Halo+Friends=Escape From Reality

There are some times in my life where I feel like i don't have any control over anything. I only ever feel like this after something I had been hoping to happen, doesn't happen. That feel of defeat that seems to take it's time to catch up to your thoughts, while you stand there in shock, mind blank. I wouldn't say that during these instances that I am depressed, but merely discontent. Meaning, that I, for a short period of time, look at life as something that I am forced to endure, rather than something that I choose to partake in. Seeing as how I am a teenager-the time when people usually become quite used to angst-it is normal for me to feel trapped. The only thing that seems to level my head is playing Halo. As ridiculous as it sounds, this video game takes me completely away from reality. Organizing a coordinated attack on an enemy's base in an attempt to "capture the flag" sets the bar for concentration so high, that I am completely cured of my dissatisfaction with life almost instantly. This example is just one of the many quality escapism opportunities that Halo provides. Another being that, using the headset included with the purchase of an Xbox 360, you can talk to your friend while yo play. I don't even know where to start with my friends. They are family to me. The best moments in my life are with my friends and I would not trade them for anybody else. With that being said, my friends are another way for me to escape my problems. I am extremely grateful to have to so many ways to get away. Hopefully life will continue to be so curable.

Two Months Never Came by Jasmin Tran

It was the day I finally got to visit my siblings who lived all the way in America, about nine-thousands kilometers away from Germany, our hometown. Because I had already packed up my bags weeks before our departure, I had nothing to do in the morning except walk around the house. My dad couldn't go with us because he had to go on a business trip to Berlin for a couple of weeks, so it was just my mom and me. As I waited for my mom to finish packing up her remaining items, I went down to the basement and practiced piano since I thought it was the last time I'd play it for about two months. I was playing Richard Clayderman, which was my favorite pianist at that time. When I finished "Ballade Pour Adeline", I looked back and saw my dad....crying. I asked him what was wrong, and all he said was that he really liked me playing this song. I didn't understand why he was crying, considering the fact that he's heard me play that song at least thirty times a week. I didn't really know what to do because I have never really seen my dad cry, not even when he accidentally cut his fingers with a scalpel. So all I did was hug him while he hugged me. On our way to the airport, my dad had managed to stop crying already and my dad kept saying "Yuppiee! No one is going to kick me at night anymore while I'm sleeping! No one will be hitting me when I take their food away! And of course, no one will be trying to make me carry them on their back when I'm trying to swim!" And we all just laughed while I said "Heeyy...". I held my dad's hand throughout the whole checking in process while he carried my bags. Finally, it was time to go on the ariplane, and my dad kissed my mom Good-Bye, and finally crouched down and said "I love you thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis much!" while he made a small gesture with his fingers....but we both knew that it meant he loved me times a gazillion. I kissed him Good-Bye as well, and we both cried...And my last sentence to stop the crying was "I'll see you in two months again!" And then I kissed him and had to leave for the airplane. But....I guess I was wrong. I didn't go on an airplane two months later.

"A Shot of Brandy Please" by Brandy Bobadilla

My name is so lame, I hate it but at times I love it. Brandy Bobadilla is the name, not very common but lame. I like my name at times because it sets me apart from others and hate it generally because its a GIRL's name. My parents didn't know at first but eventually found out. The truth behind my name is horrify but awesome. Out of my parents the one to name me was my dearest dad. Well lets just say that before I was born my dad was the worst of worst.He was everything a dad wasn't suppose to be, he was a alcoholic and a drug addict. I'm really not ashamed to say what my dad was because its the truth and the truth should be told. My mom tells me that he would drink any alcoholic beverage he could find. she put a stop to that by blackmailing him in other words if he didn't stop his nonsense she would leave with his son and gladly he stop. When I ask him why he named me brandy he says "because the last drink I had was a shot of brandy, well actually like 3" OMG my dad is hilarious so thats the truth behind my name, Brandy Bobadilla

"Answered Prayers" by Sandra F.

As teenagers, sometimes we belive we can overcome anything by ourselves. At least I have thought that when the person who I belived I had to succeed for didn't care about all the feats I've done. I wish this situation was different, but I can't change the way she is. I have the support of someone really special, who has help me a lot not only emotionally, but mentally. I try hard not to cry when I'm with my family because most of the time they tell me, "Don't cry, you have to be strong." Before I met him I would ask myself, "Who's going to be strong for me then?" With him I can cry my eyes out, although he doesn't like to see me upset he doesn't tell me to stop. He pushes me to work hard when I want to give up and forget my goals, he doesn't let me put myself down if I didn't reach my goal. He is a great person, but sometimes we need more than a person, something that will never leave us, something more than what we an see, something more.
It was summer now, many months had passed by since doctors said my grandfather, mi Guelo, had two months left of life. I never thought that he would last more than a year after that. My grandma had been calling more often now, but I didn't expect anything to happen since the same thing had happened before.
For the past months, at night, I'd prayed for mi Guelo. I would ask God to take what I loved the most, but not him. I would tell God to take me in his place. I would ask God to let him live until the moment when I did something really, really good to make him proud. I longed for the moment when he would say,"Chiripiorca -that's what he'd call me- estoy muy orgulloso de ti mija. Sigue luchando por tus suenos porque vaz a alcansarlos." In a way, he did.
It was like any other day, I got up, took a bath, changed, argued with my, but that day, July 24, 2007, on my way out I saw a napkin with my name on it. It read,"Sandra: Me siento tan orgullosa de ti y le pido a Dios por un mejor futuro para ustedes ojala y NUNCA cambies (Lucha por tus suenos, si no llegas que importa lo INTENTASTE) TE QUIERO MUCHO tu tia Cata para mi Ma de Lourdes:(Lucas, Lulu SANDRA) el original. I love you." I kept the napkin the whole day in my bag and read it over and over again during class. When I got home the routine continued, until my grandma called. My sister answered the phone and ran to my mom's room. My mom got the phone and went outside to the courtyard with my sister behind her like a little baby when her mother would go to work. I was playing tetris on the computer, when my aunt, who was in my room, asked who had called. I told her that it was my grandma and she came out, we both went out where my mom was sitting. My mom was crying and so was my sister, my aunt hadn't even asked what was wrong when my mom said,"Mi papa ya esta descansando en un lugar mejor." My aunt and I both fell to our knees crying. I cried like I've never cried in my life. Mi Guelo had been with me ever since I could remember, he was the only person in my family who said school was really important and our education is what will make us someone in life. He would always say that when we'd talk on the phone, eventhough he'd forget who I was sometimes. When ever he forgot me, my grandma would say,"Hablale es Sandra la hija de Claudia." I didn't mind, all I cared about was knowing if he was doing well. As I kept crying I remember the note I got in the morning... and I thank God.

Embarrassed By Brian Vu

There was this one time that my dad and I were at Sports Authority. We were looking for some tennis shorts, but they were no where to be found. My dad looked and looked but he still couldn't find it. We were about the leave until we spotted a person that looked like an employee. My dad confronted him and asked him where were the tennis shorts. He looked at my dad for a long while and finally said "I don't work here." Ooo... I was so embarrassed. My dad said he was sorry and left. People in this world assume many things. One of the assumptions are that depending what race you are, determines your job or intelligence. The man that my dad confronted was Mexican. Why, just today, my friend called me to help fix a computer because I was Asian. Needless to say, I did fix the computer and my friend's assumption was right. I want to spread to the world that racial sterotypes and assumptions are not just and it should stop.

El Loco by Leonel Flores p.4

" Whoa where did that come from?"I was in Tijuana & we decide to mess around with the local legends & superstitions. We went outside in the middle of the street at about 10p.m. We were about seven guys when we started to tell stories. Pablo started talking about something that happened yesterday. He said that one of his friends saw something in his backyard. I didn't believe him, but I started to get a little cautious. We went to his friends house, but I didn't see anything. We were walking home & we passed the church. Pokebolla started talking about a crazy guy that runs through the street. He said that he runs through the streets at around midnight screaming someone is chasing him. He gets to the chruch & throws himself in front of it. He starts to yell that he's on fire & ask for forgiveness, then he disappears. I was scared to death after hearing that. The worst part about it was that my cousin & I had to sleep in the living room, which was right next to the street. I woke up the next morning, and looked over at my cousin. He was freaked out.
He said, "El Loco passed by the house." He would scream,"Their burning me. Help."I didn't hear it so I laughed at him.

