Social entrepreneurship project
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P_MbeF_h8kM5BFencrZp4asiW9coaMtEjX7B3XUvFU0/view
Luke Stetler
Sellers ⅗
15/5/15
Project Reflection
In this project, we were asked to create a business that helped to solve a social problem. As a group of four, we were to create a business proposal, project portfolio, and a marketing strategy. In my group, I was In charge of the business proposal. This means that I had to make sure that it was done, polished and ready for exhibition. However, as a group we did much of this together.
This project taught me about globalization in entrepreneurship. During the project, I learned the most about social entrepreneurship. Before we started this project, I did not know social entrepreneurship existed. Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve wanted to be an entrepreneur. Now that I know of another type of entrepreneurship, it may help me find a job when I’m older. In the midst of this project, I also learned a lot about the world’s problems. Before the project, I had no idea that there are so many like poverty, sanitation, and lack of clean water and lack of healthcare. Now that I know this, it gives me a wider perspective on the world.
For my entire life, I have been a very good collaborator. I love to be social and I’m a very big extrovert. I know that this helped me during this project. Our group was made up of driven personalities. This means that we all want to take charge. When we were planning our project, we had an object that we had to be holding before we spoke. This made it much easier to know whose turn it was to talk--so we didn’t talk over each other. Listening to everyone in the group made our collaboration more successful. In the end, it made the product much better because all of our ideas were heard. Throughout the project, our group argued quite a bit. In the end, it made the result much better because everyone shared ideas and had a say in the outcome. Personally, I don’t think that the collaboration could’ve been any better. Maybe we could’ve done a little less yelling. But other than that, I think our group was very good.
There are many differences between fixed and growth mindset. For myself, I think I have a fixed mindset toward school. This makes it hard for me to have a positive attitude toward some of the things I do. This project is a perfect example of a time when I was very proud of my work. Sometimes, I just wanted to give up, and that was my fixed mindset. I pushed through and really try to embrace the growth mindset. If there is a time I could go back and change my mindset, it would’ve been in the middle of the project when there was a bunch of work that we had to do and not very much time to do it. This made it very hard for me to work with the growth mindset. Still, I pushed through and I’m learning and trying my best to always have the growth mindset.
During the exhibition, I felt very comfortable the whole time. I spent my free time at the humanities exhibition because I enjoyed the project so much. I spoke quite a bit at the presentation and responded to many questions, including, “Why did you focus on infrastructure?” and, “How can you make that house so cheap?” I had answers to all the questions as a result of our discussions and planning during the collaboration. We studied the product in depth before the exhibition, and I was well prepared for the presentation. The hardest part of the exhibition for me was trying to work some model and explain it at the same time. This is the difficult because I was trying to do two things at once. If I were to do this exhibition again, I would like to have more time to present. Since it was an all school exhibition, I only got to spend 30 minutes of time at this project. However, I am very glad that we had a free period so that I could spend it there at that project.
Sellers ⅗
15/5/15
Project Reflection
In this project, we were asked to create a business that helped to solve a social problem. As a group of four, we were to create a business proposal, project portfolio, and a marketing strategy. In my group, I was In charge of the business proposal. This means that I had to make sure that it was done, polished and ready for exhibition. However, as a group we did much of this together.
This project taught me about globalization in entrepreneurship. During the project, I learned the most about social entrepreneurship. Before we started this project, I did not know social entrepreneurship existed. Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve wanted to be an entrepreneur. Now that I know of another type of entrepreneurship, it may help me find a job when I’m older. In the midst of this project, I also learned a lot about the world’s problems. Before the project, I had no idea that there are so many like poverty, sanitation, and lack of clean water and lack of healthcare. Now that I know this, it gives me a wider perspective on the world.
For my entire life, I have been a very good collaborator. I love to be social and I’m a very big extrovert. I know that this helped me during this project. Our group was made up of driven personalities. This means that we all want to take charge. When we were planning our project, we had an object that we had to be holding before we spoke. This made it much easier to know whose turn it was to talk--so we didn’t talk over each other. Listening to everyone in the group made our collaboration more successful. In the end, it made the product much better because all of our ideas were heard. Throughout the project, our group argued quite a bit. In the end, it made the result much better because everyone shared ideas and had a say in the outcome. Personally, I don’t think that the collaboration could’ve been any better. Maybe we could’ve done a little less yelling. But other than that, I think our group was very good.
There are many differences between fixed and growth mindset. For myself, I think I have a fixed mindset toward school. This makes it hard for me to have a positive attitude toward some of the things I do. This project is a perfect example of a time when I was very proud of my work. Sometimes, I just wanted to give up, and that was my fixed mindset. I pushed through and really try to embrace the growth mindset. If there is a time I could go back and change my mindset, it would’ve been in the middle of the project when there was a bunch of work that we had to do and not very much time to do it. This made it very hard for me to work with the growth mindset. Still, I pushed through and I’m learning and trying my best to always have the growth mindset.
During the exhibition, I felt very comfortable the whole time. I spent my free time at the humanities exhibition because I enjoyed the project so much. I spoke quite a bit at the presentation and responded to many questions, including, “Why did you focus on infrastructure?” and, “How can you make that house so cheap?” I had answers to all the questions as a result of our discussions and planning during the collaboration. We studied the product in depth before the exhibition, and I was well prepared for the presentation. The hardest part of the exhibition for me was trying to work some model and explain it at the same time. This is the difficult because I was trying to do two things at once. If I were to do this exhibition again, I would like to have more time to present. Since it was an all school exhibition, I only got to spend 30 minutes of time at this project. However, I am very glad that we had a free period so that I could spend it there at that project.
