Image of A Bone Marrow Transplant (from ADAM.com)

Danielle Kuschnik
Comp 106
Final Paper
December 8, 2009


Life: A Gift Not A Given Right
Have you ever imagined how fragile life is and how it can be dramatically altered within
moment’s time? I myself never dreamed that my life change in such a short period of time, within days
and come to a complete halt. It all started this past June of 2009, my boyfriend Charbel, of almost five
years had been feeling rather sick and constantly tired. This we thought was just a bad case of
bronchitis (on top of the fact the he was constantly fatigued, he would constantly cough). After several
trips to many different doctors ranging from primary physicians to cardiologists the conclusion was just
low iron and the remedy was an iron supplement. After about a month of taking iron supplements and
still no improvement Charbel decided to go to the hospital, just to be on the safe side. This was a
decision that saved his life. When he arrived to the hospital and described his symptoms to the doctors
which included severe noise bleeds, coughing up blood and always being constantly tired, the doctors at
the hospital decided to draw blood. The results were astounding his platelet count was at 2,000, most
people have a platelet count somewhere between 120,000 to 150,000. (Platelets are the component of
blood that forms clots to form when a cut occurs). After several days of tests, including a bone marrow
biopsy, the final conclusion was that Charbel had severe aplastic anemia. Aplastic Anemia is a form of
anemia in which the capacity of the bone marrow to generate blood cells is defective.
So how has all of this changed my life? When someone you love gets really sick it changes not
only your perspective towards life but also all of your routines. I am the type of person that likes to plan
everything out and does not like an abrupt change of plans. I am also very outgoing and never spend
time at home just sitting around. When Charbel first got sick I found myself abandoning any idea of
having everything planned out and instead spend my days sitting around in a hospital. My lifestyle of
always being on the go has slowed down quite a bit, for right now anyways. I have learned to stop cram
packing every moment of each day with superficial things and to savor each moment. I now “suck the
marrow out of life”, as envisioned by Henry David Thoreau (Although the literal meaning of this famous
quote has an ironic tune to it, as compared to Charbel’s condition.) I also spend more time in deep
thought. When you have time to just sit there and watch someone sleep you begin to develop a whole
new outlook towards life. (This is what I do many nights when I can’t fall asleep at the hospital.) Some
things in life are so much more beautiful when looked at slowly; detail is much more easily noticed. So
what else in my life has changed besides my lifestyle? My perspective of life has totally changed. I now
live life as if today were my last day and truly realize that each day is a gift and not a given right, as
vocalized by Nickleback. I am much more appreciative of the little things in life and have cut back on
the wants. I am the type of person that it super ambitious and this ambitiousness tends to lead to
endless wants. To put it nicely I want too much. This concept of being too ambitious is not always a
good thing. Before Charbel got sick I was the type of person that was truly never happy with what I had,
it always felt as if something were missing. I always took life for granted. Now instead of always
wanting something more, I want what I have and see how truly lucky I am. How can I pull being lucky
out of a situation like this? Well to start with when Charbel first went into the hospital all of the
symptoms he had pointed to leukemia, but it turned out to aplastic anemia. Things could have been so
much worse. Leukemia which is a form of cancer is so much harder to cure then aplastic anemia and the
fatality rate is higher. Another reason why we are very lucky is because he was one of the few people
that was able to not only to find a suitable bone marrow donor but a perfect match. One out of twelve
million people on the bone marrow registry list were a match and we are extremely fortunate that that
person agreed to donate. (Some people have second thought about donating once on the list.) I have
always felt that he receiving the bone marrow transplant was a true miracle. Over seventy percent of
the people who need a bone marrow transplant are not able to receive one because a suitable donor
cannot be found. To think of it that way always shakes me. The fact that one single person’s actions
changed Charbel’s life and saved him always amazes me. This brings me to another aspect of my life
that has been changed by Charbel’s condition, doing things for other people even though even when it
can trouble you. I have always been a person that tries to help others, but usually only when it is
convenient. It always felt as if I barely had enough time in my life for myself, let alone to take the time
to help someone else. This changed when Charbel became sick. One reason why it changed is because
Charbel needed and still sometimes needs constant blood transfusions. I have always loved the idea of
donating blood but never took the time to actually go out and donate, even though it only takes less
than an hour. I still did not make a point to go out and donate until one night when Charbel was in the
hospital and he needed a blood transfusion but the blood supply was low and he has to have blood
shipped from another hospital. This situation made me think. What if there was such as shortage of
blood that he was unable to be transfused. This scenario of seeing how short blood supplies can be
made me does out the next day and donate. According to the Red Cross more than 38,000,000
donations of blood are needed every day and one out of every ten people admitted to the hospital will
need a blood transfusion . Charbel was one of those people.
It’s truly amazing to look back on life and realize all that I have take for granted, but this
experience has forever changed my life. You never tend to notice how quickly life can change and how
fragile life is until your life is altered. For this experience I am not only forever changed but also forever
grateful, I now know how to not only appreciate the little things in life but also try to help others
1.
whenever I can. Just like that one person who donated their bone marrow to save Charbel’s life and the
many others who donated their blood to keep him alive.
Works Cited
2. http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/medicine/bonemarrow/bmtinfo.html
3. http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/aplastic%20anemia
4. http://www.answers.com/topic/henry-david-thoreau
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau
6. http://artists.letssingit.com/nickelback-lyrics-if-today-was-your-last-day-k8sf51k
7. http://www.givelife2.org/sponsor/quickfacts.asp

