Author: TiffanyZ

According to Madi Hammond, many of the Gen Z (1996-2015) population lives in fear every day since the internet is always talking about the bad events that happen in life. In addition, the mood of these young people is usually depressing, and phrases like, “I wanna die,” are commonly said. For example, she showed a news site, and more than half of the articles were about shootings or people losing money. However, she believes that we can use these depressing stories and turn them into a positive change. She gives several examples of young Gen Z people who are creating an amazing change in the world, like Malala Yousafzai, who fought for women’s education and Greta Thunberg, an activist for global warming. 

I completely agree with Madi Hammond as I have definitely heard the words, “I wanna die,” come from several Gen Z people, but I think that once all this information is used in a positive direction, it can make a much better life. Because Greta Thunberg was faced with all the upsetting facts about how global warming is ruining our world, she decided she was going to do something about it. She was able to set up the largest strike for climate-change and was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. She could have easily just looked at the news and ignored what was going in the world, but she decided to speak up, and it was a beneficial choice. The other activist Madi Hammond talked about was Malala Yousafzai. Even though she was shot by people who disagreed with her, she continued to fight for education for girls. She was the youngest person ever to receive a Nobel Peace Prize. Although this information may only matter to Gen Z’s, everyone who cares about the future of our economy and world should look more into this topic. 

The protagonist of “The Landlady” by Roald Dahl is Billy Weavers, a seventeen-year-old boy who dreams of being a businessman. He finds himself in a new city, looking for a place to stay. He intends to go to a hotel called Bells and Dragons but finds a bed and breakfast that has a small dog, a parrot, and a fire in the living room. He decides to take a look here. The landlady that welcomes him seems extremely nice and allows him to stay for a small amount. Because Billy is so naive, he does not catch the little hints that the landlady is not the person she says she is. For example, she tells Billy that she chooses her visitors carefully, and her dog and parrot are actually stuffed. Later, after they have settled down and are drinking some tea, Billy realizes that the dog and parrot are stuffed, and he also notices that some names in a book that the landlady asks him to write his name in are of people who have gone missing. The tea also tastes bitter, a sign that there is most likely some sort of poison in it. The story ends on a cliff-hanger allowing the reader to decide what happens next. 

The two major lessons this story teaches are that we should not be so naive and trusting with others, and we should be more aware of our surroundings. If Billy had just taken the time to look carefully at the dog and the parrot, he could have realized that the, “pretty little dachshund … curled up asleep with its nose tucked into its belly” was actually not alive before going inside the bed and breakfast. Another time he did not pay attention close enough was when the landlady told him that she was “inclined to be just a teeny-weeny bit choosy and particular” about her visitors. Because Billy did not notice all these details until too late, his life most likely did not end well. If he had realized what was wrong with the dog, he could have just completely avoided this place completely. Later, after all the things the landlady says, Billy still believes that she is a kind woman. 

According to Max Kutner from Smithsonian, “Zoonotic pathogens, which spread between animals and humans, have caused almost three-quarters of infectious diseases in humans this century.” Although many people have never heard of these diseases, we should put more funding towards finding these pathogens as it can save millions of lives. 

These pathogens are unknown to so many people, including me, but at a time of crisis, such as right now, everyone should try to learn about it since the coronavirus is also a zoonotic pathogen. This virus first came from bats and transferred to humans. For a pathogen that is unknown to the majority of the people, it causes many diseases each year. Marc Valitutto, former veterinarian, searching for new viruses is “a grueling job, but this is what’s required if you want to prevent 90,000 deaths, which is what we’re seeing today. So, it’s a small investment monetarily compared to what we’re spending now.” Being able to detect these small pathogens can block many deaths. If one is given the choice to put some money towards a research center or risking their lives, the choice should be simple. 

In addition, Suzan Murray, a zoo veterinarian says, “We need to be building the wildlife resources and the capacity to do wildlife testing and wildlife surveillance.” If these vets were given the chance to do tests on zoonotic pathogens, they could’ve stopped the pandemic before it hit or at least reduced much of the damage. However, that is already in the past, so from now on, after everyone has experienced this global pandemic, hopefully, we will be able to make these changes. Maybe we can even stop another terrible virus that might be a zoonotic pathogen. Even though zoonotic pathogens may only seem important to doctors and veterinarians, everyone who cares about their own and others well-beings should try to learn more about it and possibly help research centers find out more about them. 

