Goldie Barajas
English 1A
10/4/10
Change for the Future
One of the things that I criticize the most in people is when they exaggerate or create unnecessary drama about insignificant arguments. However, when it came to my own personal experiences with my ex-boyfriends, I was always the one to worsen the arguments by being dramatic. In my past relationships with boys, I noticed that not staying calm and exaggerating about an argument would make the argument worse rather than solving it. I would like my future relationships with boys to be healthier in the way that I can manage to control the dramatic side of me. Therefore, what I wish I could change about myself is the tendency to exaggerate when it comes to arguing with boys, with who I have an emotional bond with, because it triggers stress in me and it hurts the relationship.
Being dramatic about arguments with my ex-boyfriends was and still is stressful for me. I tend to turn a little argument into a huge one, which causes me to be stressed until I resolve it. When I am stressed it is difficult for me to concentrate and get homework or other tasks done. I feel frustrated and helpless at the fact that I cannot get my tasks done because I am thinking about what is stressing me. I want this cycle to stop because it is not healthy for me when an argument tenses me enough to impede me from accomplishing my daily tasks. Also, stress triggers me to be depressed, which is bad for my emotional health. I do not wish to feel overwhelmed by stress and so this is one of the reasons why I would like to change my tendency to exaggerate about insignificant arguments with boys.
In addition, the second reason why I would like to change my tendency to aggravate my arguments with boys is that exaggerating hurts my relationship with that significant other. When I turn a little argument into a huge dramatic one instead of creating a strong bond with that person, I create a weak one, which results in me complaining about the relationship. I am the kind of person that likes to feel secure when in a relationship with a boy. If there is a weak bond between that boy and me, then I am not secure enough and being with that person is hurtful for me.
My relationships with a significant other should be about enjoying one another to the fullest and being able to be happy most of the time. I realized I was not able to have that kind of relationship because of the bad habit I have of being dramatic about arguments too much. I would place unnecessary emphasis on the discussions I had with my ex-boyfriends, to the point where my past relationships were not healthy anymore. I am glad that I know what I wish I could change about myself because this empowers me to change that in my future relationships and keep myself from being constantly hurt and avoid unwanted stress.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
My Unforgettable Daily Life
Goldie Barajas
9/20/10
English 1A
My Unforgettable Daily Life
Human beings thrive on learning. This may be one of the reasons mentors are present when one needs to acquire or gain certain knowledge. Mentors are those that teach people something unforgettable and meaningful. Mentors are wise and most of the time, leave an enormous impact on human beings. They are essential to those individuals that need to discover something, that will serve them eternally. I, personally, have learned and discovered various things from countless mentors in my life. Every little bit of what I have learned has been practical learning to my daily living. However, the most two important skills that I have learned, so far, have come from Dr. Alice, a counselor, I once met. Dr. Alice has been one of the most meaningful and influential mentors I have ever had, because she taught me time management skills and empowered me to not be afraid of being independent.
Time management skills are really important for me especially now that I am a college student juggling various roles in life. I am a student, an employee, a sister, a daughter, a friend, and most significant, I am a human being that has aspirations and dreams to fulfill. Before I met Dr. Alice, I could not figure out how to balance all of the tasks I needed to accomplish; I felt as if I was going to lose my mind sooner or later. It felt really overwhelming to realize I was not happy with what I was doing. I was not fulfilling every aspect of myself. I had to learn how to manage my time in order to accomplish every single thing I wanted to do and Dr. Alice was there to teach me how to make my twenty-four-hour day feel like a forty-eight-hour-day. She taught me how to do this by encouraging me to use a daily and monthly planner. This planner would remind me of my daily duties, allowing me to have a set schedule rather than going with the flow. Believe it or not, it was and is still very helpful to have a planner that tells me when it is time for homework, to eat, to relax, spend time alone, to explore and to spend time with loved ones. Time management skills have made my life extremely easier and I owe this to Dr. Alice. If it was not for her, I would have probably never learned that the basis for accomplishing everything I want is in managing my time correctly and in a healthy manner.
Additionally, Dr. Alice taught me not to be afraid of being independent. Being independent for some human beings is hard since we have been conditioned to depend on others from the moment we are born. We depend on our mothers to feed us and take care of us. As a result, trying to break out of the shell of dependence was harsh for me. It was difficult for me to understand that it was acceptable for me to let go of my mother’s hand in order to explore the world on my own. As time progressed, I felt some sort of guilt because I was becoming independent and needing less of my mother. I felt it was wrong for me to want to discover things on my own and to learn from my mistakes rather than having my mother protect me all the time. I wanted to be an independent woman and I felt that I could not accomplish this if I kept depending on my mother. This is when Dr. Alice taught me that being independent and letting go of my mother was not wrong because although my mother was not holding my hand anymore, she was still there to support me if things went wrong. Dr. Alice has taught me very well the ability to be independent, a lesson that I carry with me wherever I go.
