Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Similarities and Differences

Authors Note: In this following piece, I will compare and contrast two characters from two different books.

Most people wouldn’t think that a young girl from the 1700’s, and a gang member from Tulsa, Oklahoma in the 1900’s could ever relate; but those who believe they can’t are wrong. Willy Freeman from War Comes to Willy Freeman is taken place in the time of the Revolutionary War and experiences many adventures and tragedies including the death of both her parent’s. Willy had to face living on her own until she met a group of people who looked after and cared for her as if they were a family. Fast forwarding two hundred years, Ponyboy Curtis from The Outsiders is a gang member in Oklahoma, whose parents also died and has to face living with his two older brothers and a group of friends who he cares deeply about. Both Willy from War Comes to Willy Freeman and Ponyboy from The Outsiders are alike in many ways, but they also have differences too.

First, both main characters had to face survival, living on their own without a mother or father by their side to guide them. Ponyboy has his two brothers Sodapop and Darry who both look after him, but it’s still nothing like having a mom or dad. When you’re going through a tough time, the first place most people think to go is to your parents for advice. They’ve been through the stage you’re going through, so they know what’s best and how to get you through it. Relating to Ponyboy, Willy’s dad died and her mom was taken away with the British, so she also didn’t have anyone to go to.

Furthermore, even though their parents are dead, they both have a group of friends who care for them. Willy meets some older men in New York, who give her shelter, pay her for her hard work, and provide her food. They all end up caring so much for one another that you could consider them a family. Ponyboy has his brothers and his friends in their gang that he depends on. The greasers are known as the mean, poor people who don’t care about a thing; but all of Ponyboy’s friends and brothers care about each other, which they are also considered as family.

However, although these characters are both very much alike, they also have differences. Willy still has an Aunt and Uncle that could look after her. She never knew her Aunt or Uncle before the death of her parents, but knowing that either living on her own, or living with her kindhearted Aunt and Uncle, they would be the better decision. Ponyboy doesn’t have any adults to look after him besides his brother Darry who is 26 years old. It’s better to have an older adult raising you because they know what’s best and how to handle situations from going through that stage of being a teenager.

In conclusion, Ponyboy Curtis from The Outsiders and Willy Freeman from War Comes to Willy Freeman can definitely relate to one another. The death of both of their parent’s makes it the easiest to have similarities. But, just as they relate in many ways, they also have their differences. While the two of them are from different time periods and from different backgrounds, I’m sure they would have been friends. They both went through tragic circumstances, and had to grow up without parents to guide them.

Monday, December 12, 2011

The Big Effect

Authors Note: In this piece of writing, I will be telling the climax of the story “War Comes to Willy Freeman”, telling what caused the climax, and explain the consequences that were faced of the climax.

In “War comes to Willy Freeman”, Willy’s father was killed right before her eyes by a British soldier and her mother was captured by the British. When Willy’s Pa asked her to go with him to help him while fighting in the war, she went with him, which was the climax of the story. She left her Ma behind, believing that her daughter was going to die.

Leading up to the climax, Willy and her mother were working at home like any typical day, but suddenly they had a visitor at the door. Willy’s Pa had demanded her to come with him to where the war had been held. Since women could not argue with the father’s orders, Willy had to leave her mother behind at home. The father had caused the climax of the story because otherwise Willy’s Ma would most likely have not been taken.

Since Willy’s Ma had been captured, Willy had the mindset to find her. Her father was dead and she was scared to be anywhere else other than with her mother. A lady in town had told her that the British had taken them to New York, so she started her journey off to New York on her dad’s boat, or what she called it “the jolly boat”. The obstacles she went through were her consequences of the decision she made by leaving her mom. As she was sailing through the deep ocean, a boat filled with American soldiers captured her. They were going to let Willy stay on the boat until they figured out what they decided to do with her. If she had never gone with her Pa, none of what she went through would have happened, most importantly; her Ma wouldn’t have been taken away from her.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

One side of the story

Authors Note: This writing piece is about how the narrator’s point of view of a story influences the reader’s thoughts towards the events or characters.

In “War comes to Willy Freeman”, Willy Freeman is a young girl who works at home with her mom while her dad is in the Revolutionary War. Her dad made Willy disguise as a boy so she could help him where the war was taking place. As she helped others with the guns, her father was killed right before her eyes by a British soldier. Moments later she was told that her mother was captured by the British and taken to New York as a slave. This story was written in the perspective of a young girl named Willy. From her perspective, some of the characters such as Captain Ivers and Mrs. Ivers were very malicious and cruel.

