Rites of Passage

In the story, “The Smallest Dragonboy,” the main character Keevan moved through a rite of passage, turning age twelve to become a dragonrider. As junior high students, we have many rites of passage to look forward to. In the United States, there are many requirements, such as age and rules or laws that have to be considered to achieve these rites of passage. Owning a home…the great and wonderful American dream! To buy a house in the state of Ohio, there is no set age; however there are stipulations…you must pay cash if you do not qualify for a loan from a lender. To get a home loan you must be eighteen years of age, have good credit, and be able to prove that you can make the payments on the loan without any issues. Before signing the papers to make the home “officially yours” you should thoroughly check the house for any code violations, or roof problems.

You should also check with the HOA (Home Owners Association) for any reported issues, and check to make sure that it is structurally sound. To help ensure that negotiation goes as smoothly as possible you should check all of the above and more! College requirements differ from school to school, however, for the University of Michigan, your GPA, curriculum choices, accomplishments, SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) and background are all taken into consideration. Your GPA (Grade Point Average) plays a major role in what college you attend because if you have a high GPA you have a better chance of being accepted into a state level college or university (such as the University of Michigan), while on the other hand, if you have a lower GPA, you are more likely to be accepted into a community college (Owens Community College). Curriculum choices can play a role in what college you get accepted into be cause certain classes emphasize towards certain colleges/majors. For example: Foods class wouldn’t emphasize in automotive repair.

This is why high schools offer you so many choices in your electives, to better prepare you for college! A work permit is a permission slip from an adult (particularly the parent and superintendent of the minor’s school district) for a minor to obtain a paid position in the working world. To receive a work permit in the state of Michigan the minor must be at least eleven years old. Then the minor and his/her parent must go to the superintendent’s office of the local school district and have the superintendent “officiate” the permit allowing the permit to be used. The permit must be kept on record by the child’s employer at all times! The child may only work a maximum of three hours a day during the work week, and 8 hours during the weekends. To learn more about obtaining a work permit, visit Michigan.gov for more information.

This website has a myriad of information, such as who needs a work permit, who issues work permits, and more.