I believe that the main lesson of this book is to follow your dreams no matter what. Life has many twists and turns, some that some that make you mad, happy, excited, sad, or even have mixed emotions. Still, no matter what, God always has a reason for what he is doing. In Blindsided, Natalie loses her sight, her Bree dies, Natalie and Meredith face a bear and a goat giving birth, and Natalie is attacked by two criminals. Though, these parts of the book would be nothing if Natalie never faced life again. From this book, I have realized that people all around the world have disabilities, yet they still go after their dream. Anything you do has bumps along the way, so why stay hiding out. I want to live a fulfilled life as a doctor. After this book, I realized that anything is impossible and I will do anything to achieve my goals.
Carrying on awkward conversations has always been something hard for me to do. I never try to offend people, but sometimes words will just spill out. In this chapter, Meredith was put to the challenge of having a normal time with Natalie even though she can not see. On page 214, Meredith admitted, "I keep forgetting you can't see." It must be hard for not only Natalie, but the people around her to deal with this large turn in the journey of life.
People always say things that they regret. I, in fact, am always joking around with my sister. Here is one time this happened: Mom: Siena, you are not clumsy or stupid, you just need a little common sense. Siena: (crying) Why are you so angry I did not understand what you meant! Dad: All we said was to take the timer out of the outlet in the living room. Siena: Well, I'm sorry! (parents walk away) Olivia: I can't believe you tried to pull a wire out of the bottom of a lamp! You are so stupid!!! Siena: MOMMMMMM!!!! Olivia: Wupps!! I believe that this is a rough patch in Natalie's journey. With every adventure, there are bumps along the way. I feel that Bree passing away is part of Natalie's journey. She must overcome this just as she is overcoming her blindness. Yet, I still do feel that Natalie is being blindsided in many different ways in this section of the book. Priscilla Cummings is trying to regain suspense that she had throughout the book. You wonder whether she will hide away as Miss Audra said, or will again face the world. I believe that it is not only Bree's death that haunted her. She was scared that another person would again hurt her and did not want to be trapped in that position again. In conclusion, I believe that, though it will take time and effort, Natalie will again face the world with the help of friends and family.
1. It would be difficult to interact with friends and family when you don't know where to look
2. It would be difficult to see a movie at a theater when you can't see the movie 3. It would be hard to keep in touch with your friends if you can't see the texting buttons on your phone 4. It would be difficult to go out at night 5. It might be difficult to use your cane in front of large crowds 6. People might be mean and make fun of you 7. Traveling by yourself would be difficult 8. Walking on the streets by yourself would be difficult 9. Picking out outfits would be difficult 10. Changing classes in a regular school would be difficult 11. Knowing that your friends can drive would be difficult 12. People might draw not needed attention to you 13. People might judge, label, or bully you because you are blind 14. Making new friends would be difficult 15. Making plans for the future could be difficult 16. It would be hard to gain self- confidence in yourself 17. Going to new places would be difficult because you would need to learn your way around 18. Things would take much longer to do 19. You would always need assistance to do many things 20. People can take advantage of you; for example, it would be hard to tell between money bills "It is in you. But it takes practice. It takes self-confidence"
These few words can make someone achieve something unbelievable. To me, these few words act as an extra boost. When you are pushing to get a project done or reach some sort of a goal, these words will mean the world to you. When I hear them, I feel empowered that someone else believes in me and knows that I can get the job done. A time when I heard a version of these words was when I was studying for the COOP. I was worried and stressed that I would not know what to do and would not finish the test in time. Fortunately, my teachers and parents helped me through the test. Mr. Wild helped me to learn the material even though he knew the test was much easier than what I was practicing. I am glad that my teachers helped me to feel prepared. I am so grateful to have such amazing teachers, like Miss Audra, who helped me study for the COOP. Bullying is someting that goes on all around the world and should be put a stop to. Fortunatly, I have never witnessed bullying in my school and believe that it has to do with our daily bully pledge that we say. We adopted the bully pledge into our school community a few years ago. A few people peformed a skit on the effect of bullying during an assembly in the gym. I feel that every school should say the bully pledge because it reminds kids of what bullying can do. Overall, I believe that bullying should be put to an end and one way to do that is by saying the bully pledge as a quick reminder.
