Author: z.ahmed3

Walkability Final Essay

Zamil Ahmed

ENG 2150 – Hoodology

Professor Singleton

 

Advantages of Walking: How Walking Benefits the Welfare of our Mind and Body

 

Walking. Those of us blessed with a decent pair of legs walk every now and then. It’s a common thing. Yet today it’s very easily neglected. People don’t believe walking has a significant effect on the mind and body.  As technology advances, the practicality of walking diminishes with the addition of bikes, car services, and public transportation. People travel from one point to another, focused on getting to their destination in the shortest amount of time possible. They don’t acknowledge the surroundings passing by or the walking movement itself. It’s beneficial for us to absorb what’s in our surroundings; fully acknowledging everything we encounter. It aids our brain in creation and productivity. Walking is synonymous with the improvement of well-being. There are many benefits to walking including boosts in physical and mental state of well-being. There are endless benefits and the effects of walking will come to you instantly.

 

Notably, every single member of society should make a conscious effort to walk more throughout their lifetimes to cut waste and help themselves. My experiences walking are extremely valuable because they have provided my mind and body undeniable improvements. Walking empowers me because with every step I take I feel like I am releasing a burden off my back. My body loosens up and releases stress. My back straightens out. I get a good stretch in my legs that are bent or folded over for most of the day. My sore eyes finally get a rest from all the bright screens surrounding me. The switch from congested air to fresh outdoor air invigorates my lungs. Best of all, my mind for a moment becomes clear and my thoughts can roam free. It’s similar to how people pace around when brainstorming or talking on the phone. In my opinion, I believe that the increased blood flow is concurrent with a better functioning brain. From personal experience, I’ve found that I prefer to walk in areas that offer something appealing to look at. I separate most of what I see while walking into two groups. The first group contains visuals that are created by nature and the second consists of man-made architecture. Nature always humbles me. Pink blossom trees are a prime example of something I love to encounter because they are such a beautiful sight to see. It shows me what a wonderful artist Mother Nature is, and this brings me down to earth. Alternatively, man-made areas can come in many forms. We as humans have progressed exponentially, and our creations have followed suit. Cars, buildings, storefronts, or anything that catches my attention provides me with inspiration. The weekly walks have given me a stronger urge to photograph these places or things and engrave them into the internet where it will be available for others to see. In my opinion, taking pictures is an aspect of walking that is overlooked. Many people take pictures, but they don’t think about the ripple effect it has. When people take pictures and upload it to the internet, it reaches such a vast audience of people because how easily things spread across the internet through shares. Additionally, it allows those people who don’t have the opportunity to visit this place to get some sort of idea of what the place encompasses. They are given clues that they can piece together to create an image inside their minds. This is limited of course because these pictures are two dimensional and can’t compare to the actual three-dimensional world we live in. Having images prior to visiting can be very enjoyable and helpful. Before I visit a completely new place I try to find pictures or videos of the place just to get a sense of what it’s like. What’s more, cars take us from one point to another. We are restricted to a small space inside a moving vehicle with windows that provide a limited view. Imagine walking the whole entire journey or maybe even a portion of the way. There’s so much to see and take in along the way. Walking supports and strengthens the most important muscle in your body, your heart. Cardiovascular health is extremely important because it’s what determines how properly our hearts work. A lot of people neglect walking because it doesn’t seem significant enough to really affect our health. The caloric burn per minute is very minimal. However, the importance of walking is the distance traveled. A walk around the block won’t have the same effect as walking around the mall or through a park. Interaction with people is very important, in my opinion, because a lot of people in our generation lock themselves up in their rooms with their computers and tablets and televisions. They neglect interaction and conversation with other humans and this leads to many subconscious issues, such as social anxiety. When you’re out there surrounded by other people you feel like a part of humanity and the world. Being with people is more connected than what social media promotes as connection through the web. Just being outside and walking can easily lead you to meet someone new and strike up a conversation. Conversation is very helpful because it takes us out of isolation and our own minds. A lot of people suffer from depression from loneliness and the harmful thoughts that circulate in their head. Leaving the house to stretch your legs and take a brisk walk can remedy these issues.

