January Writers

Welcome back!!!! Our blog is updated with eleven original and creative pieces. Please read ALL of the pieces and choose four of which you will leave helpful, constructive feedback. Your January comments are due next Monday, February 1. Writers, you need to leave comments for two other pieces. Check on your piece daily and see the comments fill up. Enjoy this next week, everyone:) Love, Mrs. Solano

Malco--The Cubicle Call

*tick, tick, tick, tick* Tom sat at his desk, staring aimlessly at the computer monitor, matching the rhythm of the clock with his ballpoint pen against his gray desk. Nothing but ringing phones and other average Joes complimented the noise of the office clock, which hung on the wall next to the “Number of Customers Served” board that hadn’t been updated in months. After a few seconds, the light on Tom’s phone flashed, and he picked up, ready to give the customer his “full” attention. “Thank you for calling Stockade, my name is T” is all Tom got to say before being interrupted by a stern voice. “Direct me to Management. I don’t have all day.” Tom, so very concerned by the man’s urgency, replied “Yes sir, of course. If you could just tell me your 10digit account number I could” “Do you know who this is? ” retorted the man, who continued, “Derek, Derek Bro c ade ? CEO of Stockade , the company you are currently employed under?” “I’m sorry sir, I didn’t mean to” “Don’t be sorry. Just means I don’t call around enough. What’s your name kid?” “Tom. Tom Quest, sir.” he replied cautiously, worried not to speak out of tone. In a teasing voice, the other line repeated, “‘Tom Quest, sir’. Sir? How old do you think I am Tom? Matter of fact, don’t even think about answering that. Well, since we’ve already stalled my progress today, I might as well act like a good CEO and ask questions that make it seem like I care. How do you like working in my company Mr. Quest? Be honest.” Considering his options, Tom started and said, “The pay’s decent, the work environment is friendly and” again, cut off for the fourth time this conversation. “I said honest Tom. Honesty is the best policy. You know who said that? I did, just now. So go ahead.” “Well, to be honest Mr. Brocade, I hate working in the cubicles. I hate having to answer phone calls and being bossed around by the nation’s “top 1%” on how to manage their money and stocks, my boss’ breath always reeks of coffee and cigarettes, and Jared and Tritia from Financing are always in the cleaning closet ‘sleeping’” ranted Tom. “Whoa slow down there Questlove, I’m not your girlfriend and I definitely didn’t ask for your life story. But your complaints are taken into consideration. Now pay very close attention Tom. Were you following the news this past December?” asked Mr. Brocade. After a moment of thought, Tom did recall the news headlines going into the new year. “Yeah,” he thought to himself, “you bought out Ronald Grump and Grump Towers”. “ You acquired Grump Towers, I believe.” “Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner. Now listen here Mr.Quest. You have a name that sticks out to me, and a personality that seems semidecent other than the boohoos, which is more than I can ask for after dealing with these corporate chumps my whole life.” he said sarcastically. “ I was currently going to ask your boss about his personal favorites at the office, but I don’t think I have to. I’m going to make you an offer that any sane man that works in a cubicle would accept. And you will accept. Okie dokie?” “ Questlove? is this guy serious?” At any rate, Tom wasn’t sure if he was being pranked by the guys at the other branch again, or if this really was Derek Brocade. So, pretending to be a sane man that works in a cubicle, and going with the benefit of the doubt, he simply replied, “Okie dokie.” “Good,” Brocade said excitedly, “so here’s the job. Grump Towers is currently under renovation to become my personal man cave. I think I’ll call it the Bro tel. Get it? Hotel? Brocade? Nevermind. I need an assistant in managing all the busy work that comes with my nightlife, social life, and money life. And since you’ve taken my time, you are going to pay it back. Through “servitude” to a very wealthy man. By servitude I mean a better paying job. You’ll be working out of the top floor with me, and I could care less if you took breaks at the many beautiful night clubs and restaurants Mr. Grump has so kindly gone bankrupt from. So, let’s go on a “quest” together shall we, Mr. Quest?” Tom was confused, sweating, and oddly excited. He felt like he was about to become a Robin to Batman, C3PO to R2D2, or Donkey to Shrek. Still dumbfounded, all he could usher out was another, “Okie dokie”. “Awesome sauce. Now, about Jared and Tritia…” Mr. Brocade trailed off.

