College Essay

Quinten Yonkers

College Essay

April 22^nd, 2014

A Time of Reconsideration

                When I was 12, I thought I was ready to get my black belt. I had been taking Tang Soo Do for six years and knew all I needed to be able to get my black belt. One Saturday morning, I woke up much more confident than normal, ready to tell Master Lee when I was determined to take my black belt test. I walked into my karate school and sat down with Master Lee. I told him that I was ready to take the long awaited test which included performing different tasks to my best ability. I needed to punch, kick, and break boards as quickly and proficiently as I could. However, my overwhelming confidence was cut short. He quickly told me, without hesitation, that I was not ready to achieve the greatest achievement I would have had yet to attain. However, insistent upon following through with what would be my greatest achievement yet. I insisted that I was able to do everything I needed to do. I had spent those past two months or so going to class and practicing nearly every day. I knew I was ready. Then, to my astonishment, he said that he was wrong and that I did seem ready to become the youngest person in the history of our school to get a black belt. So the next week, I took my test. Master Lee called me up to perform the requirements for my test. As soon as he told me to do the first form, I froze. I completely forgot how to do it, and I learned it when I was eight. Master Lee looked at me the entire time. When I looked at him after standing still for a few minutes, he laughed and said “You said you were ready.” Needless to say, I didn’t come even close to getting my black belt. But I wasn’t even the least bit upset. I walked away with a new confidence I didn’t have before. Four years after my failure, I asked Master Lee again. This time, he said yes right away. An hour later, I had become the youngest person in our school to have a black belt. I knew I wouldn’t have been able to fail again.

How the events in Ukraine are precedented by the Twentieth Century Wars

For the past century or so, wars have been fought for the sole purpose of getting resources. President Obama is still pulling troops out of a 15-year-long war in Afghanistan that was fought solely for America’s gaining of oil. Natural (and man-made) resources are, and have been forever, in very high demand. Every country wants to be able to have an abundance of every kind of resource so they never run out. The problem with this is that if a country doesn’t have a resource that they want, they try going to another country and taking the resources by force. Resources can also be used as leverage or even a form of bribery. Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 was done mainly because America refused to continue supplying Japan with resources; mainly steel. So since Japan was being denied resources, they retaliated with a bombing that killed hundreds of people, and became the cause of America’s involvement in World War 2.

I feel that this is what’s going to happen between Russia and Ukraine. Russia is controlling one of the world’s largest natural gas transport pipes in the world. It passes right through Crimea, Ukraine, and supplies the rest of Europe, including Ukraine, with the natural gas that they need. Now the Ukraine needs an ally. They can either join the European Union and become allies with most of Western Europe, or they can join Russia, the largest and possibly most powerful country in Europe. Ukraine seems like it wants to join the E.U., but if they do, Putin, the leader of Russia, will not supply them with their share of natural gas. Like I said before, this is the basis of what happened between America and Japan in the beginning of World War 2. America used resources as leverage to get Japan to do what they wanted. So my point is if this keeps going on, someone is going to snap. It seems like it would most likely be Russia and if they start a potential World War 3 nobody is safe, including America, but it might also be the countries of the E.U. It could even be Ukraine. I worry, though, that America is going to try to step in and do something.

That’s what happened in Syria last year and in Somalia during the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993. A self-proclaimed leader named Mohamed Farrah Aidid was killing all of the innocent civilians and took all of their food that was air-dropped by the Americans. The Americans saw that this was happening and decided to “help”. This 18-hour long battle resulted in the deaths of 18 American soldiers who would have lived if America hadn’t gotten involved.

So ultimately, I feel that if what is happening in Ukraine continues to happen, it will definitely escalate. It may turn into a political upheaval in which the rest of the Ukrainian Government could be overthrown, or the other way around: the government could just keep killing more and more civilians like Mohamed Farrah Aidid did. But the worst that could possibly happen is that this “war” could result in World War 3. I think that if this happens, Russia would become a huge threat, and could possibly result to using their nuclear weapons that they have. America would also have to get involved, even though it doesn’t need to. It will become allies with the countries of the E.U. and possibly Ukraine. We will basically have the three top militaries (U.S., England, and Russia) fighting in one huge war.

