Choice

Everyone makes good choices and bad choices throughout their life. No matter what the choice is that we make something good will always come out of it, experience. A good choice I've made recently was going to AM and PM classes instead of going to summer school in order to graduate. Thinking of which choice would have benefited me the most was hard. Summer school would mean fewer classes during the day but having to wait longer to graduate and to get a full time job. Doing extra classes during the day meant I couldn't work after school but I would graduate in June and be able to enjoy my summer. My choice was simple, take extra classes. I'm glad I made this choice because I can't stand the thought of having to get up every morning during the summer to come to school when I could have been out having fun and working.

The poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost shows how he has two paths to take. The path everyone else takes and the untouched path. He decided to take the untouched path and try his luck. Both roads took him to the same place, but he felt as if the road that was grassy wanted wear needed to be touched. At the end of his journey the outcome was still the same no matter which road he picked. Only one thing made a difference and that was the fact that he was the first to follow that road. It is a memory he will tell in the future about his journey through the untouched path.

In Dead End by Rudolfo Anaya, the main character Maria is a straight A student, a plain dresser, and his basically like a mother to her two younger siblings. She promised her mother while she was on her deathbed to become something in life. Because of that Maria never had a chance to enjoy what the other kids did. She wanted to be like the popular girls in school, smoking marijuana, cruising with the "cholos", having a story to tell the next morning in school. Instead her life was going to school and going home to take care of her brother and sister. Frankie Galvan was the most popular, feared boy in school and he has been very friendly with Maria. She always wanted to be Frankie's girl, always wanted to cruise in the night, have him hold her and make love to her in the back of his car. Frankie is said to be lonely after his girlfriend died in a car accident, he can have any girl he wanted but why Maria? Why did he seem so interested in her? Maria finally has her chance with Frankie. He takes her on a cruise, and offers her a cigarette. She refuses, and he jokes to her about what does she actually do. They get to their destination and Maria finally gets what she always wanted, a passionate kiss from Frankie. At that same moment they hear a woman crying. Maria explains the story of La Llorona and thinks about herself. Frankie wants more then a kiss, and it makes Maria think about the promise she makes to her mother, to be something in life. She thinks about the girls in school and how their lives have ended up. She doesn't want to be like that. She sees a dead end in Frankie. She tells Frankie to take her home, a choice at the moment she seems to regret but for the right reasons. What was important to her was her future, and Frankie didn't fit into her future. This is symbolic because she thought about her options, where would she be with Frankie, where would she be without him and with her education. She made the right choice in thinking about herself in the future, not the present.

Daniel K. Inouye's short story Why Don't You Wear Shoes is about how he had different choices during his youth that molded him into who he is now. Inouye is the third most senior member of the U.S Senate. He is a World War 2 veteran with the highest military award, The Medal of Honor. He grew up like any other Japanese kid in Hawaii during the 1940's. He didn't wear shoes until High School, his family was one of two families in a Chinese neighborhood. He loved school, he looked at it as gaining a reward everyday. He did not want to be labeled a bookwarm or a nerd but he was interested in learning anything he can. He had to endure many different kinds of prejudice throughout his High School career. One day he was eating snacks in class, when the teacher noticed he was eating she took away his food and told him he needed to share with the class if he was going to eat in class. When the teacher opened the bag was ready to eat one of the treats she realized the treat was actually cooked beetles. She found the food to be disgusting but in his upbringing he was used to eating food like that. Another prejudice he lived through was when he was nominated for his High School's two honor societies, the Torch Society, and the McKinley Citizenship Club. The Student Council asked him ridiculous questions during his interview. They asked why doesn't he wear shoes or a white shirt. They labeled him and his friends delinquents because the didn't wear shoes to school. He felt as if he was being put on the spot because he was poor. He was angry and humiliated because he believed the honor society was supposed to be something great, when in reality he was treated like dirt for his appearance and his economic situation. He had the choice of staying shut and letting the committee talk bad about him but instead he told them what was in his mind. Because of this Mrs.King, the teacher that nominated Daniel into the honor society, felt too embarassed and ashamed about the committees actions that she never nominated anyone for the honor. Daniel's experience made him determined to something of himself.

The Tyranny of Choice by Barry Schwartz explains how choice can bring some people happiness. The connection between happiness and choice is being able to determine your future. In the past people weren't always able to choose what they wanted to do. Now we have an infinite number of choices on how our lives would go. We are happy to make our own choices but there are times where we aren't happy with the choices we make. Personally I don't see it as making a bad choice I see it as going through an experience where I can learn from so in the future I'm able to make a better choice. Regret can affect our choices in negative and positive ways. Regretting a choice can have a negative outlook on the situation. Thinking positive about the choice and learning how to make the right choice the next time.

Throughout life we will be given choices that will effect our lives from the smallest significance to the most drastic change. Knowing how to deal with choices and how to learn from them is how we grow. Maria in Dead End felt as if she made the wrong choice for the moment by not smoking marijuana and kissing Frankie, but the right one for her future. Daniel Inouye made the right choice by instead of letting the anger and humiliation from the committee episode, he became determined to make himself something important. The point of having the choice to pick anything is what makes us human, we are able to have some say to how our future will end up.

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© Kevin Behrman 2009