After all this time, it just doesn’t feel real. I can’t believe...--Nadia

My name is Asami. I am nothing special, just your average 18 year­old. Always stressed out about school and just wanting some adventure in life. I guess going off to college will be the most exciting adventure that I have been searching for. It’s 5 pm and I am packing up last minute miscellaneous items in my car before I take off and take the 5 hour drive up to my future school, Stanford. As the sound of my heart pounding in my chest floods from all the anxiety floods my mind, I scan through my checklist in my head to make sure that I have everything I need. My mom and dad keep repeating “Remember to call us when you take rests.” “Don’t take rest stops in isolated areas.” “Keep your phone charged.” “Call us every half­hour.” I take a deep breath, trying to relax and put my anxiety aside. I look both my mom and dad in the eye. “Mom, Dad, I will be fine, don’t worry. You guys act like you’re never going to hear from me again.” I give my sister a long hug, followed by my brother, my dad, and then my mom. My mom looks me straight in the eye, her eyes glittering from all the tears of mixed emotions that filled them. “Are you sure you can’t wait until tomorrow morning? It would be safer. With all the traffic and the breaks you’ll take along the way, you won’t get there till 11 earliest.” I think about it a minute and decide that it’s my time to go. “Mom, I have to go now. There’s nothing to worry about. I will get there in no time. Relax.” I put on my sweater, sit down in my car, turn on the engine, and reverse out of the driveway. I take a long look back and capture the image of my family standing in front of my house, waving and wearing the saddest smiles on their faces. I look back at my mom and still see that same look of uncertainty in her eyes. I give her a reassuring smile and start driving to my new home.
I decide that I will take PCH all the way up to Stanford so that I can enjoy the view of the ocean and the trees. To pass time by in traffic driving west, I listen to Drake’s new album and in no time, I made it to PCH in time for the sunset. I drive along the coast and see the crest of the sun hiding just above the shore, the sky a beautiful array of colors. Purple, red, pink, orange, blue. The ocean looks the most beautiful royal blue with a shimmer of sunset orange skimming across the waves. I take in the scenery around me and decide to call my mom. It goes to voicemail, so I leave a message. “Hey mom, I’m fine, I’m not tired yet so I’m going to drive a bit longer. I wish you could see this sunset. It looks like I am staring straight into the gates of Heaven. It is so beautiful. I’ll see you soon. Bye.” I put down my phone and glance up to see my headlights on a person standing in the middle of the road, hooded so that it was covering their face, their jeans torn and blood all over. “OH MY GOD.” I blast the horn and swerve the steering wheel, making my car spin out and crash into the huge trees on my right.
I wake up after God knows how long and feel my head heavy on my shoulders. I look around and see my headlights shining bright into the forest and my windshield completely shattered. I put my hand to my forehead and feel the blood streaming down my face. “Damn it.” I get out and inspect my car. There’s no way I’m getting to Stanford tonight. I grab my phone just to see it completely shattered. I did everything that Mom and Dad said not to do, good job Asami. I look around the lonely road and see no sign of the idiotic creep that was standing in the middle of the road. I walk down the road until I see a small Subway. I walk in and order a meal.

The lady taking my order doesn’t look at me in a funny way or ask what happened to me. I figure that maybe I don’t look as bad as I thought. I sit down and look out the window. I see hooded person standing a couple feet away. I rub my eyes and look back. Mystery Freak wasn’t there. “I’m just seeing things, I was just in an accident,” I think to myself. I go to the restroom to wash my face. I look in the mirror and see the blood all over my face, sweater, and jeans. Basically, I look horrid and I don’t understand how the Subway employee didn’t question how beat up I look. I rinse my face, look in the mirror, and see Mystery Freak behind me. I scream and fall down to my knees. The Subway lady runs in, asking if everything is okay. I try explaining everything that just happened and she stares at me as if I’m some psychopath. I walk out of the bathroom, take my sandwich, and go to the telephone booth outside and immediately call my mom. “Hey Mom!­­” I get cut off. “Sorry who is this?” Some woman picked up the phone. “Where is my mom? Where’s Jasmine?” She said, “I’m sorry, I’m her neighbor. She got a call from the police. Her daughter Asami, so I guess your sister, was killed in a car crash. Your dad is on his way to the scene and­­” I dropped the phone. After all this time, it just doesn’t feel real. I can’t believe... that I am dead. 

May Featured Writers

This is our last batch of featured writers for the 2015-2016 school year.  I truly hope you have enjoyed our classroom literary blog.  I am a little saddened that this is the last entry, but please know that since this is a live blog, you can visit anytime.  Past submissions have been archived.  So feel free to come back and read the pieces.

For this last assignment, please read ALL entries.  There are fourteen of them this month.  Choose your favorite three and leave helpful and thoughtful feedback and comments.

May writers--you can leave comments for two other pieces than your own OR you can respond to your blog entry comments (the ones left by your peers).  Respond to at least two or as many as you wish.

This last assignment is due Monday, May 16.

Class of 2016,

It truly has been a pleasure to have you in my class for this year.  I am humbled, as I am every year, by the sheer blend of genius, maturity, stress, laughter, tears and thrill that each one of you bring to my career as a teacher.  I learn so much each year from all of you and I look forward to witness what the future has in store for you.

Keep writing.  Keep reading.  Keep thinking.  Keep questioning.

Do your best!!!

And always Feed Your Soul!!!!