“Rules of the Game” by Amy Tan is a short story that portrays a Chinese – American girl named Waverly. One day, her brother receives a chess set for Christmas, and she starts to learn how to play. She quickly starts to become extremely good and is able to beat many people at chess tournaments. Later, her mom brags about Waverly’s success at a mall, and she becomes upset because she does not like that her mom is showing her off. Instead of listening to Waverly and stopping, she also becomes angry at her daughter. 

I believe that her mom should respect that Waverly does not want her mother to brag about her. She tells her mother, “‘I wish you wouldn’t do that, telling everybody I’m your daughter”’ (Tan). Her mother misunderstands and thinks that Waverly is ashamed to be her daughter, but in reality, Waverly just does not like all of the attention. When she is finally able to clarify what she means, her mother is shocked and becomes even angrier. Although her mother just wants everyone to know Waverly, she does not understand why her daughter would not like all the recognition from others. This represents how many parents treat their children because the parents do not understand them. For example, a mother may think something is really exciting, such as watching a video about fish, but her child just does not want to. Although this story seems like a simple short story about a young girl who likes chess, it actually holds many other important messages, like how someone shouldn’t treat another rudely because they don’t like the same things as them.

Contrary to past beliefs, Dr. Lara Boyd, A neuroscientist at the University of British Columbia claims several facts about the brain. One is that the brain never stops learning and adjusting depending on what it learns and what it doesn’t learn. This is called neuroplasticity. Before this information was discovered, many people believed that we learn everything as a child, and once a person is an adult, they are not able to learn anymore. If people are all able to find out that they can still become more knowledgable once they are adults, it can most likely encourage more people to go back to college if they dropped out. It can also make adults work harder since now they know that they can learn skills in this job and apply them to a better job later. This knowledge may only seem important to neuroscientists, but it should be known to everyone who cares about our future economy. 

Another fact Dr. Lara Boyd supports is that various people’s brains have different ways of learning new things, and it may be easier for someone to learn one skill but harder to learn another. Knowing this information can allow people to be more aware of others with learning disabilities. In addition, then, one may not be mad at him/herself if they are not able to pick up a skill that all their friends are able to do easily. I believe that anyone who cares about their future should research more about this topic in order to learn about their brain, and what can help them learn more information. 

“The Ransom of Red Chief” by O. Henry is a short story that is set in a town in Alabama called Summit. It portrays two kidnappers, Bill and Sam, who are trying to make a ransom off of this crime. One day, they notice a young boy throwing rocks at a kitten, and they decide that this is the perfect child to kidnap. They offer him some candy and expect him to get in the buggy with them easily, but, instead, the kid, Johnny throws a brick at Bill and hits him in the eye. When Johnny realizes where they are going, he is extremely excited to go camping and be away from his home, which is the exact opposite of what Bill and Sam expected to happen. Later, they send a letter back to Johnny’s father saying that if he pays Bill and Sam 1,500 dollars, they will return Johnny to him. After they send the letters, they quickly become fed up with Johnny. The father knows how much of a distraction and troublemaker Johnny is, so he realizes the kidnappers probably want to get rid of him. As a result, the dad tells Bill and Sam that if they pay him 250 dollars, they can return Johnny. They agree. 

This short story may seem like a typical fun short story for kids, but it holds several important meanings throughout it. One theme that is revealed is, do not try to obtain money from doing wrong actions, but instead earn it from hard work. These two kidnappers were trying to get money from taking advantage of others, but in the end, they had to pay money instead of receiving money. In the real world, kidnapping is a much more significant crime than shown in the short story. People can be sentenced to jail for years, but if they worked hard, they could most likely gain the same amount of these beneficial things they are trying to obtain. If they worked hard, they would not have to face all these consequences. 

Another theme that is shown is that once something is becoming a problem, don’t continue trying to keep it for a reward. Most likely, keeping this issue, for example, Johnny is probably not worth the money that comes with him. Even if they were to keep Johnny longer so that they would obtain all the money, they still wouldn’t obtain that money because Johnny’s father is okay with them taking Johnny for a few days. The outcome would probably be the same, but they would have just kept Johnny for longer, making it a hassle to them. Umm… 🙂