Super-Mom

As a teenager, adolescent years create growing stress between one and their mom. We are finding ourselves and developing independent thoughts different from our parents. The relationship we tend to have with our mom is a love-hate relationship. However, in the end, we would not know what we do without her.

Growing up I looked like the girl who had everything. No one would have expected the battle we were facing in my household. We found out that my mom had a growing tumor in her brain and throat. It was a rare form and in a vital location, which meant it was in need for special attention. My mom went through treatment and drained her in every form. We found out that my mom would have to go to a doctor in Phoenix in order for her to get the proper care she needed. This meant my parents would be leaving my sister and me for a period of time we knew would not be easy. In the moment, my emotions were in disarray. I disregarded what other people in my family were feeling.

Through the whole process, I came to admire everything about my mom. I grew to admire the fact she did not share her fear, and upheld a strong appearance even though she knew she might not make it. She went on with her daily life with a smile as big as the moon. She was gone for over a month, and came home a woman of a different appearance. I never saw my mom weak before. I actually never saw either of my parents in the despair I saw when they came home. My worries all washed away when she came and smiled at me and mouthed to me, Don’t worry. Mom is tough.

My thankfulness has grown tremendously and my appreciation for her will never dwindle. I may not show it to her all the time, but she is the strongest woman I know. She pursues her goals with no fears and teaches us all to love life, every minute of it. One of the most important things she taught me was: to love and appreciate what you have, for the day will come when those things are gone and you can never get them back.

Be Thankful for What You Have

As a child, my parents took me to the Philippines several times to visit my grandpa. I just thought of it as another trip. My trips there didn’t mean anything until I became older because I was so sheltered from what was going on around me.

My trip to the Philippines when I was 14 seemed to be different from those before. I became more attentive to the world around me. I realized it wasn’t the same as back home. We were at a stop-light and kids bombarded our car. The innocent eyes looked at me as if I was their last hope. I hid. I began to cry. I wanted to go back home. The safety of my bed could not have sounded any better than it did at that moment.

After that incident, life went on like normal, but my eyes were opened when we visited the slums of a family we sponsor. I was petrified. We got out of the car and stepped into a new world. The “house” was nothing more than four walls, a hole for a bathroom, and some mats for a bed. Girls my age had to deal with problems nobody should ever have to live with. The weird thing is they were happy. They appreciated life. The love they showed to us and others was greater than anybody I have ever known. It seemed like such a bizarre concept. As a society, we never take the time to step back and be thankful for what we have. Others are suffering, yet they look at the bright side of life.

The experiences as a child have molded me to who I am today. My trip to my own country has given me knowledge you could never gain in a classroom setting. So many people will go on living their lives never knowing how much others truly suffer. You need to live, learn, and be thankful for what you have. Sometimes it may require you to step out of your comfort zone, but you will never truly know what is going on until you experience it for yourself.

Inner Ring

I found the "Inner Ring" to be rather interesting. It really puts forth a valid point that no one really looks at. We all strive to fit in or be liked by others. We change our fashion to be "in", we go to parties to be "cool", and we get good jobs so we can look "successful". Anything you really do in life, is for others. Have you ever just done something for yourself. Not for rewards or for recognition. You may not have noticed it but you reap some sort of acceptance. With friends it is often the case. We live in a society where being "unique" is unacceptable. We need to fit standards and be approved of by eachother. It really hit me that we try to hard to be accepted. Once you are in one ring, you get bored. No one is ever fully satisfied. You may go through the heartache of being in one group, but once you are accepted into it, the outside seemed better, so you try to get into another group. Once you have something you want something else, you want more. It is like the human circle of want. You always want more. No matter what. You can never be satisfied with what you just have. Take a look around. The happiest season of them all, and yet our focus is on presents and getting the best things for eachother and hoping the same for ourselves. In reality, we all are programmed to want love. We long for love and being accepted into that inner ring gives us a sense of that. I think we need to learn to be satisfied with what we have and not long for other things we don't.