Education Mini Project
Luke Stetler
1/7/15
Sellers 3-5
Life as a student
Throughout all of elementary school I loved going to school. For this time in my life I chose the song By My Side by myself Luke Stetler. This song is all about being happy. I wrote this song for my friend that was getting married. I have implemented all of the happy aspects of his life with her. I have a line in there that says “and that was when, my whole world turned around” when I relate this back to school, I think of how when I walked into kindergarten it totally changed my life forever. I loved my teacher so kindergarten was an amazing experience for me.
When I entered middle school I had a completely different mindset on school. When I was in middle school I hated going to school every day of the year. For this time in my life I chose the song Lips are movin’ By Meghan Trainor. There is a line in the song that says “your lip are movin tell me do you think I am dumb.” The way that you can easily translate this line into my reality is in middle school I felt like they were babying me the whole way through. Just like the song says, “tell me do you think I am dumb.”
My current state in life is high school. For my life right now I have picked the song American Dream. Like it perfectly states in the song “whatever happened to the American Dream.” We watched a documentary in class today displaying how the United States is falling behind in almost all academics. The way that the song relates to how my life is right now is that I can see how the American Dream is slowly fading because of the education that the schools are giving us.
1/7/15
Sellers 3-5
Life as a student
Throughout all of elementary school I loved going to school. For this time in my life I chose the song By My Side by myself Luke Stetler. This song is all about being happy. I wrote this song for my friend that was getting married. I have implemented all of the happy aspects of his life with her. I have a line in there that says “and that was when, my whole world turned around” when I relate this back to school, I think of how when I walked into kindergarten it totally changed my life forever. I loved my teacher so kindergarten was an amazing experience for me.
When I entered middle school I had a completely different mindset on school. When I was in middle school I hated going to school every day of the year. For this time in my life I chose the song Lips are movin’ By Meghan Trainor. There is a line in the song that says “your lip are movin tell me do you think I am dumb.” The way that you can easily translate this line into my reality is in middle school I felt like they were babying me the whole way through. Just like the song says, “tell me do you think I am dumb.”
My current state in life is high school. For my life right now I have picked the song American Dream. Like it perfectly states in the song “whatever happened to the American Dream.” We watched a documentary in class today displaying how the United States is falling behind in almost all academics. The way that the song relates to how my life is right now is that I can see how the American Dream is slowly fading because of the education that the schools are giving us.
All Quiet on the Western Front seminar reflection
Seminar Reflection
Luke Stetler
Reactions:
Many comments in this seminar were about how terrible war is. One comment that really caught my attention was when Mitchell said, “War is a horror, peoples’ friends die, your family dies, and in the end everyone dies.” This comment summarizes the hopelessness that this book communicates. Jonathan put it a different way: “War is never positive, it always ends badly.” I agree fully with what he said. I would have put it a different way, I would say that no matter how a country wins the war, all of the soldiers and the people involved in the war would be physically and physiologically devastated.
Detailed Response:
One of the major questions that was asked at the seminar was, “Is this an anti-war novel, why or why not?” My opinion is this is not an anti-war novel. It may illustrate that war is bad, but the book also shows comradeship that is built in stressful times. Clearly, it shows that the war itself is bad, but it demonstrates that even in the most terrible circumstances human relations can flourish.
Self Reflection
During this seminar, I didn’t do a very good job of expressing my feelings about the book. I didn’t understand the book as well as I wanted and so I didn’t want to discuss it. Jonathan said the point that I made about whether the book was an anti-war novel was a good point and that it made a lot of sense. He also said that that point was worthy of a good grade. Even though I did not talk very much, I did contribute to the conversation a lot.
Luke Stetler
Reactions:
Many comments in this seminar were about how terrible war is. One comment that really caught my attention was when Mitchell said, “War is a horror, peoples’ friends die, your family dies, and in the end everyone dies.” This comment summarizes the hopelessness that this book communicates. Jonathan put it a different way: “War is never positive, it always ends badly.” I agree fully with what he said. I would have put it a different way, I would say that no matter how a country wins the war, all of the soldiers and the people involved in the war would be physically and physiologically devastated.
Detailed Response:
One of the major questions that was asked at the seminar was, “Is this an anti-war novel, why or why not?” My opinion is this is not an anti-war novel. It may illustrate that war is bad, but the book also shows comradeship that is built in stressful times. Clearly, it shows that the war itself is bad, but it demonstrates that even in the most terrible circumstances human relations can flourish.
Self Reflection
During this seminar, I didn’t do a very good job of expressing my feelings about the book. I didn’t understand the book as well as I wanted and so I didn’t want to discuss it. Jonathan said the point that I made about whether the book was an anti-war novel was a good point and that it made a lot of sense. He also said that that point was worthy of a good grade. Even though I did not talk very much, I did contribute to the conversation a lot.