"Those who don't" by Elizabeth Ayala p.2

I hadn't been to Mexico for the longest time ever. But when i finally had the chance to go again i went. When I fist got there everyone stared at me and would ask me who my parents were. Some people would just look in me in the eyes like saying "go away" and once they knew who my parents were they would treat me different. The people and especially the girls would judge me by the way I dressed and look in me in the eyes but with a very deep look. That made me feel so bad. they would think that i would dress inappropriate witch that wasn't true i always had skinny jeans and a t-shirt in my opinion that is not inappropriate dressing. I would see that the ladies would like me because when i was young they would take care of me and the guys were nice to me but the girls were like totally not cool with me. I would try to be friendly with them and make them my friends but they would ignore me. That lasted about 4 day I was really tired, finally one of my cousins that i knew for a long time went to my house. When the girls realized that my cousin Leti was my cousin they totally started treating me different but they would just do it because of my cousin. I was honest with them and told them straight out if they didn't like me to tell me and i was okay with it but since they had hang out with me for a whole mont only 2 girls told me that they didn't like me and i was okay with it. so people be sure to not judge people by the way they look. =]

Gerardo No Last Name (Rocio L. Alfaro)

About a year ago i meet a girl named Zulaima. See my family and I went to a birthday party three blocks away from my house . Zulaima became my one true friend since then because at one point she proved to me that i could trust her. The thing is that will we were at the party i wanted to go to the store to buy an ice cream because i t was super hot , but but my parents didn't let me go so I asked Zulaima to cover for me will I got back. She ended up saying yes but with a condition. The condition was that i ran from the party to the store and back. I did as she asked me and my parents didn't even notice I was gone. I sure miss her a lot and all the times we spend fouling around with each other. She moved about a month or two to Los Angeles. Even though we talk on the phone its not the same. I sometimes wish she hadn't move but that's just been selfish on my part. I just know that even though she is very far away from me she will always be that friend that always had my back and I had hers.

"those who don't" By Stretch

I haven't been judged for all my life but just once and it wasn't really bad well to me it wasn't. One day i was at school i used to wear baggy clothes like the rest of my friends, but i always wore baggy clothes and it never bothered me what other people thought of me until that day in middle school Macarthur. A lot of people came to visit our school and important people and from the school district, our school was one of the top school's or the top. But one day some guest came to observe our school and the students, they were making good comments until they saw us. Just by looking at us he thought we were trouble makers and asked about us but the principle made good comments about us, about how smart, nice, respectful young men but the special guest didn't look like he believed him at all and just gave us a bad look. But that didn't bother me then at lunch my friends and i were playing basketball like we always do every day we saw the principle walking with our special visiter and just kept staring at us like he did in the morning so we just ignored him so after the bell rang, i was heading twoards my english class when i heared the special guest talking in his phone saying that all the mexican's dress like gangsta's as well as the black kids but the asian kids were given nice compliments. So the next day i thought about what the guest said over the phone i told my friends about it they didn't care what i heard about the other day but that day i really cared because of me i made all mexican's look bad just because of what i wore.

"My Disable Cousin" by Israel A.

Problems... everybody has them. Some problems are not even really problems they are just moments that we don't get what we want. In school I hear complains about how their ipod was stolen and they're going to get in trouble with their parents. Kids cutting themselves for no reason, just trying to follow the crowd. Kids ruining their lifes by doing drugs because they want to be "cool" or because they want to get away from their "problems" instead of facing them. People don't appreciate little things in their lifes like being able to see, speak, touch, walk, run, play or the simple fact of being abel to see another day. As we grow up we discover there's more to life than just us. We become aware of the bigger issues in the world, such as, war, abortion, disease, poverty, disability, ect. One real problem that I'm aware of is disability.
My aunt and uncle are doing so bad with money right now. They can barely feed my little cousin Danny, I feel very sorry for him. He is only 7 and he can't walk. He was born disabled, so he has to go to school on a wheel chair. When he tries to walk, I can see in his face that he really wants to walk, but he can only walk a few steps. When he gets up and walks he turns red as if he were blushing, and as he continues his legs shake and then he falls. I cried the first time the doctors told us that he wasn't going to be able to walk for the rest of his life. But you know what they say, miracles can happen and this is one miracle that I want to happen.
His dad never listens to my dad or uncles. He has been to the hospital about three times, do to drugs, and the doctors said the next time he goes he is going to die. We told him to stop doing that, at least for his son, but he doesn't listen. My parents were going to sent him to some weird facilities, but he didn't want to. He said he would to stop and he did, for a while, but then he went at it again. So, who knows what is going to happen, hopefully my little cousin can start walking soon.

♠THE PARTY♠ BY♦ANA CORTES

I went to a quinceñera which happened to be in Mexico last summer. It was my best best best friend's quinceñera and she had promised that her party was going to be unforgetable. Which in the end it certanly was. Well my friend and I had known each other since we were three. A very long time. Well one week before the the party, "we" meaning me and my cousin went shopping for new clothes. We went from store to store looking for the perfect dress. Finally we stopped in front of a store the sold the most gilry clothes i had ever seen. It was a scary sight at least for me. My cousin was begging me to come a long and besides it was her turn to buy the clothes so i went in. My cousin was going crazy if you know what i mean. In the end she bought a pink dress with pink high heels for her and she bought me a light blue dress with light blue heels. Creepy looking at me with those colors but oh well i decided to play along. The big day came and it was time to dress up. I felt exposed and i really didn't feel like myself. I mean c'mon light blue doesn't go with me. I also had to wear light blue eyeshadow so it would combine with the things that I was wearing. My hair was also wierd just plain wierd. After the party was over, we got in the car and I told my cousin: "next time its my turn to dress you up."

LIFE GOES ON``RIP BROTHER by crystal reyes

Have you ever loved someone so much and thought that that bond would never break then one day that all changed forever. That's exactly what happened to me, the bond between me and my brother was unbreakable, until the day that God took him in 1999. I wonder what my life would be like if you were still here? I wonder how you would look like now that your 27 ? Would things be completely different ? would things be like mom says they would ,with you watching me like crazy,not letting me do anything . She always says to think about the stupid things i do because your always looking after me up above. would you and ghandi be cool with me and take me with you everywhere you went? These are the things i would miss about you. Where were always good to me and never mistreated me. All the memories i have of you are all good,i don't remember any bad things. I remember your funeral very clearly... i remember my dad hold me over you and i was laughing because mom was talking about your big ears. I miss all the things you would do for me like when i was in second grade you would always go to 7eleven to get the hostess blueberry muffins in the morning and you wouldn't let mom leave until you got back. After 9 years i remember everything that i love about you . You mean the world to me and theres no way that i will ever forget you.. I still go to you and ask you for advice , i don't receive a response but i feel what you have to tell me. I see you in my dreams and i know that your watching out for me. Your the only man in this world that i can trust well your the only man In my life. You always understood what was going out with my dad and you were there for me when he wasn't. I love you brother your always in my thoughts one day ill be with you and i can tell you all the drama that's been going on

R.I.P ALBERT JESUS SAENZ
1981-1999
MOM AND NANA LOVE YOU N MISS YOU SO MUCH

"Papa who wakes up in the Dark"

Have you ever had to deal with the death of a loved one? Unfortunately I had to deal with the harsh feeling. Well all my life I had never seen my dad cry. But one day I came from school and out nowhere I heard my brother cry. So I went to see him, and he told me, “Joana my grandpa died” I felt a sudden feeling. I just couldn’t believe it! And I wondered how my dad would react when he heard the news that his father died and in a horrific way, which was a car accident. Well about an hour and a half passed and I saw my dad’s truck come through the drive way. Then he got out, walked towards the house. Out of nowhere he comes rushing in crying and yelling onto my mom’s arms. I could tell from my dad’s cries that he really was suffering from the loss of his dad. I could really relate to my dad because I would not bear the feeling of my dad being DEAD. After that my dad made the ticket to go to Mexico on the quick. It was about 12 in the morning. I knew that it was going to be a long and sad day at the funeral. In 4 hours we were there. All I saw when we passed through the gate was a lot of trucks and of course the long brown casket in the middle of the yard. There were beautiful flowers all around it. And the big cross by the head of the casket. I remember I just came out of the truck I was in and ran to see my grandma. But I stopped to hug others. I saw my best friend Karla there she ran to me hugged me and whispered in my ear, “Ya se nos fue! Joana tu abuelito ya se nos fue!” I could not take the pain! I saw my dad running and crying like a little kid to my grandparent’s room; where my grandma was sitting and sobbing and yelling out to god that why didn’t he take her instead of him. I couldn’t take it. I felt so ashamed that I didn’t have the same feelings that I knew I had to have. After I had my time to cry and console my grandma I went outside because I wanted to see my grandpa. So I walk slowly towards the casket, and all of a sudden I felt scared. I slowly reach out to see inside the casket. And there lay my abuelito. He looked so peaceful. I noticed he had scratches in his face and that he had a bloated face. I also saw that he was missing an ear. “It got chopped of when he fell out of the window”. After that I just left and sat down. . I now that this feeling will never go away. It takes time to get used to the fact that you are not going to see and be around that person any more. All you need to think about is that they are in a better place now. And that god took him them away from us for a good reason. =*[


By: Joana Rivera! :]]

"Darius and the clouds" By Marisol Flores

Every time I look around I see thing s that are way more powerful than me. Since they are more taller or higher than me. I am afraid of buildings. I think that they will fall on top of me and that I am going to die or something. Everywhere I go I don't feel secure enough to go by myself. I always want someone to be next to me. This way I feel secure and very protected by that person. One day when I look at the clouds they reminded me of lost dreams just because of the way they moved really low in the sky. Usually when I look at them they remind me of cotton candy because their white and fluffy. Sometimes I laugh at myself because it's funny the way things change in a small world like ours. i only feel powerful when I make my own decisions.

