Les Mis Connection
Crime and punishment is embedded into Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo, in many instances. Valjean commit a crime of theft and deserved punishment in the eyes of law enforcers. Javert spends his entire life chasing down Valjean who needs to face the consequence of his actions. When considered a criminal it goes on permanent record. It is often hard to even find an employer when the crimes committed are seen by everyone. Jean Valjean had a difficult time looking for a job to get by. When he did find hard labor, he got paid half of what everyone else received doing equal work. Valjean needed someone to believe in him to restart his life. If convicts are told they'll never change, they won't know any better. They need an incentive to be a different person. Criminals being sent to life or sentenced to death won't get a chance. In Les Misérables, the musical centers around not all convicts are owners of evil and manipulating minds.
I Believe: Continuous Hard Work
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Hard Work iMovie | |
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I always considered myself the luckiest girl in the world to be surrounded by just family. I shared one bedroom with my mom, dad, and brother, Mike. Just next door in the bedrooms were my cousins, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. The small house we all lived in wasn't big enough for all of the love we stuffed inside. My parents were putting away every penny they made to make sure we have the best home to call ours. Every compliment we receive about our house, I would grin and think, "We started with absolutely nothing, and built our lives up from there."
Each person that steps into America from Cambodia comes with a one thousand dollar airplane ticket. A ticket to a new beginning. It's a blessing today I get to have things many people will always rely on heavily. I can't imagine my entire life without a car, loading my laundry, or flipping the light switch on.
My mom reminds me nearly everyday that if I lived in Cambodia, I would wash my clothes by hand and do much more work. When I can have a hot shower in minutes my mother used to balance heavy buckets of water miles away. In my home, we have a practically brand new dish washer that mocks me. In the ten years I lived in my house, I used our washing machine a total of four time because my mom encourages us to not use it. We all try to reason with her that it saves water and is efficient but every time she replies with, "All these machines doing your work makes you lazy".
I will always look up to my grandpa for his steady, hard work. There was a rumor that when you come to America, employers are looking for strong, young men to hire. So my grandpa lied about his age and said he was ten years younger. Today, my grandpa is still working as hard as a strong, young man. My grandpa is ten years overdue for his retirement. Whatever job he could find, he did it to support his family. Even today if his cell phone rang, he would leave shortly to fix something broken down in his apartments.
Not every person gets the blessing of old money or a wealthy family background. What your family starts with is your starting point too. Wherever you want your ending point to stop is your choice. You can dose off in your free education that was given to you on a silver platter. Or you can treat your education like it's a rare opportunity. Continuous hard work will get you to places you never thought was close enough to reach.
Each person that steps into America from Cambodia comes with a one thousand dollar airplane ticket. A ticket to a new beginning. It's a blessing today I get to have things many people will always rely on heavily. I can't imagine my entire life without a car, loading my laundry, or flipping the light switch on.
My mom reminds me nearly everyday that if I lived in Cambodia, I would wash my clothes by hand and do much more work. When I can have a hot shower in minutes my mother used to balance heavy buckets of water miles away. In my home, we have a practically brand new dish washer that mocks me. In the ten years I lived in my house, I used our washing machine a total of four time because my mom encourages us to not use it. We all try to reason with her that it saves water and is efficient but every time she replies with, "All these machines doing your work makes you lazy".
I will always look up to my grandpa for his steady, hard work. There was a rumor that when you come to America, employers are looking for strong, young men to hire. So my grandpa lied about his age and said he was ten years younger. Today, my grandpa is still working as hard as a strong, young man. My grandpa is ten years overdue for his retirement. Whatever job he could find, he did it to support his family. Even today if his cell phone rang, he would leave shortly to fix something broken down in his apartments.
Not every person gets the blessing of old money or a wealthy family background. What your family starts with is your starting point too. Wherever you want your ending point to stop is your choice. You can dose off in your free education that was given to you on a silver platter. Or you can treat your education like it's a rare opportunity. Continuous hard work will get you to places you never thought was close enough to reach.