Essays by Unified School District 207 students
Freedom means having a voice, ability to choose
by Elliot Rambo, Eisenhower Elementary School fifth-grader
When I was younger l believed freedom meant the ability to do whatever I wanted with no rules or consequences, but I now realize freedom means the ability to have options.
In the past year I learned that life doesn’t go as planned and sometimes, it’s just not fair. My family has learned not to take life for granted and to be grateful for all the choices we have in life. My education, sports, my faith and my friends are some of the choices that I have.
I am very lucky to be able to attend a school like Eisenhower Elementary. I have been at this school since I was 4 (years old) and have had wonderful teachers. Many kids in the local community, our state, nation and around the world lack an education. My education is helping me learn the basics from math to essay writing, and challenging me to grow in my knowledge of many subjects. I know the more I lean into learning, the better the opportunities will be for me when I get older.
I love to play all sports, but especially basketball. When my Pop Pop was 10 (years old), he was working at the shipyards to help support his family. My Nana was not able to play sports competitively because she had to work in the fields to support the family. I get to play and compete in sports. I know how lucky I am to have the support of my parent’s time, money and love. Sports have taught me hand-and-eye coordination, teamwork, sportsmanship, and most of all, let me have fun and enjoy being a kid.
The First Amendment of our Constitution reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” In 2017, the International Institute of Religious Freedom estimated between 4,000 and 6,000 Christians were killed for their faith. I believe we are all lucky to be able to choose what religion, if any, we can be a part of without worrying about being put in jail or killed. My religion has made me a better person and allows me to have a close relationship with my family, God, and others. Without my faith, this past year would have been even harder to endure and for that I am grateful.
Freedom means a lot of different things to different people. For me, freedom means that I have a voice and ability to choose.
My dad always reminded us to trust God with all our heart, be humble in victory and gracious in defeat, always display good sportsmanship, honor my mother and my father, look after and care for my brothers, and always do my best. He called them the Rambo Rules and they hang in our dining room.
Some call it luck but I see it as blessings that I have a top-notch education, play sports, practice my faith, and have great friends.
That is what freedom means to me.
Freedom can be both fun, serious
by Emmielou Sorensen, Bradley Elementary School fifth-grader
Some things in life are both fun and serious. Freedom can be both. So can celebrating that freedom with a parade and fireworks. The fun parts can include hotdogs, candy, bands, and so much more.
You may be wondering why fireworks can be serious. Fireworks are supposed to represent bombs. Bombs like the ones on Sept. 14, 1814, when they inspired Francis Scott Key to write our national anthem. “The Star-Spangled Banner” is important because it talks about how even though we were at war, our flag was still there. For me that symbolizes how even through hard times we can still prevail.
That flag that Francis Scott Key saw flying was designed by Betsy Ross. She designed it with the thought of future Americans and what it can mean to them. She wanted them to know that the color red stands for valor and hardiness, white stands for purity and innocence, and blue stands for vigilance, perseverance and justice.
The shapes have meanings too. Thirteen stripes represent the original thirteen colonies and the stars represent the states. This was very serious to her but when I see the flag it represents fun and celebration, especially in parades.
One of the most interesting parts in parades is seeing all the veterans and the current soldiers who fought for our freedom. It is fun to see their big vehicles, their badges and awards, and my favorite part is the funny hats they wear. Even though the hats are funny I know their job is not all fun and games. They devote time to the military and are willing to make sacrifices, even their lives, for our freedom. And yet they are smiling and waving to me, celebrating our freedom. It is both serious and fun.
Not all nations celebrate their freedom this way. To me, a big part of freedom is having it be serious and fun at the same time.
Freedom means so many things
by Jane Thomas, MacArthur Elementary School fifth-grader
Freedom is the most important thing in a lot of people’s lives.
Freedom means so many different things to different people.
A lot of kids my age, including myself, think it means to have no chores or homework, but we need to think outside of ourselves and think about the people that choose to serve our country with their freedom.
Freedom means to choose for yourself. There are so many different countries and they all have different amounts of freedom, some don’t allow you to choose a career, yet in the U.S. there are so many people that have chosen to put their own lives at risk to serve their country.
There are a lot of days we celebrate freedom including July 4 or September 11.
Freedom means so much to me and is very important in my life, and I think I wouldn’t have met all the amazing people that I met without freedom.
Freedom is physical, mental
by Rania Ettaoussi, Patton Junior High School ninth-grader
Rousseau, a French philosopher once said: “La liberté de chacun s’arrête ou commence celle des autres.” “The right to swing my fist ends where the other man’s nose begins,” or “One person’s freedom ends where another’s begins.”
Freedom is a word that’s meaning has changed with the course of history. I am convinced that even today, everyone’s perception of freedom is different, even though we have all experienced it in at least one way.
According to the dictionary, freedom is “The state of being free rather than in confinement or under physical restraint. ” (Dictionary.com). I genuinely believe that freedom has something to do with a physical condition but is also related to mental status; to feel free in your head is as essential as being physically free.
Physical freedom is a fundamental right in this world, and we are lucky to consider it a birthright. If we go back in time, we see that freedom was not something we could take for granted, it was something people could take away from us with money, and we didn’t own our own bodies. The battle to win freedom and have it as a status for everyone was tough and took centuries. We might today be all free, but we’re still not equal.
The word freedom came from Old English “freodom” and was used to express emancipation from slavery, deliverance. (Etymonline.com). The word freedom was used as an adjective to describe a qualification that was not necessarily made for everyone.
For me, freedom is also to be at peace mentally with who you are and not feel the pressure of other people over you. I could compare freedom to that feeling when you dive into the water and feel like all your problems disappear, where you are the master of your life, and all your decisions seem up to you, when you know that every move you make is the result of your own choices.
For me, freedom is not to do crazy things like skydiving or driving recklessly just because “WE ARE FREE.” This is taking advantage of your rights, and it is called anarchy. It is not because you are free that you can do whatever you want without considering other people’s rights.
Returning to what Rousseau said, his quote describes perfectly what freedom means to me, when it stops, and when it begins. Because you might think that you are free to drive as fast as you want since no one owns the road, but remember that being able to drive safely should be part of someone else’s freedom.
To conclude, I would say that freedom’s meaning will never be the same for two individuals. We should all know that freedom is a right for each one of us and that we should not overuse it and or interfere with other people’s freedom.
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"What Freedom Means to Me" - Fort Leavenworth Lamp
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