2017, Hopefully a Great Year

2017 is coming, and its coming fast. 2016 was the most chaos filled year of my life. I can honestly say this full confidence that I am telling the truth. This past year has been alot about change, a new school, new city, and new friends. A lot of the changes Ive experienced this year has also been negative. Maybe not as negative as Im making it sound, but that's what I want to change about myself this year. Not change as in I think something is wrong with me, but I want to change this for the better. I want to make myself think more positively about what is going on around me. Such as the  adjustment to the new school, new city, and new people would have been a bit easier if i had thought more positively about how better off i would have been inn the future, thinking about how happy I am now.
Overall, I think that being more positive about what is going on in your surroundings is something that everyone should do. The littlest things that can indicate a bad day for you can be pushed out of your mind until its something that you dont even think about it. If you aren't thinking about it then it doesn't ruin your day. 2016, to me, was a year that contained so much negativity. 2017 is one that I want to fill positive memories and good times, that'll be easy with the new start, provided with me by my mom.

Discrimination of Single Mothers

" I remember once we were kicked out because they (The landlords) thought that since my mom, they found out that she wasn't living with a man and she has four children, it wouldn't work. They kicked us out. He thought she wouldnt be able to provide everything, between rent and the kids." This is a story from a young girl who was chosen for an interview because she grew up in a home with a single mother. Some stories she has shared can be hard to understand for people who haven't had to live under these circumstances. Unfortunately this is a common concern for single mothers, discrimination. The discrimination of single mothers compared to women who are married with children, or who don't have children at all is unsettling. This topic is very hidden in the eyes of the press, but not to the eyes of a child born into circumstances like these.

Single mothers are often called irresponsible, unstable, and unreliable. Single mothers are called "irresponsible because of having children before marriage", "unstable because how could they possibly support themselves and their children", and "unreliable because who knows when they'll pay their rent on time, if they pay on time". These are all biased statements made about these women that aren't, necessarily true.  "It took a woman landlord to help me because the men were the ones who who thought of things like that. The other woman landlord, in the apartment we were close to getting, was trying to help me, but the person who was stopping her was her husband. All of the men at all of the other apartment said 'no'." These the words of a single single mother who was asked to share her experiences. She had a very similar experience as the young girl from the first interview.

"I went for an interview for a job and when they found out I was a single mom, they asked if I had support system. If I didn't, they wouldn't want to hire someone with kids, without husband or support system because you might call off if your kids get sick you had to get them from school and you didn't have a babysitter, so you had to call off. The jobs don't want to get involved if things like that happen, so they just don't hire you." These women are denied jobs because of these circumstances, then are turned down when it comes to houses or apartments because it is inferred that they don't have enough money. Also, they are called burdens when these mom need to rely on family and/friends. It all goes back to the prejudice. These women wouldn't have to depend on others if they made enough money to get an apartment. Single mothers would be able to make enough money if the prejudice didn't prevent businesses and companies to giving these women jobs.
   
Instead of judging single mothers and pushing them onto the streets people should offer to help to them. People constantly want good press, to be seen as good people doing good deeds. The first thing that comes to their heads is children, help the children. Yet helping the mothers in order to help the children I'd unheard of. One- third of single moms are insecure in terms of food, that means starving children. If you want to help the children, then start by helping the moms get a head start. Help a woman get that good job, the money from that job will help get an apartment, a safe haven just for a mom and her children, help a mom look like a hero in the eyes of her child.

Tears of Joy On Christmas

     The best gift I've ever given someone is jar that counts the money that you put in it, inside the jar was 50 dollars. It isn't much, I know that it isn't the best gift in the world, but it felt good when my mom recieved it, she cried because, to her, it showed that I really tried to help her, and that I cared enough to try to give her something as important as money. At the time I was was young, but I was old enough to understand what money problems were. I knew that money was something my mom didn't have a reliable source of at the time, so I kept I jar in my room for a couple months to collect spare change in. I kept it hidden in my room, so my mom would never see it. I don't recall exactly where I got it, but I'm glad I did because the concept of it counting coins is what made this fun. Every time my grandfather gave me the left over change from going to the store, I would put it in the jar. I would search the house meticulously for dimes and such under the couch and on the floor.  By the time Christmas came I had a little more than 50 dollars. When I gave it to her she cried, I didn't understand why at the time and I thought I had made her angry, but I was glad to learn that the tears coming from her eyes were tears of happiness.

Driving fast doesn't get you anywhere faster, except the hospital."

   This quote, "Driving fast doesn't get you anywhere faster, except for the hospital.", comes from my dad. I have a really distant relationship with my father, so anything I can have,when I grow up to remember him by, I keep. He told me this when we were talking about how I would be driving soon. Driving will be a big part of my life, so this is something that I can always remember and it is something that's very important when it comes to driving. It's important because driving is something that's can be dangerous and hold lives. My dad may not have given me everything a dad is supposed to give their daughter, but he did give me these words that I will always remeber. These words could be apart of the good side of childhood, the part when I was scared of growing up but I knew it was happening.

The Future of Us

I read the book The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Hackler. To me, this was a great book. I'm a little younger than the characters of this book so I couldn't relate to every single thing the characters go through, but some I know are coming soon. The main characters are Emma and Josh, they are neighbors and have been best friends for a long time. Something happened the summer before this book takes place that has separated them and they drift apart. One day Josh gets a free AOL CD-Rom in the mail, he takes it to Emma because he isn't allowed to have a computer but he knew that Emma just got one for her birthday. Soon after Emma receives the CD-Rom, the two discover that they can log into their facebook accounts fifteen years into the future. What they find in the future isn't what they expected. Will they use it to their benifit and try to change the future, or will they just accept it and keep with the flow of life?