Journal #31

1.What is your passion? (something you do on your own, something that offers you intrinsic rather than extrinsic reward).
2.What have been your experiences with this passion?
3.Where would you like to take it? How would you like to stretch your knowledge, skill, experience, impact with or through this passion?

1. My passion is being a football manager. I not only give up most of time for it, but I enjoy what I do.

2. I have many experiences with being a football manager. From doing dirty laundry, to writing plays during games, to just hanging out in the football office and having fun. I sacrifice a lot of time but I find that it's okay because I make time to do many other things.

3. Being a football manager can't really help me get a scholarship to college but I feel that it's a great high school memory. I feel that it can stretch my experience because being a football manager is like having a job but I don't get paid. I have many responsibilities and duties which make the job very difficult but also very accomplishing.

Journal 30- I believe

-Life is too short to get mad over many things

As my grandmother died, my mom realized that her time in life can cut short just as hers. My mom recently taught me that life is too short to live with regrets and get mad over little things. I usually tend to overexaggerate many things and take it to the next level even though the incident may not seem that bad.

-Happiness come within

I believe this because as many things happened (e.g. losing friends), i began to feel upset and unwanted. I tried to tell myself that life is still worth living. I began to think that its easy for others to make you happy but its a lot better when you have self-satisfaction.

Journal 20

Beautiful but Troublesome

Fireworks in Hawaii are beautiful. They make gorgeous artwork in the sky that makes lots of people say "aww, that's so pretty!". Fireworks also are believed to start the new year "with a bang". There are many traditions involving fireworks at the beginning of the year. Although they may seem to be beautiful, they make a lot of smoke. When the are is filled with lots of smoke, it gives breathing problems to lots of people. Although someone will not have a lung problem, they still have trouble breathing. If someone has breathing problems, the air quality on New Years Eve makes it more difficult for them to breathe. Facts state that 13.5% of people in Hawaii struggle with breathing. When the fireworks cause pollution in the air, the 13.5% of people with breathing problems have a higher chance of death. Even though fireworks are beautiful, it also can cause many problems. Everyone should be able to breathe problem-free everyday of their life.

Journal 18

Topic for Angry Letter

-MAC Pearlridge Store

Journal 16

The media has an effect on anyone who has access to it. Whether it is positive or negative the media does its job. The goal for media producers is to “hook” their audience and attract them for further production. Men just as women get attracted and affected by what they are exposed to. The media isn’t always negative but there is a negative effect from it. The media is a great portal to know what is going on in the world. Although it may be a great portal to know what is going on in the world, many negative things can happen through knowing. There is no doubt that the media affects males in a bad way.

Males are usually stereotyped to be common characters in a movie or television show. Common characters are “the funny, the jock, the athlete, etc.” There is more than just one reason why this is a negative outcome of the media. One reason this is a negative effect is because if everyone replicates a character, and there is someone who isn’t, that person will usually be discriminated by other teens. Another negative effect of the media is that if athletes want to be like the professional teams and shows, they are normally taught to just “give it all you got, and play hard”. They sometimes are taught that the sport is to be played for the love of the game but most times they are taught to “suck it up” and “go for the win”. It isn’t good that they are taught negative things because a child or teen should play their favorite sport because they really enjoy it. This shows that the media plays a negative role on males in many different aspects.

There’s no fact that a lot of males play video games on a daily basis. Video games aren’t always good because the people playing it tend to devote a lot of their time playing the games. They easily become addicted and fail to realize many things happening around them. Playing video games takes up a lot of time and focus that could be put to something more productive. Besides the fact that it takes up lots of time, many games expose lots of violence to the child or teen playing it. If a child or teen is constantly exposed to the negative actions in the game, they might be influenced by it and begin to act horrible. Video games are a type of media that affects males to make bad decisions.

The media affects males in a bad way. There are many different ways and types that the media affects teenage males. Television, magazines, video games, movies and many more. The media isn’t only a negative portal but it is said that there is a negative portal. Teenage males get affected by the media in a negative way.

Journal 15

Thesis: The media affects males in a bad way.

Con: The media doesn't always affect people in a bad way. Without the media, most people wouldn't know what is going on in the world. The television and newspaper are two ways that people can find out what is going on in the world. Knowing what is going on is very important. You can learn many things from watching the news or reading the newspaper.

Pro #1: Men are usually stereotyped to be like characters in a movie or a television show. There are many different common characters such as "the jock, the funny guy, the athlete, etc.". There are several reasons why being like characters in shows are good. If there is someone who isn't like everyone else (a character), they are usually discriminated by many other teens. Also, if they want to be like the athletes on professional teams and shows, they are usually taught to "suck it up, and play hard." They usually are shown to take things very seriously and to "go for the win." When your a child or teen, it is usually best to play a sport for fun and for the main objective not to be to win but to play the sport because you love it.

