February Writers!!!!!

Welcome back to the blog.  This month we have nine (9) submissions for you to read and enjoy.

Make sure that you read ALL of them.  Choose your favorite three and state why you enjoyed the piece.  Remember to be courteous and kind in your feedback.  Your comments are due Monday, March 9.

If you are a writer, you do not have to leave comments, only if you wish.

Have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you in class.

Hugs, Peace and Love,

Mrs. Solano

https://www.google.com/search?q=february+images+free&sxsrf

Father--Emma

I used to long for the moments when the house was quiet. Not silent, but quiet. Mom feeding our dog in the kitchen, and Dad in the living room watching golf or whatever debate was on. Not like that night a couple weeks ago, when it was too loud. So loud I could hear every shout vibrate through my bedroom floor; then after, when he slammed the door shut to take a walk at the park it was silent. 

For awhile after, things were normal. As normal as normal could get around here ever since October. Dad took me out to coffee on Thursdays after school, and Mom and I watched TV before we went to sleep at night. 

But, then more and more Dad wasn’t home at night, out somewhere to relieve stress or talk to my brother on the phone away from listening ears. He was going up to visit him in Utah this Saturday since he’d badly injured his knee and needed someone to take care of him. 

Dad and I had talked. He said he was going to leave soon, tears in his eyes, and he wouldn’t be able to make it to my graduation. I was angry, but I didn’t have the heart to tell him so when he was already so broken. He didn’t need the added weight of my scorn, too. Especially when I know he’s done nothing wrong. 

A few days before Saturday, they signed the papers. I saw them when I came downstairs to get my textbooks. I didn’t say anything. 

On Saturday we drove to the airport. Dad asked me to sit in the backseat with him this time, and talk about the debate we watched the night before. I didn’t think anything of it. We talk about those kinds of things all the time. Nothing out of the ordinary. The whole drive Mom was silent. 

When we pulled up to the curb at the airport, I got out of the car to see Dad off, as usual. This time he cried. And cried. And cried. We hugged, longer than normal, and still he cried. I’m not good with words so I don’t say anything, just holding him until he’s ready to go. 

He takes his two suitcases and backpack, filled with almost everything from the house that belongs to him. When he walks into the airport he pauses, turning back around to look at me as he leaves. I watch him hang his head, shoulders shaking, and I know he is crying harder than before. 

Dad never told me what his plans were for the future. After the plans were all made for the divorce, he didn’t communicate directly with me. I waited all week before Saturday, but it never came. Obviously I suspected he would be gone for awhile, but not forever. Not forever, as Mom

told me when she took me out to coffee after dropping him off. Dad planned to stay there with my brother. Finally get a job, buy a new car, get his own apartment.
I didn’t cry that day, but maybe I should have. I’ve never been abandoned before. I don’t really know ​how ​I should feel. What I know for sure is that I’m ​lonely.​ 

I used to wish for quiet and now I have it. I get home every day and there’s no one there waiting for me but my old dog, who’s losing her eyesight and only recognizes me when I come close. I wished for quiet, and I got it.

The Return Home--Guadalupe

It was a regular Tuesday morning. At six o'clock, the alarm sound embarked on every
corner of the house. Soon, everyone was awake. The delicious smell of chilaquiles filled the house following the clashing of pans. Micah was getting ready for school. He had a good feeling today. He quickly got dressed and ran down the stairs to eat breakfast. Once in the kitchen, he kissed his mother and father’s cheek saying​buenosdias,​ or goodmorning. 

The family of three happily began to chat about their plans for the day. As they sat down to eat breakfast, Micah’s father, Joaquin, turned on the television to watch the morning news. As soon as the news report of the undocumented families being deported appeared, Joaquin quickly turned off the television and went silent. Micah’s mother, Elena, looked at her husband’s and her son’s look of concern and said, “Don’t worry about anything, we are all going to be safe. We are good people, we are not going to get taken away ​mijo​. Come on, it's time to go to school. Don’t worry about your ​papa​ and I, we are going to be alright.” Elena kissed her son’s cheek as she took his plate to the sink. Micah took a deep breath, smiled and said, “I love you ama”​ as he got out of his chair to get his things for school. 

As Micah went to get his backpack from his room, he looked out his window and noticed that the morning was absolutely beautiful. The birds were chirping, and the sun was smiling at all the houses. The day was filled with happiness and joy. All of a sudden, he realized it was time to go. 

