11 Days

 I watched a video in school and it stood out to me for many different reasons. Many, many different reasons and ways actually. One of the first things that it was very different from other things that I have heard, is that she said to live today like you have 11 days left. I know that she said that because  she had her breaking point 11 days before the anniversary of her husband's death. That one year ago, on that day, her husband had 11 days to live and he didn't even know it. It was a sad story, actually. But instead of just saying live life like you don't have a tomorrow she said live life like you only have 11 days left and it's so unheard of, normally you just hear something like you might die tomorrow  or live like you're going to die today or maybe even tonight. But you never hear someone say that you should live like you're going to die in 11 days. And I think whats more of a significant message me is that you can actually live life like you only have 11 days left, you can live your life with some conservation but still live life to the fullest, live every day like it's worth something.  In a case where you live like you have 11 days left you live your day to the fullest but you don't go crazy and all out and become wild because you still have 11 days so you still need to get certain things done. Its living life with a purpose but also different compared to live life like there is no tomorrow. It's not a very interesting topic to most people, I can bet you, but it certainly intrigues me very much and I wanted to write about it.

Mi Abuelito, Healing Process

 Losing my grandpa was something that I never envisioned happening so soon in my life. I guess that I knew it would happen at some point in  life. I guess I figured that it would happen many years in the future. So the call when we heard the news, it really messed up my new reality. I was in some sort of daydream and that I just wanted to do anything I could to make myself up from this nightmare. After dealing with my family crying and understanding that wasn't a daydream, we headed to our aunt's house, where he had lived. The kids were playing outside, too young to understand, and the adults were talking in the garage, where we had family gatherings. We all gathered together to support eachother during the rough time. Things were finally starting to look up, but I need to use the bathroom, on the way there I looked into his room that was near it. I went to go check on him. I used to be the want to stay with him and take care of him. So I went into the room and realized he wasn't there, realized that it was all too real. I stood there, and dropped to the floor. I think I really needed to have this moment by myself to understand, then I stood there crying for 20 minutes. My grandma walked in and bent down to hug me. That's when the healing started.

New Kid at School Says Goodbye

This school year is very close to being over and I can't tell if I'm excited or if I'm sad. This was a new school for me so, the year was filled with meeting new people, learning new rules, and learning and picking up the normalities of life around here.  Compared to my other school, this one seemed to be less strict. I have to say that I did pretty good, when it comes to blending in I did pretty well. If you don't count my first day of gym class that is. My first day of gym class was very scary to me because it was just a room of unfamiliar faces who were watching me. They were watching and wanted to know my abilities when it came to being active, well at least that's was I thought it was. Turns out that everyone couldn't care less. But I thought that everyone was watching and I really wanted to be normal so I tried in gym, running as fast as I could. This resulted in me falling over a fellow student and sliding all the way across the gym floor, on my stomach. Yep, that was my first gym experience and I was mortified . After I got used to the school and its everyday norms, I really liked it. The teachers seemed as if they cared and some actually did, that was really comforting to a new kid in a weird place. I'm going to miss the easy going flow of this school, because I know for a fact that high school will NOT be as easy.

My Plan

     I've created a plan. A plan that I hope will work, at first when this thought first crossed my mind I thought that this wouldn't work, but now I have some hope. But, before I get into the plan, I must inform you on why I though this wouldn't work. When I was in fifth grade I was pushed down a long stair case, the end result was me breaking my hip. After this incident, everyone saw me as a fragile child that wasn't allowed to do anything dangerous or potentially harmful. I was also a very curious and adventurous child, so this really restricted me from doing  things I thought were fun, such as skating. My brothers started showing interest in skating boarding after I was totally refrained from it, and I hated that they got to do the things that I wanted to do. But recently the topic of skating has come back into my life. A while ago I went to the mall and my friend took my into a skating store where you could customize your board, and again I felt that jealousy, remembering how my mom would never let me get on a board again.

