Freshman Year: Mission Impossible.... COMPLETE.

Throughout all of life's troubles and obstacles, one hero has learned to stand on her own. The loss of close friends, the gain of new ones, the added homework and raised expectations of academic life, and everything in between could not stop Megan Greig from coming out of her freshman year at the John Carroll School like a winner.

In the months before her first day at good ol' JC, the one thing people told Megan over and over again was that in order to really succeed in a place like this she had to get involved. People told her to find out what she liked, and join organizations that suited those interests. Before even setting foot on John Carroll campus for the first time, Megan had a very extensive list of things that she wanted to accomplish at school. Some of them, like newspaper and the National Honors Society, could not be accomplished during her freshman year, due to rules set up by the system. But other goals, like the school play, orchestra, and the speech and debate team, were met and conquered with a bit of effort and true spirit.

However, even heroes have their moments. In fact, Megan's first moment at John Carroll was actually the moment that she had to be escorted to the chorus room on her first morning by the dean of students, because she wasn't sure exactly where to go. (oops!) But eventually things like the morning routine to chorus and class schedules became something of the everyday experience, and for a while, Megan felt like there was nothing she couldn't handle.

Though her classes became a bit more demanding, and she found she had less free time than in years past, academics were a great part in Megan's day. Most of her classes were very interesting, and instead of asking much of only your memory, the curricula often begged you to think for yourself in your own situations, and not always "play it by the rules." The teachers, always incredibly passionate about their jobs, were very helpful in classes, and gave Megan a sort of inspiration that kept her wanting to know more. Even in math class, Megan found she was dosing off less and picking up more information that she knew was going to help her in the years to come.

Friendships had always been somewhat of an issue for Megan. She had always had some kind of friend growing up, but the friendships never seemed to last very long. This past year, in fact, Megan had lost many of her friends due to the fact that they didn't like that she had decided to embark on the journey of attending JC. For their own reasons, they became angry with Megan and communications between them seemed to be slowly dying. However, two or three of Megan's old friends had followed her to John Carroll, and they became closer than ever. As grateful as Megan was for the remained companionship, perhaps it wasn't the lasting friendships, but the new imposing ones that made this year worthwhile. Many angels had been sent down from heaven to give Megan more strength, courage, and happiness. These angels came in the form of new friends. It surprised Megan how much they cared for her, even after knowing her only a short time.It wasn't long before Megan knew in her heart that she could go to these people for anything. These relationships meant the world to her.

Megan can now look back on her past year at John Carroll and say that this has been the best school year that she can ever remember. Lots of things are changing next year, and there are actually a lot of people who are leaving Megan's life for a while. But this past year has shown her that above all, if you really want something bad enough, and you have that much passion for it, you'll get there one day. So the people that are going away for a while won't be gone, they're just not right next to her all the time. She knows they'll come back if they're meant to, and if they're not, then the time they spent in Megan's life has meant the world. From her freshman year at John Carroll, our hero, Megan Greig, has learned plenty. But now she sees that there are three years still in the distance, full of adventure and just waiting to be uncovered.

The Third Crusade: Suessified.

By: Megan Greig and Hope Kelly

Crusades Final

During the middle Ages, the whole of Europe experienced much violence and sickness through their development.  Through all of this suffering and chaos, people looked to religion to ease their worries. Religion has always been an aspect of humanity that, ironically, both heals and causes troubles. Because people were so passionate about their gods and what they believed in, there was much violence on the subject, and some of that violence even became wars, called the crusades. Because religion was one of the biggest parts of the culture in the middle Ages, the crusades are a huge part of studying that era, and it is essential that one takes the time to study them if one was to truly understand the culture of that time period.

The crusades, essentially, were a series of wars fought between the Christians and the Muslims in Europe and Northern Africa. This document, given to the Frankish Army at the beginning of the crusades, states:

"Now we hope that none of you will be slain, but we wish you to know that the kingdom of heaven will be given as a reward to those who shall be killed in this war. For the Omnipotent knows that they lost their lives fighting for the truth of the faith, for the preservation of their country,, aiid the defence of Christians. And therefore God will give then, the reward which we have named. " This is saying that the Church is recognizing that it is against the Ten Commandments to kill, however, one who dies in battle for God will be forgiven of his sins, no matter how many men he's killed. The fact that this was issued so surely to the European armies who were fighting for Christianity shows how desperate the Catholic church was to keep hold of its power.  The church had to be positive that they would not lose control of the people in Europe, and the Muslims, who did not wish to follow the orders of the church posed that threat. 

