Sedgefield Elementary School Media Center Essay

Sedgefield Elementary School Media Center - Essay Example Sedgefield Elementary School Media Center However, they expressed a concern on the more active involvement of educators and industry leaders in the state-wide effort of improving the public school curriculum, with the current emphasis on high schools. They have also informed me that they would want Sedgefield to be among the first schools to have its teacher-training program updated, and its learning and assessment systems enhanced. The group has already finalized its action plan to reinforce participation with this program, focusing on their critical role as media specialists in promoting information literacy. They also stressed their strong intent to take an active, collaborative role in specific initiatives that require the center’s support. Another matter which is worth noting is the group’s plan to strengthen our corporate social responsibility efforts. We have decided that while our role as library media specialists may seem remotely connected to corporate social responsibility, we can in fact, create a noteworthy impact, especially in the realm of education. Towards this end, we have already set our objective and action plans for CSR programs that have a particular relevance to education, for the latter half of the year. We have agreed that through these programs, we are not just helping the underprivileged through scaled-up corporate giving or through financial assistance – rather, we are implementing programs that are directly and meaningfully linked to our mission; that is, ensuring that students are successful users of all types of information.

The ethical challenges of the biomedical revolution Essay

The ethical challenges of the biomedical revolution - Essay Example The concept of genetic engineering has risen due to the realization that some medical conditions emanate from genetic abnormalities. Genetic engineering is not a new practice. For example, farmers have long tried to enhance productivity by crossbreeding plants to eliminate undesirable traits and enhance the positive traits. The same case applies to people to explain the root of diseases and highlight disorders that are likely to be transmitted to offspring. The application raises the question of ‘breeding people’ to produce a superior species with disease resistance and desirable traits such as body strength and looks. In fact, there is an increase in the number of women seeking artificial insemination due to the reducing values of traditional institutions of the family. Therefore, the concept of genetics as used today creates ethical challenges because it increases social strains and treats people like animals and plants, which are bred to produce superior offsprings (2 3). Though the above case is practical in the present day, there are possibilities for improvement that would reduce the ethical concerns in the future. For example, germline therapy is a proposed genetic therapy that would erase defective genes and eliminate the possibility of passing the genes to the future generations (26). Though the technology is still in the growth stages, it holds the promise of reducing disease prevalence in the future and thus reduce the cost of healthcare for future generations. It is an advanced form of genetic engineering with an ability to revolutionize the field of healthcare and reduce human suffering. Therefore, though the perception of genetic engineering has a negative outlook, there are possibilities of development that would overcome the ethical concerns held about biomedical revolution. However, religion places God’s supremacy beyond the reaches of human

Heinz Kohuts Theories and Practice

Heinz Kohuts Theories and Practice Heinz Kohut: The Man and His Work Although not as well known as his contemporary Sigmund Freud, Heinz Kohut is equally famous among his peers for his exploration of narcissism and the client’s need for empathy and understanding from his or her therapist. The aim of this paper is to describe the theory and practice of Heinz Kohut and his influence over the author’s practice, both describing the psychological mechanisms that drove Kohut to this line of thinking along with brief vignettes of the author’s own psychobiography that led her to include some of his theory into her work with clients. Usually, far more is known about a psychoanalyst’s work than about his life or persona. Scholars have found it useful to examine the life of a theorist to gain insight into how he may have come to the conclusions he had, especially as there is currently no grand unified theory of therapy. In one of Kohut’s biographies, Siegel (1996) described him as a walking contradiction that has more than a healthy dose of self-love. â€Å"Kohut seemed a strange mixture of aloof, aristocratic and almost puritanical austerity in a warmly responsive and considerate person. He was a very private person and was careful how he let himself appear in public. I never saw him sloppily dressed and I know that he corrected and edited his writings again and again before he was satisfied to release them for publication. He was properly discreet about his health and few of his friends knew that during the last decade of his life he was suffering from a chronic leukaemia in remission. Long before the contemporary popularity of exercise and jogging, Kohut ran, not jogged, his prescribed miles several times a week. He ate sparingly to maintain a trim figure.