50. Tell us about yourself. 

I am a very interesting individual. I like to go on long walks across the beach, and scented candles. I like the feeling of accomplishment you get after achieving your highest goal. I love the thought of a society that can collaborate and work as a whole. I am apposed to violence, and like to think of myself as a pacifist. I like to train and work out because it gives me a good work ethic, and teaches resilience. All I want in life is to make a difference to passing generations that could potentially benefit them. I have a pretty good grasp on what I want to be when I get older. I have always had motivation in everything I've done. I'm not one to sit back and wait for things to be spoonfed to me. I like doing things for myself without anyone's assistance. I work two stressful jobs and play two sports.

      I like the feeling of hitting a walk off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. I like hitting the deep three point jumpshot to win at the buzzer. I like to compete at the highest level I can. I enjoy practicing every day to keep getting better. I like going on long runs and seeing how fast I can go. I like the teachings of discipline and respect in these sports. 

     I like figuring out long math problems. I like the process, the sense of reward, and the logic behind it. I love writing long stories or columns and jotting down my thoughts onto paper. I like abstract design and art. I like to free my mind from distractions and focus on hard tasks that require my uttermost attention. I would love to someday go back in time and meet Einstein. I would be the kind of person staying after school studying extra if I didn't fully understand the concept. I want to someday teach a group of people something worth knowing. Someday I want to make a significant difference. 

     I like traveling and experiencing the world. I like seeing new culture and new ways of life. I love the differing languages and trying to figure out unfamiliar words. I like the ocean almost anything nautical. I like jet skiing and scuba diving. 

     I love my family and wouldn't be the same without them. Everything else in my life is not set in stone other than my family. They will always be there for me and I will do the same. Their love and support for me has made me the person I am today. I love spending time with my elders and learning their past experiences and how I can benefit from it. 

     I am a loving, caring person that wishes the best to everyone around me. I am very patient, and I am a strong believer in good things come to people who wait. I try my best to take nothing in my life for granted. I like becoming the man my parents hoped and dreamed I'd be. I like making them proud and having them by my side. 

     As you can tell, I am interesting. 

abortion

Keenan Coffey

Why do people freak out about abortion?

Abortion is a topic that is very controversial amongst the people of our time. More importantly, this controversy is important to the people it affects. In some states, women get to choose the option of keeping the child, or killing it before birth. This is not particularly interesting to me, but it affects a large group of people I associate myself with every day.

This could be discussed in a Sociology class as a discussion. We could talk about how it is unfair for multiple states to have different laws and such. We could also say how it is unfair to the individual. I would ask questions like “how do you feel about the topic?”

There are thousands of books and news stories on abortions and abortion philosophy. More importantly, so many people post their opinions on the web and what not. Some people include William Guttmacher who makes many distinct points regarding the subject. Thus, abortion is worth freaking out about.

Monologue (Drama)

My son’s name is Keenan Coffey. He is in 12^th grade and he supposedly loves every minute of it. I mean it seems as if he never gets any homework assigned to him. He is always playing sports, and hanging out with his friends. I was the same exact way when I was in school. All I would I do was play basketball, and do a little schoolwork here and there. Keenan doesn’t do a lot of things around the house that make me so mad. Considering our house consists of him, his brother, and me we have a lot of little things that need to be done. Keenan hates to do laundry, or clean anything for that matter. It is extremely rare to see him actually cleaning his room. I tell him to every single day and he never listens. I guess I can’t make him do everything.

Keenan has always been a free spirit. When he was a little kid he would always wander off and get lost. I remember the countless times in grocery stores when he would start to wander off or he would follow some random person. Ever since then I knew he would be a free spirit. He goes on walks and plays basketball by himself late at night because he always needs something to do. He is constantly running around and finding things to do. He doesn't have a great work ethic, but when he sets his mind to something he stays consistent. Keenan writes very long papers for school and will spend a good portion of the day just staring at the computer thinking about what to write. Once he actually figures out his plot and what he's going to write he writes for hours on end. He has a good work ethic when he wants to. 

