The contemporary world we live in has drastically changed over time. Today to survive you have to believe in yourself. What I mean by believing in yourself is understanding your strengths and weaknesses, fighting for what you love, being vocal when appropriate, and never letting life stop you because you're confused. By reading Indian Education by Alexie and What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Carvers, I learned a lot about the difficulties of everyday life. These stories reflect modern life today and the impact you have on yourself. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In my opinion, the current state of the contemporary world and survival is all about yourself and how far you can go. To survive you cannot let another person judge you or determine what you can and cannot do. In Indian Education by Alexie, the author explains the unfair and terrible education system created for Indians. They were unable to be who they wanted to be because of the automatic group they were separated into, which suggests they would not be successful. In second grade, the narrator talks about the obstacles that the teachers were trying to cause because he was of a different religion. “He sent me a letter home telling my parents to cut off my braids or keep me at home.” (Alexie p89) Throughout his school years he was constantly bullied, but he knew he was different and didn't let anyone take that away from him. In year 12, “I walk down the aisle, valedictorian of this country high school.” (Alexie p93) Despite everything he was facing, he didn't let anyone determine his future. Many people face traumatic experiences because they are not considered what society thinks is “normal.” But to survive in today's world you must overcome all odds and show and prove your religion, race, ethnicity, gender or whatever category you represent. Another important feature you need is openness. You have to be open to new things, to communication, to learning, to understanding, to love. Which brings me to Carver's story What we talk about when we talk about love. In this story there are two couples who each have a different idea of ​​what love is. A woman whose name is Terri had a very traumatic love experience in her first marriage. She was constantly physically and mentally abused. She believed because her ex-husband committed suicide for her and always told her "I love you" that it was true love. “He was willing to die for this. He died for this. (Carver) Her now husband Mel didn't believe it was true love. He explains how you can love multiple people and then some time later hate them, then wonders if it was really love. Just as Alexie claims in his statement: “But I was saying goodbye to my tribe, to all the Indian girls and women I could have loved.” (p91) Meanwhile the second couple had been together for a short period of time, so Mel explained that they were in the "honeymoon" (Carver) phase of their marriage. This story reflects the contemporary world we live in today because love is controversial. No two people share the same kind of love. To love, you must be open and available. Also, never let anyone tell you that what you think is real is false. Only you can determine and get through each day with a special someone because of how you feel! During my research, I came across an article titled Survival Skills for the 21st Century by Jason Bedford. In this article he explains and explores four survival skills of.