Assignment #20 Christmas Story

As I sit under the tree with my presents on my lap, I remember everything santa had told me. I remembered te story about the reindeer, and the bell, but most of all i remembered what santa had told me.

It was a very cold December 23 night. I kissed my mom and dad good night and walked up the stairs to my room. My room was the door to the left of our small kitchen. Me and my parents had just ate dinner, we had pototoes and tortillas. As I climbed into my bed i lay there thinking about all the kids at school who talk about everything they wanted for christmas. It made me sad to think about how all the kids at school would get all of the new toys and I would only get a piece of candy. I told myself not to be sad because I had everything a kid like me could want. I had both of my parents who love me very much and they work hard to get me good food.

After thinking about the many things I had I finally fell asleep. In the middle of the night I woke up to a loud thud followed with a whistle. I remember walking to my window looking out and finding nothing. I walked to the living room after hearing jingling. I hear a little voice say my name, I answer yes?

"Hello I am Hunter one of santas elfs he has been asking for you." said the man in a green suit.
"For me? Why me?"
"I am going to have to take you with me has a surprise for you." he said.

So we clombed up the chimney to find a sled with 9 horses who had antlers and one had a red nose. This must be Santas sleigh! I climb into the large sleigh with red velvet seats. The next thing I knew we where at he north pole. We tookthe reindeer into their barn and walked inside this big house. we opened a big door and inside there he was drinking a glass of milk and christmas cookies. The elf left us alone. We started talking about cookies, I guess it was true that Santa loves cookies and milk.

Santa said that I had been a wonderful kid all year and desereved a special tour of his workshop. I saw all the little elves making toys, I saw the toys get wraped and I even got to meet Rudolph himslef. Santa told me that there were many kids in the world who get all the toys they want but they are not nearly as lucky as I was.

As my private tour with Santa ended he told me siomething i would never forget. He said "never stop believing" i asked in what? he told me to never stop beliieving in what is rght.

On that christmas morning I woke up to find something I had never seen before. I had presents under the tree, I looked and found that the labels read:

To: Calvin
From: Santa Clause

My parents looked at each other in amazement, for the first time in 5 years I got presents from Santa!

Assignment #19 My Very Short Story

It was a foggy and cloudy day in New York City. This didn’t stop anyone from getting where they needed to go, they never take time to just take a step back and enjoy life. In New York it’s always go, go, go never look, look, look.


I moved to this horrible place in July, its November now. I’m in the 8th grade. I made friends right away but I just can’t stand this lifestyle. I’ve played baseball since I was 5. Baseball is the best thing ever. You can’t get any better than hitting the ball and running from base to base.

As months passed baseball season finally arrived. This made my life a little better. I had practice every day after school until 5:30. One day at practice they had just watered the grass. We still played on it. We did our running and our drills. Then we started playing. I was put on second base.

The batter hit the ball and started running. I saw the ball coming in my direction I ran to catch it. The next thing I know I’m laying on the ground and I can’t move my ankle! As I’m sitting in the car, many things run through my mind. I hope I can play on Saturday in the first game of the season.

I’m sitting in the doctor’s office waiting to know how my x-rays came out. I hear a knock at the door. The doctor introduced himself as “Dr. Mackler”

“Your ankle is broken. I will send you to get your cast on now.”

Broken? I felt like I had just got punched in the gut. I am not going to play in my first game.

As I spent my time at home, I realized how nice New York could be. I spent a lot of time with my baby sister and my mom. I had been so caught up in how miserable I thought my life was that I didn’t see all the good I could pull out of it with my family.

Kisses and Lies: Book Report

Recently I read the book Kisses and Lies by Lauren Henderson. This book was very interesting, it made me want to keep reading. This book pulls you in from the very first page, you will not want to put it down. In the book Scarlett is a teenage girl living in London, her parents died when she was just a little baby (and she doesn't remember much about them) now she lives with her aunt in who is the principal at Wakefield High. This is the school Scarlett goes to.

When Scarlett goes to the biggest party of the year she ends up talking to the guy just about every girl is crushing on in school, Dan. Scarlett has liked Dan since she can remember. As Scarlett pulls back from her first kiss she realizes that The boy of her dreams is laying in her arms... dead. Scarlett gets blamed for Dan's tragic and surprising death she knows it is a mystery that needs to be solved. As Scarlett tries to clear her name the whole situation turns in to the biggest family drama she has ever witnessed.

This book will make you think about your family. the ending of the book will make you rethink the big decisions you make. When you make a big decision you usually only think about your self, which is always good to do, but if your decision is harming other people in a bad way it may not be a good decision.

Assignment #18 My Poem

You are always together 

Everyone has one.

But you might be completely different like the left foot and the right foot,

But opposites attract...

Right?

Sometimes we  have our problems 

But we work through it 

We have our good times and bad times 

And we might hit a few bumps in the road.

Eventually we get over them.

At times we are separated 

One of us might be in the living room and the other under the bed

In the end we always end up together.

You can were friends 'til the end

Or your favorite pair of shoes. (:

-Amanda Otero

Assignment #17 Lone Ranger and Tonto



"He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass." ~George Herbert

The movie Smoke Signals is based on the book The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie. In this movie there are many lesson and teachings that come up. One that spoke to me was how Thomas teaches Victor to understand that his dad didn't mean to leave him.

