For as long as I can remember, I was always the one caught in the middle of the drama that goes on within my friendships. I never understood why, and to this day I still don’t. There are so many things that go unanswered, and I always wonder why these kinds of things happen to me. Maybe it’s because I chose the wrong group of friends. Sometimes I think to myself “What did I do to put myself in this situation?” Then it comes to my mind that everything happens for a reason, and sometimes life doesn’t go according to plan. In life, I realize that not everyone you meet will be your friends and for those that are your friends, the friendship will sometimes go untested.
I have experienced a lot with my friends, and for one thing not all the experiences were pleasurable. I remember during my freshman year in high school, how I became friends with Melissa and Liz, and the friends that I have known for many years didn’t really talk to me. It’s as if I did something wrong because I made new friends, but I realized that they’re doing it out of jealousy. I think one of the painful aspects that occur in friendship is the jealousy that goes on between girls. Something I realize is that when you become friends with other girls, jealousy arises amongst the other group because they feel that you have drifted away from them. I think it is in a girl’s nature to feel jealous and this is when all the other painful aspects of friendship arise. For example, through the occurrence of jealousy, gossip and betrayal arises lies. I don’t expect the best or the worst out of my friends. I just expect them to be who they are without pretending to be something they are not.
Aside from the painful aspects of friendship there are also pleasurable ones. For me, my friends are the third most important people on my list. Friends are here for the laughter and the tears. What brings us together is not the fact that we share many things in common, but the pleasure we share through the good times that we have experienced together. Tehyi Hsieh says “Life is partly what we make it and partly what is made by the friends whom we choose.” This is true because although friends come and go, the pleasure comes in meeting new friends. The people we meet in college will be our friends forever. Friends are here to encourage each other to be the best that we can be, and to lead each other to the good life. We want what’s best for each other and this is how you know who your real friends are.
Through my friendships I have experienced many things and I also learned a lot. I learned that you can’t trust just anyone. You have to get to know the person, and that in friendships there will always be a painful experience, but you just have to deal with it. If you made a mistake with the friends that you choose, all you have to do is move on and find a group of friends that are of positive influence and character. Through our friends is how we learn; we learn through interacting with one another. It is as simple as you learn from your mistake and call it a lesson learned.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
Learning to Read
I was interested in this excerpt "Learning to Read" by Malcolm X because there were many things about the African history that I didn't know before. I thought it was wrong of the teacher to make his joke "Negroes' feet are so big that when they walk, they leave a big hole in the ground." I also thought it wasn't fair how the history of the African Americans could be put in only one paragraph while people could go on and on about White Americans. Personally I think that African Americans have made a huge impact on society. For example, Rosa Parks sitting in the "white" section of the bus or Jackie Robinson being the first African American baseball player. This shows that African Americans aren't scared to stand up for what they believe in. They are strong individuals who show pride in being who they are. Malcolm X's excerpt of "Learning How to Read" amazed me because of the way he learned. I don't think I would be able to do what he did. I think that this story will make people think about how lucky they are that they learned how to read in the right manner without going through any hardships.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Today I Feel...
Do you ever feel like you can’t finish what you start? Today is the beginning of a new week, and I feel more motivated than when I first started school. I feel that I am one step closer to reaching my goal. I have a long way to go, and sometimes I feel like giving up, but I prevent myself from doing so by giving myself advice, for example, “Don’t give up,” or “If at first you don’t succeed try again.”
I find myself counting down the days to spring break, and I realized that we don’t really have that much time. I feel like the days are going by so fast. Each day is just passing by without any control. At some point during the day I feel that life is so complicated, but what would life be without challenges? Some of the challenges I feel today are making sure that I stay on top of things, and maintain my decent grades. Although sometimes it may seem impossible, I just say to myself that this is what determines my future, and how the rest of my life is going to be.
Throughout the day I have different feelings. When I first wake up, I feel happy because it is a new day and I always start fresh. I know that each day will be a better day, and sometimes there will be days where I say to myself “Today is not my day.”
My friends are another part of how I feel today. Whenever I’m with my friends I feel like there’s no better feeling. I’m surrounded by people that I have known since high school or those that I met over the summer. My friends make me feel as if there’s no tomorrow, like I want to spend the whole day with them, but I can’t because I have more important things that I should be spending my time with.
When I sit in class, I feel interested in the subject matter because there are so many things about life that I still don’t know, and am in the process of learning. When class is over I feel relieved and happy because I know that I have made it through the day, and that tomorrow will bring a better day.
Along with the many feelings that I experience throughout the day, I find myself filled with energy, as if I have a permanent smile on my face. Maybe it is the weather, because for the past few days we have been drowned in rain and gloomy weather. Today the sun is out and it’s a bright sun shining day filled with blue skies.
I find myself counting down the days to spring break, and I realized that we don’t really have that much time. I feel like the days are going by so fast. Each day is just passing by without any control. At some point during the day I feel that life is so complicated, but what would life be without challenges? Some of the challenges I feel today are making sure that I stay on top of things, and maintain my decent grades. Although sometimes it may seem impossible, I just say to myself that this is what determines my future, and how the rest of my life is going to be.
Throughout the day I have different feelings. When I first wake up, I feel happy because it is a new day and I always start fresh. I know that each day will be a better day, and sometimes there will be days where I say to myself “Today is not my day.”