Brandon--Death by Bratwurst

Day 81: Slept surprisingly well last night, considering that I've been stranded on this moon longer than it took for Phileas Fogg to travel around the world. I've officially run out of spaghetti and beef stew MREs, so now I'm going to be stuck with bratwurst, tuna and bean burritos until I run out and die on this rock. Don’t ask me why we packed bratwurst MREs; there weren’t any Germans in my freaking crew, so I don’t have a clue. Don’t even get me started on the tuna meals. Last time I tried it, I threw it up while on the training gyroscope back at NASA. Its actual taste is sorta like tuna, I suppose. It reminds me of elementary school cafeteria tuna, except they managed to make it remarkably more terrible. It doesn’t feel like tuna in your mouth. It’s like tuna pudding. The worst part: IT COMES WITH TORTILLAS. I’m not against tortillas or anything, but you just don’t eat tuna tacos in my book. You use tilapia for a fish taco. End of story. I think I’ll pass on tuna for breakfast. I’ve never had the bean burrito, so I guess I’ll chow on that for the most important meal of the dizzle. Burrito Update: It was a marginally edible brick. The goods news is that I can use one as a weapon if any aliens pop out and test my temper. Then again, if guns don't work too well on Predator, I'm not sure if a burrito will do well. I'll just feed it to the alien, and it'll probably flee in terror. I should’ve saved a spaghetti MRE for my last supper. I used to think that the best thing about shipwrecking on a moon 12 parsecs away from Earth is the night sky. It sounds beautiful and all, but this moon orbits a black hole, so it's nighttime all freakinday. The only light I get is from distant galaxies. Majestic as the sky may be, I still miss the radiance of the good ole’ Sol. Imagine a child growing up on this planet? They'd have a nightmare trying to draw the sky in crayon. Back on Terra, you just draw the sky with a orange semicircle in the horizon, maybe a cloud if you're feeling frisky, and exactly 7 v-shaped birds. If I somehow survive this, I definitely have to boogie down to the beach and get some vitamin dizzle. There was another moonquake. I don't know much about space tectonics, but this is the second one in the past 13 hours. I wasn’t sure before, but they’re occurring at shorter intervals. And every time, I swear they’re gaining intensity. I hope it's not a Kaiju. I really gotta hand it to JPL; they really thought a lot of things through. The spare oxygen generator came in handy after the main one broke down when I accidentally kicked it while doing exercise. Just another reason to hate exercise. Seriously though, the ship remained perfectly intact after the crash. The impact wasn’t really so bad, except for the whole part where I’m the only surviving crew member. I especially miss Captain Organa. I wouldn’t mind sharing MREs with her, as long as she took her fair share of tuna. Emergency landing airbags and seatbelts could’ve used a little more attention. But I am grateful that the construction of the ship wasn’t offshored to China or something. Day 82: I was just awakened early by another quake. This one was some San Andreas kind of business. I’m going to eat some Bratwurst for breakfast, put on my suit, and check out what happened. I urinated in my spacesuit about 11 minutes into my adventure and dipped to record my findings. These definitely were not moonquakes. About 3 kilometers out, there’s a crater with a giant, luminescent egg. I’m going to change my underwear, listen to Adele, and return to the crater. I really don’t want to go, but if there’s something out there, then it’s my responsibility to report it. If anyone finds this, and I don’t log another entry, then don’t go towards the crater. End of Journal