By Marisol Flores

A day without new shoes Vy Roxana Armenta

It was my cousins birthday she was going to be 15 years old.So I was getting ready, buying my shoes and my mom was going to by the shoes. My sister and brother were goingto go to the swapmeet to buy clothes; I also brought a black dresss that was opened from the back it had glitter all over the place. My sisters dresss was white with a green thing on the waist with a flower. In addition my brother bought a tuxedo black and he was elegant. I couldn't wake up early in the morning so I woke up and I went to the salon to get my hair done. after that i t took atleast an hour for the lady to finish and plus my mom took 1 hour and 30 minutes. Then my mom left to buy some shoes. She bought some for her but not for me. She said that I already had shoes which wasn't even true. So I hurried to the fashion Q to buy me some shoes to go with my dress. At the end it turned to be cool because I got the shoes and I rock!!!!!!
By Roxana Armenta

House on Emerald street BY BLANCA ISLAS

We didn’t always live on Emerald Street. Before that we lived on 17th and Wright Street when we moved to that house I thought I was in my dream house that I though I’ll never live in but as soon as our family became bigger we moved. Before the dream house we lived in an apartment located in Lyon Street. We don’t move as that much but as soon as we got to Emerald Street we were nine my mom, dad, Ruby, Jocelyn, Yaneli, Jesus, Melanie, Brisa, and me.
The house on Emerald Street is now ours the fifty-thousand dollars we got by selling our old hours we paid our house on Emerald Street cash. My mom’s family has always critized us just because we’re a big family and we always struggle for money just because my dad can’t find a good job just because he doesn’t have papers same for my mom.
But our house on Emerald Street is not that big it has three rooms and two restrooms. I share with my sister Yaneli, my sister Ruby shares with my sister Jocelyn, my mom sleeps with my little sister Melanie, and my dad sleeps in the living room with Jesus and Brisa. The house on Emerald Street had been the best house ever. The house my parents struggled through just to have a hose and at least a plate to each a day, the house on emerald street is really significant to our family.

the first job by: luis l

Have you ever try something really hard and accomplish it and felt good aout what you did .When I was an elementary I wanted to join the soccer program but some people though I didn't know how to play at first.than when it was time to play I started good and kept playing better through out the game. Then the days past and then everyone was saying that I was good at playing soccer. Then the soccer program in the school had ended everyone was saying that Iwas good at playing soccer for the school. then during recces I play soccer. when i didn't play Iwill just watch. they also wouldn't let me play when I was just seeing from the side line. then when they saw me play after school then everyone wanted me to play for their team and i will play for one of the teams and then at the next day I will play for the other team.

Those Who don't By Mario Borbon

Hello my name is Mario Borbon and I'm one of those people that doesn't like to remember about bad situations. So Ive never been treated badly because of the way i look. So i wouldn't know how it would feel like to be judged by the color of my skin or my heritage. But i know that many have because some people are very racist in this cruel world of ours. But i think its mainly because i have lived in Santa Ana the majority of my life. Since most of the population here are Mexicans then i don't have to worry about this kind of stuff here.

"born lucky" by christian berber

I've admired many people in my life. I known admire some one new and i think that she should now that. I don't want to mention her name but i call her sandy. Ive been admiring her since the beginning of the year. the reason that i admire her is because she is such a smart student that gets straight A's easily. another reason that i admire her is because she is such a good athlete and a very fast runner. She's always been told that she couldn't, even her family has told her that! That never stopped her and if her family never stopped her no one will. that's why i really admire her because nothing is going to stop her from reaching her goals. Even though she is not legal here she trie's very hard to do great in school.

"Brothers and sisters" By Roxana Armenta

Most of everybody has a sister or brother known as siblings. But its beautiful to have siblings. I mean its nice because you get to play with them, teach them how to write and read.In my family I have 3 siblings 21 boys and 1 girl. My sister Karina is 4 years old she is really nice and likes to read. My brother Marco Antonio is 3 years old he is chubby a tall he is a trouble maker, but understands when you say stop jumping or don't do that. And last my baby brother named Orlando victor he is only 9 months he is so sweet skinny and play full and he is to a trouble maker.But I love taking care of my brothers they are the most important thing in my life. They are cool,and very sweet without them I would be nothing.

By Roxana Armenta

"Those Who Dont" Corinna O.

Yes i have been judged for how i look and how i talk. Many people that don't know me just judge of assume that i am a "White Girl". not knowing that i am Mexican. Just because i chose to be how i am and i am not the same as many other people that are Hispanic. For me being who i am i get called "White Washed" or whatever else people say. My mom is half White half Mexican. My dad is full Mexican. Only very few people believe me that i can speak Spanish, and those are people who have heard me speak it. I only speak it at my dads house not at my moms house and i live most of the time with my mom. As long as i know that i can speak it i don't have to prove myself to anyone. It is very sad to see how people just go and judge someone or something just by its appearance or how someone talks or is.

"My Name" by Christian R.

My name is a mixture between two completely different worlds (Religion) that partake in the fusion that creates my whole name “Christian Rabadan”. I say that both of my names are from two different worlds because of the fact that my first name is Christian and it comes from the Christian faith and my last name Rabadan sounds like a name that came from the Middle East. Many people have told me that it sounds like a name that came from Russia or somewhere else. After pondering on all of the things that people have told me, I have noticed that my name is not so bad. I mean Joey Pedroza, that’s a horrible name! (Just kidding bro)

C-DRO by C-DRO(Sergio Vasquez)

Hello, my name is C-DRO. The name was given to me by a friend who couldn't pronounce my real name, Sergio. He always had trouble with his speech but when it came to pronouncing my name it was horrible. He called me Sego, Sumaro, Sombrero, C-DRA, and he finally settled at C-DRO. I don't know how the name spread but people started calling me C-DRO all the time. The name has grown on me and I can't imagine a world without C-DRO. The name has followed me everywhere. I even use it on my XBOX LIVE account at home. I even put it on the side of my binder. Now the name is used by my teammates in the baseball team when I go up to bat in games.

"My Jonny, My Edna" by Ms. Gharda

It’s so difficult to feel almost ashamed of someone you love so much, to not know if it’s safe to share something with others because of the judgment that people naturally attach to things like mental illness. “Ruthie’s Edna” is very important to me personally, because I have my own Edna. From what I can tell, Ruthie is schizophrenic, because she is very childlike, talking and laughing to herself, and she doesn’t seem able to live on her own. What you need to know about me is that I have three brothers, but only one is anything like the brothers I knew growing up. Chris, my older brother, is no longer living. After seven years of cancer treatment, he was diagnosed by doctors as being in remission, but with the promise that he would get another kind of cancer because of all of the radiation treatments he had had to have. Rather than face more of the same nightmare, my older brother Chris killed himself two weeks after I graduated from college. It was a peaceful death, but devastating for our family.

My second brother, the one just younger than me, Jonny, was the one who found him. Although schizophrenia is a genetic disease, it doesn’t manifest itself until you’re older, often prompted by a blow to the head or a traumatic loss. Jonny was always the brother in my family who always seemed to be genuinely happy and I remember envying his ability to make friends so easily. That’s why it seemed so confusing and it took me a long time to believe that of all of us, he was the one who had been driven crazy by the sadness of our lives. But he is and it is incredibly difficult. I used to see schizophrenics in the streets and assumed it was a disease that would never touch me, but you never know, especially since it comes on so much later in life than most mental illnesses.

"Boys and Girls" Rene P.

Well what is going on between Esperanza and her little sister Nenny is sort of happening in my life too. I have a little brother that is named Christian he is twelve years old. He is a sixth grader at Villa Intermediate. I feel like i'm responsible for him because he is my younger little brother. So I have to look out for him. For example, when i stay alone with my brother some where or when I go out with him I have to take care of him so nothing bad happens to him. He has done some bad choices in his life but he gets the influence from one by the way I act and the way I dress. As of right now I think that feeling will never go away because I will always back him up.

" Hairs? " a Remix by .:Eric Landin:.