     But, even more recently I went outside and I saw my neighbor, a 9 year old little girl, roll past on a long board. And that brought back all the memories of doing what I wanted to do. But then an idea clicked into my head. I could distinguish the differencesof skate boarding and longboarding, longboarding is much safer than skateboarding and it's a cruiser and not lightweight for tricks, which makes it more  reliable. My birthday is coming up and my mom wants to plan a party, but what if I just forget about the party and replace that with a sturdy and safe longboard instead. I could even articulate my reasons and make it even easier for my mom to give in. I could tell me mom that I am much older and responsible now, and if I fall I could catch myself easier than when I was younger. I think this plan just might work, I hope she goes for it. I want this so bad that I think I'll even wear safety pads if she wanted me to. Now I'm excited.

The Concept of Home

 Felt I felt that I was most powerful is when I was commander in my JROTC unit, at my old school. I was the highest rank and everybody had  to listen and answer to me. All except the administrator who had to make sure that we were safe and alive. In JROTC, and I know it sounds cliche but, I felt like I belonged and that I was important, I never really found a place where I felt at home. At home or even at school, even with all the children, I never felt that way. I place where I felt powerless was here. Here in August 2016, I felt the exact opposite and I was placed at the lowest rank.  I was completely knew I had no friends and I was here with the expectation of me just being able to come in and be able to adjust and fit in. I was always behind in the normalities of the school, and the way the school ran. That's when I felt powerless, because I knew nobody and  everything that people said affected me, I felt that I was of no authority, and eighth grade is when you are supposed to rule the school but here I was brand-spanking- new. As low was the 6th grade newcomers of the school. But now I feel like I'm home, and  who ever thought that your home could be ,not where you grew up, but where your life, friends, and excitement are.
                                              (That's a picture of my ROTC drill team)

Stop The Abuse

     Domestic and emotional abuse is something that impacts many young kids and teens. It can mess with their trust issues and the way that they treat other people. From the current years of the events or even up until adulthood. A persons perception of how normal life is supposed to be lived can be thrown off very badly, and it could happen two ways. One way that we see multiple ways in movies and literature, but another way that you don't hear much of but that is very real.
     After experiencing something like that, a person can perceive that behavior as normal. So when they create their own family, they'll treat their children and/or significant other in the way that they were treated as children or throughout their lives.  So they're taking another human life, and hurting them and abusing them and altering their state of being. A person can live a happy life and live it to it so that it's for filled, but all this could be altered because of  someone's actions and the way you are treated by another person. And then these children will continue to treat their children like that, and it's an ongoing cycle of mental and physical abuse. Sometimes these never stop any create a community where this abuse is normal.
      Or there's people where the abuse very much so, mess with their minds, so they use their abuse as an excuse to live her life in a terrible mood. They do things that are illegal, they missed treats other people, and they know that what they're doing is wrong,  but  in their head though create some sort of  advantage and they'll use it as an excuse. So they'll use that as their free pass to do things and say that it's their off mentality. This is what people like to call " The victim", they try to get what they want and blame in on poor circumstances.
      This isn't me trying to excuse the people who actually hurt the victims, but there are two outcomes that could occur. But to stop the comes from actually happening, we could just stop the violence and stop the abuse. There shouldn't be parents telling their kids at they'll never amount to anything , or that they'll never be who they want to be, or who they want to be is wrong. It should never be a parent beating their child, and I can't even articulate how there should never be a child in the hands of a person who doesn't love them.