Transcendentalism

"We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds..." - Emerson

Although I didn't like reading Emerson's piece, I did love some very distinct phrases. I found him very long winded trying to repeat himself over and over.But in his piece, he had phrases, sentences, even some paragraphs that made you step back and realize how powerful his statement really is. Our society has come to live up to eachother and not their own standards. I love that statement Emerson said about doing things for ourselves and finding our own individuality. Our lives are too short to live for someone else.

The more powerful of the pieces, Thoreau's, brought me to thinking how cluttered my life is. Simplify, simplify, simplify. When in reality our thought process is "More, more, more." We feel like if we don't have something now, it might be gone later or someone else may take it. Life has become a contest with who's better than the rest. People want to beat eachother and be the best at everything. I know it's contradicting for many of us to say this, but what do grades really matter for? What would happen if we died tomorrow. Sure, we might have had hopes for the future, but that future isn't there anymore. No one realizes how short life is until it's gone. I love sayings like, "Live in the moment" or "Live like you were dying" because that's how we should live our lives. No one is going to live forever and we keep worrying about the future, we won't be enjoying the present. Someone told me to look up the meaning of present. It means gift. We should enjoy the gift we have and not worry about what may have happened yesterday, the mistakes you made today, or the things you want to do tomorrow. Figure out what you want now. Figure out what you need now. Figure out what you belive in. Because who knows what may happen tomorrow.

Tis' the Season :)

I can already sense the Christmas feeling engulfing everyone around me. Christmas is fast approaching and I feel like I'm no where near being ready. Last weekend we decorated our cabin, which is where we host Christmas Eve for my dad's side of of the family every year. It is the one thing I absolutely love. I look forward to it every year because it's something I know will always be fun. Our tradition began about 6 years ago. We used to rotate who would host Christmas between my dad's five siblings. Then we built our cabin/house. Our tradition starts a week before when all the cousins go and bake cookies at my aunt Carrie's house. Since her husband is a chef we have all the fun nozzles and cutters you can possibly imagine for our cookies. It gets to be a mess since I'm the oldest and the age ranges all the way down to one.
The fun begins typically on December 23rd. My mom, dad, sister and I are usually at the cabin first, possibly days before others so we can clean and get ready. Then the night before Christmas Eve, everybody arrives. We have carloads full of food, presents, and winter gear. The first night we're all excited and just get settled into the house. The little kids begin to run around and cause raucous. The uncles go out on the lake and begin making the hockey rink, which will soon be occupied by all the little ones. The kitchen is already in motion with all the aunts trying to get ahead on the big meals for the next day. Our Christmas tree (which is 12 feet tall), is sparkling the room with Christmas music playing as well. The uncle's and I stay up late playing cards, sneaking cookies, and giving eachother a hard time. It's funny to think this is only the first night of our celebration.
The next morning, little kids come and wake everybody up in spite of their excitement. The ladies and my uncle (the one who is a chef), are already making breakfast, starting lunch, and preparing dinner. The uncle's are gearing everybody up to go out on the lake to play some hockey. Grandma and I are in the living room making jokes and laughing hystericall, as we always do when we're together. The day goes on with more food, games, and laughter. When nighttime comes around we have our big Christmas Eve meal. Then we do the adult gift exchange, which gets to be hilarious. We then give all the grandkids their gifts. The greatest tradition we have is our uncle Tom dress up as Santa and comes and brings the presents. The kids believe this because we are "further up North". He comes barging into the house with the "Ho, Ho, Ho!" and his sack full of all the kids presents. He then distributes them and disappears outside. The kids are awestruck every year. We then unwind the night with playing with some new gifts and snacking on the last bit of cookies. We go to bed, only to wake up to Christmas morning. We usually have crepes, our great-grandma's specialty, and everyone packs up and leaves only to go to another Christmas party. This tradition is my absolute favorite because it's unique. We all have fun and it's something we will never forget. Only 18 more days!

Life's too short to not give thanks.

