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.