One way that Willy’s point of view influenced my thoughts toward the characters is how they treated her. After Mrs. Ivers was told that Willy’s mom was captured by the British and her father had been killed, she still didn’t want her living with them. Captain Ivers was the one to decide that Willy could stay with her aunt and uncle in the cellar, but only until he figured out what he was going to do with her. They would abuse Willy when she did one little mistake.

However, if the book had been in the perspective of Mrs. Ivers, things would have been different. Since Mrs. Ivers is white, she didn’t have to work because she had slaves to do that job. The ones that were not white were treated horribly. To the whites, they were only useful to do work and to work for them. For instance, the reader wouldn’t react to how tragic the war really was if the book wasn’t written in Willy’s perspective.

As you can see, the perspective of a story causes the reader to only see one side of an event. In “War comes to Willy Freeman”, Willy Freeman’s point of view influences the reader to feel the way Willy felt about the events and the characters because of the way she described them. While reading this story, I could understand the feelings that Willy interoperated by the way she described the characters and events within the book.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Never Changing

Authors Note: In this following piece, I will be discussing how Dallas Winston from “The Outsiders” is a static character. There are many reasons and examples from the book that make Dally the most static character from my point of view.

Throughout the entire book of “The Outsiders”, Dally had never changed. His attitude and the way people thought of him had always stayed the same. He was the most stubborn and self-centered one out of their whole group and that’s how people always thought of him. Dally is a static character because he never became sympathetic even after conflicts had happened.

In the beginning when everything was considered normal: the Greasers didn’t have empathy for the Socs and the Socs could care less about the Greasers. After Johnny had killed Bob, everything changed. There were fewer fights between the Greasers and Socs, but mostly, after Johnny and Ponyboy were recognized for saving the children in the burning church, people changed. Randy, who was Bob’s best friend, was a mean guy in the beginning of the book, but he realized the Greasers weren’t so different from the Socs than he thought after he had a conversation with Ponyboy. As some people were changing their minds about each other, Dally stayed the same. He never considered Socs as anything but rich snobs and nice clothed people who brag about the size of their house and the amount of money they have.

Next, while Dally, Ponyboy, and Johnny were on their way home, they saw that the church they had been staying in was burning down because of a fire. People had been surrounding the church with mothers’ crying dreadfully. Ponyboy and Johnny hopped out of the car and ran to the people, asking what was going on. They told them their children were in the church, so Ponyboy and Johnny went in the church to go save them. Dally was angry at the two of them because he didn’t care about the kids’ safety. He didn’t want to help the children and become recognized as a hero, he just wanted to get back to where they live and smoke a cigarette.

Lastly, while Ponyboy and Dally had visited Johnny in the hospital from getting excruciating burns from the fire, Johnny had perished. Dally was heartbroken because Johnny was the person he loved and cared about the most out of anyone in the world. He let all of his anger get to him and had himself shot by the police. Just as Dally died, Ponyboy said “Dally didn’t die a Hero. He died violent and young and desperate, just like we all knew he’d die someday”. This is one of the most important key quotes in the book because it shows that Dally never changed from the beginning of the book to the moment he died.

To conclude, all of these reasons state how Dally is the most static character in the book. Dallas Winston was just the kind of person that too many bad things had happened to, and he thought that he could never turn his life around even though he never considered it in the first place because he liked being a bad and tough guy which partly made him a static character.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

The Key to Life

Authors Note: This piece of writing is going to be about one of the main topics or themes of the story “The Outsiders”.

While walking through the streets of Milwaukee and New York, you see gang members walking all together in a group. They protect and care for each other as if they are a family. Sometimes, the best thing to do is to stick with the ones you care for and that care for you. Just like in the book "The Outsiders", the main greasers in the book are a family; they're not related, but they protect and love one another.

First, Johnny was living in a house with his parents, with his father beating him all the time, and neither one of them caring weather he’s home or not throughout the night. Even though he has a group of friends who consider him as family, he still cares about his mom and dad. “I like when the old man is hitting me. At least he knows I’m there” is a quote from the book that Johnny says to Ponyboy. This particular line is so important because it shows that Johnny wants a mom and dad. They want him to care about him and see that he’s there so he likes when his dad is beating him.

