Traditions and Marriage

I agree with many points mentioned in the article. A lot of women expect men to propose in a romantic and creative way. They expect it to be a surprise; however, I believe that men and women should talk more about marriage because it is a big thing. They also go to huge extents to plan enormous "fairy-tale" weddings. And it is not just women who have harmful expectations- men do as well.

I do not think my parents had the typical engagement or marriage. When my dad proposed he did not get down on one knee; instead, he handed my mom a box and said, "I think you know what this it." And, they did not have a huge marriage, they got married in the rose garden in the Morris Arboretum. Their engagement and marriage was more practical, which is a good thing.

Wonderful Gift and Awesome Responsibility

There are several themes in the article which I was familiar with. For example, they emphasized how it was a big responsibility. If you are sexually active, you should be prepared both financially physically and emotionally for a pregnancy. It should also be with somebody who you truly love and it should be a bonding experience, not just an act for physical pleasure. Obviously, they also promote chastity until marriage, and no sexual intercourse for gay or lesbian couples.

Some new aspects which I learned from the article is that they looked at intercourse in two different dimensions. The unitive dimension talks about sex as an expression of vulnerability. A two-in-one bonding experience this dimension also relates to marriage. The second dimension is the procreative dimension, which is pretty self-explanatory. Although I knew about both sides, I did not know how the church looked at each of them. I knew about the latter, but did not really think about the former. They also mentioned that if a married couple does not want kids they could "make use of the infertile time" which I thought was pretty funny.

There are themes that I think should be talked about, but were not mentioned in the article. For example, I know that the church does not agree with methods of contraception, but I feel that they should at least be mentioned more than they were. I also think it would benefit them to mention something about sexual predators for young children and teach the younger children that if something inappropriate happened to them that it is a huge issue that cannot be ignored because a traumatic experience like that can lead to later problems in life if it is not addressed. It also mentioned that the two persons should have a "stable relationship" but did not go as in-depth and explain what a stable relationship is. For example if a a man and a woman are married and have kids, and one of the parents is abusive, I would not call that a stable relationship. But they are married, so everything is okay right? NO! I think that the church should address that and make the meaning of a "stable relationship" clearer.

Mission Statement

Since I am now a senior that will soon be applying to college, I will be making a lot of very important decisions this year. I am not one of those people that knew what college they wanted to go to or what career they wanted to pursue before they even got to high school. Honestly, I have absolutely no idea what college I want to go to. I am not even sure of all the schools I want to apply to yet! However, one thing I do know is that I am a hard worker, and I do not give up. I always try my best, because in the end that is the most you can do in life. So, no matter what school I end up attending or what I end up doing in the future, I will never stop working as hard as I can and to the best of my abilities.

Three specific factors that have affected my identity are my family, my friends and my travels.

My family has had and will continue to have a huge influence on my life. I have a mother, a father, a brother. My mom's name is Alison and she is the best mother I could ever ask for! She is an amazing cook and she is very outgoing. She loves meeting new people and is always supportive of me. If I ever need advice, she is one of the first people that I go to. My dad's name is Mike and he is really quite, unlike my mom. He can also be really funny when he wants to be and he is patient. My brother's name is Julian, and he is one of the most sarcastic people that you will ever meet. Even though we used to fight a lot when we were younger, we are now much closer.

I have no idea what I would do without my friends. Whenever I am upset or angry, I can always go to my friends to make me feel better. They are all really funny and energetic. I have a lot of friends that go to school at the Mount, and there are also many that are outside of school. Kim, one of my best friends, goes to Wissahickon High School. I have been friends with her since 3rd grade, and even though we are much different, we get along well.

 Lastly, my travels have had a large affect on my life. They have opened my eyes to different party of the country, as well as the world, and have exposed me to different cultures. I have been to Costa Rica, Canada, Dominica, St. Johns, Hawaii, California and several other places. I never really realized how lucky I truly was, until I traveled to Dominica (a very poor country in the Lesser Antilles). There were people who were living in shacks and did not have clean water or food. However, instead of complaining about what they did not have, they were appreciative of what they did have.