Sohil's Story

       In The Stranger, by Albert Camus, Meursault is not allowed to smoke in prison. As a result he feels nauseous and hopes wonders why he is being denied the ability to smoke. He realizes that it is a part of his punishment that he must endure. However, after a short period of time, Meursault is able to get used to not smoking and it doesn't become a punishment for him anymore.        By not smoking for several days, Meursault was able to change his daily routine to not include smoking. Routines can be good, like in the case of Meursault breaking the habit of smoking, or bad, like overeating when watching TV. In both cases, the routine takes time to get used to; Meursault was nauseated and if you overeat, your stomach is likely to hurt. However, once they get set routines stick for a very long time. For this reason, it is important to try to form good routines that can benefit you.        Recently, I finished my college applications and have had a lot of extra time on my hands.

      Is wasting time really bad? The obvious answer would be yes but it depends on how you define "wasting time". Is wasting time doing something that is not productive? Well then how can we define what is productive and what is not productive. Is wasting time doing something you do not enjoy? Many people would not consider studying as wasting time, yet they do not enjoy it. So what really is wasting time? And can it be bad?      Wasting time seems to be something you want to avoid. After all, in the phrase it literally describes misusing your time, a very precious resource. But what if wasting time is necessary. If you define wasting time as doing something that is not productive, do you expect to work for 24 hours straight? No one can do this. People have to eat, sleep, and, even though many people disagree, relax. If you don't take a break from your work, you lose efficiency. You get mentally burnt out and your not as productive as you were when you started. A break,

       In Catch 22 , by Joseph Heller, war is portrayed as a bureaucratic machine that doesn't care about the soldiers who are actually fighting it. Yossarian, fights this by trying to survive. Normally, when people think of heroes, we think of people risking their life in order to benefit many. However, in Catch 22 , the war is not fought for the benefit of many people. This makes Yossarian's mission, survival, a very heroic one. However, Yossarian quickly comes to a problem. Yossarian puts his squadron's lives in front of his own and wants to save theirs but does not want to keep flying pointless decisions and endangering his own. Yossarian solves this problem by walking away from the war. This way, he is able to prevent himself from having to choose between his life and his squadmates.        Catch 22  contrasts from many other war movies and books I have watched and read. In Catch 22 , heroism is shown in the ability to save your own life while in other war stories, her