Challenges help us evolve as humans and give us experiences that we can learn from. These lessons will then help us in the future. Challenges toughen you. They also remind you that some things in life are not in your control. They also test your resolve to face them. They bring out your emotional maturity in addition to creativity in working on them.

Challenges and problems are important parts of life that give you experiences, make you learn, and help you to become wiser and stronger. Problems make us grow and shape us. The biggest problem people have is that they hope for a life without problems. This is an impossible goal and would lead to a boring life without character. We will all have problems – small or large – the difference is how we deal with the problems and challenges that occur.

So don’t run away from the problems and challenges you are facing in life. Don’t ignore them or try to hide from them. Face them. Deal with them. The greatest growth in life and the most important lessons you will learn will come when you face and deal with a serious challenge or problem. Regardless of the result, value the experience and personal growth.

The three sisters of fate, also known as the Moirai, are three goddesses who give predestined fates to mortals at birth. It was believed that the fates would appear within three days of someone’s birth to decide their fate. They were the daughters of the goddess Nyx, the night, named Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. They had immaculate power which made it impossible for even Zeus to control their decisions. Each of the three fates had different tasks, resembling their names: Clotho spun the thread of life, Lachesis measured the thread’s length, and Atropos used her shears to cut it. The fates were assigned different time periods, Atropos – the past, Clotho – the present, and Lachesis – the future. Their symbols were the Thread, the Staff, the Spindle, the Scroll, the Shears, and the Book of Fate.

Clotho, the youngest of the three sisters, is the creator. She sits on her pedestal, twisting, pulling, and spinning the threads of life. Her job begins the very moment a child is born. While she is spinning, she consults with her older sister, Lachesis. Lachesis is the middle of the three, responsible for deciding the details of our destiny. After the thread is spun and measured, it’s up to Atropos to make the final cut. Unlike the Horai, their siblings, and the goddesses of the seasons and other natural periods of time, who were always shown as youthful, beautiful women, the Moirai were depicted as ugly and old women in antiquity. Many times they were portrayed as stern, inflexible, and severe, thus making people fear their own destiny.

The Japanese short story “In a Grove” starts off with the testimonies of a woodcutter, a Buddhist priest, a policeman, and the mother of one of the victims in the case. A man has been murdered on the road to Yamashina; he was found in a clearing with cedar trees, with a single slash of a sword on his breast. Then we are met with the testimonies of the three main protagonists: Tajōmaru, Kanazawa no Takehiro, and his wife Masago. Tajōmaru is a robber who confesses to killing Takehiro and taking advantage of his wife Masago. According to his testimony, he lured the couple into the clearing after gaining their trust as a tour guide, then tied up Takehiro to a cedar tree and violated Masago. Masago then begged for Tajōmaru to either kill himself or Takehiro because she couldn’t handle having her shame seen by two men. Tajōmaru killed Takehiro, then as he turned to Masago to take her as his wife and leave together, Masago was gone. Masago’s testimony tells a different perception of the events that occurred. After being violated by the robber, Masago tried to rush to her husband’s side to help him, but the only response she was met with was Takehiro’s cold gaze towards her, which held loathing and hatred. After recovering from falling unconscious, Masago took Takehiro’s life as she couldn’t bear to let him live after seeing the shame she was put through, planning to follow with her death right after his. Due to her suicide attempts being unsuccessful she was forced to live with her shame. Takehiro’s testimony was made through a medium, in which he tells the reader his perspective of the events. According to Takehiro, he had been attempting to soothe Masago’s pain and humiliation by winking at her as Tajōmaru was talking to her. To his astonishment, Masago then asked Tajōmaru to take her with him anywhere he goes and later demanded that he kill Takehiro. Tajōmaru struck Masago down and asked Takehiro whether he wants to kill her or not, but upon Masago seizing Takehiro’s hesitance as an opportunity and fleeing the clearing, Tajōmaru untied Takehiro and left the scene. Takehiro then, out of despair, used the small sword his wife had dropped to take his own life. The ”Roshomon effect”, in psychology, occurs when a certain event is interpreted drastically differently by different individuals. In this story, the different interpretations that are presented are three of the story’s protagonists Tajōmaru, Kanazawa no Takehiro, and his wife Masago. The event may have been perceived differently by everyone because all three had different goals and priorities in the story. Tajōmaru was only focused on his own pleasure and gains; he was obsessing over Takehiro’s wife so his mind may have subconsciously altered the events that occurred to fit his sick fantasies of having Masago to himself. Masago’s feelings regarding the situation give off the impression that she was more worried about what the other two individuals thought about her than her own wellbeing. This allows for the assumption that she may have been so worried about “losing her virtue” that she convinced herself Takehiro would see/feel about her the same way she herself does. Lastly, regarding Takehiro, he may have had insecurities within himself which could have led him to believe that Masago really did want to run away with Tajōmaru. This would have been enough to drive him to take his own life.