Survey Results

This was my first experiance in actually having to survey a group of people, I found it a lot of fun. The aspect that I found most interesting was how different groups of people respond to surveys, I decided to actually survey two groups of people. The first group was from my Latin 101 class. The class consisted of men and women of varying ages, ethnic groups and majors. This is the goup in which I recieved the best results from. Because of the fact that this group is a bit more mature then my second group (my second group consisted of mostly yound college kids with a major in Biology. I decided to survey my Bio class as well) Also the responses from my Latin class where for my carefully though out. Another aspect of the survey that I really liked was the survey monkey website, that made making the surveys a snap.

Reading Response 3

The article that I choose to write about for my third reading response was Dorthy Allison What Did You Expect? I choose to read this because of the fact the she is the arthor of Bastard out of South Carolina, a movie that i remember seeing years ago. After reading the few pages I realized that Dorthy Allison is much like myself and other women in the world today. She does not want to fit into the traditional female role of the typical woman or house wife, and neither do I. You ould think that living in 21st century America that this is an idea of the past, however it's not the case at all. I have several of my female friends that whe I ask what the want to do in life the answer get married and stay home with children. However that is definately not the case for me, I don't ven k ow if I want children at all. The one thing that I do want in life is my own identity and being able to be involved in activities that I am passionate about. For xample ten years from now I see myself running Wall St. or a finance company, or even being a CFO but definately not a house wife. Not that there is anything wrong with being a housewife it's a wonderful thing to do for some women (like my mother) just not me. Another thing that I realized maybe by aciident that I am not very domestic, my entire life I actually thought I was. I figured this out my living in an apartment and never really cooking or baking, doing girly type things like that. Don't get me wrong I love to cook and am a very clean picky person, but I definately wouldnt want my life to revolve around it. When it comes down to it I woul much rather spend my evenings watching football or drag races then baking cookies, it's just not my thing. It's funny because when people see me much like the author I am in heals and a girly shirt but in reality I can't wait to get into my sweats and fav jersey. I guess you could say I have many sides, but definately being a housewife or even typical girl is not one of them. Overall I loved the reading, it reminded me of the preasures that women face even today!!!

REading response 2 revised

Danielle Kuschnik
10/30/09
Composition 106
Reading Response 2

It’s that time of year again, when the movie screens are filled with horror films. I myself have never truly thought of many horror films as having a real moral to the story, except for maybe Saw series; where the moral is clearly stated throughout the entire films. I have always viewed scary movies as an object of pure entertainment, because of the simple fact that most of the films are so out of the realm of reality that it is hard to pull a moral out of them. This however is not the case with the urban legend of The Hook by David Emery. This is the classic story of two lovers that park in the middle of nowhere, looking to be pernicious. Suddenly a news flash comes on the radio that an escaped convict is on the loose, with a hook as a right hand. The boy tries to advance on the girl even though she is frightened and eventually the boy gives in and drives her home; but not without finding a bloody hook on the passenger side door. When I first read this age old story again, I noticed the fact that I truly never would have understood the true moral of the story, unless it was pointed out as I was reading. The moral or the story is that when young, curious teenagers try to experiment with premarital sexual activities bad things happen. (This urban legend has been around since the nineteen fifties, a time when any premarital sexual activities where highly discouraged.) One subtle factor of the legend that I would have definitely missed unless it was mentioned was the meaning of the story, and why a hook was used as a means of slaughter verses something like a knife. The reason why a hook was used as a weapon of choice is because the boy is trying to relentlessly “hook” his teeth in the girl and really does not want to let go of his owns elfish “needs”(well more like lustfulness desires). Another factor of the story that I completely would have also missed was the symbolism that the news brad cast plays in the story. The voice of the news alert is really in reality a voice of reason that is trying to trigger a stopping mechanism for the premarital sexual activities. In closing I really liked reading this age old urban legend, especially around Halloween time and it nice for a change, to see more clearly the meanings of urban legends verses as just viewing them as a source of entertainment.