I believe, what mentors teach you, are things that are supposed to be carried on into your future and be used by you in a positive way. Mentors do not exist and come to teach you something just for the sake of it. They appear in your life because you need them to appear. I needed Dr. Alice, so she was there for me at the right time to teach me time management skills and the ability for me not to be afraid of being independent. Dr. Alice has been a very significant person in my life. I will never forget what she has taught me, which is not a simple word or letter you learn in elementary. What I have learned from her are two important key factors that positively impact my daily life.
9/20/10
English 1A
My Unforgettable Daily Life
Human beings thrive on learning. This may be one of the reasons mentors are present when one needs to acquire or gain certain knowledge. Mentors are those that teach people something unforgettable and meaningful. Mentors are wise and most of the time, leave an enormous impact on human beings. They are essential to those individuals that need to discover something, that will serve them eternally. I, personally, have learned and discovered various things from countless mentors in my life. Every little bit of what I have learned has been practical learning to my daily living. However, the most two important skills that I have learned, so far, have come from Dr. Alice, a counselor, I once met. Dr. Alice has been one of the most meaningful and influential mentors I have ever had, because she taught me time management skills and empowered me to not be afraid of being independent.
Time management skills are really important for me especially now that I am a college student juggling various roles in life. I am a student, an employee, a sister, a daughter, a friend, and most significant, I am a human being that has aspirations and dreams to fulfill. Before I met Dr. Alice, I could not figure out how to balance all of the tasks I needed to accomplish; I felt as if I was going to lose my mind sooner or later. It felt really overwhelming to realize I was not happy with what I was doing. I was not fulfilling every aspect of myself. I had to learn how to manage my time in order to accomplish every single thing I wanted to do and Dr. Alice was there to teach me how to make my twenty-four-hour day feel like a forty-eight-hour-day. She taught me how to do this by encouraging me to use a daily and monthly planner. This planner would remind me of my daily duties, allowing me to have a set schedule rather than going with the flow. Believe it or not, it was and is still very helpful to have a planner that tells me when it is time for homework, to eat, to relax, spend time alone, to explore and to spend time with loved ones. Time management skills have made my life extremely easier and I owe this to Dr. Alice. If it was not for her, I would have probably never learned that the basis for accomplishing everything I want is in managing my time correctly and in a healthy manner.
Additionally, Dr. Alice taught me not to be afraid of being independent. Being independent for some human beings is hard since we have been conditioned to depend on others from the moment we are born. We depend on our mothers to feed us and take care of us. As a result, trying to break out of the shell of dependence was harsh for me. It was difficult for me to understand that it was acceptable for me to let go of my mother’s hand in order to explore the world on my own. As time progressed, I felt some sort of guilt because I was becoming independent and needing less of my mother. I felt it was wrong for me to want to discover things on my own and to learn from my mistakes rather than having my mother protect me all the time. I wanted to be an independent woman and I felt that I could not accomplish this if I kept depending on my mother. This is when Dr. Alice taught me that being independent and letting go of my mother was not wrong because although my mother was not holding my hand anymore, she was still there to support me if things went wrong. Dr. Alice has taught me very well the ability to be independent, a lesson that I carry with me wherever I go.
I believe, what mentors teach you, are things that are supposed to be carried on into your future and be used by you in a positive way. Mentors do not exist and come to teach you something just for the sake of it. They appear in your life because you need them to appear. I needed Dr. Alice, so she was there for me at the right time to teach me time management skills and the ability for me not to be afraid of being independent. Dr. Alice has been a very significant person in my life. I will never forget what she has taught me, which is not a simple word or letter you learn in elementary. What I have learned from her are two important key factors that positively impact my daily life.
My Rodeo De Ayala
Goldie Barajas
English 1A
10/25/10
My Rodeo De Ayala
I was born in Los Angeles, California, a windy Thanksgiving eve, while my family took advantage of the fresh killed turkey cooked that evening. I grew up in the 1990’s, a time in which the puffy, curly hair, along with the cowboy boots, and red lip stick was in fashion. Rare? Not quite or at least I did not think of it as something rare when I was a child. Furthermore, during that time mom and dad were moving homes slightly often. Until the day they made the decision of my life, which was to move to El Rodeo de Ayala, a rancho, which for non Spanish speakers this means a village, located in Penjamo, Guanajuato, a state in Mexico.
