Author Archive

02
Jun 2010

Reflection

By crystal

As I entered room 503 in September, my junior year, I had high expectations.  I heard that the lovely English teacher Mrs. Lahaise was a very strict teacher and that I would learn a lot in her class.  I grabbed my pen and got ready to take notes.  The first day scared me because there were so many new concepts, such as BLOGGING.  I have never blogged before in my life.  Or imagined that things were occurring in the internet world.

Before I came into this class, I was an above average reader.  Reading was my hobby; I loved to read.  But academic studies halted my pleasure reading because I had to do homework and study.  After the class, I think I have improved slightly on my reading.  When I read now, I now take in details I usually just forget and I analyze things I usually just let slip by.  This is so because of the in-class discussions with questions that are really detailed-oriented.

I think I was a fairly good writer before I came into the class, but I think I have improved a great deal.  But I am not one to decide that and I am not certain as I haven’t received any feedback on my writing this whole year.  I think I have the ability to write with more descriptions because of the “loaded word essay” we did a while back.  That was really fun to try to make everything come alive with sense, touch, and sight, to try to lift the words off the page and surround the reader with new sensations.

My least favorite was probably reading Native Son, but other than that, I rather enjoyed everything we did.  I didn’t not like anything.  My favorite assignment would probably be blogging because it’s nice to receive feedback from my classmates.

I perceive myself to be a hard-working and determined student.  I will do whatever it takes to finish my homework or assignment, even if it takes me until 1 in the morning to complete it.  As a person though, I am loud, friendly, weird, crazy, and some people say I am always happy.  In general, I have learned a lot about who I am and what I stand for this year.  This class might be a part of it, but everything has contributed to how I grew in maturity and in my beliefs.

This was my first experience in blogging and it has been very positive and fun.  I remember when I received my first comment from someone who wasn’t in my class.  It was very sweet and it was very exciting.  I like how I got to express my ideas to the unknown world and receiving feedback on it.

My advice for incoming students is to just try your best and work hard.  Hard work really will get you far.  Oh, and be nice.

That’s it.  Thanks for a wonderful year.

Category: Uncategorized  5 Comments
17
May 2010

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

By crystal

Dear people who love to read a good book,

The Color Purple by Alice Walker is the book for you.  Yes, it is also a musical and a movie, but the book is something else.  It talks of women empowerment and it tells a heartfelt and human journey of a black girl abused by her stepfather and her husband.  It tells of how she later found her voice and her individuality and stood up for herself.  It tells of how she gained respect, not only from herself, but from other people.  She has to work through many hardships.  She gives birth at a very young age; the father of her children is her own father.  Her babies then gets ripped away from her arms and sold to another family.  She was later married to a cruel husband and whose children despise her.


“Dear God,

I spent my wedding day running from the oldest boy.  He twelve.  His mama died in his arms and he don’t want to hear nothing bout no new one.  He pick up a rock and laid my head open.  The blood run all down tween my breasts.  His daddy say Don’t do that! But that all he say.”  (12)

Told in broken English, Celie describes her life, and her courage and strength speak out to God.  But it seems as if God isn’t listening.  Celie learns how to find her voice and how to speak up for herself throughout the book, with the help of the beautiful and exotic Shug Avery.  Shug Avery is like Celie’s God, and she teaches Celie a bit about religion in the end too, how something as simple as the color purple is worth one’s admiration.

This quote tells of Celie’s impression of Shug: “Shug Avery is standing upside a piano, elbow crook, hand on her hip… Her mouth open showing all her teef and don’t nothing seem to be troubling her mind… The Queen Honeybee is back in town.

Lord, I wants to go so bad.  Not to dance. Not to drink…Not even to hear Shug Avery sing. I just be thankful to lay eyes on her.” (25)

This book is fast paced and full of empowerment.  It is a very good book to read.  It opens your eyes to the cruelty that does go on in the world, but it teaches how one can survive through anything.  It mainly teaches about standing up for oneself, because Celie finally did and she became successful.

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17
May 2010

Please, Sorry, and Thank You

By crystal

This blog is about some social problems I have observed that I am greatly annoyed by and it saddens me when I see these things.  I want people to learn the meaning of being human; gratitude, appreciation, and manners.  I figure I can do my part in society by bringing awareness to some problems.

