Blog 10: Cleaning house
This week I cleaned my room to get ready for a garage sale my mom wants to have. I cleaned out my desk drawers, under my bed, and my closet and let’s just say, it took quite a while. I still have a few more places to clean and go through, but this will work for now. I found so many things that I had forgotten were there, and did not even realize I had anymore. In my drawers, I found old letters that my friends had written me from years ago. It reminded me of my past friendships and the amazing memories I had with my friends. I also found journals that I had written while I had been away at camps and it was really funny to read what I had written and remember the little girl drama that had been going on at the time. Under my bed, I found old awards that I had received and a million old pictures. I found picture albums that made me laugh out loud and also miss some of old friends that had moved away. In my closet, I found a couple of pairs of shoes buried deep in the back, that I had been looking for for months and in an old purse I found some money. I threw away a lot of junk and unneeded papers and organized everything. I feel so much more in control of my room now and much more comfortable in my room. By cleaning out old stuff, it made me stop from my busy day and reflect back on old memories. I’m actually looking forward to cleaning the rest of my room and seeing whatelse is waiting to be found and remembered.
Add a comment June 21, 2009
Blog 9: When I grow up
When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a princess when I grew up! I know this seems like the classic little girl’s dream, but I wanted it none the less. I had a huge trunk of dress up clothes that I would open daily. It was filled with gowns, hats, crowns, scarfs, and a million other dazzling items of clothing. My grandmother could sew very well and she would make me countless dresses with sequins and other shimmery and bright materials. Some of my favorite memories are of me playing in the dresses my grandmother made me. I would run around the house all day trying on different outfits and wearing my crowns. I loved princesses so much that I always watched the Disney Princess movies like Aladdin, Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and any other princess movie. I even had a Princess Jasmine birthday party and Jasmine came and brought her magic carpet. Now that I have grown up, I still like to dress up and wear crowns, but no longer want being a princess to be my full time job. As I have grown up, I now want to be a nurse. Seeing my dad work with doctors and nurses in his job has interested me and made me want to be able to help people and make a difference in their lives. As a pediatric nurse I can work with sick children and remind them how they are all princes and princesses. My mom has promised that she will sew my children outfits like her mother did for me and I will do the same for my grandchildren. I know that being a princess has to do with how you see yourself and how you portray yourself to others. You have to behave in a loving, caring, generous way and never forget that you are a princess.
Add a comment June 21, 2009
Blog 8: In the news…
A story that caught my attention in the news this week, was people falling overboard on cruise ships. It is very unlikely for this to happen, but nevertheless it, does happen. Lately, there have been many concerns about people falling overboard because of the high escalation of this happening. Three people have fallen overboard in the last month. Last year there were only nine people that fell overboard the whole year, but there have been twelve people that have fallen overboard in the last 6 months alone. Most times the searches for these people that have fallen, end in tragedy or never finding their bodies, but there have a been a few cases of finding people clinging to caves. What wasn’t in the news was that most cruise ships are not responsible for this happening. It was reported that most times people fall overboard because of acting crazy or unsafe and most times drunk. I think certain stories impact us more than others because they have a connection to us somehow or hit us on a personal note. The way I relate to this story is that I have always thought it would be fun to go on an exotic cruise. I have always been too afraid because of fearing that something bad would happen or I would fall off. I can be a little clumsy sometimes. I still may go someday, but it would take a lot of reassurance. A news story that stands out to me from over the years was 9/11. This story affected the whole nation of the United States and influenced us in a personal way. It brought everyone together, to help find survivors and help clean New York. This one act sent us into war and has brought us to where we are today. Also, I have been to New York, so it amazes me to think I walked those very streets that people died on.
Add a comment June 20, 2009
Blog 7: On self-destruction
The last time I went into self-destruct mode, I found out my friends were back-stabbers. Some of my very best girlfriends let me down and I realized that they weren’t the kind of girls I thought who would always be there for me. Over a period of time I noticed little things that they would do that I would just let slip by and I would give them the benefit of the doubt. I would think that they didn’t mean to do that, or that I just misunderstood. After our big falling out, I began to question myself and wonder if I had done something wrong. I began to self destruct by questioning all my actions, and would replay scenarios through my head, trying to figure out what happened and if there was anything I could do to fix it. It came to the point where I even began to question my everyday actions and was afraid that I would mess up my relationships with my other friends. After a while, I finally realized that I had done nothing wrong and that my doubt in myself was counter-productive to my well being. I saw that those girls were never my true friends to begin with, but instead they had their own agendas. Those girls had no room for other people and were just looking out for their own interests. My other friends helped me realize what true friends are. True friends check in on each other, help pull you up when your down, take the time to listen to each other, support and give each other advice, while keeping your friends best interest in mind. True friends are there for each other at anytime of the day or night, and have a love for each other that allows them to forgive and forget. I still talk with my ex-best friends, but I will never allow them in the inter-circle of my heart again. I am comfortable with myself and am blessed to have some amazing people in my life!
