Take A Stand #10

Courage is fire, and bullying is smoke. (Disreali, Benjamin)

We've all been there at one point in our lives. A time where we have felt scared, small, defeated; as if no one cares. The many scars that these traumatic events leave. Some are just superficial, that heals and goes away with time, but, there are those scars that will leave lasting impressions and will never truly go away. The scariest part of bullying is no one says anything about it. If we want to, we're threaten that worse things could happen. When will we learn that enough is enough? What does it take? An injury? A trip to the hospital? Your grave? We need to learn that the first time should be the last time.

Towards the middle of eighth grade I started to be bullied. At first it was small things, such as like punching me in the arm and being insulted by her. It really didn't bother me because I'm one of those people who don't let people get under their skin. I had already realized that not everyone in life is going to like you, so I didn't let it affect me. I also didn't let it bother me because that was my friend's friend and I didn't want to offend her by saying I didn't like her friend, so I let it pass. I took the high road and made sure that she knew I was there for my friends and she didn't have to like me, but just tolerate me.

Towards the last couple of months eighth grade she started making sure I knew how much she didn't like me. One day she came up behind me and hit me in the back of the head. At first I was in awe, because that had really hurt. She started laughing so I didn't understand if she was trying to pick a fight or think of it as a joke. Since she didn't seem like she was going to do anything else, I let it slide. Since I was still trying to be the bigger person, I felt like she was not a major threat and she was trying to get a rise out of me. That was my first mistake.

Then towards the last month of school, she started to become even more aggravated because I would not respond to her actions. So since they say words are like daggers she started using my words against me. She told one of my oldest friends that I had been saying nasty things about her behind her back. That friend became angry with me and when I had asked her what it was I said she told me. I then realized that the bully had took my words and twisted the statement. I became mad with both the bully for saying that, but also my friend seeing as she believed this person more than me. I tried telling my friend that what I said was something totally different and that I hadn't said those hurtful words. Then all of sudden my friends started to ignore me and give me dirty looks. I honestly didn't know what to do, so I hung around my other friends until this situation blew over. That was mistake number two.

One day my friends started to get super mad at me. I had to ask other people why they were mad and they told me it was because I said "again" some mean, nasty things again. I knew then that the girl really didn't like me and she was trying to isolate me from my long time friends. That day at lunch it was made clear that I should just stay clear of that bully until I got a handle on things. I hung out with friends who didn't believe those things, seeing as they didn't trust the bully. But the bully wouldn't let it go. Supposedly there was a rumor going around that, that girl was going to get into a fight with me. At first I thought that was outrageous, seeing as I hadn't done anything wrong. Second she was going to ruin my opportunities of going on a field trip and going to the dance for the end of the year, because if we got into any trouble, whether we started or not, then we would not get to do anything.

Then towards the end of lunch, I saw that she was there waiting at the door of my class. I was so scared because, not only have I never been in a fight, I didn't want to. So I went in through another door, because I had class in the gym and there were two entrances, by then I was crying. As I walked through the door there stood two of my teachers and the campus police officer. They had asked me why I was crying and I realized at that point that the bully had took it too far and I would not let her threaten me. I told them all about what had happened, with my friends by my side to back me up. The police officer said that he understood what was going on and would make sure that nothing would happen and that he would try to prevent the situation.

Once that happened I felt like a weight had been lifted off of my chest. I knew there were still problems that I had to deal with, but in that moment I felt like I was on top of the world. I didn't succumb to violence, but instead told a trusted adult about the problem. I realized that, that was all it took and that words are stronger than actions.

Is That Your True Self #8

In the story The Necklace the character is fantasized with the conception of how society perceives you based on your social class. She strongly believes that money buys you everything and without money you can't live your life to the fullest. She's convinced that her life is a disaster simply because she has no money. She's not living the life she could be if she had simply married a rich man. When her husband is invited to a fancy dinner she's more concerned about what people will say since she knows that she can't afford the fanciest clothes. Then since you can't complete an outfit without accessories she borrows a necklace that she ends up losing.

As a teenager in the 21st Century we are so hung tightly to each other’s opinions of how people perceive us. We are obsessed with the newest trends, clothes, makeup, hairstyles and hair colors. It doesn’t even stop there. We read and watch t.v. which only promotes what a “perfect girl” looks like, which in turn gives us low-self esteem, body and weight issues, and attempts to diet. Do we care? No, not at all. We will still buy all of that useless junk so that we can be “happy” and be just like any one else.

The truth is each and every single one of us is not alike. We come in all different shapes and sizes. Have different hair and eye color. We’re rich and poor and everything else in between. That is what truly makes everyone unique, but we wouldn’t know it if it hit us in our faces at 500 mph. Instead we hid behind our insecurities. We cover it with a bunch of makeup and uncomfortable clothes and let that mask the true beauty. Unlike the woman in the story we have the choice to break out of the façade and become brave, fearless person that is within us all. Will that ever happen? Probably not everyone at one but as an individual that stands as a statement all on its own. We have the choice to be an individual. A leader and not a follower. When that happens we will become our own person. That becomes the true question in this life long battle of standing by ourselves. Don’t be afraid to be alone because soon others will join you when they see your courage.

When the woman lost that necklace she had to step up and take the responsibility of replacing it. The cost you ask? 10 years of hard indebted labor to pay for it back. The lesson learned was you should show people the real you and not some fantasized version of you. Guess what? It’s what on the inside that counts, not the outside. No matter what anyone tells you.

