Lyndsey M.

Battle

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English 112
Extended Inquiry Essay
Professor Julia I.
April 6, 2015
Second Chances

In the movie Pay It Forward there was a young man who wanted to change the world by
helping at least three people and then telling them to do the same to three other people. Throughout
the movie, you could see the young boy helping others by giving them a second chance. From the
drug addict he help get back on his feet to his mother who struggled with alcoholism and abuse. In
giving these people a second chance he was able to revive people, who had felt as though they had
failed at life. As a person, we all know that no one is perfect. We are incapable of being able to do
everything flawlessly. Some may mess up more than others, but all in all we mess up in general. This
causes us to feel as though we have failed and in most peoples eyes we have failed. Maybe its in
marriage, in school, jail time, family, drug abuse, alcoholism and jobs. These things can create the
feeling of failure and a want to give up on life. However, when it feels as though all hope is lost there
is this special little thing that pops into everyone lives at least once in their life. This thing has the
possibility to change someones life. This thing is called a second chance.

Second defined by the Webster dictionary as one that assists or supports one another.
Chance which is defined by the Webster dictionary as a situation favoring some purpose. Those two
definitions together is a situation favoring some purpose that assists or supports. That is exactly what
a second chance is. When youve had mess up the painting and now its too late to start over, a
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second chance can give you that new blank canvas to start again. But really the best part about
second chances is there are not just for some people, or for some situations but they are for
everyone and everything little or small. Second chances have the ability to changes lives and our so
important. But how amazing can these things be if they are not used properly? In many cases of
second chances they are abused and not treasured and this can keep can ruin the wonder and the
beauty of second chances. The other worry something about second chances is do we only get one?
I, mean wouldnt that stink! We are bound to mess up big and small, more than once. So what then?
Not, to mention now in our age of media and computers letting us know everything with a simple
google search, can people really have second chances anymore? Well, those are all the Debby
downer questions and together lets discover the real idea of second chance. Lets meet people who
know as more than just a phrase. Lets learn about the new world and open possibility of second
chances whether they are for good or whether they not used properly. Putting aside the notion that
this is just a onetime gift but a continual lifetime gift. Maybe looking at it as something that life is
made of. The answer questions and thoughts cannot in simple way by books or research, but by
people. The key to truly understanding the human gift of a second chance is by talking to those who
have been given a second chance.

Christina Battle is a smart, beautiful and kind girl. She spends her time working with inner
city youth and being a personal nanny. If you ask anyone who knows Christina about her some
would say her smile can light up a room, or she has the sweetest soul, or even that she lives to serve
others. Christina by most would be describe as the perfect ideal daughter. So how could someone of
like this young woman who seems to have it all figured out possibly know about second chances? In
an interview I got to see for myself. Christina even though being raised in homeschooled Christian
home, did find herself at one point in her life traveling down the wrong path. After a while of being on
this road that could have potentially messed her reputation and the worlds view on her she was
given a second chance. With this experience under her belt it has given her
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more of an appreciation and understanding of second chances. When asked what second chances
are to her she said A jumpstart after a failure. She also said that second chances were important
because no one should be define by a past mistake and it shouldnt be something that holds people
back. Finally to conclude in her interview she states that everyone in life is given more than one
second chance, because she also was given more than just one second chance. However she does
feel as though no one can see that because second chances are abuse all the time.
Tiffany Purnell a single mother of four knows the idea of second chances. She can tell you
the good but she also reminds of the more negative points on second chances. In a simple face to
face interview with Ms. Purnell I got to take a look at her perspective. She simply described second
chances as the fresh start you never knew you really needed. In our interview Tiffany goes one to
describe them as a freeing thought to hold onto which can be good thing but also a damaging thing.