Pro #2: Many teens and children play video games. Video games aren't always good because they tend to devote lots of their time on playing and games. While they play games, they fail to realize a lot of things that are going on around them. They focus a lot of their attention on their game and slack off on many other things. Many video games expose lots of violence to the child or teen playing it.

Resources: http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/men_and_masculinity/masculinity_stereotypes.cfm?RenderForPrint=1

http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/men_and_masculinity/masculinity_sports.cfm

http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article39.html

http://www.the-spearhead.com/2009/10/20/videogames-how-do-they-affect-males/

College App. Essay Draft(Journal #10 )

We all learn new things everyday. Life holds many lessons that should be learned by everyone. There are common lessons that most people learn, but there are also lessons that only some of us learn. You can learn lessons many different ways. We usually learn lessons from being taught from someone else or by making a mistake and learning from what we did wrong. If I had to watch a child for a year, the three lessons I would teach it is to respect others/common manners, it's okay to make mistakes and to live life to the fullest.

Respect is a very common thing that we are all taught. Parents try to teach their children to respect others from when they are young. Respect is something that many people expect. To get respect from someone, you need to give respect to the person. I would teach this to any child because it's important to get respect. When giving respect, you get respect and others will trust you and be nice to you. If everyone is nice to each other and respectful to each other, the world would be a very nice place to be. I would also teach a child common manners such as always respect elders, do not swear, and say the words "please", "thank you" and "your welcome". I feel thats important because everyone knows that this is common courtesy. We all expect that someone will respect each other, and having manners is one way of showing it. Respect is very important and people sometimes forget to give it. I would teach a child that respect is something that should never be turned off or forgotten.

We all make mistakes. Whether we learn from them or not, we all do it. Most of us learn from the wrong things we do and that's why it's okay to make mistakes. No one is perfect. Making mistakes is something no one should be teased about or laughed at for because mistakes are something that help us. Mistakes aren't always good because some of us don't learn from them but overall we learn from what we did wrong because we don't want to go through the problem again. I believe this is a very valuable lesson becuase people usually make themselves feel really bad just because they made mistake. Even if you make a mistake, just change yourself so you won't have to repeat it. I would personally tell the child "mistakes are okay because we all make them and we just have to learn from it".

Life is something that is very unpredictable. We are neve garuanteed one more day of life. Shocking events happen everyday that you never thought would happen to people. No one knows when they're going to die, or when they're going to get hurt. Since life can be very short, we should all live life to the fullest. I would explain to a child that life isn't something that should be wasted because it's something that can easily be taken away from us. If we suddenly get sick or our life is at rish, we want to feel accomplished with everything we have done. We should never live with any regrets because that is a waste of time. We need to not look at our mistakes and move on for the better. Living life to the fullest is the best thing that anyone can do. We all want to be happy with our life because it can be gone in the matter of a second.

Children should be taught from young that we should all be respectful and have common manners, making mistakes are okay, and to live life to the fullest. If a child was taught that from young and applied it to their everyday life, they would be a very loving and loved person. I believed that they would die very peacefully and happy. I believe that if everyone was taught these lessons and applied it, the world would be a much better place.

Journal 9

Ophelia Speaks
My novel is a "coming of age" story because it shows real events that happened that helped the writer grow up. The events that happened help the writer understand something different and learn from her experience. One story that really shows that the writer "grew up" and learned her lesson, is called "Aan Het Einde Gevangenis: For Myself" by Corrie Zweedyk. In her story, she does drugs and makes a lot of mistakes. She becomes pregnant from making all the mistakes she made but since she has had her baby, she has fullly changed her life around and learned how to "grow up". She still lives in fear that one day something will happen to her and baby but she really learned from what she has done. Another story that was very clear for me that showed that someone "grew up" is called "On the Edge" by Sarah. This story is about a girl who abuses herself by cutting. She learned to fight through her tempation from cutting herself from a knife. This shows to me, that she really wanted to change and she wants to "grow up".

Journal 8

I prefer to either go to college on the West coast or the East coast. The two main colleges I would like to attend are UCLA or NYU. New York and California are large states that I generally would like to be for college. UCLA and NYU are just thoughts because they are the most known college in the states. I also wouldn't mind going to a college in Washington or Oregon. For the job I want to have, I would also have to attend another school for a Cosmetologist Degree. I would attend Aveda Institute in either New York City or Los Angeles.

http://www.avedalosangeles.com/default.aspx

http://www.avedainstituteny.com/

http://www.ucla.edu/

http://www.nyu.edu/

COA Poster

Journal 3 (Vent)

As we all grow up, we make friends that go in and out of our life. I still have a friend who has been in my life since I started to go to her school in 3rd grade. But in 5th grade is when we started our journey of being best friends. She is a great example of someone who I have gone through some bumps in the road with. Although we had those bumps, we always seem to straighten the road out. To me, best friends are families that we choose. Our families choose us, and they our are family no matter. But best friends, we personally choose them.

