Compare and Contrast (Prom night to Halloween night)

Since I was little I loved to get dressed up and pretend that I was someone else. I can remember getting excited whenever my mom would experiment with new hairstyles on me or let me play with her makeup. However, from an early age I learned that beauty hurts. I learned this unfortunate lesson while my mom was trying to blow dry my hair and got a brush stuck in it. I remember ending up at the beauty salon, crying as I waited for the hairdresser to cut the brush out. I watched as my long hair was transformed into a short bob. At first I was crushed because I had never had short hair before, but I came to realize that this was a form of change that was only physical and could not effect who I was on the inside. Although your prom night and Halloween may seem like to completely unrelated events that both allow you to recreate and present yourself in a new light.

Prom was a huge event at my high school. It was the one night that everyone would get together and celebrate. However, the biggest thing about prom was what you were going to wear. I attended a Catholic high school and was required to wear the typical schoolgirl uniform everyday for four years. So picking a dress for prom was a big event since it would be one of the few times that my peers would see me dressed up. I remember using all my free periods looking at prom dresses, hairstyles, and makeup ideas with my friends.  After months of research I finally found the perfect dress and accessories to match. My dress was a short blue sequined dress that came with an attachable skirt. At first, I was unsure about my choice because it was not really the type of dress anyone would expect me to wear, but after carefully consideration I decided to get the dress. Prom is a once of a live time event and I wanted to make the most of it. In addition, to finding the perfect dress my friend had gotten us a hummer limo. I couldn’t wait for prom. Prom night itself was a magical event. It was held upstate and had the most amazing scenery. In addition, everyone on there looked amazing and had a great time. My favorite part was that I got to dress up and be a princess for a night.

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. I love the horror and thrills that come along with Halloween, in addition to being able to be someone different for a day. Last Halloween I attended my school’s Halloween dance as a pirate. I choose to be a pirate along with several of my friends because of our obsession with the movie Pirates of the Caribbean. Our costumes consisted of shredded pirated attire, boots, sword, and of course a pirate hat. Throughout the night we danced and had had fun and mingled with the other creatures there. Afterwards we upheld our annual tradition of sleeping over at one of my friend’s house, where we watched horror movies and told scary stories all night long.

My prom night and Halloween night were two completely different events that turned out to have many differences and similarities. Differences between the two events include the atmosphere. Prom was more of a final get together among my classmates and I, while the Halloween dance was a chance for us to just have fun. In addition, the dress codes between the events were complete opposites. The Halloween dance was a chance to be someone totally different while Prom was basically a chance to dress up. Similarities between the two events were despite the location and purpose I had a great time being with my friends. Another similarity was both events gave me the opportunity to step out of my usual comfort zone and become someone else in the process.

In conclusion, despite being two unrelated events my prom night and Halloween night had many similarities in addition to the differences. Both prom and Halloween provided an opportunity for me to show my off my sense of style and personality without changing who I really I am. In addition, I was able to create an alter ego for myself for each event and fulfill it. The differences between my prom night and Halloween included the extent I went to in expressing myself. For prom I wanted it to be like a fairy tale so I kept things traditional. However, I went all out on Halloween transforming myself in to a full on pirate. Despite the differences among these events I had an unforgettable time at both and created memories that will last a lifetime.

New York Times Vs New York Post

Newspapers are becoming a fading medium of entertainment in today’s society. The most common thing people do in our age of technology when they want to obtain more information about a certain subject or want to get the latest news is surf the Internet. However, newspapers can still be a valuable asset in today’s society and are still read by many people. Two of the most popular newspapers out there are the New York Times and the New York Post. Although they both give us the latest stories about what is going on the world around us they each have their own unique writing style and audience for which they are aimed toward.

