The third and last freaking post! Into the wild.

I thought the book was good up until the part where the author starts talking about himself and shifts away from the main story. Almost be the end of the book, he starts like talking about how once he also had a similar experience like Christopher McCandless had. He is basically saying that he went "into the wild" and made if back alive. I thought that was unnecessary. I didn't really see why he would write about himself even though it relates a little to McCandless's story. I though he was kind of saying, by writing about himself, that he survived the wild because he is better. That is what was going on in my mind while reading that. I thought he was trying to say he did better than McCandless and that was the reason he survived nd McCandless died. That might not be the purpose of that part he wrote about himself but that's what went through my mind. I thought he had it easier than McCandless because he had all the equipment needed to survive while McCandless only had himself and really nothing else. I wouldve liked the book better if the author wouldn't have written about his experience.
I wonder what McCandless would have done with his life, had he survived. I thought maybe he would have gone back to studying and then he wouldve gotten a job and created a family. Maybe. I know that Krakauer writes at the end of the book that he was given permission to write bout such a sad story by the McCandless family but I wondered if Chris would have been happy with the publishment of this book.
This book was kind of weird in the way it was written because the author would start talking about McCandless's story, then something else, then about himself, then something else, then back to McCandless; it wandered around a lot. But in general I could understand the pattern. It didn't really have an order or a way of organization.
In conclusion, the book was good except for the part where the author added his own experiences. The book was written differently than any other book but it was still alright.
If took me a while to finish this book but so far it I the second best I have read this year.
Well, I am sleepy now so I'll finish with this.

Response to Carly's response to "Sleep"

I love to sleep, and what carly said on her "Sleep" post.

 I am doing my post wayyy earlier than I am supposed to because I know I won't have time tomorrow or Friday. So, I found this post especially appealing because it is about sleep. Right now it is eleven something and I yearn to sleep early, at least once. There are many symptoms to lack of sleep, much that I have now and will have tomorrow at school. They include: dark ugly circles under the eyes, slight wrinkles under those, hazy unfocused lenses, dizziness, discoloration, and thirstiness. Without sleep, people can look old and worn out. The cause of this is homework and procrastination. Right now, I have to continue with homework and deal with all these symptoms. I might just take a nap...

I am actually really sleepy right now, but I have to do this. I am really tired because I had a soccer game after school and came home late. I started doing this at 11 but fell asleep :(
Okay, so yeah, I usually get home from school between 4 and 5, and I don't start doing my homework until like an hour after, even though my plan always is to start it right away. I wait and eat, then start on my homework and then I start socializing and getting distracted. Or I am just sleepy and simply can't do it (how convenient).
Then sometimes I don't get all my work done by the time I go to bed or by the time I am really tired ad I end up waking up early in the morning to finish whatever I have left. Then there is a problem; I fall asleep during math class, science class and writing class. Once lunch starts I kind of wake up and feel ready to start my day.
When I sleep a lot, I don't get enough time to do my work. Sometimes I just can't sleep at night and so I don't get enough sleep. Sleeping is one of the things I love to do the most, but I don't like it that my sleeping schedule is ruined because of homework. Or because I'm slow at doing it. That just means I have to put more effort into it and start doing it before. Well, I'm sleepy now..

Into The Wild second Book Response.

I found this book really interesting rather than boring. I like it because I know that the things, as crazy as they sound really happened. I like that feeling I get when something happens in a book and I know it really happened. I think of Chris as a normal person. Even though most people would say he wasted his life, I think that going to Alaska was just the decision he made for his own life.
Another reason why I like this book is bevause I like documentaries. I like knowing about real stories like this one. I think that Chria had his own way of seeing things, and he dis not think like all other humans.
I think that Chris just loved nature and just wanted to pe a part of it. He look for an adventure and he got an adventure.
In our discussion, we talked about how his adventure would have been different if he had taken resources with him. Maybe he wpuldve survived for longer. Maybe not. We also talked about his final goal; was it just to stay in Alaska forever or to go to Alaska and then come back?
I wonder how long his decomposed body spent in the sleeping bag before they found him. I know that in the story they said 2 weeks but I think he had to spend more days. It just doesn't make sense to me.
What about his family? What do they think about Chris's decision? I think they really worried when he was gone. When they got the news that Chris had died, I think that hurt them a lot. I also wondered if Chris regretted having gone on that crazy adventure after he had spent months in Alaska struggling to survive. I think that he didn't because that's what he wanted it seems and he never said anything about regret.

Responseto David's book reflection.

During the lit discussion, David had really interesting points. In David's post, I found points I agree with. During the lit discussion, our group, or most if the members of our group said the book and the story were starting to get boring and didn't really seem real.

I believed that Chris had lived an abnormal life because he didn't want to be successful in college but rather explore nature. He ran away from home. He enjoyed being by himself much more that hanging out with the friends that he makes. He donated all his money instead of using it on his trips. On the other hand, I also thought that it was reasonable because he had many family problems. The parents constantly yelled at each other so only his sister was close to him. If his sister wasn't there, then he would be by himself. He was also influenced by a writer named Jack London that expressed the fantasies of living in Alaska.

I think that this book was good, well, it is good so far. I would have predicted different things than what really happened but it is still good. Like David said, I also think that Chris was just one of those persons that just love nature and that doesn't need to be with anyone else except for himself to be happy. I think that some people judge the way Chris was, or the way he decided his life would be because they do not understand that not everyone is the same. People have different ideas of what they want to do with their own lives.
If I were Chris, I would bot have done what he did. He had all the resources he needed to succeed, and I would have used that to become a professional at something. But Chris is not me, or anyone else so there is no reason why he would do what we would have done.
I think that Chris died doing what he wanted. I think he died happy in a way because he reached his goal of getting to alaska. I think he was happy for doing what he did.

Response to "what I want to be when I grow up" by Ruby

I read Ruby's post, and I liked it. She said,

      I was asked once, “Would you rather be poor with the job you love, or be rich with a job you hate?” It was something I had a hard time deciding, and to this day I still don't have my answer. With a job you love, you have the motivation to wake up in the morning and get to work. You don't stress too much on how much money you make because you have an intense devotion to what you're doing with your life. But with a job you loathe, what drives you to keep doing it? Everyday of you wake up and hate your life. Nobody ever sees you happy because...well, you aren't happy! Yeah, your bills are paid, but what then?