I recently chose a group of friends who made me happier than anyone could, DKX. We spent every moment we could together. Walking home after school, sleep overs on school nights, sleep overs on weekends, and much more memories. Over the summer, I rarely got to see anyone. Some went to summer school with me, but it just wasn't the same to me anymore. I suddenly felt sad one day when I saw one of my best friends leave me to go with another friend. It hurt my feelings a lot.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"OH! I'm gonna go swim at Shannon's pool! Sorry, bye." she said

Thats how it went. Not even a full conversation. It was more like "hello and goodbye". I acted like I didn't care that she left me for her, but I did. I cared a lot more than anyone knew. That's when it all began. From there on, the tower just started to crumble slowly. More and more incidents started to happen that made me not want to be with them. It hurt to see my best friends willingly let my heart get eaten alive. And it hurt even more, knowing that they're the ones causing it and they didn't really know.

It all started to matter to me less and less when an old best friend made me happy once again. Lets call her, Monique.

"I have a new best friend! HAHAHAHHA! That freshmen is really funny!" I said.

"DON'T TELL ME YOUR REPLACING ME!" Monique said.

Thats when it clicked, she still remembers the moments we had. She still considers me a best friend. I sighed out of relief and happiness. As I began to get closer with my real best friend, I started not to care if I was losing DKX. I didn't care so much, I began to call them "THE OTHERS". They cause me so much stress, how could I call them DKX?! They began to add more people in their group, and in my head, all I thought was "I give you permission to take my place in that group".

Now, I still talk to them. I act like I'm really happy to be with them when I'm in the presence. But truth be told, I'm not. I'm happy with what I have now. I'm satisfied. I know what they say behind my back. I know how they feel about me now. But I also know how I feel about myself. And I'm happy the way I am.

Coming Of Age Essay Draft

I knew this day would eventually come. Sooner than later, or maybe even never. It was a time of change, and lots of it. It was a time that had many different emotions that you feel often. The emotion of being excited, ecstatic, happy, sad, melancholy, and feeling of loss. It’s a moment of time where we all want to stop it from happening, but we all want it to happen anyway.

My sister and I were always really close. She was my best friend from the day I was born. I told her everything and she told me lots. As we grew older we started to drift apart but we still always held that sister bond. I love my sister with all my heart and I could never imagine losing her. All through her high school years, I couldn’t wait for the day until I got my own room. I grew up sharing a bedroom with my sister until I was in 8^th grade. The only reason I got my own room, is because my sister was going off to college.

San Jose State University is where my sister’s life would finally begin. Losing her was the hardest thing I would do. Although she would be coming within the matter of 4 months, the emotions stirred up. It was hard to let the girl I grew up with go. It felt like I was going to lose her forever. Talking to her every night wouldn’t be as easy as it normally was. I relied on her often and she was a role model of mine. It’s hard to accept the fact that I wouldn’t be able to see her everyday.

I would talk to my sister before she left and I would always ask her “Are you excited? Are you scared? How do you really feel?” She would always reply saying, “I’m happy and excited but I’m really scared. Knowing that I only myself to rely on is a scary fact.” Realizing that my sister would be faced with a hard challenge didn’t just scare her, it also scared me.

Driving to the airport to drop her off was a very sad ride for me. It felt as if I couldn’t talk because everyone would hear my voice crack. As we arrived at the airport, I saw my immediate family members standing there and waiting. It was hard to see everyone start to cry as my sister had to make her departure. Seeing her walk through the glass doors at the airport made me want to run to her and never let her go.

It was very had to accept her leaving because it made me feel as if I was getting one year closer to the position she was in. I was an emotional wreck knowing that that will be me in the nick of time. I want to enjoy my high school years as much as I possibly can because it’s a memory I will never forget.

Writing Experiences

Over the years, my writing styles change and improve. I think that I achieved a lot over the years because improvement comes with repetition. I enjoy writing because I can put my input on how I feel on things, and I can use my voice and express my feelings. My favorite paper that I have written was an essay about what we wanted to be when we grow up and how we would achieve that goal. I really enjoyed this paper because it made me get prepared for real life. It made me realize that college is not cheap, and that I should embrace it as best as I can. We had to research the bumps in the road that would help us get to college. I enjoyed writing this paper because I got to use a lot of voice since it was a paper all about me. I enjoy writing papers about me because I feel like I can be unlimited with what I write.

My goal for this year is to write papers that more people can relate to. I want to put more of my perspective and voice into the papers I write. I feel as if voice means a lot when writing a paper. I also want to use more words that describe better to help my writing be more descriptive and enjoyable.