All my love,

Mrs. Solano

The Abstract Idea of Life as a Delicious Cake--Christopher

If you’ve ever ventured into a bakery, you’ve likely witnessed the
splendor of a cake. Rotund, bouncing in the light, seemingly begging to
propel itself into your mouth-hole, cake is a beautiful temptress. But cake is
so much more than a delectable, tantalizing, sweet goodie. Cake will slap
you in the face until you like getting slapped. Cake never gives up, cake
never surrenders.
Life is a cake. Just as Jay-Z said “One hundred million, that’s a pound
cake. Cake, cake cake cake cake.” He must know what he’s talking about,
because he married Beyonce. Cake is everywhere. It’s all around us. But, in a
world filled with cake, not only do we enjoy the succulent, sweet benefits,
but also the sticky residue. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. After
you eat your cake, you’ll probably feel guilty. Not the kind of guilt when
you’ve been caught doing something wrong by your parents, but the kind of
deep self loathing a man feels when he walks past a mirror with his shirt off,
tips of his nipples coated in icing, saying “This is the last time. Next time,
things will be different. Less messy. Yeah, I definitely won’t get icing on my
nipples next time.” But of course, as we all know, this man will most
definitely sully his nipples with icing once more, repeating the vicious cycle
which we will all succumb to eventually. Suddenly, with this realization, a
world full of cake sounds much less appealing, and yet, it doesn’t matter
how it seems to us. The world simply is filled with cake, and there are no two
ways about it. Should we willingly drown in a sea of baked goods,
relinquishing all hope of redemption to the ungodly forces who filled our
world with nothing but cake ? The answer to that question depends entirely
on you.
Except, it doesn’t depend entirely on you. The true solution lies within
the problem. You see, this cake is actually a layer cake. A lane cake.
Chocolate, chocolate, strawberry, vanilla. They thought they could fool us
with two layers of chocolate, but we knew there was something more deep,
deep down. We could always taste it, but we would never acknowledge it.
And so when we take the risk, and we look at cake for what it really is, we’ll
learn that it’s all worth it. Past the icing, there is a greater purpose. A light,
fluffy purpose. The real thing, the raw ingredients, the recipe to life! And I
know it seems grand, maybe a tad farfetched, but nothing rational ever
changed the world, or your life. Grab a fork and dive in.

The Purpose of Existence- Jennifer

                  One’s life is based upon finding satisfaction and fulfillment in different principals and compositions of the world, it’s based upon the morals and values that structure our persona and the forms in which we please the social system that corrupts ones being. The purpose of existence is dependent on the individual vales one beholds through influential figures like family friends or a society that forces our being into finding a stable and concrete definition to our existence. As humans we seek comfortability and prefer like everybody else because of the fear of originality, we seek a world of peace yet don’t act upon it, we seek freedom yet don’t strive to achieve it, we seek a world free of oppression yet are the oppressors, we seek physical and emotional ease in values of religion, success, and love and in that form find our purpose in life. Those with an established religion find peace in the morals created upon it, we hold faith in a divine figure without question or doubt because those of an open mind need not to see to believe in the creations of our creator. As believers we find the purpose of life based on the perfect plan our creator beholds, we don’t alter or rebel to his plans but rather live in ease with our faith. But politically and socially religion is the establishment of morals and set of principles that keep control and order in a population in order to reduce levels of crime and wrongdoing, it is only dependent on which side each induvial believes. Other live to succeed and value their level of success more than any other principle, they find purpose in their existence by holding a high job position, achieving the highest level of education, and becoming successful wealthy figures. We find satisfaction in receiving the best test scores, high grades, and being accepted to an excellent school, yet others don’t seek the same satisfaction, they find it to be unimportant and insignificant to their life, it very much depends on the believer. Those of bigger hearts live to find their perfect match, to form a perfect life with their soulmate and live a life filled of happiness and blessings. As they grow up they create their ideal man or woman and live to meet them, in order to find ease and satisfaction in their life. Those negligent of love care not to find their soulmate and worry more to love objects and nonliving materials, they form their own definition and principals of love, some which may not be accepted by the norms society establishes, since a social acceptance is of a perfect husband or wife that forms a perfect life in such a world. Each person holds their own values and principals and lives their life upon them, finding satisfaction and fulfillment in what they believe is most important in the world, some are fulfilled with all and don’t only hold one objective in life, other find their purpose in life in  single principal they behold. As an induvial one should explore the endless possibilities of the world, and never establish to meet the expectation of society’s norms, live upon your own values and principles in order to find complete happiness in such a chaotic world.

The Curtain is Closing and This Chapter is Ending--Karyna

We’ve all been performing for the past 12 years. We’ve been apart of the performance that is school. For 12 years we’ve been around the same cast members. We’ve seen most of these faces every single day. For 12 years we’ve been writing our book. We’ve been adding paragraph after paragraph of everything we’ve experienced these past 12 years that we’ve been in school.  And in 9 days, the curtain is closing. This chapter of our lives is coming to an end.  And, in some ways, that’s terrifying.

The future is uncertain. Nobody knows what is going to happen. We can hope and make decisions that put us where we want to be, but we don’t know how things are going to play out. That’s the scary thing about life. The uncertainty of it all. For a long time, I would make decisions that kept me from getting hurt in the end. I figured that if I could make decisions that would stop me from getting hurt, then I would be happy. As senior year was coming to an end, I started to distance myself from friendships and relationships that might not last. I don’t do well with people walking away, so if I did the walking away, then it would make everyone feel better. It was irrational thinking, and I know that now. There was one relationship in particular that I started to distance myself from. We had gotten back from spring break and I started to scare myself because I didn’t know where the relationship was going past high school. The more I thought about it, the more I talked myself into walking away. Once I started to do so, they pulled me aside and talked to me about it. They had reassured me about our relationship and how they weren’t going anywhere. That same person sent me a link to a Garth Brooks song titled “The Dance”.  Along with the link they said, “You are so worried about life and the future. I like this song because it reminds us that if we live a life of never getting hurt then we will never get a chance to live. I don’t want you to not live, love, and take chances because you’re afraid of getting hurt because that’s what makes life a journey”. What they said had really hit home. I listened to the lyrics of the song, which wasn’t easy because it’s country, and I almost started crying. What that person had said to me really changed my perspective on things and on life in general. I still find myself getting scared of being hurt, but then I tell myself that it’s apart of life.