All this moving business to El Rodeo de Ayala happened when I was in the second grade, in Eastman Elementary School. I was a 7-year-old speaking mostly English. I did not understand why we had moved and why people in this new place did not speak the English language at all. But what really appealed to me was the fact that I was going to live near and attend school in Corralejo de Hidalgo, a village in which Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a historic Catholic Priest, that contributed to the acquisition of Mexican independence, was born. I was thrilled by the idea of living minutes away from a historic place for Mexicans and it was even more exciting to attend school in this place. Growing up in El Rodeo de Ayala was better than I thought.
Although, El Rodeo de Ayala is an agricultural village surrounded by farms, and soil, with almost no roads because everyone travels by horse, this did not impeded me to find the rancho interesting. I found it fascinating that finally I did not have to watch for cars when crossing the streets and that I had my cousin as a next door neighbor. So, whenever I wanted to play all I had to do was walk a few steps, scream out “Monica, vamos a jugar”, which means “Monica lets go play” and there was Monica looking excited and messy with her light brown hair hanging down her shoulders. We would play for hours until the moon and stars would come to be visible at night. There was no need for adults to watch over us because everything around us was so safe and welcoming. The cows were in their place, the chickens were running away from us, and the pigs making that oink oink noise that I always found hilarious. Everyone in the rancho, even the animals were so mindful of their own business. No body there was considered a danger to the community. Everyone was a family willing to help anyone that needed help without a question or expecting anything in return. If it was really hot and a neighbor asked for some water, then water would be granted. If it was pouring with hail falling down the sky, which I loved to be hit by, and a neighbor was passing by then an umbrella or perhaps a cup of chocolate would be given to that neighbor. Selfishness was not frequently seen in my rancho.
In El Rodeo de Ayala the lifestyle people carried was all about working the farms for a better tomorrow but with little emphasis on education, which was upsetting to realize later when I grew older. People in this village were so generous, but ignorant about many issues such as the importance of education . Realizing that generosity was not enough to survive in the real world opened up my interest towards learning and its importance. Comprehending that it was crucial to get educated in order to better one’s self economically and mentally was something that shaped me into the person that I am today. If it was not for my parents moving to El Rodeo de Ayala maybe I would have never gotten the chance to have this realization that motivates me everyday; because everyday I remind myself that if I want to be a professional, like the teachers I had in my elementary school, I must go through college education. I do not want to be ignorant and remain silent, like the people in the rancho, when someone asks me a question that requires thought and some sort of education. Therefore, it is it is important for me to remember where I came from as I grow up the latter of education because this allows me to be humble and have the honest hard-working skills my lovely community from El Rodeo de Ayala taught me.
English 1A
10/25/10
My Rodeo De Ayala
I was born in Los Angeles, California, a windy Thanksgiving eve, while my family took advantage of the fresh killed turkey cooked that evening. I grew up in the 1990’s, a time in which the puffy, curly hair, along with the cowboy boots, and red lip stick was in fashion. Rare? Not quite or at least I did not think of it as something rare when I was a child. Furthermore, during that time mom and dad were moving homes slightly often. Until the day they made the decision of my life, which was to move to El Rodeo de Ayala, a rancho, which for non Spanish speakers this means a village, located in Penjamo, Guanajuato, a state in Mexico.
All this moving business to El Rodeo de Ayala happened when I was in the second grade, in Eastman Elementary School. I was a 7-year-old speaking mostly English. I did not understand why we had moved and why people in this new place did not speak the English language at all. But what really appealed to me was the fact that I was going to live near and attend school in Corralejo de Hidalgo, a village in which Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a historic Catholic Priest, that contributed to the acquisition of Mexican independence, was born. I was thrilled by the idea of living minutes away from a historic place for Mexicans and it was even more exciting to attend school in this place. Growing up in El Rodeo de Ayala was better than I thought.
Although, El Rodeo de Ayala is an agricultural village surrounded by farms, and soil, with almost no roads because everyone travels by horse, this did not impeded me to find the rancho interesting. I found it fascinating that finally I did not have to watch for cars when crossing the streets and that I had my cousin as a next door neighbor. So, whenever I wanted to play all I had to do was walk a few steps, scream out “Monica, vamos a jugar”, which means “Monica lets go play” and there was Monica looking excited and messy with her light brown hair hanging down her shoulders. We would play for hours until the moon and stars would come to be visible at night. There was no need for adults to watch over us because everything around us was so safe and welcoming. The cows were in their place, the chickens were running away from us, and the pigs making that oink oink noise that I always found hilarious. Everyone in the rancho, even the animals were so mindful of their own business. No body there was considered a danger to the community. Everyone was a family willing to help anyone that needed help without a question or expecting anything in return. If it was really hot and a neighbor asked for some water, then water would be granted. If it was pouring with hail falling down the sky, which I loved to be hit by, and a neighbor was passing by then an umbrella or perhaps a cup of chocolate would be given to that neighbor. Selfishness was not frequently seen in my rancho.