Micah went downstairs and told his parents, “​Ya me voy, los quiero mucho, los miro cuando regrese de la escuela,​ ” or “I’m leaving, I love you both, I’ll see you two when I come back from school.” Soon his mom exclaimed from the kitchen, “ ​Que le vaya bien y que Dios lo bendiga​,” or “Have a good day and may God bless you on your journey.” After these words, Micah closed his front door and made his way to school. He was happy and ready to start the day. 

School for Micah when by fast. Each class period went by in the blink of an eye and before he realized, it was the end of the day. His friends invited him to go eat but he said, “Sorry guys, I can’t go. I have to get home to my parents.” After that, Micah said goodbye to his friends and started his journey home. 

On his way home, he began to listen to music, feeding the joy and happiness he was feeling today. A few minutes passed, he arrived home and as he opened the door he said, “Ama, I’m home.” No answer. He sent her a text message letting her know that he was home. “She probably went to the grocery store,” he said, so he set his backpack and water bottle down and went to get a snack. Two hours passed, it was five o’clock and Elena still wasn’t home. Micah began to worry so he called his mother again. No answer. He began to jerk his legs as he was sitting on the sofa and thought, “There’s nothing to worry about. My dad will be home soon.” It was now eight o’clock and his father had not arrived. He usually gets home from work around six-thirty. Now, Micah really began to worry. All of these terrible scenarios began to infiltrate his mind. “There is no way I can call the police,” he said, “ If they are alright and I call the police, they are going to take them away because they are going to find out.” With desperation he began to think of people he could call that would know where his parents are, but who would he call? He had no family in the United States. All of his family members live in Mexico. 

With the hope of receiving a phone call, he sat right by his home phone and cellphone anxiously waiting, confused. “I don’t understand. My parents don’t do this. They would tell me if they were going to go somewhere that would take up their entire day,” Micah said. Then, all of a sudden, the worst of all of the possible scenarios filled his mind. What if his parents were taken away? Deported? “No, it can’t be. My parents haven’t done anything wrong,” he told himself for reassurance. His neck became hot and tears began to fill his eyes. 

It was now ten o’clock and nothing. More time passed and he eventually fell asleep on the sofa awaiting a call. Then, at two o’clock in the morning, the phone rang. It was his mother. 

“Hello? Ama? Are you okay? Where are you and dad? It’s really late!”
“Mijo, son, I need you to be strong. Your father and I have been taken by ICE and we are going to get deported in a few hours. I want you to know that your father and I love you so much and no matter how far apart we are, we will always be there. We are not going to give up, we will soon become a family again. We are sorry we couldn’t call sooner but the officers didn’t let us make phone calls. I’m sorry we failed you.”

Micah went cold. He began to tremble. His worst nightmare came true. His parents were
gone, they were taken away from him and he wouldn’t be able to feel their love again. He began to hold back the tears that were falling from his eyes as he began to hear his mother’s cry. His family was broken and there was nothing he could do about it. He’s only seventeen years old and now he’s shattered, devastated. That beautiful day became the day that he never wished happened.

What is Happiness?--Jeryn

Happiness, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is a “state of well-being and contentment.”
Many sources, such as Google or a dictionary, have a very vague interpretation of happiness. They are defined and followed by a long list of synonyms for the word happiness. These synonyms, such as joy, bliss, delight, and etc., are all different sensations that are all a part of the true meaning of the word happiness. Happiness is a very unique feeling that everyone wants, but it is also the most difficult to achieve. Someone’s happiness can vary day by day. It is not a constant feeling that just stays once you achieve that state. Something that made you happy today will not necessarily make you happy tomorrow, next week, next month, or next year. Every person has a different meaning of what happiness really is and that’s what makes the word so unique. It’s a feeling that can be felt by you and at the same time can’t be felt by others. The meaning of the word can also change everyday. Your definition of happiness now can be different from your definition in a few months. There are also different ways you can experience happiness. It can be short-term or long-term. Short-term happiness happens when our brain releases an organic chemical called dopamine. Dopamine is only released depending on a single event that is why it is only temporary. As soon as the event is done, the pleasure, which is stimulated, is no longer present. Long-term happiness is somewhat harder to clarify in light of the fact that it revolves around different ideas of happiness. Satisfaction and contentment are