Thanksgiving has to be one of my favorite holidays. I love going to see my family and eating as much as my stomach can possibly bear. My family is a bit extended so we go to three Thanksgiving feasts. Some may say that it's hectic but I love it. I couldn't ask for a better way to spend my day with all the people I love. I'm so thankful for my family. At times they may be the most obnoxious people to be around, they give me a hard time, they tease me, but most of all I know they love me. It's sad how it takes this holiday to make most people appreciate what they have when we should really be doing this on a daily basis. I know I fall short of this too. Thanksgiving makes me look around and appreciate that I have a mom and dad that love me and take care of me and a little sister to bond with. Besides all my family, I'm thankful for my friends. They are always there for me when I need them. We have fun, we take care of each other, but most of all we're always there for each other no matter what. There's also all the material things I guess I'm thankful for like food, shelter, and other amenities. There are so many people around the world who don't have the opportunities we have or the comforts we experience daily. Yet most of those people who have less are more grateful for what they have. I feel like we can learn from them. It's not all about having the best of everything but appreciating what you have. I realized the past couple of days that life is too short to not be thankful for what you have because someday all of those things may not be there. It was our first Thanksgiving without my great-Grandma Rena. She was the matriarch figure in our family and she was always the most grateful woman I have ever met. My uncle gave a little toast to our family in remembrance of her, but what stuck with me the most was what he said at the end. He reminded us that grandma would not want us to dwell over what we have lost but to be happy with what we have. We have to live with a smile on our face and be grateful with everything we have and to appreciate how lucky we are to have a family as loving as we do. It made me think. Life is a gift, family is a gift, and everything else is a gift. Be happy with what you have and realize you are lucky :)

Visual Essay

During our visual argument unit, I thought it would be fitting to do something on how media affects society. I chose the argument of body image. My intentional claim was: Media has shaped society's image of perfection of one's body. My reason behind this was people are using extreme measures to be skinny or buff using steroids, purging, or being anorexic. Some warrants I thought of were media is prevalent and affects a majority of the world, people want to follow trends, and self-image depends on what others think is "in". Some people may say that it is society affecting the media but I truly believe girls or boys wouldn't be pushing themselves to perfection in body types if everyone they see wasn't doing it themselves.

My general audience is of course our class, but overall the video was aimed towards young adults and teenagers of both sex. The reason this is the key audience is because these are the main people who are faced with negative media affecting their self-image. This age group is at such a high rate of depression, suicide, and eating disorders that distort body image. The audience should see all of the negative effects media has placed before them and what it has led many of their peers to do.
My song is called Crazy by Simple Plan. The lyrics to this song really went well with my claim I was trying to get across in my essay. The part of the song I put in included these lyrics:
"Tell me what's wrong with society
When everywhere I look, I see
Young girls dying to be on TV
They won't stop till they've reached their dreams
Diet pills, surgery
Photoshopped pictures in magazines
Telling them how they should be
It doesn't make sense to me
Is everybody going crazy?
Is anybody gonna save me?
Can anybody tell me what's going on?Tell me what's going on?
If you open your eyes
You'll see that something is wrong"

I found this song very fitting because it was exactly what I wanted to get across. I wanted people to see what images society has placed into every one's minds. It leads to extremes like the song says. The media is presenting images and people are taking those images and trying to perfect their bodies to look like those presented to them. Most people don't see the big picture of what these images are doing, but this song ends with the fitting "You'll see that something is wrong". You just have to open your eyes to what these images are really doing to our society and really see what's going on. I thought this song did a very good job at looking at the negative parts media has brought into society.