In El Rodeo de Ayala the lifestyle people carried was all about working the farms for a better tomorrow but with little emphasis on education, which was upsetting to realize later when I grew older. People in this village were so generous, but ignorant about many issues such as the importance of education . Realizing that generosity was not enough to survive in the real world opened up my interest towards learning and its importance. Comprehending that it was crucial to get educated in order to better one’s self economically and mentally was something that shaped me into the person that I am today. If it was not for my parents moving to El Rodeo de Ayala maybe I would have never gotten the chance to have this realization that motivates me everyday; because everyday I remind myself that if I want to be a professional, like the teachers I had in my elementary school, I must go through college education. I do not want to be ignorant and remain silent, like the people in the rancho, when someone asks me a question that requires thought and some sort of education. Therefore, it is it is important for me to remember where I came from as I grow up the latter of education because this allows me to be humble and have the honest hard-working skills my lovely community from El Rodeo de Ayala taught me.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Unintentionally
Goldie Barajas
English 1A
11/15/10
Unintentionally
Being a senior in high school was a pain in the butt. I remember other students, who were seniors when I was a junior, say it would be the easiest year of all but it sure was not. They lied to you my conscious mind would tell me. Nevertheless, I was not so worried about what my mind had to say. I was worried about the tasks I had to get done. Things were getting overwhelming, and I had to start up my college applications, pay my senior fees, worry about my prom dress, my prom date, my assigned year book pages, and the list can go on forever. But I remember leaving one important thing behind from my to-do-list and that was Ms. Solis’s final project, for the fall semester of my Economics class. The project consisted of planning our lives in the future, making budget decisions of how our money was going to be managed, and how we were going to support our selves. The project was basically what I called a “senior-over planning for his funeral.” No offense to anyone who likes to plan things out before time.
Moreover, I hate Economics and having to do a project on such a subject was horrible. Thankfully I had Vanessa and Freddy as group members. Vanessa and I were inseparable in high school. I had her for all my classes and whenever it came to group projects we had to be teamed up no matter what. Freddy happened to be left out of a group so Vanessa and I decided to welcome him to ours. He was very funny and I like that about him. Anyhow, Vanessa and I were what people call “partners in crime” or should I say “partners in going against ordinary”. We do not like to be ordinary girls; we like to make everything different. However, this is not about how Vanessa and I are, the deal here is about what we decided to do in our Economics project. What we did marked us forever on the eyes of Ms. Solis who was disappointed at us.
So, time passed, Vanessa and I were confident that the project would not take us long to be done. Freddy was very chill about this project as well. We procrastinated as much as we could until the day of the project was only 24-hours away from the due date. Then, we were shocked. We had nothing done! Not even an outline on how we wanted to organize our “senior-over planning for his funeral” project. Vanessa and I thought of this as being funny, like always, we never took anything seriously. Freddy did not even bother to offer his help. Vanessa and I ended up doing the project on our own that afternoon. I went to her house, since she only lives one block away from mine. We turned on her lap top but the very moment we did, we got distracted and instead we started eating some cookies, Vanessa‘s grandmother had made the day before. It was so hard to stop eating those bean flavored cookies that Vanessa started getting upset at me for eating them all. I always had the advantage of getting more of whatever we were eating since although I eat slow Vanessa eats 3times slower than me. Sometimes I feel that instead of being a human she should have been born to be a turtle. Nevertheless, we noticed it was almost 6 p.m and we had spent an hour doing basically, nothing. We snapped out of our bubble of procrastination and said to each other “We have not done anything on the project yet!!” we laughed and giggled for about 5 minutes and then we put hands on into this boring, pointless project. We were done by 8 p.m. We were so confident about this project that nothing, according to us could go wrong.
The next day, which was a Thursday, we presented and Ms. Solis was very well pleased with our project. She thought of it to be one of the best ones but what she did not know was that we had plagiarized. Indeed, none of us knew we had done so. So how is it that we got to plagiarizing! I wondered, after getting caught by Ms. Solis.