Hey Quinten

Hey Quinten it's Catherine!!! You were logged in on the iPad so I wanted to give you a message:) I hope your backpack is okay! You don't even need to wash it, just embrace the smell of barbque sauce, woot woot !!!! Tell Robbie I said hello :)
你好我的朋友， 我爱你 🍗🍚🍚🍴🍗🍙🍼🍼🍸🍚🍻🍟🏆🎿🏂🏊🍴🍖🍜🍚🍲🍢🍡🍡🍳🍞🍩🍮🍦🍧🍻🍔🍘🍔🍷📂📐📕👈👋🙌👋🙏👋👉👋😕😡👷😧💂😕😯😏😐😈😐😦👦😦😯😈👦💖💎💜💕💗💔💞💞💖💖🌞🌐🌼🌹🌊☀️⛅️☁️🌼🍂🆘♋️♻️🅱♉️💱⛎♎️🕑🕜🔜🕝🕘🕜🔛⁉️♍️💲✅🆑🚼🚼🚼🉑🈂

Btw: this is my quote for parham (you don't need to read, I just didn't feel like signing you out and signing myself back in）
The complications dealing with desires vs responsibility is that people have the internal yearning to be accepted by others but trying too hard to go by the social codes of family to the nation, personal happiness is sacraficed on both ends of the equation.

What is the Difference Between Responsibility and Obligation?

Responsibility and obligation are two words that can mean the same thing as well as implying different meanings. If that doesn't make sense, let me explain:

Responsibility can be comprehended to different extents. For example, it is a kid's responsibility to take out the trash. It is a parent's responsibility to take care of their kids. It is a teacher's responsibility to teach their students. It is a president's responsibility to run their country as well as they can. A responsibility is essentially something you have or do that is socially expected. In other words, responsibility is basically when you are solely in charge of any item and you and only you are answerable to anything that happens to it. If you have a job, essentially, your responsibilities are the connotations, or expectations, of what someone in your position would do.

Now an obligation is in a sense a collateral of a responsibility. For example, if you ask your neighbor to look after your dog, and they do, and they then ask you to look over their dog, it is your obligation to say yes and take care of their dog. Obligations are also more of a privately social concept: they are, like responsibilities but less defined, sort of like unwritten rules that, if broken or disobeyed, can cause people to distrust you or become angry at you. What it really condenses to is that obligations are sacred and not meant to be taken lightly. If someone is irresponsible, people look at them like they're annoying or kind of just avoid them. If someone breaks an obligation, they are viewed as untrustworthy and sometimes even scummy. This is because obligations are really more of moral values.

So, in the end, it really comes down to one little definition: Responsibility is a duty; obligation is a human trait.

More Gun Control

 

            The topic of gun control is very controversial. Some people believe that guns should be sold anywhere and to anyone, and some people believe that guns should be altogether banned from private ownership. The Mostly Liberal Party realizes that guns are important to a certain extent, but we know that the way this country handles the way guns are sold and obtained needs to change.

            Guns can be used for many purposes: They are used by hunters to kill animals. They can be used by regular people as self-defense weapon, or, in many unfortunate cases, as a way to commit crimes. The are also extremely important for professional uses like the police or the military. Recently, however, it seems as though a lot of people have been using guns for the wrong reasons. Today, if you wanted to, you can walk into a gun store, and purchase a gun. That should be allowed because many people, like hunters or people that want a sense of security, need guns. The problem, though, is that the restrictions on who can buy a gun are not being paid attention to as well as they should. Some stores that sell guns do background checks, but many do not. Because of this, people that are in gangs or people that want guns for illegal reasons can buy any gun they want if they have a relatively clean record. We at The Mostly Liberal Party know that this is not ok. Nobody should be allowed to purchase a gun unless they go through the steps, which we will make mandatory, that will ensure not only that they are qualified to buy the gun, but also that it has the proper safety requirements and registrations.

The other thing that our party is appalled by is that nearly all gun stores sell automatic weapons. This, unfortunately is a way that criminals can hold up stores or kill a lot of people very quickly. It is also how nearly all of the recorded school shootings and mass shootings of people occur. Our party realizes that there is definitely no reason whatsoever why fully automatic weapons should be sold because that is literally the only reason why people would buy that kind of gun. Handguns are used for self-defense and shotguns and rifles, which are the only other guns that we will allow to be sold, are used for hunting and sport. If you look at nearly any fully-automatic weapons, you will see that they were made for purposes like the military or any government group like that. The military uses these guns to destroy their enemies.

