My favorite season

Every season has something beautiful, something which makes it special. Winter comes
with snow and the presents underneath the Christmas tree, summer has white sand
beaches and bright sunny days, autumn cheers us up with pumpkin pies and grape juice,
while spring is all about explosions of flowers and perfumes that make you feel alive
again after the long, hard winter.
Still, if have to choose one season, would say that my favorite is summer. like hot
weather and cannot think of a better way to spend your vacation than lying in the sun,
somewhere on a !uiet beach, far way from the noise and the crowds of the city. "he
mountains also attract me with their beautiful cool forests, fresh air and adventurous
climbing. "he sky is never more beautiful than on a summer night spent on top of a
mountain, lying in the grass outside you tent, ga#ing at the stars.
Summer is also about the longest vacation which, however, never seems long enough.
"here is always something more you wish you had done and didn$t have time to do. %
weekend in the &elta, a trip to the 'oldavian monasteries, the Sighisoara 'ediaveal
(estival, the rock nights in )ama )eche. "he most beautiful season invariably ends with
the same promise to yourself* +$ll do all these ,and more- next year..
A person/personality I admire
"here are !uite a few people that admire and who, one way or another, have been
models for me through time. /ut it is my parents who will always represent the first and
most important point of reference, the models will compare myself to, whether it is in
order to follow an example or correct mistake.
'y parents are not perfect people, but, if had been allowed to choose them, could not
have thought of better people to be raised by. "hey haven$t had a perfect life and they
have always had to work hard in order to make a decent living. Which is why have
always admired how they have never lost the ability to smile despite all the problems,
how they have kept a positive attitude even through the most difficult times.
"hey are not rich, but that does not stop them from being generous to those less fortunate.
"hey are busy, but they always find time to help others. "hey are not necessarily the most
religious people, but they are better Christians than most fervent church-goers know.
'ost importantly, they are good parents. "hey have always taught me to have faith in
myself, to trust my ability to achieve a goal. "hey have also taught me to get up after a
fall, to deal with failure by trying again until succeeded ,or by accepting my limits and
moving on. "hey have shown me both my mistakes and what to learn from them. "hey
have forgiven me when had done something bad, but they have also set rules by which
to live my life in the right way. t is thanks to them that have become aware of the
conse!uences of my actions. know am not perfect and will continue to make
mistakes. /ut also know that it is ok not to be perfect, as long as you try to be the best
version of yourself.
try to live by these lessons every day. sometimes fail, but will still consider myself a
+success. if come close to the model they have set for me, one day.
School plays a more important role than the family in shaping
ones personality
0ut of the many factors that can influence a person$s development, school and the
family stand out as the most important elements. "hey represent the environment in
which a child grows, with some people placing more emphasis upon the role of school in
shaping his personality, while others believe that the family has a stronger impact on a
child$s psychological development.
0ne point in favour of the role of school is that it is at school that a child first
learns to socialise. /eing around other children brings out and helps the child improve
his social skills, which are vitally important in personality development. 'oreover,
interaction with other children teaches them values which are useful in building character.
"hus, it is at school that children ac!uire a sense of self-worth, an idea of personal status,
as they see themselves as not just individual entities, but part of a community that they
ca rely upon and which, in its turn, depends on them. t is at school that they first learn
the importance of group work, of sharing and relying.
%n additional argument in support of school is that young people are exposed to a
variety of subjects. Children are thus likely to develop more specialised knowledge at
school, than at home, where parents, though proficient in certain areas, may completely
lack knowledge as to other subjects, or they may simply lack the skills to share that
knowledge.
What is more, the average child spends as many as eight hours a day in school,
which means that a third of a child$s day is spent being exposed to its influences. While
the time they spend outside school has a great deal of emphasis placed on relaxation,
school is more and mostly about work, discipline and rules, and it is work, school and
discipline that build character.
0n the other hand, most children have a closer relationship with their parents
rather than with their teachers. 1arents are the most important presence in a child$s life, at
least through his first years, and it is them who are and usually remain his most important
role-models, as the bond a child shares with his parents is much stronger than any they
might share with their teachers. 'oreover, the distance between teachers and students is
sometimes too great to allow more than a superficial influence.
'oreover, so much of the school day is devoted to competition and preparation
for examinations, that there is little time left for personality development. Children
sometimes become so obsessed with getting higher marks that they lose track of the true
purpose of learning, i.e. enriching knowledge and developing one$s personality, and thus
the mark becomes a goal in itself, while cooperation, team-work and fair play are
replaced with heavy competition and antagonism.