Sometimes we allow ourselves to do awful and harmful things to ourselves and other, thinking that if
we screw this up its okay because we can get a second chance. That is not the case Second
chances are priceless gifts that should be treated as when they are received. This was a
perspective of second chances that we dont normally look at, but the truth in it is so real and true in
many cases. Tiffany she came to this understanding by being around selfish people and their
mentalities and also by having been in that same state of thought. To her second chances are given
more than once but at some point in time they stop and if you fail to have taken advantage of them
then there is no getting out for you.
Lynette Baldwin Battle is a compassionate woman, but also an honest straight to the point
person. In my past interview I talked to people who dealt with second chances from a more physical
experience, while Mrs. Battle had hers from a more spiritual experience. To Mrs. Battle second
chances are not a human gift, but a gift given by the divine creator God. When asks their
importance she says they are extremely important, every man, woman and child deserves a second
chance no matter what is they have done. It is also our jobs to help and give the people around us a
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second chance whether they are in our communities, if they are family, or even our closest friends.
We should do this epically Christians in a response of the ultimate second chance that Jesus Christ
gave to us. However as she continued she did mention that we should not cease to give them
away, but if someone does take advantage of this blank slate you given them dont give them a new.
Unless they come back with a more repentive spirit, leave them alone, it maybe the job of someone
elses second chance and not your own. In the closing question about whether or not life was made

of second chances she responded with this Of course life is made up of new chances, at some
point in everyones life we all are going to fall short and we are going to need a second chance and
once we receive it we pass it on. Its like a gift that keeps on giving.
While these interviews were wonderful and very insightful they were just not quote enough.
In order to really get this I wanted more than people who had fallen, but were able to recover in their
privacy and in their own way. I longed for someone who made a huge blunder and did so publically in
a way that they couldnt recover privately but in the glare of people surrounding them. Someone who
needed a second chance after an almost life altering mistake. Perhaps someone who experienced
getting a second chance like that world offer a different perspective. One that can bring an even
deeper understanding of the phrase second chances. That person is John Galliano.
As a major fashion buff, I can tell you all about the fashion world like the back of my hand.
While there is many things I can tell you about it, but the number one thing is that fashion is a major
cut throat industry. It is known to have some of the harshest people leading it. In fashion there is kind
of an unspoken rule that very few have broken; once you have failed thats it youre done! There is
countless stories of budding designers and models, editors, critics who have fallen from their high
pedestal and never heard of again. One who was seemingly on this path was the great John
Galliano. Galliano was a major creative director for one of the most iconic designer labels in history
Dior. He was constantly being praised for his work and his creative mind. He was slowly creeping up
to the top of the fashion industry even looking at becoming a household name. However he did
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become well know, not for his creative genius but rather his huge fall from his throne. One day while
sipping tea at a small caf in Paris, France John Galliano was making racist and Semitist remarks to
a couple of Jews not sitting to far from. This incident was recorded and shown all over the world. It
created a great outrage and hatred for the designer. The designer who was then abusing drugs did
not seem apologetic for his actions. This lead to Dior firing the designer and really him being
banished from the fashion industry, before his tarnished name and reputation could ruin all of the
Fashions world. Depressed and still abusing drugs John was given his second chance through
model pals Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell, who sent him to rehab facility in the states. There the
designer was able to sober up and go back to his normal self. Sadly, it still seemed as though his
chance at being back in the industry he loved was over. That was until Kate Moss had him designer
her wedding dress over all the other dying to get the chance. Also his dear friend and the queen over
all fashion Anna Wintour helped by letting him start over from scratch by interning and assisting the
extraordinary Oscar de la Renta. After a couple years of keeping low profile and recreating his image
in the world and especially in the fashion industry John Galliano with the help of Ms. Wintour is
making his rise again as the new creative director Maison Martin Margiela. Though it is nowhere
near as big as his former employer Dior this is just a small part of the new direction he is heading
thanks to his second chance. In a recent interview with Vogue Magazine John reflected on his past
and new the only way from coming back was step by step and by doing so humbly. With his second
chance he is going to put it all into his new work and let the collection speak of his experience for
him. With a beautiful ending to hopeless tragedy, John Galliano while getting to experience a new
fresh start, may also have to deal with what Amitia Etzioni describes as the new possible down fall to
second chance?

