Which/Who’s side?

Politics have never interested me as much as they have interested my family and my peers. Picking a party to follow and stand behind, backing a presidential candidate, and getting into fights with people over politics has never really been my thing. My grandpa, a radical republican, sends me multiple emails a day trashing the Democratic Party. When it comes time to fill in the ballots, he not only tells us to vote Republican, but he sends my whole family all of the “correct” votes and why those votes are the ONLY acceptable ones. The constant flood of (frequently) irrational emails being sent into my inbox daily has pushed me more and more away from thinking conservatively. Being forced to do something has always pushed me away from doing what I am told, like any natural teenager. Other than my grandfather, many of my peers, teachers, and members of my family are liberals. I have been able to hear and reason their opinions on the hot politic topics and see what the Democratic opinions are.

One day when I was putting my preferred party down on my registration card, I almost checked the Democrat box. But why, I asked myself. Because I don’t like what my grandfather says? Because the only Republican views I’ve seen were from a radical? Sure I come from a very liberal state but I wasn’t about to conform and be a Democrat either. Hearing liberal thoughts at school and conservative thoughts in emails wasn’t about to decide my political party and what I stood for.

It then came down to the decision on which party to register for. When this time came, I felt like a little girl who couldn’t read a book. I didn’t know much about politics and was relying on the opinions of my elders and not the facts that I could have been studying up on. At this point in time, I decided that I wasn’t qualified to decide to be a conservative or a liberal. For the meantime, I am registered independent. I will only make the choice that could possibly be one of the most defining moments of my life when I deem myself knowledgeable and worthy.

Miracles can happen

This morning, as I was watching the today show, I came to the realization that experimentation and hope can lead to miracles. Annie Dauer and her husband Greg are celebrating the fourth year of celebration of their child Sienna’s birthday. Mrs. Dauer not only overcame cancer with chemotherapy and radiation, but she was able to conceive a child naturally after she had her own ovary removed and re-implanted into her body. Prior to her chemotherapy, Annie had an ovary removed and frozen in hope that she would survive her cancer and one day be able to conceive a child with her own DNA. After an extended period of time after her ovary was removed and frozen, she overcame her cancer. With only two successful children born into the world after this experimental procedure, the doctors were skeptical about the chances of her actually conceiving. Four years ago, Annie, the third child to be born after this procedure, was born.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26772455/

Experimenting is one of the most important things we need to be doing in our world of medicine. This experimental procedure, which fails in many women, was one of three which have worked so far. I think the hope and determination in couples who do this procedure are incredible. They are keeping positive attitudes that the cancer will be abolished and they are also planning for their future after the cancer is gone. The hope they had and the willingness to go through with this amazing experimental procedure was astounding. This couple is proof that miracles can happen. With continued experimentation and hope, this procedure and many others may give hope to many cancer patients throughout the world. Cancer may be able to kill and limit people from the rest of their lives, but with hope and the willingness to take a few risks, cancer may turn into merely a bump in the path of life.