Throughout the movie Thomas keeps asking Victor about his dad. He also keeps telling stories of the good times the had with Victors dad. Thomas tells the sory of when he went to Denny's with Victors dad, and how he was this really nice and good guy. When Victor hear these stories he gets mad at Thomas because he doesn't think that Thomas relly knew his dad.

As they go through the trip Victor realizes that Thomas is right and that his dad didn't mean to leave him. His dad didn't leave because of Victor. His dad was planning to eventually come back to Victor.

I really liked this teacing because it shows you a lot of different things. It shows you that before you blame yourself for something you have to really looked at the situation. You might be blaming yourself for a problem that really isn't anyones fault. When the boys get back home after the trip Thomas asks Victor one last time why his dad left, Victor replies "He didn't mean to."

Assignment #15 Multiple Intelligences Essay

Way up in the mountains, at the very top is where little Jesse lives. He has all of the nicest things,  but he always wants more and more. His parents always give him everything (and I mean everything!) he wants and they do anything and everything for him. He is 12 years old and he loves playing in the woods. His parents tell him not to go too far, today he decided to go a little farther than usual. He took a path that he had never seen before.

This path lead him to a little village on the other side of the mountain. He had never passed the boundaries of his village, so he was completely lost. He was turning in circles trying to find the way home. When it started to get dark his parents noticed he hadn't come home yet. They went looking all over for him, they didn't think to go deep into the woods because they figured that Jesse usually follows the rules.

While Jesse was on the other side of the mountain he didn't have any of his nice new things, but he did see that others kids weren't as lucky as him and they didn't have all of the latest toys. Finally Jesse found his way home he was so happy to be home. He decided to give his toys that he didn't play with to the kids on the other side of the mountain. This taught Jesse to be thankful of what he had and to always follow the rules.

Assignment #16 The Journey

Every morning I wake up in my big bed. My room has wood floors and it has a fire place on the other side of the room. Once I get out of bed I walk down the stairs to the living room. I pass the living room couches and I walk into my big kitchen. In the kitchen I have my stove in the middle of the kitchen, I have my pots and pans hanging from a shelf over the stove. My sink and the counters are against the wall, over my sink there is a big window overlooking the front porch and the front yard. My living room has big couches. On the far wall of the room I have a big fireplace, above the fireplace you can see the television. As you leave the living room you walk through the coat room, and you see the front door. 

As I walk out the front door I walk onto a big porch with chairs, this porch goes all the way around the house. I continue walking out onto the porch and dow the stairs, when I get to the bottom of the stairs I walk into a big meadow. This meadow is full of soft green grass. There are a few big trees growing in different places very far from each other. As you are walking through the meadow you can hear birds chirping as they fly over your head. You can see sunflowers growing all around you. In the meadow you can smell sunflowers and fresh air. As you pass the sunflowers you come to the base of a large mountain.

I start to climb the mountain. As I am climbing the mountain I can see many pine trees. While I am climbing I see squirrels and chipmunks running through the trees. You can hear their little feet on the trees and you can also hear the acorns falling from the trees. While I am climbing I hear all the leaves on the branches moving in the wind. I hear the crackle of rocks under my shoes. The leaves in the trees are dark green and the trunk of the tree is dark brown. 

Assignment #14 Uniforms

Uniforms in High School?

Some schools do have uniforms, but most public schools don’t. Most of the schools that do have uniforms are mostly all private schools. There are some reasons that uniforms are a good idea in schools for example uniforms are better because kids don’t have to “compete” against each other’s clothing, another reason is that it is easier for families to buy school uniforms for kids, there are many other reasons that uniforms are good but there are also reasons uniforms are not such a good idea in higher level grade school.

Uniforms are a good idea in schools for a few reasons. One being that it would make the school look neater. If everyone is wearing the same thing the school might look more “together”. Uniforms are also good because it saves money for the families to only have to buy certain clothes. When you have to wear uniforms you only need one type of pants and mostly one type of shirt. This also will help kids from getting bullied. There are many reasons why children get bullied but one could be because of their clothing. If one kid doesn’t have as nice of clothes as another person that kid might get picked on.

Although many parents and administration would rather have uniforms in their schools, what do the students think of this? The majority of students would rather not be required to wear uniforms, but there also is the smaller group of students who might enjoy wearing uniforms. Students in high school want to be able to express themselves. Teens are always told to be themselves and to be different, but if they are told this they should be allowed to wear the clothing that they like. They should not be told to do something that they are not allowed to do.

I think that schools with younger kids (k-8) should wear uniforms, but I think that high school students should not have to. I think this because younger kids don’t really care about what they have to wear; they are just all about having fun. Teens on the other hand are in a different stage in life. Teen years are all about individuality, and discovering what you like and don’t like. Teens should be able to do this wearing what they choose to school, to a certain extent.

Uniforms are both good and bad. They serve some very good purposes, but there are also some negative points about uniforms. Students in high school should be allowed to express themselves through their clothing. I think this is a good learning experience. Plus if children wear uniforms to school through elementary and middle school, not having to wear them in high school is somewhat like a reward, or something for students to work toward.