 

Nevertheless, walking has its disadvantages when the surrounding in which you are walking in is being accounted for. Cities and neighborhoods propose danger to everyone because everyone must walk on the streets at some point. Crime such as theft, assault, rape, kidnapping, and murder happens on the streets. Along with things that happen 24 hours a day that can’t be accounted for like car accidents. All of this can make leaving the safety of home intimidating. However, there are steps that can be taken to reduce and maybe even eliminate these dangers. Jane Jacobs discusses many of these in her book “The Death and Life of Great American Cities.” She particularly attacks the issues surrounding cities in her chapter, The Uses of Sidewalks: Safety. Populated sidewalks are one of the biggest divergences to troublemakers. If walking is promoted to everyone than the streets will have more people on them and as a result scare criminal off. “The sidewalk must have users on it fairly continuously, both to add to the number of effective eyes on the street and to induce the people in buildings along the street to watch the sidewalks in sufficient numbers. Nobody enjoys sitting on a stoop or looking out a window at an empty street. Almost nobody does such a thing. Large numbers of people entertain themselves, off and on, by watching street activity.” In addition, street lights are very integral in keeping crime rates at a minimum. Better lit sidewalks increase the chance of criminals getting caught in the act because it allows people to see the streets better. All in all, a busy, well-lit street will deter any bad occurrences from taking place.

 

Subsequently, my neighborhood is a great example of a safe place to walk in because it applies many of the critical ideas that Jane Jacobs discusses. The main street is lined with all kinds of retail stores, clubs, and lounges to attract the attention of pedestrians. Many activities are offered while walking as well as public areas for people sit and converse. There are two pet stores that garner a lot of attention because of their adorable puppies and kittens. I’ve made conversation over there with many people about the dogs and have stayed in contact with some because I discovered that they live nearby and hang out at the places I do. The park is an exceptional place for walking because the activities there are physically beneficial, and the vibe is great. The place encompasses all age groups from little children to elders. When warm weather rolls around the place intensifies and there’s no way you can walk through without talking to at least one person. Every person in my community takes care of their own responsibilities so that everyone can enjoy a safe environment. For the most part, my neighborhood has a lot of families with children and therefore it is extremely important for parents to do everything in their power to create a safe environment for their children. The neighborhood is very populated and diverse so to protect everyone’s interests people come together to help the community out. People are always conversing with the police to ensure that there is no suspicious activity going unnoticed. This is what communities must do to protect their members so that these members can walk around peacefully and not have to encounter the danger that streets in general may possess.

 

A scientific approach to discover benefits of walking was taken by Stanford University. The study consisted of 4 different experiments that explored different aspects of walking compared to other alternatives. The focus of the study was to determine if walking increased creative thinking and produced more quality ideas. A lot of data was collected. In all experiments, different tests were given to measure creative thinking. All of them demonstrate that walking boosts creative ideation in real time and shortly after. Overall people of all mental states can benefit from a walk anywhere. In Experiment 1, while seated and then when walking on a treadmill, adults completed Guilford’s alternate uses (GAU) test of creative divergent thinking and the compound remote associates (CRA) test of convergent thinking. Walking increased 81% of participants creativity on the GAU, but only increased 23% of participants scores for the CRA. The result of this experiment displays that walking compared to sitting demonstrates an average of 60% more creative output among the test subjects. “Physical exercise, rather than intellectual leisure activities, may be the best way to prevent age-related decline in brain functioning (Oppezzo, and Schwartz, 1144).” In Experiment 2, participants completed the GAU when seated and then walking, when walking and then seated, or when seated twice. Again, walking led to higher GAU scores. Moreover, when seated after walking, participants exhibited a residual creative boost. One of the main results that this experiment revealed was that alternating between walking and sitting made the uses participants come up with better ideas after every trial. As opposed to those sitting without walking who felt like their ideas were being suppressed. This experiment makes it clear that walking before a brainstorming session can be highly rewarding. Experiment 3 generalized the prior effects to outdoor walking. “The outdoors can offer cognitive and emotional renewal. Attention restoration theory (ART) posits that walking in natural environments invokes soft fascination, which does not require direct attention and allows for the renewal of directed attention capacities (Oppezzo, and Schwartz, 1145).” Walking outdoors resulted in even higher performances on the GAU. The discovery from this experiment further supports the idea from the previous experiment that taking a walk before brainstorming is beneficial. It was made apparent via Experiment 3 that the increased abilities provided from taking a walk lasted even while sitting after walking. Experiment 4 tested the effect of walking on creative analogy generation. Participants sat inside, walked on a treadmill inside, walked outside, or were rolled outside in a wheelchair. Walking outside produced the novelist and highest quality analogies. The effects of outdoor stimulation and walking were separable. Walking opens the free flow of ideas, and it is a simple and robust solution to the goals of increasing creativity and increasing physical activity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited 

