BRACES 

It started in 6^th grade… the worst 8 months of my life, and the reason being: braces. Those huge train tracks that go across your teeth. My parents forced me to get them, I wanted no part of braces, I was convinced straight teeth didn’t matter to me. I remember the very day I got braces; I literally cried they hurt so badly. And the very next day my mom forced me to go to school. I was so nervous I would be made fun of. I barely talked that day, when someone would ask me a question I would either nod my head yes or no, and when it was more then a yes or no answer I would just shrug my shoulders. I didn’t smile either or laugh, or even talk to my best friends. I didn’t want anyone to see what I thought were the most hideous things on this earth. I didn’t eat much that week, just mushy foods, my mouth was so sore I couldn’t chew anything. I cried and cried because even mushy foods hurt to chew, I couldn’t even chew french fries!

 I realized that people didn’t really care who had braces and who didn’t. Luckily I didn’t get made fun of, that was my worst fear. Surprisingly some people were even jealous that I had braces and they didn’t…weird right? How could someone be jealous of braces? But what I didn’t realize is not everyone can afford to straighten there teeth…many people would have killed to have my braces. Adults even get braces to straighten their smile! I guess everyone would like to straighten their smile sometime during their life.

            I didn’t think of the outcome of braces, I didn’t think about how straight my teeth would be after only 8 months. I was pretty lucky, only having them on for 8 months, some people have them on for 4 years! Now I’m glad my parents forced me to get braces, if I still had the crooked teeth I had then…I don’t think I would be smiling much. In fact someone’s smile is the first thing I notice, so having straight teeth is something I’m proud of!

Newtown Rant

Now to start off this rant, my prayers go out to all the families affected by the Newtown Shooting. I know that it will take these families very long to come to terms and be at ease with the tragedy. Recently all that’s been in the news is investigations on Adam Lanza and overall the Newton Shooting. My only problem with this is that the tragedy happened almost a year ago, the children and teachers, along with the gunman are dead. There is nothing to possibly do that can change this. The investigations that are going on now are almost pointless. Questions and investigations are going on like “Why did Adam Lanza do this?” or “Why did he choose this school?”. These investigations don’t matter, we don’t know these answers. We cant ask him and we can’t possibly guess or find out the answers. The media is not letting these families and the town rest. Just this morning I heard on the news that they released the 911 dispatch calls, because it was “public information”, now who would want to hear these terrible heart breaking calls, the screams, the gun shots? How do you think the families that were affected constantly having to turn on the news and be reminded of the tragedy feel? Of course they can’t forget, no one can. The media needs to come to terms with the fact that this tragedy is over, the children and teachers need to rest in peace, give the story a rest.

Now another topic I’d like to address is gun control, which was a recent topic brought up because of this tragedy. Of course I believe in gun ownership responsibilities, and regulations. I do think that the controlling of guns needs to be regulated and strict. We also have to think about our right as a nation to have the ability to possess and own a gun. This law was written by our Four Fathers in the Second Amendment that we will “have right of the people to keep and bear arms”.  This should not be taken away from us. In my opinion its not the guns that kill, it’s the people that kill, its not a gun control issue, it’s a mental health issue. Our society should find ways to weed out these unstable people out of having the right to own a gun. One thing I’d like to know is if there’s a past history of Adam Lanza having a mental health issue, and if so why was his mother allowed to have these guns in the same house as an unstable individual?