Painkillers

I think the article is a debate between the FDA and the patient.  The FDA believes in putting restrictions on higher painkillers that can cause addiction.  However, the patient disagrees due to the fact that they would have to spend money and make a doctor's visit.
As for my opinion in this, I don't think it's such a bad idea to put some restrictions on painkillers.  So many people out there abuse pain medication.  Some even end in death.  Sure it would cost the patient more money and be a "burden" to them, but I don't think that's a valid argument.  A lot of people have insurance to cover the cost of medical care.  People shouldn't be getting all these painkillers if they no longer need them.  They are only harming them in their hands.  Painkillers can be addicting and for this reason, they are easy to sell off.  Kids are buying these pill not knowing the damage they are doing to their bodies.  They have many side effects and can cause overdoses if too many are taken. It's not going to hurt people to make a check up at the doctor after 3 months of being prescribed medicine.  I think they are only trying to help us with this restriction.  It's a valid argument on their part.
In doing this, I think drug abuse will really go down.  It probably won't go completely down, but it should be a place to start.  Eventually, I believe drug abuse numbers will get really low and maybe even become nonexistent.  The next generation could possibly never know what drug abuse is.  Well, maybe this  won't happen, but one can always dream.

College

     This article pretty much states the obvious.  Of course adults with a college degree are going to make more money than high school graduates or even someone without any diploma.  College gives us the education and experience to get a higher paying job than one who did not go to college and receive the education needed for that particular job.
      However, like the article said, I don't think college needs to be as expensive as it is.  I think colleges are taking for granted the fact that to get a good job or the job of your dreams, you most likely need a college degree.  They know that no matter what the price is, you're still going to pay for an education.  I believe there are many ways to cut the costs of higher education.
     Going back to higher education, I think too much education can be a bad thing.  There are people out there that have all kinds of masters degrees but still no job.  Why would companies pay for someone overqualified and expecting a lot of pay when they can get someone not as qualified and would take less pay just to have a job?  Higher education is important, but I don't think it's necessary to keep getting masters degrees until you are no longer unemployed.  I say get the degree you want and wait for a job to come.  More school means more money lost.  Graduating college with a degree is a big accomplishment.  Even if you don't get the job you want upon graduation, I think a job will come to you with time.  One could gain experience at a lower job until the degree they graduated with comes in handy for a higher paying job.  Patience is key.  With a small paying job to start off, though, you can start paying off your student loans and keep looking for that dream job.

New York Times Football Article

I don't think anyone could really eliminate football.  American's love to watch football.  We could live without football, but no one would be happy about it.
However, I think that equipment to prevent the neurological damage should be made.  No sport is as important as the care of one's brain.  Once the brain is damaged, there's no going back. 
Also, football players should only be allowed to play football if their grades are high Cs or  low Bs.  Education is very important because most football players don't make a career of the sport.  With all the practicing football players do, it doesn't leave much time to study.  That's where many sports players mess up.  They start to get overwhelmed with their school work and some don't even graduate because of it.
As for the problem with pain killer abuse, I think everyone should know their body's limit.  Football players and even the coaches sometimes will over play the players.  The players just don't know when to stop.  A lot of us do it.  We get injured, but we seem to be in denial about it.  We put it off as if it's nothing.  However, playing on an injury will only make it worse.  I think if football players knew their limit their would be less pain killer abuse.  They wouldn't need the pain killers because they could sit out a game or two as their injury healed on its own.
The article said that Obama would be skeptical of his son playing football if he had one.  I think all parents are a bit nervous putting their kid into football, but I don't think that's the way to live.  If you're always afraid to take risks, are you really living?  It's okay to play it on the safe side, but I don't think people should play it too safe.  No one can be completely safe, something could always happen.  Accidents happen.  Any sport can be dangerous.  Football shouldn't be singled out.

Story in the Place I Feel Most at Home

It's a couple days before a big competition.  Still so much needs to be done.  The last 8 counts of our dance still are not complete.  We also need to finish cleaning up the dance and making it perfect.  Our technique and concentration needs to be on point.  What are we going to do?
We decide to have a sleepover at the studio to get extra time in over the weekend.  It's a flawless  plan.  We can dance until we get tired and get up early to dance some more.  Nothing could possibly go wrong.
As we all arrive at dance, we start stretching.  All the dancers start talking about how fun the night will be.  Our dance teacher instructs us to start dancing.  We do so.  As the night rolls on the dance starts to look great.  We don't want to overdo it though, so we call it a night at eleven.
The dance teacher finally falls asleep at about midnight.  The dancers start bringing out their junk food and begin talking laughing quietly just having a good time.  Three in the morning approached and we decided it was time to get our rest for dance in the morning.  Little did we know that our dance teacher was going to get us up at 6 in the morning for a short breakfast and then start dance  right away.
The dancers hadn't got much sleep at all.  The rehearsal that morning went absolutely terrible.  The lack of sleep and junk food kicked in.  Since the dance teacher didn't know what had went on the night before, she assumed people were just lacking concentration.  So, she kept making the dancers dance over and over again until we got it right.
With a few food and water breaks in there, it started to get late again.  We had to quit dancing and go home to get some rest before the big competition.
Morning had arrived.  The big competition was finally here.  Most of the dancers still felt pretty awful from that night.  It was their turn to dance on stage for the judges.  Would they be happy with their performance of disappointed?
They entered stage right.  The music started.  We actually started out great.  However, as the middle of the dance hit, some dancers started to get extremely tired.  They wanted to do the dance to the best of their ability, but their body just wouldn't allow them to.  The song ended.  Many of the dancers came off stage breathing heavily and were unhappy with their performance.
As usual, the dance teacher praised them on their performance shrugging off the weak points.  However, the judges didn't hold back.  Many comments were made about the laziness of the dance towards the end stating that this dance needs a lot more work.
All the dancers went hope with the look of disappointment on their faces.  They all vowed to never do that again.  They had really learned their lesson that day.

The Place I Feel at Home

I would say the place where I feel most myself is at the dance studio dancing.  I get lost in my dancing and let my emotions out through my dancing.  It allows me to be myself because it's like no one there is judging me.  We're all just alike.  We're dancers all working together to get to the same goal.  I've become close with my fellow dancers and even become friends with many of them.
I'm not afraid to let my inner self run free at the dance studio.  A dancer can be good just carrying out the technique and moves taught, but a great dancer is one puts their self into the routine.  We can't hold back.  Being myself is a whole part of the dance.  Without the emotion, most dances would come off as boring and monotone.
Also, there's no one at the dance studio really to impress.  Maybe on stage there is, but not at home in the studio.  If I don't let loose, I'd be an uptight dancer and that's not good.  If we don't let the studio know who we really are, we wouldn't like the dance choreographed for us.  We have to show what moves we like or don't like because if we don't like the moves we won't do them to our full potential.
At the dance studio, being myself lets me forget the stress of life.  I can just let go of everything for that moment because at the moment all that matters is my dancing.  I have to reach deep down inside and bring my true self out.  While focusing on that, I can forget everything else.  Dancing helps me feel better about myself because it's something I'm good at, which then helps me to be myself there.