Amitia Etzioni a multi award winning sociologist believes in our social media world of today
we can no longer truly have a really second chance. He believes that the computer and in this new
day and age of being able to google search someone and their past takes away the effect and
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impact second chances were supposed to make. No longer can someone live no longer in fear of
people judging their past, because its so easy for people to find out about their past and judge them
for it. This new age is crippling things that wouldnt have been an issue in the past. He begs the
question on whether or not we can really consider something a second chance if everyone knows
what you have done. The idea of recreation can be destroyed by peoples judging state of mind. All
and all it seems as though the internet is destroying peoples second chances at life. That is the case
until you hear the case Dr. Pamela G. Taylor.
Dr. Pamela G. Taylor is a highly praised art education teacher at Virginia Common Wealth
College. After doing some research herself she found that the internet is nit destroying second
chances. Instead it may be creating new one! Introducing the world of online gaming in this world,
you can be whoever you want to be and recreate yourself. Dr. Taylor herself also took this new online
world for a spin. In it she made herself a younger, thinner, magenta eyed, green human. As she
began to explore life on the site, she realized how similar but how different it was compared to her
physical life. Probably the most empowering aspect of my virtual existence is my ability to redo,
remake, and indeed represent myself at any moment. In other words, my virtual SL life is filled with
second chances. (Taylor) As she continued to explore life online she began to see other avenues
including the infamous catfishing (an online fake profile used to deceive in trick people, most of the

time into falling in love.). Not only did she find the site quite amusing, but she also found that the
popularity of these sights were growing. Why? She simply says I believe that no matter what degree
of confidence we, as human beings (who happen to be art teachers) hold, most all of us have, at one
time or another, wished for a second chance to alter our choices. (Taylor) However even though a
new world online may seem as though its a shot at a new second chance, its easy to realize just like
your life online that second chance is only offered in that moment. At some point you are going to
half to get off your computer and face whatever is going on in physical life. Now while that may seem
like a depressing thought Dr. Pamela G. Taylor did receive a positive and encouraging
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direction from her experience. Indeed, in our RL we may not be able to change our actions,
appearance, location, etc. as simply as clicking a computer mouse. But, we can approach each RL
day, if not each minute, with a second chance attitude-one that encourages US to be critically selfreflective, cautious yet open-minded, responsible for acknowledging and correcting our blunders,
and careful and active listeners. There are many more implications and/or contemplative topics
regarding both one's existence in a virtual world and the self-reflexive nature of a second chance
mentality. I write this editorial as yet another challenge and invitation to you, the reader, to join me in
approaching this and every issue of the journal as a second chance vehicle of personal,
professional, and critical empowerment.
It seems as though everyone has their own ideas of second chances. However at the end of
this research I think its fairly simple to sum up. Life is made up of second chances, we dont just get
one. Second chances while good can be used for bad and selfishly. But most importantly everyone

deserves a second chance and it is our duty to give them. Whether someone needs a big one or if
someone needs a little one we all need one at some point in our lives. I believe David Millar put it
best when he said People do make mistakes and I think they should be punished. But they should
be forgiven and given the opportunity for a second chance. We are human beings. So as I come to
a closing I encourage you take the idea of second chances and live it out. Maybe youre reading this
and you have been given a second chance dont waste it, they are lifes precious gift.

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WORK CITED PAGE

Battle, Christina E. "Second Chances." Personal interview. 25 Feb. 2015

Battle, Lynette L. "Second Chances." Personal interview. 22 Mar. 2015.

Etzioni, Amitia. "Second Chances, Social Forgiveness, and the Internet."

Search.proquest.com. The American Scholar, Apr.-May 2009. Web. 25 Feb. 2015.
Purnell, Tiffany S. "Second Chances." Personal interview. 29 Feb. 2015.

Taylor, Pamela G., DR. "Second Chances." Search.proquest.com. Art Education,

May 2007. Web. 25 Feb. 2015. <http://search.proquest.com/docview/199468326?
accountid=10008>.