"An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest." ~Author unknown, (commonly attributed to Benjamin Franklin)

Assignment #13 Halloween Haiku

Kids go down the street, Trick-or-Treat for Halloween We get sweet candy!

Scary masks we see, pumpkins sit as we go by, What's real? What's not?

Get lots of candy, be safe and have lots of fun, Happy Halloween! (:

Assignment #12 The Black Cat



In Edgar Allen Poe's short story The Black Cat he uses a lot of symbolism. For example a few pieces of symbolism are the first black cat, the second black cat, and the white spot on the cat, and not to mention so many others.

The first black cat in the story is very important. It symbolizes the main character and the way he really is. At first he is very caring and friendly. He cares vey much about others around him. The first black cat also symbolizes the character and the way he is changing and what his consequences are at the end of the story.

The second cat could symbolize the way that the character feels afte the changes (caused by alcohol) affect him. One feeling is that the character feels guilty because of what he has done. He became and alcoholic and he became moodier which led him to acting different. He became very irritable, which led to him killing the first cat. The second cat had a white spot on him which the first cat did not have, this is another piece of symbolism from the story.

The white spot symbolizes the growing character and how he is changing. He becomes an alcoholic which changes a lot of his personality traits. He becomes very irritable, this causes him to take on some of the actions he did. He also becomes very moody.

Assignment #11 The Concrete Rose

 

Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete?

Proving nature's law is wrong it learned to walk without having feet.

Funny it seems, but by keeping its dreams, it learned to breathe fresh air.

Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else ever cared.

-Tupac Shakur



In this poem Tupac is talking about a rose that grew from a crack in the concrete. The meaning of this poem to tell people to follow your dreams. The poem says proving nature's law is wrong it learned to walk without having feet. That line might mean that if someone tells you you can't do something you know you can, prove them wrong by doing it two times better.

This poem is very motivational. It is saying that you can do whateve you put your mind to. Even if no one believes in you keep working towards your dreams and goals. This is true though. If you have goals and dreams for your self, you should never let anyone get in the way of you achieving those goals. Especially people don't truly care about you, because you can do anything you really wish to.

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden



I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Joanne Greenberg is a book about a girl named Deborah who suffers from schizophrenia. Deborah is a sixteen-year-old girl who "lives" in two different worlds. Her parents admit her to a mental hospital where she will spend the next three years of her life to try and live a normal life. Over the 3 years Deborah spent at the mental hospital she meets new people, one being her counselor. Deborah becomes very close to her counselor and she reveals secrets about her made up world, which no one has ever heard.

This book was very entertaining to me. I think that learning about mental disorders is very interesting. In example schizophrenia is a very different thought to think aboout, someones mind works in a completely different way from yours. When people suffer from schizophrenia it is very difficult for them to tell the difference between real and unreal experiences. They also have a hard time behaving normally when they are engaged in social interactions. People with schizophrenia can also get help though, there is medication they can take. During a scizophrenic episode the person may need to stay in the hspital for basic needs (food, rest, hygiene, etc.).

Assignment #10 Bullying



I watched a documentary about the story of Jamie Nabozny. His problems began in 6th grade and continued to get worse as he went on to high school. Jamie finally had had enough of the bullying and decided to take a stand on it. He took his case to court so that other teens and kids will not have to go through the bullying Jamie went through.

Bullying is not good, but it can very easily turn into a horrible (physical and emotional) situation that no child should have to experience. Watching this documentary showed me how bad bullying can get. It is very sad how far someone will go just to put another person down. If you see someone who is being bullied you should never just "walk by" always try to help them because you never know how bad it can get. Jamie was beaten by the bullies so severely that he had to go to the hospital. That is an extreme case of bullying. Bullies may not mean for it to get so severe that someone would have to go to the hospital or would try to do something harmful to themselves, but this is a very common result of being bullied.

Assignment #9 Alien Contact



I don't remember anything. All I know is that I am no where near Florida! It smells weird like carmel and roses? I don't know what the smell is, I think i hit my head because everyone looks so weird they're colored.. I see purple, blue, green. I wonder how I hit my head? Well I'm going to try to tell you what happened... if i can remember...

So I think I woke up and I was getting ready for somthing, oh I was getting ready for school. On my way to school I saw a really weird plane in the sky. It was shaped like an oval and it had weird lights on the bottom. I told my mom to look at the plane but she couldn't see it, which was weird because w always point out planes to each other. Anyways when I got to school everyone told me we had a substitute, everyone was excited. Whenever our teacher was gone we got the best substitue! When we got to class we didn't have Ms. Hernandez, we had Mr. 9b. He was really weird, who's name is 9b? He even talked weird, he had an accent that i had never heard before! We didn't really mind though we just decided to go with it.

The substitute only talked to us about outer space and Earth. He would ask simple questions, in complcated ways, like "where do you contain your bread?". He even asked if what we do with the crumbs. The whole school day was really weird I got bored so I put my head down and fell asleep. I fell into such a deep sleep that I didn't even hear the bell to go to lunch or to go home, and no one woke me up.

The next thing I know is I am the only one in the class and the teacher is turning blue! I can hear him talking into a red piece of paper. He is talking in some weird language not from earth. Then he woke me up and he put a pencil on my head and started to make weird noises. I started to shrink the teacher picked me up and put me in his pocket. I thought to myself he must do this a lot, because in his pocket he had some tables and chairs and couches to sit on, he even had an ipod. I started listening to the ipod but I fell asleep.