Next, Darry, Sodapop, and Ponyboy are all brothers. For the first three quarters of the book, Ponyboy has always felt that Darry hates him; scolding and picking on him all the time. Ponyboy never saw that Darry always yelled at him because he cared about him. He loved him and would risk his life for him because they’re family and that’s very important to Darry considering their parents died. “The only reason Darry couldn’t be a Soc is because of us” is one of the biggest quotes from this story because it’s

Lastly, Dally has never had his parents by his side since he was young. He grew up without anyone looking after him and that really effected how people see him now: a hard and careless person. The only family he ever had were his friends. Going from one house or apartment to the next because he didn’t have a stable home. The person Dally cares the most about is Johnny. Dally looks after Johnny as if he’s his little brother. When Johnny passed away, Dally took all the anger against himself and gave his life away to be with Johnny because he loved him and cared for him so much.

In conclusion, these are all examples of how close these group of friends are. They all depend on each other and are a big family even though they’re not related. Through the book, there were many more details on how close and caring they were of each other; but these three were the biggest ones.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Result in Happiness

Authors Note: This piece of writing is focusing on the predictions I made in the book “The Outsiders”.

Through the first six to seven chapters, a lot has happened to the characters of “The Outsiders”. Ponyboy meets a SOC Cherry Valance who seems to be different from the others, Ponyboy and Darry get into a fight, which leads to him running away from home, Johnny had to kill someone to save Ponyboy’s life, they had to catch a train and go to a different town to get away from the police, and Johnny and Ponyboy saved children from a burning fire while on their way home with Dally (another member of the Greasers) so Dally had to pull them out of the fire but Dally and Johnny got severely injured. Looking at what will come next, I predict that Johnny and Dally will be ok, and Ponyboy and Darry will make up. Eventually, I think some of the friends of the SOC who was killed by Johnny will come after him and he will be brutally wounded.

First, after Ponyboy and his friends were walking Cherry Valance and her friend home, it was already two o’clock in the morning when Ponyboy arrived at his house with Darry awake reading the newspaper and his other brother Sodapop, laying asleep on the couch. Darry was furious at Ponyboy because he was worried sick about him; which Ponyboy didn’t realize. Pony had to run away because he got slapped across the face from Darry. Later in the book I think Ponyboy will realize that Darry is always getting on him because he is the youngest and cares a lot about him and wants a better life for him.

Next, from looking at the beginning of the book, it’s a sunny day, which shows that this book will either be a comedy or a romance. Once you get to chapter six, you wouldn’t expect this book to be a comedy or a romance because of the things that have happened, but the modes of literature are always right so Johnny and Dally should recover from their injuries from the church fire.

Lastly, I don’t think the SOCS will let the Greasers get away with the death of Bob who was one of the popular SOCS; who everyone looked up to. One of the Greasers could get killed by the SOCS, or even brutally injured.

In conclusion, my predictions aren’t always that accurate unless I’m completely sure about something. These predictions I made I’m confident in because they all make perfect sense. Once I finish the story, I’ll know if what I predicted was what really happened.

Monday, October 31, 2011

A Never Ending Love

Authors note: My main concept of this writing piece is to identify the character development which could lead into what happens later in the story. This story is in the perspective of a girl.

