“Hey, bro. Your dirty shirt tag is showing for like the hundredth time today.” Jackson dramatically cried out to Aiden. “Really? Because your shirt’s inside out, so quit being so concerned about me and just worry about yourself, Jackson!” Whether two friends are ticking each other off because they’re worrying about the other person or two coworkers can’t get along for the same reason, people being concerned about others more than themselves is always a heated discussion. People should, in most situations, be more concerned about themselves and get done what they need to before they attempt to assist others in order to keep themselves focused and on track and also to avoid getting others in trouble.
In order for a person to stay focused, from the very get-go, one must be concerned with themselves more so than they are with others. For example, when Frank, a Junior Varsity basketball player for the White Oak Roughnecks, doubts whether his teammate made the time for the conditioning, he contains his doubt after recalling that he and his teammate were neck-and-neck the entire time. When a person is a “bossy-pants, tattle-tail, or snitch,” they are generally the one who gets in trouble. As a result, before one works to help others and assist with their problems, he needs to make sure that he himself is in the right place. In addition, instead of simply asking around if anybody else did their homework, John does the “right thing” and completes his homework diligently and in time. In general, when one worries the most about his own state-of-being and then helps others, situations tend to occur in his favor. Thus, for a person to remain focused, engaged, and on track, he should seek to work diligently, attentively, and stay focused on himself.
Similarly, when people are concerned primarily about themselves, they generally avoid getting others around them in trouble and having to deal with extra consequences. For example, when the tightly-knit group of buds numbering about six sit down to eat lunch at the school cafeteria, Joe questions Bob’s new tattoo, at the exact same time that the school principal is standing next to Bob. This results in an in-school-suspension for Bob, and one less friendship for Joe. When one is more concerned about others than themselves, they put themselves at high risk of loss and failure. In addition, just after the grading of the test was completed, Jimmy points out to the teacher that Andy graded his own paper, and cheated while doing so. This situation also results in an in-school-suspension for Andy, and one less friendship for Jimmy. In essentially all situations, worrying or being more concerned about others does not turn out positively. In one’s life, his own abilities and responsibilities need to be at the very forefront of all priorities. Once a person has his own life in check, he can then seek to help others. Therefore, it is in the interest of all for people to be most concerned about themselves before serving others.
Remember those two kids, Jackson and Aiden, dramatically talking about each other’s shirts? They no longer have a friendship. These are the types of activities that need to be avoided and can be by people being concerned only with themselves before aiding others.

You might think I’m just
a short, lazy, boring 15-year-old boy
with blonde hair
and blue eyes
But I am much more
much much more than that
not a basketball or table
not an animal or sport
A Lawn-Mowing Business
stinky in the sticky summer
painfully inconvenient in the early morning
wanting more when bad pay days come
Like crooked, tired machines dying out
But I eventually become alive
a repetitive series of
management, work, equipment, movement
Broad blades cutting sometimes uneven, hilly grass
The attempt at the perfecto combination of the
mower, weedeater, trimmer, blower
Feeling as high as clouds
noticing bank figures from hard work
I smile and enjoy my work
and move on
I refill the gas tanks
take a quick break
and begin again
For some five times a day
six days a week
The blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy
is a Lawn-Mowing Business
A repetitive, well-paying Lawn-Mowing Business

“Excuse me, sir?” Joe timidly questioned the teacher just following his heated, hateful, and dishonoring rampage, humiliating all students that miss school because of extra-curricular activities. “Yes, Joe?” Questioned the teacher. “Well, you see, I’m going to miss school tomorrow for FFA. Are there any papers or anything I’m going to miss that I need to complete?” Just like Joe, having to deal with a teacher hating on extra-curricular activities, many have a very defined position on whether extra-curricular activities are helpful or harmful to a student’s attitude, personality, and education. Extra-curricular activities can be both helpful to a student’s personality by giving them opportunities to portray responsibility, and harmful by lessening their class and learning time.
Extra-curricular activities, including sports, UIL academics, and band, can increase one’s responsibility level and work ethic by giving him opportunities to take the lead and succeed. For example, when the young JV team missed two consecutive days of school, it was laid solely on their own shoulders to make up any classwork and homework missed. When do-or-die situations like these occur, one has the opportunity, if taken advantage of, to increase in responsibility and strengthen in work ethic. In addition, Bob, being the star FFA genius, misses about thirty days of school every year because of FFA competitions, workshops, and practices. In order to maintain his prestigious position, Bob has to strenuously, day-after-day, live, eat, breath, and sleep FFA, enhancing his maturity, responsibility level, and work ethic. Thus, as a result of making-up classwork and deciphering homework, responsibility is obtained by students “stepping-up-to-the-plate” regarding both grades and maturity.
However, when extra-curricular activities take away time from classes and lectures, students are commonly prone to decline academically or even fail, from absences for UIL purposes. For example, because Frank is a part of the state-champion-defending band, he has missed more than twenty-five school-days this year because of concerts and competitions. As a result of extra-curricular activities conflicting with school-days, many students stumble and struggle through many classes, especially core classes. In addition, Billy’s Ag. teacher frowns greatly upon students that miss school for any reason other than FFA. Thus, when Billy tells his Ag. teacher he’s missing Wednesday for a band trip, “Mr. Ag. teacher” gets mad. Because many students know or have at least one unapproving-of-extra-curricular-activities teacher, the student’s confidence level is immediately lowered. Therefore, by missing class time and having to endure negativity from some teachers, extra-curricular activities can hurt students’ education, decrease their work ethic, and lower their confidence level.
Just as Joe had to deal with the “disapproving-of-extra-curricular-activities” teacher, today’s students involved in extra-curricular activities need to know the reasons why they are, the pros and cons, and how to defend their position.