Another issue the Catholic church was concerned with was that the Muslims had gained control of their holy land, Jerusalem. The History Channel Website states that "Though the goals of various Crusades varied, their primary aims were fervently religious: retake control of the Holy Land, conquer pagan areas and check the spead of Islam. " Again, the main concern of the church during the crusades was power, which goes hand in hand with ownership of land. The possession of that holy land meant that the church was in control of what happened on that ground, and that it was kept sacred. They did not want the Muslim religion being celebrated on the land where their ancestors had practiced Christianity and Judaism. The goal of the crusades was to take back what they had considered to be "rightly" theirs.

 that a pagan race had overcome the Christians and with horrible cruelty had

The fact that the crusades in the middle Ages even took place shows somewhat the panic that the  church was experience with all of the chaos that was happening, even outside the religious word. While  religion was a huge part of most people's lives, there was also much that people were distracted by, and  religion was losing value for those who were not very strong on their faith to begin with. This panicked  the church even more so, and it was evident that other religions were beginning to crop up. An article  issued by Gregory VII says, "a pagan race had overcome the Christians and with horrible cruelty had  devastated everything almost to the walls of Constantinople, and were now governing the conquered  lands with tyrannical violence, and that they had slain many thousands of Christians as if they were but  sheep. If we love God and wish to be recognized as Christians, we should be filled with grief at the  misfortune of this great empire [the Greek] and the murder of so many Christians." The main focus from  this excerpt is that Gregory VII sees all of these people (the pagans and the Greeks for example) as threats, because their beliefs were contrary to the church. With all the disease and poverty going through Europe, any extra loss of control was incredibly detrimental to the church. The event of the crusades made the Catholic church seem more powerful and put more reassurance back into the church, which calmed the Christian people down a bit.

The reasoning in the crusades is possibly the biggest reason one must study them to understand the culture of the middle Ages, because it brings up the prominence of the church in that time period. There was a very large loss of control in the Church, and the fact that commandments were ignored and altered in the process of these wars shows how insecure the leaders could be. When one studies the crusades, they begin to understand the instability of the governments that existed all across Europe. 

Crusades Essay- Draft

During the middle Ages, the whole of Europe experienced much violence and sickness through their development.  Through all of this suffering and chaos, people looked to religion to ease their worries. Religion has always been an aspect of humanity that, ironically, both heals and causes troubles. Because people were so passionate about their gods and what they believed in, there was much violence on the subject, and some of that violence even became wars, called the crusades. Because religion was one of the biggest parts of the culture in the middle Ages, the crusades are a huge part of studying that era, and it is essential that one takes the time to study them if one was to truly understand the culture of that time period. (The crusades are not important in the study of the middle Ages, because religion was not a big factor in the culture of that time.)

The crusades, essentially, were a series of wars fought between the Christians and the Muslims in Europe and Northern Africa. This document, given to the Frankish Army at the beginning of the crusades, states:

"Now we hope that none of you will be slain, but we wish you to know that the kingdom of heaven will be given as a reward to those who shall be killed in this war. For the Omnipotent knows that they lost their lives fighting for the truth of the faith, for the preservation of their country,, aiid the defence of Christians. And therefore God will give then, the reward which we have named. " This is saying that the Church is recognizing that it is against the Ten Commandments to kill, however, one who dies in battle for God will be forgiven of his sins, no matter how many men he's killed. The fact that this was issued so surely to the European armies who were fighting for Christianity shows how desperate the Catholic church was to keep hold of its power.  The church had to be positive that they would not lose control of the people in Europe, and the Muslims, who did not wish to follow the orders of the church posed that threat. 

Another issue the Catholic church was concerned with was that the Muslims had gained control of their holy land, Jerusalem. The History Channel Website states that "Though the goals of various Crusades varied, their primary aims were fervently religious: retake control of the Holy Land, conquer pagan areas and check the spead of Islam. " Again, the main concern of the church during the crusades was power, which goes hand in hand with ownership of land. The possession of that holy land meant that the church was in control of what happened on that ground, and that it was kept sacred. They did not want the Muslim religion being celebrated on the land where their ancestors had practiced Christianity and Judaism. The goal of the crusades was to take back what they had considered to be "rightly" theirs.

The fact that the crusades in the middle Ages even took place shows somewhat the panic that the  church was experience with all of the chaos that was happening, even outside the religious word. While  religion was a huge part of most people's lives, there was also much that people were distracted by, and  religion was losing value for those who were not very strong on their faith to begin with. This panicked  the church even more so, and it was evident that other religions were beginning to crop up. An article  issued by Gregory VII says, "a pagan race had overcome the Christians and with horrible cruelty had  devastated everything almost to the walls of Constantinople, and were now governing the conquered  lands with tyrannical violence, and that they had slain many thousands of Christians as if they were but  sheep. If we love God and wish to be recognized as Christians, we should be filled with grief at the  misfortune of this great empire [the Greek] and the murder of so many Christians." The main focus from  this excerpt is that Gregory VII sees all of these people (the pagans and the Greeks for example) as threats, because their beliefs were contrary to the church. With all the disease and poverty going through Europe, any extra loss of control was incredibly detrimental to the church. The event of the crusades made the Catholic church seem more powerful and put more reassurance back into the church, which calmed the Christian people down a bit.

The reasoning in the crusades is possibly the biggest reason one must study them to understand the culture of the middle Ages, because it brings up the prominence of the church in that time period. There was a very large loss of control in the Church, and the fact that commandments were ignored and altered in the process of these wars shows how insecure the leaders could be. When one studies the crusades, they begin to understand the instability of the governments that existed all across Europe.

Sources: 


http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/g7-cde1078.html

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/g7-cde1078.html

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/leo4-ind850.html