It was a Friday afternoon, Vanessa and I were walking back home from eating Fish tacos, since we were out of school early, when Vanessa notices she had a restricted missed call that ended up leaving her a voice mail. We were laughing about something really hilarious, I don’t quite remember what it was but I do remember that Vanessa went mute as soon as she started listening to the voice mail. She stopped walking and put her phone on speaker so that I was able to listen to what had stunned her. It was a voicemail from Ms. Solis. In the voicemail she exclaimed about how upset she was that we had plagiarized on our final project thinking we could get away with it. I still remember what she said, her words marked my memory greatly because hearing this made my blood travel from head to toe at a fast speed and my mouth dropped down to the floor. I remember her saying something like “Vanessa and Goldie I am really mad and upset at you girls! How could both of you do this thinking you can get away from it so easily! I guess you girls thought wrong. I am not stupid enough not to see when a student plagiarizes and when a student actually does her work! Wow you girls made the biggest mistake ever. See you Monday in class…” I was like Wow is this really happening? God please tell me I am dreaming but I wasn’t dreaming this was reality and reality like people say hurts. Of course it hurt, I was worried more than ever about stepping foot in school on Monday. I could not help but wonder how in the world had we plagiarized. I was breaking my head trying to find an answer. After this phone call all Vanessa and I could do was continue walking home.
The weekend had passed so fast, I thought. I could not imagine that it was Monday morning, already. I was death scared to go to school. I loved going to school because that meant I was going to be away from home and that I had the opportunity to hang out with my friends but this time it was otherwise, I hated the fact that it was Monday and my weekend was over. I was secure at home, now I sure wasn’t secure at school. I trembled and waited for Vanessa to get to school. I didn’t want to step foot into the lions cage alone. The bell rang and we went to class. Ms. Solis put a warm-up question on the board as usual and did not say a word to us. Isn’t she supposed to be mad and ask us to step outside to talk to us? I remember thinking. At the same time, I was glad she had not done so already because that fed my hope to thinking that maybe she will let this incident slide without giving us a punishment and that we can all be happy and continue with life. Silly me, I always wanted a happy ending. So, to test her I dared to say “Good Morning Curly Fry” with a nice glowing smile showing her that I was happy to see her. Curly fry was how Vanessa and I referred to her due to the fact that she had very curly hair and her hair reminded us of Jack in the Box’ curly fries. She replied saying “Good Morning Goldie, as soon as you, Vanessa, and Freddy finish with the warm-up let me know. We need to step outside” Darn it why did I have to open my big mouth. Silence is Golden Goldie why was it so hard to stay silent ugh I blamed myself for over minutes. Freddy, that reminds me Freddy had no idea what was going on. He never found out about the voice mail Ms. Solis had left Vanessa so he knew nothing of what was waiting for him outside the classroom. Quickly Vanessa and I whispered and explained him what was going on. He was shocked and giggled for a moment while Vanessa and I were dying inside with nervousness.
We stepped outside and I noticed Ms. Solis was very calm compared to Friday but you could still sense the tension within her by staring at her eyes and looking at the soldier like posture she carried. She began by saying “So I am sure you all know why now you have stepped outside of the classroom. I don’t know how to start but I do know this was unexpected. I trusted you guys to do the right thing. What was so hard about this project that made you guys plagiarize?” ouch that word hurt my ears, it sounded so harsh, I remember thinking while she was waiting for an answer. Freddy broke the ice by saying “Honestly Ms. Solis I had nothing to do with this because I did not participate in the project at all. All I did was help them with the presentation. Everything was done by Goldie and Vanessa.” Damn Damn Damn I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. He had washed himself away from any blame. What if none of this would have happened? Then he of course would fake that he helped in the project just to get credit right? Wow I was disappointed and mad at him, really mad. I snapped out of my thoughts and heard Ms. Solis say “and you girls have nothing to say?” I immediately answered with the truth, “Ms. Solis where did we plagiarize? I don’t know what you are talking about. Perhaps, I may dare to suggest this is all a misunderstanding” Vanessa looked at me with that expression that said, Oh please Goldie shut up don’t make this any worse just say sorry and get this over with.