I found myself in a weird room, i couldn't remember anything. This weird room smelt of carmel and flowers maybe roses. All I knew was that I wasn't anywhere near Florida! I was guessing maybe i hit my head. There were some Blue people, Green people, and then there were some people who were little and they were Purple. These people were asking me for bread crumbs. The way they were asking me they made it seem like bread crumbs were VERY important to them. So I gave them some crumbs I found in my pocket. I heard someone calling my name. I looked around but I didn't see anyone I knew. Suddenly I woke up. I was laying in my bed, at home, in Florida. I realized I was dreaming, I mean I had to have been. I looked out my bedroom window to see an oval shaped plane with lights in the bottom. There was a Blue and Green person waving to me from the plane. I rubbed my eyes and looked again but they were still there. Was I dreaming? Aliens aren't real... or are they? (:

Assignment #8 The Necklace

The Necklace is a story about a woman who is poor and does not have any luxaries. All she dreams about and wishes for is to have many luxaries, nice clothes, and many other expensive materialistic items. This story displays many different themes, for example one theme is to tell the truth, another may be be thankful for what you have.

As I said one theme is to tell the truth. In this story Mrs. Loisel borrows some jewlery from her wealthy friend, for a special occasion. As she is enjoying the night living her dream (to be wealthy) she does not realize she has lost the jewlery. By not telling the truth she end up wasting 10 years of her life tryingto pay back her friend. Telling te truth is a very important moral. Tellng the truth is not only good because it's the right thing to do but also it can keep you from getting into sticky situations such as one similar to the one in the story.

Be thankful for what you have. Being thankful for what you have is a very good moral. If you are not happy with what you have, how can every be thankful for anything.If you get everything you want you will never be happy, you will always want something else. If you are happy with what you have you will be a lot happier. Then when you do get more thngs it will make you just that much happier

Assignment #7 Self- Value

Jealousy is simply and clearly the fear that you do not have value. Jealousy scans for evidence to prove the point - that others will be preferred and rewarded more than you. There is only one alternative - self-value. If you cannot love yourself, you will not believe that you are loved. You will always think it's a mistake or luck. Take your eyes off others and turn the scanner within. Find the seeds of your jealousy, clear the old voices and experiences. Put all the energy into building your personal and emotional security. Then you will be the one others envy, and you can remember the pain and reach out to them. (Jennifer James)

This quote is talking about jealousy. Jennifer James is saying that when we are jealous of someone we are just simply scared that we (ourself) don't have value, or we aren't good enough. We think that we have to be a certain way in order to live up to other peoples expectations. People are jealous because they cannot "love" themselves. In other words they are not satisfied with themselves they want so much to be like others that they are making other people not like them. You have to look at your self and find the good on yourself before you envy others. In order to be confident in yourself you have to find the good in yourself not others. If you keep looking at other people thinking that they are better than you, you are never going to be happy with your true self. When you are jealous of someone else you just have to clear your mind and think that you arejust as good as they are. Then you can turn into the person that others will envy. When you see people who envy you help them don't discourage them. When other people envy you it's probably because they like the person that you are. For example little kids always say that they want to be like their sister or one of their family members. You would want to be a good example for your younger siblings.

I Dream A World



I Dream a World is a poem by Langston Hughes. This peom is about living in a world free of discrimination and hatred. In the future I envision a world that has less discrimination. Discrimination is the worst thing to have to experience. A large majority of us have experienced some form of discrmination, wether it was severe or very moderate. You may not even notice that what happened to you was a form of discrimination, but once you do it is not a good feeling at all. To make this vision become true for the future we as a society have to work together to put an end to discrimination and hatred. We are able to do this by standing up for each other and by being a little more open-minded. In this poem Langston Hughes is saying that he wants to live in a world free of hatred, a world with peace, and in a world were we all appreciate each other.

Race In America

Just two New York block down from the memorial of the World Trade Center an Islamic mosque is being built. There have been many heated discussions about this. There are some people who believe that the mosque should not be built here because of the World Trade Center, and others say that according to the Declartion they have the right to build and practice their religion any place they would like. Personally I think that just out of the courtesy of the United States it would be nice to move there religious sturcture just a few blocks down. I do agree that everyone has their "freedom of religion" and that they should be able to practice their reliogin where ever they choose, but they should still have repect for other cultures.

In Gainesville Florida Pastor Terry Jones was planning a big ritual to take place on September 11, 2010. Pastory Terry Jones had planned to burn the holy Quran. A Quran is a very spirtiual and special book to the Islamic culture, just like the holy bible.This has also been a very heated topic in the U.S. Many people have said that he does have the right to do this, it is his "freedom of speech, and freedom of religion." I do agree again that everyone has their freedom of religion, but this person in particular is taking advantage of his freedom. I do not think this event is right in any way. I do not believe that this falls under his freedom of religion, this is an illegal crime. This plan is a hate crime, that needs to be stopped. In an interview Pastor Jones says "Jesus would not burn books, but he would burn this one." This is quote just shows how Pastor Joness' plan is. Not only is this a hate crime but also this is discrimination.