ideas that make up long-term happiness rather than joy and bliss. Long-term happiness is achieved by feeling happy about your motivation in your everyday life. This could be a purpose or the triumphs that you've had as well as the fulfillment of what your identity is and what you've achieved in life. It is based on concepts that are not made by a solitary occasion. Seeking after only momentary bliss does not prompt a manageable cheerful life and it does not mean that you will achieve long-term happiness. Spending your whole life trying to plan for the future, making sacrifices, and working very hard to achieve your dreams can sound like a logical idea. You may feel pleased with the advancement you're making, but are you really happy? Like genuinely? What if you get in a car accident today or tomorrow? Would you have second thoughts with how you’ve worked so hard to find happiness? What’s the purpose of putting yourself through this if you’re not really happy? You can only live a happy life if you effectively seek after both short-term and long-term happiness. You have to discover what makes you happy, and how you need to seek after it. It is also important to create a balance in order to live happily. Happiness can be sought after but most people believe that by pursuing long-term happiness, they are giving up their short-term happiness. This can be true in a way, but you just have to find the perfect balance in order to achieve both. Finding your own happiness is unique to you. Nobody else but you, should know what makes you happy. 

Work Cited
“Happiness.” ​Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary,​ Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/happiness. Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.

Selfish Love--Faris

Love is something that as a teenage boy, it’s difficult to put into words. By programming, it’s a little more difficult for us to express how things feel. To me, it can’t be explained because everyone has different experiences. However, my experiences with love can be summed up with this: I do not think about the other person when things are going good. You don’t think you’re being selfish with what you want, until it’s gone. In my sober thoughts, I truly thought that I was doing everything I could to keep the relationship alive. One relationship I was in during high school taught me too late that I was selfish. I kept pressure on her because I was only focused on the mentality that, “She got ME. She has to KEEP ME.” But when you’re young and stupid, you take that deep love of someone and just look over, not AT it. After a couple weeks or so, it becomes, “Well it’s been this long and he/she’s tolerated me so far...they won’t leave.” What you have to understand about love is something that should be so simple, but seems to be gone nowadays...it goes both ways. “Love is the only thing that gets bigger as it’s divided” (Thank you Mr. Anderson for that quote). In my relationship, I believed that love means that you are willing to go as hard as you need to in order to keep the relationship from falling. Staying up late with your significant other, compromising with your significant other, addressing issues instead of ignoring them. However, when you’re invested in someone, a weird phenomena occurs sometimes: you forget about them. It turns from “we” to “I”. The idea of love is thrown out the

window and it just becomes about being around each other. In the ending of that relationship, it was because of selfish actions. Love became forced onto that person and not natural. Love became something of a chore and not something you do out of purity. The love of her being my girlfriend became less and less and the love of her company was more valuable. When that started to creep in, I knew things were headed south. I did something I promised myself I would never do...I menatlly checked out of it before it ended. However, as soon as it officially ended, it felt like I finally got above the entitled waters I was drowning in. It finally hit me. I got the reality check I needed. “Oh my God. She actually CAN leave me...” Teenage boys without experiences of real love have this dumb outlook that, “I managed to make her my girlfriend. That should be enough right?” To anyone who has this thought process, it’s not going to lead to a happy ending. Love is something you treat very delicately. Love is something that you constantly have to put forth, and not something you choose to give out. Selfishness is not love. Loving someone hard just to throw it back in their face later is not love. Love humbles you. Love teaches you that someone is willing to put up with you. Not out of obligation, but out of true care. If you are selfish and only see how you loved someone, it’s gonna hurt even more when you come to that realization, but they’ve moved on.

Balance--Vivika

“How to find balance.” There are countless articles in magazines, online, and in various other
sources with this same title or idea. From watching how-to videos to purchasing self help books, people all around us strive to find balance in their lives. What exactly are they searching for? 

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines balance as “equilibrium between contrasting, opposing, or interacting elements.” How can this apply to life? Do you have to have your life organized to be balanced? Contrary to popular opinion, being balanced does not necessarily mean having your whole life in order. To be balanced is to be stable, which is having the strength to stand. This does not mean that there aren't any problems or setbacks. In addition to this, being stable is different for each person. Some feel balanced while building and moving forward. Others only feel stability when standing still. Some are even balanced in regression. There is no specific state of life that characterizes balance. As the dictionary defines it, to be balanced means to manage ‘contrasting, opposing, or interacting elements.’ How does this specific part apply to real life? Balance is handling the various aspects of life in the way that each person feels right. For example, balance for one person may be spending 50% of their time at school, 30% of it at home, and 20% of it going out. If these are the order of their priorities, they have found balance. However, to the student who spends 20% of their time at school, 30% with friends, and 30%

with family, the original proportions would not be living a “balanced life.” Is time management all there is to having a balanced life or is there more? 