Jacobs, Jane. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Vintage Books ed., Vintage Books, 1992

Oppezzo, and Shwartz, Give Your Ideas Some Legs: The Positive Effect of Walking on Creative Thinking, Stanford University, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 2014, Vol. 40, NO. 4, page 1142-1152

Weekly Walks. https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/zamil/

Walkability Draft

Zamil Ahmed

ENG 2150 – Hoodology

Professor Singleton

 

Walkability Draft

 

We all walk. If you’ve been blessed enough to have a pair of working legs you have walked before. As technology advances, the practicality of walking is diminishing with the addition of bikes, car services, and public transportation. People travel from one point to another, focused on getting to their destination in the shortest amount of time possible. The vast majority of us we can assume don’t embrace the journey to get there. Ralph Waldo Emerson left a great quote behind that’s become very well known amongst people. He said, “Life is a journey, not a destination.” It’s beneficial for us to absorb what’s in our surroundings and fully acknowledge everything we go through on our way to a place. Walking is synonymous with the improvement of well being. There are many benefits to walking including boosts in your physical and mental state of well being. This can be enough to promote walking but the benefits don’t stop there.

 

My experiences walking have provided my mind and body countless benefits. When I walk it feels like with every step I take I am releasing a burden off my back. Going outside and breathing fresh air invigorates my lungs. From personal experience I’ve found myself to prefer areas with visual stimulus. For me there are two kinds. One is visuals that are created by nature and the other is manmade. The ones from nature always humble me. For example a pink blossom tree on a walk is such a beautiful sight to see. It shows me what a wonderful artist Mother Nature is and this brings me down to earth. Man Made visuals come in many forms. We as humans have progressed exponentially and our creations have followed suit. Cars, buildings, storefronts, or anything really that catches my attention gives me inspiration. The weekly walks have gave me a stronger urge to photograph these places or things and engrave them into internet where it will be available for others to see. In my opinion this is an aspect of waking this is overlooked. Many people do it but they don’t think about the effects it has. When people take pictures and upload it to the internet, people who don’t have the opportunity to visit this place can get some sort of idea of what the place encompasses. They are given a vision as well although limited because they’ve never visited. This can be very enjoyable and helpful because I personally know that before I want to go to a completely new place I try to find pictures or videos of the place just to get a sense of what it’s like. Cars take us from one point to another. We are restricted to a small space inside a moving vehicle with windows that provide a limited view. Imagine walking the whole entire journey or maybe even a portion of the way. There’s so much to see and take in along the way. Walking supports and strengthens the most important muscle in your body, our heart. Our cardiovascular health is extremely important because it’s what determines how properly our hearts work. A lot of people neglect walking because it doesn’t seem significant enough to really affect our health. The caloric burn per minute is very minimal however the importance of walking is the length. A walk around the block won’t have the same effect as walking around the mall or through a park. Interaction with people is very important in my opinion because a lot of people in our generation lock themselves up in their room with their computers and tablets and televisions. They neglect interaction and conversation with other humans and this as a result leads to many subconscious issues like social anxiety. When your out there surrounded by other people you feel like a part of humanity and the world. Being with people is more connected than what social media promotes as connection through the web. Just being outside and walking can you easily lead you to meet someone new and strike up a conversation. Conversation is very helpful because it takes us out of isolation and our own minds. A lot of people suffer from depression from loneliness and the harmful thoughts that circulate in their head.