Mi Abuelito

This week on my blog, I want to talk about mi Abuelito. For the non Spanish speakers, mi abuelito is my grandpa. I love him so much, I was his oldest great grandchild, so I was told I made him feel young again and I was his favorite. My grandpa was funny, loud in a good way, and loving. So loving. He loved so many people and was loved by so many more. I was so excited to find out that i would be spending my spring break with him. I, along with all my cousins, were counting the days until we could see him. The first day of spring break we saw him and we found out that he started losing his memory, and sometimes he wouldn't recognize the people he had known for years. When we found this out we were upset, but at the same time we thought that he MUST remember us. I still remember when we walked into the room and when my brother called his name. Mi abuelito said hi, and that was it. There was no instant recognition, excitement, or his thumbs up that he was known for. We all looked at eachother, could this really be happening? I walked up to him and he recognized my face and he lit up, he gave me his normal firm handshake and a thumbs up. We stood with him throughout that whole day, and we planned to return the next day. I said goodbye to mi abuelito and kissed him on the forehead before leaving.
     The next day we got a call at 5 am. As soon as the phone rang, I knew something was wrong. There was something in the pit of my stomach that told me it wasn't right. My dad picked up, I could already hear my Tia Maria sobbing over the phone, he had lived with his son and daughter in law, Juan and Maria. I slammed my body into the wall behind me and slowly fell towards to floor beneath me. I couldn't believe it, I had just seen him yesterday. My dad told us all to get into the car, we drove to get to that house as fast as we could. When we got there Abuelito was already gone, only our mourning family was left. The only thing we could do at that point was support eachother through the first night.
                                       

Father or Dad

So does he identify as my father or as my dad
I do not know
Does he have to be responsible for my raising to be my dad
He is responsible for my life so I know he must be something to me
Which pronoun is good for the one who raised you
What do you call the man related to you only biologically
I do not know whether to call him my father or my dad

I do not know whether to call him my father or my dad
What do you call the man related to you only biologically
Which pronoun is good for the one who raised you
He is responsible for my life so I know he must be something to me
Does he have to be responsible for my raising to be my dad
I do not know
So does he identify as my father or as my dad

The Sky is Everywhere

     This book is about a young girl named Lennie. She had a good life, a great sister, and a happy family. She and her sister, Bailey,  lived with her grandma and uncle, because her mom had disappeared when she was younger. Its a mystery where she is and why she left. That didn't really matter to Lennie because she had her sister, her sister was her whole world. But, one day her world was taken from her and Bailey was killed. Only nineteen, that's how only her sister was, and Lennie was younger. When its finally time to go back to school after mourning, Lennie meets a boy, a new boy named Joe. At first she doesn't like him, but as the story continues she finds something in him that is special. Joe is in her band class so they have a connection through music. Joe started coming around Lennies house very often and he grew bonds with her family, this becomes a distraction from their loss. But, out of nowhere, Lennie grows interested in finding out who her mother is. She finds an item in her sister's things that could lead her there, to the arms of her mother. In doing so she uncovers some secrets about her family and even some dark ones about her sister. And Joe finds out secret information about Lennie from poems that were written by her and that she left around town. And to make matters worse and stress EVERYONE out, there is a love triangle with Lennie and Joe, including Bailey's boyfriend.
     I really did like this book, did I say like? I meant I absolutely loved this book. There's so much going on all at once but, that's what makes this book great. I never wanted to put this book down in my process of reading it for the first time. This book is very mature, it feels like you are watching a Drama TV series, but in reality, you are just reading a really great book with topics for an I older audience. There is so many twists and turns that make you wonder how could one, single author come up with this all on their own. It must have taken meticulous planning and great attention to detail to get every event in order and make the whole book come together perfectly. Its not a short book, but you can definitely read it in one or two days from excitement and anticipation. I definitely, 10/10,recommend to anyone looking for a good read.
                                             