I have heard so many disscusions about this Quran burning being linked to the current clash over immigrants in this country. I do believe that these topics I disscused could be related to the latest views on immgration. In this country we are supposed to welcome everyone to our country the land of the free, but we are not doing this. In this country there is so much discrimination and hate. We just put up with all of it because it is just under the surface, but i think that we should try to put a stop to it before it get worse.

Book Report on Sold by Patricia McCormick

Sold is a book about a little girl who is sent away by her father to go work. It turns out

that the little girl I'd not going off to work in housekeeping. The very interesting part about this is that the father knew about it the whole time and also this still happens in certain parts of the world.

 After reading this book it really made me think about how people in different places look at life. When you read this book it really makes you think about your life, and how grateful you are to have family who loves you. You realize that you are very fortunate to still be with your family and they don't want to send you away.

This book made me feel very upset that a father would actually sell his daughter into prostitution; it's a very crazy thought. I don’t think that this is right in any way, I understand that they needed money but the parents should have sent their daughter to a safer environment to work.

Wisdom Haiku

Dance to the beat of your heart not someone else's drum

Make your choices it's better to learn from your mistakes not someone else's.

Your heart is the music of your life, never turn it down, just listen.

Life is about making choices, don't worry about what will happen.
Think about right and wrong, but for the most part, go with what your heart says.
be grateful and caring, not greedy and selfish,  you will feel better.

We need to learn to what you want in life you have to work hard.
Don't be scared to dance when everyone is watching just go with it.
Don't worry who is watching or listening, show them what you can do.

-Amanda Otero

My Sophmore Year

"Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements." ~Napoleon Hill

My sophomore year of high school has been a great experience for me. I have learned many things academically, socially, and physically. This year I have made many friendships, made older friendships stronger and have even lost a few.

I have realized that for almost everything that has happened to me over this school year it is mainly because me and my personality. This year i have learned that I have changed a lot. I have changed the way I look at things. I have changed the way i look at things because i have taught myself to look at situations and try to analyze them. By this, I mean I will take a situation, think about it, then I have learned to try and figure out why it happened. I may have always done this, but now i do it with more logical thinking. I have also changed because I am more comfortable speaking my mind in a strong way. I have taught myself to not be intimidated or afraid of speaking my mind to anyone. I have learned that this is not just something that you need to do sometimes, this is a life skill that is very important to have.

During my sophomore year I have had a lot of very exciting and interesting experiences. At my high school I am in the health academy. At the beginning of the year I the chance to meet with and talk to Medical students from UNM. This was a great experience! It really helped me get to see what it is like to go to a medical school. This made me even more determined to achieve my goal. My goal is graduate high school, go to college and become a pediatrician. This year I went to my cousins high school graduation. I was very interested in the valedictorian at their school. It was very surprising to hear their grade point average, they had a 4.589! This really motivated me to work extra hard in school. After this experience I set a new goal for myself, when i graduate in 2012 I want to be my class valedictorian.

This year I was able to help myself grow physically. My whole sophomore year I have been involved in cheer leading. This has helped me stay healthy and fit. Being in cheer leading I have had many experiences that I have never had before. I got to go to cheer camp and work with the UCA team, I got the chance to compete in state, and I have also been able to meet many new kids I would have never met if it weren't for cheer leading. I think that a big reason for me changing was because of cheer leading. In cheer leading you have to be very outspoken and loud. so that has really helped me.

This year has been amazing! I have learned and grown so much in many different ways. Many people have noticed that I have changed others haven't. I have noticed a change in myself, I think that that is the most important part. If I notice that i have changed myself in a good way it must have been a really good change or a really big change. I can't wait to see what the rest of my high school years bring me!

"Since there is nothing so well worth having as friends, never lose a chance to make them." ~Francesco Guicciardini

Myself

"Never mind searching for who you are. Search for the person you aspire to be." ~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com

This year I have had a lot of very new experiences. I have made many new friends, gotten closer to some friends, but I have also lost some very close friends. These are some of the good experiences and not so great situations that I have experienced this school year. I have learned so many things in just the time length of one school year.

This year I have learned that people change some change for the better, but others for the worst. When people change for the worst, or when people change at all what they don’t know is that they are not only affecting themselves but they are affecting others around them.

I have lost close friends because of people changing. I changed. This is the reason for one loss of a friend. This person didn’t like that I have become more outspoken. So they showed their true self. I saw that the person who was my best friend was not who that person truly was. So because of this loss I gained new friendships that accept the fact that I can speak up more, and they like it. I may have lost what I thought was a good friendship, but better things and people came out of this situation.

Now I have a big group of people who are my real best friends. These people I can trust with anything and everything we tell each other. Form this type of situation I have learned to always find the bright side of things. I believe this is very true. I think that this is true because when bad things happen things will fix themselves or they will get better.

People say I have changed, I’m not going to lie, I have changed I have noticed it myself. I am very glad that I have changed because I am a new person and I like the new me. I am really glad that everything that has happened to me (good or bad) happened because all of it changed me and made me a better person. It’s weird when you notice changes within yourself. When you yourself notice these changes it shows that there are big changes taking place, hopefully they are good changes!

"Some people say they haven't yet found themselves. But the self is not something one finds; it is something one creates."