Slaughterhouse 5 seminar reflection
Slaughterhouse 5 Seminar Reflection
Reactions:
A very interesting question was asked at our seminar. The question was “what do the tralfamadorians mean to Billy Pilgrim.” There were many good points made such as, “the Tralfamadorians are just a character in the book that represent someone looking in on a situation. When Billy is taken to another planet, it is almost like he is now put in a situation where he is now the underdog instead of being on top. On the planet Tralfamadore, he is put on display in a zoo. There was also another human there, a woman about the same age. They got married and then Billy was sent back to Earth so it made it very confusing about what was going on with that.
Detailed Response:
A question that was asked during the seminar was “did Billy really get kidnapped by Aliens and travel in time?” I think that he was in fact kidnapped and traveled in time. throughout the book he travels in time a lot. I think that he hates doing it but it is like a dream, you can’t control it. The author makes these images so vivid in his mind I believe that they were true.
Connections:
During the Slaughterhouse 5 seminar it made me think a lot about a movie that I saw when I was 10. I don’t remember the name of it but it was about a person that could freeze time and go back in time. Like Billy does in this book, he goes back to traumatic events that happened when he was a little kid. The difference is he used his powers to fix those things instead of just going back to them. I am sure that if Billy could control his time travel he would change the events as well.
What connections can you make between AQotWF and slaughterhouse 5:
When I think back on reading the 2 books I can think of a lot of things in common, but the thing that stood out to me (and a lot of other people as well) is that they were both anti-war novels. All Quiet on the Western Front and Slaughterhouse 5 both showed how bad war can be. In AQotWF it shows it in the present, while Slaughterhouse 5 shows flashbacks of it. Either way they both show how terrible war is for the people in it and the people who know what it is like.
Reactions:
A very interesting question was asked at our seminar. The question was “what do the tralfamadorians mean to Billy Pilgrim.” There were many good points made such as, “the Tralfamadorians are just a character in the book that represent someone looking in on a situation. When Billy is taken to another planet, it is almost like he is now put in a situation where he is now the underdog instead of being on top. On the planet Tralfamadore, he is put on display in a zoo. There was also another human there, a woman about the same age. They got married and then Billy was sent back to Earth so it made it very confusing about what was going on with that.
Detailed Response:
A question that was asked during the seminar was “did Billy really get kidnapped by Aliens and travel in time?” I think that he was in fact kidnapped and traveled in time. throughout the book he travels in time a lot. I think that he hates doing it but it is like a dream, you can’t control it. The author makes these images so vivid in his mind I believe that they were true.
Connections:
During the Slaughterhouse 5 seminar it made me think a lot about a movie that I saw when I was 10. I don’t remember the name of it but it was about a person that could freeze time and go back in time. Like Billy does in this book, he goes back to traumatic events that happened when he was a little kid. The difference is he used his powers to fix those things instead of just going back to them. I am sure that if Billy could control his time travel he would change the events as well.
What connections can you make between AQotWF and slaughterhouse 5:
When I think back on reading the 2 books I can think of a lot of things in common, but the thing that stood out to me (and a lot of other people as well) is that they were both anti-war novels. All Quiet on the Western Front and Slaughterhouse 5 both showed how bad war can be. In AQotWF it shows it in the present, while Slaughterhouse 5 shows flashbacks of it. Either way they both show how terrible war is for the people in it and the people who know what it is like.
Historical Writing Project
This is the link to my Paper:
This is the link to my Paper:
Luke Stetler
Normandy Landings
When you have been on a boat for hours on end, everything around seems to be moving. It was Saturday June 6th, 1944.
“I have been ready for this day for a long time,” I say to one of my comrades.
“I thought this whole thing was supposed to happen yesterday,” he says back.
The landings on Normandy were originally scheduled for June 5th, but due to horrible weather, the landing is postponed. It was lucky we get out today because the forecast was for bad weather for months. Luckily, there was a patch of hope on June 6th, so we take advantage of it.
“I’m ready to get off this damn boat,” someone yelled.
“Shut up John,” the captain yelled. “Everyone is ready to get off this damn boat.”
I turn my head to look at the front of the boat. There were people hanging off the front throwing up into the vast, endless ocean. I felt very sick but it wasn’t from the sea. It was from seeing so many other people sick. I tried to get up and help them because I was the only medic on the boat, and I felt obligated to try do whatever I could to make them feel better. I knew that we were about to go into a war that could shift the tide in the allies’ favor, and I knew that everyone needed to be in perfect condition. Upon trying to get up, I was thrown very harshly back down by the huge waves. I gave up, knowing that even if I got to them, there would be no way for me to help.
“We are getting close,” yells Don from across the boat.
“How do you know?” I yell back.
Don pointed up towards the sky. I look up and see birds starting to circle our boat.
“Birds mean that we are getting close. Them annoying seagulls don’t go more than fifty miles off shore. We couldn’t be more than a an hour to go,” he yells to me loudly.
“Is there a chance that they could have seen our boats and came further out to sea?”
“No. They aren’t curious enough to risk going further than they normally do.” He told me.
I stand up and walk to the front of the boat and look out over the vast expanse of ocean.
“Don’t bother going up there,” one of my comrades says.
“Why not?” I asked.
“it is much too foggy to see anything.” He told me, “plus the front of the boat is covered in vomit and we don't need our only medic getting sick.”
“Like you just said, I am a medic. I can handle a little vomit.” I told him.
“Okay,” he said, “but if you get sick I can say I told you not to.”
“I just want to see the land when it shows up,” I say back.