Deep Green: Color me Jealous, Actually Color Me Intrigued

     One of the books I read this quarter is called Deep Green by Melody Carson. This book is about a girl named Jordan, she used to be best friends with a girl named Shawna. They had just recently contacted and were on the verge of being friends again, until Shawna breaks up with her boyfriend Timothy. Timothy expresses love for Jordan and then they start dating. This ruins Shawna and Jordan's friendship, and this is when everything falls apart. Jordan misses having a best friend so she goes out of her way to make her feel good about her self and make her feel happy. Jordan ends up cutting off time with her family and giving Shawna things that are valuable to her. Jordan just really wants Shawna to like her again. Her need to be liked gets out of hand, all the way to the point where Timothy notices and questions it. But, Shawna has a plan. A plan to get Timothy back and get Jordan out of the picture, completely put of the picture. Jordan that that Shawna was reliable so she didn't see it coming.
     I really liked this book because it had to offer readers, even if readers had a different view point on somethings.  This book mentioned about some things about God, and the things that were said in the book were vague, so you could either read a lot into it and get the religious aspect of the book, or you could completely ignore that message. The other message was more for the average American teenager reading a book about drama. That message was that jealously can make you do some crazy thing and those things can make you lose sight of what's important. I am in the middle of those two things so this book offered a lot to me and that is why I liked it so much. This book is part of a series and I can't  wait to read more.
                                                       

The Holocaust, Nothing Can Ever Amount

   The movie shown to the whole class today was the 1997 film, Life is Beautiful. This was a movie that gives a glimps of how the holocaust was, this was a very serious film. Although the film had somewhat of a fairytale ending, which isn't what all people got when they were involved with the holocaust, this was a very insightful and in depth film about the happenings of the Holocaust.Yes this was a movie, so many things are different, dramatic, or maybe there were even some things were taken out that would be too real to be put into a film like this. Things that would be considered the same from the movie and based off of what I read is how casual of a conversation the Aryan superiority is. Or was, so they thought. There is a scene in the movie where a woman and a man are causally having a conversation at a dinner table, during their conversation the topic of the Aryan race comes up. The two proceed to talk about how their race is the superior to any other, the two people have this mind set where talking down on other races is a normal. It's mindsets like these that slowly made the events of the Holocaust seem normal for the people involved. This was something that I previously wondered about, how could people talk this was about other people so nonchalantly? I personally think that showing people's attitude in a movie, is a great was to show people how thinks used to be, and how people used to think.
     Aside from things in the film that were very similar, there were things that were also different. The real people involved and hurt in the holocaust were beaten, tortured, and starved. Nobody of authority in the camp was in favor of the Jewish people so, all of the people were very vulnerable to being mistreated. There wasn't much people in the camp that looked as healthy as the actors in the movie. This is the sad truth, the people   Couldn't possibly have looked the way that the people in the actual holocaust looked, and have been healthy enough to act.  Another thing that, sadly, would it be a stool in the Holocaust is the fairytale ending that this had. The movie made it seem that all of the  action of affection that the man showed toward his wife while being held prisoner was an easy thing to do, but in actuality the man would have been beaten and killed for doing such things. And in the movie the mom and the son both survived to live and be happy afterwards, but the boy went throughout life in the camp with ease. In the actual holocaust that wouldn't have been true, I'm sure he was just as painful for the children as it was for the adults, emotionally and physically.
      The beginning of the movie was very lighthearted and funny, but towards the middle it started to become sad. The parts when it became said was the parts of the movie involving the Holocaust, but even during the scenes of the holocaust there were parts that were lighthearted and  could have made a viewer smile. Scene in the movie that could have been like these are times during bonding between the son and the father, times when the father wanted to make it known to his wife that he was alive, and times when the son was just being a kid. I'm guessing not too many of these times or events could have taken place within the gates and walls of concentration camps during the holocaust. This is why the moods of the movie and events of the actual holocaust differed.  Yes, there were times in the movie that made you see how people of the holocaust where affected very negatively and how they could've hurt them, emotionally and physically,  and that's what I think so many people like this movie. It's because you get a good look into life of the Holocaust, but you know it's a movie and you still get a laugh and fairytale ending out of it.
      Before I saw the movie I knew that Jewish people were kept in concentration camps and we're mistreated. I knew this before I had even stepped foot into the Holocaust Museum. But, being in the Holocaust Museum and seeing pictures and hearing stories about what went on with in the walls and gates of the concentration camps made everything very real. Everything  I took away from the museum, mentally, became more real than it was before. It was very terrifying for me to think about and keep this image in my head, it got even worse once I saw actors take out the actions of what went on in the camps. Seeing it actually happen is something that never came to my mind when it comes to thinking about the Holocaust, it never occurred to me that I could watch a movie and see the cruelty. Although, in my head, I know that no one could ever do, act, or have the same terrifying experiences that people Jewish people had within the walls of concentration camps during the holocaust.
      The movie was very sad and morbid, made very solid point across. Therefore the title fits, life is beautiful. One of the ways that the movie shows that life is beautiful, is when dad goes on the intercom, and risks his life, to speak on the intercom so that his wife can hear his voice and know that he and his son were alive and well. This little thing that the husband did, which wasn't really a little at all because he was risking his life, mad a huge difference yo the woman. Just hearing his voice made the woman smile and  cry happy tears. Her reaction was solely because she knew that her family was okay, even with everything she had been through just the thought of knowing that they were alive meant the world to her. And that's saying a lot because the movie showed how much the poor woman was worked and how much the woman work and how difficult her conditions were.  But for those couple of seconds her mood has totally changed.
       Another point in the movie that shows that life is beautiful is when the mother and the son are reunited at the end of the movie. The father had worked and gave everything he could to the son to keep him alive and healthy throughout his life at the concentration camp, he worked to his death to keep  his little boy life.  He even lied to his own son to keep his sons mental health at a point where the boy would be happy, even though his own father in the people that were around him every day weren't, at all. This shows that life is beautiful because the man gave his own, he devoted it to making sure that his son survived. And it all was appreciated  because the woman got to see her son after being worked and starved, it was like seeing her son had made everything better. I can also imagine that to the son, seeing his mother for the first time, in a long time, meant the world to him. So life is a beautiful thing because what you do with yours can determine how others live their's.
       To sum up the whole holocaust unit worked on, the Holocaust was a very terrible event that happened to a certain group of people just because of one thing that related them all. It led to a very large and terrible genocide that should never be repeated.  We should all learn from the Holocaust and learn about it, whether it's from going to museums that are dedicated to it, or watching a movie that exposes you to the experiences of it. The holocaust made a difference and affected us all.  Everyone should be exposed to this knowledge and look back at it and know the damage that was done. Maybe if everyone did that, it would never happen again. If it happened, it would be for the better.