The year after my mother gave birth to me, I had received Neuroblastoma. This cancer disease is common for infants or children under five years old. It developed in my adrenal gland, and then eventually spread to my neck. My mom practically gave her life to me; staying home for two years, throwing away her dream to be a singer, and when my father left us as soon as he heard I was born, rather than thinking about how her life would be without him, she thought about how her life would be without me.
Years later, the Neuroblastoma completely perished and I was free of the cancer that had once lived in my body. Everything went back to normal after that, just my mom and I living in our little suburban house. All throughout the time I had my disease, my mom was there for me. She never left my side, or made me feel the slightest bit unhappy because I had everything I could ever want: someone caring and loving me through what I thought was the hardest time in my life. My mom had a way of making things feel as if everything was at peace in the world and there was no evil, even though I still believed there was.
As the years went by, I became less of a priority to her. She found a boyfriend, and ended up marrying him after 2 years of dating. Sometimes I wonder if her new boyfriend changed her because I could tell that she changed and we no longer had the deep connection that we used to. Sometimes I thought it was just me, starting to go into my teenage stage of not wanting to be considered as her baby girl anymore; but it wasn’t only me. We would fight more often, mostly about pointless things that don’t matter. Even though I still knew there was that person in her that I had once treasured with all of my heart.
When I reached the age of 14, I found out I had another case of cancer. Unlike the Neuroblastoma I had when I was a child, this was more severe. The doctors informed me that the type of cancer in my body was leukemia, and that it would be treatable, but couldn’t be cured. In this moment, my mother had not shed one tear. And right then, I knew my heart was broken; shattered into millions of pieces that could never be put back together. All I saw was a blank face, a face I had never seen before and could not read. Although, once we returned back to our house, I heard her crying in her bedroom; wailing out what I thought was the most dreadful sound I had ever heard. I sat outside her door, listening, but also thinking to myself about what will happen in the end. After a few minutes, I went inside and crawled in bed with her, not saying a word. We both sat there, thinking about numerous things. I didn’t feel bad for myself; I felt bad for my mom, which I know doesn’t make sense. She has been focusing on her life and less on mine for the past 5-10 years, but many superb things came from that and that’s why I feel like the scapegoat for the plans she had for her life that all went to waste.
Three months had already passed away and it was now the middle of December. I was sent to the hospital in the beginning of November, with bruises all over my body. My mom would come to visit me and we would spend hours laughing and talking as if our conversations could last a lifetime. It was a week and a half before Christmas, my favorite time of the year. I see my mother walk through the doors and my doctor pulled her aside before she entered my room. Her back was turned to me and I watched the doctor speak. By the gesture of his hands, I could tell he was talking with a calm, steady voice. In an instant, I see my mother’s head drop and her body gradually make its way towards the ground. The doctor knelt down beside her and whispered something to her, and she stood up. She turned to face me, her face as red as a cherry and tears flooding down her face. In that moment, I knew everything that the doctor told her was about me. They came in my room together, telling me the news they had just discussed. By the way my body was looking and by looking at the tests they did on me, I was going to die within a week. Not only was I completely distressed, but I had felt like I died that second. My mom slept over that night, crying with me most of the time, but also talking about the future because we didn’t want to think about the past.
The next morning, I didn’t wake up. Before the last month and a half, I thought the connection between my mom and I had vanished, but now I know it was always there. She never stopped loving me, even when she got a boyfriend and re-married. When I was in the hospital, she never left my side. Every day she told me how much she loved me and how much I meant to her. I know I will always remain a part of my mother’s heart.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Proud to be an American

Authors Note: This essay is about the reasons why I am proud of my country and proud to be a citizen of the United States of America.

As the song “God Bless the U.S.A” goes, are you proud to be an American? Some would say they are and others not, but I would agree with those who are proud of their country and proud to be called an American. Overlooking what this country has all gone through, I can truthfully say that I am proud of my country and am glad to be a citizen of America.

To start, you wouldn’t think that people you don’t know or haven’t even seen before would care about your safety; but they do. Thousands maybe even millions of men and women sign up to fight for this country in the war. They risk their lives every day for the citizens who live in this country. Men, even teenage boys are forced to fight in the war because they don’t have a choice.

Next, in other countries such as Russia and some of Germany, Jewish people are killed just for their religion being Jewish. Here in America, you are free to be whatever religion you desire or speak what you have the need to say because it is a free country. Furthermore, some people dress according to their culture such as Indian people. Most people who aren’t Indian wouldn’t think to wear something like what they wear on a regular day because it looks different than the fashion designer clothes that people wear all over the world. Jewish people were told to wear a star on their clothes which meant they were Jewish, and if a Russian or a Nazi from Germany saw, they would put them in jail, much less kill them because they were against their culture. Here in America, people don’t judge each other because once again, everyone is free to have their own beliefs and culture.

Lastly, the citizens in America have more rights than the people in countries ruled by kings and queens do. We host an election every 2 or 4 years, debating who should “rule” or be the president of this country. The runners speak about what they would attempt to change to make our country better. As the citizens, we elect the one who we think will keep our country strong. This is an example of our freedom of speech we have in the U.S. In countries such as England, the slot of being King has been handed down to one of the sons for thousands of years.

From all that this country has been through, and what we have as a result today, we’re very lucky to be living in the U.S.A. To the ones who perished to save our citizens, the ones who are free to wear what they choose and speak what they wish to speak, and finally to everyone who is fortunate to be in this country, all should be thankful and stand confidently and proudly to their country. Most importantly, be proud to be an American.

