"Lodge-Boy and Thrown-Away"

"Lodge-Boy and Thrown-Away"

“Lodge-Boy and Thrown” away is a Native American myth about a family that is split after the mother is killed. The mother was pregnant; she was going to have twins. After a murderer took the mother’s life, he left one of the twins in the cabin and threw the other one into the wilderness. After they grew up, Lodge-Boy (the twin that stayed at home) and his father had dinner together everyday. One day, while in dinner, Lodge-Boy brought up his friend Thrown-out, his father told him to get Thrown-Away to live with them. Thrown-Away was in animal form. Lodge-Boy and his father turned him into a human. Lodge-Boy and Thrown-Away were always together. One day, they decided to bring their mother back to life, they succeeded in doing so. Everything their dad told them was dangerous to do, they would go and do it. Even though, they were always putting themselves in risky situations, they would kill or destroy anything that threatened them. One day, Thunder-Bird, asked them to kill a creature. Easily, the boys killed the dangerous creature and lived happily ever after.

This short story is clearly a Native American myth because of the elements it contains. Thrown-Away is a human, but at some point in the story he is an animal. Animals having human characteristics or vice versa is called anthropomorphism, and that is one of the aspects of the Native American mythology. Another example of anthropomorphism is the Thunder-Bird; even though he is a bird he talks as if he was a human. An additional important aspect of their culture is family and tradition, it is possible to observe the importance of that when the boys revive their mom and bring her back to the house. Finally, one of the defining aspects of Native American myths is that they are short and easy to understand, this myth is a page long and easy to understand.

Raven and the Source of Light

Raven and the Source of Light

The creation myth “Raven and the Sources of Light” talks about a child, dressed as a Raven that played with the stars, the moon and the sun, with his “grandfather”. This took place when the earth was young, people during that time did not have day and night. Raven would play with those elements while his grandfather took care of him. One day, the Raven was playing with the sun, as usual, but that day his grandfather was not as careful as usual. The child took his Raven form and stole the sun. After negotiating, the Raven asked for fish in exchange for the sun. The Raven got his fish and tossed the sun into the sky. From that day on, the people have day and night.

Even though this creation myth does not have a clear category, most people would call this an Accretion or Conjunction. An Accretion type myth is a short story where the characters do not have many resources, especially essential natural resources like water, sun or soil, and as the story progresses they get the resource they need. The resources they need are added to what they have, they don’t 

travel anywhere to get them. “Raven and the Source of Light” starts off in a dark setting, with no sun. Then the Raven “steals” the sun and tosses it up in the air, the people in that specific society get a World with sun, moon and stars. In the end, the Raven provided his world with day and night.

The Sky Tree

The myth 'Sky Tree' talks about the how the leader of a Native American group was sick, the only way he thought he could be saved was with a fruit in the top of the great sky tree; this tree was the moat important thing in their community, everything circled around this tree. The leader asked his wife to go get the fruit from the tree, as she was cutting it, the tree fell into another world. She went after the tree, with the help of the Turtle and four more animals, she landed softly in the New World and the tree through his roots to the ground. That is how the New World was created.

In this short story we can see various Native American  creation myths characteristics. First, the myth is really short and easy, that helps people remember it. Then, in this myth, the mother nature is the source of food and therefore life; the myth portrays nature as a very important aspect of their culture. Also, this myth includes animals, that are shown as equals to humans. Finally, it is, clearly a creation myth because it explains the creation of the world as it is known.

Emergence Analysis

Emergence Analysis

            The Native American myth “Emergence” is a myth describing how the way human beings and animals live in the place they live. It has some clear characteristics of the Native American culture. For example, it exemplifies the importance of animal to the culture; a lot of the characters in the myth are animals. Also, it demonstrates the importance of nature to the culture. This short story is clearly a myth, it is certain that Emergence is a myth because it teaches the Native Americans something that, at the time, could not be explain be anyone in their community. The myth explains the creation of the human being as it is known. Also, it explains the creation of some natural resources, as well as the way Native Americans decided to be ruled by more than one leader (a very important feature of the Native American culture). Emergence is a short and easy myth; short and easy is one of the methods used by the Native American people to make their myths stick amongst themselves. “4” was a sacred number for the Native Americans, throughout the story it is possible to observe this number being used: groups of 4 animals, 4 gods, 4 directions; “4” is almost the only number used, and when it is not, another multiple of 4 is seen. Another very significant aspect of the Native American culture is the equality between men and animals. After reading this myth, it is obvious that Native American respected animals greatly.