Being balanced also has much to do with mental state. Making time to do all the important activities is not all there is to it. Off the top of your head, can you name 3 things going well with yourself and your life? What about 3 things you need to or are working to change? In order to have a balanced view of ourselves and the world around us, it is extremely important to have equilibrium of mind. How can you do this? Do you need to have extremely high self esteem? Should it be low? The truth is that self esteem is only a part of having a balanced mindset. While you should strive to have confidence, but remain teachable, you should also feel the same about the world. While being realistic often times prevents disaster, taking a leap can sometimes open up new windows and paths. It is true that in our society ‘pessimism’ has an extremely negative tone and ‘optimism’ is seen as valuable. The truth, however, is that they both are extremes that can be dangerous. Once again, balance is different for each person. In this case, while mental equilibrium for some may be playing it relatively safe right in the middle, for others it might be rolling the dice with extreme optimism or taking very few chances on the opposite side of the spectrum. Here, however, the aspect of stability comes into play again. No matter which path is chosen, one has to know what comes and either choose to prepare or simply continue full speed ahead. 

What can you do to find balance in your own life? That is a question that nobody but you can answer. Write down what's important to you. Whatever comes to your mind initially is likely what really matters most. What is a better option for you? Playing it safe on an unwavering path

or risking it with the unknown? Take everything in your life and weigh it accordingly. Find your balance.

To My Brother--Julianna

​On July 21, 2010, my life was completely changed for the better, I couldn’t have asked for a bigger blessing in disguise. This Wednesday afternoon, my family and I had a dinner planned for my oldest sister’s birthday. We were at home when my mother received a call from the County of San Bernardino, this was a regular occurrence as my parents were active foster parents for the county. She answered the phone and it was a social worker asking if she and my father could take in a 3-week old baby that day, her quick and initial response, “I’m sorry I’m not sure if I am available at this time to care for a newborn with little to no preparation.” The social worker reassured my mom to think about it because this baby was still in the hospital 3 weeks after his birth and needed a family to take care of him. After a few moments of discussion between her and my dad, they finally decided that they would take him in temporarily while the county found him another family to be with. This was the 15 minute decision that completely changed my life to the more enjoyable thing it is now. My mother quickly called my sister and apologized for the change of plans as she and my father were on their way to Pomona Valley Medical Center to pick up my new foster brother. In my 8 year old mind, I thought, “A BABY????, I’m the baby!” because I am the youngest out of 4 girls, I could not adapt to the idea that a new baby would be around. I cried for hours at the thought that this new baby would take my place in my parent’s eyes as the baby of the family.
After coming to terms with this sudden shift in my life, I started to grow excited for the arrival of my foster brother. My sisters pulled out the newborn clothes my mom had stored away from previous foster kids and started going through it to see what would work for the new baby. When I saw the tiniest clothes I had ever seen in my life, my initial thought was I could play with him as if he was a toy. My sisters had to have a talk with me that my mom would be kept busy with the baby because of how much attention they require but she of course loved me no less. I heard the front door unlock and my parents walked in with a baby car seat that I had never seen before. At first, I felt instant jealousy rush through me and then it all changed in an instant. For the first time, I laid my eyes on my baby brother, Jesse, and automatically knew that this time it was different. Plenty of foster kids had come and gone as my parents opened up their home to care for them, but this time I knew deep down he was going to be my baby brother. My sisters surrounded him, blocking me from view and I grew anxious thinking I wouldn’t be able to see him enough. The weeks to come brought a lot of stress on my household as we all pitched in to help care for Jesse, there were sleepless nights, and days full of his crying but as a family we didn’t care because even then I think deep down my parents knew this was going to be their son.
Months passed as my family embraced Jesse with our love, we treated him with an overwhelming amount of care as we welcomed him into our family. On Jesse’s 1st birthday we celebrated by throwing a huge birthday bash in his honor. We invited our extended family as we all ate, danced, and had fun with Jesse as he enjoyed himself. My sisters and I also encountered a surprise gift from my parents the same day as his birthday. They sat us down at the dinner table and asked a life-altering question. “How would you all feel if we adopted Jesse to be in our family?”, my sisters screamed in joy but I sat quietly confused about the question. “What does that mean?” asked my confused 8-year old self. My parents explained to me that adopting meant he would permanently become a part of our family for the rest of our lives, meaning I would have a baby brother. Already feeling that Jesse was my baby brother, I joined my sisters screams of joy as we all said yes to the question. My parents immediately got into contact with his social worker and asked what were the next steps we would have to take to adopt Jesse. Finally, on June 21, 2013, after all the years and months full of those sleepless nights, days filled with crying both good and bad, The State of California recognized Jesse as my parents son and we legally adopted him. By this time