Friday, October 14, 2011

"Say no to the code"

Authors Note: This letter is to the Pewaukee School board addressing how students should be allowed to wear shorter shorts and shorter width tank tops.


To the Pewaukee School Board,

Wisconsin is known for their cold weather, but when it’s summer, it’s time to pull out the shorts and tank tops! Throughout the school year, there’s mostly cold weather starting in late fall through late spring of the next year. Girls are having difficulties finding the right dress wear for the warmer times of the school year that fits the school’s policies or as some people would call it “the dress code.” Students should be able to wear what they want and what they are comfortable in, as long as there is no inappropriate language on the shirts, or any undergarments such as underwear showing beneath the clothes. My opinion towards changing the dress code is that I believe it should change to let girls wear shorter shorts and at least two finger width tank tops.

As the years go by, trends change just as well as changing your sense of style occurs when you grow older. Starting in the 6th grade, most girls would rather wear shorter shorts rather than longer shorts. Just before becoming a woman, you have to go through the stage of being a young woman or a teenager. Going from a kid to a teenager is a big step even though it doesn’t seem so. Everyone becomes much more matured and doesn’t want to be treated like a child anymore. Altering the way you dress can state that you aren’t a kid anymore; that you have grown up and that you have gone from a kid to a teenager. While girls are changing their sense of style, they will begin to shop at different stores too.

It can be hard to find shorts and tank tops that are school appropriate at teenage stores such as American Eagle Outfitters and Hollister because a majority of their shorts are too short and their tank tops are either spaghetti straps or not at least three fingers for width. You want to be able to express yourself by the way you dress and being told what you can and cannot wear holds that back. Finding shorts that are long enough are most hard for people who are tall and have long legs. Since their quads are so long, the shorts that look longer on shorter people look ten times shorter on taller people.

Even though some prefer short sleeve shirts, tank tops can benefit you in the warm seasons. Some of the reason why students look up to summer during the cold seasons of school is not just because they’re out of school, but they get to go outside and not want to come right back in because it’s too cold. Going outside, having to run and do strength activities for gym on a luminous day would be the worst part because of the sweat dripping down your face and piling up under your arms. Once you come inside and change into your short sleeve t-shirt, having a big sweat mark under your arms can be one of the most embarrassing things anyone could see. With tank tops, there would be no sweat marks because there is nothing covering your armpits.

Although I agree with my points of how students should express themselves and that the stores don’t sell long enough shorts for the school dress code, there are shorts that are too short and tank tops that are cut down too far either showing too much of the back or front. With any luck I hope you consider changing the policy because I believe it could bring more positivity and less complaining to the school.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Dear John

While John was fighting in the war, he and his love Savannah would send letters back and forth until his leave every year. After every leave things would change between John and Savannah as if their love was fading away because of the distance between them. When John only had one more year left in the war, he received a letter from Savannah saying that she fell in love with another man. While burning every letter he had from Savannah, he did not feel hatred towards her but to the fact that she could do something as hurtful and careless to him.

Two years later when John was on his leave for the death of his dad, he visited Savannah. Both could tell that things had changed between the two of them. They couldn’t talk to each other as easy as it was before and the subjects that would come up of her married life and everything that happened while he was gone made it especially awkward.

As I was reading this book, I remembered a quote that I’ve heard and thought it related to this book: “True Love burns the brightest, but the brightest flames leave the deepest scars”. Even though Savannah broke his heart, he knew he would always love her and somehow she would love him too. Savannah never looked at any other man even her husband the same way she looked at John. With Savannah’s “breaking up” letter being the climax of the story, John resolves it with forgiving her and the man who stole her from him. Years later, Savannah and John reunited unknowingly, greeting each other just as good friends.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Papa's Parrot

As kids get older, every teen's mom and dad will look back on the times when thier kids took their first steps, was finally potty trained, and had their hilarious moments. Memories like those will never go away. When you're a child, you don't care about what anyone else thinks of what you do or say. It's hard to really know who your true friend is because you think it's your mom and dad. The things that little kids adore now will most likely make fun of when they grow older. "Papa's Parrot" by Cynthia Rylant is a life-changing story because it will make you remember the memories you had in the past, and mention that you should never forget to remember how important your parents are.