Always Speak Up

Always speak up

Everything hinged on one decision, whether to speak up or not. Earlier that week I had a talk with one of my coaches in a golf camp in California, his name was Jeff. He gave me and the other kids in the camp a talk about dreaming. Jeff spoke about always pursuing our dreams. Well, it turns out that I wanted to go to a full-time golf academy in the United States. It was July 24th, I will always remember. School started around August 8th, so going to a golf academy that year was nothing but a dream.

My mom picked me up from the camp that day. That same day we departed to Mexico. The golf camp had been in Pebble Beach, about two hours away from San Francisco. My mom and my family drove up there to pick me up and go back to San Francisco where we would take a flight back home. In the car they asked me how the camp was, I was pensive, but I still said it was great. They noticed that I was not very energetic, like I am usually. Naturally they asked, “What’s going on, is everything alright?” Obviously, I was submerged in the “what if”. Even though I was completely out of it, hesitantly, I lied and said, “Yeah, I am just a little bit tired,” the bought it. They road in between Pebble Beach and San Francisco has one of the most spectacular landscapes you’ll ever see, so that just made me keep on dreaming about me telling my parents about the golf academy. After two long but beautiful hours we arrived to the airport. In the airport I was wondering whether I should speak up or not. I didn’t know if I should tell my mom that I wanted to go to a golf academy. I thought it was an impossible thing to do. I thought I should not even try, but in the talk Jeff gave us, he said that every time we want something we should try to get it. My mind was going on and off, “Tell her. No, don’t it’s stupid. No, tell her”. I just could figure it out. After awhile of thinking, I decided I needed to tell her, and I did. Very indecisive I said “Mom, I want to go to a golf academy next year,” while those words slipped out of my mouth, my mind thought, “You shouldn’t have told her”. My mom laughed and said “Really? Next Year?” after those word came out of her mouth I thought “I knew she’d say no,” but then she proceeded “That will be really hard but we can try, as soon as we get back we should try to find one” she said. I was in awe; I did not know what do. Her answer felt like a bucket of cold water in the face but in a good way, if there is such thing.

Still completely surprised I started thinking of my cousin that went to a golf academy. He said that it took him 6 months to do everything needed: school, visa, golf school, paper work, packing, everything. I had a little less than two weeks, and I didn’t even have a school picked out yet. I can do it I thought, but I knew it was going to be nearly impossible to get everything done before classes started. I was enrolled in a Mexican school already. It was just going to be ridiculously hard. All by itself, it was a nearly impossible job. But I had more complications, I had a school trip to the south of Mexico for a week, and I had to go. After three days of school picking, while in Southern Mexico I decided I was going to The Mike Bender Golf Academy and Lake Mary Prep. I made calls while in that trip. I had phone interviews. I was working hard on my dream even when I was not home. Two more days later, I was accepted to Lake Mary Prep. Now, the hard part was getting a student visa. That normally takes about 3 months, so I was pretty nervous about that. Somehow, my mom made some calls, and 3 more days later, August 2nd I was booking flights to Orlando and explaining to my friends and family that I was going away for a year.

As soon as I knew I was definitely going to go to Florida for a year, I got Jeff’s number and gave him a call. He was confused; he did not quite remember me. I told him the whole story and almost crying (at least that’s how it sounded over the phone), he congratulated me and told me to keep dreaming big. That was August 2nd, 2012. Today, August 20th, 2013, I am staying in Florida for my second year. Not one single accomplishment, friend, or improvement over the last year would have been possible without trying to do what I wanted to do, even when it sounded impossible. Over that week in the summer of 2012, I learned one of the biggest life lessons I have ever learned. I understood that everything desired should be attempted, even if it sounds impossible. Up to this day, my mom tells me she said yes because she did not believe it was possible to get everything done.