Add a comment June 17, 2009
Blog 6: If I were brave…
If I were brave I would go to college in New York City, NY. I have been to New York three times, twice with my family, and once with a group of my friends from school. Each time I have gone, I have fallen more and more in love with the “Big Apple”. We went to a million stores, like the Hersey store and the M&M Store, lots of museums, like the Momma, went ice skating in Central Park, visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, and saw many other different parts of town. We also saw musicals, such as Wicked, Shrek, West Side Story, Phantom of the Opera, Billy Elliot, and In the Height’s–which were all amazing! I love the streets of New York and how you never know what you will find around the next corner. What amazes me the most is how so many different people are living together.
I wish I could be like my friend Cassidy, who is going to school in New York. I imagine her walking the streets–the same ones that people from the TV show ‘Gossip Girl’ walk. I won’t take that leap because I would miss my family too much. I am really close to my mom and little brother, and I’m not afraid to admit that I need them as much as they need me. Also, the idea of moving to New York and not knowing anyone, and having no connections scares me. So this is why I have decided to go to Baylor. It is perfect because I have always wanted to go there, it is only two hours away from home, and I can meet new people while having some friends from home with me at school. But if I were brave, New York is were I would like to go to college.
Add a comment June 17, 2009
Blog 5: If Only…
If only… I had calmed down first. If only I hadn’t acted out in anger. If only I had thought things through. Well, I’m about to explain something that’s a little embarrassing, a little stupid, and a little immature. But it did teach me a lesson. A lesson that I value now. I do not ask myself quite as often, “if only”, but for a while I asked it everyday. A while back I was dating this guy, and it was actually “FO” Facebook Official. He was the first guy I dated at my high school so it was all really exciting. As the months went by everything was going pretty good except he had never had a girlfriend, before so a few things came up here and there that I was not always happy with. I will have to say that my pet-peeve in relationships is honesty, and lets just say he was not always truthful with me about where he was. Also, there were many disappointments of broken plans and promises. Instead of getting mad at him, I would just hold it in and give him the benefit of the doubt and say to myself, “he doesn’t know better and it won’t happen again”. It finally got to the point were I could hold in any longer and I blew up! I found out another lie while I was with some of my girlfriends and instead of cooling down and thinking things through, I let my friends, and my built up anger, influence me. So, I broke up with him over the phone and we didn’t speak to each other for a long time. When it first happened, I felt so relieved and proud. I thought to myself, “well I showed him”. But the next day and weeks that followed, I was sad and realized how much I missed him and how I hadn’t broken up with him because of what had just happened, but because of everything he had ever done, which was unfair to him. I tried to talk to him, to make things work, but at this point everything had changed. I know in my heart that this relationship wouldn’t have lasted and that he wasn’t good for me, but I always wonder what would have happened if only I had cooled off instead of acting rashly. Now, I think twice before I give myself over to quick decisions and practice communicating my feelings instead of holding them in.
Add a comment June 14, 2009
Blog 4: A Scent of History
A smell that always triggers happy memories for me is the smell of the sea! Ever since I was little my family and I have gone to the beach each summer. We have gone to the Bahamas, Florida, and other places, but most often we drive the ten long hours to South Padre Island. My family and I have so many traditional stops on the way to Padre and the closer we get to our destination the stronger the wind becomes and scent of the salty ocean air. No matter what beach I’m at or who I’m there with any beach brings to mind the memories I have at Padre with my family. The beach always makes me feel relaxed and as if I don’t have a care in the world. I lose myself in the ocean breeze and all concept of time passes by. When we are on the beach, my dad fishes while my mom, brother, and I maticulously build sand castles until they are perfect. We also spend countless hours searching the shore for sea shells and make the drive to our secret part of the beach that has giant shells. At night we roam the shore in pursuit of sea crabs and I watch my brother race to catch them. I love the sound of the waves at night as they lull me to sleep. Something about the thick fresh air and hot sun provides me with an ultimate paradise. It can be hard to have family time during the year so I always treasure our time at the beach in the summer. Any time that I smell the ocean, I am put right back on the beach with my family, basking in the sun.