Do you agree that everyone is different, unique in their own way? Well, that issue is more than obvious at our house. Everyone at our house has a unique. It's amazinghow this mix of attitudes balances out and keeps this family together. My grandpa with his stern and wise attitude keeps all the children's growing minds in balance so that they wont make wrong choices. My mom, low-tempered and highly "explosive" , keeps us straight and doing our duties. My sister a little( wait scratch that) really spoiled and conceited, adds alittle noise to the house. My littlest brother, crazy and out going, keeps this place fun in here! My grandma, very forgiving and neat, is the one that makes sure the house doesnt fall down by keeping it "visitor-friendly" and clean. Well my little brother and I are the ones that bring alittle glimmer of hope in this home. We plan to be the first in our family to go to college and help or family members retire and keep their personalities going. With all this in mind, we know that or hous is always welcoming visitors. Relatives, friends, and neighbors all feel welcomed by the many different personalities of this home.



--Eric Landin--

My Version of Marin by: ~.:Eric Landin:.~

Have you ever had someone to admire? Well I do. And I admire him more than anyone in the world. I'd would do anything for him. That person I admire is my old man Bernardo Ramirez, my grandfather. He's the wisest person I know and whenever I need advice, he's there with a helping hand. He's always there for me. You can tell how astude he is by simply seeing the wiseness in his eyes. He seems to know everything there is to know about everything, from the latest scandal to what to do when your throat hurts. That is why I go to him most f the time.He's like my best friend,except he's wiser and calmer. I have always admired my grandpa, his wise words fill me up with intellegence. And throught those wise words I learn to grow and prosper correctly so that my life wont end up corrupted. Making wise choices and having positve attitudes are some of the things he taught me. I have always admired my grandpa... and I will continue to grow on his wise words for I too will pass these words to my children and my grandchildren, to make sure that "Bernardo" lives on forever.


--Eric Landin--

My sweet 15 by Marisol Flores

It took atleast 6 months to get ready for one big day. I was so nervous because I knew that six months will end up being like one month. My parents wear in a lot of pressure trying to figure out where the party should take place,who was going to be invited,and they had to decide which church my ceremony should take place. I had trouble keeping up with school work because I also had alot of stress. My job was to choose my court of honor. These were people that I had to choose to be in my dances. I chose most of my cousins to join me in a very special day. I got to know them ever better. We had so much fun learning the steps and laughing. I had to go and choose my dress and crown. We also had to plan what king of food we were going to make. My parents deciced to make viria with frijoles and rice. That food was very delicios. On the big day I had to wake up early at 5 oclock,to get my hair done and to eat. I was mostly in a hurry because the women who was going to video tape me was almost going to arrive. After we finish we headed to the church. It was a very long ceremony. The limo was the best part I had alot of fun I got lap dances and some other things that will remain in silience. We headed to the park to take pictures that was kind of boring. After this we went to the salon to get the party started. i dance a lot and met some new family members. I had a great time all thanks to my parents, I love you mom and dad.
By Marisol Flores

"Hairs de Islas" by Blanca I.

In our family some of our hairs are similar. For example my sister’s Ruby and Brisa are curly as curly fries. There hair is so curly that when you put your finger through it the curls look like swirls around your finger. My sisters Yaneli, Melanie, and Jocelyn are the hairs I like the best because there’s is as straight as a pole. They could wake up and not brush there hair and their hair would still look nice but they brush their hair anyways. Their hair is so soft it feels as if your hand was touching a baby’s skin. My dad’s and my brother Jesus is straight also but the only difference with there hair is that it’s always hard because it always has gel on it. Last but not least my hair and my mom’s is the hair I hate the most but we have to deal with because it our hair unless we stat bald. Our hair is half curly and half straight in other words its wavy. Our hair most of the time is puffy but we manage to deal with it.

mi name by Liz A.

My name is Elizabeth as you could see my name is prety long but
i think is not that bad. There is people who makes fun of there name. I
know that who ever makes fun of it i will get them back soon or later.
My parents said that if it was a boy my mom will name it and if it was
a girl my dad will name it. He name me Elizabeth. I like my name because
i actually have ten names to say when i get in trouble. Perhaps when they
want to do something to me.

Apartments in Lyon St. and the House on Hickory St. by Ruddy Castro

I can't remember anything about the first place I lived because i was a newborn baby. I also can't remember much of where I lived after that. The only memories I have from their are falling on glass and getting a scar, the apartments being pink, the apartments being 2 stories, and moving. The good thing about it was that we just moved to the apartments next to the ones we lived in. I didn't care about moving because I still had the same friends and I still went to the same school. The one bedroom apartment was ok because it was just my borther, me, my mom, and occasionally my dad. Then my sister, my 2 cousins, my aunt, and uncle came. We stayed there with them for about a year and then we moved to a house. The house seemed pretty big when nothing was in it, but once everyone and everything was inside we had a little bit of space. Moving sort of upset me because I had to leave all my friends behind and I had to go to a new school.

The First Big Move By Jeronimo Diaz

Being raised in Santa Ana, I had not always been living on Macarthur Blvd. Before our very first big move came about our family would live in a not so peaceful neighborhood. The street was always crowded with abanded cars, couches, little kids playing in the streets, parents drinking outside the front yard. That was an every day situation in 5th St. I however didn't live in a house, our family would live in apartments. On our door we would have the lucky number 7. In this case it wasn't so lucky anymore because I had to leave my memories behind. I never wanted to leave my friends, family behind. But at the same time I was excited to live in a new home with getting to know new friends, cleaner streets. We had been living in those apartments for 13 years. But just one thing out of this big move bothered me, although that of a dream house came true, something was still left out, I don't have any friends to hang around with but except my brothers.

"Born to be bad" by Efrain Segundo the second

Have you ever admired somebody and never told them? Well i haven't, if i respect you i will tell you. In "born bad" Esperanza never tell Lupe how she felt about her. Esperanza and her friends made fun of Lupe and she unfortunately passed away, never knowing how much Esperanza admired her. In my life i have learned life lessons from a wide variety of people from family in poverty, criminals, but most importantly my mother. My mom is probably the main reason i act the way i act. If i act confident its because my mom taught me that the world isn't a very pleasant place , so i have to be confident in myself that i can survive in this world. My mom has taught me to not take any negativity from anyone, she has taught me to deal with my problems head on. I have told my mom how much i respect her time and time again and i will do it for as long as i can. So to make a story short kids, Look at your surroundings, appreciate even the smallest things, look at the people around you, learn from them, tell them how much they mean to you, because they might not be there tomorrow.

- Efrain Segundo

My Name By Brenda Vazquez

My parents decided to name me Brenda which means sword and its origin is Norse and my middle name is Catalina which means pure and its origin is Greek. My mom told me that they were going to name me Luisa Fernanda. Luisa comes from Luis which is my dad and Fernanda comes from Fernando which comes from my sister's godfather. I'm the youngest of my family and my parents wanted to honor my dad and my sister's godfather by naming me Luisa Fernanda, I only have one brother and he was named after my dad. I personally don't like my name because of the meaning and because it is a very common name i prefer people to call me Catalina but they don't get used to it and they call me Brenda or Cathy. Every time I'm in trouble i know because my mom always calls me "Catalina" and thats when i know i have to figure something out.

"Moving Away" by George C.

Have you ever had to move far away that you have to change your lifestlye? Have you ever thought about what if you had to change school? What if you don't fit in with the new kids. These are the questions that i think about when i have to move. I am living in Santa Ana in a street called Park dr. My parents told me that we are moving to a nother house more to the south . Suddenly i began wondering . Am I going to change schools? Am i going to lose all of my friends? I would like to move into a house somewhere else where it's peaceful and quiet , but i would also like to stay in the same school where all of my friends are . I only hope that me moving away wont affect me in changing schools.

"ipod" by Michelle U.

We used to own this old beat up blue van where one of the doors didn't work, the a/c was broken, the windows didn't go down, and the radio was missing. we used to call it the calorie burner because it would always be really hot and all u could do was sit and sweat. Talk about a luxury car right? anyway that's when it started. all my cousins came over to visit and we went out to eat, it was boring and hot i couldn't even listen to music and they come and, pop! hello i pod! it was the best thing id ever seen. i could listen to music and i would forget about the heat. Pretty cool, i know right?
Everyone had one, they would flash it in my face constantly. so finally i asked for one. "mom can i have an i pod?" she laughed and went back to cooking. so next i went to my dad. "dad, can i have an i pod?" he laughed and turned away. it was too quick to give up hope though. i just kept saying to myself that they never said no and i mean usually they just went to "ha ay michelle, Que piensas? we don't poop money." Think Positive Michelle.
I could picture it already. Me and my i pod, walking down the street. i looked so cool. id be listening to music and someone would go "oh hey can i see your i pod, i wanna see what kind of music you have." and id go "oh yea i JUST got it."
I couldn't wait until they wanted to get me one so found an excuse to go to target the next day. right away i went to the electronics section. my plan was to make them feel bad for me. So the whole time i stood in front of this big glass cabinet full of XBOX's, games, radios, and last but not least, i pods. I just stood there and looked and looked and looked. what did i get out of it? A back ache oh and lets not forget some lady staring at me constantly like i was planing on stealing something. My plan wasn't successful but i got some paper for school out of it.
For a while i carried a CD player and about 4 Cd's. i called it "vintage". To this day i still don't own an i pod. but now when my parents ask me for something i laugh and turn. dang does that piss them off. thats way better than owning an i pod!.


by Michelle Urena<3>

"My name L.A.C" By Stretch

My name doesn't mean anything nor does it have a story behind it, it was just given to me by my parents. My dad wanted to name me after himself alfonso but my mom didnt want so she named me luis but alsonso as my middle name besides my parents were both satisfied in nameing instead of argueing who or what would my name be. However they just dont always call me luis, my friends and teachers know by stretch, big lu and lui i have other names but their too many to name them all. My name doesn't mean anything or i jsut didn't like the meaning but i want to create my own meaning for my name L.A.C. Luis Alfonso Canela.