I did not want to admit to something I don’t remember doing. I wanted the benefit of the doubt. Ms. Solis looked at me and pointed at our 3-page-written paper pointing to some underlined link from a website that we never gave credit too. There you go that was our mistake, using someone else’s website’ ideas to illustrate our ideas without giving the website credit! Relief came upon my body. This was my “aha” moment. I knew we weren’t that guilty. I explained to Ms. Solis our intentions were never to plagiarize that we had done so unconsciously because we forgot to give the website credit since, we had done our project in a rush. We never had the intentions of making her think the website’s ideas were our ideas. I had said nothing but the truth. I was waiting for Ms. Solis’ answer. It seemed like years before she could open her mouth and say “Well, okay do you all agree with Goldie’s explanation.?” Vanessa scared to say a word said “Yeah” Freddy said nothing since he did not have a say in this. Ms. Solis said the final words “Okay, since you cannot do the project again, I will deduct your grade for this project from and A to a C+ , things could have gotten worse so all of you are lucky to still be able to graduate on stage. If I would have decided not to meet up to talk to you guys and go straight to the point and fail you three then you guys would be in big trouble because as you guys know with an F in your Economics class you cannot graduate on stage. Thank you ,now go back inside and nothing happened here”
That was unfair. Freddy did not do anything and yet he got credit for the project. He had betrayed us when Ms. Solis questioned us and yet he had gotten away with it. But the ones that really did the work got punished for making a silly mistake. I was mad but I did consider myself lucky because as Ms. Solis had said maybe another teacher would have straight down failed all three of us and then what would I say to my parents? Things were good like this, I thought. What a shame I saved myself from being spotted out as the girl who did not graduate on stage for plagiarizing. Things had not turned out to be the best but at least they were not the worse. I learned not to ever again procrastinate and that whenever I used an outside source even to just illustrate my ideas, to give it the correct credit because I do not want to be accused of plagiarism ever again in my whole life. I had enough in Economics class. From then on I always did the right thing.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Change for the Future
Goldie Barajas
English 1A
10/4/10
Change for the Future
One of the things that I criticize the most in people is when they exaggerate or create unnecessary drama about insignificant arguments. However, when it came to my own personal experiences with my ex-boyfriends, I was always the one to worsen the arguments by being dramatic. In my past relationships with boys, I noticed that not staying calm and exaggerating about an argument would make the argument worse rather than solving it. I would like my future relationships with boys to be healthier in the way that I can manage to control the dramatic side of me. Therefore, what I wish I could change about myself is the tendency to exaggerate when it comes to arguing with boys, with who I have an emotional bond with, because it triggers stress in me and it hurts the relationship.
Being dramatic about arguments with my ex-boyfriends was and still is stressful for me. I tend to turn a little argument into a huge one, which causes me to be stressed until I resolve it. When I am stressed it is difficult for me to concentrate and get homework or other tasks done. I feel frustrated and helpless at the fact that I cannot get my tasks done because I am thinking about what is stressing me. I want this cycle to stop because it is not healthy for me when an argument tenses me enough to impede me from accomplishing my daily tasks. Also, stress triggers me to be depressed, which is bad for my emotional health. I do not wish to feel overwhelmed by stress and so this is one of the reasons why I would like to change my tendency to exaggerate about insignificant arguments with boys.
In addition, the second reason why I would like to change my tendency to aggravate my arguments with boys is that exaggerating hurts my relationship with that significant other. When I turn a little argument into a huge dramatic one instead of creating a strong bond with that person, I create a weak one, which results in me complaining about the relationship. I am the kind of person that likes to feel secure when in a relationship with a boy. If there is a weak bond between that boy and me, then I am not secure enough and being with that person is hurtful for me.
My relationships with a significant other should be about enjoying one another to the fullest and being able to be happy most of the time. I realized I was not able to have that kind of relationship because of the bad habit I have of being dramatic about arguments too much. I would place unnecessary emphasis on the discussions I had with my ex-boyfriends, to the point where my past relationships were not healthy anymore. I am glad that I know what I wish I could change about myself because this empowers me to change that in my future relationships and keep myself from being constantly hurt and avoid unwanted stress.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Responses to “Memory: Mee Street and Beyond” from the book The Mee Street Chronicles: Straight Up Stories of a Black Woman’s Life by Frankie Lennon
Goldie Barajas
English 1A
10/15/10
Responses to “Memory: Mee Street and Beyond” from the book
The Mee Street Chronicles: Straight Up Stories of a Black Woman’s Life
By Frankie Lennon
6) In the essay “Memory: Mee Street and Beyond” the author is writing about how memory is essential and crucial to know one’s self. All throughout her essay, the author informs the reader about different sorts of memories she has from her childhood. These memories tell her and the reader something about her past, which I hope is helpful when continuing to read the rest of her book. In addition, the essay is significant because it explains the importance of memory to the author’s understanding of herself. If there was no memory, then the opposite of what the author has stated in the conclusion of her essay would take place, this is that stories could not be told, we would not be able to tell the good from the bad, and nothing would mark who we are.