I was 11, and had a much better understanding of the situation. I didn’t need a pen and paper telling my family that Jesse was adopted, I knew since I first laid my eyes on him that he was my baby brother.
From the time I first met Jesse to now, the present day, he’s changed me as a person. Being the baby of the family I only really cared about myself, my toys, and my mom but when another baby came around my feelings completely changed. I learned then that I needed to not only think about myself but to think about my new baby brother. Becoming a big sister to Jesse has by far changed my life for the better, I’ve learned a lot of skills that I would come to need throughout my life. I’ve learned to care for someone more than myself when I met Jesse, I took on the responsibility of being an older sister. I couldn’t have asked for a bigger blessing in my life as he brings so much happiness to my family and I, my mom describes Jesse as the missing piece to our family puzzle. This is for Jesse, I will always make sure that you are well and have everything you need before I even think about myself. I have your back, front, and both sides, I love you forever.

Troubled Household--Donavhen

Since I was born I had grown up only through the guidance of my mother and not so much help from the little boy I had called a father.But growing up without a father figure I can easily say it has shaped me into the person I am today.I still grew up with my father being in the household but he did little to nothing to help me grow as a man.He was either too busy to even be bothered with me , playing golf ,going to work ,or sitting in the garage.Since I was a kid i've always had to witness my mother and fathers relationship struggle.It would be days where they would break into heated arguments both physical and verbal.Times where my father would have the decency to hit my own mother right in front of me , it was moments like these where I would feel the most powerless that my own mother was being beat right in front of me and i couldn't do anything about it.Being in that household really took a toll on my mother ,she would always seclude herself to her bedroom where she would just lay in her bed reading her bible praying for help from a God who would never answer.Being in that house with my father really broke her.As a child I was able to see the stress she was being put through ,working a 9-5,having to take care of her family,going to school ,and being put through mental and physical abuse.But through everything she had been put through she still made room to be a loving mom and having to take the role of a father.No matter what my father put my mother though she still tried finding the strength to help fix her relationship with my father,although sometimes it worked it would only be a certain amount of time before my dad would go back to his old habits.Each and every time it would take a piece of my mother away with her love slowly turning into resentment for the man I called my father.Eventually my mother had been fed up with what my father was putting her through so she started to take things into her own hands.Seeing me her own child struggle mentally and physically did as much as she could to help me become a better man , and just someone better than what my father could ever be.But to finally cut herself off from my father she finally had the strength to file for divorce to which she knew was the best decision for our family.While we were waiting on the court date me and my mother began looking for places to live eventually we found the apartment “San Sevaine Villas”.Moving from a house to a smaller 3 bedroom apartment took some getting used to because the life I previously lived was growing up in a big house with a pool,2 dogs,nice front yard , to a three bedroom apartment with no pool ,no dogs,and no front lawn.Living with one parent and a small house definitely took its toll on me and my mother.Living on one income my mom couldn't afford to pay for my sports anymore so overtime I started gaining lots of weight,struggling with anxiety,depression and self confidence.Due to my address change I Had to change schools leading to me losing all my friends and being alone,which led to my state of depression and social anxiety worsening.At this time in middle school was the first time I learned how brutal pre-teens could be.Id constantly get bullied for being overweight,having nappy hair,my inability to run a mile in under 12 minutes and for having no friends.Over the