My friends are another part of how I feel today. Whenever I’m with my friends I feel like there’s no better feeling. I’m surrounded by people that I have known since high school or those that I met over the summer. My friends make me feel as if there’s no tomorrow, like I want to spend the whole day with them, but I can’t because I have more important things that I should be spending my time with.
When I sit in class, I feel interested in the subject matter because there are so many things about life that I still don’t know, and am in the process of learning. When class is over I feel relieved and happy because I know that I have made it through the day, and that tomorrow will bring a better day.
Along with the many feelings that I experience throughout the day, I find myself filled with energy, as if I have a permanent smile on my face. Maybe it is the weather, because for the past few days we have been drowned in rain and gloomy weather. Today the sun is out and it’s a bright sun shining day filled with blue skies.
My Disappointments During the Holidays
As many college students were, I had been very excited for my winter break. I was looking forward to four weeks of stress-free days to be spent at home with family and friends. However, this holiday season, I came to experience that things don’t necessarily turn out as expected.
I was disappointed by two things: For one, something about Christmas was different this year. It seemed to have come sooner than anticipated, and I didn’t feel entirely ready for it. I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic about the childhood excitement during the holidays. As kids, we used to be so caught up in little traditions such as leaving cookies for Santa and our anxiousness to wake up on Christmas morning, run to the tree, and rip open our presents. I guess as we grow up, we tend to see things from a different perspective, and not only are we caught up in receiving presents, but we begin to feel a necessity to also give presents to show people how much we appreciate them and wish them joy and happiness. But, I just found myself reminiscing about past Christmases and that special feeling I seemed to have missed out on.
Another disappointment was how certain setbacks disrupted my holiday plans. I was supposed to spend Christmas with other relatives in San Diego. However, my dad found out that he had work the day after Christmas, and so, we just ended up staying home. I remember one Christmas that we spent in Las Vegas. That Christmas was probably my favorite one because the whole family was there. Hearing everyone laughing, making jokes, singing karaoke, and just the simple fact of having your whole family gathered together at the table. This is what I would consider Christmas because it’s a time when you all come together and celebrate a year’s end and the beginning of a new one. I can also recall how all the grown-ups were downstairs talking amongst themselves, and the teenagers and the little children would be upstairs running around, playing tag, hide and go seek, billiards, ping pong, and cards. However this Christmas, I was disappointed in not being able to spend time with my cousins. Since my cousins live hours away we barely get the chance to see each other. That is why we look forward to the holidays, because for us, the holidays is a time when we as a whole family gather together and reminisce on the challenging yet enjoyable moments of the past year. As the new year approaches we also look forward to creating new memories that we can look back at as this year will soon be over before we know it.
Aside from these disappointments, the holidays didn’t turn out so bad. Although the whole family was not able to get together, most of us enjoyed each other’s company and made the most out of it. From watching the Lakers vs. Phoenix game on Christmas day, to the USC vs. Michigan game on New Year’s Day brought excitement to us seeing how badly Michigan lost to USC. Having four weeks of leisure time and spending it with family and a couple of friends was better than nothing. The simple fact of having people who care about you and those who have raised you in your presence during the holidays- there’s no better feeling in the world.
I was disappointed by two things: For one, something about Christmas was different this year. It seemed to have come sooner than anticipated, and I didn’t feel entirely ready for it. I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic about the childhood excitement during the holidays. As kids, we used to be so caught up in little traditions such as leaving cookies for Santa and our anxiousness to wake up on Christmas morning, run to the tree, and rip open our presents. I guess as we grow up, we tend to see things from a different perspective, and not only are we caught up in receiving presents, but we begin to feel a necessity to also give presents to show people how much we appreciate them and wish them joy and happiness. But, I just found myself reminiscing about past Christmases and that special feeling I seemed to have missed out on.
Another disappointment was how certain setbacks disrupted my holiday plans. I was supposed to spend Christmas with other relatives in San Diego. However, my dad found out that he had work the day after Christmas, and so, we just ended up staying home. I remember one Christmas that we spent in Las Vegas. That Christmas was probably my favorite one because the whole family was there. Hearing everyone laughing, making jokes, singing karaoke, and just the simple fact of having your whole family gathered together at the table. This is what I would consider Christmas because it’s a time when you all come together and celebrate a year’s end and the beginning of a new one. I can also recall how all the grown-ups were downstairs talking amongst themselves, and the teenagers and the little children would be upstairs running around, playing tag, hide and go seek, billiards, ping pong, and cards. However this Christmas, I was disappointed in not being able to spend time with my cousins. Since my cousins live hours away we barely get the chance to see each other. That is why we look forward to the holidays, because for us, the holidays is a time when we as a whole family gather together and reminisce on the challenging yet enjoyable moments of the past year. As the new year approaches we also look forward to creating new memories that we can look back at as this year will soon be over before we know it.
Aside from these disappointments, the holidays didn’t turn out so bad. Although the whole family was not able to get together, most of us enjoyed each other’s company and made the most out of it. From watching the Lakers vs. Phoenix game on Christmas day, to the USC vs. Michigan game on New Year’s Day brought excitement to us seeing how badly Michigan lost to USC. Having four weeks of leisure time and spending it with family and a couple of friends was better than nothing. The simple fact of having people who care about you and those who have raised you in your presence during the holidays- there’s no better feeling in the world.
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