Journal #16: Anticipating my parents' Objections

Dear Mom and Dad,

I understand that you expect a lot about my study and you wish me earn the degree as soon as possible because that was also what I expected before I left our beloved home for the US. However, I am not so young to wait until I finish my study to get married and have baby. Do you remember you always remind me about that when I was at home? When I get married I need to take care of my family so I need a job to earn for my living rather than to study for the degree that jobs do not really need at the present time. Meanwhile, I might not have enough health and time to do all of those things at the same time. Moreover, study is the thing that I can do for all of my life. I cease my study for that degree is just for temporary. When everything is better, I will come back school to gain the degree. I promise. I hope that you understand my thinking and support me to do that.

I miss you a lot.

Your daughter

Margaret Thatcher - the politician that I admire

When I was a child, I could not have information from alternative media, I just sometimes heard about the “Iron Lady” on radio and television. However, I did not have the idea to match this title to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher, until I studied about the British culture since 2000. I admire her a lot because she was the longest Prime Minister in the history of the United Kingdom. She was a virtual leader of the country during three continuous terms from 1979 to 1990. Her contributions to the British and the world’s political environment were remarkable. Before being elected as Prime Minister, she was the Minister of Education, which was one of her priorities then. Therefore, the government’s allocation of funds for education has brought positive changes for this domain during her terms. The Education Reform Act in 1988 is an example of this. Besides, her political and economic philosophy emphasized reduced state intervention, free markets and entrepreneurialism. With all of her contributions it is hard to have another Prime Minister to substitute for her.

Journal #15: Analyzing Arguments

Here is a respond to an article from the Los Angeles Times:

Editorial, (2009, April 11). Climate change hits Australia first, and hard. Los Angeles Times.

In this article editorial estimates that flood, fires, drought, extinction may be a hint of things to come globally. The argument that climate crisis comes to today’s real world though Australia is going the first, not last (par.1) is a claim of cause which appeals to reason of not doing much to reduce the concentration of carbon in the atmosphere and slow the speed of global warming. He worries that not only Great Barrier Reef, the country’s biggest tourist, is vanishing before Australians’ eyes, but also this astonishing natural wonder will be “functionally extinct” by 2050 (par. 3). He inquiries that the United States, where the impacts of climate change are not yet nearly as apparent, can be expected to do better (par. 5) .