When you start to have the same interests with your dad, mom, or even your friends, your relationship between you and them will grow stronger. My mom and I have a very close relationship and we do everything together mostly because we have the same interests. Since I started growing into my teen years, I've been wanting to be with my friends more rather than with my family. When Harry in "Papa's Parrot" grew up, he started doing the same thing. All he wanted to do was be with his friends and not spend time with his father. The next moment he was sitting in the hospital beside his father and realized that he should have never stopped hanging out with his father and ditching him for his friends.

Not everyone realizes that it's important to spend time with your mom and dad until they die. Hanging out with your friends can be so much fun, and it sometimes can be better than spending time with family. However, if you're hanging out too much with your friends, it's nice to get away and talk with your mom and dad or spend time with them. Although I spend most of my time with friends, I don't know how my life would be like without my parents. They give me everything I need to make me happy and are so grateful to me.

Beneath everything the author wrote, this story will teach and tell you that it's important to balance your time with your family and friends becuase problems such as losing a family member, having no friends, and getting bullied because you hang out with your family too much can occur. Weather your close with your family or not, it's still extremely important to not forget to spend time with them no matter what.

Water Wings are the Way to Go

Have you ever been in the position of being bullied and have never been able to recover? It's hard to wake up every morning knowing that it's just going to be like yesterday: another miserable day caused by bullies. Not only can bullies be your enemies, but they can also be your friends. While reading "Deep Water" by William O. Douglas, readers will experience the emotions felt by the main character and even realize that bullies have no right to act the way they do.

Not all bullies intend to physically hurt of even kill someone, though many purposely hurt someone's feelings and make them feel bad about themselves. In every school and every town there is harassment caused by bullies. It's hard to think of it this way but the people who bully you can also be your friends. A few years ago, I was bullied buy a coulple of my friends. They would alwasy call me stupid becuas I couldn't think as fast as them. I'd get called names and was treated as if I didn't mean anything to them. My confidence level was going down but luckily I found new friends that were kind, respectful, They saved me from the bad that could have happened if I would have continued to get bullied. Usually if you get treated this way, you're likely to not say anything for a period of time because you're too afraid to stand up for yourself. Although it might be hard, it's extremely important to do it at one point because it's a boost of your self confidence.

Wherever you are and whatever school you go to, there's likely to be bullying going on. In an online story about a teenager who was getting bullied bullied illistrated by Sarah Cleaves, a girl would get text messages saying that she is nothing and that she is a failure. This gilr had no idea who was texting her and didn't have the courage to stand up for herself.

Most people get bullied because of the way they look, act, dress, where they live or what they live through. Every kind of bullying can tear someone down and that's why it's important for the victim to stand up for theirselves becuase it's not right for bullies to act the way they do.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Best Parent Award

Being a good parent doesn’t require instructions or a manual, it comes naturally. I live in small deprived village with my wife and son, making no more than one dollar an hour. Living in a small house, with barely any room to walk, I had to face the challenges of raising a kid, surviving off of little food, and making no more than two dollars an hour. Winning “Best Parent Award” is one of the greatest accomplishments in my life. I’ve been a parent to my son for 12 years, and I gave him the best I could afford. Every year we deal with struggles, money being the greatest one. My wife and I have always wanted more kids but we decided that it was going to be too much looking at how much we sacrifice now for just one. Pearls are how people become wealthy in our village, next to what they work for.

In my village, and most likely any other village, doctors are the most wealthy. There are accidents happening day to day, needing a doctor to cure the concern. Next to doctors are the teachers and the priests. I have been a teacher for 10 years, coming to school every morning, teaching kids and educating them. All the children who I teach and who I have taught consider me as a second father after theirs. Not only do I help them with school, but I also will help them with issues not relating to school. They will come to me for advice or even if a family member died and they need to express their feelings, which those actions shows they trust me as not only a teacher but a friend as well.

Aside from my job as a teacher, finding pearls is another part time job I work for. I once found a pearl that was like no other. I turned it in for money and was paid over two thousand dollars. Besides helping my family, I saved money for my son when he goes to college so that he can make a good living for his family someday. Sometimes he will doubt that he will be successful in the future. My son is currently in 6th grade and is about to go to middle school. The middle school closest to our town is Butler Middle School, one of the highest GPA ranks in our area. Every day he will come home from school, and work on more school work. He treats Butler as if it was Harvard University. As a teacher and father, I help him to succeed his goal of going there.