Add a comment June 14, 2009
Blog 3: Traveling to a New Perspective
A trip that gave me an entirely new perspective on my life is when I went to an orphanage in Rio Bravo, Mexico. During the spring of my sophomore year of high school, one hundred and fifty students and I took a ten hour bus trip to spend a week helping at an orphanage. My classmates and I noticed the change in scenery as soon as we crossed the United States-Mexican border. It was actually a little scary. The streets and houses were dirty and falling apart, there were children wandering around half clothed-there were loud shouts all around, and there were horrible smells coming from the trash that was litered throughout the town. Of course, we knew that we would be completely safe inside the walls of the orphanage-which was really a guarded compound. As soon as we got off our buses in engulfed by hundreds of orphaned children who were running towards us. As they grabbed our hands and we began to play, it did not matter that we did not speak the same language because they spoke to us through there love and laughter! All of the children were either orphans or their home life was too bad to live in. It amazed me at how much joy they had when they had no parents and no possessions of their own. It made me see how minuet my own problems were. We spend the next week playing with the children, conducting Vacation Bible School, fixing their buildings and walkways, digging ditches and, clearing brush. One day we were led in small groups on a bus tour of the surrounding city. It shocked me how people could live in one room huts with no roof or air-conditioning. I realized that I had been taking for granted my home and life back in the U.S. and saw how easy my life was. After our week was over, my friends and I loaded our buses to make the trip back to our homes. Through many hugs and tears we said goodbye to the children we had bonded with. This trip allowed me to be out of my norm and see past my every day life. It helped me to not take for granted my family, home, and world I live in. To live with joy through all of life’s trials.
Add a comment June 12, 2009
Blog 2: A Defining Moment
A defining moment in my life was when I had that “light bulb” moment! My “light bulb” moment was when I finally learned to read and write and needless to say, it pretty much changed my life. Because I’m dyslexic, I couldn’t read and write until the third grade. Everyone in my public elementary school could read and write, and it seemed like the words on the pages of books just spoke to the other kids and told them all the secrets of how they worked together. I would come home, off of the big, lonely, yellow school bus in tears, and ask my mom why I could not understand or grasp the secrets of those books, words that seemed everyone else understood but me. When I was tested in the third grade and learned I was dyslexic, I felt there actually might be hope for me. We found an amazing private school that specialized in children with learning differences similar to mine. When I first started school, I was encouraged to find that the children there were struggling just as much as I was. Their “association program,” allowed me to see and hear what I had been missing; things that were automatic to other children. I will never forget the feeling of knowledge that overcame me. I ate up page after page and word after word, and felt like I would never get enough. Eventually, I left my nurturing school and began my high school with a new beginning. This was a school that did not specialize in teaching children with learning differences. I put in the extra effort in every class; most of my teachers and peers never knew what I went through. The additional reading time and grammar corrections took hours, but as time went by, each year became easier. I saw that my dyslexia did not give me a handicap, or a way to opt out of things, but instead it shaped my life in a most beneficial way. I am now able to read and write as well as anyone else, but at times spell check is still my best friend. I have learned not to overcome my dyslexia, but to work through it. Having this learning difference has made me a better person. Not only do I give one hundred and ten percent in the areas that I am weak in, but that dedication and hard work continues to spread into every area of my life. I value, more than the average person, the ability to read and write, because I know what it is like to be without it. It has taught me patience and to never give up, but to continue to try harder, because nothing is impossible.
Add a comment June 11, 2009
Blog 1: My Greates Influence
One of the most influential people in my life was my seventh grade English teacher, Mrs. Coffman. It was the first day of school my seventh grade year and I was about to meet my new English teacher. She was new to my school, so no one knew what to expect. We let our minds run wild with the idea of who it would be: a tall man, an ex-con, an undercover agent, and the many other outlandish ideas of our imaginations. When Mrs. Coffman, an attractive, blonde, stern-faced woman, stepped to the front of the room, my classmates and I were completely silent. We soon discovered she also taught classes part-time at SMU and expected us to behave like her college students–with organization and discipline. This is when the joking around ended and the molding of my mind began. Mrs. Coffman reorganized my life, literally. She sat my friends and me in alphabetical order and addressed us as Mr. and Ms. At first, we thought she was crazy, but then we saw that she was “one of those”. Those teachers that wanted to grow us kids up. She treated us with the respect of people twice our age and expected the same courtesy in return. I had never been given this recognition before and it seemed I had been empowered with certain rights, but at the same time I knew much was expected of me. Because I’m dyslexic, I always had trouble reading and writing, but the tedious papers and outlines I produced in Mrs. Coffman’s class grew my abilities beyond my imagination. She challenged me mentally and ingrained on me to never settle for adequate, but to strive for excellence. She also helped me develop an enthusiasm and a will to write and pour myself into my papers. That was Mrs. Coffman’s one and only year at my school before she started a new position at Texas Scottish Rite. I was sad to see my mentor leave because she had taught me so much in such a small amount of time. She didn’t just teach me but she helped me grow and mature, not just in my writing skills, but my confidence in myself. Mrs. Coffman left as quickly as she came, but the imprint she left behind will stay a part of my life forever.
Add a comment June 11, 2009