† Another biographer described him as someone with a profound zest for life that often ‘enraged people or hurt them badly with his intense narcissism (Strozier 2004, p. 12). Perhaps he noticed these traits quite strongly in himself which is why he became fixated on creating a theory of development with narcissism at the core. As a perfectionist, he carefully controlled how others would perceive himself as Siegel stated above. This fastidiousness may have stemmed from his personal history. As the child of two German Jews living under the sword of Damocles that was Adolf Hitler, and the German Imperium of the early twentieth century, the family had to assimilate as best as they possibly could into the society. Europe had long been hostile toward the Jewish Diaspora and conformity was a matter of life and death. Thus, there is a need to develop two selves: the public self and the private self. According to Strozier’s biography, in addition to his legal name, he also had a sep arate name to be used within the confines of his religious community (2004). His further study of the development of narcissism originated in the wholesale rejection of the academic community when he sought to begin his didactic analysis, in order to eventually become a psychoanalyst. The committee cited his narcissism as a bar to entry but his biographer noted that there were several narcissistic psychoanalysts in the 1940’s and suggested that his rejection may have been linked to his rather unorthodox sexual practices (Strozier 2004). In the time that he flourished, he and a few of his contemporaries placed a strong emphasis on the importance of the therapist’s relationship with the client. First is the premise of non-defensiveness. The adoption of an open posture enables the clients to open up and speak freely without fear of being rejected or humiliated, even if the client should express reservations about the therapist herself (Kahn 1997). Although this is extremely difficult to achieve in practice because therapists, like the general population, have ‘sore spots’ and strong value systems that they usually defend quite vigorously. However, once the therapist learns non-defensiveness, the client would feel comfortable speaking about any issue because she feels that her therapist would unconditionally support her. In early psychoanalysis, taking such a humanistic stance was seen as a bold move as psychoanalysts were careful to cultivate a detached, observational role—ensuring a noticeab le emotional distance between therapist and patient. Especially obvious, was the notion of authority—that because the therapist was the expert, his interpretation (as most psychoanalysts at the time were male) was unquestionably correct in the mind of the patient. Kohut fell into the trap himself until he finally stopped and listened to an especially difficult client. In his notes, he writes: I was inclined to argue with the patient about the correctness of my interpretations and to suspect the presence of stubborn hidden resistances†¦For a long time I insisted†¦ that the patient’s reproaches related to specific transference fantasies and wishes on the Oedipal level†¦She became [even more] violently angry, and furiously accused me of undermining her†¦and†¦wrecking her analysis (Kohut qt. Kahn 1997, p. 89). As it turned out, those so-called resistances were his client’s attempts to communicate the reality of her childhood and being constantly misunderstood and ignored. This breakthrough could not have come until Kohut stopped offering interpretations and started to truly hear where she was coming from. While this was one of his more important breakthroughs in the practice of modern therapy, his theory of on the development of the self had drawn many admirers and critics, as he views the development of narcissism with the growth of the self as one-and-the-same. However, a healthy sense of self-love is necessary to flourish, many psychologists and lay-people view narcissism as a pathological elevation of the self at the expense of others at worst, or at best a defence-mechanism against low-self esteem. On Self-Psychology According to Kohut, the grandiose self is the ‘child’s second attempt