The Battle of Twins

In "Twins Find Deeper Meaning in 3-Part Endurance Test", two sisters battle through both of their life crisis and become stronger runners, swimmers, and bikers to go on to win and compete in major triathlons.



I picked this article because I love sports and I figured this story would be better for me to write about. These two sisters, Rebeccah and Laurel, both have had a back ground of sports. Rebeccah got a scholarship to run for Mount St. Mary's and Laurel received a swimming scholarship as a walk-on at George Washington. Rebeccah pursued a running career and Laurel hit some speed bumps along the way to her athletic podium.



When Laurel was 23, she felt three bumps on the side of her neck that turned out to be Stage 2 Hodgkin's disease. While Laurel was having 6 months of chemotherapy, Rebeccah still ran hard.
Laurel even tried to keep her identity as an athlete by running on the treadmill at the hospital.
I can imagine being Laurel. She was an athlete and I think it would be hard to not exercise and still be in shape for that long. Laurel was probably worried.



Rebeccah won the armature triathlon and then a year later became a professional. Throughout the year, she still was improving and doing well in races and was named the 2004 elite rookie of the year. Rebeccah also had her speed bump along the way and that was when she got a pelvic stress fracture.



Rebeccah and Laurel had some bumps where they had to stop competing, but they always came back strong and still competed strongly in races. There were never hard feeling between the two sisters. I can imagine how hard it was to see the other sister win, but they both still worked hard to compete against each other.



I can understand how one might want to quit because they are losing, so I look up to these women because they were such hard workers and did not quit. They did not even quit when there lives looked the worst. Our world and leaders should be like that today. I bet sometimes the people in charge just quit because their problems get tough. If we follow the example of these women, our world might be a little better.

The Beautiful Slaves of Rabari

In the picture of the Rajasthan women, they are working for money and trying to make a living. When I look at the picture, my first impression is that these women are slaves and don't have any right or reason to be doing that kind of labor. Then my second impression, I really get to looking at the picture and see the way they hold themselves and the tools. They look strong and committed to what they are doing.



At first when I look at the picture, I think that they are being treated unfair. They have these very nice colorful dresses on that don't look like they need to get dirty. So the dresses make you think that these women are very wealthy and do not normally do this kind of work. Then I conclude that they are being forced to work.



My second thought on the picture is that these women know what they have to do to make a living. When they are working, they are holding the axe strong and to me the women look powerful. When I actually really looked at the picture, I felt a since of determination and dedication.



Below the picture, there is a small paragraph describing the picture. It says that the women turn to digging a reservoir because during the dry season they can not herd as much. When I read that, that really made up my mind to say that the women know that they have to work to make money, so digging is the only job to do and they are determined to do the job. That little paragraph told me that the Rajasthan women are strong and hard working.



Looking at this picture opened my eyes to see that women in other countries do not have the luxuries we do in the United States, but the women in other countries are dedicated to hard work and that makes them stronger women.