course of the year I finally made friends with a group of people who were able to accept me for who I was and i'm still proud to be able to call them my best friends today , their names were Adam,Tre,Anthony,Alex,Ashton,Derek,Joseph,Cole and Nathan.Throughout all of middle school and highschool they play a huge role in my life,they have gotten me through the toughest times,they helped me overcome my depression and social anxiety,they were always here for me no matter what I had been going through.I can easily say im glad they helped me grow as much as we helped each other grew as a group.Going back to my mother I can easily say she is the strongest and loving women I know.But first moving into the apartment she had a sense of freedom but there would be countless nights where she would cry to me talking about how much she had missed my father.Which had made me realize that no matter what he put her through that was still her husband in which she very much loved but despised him at the same time.Supporting herself and me had been very hard on her,she would have to continue to work her 9-5,often took overtime,went to school, and even had a side job where she would go see patients just so she can afford to pay rent,have enough food,pay for internet even buying things that were not essential just so her and I could live comfortably.Being a solo mom she had to take the role of a loving mother and a hard,disciplinary father.I can't explain every lesson she taught me being while playing the role of a mother and a father but she did a great job raising me.She raised me how to be a useful,loving,caring man.Thanks to her I can somewhat understand what other women go through around me since majority of my life I had been raised by a women , but also know how to be a man when it comes to little things such as fixing things around the house,be able to cook cause she always tells me “a women loves a man who can cook”,be able to properly clean,and just humbling myself before others.Over a period of 6 years living in a apartment my mom watched me grow from being a depressed,anxious,and chubby little kid to a loving ,confident,humbled,handsome young man.And I can easily credit my mother for everything she taught me to be a man and i'm still learning to be a even better man but thanks to my mother she had grown me up to be a humbled young man.

Me vs. Exercise--Lauren

Ever since I was in middle school, I knew I had a passion for running. Going into high school I decided to try out for the cross country team. I remember going to the first practice and being so nervous because I didn’t really know anyone but I knew this was a good opportunity to meet new people and to do what I love the most, running. During summer practice, I quickly realized how different running one mile in middle school was compared to now running three to eight miles everyday. Being new to the sport came with many challenges. When I started I was one of the worst on the team. In all honesty I didn’t completely make the team at first. My coach was kind enough to see my drive for what I worked for and let me keep practicing with the team. I kept working hard all throughout the season. Each week running 30-40 miles took a big toll on my body. With a few minor bumps in the road, and a huge roadblock I had to face, I was able to work through it and exceed all expectations I had for myself. I was able to make Varsity as a freshman and even run in a CIF race. Little did I know that a major roadblock in my life would come in the form of a disease. The condition I have is called exercise induced anaphylaxis which causes my body to shut down whenever I over exert myself during exercising. In other words, I am allergic to exercise. I had no idea what this condition even meant and that I had it. During my

cross season, I started to get these episodes, specifically after my races, where I would get hives all over my legs and arms and my skin felt as if someone poured acid all over me. I didn't know what was happening to my body and neither did my parents. Being totally blindsided about exercise induced anaphylaxis, they started to give me allergy medicine, thinking that I was just having really bad allergic reactions to the plants and trees around me. After a while of not thinking anything of it, I started noticing that I would get my episodes more and more throughout the season and to my surprise they started to get worse. I felt so confused and helpless because I was perfectly fine in the beginning of the season and I was just starting to get better. There was absolutely nothing I could do so I just continued to run and ignored everything that was happening. It was a Tuesday afternoon and my coach had us do a 4 mile tempo run on the track. While I was running I felt my skin starting to burn and itch so I told my coach that I didn't feel good and he told me to stop and to finish with a cool down. As I was starting my cool down, I started to feel my throat closing up and I started to panic and made the mistake of running to the locker room alone to call my mom. I remember getting to my locker and my palms were so sweaty and I could barely open my locker. When I took out my phone, I had to go outside because I had no reception in the locker room. The moment I went outside and called my mom, my vision started to get blurry and my throat was so closed up to the point where I could barely talk. I remember one of my teammates walked by me and asked me if I was okay and in that moment all that I could see was black and my whole body felt limp. I handed her the phone and I fell to the floor. I could hear her explaining to my mom what was happening to me and I just kept telling myself to stay awake because at this moment my whole body was starting to shut down and I didn’t know what would happen to me if I let myself close my eyes. As I was lying