 

Walking has its disadvantages when the surrounding in which you are walking is being accounted for. Cities and neighborhoods propose danger to these who walk on the streets. Crime such as theft, assault, rape, kidnapping, and murder happens on the streets. Along with things that happen 24 hours a day that can’t be accounted for like car accidents. All of this can make leaving your house intimidating. However, there are steps that can be taken to reduce and maybe even completely eliminate these dangers. Jane Jacobs discusses many of these in her piece “Uses of Sidewalks.” Populated sidewalks are one of the biggest diversions to trouble. If walking is promoted to everyone than the streets will have more walkers and as a result scare criminals off. The advantage of having populated streets is that there are more eyes on the street. There is a larger audience in case something dangerous occurs. People will feel compelled to watch the streets from their homes because they have something to observe as opposed to nothing when the streets are dead.

 

A study for the restorative effects of walking in rural and urban environments on people with poor mental health and good mental health was conducted. A walk through a rural area was advantageous to affective and cognitive restoration in both health groups compared to an urban walk. “However, beneficial change took place to a greater extent in the poor health group. Differential outcomes between health groups were found in the urban setting, which was most advantageous to restoration in the poor mental health group.” Overall people of all mental states can benefit from a walk anywhere. Four experiments demonstrate that walking boosts creative ideation in real time and shortly after. In Experiment 1, while seated and then when walking on a treadmill, adults completed Guilford s alternate uses (GAU) test of creative divergent thinking and the compound remote associates (CRA) test of convergent thinking. Walking increased 81% of participants  creativity on the GAU, but only increased 23% of participants  scores for the CRA. In Experiment 2, participants completed the GAU when seated and then walking, when walking and then seated, or when seated twice. Again, walking led to higher GAU scores. Moreover, when seated after walking, participants exhibited a residual creative boost. Experiment 3 generalized the prior effects to outdoor walking. Experiment 4 tested the effect of walking on creative analogy generation. Participants sat inside, walked on a treadmill inside, walked outside, or were rolled outside in a wheelchair. Walking outside produced the most novel and highest quality analogies. The effects of outdoor stimulation and walking were separable. Walking opens up the free flow of ideas, and it is a simple and robust solution to the goals of increasing creativity and increasing physical activity. The data speaks for itself. My neighborhood is a great example of a place to walk in order to get brain juices flowing. The Main Street is lined with all kinds of stores from clothing, shoes, to fast food. There are also clubs and hookah lounges as well as a bunch of retail stores. The options are endless and the street that spans a ten blocks exist similar to how an outdoor mall would. My neighborhood offers a lot of activities to get into while walking because it also has many areas where people sit and converse. There are two pet stores that garner a lot of attention because of their adorable puppies and kittens. There a great sum of people from all age groups gather because those little animals are hard to keep away from. I’ve mad conversation over there with many people about the dogs and have stayed in contact with some because I discovered that they live nearby and hang out at the places I do. The park is an exceptional place for walking because the activities there are physically beneficial and the vibe is great. The place is roaming with kids, teens, and adults all running around having fun. When warm weather comes around the place intensifies and there’s no way you can walk through without talking to at least one person. Every person in my community takes care of their own responsibilities so that everyone can enjoy a safe environment. For the most part, my neighborhood has a lot of children and families and therefore it is extremely important for mothers and fathers to do everything in their power to create a safe environment for their children. My neighborhood is very populated and diverse so in order to protect everyone’s interests people come together to help the community out. People are always conversing with the police in order to ensure that there is no suspicious activity going unnoticed. This is what communities must do to protect their members so that these members can walk around peacefully and not have to encounter the danger that streets in general may possess.

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Roe, and Aspinall. “The Restorative Benefits of Walking in Urban and Rural Settings in Adults with Good and Poor Mental Health.” Health and Place, vol. 17, no. 1, 2011, pp. 103–113.