to regain the lost blissful state by creating a sense of perfection within the self. In this effort, all imperfection is assigned to the world outside’ (Siegel 1996, p. 86). For a child’s psyche, this is a survival mechanism as acknowledging imperfection or flaws within the self causes tremendous amount of psychic pain. This was especially true for one of my clients. Over time, we discovered that she could only feel worthy of respect by projecting this ‘grandiose self’-image’ of success and invincibility—not because she necessarily believes she is superior to others, but because she fears rejection by her peers and contempt from her subordinates should people discover who she really was. According to Kohut, clinging to the grandiose self usually happens if a child’s primary caretaker is not very empathic or the child has been exposed trauma at this time ( Siegel 2006). Part of her therapy includes discovering who this self is. Because she had constructed several layers of false identity, she does not know who she is, as her self-concept was buried in shame, humiliation, and neglect. Most of the patients in the author’s work have exhibited signs of an ‘injured grandiose self’, which necessitated a heavy emphasis on empathy and a mirror-transference over the course of treatment. Applying the Theory: A Case Study For the sake of privacy, no one’s name would be released, so this paper will refer to the author’s client as Nadia. She had been in therapy for several weeks because she had experienced a series of unfortunate events, which made her reflect further upon her life. Her relationships have unhealthy patterns where a suitor would appear to put her on a pedestal during the courtship phase and then when things became settled, she would break off the relationship in search of the next man that would make her feel as special. She has lapsed into a deep depression because her life had taken a course other than what she had envisioned her ‘destiny’ would entail with respect to her career and acquiring certain status symbols (i.e. house and nice car). She withdrew from family and friends not able to face the humiliation that comes with life’s setbacks, partially because she would always speak of how wonderful her life was. Meeting her own expectations and those of her family had become a compulsion as it served to validate her existence and her superiority over others that were somewhat less driven. The author’s role in the interaction is small, but significant. With patients such as Nadia, it is just necessary to listen and establish a sense of twinship—that is, cultivate the feeling that she and I are very similar, having very similar expectations of life. Initially, those seeking therapy are searching for someone to validate them and human nature being what it is, they will not feel understood by someone that seems drastically different confiding in those that are most like themselves, but this tendency is even more pronounced in the narcissist. The client must feel that it is all right to share her feelings; because she is certain that they would be understood unconditionally. According to Kohut, in the mirror/alter-ego transference: â€Å"The patient experiences you as like himself; his thoughts seem to be present in you also, and what’s going on in him he feels is going on in you too. When he feels distant, you are distant from him too. When he is enr aged, he feels you are enraged too† (Kohut, Tolpin Topin, 1996, p. 34). Intriguingly enough, narcissism often provides the patient an unparalleled degree of connectedness as she views the other as an extension of herself and loves her because she loves herself. Conversely, she may hate her therapist because she may reflect back aspects of herself that she does not like. Sometimes, when the client no longer views the therapist as a mirror-object, but another person, the therapy sessions would end because she would no longer take any narcissistic pleasure in understanding herself, however that separation may signal the beginning of deeper changes to come. According to Kohut, once the client becomes subconsciously aware that the therapist and client are two separate entities, she proceeds to narcissistic projection—where she projects aspects of herself unto the therapist (Kohut, Tolpin Tolpin 1996). The therapist then must work through the reasons why her client is sendi ng forth those particular emotions and then encourage her to reflect upon her emotions and the events of the past that brought them out and caused the client to project those emotions onto her, whether those emotions are positive or negative. Reflections To a small extent, the therapist must attempt to keep this interest in play as long as possible for significant change to occur. That does not necessarily mean that a client will be cured—in fact, a cure may not be desirable