The logic of the placement of my pictures is a little complicated. I first began with pictures of "normal" models or icons we see in modeling or magazines. This is to show where our stereotypes and definition of perfection come from. It then gradually gets into skinnier famous faces and models. This shows how people trying to be like those "perfect" people have overdone themselves. The pictures eventually lead to someone purging, who suffers from bulimia. To get both sides of the story, I then placed a picture of an anorexic man. I wanted people to see guys are faced with the same problem of trying to fit in. After, I placed a picture of a famous actor and his physique body. It was another example of what guys are trying to keep up with. Then I placed a picture of steroids and then someone who is a bodybuilder on excessive amounts of steroids. I know these are the extremes but I wanted people to see what society has pushed many to become. I then wrap up my whole argument with three key images. First one is a picture of someone stepping on a scale. This was to show how so many people become worried with what that scale will say. It is as if no one is ever satisfied with what it says. It's always too big of a number. I followed that picture with someone looking into a mirror. This picture moved me when I first pondered upon it. At first it just looks like a skinny girl looking into her reflection. But once you look into the mirror, her reflection is of an obese girl. This reflects what most girls see when they look into the mirror. To an average person, this girl is extremely skinny, but compared to what she sees in the media to her she looks fat. The picture I ended with was a girl with negative words and sayings written all around her. It includes sayings like not pretty enough, not talented enough, and not good enough. I thought this was an appropriate picture to end with because with all this impact society has put on people to become this "perfect" image, people are seeing themselves in a negative way. People can't seem to reach their goals because their goals were created by someone else.

I really enjoyed this assignment. I hope this video affected people in some way and made you look at what you see a little deeper. I always thought pictures were worth a thousand words :)

Entitlement

Well, this blog on entitlement could take me to many places. I guess entitlement is the act of being entitled, meaning having claim to something. I think our lives revovle around entitlement. If you really think about it, everyone has entitlement to something, often multiple things. I always remember my parents saying everything is their's until I turn 18, then I can claim my rights to everything (even my own privacy).
I feel like some people take life as a game to gain as much entitlement as they can before they die. It's like we gain status by the amount of things you're entitled to. The more you have, the better off in life you are. Whether that's right or not, it is how society has grown to be. We struggle to keep our entitlements, we fight to gain entitlement, and we judge others on their entitlement. Thinking of entitlement this closely has made me think how everything is revolved around it. It seemed at first like such a simple concept until I looked into it deeper. There is some sort of heirarchy. I'm entitled to my blog, but some company is entitled to the website this blog is on. So is it really mine? It gets to be so complicated for me to understand. Are we truly entitled to anything? I guess it comes down to what level of entitlement you are looking at. I'm entitled to my own opinions and thoughts and that is something no one can take away. Your sense of entitlement depends on your views, some are concrete, legal entitlements, others are abstract like your thoughts. I dare you to look around. Are you entitled to what you are looking at? Take a closer look and maybe you'll just realize how much entitlement really is a part of life.

Ads

The other night, while taking a break from my homework, I was watching T.V. and of course in between I was boggled with several commercials. The one commercial that hit me hardest was one about saving the children in some third world country. I swear I have seen this commercial several times before, but this time I looked at it differently. I watched for techniques they used to gain appeal with viewers like myself and most of them actually worked.
The speaker was a lady in her mid-40s I assumed. She spoke with a soft, tender voice, which made her sound like she was speaking with care. It made the viewer want to sympathize with what she was saying. She was also holding a fragile child while she spoke to show the sadness not only in her own heart, but in the child's eyes. She used so many appeals to pathos by guilting the audience into feeling the pain of the children with her. She also used logos in saying how little you have to pay to save one child's life. She would also pause to scan the environment around her to give you a sense of the conditions these children were living in. Her whole appeal was calling the audience to pick up the phone and give. Analyzing the commercial made me wonder what these people's intentions really are. It made me question if they knew all these tactics would work or if they just really cared. With commercials like these you really don't know, but they do however get the audience to think twice about what they could spend their money on.