She Talks about something I have thought before. I know what I want to be when I grow up, but what if I don't get to be what I want to be? What if there are obstacles that make it impossible for me to reach my goal? I don't want to have a job that I won't enjoy. I want a job I feel proud of. Excited every morning before going to it, like Ruby said.
Like ruby, I love art and it has been and was my passion (soccer has replaced it). I am actually a really good artist buy I feel I have lost some of my skills. I don't feel so confident and good when I draw, (because I rarely draw now). I don't have the time to draw anymore. I stopped taking art classes in 8th grade because there aren't art classes at ASTI. Also, ASTI has been grey but it has taken a lot of time from me. In middle school, I did not have so much work to do. Now, I only have time on the weekends and on the weekends I'm usually busy. Over the last year, I have tried to draw but there just wasn't enough time.
What I want to be when I grow up is an engineer or an architect. I love art, and these two jobs connect to art a lot. That is why I want to work as an engineer or an architect.

Into The Wild reflection

The first part (the first six chapters) of "Into The Wild" by Jon Krakauer was really interesting. I really liked the first part. Even though the story is true, sometimes it seems like the writes makes some stuff up or kind of exaggerates. I really like the way this author writes, but the book wasn't what I expected. I thought that since I knew it was a true story, that it would have been the actually person telling their story, in this case Alex. I think the book would be much better and more interesting if it was all written by the actual character. Much like a diary.
The story itself seems really good to me and is an adventure I would be interested on doing but not under his same circumstances. I think that his personality really goes with the kind of things he does and the way he sees life is a way different than any other human in the story.
I think that in this book, one of the major conflicts there is is society. Alex seems to have something with society; he isolates himself from it. He lives in his own society. Alex is the one who doesn't like the government and hates rules. He likes to be free and to do whatever he wants, that's why he goes on this adventure unto the wildness.
Another conflict in this book is himself. Not as much as society, but he has or seems to have problems with himself. It seems in the story like he is mentally ill. He might have mental issues and he seems to struggle with his life a little. Even though he enjoys living in the wild.
These are the kind of books I like reading because they are really interesting. The cool thing about books. That are based on true stories is that the events in the story actually happened. There is a feeling when I read and I know that what I am reading happened. I feel impressed sometimes, or sad. Depending on what it was I get different feelings. When I read something fictional or made up, and there are things that impress me, I realize that it didn't happen so I feel disappointed. With documentaries, it is different. That is why I like books like this one.
This book is really good in general. I like the way it flows and everything else, just that if it was written from the character's point of view, it would have been better.

The Garcia Girls Essay

When I Finished reading the book “How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents” by Julia Alvarez, I realized that the story is similar to many of those I have heard from other immigrants. It reminded me of my dad, who always tells us stories about immigrants at the table during dinner time. My dad is an Immigration attorney and he works for the government, and he always tells me and my family about his cases. The one reason I hear my dad always talk about why people come to the United States is for shelter because their country is not safe enough for them. That is what happens in this book.

It initially begins with one of the members of the Garcia family. Carlos is the first person of the family to come to the United Sates trying to escape from danger. The SIM or The Secret Police from the Dominican Republic are looking for him because he had a gun under his possession and he plotted against the Dominican government. He had to come to the United States because he did not feel safe in the Dominican Republic by being wanted by the Dominican Secret Police. He comes to the United States safely and then once immigrants get here, they usually say that their families are not safe back home either so they bring them too.

After Carlos comes, his family follows and that is normally how immigration works. After the family adjusts to the American culture, their lives change, as well as their personalities. The Dominican culture is greatly different from the American culture. In the book, it seems that when the Garcia girls come and get used to living in the United States, they lose their innocence. In the Dominican Republic they were these humble people and innocent, hidden from sins, but when they come, that changes. They lose their innocence in different ways; some of them start thinking of sexual activities as a game and also that they forget about where they come from. One of the most important things an immigrant should always consider is not forgetting the place they come from.

Me for example, as an immigrant coming from a total different place, I know exactly where I come from and what the differences of here and there are. I know what the two cultures are about and I know that I cannot leave either one behind. The two cultures are what shape me now.

This book seems to be written in a way that mostly interests Latin American people or Hispanics. The title captures the readers’ minds and especially for those who speak Spanish. Just by reading the title, “How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents”, the reader can say that it might be about Latin Americans because it includes the words, “Garcia” and “Accent”. When I read the title, I instantly knew that it would be about Latin Americans. The title absorbs a great number of Spanish speaking audience.

The actual book is written in a way a Spanish speaking person would understand much more than a person who does not speak Spanish would. The book contains little words or phrases that are written in Spanish and that may confuse a reader that does not understand them.  That can change the meaning of the book for different people. For example, for Spanish Speakers, who might have a deeper understanding of the book, it could mean something and for those that do not speak Spanish might understand a different meaning. This might be a cause why the most part of the number of people that read books like this one are Spanish speakers. Also, the topic of “immigration” is interesting for immigrants and might not be as interesting for others that are not immigrants. 

Another thing that might change the meaning of the book might be the fact that not all the audiences are immigrants. Julia Alvarez might have written this book from an immigrant’s point of view. It is easier for those that are immigrants to understand or to get what the meaning behind this story is, especially for those who immigrated to the United States for the same reason this family did, or for a similar reason; they might feel connected to the story. On the other hand, those readers that are not immigrants try to understand a little more while the immigrants just hear a similar story to theirs.  That is another disadvantage of this book.

The meaning of the book can be determined depending on the reader’s own experience or knowledge about the subject.

Another weakness is that it is not written in the order of the events; it begins with the present and it ends with the beginning. That causes confusion for the readers. The reader gets lost in the beginning of the book, is not until they read the middle part of the book that things start to become more clear. At the beginning, everything is confusing and a lot of questions pop up in the reader’s mind, questions such as, “why are they there?” or “how did they end up being like this?”. Questions that are not answered until the middle and end parts are read.

What if the book had been written in the order of the events, from the beginning to the present? Had that changed the meaning of the book? Maybe Julia Alvarez wanted to write the book the way she did to give it a specific meaning different from the meaning or meanings it would have if it was written in order of events. Everything from this book must have its purpose.

Julia Alvarez wrote this book to share with her Hispanic community and the rest of the world a story that happens to many immigrants from all around the world. She expresses herself in a way that her community can understand better than other readers, and she organizes her book in a confusing way that becomes clear until it is completely read. The book itself has or can have different meanings depending on the reader and that is one of the things Alvarez

How the Garcia girls lost their accents final reflection.