Every individual has different needs, whether it is to feel loved, to have someone to talk to or to have self-confidence. There would be free healthcare and everyone would have access to basic necessities for survival, such as water, drink, shelter, etc. There is also stress from being pressured to do well in school or else you’re going to fail and live a miserable life. Because of this, most people just memorize what they are told to in hopes of passing their exams, but later on, in life are not able to utilize the knowledge that they were supposed to learn. If we could create a program that would actually try to help students and teach them the things they need to know in a way that would make them want to learn, we could change the world. Students wouldn’t have to go through so much stress thinking of ways to pass that one test at the end of the year that will determine their future.

The perfect environment would be a place where everyone is accepted for who they are, there are no beauty standards, no racism, homophobia, or sexism, people don’t judge others based on stereotypes, and everyone gets to be who they want to be and love who they want to love.

Every culture celebrates New Year in their own way. They have different traditions, customs, events, foods, and other festive ways to make the holiday special. In Japan, for example, celebrating Christmas is relatively new. It has only been recognized for the past couple of decades and is often seen as a time to spread joy and cheer instead of a religious holiday. It’s common for many to order KFC for Christmas dinner or go to restaurants instead of cooking at home. In Poland, New Year begins with sharing the Oplatek, a paper-thin wafer made out of flour that has an image of the Nativity on it. A piece is broken off and a holiday greeting is shared by everyone at the table. In Slovakia, people enjoy carp for Christmas Eve dinner, but instead of picking it up from the supermarket, they let it live in the bathtub for a couple of days before preparing and eating it; it is said that the scales bring luck and good fortune for the coming year. In Sweden, celebrations involve candlelit processions, with the eldest girl in each family dressed up like St. Lucia in white gowns, wearing a wrath with candles. The girls also serve the family S-shaped Lucia buns and coffee or mulled wine. In Germany, markets pop up all over the country, allowing people to do Christmas shopping with a mug of mulled wine in hand. It’s common in Britain for kids to hang their stockings at the ends of their beds so that they wake up to a sweet surprise. In Mexico, families celebrate Nochebuena on Christmas Eve, which includes a huge feast, singing and dancing, and often a piñata for the kids.

Osamu Dazai is a character featured in the manga and anime series Bungou Stray Dogs by Kafka Asagiri and Sango Harukawa. He was based on the Japanese author Osamu Dazai, whose most popular works include “The Setting Sun” and “No Longer Human“, which are considered modern-day classics. Dazai is a suicide-obsessed detective who takes one of the main characters of the series, the young orphan Atsushi Nakajima, to the Armed Detective Agency where they solve mysterious cases often aiding the police. Aside from being a detective, he is also the former Executive of the underworld organization, the Port Mafia. His Ability, No Longer Human, allows Dazai to nullify others Abilities on contact. His Ability relies on skin contact and is always active. As such, he can nullify any Ability even while restrained as soon as it touches him. He is a morally grey character. In a lot of ways, he’s trying to be the good guy but he’s struggling to really be that. He wants to save lives, but he’s not a virtuous person. Under his carefree and relaxed demeanor, however, Dazai is extremely cunning, intelligent, skilled, and brutal. Younger Dazai is an incredibly cynical person, obsessed with his own death. And being close to raw emotion and other people’s pain seemed, to him, like a way to deal with this. In his own way, he’s trying to give his life meaning.