Keenan loves just about every sport in the book. He has played basketball, baseball, soccer, hockey, football, and tennis. He plays basketball and baseball in high school, for his two primary sports. He played on the varsity team for baseball for 2 years prior to his senior year. He started his sophomore year at shortstop, and he has been there ever since. Keenan played basketball for the high school as well. He played guard last year on JV and will be playing varsity this upcoming year. He is very excited to be finally playing for Mr. Lib. Keenan works very hard in every sport he plays. He is always trying to get better.

Keenan has many friends over the house. He always hangs around with a bunch of trouble makers. He spends a lot of his time with them, but he is still motivated. Keenan has had 3 jobs, and has 2 currently. He is always looking for new work, and he just found a job at a car dealership. Keenan loves to watch any comedy movie he can get his hands on too. In his free time he writes a good amount and just hangs around the house. 

He has many goals for his future. He intends on trying to enter the FBI, but more importantly he is going to college very soon. Keenan plans on going for criminology, and psychology. My son is a very interesting guy, and many people would agree with me. 

ap psych summer assignment

Keenan Coffey

Summer Assignment Case Study

Movie: "My Girl" 

A. Introduction 

In the movie, "My Girl" the main character Vada suffers from Hypochondriasis. She grew up in a funeral parlor which seemed to trigger her fear in diseases. Her experiences throughout the movie highlight how she would assume she was sick.

B. Psychological Disorder

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, Hypochondriasis features, "Hypochondriasis is preoccupation with fears of having, or the idea that one has, a serious disease based on a misinterpretation of one or more bodily signs or symptoms". (Page 462)

Symptoms include: (pgs. 462-464)
-fear or an idea of having a serious disease based on a misinterpretation of one or more body signs or symptoms.
-fear of possessing a disease even with medical reassurance that it does not exist.
-vague or unusual physical sensations that seem like larger issues instead of minor abnormalities
-abnormalities in heart rate, perspiration, and peristalsis. 
-past experience with major illnesses may trigger reoccurring symptoms.
-cultural background and explanatory models may also trigger these symptoms. 

C. Diagnosis

Throughout the movie Vada assumes she contracted multiple diseases when she was completely healthy.

Example 1: A man died from prostate cancer, and was brought into the funeral parlor. Vada immediately believes she has prostate cancer, and thinks she will die.

"Alternatively, there may be preoccupation with a specific organ or a single disease." (DSM-IV)

Example 2: Vada constantly went to the doctor and was always told she was completely healthy. She did not believe the doctors and was in denial.


"The unwarranted fear or idea of having a disease persists despite medical reassurance." (DSM-IV)

Example 3: She gets locked into a dark basement and immediately thinks she is going to die because of lack of air. She contracts anxiety in this scene.



"The preoccupation is not better accounted for by Generalized Anxiety Disorder." (DSM-IV)

Example 4: Vada caught a fish and freaked out because she believed the hook would instantly kill the fish. Socially, she panics about matters that are out of her control and blows them out of proportion.



"The preoccupation with bodily symptoms causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning." (DSM-IV)

Example 5: She believed she killed her mother when she died from cancer. She believed that she gave her mother stress and this aided her death.


"Concern about the feared illness often becomes a central feature of the individual's self-image, a topic of social discourse, and a response to life stresses."

(DSM-IV)

Example 6: Vada once choked on a chicken bone as a younger child. She believed many years after the incident that it managed to stay in her esophagus.


"The preoccupation in Hypochondriasis may be with bodily functions, with minor physical abnormalities, or with vague and ambiguous physical sensations."

(DSM-IV)

Example 7: Vada said she was hemorraging, but it was really her menstrual cycle.


"The preoccupation in Hypochondriasis may be with bodily functions, with minor physical abnormalities, or with vague and ambiguous physical sensations."

(DSM-IV)

Example 8: Creates a variety of symptoms in her head of strange diseases and disorders she doesn't possess.


"... he or she may be exaggerating the extent of the feared disease, or that there may be no disease at all."

(DSM-IV)

Works Cited

"Hypochondriasis." Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV. Washington D.C. : 2000. Pages 462-464.