After his experience at Butler Middle School, he was ready for the challenge of High School in a nearby village. He would come home every day and have tons of homework for each of his classes, which he actually loved. By the second week he had made so many friends that he would see every weekend always doing different activities. He finished High School after two years because he was in all college classes, so there was no point to continue High School. Getting accepted to the second highest college in the U.S was an amazing moment for both him and me as well.

Whether it's dealing with kids at school, or even my own son, the privilege of accepting this award is an honor. Going through what I have gone through with my son and my teachings makes you view life differently, seeing the greater aspects of it. When my son was born, I thought that I wasn’t going to be able to give him enough and that I would fail at raising a child, but looking at where my son got to now, and how successful he is shows me that I succeeded in being a great parent.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Cheater, Cheater, Boyfriend Stealer

Have you ever been in love or even like someone you couldn't be with? Always seeing them in the hall, and crying when you think of them. Having feelings for your best friend's boyfriend or girlfriend is always an issue. You're not able to tell them who you like and the consequence of losing your best friend will occur. In "Something like Fate", by Susane Colasanti, not only do readers see what it's like to be in love, but they also realize the difficulty of going through love.

If you suddenly start to fall for your best friend's boyfriend or girlfriend, there are only a couple things you can do. Lani felt like her and her best friend, Erin's boyfriend, had something more than friendship between them. She didn't know if it was fate or another guy in her life that she's not meant to be with. When you're in a situation like this, the best thing to do is just keep it cool and not get too comfortable with the other guy or girl. When you've been cheated on, there are many ways to find out about the cheating. When Erin went away for the summer and Erin and her boyfriend broke up, her best friend started to date him without Erin knowing. She eventually found out the first day of school because of the rumors about her best friend and him dating. Although Erin was extremely upset by the way she found out, the most painful way of finding out is to actually see it happening.

Putting yourself in the shoes of the girl or guy who was being cheated on is the worst position to be in. Recently, I read an online story titeled "The Day My Best Friend Stole My Boyfriend", written by a 22 year old college student, and it made me think of the novel I read. The girl in the story was in a long relationship with a guy she loved and a friend she thought she could trust, but they both ended up letting her down. Her friend would always hang out with her and her boyfriend, eventually she saw something weird going on between them. One day at lunch the boyfriend had to leave for a minute and left his phone sitting at the table with his girlfriend. She checked his messages to make sure nothing was going on because he was acting different lately. When he came back, he found her with tears streaming down her face and his phone in her hand. After I read this story, I immediately thought how this connected to "Something like Fate". Both stories have an innocent girl getting hurt by her best friend because of the guy. Although it's hard to get over a breakup, a good way to try to move on is listening to songs that you can relate to.

Love songs are mad to tell a story and people listen to them to make them feel better. Listening to songs written by Taylor Swift can teach you how to move on. She talks about the experiences she's had in her life about love and her stories can teach you to be careful when you're in love. Her song "Picture to Burn" mentions how her boyfriend cheated on her with another girl. Taylor was devastated and told herself that he isn't worth crying over, but he does deserve revenge so he knows that no one messes with her. One of her newer songs called "Better than Revenge: refers to how she had her boyfriend stolen from her. Not too long after Taylor and her boyfriend split, she found out that her ex was out late with the same girl who stole one of her past boyfriends from years ago. Again, Taylor was depressed and heartbroken because she thought that the relationship was going to last longer than it did. I can relate to Taylor's songs because even though I've never been cheated on, I've heard so many stories about it that it feels like I've actually been through it.

Although it's not healthy to like your best friend's boyfriend, sometimes you can't help it. "Something like Fate" was definitely worth reading and I would recommend for people to read it. There are many messages to learn from the book such as that you're going to make sacrifices to be with the one you love, love hurts, and cheating is not right.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

3 Introduction Styles

Why do people think smoking is fun to do? Smoking is one of the most harmful things to do to your body because it can lead to deaths or severe damage.

Day after day, WIsconsin's prices are rising higher and higher. This effects us because the people can't get their bills paid and have trouble paying for food, especially the people who don't have jobs.

Continually sitting at the same table alone, and going throughout the school in silence can get so miserable. Knowing that you don't have anyone to talk to for a big part of your day can be one of the most terrifying feelings in the world.