I feel like this is an important lesson for all of us to learn, especially with graduation around the corner. We have to enjoy life and everything it entails. The hurt, the love, and the happiness are all what make our life a journey. We have to enjoy every minute of these next 9 days. We are scared of what’s to come because every decision we make is now our own. It’s going to be scary at times, but we have to remind ourselves that the wave will pass and eventually things get better. We have to remind our selves that it’s all part of life. So enjoy the end of senior year and make the best out of it. Stop focusing on the negative and look at the positive. What happens, happens. We have no control on the future so we might as well enjoy the present. Graduation is just the end of a chapter. We still have the rest of the book to write.

Why Love?--Malik

    I had a rough life growing up. My biological mother was a drug addict and an alcoholic. My father served seven years in the military before he was honorably discharged due to injury and other complications. Times were hard and finances were tight. But as a young kid, you do not fully comprehend such complexity, all you want is the love, attention and affection of those around you, especially the ones who you care most about. My mother abused my sister and me, both physically and emotionally. All we wanted was love and attention. When my parents divorced, my mother took custody, only to lead to more abuse, not only from her, but also from her mother. All we wanted was love. One day my mother gave us caffeine around 10:00 at night. Naturally my sister and I were hyper and would not rest to go to sleep. Our mother grew angry, beat me, literally threw me out the house, and locked me out. I was 4 or 5 years old, all I wanted was love. I did not see my mother again for years to come after that night. She abandoned me. She was the reason why I had a heart and she threw it out the door into the years of struggle, loneliness, pain, and emptiness. Since then I have been on the search for love. My father took full custody of my sister and me and gave us love, but it is not the same love that a woman can give. Every girl and woman that has come into my life and that I cared for, I poured my heart out for them, but as the story of my life goes, they find a way out of my life. You see, love is like fireworks. Every special moment means a firework goes off, but as the sparks fly we do not always realize that some hit the ground and ignite a fire. The more fireworks there are, the bigger the fire grows. This fire gives us a warm feeling, so we are not alarmed but rather quite comfortable. When those sparks stop flying, now you are left with the fire to put out in order to start new again. But no matter how hard we try to put those flames out, the ashes and smell of smoke still remain as the reminiscence. Why do we seek love? There is so much emotion, time, and effort thrown into the process. It can be so draining, and all for what? It took me a long time to even get a glimpse of the answer, so I block and withhold my emotions. Why be sad? Why cry? Why feel like someone stole a piece of your heart and now there is a hole, an emptiness? Why risk your emotions in order to find that special person only to discover they are not the one or to have them taken from you? It is quite interesting how such a small four letter word, phrase, can have such a huge impact on our behavior and how we go about living our lives. Maybe, it is that feeling of being there for that person, being their shoulder to cry on, being the reason why they smile every day, having someone to hold or be held by when you are feeling lonely. The levels of emotion involved with love are so strong it becomes addicting, it becomes a necessity to our nature. So despite the pains that may come when the pleasure of the fireworks end, we are willing to take the risks to find that loving emotion again, to satisfy that addiction, that need for some connection and fulfillment. So, is love a complication or sophistication? Is it worth it all in the end? Maybe that is something for you to decide, or for someone else to reveal for you, because sometimes right when we think we figured out what love is and is worth, life happens, and perspectives change. So you decide, why Love? Maybe love is not meant to be for some people, only a tease, an ideology, a dream. Some say I am too young to love and to know what love is. Maybe they are right, but based on the minimal amount of experiences in my life, I define love as I want to define it, as how I feel about it, I only know love on what I have experienced emotionally. Why does society get to determine whether or not I know how to love and be in love? I am just ignorant and naive I guess. Love for me has often lead to pain. I open my heart to love those around me, not realizing how much I have left myself vulnerable to such powerful emotions. Love is beautiful, but all roses crumble and die. I am not depressed, or unstable, but my heart has grown tired of the rollercoaster ride love has taken me through, one with a lot more downs than ups. I am happy with my life, I enjoy my family, my friends, and food, but love is too unstable and unpredictable, all over the place like this piece I am writing... That's it. We love because of its beautiful impact on our hearts and the joy of its unpredictable nature. It is fun. Right? The ups are so exciting that we accept the risks of the downs. Love holds people’s hearts together no matter how far apart. Love causes us to sacrifice our security for those by whom we love. That’s why we love, that’s why I love. I hate the negative but to get another chance of the joy and beauty that love provides is the reason I put myself through the continuous cycle of pain. Love may not be tangible, but we can definitely feel it. That is why Love.

Happiness Minus Society--Melina

Its slow, yet persistent. The process of the mind comprehending the cruel reality of the world. Unfortunately along with the development of  my brain, my heart seems to suffocate. I experienced sadness at a young age. Not that I disagree with the way life has treated me, but in fact I am grateful for all the damage and chaos, along with the laughter and smiles that I have received. It has made me not only a better person, but a more experienced one at that. I learned to trust myself and take responsibility for my actions. Always understanding that everything happens for a reason. As a female, I experienced the way society constantly underestimates me and sets limitations simply because I wear a skirt and not pants. Like the old fashioned mentality of a caged brain, ignorant of gender advancements. Our society runs on the fuel of the poor as the high class advances, while stepping on whomever for more. "The more you have, the more you want." It's the way we are raised and the way we live. As a society we strut the streets looking for our next high, the next opportunity to fulfil what we believe is our purpose. Like an addict always wanted to get a synthetic high, resulting in permanent regret.