Now that I have gotten to te end of the book, "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez, it is more clear to me what the big idea of the book is. I think that what Julia Alvarez is trying to tell us, the readers is that when the Garcia girls came to the United States, they lost their innocence. The big changes in their lives caused dramatic changes in their personalities.
The first part of the book was really confusing. I could not understand anything. Once I got to the second part, it was easier to understand a little more than the first part. I could see the difference in time in the story by then. Finally, when I started reading the third part of the book, it all connected and started to make sense. I started to notice what the pattern was. How it all began. What was that caused the Garcia girls to end up being different women with much different personalities when living in the United States than when they lived in the Dominican Republic. What impressed me by the end of the book, which was actually the beginning of the story (The past) was that it sent the reader back to the beginning of the book, which was actually the ending of the story (The present) and it was like it started all over again.
The idea of them losing their innocence when their lives change is because I noticed the way they lived in the Dominican Republic an compared it with the way the lived in the United States. It seems like there are humble girls back home and when they come here, they become rebellious. I think that they weren't mentally ready to chug their lives in such a way. Being taken away from their home land was unexpected.
I was wondering what the title has to do with the actual story and I thought two things; the "accents" on the title represents "innocence" or the title actually means that the Garcia girls forget about their culture and become part of another society. I thought that the title could mean either one.
I was also wondering if the book had been written in a normal way, meaning from the beginning of the story to the end, or from past to present, if the meaning of the book had still been the same.
This book was really confusing. I thought this book was good though, the ending was much better than te beginning because it was easier to understand.

Response to "dogs"

The tittle "dogs" caught my eyes. I though right away, "I love dogs!" and I was like :D .
I liked Cindy's post a lot. I like how your dog plays soccer with her food! :)

dogs are cool. i like dogs. dogs are fluffy and warm and hairy and their breath stinks sometimes. they have a wet nose and it moves when they sniff stuff. they have whiskers that stick out. they have a tail and cute ears and 4 feet and paws. their paws smell like doritos. i love dogs. dogs are everything. dogssssssssssssss~~~

I love dogs too. Dogs are my favorite animal. I once had 2 dogs. One of them died when he was old, a car drove over him and killed him :( his name was Pilín.
My other dog, she is crazy. She has a twin. She is my favorite animal. Her name is Banana. Much like Cindy's case, I did not name her that. But I still like the name. I have not seen Banana in a year and a half. She lives in Honduras and she is a Dalmatian. She is crazy.she goes around the house running all the time, when she is hungry, she puts her paws on someone. I stalely stretch my hand put and tell her to give me her paw, and she puts her paw on my hand. It's really cool. Well, when she is really happy. She lays down and she opens her legs wide open and she pees!! I saw if happen twice. She was so flag to see my cousin she hadn't seen for a few years and when she saw my cousin, she recognized her and she laid on the grass and opened her legs and peed in the air. It was nasty but funny. Other tha that, Banana plays soccer. She is really good. Even though she destroyed all of my soccer balls I still love her. She also destroyed shoes. We could not leave shoes outside because shed take them to her house and bite them. I liked to get her mad. She didn't like it when I messed with her tummy so I would mess with it and shed almost bite me. I liked seeing her mad. She only bit me once but I deserved it. I love that dog. I talked to her. I seriously talked to banana. I would have conversations with her and I'd tell her I love her, which is true. I have never loved an animal so much.
It was also fun to give her a shower because she hates showers. We had to hold her between 3 people to get her wet. She is like a cat. After she is all clean, she instantly starts running looking for the sun. She sits with her legs opened wide and doesn't like to be disturbed when she is drying off.
I miss Banana, and if she could talk, I would call her right now. I am hoping to see her this Christmas. ...ahh, I love Banana, and I miss Pilín and love him too. Dogs are the best!

Music

I love music. I am always listening to music. Every day I listen to hours of music. In fact, I'm listening to music right now. I don't know how my life would be without music. It would probably be boring. I am not the kind of person that plays instruments, but I am the kind that listens to the music. I listen to all kinds of music. Different rhythms, different languages, different artists. I like lots of music. The music makes me happy.
Music connects me to myself. When I listen to music I get sucked into it. I start imagining things that go with the song I'm listening to. For example, if I am in a car traveling on the freeway, I love to listen to my music and nothing else. Sometimes I hear my brother or anyone talking and I turn the volume on my iPod higher but then I see my mom is telling me to turn it down. I love listening to my music as loud as possible, and I do it even though I know it is really bad for my ears. So I listen to music in the car, and as I look out the window, I connect the song I'm listening to, to what I am looking at or thinking about. I usually pick the song that I think would math the mood though. I always do that when I travel.
Even if I walk down the street to the other block, I plug my ear phones in. Music is attached to me. I also listen to music when I'm on the bus. I take the bus to school, so I listen to music on my 15-20 minute bus ride. I practically listen to music whenever I can. When I am alone, music must be with me!
The only exception of listening to music loudly is when I read. I think that when I read, listening to music helps me concentrate on what I'm reading because the music I play when I read is usually slow and low. I just hear low beats as I read. I think that's cool.
Music is and will always be a part of my life. Music is what brings me memories of things. When I listen to a song, it reminds me of a special moment usually. Not all songs but some. I just don't know what my life would be like without any music...

Losing your identity.

This second part of the book was much easier to read. The events that happened seemed more clear to me and some of the things that happened hooked me a little more into this book.
A lot if things happen, but I think that one if the most important ones is that The family in the Dominican Republic does does not want the 4 girls to forget where they come from. This happens almost with every immigrant family that comes to the United States to start a new life. The girls's family back in the Dominican Republic and their parents do not want them to become new people and to forget about them. They want them to continue their lives in a different, better and safer place with more opportunities, but they don't want them to change the way they are.
I think that the reason why this happens in a lot of families when they come to this country is that culture is a big thing that cannot be left behind. I know from experience that people back home want the people who are here to succeed but the don't want them to change. They don't want them to change because that could cause a gap in between their relationships.
The number one reason people cone to this country is for better and safer lives. Sometimes, people can't have good lives in their own country. The 4 Dominican girls came here fir a better and safer life. The only thing their family asks in return is to not forget where they come from, who their people are, and who they really are. Culture is a big thing. Traditions and memories are part of culture.
For example, I know and I am always told by my family back home that they don't want me to become a new person. They want me to be the same guy. Even though my it is not something I believe I can do, I always think about it. I don't think most people are able to not change; living here just makes you a different person. Makes you like every one else here. It happens naturally. I do know that some people are able to be the same way they were back in their country. I don't think those are the kind of people the 4 girls are. The girls seem to become more Americanized as they grow older.
Losing someone's culture is losing their real identity. The girls become new people in the United States and the Dominican Republic becomes a forgotten little island isolated from the world.

There are too many distractions!!

