I Feel Loved

“Your dad is dead!” I remember the statement so vividly. I remember the looks on everyone’s faces. I remember it all like it was yesterday. I was nine when my world spiraled out of control. My dad decided to take himself out of the world and leave us behind. He was in a lot of pain, and he didn’t know what to do with it. At first alcohol was his answer to the pain; but in the end it just left him hurting more than anything else. Things weren’t always miserable in our house. There were plenty of…

random act of kindness, I chose to help some individuals with special needs. My father is an Athletic Director and special education teacher at the AGWSR middle school. He has to deal with kids that have special needs in school. I decided that my random act of kindness was to take the Friday of fall break and go to the middle school and help my father with the special needs kids. My father and the students were unaware of the task I was about to perform. That Friday of fall break I went to the…

their talents. I find this topic very interesting because sports is always going to be around, from pop warner levels to the professionals. I’ve recently been grateful enough to be a collegiate athlete. It is a hard task to balance being a student and an athlete because you are constantly working on your craft and studying. I would have certainly loved the idea of being paid to do what I loved while studying in the field of my interest. As I become more aware of both sides of the argument I tend…

actions. In particular, I will always remember Dr. Elliott. I had broken my arm and was desperately in need of an x-ray. At the time, my father was writing his dissertation and had recently lost his job as a chaplain, and my mother was unemployed. When my father worked as a chaplain, my family received health insurance. My mother ensured that we took full advantage of this benefit, so she always took me and my brother to Cook Children’s Hospital for routine checkups. I loved going to the…

I had never seen the ocean before. I had seen charcos or “puddles”, as they call it here. I had seen ponds and wells as well, but never the ocean. You see, my homeland is in the center between land and the ocean. My homeland is called El Rincon de Don Pedro, located in the state of Michoacan, Mexico. From El Rincon de Don Pedro to the ocean, it’s about 572 km or 355.424 miles, about a 7 hr. 31 min. drive. My family and I couldn’t afford to drive such distance. We didn’t have enough money to…

grade when my parents got an email asking if I wanted to do traveling softball. I had just finished my first season of VAA softball and my friend Katie and I decided it sounded like fun. I didn't really know what it meant to be on a travelling softball team back then, I just thought it would be as laid back as VAA. My first year I loved it and I had lots of fun and made lots of new friends. I would practice with my dad often so that I could get better. Then I continued with softball all the way…

Bigger Than I Really Am It was a normal summer afternoon when my mom called me into her bedroom. I had no ideas what to do for my 15th birthday on July 16th. I figured I would just see a movie, just like everyone normally does. I recently picked up an interest in Marvel movies and characters and my mom had actually taken notice. “Why don’t you go to this Wizard World thing? That Stan Lee guy you talk about is going to be there, and some Walking Dead characters.” Stan Lee is one of the original…

I was suffering from a significant mental illness and I was expected to die in my 25th year of my life. I couldn’t keep up with any schoolwork and I was always last in the list. Because of misery and my conniving bullies, I had no friends and I was the odd one out. I shrewd like any other kid in my previous years, but my misery just kept growing stronger every heartbeat. The depressing memories reoccurred like a faulty record player. I causally walked up to my locker, my depression following…

Being one of the only latino families in the community of Medford, I grew up aware of the fact that I wasn’t as similar as my classmates around me. By the time I had been old enough to understand this, I had already received subtle hints and jokes that referred to my race. It didn’t bother me then, until I was aware of the assumptions that came with it. In the summer before 2nd grade, the most talked about event was “Sign Up Day”. It was a day in which we could go and choose our extracurricular…

When I arrived at the training grounds, everyone were in groups talking amongst themselves. I walk up infront of everyone, clearing my throat to get everyone's attention. “Sorry to disappoint you cheerleaders, but Ethan couldn't make it so let's get to work to get it over with, shall we?” I say with authority laced in my voice. “Today we are working in our wolf forms so shift and follow my lead. Have your mindlink open incase I try to contact y’all.” I command shifting into my wolf. It has…