My Interesting Weekend Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

My Interesting Weekend - Essay Example On the weekends I also like to go for walks. I like walking because I get time to myself. I get to look at things that I don’t always look at and I get to think about things I don’t always get time to think about. I also get to take my time and be in peace. I like to get as far away from traffic as I can. Nature is one of my favorite things in life. I love trees, animals, flowers, and water. I like to go to parks or hikes where I can see all of these things. Some weekends I go to museums. My favorite museums are science museums but I also like nature, art, and wax museums. I have traveled to far places to see museums before. What I like about the museums I see on the weekends is that I get to be in another world for a while. Maybe I get to travel back to the past. Maybe I get to pretend that I am in space. Maybe I get to pretend I am in the Arctic. It’s all very interesting to me and I keep traveling back to learn more. A final thing I enjoy doing on my weekends I just being with or talking to my friends and family. I love having the people that I am close with near me or on the phone. It reminds me of where I came from and who I really am. They also help you keep your feet on the ground. They can make a bad weekend with a really good weekend. I love my friends and family and we have so much fun together. They are always there for me and we enjoy great meals and good times on our weekends. I have to say spending time with them id my most favorite thing to do above museums and walks.

Research and DNP Programs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Research and DNP Programs - Essay Example Nursing has evolved with time right from the days of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing who saw the role of nursing as having "change of somebody's health" based on the knowledge of "how to put the body in such a state to be free of disease or to recover from disease". The early twentieth century saw the affiliation of nursing education with Universities and formation of nursing organizations. The early twenty first century saw nursing as a profession with population changes, increased life span, new diseases like cancer and life style changes throwing new challenges on the profession. Thus, today nursing is a profession rather than a vocation (Patricia A Potter, 2005). The profession has extended education avenues, a body of knowledge leading to defined skills, an ability to provide specific service, professional autonomy to make decisions governed by a code of ethics. Autonomy is an element of nursing profession today. Autonomy means that a nurse is independent reasonably and self-governing in making decisions in practice. There are independent measures a nurse can initiate without medical orders. The nurse is a 'client advocate'. She protects the human and legal rights of the patient under her care, based on his/her cultural and religious affil iations. The nurse is a 'Care Giver' helping the patient regain health through the process of healing. Healing is not just curing of the illness, but a process that addresses the holistic health care needs of the patient including emotional, spiritual and social well being. The nurse is the pivot of all communications in the health care delivery system. Communication includes documentary communication for legal safe guards and also communication with patients and their families. The process of communication is vital to give effective care, take decisions, co-ordinate manage patient care, assist in rehabilitation and offer comfort. A nurse explains to her patients the concepts and facts of health, demonstrates health care and self care activities so that the patient understands the importance of these aspects of health care. She informally reinforces client behavior by simple conversations. She also instructs formally about medications and the action plan for recovery. As a clinical decision maker, a nurse coordinates the activities of other members of the Health Care team like physiotherapists or nutrionists. The nurse takes these decisions alone or in collaboration with the patient or patient family on care aspects, evaluation of care results and the best approach for the desired result (Patricia A Potter, 2005). Thus, there is a need for introduction of a research-based curriculum in DNP programs to cater to the neo needs of a professional nurse. Nurses who take their nursing education to the PhD level are nurse Scientists. Roper Logan and Tierney model of nursing (1980) recognizes 12 activities in patient care. This includes, maintaining a safe environment, communication, breathing, eating/drinking, elimination, washing/dressing, thermoregulation, mobility, work/play,

William Blake Poems Essay Example for Free