Arti--Revival

I'm a girl of many dreams, but there was one I knew I wouldn’t die without fulfilling, however I didn’t realize it would happen so soon. I remember the countless days waiting to see if I had won the contest…it was safe to say I hadn’t. This event was one I wanted to go to with all my heart and soul, it was unlike any other, and the whole universe heard my prayers and gave me one last opportunity to win. I sat there reposting one simple picture probably over 100 times, no exaggeration, then at 4:00pm, the day before the event, the message popped up on the top of the screen….”Congratulations” was all I saw, I dropped the iPad and immediately started freaking out. I stood there saying “Shut up, No way, No Oh my gosh, Shut Up!”. My sister was looking at me like I was crazy, I made her read it too, who knows I could have just been delusional. But sure enough I had done it, I won, I was going to meet my idol at an exclusive event and that was all that mattered. I sat next to my sister in the Palace theatre, you don’t even understand how special that was, the very same theater part of my “pick me up” song was filmed, little did I know part of another video was going to be filmed there, and I was going to be in it. I sat surrounded by people I consider a second family. I know, sounds crazy to some of you, how can you consider strangers family?, trust me when I say this, you have to experience it to know. My phone buzzed, and there was a text from my parents saying this is it, my dreams were coming true, I was just about to meeting my idol. That’s when it all started to hit me. Then the lights dimmed, a video appeared on the screen, the “Same Old Love” video, which no one else had seen. The entire theatre erupted in screams and we all watched and sang to the video, but then it stopped, the screen lifted up and there she was singing the rest of the song. I didn’t think seeing her perform would have a different impact on me this time compared to the other times I had, but it did, I started tearing up, yes there were a lot of emotions in this day. Every time I hear that song now, I get chills, it’s crazy. She spoke about her album, played some songs, performed some more, and can I just day seeing her so happy and proud gave me a feeling I just can’t describe. After all was done, it was time to start meet and greets. I was towards the end so it took a couple hours, I was astonished by how happy she was to meet every person, mind you there were 200 people there. Finally my turn was coming up, I couldn’t even think straight, there are so many things I think of now that I should have done to capture the moment better, but in reality the memory in my head is the best record I could have. I walked up to her, gave her a little gift, yes i'm one of those fans, we talked a bit took a picture and that’s when I realized the moment I had dreamed of and played out many times in my head was ending soon and I hadn’t even said half of the things I wanted to! Oh and I was shocked I hadn’t cried yet...but I thought a bit too soon. I asked for a hug, and the second we did the waterworks started. I still remember how that hug felt, and it will forever be the best one I have ever gotten. She said “I hope you enjoy the new album”, I tried to say “I know I will” but my voice failed me, I was crying. Safe to say those were the best 20 seconds of my life. I can no longer say dreams don’t come true because they do. I learned that if you truly want something and continue to pursue that goal it will be achieved. There’s a time and place for everything. I had many opportunities, none had worked out because this event was the one for me. If you have enough passion, go for it, dreams do come true, just believe. Oh and the best moments in life just can’t be planned, they usually don’t go as you thought but that’s what makes them special. Thank you interscope. I waited eight years for this. September 16, 2015. Selena Marie Gomez. My idol. My everything. My biggest dream. My Revival.

Jules--What is dependability?