Virginia Woolf, full name Adeline Virginia Stephen, was born on January 25th, 1882, in London. She was an English author, feminist, essayist, publisher, and a critic. She is known as one of the most innovative writers of the 20th century. Her father, Sir Leslie Stephen, was a historian, author, critic, and mountaineer, while her mother, Julia Prinsep Duckworth, was known for her beauty. Their family would often spend summers at St. Ives in Cornwall, which inspired her to write one of her famous works, To The Lighthouse. The sudden death of her mother in 1895, and that of her half sister 2 years later, led to the first of her several nervous breakdowns, but it was her father’s death, in 1904, that led to her being institutionalized. Virginia, along with her sister Vanessa, were also subjected to sexual abuse from their half-brothers, which is said to have contributed to her mental instability. In the future, she went on to meet the founders of the literary Bloomsbury group, which she later became an active member of. Virginia’s most famous works include the novels Mrs. Dalloway, To The Lighthouse, and Orlando, and the essay A Room of One’s Own. She criticized gender influenced discrimination, the patriarchy, and was passionate about individuality. She was also part of the LGBTQ+ community and claimed that gender and sexuality are fluid. Her book Orlando was inspired by her love of ten years with Vita Sackwille West, a female writer, gardener, and a fellow member of the Bloomsbury group. After the completion of her last novel, Between The Acts, Virginia fell into a major depression. On March 28, 1941, she put on her coat, filled the pockets with stones, and drowned by walking into the River Ouse near her house.

This character not be very popular with some but I still consider it an influential one for those who have gotten to know her. Sadness, the deuteragonist from the movie Inside Out, is one of the five emotions in Riley’s, the main character’s, mind. The film portray’s emotions in a way that is easy for children to grasp and understand. It shows how sadness is a necessary emotion and how vital it is for humans to experience a range of different emotions. Sadness allows us to listen to ourselves and process our feelings instead of burying them inside. In the movie, the character helps the viewers understand that happiness can’t be achieved without also facing the down-lows of life. Through her quest to broaden teenage Riley’s emotional palette, Sadness has helped an entire generation of kids (and parents) understand the value of mourning and the healing power of a good, healthy cry.

This question has often caused numerous debates between people in society but the answer really comes down to what each individual prefers more. Books are a great way to challenge our minds and cramp up large amounts of information in our brains since we become familiar with different topics and they may go into a lot more depth than some movies offer. They allow the reader to put themselves into the characters’ shoes and understand each of their motives and backstories more in depth. Some may say they give people the opportunity to live ‘multiple lives’ because of the different scenarios and plots they contain. There are people who may prefer movies because of how interesting and low effort to watch they are. Movies awaken different emotions inside of people and can grasp their attention for longer periods of time than books since our eyes eventually become tired after reading for long periods of time. They are also better at helping the people watching visualize the scenarios and imagine the characters. People who have trouble reading or grasping long texts will undoubtedly appreciate them. In conclusion, the answer comes down to the personal preferences of each individual. I personally love both but tend to watch movies more because they allow me to multitask while also being entertained by my favorite characters.

My name is Anahit Avetisyan. I’m sixteen years old and study in 11th grade at the Mkitar Sebastaci educational complex. The subjects I like most at school are English and mathematics. I know three languages which are Armenian, Russian, and English. My hobbies include drawing, reading, watching films, playing volleyball, going out with friends, etc. I am fairly good at math and essay writing. I’m also interested in psychology and the study of the human brain, so I plan on majoring in psychology at college. I wish to study abroad to enhance my knowledge of different countries and the people living. My friends are definitely some of the major components that have contributed to my development as the person I am today because they have allowed me to place myself in an environment that would stimulate me both socially and mentally. I expect this class to give me the opportunity to better my English and to also allow me and my classmates to have discussions on topics that concern us, which would give us the chance to enhance our speaking and also our communicative and argumentative skills.