Rochelle Beatriz R.

Mapanao

11 – STEM C

DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY
What Makes an Ideal Friend?
To say what an ideal friend is is not the easiest thing to do. Each person has his or her own
perception of what one would be. However, speaking generally, there are certain attributes
that most people deem characteristic of an ideal friend. Loyal, trustworthy, open to show
weakness, caring, reassuring, and inspiring are common qualities that the majority of people
attach to ideal friends.

Loyalty is a usual attribute given to ideal friends. According to Psychology Today, “Loyalty is
valued early on in all of our relationships, from the time we make our first friendships. We need
friends who won’t spill our secrets to others, gossip about us, or allow others to criticize us”
(“The 13 Essential Traits of Good Friends”). The worst action between friends is double crossing
one individual, or not keeping one’s word.

Also in the vein of loyalty, ideal friends are usually referred as being trustworthy. In a
statement by Psychology Today, they say that, “Trustworthiness is often the “make or break”
element in any interpersonal relationship. Any breach, regardless of perceived magnitude,
can devastate a relationship. Trustworthiness is comprised of several components, including
honesty, dependability, and loyalty, and while each is important to successful relationships,
honesty and dependability have been identified as the most vital in the realm of friendships”
(“The 13 Essential Traits of Good Friends”). In light of this, a ubiquitous pet peeve of friends is a
lack of honesty, and this is at the heart of being trustworthy.

In line with being honest is also the capacity to show one’s weaknesses. According to the Book
of Life, “The ideal friend doesn’t try to prove how robust and successful they are; on the
contrary, quite often they let us know awkward and potentially embarrassing things about
themselves. They show how much they trust us by confessing failings and sorrows which would
open them up to possible humiliation from the world beyond. They offer us the gift of their
vulnerability” (Cotton, Jess). That openness is treasured, as to be close to an individual, one
must be willing to share his or her true feelings and states.

Caring is the essence of love, many say. In the words of ReachOut.com, “Friends will come and
go in your life, but more important than how long your friendships last is your friends’
acceptance of you for who you are. A good friend walks the talk and shows that they care by
their actions – big and small” (“What Makes a Good Friend?”). An ideal friend cares for your
well-being over any issues that may arise between you two.
A part of caring is being reassuring. According to The Book of Life, “They don’t just flatter; they
understand how easily we lose perspective, panic and underestimate our own ability to cope.
They know we’ve got zones of fragility that need to be treated gently. Sometimes they get us to
laugh at ourselves, when on our own we’d be inclined to self-pity or rage” (Cotton, Jess).
Ideally, a friend will do his or her best to lift your spirits when you are down.

Another part of being uplifting is the quality of being inspiring. As The Book of Life says, “More
often than it’s comfortable to admit, we don’t quite know what we think until a proper friend
gently asks us to expand on a thought, to explain why we’re impressed by it and to find good
answers to possible objections. They see the potential in what we’re saying when we can’t”
(Cotton, Jess). So, an ideal friend allows us to expand on our ideas and for them to be greater
than a momentary thought.

There are more qualities that could be spoken about when talking about an ideal friend.
However, these are the most commonly mentioned. Being loyal, trustworthy, open to
displaying weaknesses, caring, reassuring, and inspiring are often stated as attributes of an
ideal friend.

ANALYTICAL ESSAY
Why People Get Plastic Surgery
It is not a secret that the world today is obsessed with appearances. Visual attractiveness is one
of the key factors when people make choices in favor of certain objects, goods, services, and
even people. Products are being sold in thoroughly-designed and appealing packages;
commercials exploit a variety of sensually-pleasing imagery; Hollywood actors and TV
celebrities strive to be good-looking and attractive—the examples illustrating this statement
are many. So, it is not surprising that, considering this tendency, some people may feel the
need to fit into the prevailing standards of beauty. Fortunately for them, modern medicine can
offer a way to alter and/or enhance their appearances: plastic surgery, although being
considered a controversial option by many people, is an industry popular all over the world.

The Internet is full of photographs of bad examples of plastic surgery. Everyone probably
remembers the history of Michael Jackson’s nose transformations, or saw photos of Jocelyn
Wildenstein. Despite the possible risks, tens of thousands of people still experiment with their
facial features and body proportions, spending thousands of dollars on implants, lifts, and other
cosmetic procedures. Trends and fashion cannot fully explain the motives behind undergoing
plastic surgery, so let us take a closer look at what lies beneath the desire to change one’s
appearance.

It is a common stereotype that plastic surgery is mostly for women. This is not necessarily true:
there are many men who also undergo plastic surgery, and multiple times. One of the possible
reasons for this is the fear of aging. A person, especially if he or she can boast of charm and
beauty in youth, may feel the urge to save this appearance. In a society where the first
impression is always important, changes in how a person looks may affect his or her career
and social relationships (Claytor Noone Plastic Surgery). This is especially true for people
whose appearance is important for their profession: TV hosts, actors, pop musicians, models,
and so on. Among the celebrities known to have had undergone plastic surgery procedures are
Gwyneth Paltrow, Nicole Kidman, Linda Evangelista, Courtney Love, and other people whose
names you got used to see in the media (Harper’s Bazaar). As for men, the list includes Mickey
Rourke, Steven Tyler, Tom Cruise, Christian Bale, and many other names; some information
about male celebrities undergoing plastic surgeries is mostly rumors, but the facts are still
enough to say: aging men do plastic surgery as well (Ritely).