because narcissism is often necessary for life in the competitive, individualistic cultures of Western nations. This is not a rare practice for psychotherapists to control how they are perceived by their clients, as it is often necessary to project an image of competence as well as physical and mental health in order to increase credibility with them. However, there is the danger of seeming intimidating and unapproachable because clients usually cannot relate to someone that seems perfectly conscientious and undisturbed by the world at all times. They need a mirror to reflect and validate a more empowered version of their self-images. This is where empathy becomes all the more significant in practice. The therapist must always maintain her image as a compe tent professional, but she should be able to convey that she is capable of putting herself into another’s situation and then helping her clients from a position of strength. Biography Greenberg, J.R. Mitchell, S.A. (1983), Object Relations in Psychoanalytic Theory, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press Kahn, M. (1997), Between Therapist and Client: The New Relationship. New York, NY: Henry Holt Company, LLC Kohut, H., Tolpin, P., Tolpin, M. (1996), Heinz Kohut: The Chicago Institute Lectures, Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press Siegel, A.M. (1996), Heinz Kohut and the Psychology of the Self, London: Routledge Strozier, C.B. (2004), Heinz Kohut: The Making of a Psychoanalyst, Chicago, IL: Farrar, Straus Giroux, LLC

The Advertisement of Harmful Products Essay -- Tobacco Marketing

The Advertisement of Harmful Products Psychological Persuasion through advertising: Why tobacco companies are still in business. With continuing advancements in medical research, the harsh reality of tobacco smoke becomes more evident. The deadly effect of smoking tobacco is gaining notoriety in society, and a general social movement towards a smoke-free environment is becoming the norm. Regardless of these obstacles, tobacco companies are determined to stay in business, and absorb the growing backlash against smoking. One main weapon of defense for the tobacco companies is their ability to draw new costumers through persuasive advertising. The majority of new smokers are between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one. Coinciding, the majority of smoking ads are projected to a younger crowd, attempting to dissolve a younger persons's resistance to smoking. Campaigns such as the cartoon "Joe Camel" seem to be directed towards a younger audience. Psychologist John Pierce, of the University of California, says "advertising reduces the conc...

Nuclear power stations and national parks Essay

Who are the interest groups: *Local unemployed *Locals *National power grid *Workers *CND (campaign for nuclear disarmourment) *Green peace *Friends of the earth *Ministry of defence *The government *National parks *BNFL (British nuclear fuels) *Environment agency *CORE (Cambrians opposed to radioactive environment) *ICRP (international commission on radiological protection) *The world Conflicts with the national parks and nuclear power: *Pylons and power lines *Nuclear waste storage *Environmental pollution *High potential health hazard *National park tourism *Livelihood *Nuclear transportation through national parks *Increased leukaemia in area surrounding nuclear power stations See more of the above below; Pylons and power lines: There is considerable controversy not just over the sitting to the national park but also because of the associated high voltage transmission lines needed To connect the stations to the National Grid. Indeed to many observers the construction of these power lines has caused a greater visual impact on the landscape than the construction of the stations themselves. High potential health hazard: There is a high potential health hazard for nuclear power stations if there is a fire or explosion. In Chernobyl there was a meltdown, which they thought would go down into the earths mantle and start a volcanic eruption, but thankfully it didn’t. Environmental pollution: Between 1952 and 1995, Sellafield dumped 182 kilograms of plutonium down a pipeline into the Irish Sea. This amounts to 717 terabecquerels (TBq) of radioactivity–about half the fallout of plutonium in the entire North Atlantic from 520 atmospheric bomb tests in the 1960s. Nuclear waste storage: Tonnes of intermediate (liquid and solid) nuclear waste was being produced in sellafield before there was any known way of storing it safely. So it remained in the station until a ditch was dug for temporary storage. Nuclear waste can be stored safely by turning it into glass ingots by adding borosilicate to the waste, which allows waste to be stored for 50,000 years and not radioactive, and also able to be ground to fine powder sill