Dependability can be considered as many things when it comes to personal interpretation. It can mean being present during a time of struggle for a certain someone, doing favors or errands out of pure wholeheartedness, etc. But when it comes to appreciating what you have done, people tend to overlook how much effort you have truly exerted to help, and most of the time even accuse you of being a nuisance. However, I am aware that I’m coming from a slightly biased perspective, considering that those who I have helped immensely still had the nerve to tell me I was being unfair in the midst of a minor issue. Coming back to the true meaning of the term, I myself attribute no definitive description to the word. I have been raised to identify dependability as something intangible, an effort that requires a sense of selflessness to achieve. Many times I have found myself to be on the foul end of the bargain when being “dependable”. Just recently, I came across an article that depicted its importance within the workplace, stating that “ it is more essential to be the most dependable instead of anything else”. With this quote in mind, it’s easy to make the connection within the real world as well. Day to day, we’re faced with different objectives to complete; a good majority of them require working or depending with/on another person. So why is it that even when we constantly give our best efforts, it seems that someone still has something to complain about? That’s the downfall of dependability; we sacrifice our reputations, emotions, and even relationships for the sake of upholding our responsibility to the other individual. Though it is important to be dependable, many people often times miss the detriments it brings to themselves. I personally believe that being dependable will always require these sacrifices, ones that can even outweigh the benefits that result from it. From this perspective, dependability can now be interpreted as a wholly different term. This form of dependability is usually found within those who expect to provide nothing in return for their reliance on another person. Individuals that do hold the virtuous definition of the word are often those that would subject themselves to the same sacrifices you have. Coming from this explanation, one can now differentiate between which forms of dependability they align themselves with. I personally prefer the equality of dependability, where the person you’re aiding willingly offers their services in return. That is the truest form of the word, not to be confused with the act of using your resources to get ahead in your everyday life. Ultimately, being dependable is not only limited to a person’s ability in helping another person. It comes down to the moral merit one holds the action with, because viewing it through a strictly superficial manner will only become a detriment to its worth. Now the important question is: what do you consider to be the definition of dependability? Quote found in mashable.com

Ryan--Coma

The scene sets in with Mark, a boy that seems about 17 years of age. He is on the floor seemingly unconscious in a small white room that contains nothing but a single door. “Ugh… where am I?” As Mark exams his current location, he starts to ponder the thought of why he can’t remember anything before he woke up. “Why can’t I remember anything? I don’t even remember who I am or anything about my family.” Mark then notices the push-bar door that leads out of the empty white room. He then proceeds to open it and find that behind the door is a room of similar proportions to the room behind him, although this time there are two doors and a note on the floor. Mark walks across to the note and reads it. The note reads “Welcome to the lab Mark, you have been chosen to be a participant in our little game…of death. What lies behind these 2 doors are a series of puzzles, in order to escape this lab you must solve these puzzles. For, once you solve these puzzles, an entrance to another room will appear, and within that room are 4 doors all leading to puzzles, and the room after that will have 8 doors all leading to puzzles, solve those and then you get 16 doors, and the number of puzzles you need to solve will constantly increase, until you reach the end of course. Although, you probably shouldn’t even start anyway, for the probability of you getting out of here is 1/99999999. Why the outrageous probability? Well, remember how earlier I said this is a game of death? Well…. One mistake in this silly game and you will die a horrible and gruesome death. This note has gotten too long. It is time for you to start playing. Have fun.” ~Anon. Filled with confusion and rage, Mark tears up the note and starts to worry if he’ll ever get out of this god forsaken place. “So if I don’t pass these puzzles, I’ll die? What kind of sick person would make a game like this? Am I the first person or have there been others before me?” Pondering at these questions, Mark enters the door on the left, what he sees is just a button. Mark presses the button and then he hears gears turning overhead, but nothing happened after that. Mark exits the left room and then enters the room on the right. Inside this room is the same thing, a button. The button is pressed and gears churn overhead, after the churning stops, Mark leaves the room. Although when he exits, he notices that a door has presented itself in front of where the note used to be, in the middle of the two puzzle room doors. When Mark enters the room, he notices something on the floor, another note. It reads “I see you’ve passed the first room, ready for the next 5?” ~Anon. As Mark finishes reading the note, the floor below him opens up, sending Mark through a black abyss. Mark seemed to fall for more than an hour until finally he landed on a gigantic air mattress. At first the room was pitch black, no light seemed to enter or escape the grasp of the room, until a gigantic monitor with the words, “Ready for more?” popped up in big read ghastly print. The monitor then went blank and 4 doors were revealed, behind each door was an item. Behind door number one was a gun, behind door number for was a knife, behind door number 3 was a noose above a stool, and behind door number 4 was a note. Mark picked up this note and read it, it said “The odds are against you, kill yourself now and avoid the torture that awaits you.” ~Mark. “Wait a minute, this is my handwriting, was I here before?” Mark questioned. Mark dropped the note in confusion and disbelief as to what he had just seen. Slowly recollecting himself, Mark went ahead to take his own advice and picked up the gun and shot himself, or so he thought. The gun didn’t have a bullet loaded in it. Instead it was a flag that had the text “BANG!” written on it. “What in the world?” Mark exclaimed. Mark then went on to take the knife and tries to slit to his throat, except this knife wasn’t actually made of metal, it was made of plastic. “Why can’t I just put myself out of my misery already? Even the note told me to do the same thing…” Mark said while starting to well up with tears. Finally Mark went on to take the noose, this time he had finally succeeded in ending his life. With his last seconds on Earth, Mark started to remember something, something very important. This entire experience wasn’t actually real. Mark woke up in a hospital bed surrounded by bright white lights and a life support system. A board ahead of him had read “No response. 12/30/15” It had been 30 days since Mark had entered his coma. As Mark became aware of where he was and what kind of situation he was in, Mark tried to get out of bed, but could not lift himself from his bed. He then proceeded to try and call a nurse, a nurse named Peter had responded almost instantly. Peter had explained everything to Mark, since Mark suffered from dementia and severe brain damage. He had not remembered anything from his coma or his life. Peter had said that Mark was in a car crash, and that Mark was driving. Mark had fallen from a 2 story building while doing his job of repairing roofs and cleaning out gutters. He had landed on his head, and was almost completely disabled. The only thing that he can is his mouth and eyes, nothing else. Mark wished for death after hearing this.