Along with aging and trying to keep up with professional requirements, there is a less common
yet more morbid reason why people decide to change the way they look. In psychology, there
is a well-known condition called dismorphophobia, or body dysmorphic disorder, or BDD. It is
characterized by being constantly preoccupied and obsessed over one’s physical appearance.
Usually, a person with BDD finds a real or an imagined flaw in his or her appearance, and
start perceiving themselves as ugly or worthless because of it. The level of frustration and
psychological tension can grow so high that a person with BDD will try to avoid social contact.
Dismorphophobia is one of the common reasons why people choose to undergo plastic surgery
procedures, but unless the true reason—the disorder—is not eliminated, a person with BDD
will never feel satisfied with how they look (Treatment4Addiction).

At the same time, there are more realistic and practical reasons for doing cosmetic surgery. If a
person has suffered from an accident that changes his or her appearance drastically, it is
natural that he or she wants to fix it. Or, some birth defects are known to cause serious
emotional or even physical discomfort to people who have them. For example, cleft lips or
skeletal deformities can bring nothing but handicaps, so the sooner they are removed, the
better. In addition, it is important to notice that the outcomes of some medical surgeries such
as mastectomy can be extremely traumatizing (in this particular case, a woman has one or both
of her breasts removed). In this case, plastic reconstructive surgery is advisable—not from a
medical point of view, but in order to alleviate psychological trauma and stress, and to return a
woman to the way she used to look before (BeforeAfterSurgeryToolBox.com).

So, as we can see, the reasons to undergo plastic surgery are many. Some of them are
subjective, such as the fear of aging or obsessions, and others include professional
requirements, recovering from medical procedures or accidents. It is difficult to say whether
some of these reasons are more significant than others, and in each particular case a person
thinking about the surgery should contemplate all possible pros and cons of such a decision,
weighing their possible gains and losses.

PERSUASIVE ESSAY
What a Lack of Sleep Can Do to Your Body and Mind
All of us have received advice to “take a good rest” at least once in our lives. Probably, this is
also one of the most neglected pieces of advice a person may give to another. With the ever-
increasing pace of life, especially in big cities, sufficient rest–and sleep, in particular–is gradually
becoming more of a luxury than a basic need that should be addressed and satisfied. Everyone
knows how sleep is important: health experts, psychologists, self-help books, and other
authoritative sources keep talking about the importance of having good sleep–and still
exhaustion and fatigue remain one of the biggest problems in a number of developed
countries.

Perhaps, this is just not enough to make people pay attention to the problem. Supposedly, it
would be more convincing to learn about the negative effects of sleep deprivation, poor quality
sleep, or just constantly ignoring one’s need for restoration and rest. This essay discusses some
of the crippling (and sometimes surprising) effects a simple lack of sleep can do to a person’s
mind and body.

First of all, if you ever wondered how someone with schizophrenia or other severe mental
disease feels, a sleepless night could get you closer to this condition. As researchers from the
University of Bonn and King’s College London discovered, upon missing a night of sleep, a
psychologically-healthy person may experience symptoms typical for some forms of
schizophrenia. During the course of the experiment, which led the scientists to such a
conclusion, a group of people was offered to first have a night of normal sleep, and then to stay
awake by conversations, games, and physical activities. After this, test subjects were to undergo
pre pulse inhibition measurements. Pre pulse is a psychological mechanism helping the brain to
filter incoming sensory information: with its help, our minds distinguish between important and
unimportant stimuli coming from the environment. After just one sleepless night, this function
turned out to be inhibited significantly. Test subjects reported altered bodily sensations,
distorted perception, and weird ideas: for instance, some of them believed they could read
thoughts. They also became more sensitive to light and loud noises (Universitat Bonn). After
having a good rest, perception returns back to normal, but it takes time to return all
psychological and physical functions back to its usual state. In the case of prolonged sleep
deprivation, some consequences may be irreversible.

