Category: Another Viewpoint || By Submitted Report

The McKeesport's Message Committee asked students at McKeesport Area High School to write essays on the theme of "respect."

Winners were honored Tuesday during a celebration at Jacob Woll Pavilion, Renziehausen Park, and received gift cards donated by state Sen. Jim Brewster and state Rep. Marc Gergely, along with Kennywood tickets, passes to White Oak Pool, and other prizes.

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First Place Winner: Nicole Gergely

"I speak to everyone in the same way whether he is a garbage man or the president of the university." --- Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein's quote is truly how I would like to treat everyone. Respect to me means letting someone be themselves without judgment and accept one another for who we are. Being respectful towards someone or something means loving them, having dignity about themselves, and having a sense of hope. Love is being compassionate toward someone or something. Dignity is doing little things like saying please and thank you and just being honorable to everyone that you are around. Hope means believing that things in the future will get better. These three characteristics are essential in starting to have respect.

I personally think that respect is a very powerful word. It is a great guiding principle for life. I have respect for my parents for what they provide for me, and all of my family for the love that we share. I have great respect to my teachers for the dedication they have in making us better students. To all of my coaches who have given many hours to making me a better athlete. Respect to my supervisors at my workplace by giving me guidance and teaching me how to work with others. If I were to define the word respect it would be having sincerity, good manners, being proud of who you are, being honorable and understanding that if you are respectful you will get respect in return.

Having respect for the community and school is about being proud of where you live, participating in community events, having good relationships with your neighbors, and celebrating the good things about the community and school. The little things like picking up trash on the street and helping an elderly neighbor with shoveling their driveway are ways to show respect your community. If one has respect for their community and they participate in activities and events, others will too and the community will grow and succeed.

Love, Hope, Dignity are key ingredients for respect. Having love for one's self, other people and community and having dignity of where you live, the school you go to and the people you are around, gives us hope for a better future, better life, and better friendships that define who we are. I am proud to have respect for my family, my school and my friends. If we are all willing to learn the key ingredients of love, hope and dignity, respect will follow.

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First Runner-Up: Amanda Chelosky

When I was a child that still needed a babysitter, my aunt would always tell me how important respect was every time she came over. She even told me to grab a dictionary, and write down the definition to give to her. Being a child, I thought it was silly. No kid wants to take the time out of their day to look at a book, so I blew it off. Honestly, to this day she still asks me if I am ever going to give it to her. Now that I am older, I realize that writing her the definition of respect was a test of respect itself. So Aunt Patty, here is your definition.

If I was still a child, I would probably say that respect simply means that people should be nice to others and they will be nice in return. Most of the people in my generation don't realize that respect is so much more than just being kind to others. We have to be kind to ourselves, too. It is surprising that the amount of people who would admit that sometimes they hate themselves. I am not afraid to admit that I do sometimes too. How am I supposed to respect others if I can't even respect myself? Instead of someone calling themselves ugly, they should get a better mirror! They should try to proudly put on pretty clothes before saying they look fat.

Before someone thinks they are worthless, they should reevaluate their life and imagine all the people who count on them. For you see, if people have respect for themselves, they can go out and help others have respect, too! Dignity is also a major contribution to respect. Especially having dignity in something most others do not.

For example, everyone gives us students, at McKeesport, a bad name without knowing all the potential it holds. The reactions I get when I say I am from here are absurd. My friend's own mother wouldn't even let us hang out because she knew I lived here. How is that respectful to me, and the rest of my community? What people see, or hear about us is only a small majority of who we actually are. If doubtful outsiders came here for awhile they would notice hardworking individuals, the safest school in the area, culture, and some of the interesting people they would ever have the honor of knowing. I have dignity in my town, and I think that is enough to show how much respect I have for such a wrongfully hated community.

Respect has many different shapes and forms. You have to be courteous and positive to obtain it. Respect reflects back to you like a mirror and the easiest way to earn it is to consistently give to others. It ranges from giving someone support when they need it or simply smiling back at them. Remember that it is always imperative to have respect because in the long run, loving one's self could be the most important of all. Be kind to others, stand up for what we believe in, and we should not be afraid to spread a little hope because THAT is what respect means.

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Second Runner-Up: Dominique Allen

Have you ever been out somewhere and seen someone treating someone else poorly?

Have you ever been at a friend's house and witnessed your friend back talking his or her parents?

If so, how does that make you feel? Does it make you feel uneasy? Does it make you wish you could do something? Does it play with your heart strings? That soft tugging in your soul is the sweet and pure feeling of respect.

By definition respect means a feeling of admiration of someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities or achievements. Although this sounds nice, I don't believe that one would have had to accomplish great things just to be respected. I believe that we shouldn't judge people based on what we think we know because we don't know their story or their struggles.

Therefore, we should respect everyone. To me respect means consideration, love, and kindness.

How can you say that you love someone if you don't respect them? If you love someone or care for someone why would you ever do something to hurt them or that isn't in their best interest.

Even if people treat you badly, you should still show them respect because one day your genuine kindness might rub off on them and change their life for the better. Also, if you are respectful people are more likely to want to have you around them, and people are more likely to respect you. This is where the saying "treat others the way you wish to be treated" comes in to play.

What does respect mean to me? Respect means you are dignified, honorable, and have great morals. Respecting other people means you respect yourself. Respect is the thing that shows the world your true character and what you stand for. You should take pride in showing respect, because respect shows your strength of mind and ofheart. Anyone can be rude, ignorant, and disrespectful. It takes an extremely mature individual to be respectful, especially to those who may not respect them. Are you up for the challenge?

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