- Thomas Szasz

Wisdom Quote

"Life is about making mistakes, learning from them and letting yourself move on. Never regret the mistakes you make, they can always help you." Amanda Otero

If today was the last day of my life journey this would be my wisdom quote. I think that life is about making mistakes and being able to learn from them. Many people make mistakes and always look at the bad side of it. I think that when you make a mistake you need to look at what you did, think about how you could have prevented what happened and think of how you can fix it. Many people also don't let themselves forget mistakes that they make. This just makes everything worse. I don't think you should completely forget your mistake but just forget that bad part about it and look at the situation as a learning experience. When you make mistakes, at the moment, you might think that everything is messed up. When you look back on the mistakes you've made you will be able to see that they did help you or make you look at something in a different way.

If I Could be Someone Else for a Day...

If I could be one person I would want to be someone who is my age but lives in a country where they don't have as many advantages that I have. I would like to do this because it would be a good experience. This would show me how of kids my age live. It would show me that I am very fortunate to have parents who take care of me and my family. Kids who are my age in other countries have a lot of responsibilities. For example they might have to work to get food for their family or take care of their siblings. They might have to look after their siblings because their parents are sick or may not be capable of looking after their family.

This type of experience would change my  paradigm of the world. It would give me another way to look at the world. This would show me how grateful I am to be able to go to school, and be able to see my friends on weekends and I wouldn't have to worry about what was going to happen to my siblings or family. I am very grateful that I have parents who take care of all of that. I also have a house to live in, food to come home to everyday, and new clothes, these are some things that some kids my age have to worry about. I am very fortunate to know that i have family who I know will always be there for me.

Teen Dating Violence

 

Nationally about one in five teens have reported being abused by a dating partner. According to the 2007 Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey of New Mexico revealed that one in nine high school students have been hit or hurt by a boyfriend or girlfriend. Teens are less likely to to get help from police or domestic violence shelters, they would rather talk to peers, teachers,and coaches about their problems. Usually dating violence occurs when one partner tries to take control in the relationship through abuse. Teen dating violence is often hidden because teenagers are pressured by peers to be violent, want independence form parents and many other reasons.

Some clues a teen may be in a violent relationship:

• Physical signs of injury
• Truancy, dropping out of school
• Failing grades
• Indecision
• Changes in mood or personality
• Use of drugs/alcohol
• Pregnancy
• Emotional outburst
• Isolation

If you are a teen in a violent relationship, there are many ways you can get help. Talk to a trusted adult or a local shelter serving victims of domestic abuse or call the NMSU Crisis Assistance Listening Line at 866.314.6847,
Agora Crisis Center Helpline at 505.277.3013.
The Love is Respect Dating Abuse Hot line at
866.331.9474. You can also visit
http://www.loveisrespect.org/

Betrayal

Has anyone ever betrayed you? Maybe you told a friend a story that no one else could know besides them but they still told someone else. Did you lose trust in them? That's what betrayal is, betrayal can be very upsetting. Have you ever thought about you being the betrayer? Maybe you did something that your friend asked you not to do. That person probably lost their trust in you. Betrayal is mainly about trust and losing trust. When you betray someone you have to have their trust first. When someone betrays you they have also lost your trust, most likely. Being betrayed can be very hurtful. Being betrayed is like when someone you are close to and trust does something that was not necessary or you asked them not to. One example of betrayal is like when best friends do something to hurt each other. For example I know one person who was betrayed by their best friend. One person told their best friend a secret. this person had trust in their best friend that she wouldn't tell anymore he secret. The next day the best friend told some of their other friends what the secret was. Now a lot of people knew that persons secret. This was not right of the friend to tell others this secret. This is one way someone I know was betrayed. After this incident the person with the secret was very careful in who she told certain things to. Even if the freind didn't tell people the secret to hurt her friend on purpose it still hurt that person. They may still be friends after that but after something doing something like that, intentional or not, someone has lost a little trust in you.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Part 2)

"If you can dream it, you can do it." ~Walt Disney

In the second part of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Snow White marries the prince. They have a big wedding in the forest with all of the animals and of course each of the seven dwarfs. After Their wedding snow white and the prince go to live in the step mother’s castle. The evil queen is vanished from the forest. When the evil queen finds out that Snow White and the prince now live in her castle she plans to escape and take back her throne and declare herself queen, again. The evil queen plans to escape and hide out in the dwarfs little cottage in the forest, since they now live in the castle with Snow White and the prince. When the queen finally escapes she finds her way to the cottage. What the evil queen doesn't know is that all of the other animals now live in the cottage.

When Snow white’s step mother gets to the cottage she opens the door and scares all of the animals. The animals hide anywhere they can find. The animals hear the evil queen talking about her plan to go back to her castle and take the crown away from snow white. The animals start to scare the evil queen and finally get her to leave the cottage and are glad that they are helping Snow White. While all of this is happening Snow white and the prince are doing spring cleaning and getting ready for the seven dwarfs to come back from the mine. The dwarfs went to the mine they spent a long week cleaning and getting a present ready for Snow White and her prince. The dwarfs made Snow White a beautiful statue made of diamonds, rubies and pearls. The statue is of Snow White and the prince.

