Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

I want to thank my family for giving me the opportunity to receive a private education and for encouraging me to always do my best. Thank you to my friends and their parents who have loved me and believed in me. Most of all, I want to say thanks to God for giving me the gifts He has and for loving me unconditionally; for without Him, I am nothing. It is hard for me to believe that we are graduating from high school; time has flown by. At the beginning of freshman year I remember being scared and wondering just how I would fit in and if I would make friends or not. I wasn't fearful for long though because our class bonded right away. I believe we came together so much because we changed together and we discovered life together. As Mr. Leopold would say, we had many "Aha's" along the way. We experienced uncertainty, frustration, and sorrow, but we overcame because we laughed and we laughed and we laughed. And, we hoped and we prayed. We genuinely encouraged each other and now at the end of our senior year we could not ask for more faithful friends. At Kennedy Murphy we are not ju...

Climate Change: Global Emissions of Green House Gases Essay -- Environ

There are growing concerns about climate change and the effect of ‘greenhouse gases’ (GHG) on the gradual increase in world temperatures over time, now commonly known as global warming. The ‘greenhouse effect’ means that ‘greenhouse gases’ such as water vapour (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorocarbons insulate the Earth by absorbing heat from the Earth’s surface and reflecting it back into the atmosphere, acting in a similar way to a thermal blanket (Houghton, 2005). Although associated in recent times with pollution and climate change, the ‘greenhouse effect’ is essential for the continuity of the Earth’s climate (Karl and Trenberth, 2003). However, since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution (from the 18th to the 19th Century), the burning of fossil fuel meant that the greenhouse effect went from simply protecting the Earth’s climate to causing an actual increase in world temperatures (Martinez, 2005; Houghton, 2005). The gaseous culprit is the seemingly innocuous CO2, although harmless in the right atmospheric proportions, it is nevertheless a very powerful insulator and heat reflector (Houghton, 2005). Since 1750, the concentration of CO2 has increased by over 30% and is now at a higher level than it has been for thousands of years (Martinez, 2005; EPA, 2007). In fact, it is argued that if no action is taken to curb these emissions, then the concentration of CO2 will rise throughout the remainder of this century to two or three times its preindustrial level (Houghton, 2005). The Scientific evidence on global warming dates as far back as the second half of the 19th Century and the work of physicist John Tyndall and chemist Svente Arrhenius. It was particularly accelerated in the past 20... ...add around 7 meters to the world’s sea level (Gregory et al., 2004), with extremely damaging results for mankind and the ecosystem (Houghton, 2005). Global emissions of CO2 to the atmosphere from fossil fuel burning are approaching 7 billion tonnes of CO2 per annum and are rising rapidly (Houghton, 2005; Stern, 2006). In fact, energy related emissions are forecasted to grow by over 2% per year over the next 30 years, if the world community continue with ‘business as usual’ (Stern, 2006). However, emissions during the 21st century must be reduced to a fraction of their present levels before the century’s end in order to stabilize CO2 concentrations (Houghton, 2005; Stern, 2006). Effective responses require collective action (Stern, 2006) and global efforts are needed to develop global solutions to overcome these global problems (Houghton, 2005, Stern, 2006).

Why Does He Do Me This Why?

Osikenoya Usman-Aliu Professor Katherine A. James EN101 February 21,2013 Narrative Essay Why Does He Do Me This Way? I can remember the first day I laid eyes on him it was truly love at first sight. My name is Lily Jackson and I’ll tell you why love is blind. I was 14 years old and in the eighth grade year. I hated eighth grade year because everyone had a boyfriend except for me. I was always the outcast. That all changed for me the second semester in eighth grade. My teacher Ms. Williams announced to the class that we were having a new student join room 411.Everyone was excited, but I wasn’t because it was going to be another student that didn’t like me. Ms. Williams went outside and said â€Å"Class meet Jerome† Everyone started whispering: â€Å"where is he going to sit†? â€Å"What if I don’t like him†? The boys stated† I might have to beat him up if he talks crazy to anybody†? I slouched back in my seat covering my fac e. When he finally walked in everyone’s mouth dropped. The girl’s eyes grew big and the boys were angry. He entered the class and said â€Å"hey everyone† in this nice deep voice.Jerome was tall, handsome, had a clean fade, and beautiful straight white teeth. â€Å"He’ll sit next to Lilly† said Ms. Williams. I shouted BUT I ALWAYS SIT BY MYSELF. â€Å"This will give you time to open up Lilly† Ms. Williams stated in her eager voice. When Jerome sat next to me he smelt so good. I was nervous, but actually I was happy to sit next to the new boy. It was around the time of graduation and Jerome and I had become very close. We were attending the same high school. We grew a bound that nobody could touch. We had become best friends.A few weeks after graduation high school had begun and Jerome and I had almost every class together. Around senior year we grew even closer he would come pick me up for school and drop me off at home. All the girls wanted Jerome because he had a nice body, he was nice, and he gave everyone the benefit of the doubt. The most popular girl in the school was Jenna Hawkins. Every boy dreamed of being with her because she had long beautiful hair, no pimples, and was extremely smart. Her parents were millionaires so she was very spoiled. She drove a Bentley to school, which was all white and was a drop top.One day Jenna approached Jerome and asked him would he like to go to homecoming with him of course he said yes because he never let people down. I was very angry because Jerome and I always attended homecoming together; it was our tradition. When Jerome had dropped me off he asked me who I was attending homecoming with. â€Å"I’m not going â€Å"I stated in my mad voice. â€Å"Are you mad? † Jerome asked. â€Å"I responded NO! † â€Å"Do you want to go with me? † he asked. â€Å"No have fun with Jenna she’s real nice† I responded. He finally drove me off. I ran in my room and started crying.The next day at school I found out that Jerome and Jenna started dating. I was extremely upset. There was a rumor going around that I liked Jerome. Jerome approached me and said â€Å"Do you like me? † I stated â€Å"NO† He stated, â€Å"If you do I understand† I finally stated, â€Å"Yes I like you, I love you Jerome† â€Å"But we’re just friends Lilly and you know that† Jerome stated. I ran off filled with embarrassment. I stopped getting rides from Jerome and I completely cut him off. When Graduation came around I was isolated once again. I didn’t talk to no one. Jerome said, â€Å"I love you Lilly, but only as a friend†.