Denial is the state of mind that distracts us from accepting the phenomenon occurring in front of us. During this presidential campaign, we are blinded by the fact a woman might become president because we are much too focused on the insanity from a racist rich Republican.

Blinded, we live in constant darkness to what is truly valuable.

This year although coming close to an end is clouded by GPA's and SAT's. My final year of adolescence wasted behind a screen and piles of homework. I feel insane, lost and confused. Although to others it may not matter, I stress in fear for my future. They need it, they EXPECT it from me. I plead to the sky, not for riches or wishes, but for happiness. It's all I ask for. Poor, hungry, homeless, but HAPPY!

As humans our greatest connection is our willingness to feel happy.

 We carry bricks of anxiety and worry like deranged adults, stressed about the future and letting the present pass us by. Life is going to happen, you like it or not. Live day by day knowing that u made a difference. Know that everything happens for a reason. Good or bad, it was placed in front of you to learn from it, grow from it! Peruse what you love, don't let money stand in the way of happiness.

It's hard to change the way we are, I know it is.

Then again what's the point of being someone your not?

or living in fear of the unknown? Safety nets are wonderful,

but what's the use if you never test it out?

We settle for comfort.

We would much rather remain in routine, safe.

I don't want to be another victim of routine, I want to explore the world as it is, not through a screen.

I want to riot through the streets, screaming and chanting for the rights we will lose.

I WILL NOT be one of the many, blinded by ignorance and plastic treasure.

I want to be the first star to fall from the sky and create change, not just pretty picture.

I know I will fail, yet I will try.

Now this may not apply to you in particular but it does apply to me so take is as you'd like.

I wrote this to remember why I am working so hard, and why I do what I do. It's a personal note that I decided to share because I know many of us are in the same position, and I know it's hard. So keep in mind although it seems like it's all happening so fast, let's not forget to enjoy our last days of high school and overall never forget why.

For those who wish to check out the continuation of my rampage...

ftwcr.blogspot.com

This is a blog referencing my constant state of mind and I invite you to interact as you wish through comments, emails and any form of communication. I started this blog after watching an old video of my self recorded years ago. In it I explain how unhappy I am and how I want to speak up, yet I felt that I stood alone. With that said, this website is personal and reflects my personal opinions towards multiple subjects. So excuse the improper grammar and punctuation, after all it is a gateway to my mind, not a graded essay. I hope to reach out especially For Those Who Can Relate and Those Who Wish to Understand.

Time Is Limited Make The Best of It--Aylin

 Have you ever wondered how much your parents have sacrificed to give you the life that you have today? As we are coming to the end of our senior year, I have a deeper appreciation for what my parents have been able to provide me with. The lifestyle that I now have compared to when I was little. Being the first generation to actually graduate from high school and getting accepted into the college that I so desperately wanted to get accepted into. This gives me even more motivation to make my parents even prouder than what they are now. Many kids don't realize this but after high school you are going to have to step into the real world and actually start making decisions that will affect the rest of your life. . . . . (FLASHBACK) . . . . . Ever since I was little I would remember my mom and dad always working hard to give me and my sister what we needed. My parents have always been there to provide me with anything that I desired, even when they didn't have the money to be spending on some of the things that we would ask for, they would try their best to get us something that they could afford. I would remember seeing my mom only three hours a day from the time she got home to the time it was bed time. I would remember seeing my father only on the weekends because of the night shift that he would work, meaning he would be asleep during the day and at work when I was supposed to be in bed. My grandma has always been a second mom to me, always there for me when my parents couldn't be. She cared for me at the earliest age of 6 months until I was ten years old. I remember my grandma making sure that I was always dressed and ready for school on time, walking us to school in the early mornings, and picking us up in the afternoons. It saddens me that I don't have the memories of my mom going to drop me off and pick me up because of the job she had. I know now that it was because she wanted a better life for me and my sister and in order to do that she had to work all the time. There are many memories that I will forever treasure of my grandmother taking care of me. She stepped in when she knew my mom had to go to work. My mom and dad have always been there for me when I needed them most and for that I will always be grateful. Fast forward to today and my parents have grown tremendously from where they were eleven years ago. We have a beautiful home. And my siblings and I see them way more often. My dad no longer has to work the night shift because of his promotion to manager. Although my mom still works at the same job, she makes the best of it because they know that she needs to work so that she could give us a better life than what she had when she was younger. They worked so hard to get to where they are today. They make sure that we go on vacations periodically so that we can all come together and have time as a family. My mom always tells us "you guys never appreciate how much me and your dad work so that you can have all the expensive things that we give you." That is the reason why I cannot wait to be able to have a career of my own and not only be able to provide for myself but also provide for my parents. Although this will not amount to how much they have sacrificed for us, I know that they will appreciate it. My life will forever be in debt to my parents for the amount of endless love that they have provided for me since the day I was born. Their appreciation goes unnoticed because of the lack of knowledge that many teenagers including myself have for our parents. We don't realize how much are parents sacrifice for us on a daily basis. The moral of the story is to go tell your parents how much you appreciate and love them because you never know when either their last day on earth will be. Don't take the time you have with them for granted.