 

Weekly walks

Weekly Walk 6

 

This weeks weather pissed me off to say the least. I woke up on Tuesday morning at 5 am to get to the school library early so I could study for my exam in complete silence. That morning it was snowing/raining. I’ve never stayed around Baruch or the flatiron area at night because my schedule never went that far but this time around I woke up so early that it was dark. This was a new experience for me so I was really trying to enjoy everything because it’s not something that’s gonna happen. Especially with the beautiful snow. I walked through Madison Park and got to the library. The library was complete dead and dark. This was also a new experience for me so I just kept walking around in awe because I was basically the only person there. It felt really nice and I really enjoyed waking up so early. I’m takes a small burden off your shoulder because you don’t need to rush anywhere, the city is quiet and empty to some degree, and you can really relax. I did a couple rounds around the library just to stretch my legs out before I sat down for a long study session. It was great and I might start my day this early everyday if I can get into a habit of it.

Weekly Walk 5

This week I was listening to a bit of old music while walking. I was reminiscing on some very different music I used to listen to back around my sophomore year of high school. The music completely brought back the feelings and sensation of that time period. It was very nostalgic and the closest thing I’ve felt to time travel. During that time I used to go to Central Park a lot with friends and just walk around. It was so much more pleasing to walk around there and being with friends made it even better. I really haven’t enjoyed walking around in winter around where I live because it just doesn’t feel spacious enough. Seeing the dead trees also brings my moral down. This days particular walk showed a gloomy sky full of dark clouds. It’s nice to know that sunshine is over the corner and I just have to get over the last storms this winter is bringing. Really shows how seasons can affect how you feel and alter your mindset almost subconsciously. Of course you can fight through this through positivity. In my strong opinion, positivity is ultimately something that is drilled into a person through sheer will power, mindset, and habits.

Weekly Walk 4

This week I went out for a walk with an eye for architecture. This apartment complex shown in this picture is a house down from mine. It’s interesting to see how much my neighborhood differs from others such as suburbs and rural areas. Those streets have houses on houses and they all look pretty similar. It’s crazy because the block I used to live on before had a factory, warehouse, motorcycle shop with a garage, houses, and apartments just in the span of a couple meters. Blocks now are so diversified and people who buy a plot of land just create whatever they want on it without any second thought of how it would look in the grand scheme of the entire block. This apartment in particular is very new compared to everything else around it. The gate is automated and it makes the other buildings around it look like crap. The windows are tinted. I can see the backyard from my backyard and the people who live there have a nice lit up patio with cool seating and stuff. I can see them having fun and enjoying themselves drinking beer with the rest of the people who live in that building. I aspire to get a nice big house somewhere in the Australia near the ocean and just chill out there for the rest of my life and surf. Would be great.

Open Hood Essay Final

English Open Hood Essay
Zamil Ahmed
ENG 2150 – Hoodology 

Professor Singleton 

 

Humans are arguably the most resilient species around. As living beings, humans have constantly adapted to meet the needs of our constantly changing world. We have accomplished a lot and have not shown any definitive signs of slowing down in terms of moving forward. However, despite the prosperity and ambition of our species there are upcoming problems we must tackle. One of the major issues we must face is climate change. The definition of climate change, according to Google is “: a change in global or regional climate patterns, a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced using fossil fuels.” Climate change is steadily increasing in pace, yet world leaders continue to ignore it as a serious issue. Studies proving the effects of climate change to be real are extensive. Governments would rather disperse their funds towards other aspects of their country rather than focus on an issue that affects the whole world and threatens the entirety of humanity.  There are a series of key events occurring around the world that indicate to us that the time for action is now. The more we wait, the more our world dissipates. Change for some may look like a farfetched idea, but as mentioned before, humankind is a very resilient species that can address any problem if we combine our efforts into one. When faced with great adversity, we unite. We have done it many times, before. Global warming is undoubtedly a serious issue taxing the world we call home and we must act now, despite the naysayers whom believe it to be a hoax or myth.
 

