December 2002

If you asked me "What was your best day ever and why?”, My response wouldn 't be filled with a spectacular event, happiness, and great things happening around me; it would be an average day of my life ending with a realization of my true beauty. Have you ever seen these products:lipstick, eyeliner,mascara, hair extensions, lingerie, skin bleaching, plastic surgery and etc. All these products are seeing on your television screen in the form of commercials promoting them for women. All these…

The “Best Years of Your Life” My life is a bit different from what we call “normal”. While most teens my age were going to school dances, kicking it with their boyfriends or killing it on the sports field. I on the other hand was in a hospital bed trying to feel somewhat normal. I just have to say that it wasn’t always like this for me. I was once your normal teen, talking to guys, destroying the soccer field and going out and partying on the weekends. That only lasted for a short time tho. And…

Taking care of people has always been my passion ever since I was a little girl. Every time my mother and I would have to go to the grocery store I always love to pick out the things we needed and helped my mother to put the groceries up. I even used to try to help the bagger if there was a bagger with the groceries, even if they were too heavy for me. As I got older I kept that same helping attitude. I helped out in as many ways as I could by volunteering downtown to feed the homeless, I even…

In the story The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is a self-centered warrior who feels as if he will never face defeat. Odysseus’ men are also selfish and constantly make decisions based on the well-being of themselves and with total disregard for others. However, throughout their journey amongst the many islands of Greece, they learn to be more humble and they realize that life isn’t always about winning. Odysseus and his men learn to be humble by making mistakes, having bad consequences, and…

Have you ever stopped for a second to analyze your life? Many times when someone struggles, it is because of their outlook. Being negative about the obstacles that are faced in life is no way to get by. Taking a second to analyze, and possibly regroup, is never something that anyone should be ashamed of. I believe that with a positive outlook on life a person can do whatever they put their mind to. For the past few weeks, I have been going through an obstacle in life that has not been easy for…

In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, the concept of truth is developed and bent and flipped in on itself over and over, especially in “How to Tell a True War Story.” In this chapter, O’Brien sets abstract definitions to the seemingly concrete idea of truth. These definitions of a “true war story,” as convoluted and contradictory as they seem, all ultimately prove to be true, just as all versions of a story are true because the story changes as the emotions that drive it change. In the end,…

Imagine being a sweet person, therefore wanting to be friends with everyone. Imagine being attacked out of nowhere. Imagine all you wanted to do is be nice, consider one’s feeling, yet you did not want to hurt anyone. Imagine, imagine hard being a person who is always outspoken and just wants to voice their opinion. In “No Tears for Frankie,” writer Gina Greenlee speaks about a childhood bully who drastically affected her life and had to go through it all alone, with a rewarding feeling of…

Conducing the analysis, I have discovered that everyone including myself sees me differently. A persons point of view is going to be different on their public self, private self, and their ideal self. Mostly everyone wishes they could be different or like someone they know, also what someone does in their spare time they might not do in public which starts your focus on your private and public self. Someone’s private self is how they are when they’re alone. When I’m alone it gives me…

Day by day, our life continues to change as a result of a gap between my parents and myself. As my mother, Guadalupe and my dad Rene continue to live their lives as if these changes did not affect them, they will not understand the struggles of my teenage lifestyle. For me, my life is completely different compare to my parents when it comes communication with the outside world. Besides the fact that our way of communicating is different, my sense of fashion and expression is beyond what a…

I read Salvation by Langston Hughes. When Langston wrote this article he was telling a story about a time in his life when he felt terrible about himself and started to question his religious beliefs. In Salvation Langston is under the impression that you must actually see God to come to him. There are many different beliefs and practices that revolve around God yet many people are still unsure about their religious Identity. Similar to Langston’s confusion about his faith, I was once confused…