An Cosuming Emotion, Envy #7

"Jealousy is simply and clearly the fear that you do not have value. Jealousy scans for evidence to prove the point - that others will be preferred and rewarded more than you. There is only one alternative - self-value. If you cannot love yourself, you will not believe that you are loved. You will always think it's a mistake or luck. Take your eyes off others and turn the scanner within. Find the seeds of your jealousy, clear the old voices and experiences. Put all the energy into building your personal and emotional security. Then you will be the one others envy, and you can remember the pain and reach out to them. (Jennifer James)"


Jealousy is a powerful emotion, that when used, can consume your whole personality. You become an envious person, which makes you become someone you're not. You lust after something you can't have or something that you want just because someone else has it.

Jealousy is also a controlling emotion. It makes you feel insecure, or fearful, or have anxiety over something so meaningless at times. The truth of the matter is we sometimes don't realize that we are jealous. I think that there are two types of jealousy. One is a physical jealousy, which can roll off of you in green, lusty waves. It's more obvious when you start to express this emotion out loud to others' around you. This type of jealousy is similar to greed. Always wanting more, even when it's not in your possible reach at times. The second type of jealousy is one that is sometimes hard to see. That one is the jealousy that is formed in the mind. At times it's just a minor thought in your head. It's still there. For example, you see someone has a brand new phone. You start to think "Oh. I wish my parents would buy me a new phone." Those thoughts can be brief, but they're still a form of jealousy.

Jealousy can be very unnecessary at times. We as people are such ungrateful human beings, who don't know what we have until it's gone. We let this prevailing emotion consume us, which makes us past on the great and bountiful opportunities that we do have in life. Do we care? Who knows. Sometimes we may not even realize what we could of had.

When jealosy starts to take over we should ask ourselves why. Why do I feel this way? Is there something more I want? Do I really want that, or is something just missing from my life? If more people asked these questions then there would be less crimes and could be the answer to the question of world peace.

In return jealousy can give you nothing. Well, I mean it can give you a greedy and lusty feeling the overpowers you, with no control of how you feel and act. If we truly want something we should do it for ourselves and not because of someone else. It's like President Obama said "Be proud of friends' successes. Ask "What are they doing right?"" Don't make people feel bad because they have something you don't. It's not right and it's not fair when we do it.

I Dream A World

"I dream a world where man
No other man will scorn,
Where love will bless the earth
And peace its paths adorn.
I dream a world where all
Will know sweet freedom's way,
Where greed no longer saps the soul
Nor avarice blights our day.
A world I dream where black or white,
Whatever race you be,
Will share the bounties of the earth
And every man is free,
Where wretchedness will hang its head
And joy, like a pearl,
Attends the needs of all mankind--
Of such I dream, my world! -Langston Hughes"

This poem is outstandingly a vision of the future. Although this future seems so far away, it's truly not. The meaning being Langston Hughes' words may seem complex but it's not. The premise of his poem can easily be understood with the knowledge of his background.

Langston Hughes grew up in the Burroughs of New York, or what is called Harlem, during the time where racism was as common as speaking and dreams for a brighter future, for people of color, were just an imaginative idea in your head. He grew up right in the middle of New York, where white people surrounded the whole perimeter. Back then no one, and I mean no one, wanted people of color anywhere near the new and rich upcoming of New York. Although we try to imagine what it's like to experience racism, we truly haven't. To experience such a passionate hate that makes you want to cower, to crawl in a hole, to feel like you're less important than dirt.

Our generation can only begin to ponder what that's really like. Maybe even more if you're considered different, whether that's determined religiously in a community or standard wise in school. To be honest we're all different, and that's what makes us the individual people we are. That's the point that Langston Hughes is trying to make that it doesn't matter what your race, religion, gender, sexuality that we're all after just one goal in life. That is to live this life as best as we can and hope at the end of it we made a change.

My dream for the world is that we can all make peace. I know that sounds so cliché, but it's honest. I mean we all define ourselves on who will go to heaven and who will go to hell. Did anyone think that we all seem to believe in a god. It may not be your god or their god, but we all seem to have this general idea of god. We all want to end up in peaceful place at the end of our lives. Just like Langston Hughes my dream is a world we can come together and try to live with others' differences. To make this dream come true will take a lot, but it's not impossible. The small differences we can make will make this dream come a little bit closer.

Cultural Underpinnings of Literature

“Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing bad things, but for good people to do bad things, it takes religion. (Weinberg, Steven)"

Religion is a major part of how the world is shaped. Whether you're Catholic, Muslim, or Atheist. Our beliefs or lack thereof, affect the way you live, love, learn, preach, and accept. As a civilization we depend on our religious beliefs to help guide us through life. Through those beliefs we make snap quick decisions; for example, if a person is homosexual, we as a religious civilization believe that "those people" will not go to heaven -- or whatever the equality is in other religions-- that they'll burn in hell and won't be saved. We take that teaching from two thousand year old writings and apply this to present day. I mean we say that we're making all these advances in society, yet we can't and won't change views to a present day living. It's not that we won't try, we feel safer with our teachings and have a hard time accepting new ideas.