Climate change affects many aspects of our infrastructure that we are not aware of. The stability of our environment isn’t the only facet affected. Our economy takes a lot of hits as well from a climate that is not regulated. Examples of this include forced relocations, asset destruction, droughts, extinctions, as well as many more factors that all add to global economic costs. The Natural Resources Defense Council estimates that the U.S. Climate Disruption Budget for natural occurrences like droughts, storms and growing climate disruptions, was amounted to nearly $100 billion. That is such a large sum of money that it is humanly impossible to visualize. And that’s only the beginning. By 2030, climate change costs are projected to cost the global economy $700 billion annually, according to the Climate Vulnerability Monitor. 50 billion tons of methane released from melting Arctic ice will advance global warming by 15-35 years and in turn cost the global economy $60 trillion. Putting a halt to all the damage will come at a very expensive cost. Paving a new path towards sustainable energy can cost $53 trillion (International Energy Agency’s World Energy Investment Outlook). These numbers are tremendous and will only increase if these issues are ignored. Political figures now have an initiative for acting against climate change. Investing now will save funds further down the line. The best way to view things is in the long term, so we can establish a better future for the generations to come.  

 

Aside from the loss of trillions of dollars from the world economy, climate change will also deplete a lot of natural resources we need to survive. The lack of resources is something that can be critical to the existence of human life. Since humans have walked this earth we have been using resources non-stop without thinking twice about the consequences. This has brought us very far throughout our history and we are advancing at the fastest pace ever seen. Technological, medical, and other advancements have made life as we know it very convenient. Yet with climate change on the horizon, a very large portion of the human population will suffer from scarcity of crucial resources needed to survive. One of these resources is water. Water as we know is required for many daily functions such as bathing, drinking, and cooking. Its importance is ranked as one of the most important factors for sustaining life. In 2013, about 1.3 billion people lived in water scarce regions, according to one study. 8% of the population will enter a state of “new or aggravated water scarcity,” solely due to climate change with a temperature increase of 3.6 degrees F by 2100. Depleted water resources due to heat and drought will account for more than $10 billion in direct losses to agriculture alone. The lack of water will place the world on a cycle of disarray and cause a great threat towards human life.

 

Like water, shelter is something all living creatures need to live their lives. The comfort of our homes is one of the greatest feelings there is. Many of us never conceive the thought of losing something so important in our lives. In our world today, homelessness is common even in major cities. In countries that are less developed, the amount of people who lack a home is drastically greater. Those people who are fortunate to have a home since birth often take for granted how satisfying it is to arrive back to the warmth of your home from a long day. In 2008, 36 million people were displaced by natural disasters. At least 20 million of those people were driven from their homes by disasters related to climate change like drought and rising sea level. Even more alarming, a 2014 study published in Environmental Research Letters predicted that sea level rise created by a temperature increase of 3 degrees C would force more than 600 million people to find new homes. The Internal Organization for Migration estimates that 200 million people by 2050 could be forced to leave due to environmental changes. Additionally, large wealth gaps in many modern countries, including America means that those who have less money will be affected the most. That means that climate change will affect the average middle-class citizen significantly and those with less money to their name even more so. The only people who might avoid the consequences of climate change, including loss of property, are those with significant wealth; typically, the top percentage of the upper class. We see numbers so often that we get desensitized towards large numbers.  

 

Numbers are something we see everywhere. Our lives revolve around numbers and we are constantly seeing new ones every day. The numbers from the studies given previously are so substantial that the human brain can’t grasp the thought of so much of a certain thing sufficiently enough. We can’t wrap our heads around or envision millions, billions, or trillions of something. We can only read the number and interpret it to the best of our abilities. The truth is we will never be able to visualize such large quantities. However, we can relate to one person. We ourselves know the importance of life through our own. We see how complex it is, how many different qualities of life there are to experience and feel. All these millions of lives are just like ours and just as important. The problems arising from climate change affect people the most. That is why we should place a great deal of emphasis on acting immediately to save as many lives as possible because we can empathize with these people as human beings.  

 

Works Cited  

“22 Devastating Effects of Climate Change.” Business Insider. Accessed May 12, 2017. 

<http://www.businessinsider.com/effects-of-climate-change-2014-6>

Peer Review for Michael C. and Jack

Michael C.