My comrade was right, it was much too foggy to see anything. In fact, it was even hard to see the other ships that were only five hundred feet away. The boats were spread out because Ohama beach was five miles long. The taking of this beach was crucial to the Allies’ success because it linked up the British landings on Gold Beach to the East and the American landings to the west on Utah Beach. If this mission failed, and the Nazis fended off the Allies, it would be very hard to push the Nazis back. The point of this mission was to start to push the Nazis back. It was time for the Allies to take back what is rightfully theirs.
“Fifteen minutes till landing,” the captain yells. “Everyone go over what you are supposed to do.”
I look around and see everyone starting to get nervous. Everyone gets together to discuss what is going to happen when the front of the boat drops. I tend to stay out of these kinds of conversations because I have a much different protocol. My job is to try to save people in the order of the severity of the wounds. I have been directed to not help people that do not have a chance. This goes against all that I stand for but I am going to do what I am told. I was told to keep as many people going as I can. The problem is, none of us know what we were in for. They have told us that the bunkers have been bombed. They said that most of them had been destroyed so that the resistance wouldn't be any problem. They were bombed by the American and British air force and also had been trashed by some of the allies destroyers that had been there the day before. I have a lot of trust in the American and British armies, so I have trust that we are going to be okay. but we have to be ready for anything.
“Ten minutes,” the captain tells us.
Now my mind starts to race. The fear was very strong; I can feel it in the air. I help one of my friends up who was still on the deck. He was very sick, and he needed help getting up. I lead him over to the side of the boat to let him throw up one last time before hitting the beach. I look forward and I can see the beach in sight. We were now only four hundred feet away. I can see that the beach didn't seem to have any damage to it. All of the defences to keep ships and people from coming up on shore seem to be totally intact. I help my friend sit back down and then I look back toward the beach that is getting closer and closer. I can now see the concrete bunkers that lined the hills above the beach. They did not look damaged either. That’s when the thought goes through my head that this is going to be more bloody than I had expected.
“Two minutes till landing,” the captain yells at us.
“What are we in for captain?” John yells up to him.
“I don’t know” he yells back. “We have to be ready for anything.”
I look back at the captain and tell him that we are almost there.
“This battle we are about to fight is the start of a new era. It is time for the Allies to take back what is ours!” the captain yells.
“Yaaaaaa,” everyone in the boat yells back.
We were getting closer and closer to the beach now, I can hear the waves crashing on the beach.
“For America! We will survive!”
Just then, our boat hits the shore and the front drops. I’m in the back. As soon as it drops, I hear the machine gun open fire on us. Before we realize what was going on, half of us are already dead. One of the few rules they told us is never to jump off the side of the boat because the huge packs we carry will send us to the bottom of the ocean. People are so scared they forget all rules and jump off the side. Just like they said, the jumpers are taken to the bottom of the ocean and many never resurface. The ones who do, don’t have any gear. They are sitting ducks. I see some of them grab the packs of dead soldiers.
By this time, I am off the boat and onto the beach hiding behind a metal barrier used to keep tanks and ships from coming onto the land. Luckily, there were many of these barriers so it is much easier for troops to find shelter from the heavy machine gun fire.
“We need some help over here, Luke,” John yells.
I look over and see the captain lying on the ground bleeding out.
“Grab me the wraps and the bandages from my pack,” I yell at John. “You are going to be fine captain, I promise,” I tell him.
“Here they are Luke,” says John.
“Wrap the wound. That will save him,” I tell John
“Okay, thank you so much,” John says.
I run back over to my barrier but I feel a sharp pain in my leg. I am hit. It is excruciatingly painful. The pain is so terrible I collapse and can’t get up. I lay there for a second but then realize that I’ve got to get up to help others. I grab my bag and take some of the wraps from it and wrap my leg. I lay there for another second until I can get the strength to get up. I limp over to my barrier and fall down again. Just then an explosion happens right in front of my eyes. One of my comrades is standing near the explosion and he gets his arm blown off. He stands there for a second not knowing what happened, then he looks down at his arm and screams so loud that it pierces my ears. I run as fast as I can to him grabbing his blown off arm in the process. He is still screaming.
“Someone help me,” he yells, “please anyone please!”
“I am here,” I tell him. “You are going to have to relax if you are going to live.” I turn to reach for my bag but suddenly the screaming stops. I turn back around to find he is already dead. I look into his eyes and check for his pulse but he is already gone. He looks peaceful there on the ground. I bet most of the people out here wish they could end up like that, so at peace.
“Snap out of it Luke,” John yells at me. John yanks me away from the body. I come back to reality suddenly to realize that there are so many bodies lying on the ground and I am paying attention to this one soldier who I never even knew. Some of the bodies were so mutilated I cannot even recognize my best friends.
“We have to advance,” the captain yells. He is now up and moving, but not very well. “There is a hill fifty feet ahead, we have to make a run for it. If people start to get shot around you, you have to keep advancing. There are some barriers up above we need to advance to those, and then to the hill.”
“What about for the people who can’t walk or run?” I yell at him.
“Leave them behind. They can’t help us,” he yells back at me.
“I’m sorry captain, I can’t do that,” I tell him.
“Then I will shoot you dead right here because you are no use to us anyway.”
“Okay, I will come,” I say.
“Good choice.”