Judeo-Christian is a very major effect on Western-Civilization, but more specifically America. While we say that We have the rights to freedom of religion we clearly specify God. On American currency we have "In God We Trust", it's not just any god, it's God with a capital G. We may not force religious views on each other as a country, but we leave hints indicating that our country should believe in God. We're always saying "God Bless America" or "All men... are endowed by their Creator..." how wrong are we to say who we believe in or not. America was founded and created so that anyone who comes here has the equal right to make their own decisions concerning their beliefs. If we tell them what’s right to believe in then we are just as bad as the countries they fled from.

Another way Judeo-Christian affects Western Civilization is it plays a way in the shaping of politics. Up until the 1960's we had never had a Catholic President. Even then it was still difficult for John F. Kennedy to serve in office when he was criticized for his beliefs. Republican-Americans thinking it would shape the way decisions and outcomes were made. Even with our current president, President Barack Obama, first African-American president, is always being ridiculed. He's always being accused of not being a born American citizen or he's a terrorist. We as Americans have lost our teachings.

The most important teaching we have forgotten comes from the Statue of Liberty. Does the Statue of Liberty not state “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!". This meaning we will not judge people who come into our country. Aren’t our ancestors all from another country? Unless you're Native American there is no possible way for us to be a true American. Yes a good half of the American population was born in the United States, but our ancestors were born in Europe, Africa, Spain, China and other countries. Even those who weren't born in America are supposed to be welcomed with opened arms. If our ancestors were, why can’t they?

I mean we block out all of the immigrants from Mexico, yet we let Canadians come and go as they please. When people come from China or Europe or India we have no problem accepting them into our lives. I mean it's not like they'll bring down our reading and math scores. They won't take all of our jobs. Our religious beliefs are a great affects on our moral beliefs. Somewhere along in our lives someone told us that people of color are not as equal as the "white man". That they're ignorant people who we shouldn't give our time of day. Those teachings were taught from our morals. Which most likely come from religion.

The worst that religion has taught us is we don't accept others just because they are different. Specifically people in the gay community. With religion the way it is today they don't think twice about turning them away from the church. Although churches say, "All our welcome in the eyes of God", except gays. There are only five states that allow same-sex marriages and only 5 states that recognize it. To think only 20% of our country accepts or recognizes how people truly are, but to know 80% of our country doesn't is just ridiculous. We can move on in technology and politics but we can't move on in the way we think people are into a modern civilization. We believe what a 2000 year old scripture says. I don't mean any disrespect to those scriptures, but times have changed. What was once considered right, isn't anymore. If God created everyone, then wouldn't he have created the gays. Or are they all created by the devil, and will burn in hell?

Religion is part of our daily lives; whether we like it or not. There's no way to avoid it at all. Religion is what intertwines this complicated world we all live in. If there was no religion, which is impossible, we would all be lost souls searching for some structure in our lives.

The Meaning of Your Life- Haiku

If you die today, and, no one remebers you, did you live at all?
Was your life so forgettable that no one wants to call you a known?
Did it mean that there was no point to move on that path to begin with?

Show And Tell

"All of us have moments in our childhood where we come alive for the first time. And we go back to those moments and think, This is when I became myself. (Dove, Rita)" http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/childhood.html

What can I truly say about what I have to show you? You may just see it as a baby blanket. With baby Mickey Mouse, baby Minnie Mouse and baby Pluto, sleeping peacefully. A childish thing, but to me it is so much more. It was there from almost the very first moments of my life. From when I was brought home from the hospital, to now. When I'm cold it's the blanket that keeps me warm. When I'm crying, it helps wipe away those tears of sadness. When I would here the yelling, it helped block out the loud sounds.

Now as the years go by the colors may fade from being washed, there may be wholes from when I dragged it by my side, and there may be blood stain from when I had a horrible boo-boo. All I know is that the picture on it may be fading, but the memories I have with it are still shinning bright and will never fade away. Not anytime soon do I hope to put this blanket away.

My Sophomore Year

“The difference between school and life? In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson (Tom Bodett).”

My sophomore year has been an experience in the making. I felt like this year I've grown up so much. This year I finally realized that I’m going to be an adult soon. It was time to start breaking my stupid, childish habits and to start making responsible decisions. For a while, I’ve been dragging my feet and started to get in a lazy habit. I realized at the beginning of sophomore year that in a few short three years I’m going to be in college. That means that I need to work my but off so that I can get into any college of my dreams.

“Dreams are like stars...you may never touch them, but if you follow them they will lead you to your destiny (Unknown).”

This year I finally found my calling, the health field. To be more specific my goals are to become a Physician Assistant. So this year, whenever an opportunity presented itself to further help me down the road, I grabbed that opportunity and ran with it. I know that sometimes people are too young to know what to do for the rest of their lives, but I say they’re wrong. If you can dream it, you can achieve it. No matter how dorky that sounds. From the quote above I’ve learned this year that dreams can sometimes so far away they seem impossible. I think that if you can take the right steps that you’re dream can be a long, bumpy road away.

I use to think that teachers didn’t know what they were talking about and that there’s no point of tests. I mean seriously how is knowing the radius of a circle going to help me in my future? I think I finally realized that they just teach me and it’s up to me to figure out how I am going to use it in my life. This year I’ve learned patience and I’ve realized that while I’m on my way to my dreams that it won’t hurt me hearing about net ionic compounds in Chemistry.
I can finally see the little picture and the big picture. I can see so much more now that I’ve learned to see outside the small picture I stand in and the big picture I’m walking in to. With the help and support of family and great friends I can achieve anything. The path is bumpy, long, with obstacles in the way but that’s okay. I’ve learned this year that the people in your life don’t get in your way; they’re only trying to help you. I’ve also learned about karma and positive energy. So if my friends and family can help me on my journey there’s no reason that I can’t help them willingly. In the end I feel rewarded just by their presence and their joy that comes from me helping.