William Blake Poems Essay Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience appears to be very simplistic on first reading. Explain how the poems are in fact a much more complex exploration of Blakes beliefs and times. William Blake was born in London in 1757. He was home educated and was part of the upper working class as his father was a hosier. He was sent to a drawing school and was a dissenting Christian. His Christian beliefs are reflected in several of his poems. Blake became married in 1783 and married for love rather than money and status. To understand his poems fully we first need to understand what the titles of his two major sets of poetry mean. Innocence in the terms of Blakes poetry is a person who has very little experience and does not know about the bad things that happen in life-Quoted from the Dictionary. Immediately a link is made between the songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. Experience on the other hand means (the process of getting) knowledge or skill which is obtained from doing, seeing or feeling things-Quoted from the Dictionary. These two themes are explored significantly within the poems. During Blakes time in London he saw many different movements and ideas develop such as a revolution in America where a group of British Colonies decided to rebel against Britain in their chance to gain independence. When the victory of this was won America and its allies of France and Spain went to war against Great Britain. Blake used this amongst other themes as the base for his poetry, and because of this he is associated with the Romantic poets even though he was not classed as a Romantic. Another main theme at the time was the use of seven year olds as chimney sweeps. Young boys were used because hard tar often got caught up in the chimney which a brush could not dislodge. To send a boy up was the easiest way to get rid of it and the flexible undeveloped body made it easy. They were often caught in the chimneys and many became cripples and got suit filled lungs. In London alone there were over 1000 sweeps. Blake uses this as one of the topics for both Songs of Experience and Inn ocence. In his two poems The Chimney Sweeper he utilises several literary techniques to create a successful poem. In The Chimney Sweeper (Innocence) Blake uses sorrowful imagery to create an atmosphere of anger and pain, my father sold me while yet my tongue shows just how young the boys were when they sold into the apprenticed with a master sweep. The repetition of, weep!, meant to be sweep which adds to the words meaning because it links the job of the child with his sorrow and also creates an atmosphere of rhythm of a brush going up and down within the chimney. On the other hand in The Chimney Sweeper (Experience) the boy is not introduced by his father but by a description of himself as a black thing amongst the snow which sounds as something discarded and dehumanises him. In this case snow is not used for peace and purity but for cold and harshness. The colour opposites of white snow and black dirty boy are another literacy technique of comparative representation by descriptive contrast. Weep is also used in this version but the words are described as being criedin notes of woe! This links directly to sadness and cruelty rather than being hidden inside the verse as is shown in Songs of Innocence. Religion is brought into this by the parents going to church to pray which also illustrates the normalness of their lives compared to their sons and highlights their hypocrisy. This is due to them being all good by going to Church and yet they are sending their son to work at such a young age and are almost bringing upon his fate of an unhappy life. In the second verse in the Innocence version the boys head curled like a lambs back which links to the symbolism of the lamb being the son of God which is one of the main themes in another poem from Songs of Innocence the Lamb. The Lamb is a prime example of innocence imagery because it is used in such a context as to promote the idea that the lamb symbolises not only pastoral imagery but Christ as the lamb of God. The boys hair is described as white to represent purity and innocence but then colour imagery is used to emphasise dark and light, good and bad. In The Chimney Sweeper (Experience) the boys appearance is described yet in a different way to that of the innocence poem, his health is described first as happy but this is talked about in the past tense. Blake is touching on the illnesses Chimney Sweepers got, such as cancer. His clothes are then described metaphorically as Clothes of death which when put into context of the work he was doing tells the reader that the clothes he is wearing to work symbolise his status and remind the reader that this job was very hazardous and also is describing the soot on his body. This again links into the poem The lamb where the clothes are described as Softest clothing woolly bright which has no indication of death by of life. This shows the difference between life and death as in most Chimney Sweepers lives death came upon them unnaturally quickly. Some children that were not put into the trade of chimney sweeping then they would instead be educated (if their parents possessed the money) and if not the children were sent to Charity schools. These were schools that were established by mainly religious organisations and were