Coast to Coast--Arhem

Overall, my life has been pretty good and actually quite straightforward. I have a great family, many of my friends are the same ones from middle school, and I live life comfortably. There is one event in my life, however, that has had a profound impact on who I am today; a chapter in my story that I will never forget. This is the story of my time living in Richmond, Virginia. To begin this story, we have to go back to February 2012, about the middle of the 8th grade school year. Our dad had just delivered us the news that at the end of the school year, we'd be moving to Virginia. I was… well, I couldn't identify what I felt. I was upset to be leaving my life long friends and our beautiful home, but I also couldn't deny I felt a nervous excitement about moving to the other side of the country. I was never angry at my father for the decision to move, since it was for his job, but the thought of such a huge adjustment coming up made me immensely anxious. June that year snuck up pretty quickly, a little too quickly for me. I told all my friends in March, so everybody had time to mentally prepare for it, but that didn't make the final goodbyes any easier. I tried to laugh off the sadness I felt, because I really believed this would be the last time I saw these people again. Hell, before we finally hit the road to drive to Virginia, we ate at InNOut, just to remember the taste before we left for good. After about a few hours, we had officially left California behind. People always say that the first day of freshman year is terrible. For me to say I was nervous for my first day would be an understatement. I was set to attend Deep Run High School, one of the best public high schools in Virginia, but I was absolutely petrified. The thing is, Virginia was completely different from California, and I don't respond very well to big changes. The first big change I had to deal with were the actual people: the area where I lived in was about 95% white. And keep in mind, these people still had confederate flags on their trucks and outside their houses, so you can imagine how I felt. And with Virginia being part of the South, a lot of people had a Southern accent, so I knew that I would immediately stand out in school, and this agitated me. The night before the first day, I could not sleep because I kept dreaming up worstcase scenarios and was mortified at the prospect of going to this completely new environment in a completely different place. On that first day, I was just so nervous. The only thing I said that day was “here”, in response to the teachers, and I didn't make eye contact with any of the other students. At lunch, I sat by myself, something that I never had to experience before. As freshman year went on, I made a couple of friends and came to like a few of my teachers, but I missed California, badly. A lot of nights I went to sleep dreaming up scenarios of me going back and being with my friends again. Sophomore and junior year, my time at Deep Run was much better. I had become close friends with four other guys, Spencer, Bryce, Griffin, and Ben. I joined the basketball team, I joined some other clubs, and I began to embrace the area and the Virginia lifestyle. The school that I originally dreaded coming to, I was already prepared to call myself an alumni of. The state that I wanted to leave so desperately, I was ready to attend a college of. I grew to love the area that I disliked, and reflecting on those 3 years I learned a valuable lesson. Life is never straightforward. Life throws curveballs at you, and you have to adapt in order to succeed and find happiness in life's craziness. As I'm writing this, I'm back at Etiwanda High School with all my friends from middle school, and I'm about to attend UC Riverside. Reflecting on my three years in Virginia has shown me that, no matter where life takes me, I will be ready to face the challenges and succeed in the situation I'm put in. Life has a different plan for us, and we can't do anything but look at it from a positive perspective and trust that everything will work itself out.

Freedom--Ethen

Freedom is something some people take for granted.  It is when you can do or think however you want within reason. Many people saved hundreds from concentration camps and death.   Many people in other countries do not have the freedom like American people do. Many nationalities make up American, many have pride to be Americans and many take it for granite. Many people come to America so that they have more freedom in this country then they did in their home lands.  Are own American constitution talks about the preamble, are the principles of the United States and Article 1 of the constitution, the setup of the government.  The constitution represents the foundation of America which started with individuals wanting freedom from religious persecution. Like the Jews, Germans wanted to rule over them.  The constitution also goes over how you can become a citizen, not all Americans were native to the United States. Freedom is not just about slaves becoming free or people escaping dictatorship, it is about having the right to vote the way you feel and to make laws that all can live by. In America you have the right to stand for what you believe in and not get killed as long as it does not harm others. In our country we have the most freedom as citizens. In other countries you could get killed for burning your country flag. Which if you burn a flag you don’t have much pride for that county. Many people sacrificed their lives to save the Jews from the Germans. Many Americans thought it was their responsibility. Freedom is not free; it cost the most, lives. We take for granite in this country, we can stay our late, we can hang out with any race of people we desire to. We can be ourselves. There are laws but they are to protect ourselves, because without laws there are those people who would do wrong. Laws are for peace. Everyone needs freedom in their lives, millions of Jews died due to the race and religion, people die today due to their race and religion. Freedom is what makes up American and makes us human. This applies to me because some of my family were immigrants from Germany and tried escaping because of the dangers of being there.

Spoken Word: What I Have Done--Oyinda

I have wept the tears as I lost the ties to home,
I have broke my back with the day’s toils and pain.
I have looked on as my brothers in arms disappeared,
I have laid down for them in the most vulnerable of all ways
I have bared, then was left barren as the barrel rolled on.
I have sang the song in a false freedom, as I try to flap my clipped wings
I have swept and swept for Mrs. Becky, for I was nothing but the help.
I have hung my neck upon the strings of death,
They say it should be cold yet beneath my feet the flames would lick.
I have rose with my brothers in arms against a tyranny
To gain our wings to fly, and our voice to sing.
I have countered the It and uprooted a culture never before seen
I have been striped of my being and driven into the darkness
For they say that is where I belong.
I have been chased into the dark alley and learned to hush
For I have no one to listen.
I have flapped my wings which crumble at the weight they carry.
For I carry the roots of my soul lost in a haze of dessitude,
The spirits of my sisters, which pain echoes deep within,
The load of my brothers for they cannot do so,
The dark colors that run deep in my veins and others
Distinguishing us as gods and goddess, yet reducing us as nothings.
For I have come to realize that through the door death
will I be able to drop it all
Until then, I must walk through the darkness that holds me deep within,
Unseal my lips in the dark alley, rebuild myself from the pile of strips,
Sing the song of freedom though my voice is weak
And flap my wings in pursue though they are clipped.
For I have done and shall do but from this day forth only for me.