helplessly on the floor I had already lost my vision, I had hives all over my legs and arms that made my skin itch to the point where I would bleed, I started to feel the chills even though my body felt like I was on fire, I was having trouble breathing and my whole face started to swell. After about 5 minutes, my mom arrived and picked me up and my whole body was pale. I wasn't feeling any better so she decided to call the ambulance. Once they got to where we were at, my symptoms had calmed down and they told me that if I passed out on that floor I would have gone into a cardiac arrest and I literally felt my heart drop in my stomach. As they are doing tests on me I just kept thinking to myself, why me? Why did this have to happen to me? After many trips to the doctors and alot more tests, they finally diagnosed me with exercise induced anaphylaxis and told me there is no cure and this could potentially end my life if I continued to run. My mind couldn't process this information and all I could do was cry, the only thing I loved to do was taken away from me in the blink of an eye. My parents made me stop running in fear that over exerting my body to exercise could cause me my life. When they told me I had to stop doing what I loved the most, my heart was torn to pieces. I cried for days. I didn't want to accept that this was happening to me when my life was perfectly fine a few months ago. Going into my sophomore year of highschool, I wasn't doing cross country or track and everyday single day I begged my parents to let me run again. This condition is unpredictable and you have to know your body and how much your body can take. I convinced them to let me run again because I couldn't just give up on something I love so much. They finally let me join the team again my junior year and ever since then I have learned to listen to my body and know the symptoms of the episodes I get. I have to carry an epi-pen with me everyday when I run and I have to take daily allergy medication. It's not easy having this condition in the back of my mind everyday but

i try my hardest to push through it and make the best of everyday.The one thing I loved the most in life was taken away from me and it can happen to anyone. Although this was one of the hardest times in my life, it taught me not to take anything in life for granted because it can be taken away from you in the blink of an eye. Life is precious and it's so important to appreciate the good and the bad times in life. This event also taught me that nothing is impossible and that you can get through any difficult times if you believe in yourself.

Athleisure at Leisure--Shrey

Are you wearing jeans and a polo? If so your living in the past. Are You wearing sweats a hoodie? If so you’re a part of the relatively new athleisure movement. Can you imagine walking out of your house and seeing everyone in business casual attire? Not too long ago, this is probably what you could have expected. What probably started off as people being lazy, has become its own fashion category. Athleisure is defined as “​casual, comfortable clothing designed to be suitable both for exercise and everyday wear.”​ Athleisure is popular because it gives lazy people an easy alternative to wearing a matching button-up, pants, and accessories. This phenomenon began during the 2010s, mostly with women wearing comfortable yoga pants outside the gym, in almost every aspect of their lives, but it later became gender-neutral as guys began to take advantage of the freedom to wear super-comfortable clothes all the time. This more relaxed look and feel quickly became a theme in daily attire and became a new lifestyle. People went about their daily lives wearing clothes that people would exercise in. The atmosphere quickly changed from people always wearing business casual clothes whenever they went out, even to places as normal as the grocery store, to a new relaxed fashion. As this trend spread across the globe, new brands formed, and competition started to form between the brands, and what each one said about its customers. Now, some brands are made out of all renewable materials, others donate money to charity whenever you buy their product, and some have celebrity endorsers. Before this movement, a pair of sweats was relatively cheap, but after the change brands like lululemon began to sell “high-end” athleisure clothes. Lululemon changed how people viewed fashion, “The clothes could easily go from the gym to the street because the fabrics wicked sweat and didn’t stink, and the styles were fresh and flattering.” What was started to make simple choices in life easier quickly changed. This trend became a way for people to show off their social status just as they did with their jeans and button-ups in the past. From a retail standpoint, this was a whole new market to exploit. Many major retailers joined the bandwagon and competition began. Designers brands also wanted a piece of the fun, and Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Fendi also have their own sweatpants for sale. According to Forbes, “The industry is now worth $44 billion in the U.S.” Ironically, athleisure started as a way for people to escape from the demands of fashion to another way for them to compete with each other. Brands market athleisure accessories, jewelry, shoes, and matching outfits. Anyone wearing lower-end versions of popular looks might find themselves getting judged for not keeping up with the newest trends. While this trend initially seemed liberating for those who wanted to be more comfortable, it now puts those same people in a situation where they have to be just as fashion-conscious as anyone else. Easier to just relax in a pair of jeans and a polo. 

Sources:
- https://www.google.com/search?q=athleisure+definition&oq=Athleisure+&aqs=chrome.3.
69i59j0l5j69i61l2.7288j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/chipwilson/2018/04/18/why-the-word-athleisure-is-complete
ly-misunderstood/#10b0cc046971