@arcana8gleam @buddy8777 @heymay99 got you guys 
December 5, 2015 SAT
Question: Is it dangerous to look up to role models and heroes?
Score of 12
Every day of our lives, we as humans struggle to make the right decisions cased upon our current situation, whether it be in our workplace, school, or social life. Role models can be beneficial to the development of the human character, but only if their moral compass aligns with that of the one seeking direction.
Throughout my life, I have met countless people, with all of them having different backgrounds, different passions, different stories to tell. But one chronicle that comes to mind in particular is that of my friend James. James and I grew up together in the same area, we had the same teachers, we played the same sport, our parents would often comment on how alike we were in the times before high school. Even though we had all these similarities, our lives became vastly different over time, because of who James chose as a hero. Freshman year, Jay carpooled to school with a popular jock who also happened to be into prescription pills. James would do anything to impress this person who he viewed as his idol; his insecurity and desperation to be liked pushed him to join the drug scene following pressure from his idol. This funny, charismatic senior dragged my childhood friend into the dark underworld of opiates, introducing him to the likes of Percocet, Vicodin, and Oxycontin. By the seniorâs graduation, James was in a downward spiral which only ended after an overdose on heroin injected intravenously. James struggled through with drawl and post acute symptoms but it wasnât until he found Chris Herren that he started his true recovery.
Chris Herren was an NBA player who turned to drugs and lost his career, his family, his life. After fighting through recovery, he started traveling around the country, giving talks to students on the dangers of drug use and on alternative ways of finding a release from the stress of high school life. after hearing about Herrenâs initiative, James immediately sent him an email, briefly explaining his situation and asking for advice on recovery. Herren responded back from his personal email, and their correspondence began. Just a few months later, Chris Herren gave a talk at Jamesâs school and met with him in person. They have remained in contact ever since.
Over Thanksgiving break, I asked James how he was doing. James surprised me by replying that he is more confident now than he has ever been in his entire life. Chris Herren had become a relatable, encouraging mentor for him, building up his self esteem and his confidence that he could recover, pick himself up, and have a successful, fulfilling life. Although James has bad days, as we all do, his family is there, I am there, Chris is there, to pick him back up and push him forwards. Role models play a major part in the development of character, as they lead by example. If one idolizes and takes after a person making destructive decisions, then the likelihood that one will make the same bad decision goes up. But although this may be true, role models can also be a positive influence as well, if they themselves make good decisions. As the old adage goes, you become who you surround yourself with.
November 7, 2015 SAT: Is it better not to know what is going on if we cannot do anything about it?
Score of 10
In passing, I came across the anonymous quote âThe man who knows little, knows peace.â It is better for one to be ignorant than to be informed and unsettled. Whether it be with oneâs current living situation or with the turbulent times of the world, it can be shown that ignorance is truly peace.
In Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Pip, the protagonist, stumbles upon knowledge of the life of the upper class. He himself a peasant, he becomes dissatisfied with his current housing and working conditions. He gives up everything, his time, his family, his dignity, in order to acquire enough funding to climb the social ladder. When he finally reaches the fantasized world of the upper class, Pip finds his reality to be hollow and unfulfilling. He looks back to his family, realizing that he has missed some of his beloved relativeâs final moments. If Pip had not become known to what was going on in the lives of the upper class, then he would not have spent the prime of his life reaching for a goal that would ultimately leave him unhappy and unfulfilled.
The value of ignorance also comes into play in terms of the public opinion on international relations. Following the presidential campaign and inauguration of Barack Obama in 2008, it was decided that all the American troops in Iraq would return home. This was strongly advised against by almost all of Obamaâs military advisors. They suggested to keep at least 10,000 rotating troops in Iraq to keep the peace between warring religious factions. But the outcry of the public coupled with Obamaâs need to uphold a good public opinion forced him to bring all the troops home. Because of this action, the terrorist militia group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has risen in the vacant space, and a genocide is taking place. If the number of troops stationed in Iraq had been hidden from the public, then ISIL would have never formed an hundreds of thousands of Middle Eastern people would still be alive.
There is a well known saying âWhat people donât know cannot hurt them.â This certainly rings true when it comes to human interest. Frederich Niesech theorized about the Will of Power: humans will always be motivated to reach their greatest possible potential, but only if they learn about it. It is better for people to be ignorant, as ignorance will leave them satisfied and at peace.
IN SUMMARY â
Iâm wicked proud of my December SAT essay. I think that my thesis is bomb and honestly I just got the idea of what to write about and the adrenaline was pumping the entire 25 minutes through. Great advice that I give to people when they ask is EMBELLISH YOUR PERSONAL ANECDOTE. Make it dramatic, make it an exciting read, make it a 12. It is true that I have a friend James* (name change for obvious reasons) who went through the path of prescription pills to heroin to overdose to recovery, but we werenât childhood friends, and it wasnât peer pressure that drove him to it. He never met or talked to Chris Herren. I met James at a camp and we became fast friends and later on he told me that he was in the middle of trying to recovery. He had made his own bad decisions and I helped him find a detox facility etc. Yet this was a good backdrop for role models so I embellished. Not like the college board police are going to fact check through my personal life, so I wasnât worried, so I went for it. And I suggest you do as well.
The November SAT that I took was my first one so I didnât really know how to approach the topic I just started writing and whipped some examples out of my ass. Looking back on it now, itâs pretty terrible and I shouldnât have brought relevant political views in -especially because I donât totally agree with what I wrote. But something that has always worked for me was making up quotes. I made up the âknows little knows peace.â Revolving an argument around a quote as a bookend makes the essay flow. I made up a quote for the January essay as well (got an 11). My opening sentence was âMark Twain once said, âeery human who walks this earth is an author, each with different stories to tell.ââ I know itâs wicked ballsy to make up a quote from a well known author, but I was at a mindnumbing loss for that essay so I made up a quote and made up an entire personal anecdote as in nothing that I said had ever happened. In my defense though, I was exhausted. I had literally fallen asleep during the reading section of the test and the proctor had to shake me to wake me up⊠not my brightest moment.