used to educate children until they could be put into a trade. These schools were often cruel institutions. Blake uses the subject of Charity Schools for one of his sets of poems entitled Holy Thursday. The title Holy Thursday comes from the British celebration of Jesus ascension. In the first line (of the Innocence version) it mentions the children who were in this school as having innocent faces clean showing immediately that Blake found them to be innocent. The second line has a Bible reference to Noahs ark; the children walking two two makes them sound more like animals and is also reminding the reader that just like Noahs animals they were the future of Blakes Britain. It also signifies that they were the future of the world as were the animals in Noahs ark. From his poems we can somewhat assume that Blake found Charity schools to be a money making scheme. This is proved by his view on the so called religious people who ran the schools. In the second line the masters are described as having wands as white as snow which shows them as having power because although white is generally used to show innocence in this case the word snow contradicts this as Blake often used snow to symbolise cold, dark and evil ambitions and scenarios. London is also mentioned in the first verse by the high dome of Pauls and the Thames water which in those days was very dirty, but was an integral part of London as were the children. Blake uses religious imagery within the innocence version quite a bit towards the end. A mighty wind[raised] to heaven, is used to create an idea based around the childrens voices as if they were crying so loud that heaven could hear them. The owners are described as wise guardians, which is ironic and patronising as Blake actually is meaning that they are horrible and cruel and have no knowledge what so ever. In the experience version of Holy Thursday Blake puts forwards different ideas. He starts off by talking about the fruitful children which are then reduced to misery. This symbolises them coming into the schools cheerful and full of happiness and then being shafted out woeful. The representation of children to money is also used by calling them rich. This has been used to remind the reader that Blake saw the owners of these schools as money hungry and the only reason they did it was for the money. In the second verse Blake talks of the feelings of the children as trembling [cries], the meaning of this is to show that the children were desperate as they were children poor?. Pastoral imagery is used in this version not to represent innocence to the destruction of innocence via experience Field are bleak and bare. This shows that after the schools the children had lost their innocence, stripped of it, and there was and is nothing they could do about it, It is eternal winter there shows the eternal evil within the schools. From this anger of London via the chimney sweeps and charity schools we find even more anger within Blakes poem A Poison Tree. This poem expresses Blakes anger and hatred for things in general. The last verse of this poem sums up what happened to the innocence of the children And into my garden stole-It had been stolen. A Poison Tree is another poem from Blakes Songs of Experience. It follows a different rhyming pattern compared to other poems written by Blake. It uses the rhyming patter a,a, b,b whereas other poems generally used a,b,a,b. This change in rhyme immediately hits the reader and also makes the poem more alive with passion due to the flow of the rhythm. The first lines holds a contradiction I was angry with my friend, it forces the reader to ask the question of why the person is angry with their friend, it insights them to read on. It talks of how the person in the poem tell his friend why he is angry with him and because of this [his] wrath did end. On the other hand when it comes to being ,angry with [his]..foe, he did not say anything and so the ,wrath did grow. The meaning of this first verse is to try and show that by keeping anger hidden within other things it does not diminish but grows. This links in to what Blake was doing. He did not openly express his views but concealed his anger within his poetry. The second verse talks of tears and smiles these two opposites show split personality. The meaning of the tears is the water that the Poison tree was given and the smiles are the sun. This contradiction makes the tree slowly grow ,both day and night. This idea of growth relates to children growing up but being fed with the wrong views which means that they can turn out evil. This view of the, finished product, is shown when the tree bore and apple. The apple signifies the apple in Genesis and the evil of the world was concealed in this apple. Maybe Blake is trying to say the God was wrong to conceal the evil within one thing and that from it more evil has occurred which is true. The last link to religion links into Blakes poem The Echoing Green from Songs of Innocence which shows a completely different view of the world. This poem also follows the same rhyming pattern of A Poison Tree which once again gives it more