I'd Like To Go Alone

Propaganda Needs a Boundary

     This photo I chose to talk about tries to show Jewish people as evil, propaganda has a purpose, the purpose of propaganda is get a certain point across to a certain audience of people, it doesn't matter how subtle or extreme your words are, just as long as you get your point across, this to me seemed odd because I always thought you had to watch what you were going to say no matter who you were, I was proven very wrong not too long ago when I heard the unmistakable words coming from Donald Trumps mouth, but I was proven even more wrong once I saw this poster. This poster displays the face of the devil and the face of a man. The words on the poster translate to “Satan has taken off his mask.” This was very odd to me because it would catch attention to many groups of people. One being people who are very religious, if a religious person where this much hate was displayed towards Jewish people, then they see a person like this, there must be something in the, that says " Oh well it must be true. Satan is bad so are Jews." Another group whose attention this would catch is people who already display that hate, this just gives them more reasoning to be cruel.  Also people who think that the government is a reliable source, they've been taught to have people think for them and they aren't able to develop their own thoughts. This would be just as affective on them, " The government put up this poster and authorized for it to be made, the words on it must be truth." I just think it is absurd to relate a whole group of people to Satan, something that is universally known and is controversial, you shouldn't set people up for so much hate to get a point across that is so absurd on its own.