This year I’ve not only learned about myself, I’ve also learned about my family. The difficulties it took for them to get here and the work and struggles it took to stay here. When I hear about all of their hardships, and what they’ve suffered, I became aware that my problems were tiny compare to everyone else. It made me realize that just because I’m tired from staying up, I should be grateful that I had somewhere to sleep.

This is a year I’ll never forget. The reason why is because the most important thing I've learned is to become the better person I know I am. I’ve opened myself up to the world and now it’s time to start embracing it. I may be tired and hungry from getting up so early, but that feeling is great. It’s just a little sacrifice I have to make to get to my dreams. I feel with my heart and soul that I’m on the right path. Whether I’ll end up there is up to me. I don’t know where I’m going but I’ve learned from my path that at anytime I can change it.

Who Am I?

Who am I? I am so many things just not one word can describe me. I am a person. I feel. I touch. I learn. I love. I have emotions. I'm the person who does what she is told. I am a daughter, a sister, a niece, a cousin, someone's friend, a student, and a child trying to find her place in this world. I have a life to be grateful for, dreams that I will reach and a family and friends to catch me when I fall. I can be many things also. I could be a doctor, a surgeon, a lawyer, a mom or a wife. I can be or will be so many things if I get a chance.

I try to be very unique. I have a mind that sees the picture of life. I see things more openly than others might. I have a mind that is so intelligent and will use it when no one thinks I will. I have dreams that people think are far out of my reach but I will prove that I can reach them by doing it.

My dreams are dreams that people think are impossible and sometimes silly, but can be reached easily with my hard determination. I dream of knowing my place in this world. I dream of going to the best college and becoming a pediatric nurse or a charge nurse. I dream of having a successful job, complete with a nice car and a large house after paying off medical school loans. I dream of having a faithful husband and respectful children. I dream that my sisters will be successful in life without too many difficulties. I dream that my mother will succeed without anyone's help. I dream that I will have a life without too many difficulties as well. I also dream that I will be loved unconditionally.

I love so many things in life. The one thing I love the most is ME. If I don't love me, then how can I take care of myself or love anyone else? I love my family and my friends because they are my life support. I love music because it can change my mood instantly. I love TV because there are so many great TV shows, such as One Tree Hill, GossipGirl, 90210, All My Children, One Life To Live, and Supernatural. I love food especially hamburgers and french-fries with a Dr. Pepper or a Sunkist. I love California because I was born there. I love the warm air there and especially the beach because you can sit there and let all your worries be released. I love to read books in the sun because you escape to that place that the book is describing. The best books I have read are the Twilight Series, the Gossip Girl Series and the A-List Series. I mainly love life. Although there are many things I hate in life.

Things I hate in life would have to be my father because he could never support our family. I hate war because it is unnecessary and very hurtful to our world. I hate global warming because it causes the temperature to get very hot and very cold. I hate the cold because there's no purpose for the cold. I hate spiders because just like the cold they have no purpose unless you need to scare the hell out of someone or want to have poison injected into your body and be in pain. These things would have to be the top five things I hate mainly in life.

There are many keys to success sometimes they can be right under your nose and not know how it helped you. A main key to success are the people who make up the family you have created. Your education can be a big factor in success because it helps you not be so ignorant to the world out there. The one factor to success that is hidden, is trying to find your purpose in life because once you know your purpose, you can go out of the way to show everybody else.

So that's who I am. I am a person. I feel. I touch. I learn. I love. I have emotions. I'm the person who does what she is told. I am a daughter, a sister, a niece, a cousin, someone’s friend, a student, and a child trying to find her place in this world. I will reach the goals I have set in life to become a successful, happy and loving person that everyone knows I am. Hopefully you know me just a little bit better.

Wisdom Quotation

"If we lie, and the people we lie to lie back to us, what's the truth? (O'Donoghue, Maureen)"

Lying- the deliberate act of deviating from the truth.

As human beings we go through our days telling lies. Whether we realize it or not or whether we want to or not. It sometimes comes out as easily as breathing. We tell lies to cover things up, to tell people what we think we want to hear. You know what's horrible about that. You tell lies to people to get their reactions but what we all forget is that their reactions are just lies that they don't even know that they're telling us.

Most of the time we tell lies to get us through the day. We lie about what we think. We lie to ourselves how we feel. What we think we believe in. We just can't help it because we've gotten so use to it.

How do we even pick up lying? I think it starts with our parents. They tell us so many lies that it clouds our vision. They tell us lies that their parents told them. They tell us how Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy are all real. You know what? When we're older and have children we'll tell them these same lies. Why? Who knows. Maybe it's like we tell them lies because we know deep down as children we were happy when these lies were told to us.

You really want to know something? Lies don't fix anything. At least not in the long run. We say everything's fine. You know what? It's not fine. It's never ever going to be fine. If we can't see that then what are we seeing. From all of the lies we tell and people tell back we might as well be upside down, or on another planet. As long as theirs lies in this world we're so far from the actual truth.