I stumble to the second line of barriers. I can see bullets flying past my body inches away. I dive to get behind the barriers without getting hit. Every now and then, a bullet hits one of the metal barriers and ricochets dangerously close to my comrades. I can’t help but look back to the ocean. It is red with the blood of my fellow Americans.
“We have to advance,” I tell the others behind the same barrier. “Pass the message that we will advance in one minute.”
“Luke, we need your help over here,” someone yells from the other barrier. I look over to see a man cut in half from the machine gun fire.
“Can you save him?” someone asks me.
“I’m sorry, man, he is gone. I don’t have the supplies or the training to help him, I’m sorry.”
“This is my brother,” he yells at me.
“There is nothing I can do,” I tell him. “We have to advance to the hill otherwise we are all going to end up like him.”
“How could you say that to me?”
I grab his pack and yank him away from his brother. I look around to see if anyone else needs help. I tell him to run to the hill. Finally, he listens and dives behind the hill. I turn around and see that everyone is running to the hill. I run and duck behind the hill right next to John. A communicator comes and dives next to me.
“I am trying to radio into the base but nothing seems to be going through,” he says to me.
“Keep trying, it will go through as soon as communications are not blocked,” I tell him.
By this time, we are in range to start shooting back at the Germans. Everyone still alive takes out their rifles and starts fighting. After about a minute, the machine gun from the German bunker goes totally silent. The captain orders everyone to stop shooting. We sit there in silence for a minute until we are certain that the people firing the machine guns are dead. The captain orders us to take the hill.
“Privates, lay down some cover fire while I take a group to advance,” the captain says.
“Where do you want me captain?” I ask him.
“I want you to stay here to help anyone that needs it,” he tells me.
I watch as the captain gets a group of elite soldiers to advance up the hill.
“Now,” he yells.
All the elite soldiers jump over and run. The rest of us lay down cover fire just to make sure that group won’t have problems getting to the bunkers. The soldiers get further and further up the hill with no trouble. But then the machine gun comes back to life as they get about three quarters of the way up. Now the elite group are easy targets for the gun.
“Don’t stop!” the captain yells.
By the time that the remaining soldiers are out of range of the gun, half of their group is still on the hill, lifeless. Their bodies mangled by the machine gun. Finally, they go around the back and take the bunkers. From down the hill, we see our comrades flooding the bunkers. Again, the machine gun goes silent. This time, it was for good. I see the captain in the opening of the bunker. He signals us up to the top of the hill. I march up the hill with my comrades.
“I can’t believe we did it,” John says to me.
“I don’t know how I feel about this,” I say back
“As soon as you get to the bunkers and see all of the dead Germans, I am sure you will be a lot happier,” he says to me.
“I hope you are right.”
I turn around and see everyone shaking hands, and I can see in their eyes how happy they are. I know I didn’t do enough to help all the people we lost. There is no joy for me. I don’t care about taking the bunkers or winning the battle. All of those people didn’t deserve to die. Since I’m not exactly happy we won, I am one of that last to reach the top of the hill. Everyone else is already there.
“Privates, you go through the bunkers and make sure there is no one still alive,” the captain orders.
“Yes sir,” one of them says back. It is another fifteen minutes before they come out and give the all clear.
“Go on in there Luke,” the captain says to me.
I do as he says and go into the concrete bunkers. I walk through the dark, musty bunkers. Dead Germans are everywhere.
I walk up to the ledge and look over the beach. The machine gun is right next to me. I can just see how easy it was to kill so many of us within such a short time.
I hear a noise coming from the corner. I look over to see a German soldier. Obviously, this is one of the men who killed so many of my friends today.
I pull my gun. I point it at him and squeeze the trigger.
“Keine, bitte!” he pleads.
He is badly hurt with countless gunshot and shrapnel wounds. He is bleeding from his abdomen and his head. I’m pretty sure he won’t make it, just like many, many of my best friends.
As I’m about to pull the trigger, I realize he can’t be more than 16 or 17 years old. He is just a boy and he needs my help.
I put my gun down because I want to know why all my friends had to die. This boy should be in school, yet he is out here killing to protect a country that has been so terrible to so many. Does he know who he represents? Does he know his leader? This boy and his country have killed millions of innocent people including my friends. He has invaded countries that did nothing to him. He has put many more millions into terrible living conditions.
“Why did you do this? Why did my friends have to die?”
He just stares at me, bleeding.
I lift my gun. I put it down.
I turn to the beach.
“Why me,” I ask myself. “Why do I deserve to live and not the people on the beach, their bodies dismembered? Why have so many people all over the world suffered and died for so little? I should have helped more people than I did, or died trying. I know I couldn’t have helped everyone, but I could have saved more than I did.”
I look back over the edge to see it is about 100 feet down. I take a breath, and jump.
Normandy Landings
When you have been on a boat for hours on end, everything around seems to be moving. It was Saturday June 6th, 1944.
“I have been ready for this day for a long time,” I say to one of my comrades.
“I thought this whole thing was supposed to happen yesterday,” he says back.
The landings on Normandy were originally scheduled for June 5th, but due to horrible weather, the landing is postponed. It was lucky we get out today because the forecast was for bad weather for months. Luckily, there was a patch of hope on June 6th, so we take advantage of it.
“I’m ready to get off this damn boat,” someone yelled.
“Shut up John,” the captain yelled. “Everyone is ready to get off this damn boat.”