In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer

     The nonfiction book I read this quarter is the book called In My Hands. This book is about a girl named Irena who was in the wrong place at the wrong time but, she uses this as an opportunity to help the people around her. She was training as a nurse when explosions started happening and everyone started fleeing, she decided to step up because the Polish army needed as much medical help as they could get. When she agreed to this, she didn't know that she would have to be in hiding because she is apart of the Polish army without a country, so her and her group are hiding in the woods. While in the woods she gets raped and left to die by Soviet soldiers. When she was there other soldiers saw her and took her to a hospital to be treated, but she is held prisoner because she has medical skills that are highly needed. She has an amazing journey from there to the point where she witnesses a mass shooting in a Jewish ghetto, where she swore to help as many people as she could, people who were vulnerable and needed help fighting for their lives.
     This book was interesting because it was told as a normal fiction story, at first I thought that I wouldn't like this book because I didn't like biographies nonfiction books because of how biographies give cold,hard fact but, this book seems like all the others that I loved and I really took a liking to this one because of the very true story that it told.  The Holocaust was something that was very real and scary, it was great reading texts that I could understand because of the excellent way that it was written,  and how much of history that I actually got out of it because this was real experiences and there's not many other ways you can get the very same experience.

                                                                 

Secrets in the Shadows

     This book is about a boy named Roylin who meets a girl named Korie, horse is new to the school and he starts to build on the way she seems him, before other people talk to her about his past. Roylin has a bad reputation but, he really liked the girl and he didn't want it to interfere with her getting to know him. When he starts talking to her he finds out that her birthday is coming up soon. She takes him to see a necklace that she's had her eye on for a while, he uses the opportunity to try to buy it hot her because he that that he could win her heart. He goes home to count his money when he realizes that he has much less than anticipated.  He took very desperate measures and took money from his old friend, old in age and in years of friendship, while he was sleeping.  When Roylin returns,  he finds out that the shock from the betrayal had killled the old man overnight. The superintendent watched the theft take place and uses it the blackmail Roylin. Then, suddenly, Roylin finds out something that alters his guilty conscience.
     This book was short and sweet. It gave all the exciting twists and turns, just as if compared to a long fiction novel it has the exciting , but it was short and still a great read. These two authors, in the Buford series, really know how to give you the background of a person in order into tell a great story that takes up most of the pages. In the Bluford series all of the characters are students at a single high school so, throughput the books the characters intertwine and there might be a character that is perceived a certain way by other characters. You'll ask yourself why and you'll wonder but, you'll read another book and it'll explain their life, hardships, and view of life, and in those moments all of the lights go off in your brain.
                              

Regretting Sports But, Not In The Way You'd Think.

 Something that I lie awake thinking about, regret not doing, is being more involved in group sports in school. School organized sports are a chance to build relationships with people who are apart of your everyday life, but who you also don't know personally, or who you've maybe never even met, but through this contact you build strong teamwork and you get to see a side of that person that you never usually see. I know it's cliche, but I've always wanted to be apart of a sport, be happy to be active and a part of a whole. To be completely honest with myself, I've let my being overweight keep me from taking part on the sports, I'm afraid of being judged and looked at differently than all the other normal kids who can probably do everything better than me. But, as I sit back and watch the other kids enjoying their time, I realize that I could have been apart of the fun, the only person stopping me was myself. Every time this occurs, I always tell myself, "Next time a sport opens up I'll join for sure." The sakes always happens, I second guess myself and it doesn't end up happening. I can't wait until I can let myself take a chance.

     

The One, The Only, Selena Quintanilla-Pérez

                   

If I could meet anyone it would be Selena Quintanilla-Pérez. She's been someone I've always wanted to meet, but sadly she died so young with so much of her future and career yet to come. She has been an idol for me, a Latina who was successful, who was loved, and a girl who started out doing what she loved at a young age.  I would love to just sit down with her outside,watching a sun set, in Texas. Nothing more, but to conversation with her about her life and what would have been her life. Selena would be worth meeting because I can imagine that talking to her would make me feel inspired to doing something with my life and impact the world, I can imagine that her words and what she would have to say would be so inspiring to me. She was loved by so many people, even though she had to fit so many standards that would make her "successful", she tried to fit some of them, but it was never a big deal, she just was herself and was happy showing the world what she was proud of. She had to be more American than Americans, more Mexican than Mexicans, was criticized because she was a young woman in the music industry. She wasn't the perfect woman, but she was perfect in her own way, she emphasized how being yourself and doing what you love, no matter what people say or think of you, can lead you to your own happiness. And I think that if she was still alive today, she would be making that very clear to little girls and boys. That's why I would want to just sit and listen to what she would tell me.
                                                      

Happiness Is...