I think Michael is pursuing a great idea in terms of his essay. There are a number of things he can work on. I feel like he can develop his essay a lot further by organizing it and providing structure to his paragraphs. If he starts his paragraphs with a topic sentence the readers will know what each paragraph is predominantly about. This will help the structure because there will be no repetition and each paragraph will explore an individual idea. Since Michael is telling a story about a period of time in his life, he would benefit a lot from ordering everything chronologically. In terms of sentence structure, there are sentences that he can cut out and add new ones and elaborate on. I also believe he can combine a couple of his paragraphs because they explore similar topics. Michael can add more detail to his work such as how the hard work made him feel. He can delve deeper into the relationship he had with his friend. He can talk about where he sees his new job taking him. He can talk about what his family thinks of his new job. In terms of his introduction I would have liked to see him give a bit more context on what was going on in his life at the time. How the job affected everything around him. What the change in jobs meant for his schedule and affected other aspects of his life. Michael does a good job of telling us thinks such as how he felt he was benefiting from the new job. I really liked that because it shows that he is growing as a person and taking his job seriously. I feel like he could have set the tone and setting in his introductory paragraph stronger if he had just added a bit more bulk to it.

 

Jack

Now this is what I call an essay. The topic you chose instantly grasped my interest. I think it’s something a lot of people don’t talk enough about. Wow!!! The hook for your intro is by far the best part. I just wanted to keep reading to see what would happen so I applaud you on that. It would make sense to combine your first and second paragraph but I can see why you would split the two. You provided a great context and setting after surprising the reader with your first initial statements. There are a couple sentences that are grammatically incorrect that you can easily fix by reading over your paper. Your sentence structure can also improve. I would suggest you rewrite your sentences and phrase a couple of them differently so they flow better. Honestly I can’t get over the fact that you picked such a great topic to talk about especially since our social climate is what it is right now. I think your helping to give adults who don’t have any idea of what teen life is like an idea of how social media plays a role in our lives. I like how your showing people a modern love story in some sense. Since your essay is very loose and outgoing I wouldn’t say you have to structure it anymore but you can combine a couple of the paragraphs. At some instances, the chronological order of events is a bit confusing. I don’t think you should talk about the same topic in a different paragraph because the reason a paragraph is a separate entity is because it talks about something different. Therefore if you are going to talk about something similar in a different paragraph I suggest you bring it all into one paragraph to really centralize the ideas. Overall a really interesting topic and essay. Great use of dialogue throughout and I really like how you let the readers know what your thinking. If you add a bit more of what’s going on in your mind and how it affected your social life and everything around you I think it will give the readers and added sense of understanding.

Weekly Walk 3

This week I decided to go on a walk on the day it was snowed. Initially I went to my gym, Blink Fitness. But that closes at 8 so me and a couple of my buddies decided to head over to Retro Fitness. It’s quite a walk from my gym, a good 10 or more blocks. During that walk all we did was crack jokes and it was a great time. Until our feet started to freeze up and then we just decided to run to the gym. At Retro Fitness you can practically walk in you just sign a guest sheet. A great gym and I’ll probably switch to it next year. On my way back I came across this very cool looking plant shop. The image felt very worth taking because on the outside you can see the frozen dead snow and on the inside are all the plants full of life. I thought it was a cool little contrast.

Weekly Walk 2

This week didn’t lack in beautiful weather and I found myself outside a lot. I walked down Broadway in Astoria. Since moving to this neighborhood I never really walked down Broadway. It’s changed a lot since I was a little kid. When I was little I didn’t notice all of the bars. A lot of wine and liquor stores were around also. All this suggested to me that people come here to drink and eat because the number of restaurants there was insane. There was just one after the other and all of them were unique in their own respective way. This one in particular really stood out because of it’s design and the cool murals they implemented into their storefront. I liked how they incorporated art into their restaurant and I feel like more restaurants should try that approach. Art and food are two things I think can come together to make a very memorable moment for people. Food in my view is a form of art. It is a form of expression of taste and the presentation of food carries on into how it makes you feel overall.

