Free Words by Kassidy Yeackley

I believe in the freedom of speech. I believe that anybody should be able to stand up for themselves and for what they believe in. This world has become a place for freedom of speech; however, it seems that there are less people who do stand up for what they want and believe in. In order to do that we can start believing in ourselves. We need to know who we are as a person, and have respect for the kind of person we are. We can not let people walk all over us and let them control our lives. We rely on television, or books or even people to try and tell us how to live our lives. What we need to do is trust in who we are and follow our hearts and know how to make the right decisions.

In high school, we are defined by the type of clothes we wear or the type of friends we have. Instead we should be judged on the type of person we are and how we respect ourselves. I think that is why college is such a big change for people, because in college we will really learn about ourselves. We learn about our true friends and what we want in life. So those who really base their decisions on other people are the ones who change the most after going to college. That is why we need to start from the beginning on making our own choices.

In the corporate world, we need to do this also. Stories have been on the news of how controlling bosses can ruin someone s life. Nobody can do well at what they do when the boss makes the atmosphere unbearable. People need to take a stand when the situation becomes too much to handle. Even though they are still our bosses and we need to respect them, we can not let them run our lives. That is where the freedom of speech comes in. That is a big part of our freedom here in America but if we do not use that privilege then what is the point of having it.

We really need to take a look at our lives and how we live it. We need to live our lives to the fullest and follow our hearts. We need to be true to ourselves and our personality. By having respect for oneself is by not letting people walk all over them. Do not be silent. Stand up for what you believe in and speak up when something is wrong. For life to be better we need to take charge and change ourselves instead of waiting on other people to do it for us. When we speak up and say something that we believe is right will make the problem better.

I believe in the freedom of speech. I believe in standing up for oneself. We should not let people walk all over us, but instead stand up and let our voices be heard. America fought for freedom and now it is our time to really express it.