Blake--The Night

Today is my birthday, April 20th, and I was just getting home from a day at work and I sat down to watch the news. I was going to dinner with my family tonight so I knew I needed to get ready soon. Right before I got up from watching television I heard something on the news that caught my attention. The anchor said, “This just in, a young boy has gone missing after parents describe a creature to have taken him into the woods”; I just froze and looked back to the screen. Horrified I kept watching to see what else happened they described the creature to be human like but very skinny, pale, crawling on all fours with big teeth and big eyes that glow in the night like cats or raccoon’s eyes would. By this point I was thinking about “THE NIGH”. It was exactly 12 years ago I was 10 at the time and it was my birthday and I was having a sleepover party with all my friends and we were playing hide and seek in the dark outside. We were all having fun until we heard a scream. We ran to the direction it came from thinking someone tripped and got heart. My friends and I got there and we saw our friend lance on the ground holding his leg that was bleeding. He looked very scared like he just saw a dead person so we asked him what happened. He told us that a big white creature with big eyes attacked him and scratched his leg up and then ran off after he screamed. We just told him that it was probably just a raccoon but he said it was way too big for a raccoon. So we just shook it off and went inside and cleaned his cut off and then went to play video games. After video games we had to go to bed so as we were getting our stuff on the couches and ground something caught my attention outside I saw some sort of rustling in the bushes and I saw a flash of grey and then nothing. I didn’t tell anyone because I thought that I was just tired and needed some sleep after our long night. A few nights after the party I the same bush rustling and this time I saw more than just grey I saw two glowing eyes look up at me…I froze in fear, I thought to myself I have to go tell my parents right before I ran to get them he smiled and started moving toward my house! At this point I was sprinting to my parents room, It was 2:00 am and they were sound asleep, as I got in the room I yelled, “GET UP THERES A MONSTER OUTSIDE OUR HOUSE” and since I was a ten year old they just thought I had a terrible dream but I told them to come and see so they walked to the living room window with me and there was nothing. I never saw it again after that night. After watching that broadcast I was terrified it scared me that it was real. The worst part about it was that the couple that had their child abducted were living in my old house…