(urthermore, children usually spend at least five years of their lives at home
before they even go to school. Some argue that a child$s personality- negative traits
included- is so fully developed by the time he goes to school that what they learn there
makes little difference to character. n addition, for a child that has spent 23 hours a day
under his parents$ influence, the comparatively short time he spends at school is of less
significance.
%ll in all, both school and the family play 4perhaps e!ually5 important roles in a
child$s personal development, as the two of them represent the most important
coordinates of his world and the environment where he defines who he is and where his
personality is moulded.
We are becoming overwhelmingly dependent on computers. Is
this dependence on computers a good thing or should we be
more suspicious of their benefits? ive arguments and
e!amples to support your ideas.
Computers have been playing a more and more important part in our lives in recent years.
While some people claim their influence is positive, there are others who suggest our
+addiction. to computers is more than harmful, thus emphasi#ing the need for us to
control both the amount of time we spend in front of a computer screen and the purpose
for which we use it.
0n one hand, we cannot deny the benefits computers have brought to our lives. 0ne
positive aspect is represented by the fact that they make our work a lot easier, whether it$s
a computer program that helps us in our job or a virtual library students can use for their
school projects. 'oreover, the internet is not only a source of information that we can use
in our work, but also a source of entertainment* downloading music or films, chit-
chatting with friends over yahoo.messenger, keeping in touch with people far away on
(acebook, "witter, etc., or simply surfing the net looking for new things to explore, are
all ways in which more and more of us choose to spend their free time.
0n the other hand, computers are not without negative effects. 0ur dependence on them
has literally made us la#ier* we rely so much on certain programs or sites to do our work
for us that we use our own capacity, abilities and skills less and less, which is not a good
thing in terms of personal development and growth. (urthermore, the very fact that we
spend so much time in front of a computer screen contributes to our sense of isolation and
loneliness, and sometimes even turns us into social misfits, people who have forgotten
how to communicate in the real world and whose language has become more or less
computeri#ed, people who should be looking for communication and entertainment with
the others, among others.
%ll in all, computers can be a positive part of our life, as long as we choose to be the ones
who control them and not the other way round. 6sing them in our work or for
entertainment is not a bad thing, but we should not let them replace our mind or allow
them to keep us from living in the real world.
"he benefits of doing sports
"here are many benefits of doing sports. 0ne of the most important is the fact that sport
helps you keep healthy* when your body is given enough exercise, not only will it look
more in shape, but the risks of disease will also diminish. 'oreover, in many cases, sport
is used as a successful alternative treatment method for several medical conditions.
%nother important positive aspect about doing sports is the fact that it helps you relax and
unwind after a hard day at school or work. Companies and businesses report that their
employees have better performance at work after they have spent some of their lunch
break in the company gym, working out the tensions of work while also energi#ing their
body and mind for the rest of the day. "hus, sport proves to be beneficial not only for the
body, but also for the mind. Which brings us once more to the wisdom of the ancient
people, whose motto is just as true today as it was thousands of years ago* +'ens sana in
corpore sano.. +% healthy mind in a healthy body. should be something we all want for
ourselves.
Spea# about the way in which fashion influences ones
personality.
n my opinion, it is not fashion that influences one$s personality, but the other way
round* it is our personality that +decides. our fashion style. We dress according to our
taste, we choose the clothes that we like and which make us feel good, confident about
ourselves. We also dress according to a specific context* we wear uniforms at school, we
dress in suits for office work , we wear "-shirts and sweatpants for jogging and we dress
+hip. for an evening our with our friends, clubbing.
'ost of us choose or should choose the clothes that suit us and our personality.
7owever, there are many people who could be called fashion victims* people who try so
hard to keep up with the latest trends that they completely disregard whether those trends,
colors or models suit them or not, look good on them or not.
Clothes do not make the man, that is true. /ut it is true, nonetheless, that they represent
who we are, they represent our style, our personality, they +speak. about us. Which
means that clothes or fashion are not something to disregard completely* but they it is not
fashion that dictates who we are, it is us who decide which fashion trend is appropriate
for our personality.
"he importance of being good$mannered
"here are many people who say that being good-mannered is old-fashioned in a world
that moves to fast for elegant gestures or that is too harsh for kind words. /ut, in my
opinion, it is precisely for those reasons that good manners should still be around. We
need those kind words to remind us that we live in society, that we are not alone and that
we owe each other the smallest amount of respect and consideration. We need those
gestures to remind us that we are human, not robots who do everything automatically,
without caring about the person next to them. n a world of brutality and violence,
watching a young man helping an old lady cross the street is a pleasant view and shows
that the world is not too insensitive to only think about oneself. Saying hello to your
neighbor while climbing down the stairs from your flat is a gesture that only re!uires a
small amount of effort8and which most likely will bring a smile to your neighbor$s face
and yours.
