2011 Student Writing Awards Booklet - Santa Fe Community College

Academic Essay
Runner-Up
Frances Boyd
Fear: Transforming Our Values
The massive destruction at the center of New York City rocked
the foundation of America.The event was 9/11 in 2001 when terrorist
invaded America and caused the deaths of 2,976 people in the World Trade
Center.The transformation of many values in America began this day.
People started changing because of fear.This was significant for a nation
whose building blocks came in part from its welcome to the world. Emma
Lazarus, in her poem,“The New Colossus,” embodied America when she
stated,“Give me your poor/ Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”
(line2-3).This welcoming message is on the Statue of Liberty. Lady Liberty
sits in New York harbor where immigrants have entered this country for
over a century. Now, the United States government is building a wall on
the United States and Mexico border to keep out immigrants.This is
about fear from the 9/11 attack.Will we as a nation of immigrants, let the
terrorist use fear to transform our souls Will fear transforming our values
that have been the principles that our nation was built on
The wall on the United States and Mexican border symbolizes the
need to do something to protect ourselves, even if it does not address the
real issue. In “Our Wall,” Charles Bowden’s view is that “Walls are curious
statement of human needs” (63).After 9/11 our country’s need to be safe
was foremost in people’s minds.The issue of immigrants crossing illegally
into the United States from Mexico began years ago, but after 9/11 came
the fear of terrorists.Then came the demand for the wall.This is the reason
Dan Duley, who lives on the Arizona border by the wall, gives in “Our Wall”
when he is asked about its existence. He states his fears, and they include.
“We’re being invaded.They’ve taken away our jobs, our security” (66).
This whole concept of a wall on our border with Mexico to keep
out illegal immigrants is unrealistic. In Charles Bowden’s essay “Our Wall,”
Bowden maintains that
They all work for a while; until human appetites or sheer numbers
overwhelm them…..You have the Maginot Line, a series of
connected forts built by France after World War I to keep the
German army from invading. It was a success, except for one flaw:
The troops of the Third Reich simply went around its northwestern
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