Interview Images

Charbel and myself in 2006 at a Pistons game; before he became sick with aplastic anemia.The Following three images are Charbel in Octobe 2009 at Karmanos Cancer Center recieving treatment and a bone marrow transplant, to treat his aplastic anemia. Just a side note taking pictures out side of him room is limited due to pacient privacy.

Academic Articles Final Copy

Danielle Kuschnik
October 11, 2009
Comp 106
Academic Articles
Business, it is often thought of a last resort academic plan. One of those things that students
take up when their other academic aspirations of law school of med school don’t turn out exactly how
they planned. This is at least what I have heard, when talking with other business student or other
people in business industry. One of the most common responses I hear when I ask people “How did you
get into business?, is either “Well I wanted a degree that I could easily find a job in” or “I didn’t get into
the program of my first choice and my credits transferred over to a business program. ” This is not the
case at all for me, I am going to school for Business because it is my passion. (My degree the that I am in
pursuit of is a Bachelors in Business Administration, with a major in finance and a minor in Accounting)
So how I am so absolutely sure that I will love my new career as much as I think I will. Well the ultimate
test so far for me is that I work in a bank as a customer service representative (Basically I process all the
personal and small business account transactions and account maintenance and advise customers which
accounts to consider.) When I first applied for the position, I applied not only because I wanted a better
paying job, but I wanted to ensure that what I going to school for is what I truly want to do. As of right
now I love what I do. Now that it is established why I decided to go to school for finance here is a bit
more information on the subject. The following paragraphs consist of different articles about the world
of business and finance.


The first article that I read in my academic quest was Who Gambles in the Stock Market by Alok
Kumar, located in the August 2009 Journal of Finance. This article gave a very insightful conversation on
a question that I have never even truly considered. As implied by the title the essay focused on what
groups of people tend to invest in the stock market. Alok Kumar introduced the article by stating that
the stock market is much like the lottery, an idea that is very easy to relate to, because well that is what
the stock market truly is, a gamble. The market is like a lottery because many stocks have a relatively
low cost, with a high pay out (the jackpot), but a small chance of return on the investment. When I think
about this example, it is a perfect picture of the stock market. It is very common to see stocks costing
under ten dollars (The stock in my company Fifth Third Bank has been sitting below ten dollars for the
last several months) and traders think “Wow great stock, low cost and it is eventually going to go up.”
Right? No, in some cases the stock does go up, but usually a small percentage. This is very similar to the
lottery. It is relatively easy to win ten dollars, but when it comes to the real jackpot, the one in the
millions, it can be like looking for a needle in a haystack. The author then goes into the demographics of
the most common people to become involved in the market. The main category of people that invest
are middle income people. This took me by surprise because when I think of stock, I think of million
dollar bankers trading on their lunch breaks just for the fun of it. This is not the case because as Alok
points out, the market, much like the lottery gives people of moderate means, a false sense of hope that
they someday will make it make it big, with the click of a single button, to buy, sell or trade their own
stocks. The article then also goes into detail on demographics like how men over women are more likely
to invest and, divorced people over married and minorities over majorities are more likely to take the
plunge. The one aspect of this article that I like the best was that it was very easy to read and
understand. When I first began my research I was a bit over whelmed because when I would first crack
open a journal all I would see was graphs and accounting formulas. This article has a minimal amount of
that ,which I liked.