I turn my head to look at the front of the boat. There were people hanging off the front throwing up into the vast, endless ocean. I felt very sick but it wasn’t from the sea. It was from seeing so many other people sick. I tried to get up and help them because I was the only medic on the boat, and I felt obligated to try do whatever I could to make them feel better. I knew that we were about to go into a war that could shift the tide in the allies’ favor, and I knew that everyone needed to be in perfect condition. Upon trying to get up, I was thrown very harshly back down by the huge waves. I gave up, knowing that even if I got to them, there would be no way for me to help.
“We are getting close,” yells Don from across the boat.
“How do you know?” I yell back.
Don pointed up towards the sky. I look up and see birds starting to circle our boat.
“Birds mean that we are getting close. Them annoying seagulls don’t go more than fifty miles off shore. We couldn’t be more than a an hour to go,” he yells to me loudly.
“Is there a chance that they could have seen our boats and came further out to sea?”
“No. They aren’t curious enough to risk going further than they normally do.” He told me.
I stand up and walk to the front of the boat and look out over the vast expanse of ocean.
“Don’t bother going up there,” one of my comrades says.
“Why not?” I asked.
“it is much too foggy to see anything.” He told me, “plus the front of the boat is covered in vomit and we don't need our only medic getting sick.”
“Like you just said, I am a medic. I can handle a little vomit.” I told him.
“Okay,” he said, “but if you get sick I can say I told you not to.”
“I just want to see the land when it shows up,” I say back.
My comrade was right, it was much too foggy to see anything. In fact, it was even hard to see the other ships that were only five hundred feet away. The boats were spread out because Ohama beach was five miles long. The taking of this beach was crucial to the Allies’ success because it linked up the British landings on Gold Beach to the East and the American landings to the west on Utah Beach. If this mission failed, and the Nazis fended off the Allies, it would be very hard to push the Nazis back. The point of this mission was to start to push the Nazis back. It was time for the Allies to take back what is rightfully theirs.
“Fifteen minutes till landing,” the captain yells. “Everyone go over what you are supposed to do.”
I look around and see everyone starting to get nervous. Everyone gets together to discuss what is going to happen when the front of the boat drops. I tend to stay out of these kinds of conversations because I have a much different protocol. My job is to try to save people in the order of the severity of the wounds. I have been directed to not help people that do not have a chance. This goes against all that I stand for but I am going to do what I am told. I was told to keep as many people going as I can. The problem is, none of us know what we were in for. They have told us that the bunkers have been bombed. They said that most of them had been destroyed so that the resistance wouldn't be any problem. They were bombed by the American and British air force and also had been trashed by some of the allies destroyers that had been there the day before. I have a lot of trust in the American and British armies, so I have trust that we are going to be okay. but we have to be ready for anything.
“Ten minutes,” the captain tells us.
Now my mind starts to race. The fear was very strong; I can feel it in the air. I help one of my friends up who was still on the deck. He was very sick, and he needed help getting up. I lead him over to the side of the boat to let him throw up one last time before hitting the beach. I look forward and I can see the beach in sight. We were now only four hundred feet away. I can see that the beach didn't seem to have any damage to it. All of the defences to keep ships and people from coming up on shore seem to be totally intact. I help my friend sit back down and then I look back toward the beach that is getting closer and closer. I can now see the concrete bunkers that lined the hills above the beach. They did not look damaged either. That’s when the thought goes through my head that this is going to be more bloody than I had expected.
“Two minutes till landing,” the captain yells at us.
“What are we in for captain?” John yells up to him.
“I don’t know” he yells back. “We have to be ready for anything.”
I look back at the captain and tell him that we are almost there.
“This battle we are about to fight is the start of a new era. It is time for the Allies to take back what is ours!” the captain yells.
“Yaaaaaa,” everyone in the boat yells back.
We were getting closer and closer to the beach now, I can hear the waves crashing on the beach.
“For America! We will survive!”
Just then, our boat hits the shore and the front drops. I’m in the back. As soon as it drops, I hear the machine gun open fire on us. Before we realize what was going on, half of us are already dead. One of the few rules they told us is never to jump off the side of the boat because the huge packs we carry will send us to the bottom of the ocean. People are so scared they forget all rules and jump off the side. Just like they said, the jumpers are taken to the bottom of the ocean and many never resurface. The ones who do, don’t have any gear. They are sitting ducks. I see some of them grab the packs of dead soldiers.
By this time, I am off the boat and onto the beach hiding behind a metal barrier used to keep tanks and ships from coming onto the land. Luckily, there were many of these barriers so it is much easier for troops to find shelter from the heavy machine gun fire.
“We need some help over here, Luke,” John yells.
I look over and see the captain lying on the ground bleeding out.
“Grab me the wraps and the bandages from my pack,” I yell at John. “You are going to be fine captain, I promise,” I tell him.
“Here they are Luke,” says John.
“Wrap the wound. That will save him,” I tell John
“Okay, thank you so much,” John says.
I run back over to my barrier but I feel a sharp pain in my leg. I am hit. It is excruciatingly painful. The pain is so terrible I collapse and can’t get up. I lay there for a second but then realize that I’ve got to get up to help others. I grab my bag and take some of the wraps from it and wrap my leg. I lay there for another second until I can get the strength to get up. I limp over to my barrier and fall down again. Just then an explosion happens right in front of my eyes. One of my comrades is standing near the explosion and he gets his arm blown off. He stands there for a second not knowing what happened, then he looks down at his arm and screams so loud that it pierces my ears. I run as fast as I can to him grabbing his blown off arm in the process. He is still screaming.