The meaning of gratitude. Say thank you!! For example, I had a festival trip for my band class and the night before, I slaved over the oven making cookies so they can enjoy some sweets in the sweltering sun the next day.  I was being thoughtful and I wanted my classmates to have some fun and some goodies to enjoy.  Of course, everyone was excited about the cookies and everyone wanted some.  But the day came to a close and NO ONE EVEN SAID THANK YOU.  I am not trying to be a martyr or anything, but a little appreciation would be nice, and ‘thank you’ can go a long way.  It’ll make people happier to do nice little things for you. If I was shown some gratitude, I would be happier to make more goodies for my class.  I am a busy person, so I have better things to do.

Manners: Call me an old fashioned 16 year old, but I wonder where manners have gone today.  When you bump into someone while walking down the hall, no one says sorry anymore, they just give you evil stares. If you’re wrong, just admit it and say sorry.  It’ll get things done faster and leave fewer hard feelings.

No one ever says thank you anymore.  Or please.  Everyone expects others to do things for them for free, and it doesn’t occur to them that other people have to go out of their way to do things for them, and they are only doing it out of the goodness of their heart.  They don’t HAVE to do it.  But now everyone has a mind set of oh, everyone is their slave and if the other person refuses to do something for them, they are automatically labeled a “bitch.”  Whatever happened to please and thank you?  Do we need to pop in a video or Barney for people to watch?

Appreciation: No one appreciates anything they are given.  Its always, oh, I want this, I want that.  I want more!! I don’t care that I already have it at home. I need the latest gadgets so I can show off to my friends.  It doesn’t matter that my parents are barely making enough money to get by.  I want what my neighbors have.  For example, why would a fifth grader need a blackberry?  Why do they need a phone, period?  Sure, it may be for safety or emergencies, but why would a fifth grader be in situations that would require a phone?  Ask what a kid does with a phone and you’ll likely get an answer of “games.”

Happiness doesn’t come from material things.  It comes from the simple things, like spending time with family, sitting on the grass and enjoying the cool breeze on a hot summer day, or just laughing with friends.  America is in the mind set that more equals better, and money means happiness.  Everyone is reaching for their “American dream” and some have lost sight of that dream.  It’s always money, money, money for that house house, house and that car, car, car or that new iphone, iphone, iphone. But ask the richest people if they are happy, and you might be surprised at their answer.

In the Buddha teachings, if you want nothing, then you will never be miserable.  Don’t want what your neighbors have, because you’ll always have neighbors that have more than you and you can’t always have everything.  THINGS do not make you happy.  “What most people need to learn in life is how to love people and use thing stead of using people and loving things.”

How would you show gratitude? Well on the simple scale, just say thank you.  Or give compliments.  But actions speak louder than words, so if you really want to show someone you appreciate them, do something nice for them.

How would you reach happiness without things?  Simple, go out for a walk and enjoy the breeze and appreciate that the sun comes out everyday.  Be happy that you are alive.

Please feel free to comment, or disagree.

Category: Weekly Reader  Tags:  4 Comments
15
May 2010

The Five People you Meet in Heaven

By crystal

This movie was very touching and heartfelt. It told of an old man who worked as a maintenance in Ruby Pier, a carnival. He loved children and did his job well; no ride ever broke down.  That is, until one day the cable of a new ride broke and the cart came crashing down.  He limped as fast as he could toward the ride, to get people out of the way.  A little girl was sitting directly under the crashing cart so he threw down his cane and ran as fast as he could to push the girl out of the way.  All turned black, until he woke up.

The first person Eddie met in Heaven was “The Blue Man”.  Even though they were strangers when they were both alive, their lives were connected.  It turns out that the Blue Man died because little Eddie ran out into the street and caused The Blue Man to swerve out of the way to avoid hitting him.  He crashed into a fruit cart and had a heart attack.  Little Eddie made it to the other side of the street unscathed.  The lesson the Blue Man gave Eddie was, “there are no random acts.” ” Every life is connected.” and “strangers are just family you have yet to meet.” “No life is ever a waste.”  I agree that every life was put on this earth to do something; everyone has a purpose in life, no matter how small.  When I watched this scene in the movie, it was scary that you could responsible for some people’s death without even realizing it.