flow and rhythm. When read, the poem has a sort of Sing song feel to it which goes along with the happiness expressed within the poem. It talks of change from innocence to experience. In the second verse Blake talks about a monk Old John and then links him to experience with White hair. The white described in this verse is a pure white which shows that Blake is not totally against experience. There is alot of repetition in this poem with, bells, symbolising religious festivals such as Christmas which tells the reader a little about Blakes religious life. The repetition emphasis this and makes the reader take it in. Blake also links children with pastoral imagery, girls and boys were seen One the Echoing Green which is used as another way of expres sing that the children are innocent. This idea of pastoral imagery is also shown in two of Blakes most famous poems The Lamb and The Tyger. In these two poems Blake uses several imagery techniques. In The Lamb he puts forwards the idea of nature via Stream and Oer the mead. The idea of nature links into innocence and the fact that the countryside is un-poisoned as it has not been influence by the hammer, Chain and furnace mentioned in The Tyger which symbolises the industrial revolution which is William Blakes view on experience altering innocence. William Blake links the industrial revolution with the, forests of the night [and] hand or eye, which is imagery of humans and shadows. As William Blake was a devout Christian in his own way he includes God in his poem of The Lamb. In fact God is included in the name of his poem as Jesus was the lamb of God. Blake uses assonance to create subtle rhyming in which the reader can pick up over time. Softest clothing is an example of this. The subtle link adds to the effect of beauty that the Softest clothing creates. The use of this adds meaning to the poem because clothing is used to cover people and so William Blake might be trying to say that by covering your true self you are loosing the innocence of individuality. Another effect used in The Lamb is the fact that there is not much punctuation. This surprisingly creates a weird flowing nursery rhyme effect. On the other hand in The Tyger lots of somewhat harsh punctuation is used to create a pounding rhyme which inspires the reader to imagine the atmosphere of machinery. The reason for the mis-spelling of tiger is because Blake was self taught. This is a good example of differences in class at the time of William Blake. The poems from Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience have more meaning than the reader might first imagine due to mainly the events that were surrounding their author William Blake at the time of their writing. By the harsh reality of London at that time Blake incorporates the Chimney sweeps, Charity schools, London in general and the industrial revolution into his poems. He does not openly state what each poem is about but within in writing we can pick up on ideas and themes that influenced him to write these poems. While reading these poems people pick up on the things happening at the time due to the detail in which they are described in poetry. These poems are not just poems, they are more like Blakes autobiography on his life through the form of media he liked best, poetry.

Gladiator Movie Summary Essay

Gladiator Movie Summary Essay In the film Gladiator, Marcus Aurelius the Emperor of Rome chooses the victorious general Maximus Decimus Meridias instead of his own son Commodus to be his heir. Due to the lack of power Commodus was given, he condemned Maximus and his family to death. Commodus could not take the fact that his father did not choose him over Maximus so he decided to end his life by strangling him. Since Marcus Aurelius was dead, there was no possible way for rest of Rome to find out what his true dieing wishes were. Commodus made it perfectly clear to everyone that his father wanted him to take over after he passed away, because he knew people would believe him rather than Maximus. Maximus was unable to save his wife and sons life, since Commodus got to Spain first. Once he witnessed their dead bodies hanging, back in Spain, he fainted which caused him to be captured. Once Maximus was taken into slavery, he was being trained as a gladiator by Proximo. Maximus had a strong hope that one day he would b e able to escape and finally get his revenge on Commodus. Maximus wanted to take the name as Emperor away from Commodus, just as Marcus Aurelius wished, just as much as he wanted to see his family again. Under the rule of Commodus, Rome called Proximos troupe to participate in battles. While they were in Rome, Maximus plotted a plan to overthrow the emperor, with the help of his former-love Lucilla, Commodus sister. While Maximus was tied up, Commodus paid a visit and not only invited Maximus to a match between the two of them, but he stabbed him in the side, without anyone knowing. During their intense battle, Maximus was able to stab and kill Commodus, but died shortly after due to the stabbing that took place before the battle. Before the battles, they would say strength