be harmless. National park tourism: The tourism in the national park would go if there were an accident or proved high radiation levels in the national park, like in Snowdonia N.P or The Lake District N.P. There does not have to be an accident or proof of radiation to stop tourists though, If the plant is despised so much there will be no tourism in the park, then no Maintenance or conservation to keep it a national park unless funded by government. Livelihood: The locals livelihood would be affected by a nuclear power station, E.g. where once was a local green or park is know a towering power station and would be to imposing. Nuclear transportation through national parks: There is great opposition on the transportation of nuclear fuel or waste travelling through anywhere, but especially in national parks. If there were an accident or spill the area/park would be devastated for years if not centuries. There is proof that there is increased numbers of people with leukaemia around nuclear power stations: Here is a story of three girls that died from the radiation and acute leukaemia in sellafield. â€Å"A couple who say radiation killed three of their daughters have pledged to re-open the investigation into the deaths following a damming report into safety at British Nuclear Fuels. Joe and Stella McMaster of Fulwood, Preson, believe radiation from the nuclear industry is to blame for the deaths of their children, Judith, Jill and Lynn. The couple claim BNFL bosses have never explained the tragedies that have devastated their family and they say the revelations about safety at the nuclear giant’s Sellafield plant come as no surprise. Joe, 77, worked as a research chemist at British Nuclear Fuel’s Springfield plant near Preston for 30 years. He said an incident at the Springfields plant in the 1950’s which caused him to inhale Uranium UF6 gas sparked off a catalogue of health problems. Joe claimed his urine samples after the accident showed his uranium content to be 18 times above the normal level. Just months later he lost all of his teeth after they became so loose he could twist them around. But nothing prepared the family for the tragedies that were to follow. After already celebrating the birth of two daughters they were delighted when Stella became pregnant with twins. After a problem-free pregnancy the babies were born six weeks premature but one of the twins, Judith, died at just three days old.It was a hard loss to bear, but the couple consoled themselves with the knowledge that they had three remaining lovely daughters. But in 1973 their second eldest daughter Jill was taken ill. She started a nosebleed that would not stop and she was admitted to hospital for tests. The family were horrified when she was diagnosed as having acute leukaemia. She was moved to a hospital in Manchester where she died two weeks later. It was then that Stella began to question whether their deaths could be linked to Joe’s work with the nuclear industry. In 1988 the family suffered an other devastating blow when their eldest daughter Lynn, a mother of one, was diagnosed with a rare blood disease and died. When I worked at BNFL I was sworn for life to the Official Secrets Act, but now I could not care less. Now I just want to find out the truth,† said Joe. (Lancashire Evening Post 19/2/00) Stella and Joe strongly believe that the reactor fire at Windscale (now named Sellafield) in October 1957 played a vital part. At that time they were on a family holiday a few miles from the plant and the children were playing on the beach, drinking the milk and eating locally grown fresh vegetables. When they returned home they found out that the area had been badly contaminated – milk was being thrown down the drains and vegetables were unfit for human consumption. By then the damage was done. â€Å"We have been assured by medical experts that the timescale between exposure and deaths from leukaemia were correct, but oh no, BNFL still say it is unfortunate but really sheer coincidence†, says Stella. She maintains that when Joe retired at 60, his radiation body count showed 300 Becquerels, although it should only have been around 5. A private blood test confirmed chromosome defects due to radiation exposure. Neither his high body count, dismissed by BNFL as being due to a faulty machine, nor his chromosome damage were ever explained by the company. The couple have been trying to get to the truth for 10 years and will continue to do so. They are sure there are other families worldwide, either employed by or living around nuclear installations who are trying to get justice and they wish them luck. They believe the industry is one big cover-up and condemn the cavalier attitude of the 50’s and 60’s when employees, who were initially selected for being 100% fit, were deliberately exposed to unknown, but now considered unacceptable, risks to their health. They are appalled by the industry’s denials over Joe’s and their children’s health problems. He was never offered compensation for his accident much less any sympathy. â€Å"Never in our wildest dreams did we consider the far reaching consequences and the terrible tragedies. You don’t expect to outlive even one of your children, much less three. If BNFL had to sit at a bedsite and watch each child die, they might be a bit more compassionate† said Stella, â€Å"BNFL just do not want to know – they just brush it all under the carpet and hope we will give up our campaign for truth and justice, but we are sorry to disappoint them.