Ever wonder, while stuck in a traffic jam on crazy I-20 in freezing cold snow and about to tear your hair out because of frustration, where a detour might possibly be? At that exact moment, the realization that all such knowledge plus more is on the newly invented iPhone laying in the passenger seat just to the right hits like a freight train crushing a moped. Whether searching for a detour off of a backed up interstate or simply curious how tall Nate Robinson might be, cell phones, and smartphones especially, have greatly changed people’s lives in today’s world. People’s lives today have been affected by cell phones in a positive way by enabling us to have an unlimited amount of knowledge quickly accessible at the tips of our fingers and in a negative way by raising a new generation of virtual anti-socials.
Positively, cell phones have provided many business-men, stay-at-home-moms, and high-school students with the ability to quickly access an unlimited amount of knowledge from practically anywhere and everywhere. For example, in today’s society, while lost in the never-ending plains of Kansas, one can quickly and easily pull over to the side of the road and ask Siri how to get from point A to point B fastest and easiest. In today’s world, smartphones can quickly and thoughtlessly retrieve information and statistics. As a result, the business-men, stay-at-home-moms, and high-school students of today’s society are sometimes more knowledgeable than past generations, while sometimes using “cyber-space” as an excuse to not need to be well educated. In addition, one can be coasting down the Indian Nation Turnpike at an unfriendly 85 miles per hour, and, just simply out of pure and honest curiosity, check the current scores for all division-1 men’s basketball games. Because of simplified ordeals such as checking scores and finding information, the current generation in society, especially today’s teenagers, have become an “idk”-and-“idc”-just-ask-Siri reliant generation. Smartphones, providing men and women alike with unlimited knowledge such as directions to kingdom-come and sports scores in the blink of an eye, have led many teenagers and adults to become less self-dependent and more phone-dependent.
Negatively, cell phones in today’s society, and specifically smartphones, have reduced many mortal souls from a life of professional and correct face-to-face conversing to yield a crop of virtual antisocials when it comes to simple conversations. For example, a variety of couples in today’s society enjoy dates through face-to-face conversation. Although many couples converse with each other on dates, many resort, while in the middle of an outing to the prestigious and oh-so-expensive Reunion tower, to texting and surfing the web on their smartphones instead of engaging in purposeful speech focused on each other. As a result, many of today’s relationships fail and falter quickly and easily due to a lack of communication and knowing the other person.
Imagine zipping by all the congested traffic and ticked off, fuming “drivers” on backed up I-20 on the frontage road that the iPhone found practically mindlessly in the blink of an eye. Frustration. Avoided.

Ever wonder, while in a state of rage at the office, exactly why the computer has to be so extremely slow? Whether attempting to control rage in an office like seen previously or dealing with the death of a loved one, correctly dealing with “explosions” of extreme emotion is vital in life. Thus, it is important to effectively deal with extreme emotion in order to build trust in relationships and efficiently function as a role model to those watching.
Having friendships, acquaintances, and simply relationships in general that are focused on trust start with a foundation built by controlling extreme emotions. For example, a trust between husband and wife is mainly due in part to their I-love-you-no-matter-what love for one another. In loving relationships and friendships, both people involved in the relationship have a motivation that is driving them to build trust with the other person. As a result, in relationships such as between husband and wife, both husband and wife have an accountability partner to help wisely deal with outbursts of extreme emotion. In addition, trust in work-related relationships such as a boss has with his employees is built by practicing the utmost level of patience. For example, for a boss to build a sense of trust with new employees, he must be patient with them by doing things like walking them through their questions, slowly showing them what needs to be done, and cutting them some slack as they learn. This type of patience can go a long way in building a positive foundation that can effectively allow the person to ward off “explosions” when extreme emotion knocks at the front door. By building trust in relationships through love and patience, wisely responding to extreme emotion can be a springboard which increases the depth of both current and future friendships.
Dealing with extreme emotion is likewise important because it maintains the status of being a role model to those who may be watching. For example, imagine a gym filled with energetic middle-schoolers bouncing off the walls attempting to play an extremely complicated game such as cricket. Whoever steps up and suggests to play a game of dodge ball and explains how to is practicing leadership. To be a role model, one must portray leadership by stepping up when either all hope is lost or when things seem to just completely be heading in the wrong direction. Therefore, by effectively dealing with circumstances of anger and confusion, one is put in a better position to become or maintain the status of being a role model. In addition, sports legends such as Michael Jordan and Tim Tebow had to rally their teams, using leadership, to win the national championships that they did. Take away leadership from the equation and they have virtually nothing left over to maintain their status of being a role model. By wisely dealing with sporadic spouts of extreme emotion, a person now has the ability to maintain the position of being a role model by showing both leadership and strength.
Imagine that dealing with the computer in the office went over smoothly because a history of practicing patience and leadership had built a solid foundation, and thus, the situation was handled wisely. A blow-up was squelched, a crisis avoided, and a job saved.