practice SAT essay:

In life, people are influenced by other people. Whether at school, in the tabloids, on a sports team, or in a movie, we are constantly surrounded by influences. Usually, people determine what is important to them based on its popularity. If alot of people are doing it, then it probably means that it's fun or good. However, if not alot of people are doing it, then it's probably boring or not a good thing to do. One of the biggest influences on peopl are celebrities. Dur to their popularity and fame, many people want to be just like Chris Brown, Beyonce, or Tom Hanks. All of them are rich, successful, and have the stereo type of a "perfect life." The things that they find important is what we find important. For example, one of the most influencial person in the world is Oprah Winfrey. She has so much power but channels it towards doing the right think. Because being a good person is somthing that is expressed through actions, regular people want to help out a poor family, build a strong community, or donate money to a 3rd world country.
These celebrities can't be seen merely by spotting them at a local cofee shop or park. That's why the media is there to capture these moments. The media is the publics eyes and without them, we wouldn't know the things that celebrities find important.
Although celebrities determine what is important to a certain extent, the media doesn't have such a powerful influence on people living in 3rd world countries. In these places, they are not developed enough to have television, magazines, radios, movies, or the internet. In fact, they might not even know what those things are. With this lack of development, the things that these people find important are passed down from thier elders. For young kids, its the granparents, anties, uncles, and parents that raise their kids according to how they think is the right way. EAch culture has different things that they hold valuable. For instance, Japanese people believe that honnor and respect is the most important factor of life. Americans believe in freedom. Africans believe in the survival of daily life. Hawaiians believe in the spirit of aloha. Every culture is different and can think that the other cultures are wrong. But the truth is, no culture is wrong. Just because Americans don't think that honnor is something worth dying for, doesn't mean that the Japanese have wrong thinking. These different values all work together because without them, we wouldn't be unique as a whole. Influences are always around us whether you realize it or not. Ultimately, we decide what's important to us, not others. We arn't forced to do what others do but we tend to do it anyway.