Before the dwarfs get back to the castle the evil queen has already arrived but is still hiding. The evil queen is following snow white everywhere she goes, but is hiding in the bushes and trees. Then when Snow White is alone in her room the queen comes in the room and closes the door. Snow White is scared. The prince hears Snow White yelling and runs to her room. When he gets there he sees the queen, but he cannot get in the room. When the dwarfs get there the prince tells them what happened. The dwarf’s tell the animals in the forest that Snow White is in trouble. The dwarfs and the animals go outside Snow Whites window the dwarfs stack up on top of each other to reach the window. Then all of the animals jump inside Snow Whites window and get the evil queen. Then Snow White opens the door for the prince and the evil queen is once again vanished from the woods. Except this time she is followed around by some of the animals.

After the evil queen leaves everyone goes back to their party for the dwarfs. Snow White makes everyone go wash up for dinner. After everyone washes up they have a big feast, with lots of food and great desserts. After they eat the dwarfs carry in their gift for Snow White and the prince. They help the prince put the gift in the castle.

“All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them" ~Walt Disney

Bravery and Courage

"Courage is tiny pieces of fear all glued together."  ~Terri Guillemets

Every has had a time in their life when they needed to be brave or have courage to get something done. One time that i had to be brave was when there was a fire in my grandmas house. I had to stay calm and call 911. I also had to keep my little cousin calm. I had to carry my cousin as i was on the phone with 911. My cousin did not have any shoes on because we all ran outside right away to help my grandma and aunt. By me staying calm i was able to help my whole family. I was able to give 911 the address to the house and comfort my cousin to keep her calm and let her know everything was okay. Since she saw that I was okay she knew that nothing was going to happen. This was just a little situation but it was a very different experience i had never had before.This experience taught me a lot. It taught me that by keeping your emotions under control you can keep a calm and not hectic environment in a scary situation. I also learned that doing something little, it can make everyone  What is one time when you had to be brave, or have courage?

"Courage is the power to let go of the familiar."  ~Raymond Lindquist

The Time Machine

Have you ever wondered what was it like to live in the 70’s or what “was this person like.” Well what if you could invent a time machine, what would you do? Would want to go anywhere specific, or who would you want to meet. If I had a time machine I would like to go many places. For example maybe I would go to Rome, Greece or maybe even Egypt. I would like to meet Vincent Van Gogh, or maybe dancers from a long time. If I had a time machine I think it would be interesting to go back to the 50’s.

If I had a time machine I would like to go back to ancient Rome. I think this would be very interesting because you would get to see how daily life was back then. I would like to see what types of activities were popular for young kids. I would like to see how sports and games from back have changed from then to now. I would like to go to ancient Egypt to see the way they lived their daily lives. It would be interesting to see how school was back then and what types of things children would learn in school. It would also be nice to see how the buildings looked back then.

I would use my time machine to go back in time to meet very famous artists. Artists like Da Vinci. Out of all of the famous artists the one I would like to meet the most would be Vincent Van Gogh. Van Gogh is one of my favorite artists. Some of his most famous and well known pieces include Starry Night, Sunflowers and his self portrait. I like his paintings because I like how you can see the type of strokes he used with his paint brush to create the painting. I really like the way he makes his strokes like a spiral.

The most interesting thing I would like to do if I had a time machine would be to go back to the 50’s decade. I would love to go back to the 50’s to see the way things were back then. I would like to see the way they danced how, how they dressed and much more. I would like to see what types of things kids would do to keep themselves entertained. It would be a lot of fun to be able to see how daily life was. I think back then it seems like everyone was happy and always having fun.

These are just a few of the many things I would like to do with my time machine. There are a lot more, too many to name. What if you had a time machine what types of things would you like to do? Would you want to meet your favorite musician, what about your favorite actor or sports star? There would be many different things to go do and see. Think about it.

My Oral Tradition

My family has many very interesting stories and people. One story that is very interesting to me is about my great grandpa. My great grandpa was a Justice of Peace, or a judge. My great grandpa had an office inside his house where he would hold court. His office was right here in Albuquerque. Since his office and he would hold court there, my great grandma would always be making tortillas in the kitchen, which was just in the next room.

My great grandpas house was on Atrisco road right across from Holy Family Church. My grandpa had to have court with many people. He had many different court cases too. One time he had to have court with a very young guy. He was a very young guy so he had no money to bail himself out of jail. This guy offered to give my great grandpa his guitar in place of money. It turned out that this young guy was actually a very successful country star. Glen Campbell.

Starfish Story

In the Starfish Story there is a man throwing starfish he finds on the shore into the ocean. Another man asks him why he is doing this, he replies "...If I don't throw them in they will die." The wise man then questions him saying that there are many miles of ocean and he cannot make a difference. The man throwing the starfish throws in yet another starfish, replying to the wise man "I made a difference to that one."

After reading the Starfish Story I got that the moral is that you may not be able to change the whole world but you can make a difference. In life if there is something that you believe is not right you should do the right thing which is to try to help solve that problem. If nobody ever tried to make things different people could still have to sit in the back of the bus.

I think that this story is trying to show people that if you are working towards something people might try to knock you down, but you need to keep a positive attitude and tell or show them otherwise. If you really want something you need to work at it and then you can get what you want.