and honour to each other, for encouragement. Before Maximus escape, the other men said that quote to him to give him more strength and to reassure him that everything would be alright. Maximus said that 2000 of his men will not leave the battle, meaning they will fight to the death for Rome. Maximus tells Quintus to promise him that he will look after his family. Quintus totally went against Maximus by said he would be able to look after his own family in the after life. As in, they would all be killed. When Maximus was captured after fainting, he was being held as a slave, and Commodus sister Lucilla went to visit him. Commodus sister Lucilla risked a lot, in order to help Maximus escape his new life as a slave. Commodus was giving Lucius a history lesson right in front of Lucilla purposely. He tampered with the actual story, in order to be able to refer it to her disloyalty towards him. His story led them both to tears. Commodus stabbed Maximus while his arms were tied up, right before their fight, and he told him to smile for him now. After Maximus killed Commodus he told Quintus to free all of the slaves. Shortly after, he died and joined his family where they were waiting for him in heaven, just as that man had told him they would be. A man had told Maximus that he would see his wife and son one day, but not yet. After Maximus died, that man went up to the ground where he was buried. Areas of Focus Assignment Characters MaximusÂÂ  Decimus Meridius : Maximus was Romes greatest and most powerful general and warrior. Everybody honoured Maximus, including the Prince. He joined the army at the young age of 17 and grew to become an excellent fighter. His role in the movie was mostly based on his strength and power, but it did show his sweet side, towards his wife Cecilia. Maximus was asked by Marcus Aurelius to be named the next Caesar after his death, instead of his son Commodus. Marcus Aurelius was killed before he could tell anyone else about his request for Maximus. Maximus was later arrested by the guards, but returned home to find his family hung. Due to his exhaustion and suffering mentally and physically, Maximus fainted and was taken by thieves. The only desire that fuels him now is the chance to rise to the top so that he will be able to look into the eyes of the man who will feel his revenge. (Chris Morphy Terry, 2009). He was sold to the old gladiator Proximo, who gave him the name The Sp ainiard. After escaping, his fame came to be due to the many battles he fought, in stadiums all over the Roman world. Maximus died in the Colosseum, right after killing Commodus. His wish to have Rome return to a democracy was honoured. Commodus : Commodus was so sure that he would become emperor of Rome after his father Marcus Aurelius died, but his father told him that he wanted to give his reign to Maximus. After learning this, Commodus lost all control and strangled his father to death. Even though his father wanted to have Maximus as emperor after him, Commodus took over since he killed his father and no one would be able to find out his true wishes. He was later killed by Maximus during their battle in the Colosseum. Proximo : Proximo purchased Maximus when he was being sold as a slave by the thieves. Proximo tells Maximus, Win the crowd Spaniard. and perhaps you shall win your freedom. (ÂÂ  Jlhurtado, 2009). Costumes / Modes of Transportation The movie was set back in the medieval age time period. Times were very different back then and this film proves that. Their modes of transportation were mostly by the horse and chariot, if they were not walking to their destination. The warriors used heavy equipment in order to protect themselves from their rivalry during battles. Every single person who went into battle wore some form of protection. Some of the warriors costumes consisted of helmets, shoulder and chest pads, armor, and shields. Some of the warriors weapons that were used during a battle were spears, archery, knives, and swords. The battles that were held in these sporting event arenas were not only man versus man battles, but also man versus animal. Depending on the type of battle that was about to take place, the costumes they wore would vary. Setting The Colosseum was a famous amphitheatre which was built to hold blood sport games, which also allowed for many spectators to watch while sitting in the encircling stands. Gladiatorial combats were the main eventÂÂ  at the Colosseum and the events were usually held in the early evening. These stadiums set social control since they were indiscriminate. Whenever there was any public show, the first row of seats should be saved for senators, although these arrangements were not strongly enforced. There was not only man versus man battles but also man versus animal. The large audience enjoyed watching both and found them just as interesting as the other. Not every fight happened in a building, some of the gladiator fights took place in a forest. These battles that were fought were not only to gain power for one man, but for many people who went to watch these battles, they were seen as a form of entertainment.