Natalie making a promise with God really changed the plot of the story. Natalie was finally letting down her guard and was finally metally, physically, and intelectually stable with her state. She accepted that her eye sight would not get better, but still had hope it would not get worse. Priscilla Cummings is portraying that Natalie accepting life at her new school and was able to connect more personally with her instructors.
I have been in several times where I had made a promise to God. One time was when I was in this position was when my mother was stuck deep in the ocean. My dad then went out to go get them and they didn't come in for twenty minutes. I was so scared the entire time that all I could say was, "Please, God." I feel that Natalie acted the way she did in front of Jake because of her sight problems. She would be scared to go out at night to a football game where she knew so many things could go wrong. Still, I feel that Natalie was suprised. She was confused why someone would ask her out when she was going blind. She didn't think that anyone would like her the same if she had a disability. She did the same thing to the person that was running for senator. She is not believing in herself enough. She thought that people were only gesturing to her for sympathy reasons or because they did not know of her disability. The real problem was with her. She didn't have enough confidence that people would see her the same way.
This has happened to me several times. Before a test or big project presentation, I worry that I am not fully prepared. I believe that if I had more confidence in myself, I would be able to do better because believing in yourself is key to success. Emotionally: When something occurs in life that brings out emotions like disgust, anger, anxiety, and sadness, many try to shut these emotions out by steering clear of this place or remembering this time. In Blindsided, Natalie trys to emotionally shut out her emotions about going blind, but she finds it a hard topic to manuever around. It haunts her all day as her eyes are opened and she is either with friends, at home or in school. For example, when Meredith comes to her house, Natalie trys to hide the fact that she is going blind, but she soon finds herself sobbing as tears run down her face. Even though people do shut out their emotions, they really should let them out because every time this topic comes around the corner, you will try to cower down. People should learn to let out their emotions to their loved ones because you will find how much they will have helped you.
Intelectually: Many, including me, have resorted to true factual evidence in times of need. In Blindsided, Natalie would constantly ask Dr. Rose about her eyesight. She wanted to be able to learn as much as she could about her eyesight. She thought that she might have been able to find a scapegoat for her illness. She wanted to know all about what was wrong with her eyes. She thought that maybe in some way she could be cured and get out of this mess. Infact, as true as fact is it is not able to be altered into a way out. Natalie thought that with one of her surgeries the fact of her blindness would change, but it won't. Intelectually thinking will not change a thing, it may only tell you what you don't want to hear. In Natalie's case fact reveals her blindness and will not help her. Physically: Sometimes, when something happens, people try to physically prepare for this new change. In Blindsided, Natalie is in a class at her new school with Mr. Lee. Mr. Lee teaches his students how to physically prepare for becoming or being blind. He teaches them how to defend themselves, yet he also shows that your mental state is a big part of how you prepare. You have to believe in yourself to acheive your goal. I feel that this is a very important lesson in life no matter what you are going through. *From each of these entrees, we learn that emotionally, intelectually, and physically preparing for something is important, but you must remember that you need a balence of all three of these things. If I were Natalie, I would physically, intellectually, and emotionally prepare if I was about to lose my eye sight. I would want to make sure that I was prepared before I fully went blind. Right now, in Natalie's life, she is going through many obsticles that she must overcome. I believe that she is know finally getting used to her lack of sight. Still, I feel that her friends and family are continuously worrying her about her disability because she is different then them. Her friends and family don't mean to do this to her, she just feels different then them. Especially when she has conversations with them including the her melancholy phone call with Meredith. At her new school, as much as she doesn't like it there, she feels normal because all the other kids have the same disability as her. I feel that once Natalie understands God message to her, she will become greater than she ever was. I have gone through a tough time in life, which led me to a new open door. A few years ago, I had to leave my soccer team because there weren't enough kids for the team. All the other girls from the team went to try out for another travel team, but I never got the chance to since I was on vacation. I was really sad that I wouldn't be able to play and see all my teammates and coaches. I soon realized that this was a good thing. I was able to spend quality time with my dad playing golf, which so exciting. Now, I play golf in many tournaments and am having much more amusing and enjoyable than any other sport I have ever played. I am so happy that God led me to this new corridor of oppurtunities. |
BlindsidedBy: Priscilla Cummings |