Standardized Testing

Maybe it is because I'm studying for the PSAT right now (or at least trying to), but I have been finding all these required standardized testings to be unnecessary. I know colleges need some way of deciphering who is better fit for their college or who should qualify for scholarships, but I find so many tests to become so overwhelming. I know I speak for most when I say the whole college process has become very close and very stressful. I was listing out some requirements the colleges I'm looking at require: SAT, ACT, 2 SAT subject tests, and AP credits to redeem. I wish I would have started all this studying and test taking earlier. I feel like all these years, and you would think I would feel prepared, but no, of course not. Life's not that easy, and if it was I wouldn't be ranting right now. I know colleges need a system to "judge" us by, but can't they limit it to one test or base it over my academic achievements throughout the years? Kids' time is very limited and the last thing we want is something else we have to study or prepare for. I just wish they could take into consideration all of the other things our lives are filled with. I hope all this hard work pays off later. I would hate to be the one who regretted not putting enough effort into my high-school years and having to restart my planning process. Well as much as I would love to blab about how much I hate standardized testings and the whole college process, I think my time would be better spent if I went to go put some study time into my PSAT.

Living Up to Expectations

I found myself disagreeing with both pairs of readings we had. I'm not a big animal person since my family is all allergic to something except for myself. I found it hard to find any sympathy towards anything they were saying, but the articles that really stirred up my emotions were the ones on students in America.

The article "Blame the Students" was very controversial. I found myself disagreeing with much of what they were saying. I disliked the stereotypical viewpoints they had on different nationalities because there are always exceptions to these. I know of several middle-class Americans who have very strict work ethics and strive for nothing but the best. I am not an immigrant but I am of the "Asian race." I have strong work ethics and push myself to my limits. Even then, when I try my hardest, I still struggle to get as high of grades as I want or as well as the person sitting next to me. A lot of times we do blame it on the teacher, sometimes it applies and sometimes we just want to vent our frustration of ourselves on someone else. I still think we can blame the teacher though. You cannot say that if you have a high work ethic and a bad teacher you would get the same as a high work ethic and a good teacher. Your teacher does have a part of your grade and success. You need to have well-qualified people giving you correct information. In the documentary Two Million Minutes they gave statistics of how many science teachers were not even certified or were in the field of science, yet they are the ones giving us "knowledge" of this specific area. I think you have to be crazy to say that we don't have the right to blame the teacher if we're failing if they themselves don't even know the subject.

Another area in "Blame the Students" I found hard to take in was the choosing of classes. People do drop or switch classes for lower/easier standards. People have to realize we do this to suit our needs. Maybe our schedule is uneven or we have sports or activities we want to balance out so we can succeed in every aspect. It's not necessarily because we're lazy, but maybe it's because we fill our schedules to the maximum and we have to weigh our priorities. Everyone's priorities are layed out differently and we should respect everyone's rights and needs. I admire the fact that children in the documentary from India and China are such hard-workers but sometimes I wonder if they're really enjoying life. If you work so much, what are you working for? You won't have time to enjoy all your hard work. I believe myself to be a hard-worker and I want to be successful, but not to the extent where I work myself to tears. I want to see my hard-work and enjoy it while I can because life is too short for me not to. One thing I noticed in the documentary was the expressions and emotions from the kids in each country. I never saw the kids in India or China smiling, while the kids in America were bubbly, outgoing, and happy. I don't know about you, but why not enjoying life. I believe you should live it to the fullest and you can still work hard.

I liked these two works of literature. It gave me emotions and they were very controversial. I just think we should all find a balance in our own lives. We all live different lives with different morals and values. This makes it very difficult for us to judge what we should or shouldn't do. It's up to you. Live your life the way it suits you. You can take in what others say or not. Do what makes you happy :)

Busy, busy, busy!