Bobby--Dropping in

the lineup is coming fast, the northwest flow makes the water so glassy. Never in my life have I ever seen something so beautiful. Crashing like automobiles i hear the set coming. getting drenched in bubbles makes me realize that i'm home. Beating like a drum my heart pushes adrenaline through my veins, knowing soon it would be my turn. It takes a couple minutes for me to catch my breath and get ready to take one in. looking at my left i see the monster forming. Snapping around and paddling as hard as I can. Left Right Left Right Left Right, then finally I feel it beneath my fiberglass board. Carrying me along like the jolly green giant I pop up to my feet and drop in n the monstrous set wave. The feeling of dropping in is like no other… so free… so careless… then just as you feel you're about to fly, you get to the bottom and need to turn. Whether the waves are 15 feet or just 1.5 surfing will always be my happy place. no matter what mood i'm in, the waves will always lift me up. Although with life… just as I feel that i'm so lifted up…I get to the bottom and need to turn out, Then eventually falling down. But when I fall I just don't stay in the water, i get right back on my fiberglass vessel and wait my turn for another moment of happiness. Until today. when I found the wave that would never get to the bottom. a continuous wave that brings me constant feeling of falling but never getting hurt. This wave is one that I could ride for the rest of my life. all surfers will find this wave, you just need to wait on the swells and hope for the best.

Maite--Procrastination

Procrastination something that everyone does and some just happen to do it so well that it could be considered an art. Well for this guy that's the case prom was 2 weeks away and one of those weeks being spring break he had to figure out the best way to ask his friend to prom. Poor Emmanuel running around everywhere searching for that one right idea so he could ask Noelle but he could find it anywhere. Then during this period, yearbook it was like an angel came and saved him, Nora had the perfect idea for his she told him “hey why don't you make 5 cakes and cut out the letters to spell out prom,” it was a perfect idea he just couldn't understand why his perfect self didn't think of that idea I guess he wasn't as perfect as he thought he was. Emmanuel only had one problem he didn't know Noelle favorite type of cake but then Kayla told him “Why don't you just make each letter a different flavors and I can help you in make some good box cake” and that's what needed up happening they all went to the store that day to grab all the materials they needed to make the cakes;they all headed to Emmanuel house and spent the next 3 hours baking, cutting out letters and frosting all 5 of the cakes with bright color frosting. The only thing next to do was to find out where Noelle was so his first thought was to go to Sam and figure out that she was just at Sam's house, so they all drove to Sam's house while making sure that they didn't mess up any of the letters as they drove. Once they got to Sam's house they walked straight in and placed all the letters on the table , they walked upstarts to the loft to and luckily for Emmanuel, Noelle doesn't have the best ear so they were able to walk up there without her knowing and blindfold her. To make it a little more fun they made her walk all all round Sam's house a couple times which to her felt forever. Then when they were all done having fun they took her down stairs to the table and unblindfolded her. Once the blindfold fell off her face she immediately reacted with joy and tears and said yes.