7) The author organizes this piece by using narration, description, and comparison & contrast. An example of one mode of development is: when the author compares and contrasts her first home in Mee Street, located in Knoxville, to her second home in 1919 Dandridge Avenue. The difference between these two homes was that in Mee Street the author was surrounded by playmates of her own color and she was allowed to roam around freely in the neighborhood.(pg3) While in her home in 1919 Dandridge Avenue the author was a loner surrounded by white people and was not allowed to go out unless she was going “to the store, to uncle Frank’s or to Mrs.Delaney’s.” (pg.4) Also, to make the piece flow smoothly between paragraphs the author connects each paragraph to her topic, which is memory. The author starts each paragraph by introducing a memory to the essay that connects to her introduction and this technique allows the author to achieve continuity in her writing. Transitions within a paragraph are important as well and the author does take advantage of them. The author uses words like: eventually, back then, which is why, and while keeping, to transition within her sentences, in her paragraphs and doing so makes the author’s writing flow smoothly.
9) When trying to identify the writer’s tone of voice I decided to choose the word “memory” because it appears more than once in each paragraph of the essay and it is also the topic of each paragraph. Memory, according to my dictionary, is the mental capacity or faculty of retaining and reviving facts, events, impressions, or of recalling or recognizing previous experiences. The author describes events to the reader and experiences she had throughout her childhood. Memory is also one thing the author values and this can be shown on the last paragraph of this essay. The author values memory because it tells her and her readers the story of who she is. In addition, a word to describe the author’s feeling throughout her essay would be reminiscing because she is recalling past experiences and events. A word that reveals this feeling, I think, would be remembering because in order to recall past experiences one must remember them first.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Responses to "The Gift of a Cuento" from the book Woman in Front of the Sun by Judith Ortiz Cofer
Goldie Barajas
English 1A
9/24/10
Responses to “The Gift of a Cuento”
from the book Woman in Front of the Sun by Judith Ortiz Cofer.
1. I liked that Judith used the tale of the Puerto Rican Cinderella in her essay because the Cinderella I grew up knowing was the total opposite of the Puerto Rican one. I grew up knowing about a weak, noble, dependent woman that never had the courage to stand up to her evil stepsisters and stepmother. The Puerto Rican Cinderella was “brave enough to stand up to her wicked stepmother and stepsisters and clever enough to banish them from home forever” (pg.47) and I think having girls understand a Puerto Rican Cinderella would be better rather than inscribing wrong ideas in their mind.
2. I found interesting the way the author organized her essay because she kept me motivated to keep on reading more in order to understand the structure of her essay and purpose. The author started as being a thirteen-year-old relating herself to Cinderella and wanting a Prince but her uncle changes this perspective in her. Later on, her uncle teaches her the meaning of a tale and why tales are so important. They are important because they have words and words can take you into a world of magic. This empowering Judith to become a writer. In conclusion, I was really thrilled by her essay’s structure and that was really appealing to me because it kept me interested.
3. What bored me was that Judith in page 42 goes into describing how her uncle would tell tales to her family and how they were so excited about them because I really did not want to know about her uncle telling tales to the family. I would have prefer Judith to go straight to the point and tell me the purpose of her essay. I really think that piece of the essay was unnecessary to read.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Responses to “Taking the Macho” from Woman in Front of the Sun by Judith Ortiz Cofer
Goldie Barajas
English 1A
9/23/10
Responses to “Taking the Macho” from
Woman in Front of the Sun by Judith Ortiz Cofer
1. I liked the way Judith started her essay by using a very interesting legend about some "macho women" because it allowed me to grasp a preview of what her essay was going to be about. I, as a reader, prefer to have an idea of the essays topic by reading a remarkable introduction, rather than being lost and trying to figure out what the author is talking about along her essay.
2. I did not like the way the author shifts from the legend of the “macho women” to her own personal story because it confused me. I had to read the story twice in order to understand the purpose of shifting from a general statement, to a personal one.
3. I found the author’s word-choice interesting, from a writer’s point of view, because it was well chosen and absolutely clever. It really made me feel engaged in the essay and not bored by “lazy” words. As a writer, one must be really careful about choosing the right words to express one’s feelings and emotions in an essay, and Cofer did this completely well.
4. I found Judith’s point of view on the concept of “macho“, interesting from a reader’s point of view, because she informs me that as a writer she has to fight against the stereotype that the term “macho” only belongs to men, this reflecting the same concept that writing is dominated by only men. Judith’s struggle against these two stereotypes appeals to me very much because I have been in a similar situation in the past.
