User:SNMreptiles

Note: The following essay was assigned so the students could practice their editing and also consider biases, which is part of their Wikipedia assignment. Shalor (Wiki Ed) (talk) 15:34, 16 January 2018 (UTC)

A time when I learned to like something
I am currently in college and this is an assignment for my English class.

When I was younger, I loved McDonald's. Not just McDonald's, practically any fast food/junk food you can think of. And that was it, I just wanted to be at home, snacking away in my bedroom, left alone. I would like to use a different topic here… But honestly I haven’t changed much in my life except for this. Thank goodness I changed in this area though! Quite recently I have started thinking about what actually happens when you eat like I did… And it seemed pretty awful. My mom also started to get really involved with hiking, which led me to do the same. I realized I loved the fresh air and the feeling of getting in at least a little bit of exercise, as well as experiencing nature! I have found that I feel happier living a healthier life style. I ended up cutting McDonald's out of my diet (even though they will always have a special place in my heart). I never thought I would be even a semi-healthy person. I hated the idea of healthy food and anything that involved “exercise”. Now that I know more about what being healthy can actually mean, I have a greater appreciation for it.

The article Why Facts Don’t Change Our Minds in The New Yorker says, “Presented with someone else’s argument, we’re quite adept at spotting the weaknesses. Almost invariably, the positions we’re blind about are our own.” There will always be a reason to argue for junk food or against healthy food. However, I never looked at the flaws in my own argument to realize what I was missing.