The letter--Janae

These words flow from me like a blow to me blood gushing out the impact hit me and
now i know what lifes about .Your venomous juices touched me in the most intimate
place my seed you told me to waste .I would say that i hate you but we know that so
untrue truthfully you make me blue going through life brushin off the truth and
disregarding responsibilities .In time you are slowly disappearing by myself i'm fearing
having to nurture this seed into a tree on my own , i wish i could have known what you
were about from the first time we went out and sweet nothings flowed from your mouth
.I project my voice in frustration but my complaints fall on deaf ears.You made things a
sport from day 2 day you would take my heart and distort it i refuse to support it ,your
bad habits and lustin lifestyle sometimes i cath myself getting jealous i wish i could
relish like you ,It seems like karma never gets you as you runaway from it fast cutting
corners and hurting others.Somewhere in this fit of emotional unsableness i snapped
myself back in to reality and realized these feelings are only temporary.Any negativity i
feel towards you only hurts me we have to live and let go .Ive learned throught this
whole process of loss and disspointment people arent going to see what you see and
find value in whats presious to us.In life thing happen and pain occurs we must maintain
and push through the worst ann strive for what we deserve.People will always reveal
their true colors but its up to us to maitain ourselfs .

She--Paola

She’s in her room. Laying down with a blank stare on her face. Her mind takes over. She soon became overwhelmed. Tears commenced to stream down her face. Knowing her family was in the other room and wanting to avoid the “what happened” or “are you okay” she remained tranquil. She knew if she were to answer that question it would always be “yes, I’m okay”. Even though she clearly wasn’t. She soon fell asleep from the mental and physical exhaustion. She woke up the next morning ready for school.  With makeup to hide her puffy eyes and a smile to hide her despondency she was ready for the day in the hell we call high school. She would rome the halls, head held high with a smile from ear to ear. No one suspected any sign of her unhappiness. She gave no reason to. Her goal in life was to always make people happy, to feel good about themselves, and to always be that person that someone goes to for advice. But, always worrying about the happiness of others lead her to not have time for her own. Emotions spread like wildfire. If one person felt or looked dejected, so did another. So, she made it her goal to always be that joyful person for the sake of others. She kept this act up long enough and it soon became too much of a burden to carry upon herself. She grew lonely. She had complications of her own but she never shared them with any one. It made her feel selfish speaking of her own troubles. She wanted to help, not be helped. But her complications grew stronger and kept piling up. One after the other. Nothing seemed to be going right and it drove her over the edge. She couldn’t take it anymore. She was at home, alone, with no one around. She sat there crying and thinking. Her mind conquered all and lead her to do things past her boundaries. She raided the kitchen cabinets in search of something that could rid of her unhappiness once and for all. With no one to stop her she continued to search. And at last, she found what she was looking for, the only thing that could ever make her happy……… food.

Trinity--Kaelin

It was hot and humid out. The cold water running down, over the cliff and splashing right below. She nervous because she doesn’t know if she’ll make it. She jumps. Her friends, Carlos and Jane call out her name, “Trinity, Trinity!!!!” but, there is no answer. They start to get worried so they go down to see if she crawled to shore. While walking down they realize that she is no where to be found. All of a sudden they start to panic.- Jane and Carlos jump into the water and start to splash around the water vigorously until they were exhausted. A few minutes later they call the search team and they being to search and ask questions about Trinity. “ What does she look like.” Where did she land” , “how long has she been missing for” asked the search team. They looked day and night for 48 hours and still found nothing. A week went by without knowing what happened to Trinity but a funeral was being planned to commemorate her. All her family and friends went to the funeral, her parents, and her two best friends, Carlos and Jane, gave heart felt eulogies. The casket was put in the ground without a body in it and something in Jane’s heart told her that Trinity was dead. Months went by and things started to get back to normal except for Jane and Carlos , they had not gotten over the fact that their best friend was gone. They decide to go to the place were they last saw Trinity. They stood on the cliff and looked down, “hey something is floating in the water.” Carlos said to Jane. Carlos goes down the cliff first and Jane follows. “ It looks like a body.” said Jane. “ Yeah that looks like….Trinity. Trinity!!”. Trinity’s body is washed up on the shore and Jane falls to her knees and starts to cry over her dead body…

How To Use Peer-To-Peer File Sharing--Luke

Step 1:  You will need to download a torrent client such as BitTorrent or         uTorrent.  There are a number of other clients but these two are the most popular.  Make sure before downloading that that the client is compatible with your operating system.

Step 2:  After downloading you will need to install the program.  Follow the instructions the program will provide to correctly install the client.

Step 3:  You will now need to set up your BitTorrent preferences and ensure that your firewall allows BitTorrent to operate.  

Step 4:  You will now need to choose a search engine to find torrents.  You can use ones such as Google or Yahoo! by typing in the search bar, filetype:torrent then the name of the media you wish to download.  However there are specialized search engines the most popular being kicka*storrents.com.  These specialized search engines make finding media extremely easy. 

Step 5:  Now you download the torrent of your choice making sure that the torrent has a decent number of what is called seeders.  Your torrent client’s preferences should be configured so that it opens automatically when you download a torrent.  Once the torrent has finished you can do as you please with the download.