One of the biggest problems I have is getting distracted when I am trying to focus on something important. It doesn't matter why is is. Everytime I do homework, when I draw, when I study, when I try to clean my room. There are always distractions.
When I am at school, I always get distracted and that is because I stet talking. Most if the time I am quiet and I pay attention, but when I get distracted, it's hard to focus back on my work.
Then I get home, and I am usually tired, wishing I could go to bed right away. I count how many hours I have until I have to go to bed and then I think about how much homework I have and then I predict how long it'll take me to finish all of it or if I will have to wake up early in the morning to finish it. Most of the time I have more than enough time to finish all my homework before 9pm or 10pm. I just get so distracted. One of the distractions I have is Facebook. I go on it everyday and it's hard for me to stop using it because like I talked about on my other post, it is addictive. So I spend some time on facebook, but not like before. I have learned to use it in a moderate way. Also, I start playing videogames. If it was up to me, I wouldn't do any homework and just come home and play all afternoon and night until I go to bed. But I also get distracted just by staring into space. I just lay on my bed and think. I stare at things for minutes and minutes and I waste a lot of time by doing that.
When I draw, I am usually sitting down on a desk, and half way through the drawing I get bored and just sit there for a while, not doing anything.
I get distracted a lot when I study. BecYse I try to memorize stuff without looking at the actual thing I'm learning the stuff from, I have to look away and try to think about that thing. When I do thy, I get lost sometimes because I often start to think about other stuff. I start thinking about anything else, and then I get bored. I start forgetting what I study and it all goes bad. Even small things such as a pen are distracting. I start playing with the pen as throwing it in the air, and that takes time. That time is wasted.
I always get distracted when I do things daily. I procrastinate a lot and I want to stop doing it. I need to manage my time better.

Response to Tiffany Cao's post: "Words that looks simple, but actually sophisticated"

I started reading Tiffany's post, and I realized that she talks about something I also thought a lot about in class. I was actually in Tiffany's group and we could not come up with a solid definition of "innocence". My personal opinion about innocence was that it cannot be really defined. There are too many ways that innocence is described as by different kinds of people. Sometimes the differences in culture determine what innocence is. But innocence cannot be defined only one way. The general idea of innocence is one who is free of sins, but who knows what is good and what us bad? How do we determine what is right and what is wrong? It depends on the people. All people think different and that causes the different ways they see innocence. Some people might think some things can be acts of innocence while others could think those same actions are bad acts that destroy innocence. Innocence is a universal idea that means different things to different people, and can be shown in different ways.

. What is innocence? First, I thought it meant the avoidance of moral wrong. As I tell my table mates about what I thought. Soon, I asked myself what is wrong? What is right? Then what in the world does innocence mean? We began to think it out, but we had no explanation nor definition of the word, "innocence."

Tiffany also compares the meaning of the word "innocence" and the meaning of the word "love" and how they are interpreted. Tiffany, I think that the heart is used in a metaphorical way, meaning that they say that it represents love because we think of it as that. Although I also think that since our heart is what keeps us alive, our heart represents love because it is life. We love life, and without it, we wouldn't love. That is a thought that came to my mind as I analyzed your question. I also think that there could really be a reason why the heart represents love. Or, this can be like what I said about innocence. It is seen differently by different people. Maybe people have different reasons why the heart is what represents love.
I also wonder why the hearts, and not the brain. In the brain is where everything happens; your brain is what makes you feel love or loved. All of the feelings happen there, so why doesn't the brain represent love?
Innocence ad love anre both abstract ideas that can be defined in many different ways because there are many ways of showing each.

The confusing How the García girls lost their accents

As I began reading How the García Girls lost their accents by Julia Alvarez, I could not understand what it was really about. What mainly confused me was that there were a lot of characters and I had no idea who they were. I started to kind of understand the reading wen I got to the part where Yolanda is back in the Dominican Republic. I began to understand why she was there but I did not or was not able to connect it to the very beginning.

Another thing that is confusing is the way the story us told. It starts with the end and ends with the beginning. That's is really confusing to me and males it harder for me to understand what the meaning of the book is.

The lives of the characters seem like they've gone through a lot of things. There is disloyalty between the characters, there is anger, there are also connections but many things happen to the characters throughout the years. I think of the lives of some of the characters and see that hay have a reputation based on what they did or what they have done.

Before I started reading the book, I thought that it would be about how the Garcia girls lost their Spanish accent. When I started reading I started thinking and then I thought it might rather be about how they lose their Spanish or how they leave behind everything for a new life in the United States. I think of the title now as something different than what I tought at first when I was just looking at the book and had not started reading. Now I think that it might mean how the Garcia girls left their home, their people, their food and their language for a replacement. In hope of success. Now, they seem to have lost some of those things or they seem to have forgotten them.

Honestly, this book is really confusing. I can't read something that is told in reverse. I don't know what to expect for the rest of the book. I can't really make predictions when the order if the story is like this. I wonder what will happen next.

Essay Reflection

My sophomore year, I have been experiencing a different kind of writing for my English class. I am having the experience of writing the opposite of how I write during my freshman year. Last year, my writing was based on what someone else said or someone else's idea. For example, I wrote essays that had to resemble sone other author's writing. This year, I started to write my own ideas the way I wanted. The way I write now is a more relaxed way, and with less pressure. When I write, I think about the things I like or things that concern me, and that makes my writing be more creative.

When I began writing , I thought it would be easy to just wrote responses to someone elses post, which is much different than using someone else's idea to write. It is actually easy. It does not take much thinking and it is mostly based on my own opinion. Having a blog makes it easier for me to write better than I normally do because knowing that so many people can look at my blog posts, I feel the need to write clear, in a way not only I can understand what I am trying to say. My blogs, by being able to be seen almost by anyone, give me the ideas to write a out things that might also interest other readers: Facebook Addiction.

It has almost been for about a year and a half since I made my facebook account. I have to admit it, that thing is like a drug!I never thought i would get so into it.

Facebook is a common topic a lot of kids my agetalk about, so I thought that by writing about it and what my experiences with if have been would get people's attention, and that it would get them to respond to my idea.

A reason why u find that having a Blogger is useful for my writing is bacause I can relate to someone else's thoughts and write responses to them. Sometimes I go on reader and I start reading blogs otter students made, and some of them do not interest me at all, but there are sone that really catch my eyes and I find really interesting. Those that interest me end up being the ones I make my responses to. The responses I make are usually to ideas that I like or ideas that I agree with. For example, I read a blog post by lean Liang called, "Books and Words" and he wrote about an idea that if I would have written about it, I would have said the same things he said: Books and Words

The title 'Books and Words" made me wonder what it was about, and when i started reading the first few sentences i felt really connected to what was being said by Leon. This blog, written by Leon Liang is a reflection of what i think.

