Blog 10

I don't believe that someone can take a generalized stance on whether someone should take a year break between high school and college.  A student may have financial troubles and may use an extra year to help pay for classes, or a lazy person could use it to sleep in and play video games every day.  On the flip side, going to school year after year with no break can cause a student to crash.  Students should take their time, not feeling obligated to go to school or to wait a year.  There are several reasons someone would pick one and not the other.  I personally just left high school and decided to jump right into college not only to get a real job faster, but so that I don't get rusty.  I'd imagine that after spending a year doing nothing it might be hard to get back into studying.  Even though I went right into school again, I don't feel any better than someone who waited a year, because you never know WHY they waited.  I think it's a bad idea to wait just because you want to postpone the inevitable, but school, injury, and other reasons are more than reasonable.

Blog Number 9

I believe that it is important to vote in presidential elections because we have the liberty of being in a democracy.  There are countries all over the world which don't have the privilege to choose who rules them, and by not voting we are neglecting what our forefathers have worked so hard to give us.  By not taking the time to know what each candidate stands for and vote for who you think is right, there is only one thing being said in my opinion: I don't care.  I mean, why else would you not vote?  A person who doesn't vote is basically saying they don't think the outcome will effect them and continue their own lives hoping everything will work out for them.  There are billions of people in this world who wish they had that right, but non-voters just throw it away like it doesn't matter or make a difference.  In my view, voting should be one of the few mandatory acts people in America should participate in and it is very important to take it seriously.