If our party is elected, we will make it one of our top priorities to regulate gun control. We will completely ban the selling and having of any fully-automatic weapon, unless it is owned for display in which case it would be made unusable. We will still allow the selling and having of handguns as long as they have a clip size of eight or smaller. We will also continue the selling of shotguns and rifles, but nothing that will make the cartridge be able to hold an excess amount of bullets than a normal one, like a larger clip. In allowing the distribution and purchase of these guns, we will also strongly force the way they will be sold. For one thing, nobody will be allowed to buy a gun, or any weapon for that matter, unless given a proper, thorough background check. This check will include, but not be limited to, making sure that the buyer shows at least two forms of identification that include their picture and address, as well as verifying that the buyer is a legal citizen of the U.S. The seller will also have access to and check the person’s file for any type of criminal record. If the buyer has no criminal record, they will be able to buy the gun. If the buyer does have a criminal record, it will be looked into further. Depending on the charge, the buyer may or may not be allowed to buy a gun. If the charge says that the buyer committed a murder, not in self-defense, they will automatically not be allowed to buy a gun. If the charge says that they either injured or attempted to injure anyone or anything with a gun without the intent to kill, they will not be able to buy a gun until five years after the case was filed. If they have a minor offense like a speeding ticket, they will be able to buy a gun. No matter who buys a gun, weather they have committed a crime in the past or not, everyone will have the gun registered on the site of the purchase. They will also have their fingerprints taken, and filed away with the serial number and make and model of the gun. This way, if a gun is left at the scene of the crime, or if a suspect says that they don’t own a gun, we will easily be able to access their file and find out who’s gun it is, or if the suspect does own a gun.

            America has had way too many incidents with guns and because the current government isn’t paying enough attention to this problem, it isn’t getting much better. The Mostly Liberal Party will make sure that the selling and purchasing of every gun will be documented and regulated so the amount of murders and shootings will drop drastically. The 11th Amendment states that we have the right to bear arms. That doesn’t mean that we have the right to commit crimes with them.

Why Should You Learn a New Language?

The world is growing at a very fast rate. Businesses in America are joining with companies in Japan to create a higher rate of production and a larger rate of sale. This advancement in joining huge business forces together in different countries has many huge advantages. However, many workers aren't able to participate in these international business meetings or even directly talk to their partners from a foreign country. Why? Because they aren't able to speak the language of the country they are in.

Languages have become the most important things to know when it comes to anything dealing with international affairs whether it be international business, dealing with exchange students, or just vacationing in another country. Let's say you're working for a company that has regular meetings in France and you really want to go to these meetings. The only problem is you don't know the first thing about speaking French. Your company's president will probably take this into consideration and when he's picking who he wants to go with him, he'll probably not even take you into consideration and hire the other guy that's fluent in French. 

Along with languages being imperative to learn for international affairs, they also serve another purpose. Learning a new language furthers your knowledge for not only that language, obviously, but also the country's culture and history. When you learn a new language, your mind opens up to new things that you didn't know before. You have new experiences, you meet new people, you try new things, all that you wouldn't have been able to do if you didn't know another language. I have been learning Japanese for around six years and have done things I wouldn't have imagined doing. I've actually been to Japan, and was able to talk to native Japanese people in Japanese, I've participated in Japanese customs like the ancient art of tea ceremony, calligraphy, and theater. I've also been to many Japanese castles, ancient temples, and places like that that some Japanese kids haven't been able to go to. I've even participated in a national Japanese competition in Washington, D.C.

In learning Japanese at school, I also have realized that I want to be a Japanese teacher and a translator for the government when I graduate college because of how fascinated I am with Japan's language and culture. If I never began learning Japanese, I never would have been exposed to all of these wonders that come with learning a new language. 

Learning a new language may be hard at first, but I promise you that the benefits in the end will be better than you can ever imagine.

Gun Control

One of the most controversial topics in today's society is gun control. All over the country, more and more recently, people have been arguing about whether or not guns should be sold freely, with some restrictions, or just altogether banned from personal use. So should the process of buying a gun include much more thurough background checks and restrictions?

Guns can be used for many purposes: They are used by hunters to kill animals. They can be used by regular people as self-defense weapon, or as a way to commit crimes. The are also extremely important for professional uses like the police or the military. Recently, however, it seems as though a lot of people have been using guns for the wrong reasons. Today, if you wanted to, you can walk into a gun store, and purchase a gun. That should be allowed because many people, like hunters or people that want a sense of security, need guns. The problem, though, is that the restrictions on who can buy a gun are not being paid attention to as well as they should. Many stores that sell guns do background checks, but many stores also don't. Because of this, people that are in gangs or people that want guns for illegal reasons can buy any gun they want. The other thing that bothers me and many other people is that nearly all gun stores sell automatic weapons. An automatic weapon is a weapon with a large clip where all you have to do is hold the trigger down and the bullets shoot out really quickly. This, unfortunately is a way that criminals can hold up stores or kill a lot of people very quickly. There is definitely no reason whatsoever why fully automatic weapons should be sold.

Guns can be useful when it comes to sport, and can be a necessity for personal safety, but nobody should be able to sell any kind of gun to any kind of person that doesn't have a proper background check.