Leon's idea of not liking to read books and only reading them when he has to, is something I can relate to me; I do not like to read and only read when I have to. We share ideas like that, not with him only, but with many other writers. Whatever I find related to my thoughts, I respond to it. That helps my writing by expressing my ideas by supporting someone else's thoughts.

I think of writing as something different now. I think that writing is much easier than I thought. By writing blogs weekly, I get more practice on writing and each time I get better at it. I do nod know what my mistakes are exactly when I write, so I cannot really say I learn from them. But what I can say is that my writing improves with time. The flow of my writing is each time easier to understand. I notice how the voice of my writing is each time strong and sometimes the critical thinking is more clear and good. Writing blog posts helps my writing become more clear.

Since I began blogging and I gog my reader account, I have been reading more (blog posts, not books). When I am bored, I go on google reader sometimes and I start reading other people's blogs. I read them because I want to, and not necessarily because I will respond to them. Having a blogger also helps me be a more independent reader. Even though I dislike reading, I read a lot of blog posts weekly and I do not get tired of it. During the last few months, I have probably read more independently than I read in my last year's English class dependently. I read blog posts almost every single day of the week of every week. (Ever since I made my blogger account). Having a blogger has changed the amount of time I spend reading, and it has also increased it.

The kind of writing I use when I blog is my kind; I write freely without feeling the need to write correctly like I would when I write an essay or anything for another class. For example, for my writing class, there are a log of rules when writing. From having correct grammar, to writing in a specific way; writing in a format. There are too many rules in the world of writing for all of them to be applied to a single piece if writing which is exactly what I do when I write blog posts. I write, still using some of the rules, but I write the way I want to when I blog. The writing in my blog would be considered as a mess in any other of my classes, specially in my writing class. Writing with no rules is better than writing with the rules and all that's needed. An example of me writing when I blog is the following post: Where to?

Another place I'd like to visit would be Rome, Italy. The main reason why I like places such as Rome, is because I love architecture and I think that Rome is a gorgeous place to go and see the variety of old and classical architecture from hundreds of years ago.

I would not write like this if it had to be academic writing.
Overall, I write different when I blog. It is easier for me to express my ideas here than on academic writing. Ever since I made my blog, I have been reading more than I usually do. I also relate to other people's eideas and I reflect in them. Blogging is a good experience that changes the way I write. I notice how my writing improves with time hen I blog.

Night Essay: Elie vs. Society.

Society has always had problems throughout history, and human inequality has been one of the biggest problems. In the book, "Night" by Elie Weisel, a Jewish comunnity is taken by nazis to concentration camps where they literally work to death. Elie, a Jewish teenager manages to survive due to his hope, patience and effort for living. Things like this wouldn't have happened though, if the nazis hadn't seen the Jewish as different from any other human group. The main conflict of the story is between Elie and his community, and the Nazis.

Nazis keep the Jews in the dark about what is happening to them. Elie lives in a peaceful ghetto among many other Jewish people and German officers who watch them. The nazis often do unexpected things that affect the Jewish communities' people. One day, the Jewish were informed something: "The guetto was to be completely wiped out. We were to leave street by street, starting the following day,"(11). The Nazis come to Elie's community and take them all to the concentration camp without them knowing. They have little time to do it, and if they make mistakes, it can cost them their lives. Due to acts like this by the Nazis, Elie and his community feel threatened. The Jewish never know what will happen to them next.

The Nazis feel no compassion for the Jews. All throughout the story, it is shown how the Nazis mistreat the Jews and disrespect them. The feeling of superiority and power is the reason the Nazis make the lives of the Jews miserable. Elie and his group marched from the concentration camp they were being evacuated from to another one and one of the SS soldiers leading them, yelled, " 'Faster, you filthy sons of bitches!' "(81). This is how the Nazis treat the Jews; in a very disrespectful way not caring about what they say. The SS soldiers want them to run as fast as they can just to purposely make them tired, so that if anyone stops, they can shoot them and kill them. Both, the nazis and the Jewish have different points of view on this occasion; to the Nazis, this is how they show their superiority and power and to the Jewish people, this is a competition for survival. As the hate on the Jews continues, society becomes more corrupt.

The Nazis try to encourage prisoners to let the weak ones down and to try to survive for themselves. Elie sacrifices his ration of food to let his father eat more than him so he can be able to survive. The only thing Elie wants is to keep his father alive to always have someone next to him, however, the Nazi head of the block said to Elie when he noticed Elie helping out his father survive, " 'Listen to me boy. Don't forget that you're in a concentration camp. Here every man has to fight for himself and not think of anyone else. Even of his father', "(105). The head of the block is telling Elie to let his father down and to look for himself. This strikes Elie's mind just like it does to the minds of many other Jews. Elie's care for his father won't let him down, but the Nazis divide the Jewish friends and family members from one another either psychologically by messing with their minds or physically by force. At the end, all the weak ones die and the strong ones continue their misery.

The major conflict is that the German Nazis destroy Elie's life just like they do to thousands of other Jews. They take their most important values; their freedom, their hope and their own people. Nazis aren't conpassive with the Jews and they wash their minds telling them to forget about everyone else. When te Nazis mistreat the Jews, chug their minds, and isolate them from society, they cause at least as much damage as their weapons and their gas chambers do.

Where to?

I want to travel. Before I die, I want to have traveled to many, many different places all around the world, if I don't, I'll die disappointed.
There are some many places where I want to go. If I had the chance to pick a place to go tomorrow and stay there for a few days, I'd go to Barcelona, Spain. There are a lot of reasons why I want to go there, but the main one is because I've seen so many pictures and videos of it, and I just think it is beautiful; the architecture of te buildings, the people, and the environment. I'd go to Barcelona mañana if I could!
Another place I'd like to visit would be Rome, Italy. The main reason why I like places such as Rome, is because I love architecture and I think that Rome is a gorgeous place to go and see the variety of old and classical architecture from hundreds of years ago. I love art, and I think that art is a way of expressing happiness. I enjoy art, an I am really good at it. I want to build giant pieces of art. Oh, and I'd go to Spain to practice my drawing skills. But in Italy, I'd see great examples of what I like to see. Another place is Greece. Greece is full of wonderful places and lots of art, which is awesome and one of the reasons I want to go there.
I would like to go to South Africa too. I want to go to Africa because it is such an interesting continent. The country of South Africa interests me because of sone of the things that have happened there. I like about its history. South Africa is my Favorite African country.
I'd like to travel South of the American continent. I want to go to some countries in Central Amarica and South America, in Central America, I'd like to visit Costa Rica because of its beautiful nature; its forests are amazing and all its greenlands are great. In South Africa, I'd like to go to Peru, Brazil and Argentina. I want to visit Peru so I can go to Cuzco, where the Incas once lived. I just think that Brazil and Argentina are really cool countries and that I'd go there anytime.
These are just a few of the places I'd like to visit, but if I get to go to these, I'll be happy.
Traveling will be one of the things I'll love to do when I'm older. I want to go all around the world.

