Second Chances by M Jesus Garcia

Second Chances 1

A booklet of the best writings about Second Chances compiled by a bunch of C1 ESL Students from Asturias.

Unveiling The Angelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Share

Second Chances

Or at least it is how we expect life to work. We all need second chances because we are not perfect. Nevertheless I agree with Ophra (see article below) in the idea that second chances rarely happen by … chance but only if your attitude allows you to notice them when passing by, the exception being the first ones which are for sure pure luck. Some forces are just out of your control. Life is evolution and you are supposed to learn from every situation, especially from failures. Attempts make you aware of your choices, get you prepared, figure out what is meaningful to you and finally make you ready to struggle. And it is then and only then when a second chance comes out. Getting a second chance in life is about giving yourself the opportunity to grow beyond your past failures. For instance, many people after severe car accidents or illnesses face life in a completely different way. Everybody deserves one but implying that YOU play also a main role in attracting luck. Many often the only difference between an opportunity and an obstacle is attitude. You have to try. Surfing on the internet I bumped into this quote which is very fitting for the occasion, isn’t it? “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” -Maria Robinson Ophra´s article Ana González

Unveiling The Angel’s Share

Second Chances

Second Chances, everybody deserves one.

I’m going to talk about people of the Alcoholics Anonymous organization because I have been the coordinator of the Health Program in my High School for a long time and I attended many meetings with people who belong to this Organization. When they try to define themselves, they say they are a “fellowship”. And it’s true that when you can listen to some of them explaining their experiences with alcohol, all of them share a similar story of deception, lies, pain and sorrow. All of them have felt that they had reached the bottom of the human experience by failing everybody surrounding them and failing to themselves. One of the stories I was most shocked for was the story of a middle aged woman who reached alcoholism little by little at home. She used to buy alcohol in tetrabrik cartons not to be discovered by her husband because of the noise the glass bottles could have done. At home, she used to hide them in the washing machine powder packet. The most important thing of all these people is that they have succeeded quitting alcohol and they regard the group of people they meet every week as their family, people who share their previous failure life and that accompany them in a struggle against alcohol. Together, we can do what none of us could accomplish alone, they say. That’s why they deserve a second chance.

Juanjo Alonso Tresguerres

Unveiling The Angel’s Share

Second Chances SECOND CHANCES: EVERYONE DESERVES ONE

Tripping twice over the same stone, as the old saying goes, is unquestionably something inherent in human nature (though I’d prefer to say “innate”). Actually, no one could ever deny the fact that the very first moment we are delivered into this world, we all arrive stark naked; and by saying this, I do not only mean the literal, but also the metaphorical sense of the whole expression. Such a lack of experiences is to accompany us during our first years of life. Consequently, no one does ever feel disappointed nor disillusioned if your first steps as a toddler are unsteady and short, even when most of your attempts at walking will end up on the floor. Conversely, those frustrated and surely harmful moments will be eased by big applauses and fervent cheers so as to encourage you to stand back on your feet and keep on trying: a second, a third and even a fourth chance is on display at this time. So, why does everything mentioned above seem to fall into oblivion once we cross the gates of Adolescence? As shown in the film “The Angels’ Share”, our juvenile offenders (adolescents themselves) have to face situations they have never thought of before when children: with a hopeless future ahead, with unemployment lurking everywhere and not a single solution offered, crime and drugs (let´s bear in mind alcohol is a drug; legal, but still a drug) seem to be the only way out to evade reality. So, “why not experimenting as when we were younger?”-our desperate heroes might have thought. But this time, no cheering, no round applauses will follow the performance; on the contrary, they will face silence in the audience, even rejection from both their families and friends. Yet, as another old saying goes, when one door closes, another one opens eventually a new character walks onstage; the old man under whose wing the gang is taken; the “ guardian angel” who is to trust our heroes´ desire to break away from their former lives and go back to square one. He clearly has not forgotten that we all are lifelong learners! So… Why not a second chance? Everyone deserves one! Even us, adults! María Pérez