So, this weekend I went to the Englishtown FIrehouse in New Jersey and it was a great success. I learned so much about how this fire department works. I spoke tot he president of the fire department which shocked me that he was so willing to talk. It is a small fire station surrounded by three other stations in different towns, they have the same number of men but because its a small town there budget is a lot less. I also learned about ways they fundraise for the holiday. I dont want to give too much information but I got A LOT of  budget numbers and great information to use for my conflict story.

In class today I found great information for my conflict story! I typed in the fire department online and I saw that they have had fundraising events at restaurants for the fire department. They also do great events for the families who live in Englishtown. One weekend they had an open house where they had a bake sale and the fire trucks outside for all the kids to tour. This weekend I am going to the fire house to hopefully get more information!

Not many can say they had an inspirational writer come to their class as our class can. Katherine Vaz was such an inspiration for writers in college to pursue there dreams. From the tips she gave us to start a story to her own journey of becoming a published writer, Katherine Vaz gave us useful information for our futures.

Many of Vaz’s stories stem from her some of her own life experiences. Her first story came from her school bus experience as a child. She was protected by a boy who she helped with his homework. A lot of her work was based on Saints she had to read about in second grade. But although Katherine Vaz used real life experience’s she also wanted us to understand how much should we can create. We can use our own imaginations to expand our writing.

My favorite quote that Katherine Vaz gave us in class was, “I think we fear the death of those we love, then our own.” This quote has stuck with me since she came to our class. Vaz explained she has a connection with death which is inevitable. She lost her grandma during the birth of her father. She attended high school during the Vietnam War as Vaz describes this as a time of “upheaval.”. Vietnam started in November and JFK also passed away in November. This was a month of loss.

I can also relate to Katherine Vaz . I recently lost my grandfather in August. He was my best friend and I feel privileged to be able to have spent 20 years with him. After his death my life changed. I felt a piece of me missing. Not even 3 months later, his sister (my great aunt) passed away. My family feels she died of a broken heart because my grandfather and aunt were the only two who came to America. From August to November of this year, I have done nothing but attend shiva calls and wakes.

While I was listening to Katherine Vaz, I felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I wasn’t the only one going through hard times in my life. It has helped me be able to write about my own experiences in stories.

“We are all in this together.”

Katherine Vaz was a very helpful mentor as a journalist.

When I first picked this article up I was hesitant to actually start reading. I honestly thought it was a long and boring article. Once I began to read it my eyes had tears and my jaw dropped, shocking.

I could not even believe what I was reading. The article was graphic and the author did an amazing job putting the reader at the scene of the beginning of the article. This poor little girl, Dani was completely neglected and her mother had no care in the world. Left on her floor with no clothes, no food, and no communication to the outside world or with anyone is so sad and makes me so angry. How could Child Services let this go for so long? Especially when they recieved two calls from neighbors that exlained the disgusting living conditions and the terrible parenting skills, if you even consider leaving your daughter and autistic son at home alone for days at a time parenting skills.

When Michelle Crockett said “a part of me died that day” it got me so angry because she was letting Dani rot in a dark closet sized room. How could he even begn to say part of herself died, she did not even care for her child. She did not think anything wrong of her toxic home full of animal and human phecies. WHenever she made a statement or comment about how she cared for “Danielle” she could never give names of where they actually went.

Bernie and Diane Lierow are amazing people for taking on Dani knowing her background. They are warm and caring parents which is just what Dani needs. She has improved alot more than when they first found her , all skin and bones. An 8 years old girls who couldnt go to the bathroom has learned how to now which shows that she will improve more.

This article was the type of article that makes the reader want to continue to read more. I can not believe this wasnt on the news. I feel like it is an important story to be told and Lane Degregory did it in an impressive way.

The day after hurricane Sandy was tragic. Trees in the middle of the streets that have been standing for over 100 years, telephone poles knocked down ripping up the sidewalks 12 feet high, and people homes ruined from the aftermath of Sandy. The whole town of Marlboro was dark and dull, their was no power and nothing was opened, except one grocery store.

People running around Wegman’s with flash lights grabbing whatever they could. It just looked so pathetic that we were all in a crisis. When I looked for a bag of ice, two men were fighting over bags of ice because one man decided he needed to take ten bags, leaving none for the rest. You see the best and worst of people during bad times.

Two weeks later, Marlboro has little to no power. Stores are slowly opening up but, the damage will remain in our town forever. Many trees are still knocked down and the citizens are just confused. Why is nothing being done to the sidewalks that are crumbled into stone blocks in the middle of the street? The huge oak trees are still blocking streets, making it difficult to find a driving route from point A to point B. Its very hard to see the town of Marlboro, New Jersey so dysfunctional. Its usually so bright and vibrant but after Sandy, its dark and dull.

Reading this article especially after Hurricane Sandy is extremely shocking. I feel as if many stories like the ones inside Memorial Medical Center will soon come out to the media. Its tragic that doctors and nurses were accused of giving patients morphine (etc) to “easy their pain” but then ultimately kill them. Sheri Fink leaves it up to the reader to form their own opinion whether or not we feel the doctors and nurses are guilty. Fink does not state her own opinion on the topic but paints a clear picture for the reader to decide.

During the Sandy, Mount Sinai’s generators failed to work just like Memorial during Katrina. We heard many stories about what happened in that hospital and its very similar to Fink’s story. Many nurses were carrying patients down many flights of stairs like Anna Pou had to. She manually pumped air into patients lungs as she was carrying them down seven flights, but this was not enough to keep them alive. I cant imagine being a nurse during a time like that, is it really the nurses faults?  People do not want to believe that the professionals who are suppose to help you are really hurting you. Its hard to even believe these accusations but. anything is possible during a time in need. You see the worst and best of people when they are put in a tragic situation.

Sheri Fink paints a clear picture of this tragic event. Even as a reader it seems surreal to me that this could happen in the United States but then after Hurricane Sandy my eyes are wide open to the tragedy that took place.