Extra Credit Option #2

 Same as essay #1, but from a male writer in class.

If you help with both essays (non repeating) then you can earn up to +5 on top of your marking period score.  If you were chosen, you will earn up to +2 for being chosen.

Ranked fourth in my grade of eighty-three students, top of my class in debate, numerous scholarships, a 4.0 overall, and winner (with my girlfriend S.J.) of this year’s national debate competition. These are all some of the great academic achievements that I have received from my hard work and dedication that I put into everything that I do. My name is  Justyce, I am a senior at Braselton Preparatory Academy in Atlanta, Georgia. I am one of the few African American students in my school. 

Having different colored skin comes with many trials. I have learned that no matter how much time and effort I put into making a future for myself, it still won’t change what people think about me because of the color of my skin. I experienced this type of behavior earlier this year when I was falsely accused of carjacking my ex-girlfriend’s car. I was walking down the streets of Oak Ridge when I saw her leaning up against her car and really drunk. I told her that she can’t drive like this and I took her keys and started putting her in her car. This is when I heard it. Whoooooop! Whoooooop! I keep going about my business, trying to get her into the car, when I feel a big tug on my shirt. Pulling me back from the car was this white, male policeman. I tried telling him that it was all a big misunderstanding, but he would just keep cutting me off and telling me to “Shut up!”. He put me in handcuffs and made a comment about how he saw me walking down the street earlier, and he knew that I was trouble. This made me feel like what I have accomplished so far just didn’t matter. This was a real eye-opener and a very traumatic experience for me. From this point on I became more aware of the racism at my school and just everywhere in the world. It wasn't just what happened to me, but what was happening to other African Americans throughout the world. I had been seeing on the news other incidents like mine; only,these ones ended differently. Policemen are seen killing African Americans, from what it seems, for protection,but other people who have witnessed it and have encountered similar experiences know how poorly some policemen view African Americans. I couldn’t help but think that I could have been the African American, on the news, that got shot by the policeman. This deeply scared me, and made me question how I was able to live amongst the white people of higher class. It doesn’t matter if I am the smartest one in my school; they will always be viewed as smarter, nicer, and all-around better people. After the incident, I started to focus a lot of my time on getting ready for a debate with my teammate. We decided that we would do the debate on how African Americans are viewed as being bad people. This ended up really catching the judges’s attention, which ended in us winning the debate. I was proud that I was able to talk about that kind of stuff and spread the word around. I realized that I would never escape my skin color and everything else that goes along with it. I have learned to not get so hurt by what other people say or do to me. I try to present my thoughts to as many people as I can so that maybe I could change somebody's mind on how they view African Americans.