“Someone help me,” he yells, “please anyone please!”
“I am here,” I tell him. “You are going to have to relax if you are going to live.” I turn to reach for my bag but suddenly the screaming stops. I turn back around to find he is already dead. I look into his eyes and check for his pulse but he is already gone. He looks peaceful there on the ground. I bet most of the people out here wish they could end up like that, so at peace.
“Snap out of it Luke,” John yells at me. John yanks me away from the body. I come back to reality suddenly to realize that there are so many bodies lying on the ground and I am paying attention to this one soldier who I never even knew. Some of the bodies were so mutilated I cannot even recognize my best friends.
“We have to advance,” the captain yells. He is now up and moving, but not very well. “There is a hill fifty feet ahead, we have to make a run for it. If people start to get shot around you, you have to keep advancing. There are some barriers up above we need to advance to those, and then to the hill.”
“What about for the people who can’t walk or run?” I yell at him.
“Leave them behind. They can’t help us,” he yells back at me.
“I’m sorry captain, I can’t do that,” I tell him.
“Then I will shoot you dead right here because you are no use to us anyway.”
“Okay, I will come,” I say.
“Good choice.”
I stumble to the second line of barriers. I can see bullets flying past my body inches away. I dive to get behind the barriers without getting hit. Every now and then, a bullet hits one of the metal barriers and ricochets dangerously close to my comrades. I can’t help but look back to the ocean. It is red with the blood of my fellow Americans.
“We have to advance,” I tell the others behind the same barrier. “Pass the message that we will advance in one minute.”
“Luke, we need your help over here,” someone yells from the other barrier. I look over to see a man cut in half from the machine gun fire.
“Can you save him?” someone asks me.
“I’m sorry, man, he is gone. I don’t have the supplies or the training to help him, I’m sorry.”
“This is my brother,” he yells at me.
“There is nothing I can do,” I tell him. “We have to advance to the hill otherwise we are all going to end up like him.”
“How could you say that to me?”
I grab his pack and yank him away from his brother. I look around to see if anyone else needs help. I tell him to run to the hill. Finally, he listens and dives behind the hill. I turn around and see that everyone is running to the hill. I run and duck behind the hill right next to John. A communicator comes and dives next to me.
“I am trying to radio into the base but nothing seems to be going through,” he says to me.
“Keep trying, it will go through as soon as communications are not blocked,” I tell him.
By this time, we are in range to start shooting back at the Germans. Everyone still alive takes out their rifles and starts fighting. After about a minute, the machine gun from the German bunker goes totally silent. The captain orders everyone to stop shooting. We sit there in silence for a minute until we are certain that the people firing the machine guns are dead. The captain orders us to take the hill.
“Privates, lay down some cover fire while I take a group to advance,” the captain says.
“Where do you want me captain?” I ask him.
“I want you to stay here to help anyone that needs it,” he tells me.
I watch as the captain gets a group of elite soldiers to advance up the hill.
“Now,” he yells.
All the elite soldiers jump over and run. The rest of us lay down cover fire just to make sure that group won’t have problems getting to the bunkers. The soldiers get further and further up the hill with no trouble. But then the machine gun comes back to life as they get about three quarters of the way up. Now the elite group are easy targets for the gun.
“Don’t stop!” the captain yells.
By the time that the remaining soldiers are out of range of the gun, half of their group is still on the hill, lifeless. Their bodies mangled by the machine gun. Finally, they go around the back and take the bunkers. From down the hill, we see our comrades flooding the bunkers. Again, the machine gun goes silent. This time, it was for good. I see the captain in the opening of the bunker. He signals us up to the top of the hill. I march up the hill with my comrades.
“I can’t believe we did it,” John says to me.
“I don’t know how I feel about this,” I say back
“As soon as you get to the bunkers and see all of the dead Germans, I am sure you will be a lot happier,” he says to me.
“I hope you are right.”
I turn around and see everyone shaking hands, and I can see in their eyes how happy they are. I know I didn’t do enough to help all the people we lost. There is no joy for me. I don’t care about taking the bunkers or winning the battle. All of those people didn’t deserve to die. Since I’m not exactly happy we won, I am one of that last to reach the top of the hill. Everyone else is already there.
“Privates, you go through the bunkers and make sure there is no one still alive,” the captain orders.
“Yes sir,” one of them says back. It is another fifteen minutes before they come out and give the all clear.
“Go on in there Luke,” the captain says to me.
I do as he says and go into the concrete bunkers. I walk through the dark, musty bunkers. Dead Germans are everywhere.
I walk up to the ledge and look over the beach. The machine gun is right next to me. I can just see how easy it was to kill so many of us within such a short time.
I hear a noise coming from the corner. I look over to see a German soldier. Obviously, this is one of the men who killed so many of my friends today.
I pull my gun. I point it at him and squeeze the trigger.
“Keine, bitte!” he pleads.
He is badly hurt with countless gunshot and shrapnel wounds. He is bleeding from his abdomen and his head. I’m pretty sure he won’t make it, just like many, many of my best friends.
As I’m about to pull the trigger, I realize he can’t be more than 16 or 17 years old. He is just a boy and he needs my help.
