Describe heartbreak.

When in doubt, Google it out.

For the pragmatist:

For the romantic:

I think that about covers it.

Write a compelling argument pushing the worst advice you’ve ever been given.

“Just stick your gum under your desk. It beats carrying it around in a wad of paper.” Because I agree with the words of a middle school friend and believe that no social stigma should be placed around the disposal of chewing gum, I must affirm the advice that used chewing gum ought to be stuck under a desk.

Before moving on, I must define the key terms in the resolution:

           Chewing gum, commonly referred to as “gum” is a sweetened and flavored insoluble plastic material used for chewing. Ought is a term used to express duty or moral obligation. Stick means to fix something on. A desk is a piece of furniture with a flat or sloped surface and typically with drawers, at which one can read, write, or do other work.

            Based on the values and ideas found within the advice, morality emerges as a value premise because based on our definition of “ought,” we are trying to uphold a moral standard.  The appropriate value criterion for the round is the preservation of individual comfort because an individual can only be required to further his or her own well-being.

            My first contention states that holding gum wrapped in “a wad of paper” diminishes the comfort of the individual. Firmly grasping an object for extended periods of time can result in moderate to severe cramps of the forearm and hand. Given that the vast majority of the population unconsciously caries objects in their dominant hand, cramps can be debilitating to a student. Because we are morally obligated to further education, which, in turn, furthers the life-long comfort of the individual student, we can not require students to go to any lengths to dispose of chewed gum.

My second contention states that no significant harm can come from dried gum. According to Reddit user wikipedialinks, who has some credible education background, when asked if any health risks can be associated with dried gum, he states, “Assuming [the gum] came from a healthy person, once it was dry it wouldn't pose substantially more risk than the table.” Rather than concern ourselves about the harmless activity of sticking gum under a desk, we should ask ourselves about the environment we send our children into to learn. Rather than worry about dried gum, we should worry about the unhealthy students and possibly unsafe desks surrounding our students.

My third contention states that chewed gum should be easily available in times of emergency. As seen in many cartoons, in our short lives, we will probably be faced with a situation in which a dam is punctured and it is up to us to save the world from flooding. In this situation, an obvious and readily available tool would be chewed gum. When moistened, gum creates the perfect, flexible solution to plugging dams. The availability of chewed gum is a moral choice between life and death. We must fulfill our obligations to preserving individual comfort by stopping any harm from coming to us, as individuals.

In closing, by examining that holding onto gum creates unnecessary discomfort for the individual, no harm can come from dried gum, and gum can help in times of emergency, we see that preserving individual comfort surfaces as the main way to uphold the value premise of morality. Therefore, I must affirm the advice that used chewing gum ought to be stuck under a desk. I now stand ready for cross-examination.

You wake up with a key gripped tightly in your hand. How did you get this key? What do you do with this it?

I wake with a start in the middle of the night, covered in sweat. Something about my new apartment just doesn’t feel right. I don’t want to blame it all on Big Brother, but I swear something has been watching me.

Feeling my forearm cramp, I mentally pry my fingers out of a fist. In my right hand is a key about the size of my palm with a triangular eye. I have seen this triangle before. Strangely enough, a friend joked during my housewarming party that the apartment must have been an Illuminati gathering place. “Who else would be this obsessed with triangles?” he laughed.

I take a deep breath and close my eyes. Maybe this is all in my head. Maybe I need to have my apartment checked for carbon monoxide, or mold, or something. Suddenly, a vision rushes back to me. It was a dream. The same dream I had had every night since I moved into the new apartment.

______________

Aaaaand, that's all, folks. I'll have to revisit this piece when inspiration strikes. I tried. I really did.

Pick ten sayings for a fortune cookie that you would never want to see come true.

1. Your life will be full of constant changes.
2. Enjoy what you have today. It will probably be gone tomorrow. 
3. Your friends will leave you with the bill.
4. A college diploma only exists in your dreams.
5. When two roads diverge in a wood -- you will take the wrong path, and that will make all the difference.  
6. I hope you saved that paper you've been working on.
7. Your pets are plotting your demise.
8. Your education will be pointless in your career. 
9. You will become allergic to sugar.
10. When the sky falls, it will be up to you to tell the world. 

Write about leaving home.

Honestly, I am not sure if I have yet to leave home. I live in an apartment near my university, about a two hours drive away from my parents, brothers, and pets. Half of my belongings stay in my apartment, while the other half stay with my family. I never know which place to call home. In one domain, I cook and clean for myself, but in the other are the people I love most in the world.

The first time I drove away from my family home, I was overwhelmed by a feeling of excitement and nostalgia. I did not have any sentimental attachment to the house we had recently moved into, but memories of my home town rushed through my mind as quickly as I drove through it. There was the Publix where I begged my mom to buy me “gross cookies,” the Sonic that my friends and I walked to from my childhood home for milkshakes, and the dojo where I grew mentally and physically through karate. The road, itself, carried more memories than I could ever describe.

The further I got from home, the more I thought about my final destination—college. My lifetime of education had more than adequately prepared me for college, but I had no idea what to expect. For the first time in my life, no one was going to make sure that I made it out of the house in time for class, and I would be living with people I had never met.

More than anything, I felt fiercely independent. My life was officially my own. I could receive full credit for my accomplishments and only had myself to blame for my faults. From a developmental perspective, moving away from home and having almost complete independence was the best method possible for me to develop into a mature adult. Granted, I am not sure that I am actually mature OR an adult.

Despite the distance, I leave one home to visit the other very often. As much as I love seeing my family and animals, I find it difficult to leave my independence behind at college. Living in two completely different realms is difficult, especially when you can go out to buy pizza at 2AM in one, but have a curfew in the other. Just like everything in life, leaving home required learning balance, and coming home even more so.

Provide your stream of consciousness during the the worst nightmare you’ve ever had.

I can’t believe it’s another Monday. We really should start school on Tuesday, but, then again, that would make Tuesday the new Monday. Gross. Why does this school feel so much like a dungeon? I wonder if IB will give me my soul back when I graduate. Finally, the top of the stairs. Huh, where is everyone? I’m not that early. Let me call someone.

“Hello? Uhh, where are you guys? What? No, I just started my extended essay last week. It’s not due for another six months. Oh. No.”

OH MY GOD. My extended essay was due TODAY. I’m not going to have my paper turned in on time, so I’m not going to get my diploma. If I don’t get my diploma, I won’t get a scholarship, so I won’t be able to afford school. I’ll have to marry rich and start popping out kids. I’ll be such an uneducated parent that I’ll forget that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and my kid will drive off the road into a gas tanker on his way to school. The impact will make a giant explosion, causing the United States to believe we are under attack and launch missiles at Russia. Russia will retaliate, and through mutually assured destruction, life as we know it will come to an end. All that will be left are cockroaches, which will mutate into giants and conquer—

Beep beep beep beep...

...And I wake up in my apartment after having graduated high school years ago.

Share the most incredible thing you’ve ever seen in the most boring tone possible.

When I was in Pakistan, my family drove into the mountains. It was a long drive and I was sick. We found shiny rocks by the road. The guide took us to a valley with water. The water had come from glaciers and was really blue. My brothers played on rocks. I sat on the ground and looked at the mountains and water. It was nice.