IMPORTANT!!!:  Downloading copyrighted material is illegal and while getting caught will almost always result in nothing more than an email from your ISP telling you to stop being caught multiple times can become more serious.  So I urge you to use this responsibly.  Also remember be safe, never give your information out online, be wary of what sites you download from, always keep your firewall on, and utilize reliable anti-virus protection software.  IF YOU DO NOT KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE DOING OR DO NOT UNDERSTAND IT THEN ITS BEST TO JUST NOT DO IT. If you are tech savvy and want to try this out then you could give it a try, but remember do not download copyrighted material.  That said this can be a great way to obtain books, music, games, movies, and other material such as textbooks and other learning aides.  Have fun exploring one of the most amazing technologies Peer-To-Peer Sharing. 

How to Overcome Jet Lag Quickly--Jerelle

Since summer is approaching our way and some may be travelling to and through
different time zones, I thought a piece about jet lag may be helpful. Jet lag is, as defined by
dictionary.com, “ a temporary disruption of the body's normal biological rhythms after
highspeed
air travel through several time zones”. My definition of jet lag is a messed up
sleeping schedule, due to travel, that makes a trip filled with snappy comments and grumpy
attitudes. The reason for the odd selfdefinition
is because of experience. The last time my family
travelled and jet lag hit us very badly was when we visited Rome. It was non stop touring and
walking, and we had not adjusted very well to the time difference.There were a lot of sore faces
and whining on that trip. Here are some ways to quickly overcome jet lag quickly.
Step 1. Just don’t travel. It’s as simple as that, there’s no need to mess up a comfortable sleeping
schedule. Just kidding, travelling is wonderful when given the opportunity. So really the first
step to overcome jet lag is know which direction you are travelling, east or west. This may sound
odd, but this has to do with your internal body clock. It is advised when travelling east, wake up
time and bedtime have to be earlier than what you are accustomed to. For example, when
travelling from Los Angeles to New York City. To adjust to the three hour time difference, wake
up time would have to be 7 o’clock in the morning, while back in LA, it is 4am. Same thing for
bedtime, 11 o’clock at night in NYC is 8pm in LA. As for traveling west such as travelling from
LA to Hawaii, wake up time and bedtime would have to be later than normal. So setting up a
sleeping schedule will definitely help with your adjustment to the new time zone.
Step 2. Try not to sleep or take a nap until it is an appropriate time to do so. It is understandable
that a flight is draining, but as soon as you land, do not go to sleep unless it is night time at your
destination. If you arrive during the day after a long flight, do not sleep. It may be tempting, but
sleeping during the day will only make your adjustment to the new time zone longer, which
sometimes poses an inconvenience. An example of such an inconvenience is when you are
hungry and no food place is open because it is in the dead of night or the businesses close earlier
than what you are accustomed to. My suggestion is to adjust a quickly as possible so that you
will not get hungry at an odd hour.
Step 3. Keep busy wherever you are. This helps with avoiding the desired nap and sun exposure
may help the body adjust to the new local time. Hopefully being exposed to the sun will help, it
has always worked for my family whenever we go travel. Staying occupied while adjusting will
be difficult, but it is honestly worth the few hours of grumpiness versus almost a week’s worth of
jet lag. It is basically, would you rather have one unpleasant day versus miss out on the
remainder of your stay wherever you are visiting? Having one unpleasant day will help ensure
the rest of your vacation will not be interfered with jet lag. This had happened to me and my
family once. We had booked a trip to Thailand, and as soon as we arrived, we slept right away.
We gave into the exhaustion from the long and uncomfortable flight. When we woke up from
that slumber, it was around two in the afternoon. This sleep pattern continued for four days out
of our seven day stay. So one day’s worth of staying up definitely helps adjusts a sleeping pattern
for the rest of the visit.
The key tools of overcoming jet lag quickly are discipline and organization. Organization is
needed because a sleeping schedule needs to be set up and daytime activities should be planned
so that the nap will not happen during the adjustment period. Discipline is very important
because in order to adjust quickly to the new time zone, the sleeping schedule needs to be abided
by. To avoid naps at odd hours, it takes discipline to stay awake when tired and when
unaccustomed to the new time change. Lack of sleep will be worth the difficult task once jet lag
has been overcome. The rest of your visit somewhere with a time difference will be worth the
while. Happy and safe travelling!

April Writers

We are winding down to the end of this school year!!!

For many, you cannot wait.  We still have some work to do, though.  This month we have ten featured writers.  Please read all of the submissions and leave helpful, thoughtful feedback.  You must write comments for four of the pieces.  Your comments are due this Friday, May 6, 2016.

We have a lot of flash fiction this month.

Have fun and happy reading.

Mrs. Solano

How to Add Album Artwork to Your Library--Gregory

Most peeps have experienced that dull and boring gray note that we see in our library when the artwork can’t be accessed. Sometimes when new music is released the artwork can’t be added when putting it in your library because of how recent the release is. At first, it’s no big deal but after a period of time it begins to look odd with all your other music with its artwork. So today, I will teach you how to add the artwork yourself! I’m aware that no one really uses CD’s anymore but I still do because I don’t buy everything on iTunes. You can also convert the format of a video with audio illegally but that’s for another time. J                                          

1.     Upload the CD to iTunes: Once you have your CD, put it in your library and patiently wait as the music is being added.   

2.     “Adding” the Artwork: After the music is finished being added, it gives you the choice of selecting the artwork for the album. Generally it won’t add any kind of artwork, especially if it is a new release, so simply close that window after selecting “yes”.

3.     Find Your Album in Your Library: Your album will be easy to find because it will have the boring gray note as the artwork. Once you find it, click on it so that all the songs are visible to the naked eye.

4.     Selecting “Get Info”: Once the tracks are visible, you’re going to right click on the provided gray artwork and select “Get Info”. Congratulations, you have bypassed the struggle of editing or adding information to a song! Remember to right click and get info on the whole album and not just a particular song if you’re adding artwork.