I second article that I encountered was Credit Restraints and Consumer Spending by Kimberly
Beaton. This article goes into great depth, especially with formulas on how limiting credit directly
affects consumers spending habits. Beaton states that when institutions limit how much credit they
make readily available to households this causes a sharp decrease in spending, because families no
longer have the means readily available, through lending to purchase large price items. This limiting of
credit pushes the economy even further south, because not only are people spending less because of
inflation and a fear of unemployment, they no longer have the means to purchase large ticket items like
cars, appliances and home repair. It is the large ticket items which truly stimulate the economy. I chose
to read this article, in spite of the formulas that can be very difficult to commute because this article
focuses on something many people never see the large picture of. The fact that when credit is
significantly decreased not only does the consumer suffer, but the global economy as a whole suffers as
well.
The third and final article I investigated was Bankruptcy: Tips to Avoid It by Oli Osorhan. This
article although relatively short, has some excellent information on a topic that is on everyone’s mind.
Bankruptcy. This article focuses on not only how to avoid bankruptcy but how people get into
bankruptcy. The reasoning why you are in debt and cannot afford to pay the minimums on loans is the
most important step to becoming debt free. If you are unaware of what is causing the problem, how
are you able to go about fixing it? Osorhan also states that although bankruptcy may seem like clean
slate, it is not always the case. In the end bankruptcy usually causes more problems for the barrower,
because of the fact that most of the eight forms of bankruptcy involve some form of seizure, of any
types of unnecessary items for the debtor. Also it takes ten years for a debtors record to be cleared of
this action, and even when the record is finally clear the consumer has to begin from the bottom
building up their credit with high interest rates and credit fees. The moral of the story is do not spend
what you don’t have and only borrow when it is absolutely necessary.
In closing I learned a vast amount from my research on the topic that I plan to spend the rest of
my life with; Finance. I enriched my knowledge of the finance world a little bit more with each topic,
from how stocks truly are a gamble (much like lottery tickets) to ways in which bankruptcy can be
avoided and finally how limiting credit effects the global market.




Works Cited
Who Gambles in the Stock Market. The Journal of Finance. Alok Kumar
August 2009

Credit Restraints and Consumer Spending, Kimberly Beaton

Bankruptcy: Tips to Avoid It, Oli Osorhan

Academic Articles 2

Just a note for those whom may read my paper… This is just my opening paragraph and does not include any of my academic articles. I have been crazy busy this week and work with business meetings and I plan on visiting the library on Sunday.
Business, it is often thought of a last resort academic plan. One of those things that students take up when their other academic aspirations of law school of med school don’t turn out exactly how they planned. This is at least what I have heard, when talking to other business student or other people in business industry. One of the most common responses I hear when I ask people “How did you get into business?, is either “Well I wanted a degree that I could easily find a job in” or “I didn’t get into the program of my first choice and my credits transferred over to a business program. ” This is not the case at all for me, I am going to school for Business because it is my passion. (My degree the that I am in pursuit of is a Bachelors in Business Administration, with a major in finance and a minor in Accounting) The reason why I decided to go to school for business and in the end hope to become a corporate investment banker is because I love the world of not only business but everything that goes along with it, economics, finance, accounting and marketing. I often get asked how did you ever get into finance? Most people who work in it don’t have a passion for it, they do it because of the high salary. In my case the high salary is just an added bonus, I could not spend the rest of my life working in a profession that I didn’t love and that didn’t intrigue me. So how I am so absolutely sure that I will love my new career as much as I think I will. Well the ultimate test so far for me is that I work in a bank as a customer service representative (Basically I process all the personal and small business account transactions and account maintenance and advise customers which accounts to consider.) When I first applied for the position, I applied not only because I wanted a better paying job, but I wanted to ensure that what I going to school for is what I truly want to do. As of right now I love what I do. (I count money all day for a living, who wouldn’t love that) The aspect that I love most about it, is truly the experience. Every day when I go into work I learn so much not only from my coworkers but the customers as well. It is very interesting to see the different routes that people take when investing their money. Now that it is established why I decided to go to school for finance here is a bit more information on the subject. The following paragraphs consist of different articles about the world of business and finance.

Academic Articles

Just a note for those whom may read my paper… This is just my opening paragraph and does not include any of my academic articles. I have been crazy busy this week and work with business meetings and I plan on visiting the library on Sunday.
Business, it is often thought of a last resort academic plan. One of those things that students take up when their other academic aspirations of law school of med school don’t turn out exactly how they planned. This is at least what I have heard, when talking to other business student or other people in business industry. One of the most common responses I hear when I ask people “How did you get into business?, is either “Well I wanted a degree that I could easily find a job in” or “I didn’t get into the program of my first choice and my credits transferred over to a business program. ” This is not the case at all for me, I am going to school for Business because it is my passion. (My degree the that I am in pursuit of is a Bachelors in Business Administration, with a major in finance and a minor in Accounting) The reason why I decided to go to school for business and in the end hope to become a corporate investment banker is because I love the world of not only business but everything that goes along with it, economics, finance, accounting and marketing. I often get asked how did you ever get into finance? Most people who work in it don’t have a passion for it, they do it because of the high salary. In my case the high salary is just an added bonus, I could not spend the rest of my life working in a profession that I didn’t love and that didn’t intrigue me. So how I am so absolutely sure that I will love my new career as much as I think I will. Well the ultimate test so far for me is that I work in a bank as a customer service representative (Basically I process all the personal and small business account transactions and account maintenance and advise customers which accounts to consider.) When I first applied for the position, I applied not only because I wanted a better paying job, but I wanted to ensure that what I going to school for is what I truly want to do. As of right now I love what I do. (I count money all day for a living, who wouldn’t love that) The aspect that I love most about it, is truly the experience. Every day when I go into work I learn so much not only from my coworkers but the customers as well. It is very interesting to see the different routes that people take when investing their money. Now that it is established why I decided to go to school for finance here is a bit more information on the subject. The following paragraphs consist of different articles about the world of business and finance.