The New York Times is a conservative newspaper that aims at giving its readers the facts about the current stories and issues going on in the world around us. The articles in the New York Times provide an ample amount of detail and tend to report their stories in an unbiased manner, in order to allow the reader to form their own opinion on the subject.  The writing style of the New York Times seems to be aimed toward readers who just want the facts about the story and nothing more. In addition, the New York Times is divided in to many more sections than the New York Post and covers a wider array of topics. The New York Post, on the other hand is more of a tabloid-based newspaper that can be mistaken for a magazine as you flip through it. The New York Post contains both articles on issues relevant to our society as well as pop culture. The New York Post seems to be aimed more towards the common people as it provides the news mixed with entertainment. For example, the headlines and titles in the New York Post are catchier and the font is bigger. Also, many more of the pictures included in the articles are in color, which help draw attention to the article and entice the reader. Despite these differences between the New York Times and the New York Post there are many similarities between them as well.  Both paper contain similar sections such as, news, sports, and finance.  Also despite the fact that both of these paper both named after New York the contain stories and articles about global topics not just ones that take place in New York.  Both papers report current issues going on in our society and affecting our daily lives.

One story that both the New York Times and New York Post had in common was a sports article relating to the New York Jets football team. The article was about the midseason trade of Derrick Mason, the wide receiver of the New York Jets.  Both papers tell that Mason was sent to the Houston Texans because he was not living up to the expectations that the Jets had for him. According to both papers Mason was having difficulty learning the offense and made negative comments about the teams performance. Although both paper report the same story their reporting styles differ. The New York Post was more effective in grabbing the reader attention because it used an appealing title, “Houston, you have our problem” as opposed to the title the New York Times uses, “After Five Games, Jets Part Ways With Mason.” In addition, in the article featured in the New York Post the picture is in color while in the New York Times it is in black and white. I n addition, although the article in the New York Times was filed with an ample amount of detail it contained relatively few quotes when compared to the New York Post. However, it seemed that the quotes in the New York Post gave the reader a better overview and understanding of the story and the events surrounding it.

Both the New York Times and New York Post are highly acclaimed newspapers that get the job done in reporting the news, but both do it in their own unique style that appeals to different members of our society.

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Advance

On Sunday, October 16, 2011 the American Cancer Society will be holding a Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park at 9:00am.  The Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk is an opportunity to help fight breast cancer by raising funds and awareness. The event is not a race, but rather a celebration of survivorship and strength with the goal of ending this disease that affects so many people.

Breast cancer is a common form of cancer that affects not only women, but also men all over the world. In the United States breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women, except for skin cancer. In addition, breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in woman, exceeded only by lung cancer. According to the American Cancer Society the chance that breast cancer will be responsible for a woman’s death is about 3% and that in 2011 about 39,520 women will die from breast cancer. However, death rates from breast cancer have been declining since about 1990. These decreases are believed to be the result of earlier detection through screening and increased awareness, as well as improved treatment. At this time more than 2.6 million breast cancer survivors in the United States. This shows that breast cancer is not the end and can be overcome as we work towards a cure with the help of events such as the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk.

Cancer survivor Margery “Margie” Gould Rath first developed making Strides in 1984. She wanted to find a way to celebrate fellow cancer survivors by raising funds for the American Cancer Society. Working with a committee of fellow cancer survivors and other volunteers, she created a “move-along-a-thon” called Making Strides Against Cancer to bring people of all abilities in an event to help fight cancer. The first event was held in Boston and drew 200 participants. It became a yearly event in the city. The event officially became known as the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in September 1993. It attracted 4,000 walkers at events in Boston and Manchester, New Hampshire. Since then, Margie’s vision has inspired nearly 7 million walkers to participate in Making Strides events in more than 200 communities across the country while raising more than $400 million to fight breast cancer. Margie remained a dedicated volunteer for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer program until she lost her battle with cancer in 2001.

Help keep this event going and the memory of Margie alive by coming out on Sunday, October 16. While the event has no registration fee or minimum fundraising amount, people of all ages are welcome to participate and encouraged to raise funds. With your help the funds raised can be used for numerous things to help improve the lives of those battling breast cancer including finding a cure. For example, with the funds raised we can educate men and women to live healthy lives to reduce the risk of breast cancer and get screened early, provide people facing breast cancer with information and emotional support, invest in and conduct research that can lead to discoveries into breast cancer’s causes and cures, and work with legislators to support laws that can help fight breast cancer and help all people get access to screening and care.  In 2010, more than 800,000 people across the country joined the American Cancer Society in walking towards a cure and raised more than $60 million. So come out and join us for a few hours of exercise and entertainment as we walk together to put an end to breast cancer while honoring those who have fought or are still fighting the battle.