told him I wanted to know if everything was ok but my mom interrupted and said “everything was fine and not to worry about it”. She then demanded me to go back to bed and get some sleep. As I was walking up the stairs slowly trying to avoid getting to the top, I was confused and didn’t understand why they said everything was fine if they talked with frustration. I then realized my mother and father were going through a struggling experience I didn’t understand why if they both had jobs and worked long hours and were always providing for us. They were struggling with everything between bills, putting food on the table, working long hours, and taking care of a family never mind putting money away to save . They never quit they continued to do anything they both could do to get through each day. Even with paying the bills and putting food on the table, they still managed to save money on the side for holidays, birthdays and special occasions like little vacations or incase of an emergency. The challenges with this were hard because of putting money away there were always other expenses to like gas for the car, car insurance, money for laundry, and household essentials. As I grew older I became to understand more about life needs and how everything costs money.
The challenges they faced lead them to never give up and saving money was always a smart idea even at tough times. This smart idea to save money made me smart with money. It made me think before I spend. This impacted me for a lifetime lessons ahead because I have got this trait from my mother and father as I was growing up over the years. . I’ve learned to be smart I wanted my license and a car and to do so I needed a job I got hired at age sixteen and worked at Taco Bell, I started to work every other day after school and even on weekends. My paychecks would go into my savings account and wouldn’t be touched. My goal that I strived was to get enough money in my account to take classes and road lessons to earn my license. Once I had enough money to pay for all of that, I strived to save more money in my account to soon by a car. After working many hours and many weekends of saving a lot of pays I finally had enough money to buy my own car! My persistence to save money on my own has been a great mind set to achieving my goals.
Over the years of growing up I’ve learned to be persistent I had a experience in my life that has happened to me when I broke my ankle right after the holidays, when I just spend so much money buying gifts for my family and girlfriend. I wasted so much money on gifts that my money I’ve saved up over time was getting low. I didn’t expect to break my ankle. This was the worst downfall in my life so far, because of my ankle I couldn’t work. Just because I couldn’t work didn’t mean my bills would disappear, I still had to pay my car insurance, phone bill and my gym membership. I was persistent and smart to have had money saved up and put it on the side like my parents did. My effort to had saved a lot of money helped me in the end. I had enough saved to pay my bills for two months of my injury.
Growing up over the years my parents impacted a lifetime lessons that I will never forget. I have understood that just because you have a job doesn’t mean you make enough to get through life. I was also smart like them to always have put money on the side incase of anything happened.Persistence is the key to a solid foundation of achieving your goals, whatever they may be. Whether they are big or small. My mother always has said, ” You have never failed until you quit trying”. Persistence is the opposite of quitting, I believe because of my persistence one day I will have a better paying job, own my own home, be able to hopefully live life without struggling. Theses three main components I have learned will be with me throughout life.

Persistence by definition means a continued effort; to keep trying. I would say I have always been very persistent in life. This would be a trait I seem to get from both my parents. I grew up in a middle class family, where both my parents never finished high school or even went to college. They were teenagers when I was born and not much help from their parents.Then they were in their early twenties and also had my sister Taylor and my brother Ryan.

When I was younger I really didn’t realize how much they had to struggle, but as I became older I can see how hard they tried to make sure we always had food to eat and a roof over our heads. My dad always would worked hard jobs with long hours, just to make sure all three of us had all the new gadgets and electronics. Just like all the other kids had, he never wanted us to feel left out, but to achieve that he would work from before the sun came up and didn’t get home until after it went down. My mother later returned to school to receive her GED, then took classes to study to receive her license to become a certified nurse aide. This was another job with long hours and much labor. She still managed to work a full time job and still have the time to be the best mom to all three of her children.

My point is growing up I have seen how persistent both my parents were. When everyone else doubted them, they still managed to make sure the bills were paid and the food was always on the table for all of us. We always managed to get what we wanted for Christmas (except the time I asked for a Porsche. . . I was 12!). And yet we still was able to go on beautiful family vacations.Our first, was a family trip to Hershey park in Pennsylvania . We even went on cruises to places like Ocho Rios, Jamaica and Cozumel, Mexico and the Cayman Islands; we did it multiple times. I guess that’s when I really started to realize I was fortunate because a lot of my friends never even had the opportunity to leave the state never mind travel abroad, visit other countries and see other cultures – an experience I am truly grateful for. I was able to do those things because my parents persisted on making sure we had those opportunities in our lives. No matter what they had to do to give it to us, even if it was working late or working extra hours, they did anything they could to give it all to us.

I get my persistence from them, they inspire me, they push me to work hard, to stay in school and make the right choices. They have shown me what persistence does, and how it does not matter where you come from or how little you may have but rather the harder you work the bigger the payoff is. I have had the same job since I was sixteen, I moved up from crew member to crew trainer. I have saved all my money, sometimes never even touching my pays just to be able to pay for my own licence and buy my own car. Which I did, I bought myself a Pontiac Grand Am 1999 all on my own with my money. I even save money aside after buying the car to get a radio system and have money in the bank in case anything happens to it. It took a lot of persistence to get those things on my own. I didn’t want help instead, I wanted to do it by myself. I also wanted to show that I had responsibility. I also graduated high school even though I struggled my four years. I received my diploma and graduated in the trade of Auto Mechanics at Diman Regional and now I take classes to work towards being involved in law enforcement at Bristol Community College.

Persistence is the key to a solid foundation of achieving your goals, whatever they may be. Whether they are big or small. My mother always has said, ” You have never failed until you quit trying”. Persistence is the opposite of quitting, I believe because of my persistence one day I will have a better paying job, own my own home, be able to hopefully live life without struggling. Even one day be able to take my parents on a vacation paid by me. It would be my way of saying thank you for everything they have done.