† MP Nigel Evans, who has supported them, urged the couple to carry on fighting until they find out the truth. A BNFL spokesman said: We have had a meeting with Mr. McMaster to try and reassure him that his daughters’ deaths were not related to working at Springfield’s.† Sellafield nuclear power station: Sellafield, formally Windscale and home of the 1957 reactor fire, lies on the Irish Sea coast and alongside England’s famous Lake District. In an area of just one mile by one mile and a half, the site hosts the lethal legacies of nuclear weapons material production, decades of commercial reprocessing residues – and the reputation to go with them. With faltering nuclear prospects at home BNFL are turning to other countries for expansion with claims of expertise. Their failure to first put their own Sellafield house in order is a mark of their lack of credibility, as are the unsolved and long-term problems they leave behind in England. Calder Hall, opened by the Queen in 1956, and it generates enough electricity to supply a city the size of Leeds. Sellafield also has a host of other plants, including two reprocessing plants – one to reprocess the waste from the old so-called Magnox nuclear power stations and one, Thorp, to reprocess spent fuel from the newer privatised plants at home and abroad. Why is nuclear power so unpopular here? Originally because of its close connection with nuclear weapons. The original stations were built not to produce electricity but to make plutonium for nuclear weapons. But the public weren’t told that straight away – in fact not until the 1980s. The industry’s early habit of lying made people sceptical and suspicious. Add to that the sometimes-irrational fear of radioactivity and the appalling results of the Chernobyl accident and the dislike expand into a wish the industry would just go away. The UK Environment Agency regulates discharges of radioactive waste from the notorious Sellafield nuclear site into the sea and air. Sellafield discharges some 8 million litres of nuclear waste into the sea every day. These discharges have made the Irish Sea the most radioactively contaminated in the world, and the contamination has spread along the shores of Wales, Scotland, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and as far north as the Arctic. There is no safe dose of radiation – any level may cause cancers and genetic damage. The Environment Agency is currently holding a public consultation on Sellafield’s discharges of one particularly controversial radioactive substance, known as technetium-99 (Tc-99). Tc-99 has a â€Å"half-life† of 213,000 years, which means it remains dangerous to countless future generations. It also builds up to high levels in marine life including lobsters, mussels, limpets, winkles and seaweed. In 1997 levels of Tc-99 in lobsters near Sellafield reached up to 42 times the European intervention level for food after a nuclear accident. High levels were also found in seaweed in Ireland and Nordic countries and, following international protest, the UK Government promised to act to stop these discharges. Although BNFL reduced its discharges of Tc-99 somewhat between 1995 and 1998, the discharges have since increased again. Discharges of many other radioactive substances have increased too, and there are plans to increase them further. Greenpeace believes that the Environment Agency and the Government are backtracking under pressure from BNFL, the publicly-owned company that operates the Sellafield site. The Government and the Environment Agency could and should act to stop the discharges now. Greenpeace claims that the ground that sellafield is as radioactive as the ground in Chernobyl. A reactor in sellafield Trawsfynydd nuclear power station in Snowdonia national park: The Trawsfynydd nuclear plant is situated on the shores of the Trawsfynydd Lake in North Wales. It was the first nuclear power plant in Britain to be built on a site inland. Its surroundings offer spectacular scenery and interesting wildlife. The plant is one of several Magnox reactors that belong to an earlier design generation which employs steel pressure vessels. The name â€Å"Magnox † reflects that the