"Those Who Don't" by: Joel P.

Many people have misjudged me because of the color of my skin or because of my appearance.You could not just believe how horrible they look at you, it's if their eyes were about to pop out of thier head. That is the only thing they can do because they won't try to greet you or introduce themsevles to you, they only stare at you with a ugly face. I don't really care how they look at me now because i have dealt with it most of my life, so i just live my life ignoring it.If i try to tell them anything when they give me their ugly face it will only make the situtation worst and then they will really look at me worst.But when they come to your area or places that most of culture is at they don't like to be misjudged or treated bad.

Stereotyping Asian by Tuyen Tran

What does the Asian do that makes them so different from others? People always ask us questions like "Are you rich?" or comments like "I thought Asian are smart." We're Asian are the same from any other race. We have to work hard to be smart. We live the life like other ethnic group. Some of us are rich and some are poor. So next time, when you see someone Asian, don't judge them.

Being judge by Brianna

One time I went to a party with my family and people were staring at me because I was wearing black. I felt like they would not stop staring at me and I knew they were talking about me, But I didn’t care because I don’t care what people thing of me .so what I did was just stare back at them and all they did was turn around and they stop staring . The end

Whales of the Sky by: Omar Rodriguez

The clouds and the sky are two indescribable objects in the world that can be interpreted in many different ways. They can be good or they can be the complete opposite, but one thing for certain is that they will always remain there. Constantly changing in the form that they want; showing there creativity in the forms of common objects we take for granted. The beauty of clouds is that no one cloud is exactly the same from another. They might be categorized into the same family of clouds, but they will never be physically exact. That is the beauty and grand example of nature. Every time I stare into the infinite bed of comfort and softness I seem to scrutinize these whales of the sky and see many similarities between them and other figures such as ice cream cones, chairs, and even houses or faces. But the clouds themselves are not alike in exactness. For me, that shows that nature is always changing into whatever it wants. Maybe its not nature that allows this phenomenon. Maybe its a higher power that brings all this into perspective. It could be this higher power that wakens these massive and majestic beasts from there slumber to roam the skies as they please. Whatever it is, I believe that clouds are the epitome of nature's way of showing how different one thing is different from another similar thing even though there the same. And that is a really interesting thought to ponder once you've understood the topic. :]

"Garage On Harbor & Hazard" by Brandy Bobadilla

Throughout my life I've moved a couple of times, well to be honest it was a bunch of times it's not even funny anymore. The first time I moved was kinda scary. I still remember that night, I couldn't sleep for hours I was terrified of this new place, I couldn't call it home yet. I was only seven back then. Months later the manager raised the rent and my dad realize we couldn't afford it anymore so there we go again. I was 8 1/2 and we moved into some horrendous apartments. I can't describe how much I hated this apartments but I guess I can say only one word "HORRENDOUS". I couldn't sleep because of the music coming from upstairs it was so loud and my parents worked from 6 pm to 3 am so they didn't realized it. They would stop like at 2 am and I would only get 5 hours of sleep. I couldn't go upstairs because I feared to get shot by the gangsters so I just tune them out. Later on my parents realized and we immediately moved out but we broke the one year contract so we had to pay. Next was some retarded looking apartments with a pool, but the pool was always closed. There was rumors that a little kid drown in the pool so the pool was closed by the city. There was one time that the door was open so my cousin and I sneaked in and dived in but then got caught and asked my parents to moved due to violation of the rules. I thought it was kinda stupid but oh well. "OMG" this time we moved into a house with my uncle, his wife, my two little cousins and some guy my uncle's wife "knew"(but the truth was even more shocking). My fears were coming fast because I actually liked this new home. It was fun and exciting due to all the space. My fears came true we had to moved out for very personally reasons. The guy that my uncle's wife "knew" was actually her undercover lover. At the end my uncles wife couldnt cover the sun with only one finger we all found out and it wasnt pretty. My uncle didn't believe his own sister so he threw us out for supposedly lying but it was the truth. Since he kicked us out we didn't have money so one of my aunts that lived in harbor and hazard said she could rent us the garage. It was very sad for me and kinda shaming but I got over it and didn't care. It was a very extraordinary experience, seeing how many rats I could find and roaches. afterwards we moved to an apartment with free cable it was fun but then my uncle realize that his wife did cheat on him so he left his house and came lived with us for a while (if u call a while a whole freakin year) He got annoying so we said goodbye and moved into what i call home today.

"Boys And Girls" by Mike Lopez

I have a Nenny as well. She is my seven year old little sister Jessica. Most times I have to baby sit her which isn't so bad except when she is very energetic "Mike can I play now? Mike can I play guitar hero?" These are the usual questions I get on Fridays and on the weekends. I like to joke with her and play tricks on her but sometimes I have to be strict and make her study, clean, or do other things she doesn't want to do. I know that one day she will be able to take care of herself but I will still lookout for her. Sometimes she thinks she is old enough to do whatever she wants to do and sometimes she says she is too little and says that she cant do it. Sometimes she likes it when i call her little girl and other times she hits me. I know that when she is older she is going to be able to defend herself and be independent.

"My Name" by Heriberto Hernandez

my name is Heriberto the reason i got this name was for how it sounded. My parents thought that it would give a good impression of me. They also thought it sounded pretty important but I didn't like the name very much. But i guess i have to deal with it the only thing i do like is that it kind of goes with my last name. So it makes my initials HH witch is pretty cool i guess but whatever. Sometimes its hard to pronounce not even i can say it correctly. So I don't expect anybody else to say it correctly. I would perferably change my name to somthing shorter and simple to pronounce. But for that to happen i am going to have to wait. But until then i will just have to be happy with the name that i was given.

My Name / Iris Catatlan

Have you ever wonder what your name means? Do you think that there is a story with your name? Had you ever wish you had a different name? What would your name be?Well to answer these questions read carefully.

Well first of all I had asked myself which of my parents named me! Which then Had asked mom because my dad was no longer with us. So I had to ask her. My name is actually Iris Lizbeth Catalan. My mom had told me that my dad wanted my name to be Iris ,but my mom wanted my name to be Lizbeth.So then they decided together that my name would be Iris Lizbeth Catalan which it is today. At school my name is just Iris Catalan not Iris Lizbeth Catalan. It's that way because they had said that it was to long. Where I had to sign in for school. Well this howI Got my name. I got named by my two parents which is pretty nice because my other three brothers are only named by one of my parent. My small brother was also named by my two parents which they had put both of their names of my mom & dad.Well anyways I only know that Iris is a flower. Which I had all ready seen my flower it is really nice. I don't really know what Lizbeth means, but I really want to know.In my name there is no story just the one you read.I really do not wish I had a different name because I really like my name. If I did, I think would be Esmeralda. It would be that because not may girls would have Esmeralda.

A Request from Ms. G.

Dear Godinez Lovelies,

Please remember that this is a public domain that is linked to our class page and reflects on our school and your own selves. If you'll give it some time, I think you'll find that this can be a learning experience and opportunity for growth in your writing. In the meantime, please keep your posts appropriate and do not alter the appearance of the blog in unnecessarily random ways... I do not want to have to shut this project down and start something all over again in a more secure forum. It will only make more work for all of us and I know you can handle this with maturity. 

Don't forget that your comments need to offer encouragement, but more importantly, a substantial and specific piece of counsel about something you think needs more detail or development in the entry of your choice. "Great essay" doesn't do much for anyone...

Many entries already on here are truly fantastic and heartfelt, though. Thank you for sharing your stories with open honesty and careful/artful thought.

Sincerely,

Ms. G.

Eder Lopez- "My Name" (10-11).

oh yes.... my name. My name is simple, weird, and meaningless. Because of my name, I was usually the one they would make fun of, at school. They would say all source of names to me; heather, feather, leather, and etc.... But the thing that really annoyed me was, kids calling me with a high "e" in the beginning of my name. what also made me sad was when kids would ask me for my name and when i gave it to them, they would say, "What kind of name is that" or "That's a weird name."
However there are also reasons why l love my name. Not many persons don't have the name as I do and so that made me feel especial. If some one would ask me, "whats special about your name."
I would say, "its special because my mother choose it."

she said, she liked that name, so she wanted me to have it, and thought it would fit me perfectly especially by my curious appearance, well that's what she say, and i believe her. Ofcourse if i would have the chance to change my name it would be Alexander, Altamirano, Adrian, or something like the Punisher.

