Category Archives: RCL

For my issue brief, I plan to address exigence through the use of a couple infographics that relate deforestation to time. These infographics will show that the deforestation in the Amazon is getting far worse as the years progress, and there is thus an exigent need to take action immediately. In addition, I do not remember the precise statistic, but there is an important statistic I read somewhere that said something like: “if the rates of deforestation are not minimized by [insert year here], then the collapse of the Amazon ecosystem will be impossible to prevent. These two techniques will make it clear that we cannot delay on this issue anymore, and that action must be taken immediately to save the Amazon.

As for the rhetorical situation, I will probably discuss the importance of climate change and the prevalence of climate change initiatives in the modern day. Everybody knows that climate change is an issue, and it has developed to have a strong implication. When someone mentions the words climate change, listeners immediately know what they are talking about and already know of its significance. In fact, with such a large number of proponents, climate change is the perfect way to introduce the issues facing the Amazon. If the Amazon deforestation is allowed to continue, the Amazon, being a huge carbon sink, will expel carbon into the atmosphere and worsen the already dangerous issue of climate change. This will help interest various environmentalists and climate change activists, but the main audience of this brief will be those who are not aware of the importance of rainforests. In short, the brief will be designed to educate those that are not knowledgeable on the importance of the Amazon, while also discussing various reformative plans to further educate (programs in schools, websites, flyers, emails, etc.).

For my issue brief, I decided to select the dangers facing the Amazon rainforest as my topic. This topic seemed like an obvious choice, considering I already conducted a good amount of research on it for my civic issues blog. As for the issue brief itself, I plan to split it up into the following sections: introduction, importance of the Amazon, dangers to the Amazon, current measures in place to save the Amazon, reform on these policies, and the conclusion. These subtopics and headings are subject to change, but that is a rough outline of the issue brief’s layout.  Rather than advocating for change to be done, the main goal of this brief will be to inform the reader about the issue at hand, and to provide various methods of reform and elaboration on solutions that are already in place. Infographics will show the benefits of the Amazon rainforest and the extent to which it is being destroyed.

As for the causes of the Amazonian destruction, most of the primary causes fall under the category of ‘inadvertent.’ Most of these dangers are caused by the impact of humans, notably deforestation and pollution. There are some accidental causes, such as lightning strikes that can cause fires, but these causes are almost inconsequential compared to those created by humans. If I were to settle on a single cause to analyze in the issue brief, I would likely focus on deforestation, as it is by far the most impactful cause of the Amazon’s destruction. In addition, it is a lot more specific than pollution. Global pollution is a problem for many reasons that have nothing to do with the Amazon, so creating a brief about pollution could be tricky. In other words, pollution is such a huge issue in the world that narrowing down a solution or reformative solutions would be difficult to do, and probably far too abstract. On the other hand, deforestation is an issue that is perhaps most important to the Amazon rainforest. Sure, deforestation is also a global issue, but the magnitude of its impact is at its maximum when in relation to the Amazon rainforest. Researching this approach would thus be narrow enough for an issue brief, and specific enough for this topic. Furthermore, there are many issues with current anti-deforestation protocols that would be easy to research and reform.

Of the four policy instruments, I would probably utilize all of them except inducement. In elaboration, I would probably utilize mandate and system change together, by focusing on a solution that involves changing government laws and control over environmental issues by employing stricter mandates on the businesses that are prime deforestation contributors. In addition, I might address the capacity builder method, because it is one of the easiest methods to incorporate. There’s truly no downside to this method. You can easily put out informative flyers, posts, emails, etc. These informative pieces of text will never make the issue of rainforest destruction worse. They are only capable of benefitting the issue at hand. With very few downsides, this method is always a great option to use, whether it be as a primary feature of education or as a supplement to other important legislation changes. In fact, education can be used with the previously discussed methods. In order to minimize backlash from tighter environmental restrictions, educative policies can be released to give reasoning to unexpected policy changes.

For my civic issues blog, I have decided to pursue the conservation of our planet’s plants and animals, focusing mainly on the rapid extermination of the world’s rich biodiversity.

For my passion blog, I have decided to begin writing about various music artists, focusing on their discography. Included will be my ratings and rankings of various albums by that artist.

I believe in the importance of personal suffering. No, I do not wish intense suffering on anyone. However, I have come to value the personal advancements made possible by enduring intense pain. 

My struggles began, ironically, on a flight back from Disney World, the happiest place on Earth. Naturally, this being the first flight of my life, I was weary. Midway through the flight, the weight of the situation began to sink in. Situated in a vehicle soaring 35,000 feet above the ground, shaking against the turbulent storm, my mind began to race. Flashes of scenes from Castaway played through my head. I tried to drown out these terrors with music, but the damage was already done. The curved walls of the plane began closing in, trapping me in my metal coffin. Overcome by terror, the nausea took hold, and I threw up. I couldn’t tell what happened after that, the rest was a blur. Waking up the next morning, the pain in my stomach persisted. Thinking I must have picked up some sort of viral infection in Disney, I denied any possibility of a mental disorder. Days passed. Weeks passed. Eventually, after months of nausea, perplexed doctors, and deteriorating hope, the time came for my first day of high school. Equally nervous and excited, I woke up that morning to a similar feeling. The baby blue walls of my room morphed into the cramped cabin of that fateful passenger plane. The low hum of the aircraft enveloped the room and my nightlight became the flash of a monstrous storm swallowing the doomed vehicle. Paralyzed by that accursed memory, I was again overcome with a sickening feeling in my gut. Unfortunately, this pattern repeated every day for the next year and a half, even after identifying this as anxiety disorder and seeing a therapist. With seemingly no hope in sight, my will to continue this difficult way of life began to diminish. Negative thoughts in my head manifested into physical cuts on my arms and legs. Death was, in fact, the easiest escape from this daily pain. But, I kept going, clinging on to what little hope I had left. Eventually, after hours of therapy, the severity of my panic fits subsided, and I was able to return to a productive life. 

Despite being the hardest years of my life, I learned that, albeit cliché, I am stronger than I had previously believed. Anxiety provided far more difficult tests to me than AP Biology did that year, and I handled both at the same time. I soon realized that my determination to achieve only the best was far stronger than any setback my brain could conjure, so I began to test myself in new ways. In the first year after my anxiety, I joined five honor societies, became the trombone section leader, performed another solo in marching band, got a job, volunteered at the local library, became involved in countless leadership roles, and aced three AP and two honors classes. 

Another unexpected outcome from my anxiety disorder was my newfound ability to understand other’s mental health issues. Not many people understand what others are going through; but I do. After going through it myself, I have been able to detect and address mental issues in many of my friends. In four instances, I discovered suicidal intentions, and decided to inform the police, helping to save their lives. Although I had to experience over a year of pain, I sincerely believe it was worth it. Without my suffering, I would never have been able to appreciate my potential. More importantly, however, I am now able to make a difference in the world by aiding those with similar struggles.