Nights of Terror...

I read Ianna's response to the book "Night" by Elie Wiesel. Right now, I am almost done with it. The book itself is great, it is a really well written piece. The reson why I like this book is because I like history. I do not like what happened in the book, but knowing about what happened helps me understand the world better.

This is one of the most amazing books I have ever read. So far Elie has lost himself and his religion. Watching all the cruelties of the Gastapo and SS have forced a soulless body to become the boy once known as Elie to become prisoner A-7713.

I also think that this book is amazing. Also one of the best books I've read. Personally, I love knowing about real events and learning about them, especially those that made differences in the world. Usually when I am reading fantasy or fiction I don't really get into the reading, but when I read something that really happened I really get connected with that reading. But it also depends on what it is. I usually like knowing about historical events such as World War I and II, some other wars, and colonization. I just like knowing how the world has become what it is now.
When I read stuff like this, it kind of inspires me to use another source and learn more about it. So a few days ago, after I finished reading some chapters, I came home and I started watching a movie called, "Defiance" which is about how German Nazis take Jews to Concentration camps but some scape and those that scape fight for their freedom. I really liked this movie, even though it was also sad but not as much as Night. So by reading Night, I feel inspired to know more. After that movie, I played another movie which isn't about Jews and Nazis, but about Americans in Africa. This movie is called "Black Hawk Down" and it is also really good. It's also about war.
Back to the point, this book is great because it does not only teach us a little history, but it brings us back to it. While I read, I feel like I am part of the story and that I am just an invisible character everyone does not notice. I feel pulled in to the story.
there is another movie I have seen and that I relate to this book, and that I will probably watch again tomorrow or sometime this weekend; The Pianist. The Puanist is also a movie about German Nazis taking Jews and killing them, torturing them and killing their faith. Like in Night, it brings us back to the events and shows us the feelings and what people went through. It is sad.
This book is really good and I encourage people to read it.

Ohh and btw Ianna, nice background! ;D

This crazy weather.

Lately, the weather has been like crazy. By now, it should be cold, but it's hot, still. This summer that just ended was also weird because for a long time it was cold when it was supposed to be hot. Now that it's supposed to be cold, it's hot. I don't like this. There are many reasons why I don't like how hot it gets now; it is too hot, it makes us not want to do any exercise and it annoys people. Hot weather just gets some people feeling weird and uncomfortable.
Just a few weeks ago, the weather was so hot that I could bot even walk. It got me mad, and this sounds crazy but it's true; hot weather really annoys me. During those days, it was a little difficult for me to concentrate in some classes. It gets me nervous and makes me distracted.
When we are in P.E. And it's really hot, almost no one does anything. All we want to do is sit down and relax, but in the shade and we hope for the wind to blow. It also makes us thirsty fast and we have to keep drinking water or anything to keep our thrist satisfied.
I just can't wait until the real cold comes and for the rain to get us wet. There are many reasons why the cold weather is better than hot weather. When it's cold, it's easier to do exercise (not when it freezing cold though.) and we get to wear jackets and warm stuff, and we can drink hot chocolate next to a fire. I prefer being cold than being hot, when I'm hot, it annoys me and when I'm cold... It's not that bad.
Global warming is the cause of this crazy weather. I hope the cold weather comes soon! I wish global warming would stop.

Response to John Hamilton's "Quick write-video games".

After reading John Hamilton's post, I thought that he had a good point. I agree with his point, and one remarkable quote I found was the following:

so overall i do feel like video games has an effect on this world. but it truly all depends on ho you look at that game , who is playing that  game and why was that game made for. The most important part about playing video games is to play them not let them play you.

I am not a gamer, I don't spend hours and hours playing videogames. I do play videogames but they are not an addiction to me. I usually play videogames twice or three tines a week, just for a few hours. I know people who would spend hours playing and playing without stopping; people like my brother. I agree that videogames are a great influence for young kids and also for the older ones. Videogames can be good or bad, and that is what influences kids.
Like John mentioned, violent videogames such as war games or games about killing or stealing are a bad influence for kids. The reason why is because kids have minds that don't think mature. Kids do anything they want, they repeat or do wjaever someone else does. Wen they see something in a videogames, they're likely to go try it out in real life, and it can be things such as hitting someone, or stealing because they saw it in the videogame. On the other hand, videogames can also be good. Nof all videogames are bad; videogames about racing or sports are examples of good games. Games that rather than giving a bad influence, help the kids be more active and think better.
In general, videogames make a big impact in society. Videogames have taken over the kids' minds and time. For example, the number of kids playing outside at a park was much larger 20 years ago than it is now. Kids now a days, they spend most of their time inside of their house playing videogames. It is a huge distraction.
It is not only a distraction, but it is slowly becoming one of the big causes of kids becoming overweight. Now that every kid has a videogame, they spend more time sitting down, and less time outside exercising. A lot of kids excercise as much as they play videogames but over time, videogame might take over and more kids will play in rather than out.
Videogames male a big difference in society and the biggest contributors in specific are the young kids. At young ages, kids don't know the concequences of playing videogames for so long, they just love to sit down and play.
I wonder if one day videogames will become real...

Reflection essay: Qfwfq

Thesis: When Qfwfq does not know what to do, he makes impetuous decisions without thinking about the consequences and unexpected things happen.

Qfwfq Is a character who is most of the time confused about the things he does, so things he doesn't expect, happen. In both of the stories, he acts the same way: lost. He seems to not know how to think fast and make good decisions. In the story, "The Aquatic Uncle" by Italo Calvino, Qfwfq falls in love with another creature and he seems to not know hat to do with her; he says, " 'Im saying that my great-uncle N'ba N'ga lives in the water the way we live on the land and he's never come out of it!' "(76). Qfwfq is trying to get his girlfriend to go in the water, where his great-uncle lives. Not knowing what to do, he just keeps pressuring her to go in the water even though she does not want to. After almost forcing her to do it, she decides to go in, but something unexpected happens. She falls in love with his great-uncle and leaves him for his great-uncle. Since he is the one responsible for what happened, his self steam lowers. Qfwfq messes up a lot, causing problems in his own life.

