Beloning

Being born in England made me a British citizen for most of my life. Despite living in central Indiana for 12 out of my 14 years of life, I only became an American citizen last summer. My family and I try to go back to England every other year to visit family and close friends. When I was younger, I remember going back and feeling like I belonged. The children that I played with and the adults that I visited had known me since the week I was born. Everything in America was so foreign. My mom had to use a map just to get from our house to Marsh. I don't have many real memories of all this, but I know one thing. Going to America, was torture to me. The look on my face in my Visa picture was one of pure hate. I had been crying the whole day about not wanting to go to America, about wanting to stay. Now, I know how different things would be if I was still in England. Being young and innocent gave me ties and ways to relate to the kids in England. Last year when my parents and I visited for my aunt and uncle's wedding, I was shocked. I did not belong at all. My American accent and clothes were not the only things that set me apart. Our friends houses probably cost the same amount as our house in Indiana, but they are basically 2 bedroom apartments compared to an average-sized house in a neighborhood with a yard and a dog. I was 13, and was offered an alcoholic drink at a bar. I was completely appalled, I knew I didn't fit in at all here. My parents changed around their friends and siblings, so nothing was familiar anymore. I was a lonely hoosier, in the middle of a bunch of loud British people, as if I had nothing to do with them at all. I like to think of myself as different from people in Indiana, like being born in a different place makes me an outsider, but it really doesn't. I fit in here, I belong here, maybe not in Indiana (too close to the Bible belt for me) but somewhere were there are horses and neighborhoods. My dream used to be to have a horse farm in Florida, but the high-end tailored pants and high heels at horse shows isn't really my style either. Maybe somewhere like Virginia is my place? Who knows....

Euthanasia

The act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals (as persons or domestic animals) in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy. That is the dictionary definition for euthanasia. It's common to hear about animals being put to sleep because they are old and suffering; it happens quite often. Should the same rules be applied for humans? I think that if a person has a terminal disease (such as cancer), then they should have the choice to just die now without suffering and living in pain, but only if they don't have any chance of surviving the illness. Suffering isn't fair, because some say that in an after life, we will go to a better place. I don't have complete faith in an after life, so in my view, life is all you have. I would not want to spend my precious years on earth in suffering. What is the point of living if you die in pain? If someone has a mental illness, then things are different. If the person is happy, then thats plenty of reason to let them live on. If they are enjoying life, even though they may not have a full understanding of it and of what is going on, they should be allowed to live if they are truely happy. Now, what if a person does not have a mental illness, but is completely unhappy and they think that their life sucks and will never get better. If the person is living in a depressed state for the rest of their life, should they have to live on? Or should they be allowed to die or be killed? I don't think that a life should be thrown away. If someone is curable, or has some hope, feeling, or love then they have plenty of reason to live on, but what if they are suffering inside? I guess each situation is different, but mercy killing sounds fair only if the person agrees to it, they are truely suffering, and would somehow die anyway. I think that the best way to deal with it is to choose the path that will make the person truely happy, whether that be death or not.