The city by Angel s.

I have move five times in my life. I'm not use to moving because you have to go to a new school and make new friends too. Its hard getting to know your street and your neighborhood.
But now I haven't move for six years. So if I move again I'll tell my mom that leave me at my aunt's house so I could keep on going to my school.
My fears are moving away from my best friends and to try to keep them away from me.
My hopes are to keep living here tell I graduate from college. Even if I move I'll come back and visit when ever I want because my mom said, we might move really far.

My Name By Ruben Reyes

My name is Ruben my parents gave me that name because my grandfather died 4 days before i was born so they gave me the same name he had. And they gave me my middle name Emmanuel because when i was born both of my parent stop drinking so they gave me that name it means "dios con nosotros" that means "god with us". Also they gave me Ruben Because is not only my grandfathers name is also my dads name when my mom decided to give me that name my dad was rely happy because i had the same name. honestly i don't like my first name but i like my second name. I don't like Ruben because i rely don't see no meaning to it because i didn't even get to met my grandfather. i would erase my first name and leave my second name as first.

TOO MANY RESPONSIBILITIES BY CITLALLI

I DONT KNOW OF NOBODY THAT HAS HAD THAT PROBLEM BUT I KNOW I HAVE. MY PERENTS SAY THAT I DONT DO ANYTHING AROUND THE HOUSE.I KNOW I TRY MY BEST BUT I GUESS ITS NOT ENOUGH. I FEEL LIKE I SOMETIMES DONT BELONG THERE BUT THEN THERE ARE THINGS THAT MAKE ME WANT TO STAY.I FEEL LIKE I HAVE SO MANY RESPONSIBILITIES. SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE RUNNING AWAYFOR A WEEK OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. I THOUGHT THAT BY RUNNIG AWAY I COULD GET AWAY FROM MY PROBLEMS. BUT ONCE I THOUGHT ABOUT IT , WHAT WOULD BE OF MY LIFE WITHOUT PROBLEMS?

"the day i moved from the ghetto" by eunice cortes

It all started when I was in the 6th grade, when my mom just all out of no where said "mija nos bamos a mover a una casa" which in English means "honey were moving to a house" I wanted to cry! I didn't want to move , I had no idea of what to expect. Was I going to like my neighbors, were they going to be nice? The only thing that kept me from falling apart was knowing that I was still going to go to attend Sierra Intermediate! When all of a sudden she said to get ready cause shes going to go drop me off, and enroll me into Spurgeon Intermediate. Once I heard that I just started crying I dint think it was fair that I was going to loose everything that was precious to me. Everything was going great for me I had only 7 periods, art, and musical theater, and I had just become a office aid. They were been so inconsiderate. Once I moved to Spurgeon I met Cit and nancy we started talking and me and cit are still freinds:] yayy us!! Even though I lost great freinds I got new ones!





by:EUNICE CORTES

ONCE UPON A LAND A MEXICAN KID MOVED BY FRANK SALGADO

When i was first born i lived in Minnie Street. I have lived there all my life. I have friends that i met at Minnie. I'm 14 years old. I lived there 13 and a half years. I moved when i was going a be 14. When my parents told me we were moving, i got paniced. I thought i wouldn't have friends anymore. My parents told me we were moving an hour away. I convinced them to only live 15 minutes away. I was scared i wasn't going a have friends again. In my mind i was thinking i was going a be a loner. I was going a be bored at home, instead of being with my friends. The big fear i had was if i was going a have friends. The first week i just went a school and stayed inside my house. The second week i started to make friends. Then i was happy.

victor salgado

When i was 12 i was being discriminated against cause i was Latino. One 12 year old boy was saying that my family was depleting the system and that we were good for nothing. This boy said that his family was better than ours cause he was an American citizen. Then i started asking the boy what his dad did for work. He said his dad was a carpenter i said my dad could do everything from pluming to gardening. Then he said his dad was still better than my dad because his dad was whit or something like that. I cant really remember. Then he said that he was going to beat me up because i was Latino. I told him that i didn't want to fight not because i was scared but because we were from a different race we were one. He didn't understand me at first. He said i was crazy. i explained to him that we were all humans we were all the same. Then i explained to him that he shouldn't discriminate because one day someone tougher than him would beat him up. I also told him that one day he would need the help of a latino so he shulnt do that. Also i told him that we Latinos did all the jobs that people that were stuck up like him didnt want to do. Like work in the fields and doing labors like that. He never discriminated against anyone again and me and him became good friends.

"hairs"Sandra Estrada

Have you ever wondered how you look at one family and they all look different. Well to start off, my mother has long, black, wavy hair.As well as as my older brother. But my brother is not as long as my mom. My dads hair is fussy like a frow. My little brother who is 8, has straight dark brown hair. Mine is curly and uncrotrolable. My older brother , my dad, and me have asian-looking eyes. My mom and my the baby have the same normal,black eyes with the long eyelashes that could almost touch their eyebrows. My little brother who is 8 he has the most clearest bigesst eyes his are honey they are almost green.Everyone is white color skin except me.Am brown tannish. BWe may all look diferent but but we are one same family.

"My Name" by Rosie Rodriguez

My name is Rosie Rodriguez. My mother first named me Rosie because of a dream my grandmother had when my mom was pregnant.My grandmother, Maria was in Mexico when she dreamed a little baby in a rose. That's where my name came from just with an extra i and e. I've only known two or actually three with the name Rosie.Including Rosie O'Donnell. At this school there only two with my name Rosie. A name i would have preferred would have been Marlen or Irene, or Monse. Aren't they beautiful names? Overall, I suppose I do like my name because it's unique and only one of it's kind!

Responsibility is huge....................Jessica Garcia

Have you or someone around you felt this person, trapped and having too many responsibilities? During my spring break i had to baby-sitt my step brother, 2 step sisters my sister and 3 other little kids. Ididn't get paid,but i had really fun. i also had to clean my house and cook for them every day. this was the fusturated thing i've ever done i n my life.With all this i noticied how stressed parents are with their children. i kept them really intrested by turning on the T.V on there favorite cartoons. When it was time to clean the house i would give them permission to go outside for almost a whole hour. While i would cook they would be taking showers.
After, they finished eating i would make them wash their plates and pick up the mess they made. Finally, their parents would go pick them up.They would always leave like around 5:00pm. i had a big responsibility wait what do i mean big a HUGE responsibility for a whole entire week. well atleast now i know the big attention kids need every day of their childhood.

Jonathan G. Per 7 Places

the Best place in my house was when was small i would go to the backyard. i knew all the spots to hide when i was small so when i played hide n seek i never got caught. brother he was funny and was funny to hang around when i was small then he moved out but it was alot of fun anyway and anywhere we went. then there is my dog he is a lab his color is brown and he likes the water every time he saw a lake my dog wanted to get him. i also have another dog a mix but he is a rebel he never obeys always runs away and comes back till later. i kind of like that dog not that much.

Moving To The New Neighborhood By: Luis Jimenez

I had moved last 3 year.Before, i lived in an apartment for 12 years. Like the same apartments but different houses. My fears was that id move to a different school. I was in elementary. I finished kinder threw 5 grade, but i lived in Tustin were i was in elementary and then moved to a new house not apartments but in Santa Ana. so living in Santa Ana my mom took me all the way to Tustin so i could finish six grade in that same elementary school. when i heard that my mom would take all the way to Tustin i got happy. i didn't want to move to a different school when i was already going to grad. i felt excited to leave my memories in six grade in elementary where i always been there since kinder and another school at Santa Ana

My Room by: Jimmy Mena

A place I have spent a lot of time in will have to be my room.I do almost everything in my room.I sleep, eat, listen to music, watch T.V., and practice my guitar in my room. In my room I can forget about everything that is troubling me and relax.Even though my room is small to me it feels big and comfortable. It feels big because I am the only person in the room and i don't take up much space.When I get bored I go to my room and and practice guitar or draw the first thing that comes to my mind. Drawing the first thing that comes to my mind isn't so hard since I can concentrate and let my mind run wild. there will be times that I am going to draw and all I have to do is look around me and get inspired. For example if I look at my electric guitar I will draw something like a demon rocking out in hell and when I look at my acoustic guitar I will draw something Like a hippie playing for a small crowed of hippies. There are sometimes that all I do is just lay on my bed and think of what I want to do with my life and I have decided that either I will leave for the Airforce or the NAVY seals for collage.Even though I do a lot of things in my room that is not the place I spend all my time in. I go to the block, movies, Mexico, etc. This is all that I do and this is all I will write.

"Those Who Don't" by:Joel P.