nuclear fuel is contained within a cladding made out of a magnesium alloy. Magnox stations pioneered the commercial use of nuclear power in the 1960’s and still supply much of Britain’s need for base-load electricity. Their image as the â€Å"workhorses† of the nuclear industry is derived from a reputation for high availability and safe performance. Trawsfynydd is currently being decommissioned. The reasons for shutting this plant down reflected some concerns that the steel pressure vessel was gradually becoming embrittled. Since the site is located within the beautiful Snowdonia National Park, it was considered important that the decommissioning should be made in such a manner that would leave the smallest possible impact on the environment. So they use the safe store construction. Safe store construction Diminishing the visual impact of the plant was one of the demands that the local public viewed as the most important. This is accomplished by reducing the height of the reactor buildings from 55 meter to 32 meters. That requires lowering the height of the tall structures inside the buildings, such as parts of the boilers and the refuelling machines. Safe-store structures of reduced height can then be constructed. 1993- 2004 Trawsfynydd Power Station lies within the boundaries of a National Park of considerable beauty and is located on the northern bank of Llyn Trawsfynydd. Following the decommissioning of the plant, the existing building structure is to be reduced in height and encased in a new ‘Safestore’ envelope. The objective is to reduce and in some cases eliminate the buildings impact within the National Park. The Safestore structure is to provide an aesthetically acceptable, cost effective means of long term, secure storage for specific radioactive materials and structures. As well as minimising the visual impact of the site the structure is based on the following criteria: The design life shall be 135 years. During the majority of this period it is proposed that the site will be unmanned. The structures shall be intruder resistant with a 9m wall also gives an improved visual balance between the lower and upper levels of the external elevations. The landscape within the site boundary will reflect the character of the natural surrounding landscape so the there are no visible boundaries and the landscape flows naturally through the site.

My Zombie Apocalypse

My Zombie  Apocalypse- Written from the view of me in a zombie attack Back of book- When you wake up in the morning you expect it to be sunny and happy and normal like always. But it  wasn't  like that for me not today, not this morning. It was dark darker than i had ever seen it. It was like the sun had gone out. Usually if you get up early enough you can see normal people running, trying to get in shape. But what was running past my house was not normal, not even close to normal.You watch movies about zombies thinking how funny and stupid they are and thinking that it would be so cool to have a zombie  apocalypse  happen that there would be no school, nothing to do. But let me tell you from experience, it is not as cool as it sounds. Summary: Chapter 1- I woke up with a start my heart racing. The dream slowly left my mind, too quick for me to see what it was about. After laying there for about a minute I sat up slowly and stretched my arms over my head  until  I heard a giant pop. Satisfied I rubbed the crust from my eyes and yawned a giant O.I threw off the covers and kicked my legs off to the side of the bed. I felt my toes run through the white carpet, smiling at how soft it was. I padded lightly through the hallway opening the door. I glanced at the clock on the wall; the time read 5:30 am. I did a double take 5:30?! It’s a Saturday! I was walking back to my room but stopped to look out the window in my living room. It was still a dark hue of black outside(delete) and a misty fog rolled around outside. It was so thick I  couldn't  see the houses across the street.The light post on the median that was in the middle of the street shined brightly, helping me see better. As I looked  closely  at the fog a shadowy figure ran out of the fog towards my house. My heart was pounding inside my chest. As I slowly backed away from the window, the figure stopped and turned its head and looked directly into my eyes. Its red eyes bore into m y soul and it opened its mouth and screamed. I covered my ears as the painful sound ripped through my eardrums. It sprinted towards my house. Then as it reached the window of my front door, it  pressed  its face against the lass while its breath fogged up the window. It backed away then took a running leap and crashed through the window. At that  exact  moment I closed my eyes my life flashing before my eyes, and then the world went black. Chapter 2- I could smell smoke, but where was it coming