DRSL Integration and Application of Knowledge

For this DRSL I am going to use a paper I wrote in English class tenth grade. This was not actually an assignment but it was written at the same time that I wrote my paper on Euthanasia. Organ Donation as a topic was also one Id liked to have done so I did it. AMES is like no other school in the manner than AMES expects you to go above and beyond. It expects you to go the extra mile and to challenge yourself and step outside of your comfort zone. English class has been an especially important class to me since with all the papers Ive had to write, books I had to read, topics I had to study, and class conversations weve had, I have learned new skills. Ive learned to look at a topic from another point of view and to try and put myself in the shoes of another person. In writing Ive learned new ways of speaking. All these things will and have helped me in the real world. English class at AMES is no regular English class and for this reason I am prepared for college. Ive learned conversation skills which will be especially helpful in college life and even after college. I chose this topic because my aunt passed away because her kidney failed even after my dad and grandma had given her a kidney. Id known little on the topic so I did a lot of research to make a strong thesis and find strong evidence to support my arguments. Believe it or not there are people out there that do disagree with organ donation. That was a surprising finding. The paper was edited and revised multiple times and here is the final draft. I can apply this knowledge in the outside world. Writing papers on topics that have been heavily debated for give me knowledge and experience. With all the papers Ive written in my English class, I will have knowledge on and be able to discuss with someone the topics of Euthanasia, Organ Donation, Unconscious bias and Unintentional Racism, the Death Penalty, Social Democracy and Immigration. These are all things heavily discussed in the real world and writing these has given me practice with taking a standpoint and supporting my argument.

ORGAN DONATION

Organ Donation is when one person gives his or her organ or sometime just part of an organ to another person who is in need of it. It is done through a transplant. Organ Donations is seen by most as a very good thing because it saves lives. I believe organ donation is a very good thing. It gives others hope to live. I gives me satisfaction to be an organ donor because I know that if I were to pass away and one of my organs were transplanted, than at least my death was not for nothing.

I strongly support organ transplant. Many people die and are perfectly capable of giving an organ to save a life. There are almost 115,000 men, women, and children every year waiting to receiv e an organ transplant. An average of eighteen people die each day waiting for an organ transplant. (Advancingyourhealth.org). My dads sister died when I was very young because she was waiting for a kidney transplant and couldnt receive one in time. It would have been the second kidney transplant. She received the first one from my grandma and wouldve received a second one from my dad except his kidney was not compatible with her body. Another story, Charis Roberts, a high school senior in perfect health. One day the main artery in her heart explodes and she is rushed to the hospital. She is in immediate need of a heart transplant. She receives a double-bypass surgery while she waits. Charis was put on a list with 80,000 other Americans waiting for a heart transplant. She is fortunate and receives one just a little while later. Her life was saved and she is healthy and well now thanks to her heart transplant. Unfortunately 6,200 others died that same year waiting for a heart. (Karen Fanning, discover.prod.sirs.com). This is one of many stories of someone whose life was saved while waiting for an organ donation. It must have been a good feeling for the family of the donor to know that their loved ones death gave another person life.

For the family of the donor who died, they feel happiness that came from something sad. They may feel that if the organ is transplanted into another person, then their loss was not in vain. Donor families take some peace in knowing that some part of their loved one continues and have extended someone elses life. Even though my dad couldnt save my sisters life by donating his kidney to her, he feels peace knowing that with the medical advancements today, he could have. I havent asked her since she passed but Im sure my grandma felt like a life saver knowing that she prolonged the life of my aunt for at least a little while with her kidney.

Another reason that I supporting organ donation is because helps further the research of surgical medicine. In 1967 the first human heart transplant was performed. Heart transplants were performed after that but the patient never lived long. Thanks to the discovery of heart transplants, throughout the decades the procedure has improved and now infants can receive a heart transplant and still live a full healthy life(hearttransplant.com). This goes for all other organ donations also. There are groups out there who oppose organ donation but they are small because of the vast number of positive effects of organ donation. After doing research, Ive found very few cons and they werent very good reasons. For example the donor cannot chose who their donation goes to and they might be worried about the fact that their organ may go to someone of a different faith or political standpoint. These are very menial when you look and the opportunity to give life through organ donation.

I think we should be grateful for the day and age we live in where if we have a problem with one of our organs, it can be replaced. Just decades ago, you were given and early life sentence if you had a failure with your body. Anyone can sign up to be an organ donor and I am proud to be one.

Wikipedia.com

Hearttransplant.com

Medicinenet.org

www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/organdonation.html