Author: Danielle Mauro (Page 1 of 9)

Prompt 1 Good habits can improve our physical, emotional, and/or financial health. This semester, you’ve all sought to adopt new habits that will keep you strong in college. What habit would you tell an incoming freshman to adopt that you have also cultivated this semester?

This semester was my first semester ever in college. I have learned that college is a lot different from high school in many ways and have developed many habits. Starting out, I had no idea what to expect except people potentially being older than me in the program and new people. I knew it was going to be scary at first. College is the perfect opportunity to try and get into some new habits.

Starting out in the beginning of he semester, I only had two main objectives. To make new friends, and learn. Starting in a new college or even town, is the perfect opportunity to try some new things that you normally wouldn’t. For example, for me in high school, I already had my own group of friends, so I never really tried talking to anyone else inside my high school. I knew coming to a new school I would HAVE to talk to people to make my time there a little more enjoyable, and to make friends. The first day I was really scared and didn’t try as much as I would’ve liked. But I did talk to people! First week in, someone asked me to open their locker. The smallest things can spark friendships. And now we are friends. Just this past week I complemented someones nails and she said thank you. She then asked me about my piercings and where I got them and we had a whole, good conversation. Just like that, it could be so simple. Trying is the most important thing, even if your scared. I had bad expectations going in, thought everyone was going to mean, thought I would be the youngest and would be deemed “the not matured teenager”. Even if something doesn’t happen right away, it will. A good habit to have starting out, is to try and go out of your comfort zone a little bit.

Another great habit to get into starting your first semester in college is not always expecting the worse. I had bad expectations going in, thought everyone was going to mean, thought I would be the youngest and would be deemed “the not matured teenager”. I thought that because I knew a lot of people didn’t even know about my major or what it meant (restorative dentistry). I also saw the statistic for the college and said most people were in their twenties. When I finally got to school, the facts were true, most people were in their twenties. When I finally started making friends and talking to people, everyone was actually very nice. I only have three close friends, but at this point approaching the end of the first semester, I think I have talked to almost everyone in my classes. And even though I cant read minds, I don’t think anyone thinks of me as the little, immature teenage girl. Also was very scared about walking alone in Brooklyn for the first time. I am not from around here and didn’t really know what to expect. Me and my dad went a few times before the semester started and it was fine. But the first day came, on the train on the way there, every bad thing was going through me (and almost started crying). Mostly the “I am going to get hurt, mugged or kidnapped” situations. But I did it, alone! And I was fine. After the first day, I got used to it and was completely fine. Expecting the worse always lead to worry and panic. Even trying to tell your self good things, maybe if you don’t believe it, could help.

Finally, it is really good to try to get into good habits before or during your first semester. My first semester, I had no idea what I was doing going into this. College actually got good and I look forward to going. College is a whole new experience, so why not try some new things.

Climate change and global warming could quite literally kill us and the planet. It is a serious problem and doesn’t get the attention it deserves by the public. Climate change only has bad qualities, and nothing good about it. Climate change should be a top priority for our population.

Coral reefs are deplenishing and they are a big contribution to the population’s needs. Whatever happens to the coral reefs, is like a warning or maybe even domino effect. Once the coral reefs start to show negative signs, it means climate change is going to get worse. And if they heal or get better, it means climate change is taking a positive turn.  The first negative signs of the coral reefs were seen in 1998, and then got back on their feet again. But since 2009, it has just been downhill.  They also provide food to the rest of the world. With coral reef percentages going down, a lot of people could lose their main food source. They even compared coral reef percentages going down to percent declines in finances. “In finance, we worry about half-percent declines and half-percent changes in employment and interest rates.” The slightest change can have big consequences. Coral reefs are a big part of climate change.

Climate change has already taken effect on our planet. We have known since the 1980’s that climate change is a problem and we should do something about it. More recently as of 2020, we have especially seen it take place. For example, wildfires, deadly hurricanes and weird temperature changes ect… It seems like most of us know that climate change is a real issue, given that the government has to put in so much money to fix whatever was broken in these natural disasters. Everyones lives are affected by climate change, and we have already seen situations where it has. After bad hurricanes in Central America, people would come to the US border because they had nothing else. Climate change effects have gotten so bad to the point where it was deemed a threat to national security. “Climate Change Poses a Widening Threat to National Security.” Obviously, climate change has already commenced, yet not everyone will do something about it.

We are the reason for climate change. Mostly starting from the 1940’s, climate change has been going up and up and we have done little to do about it. For example, in 2015, many countries agreed to try and keep the global temperature increase below 2 degrees celsius. Many have not met their end of the bargain, even though they are involved with a legal binding contract. The more greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere, the worse it will get, like aerosols. It seems like even when we put high stakes to things like this, some people still don’t appreciate it.

We can see that more recently climate change has gotten worse than it ever has. Coral reefs have had a big contribution to the population’s needs and are affected by us. As a result of that, we have seen climate change affect us now, like we didn’t think this would ever happen. I feel like climate change just seemed like something that would happen eventually, but people would never think to happen in THEIR lifetime. We caused climate change. Climate change should be a top priority for our population.

Works Cited

Bates, Sofie. “Direct Observations Confirm That Humans Are Throwing Earth’s Energy Budget Off Balance.” NASA. Https://Climate.Nasa.Gov/News/3072/Direct-Observations-Confirm-That-Humans-Are-Throwing-Earths-Energy-Budget-off-Balance/, 18 Oct. 2021, climate.nasa.gov/news/3072/direct-observations-confirm-that-humans-are-throwing-earths-energy-budget-off-balance.

Christopher Flavelle, Julien E. Barnes, Eileen Sullivan, and Jennifer Steinhauser. “Climate Change Poses a Widening Threat to National Security.” New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/21/climate/climate-change-national-security.html?searchResultPosition=9

Einhorn, Catrin. “Climate Change Is Devastating Coral Reefs Worldwide, Major Report Says.” New York Times Https://Www.Nytimes.Com/2021/10/04/Climate/Coral-Reefs-Climate-Change.Html?SearchResultPosition=7, 4 Oct. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/10/04/climate/coral-reefs-climate-change.html?searchResultPosition=7.