Qfwfq's problems continue when he keeps makind decisions that don't make sense. In the story, "The Dinosours" by Italo Calvino, Qfwfq is a dinosaur whose decisions male other creatures give him a reputation as a bad influence. He thinks he is te last dinosaur alive and he finds a group of creatures called "The New Ones" and be stays with them. With the time, they trust that be is no harm and then consider him as part if their group, or one of them. They got news saying that a giant group of dinosaurs was coming. Qfwfq is confused and hw thinks to himself, "I had to escape as soon as possible, let them stew in their own juice, have nothing more to do with those old stories" (106). Qfwfq has no idea what to do shoe think that the neat thing to do is to escape and let the dinosaurs an the new ones deal with their problems. He didn't know wether to be on his species' side, or to be on the side of the ones who took him an kept him alive. He escaped. Betraying both sides was not the right idea, and when he comes back after, knowing that the news were false, he is seem as a traitor by the new ones.

Qfwfq's love life never gies well because of his random decisions. He thinks he is falling in love with one of the new ones, her name is Fern-Flower. She talks to him about her dreams and for some reason, her fmdreams are a clear image of his life. She teats him with trust and it seems like she would tell her any of her secrets. One day, Qfwfq gets mad and can't think of anything and he tells her, " 'Why do you bore me with these dreams of yours? They get more childish everytime!' Fern-Flower burst into tears.(107). Qfwfq, angry told her that he didn't care about her dreams and offended her. Se gets mad at him, and she doesn't think of him as a creature she can't trust any longer.

Facebook Addiction.

It has almost been for about a year and a half since I made my facebook account. I have to admit it, that thing is like a drug!I never thought i would get so into it. I had a MySpace before I made my facebook, and I thought that MySpace was the coolest thing out there. I knew facebook existed, but it didn't really seem to interest me. I would always see my sister on facebook and I'd ask and tell her, "what's so good about facebook? That's only for old people, MySpace is better." and she'd look at me like she didn't care. So one day I decided to make a facebook account, and I wasn't so excited about it but I still wanted one because I wanted to try it out.
My sister helped me demonstrate how to use it because when I logged in for the first time, I had no idea what to do. I was clueless. Since I didn't like it when I made it, my first status update said, "Facebook is so weird...". It took me fir about 3 or 4 days to understand what facebook was good for and how to use it.
Since facebook wasn't as popular back then, most of my friends had a MySpace, but as many of us started making facebook accounts, it began to be a popular social network. By the 4th month of having a facebook, I started to use MySpace less and each time less and using facebook more and more. By the 6th month, It became an addiction.
My first year of high school started and I made new friends. I met all of the ASTI students in like a week. At the beginning of my freshmen year, I added for about 150 friends just from ASTI to my facebook account. That was a great step toward my addiction. I remember after finishing homework, I would go on the computer and log in to facebook. I would spend all the night just reading statuses and having random conversations with different people. When Christmas time came, facebook was a part of my daily routine; wake up, eat, go to school, soccer, eat, homework and finally facebook.
Now, facebook is still a part of my daily routine. I know it is distracting, but I have learned to manage my time. I think some people have problems getting off of facebook because it is such a huge distraction. Some people have the capacity of being on facebook for hours and hours, continuously. I think that facebook is the largest social network world wide. Facebook is everywhere, and it continues growing.

Response to Tiffany Cao's "People using God as an excuse"

Just by reading the title, "People using God as an excuse", this blog caught my attention. After reading this blog, i realized that i had thought about this before many, many times.

Recently, I noticed how people in the past use God for bad use. I hear people saying, " God told me that I should tell you this" or "God told me that I should go against my teacher since she's rude to me." Hearing all of those quotes makes me question, what does God mean to you?

My own experience has been that i used to attend to church every Sunday, for 10 years. Personally, i believe in God and God has had a big influence in my life. I stopped going to church because of personal things that happened in my life, but Church was always a big part of my life. I still go to church though, every once in a while. I will admit that i have joked about telling people that God told me something or that i saw Jesus, but i am always joking around with things i shouldn't. I know it is wrong and I want to stop.
I honestly think that it is offensive to God, and it is offensive to those who believe in God. People usually do stuff such as this, using religion as an excuse for anything, when they need something or when it will benefit them. Taking advantage of the name of the lord is not just and not right.
I have seem people and heard people use God as an excuse to tier actions, use the name as if it will prevent them from being in trouble. I know when someone jokes about it and I don't really mind, but I can tell when someone is seriously using the name just for their own benefit. I consider that an abuse.
I think that Tiffany makes a good point that people make bad decisions when they use God as an excuse, and I think that most people do this. I believe that the ones that really believe in God and that take it seriously, would not do such a thing.

My vocabulary

1. Establish
2. Consequence
3. Investment
4. Demonstrate
5. Commitment
6. Capacity
7. Facilitate
8. Specific
9. Remove
10. Style

Soccer is Big.

I know that some of you who read this, will go like, "here he goes again talking about soccer",but it's just that it's one of te things I'm always thinking about and that I have lots of things to say about. Well, the truth is, I love soccer a lot. I have grown up with soccer and soccer has grown up with me. I started playing soccer at a very young age with friends and then moved to teams. I have been in different teams, some of them were not so good and some of them have been amazing. I am currently playing soccer with a team called Alameda Islanders U19 Select, and we are hoping to do good this season. Playing soccer select is really fun, it is a challenge and each season a different experience. In my opinion, every team will be good at some point but it becomes weaker as time goes by or it becomes stringer, but it is always changing. I have not yet seen a team that keeps their skills the same way for a long period of time. Even if the teams are good, because of moving players from team to team causes teams to change.

I love soccer for a million reasons, and in my opinion I think that soccer is the sport that is played the most all around the world. It is the mist famous sport worldly. Compared to other sports such as Baseball and Fotball, soccer is a sport that brings the world together. Baseball and football are really famous sports, and they are really cool sports, but they are mainly famous an played in the United States and a few other countries. Every four years, an international association called FIFA, brings together 34 teams from around the world that qualify as the best 34 of the world and they play together eliminating each other, one by one until te last two teams are left, and they play a final. The winner team is the world soccer champion. I love watching te world cups because they bring joy, entertainment, sadness, and it is just fun to see how people from all around the world interact.

Soccer us a really old sport, born in Europe and ended up spreading in every corner of every country. There is no other sport like soccer in my opinion. When i play soccer, I play soccer with passion and ambition because it's worth it. Soccer was, is and will always be the best sport known to man.

Response to "Books and Words" by Leon Liang.

The title 'Books and Words" made me wonder what it was about, and when i started reading the first few sentences i felt really connected to what was being said by Leon. This blog, written by Leon Liang is a reflection of what i think.

When I hear the word “book”, I automatically feel like I am going to be bored to death from reading. Reading is something that I find complicated and hard. I am one of those that cannot sit down and just read. Most of the time, I would just fall asleep after a couple pages. The problem with books is that I cannot face a page full of just words. From grade school until now, the number of books I have read, excluding the books assigned by teachers, can be counted with two hands. I never bother to go discover which book is good and which one is boring. I only read things that I feel like interesting. -Leon Liang.