Journalism and Social Media Essay -- Journalism News

Because I am a journalism student, I have talked, researched and discussed with many of my fellow students and faculty members about the topics above. I am choosing to talk about this because I think it is important and they are pertinent issues in the journalism field. I am also very interested in this topic, so I thought it would be fun to take the opportunity you gave us to design our own multi-part question and write about something in journalism that is appealing to me. I recently read an article somewhere, in which BBC journalist Sigrun Rottman said that objectivity in journalism is an illusion and the media should think more of being balanced than being objective. According to her, objectivity in the media does not really exist. This hit home for me because before being a journalism student I believed that objectivity in journalism was undoubtedly the focal point of the profession and that the business of every journalist was to be objective. The truth and the reality of this belief as we know it and as I have come to understand is that objectivity in journalism really doesn’t exist or to put it in better terms, it doesn’t exist to the extent that we perceive it should. So, the oft-stated and exceedingly desired goal of modern journalism is objectivity - the ‘disconnected’ gathering and dissemination of news and information; this allows people to arrive at decisions about the world and events occurring in it without the journalist’s subjective views influencing the acceptance and/or rejection of the information. It’s a pity that such a goal is impossible to achieve! As long as humans gather and disseminate news and information, objectivity is an unrealizable dream. Okay, so what does journalism require? How are journal... ...hat will help you build your journalistic toolkit. I have talked a lot about social media in several of journalism classes and have learned a lot about it, so I thought it would be fun to inject my thoughts behind it in relation to how journalists’ can and should use it for their benefit. Works Cited 1. "Journalism Ethics Online Journalism Ethics Gatekeeping." Journalism Ethics for the Global Citizen. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. . 2. "Journalists and Social Media | The Changing Newsroom." The Changing Newsroom | New Media. Enduring Values. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. . 3. Corbett, Julia B. Communicating Nature: How We Create and Understand Environmental Messages. Washington, DC: Island, 2006. Print.

Crossing: Fiction and Story Essay

When we hear the title â€Å"Crossing† it will give us a feeling of someone who is still crossing something. This is due to the ing-form because this form will always give us a feeling of an uncompleted or unfinished action. The short story â€Å"Crossing† is by Mark Slouka who is an American novelist and critic. A relationship between a father and a son is the starting point of the story but it has many other angles too. We live in a post-modern society which means we break a lot of traditional norms and we are beyond the scope of fixed boundaries. Many signs indicate that the main character of this story is a modern man too. The modern man is a father of a little boy and is divorced with the child’s mum. It seems very clear that he is the reason to their divorce which can be seen in this quotation: â€Å"when he looked at her she shook her head and looked away and at that moment he thought, maybe—maybe he could make this right. † ( P. 2, ll. 19-20). The man is very depressed which is probably because of the divorce. He wants to make it up and he cares a lot about his child which is mentioned in the two following quotations below: â€Å"†¦when the boy came running into the living room he threw him over his shoulder, careful not to hit his head on the corner of the TV†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (P. 2, ll. 16-17) †It would take a little while, but he’d be able to see him the whole time. † (P. 3, ll. 44-45) Both of the quotations show us that he is a caring father and this can also be the reason to, why he wants to make it up with his ex-wife. The father wants to pass his childhood memories on to his child and one of them is jaunts to the river with his own father and these jaunts mean a lot to him and it’s why he wants to pass the memories on. When they arrive to the place with the river and the barn he realise that the river is bigger than he has expected. He considers to cancel the jaunt but he says that he has nowhere else to go. This consideration can be a symbol of that he is in a middle of something in his life which means that he can’t turn back but that he has to look forward. It can probably be in the connection with his relationship. He is in the middle of their problem and he can’t go back in time and make it up but he can look forward and hope for the best. The barn on the other side of the river is described in a very strange way. It is compared to rib cage and skeleton but in between these strange descriptions, the place is also described as a wonderful place with, for instance herds of elk. During the whole story, we get the feeling of that something really bad is going to happen because of the suspense composition. This composition is only possible with particular settings in the story. Rain, mist, the strange barn and other depressive and strange settings are all sign of that something bad is on its way. At one point the situation