Have you ever had an experience that happen to you that made you put something off to the side? Or told yourself that won’t ever happen to me? Maybe even laugh at someone else because they experienced something you wouldn’t think it could happen? When something unpleasant happens to you in life you must stay strong and be persistent to find a way to overcome it. I been through many experiences in my life when I had to keep moving forward. This one experience that I am going through in my life has brought everything downhill for me.

It all began on December 27,2013 after the holidays going into the New Year. It was an average Friday, I went to the gym with my father like every other morning it was are routine to start the day off. After a good gym session, I went home to freshen up for the day. I then drove to get my scheduled haircut appointment I had at Shear Genius for my Friday night out with some friends. Later on after my haircut I picked up my girlfriend from her first job at the YMCA and drove her to Burlington for her second job because she didn’t have a car at that time. While driving, we had a conversation in the car I had asked about how her day was at her first job. She then told me about her day with the children in her group and how she had fun playing soccer with them. After talking we then arrived at Burlington and she said “you’re lucky, I have to work both jobs and one being late while you go and have fun. Make sure you pick me up tonight at ten o’clock” as she was getting out of the car. I replied “don’t worry I will be there at ten o’clock, have a good shift”.

Afterward, I went home and call my buddy Khoury up to ask about tonight’s plans. I asked him if I should drive up to his place in Westport or he would come to my house in Fall River to pick me up. Khoury told me to drive up to Westport at his place because he wasn’t out of work yet. His job is a family owned company with his father, it’s a Limousine company – Salon Salon Limousine. He had to wait to make sure all the limos were ready for tonight and all customers were taken care of before going out. Its like a 15 minute drive up to Khoury’s place, when I got there I parked my car in the parking lot. Then I went to look for him and double check that everything is done before we left for the night. He said “yeah, bro everything’s all set just give me a minute while I lock the doors and meet me in the Chevy Suburban”. He then came to the SUV and told me that we are going to pick up are other friends that we went to highschool with plus some new friends we met. Once we picked up everyone, we were all hungry because it was already seven o’clock and none of us had eaten. So we all agreed to McDonalds. We then arrived to Mcdonalds, parked the SUV and we all went inside to order. Me and my friends love McDonalds, it was our favorite place to go to after school for a quick bite. We loved Mcdouble’s ordered like ten of them for all of us. You can’t have burgers without fries and drinks we ordered some large fries and go some drinks. After getting our food we sat down, and began to devour our food. Once we were all done with eating, we got back in the SUV and starting talking. My friend Randy said “Guys, I need to go home because I got work in the morning”. Khoury then said “Alright bro, ill bring you home. Anybody else needs to go home?”. Everyone had work in the morning so he dropped everyone home after Randy.

Khoury started driving to Randy’s house in Somerset , its like a 20 minute drive from the Mcdonald’s we were at. I was sitting at the end, near the door behind the driver side and Randy was in the middle. Once we got to his house, I had to get out of the SUV to let him out. When I opened the door and got out of the SUV, I didn’t step on the hitch step up which is if a vehicle is too high off the ground the hitch step is used get up from the ground to the inside of the SUV or high lifted trucks. Instead, I jumped right out of the SUV on to the cement not knowing that it was icey out. I immediately fell on black ice, I fell so hard it hurt really bad. When I fell I got right back up and starting running around saying “Ouch,ouch, ouch” and used some vulgar language. I sat back in the SUV, telling all my friends I think I broke my ankle as I am rolling up my jeans to look at it. My friend Gary and Cameron both skateboard and had sprained their ankles many times, telling me “Coti, it’s not broken it might be sprained , it don’t look that bad”. Khoury then drove me back to his place where my car was parked so I could go home. Before leaving, I immediately called my mom and told her everything that happen. She told me to drive home because it wasn’t my driving foot but I felt dizzy so I asked Gary if he could drive my car for me. We were going to go straight to the hospital to check it out. But it was already 9:45 and I still had to pick up my girlfriend in 15 minutes. As we were driving to Fall River, my girlfriend called me asking where are you? I told her just to walk home because I have to go to the hospital for my ankle but she wanted to come with me so Gary drove to her work to pick her up before going to the hospital.

My mom then called me telling me to get home first so my sister will drive me to the hospital. Gary drove me home with my girlfriend then we got in my sister’s car and drove to Charlton Memorial Hospital. After checking in at the hospital, they took me in immediately and did x-rays on my foot. They gave me ice after the x-rays were taken of my ankle. A few minutes went by and the doctor came back with the results. She said “Coti, it’s severely sprained. I am going to give you brace and some crutches. Please stay off of it and ice it.” I asked what about work? She said “You’re not going to work for the next four days.” After getting all this bad news, my sister brought me home and my girlfriend slept over that night.

The next day, I was just thinking about how stupid I am because I didn’t get out of my friend’s SUV the correct way. A few hours later, around noon – the doctor from the hospital called me and said she read the x-ray wrong and it’s broken. She also say that Monday morning I must go to Dr. Rock and check it again. Monday came and I went to him he gave me a air boot for my ankle. Ever since then I been having this air boot on my foot, I haven’t been at work and I had to do physical therapy so my ankle could heal.

This being the worst event in my life because I wouldn’t think something like this would happen to me. I would always laugh at people if they fell on ice but it now happened to me and its been terrible experience. Persistence helped me through this event because since I ain’t working and can’t leave the house. I still have bills like my car insurance and cell phone. Before breaking my ankle, I would save money every week from my paycheck just to save in case of an emergency. My persistent of saving money helped me alot because I am not bringing in a income, my saved money helped me for the past two months to help me get through the challenges of paying bills and get by without working. Also, my family and girlfriend has helped with things like food, gas and other needs.