Do you enjoy feeling depressed? Or do you like mood swings, when periods of euphoria quickly
change to severe blues? If the answer is yes, then sleep deprivation is for you. Numerous
research studies conducted in different sleep laboratories showed that people who did not
have enough sleep, or have been deprived of it for certain periods of time, tend to be more
irritable and less able to control their negative emotions. They are also more likely to react
negatively to something they do not like, even if the trigger is not significant. This is not to
mention the increased likeliness of developing depression. Besides, the lack of sleep inhibits
friendliness and empathy, and impairs one’s ability to stay in a positive mood (Psychology
Today). In addition, if you have such mental conditions as obsessive-compulsive disorder or
chronic depression, their symptoms may become more acute as well. In any case, to avoid
prolonged periods of negative mood, you might want to sleep well regularly.
As if it was not enough, sleepless nights can affect your body in a negative way as well. There
have been numerous research studies proving that people having problems with falling or
staying asleep also had other health issues as well. In particular, sleepless nights can lead to
increased risks of heart attacks and failures, strokes, diabetes, and increased blood pressure.
Poor sleep can also kill your sex drive, regardless of your gender. In particular, both men and
women who suffer from sleep deprivation reported lowered interest in sex and decreased
libido in general. In particular, poor sleep caused by the apnea syndrome–a widespread health
condition among men–was also connected to abnormally low levels of testosterone secretion
during night time (WebMD).

Among other peculiar and unpleasant consequences of depriving yourself of sleep is the
suppression of your immune system, weight gain, memory issues, and problems with
concentration. This is not to mention the risk of getting into an accident because of decreased
attentiveness and alertness (Health line).

Overall, there is a number of good reasons why you would not want to stay up the next time
you feel like working or studying at night. In particular, you may experience altered perception,
distortion of cognitive and memory functions, and the inability to concentrate and think
straight. Also, your mood will be down, and it will become harder for you to control your
negative emotions, such as anger or fear. As if this was not enough, your body suffers as well. In
particular, people who regularly deprive themselves of sleep, develop higher risks of heart
diseases and diabetes, and report lowered sex drive and libido. So, in general, there is probably
nothing that would compensate you for a night spent without sleep.

CRITICAL ESSAY
Is It Ever Too Late to Study?
Ninety seven years old—this is the age of the oldest student in the world that graduated from
a university, who has recently received a Masters in Clinical Science—76 years after attaining
his first university degree. Alan Stuart already has four degrees and is a qualified dentist,
surgeon prosthodontist, lawyer, and general practitioner. And it does not look like the man is
going to stop at that. Some will probably say he is crazy, and might have a point. However, as
extreme as this example may seem, a question remains highly debatable: “Is it ever too late to
study?”

Studying is one of the main tools used to gain knowledge in a variety of subjects, notions, and
the world around us in general. It is the basic channel of perception of reality, which we
otherwise would be unable to understand. Ignoring the opportunity to study would basically
be equal to ignoring the whole world that surrounds us (Francis, Withered Knowledge).
Therefore, it stands as perfectly reasonable to further one’s education after graduating from
high school—it is highly encouraged by American culture as a whole as well.
Higher education in the United States is viewed as a wise choice, as it invests in one’s future
and gains an asset that will be one’s stronghold when climbing up the social ladder. At the
same time, college and university education in the United States is extremely pricey. Many high
school graduates do not have an opportunity to continue their education right away (Saiz,
Report on Education to Career Conversion). Therefore, when a person has already achieved a
stable career is standing on both feet and knows exactly what it is he or she wants to deepen
their knowledge in, he or she has the right to continue at the point he or she once stopped at—
and become a university student.

With the American educational system being arguably a flexible one, you do not even have to
become a full-time student anymore to learn more about the subjects that interest you. You
can take a few courses at a certain university, pay the fees, and attend the classes for your own
purposes. You will not receive a full-scale diploma for finishing a few courses, but if what you
are looking for is knowledge and practical use, not the little piece of paper proving you are
worthy of taking on a certain profession, then this option is exactly the right fit for you.

Nevertheless, it is believed that after some point in life, it becomes too late for activities such as
being a student. A student in the US is a certain social role that is closely associated with other
concepts other than the actual studying: dorm life, campus activities, student parties, academic
honor societies, dances, and many more (Poplar, Cultural Heritage of College). Choosing to be a
student in many cases means you are willing and able to take on the whole package, or
otherwise you risk feeling like an outcast and dropping out of school, even if the classes are
interesting and the professors are fantastic. When you consider applying to a specific university
after a certain age, when the above mentioned happenings become of a lesser value to you,
look at those institutions that are more flexible and do not require living on campus and fully
engaging in the academic and non-academic sides of university life.

Another factor that might get in the way of effective studying after a certain age is your
capabilities. If you decided to finally (or once again) become a student, it is implied that you
have the required desire to learn, listen, and absorb the knowledge. However, unfortunately,
sometimes just the desire itself is not enough. It is a known fact that with age, our memory,
attention, and ability to learn may decrease greatly—studying may become a much more
difficult challenge than it could have been when we were younger (Ramon, Obstacles of the
Old Student). At the same time, if you have the dedication, motivation, and persistence to
become a student at a later stage in life, I suppose these traits will aid you in achieving your aim
as well.

Studying is a necessity rather than a privilege. It should never be too late to study if a person
wants to. There is no doubt that setting an expiration date on one’s opportunity to learn and
follow their dreams would be wrong. Despite all the analyzed obstacles that may possibly come
in the way of studying, they should not become an insurmountable barrier in the path of one’s
self-actualization.