I put my gun down because I want to know why all my friends had to die. This boy should be in school, yet he is out here killing to protect a country that has been so terrible to so many. Does he know who he represents? Does he know his leader? This boy and his country have killed millions of innocent people including my friends. He has invaded countries that did nothing to him. He has put many more millions into terrible living conditions.
“Why did you do this? Why did my friends have to die?”
He just stares at me, bleeding.
I lift my gun. I put it down.
I turn to the beach.
“Why me,” I ask myself. “Why do I deserve to live and not the people on the beach, their bodies dismembered? Why have so many people all over the world suffered and died for so little? I should have helped more people than I did, or died trying. I know I couldn’t have helped everyone, but I could have saved more than I did.”
I look back over the edge to see it is about 100 feet down. I take a breath, and jump.
Here is the link to my reflection
Project Description:
In this project, we had to write a historical fiction paper on either World War 1 or 2. This paper had to be 5-7 pages long and had to show in some way the truth of war. Towards the beginning of this project we read, “All Quiet on the Western Front” and “Slaughterhouse 5” that gave us all a better idea of how to discuss the truth of war in our books. We learned about setting, plot, and characterization too, that told us that every one of these elements is very important if you want to craft a beautiful short story. I thought this was a very fun project where we had a lot of freedom and could be as abstract as we wanted to. For example, I know that one of the students in our class wrote about war from a horse’s perspective. We had to go through multiple drafts of our story, that took a lot of time, but hopefully paid off to earn a good grade.
Literary Strengths:
I think I did a good job on creating a round character in my story.
In the beginning of the story: “I am at a hard time right now. Lately, I have been feeling so depressed about this event and everyday I would pray to my God to help these innocent, loyal men who are fighting for their rights.”
At the end: I am not angry, sad, or happy, but just a curious, old man. I have come to a conclusion in my head that war will never truly end. War and disagreement in general is part of human nature.
Literary Weakness:
I think one thing I struggled on during writing this story was the historical integration. I think this is a weakness in my paper, and it was hard to be really creative with also adding in historical background on the issue.
In this project, we had to write a historical fiction paper on either World War 1 or 2. This paper had to be 5-7 pages long and had to show in some way the truth of war. Towards the beginning of this project we read, “All Quiet on the Western Front” and “Slaughterhouse 5” that gave us all a better idea of how to discuss the truth of war in our books. We learned about setting, plot, and characterization too, that told us that every one of these elements is very important if you want to craft a beautiful short story. I thought this was a very fun project where we had a lot of freedom and could be as abstract as we wanted to. For example, I know that one of the students in our class wrote about war from a horse’s perspective. We had to go through multiple drafts of our story, that took a lot of time, but hopefully paid off to earn a good grade.
Literary Strengths:
I think I did a good job on creating a round character in my story.
In the beginning of the story: “I am at a hard time right now. Lately, I have been feeling so depressed about this event and everyday I would pray to my God to help these innocent, loyal men who are fighting for their rights.”
At the end: I am not angry, sad, or happy, but just a curious, old man. I have come to a conclusion in my head that war will never truly end. War and disagreement in general is part of human nature.
Literary Weakness:
I think one thing I struggled on during writing this story was the historical integration. I think this is a weakness in my paper, and it was hard to be really creative with also adding in historical background on the issue.
Vietnam Art piece
My Art piece represents my perspective statement in many ways. My perspective statement is asking "why do so many men women and children have to die for such little gain?" Over the course of the Vietnam War, millions of lives were taken. It was thought that if Vietnam fell to the Communists then all the surrounding countries would. This is known as the domino effect. For my art piece, I decided to do an interesting design where you have a base sheet, then you have a sheet on top cut in half. On the top of the paper it says STOP WAR in all capitals. Then when you open it up, there's my artist statement that says "millions of men women and children dead for such little gain." I thought this is an interesting idea because I hadn't seen anyone else do it, and I wanted to have an intricate design.
The revision process of my piece was very difficult. From the first draft, it was hard to get the bubble letters on top of the paper. This is why you see all the bubble that are ours on my first draft, I was trying to get the perfect bubble R and I wasn't able to do it. Finally, I had toLook up on the Internet how to do it. But as you can see on my final draft, the bubble letters turned out to work perfectly.
One thing that influence my project is an image and I saw surfing the web. It was an image of a guy in a suit holding up a glass of wine and then next to it, a person lying dead on the ground. This is where I got my idea of millions dad for such little gain. This is why I chose to do the opening design. So I could show both sides. This is why you see an American flag above such a little gain. From the Vietnam War, we did not gain anything.And thanks to my peers, I was able to express that on paper.
The revision process of my piece was very difficult. From the first draft, it was hard to get the bubble letters on top of the paper. This is why you see all the bubble that are ours on my first draft, I was trying to get the perfect bubble R and I wasn't able to do it. Finally, I had toLook up on the Internet how to do it. But as you can see on my final draft, the bubble letters turned out to work perfectly.
One thing that influence my project is an image and I saw surfing the web. It was an image of a guy in a suit holding up a glass of wine and then next to it, a person lying dead on the ground. This is where I got my idea of millions dad for such little gain. This is why I chose to do the opening design. So I could show both sides. This is why you see an American flag above such a little gain. From the Vietnam War, we did not gain anything.And thanks to my peers, I was able to express that on paper.