Dreams Story

Everything hinged on one decision, whether to speak up or not. Earlier that week I had a talk with one of my coaches in a golf camp in California, his name was Jeff. He gave me and the other kids in the camp a talk about dreaming. Jeff spoke about always pursuing our dreams. Well, it turns out that I wanted to go to a full-time golf academy in the United States. It was July 24^th, I will always remember. School started around August 8^th, so going to a golf academy that year was nothing but a dream. My mom picked me up from the camp that day. That same day we departed to Mexico. In the airport I was wondering whether I should speak up or not. I didn’t know if I should tell my mom that I wanted to go to a golf academy. I thought it was an impossible thing to do. I thought I should not even try, but in the talk Jeff gave us, he said that every time we want something we should try to get it. After awhile of thinking, I decided I needed to tell her, and I did. “Mom, I want to go to a golf academy next year”. I was hoping for a laugh, a giggle, something that expressed disapproval at least. “That would be awesome, as soon as we get back we should try to find one” she said. Completely surprised I started thinking of my cousin that went to a golf academy. He said that it took him 6 months to do everything needed: school, visa, golf school, paper work, packing, everything. I had a little under two weeks, and I didn’t even had a school picked out yet. I can do it I thought, but I knew it was going to be nearly impossible to get everything done before classes started. I was enrolled in a Mexican school already. It was just going to be ridiculously hard. All by itself, it was a nearly impossible job. But I had more complications, I had a school trip to the south of Mexico for a week, and I had to go. After three days of school picking, while in Southern Mexico I decided I was going to The Mike Bender Golf Academy and Lake Mary Prep. I made calls while in that trip. I had phone interviews. I was working hard on my dream even when I was not home. Two more days later, I was accepted to Lake Mary Prep. Now, the hard part was getting a student visa. That normally takes about 3 months, so I was pretty nervous about that. Somehow, my mom made some calls, and 3 more days later, August 2^nd I was booking flights to Orlando and explaining to my friends and family that I was going away for a year. As soon as I knew I was definitely going to go to Florida for a year, I got Jeff’s number and gave him a call. He was confused, he did not quite remember me. I told him the whole story and almost crying (at least that’s how it sounded over the phone), he congratulated me and told me to keep dreaming big. That was August 2^nd, 2012. Today, August 20^th, 2013, I am staying in Florida for my second year. Not one single accomplishment, friend, or improvement over the last year would have been possible without trying to do what I wanted to do, even when it sounded impossible. Over that week in the summer of 2012, I learned one of the biggest life lessons I have ever learned. I understood that everything desired should be attempted, even if it sounds impossible. Up to this day, my mom tells me she said yes because she did not believe it was possible to get everything done.

Outliers

"Outliers"

In the work "Outliers" by Malcom Gladwell, childhood is portrayed as the path, randomly taken by individuals that will guid the, to success.

The childhood of successful people is one of the most important times for their success. The importance of childhood is based on the environment and the opportunities people get. For Example: Professional hockey players are mostly born in the first half of the year. When born in the first half of  the year, kids, in general, are bigger and taller than the kids born in the second half (because at younger ages 6 months or even less make a big difference). Because these kids are taller and bigger, they get more training opportunities (because teams pick them over the smaller kids). By the time the other kids grow (kids that were born on the second half of the year), the kids that were born first have almost 4 years more of training, therefore at the time professional teams are interested in recruiting, the older kids have the absolute highest chance of being better at that time.

The time, socially, when successful people were born is also a very important factor of their success. One of the big examples described in Gladwell's book, is that one of one of the most successful person in our time, Bill Gates. Gates was born in a time where technology was growing, specially technology involving programing (computers). A computer programming program was growing in his High School. That gave Gates the chance to practice more than most people in the United States. Then After high school, his university had one of the few computer in the country. Gates spent a lot of his time through his early ages programming. That advantage over everyone in the country gave him the chance to be one of the best programers ever known.

In conclusion, Outliers described the importance of the path taken by people in their childhood. Even though childhood guides an individual to be successful or not to be successful, the factors that guide anyone to success are mostly random and cannot be modified.