from? Had mom burnt the toast again? I smiled and was about to get up and laugh at how my mother  couldn't  cook anything I froze halfway in my smile. It all came back to me the fog the scream and that thing whatever it was. I jumped up as quick as if someone had shocked me.I swayed and fell and I was about to hit the ground when a strong pair of hands caught me. A deep  grumble like  voice  whispered  in my ear, â€Å"Hey I  gotcha. † I recoiled  automaticallyà ‚  from the strange voice and the hands that gripped me. I stumbled away and turned around to look at this stranger. I felt my eyes pop out and my jaw drop like a fish out of water gasping for air. He smirked at me as if he usually got that kind of reaction at first sight. He was hot! He had dark black/blue hair that swayed to one side and curled up in the end.It was wavy and went down to the collar of his shirt. Then I looked at his eyes, oh how beautiful his eyes were, a rich green that was bright as grass in the summertime and  peaceful  as the trees that filtered sunlight through them. Stubble covered his face as if he  hadn't  shaved for a week. His teeth were white of course and perfectly strait, â€Å"of course†. He was tall and lean and muscled like a runner. He wore a black leather jacket and a  David  Bowie t-shirt. He also was wearing dark black jeans and black and white converse. The stranger looked to be about 19.He laughed which shook me out of my tr ance and he asked me, â€Å"So are you done with your evaluation yet? † I blushed and looked away, mumbling something about how I  wasn't  looking at him. He stuck out his hand and said, â€Å"Hey I’m Drew†. I stuck out my hand as well and i replied, â€Å"Hey,(I think itd be better if it just said â€Å"I’m Teddi) I’m Teddi†. He  grinned  at me and said, â€Å"Well  that's  a name you  don't  hear every day! † I shook my head at him, â€Å"I know right, it’s just that my parents are big history freaks! † The comment brought the thought of my parents into my head. â€Å"Wait what happened?How did I get here? † A sad look came into his eyes, â€Å"Teddi I’m sorry but your family  didn't  make it. † Tears sprang to my eyes as I thought about them I sobbed and sank to a heap on the ground. Tears ran down my face, â€Å"I will (I’ll) never get to see them again, I  didn't  even get to say goodbye. † My hands covered my face as I said this then footsteps came up behind me and he squatted down next to me, â€Å"Teddi don't be sad, they are happy now and they aren't in any pain. † I looked at him and said, â€Å"You think so? † He smiled, â€Å"I know so†. â€Å"Oh wait I have a little surprise for you†. He said.Drew brought his fingers to his lips and whistled. A small thing came running like the speed of light towards me. â€Å"Mia! † I yelled. The brown little Chihuahua jumped on me and licked my face. I laugh bubbled on my lips. â€Å"Mia you little weirdo, how did you survive? † Drew laughed along with me, â€Å"I haven't a clue, but here's what happened while you were  unconscious. † I was running in the neighborhood that morning and I was passing your house and I saw the windows broken, I unlocked the door and pulled out my knife (which he added on a side note that he always runs with) and I walked in.Drew stopped at this moment and grimaced. He continued, â€Å"And there was blood everywhere and I saw your family or what  pieces  were left of them scattered on the ground. I sharply inhaled my breath, tears coming to my eyes again, I said, â€Å"I'm okay, just keep on going†. He smiled at me  sympathetically, â€Å"Okay and then I found you on the ground with your dog right next to you, I saw that you were breathing and I took you to my house. I don't know why but for some reason you  weren't  touched at all.As I was walking out the door something followed me. I turned around and I  couldn't  believe  my eyes. † I  hastily  exclaimed, â€Å"What, was it! † Drew replied, â€Å"A zombie†. I laughed and said â€Å"you have got to be kidding me a zombie? † He frowned and said, â€Å"I knew you  wouldn't  believe me so I brought proof. † That brought me up short, â€Å"Proof? † I swallowed  uneasi ly  and followed him. He took me too a room and inside I could smell something rotten and dead. I coughed and gagged, as I walked into the room I  couldn't  believe what I saw.It looked human but its flesh was rotten and its head was decapitated. He said, â€Å"I told you so†. I said uneasily,† What is going on here? † He looked at me, â€Å"Teddi, I think we’re in a zombie  apocalypse†. (ok tht was really good. There are a few changes that ive put in the story I left the original thing there and put the change in parentheses. Also I think the word â€Å"said† is used a little to much you mite want to change sone of them to a synonym of said. Otherwise the book was awesome. ) My family Apocalypse written from the view of a zombie