Reading Response 1

Danielle Kuschnik
Reading Response 1

Little Red Riding Hood
During the lifetime of a story being passed along from generation to generation and across
cultural lines, many times the story itself and sometimes even it’s moral may end up altered. This is the
case in the two different versions of Little Red Riding Hood, each having a different moral. The first of
the versions by Charles Perrault has a moral that women, especially attractive ones should be very
careful of whom they associate with, in many cases men may turn out to be “wolves in sheep’s
clothing”. The second version by an unknown author has a moral that when going on a new path or
even a familiar one, you should not go astray, because that is when bad things may occur.
In the first version of Little Red Riding Hood, the author Charles Perrault, adds one very
important detail to the story in the first sentence of the story. Once upon a time there lived in a certain
village a little country girl, the pretties creature who was ever seen. This small detail which may go
unnoticed at first, lays the framework for the moral of the story. The moral of the story being that
women need to be very careful with whom they come in contact with, because men especially can be
very manipulative and harmful in the end. This story also takes a different approach to how women are
viewed. Women are being, viewed as gentle, and caring, but yet naive creatures. The blame is being
completely placed on men. The wolf is a metaphor for slick and charring dominant male, who in the end
will take advantage of the naive girl and leave her broken hearted or even worse. This story is used as a
reminder to all women, to be very careful of whom you let into your life, because anyone can always
turn out to be someone different then who they say they are.
The second version of Little Red Riding Hood, by an unknown author has a bit of a different
moral and places the blame in the end on Little Red Riding Hood. The moral or this story is that in life it
is very easy and temping to go astray on the road of life and that there is always as chance of a negative
consequence occurring because of thoughtless actions. In this version the blame is placed solely on
Little Red Riding Hood, she is almost eaten because of her carelessness and curiosity. In addition to the
blame being placed on her, it is also mentioned in the story previously that she became lost in the
woods, being to consumed with looking at all of the natural beauty in the forest, ad was eventually led
back on the path by the birds. This small detail in the story illustrates the fact the Little Red Riding Hood
is involved in thoughtless actions and does not pay attention, this makes it easier in the end to place the
entire blame on the her.
In the end the stories are very similar but have very different but equally important morals, one
being to be careful of whom you associate with, because people are not always who they say they are
and the other being that in the road of life be careful not to go astray because you never know exactly
where it may lead you.

Writing can be quite a challenge at times, especially when starting out. I myself like many start up word on my laptop and start typing. The use of computer programs makes writing not only easier but it also makes writing three dimensional. Composing a paper on the computer differs from hand writing a paper, because with programs such as Microsoft word and Word Perfect you are able to type, untype, undo and move text around without scribbling out or drawling arrows all over the paper to show new ideas. With each key stroke I am reminded that my word are not something that sits on paper but something that speaks out and is easily changed.
However when I took a screenshot of my resume and uploaded it onto the blog, my resume went from three dimensional object while I was creating it, back to a two dimensional object. Another way to consider digital composing is that the writing in progress is like a painter painting a portrait. Each and every brush stroke allows the artist to change the painting as his opinions and feelings of the work change. When a panting is finally finished and hung on wall as a piece of art, the painter in now able to view his painting more objectively. For example, once the painting is finished the painter is now able to look at it at a different angle. The same principle goes for writing. When I looked at my screenshot I was able to view my resume with a fresh set of eyes, the way in which the reader sees my paper. With digital composing becoming more and more popular and new technologies being introduced every day it is very important to continually further our knowledge of digital composing. One way to better understand digital composing is through constant editing through blogs and online chats. Receiving several different opinions on a paper can provide the writer with different sets of eyes and opinions. In addition the editing process has a more constant flow and it is easier to build upon the peer reviews. With each peer review posted it allows each person in the class to respond to not only the writer’s’ paper but also to other classmates reviews about the paper. The digital editing is also more efficient, faster and easier to read then traditional hand written peer editing.
Digital composing changes a paper from a two dimensional object (a written version) to a three dimensional version while being composed on word, and even back into a two dimensional object through screen shots. Also digital composing can be better understood and further developed through blogs and online chats.