Please grade my SAT essay

<p>Many people believe that our government should do more to solve our problems. After all, how can one individual create more jobs or make roads safer or improve our schools or help to provide any of the other benefits that we have come to enjoy? And yet expecting that the government — rather than individuals — should always come up with the solutions to society’s ills may have made us less self-reliant, undermining our independence and self-sufficiency. </p>

<p>Assignment: Should people take more responsibility for solving problems that affect their communities or the nation in general?</p>

<pre><code>During my high school days, I was taught that the students, faculty, and staff are the core foundation of the school. A school would not stand as a school without it. Similarly, a nation would not be called a nation without the citizens it comprises. These citizens, in turn, are the instruments of that nation to transform it into the prosperous country it aspires to be.

Being an experienced democratic president of the United States, John F. Kennedy had a constant motto that he wished every citizen would grasp. That is to not ask what the country can do for you, rather what you can do for the country. He was initially a dim spark of hope that gradually kindled into fire, making a change for the betterment of the country one step at a time. He implemented laws, regulations and acts that benefited the economy and the society as a whole, throwing America into the large pool of first world countries. Kennedy’s profound acts for the community clearly gave the country a big push.

In a similar way, Nelson Mandela gave his nation, South Africa, a big leap. He himself started the change that he wanted to see. He headed the movement against segregation and racial discrimination of the blacks which cost him twenty years of imprisonment. He later triumphed in his goal which later cured one of the most critical ills of his nation at that time.

A nation is inevitably covered with scars, wounds, and bruises. The citizens are the doctors. And as doctors, they must know what the cure is and how to cure it. The change should start in themselves – slowly but surely.
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<p>Time Spent: 25 minutes</p>