What's the worst thing that can happen? People see or hear the truth. That blanket that's covering their eyes from all of those lies gets thinner? If we tell the truth today then you get to know the truth and not truth that forms from the lies.

An Animal For A Day

If I could be anyone or anything for a day I would be an animal, a dog to be more specific. They get to do whatever they want for the whole day. They have such an open mind to the world around them. They never seemed to bother at what will happen next to them. They're much like free spirits that touch our lives one way or another.

They see the world in black and white. Since they really are like spirits from another world they see the great in people and they see the faults in people. They are always reliable to people and will be their owners' second mind without a second to waste. They are animals who see right through everyone's souls.

They see the world from down below. They look up to everyone to move along. Most of the time we think we guide them along the path. Although they lead the way whether we want them to or not. They help us make the most minor decisions. Whether it's to walk straight ahead or turn or chase them down the streets. Dog are such great leaders. That is a quality that I admire greatly.

They know how to survive. When they're on their own they know what it takes. If it means that you eat out of the trash so you don't go hungry they will do that. If it means you have to find shelter at night they will. If they have to run away from the dogcatcher when they want to take you to the pound, they will run until their legs won't run no more. They survive anything life has to throw at them. That is a great quality that most of us don't have. We are too much comfortable in our surroundings to be stripped of it then to be expected to survive.

The last reason why I would want to be a dog for a day is because theyare here for just the simple things in life. They look for love and mostly find it. They can give you the puppy dog look and get away with things. Most importantly they get to lay around most of the day and get to ponder in their own thoughts about life around them.

Betrayal

"One should rather die than be betrayed. There is no deceit in death it delivers precisely what it has promised. Betrayal, though... betrayal is the willful slaughter of hope (Deitz, Steven). "



You never think that it will happened to you. You think that you're a nice person and that you only try to please yourself. You think that you respect everyone you know. When it happens you never see it coming. It's the sharpest pain in your back and consumes you. It hurts your soul and you don't know if you'll ever recover. From stories in the Bible or day to day, you just never know when it will happened.


The Elves, by the Brothers Grimm
A Children’s Story of Betrayal and Secrets

A king loves an apple tree so much that he puts a curse on anyone who eats its fruit. His three daughters, believing that the curse will not affect them, eat the apples and sink underground. This marks a descent into the Underworld. We, too, curse ourselves unknowingly when we make bad choices, such as hide our talents or enter bad relationships. This damages the innocent, joyful aspect of our souls, represented by the three princesses, and we spiral down into the underworld of depression, abuse, inertia and self-hatred.

Soon, we notice that joy is missing from our lives. Thus the King decrees that any man who finds the princesses may marry one of them. Three huntsmen join in the quest. They represent the aggressive, courageous element of our psyche.

Encounter with the Trickster
They find an uninhabited but furnished castle with food laid out on a table. On the first day, the eldest stays back to guard the castle. At mid-day, a gnome enters, begging for bread. When the huntsman obliges, the creature drops the food, asking him to pick it up. When the huntsman does so, the gnome beats him. The next day, the second brother suffers the same fate.

Finally, it is the last brother’s turn. When the gnome drops the bread, he refuses to pick it up. When the gnome insists, the huntsman beats him. Thereupon the gnome, revealing himself as a trickster figure, brings the huntsman to an empty well where the princesses are hidden, warning him not to trust his brothers.

Underworld Quest
All three brothers in turn are lowered into the well, but only the youngest reaches the bottom. He finds each princess delousing a many-headed dragon. The horror of the situation reflects the nature of the Underworld, where all the refuse and filth of the psyche, everything we shy away from in terror or disgust, are present, and where our souls’ lost, childlike part is imprisoned. The huntsman frees the princesses and sending them up into the Land of the Living. This, we believe, is where the tale ends.

But it is not so. When it is the huntsman’s turn to be hauled up, his brothers cut the basket’s rope, leaving him underground, and force the princesses into secrecy. It is a different betrayal from the first one; this is a deliberate, malicious act. The brothers’ heinous act represents our own self-destructive impulses. Even after we take steps to extricate ourselves from bad scenarios, we often betray ourselves, by, for instance, returning to a destructive relationship. Hence we remain trapped in the Underworld.

The huntsman finds a flute hanging on a wall. After some time, he plays it, and soon, the room is filled with elves who help him escape. This indicates that even in the most hopeless situations, when we feel most alone, there is still beauty and strength within to be drawn upon.

Breaking Silence
However, the trials are not yet over. When the huntsman reaches the king’s castle, the princesses faint and the king imprisons him. Seeing his daughters weep at this, he asks them what the matter is. They reply that it is a secret. The king suggests that they tell it to a stove. Eavesdropping on their confession, he learns the truth, sentences the evildoers to death and gives the huntsman his due reward. Only then, the story concludes. In the same way, we find closure only when the true story of betrayal and abuse is told, allowing us to move on to a new chapter in our lives.

What I have learned from this story is that even the most trust worthy people in your life will betray you, not just strangers. As you read in the story even in the darkness of the betrayal brought on by his brothers he still finds the light in it all. That betrayal is just one point and that we need to move on. Sometimes betrayal is brought on by other emotions such as jealousy or some other emotion that starts to darken us. It is explained that these our human emotions that we are not proud of, but life moves on after that.