This week is full of so many things to do and acccomplish. I recently was looking at my calendar and how much there is to do. It's homecoming week and on top of that I have projects galore do too. This weekend I've been working on my project for A.P. U.S. History. It has been a pain-stakingly long process. Today everything finally looked like it was coming together. We still have a long ways to go and it is due Thursday. On top of all the commotion going on for homecoming I don't know how I am going to get everything done. Monday is pajama day, which is very exciting because there will be no need to pick out an outfit for the day. Tuesday is class color day. Juniors will dominate with out black out! Wednesday will be pirate day since our theme is "Sink the Royals!" and "Homecoming on the High Seas." That night will also be coronation for the senior royalty. I have to help out since I'm on student council. Everyone should attend! Thursday is college t-shirt day and Friday is of course spirit day. Everyone will be dressed up all crazy to support our undefeated football team. I'm excited for the football game on Friday night to get all dressed up and go with friends. To top off this busy week, Saturday is the homecoming dance! Marta and I will be getting ready together before the dance and then head out for pictures, Buca's, DANCE, and afterparty. This week will be so exhausting, yet so much fun! I'm excited to make Junior homecoming amazing.

Language=Identity

You may never have thought as language and identity as the same thing. When I first heard this correlation, I didn't fully grasp it. I knew what language was; a voice distinct to a certain culture or area. I knew what identity was; your character and the way you are distinguished from others. These two seemed very different, but as I read Gloria Anduzula's writings I realized how much they truly relate. Language distinguishes many things. You can tell where they are from, their culture, and sometimes even their education. All of these factors are parts of your identity. For example, if we went anywhere out of the state, people could notice our Minnesotan accent right away. They would judge our identity and know we hold up Midwestern values and come from a different state then there own. They may place us above or below us, grading our identity as it is. You may not realize it, but we judge daily. Our identity consists of what people see us as. Language differentiates you from others. It's part of who you are and you can't change that. Just like your identity, when it comes down to the core, you really can't change it. You either accept it or choose to break the stereotypes. I think you should embrace your identity and language. Your language makes you unique; it distinguishes you from one another and you can make a name for yourself. Be proud, and keep your identity.

Didion Vs. Orwell

It's funny how one subject can veer into several directions. Orwell and Didion's writings differed greatly even though they were writing on the same topic. They even have the same title! I was more fond of Didion's writing and motives. She was straight forward and didn't fancy up her writing. She had something to say and she said it. There was no "beating around the bush" for her. I really liked how she wrote, not necessarily because she liked it, but for the reason of trying to find herself. I'm not exactly the most eloquent writer and I don't find my writing to be the greatest. She wants to be a more abstract thinker which I find myself wanting to be as well. I see things as they are and find it difficult to search deeper. It takes more time for me to find hidden meanings or the real though process in most works of literature. I seem to have connected with Didion in this sense too.
Both, Didion and Orwell, reference to there writings being failures. I sometimes feel a sense that I judge my work just the same. There is always a part of me that analyzes every little detail and wonder if it's the best I can do. I liked that Didion had a different future in mind, writing not being a part of it. It reassures me that my future is not set in stone, and I have to take the initiative to figure out what I want to do. Orwell on the otherhand, knew what he wanted to be since he was young. In this sense he reminds me of my sister who has know what she has wanted to be since she was in first grade. They resemble the complete opposite of myself because I change my mind on a daily basis. Both of these writers had different, yet similar viewpoints on writing. I did however agree with some of Orwell's thoughts but I appreciated Didion's point of view more.

First Post :)

Well, the first week of school is coming to a close. I'm so ready for the weekend. This week has been a tough one. It has been hard getting back into the swing of things after an enjoyable summer. It feels like I never left these hallways, and yet here we are starting fresh. Sleeping in and lounging by the lake never sounded so good. I can still feel the warmth of the sun rays and breeze off the lake. I miss lazy days and being care free. I feel overwhelmed with so much responsibilities this week. The homework keeps coming, and next summer is no where near close. I was excited to see all my friends I haven't seen in awhile. My new classes are very challenging but I know they will be worth all the hard work put into it at the end. My days seem to be put on repeat: wake up, school, homework, eat, sleep, and do it all over again the next day. I'm excited for all the new opportunities my junior year will bring me, especially since we are officially upperclassmen now :). This year is filled with important things to determine our future like ACT, SAT, and college searching. It will also bring fun activities, like Prom! My schedule is full, but I aim to enjoy every minute of it.
Hope your first week went well! Keep you posted :)