gets really bad and the river is about to swallow the man and his child, the river is personified which can be seen in the following quote: †The river. It wanted to be whole, unbroken. It wanted him gone. He could see it, forming and re-forming, thick-walled jade, smoothing out its sides with its thumbs like a hypnotized potter. † (ll. 134-145) The sad mood during the whole story can be a symbol of his life and how he feels when he is alone without his wife. The themes of the story are therefore absolutely loneliness and phase change, because he is about to pass/go into a new phase in his life. All the characters are mentioned as anonym persons, which means nobody in the story has a name. The characters are therefore not individual persons but they are reduced roles in the man’s life. The narrator of the story knows how the man feels , what he thinks and as reader we see everything from his perspective. This kind of narrator is called third person limited narrator and the man’s point of view. It’s called limited narrator because we are not allowed to hear the boy’s thoughts and feelings. The end of the story is open which means the reader has no idea what is going on and it’s up to the reader to decide which ending the story will match. This is also the reason for the title â€Å"crossing†. As a reader you will not know what is going on after the story ends. Slouka, the author leave the characters in the river in between the secure, the wonderful place and the insecure, dangerous river. This could be the symbol of the man’s life. He has to pass many bad things to get a better life as he has before. The man is a clear sign of a modern man, who is divorced with his wife, he can’t complete his jaunt with his son and he has to fight to get a better life.

Establishing The Internet in Public Schools

Modems, e-mail, www's and .com's – are these phrases merely a part of a worldwide fad, or are they here to stay? And if they are, then what role should they play in the future of public education? Many times, new things come along, and we all jump on the big boat of opportunity so quickly that we forget to look at the long term merits of what we're boarding. The Internet is a good example of this, and we should all take a much closer look before we decide whether the Internet has a purpose and a place in the public schools of tomorrow. Education is merely preparing students for the future. But what is the future? No one can say with certainty. But by taking a quick look around us, we can guess that the Internet will play a prominent role in our future. If we look at the stock market, for example, we can see internet and technology stocks skyrocketing beginning their first day on the market. Or, turn on the television and one will surely hear a commercial telling everyone to check out their company's web site for more information on their product. Daily, we can see the Internet becoming more integrated in our lives and in the lives of our youth. Without the internet in our schools, how will teachers instruct students to take full advantage of what the internet has to offer? After establishing that the Internet is indeed a growing part of our society that will not likely disappear soon, schools and their administrators must decide if the Internet is a necessity or a luxury. The answer is simple; the Internet is a luxury. If it were a necessity for public schools' survival, then how have they made it this far without it? Though the Internet is a luxury, that does not mean it has no place in public schools. Imagine schools today without luxuries such as the light bulb, copy machine, or personal computer. Ten years ago, it would have been impossible to compose a letter, to send it, and have it received all in a matter of seconds. It is imperative that students are taught how to access these new opportunities so that when compared with other students anywhere in the world, they will not lag behind in Internet proficiency. Schools must begin to incorporate internet education into their regular curriculum in order for students to be successful in today's internet-savvy world. It is the responsibility of public schools to prepare our students for the future, and without the Internet in our schools, this would be impossible. By forbidding the internet to enter our schools, we would be condemning our students by sending them out into the age of the internet, being armed with nothing. Though the merit of the Internet itself will continue to be debated, it is obviously becoming an important part of our society and, therefore, must also become an important part of our schools, which are the future of our society. Had the youth of yesterday not been taught how to use computers, then they could not have created the internet of today. Therefore, if students of today are not taught how to use the Internet, then we are limiting the possibility of new discoveries tomorrow. It is important that we realize this: the education that is provided for our youth today will determine our future. In conclusion, schools and its communities must accept the inevitable and climb aboard the Internet ship of opportunity before it sets sail, leaving the future of our students, communities and nation behind. Where will this fateful journey end? Will it end in tragedy such as the Titanic, or will we be sailing on the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria to end at yet another beginning where something newer and more exciting awaits us? Only time can tell.