Read more at Suite101: The Elves, by the Brothers Grimm: A Children’s Story of Betrayal and Secrets http://fairytales.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_elves_by_the_brothers_grimm#ixzz0ohxo563I

Movie Proposal For Marked

Marked by Kristin Cast and P.C. Cast

My proposal is to make the first book of the series House of Night, Marked, into a movie. I believe this book is an original idea, is well thought through, and has an attention grabbing plot. Unlike the other vampire storylines these vampyres seem to just live normal lives and interact with the rest of the world. They need the same things you do and their blood lust is sometimes the least of their worries. They may not sparkle and they also eat and sleep but they are unique as individuals. The other difference is if your body rejects the Change you can die. In this world you get to start over and find who you really are, if you dare.

This movie would starts off in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma where 16 year old Zoey Redbird is just living her life. She’s just like everyone else with her worries. She has a mom and stepdad she hates, she has a boyfriend, Heath, a best friend, and has the worries and angst just like any teenager, like passing her geometry test. One day at school she gets a surprise visit from a visitor who marks her. Now in this world getting Marked means that you have the gene to become a vampyre. Yes vampyres with a y. In this world vampyres are known in this world. They make up the actors, singers, musicians, artists, and historians. Once you are marked you are sent to one of the House of Nights where you will spend the next four years learning everything there is to know about becoming an adult vampyre.

Before she arrives at the House of Night she has a vision of Nyx saying everything will be fine. When she arrives at the house of night in Tulsa, Oklahoma she is overwhelmed. The reason why is because she has had her tattoo filled in. The tattoos on each vampyre first starts off on their foreheads as students and will be filled in after the four years at school. Later the tattoos will spread all over the body, once they have lead and pleased the people around them and their goddess, Nyx. The tattoos sort of represent fulfillment of destiny. Zoey stands out with her tattoo filled in already. Although it means that she is very special to Nyx. Since Zoey’s tattoo is filled in the High Priestess, Neferet, Nyx’s right hand woman, says she will be Zoey’s mentor at the House of Night.

When she arrives at her dorm she meets her roommate Stevie Rae. She’s an Oklahoma girl who loves the country and outdoors. They both go to the cafeteria where Stevie Rae introduces her friends, Damien and the Twins, Shaunee and Erin. She also meets Aphrodite, the leader of the Dark Daughters, who has the special talents of having visions of tragic events. Neferet tells Zoey that she should join the Dark Daughters, much to Aphrodite’s dismay, because she saw Aphrodite and her boyfriend, Erik, in a compromising position. Aphrodite then tells Zoey that she’s in charge and that Zoey should stay away from her boyfriend.

At a spiritual event at the school all of the elements are called in a circle. Zoey feels their immense power on her and notices that this is not how everyone else reacts to the elements; wind, fire, water, earth, and spirit. With a little questioning her and her friends discover that she has affinities for all the elements. This is rare for not only a fledgling but also full grown vampyres. When her and her friends cast a circle of their own they also realize that everyone has a special affinity for one element. Damien represents air, Shaunee, fire, Erin, water, Stevie Rae, earth and Zoey represents spirit. They also form this circle when Aphrodite calls forth an evil spirit. Together they all defeat the spirits trying to eat them and are thought of as heroes. At the end Zoey is rewarded something special from the goddess Nyx.

Characters:

Zoey Redbird, Stevie Rae Johnson, Damien Maslin, The Twins (Shaunee Cole and Erin Bates), Neferet, Erik Knight, Aphrodite and Nyx.

A Time When I Needed To Be Brave

“When their adventures do not succeed, however, they run away; but it was the mark of a brave man to face things that are, and seem, terrible for a man, because it is noble to do so and disgraceful not to do so (Aristotle).” http://thinkexist.com/quotation/when_their_adventures_do_not_succeed-however-they/147185.html

As I heard the last bell of the day ringing loudly, I quickly walked past my classmates through the hallway so that I could walk to the bus stop with my sister to get home. The halls still smelled faintly of lunch and perfume and cologne of the people as I walked by. I walked through the gray and green courtyard now full with eager students waiting to go home. I waited next to the fully blossom tree, that smelled like seafood or the Pacific Ocean near San Francisco, with the sun pouring down on my body. As I looked for my sister I could hear in the background the faint sounds of conversations, laughs, and goodbyes of friends. My friend walked up to me and said, “Where’s Mary?” In a frustrated tone I said “I honestly don’t know.”

As we waited for a few more minutes we both grew more frustrated and were worried about missing the bus. We discussed it and both agreed that she might have walked to the bus stop, which was weird of her to do. As we walked the dirt path, in a fast pace toward the bus stop, I could see the worried look in my friend’s face. I felt like my face looked just like hers. We walked silently on the path with only the burning sun on our backs and only the sounds of rocks being kicked and cars passing by. I could smell the scent of freshly cut grass as we walked past the fields to our right.

Once we got to the first stop we quickly asked people if they had seen Mary. They told us they hadn’t seen her past them. I was quickly getting worried and frustrated. I could feel my heart pound deep in my chest knowing the bus would be coming soon. We both decided to walk to the second stop. We quickly walked on the pavement that leads right to the bus stop in front of Walgreens. When we got to the bus stop we still didn’t see her. We were now getting too worried and with the bus quickly approaching, we took a chance and decided to check the bus and see if she had gotten on. When the bus approached I quickly got on the bus and as searched the bus for the familiar face all I could see was a bunch of strangers, some familiar classmates’ faces, and the low murmurs of the people. I quickly got off the bus and my friend and I quickly walked back to the school.