1. Seeing my mom smile even though I know she's has had a bad day
2. Seeing my grandma and grandpa sitting together holding on the couch, showing that love can last.
3. Going outside on a breezy day to the enjoy the company of friends.
4. Hearing my sisters laugh fill the room.
5. A bonfire, outside, on a cool, dark night
6. A nice, long hug from my Tio Juan, when I haven't seen him in a while.
7. Hearing the jokes about my brothers long hair and how he would look so much better if he braided it.
8. The giggles I hear in the next room or my siblings in the next room, when they know they are supposed to sleeping.
9. An unexpected soccer game going great in front of our house.
10. The light tweeting of birds outside on an early Saturday morning.
11. Enjoying the cool breeze coming in through the window on a summer night.
12. Letting music fill the room.
13. Listening to music that has a meaning and changes your surroundings.
14. Sitting around the dinner table, hours after everybody finished eating, and talking to the whole family.
15. Knowing that there is that one person that has your back and loves you, no matter what.
    
    

"The Will To Succeed Is Always Welcome Here."

All comercials of super bowl have a significance, good or bad, they all leave behind an impression of the company and people involved. But, the commercial I want to talk about, that really spoke to me, is the commercial done by 84 Lumber. Their commercial told the tale of a mother with her young daughter and their journey across Mexico in hopes of place in the United State where they can be safe. The full commercial is pretty long, five and a half minutes, just about. Part of the commercial was banned because the reference to " the wall" was voted insensitive.During the portion of the ad that wasn't on tv, the mother and daughter reach an gigantic  wall in the desert, which can be inferred as the boarder. The mother breaks down into tears and seems to have  lost hope, the daughter pulls out a handmade U.S. flag  that has been made out of scraps collected throughout the journey. Then the mother turns to see that the wall has a door. The mother and daughter both work together to push the doors open, revealing  sunlight. Onscreen text reads: "The will to succeed is always welcome here." To me, this shows that there are people in this world that aren't against new, different people. People are still willing to except people who are willing to work hide and who have good values, even if they are different. There is still hope for the world because there is still people who will welcome others with open arms, despite racial background and stereotypes.

Dear Mr. President...

If I could ever write a letter to Donald J. Trump, that I  knew he would actually read and receive, I would tell him, honestly, about how he should become aware of what he says because now that he's president, his words will be broadcasted to a larger audience that includes children. I'm only thirteen and my mother always told me " If you don't have anyting nice to say, don't say anything at all because you don't know how it will affect the people listening.", and that's a piece of advice that I'd like to pass on the Mr. President. All of Trump's comments that talk down on women, lower the worth of women, his comments that talk down on different races, all of these comments by him, he who is supposed to be a big contribution to how children grow up. Small children listen to these things, people think that these children can't comprehend these words that are constantly repeated, but they are more vulnerable to learning these ways than older children and their mindset will grow revolving  around it.

A little girl shouldn't be taught that she will never be good enough and that she's " ugly and fat", two words that are loosely used by the president himself. A little boy who has a Mexican background shouldn't grow up thinking that he'll never be anything better than a killer who's involved with drugs. So, if there was just one point I could prove to Donald J. Trump, it would be this, solely, to think about his words might affect anyone listening. Even if these people are young, old, whoever, every one will have something to take away from the words of Trump.

The Argument That Was Never Settled

The worst argument I've ever been in really has no purpose, and it involved my brother. The argument was about whether or not you have any control over your dreams and what you do in your dreams. I believed that you had some control over your own actions in your dreams, while my brother  argued that you no control over the subject of your dream, nor did you have control over your dreams whatsoever.  My argument was backed up by some of my " common sense" and my brother just consistently articulated that you don't have any control over your dreams because if you did, bad dreams wouldn't exist and people wouldn't have to live life in their actual day to day lives because they could do it all in their dreams.

