Thinking About Success

Hardwork
Skill
Opportunity
Luck

Luck is the least important because you never know how its going to fall. You can't make a plan around luck, it just happens. After luck comes opportunity. Opportunities are how people start when looking for success. You can't achieve it in the end unless you have amazing opportunities come up that allow you to, and sometimes these opportunities come by luck. Next is skill. When the opportunities come along, if you don't have the skill required to participate effectively in them then they might as well have not come along to begin with. If you can't properly use the opportunities then you're nowhere closer to achieving success then you were before them. Whereas, with the ability to effectively use the opportunities to your advantage, success will come quicker. Last comes hardwork. Without hardwork none of the skill, opportunity, or luck matters. If you don't put in the effort to makes things happen they won't. Hardwork is required for the skill to be gained. Hardwork is required for the opportunities to be completed. And hardwork is often required for luck to be in your favor. Therefore, my order of these words is luck, opportunity, skill, hardwork.

Smoke Signals Thesis and Essay

Native Americans have long been faced with a rough past and unappealing stereotypes. In the movie Smoke Signals, the characters struggle with their history and stereotypes through the way that they act and are treated, such as struggles with alcoholism and the negative ways that non Native-Americans treat them. However, the characters are also empowered by their Native American history and traditions such as when they joke about their history amongst each other and the importance of their hair and songs.

Throughout the film there are scenes depicting struggles that Native Americans face, the biggest of these struggles being that the characters live on a reservation. Reservation life has a history of being nowhere close to the ideal living standards, and as a result, poverty is extremely common. While the characters may joke about their situation, like when the weather man talks about the lack of cars, they all struggle with the way of life that they have been given. Another way that the characters' struggle is portrayed is through struggles with alcoholism. Victor's father, Arnold, is the character seen struggling the most with this addiction. In flashbacks to Victor's childhood, a drunk Arnold possesses reckless behavior, resulting in him abusing his wife and Victor and setting the house fire shown at the beginning of the movie. While alcoholism is a common stereotype of Native Americans, it is also part of history that Native Americans have struggled with alcohol addictions. Arnold is an example of how Native Americans struggle with this part of their history while the man who tries to blame Victor for the wreck saying he was drunk is an example of the stereotype of Native Americans being alcoholics. Besides alcoholism, the movie also depicted other stereotypes of Native Americans. While Victor and Thomas are traveling on the bus, Victor tells Thomas that he doesn't act "Indian" enough and that he needs to be more stoic. Victor explains that this make him look like a warrior, and people of other races will respect them more. Being stoic is another stereotype of Native Americans. Also during this bus trip, the other non-Native American passengers look at Victor and Thomas in a demeaning way, as though they are less then them. Another stereotype of Native Americans is that they are "savages" who are less than other races. Even though Victor and Thomas got out safely from all of the situations that their stereotypes put them in, they still struggled to deal with them throughout the movie.
While the character's are struggling with some parts of Native Americanism, they are also empowered by other parts. When it comes to history, they are aware that theirs is not perfect. However, instead of brooding over it and becoming angered by it, they make jokes and laugh about it amongst themselves. They of course don't agree with what happened, but they choose to focus on the present and future rather than the past. This can be seen when Suzie Song talks about going to the festival where she mentions the most Indians she had ever seen in one place. The characters in the movie also find empowerment in their traditions, such as the significance of hair and songs. Towards the beginning of the movie, Victor's father cuts his long hair. Having long hair is part of the Native American culture, and removing it had a heavy impact on his as a character. Later in the movie it is discovered that Arnold cut his hair because he felt guilty for starting the house fire. The removal of this part of himself was a way for him to cope with what he had done. Although it didn't remove his guilt entirely, he thought that he deserved the removal of that part of his identity because of the shame that he felt. Another tradition seen in the movie is the importance of songs. During the bus ride, Victor and Thomas beginning singing an impromptu song about John Wayne's teeth. Singing the song lightened their spirits and put them in a good mood. Despite the other people on the bus, it didn't stop Victor and Thomas from enjoying their traditions and celebrating their identity as Native Americans.
The characters in the movie Smoke Signals both grapple with and are empowered by their Native Americanism. Some of their history comes back to them in negative ways, such as reservation life and alcoholism, while other history is accepted and moved past, such as when the characters joke about their unfavorable history. While the characters struggle with some of the stereotypes about Native Americans, they are also proud and encouraged by their culture and traditions. Overall, both pleasing and displeasing aspects of Native American life are depicted throughout the movie Smoke Signals.