I’m not sure if it was the walking or the worried, knot feeling in my stomach, but my heart started to beat faster than I could ever have imagined. We walked once again on the pavement and back again on the dirt path that lead back to school. Right as we both walked into the courtyard, reassuringly, there was Mary talking to her friend. I yelled “Mary where have you been. We need to leave. Now!” But as I looked into her eyes I could tell that her eyes were just as worried and terrified as mine had been just a few moments ago. She told that someone had turned her in to the nurse that she had been hurting herself. Right then my heart dropped. I felt like I could just lose it all then, but instead I kept a composed face. Only a couple or months ago I had found that that had happened and told her to promise me that she would never do that again and I would never tell, but she didn’t and I felt so guilty. I could feel the panic and a hot tear in the corner of my eye, but I quickly wiped it away. I needed to do whatever I could.

We walked to the nurse’s office where she explained what had happened. Right then a team of paramedics, doctors and police officers walked in the tight, cramped room and took my sister in an even smaller room and started to ask her questions. They closed the door for some privacy, but still asked me to walk into the hallway. The janitor was mopping the floor and there was a hint of lemon in the air. The school counselor explained to me again what was happening. I just nodded trying to understand how I would tell my mom. Then the nurse asked me to come into her office once again. She told me that they were going to take Mary to the UNM Hospital and have them evaluate her. “Do you have a way of contacting your mother, because the number I have isn’t in-service?” the nurse asked me impatient. I told her that my mom couldn’t find her phone and she was at UNM studying, but I didn’t know which library it was. As I talked frustrated on the phone trying to locate the room my mom was in. When I finally did reach the right room, which took almost five minutes, they said I had just missed her. I told them thank you for the help and hung up angrily. I felt like my heart could explode right there and then.

The school sub-police officer came up and told me that they were going to take Mary to the hospital; I could feel that burn in my throat waiting to start crying my eyes out. I told him where my mom would be and he said very kindly, unlike the nurse, that he would take me to go get her, considering she didn’t know what was going on and she didn’t have a car. As I walked with the police officer to his car, I could see in the corner of my eye the kids laughing wondering if my sister would ever laugh like they were right then and there. We reached his cruiser and he held the back door open, waiting for me to get in. He told me that we would leave in a minute he just had to make a call. Once he shut the door, I gave in and decided to start crying as hard as I could before we reached my mom, because I knew I would have to be the strongest person I was capable of being for her sakes.

A few moments later I heard the police officer walking around and wiped away the tears. We pulled out of the school parking lot and as I looked back I wondered if that one of those days that was supposed to be great was meant to end that way. I knew that deep down that this was only the beginning of my day and that the future ahead would only be tougher and rougher. As we drove down 4^th Street I was getting anxious and that knot in my stomach that I thought was gone grew tighter as I waited to explain the one thing in my mom’s life that would bring so much pain upon her.

As I sat on the plastic seat I could feel that heavy burden on my chest but knew I needed to not be only strong for me but my sister as well as my mom. The cars and building passed by but I saw nothing, thinking of the bath in front of me.

The Moral of Life Stories

The purpose of the Starfish Story is to show how each one of us makes a difference in people's lives. They can be big or small but it really doesn't matter. In the story all the boy is doing is throwing the starfish into the ocean before they die. By just throwing one in at a time the boy has already made a big difference. In life we make difference every day whether we realize or not. They're either bad or good.

In my life I hope that most I make great differences. Most differences are the outcomes of decisions. If I didn't want to study for an important test then I get a bad grade and that means I made a bad difference in my own life. When you make bad decisions you are absolutely, positively going to make bad differences. Vice-versa for great decisions and great differences. We will always make difference whether we want to or not. They're hard to avoid.

Our differences either affect our lives or other peoples lives. A difference I want to try to make is for my little sister. She tries in school but she doesn't want to try her hardest. So I show her that I work hard, try to get into advanced classes and that I get a 4.0. By showing her this example I hope I make a good difference in her life. The reason why is because I see the potential she has and what she's capable of. I don't want her to think her way is to fail. Then she makes a bad difference in her own life.

A Person In The Past

To the left is a picture of my Grandma Margaret and her brother Robert in the late 1930's. My dad is named after her brother. Even in this picture I can see the love she has for people.

“I've never tried to block out the memories of the past, even though some are painful. I don't understand people who hide from their past. Everything you live through helps to make you the person you are now (Loren, Sophia)." http://thinkexist.com/quotations/past/2.html

If I had a time machine to go back in time I would not want to meet someone famous. I honestly don't see the point. Why would you want to meet someone who really doesn't understand why you want to know who they are? If I was given the opportunity to meet someone in the past I would want to meet my paternal grandma in 1940 to meet her as a teenager. She was born in 1922 and died in 1960 when my dad was eight, so he never really got to know her and I will never know her.

I want to know what she was like. I want to know what her dreams were. Not just for herself but also her six children and her grandchildren. I would want to know what kind of person she was. My dad described her as a 5'11'' blonde hair, blue eyed woman who was just as beautiful and elegant as Marilyn Monroe. Only she had real blonde hair. I want to know what her parents were like. Who I remind her of? I just want to know someone who I don't get to know in my lifetime.