This conversation went from a typical conversation on the couch, to us name calling each other across the house, and the names were based on the points we tried to prove in the earlier conversation. The argument ended with our mother telling us to just look it up to settle the dispute. We were both eager and hesitant because we didn't want to be proved wrong. So we both agreed to forget about the argument and wait to settle it until we both agreed we were both mature enough to handle the outcome, but in my defense I'm as ready as ever.

Im a Nerd Who Can't Play Sports

When it comes to confidence, there is only one area in my life where I can say that I am confident. This area is math, I was in accelerated math classes from third grade until this year. I was always a little ahead and have always been good with numbers. That's an area, for now, where I'll feel like my abilities are appreciated and useful. An area in life where I feel lie I'm not so comfortable is sports, especially since people expect a tall girl like me should be rather good at them. I think there are multiple things that contribute to my insecurity in sports, there's the fact that I'm just not good at my coordination, and the fact that there is that pressure of people expecting me to have skill in sports. If it's basketball we are talking about, people expect me to do well because I'm tall and large so,  the assumption is that I can block shots and shoot baskets no problem. That's isn't the case, though. If it's soccer we are talking about, there is the stereotypical expectation that a Mexican would be good at soccer, and even maybe accel at soccer, but again that isn't the case. I'm not so light on my feet like it's required, I can kick a ball well, but as soon as my foot makes contact with that ball, there's no telling whose face it's going to hit. Those are two areas in my life where my confidence can either be high in the sky or so low it's not even a joke. These are two opposites, and hopefully I can better the stereotype.

My Name

My name is August-Marie. The August was given to me because august is my mothers favorite month, it's the warmest out all the months, she was born in august, and my dad was born in august. Her and my fathers birthdays have one day in between them, I was supposed to be born on the day between their birthdays, that's another reason that the name August was given to me. My mom also loves being unique, the other option for my name was Precious. My grandfather still calls me that. Overall, I love my name, it's not something you hear everyday. Unusual and weird, just like me. The Marie part was given to me because it is my mothers middle name, and my grandmothers middle name, and her mother before that, and it continues on. August-Marie is my first name, I also have a middle name, one that ties in to my Mexican heritage. I guess because I was my moms first child, she went a little name crazy.

Where I'm From

I am from tortillas on the comal everyday,
Women talking in the kitchen and children playing outside.
I am from the fort rebuilt every weekend after destruction from my grandfather.
I am from the back porch and hammock that had the strength to hold all of my cousins.

I am from many combs and strong hair ties.
I am from behind the photo counter at Walgreens with my grandma.
I am from rice and frijoles after school.

I am from the corner of shy children at a big family party.
I am from Come on, it's just your family and Loosen up.
I am from Keep God in your heart, it'll be okay.

One Action Can Make Two People Happy

I live with my mom because my parents are separated, so me and my siblings have to split the holidays between parents. We had to get ready Christmas Eve morning at my moms house and get ready and bring everything we needed to celebrate that day at our dads, all outfits, gifts, and games. After we had been there for a couple hours, we needed to be ready to exchange gifts, I had gotten my sister a stuffed bear from Walgreens, because I knew that she had wanted it. We went to the store week prior and she pointed out and her mother said that she wouldn't buy it for her, so I decided to get it for her myself. We had all gone to our little areas where we had hidden our gifts went my brother pulled me to the side and told me that he had forgotten his gift for my sister at home. He's only 10, no one could really expect a child to go out of their way to spend their money for a gift. At first, that's what I was going to tell him. I then decided that since no one can expect a child to spend money, no one would expect a gift from me. So I gave the gift to my brother to give to my sister as a gift. Don't get me wrong, it was hard to do because I really wanted to be the one to give it to her, but I couldn't just that my little brother stand there with a look of such regret. So I let him take the credit for the bear, he was happy, she was filled with excitement, so everybody was happy in the end. Especially my sisters mom, because she didn't have to end up a the store buying the bear.