7. I learned a couple of important things from reading “Taking the Macho.” The first one was that stereotypes about men’s and women’s roles in society have not changed at all even though we are in the 21st century. I think this is very significant because I have more knowledge of what the world really is for women. Judith has taught me that it is not impossible to take the “macho” role and to do what you desire but that indeed it is a struggle, like being a writer for Judith is.
The second important thing I learned was that women in our society today let themselves be civilized by men. Meaning that men control them and tell them what they can and cannot do. I absolutely think this is significant because this teaches me not to let myself be one of those many women that cannot peruse what they desire for fear or lack of courage.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
A Woman's Mentor
Goldie Barajas
English 1A
9/3/10
A Woman's Mentor
"My Rosetta", a memoir from the book Woman in Front of the Sun by Judith Ortiz Cofer, was based on the author's memory of Rosetta, the sister that taught Judith’s confirmation classes, while Judith was fourteen-years-old living in Paterson, New Jersey. Keeping in mind that during this time her awareness of the outside world was arising within her, I, as a reader noticed, that Sister Rosetta provided Judith with a different perspective of life. Since, Sister Rosetta was unlike Judith's family. For example, when Sister Rosetta provided Judith with Ravi's Shankar music album, Judith's mother disagreed with it. She would call it "the cat-fight-album"(pg.3.) and when Judith was starting to wonder about "lust, sex, and drugs," Sister Rosetta was there to provide her with books that would inform her about those certain topics avoided by her family and this lead Judith to finding an accomplice in Sister Rosetta. Sister Rosetta introduced Judith to a world of knowledge, in which language had an extremely "seductive power"(pg. 18.) Therefore, considering the fact that Judith is now a writer I would say that Judith wrote about Sister Rosetta simply because she introduced her to a very essential key factor to writers, which is language and this makes me curious and hungry for more of Judith's interesting writing.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Like "Maria Sabida"
Goldie Barajas
English 1A
9/10/10
Like "Maria Sabida"
Growing up within two cultures is either comforting or complex. It can be comforting because one can explore and experience double the traditions and customs each culture carries. But it can be complex and frustrating if one is often times questioned about one's culture, like in Judith Ortiz Cofer's case. By reading the piece of writing, "And Are You a Latina Writer?" from the book Woman in Front of the Sun by Judith Ortiz Cofer, I discovered that Judith after all has found her way through the very complicated role of being a Latina writer. I read and felt through her words the confidence and assurance she is filled with.
1) I liked that when she was asked "Why don't you write in Spanish?..."(pg.106) she responded proudly and said that "Spanish is her familial language, the tongue she spoke with her blood relatives, that she dreamed in, and that lies between the lines of her English sentences..." (pg.106) I was thrilled by this response because Judith responded in such a dauntless way, that made it clear, for the person asking her this question, that Judith knew what she was doing, and that no matter what language Judith decides to write in, both her cultures are involved either visually or emotionally.
2) In addition, I found interesting that Judith lets me, the reader, know that "No longer the idealistic young poet is hoping to find big answers to big questions that she is content now to be the solitary traveler, the caminante..." (pg.115) I found this appealing because this tells me that the struggle and demands for defining her culture are no longer haunting Judith; Meaning that she is finally at ease with herself.
3) Furthermore, my very favorite part was when Judith mentioned that through her grandmother's storytelling she teaches her the way back home (pg. 115) due to the fact that this expresses Judith's feelings towards her grandmother's stories. This shows that her abuela's stories have an enormous significant to Judith. Judith values these stories and this portrays that Judith will never forget about her home. Even if Judith is far away because she has the stories inscribed in her mind that will make her feel and remember her home whenever she desires.
4) Additionally, I learned two extremely important things from reading "And Are You a Latina Writer" one is that: it is not necessary to give up on something that makes one a whole person (pg.110) just because it is confusing or difficult, such as having two cultures. This is significant because not giving up can allow a person to find their full identity. Another thing I learned is that one should be independent (pg.113). Although being around people of one's same cultural background is nice that should not stop an individual from fulfilling and accomplishing their work. This is absolutely important considering the fact that not always will a person have individuals similar to themselves. Therefore, one should never depend on others to get work done.
Lastly, I would like to say, this reading has impacted me completely since I have not read about someone like Judith in a long time. Judith is certainly a proud Latina woman that illustrates through her piece of writing "And Are You a Latina Writer" the eager and confidence she feels towards her identity. So, at last she made her experience of growing up within two cultures work for her instead of against her, just the way Maria Sabida taught her to do so.
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