The Green Wave Gazette January/February 2014 | Page 6

Page 6

The Green Wave Gazette

Get Up and Make A Difference
Senior Samantha Thompson helped Colorado flood victims and has some advice for you
Samantha Thompson
Contributor

The author and her father, Matt
Thompson assisting Colorado flood
victims.

“Small acts of
love add up
quickly, and
people
appreciate the
care and love
that they are
shown.”
— Samantha
Thompson

―New Year, new me!‖ How
many times have you heard
that this New Years season?
Honestly, how many people do
you actually think will follow
through with that statement, or
any of their other resolutions?
After the high of the New Year
wears off, we tend to go back
to our normal ways and forget
about some of our resolutions.
But I have a challenge for you.
This year, give up your own
rights to make someone else
happy.
Last year in October , I went to
Greeley, Colorado for one
week. Along with the other
seven volunteers from my
church, we teamed up with
Samaritans Purse Disaster Relief Organization and helped
clean affected areas of the
Colorado floods. I was motivated to see first hand what a
disaster was like. One sees the
footage on the news of disasters and usually thinks, ―what a
shame,‖ but what does it really
look, sound, smell and feel like
to be in the heart of the disaster? Most importantly, I wanted
to help. The victims had little

to no flood insurance and their
homes were absolutely destroyed. At some homes the
water level reached seven feet!
You can only imagine how
much damage must have been
done. While I was sitting in my
clean, warm, dry, house I felt
guilty taking my comfort for
granted, and I felt the desire to
help the victims of the flood so
they could jumpstart their recovery. The expression of pure
hope and gratefulness I witnessed was better than any
birthday or Christmas gift I
could ever receive. The feeling
I had watching the tears of
agony turn to tears of joy as
we helped the homeowners
clean up the mess they were
left all alone with is indescribable. I hope that one day you
all can experience something
similar.
So why have I shared this? Because if I, a small town, high
school girl, was able to make a
difference in strangers lives for
the better, so can you. I‘m not
saying run to the Philippines
and begin your own disaster
relief organization, although
that would be a huge blessing.
Instead, others might have it
harder than you, and give up

some of your own comfort to
make their lives better. Just as I
crawled under a man‘s house in
two inches of thick smelly mud
to clean it up, if you see an
elderly person standing while
you‘re sitting comfortably, offer
them your seat. Yes, you have
the right to sit there, but do
you need it as much as the
achy, tired, elderly person?
Probably not. Small acts of love
add up quickly, and people
appreciate the care and love
that they are shown. Not to
mention, what could be better
than knowing you have made a
difference in someone‘s day? I
challenge you to make a kind
act whenever the opportunity
is there, even if no one notices
it. Trust me, seeing the person‘s face light up with happiness because of something you
did is a wonderful blessing.
Through this experience, I
learned that my struggles aren‘t
comparable to others, so why
should I stray from helping
them? So, here it is. Go out
there and make a difference.
Make this 2014 resolution one
that you keep, believe me, you
won‘t regret it!

Falling in Love with “Her” - Will technology go this far?
“The images in
“Her,” are
creative and
captivating,
already earning it
a Best Film award
from the National
Board of Review.”
- Abby Magnussen

Abby Magnussen
Contributor
Technology advances more and
more each day. Have you thought
how intense the changes could get
in the years to come?
―Her,” directed by Spike Jonze,
shows us a different view of the
future with technology. This fresh
drama is about Theodore Twombly
(Joaquin Phoenix) who falls in love
with an operating system inside his
cell phone. Samantha (Scarlett
Johansson) is the voice inside the
phone. Other cast members include actors Amy Adams, Matt
Letscher, Olivia Wilde and Rooney
Mara.
Theodore is a lonely, newly divorced man who writes love letters

for those who have difficulty showing their passion towards loved
ones. After falling for Samantha,
Theodore experiences similar
hardships maintaining his own real
relationship.
The film‘s futuristic setting is a real
eye opener for viewers. It was
exceptionally interesting to watch
how people in the movie became
even more attached to their cellular devices than they are today,
using them for things above and
beyond what you would expect.
The message ―Her‖ sends is loud
and clear; people rely on technology far too much. Jonzes‘ way of
getting the point across was original and intriguing.
There were some slow parts to the
movie and a couple of the scenes
seemed repetitive. It was not a

movie you quickly rewind to watch
again, but it did serve as a good
source of intelligent entertainment.
Overall this film will broaden your
horizons and is definitely worth
your time.