She must have been a wonderful woman who made this world a beautiful and happier place. She was a kind gentle woman. She was a proud Catholic who just maybe wanted to live a little while longer. I don’t know about you but to know that you’ll never know someone who people still talk about today. My mom tells me stories about her even though she didn’t meet her or even know her. The way my mom talks about her is with such admiration and respect. She tells me I have a lot of her traits.

If I got to talk to her I would want to know what she would want to do 50 years from now. I would want to know her before her life really did start. She was married at the age of about 22. She had four children and was widowed before the age of 30. Then married again had two more children, one who died at the age of two, then to die before the age of 40. She had asthma in the winter which was a factor that lead to her death. She died in November in Iowa which is a freezing, cold state so that didn’t help when she was ill.

My dad’s memories of her are her reading him the bible she bought when she was pregnant with him. He says the only thing that kept her going was her faith. She would read him passages and sometimes when she was too sick she would make him or his siblings read it. Today I still have that bible and when I touch it and the handkerchief that still holds the place I feel like I can connect with her. That somehow it makes it possible to time travel back in time to someone who made such an impact on people’s lives.

Even though I know time travel is impossible now, I hope one day I get to meet her. Whether it’s in the past or in another world it would be such a blessing to meet her. I hope when I met her that she would be proud of me to call me her granddaughter.

My Family History

My family history starts off with my maternal grandmother’s story that starts off in the mid 1770’s in Chihuahua, Chi, Mexico. There my so many great grandparents I don’t know exactly, but they were married in a small Catholic Church. One of their descendants was Justa, my great-great grandma. At the age of about 20 she became a natural citizen. She married a man named Luciano. His father’s name was Francisco and he had lived in Safford, Texas. The more likely reason he lived there was because that part of Texas resembles Italy. More than likely where my great-great-great grandfather’s family was from. An interesting story about my 4^thgrandfather is that as a little boy he was stolen by Native Americans and lived with them for about 7 years. When he returned to his family he always wore a bandanna to remind him of what he went through. He also sat or slept on the floor, even as an adult. He was said to have spoken some dialect of Native American.

One of Justa and Luciano’s children is my great-grandma, Valentina Rede and she was born on February 14, 1918 in Artesia, New Mexico. She was one out of ten children and her father was a ranch handler. She wrote me a letter a few years back talking about her childhood. She said she went to school ten miles away from her home in a one room school house where you had to actually build a fire. All of their sons had enlisted for the war so my great-great grandparents moved to Monterrey, California where they purchased a ranch.

When she was in her teens she married my great-grandpa Carlos Hernandez on a snowy day in winter. When my great-grandfather enlisted in World War II and my great-grandmother missed her family who lived in California so she decided to move there. She only took two suitcases and some mementos and was never happier. From there they moved to Salinas, California, where her father built her a house there. They had eight children, four sons and four daughters which one is my grandma, Alicia. Once they outgrew the house they built another house next door but still kept the old one. Both of the houses still stand and my great-grandma still lives in the house. In 2004 my great-grandpa Carlos passed away.

When my grandma was 16 she married my grandpa Domingo Sr. Reyes. When they were still a young couple they lived with my great-grandparents. They raised their three oldest children, my Tia Deborah, my Tio Anthony and my mom, Anthony’s twin, Alexandria. When they saved enough money they move to another house where they then had three more boys, Raymond, Robert, and Domingo Jr.

My grandparents were very hard working people. They both worked sometimes two jobs and still managed to raise a total of six children. How they did it I really don’t know, it just took a lot of rules and values. My grandparents actually knew Cesar Chavez. He actually visited her family’s house, with the children upstairs of course, and talked to both of my grandparents about their opinions on the farm workers.

My grandparents made sure their children were sent to school, but when it came to grades it couldn’t matter much. That didn’t stop my mom who graduated with credits to spare and was the first one to graduate from community college and in fall 2010 my mom will be graduating from UNM. She works very hard and works some more.

She married my dad, Robert, who is Irish, in September 1992. He was born to Margaret and Groden O’Donoghue and has four half siblings and one sister, who passed away at the age of two. My grandma’s family, the Hollands were from Germany and came to Ellis Island in 1922 while my great-grandma, Lavinia Holland, was pregnant with my grandmother. From there they moved to Philadelphia. She was married before my grandpa where she took the name Margaret Jackson and they had four children, one son and three daughters. He suddenly passed away. My grandpa’s parents were from Ireland who came to Ellis Island because of the potato famine. They took work on the railroads and one my great-grandpa was the mortician. He is actually in the history books in the library in Iowa. We are the proud O’Donoghues and we’re very proud of our Irish-Catholic Faith. My grandma Margaret passed away in 1960 and left her five children behind. My dad’s fondest memories of his mom were her reading the bible to him, which I have. My dad’s four older half-siblings were put into foster care because my grandpa was not their biological father, but my dad still has kept relationships with them throughout the years.

My parents lived in Des Moines, Iowa to take care of my dad’s father, Groden, who had Alzheimer’s. When he passed away in 1993 they moved back to Sacramento, California where they had three daughters, myself, the oldest, MaryMargaret and Gillian.

In July of 2003 my family decided to move back to my mom’s roots in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was a new start for my family. Unfortunately, at the beginning of 2006 my dad left us and put the responsibilities to raise me and my sisters on my mom. We haven’t talked to him since. My mom now is going to college and still manages to raise us. She is legally blind but that does not stop my mom from overcoming obstacles. She raises us to do extremely well in school and still go to college no matter what we major in. She is personally my hero and the greatest family of all.