The second person he meets is his old captain from the war.  His captain taught him that sacrifices are something to be proud of, not ashamed.  All his life, Eddie was ashamed of his sacrifice.  When talking with his captain, it was revealed that he was the one who shot Eddie in the leg.   The captain sacrificed Eddie’s leg to save his life.  The captain said that sacrifice is noble, and its the thing that makes humans humans.  From this scene, I learned that everyone has a different heaven.  The Blue Man’s heaven was the Pier and the captain’s heaven was the world before the wars and the killings.

The third person that Eddie met in heaven was a total stranger.  It was in fact the girl that Ruby Pier was named after and built for.  She taught him how to forgive.  All of Eddie’s life, he never forgave his father for being abusive.  But you can’t go through life hating someone forever.  Sometimes, you just have to forgive them.

The fourth person Eddie met was his beautiful wife, Marguerite.  Her heaven is young couples’ weddings because she loved her wedding with Eddie.  She teaches him that love never dies, it is just shown differently.  Eddie regretted all his life that Marguerite died before he did, but he learned that she could feel his love all the way from heaven.  It connects with how someone never truly dies, because they’ll always live on in your memory.  Eddie never stopped loving his wife.

The last person Eddie meets in heaven is Tala, the young girl in the hut that Eddie burned.  She teaches him that everyone has a purpose on earth.  Eddie feels as if his life was a waste, but his purpose was to prevent all the deaths that could have resulted from poor maintenance in Ruby Pier.  By doing his job, he saved many lived.  His last person also tells him that he did in fact, save the girl from the falling cart.

And the movie ends.  This movie can bring many tears and make anyone appreciate life.  Life is short, make the best of it.

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26
Apr 2010

Adopt an Animal!

By crystal

Animals need love and care.  It is the saddest thing when you walk into an animal shelter you find all these lovable and playful animals behind bars, not having a home to live in.  They are often strays, or their previous owners left them to be adopted into a different family.  The even sadder part is that the oldest animals in the shelters are usually put to sleep.

Last Sunday, I went to volunteer at East Valley L.A. Animal Shelter with a couple of my friends. It was my first time volunteering at an animal shelter, so I didn’t know what to expect, but as soon as I stepped foot inside the clean, air-conditioned building, my eyes fell upon the most adorable litter of 7 week old kittens ever.  They were sleeping and some were playfully fighting with each other with their small furry paws.  They were really playful and cute and at the end of the day, they decided to perform some acrobatics for the people watching them by climbing all over their cages.











Our assignment for the day was to visit the animals and get to know several of them and do a write-up to get people to adopt them.  My friends and I split up into groups while they visited the dogs and I visited the cats.



I have never owned a pet before, or ever thought that I would like animals, but the instant I visited the first cat, I fell in love.  She was just so playful and she kept on pushing her paws out to be petted.  She loved being petted and she kept on banging against the side of the cage.


The next cat I visited was given the nickname “Tuxedo Kitty” because she was covered in all black and white.  She was really energetic and so funny!  She would start singing and she would get the other cats in the cages next to her to start singing too.  This little cutie pushed her whole body out to be petted by strangers.


The last of the six cats I decided to do a write up on was possibly my most favorite just because she would constantly purr when she was being petted.  I would stick my fingers through the cage bars and she would rub her chin against my fingers and I could feel her purr.  She wouldn’t stay still long enough for me to get a good enough picture so we had to take her out of her cage.  She is really old but to be, she was still young and healthy and she just wanted to be loved.


If I could have adopted a pet, I would have because all of them were just so adorable, but I instantly fell in love with the cats.  They just seemed like the pet for me because they are quiet and soft and smart.  They seem like the pet that could keep me company and love me.  And even though I came home with homework, I would love to and will volunteer at the animal shelter again because I love the animals.

Possibly the best part of the day was when we saw a cute black and white dog I nicknamed Oreo, get adopted by a sweet old lady.


This dog I nicknamed Sugar because she had a really sweet and energetic personally and could bring a smile to anyone’s face.


So if you would like to adopt a pet, please visit http://www.amrt.net/ or go to 14409 Vanowen, Van Nuys, CA 91406.  Their phone numbers are: Toll-free: (888) 452-7381 – menu option 1, then 4, then 5; Inside line: (213) 485-8613; (818) 756-9323.

Save a life and adopt your own adorable pet today!

Photo credits: (Alizen Rodriguez) and Crystal Kumtong

Category: Weekly Reader  Tags:  2 Comments