People sometimes have misjudged me just because of the color of my skin or because of my appearance.You could not just belief how horrible they look at you because you are not somewhere you belong and out of nowhere their eyes pop out of thier head. I don't worry about it because they can't do anything to me, so that is the only thing they can do.They only do that because they think that they are to good to be around you. That is why when they come around somewhere they don't belong I make them feel the same way.

there was a old woman she had to many kids: By Rocio A.

Not to be mean but my family is set the same as the Vargas kids. but sometime i do wrong and i do look out for them. Like that time that my sister Katie was ridding her bike in the street and she almost got hit by a car but she was alright. Since we were to my to my something my mom would run out of money and she wouldn't even have money to bring with. i think that misbehaving are poor circumstances at home because when my brother would get out he would have to wash the cabinets for the whole week. but sometime i think it has nothing to do with it.

"The oldest one" by Alex C.

When your in a family of four kids and you’re the oldest; you are the one who your brothers and sisters look up for advice. Besides, am the only one who has good advise when it comes to education. This is because am a high school student. However, the only person who I don’t really help is my youngest brother Jonathan because he’s just three years old.
In addition, the person who I ask for advise is my dad. My father is always there when I need help. For example, he was there for me when I felled from my bed. He was the one who took me to the hospital and was there when they had to put stitches on my head. Also, he gives me advise with things that have to do with school. For example, how to study for a test or how to think different for the each class that I have. In essence, I think am just like my dad, were the only two who give advise to our family.

Hairs by Alex Mendoza

Each person in my family has different types of hair and characteristics. My mom has wavy hair because of her longevity of having pin curls all over her hair after a hair wash or when she dyes her hair to a different color. Ever since I was a child, I always thought that if she kept repeating the same process of washing and dyeing, my mom would have long, fuzzy, black hair, but it never happened. My dad, on the other hand, has the hair of an experienced and hard-working father. What I mean is that he has white-gray hair coming out. I never say that my dad is old because I, unlike some other people, respect my parents. He always makes the sacrifice of waking up at 5:00 in the morning to support his family; no sacrifice, no victory. My brother is an interesting subject. He has short, wavy hair that always seemed straight in some way after he uses gel, probably because he tries so hard to control his hair. My brother challenges himself everyday when he goes out to the park or a friend's house to master pro-athlete, basketball skills because of his fiery passion for the game. This is where I get my passion for a sport, like wrestling or track and field, to always keep in mind that the sky's the limit when it comes to working and pursuing their dreams of fame and glory. Now to a different story, my 10-year old, baby sister. For her, I can say that she is very unique. She has short, straight hair like any other 10-year old and sometimes wears the same clothes 2 days straight, but this is a bad comment. My young sister bears a special trait that my family would never want to contradict it, forgiveness. She never possesses a grudge on anybody and always excuses people of their infractions in something, or anything. One time, when she was playing Nintendo, I accidentally messed with the system and caused it to freeze and erase every file she has been working on. The scolding was harsh, but the forgiveness was the event I admired the next day; in result of all these traits, there are no other people like my family.

The Biggest Difference by Anthony H.

My dad is dark and is going bald. He works all day and sleeps very little. My sister has multicolored hair and is light with green eyes. She has different colors in her hair because she has colored it so many times. She is always change who she is and how see acts. My other sister she has long black straight hair and is dark looking. She has combed her hair for a long time she doesn't really have a single tangle or split end in her hair. My last sister has short black hair that lifts at the ends. She is dark skinned. She is the youngest and she lifts her hairs with some design time. My sister's hair obeys her every comand. My brother who is light skined has short hair like a buzz cut. My brother cuts his hair short so that kids can't pull it. My other brother has straight hair that goes from long to short all the time and is light skined. He styles his hair however anybody wants him to. Me I have the only curly and the darkest of the kids. I style my hair backwards but it always puffs up and by the end of the day it starts to fall apart. It takes a lot for my hair to stay and obey commands. My niche has long and curly hair. Her hair is wild and get tangled alot. My nephew has short straight hair. But at time it looks like morning hair. My moms hair is short and lifts in layers. Her hair smells like flowers. Like the kinds of flowers on a spring day.

Across the States By Gabriel Ramirez

Of course I have moved. I have moved many times. My first home was in East Bronx, New York where i was born. It was in an apartment building. The building was falling apart and had graffiti all around it. The room on the 7th floor, however, thanks to us, was nice and clean. It was small with 3 rooms, but then again it was only three of us. The apartment was great but the enviroment is no place to raise children. You've got crackheads doing their drugs in the front, bullets always going off, so on and so forth. Yeah, that's home all right.
I then was relocated to Santa Ana because of my father's buisness. My first home here was in another apartment slightly bigger than the one at home with 5 rooms, and very clean. There's not much to tell about this place. The room was very similar to the one back home. After my parents got a higher degree in their careers, we moved to a small house with 6 rooms. I lived there for quite a while. Then when my parents were promoted, we moved to a bigger house with 13 rooms. A house s lot bigger than the last one. The house was going to be our permanent home until i go back to my hometown. I know i'll be here awhile because we remodeled and had a pool installed (a lot of money invested). This moving has really affected me. In the Bronx, it gave the feeling of home and was content. I guess I felt sad leaving that place. I was going to leave a great place. I remember my first ballgame there when I was 2 years old. I learned to do many things there: how to talk, how to walk, and many other things toddlers know how to do. As i left, i thought of all the memories i was leaving behind. When i came to Santa Ana I wasn't suprised. In the Bronx it was a lot tougher than it is here in California. For example, you thing gangs are bad in Santa Ana and L.A.? To us New Yorkers, they are wannabes. All i felt was pissed that i had to move here. Many ask me why i don't i just go home? I'm not there becuase i'm underage. I left the Bronx when i was 5 years old. When i got here i was enrolled at John Muir Fundamental. I moved from the apartment at 6. I moved from the house when i was 8. I've never had any fears. Except one. The fear of displeasing my father. If i did something wrong all hell would break loose. Let's just say his discipline is very painful anf very effective. My hopes are to become a marine, part of the C.I.A., a politician, and to graduate as valedictorian at Harvard Law School. So far, I've achieved a small step towards all these hopes.

Apartment 228 by Daniela A.

Until I was four, I've moved to different places in southern California and Mexico. I was born in Tijuana, Mexico and lived there for a couple of months. Then we moved to San Juan Capistrano until i was three. When I was three and a half, our family moved to my grandparent's house. When i was four, we finally got our apartment. We lived in that apartment for 10 years and still live there today. When we barely lived there, I thought that maybe something terrible might happen like an earthquake or a fire might destroy our home and maybe we might end up hurt. Nothing serious ever happened, but we did have a small earthquake that scared us. I also had hopes that we could live there in happiness and peace. So far, we have and there's no place i rather be than in my apartment because it's filled with so many memories and so many good times. And hopefully there are more to come. Like they say, "There's no place like home!"

The Fat, Broken Door (Posted by Brian Vu)

The door lock was broken. The door was too big to fit through the door frame. Worse, it was the door to my room. The door have always been broken ever since I could remember. I think it was broken when we bought the house. The door first aggravated me when I was changing my clothes and my sister, being the dummy that she is, didn't knock and walked right into my room. Wow, talk about an awkward moment. This led to a heated argument and my parents got involved. I later stormed into my room and was about to "lock" it when I found out the lock didn't work. And with no lock, my parents can come in and annoy me when for the moment I despised them. The stupid door is also very loud. Especially when I wake up in the middle of the night and I need to use the bathroom. I open the door and I use all of my energy to open the it, which also creates a loud screeching noise. (A big door, a little frame= no good.) I finally decided to ask my dad to fix it. He says " You want me to fix a door? You want too much!" I don't ask for much, and that made me feel mad. I work hard at school, so I believe I deserve a working door. Anyhow, I need my privacy. My plan was to bother my dad until he finally fell to my desire. I bothered him when he got home from work, I called him while he was working, and I annoyed him while he was showering. Oooo. He finally got annoyed of my pestisism and fixed my door on Saturday. The door got shaved to fit through the frame, and the lock was replced. Now, my door pwns. My room no longer feels like going to the bathroom with no lock. I need my privacy you know.

Miguel Viramontes

To be honest I have never searched to see if my name meant anything. I dont think that my name has any meaning because it doesn't have any other word that i know of that comes close to Miguel. I am the only person in my whole family to have the name of Miguel. When I was younger the kids in school never made fun of my name and I never had a nickname. The one thing that I didnt really like was my last name because I used to think that it was too long and everytime the teacher would say my name for role call in the morning I would try to say hear before my teacher would say my last name. I would sometimes wish I had a different last name but now I dont care, I am greatfull I have my last name.

i told you so--- allie r.

has someone ever not belived you when you saw something with your own eyes and tryed to tell them? well heres one story of that kind of incident.when i use to tell my mom that there was a rat in the garage she didn't belive me until one day late at night after we got home from the movies, we went into the garage to feed the dogs, well when we opened the food bucket we saw a huge fat balck rat with a long pink tail. it was eating right smack in the middle of the food. we both turned to each other and i gave her a look like i told you so and as soon as i gave her that look she said i should have belived you the first time you told me.
i don't really have any responsibilities around the house because i start school really early and i get out late because i have practice. usally after i get home from practice i have a light snack and then i go to praqctice for my tavlel ball team. i don't get out of that until late then i get home, eat, and then i do my homework so i only really do house work when i'm home on some weekends which is only after and before practice. so i can't really relate to the girl having to house work.

