The Life of a Tree

I stand high above the ground. I am a witness to everything that happens around me. From the insects crawling around at my trunk to the majestic birds flying above my head, I see it all. As the wind blows my from left to right, my view of the world around me only continues to grow. Life on this earth changes so much day by day, and I am an eyewitness to it all.

I began as only a tiny seed, and grew into a massive body. My whole life runs in a continuous cycle. In the spring, I am hooded with hundreds and hundreds of green leaves. As the year moves on, however, these leaves wilt and fall off, leaving me defenseless against the forces of both nature and humanity. Year by year, this cycle continues until I can stand no more.

I rely on everything in my environment to survive. I need the sunlight, the water, and the carbon dioxide I breathe if I want my life to continue. It would only take me missing one of these important necessities for my life to end. At the same time, I am very important to everything in life too. I produce oxygen and make more seeds for more trees to grow. Everything in my environment is connected. Everything relies on one another to survive and thrive. Although the life of a tree may seem very simple, it is very complex and important to everything else in this world.

The Ingredients of Enthusiasm: An Inquiry

Enthusiasm can be created by a wide variety of different things. Many factors work together to create an enthusiasm for learning. Even though this is true, nothing is more important to creating enthusiasm than curiosity. Curiosity about something causes a person to to question it and want to learn more about it. A person will not stop questioning it until they finally get an answer, and the only way to get the answers is to learn. Children ask so many questions because they are very curious, which in turn makes them very eager to learn about whatever they are questioning. Curiosity is more likely to take place with interesting topics that students haven't already learned about. When students have to learn about something that they already know about, it eliminates all enthusiasm that they may have previous had for the topic. Enthusiasm for learning is sparked by curiosity, and without curiosity the enthusiasm can be virtually nonexistent.

An Experience with Courage

Courage is something that we all have experienced during the course of our lives. Although courage is not something we experience often, it is clearly recognizable when we do. There is always a handful of moments that you can recall someone showing courage in difficult situations. 

For me personally, I always remember my older sister when I think about courage. My sister was born with strabismus, which  is a condition where one eye is not correctly positioned with the other. For this reason, she had to get eye surgery to fix this when she was only twelve years old. Although she had lived with this condition her whole life, my parents decided it would be best to get rid of it permanently through surgery. My sister was very nervous and apprehensive when she first learned that she would be having the operation, as any kid would be. In the days leading up to the surgery, however, I distinctly remember her no longer being nervous. She was ready to take the situation head on and not be afraid. In the end, the surgery was successful and she was only left with a minor scar on her eye.

This experience really had an impact on me. It showed me both how powerful and beneficial showing courage can be. Going in to a hard time in life is much easier when you have the strength to show courage. Showing courage can also make others feel better about the situation. Even though this is a lesson I learned when I was very young, I will remember it for all of my life.