Like Leon, i am not the kind of person who enjoys reading for fun or who reads all the time. One of the reasons why i dislike reading as much as i do is because ever since i was little, i got into the habit of getting people to read for me and i would not read just simply because as a young boy, i was lazy. I also got used to only reading when i had to, or when it was required by my teachers. Another reason why i dislike reading is because i just find it boring, unless it is about something i like. The only times when anyone will see me pull out a book to read it or to review it, is when the topic of he book is something of my interest.

The only reasons aren't only the ones i just mentioned, but i dislike reading for many other reasons. When i read, the environment im in has to be perfect and i ave to be in the mood of reading. By perfect environment, i mean a really silent one or one with music that flows with the reading or that fits well with what i'm reading and that does not bother me, but the volume has to be really low.  I have a lot of issues concentrating, i get distracted really easily. Sometimes, i just look away from the book, i see something and stare at it for minutes and i just start thinking but not about the book or what im reading but about what i am looking; my brain gets lost and wanders off. I think that the last reason, of the most important ones is that my vision is no so good. I need to wear my glasses for reading because my left eye is and has always been messed up and when i read without glasses i can't see anything with my left eye, and i just see a bunch of words on top of each other. When i spend too much time reading, my left eye starts to hurt and it is annoying and it distracts me from reading. When my eye starts to hurt, my eye seems to stop working as it should, and even with the glasses on, it becomes hard to see.

Reading is not my favorite thing  to do, but it is also something i don't mind doing. I just find it challenging. I know that i should get in the habit of reading daily because it will help me in the future because i will be required and i will also have to do reading on my own. I have to get adapted to reading stuff that is not of my type. I am hoping this year i will change the way i think about reading.  

Con against prostitution

Against Prostitution By: Rahni Johnson (HoNeY bEaR)and Marco Powell

Prostitution should not be legal. Some of the reasons why it shouldn’t be legal as Cecilia Hoffman states, “It violates the right to enjoy the highest standard of physical and mental health because violence, disease, unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and AIDS stalk, presenting constant and grave risks for women and girls in prostitution, and militating against a healthy sense of and relationship with their own bodies." (procon.org, Cecilia Hoffman). Cecilia Hoffman is the Secretary of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women - Asia Pacific (CATW-AP). When a woman is a prostitute they have a pimp, the only thing that this pimp wants is his money, and if he doesn't get his money, then he will beat the woman, girl or young woman until he wants to stop. when he stops it could be to late and he could have beaten her to death. some of the prostitutes that are working the streets are forced to be a prostitute and it is not there choice.

It is common sense that when you have unprotected sex, the possibility of becoming pregnant is much higher than when having protected sex. Also, the possibility of having infective diseases and spreading them, are much higher as well. John Bambenek, Executive Director of the Tumaini Foundation said, ”Prostitutes, because of their many partners, have a greatly increased risk of exposure to HIV. They are likewise able to spread HIV to many other partners...”. (procon.org, John Bambenek)If prostitution isn't illegalized, then mortal diseases will spread more and more rapidly. Diseases are spread when prostitution is active.

The importance of our society depends on the influence of what people do. In this case, prostitution is a big bad influence for the younger ones in the society. Prostitution will cause the increase of kids learning bad things and not finishing school. Prostitution is a big issue we, as a whole community have to take care of, ad if we don't. The effects can be damaging. Prostitution should not be legal! >:O

ASTI constitution

There are bullies everywhere, and innocent students are bullied everyday all around Alameda in every school. I read a few reflections, but in  Regina Moore's reflection i found a quote that caught my eye. I think that this quote reflects the constitution: 

"I have the self confidence to not have to care about the opinions of others, but many people do not obtain this same ability and I do not expect everyone to act in that way because everybody is different."

Some people have the courage to stand up for themselves, while others don't. In Regina's case, she has the ability to stand up for herself and to not let anyone put her down. I am mostly focusing on #6 from the constitution: "Speak up for yourself and others". I think that this is one of the most important ones from the ten listed on the ASTI constitution. This is the best thing to do when being bullied, it's the best defense.

As Regina's quote states that everyone is different, that is true. Everyone has their own way of dealing with their problems. It is also ignoring the bullies if you don't step up for yourself. For example, I know Regina and I know she stands up for herself and sometimes for other, she has that courage, but she also ignores when people bother her. I am different, I just try ignoring people and when I get mad, sometimes I stand up for myself. I have noticed that I stand up for others more than I stand up for myself.

The constitution was made by students for students to follow and I think that it is unfair that the same people that made it, still bully others. Life is a mirror, so I think that whatever you do to someone, will always come back to you somehow. So if you are a bully, then someone else will bully you the same way you bullied them, and if you respect others, which is the best thing to do, then what you will get back from others, is respect. I think that being a good influence is also good. If people see other people treat eachother with respect, then they'll do the same. It's just a matter of time and patience.

We need to stand up for ourselves and others, so the bullying issue can stop at ASTI and also in other places or schools. Show who you really are!

'Just Kidding' and 'Ganging Up' From Odd Girl Out by Rachel Simmons

I have been on both sides. I have been a bully and I have been bullied. I was always a bully to the ones who were "the inferior ones"; the ones who never bothered anyone. I wondered why I bullied other kids, and I knew I did it because that was I way I could take my revenge. Revenge against those who bullied me, but instead of bullying the ones who actually bullied me, I'd bully the innocent ones. I bullied my brother a lot. I took advantage if the fact that I am older and bigger than him. I bullied so I didn't feel inferior. I wanted to at least be above someone else and after I bullied someone, I felt really bad for having dine it knowing that I had gone through that. My anger what made me bully others. Now, I am not a bully and I don't concider myself as one, since the people who bullied me stopped doing it, I stopped as well. I still teas people in a different way, people who I know and joke around with, but I always try to be as respectful as I can.
I think that people bully others to feel superior than everyone else. Bullying is like a vice; you like it because it makes you "a funny person" or "popular" so you keep doing it to gain popularity among or within a group of people. This is what happens in almost every middle school, kids do it fir popularity.
I want to succeed in the future, therefore I cannot be a part of this bullying game. In college I think the same thing as in middle school could happen, where people bully others because they're ignorants. I don't want to be a part of that. To reach my goals, instead of bullying people, I should try to help them and get them to help me find out what we really need to do to achieve our goals. As a student, I've always been a student with a good reputation at school, and with good grades, but I've also been part of bullying as I've experienced new things as I've grown, everything has changed.