5.     Information: After selecting Get Info, a window will pop up with 4 or 5 different pages. The very last page says “Artwork”, that’s where the kryptonite is. When you open that page, there will be a blank box with nothing in it. Towards the bottom right, select “Add Artwork” after step 6.

6.     Searching and Saving: If you made it here, everything that has transpired before has gone as I have foreseen. Go to Google and search for the name of the album under Images. Normally, the first 5 or 6 images that pop up will suffice but I typically save the image with the best quality artwork because why not. Right click and save to your laptop or computer.

7.     Finishing Step 5: After saving, you’ll go back to your music library and the window from Step 5 should still be open. Now, you can click on “Add Artwork” and select the image you saved as the artwork. After that, select “Ok” and everything will save.

8.     A New Hope: Once the window is closed, your artwork should immediately be added to every single track and you will be happier than Coruscant after the Battle of Endor.

You will be satisfied after you complete these steps.  Once you 100 percent complete everything, simply sync the music to your phone and everything will be updated. J

                                                                                    

Fulfillment--Crystal

Fulfillment. fo͝olˈfilmənt

Dictionary definition being: satisfaction or happiness as a result of fully developing one's abilities or character or: the achievement of something desired, promised, or predicted. As depressing or pessimistic as it might sound I have yet to truly comprehend or feel what this word means.  Maybe I’m too young to understand this concept and that’s the reason I haven’t gotten to find this, maybe you feel the same way or maybe you have and that’s great, you’re achieving this fulfillment thing. The first definition says; satisfaction or happiness as a result of fully developing ones character, and I took this as, it is something you have to work at. It might not just come to you out of the blue, saying ‘hey what’s up nice to meet you, I’m fulfillment and now you are too’. Perhaps, this is the reason I have yet to find it, because I haven’t fully developed my ability of character. "I have wandered all my life, and I have also traveled; the difference between the two being this, that we wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment." All my life I have been in the wandering stage, trying to find my way to the traveler and I honestly believe that in order to be fulfilled with your life you have to step out of that wanderer stage and find yourself, find what makes you feel good, happy, satisfied. But with this feeling or noun or however you want to look at it, I expect that when you finally find fulfillment you will find your purpose. “You have to give your life meaning in order for you to find your purpose”, and I know that fulfillment plays an incredibly important role in this. When you are fulfilled I sense that it is when you will feel free, weightless, anything, because you will have achieved something, you will have found your purpose. So because I have yet to find fulfillment I googled techniques of how to find it, there are only 11 quick steps or techniques- practice being satisfied, beware of indecision, practice cheerfulness, learn to like people, live and let live, adversity teaches, don’t take yourself so seriously, have a sense of humor, practice objectivity, and lastly tolerate your own mistakes. Practice being satisfied, wow, if only I hadn’t thought of that sooner, I mean that is the whole reason why I googled this in the first place, next. Beware of indecision, and I completely agree because in the end this is what makes you travel to understand yourself. Practice cheerfulness, okay so don’t actually be happy just pretend and you’ll force it, great! Learn to like people, words of the wise people, I actually think this is a foolproof plan. Live and let live, tattoo quote idea? Probably, but in all seriousness this can actually develop your character by not caring what others think. The rest of the list and even the beginning can help to find fulfillment, but it just comes down to how each and every person uses it. You have to be the ultimate person to decide what you want to do, how and where to travel, and what your purpose is, to find fulfillment.

Quote number one from Hilaire Belloc, the second quote from Mrs. Solano, and the steps from dumblittleman.com.

The summer of 2010--Julissa

My friend Kyle and I went on a big adventure that led us to find out the truth about Kyle’s
brother. We were both 17 and each summer we would hang out it was our “tradition” since we
were 10. Each summer we would go on adventures, and each adventure had a meaning behind
it. Kyle had a brother who was 21 when we were 17. His brother lived in San Francisco and Kyle
and his brother rarely talked since his brother had moved. So Kyle was always worrying about
his brother wondering if he is okay and safe. So it was the second week into summer break and
Kyle comes up with a plan to go to San Francisco and see how his brother is doing, hang out
and “catch up “ with him. He had said we should go for a week and I was hesitant at first, but
then Kyle tells me how he has enough money for a week for both of us. After two hours of
persuading me I agree that we should go. I tell my parents I'm going on a beach trip with my
friends. On June 15 I pack up all of my stuff and I meet Kyle at a park nearby my house. We
lived in LA so we were thinking it would take us 78
hours to get to San Francisco. It was around
7:00 pm when we left. We knew it would be a long trip, so we stopped at a gas station for some
coffee and lots of energy drinks to keep ourselves awake. We had gotten there at around 4:00
am. We had gotten a hotel room and went to sleep we woke up the next day at about 10:15 am.
After rethinking the choice we had made we decided to wait a couple days to see Kyle’s brother.
Kyle had told me he was nervous and scared to meet his brother, because he hadn't seen his
brother in a long time. Kyle had this image of his brother being so successful and an amazing
guy. I didn't want Kyle to have high expectations even if it is true, but I didn't want him to be
disappointed if it wasn't true. We had gotten there on Friday and it was Wednesday when Kyle
was “strong enough” to see his brother. We had gotten to his front door step of Kyle’s brothers
apartment and Kyle is all dressed up and ready to see his brother. Kyle's brother was a mess
and Kyle's idea of his brother was completely destroyed. Kyle starts bursting into tears and he
tells me to come with him to the car. We drove back to the hotel got all of our stuff and drove
home without saying much. After that night Kyle had changed. Whenever I try to talk to him
about it he changes the subject. Kyle hasn't really been the same since the summer of 2010.