9ood manners are a sign of respect not just towards the others, but also towards oneself.
"hey are a sign of our humanity, of our essential good nature. "hey show that there is still
hope for us and this world, before it turns into a place of complete insensitivity and
selfishness.
Where theres a will, theres a way
4&aca vrei, poti5
believe this statement is true, in most cases. believe that, if you truly want something,
that something can be obtained or accomplished. 0f course, many times there are doubts
to overcome, fears to fight away, obstacles to remove. %nd the effort re!uired from us
may often seem too big, even beyond our powers. /ut none of these should keep us from
trying. "he English have a saying* +t is better to have tried and failed, than never to have
tried at all..
"hey also say +mpossible is nothing.. t is something meant to convince us of the same
thing* if we want something, we C%: get it. /ut the truth is that some things %;E
impossible to achieve. "he truth is that, no matter how hard we try, sometimes the thing
we want keeps eluding us. %nd that because not everything depends on us, because we do
not have control over everything.
7owever, the important thing is "0 ";<. n this way, we will have nothing to reproach
ourselves.
%o you thin# a disability ma#es a person more determined to
succeed?
Success, in my opinion, is mostly a matter of attitude and determination, for all people,
including those with a handicap of some kind. n their case, however, that very handicap
is a special factor that needs to be taken into account when discussing the notion of
success. /ecause it can be an incredible motivation for some, just as it can ruin
someone$s belief in themselves and in what they can and cannot do. t all depends on the
seriousness of the handicap, on the one hand, and the attitude of the person towards it, in
the other. Some people find the strength to fight their disability and always try to be the
best they can, to do the best with what they have. 0thers, however, only see how that
handicap makes them different from the rest of the so-called +normal. people and use it
as an excuse to not even try. f the handicap is a serious one, all the more reason for them
to feel defeated without even trying t put up a fight.
t is also true that the world is a harsh place, one full of prejudice and intolerance. %nd,
no matter how hard these people may try to find a place for themselves in this world,
there will always be someone there to remind them that they are not +like the others., that
they are different and that they should live in their own, separate world. %part from their
handicap, therefore, they also have to fight the mentality of a world that is often not
willing to receive them with open arms.
"he truth is, however, that we are not different at all and what goes for them, goes for
everyone else* there will always be something or someone to stop us from getting what
we want, but that must never mean that we should give up without a fight, without
trying.
Advertising& information or manipulation?
%dvertising is said to be the soul of commerce. "hings cannot work, as far as economy
goes, without publicity. %ds bring us important information as to the products and
services we have at our disposal and thus help us decide what it is that we want, need or
can use.
t is also true, however, that ads do not always tell the truth about a product* its !ualities
are often greatly exaggerated, if not even blatant lies. 'oreover, they can be so
aggressive that they even convince us that we 7%)E to buy something that we didn$t
even know we needed and that, in fact, we really &0 :0" :EE&.
t is up to us, as consumers, to decide what it is that we believe from what we are
presented. t is also up to us to decide whether we really need that product. %fter all, ads
do not (0;CE us to buy something, they only try to convince us that our life would be
much better if it included that specific product. t is up to us to decide whether that is true
or not.
My favorite boo#$ Maitreyi, by Mircea 'liade
%mong the books that have read, one stands out as most intriguing* 'ircea Eliade$s
+'aitreyi. is a novel that has captivated me from the very first pages with its authentic
style, its =
st
person narrative combining diary entries, personal correspondence and
philosophical essays on the margin of intense real-life experiences. +'aitreyi. is a book
about love in its oldest form* that of a myth that gradually comes to life before our eyes,
as we watch %llan and 'aitreyi getting closer to one another, paying each other visits,
discussing literature, discovering one another with surprise and even ama#ement at how
different they are, and yet how close they feel. "heir love reminds us of "ristan and
solde or ;omeo and >uliet* love hidden and forbidden, families opposing it, prejudice
and superstitions working against it. t does not end with either of the two protagonists
dying, but it is no less tragic* 'aitreyi tries to carry out an old plan and gives herself to
the florist, in an attempt to make her family chase her away and thus be able to reach
%llan, while %llan, having suffered enormously himself, has already decided to leave
ndia behind him, as the place where he encountered love but was not allowed to live it,
as the place where he was in the presence of myth, but was not completely able to grasp
it* his last wish, at the end of the novel, is to see 'aitreyi$s eyes, as if they could bring
some light into his almost surreal experience.
"he novel$s motto, the !uestions addressed to 'aitreyi 4+&o you still remember me,
'aitreyi? %nd, if you do, were you ever able to forgive me?5 find an answer 32 years
later in 'aitreyi &evi$s own writing* +@ove never dies..