"I made a difference to that one." This part of the story will really make you think. For example in the story the man is throwing starfish he finds on the beach into the ocean. Of course there are many miles of the shore but he is still trying to make a difference by throwing the starfish back into the ocean. He may not save every starfish but he will save the lives of the few that he does throw back in.

The moral of this story is that always believe in yourself. Don't let anyone bring you down. Always stick up for what you believe.

Animal Rights

According to change.org Tanzania and Zambia are petitioning for a one-off sale of their stockpile of confiscated ivory. We need to take illegal sales of ivory off the market. If people continue to allow ivory to be sold the enitre West African elephant population will be wiped out in at least a decade! If we keep lettingthings like this happen to our animals one day we may not have any animals left. What would the world be like with no animals?

The Great Debaters Movie Review

"We do what we have to do in order to do what we want to do."

The Great Debaters is a great movie about young kids who just want to have fun and end up making history. This movie is one of those movies that will make you laugh and cry. It grabs your attention right from the start. This movie works because you do not know what will happen next . One minute everything is perfect for everyone and then the next minute everything gets flipped around. I give this movie a thumbs up! 3 out of 5 stars. Watch these college kids make a change in history.

Diego Rivera

This painting is called Muchacha Con Girasoles, by Diego Rivera. This painting really caught my eye. It stuck out to me because of the bright colors and all of the sunflowers. In this painting I see a woman with long, dark hair, that is in a braid. It looks like she is cutting flowers and putting them in a pot. She was probably cutting flowers for her table because maybe she was having dinner for someone she wanted to impress.

The Statue of Liberty

The New Colossus


Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
 -Emma Lazarus

Have you ever looked at the bottom of the statue of liberty? If you do you will find this poem. This poem says "..give me your tired, your poor,... the homeless, temptest-tost to me..." To me this means that anyone is welcome to come to America. When the statue of liberty was first built I think this is what they wanted it to mean. Now this statement has changed. They are making it very hard for people (immigrants) to come into the United States. We should take a look at what this poem is saying and really think about it. We also need to think about what we are doing and what we were meant to do.

AP World History Inventions of the 1800's

My Favorite Quotes

"I think most dancers would agree that the art of ballet chooses the dancer, not the other way around (McKenzie, Kevin)."

"To watch us dance is to hear our hearts speak (Hopi Indian Saying)."

"A good cheerleader is not measured by the height of her jumps but by the span of her spirit (Author Unknown)."

"Before you put on a frown, make absolutely sure there are no smiles available (Jim Beggs)."

"Life is like a mirror, we get the best results when we smile at it (Author Unknown)."

"Always remember to be happy because you never know who's falling in love with your smile (Author Unknown)."

"Treat everyone with politeness, even those who are rude to you - not because they are nice, but because you are (Author Unknown)."

"Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart (Gibran, Kahlil)."

 

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind (Dr. Seuss)."

 

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us (Keller, Helen)."

Personalities

I have learned that there are a few different personality types according to the Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory. There are four different categories. You could be and E/I- an extrovert or introvert, N/S- Intuitive or Sensate, F/T- Feeling or Thinking, and finally J/P- Judging or Perceiving. I took the Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory test, my personality is ENFJ. Take the Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory test to see what your personality is at http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes1.htm.

Valentines Day

Most of the time people think of Valentines Day as a holiday to get gifts from or for someone special. Valentines Day makes people think about hearts, candy, bears, and flowers. There is actually religious history behind the Valentines holiday. Valentines Day was named after Saint Valentine. The day comes from an ancient Roman celebration which used to be on the 15th of February. It was soon changed to the 14th of February for a fest day. Now onstead of being a traditional holiday, Valentines Day has become very commercialized. Visit http://www.theholidayspot.com/valentine/history_of_valentine.htm for more information on the traditons of Valentines Day.

Help the Children

Today in the United States when kids hear the word "doctors office" they cringe and dread the day of their check up. We go to the doctors to make sure that we are not sick or to help us not get sick. Imagine if us kids couldn't go to the doctors until we had a very bad illness. I think then kids wouldn't be scared to go to the doctors. People dont realize how greatful they are to even be able to go to a doctors office. Help kids who are not able to get the treatment they need get healthy again. Help many kids get all they need to be healthy. Go to theliteracysite.com and click on childrens health. Or

Click here for an easy and free way to help children in need at The Child Health Site!

The Symbol of Light

Native American inhabitants dug circular pits in the ground, they used these for ritual ceremonies. They had these ceremonies before they were forced by the Spanish missionaries, to abandon their religion, and become a Christian. Many Native Americans believed that spirits from the underworld. These places were used as a place to connect with the underground spirits of their origin.

Light is a symbol of survival. Light shines through darkness to help someone (something) find their way through what they cannot see. When we need help getting something done it is like being in a dark room, you cannot see anything. But if you keep trying you will soon find your way through the darkness. The sun is the worlds flashlight, it makes a path for us to get through the day. Sunlight shows happiness and survival. When people are in a tough situation it brings happiness to see light because it shows them a path.

The Beauty of The Sun

The world awakes to beautiful colors rising over the mountains.

My electricity brings beauty to the world as the day goes on.

It comes time for the world to rest; I slowly bring the colors of night.

Uniqueness

"Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You"

~Dr.Suess~