This is for you Courtney. So you can see my example. Because I'm too lazy to write it. And now all my lovely friends(and random people) can see my sucky writing which I put half of my effort into! w00t! Go me. English I Mrs. Train 08 Dec. 2004 The Guidelines for My Life In my life, I have been brought up with good values and many principles. The people around me have affected my upbringing. For as long as I can remember, I’ve gone to church, and in Sunday School, the teachers always lectured on and on about the Ten Commandments and how we needed to use them as guidelines for life. I used to think that there was no point to this, but now I see that without learning about these rules to have a good life, I would not be the person that I am today. One of the most important of the Ten Commandments in our family household is “Honor thy mother and they father.” My parents always enforced this and if we were disrespectful we were sent to our rooms. My parents have also always enforced the golden rule. I can remember countless times, that I rubbed my brother’s nose in the fact that he got sent to his room. Then I would wind up in my room for not treating him the way I would want to be treated. I can also remember my first grade teacher, Mrs. McClelland had the rule posted to help us to remember to share and be nice to the other kids in the class. There were times when I would want a toy all to myself and my teacher would say “Katherine what’s the golden rule?” I would respond with a quick reply and then I would be very willing to share whatever I had with my classmate. Also, in our house, it was always important that we used clean language and proper grammar. I can still taste the bar of white soap in my mouth from the time that I said “You moron!” off of the movie 101 Dalmatians. My brothers and I were quickly reprimanded if we said words like “shut up”, “stupid”, or “I hate you”. As my brothers and I have reached adolescents, our parents let the rules slack a bit, but we are still must use proper grammar and vulgar words are not tolerated. Since my childhood, I have been taught to share and try to be friendly with everyone. This didn’t mean playing with the girl in my class, who I absolutely could not get along with. It just meant that I needed to be polite to my classmates and the neighbors from down the block. My parents brought me up with good manners, always having me say please, thank you, and you’re welcome. If I went to a friend’s house, I was always sure to thank them and their parents more than three times for having me over. As I got older, I automatically helped their families’ clear dishes or do chores to be done while I was over. I was forced every time I received a gift to write a thank you card. Because of this, my friends’ parents seem more willing to invite me back of and seem to enjoy me being around. As a child, my dad would often be gone for months at a time on TDY for the Air Force. My mother made it a point to sit us all down to dinner and we would all have equal chances to talk about how our days had gone. Family time has a big deal in our house. I now feel more comfortable with people I don’t know well. I can share my feelings openly and express the way I feel with words. The first day of school, I always wanted to get straight A’s. This was probably because when I was very young, my parents always encouraged me to try my hardest and get good grades. Competition was fierce between my older brother and me and I always wanted to get a higher percentage then he had in a previous class. My friends were always getting paid or getting other rewards for their grades, but my parents told me time and again, “You get grades for yourself, therefore we don’t punish you and we don’t reward you.” I’m very glad they did this, because now as I move further on into high school, I know that I need to work hard for myself and only myself. My parents were always sure to encourage me in everything I wanted to do. My parents have played a major role in what principles I live my life by as have church members, school teachers, and friends. So many different things affect the person I am today, but I know without a doubt, there is no way I would be the person I am today without all the principles people close to me have taught me during my childhood and adolescents. Didn't really help now did it Courtney??:P