"Our Good Day" by Fidel N.

One day I had a friend, who his parents had money. His parents were lawyers so they had a good job. My friend lived in a neighborhood where there were white rich people and kids his same age. So when I invited him to my house he was awkward because he was used to seeing two story houses and maids serving him. So then my friends came to my house and they told me if I wanted to go play soccer with them. So i said yes, then i told my friend if he wanted to play with us and he said no. He said no because he knew that Latinos play soccer nasty and he was afraid that he was going to get hurt. So I told him if he wanted to leave and he said yes, so then I just stayed and played with my friends and I had a great time with my friends.

Max, His Friends, and His Other Friends by Max S.

It was around five and I was just getting dropped off at Darren's house, he's my Asian friend. We've been friends since elementary school. Some other friends of mine later joined up at Darren's house. After a few minutes there was about eight of us. It was Darren, Jason, Jorge, Jose, The Hippie, and I. So we messed around like normal teenagers but we got bored and decided to go to Target. We were pretty bored so we got the crazy idea to blow up toy soldiers with some fireworks that Darren still had from the 4th of July. It seemed like a great idea at the time. We had everything ready our M80's, Firecrackers, Bottle Rockets, and Flash bangs. You know the ones that you light up and flash a bright light for about a minute. Well those are flash bangs. So we started our bloody adventures in the small neighborhood of Washington Square. We were waiting for the perfect moment so we could light these fireworks, but we couldn't wait. So we began to light the fireworks once it began to get dark. The first firework we lit was a flash bang. You could see it's flashing white light from a mile away. Just looking at it made our eyes shrivel. We heard a helicopter in the distance but we ignored it. We lit another flash bang but this one we lit in the middle of the street. Once it began to flash we heard the helicopter really close by. We were hoping it wasn't the police chopper patrolling the area but unfortunately it was. Five seconds after we lit the firework the chopper flashed its incredibly bright searchlight on our group. Because teenagers, we decided that the best thing to do was run. So that's what we did. We began to run as fast as we could so that the helicopter wouldn't follow us. I felt like Forrest Gump. The light began to search frantically for but we had evaded it. I hid under a car and Darren in a bush. A couple of minutes passed and then the helicopter was gone. This happened to us twice that day. The second time wasn't as bad. After we had enough of running and hiding we all gathered up at Darren's house and decided to lay low for a few hours. What I learned from this adventure was that lighting fireworks on a Friday night, in Washington Square is not a good idea.

"Differences" By: Jocelin S.

Between families we share many similarities beyond physical. My sisters and i don't look alike very much and because of that many people believe we were either adopted or came from different fathers. But honestly my sisters and i are really blood related. If you pay very close attention you will be able to tell that my sisters, as well for myself, act very similar. In other words we tend to act dumb, crazy, hyper, funny, and weird when we are with either families or friends. In my own opinion, it is funny when people find out we are really blood sisters because the people tend to just stay speechless. Yet, i hate telling people that my sisters and i are actually related because they tend to compare us. Like they might say something like " That is your sister for reals! Naah! that can't be because she is too pretty to be your sister!" I seriously hate when people say such a thing. The good thing is that though we act very similar our personalities are very different. Like, my oldest sister is a calm person, my older sister is a very concided person, my young sister is just, well, plain weird, and as for myself i am very outgoing person ( also according to my relatives, i am a little bit too flirtatious than my sisters, but i am so not.) My sisters and myself may be very different, but most of the time we tend to act very alike, so don't ever put us together in a room full of fragile things!

"Born to Them" by Sandra F.

Sandra, that's my name. I like saying my name in Spanish rather than English, I don't know why, I just do. My name means helper of humanity. So far I don't know how it fits me, but then again what could I do now. Names are just like family you don't get to choose them, you are just born to them. No one in my family has my name. My dad chose my name, he says he likes the flow of it. I was kind of surprised when I heard he chose my name, since I had previously heard that when he got to the hospital and was told my mom had had me, a girl, he walked out. Sometimes I wish I could have another name, something more like Jasmin or Ileana. From my brother and sister I'm the only one that doesn't have a second name. My sister's name is Ana Karen. My mom says she heard it in a novela and she liked it. My brother's name is Cesar Omar. I think the story behind his name is that my dad wanted to call him Omar, but my mom didn't liked it so she told him to add Cesar. I would've had a second name if my mom would've had her way. Maria de Lourdes, that's what my mom wanted to call me. Between Maria de Lourdes and Sandra, I'll stick with helping humanity. Maria de Lourdes is just... too long. My mom calls me like that when she's mad at me or when I do something wrong. "Maria de Lourdes, ven aca"

"My Name" by Lulu Serratos

My name is Marielou. Most people know me as Lulu. I dislike my name very much, there’s no reason why. It’s long; it rhymes with everything that ends with an –oo. It’s an uncommon name. Usually people name their daughter Marylu, Marylou, or Mary Lou. My name has no meaning to it, but it comes from two different names. I think my name is unique. Like I said my name comes from two different names. It’s actually my dad’s oldest sister’s name; which is Maria Lourdes. When my father was younger he didn’t have anybody to take care of him. His mother and father were always working; he had an older sister and brother when he was born. His older sister who was the oldest took responsibility over him and his other brother. He didn’t have anything else to give her in return so his gift from him to her was naming me, Marielou. He chose to put my name a little differently. From her name Maria he changed it to Marie. He thought Marie was to short, so Lourdes was Lou. It was put all together and make into Marielou. She really appreciates my father naming me after her. I do too, but I’d prefer it to be something else. Many people like it, and I wouldn’t want to ruin someone’s gift.

"those who don't"-racism [maria u..per 7]

No I have never been judged by my apperance or race and i haven't been treated unfairly.but ive heard about people who have, for example Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. was and inspiration to many people.He was an African American man who live in the U.S. Back in the days that Martin Luther King Jr. lived there was alot of racism from white people towards African Americans.The African Americans couldnt do things that white people could they had to go to different schools, drink from different water fountains, eat at different restaurants, they even had to give up there seats on the bus for white people.Unfrotunately on April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed after giving his speach.Things have really improved since then but racism is still here.

chuke cheeses by ESTEBAN SALGADO

Once when i was 6 i wanted to have my birthday celebrated at chuke cheeses. And my parents didnt want to but i was begging them until they said yes.finally they said were going to celebrate your birthday at chukes. But when I saw chuke face to face he freaked me out iI was like man dude get away. But then I finally said to my self you know what im going to enjoy this night with all my friends.

Fun With Weapons...Until the Cops Came-Joey Pedroza

I had never been scared of cops until just recently. I went to my friends house to spend the night for the weekend, and we decided to have an airsoft war. Which is basically us shooting each other with plastic BB's. We had been playing for about an hour when my friend Shawn saw a cop car pull up at the bottom of the hill where we play. The cop came out and walked up the hill. Shawn, as soon as he saw the cop, came running to find us and warn us. But before he could, two more cops came from the other sides of the hill. I had been carrying a black oozie with no orange top, so it looked pretty real. As soon as the cop saw me, he took out his gun and told me to drop it. As i had never had a gun pointed at me before, you can probably guess that it was a pretty scary situation. The cops told us to put down all the guns and to take out all the magazines. They lectured us for about 5 minutes. They asked where we live and if our parents knew what we were doing and other stuff like that. They eventually let us go after telling us that we shouldn't run around with guns in a place where people live. We are never allowed to go back to that spot on the hill to play airsoft again. Which really sucks because we do it every time i go there. Man, I really don't like cops...

"Beautiful & Cruel" by Michelle M

Ever since my baby sister was born, 4 years ago, I felt as if I was responsible for her. I have a sister 3 years younger, but since she is only a few years younger, I was not old enough to take care of her the way I do to Vanessa. Vanessa, my "baby", is very curious at her age so I have to be running around after her. I babysit her every Saturday mornings and after school, while my parents work. It is hard for me when I am away from her because I worry since she is so curious that she might get into trouble. I get mad just at the thought that someone can harm her. Sometimes I feel I can not do many things because i have to take care of her. Most of the time, when she wants something, she usually comes to me. I do believe I spoil her sometimes but that is just because I love her too much. We both have nicknames for each other with love. Every time something happens to her, I am the one who either feels bad, sad, or guilty. I love her so much and she is the person who brightens my day. Most of the time when I am feeling down, she is the person who lifts my spirit. I love my baby girl.