“Open Hood” Essay Draft

English Open Hood Essay Draft
Zamil Ahmed
ENG 2150 – Hoodology

Professor Singleton

 Humankind is a resilient species. Looking at our history there isn’t much that we haven’t accomplished. We’ve completely dominated the entire earth for the time span we’ve inhabited. Despite our prosperity as a species there are upcoming problems that we must face. One of these problems is climate change or global warming. This is an issue that is steadily increasing in pace however world leaders continue to ignore it as a serious issue. Studies to prove the effects of climate change are extensive. Governments would rather disperse their funds towards other aspects of their country rather than focus on an issue that affects the whole world and threatens the entirety of humanity.  There are a series of key events occurring around the world that indicate to us that the time for action is now. The more we wait, the more our world dissipates. It will take time for everyone to take on the same campaign and mindset but is definitely possible. The world can unite when faced with a great adversity. Summing it up, global warming is a serious issue that is currently taxing the world we inhabit and we must take action now despite the naysayers who believe it to be a hoax or myth.

The definition of climate change according to Google is “: a change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels.” Climate change affects many aspects of our infrastructure that we are not aware of. The stability of our environment isn’t the only facet effected. Our economy takes a lot of hits as well from climate that is not regulated. Asset destruction, forced relocations, droughts, extinctions, and many more factors all add to global economic costs. Natural Resources Defense Council estimates that the U.S. Climate Disruption Budget, stuff related to drought, storm, and growing climate disruptions, was nearly $100 billion. And that’s just the start. By 2030, climate change costs are projected to cost the global economy $700 billion annually, according to the Climate Vulnerability Monitor. 50 billion tons of methane released from melting Arctic ice will advance global warming by 15-35 years and in turn cost the global economy$60 trillion. Putting a halt to all the damage will come at a very expensive cost. Paving a new path towards sustainable energy can cost $53 trillion.  (International Energy Agency’s World Energy Investment Outlook). These numbers are tremendous and will only increase if these issues are ignored. Political figures now have an initiative for wanting to tackle climate change. The investment will save funds further down the line. It is best to view things in the long run so we can establish a better future for the generations to come.


The lack of resources is something that can be critical to the existence of human life. Ever since humans have walked this earth we have been using resources nonstop without thinking twice about the consequences. This has brought us very far throughout our history and we at advancing at the fastest pace ever seen with no signs of slowing down. Technological, medical, and other advancements have made life as we know it very convenient. Yet with climate change on the horizon, a very large portion of the human population will suffer from scarcity of crucial resources needed to survive. One of these is water. Water is a essential element for any living beings. It’s importance is arguably ranked as one of the most important factors for sustaining life. In 2013, about 1.3 billion people lived in water scarce regions, according to one study. 8% of the population will enter a state of “new or aggravated water scarcity,” solely due to climate change with a temperature increase of 3.6 degrees F by 2100. Depleted water resources due to heat and drought will account for more than $10 billion in direct losses to agriculture alone. These numbers are too big to ignore. The lack of water will place the world in a cycle of disarray and cause a great threat towards human life. Without water life as we know it will spiral towards chaos.

Similar to water, shelter is something all living creatures need in order to live their life. The comfort of our homes is one of the greatest feelings and many of us have never conceived ever losing something so convenient. In our world today, homelessness is common even in major cities. In countries that are less developed, the amount of people who lack a home is drastically greater. Those people who are fortunate often take for granted how satisfying it is to arrive back to the warmth of your home from a long day. In 2008, 36 million people were displaced by natural disasters. At least 20 million of those people were driven from their homes by disasters related to climate change like drought and rising sea level. Even more alarming, a 2014 study published in Environmental Research Letters predicted that sea level rise created by a temperature increase of 3 degrees C would force more than 600 million people to find new homes. The Internal Organization for Migration estimates that 200 million people by 2050  could be forced to leave due to environmental changes. We see numbers so often that we get desensitized towards large numbers. These numbers are so substantial that the human brain can’t possibly grasp the thought of so many people sufficiently. We can’t seem to wrap our heads around it or envision something of such a large scale. We can only read the number and interpret it to the best of our abilities. The truth is we will never be able to. However we can definitely relate to one person. We ourselves know the importance of life through our own. We see how complex it is, how many different qualities of life there are to experience and feel. All these millions of lives are just like ours and just as important. That is why we should place a great deal of emphasis on taking action immediately to save as many lives as possible because we can empathize with these people as human beings.