Blue--He Had Brown Eyes

He had eyes, they were dark brown, but glossed over now. He seemed to be around the same age as me, maybe we could have been friends if it weren't for the standing situation. He was a private by rank, I could see it on his patch. I say “was” but he's lying right in front of me, clutching his rifle with a shocked expression stuck on his face, as if he were stone. All the color that may have been on his face before has been flushed out, leaving his face white as snow. Funny thing is, I'm not exactly regretting my actions, or at least I'm telling myself that. I mean he was going to shoot me if I didn't pull the trigger first. Or maybe he would've surrendered, after all he was alone. Was he a deserter? Maybe he didn't agree with what he was fighting for, if he even knew. After all, I was drafted and maybe he was too. Forced to fight for something he didn’t even understand, against an enemy who he himself had no personal quarrels with. No. Truth is I am afraid. I'm afraid that my soul will be damned to hell for killing another of God’s children. I'm afraid that I may see this young soldier in my nightmares. But that doesn't matter. What matters is him. And he's still staring at me just as the moment I shot him down. Hell, what about his family, what if he had kids or someone he loved? How will they get along without him? I'll be a murderer in their eyes for taking him from them. I can’t even conceive the spiral of emotions that they may face when hearing of his end. I could guess he had a mother by how young he was and I could guess that this news would be heartbreaking and I would be the one who put her through the pain of her own child’s life being taken away before she could have her final words. I can only hope they had made their peace before he left. Or maybe he was an orphan who had no one to look after him. That scenario doesn’t make me feel any better, in fact it makes me feel worse, thinking he had no one who cared for him. I would be the one who had ended his dreams of ever coming back to find love or acceptance in this mad world. That’s it. This world is the reason why we were put in this situation and why I’m even drawing up scenarios based purely on the fact and observation that he was in his youth before he was shot. Would he have done the same for me? If this was the other way around would he have pitied me? I wondered, staring blankly into his eyes. But really, maybe I should just get used to this. Maybe this the first step of becoming a true war hero and I just have to keep on going and not question my superiors. Come a couple of years they'll look at me with respect. That's if, if I live that long. I wonder who else feels the same as I do. Who else has wondered of their first kill, was it someone who seemed to resemble them as well? My mind is full of questions that I’m asking for the sake of a dead man so maybe he can lay to rest and I can put my mind at ease. I’ll close his eyes so can sleep and just get on with the war. I see his dog tags and read the information to myself, “Frederic Bernard”. I repeat that name in my head as I go on. Frederic Bernard, the kid with brown eyes.

Patricia--How to

It is almost February. The month of love and hearts. When I signed up for blog submissions I was a bitter single teenager who wanted to write a “How to: Survive Valentine’s Day Single.” I wanted to talk about how we’re all independent people who don’t need no man or woman in our lives. Well, a lot has changed since then and I’m scared that if I keep that topic I will jinx myself and my boyfriend will break up with me. *knocks on wood* I will still focus on the idea of independence though. My friend recently posted a series on youtube called “Cuffing Season” and it teaches you how to get a girlfriend. He gives step by step instructions from learning how to style yourself to texting the girl. This, however, will be mostly for the girls and will not teach you how to get a boyfriend. It is a How To: Lower Your Expectations. Not in life, always aim for the best, but maybe in relationships. As much as we all want to be princesses, these boys can’t offer or even afford everything. I had a male friend, who has been in a relationship with a sophomore in college for two years now, help me with this. So here are some rules… Rule #1: Shoot your shot. It is 2016 and girls are still waiting for the guy to text them first. Like everyone says, chivalry is dead. Just deal with it. We keep waiting for the other person when we can start the conversation ourselves. Who cares if you double text, go chase after what you want. Sometimes you just have to accept the fact that you are desperate. Warning: don’t seem too desperate though. Rule #2 : Be selfless. I’m sure they love hearing all about you but be careful not to seem too conceited and only talk about yourself. Ask them about their day or their interests for a start. There are times that we get carried away and forget that other people have lives too. This is not just about talking but spending time as well. People are busy, we have homeworks, sports, church, and other things. Your significant other cannot spend all day with you every single day. This is important to form an understanding between the two. Rule #3: Alternation. Men are labeled as the head of the household. In the old days they worked while the wife stayed at home and took care of the children. It is very rare to see that in this economy, both parents work. Alternate on who pays for dates. We cannot expect guys to pay for everything. This helps with budgeting and “prevents conflict regarding the fairness of your relationship when it comes to money.” - My friend, George. I think of it as a “You drive, I pay situation.” My boyfriend can do both but I don’t want him too. For example, at homecoming, my date paid for the dance tickets and I offered and paid for dinner. Seemed fair to me. Tool(s) needed: money. Rule #4 : Don’t be so materialistic. “Appreciate him or her for their personality rather than the things they give you.” - George. I see girls online tweeting “relationship goals” on pictures of other girls receiving Louis Vuitton purses from their boyfriends. What high school student in this district has that kind of money? There is probably some but still. Isn’t dating about the company and not the gifts? This is necessary so you don’t seem like an ungrateful gold digger. Receiving gifts are great but whining about receiving them is just terrible. Tool(s) needed: a heart. Guys love to spoil girls and girls love to be spoiled. I believe that it should work vice versa as well. It is so uncommon in this era. There are so many expectations that aren’t clearly talked about in relationships which lead to misunderstanding. Be independent. Don’t expect so much from one person. You never know what could happen, you might break up.

Sarah--How to Get Through and Enjoy Everyday

Happiness doesn’t last forever. As people, we have gone through multiple bad days, weeks, months, etc., and we know that good moments are fleeting. Our most memorable days and favorite memories are usually made up of short, spontaneous instances. Due to their “come and go” nature, sometimes enjoying the good times seems futile; if it is not going to last or, even worse, be stopped short by inevitable ‘bad times’, then what is the point of indulging in it? It is rational to try to protect oneself by living a life with no highs and lows, but living a stagnant life like that make one afraid of enjoying themselves and, with the absence of joy, one becomes critical and depressed. The following will an instruction on how to enjoy the good, survive and appreciate the bad, and how to make even the worst day have a glimmer of joy. 1. Be open to the idea that you deserve to be happy, and patient with yourself. An essential part of this step is to allow yourself to be vulnerable. (Take small steps to get there). Do not try to convince yourself that you do not deserve joy, and put walls up to protect yourself from feeling it. It is okay to be fragile everyone is anyway and it is okay to struggle with this idea. Give yourself time to be able to appreciate yourself first, before you begin to put that attention and effort onto other things. You’ll begin to feel better overall, and can then begin to feel better about your day. 2. Begin to try and enjoy the smaller things. There are multiple ways to interpret this step: you can try to pay attention to the things you usually overlook, you can look at things and actions in a different light, or identify and seek out a small pleasure you have and invest a few minutes in your day to really enjoy it. It could be from the feeling of warm socks, the sound of rain, the feeling of petting fur, even something mundane like watching turning signals flash at the same time deserves some appreciation! When you feel you find a new acknowledgment for something, you sometime you usually wouldn’t really give a thought about, you sometimes learn something more about yourself. 3. Find something you really, truly enjoy. Take the time to find something that you truly enjoy doing to give yourself a breather when things in your life get too much, or to brighten up your day when you feel the lowest. Finding something that speaks to you will be time consuming, so patience is essential. This step does not necessarily have to do with a skill, like painting or singing. Napping, for example, can be the thing you find is the most enjoyable thing. This is an entirely personal step, so anything goes just as long as it makes you enjoy your time. WARNING : It is okay if your enjoyable thing can not get you in a better mood or make your day less rough. Not everything can be fixed with fun things, no matter how positive your outlook is. If our favorite thing eases the pains of the day even a little bit, then you’re on the right track. Remember from step 1: small steps! 4. Understand the importance of bad days; don’t be afraid of them! No one enjoys having long, bad days. But bad days are unavoidable, so to get through them the best we can, we have to accept them for what they are, and not dwell on what had happened that turned the day sour. Remember that, just like good days, it won’t last forever. Once you can accept it, it is easier to move on from it. This is where the small pleasures and your favorite activity can come in envelope yourself with things you enjoy at the end the day or just appreciate small good things that happened through the day to get along faster. Eventually, bad days will seem shorter and shorter as you understand how to get over them faster. 5. Lastly, let yourself appreciate and love unconditionally. Allow yourself to enjoy things of your day with reckless abandon. Love your friends for who they are and find the value in your interactions with them. Full immerse yourself in music or the activity you found in step 3 and put your entire heart into it. If you fail at that activity, forgive yourself as everyone makes mistakes and keep trying. Treasure the experiences you had throughout your day, whether they be good or bad, to remind yourself of your mortality and that you, despite being a miniscule part of the grand scheme of things, are still a part of something amazing. Love yourself unapologetically, since you deserve it. And to repeat to step 2, remember the tiny things that can be the reason your day is worthwhile.