Survivor: G201 Edition

First since my island has a mountain, I would create a bonfire at the top, trying to use the smoke as a signal for both sea and air rescuers.  Then this fire would need to be run perpetually by one of the crews, or we could all take shifts.  Once the fire has become stable, we could toss a few wet logs in their from time to time to arouse more smoke.  Another signal that we could make, more to grab the attention of air rescuers, is to arrange logs along the beach to spell out the word help.  Someone will eventually notice us and we will be rescued.

Macbeth Essay Final Draft

Bradson Serikawa

Pd.4

Macbeth Final Draft

Greed can overwhelm even the best of people.  Once most are given the opportunity, they will strive to obtain it, trampling over everyone in their path.  This so called greed nullifies your senses and leaves you vulnerable to any outside pressures or forces, willing you into doing whatever he or she may want.  In our society, most aren’t given much, it has to be earned.  So, when they see that opportunity or chance to acquire something that normally can only be built up by years of hard work and dedication, they’ll jump at it.  Wanting to take the easy way out.  In the play Macbeth, he is shown as a soldier of war fit to serve his king however, when he comes upon these three witches that tell him what must unfold for him to hold this name as his own, he succumbs to the temptation.  Murdering the ones he held close to him without hesitation.  All because the greed of becoming king consumed his mind, and instilled in it were the words of the witch’s.  Macbeth by William Shakespeare demonstrates that greed and the pursuit of power will always lead an individual, despite their morals, to corruption because the path in which they take is tainted with acts of treachery.

Lady Macbeth is a prime example of someone who became corrupt whilst trying to obtain absolute power and in the process lost her humanity.  “Well, now, my lord!  Why do you stay by yourself, with morbid thoughts as your only companions, thoughts that should have died with the people they brood on?  What can’t be cured has to be endured.  What’s done is done.”  At this point, Lady Macbeth has already lost sight of what’s wrong and what’s right, with turning themselves in to the authorities not being an option.  She just wants her so called Lord to move on so that they can rule together side by side.  This is an example in which human nature rationalizes out their bad deeds and removes their emotions in order to alleviate guilt.  “Why should we fear who knows it, when no one can challenge our authority?  Yet who would have thought the old man had so much blood in him?”  Lady Macbeth’s mind is so corrupt that she speaks matter of factly, showing that she has no remorse.  However, everything is starting to catch up to her and she is worried that they will get caught.  Throughout the play, Shakespeare established Macbeth as the worrywort when that could’ve also been her personality too.  Maybe she just wanted to put up a hard exterior to help motivate her husband into doing what must be done.  But, the deeds in which they committed didn’t go unnoticed and people were getting closer and closer to revealing the truth.

Ultimately, Macbeth was affected the most, by becoming brainwashed into thinking that the only way to get to the top was to do whatever was necessary to eliminate those in his path.  “All hail, Macbeth!  You’ll be king one day!”  This is what changed Macbeth’s mindset and the greed started to overwhelm and take control of him.  Macbeth now believed that it is destined to happen, so, he tried to intervene and hasten the process by murdering anyone that was a threat to his throne.  The witch’s prophecy along with the help of Lady Macbeth led him into committing those horrid acts which therefore changed him forever.  Toying with his mind, body, emotions, etc. like he was some sort of rag doll.  “She would certainly have died sometime; some day that message would have come.  Tomorrow...and tomorrow...and tomorrow...Life drags on from day to day to the end of time.  All our yesterdays have merely lighted the way for fools to reach their graves.”  Macbeth’s mind is so corrupt that it has no room for sentiment or emotion.  It has become nullified and he talks about life as if it’s just a game and how in the end everyone is going to die anyways.  He doesn’t even have a will to live and that is why as a king, he was never going to be satisfied or happy.

People who are greedy may surpass everyone and rise to the top with ease, but, that greed slowly eats away at your character and feeds off of your maniacal ideas and actions.  The perfect example is Macbeth by William Shakespeare, which shows how greed along with the pursuit of power will always lead an individual to corruption because the deeds or acts in which they carry out are tainted with blood and betrayal.  They have lost their moral compass and have given in to the temptation.  We as humans find it hard to resist things of great stature because we find it so mesmerizing and captivating.  However, you must always think before you do.  Think about who this affects and who you hold dear because after that you may lose them forever.  Always keep in your heart what keeps us sane such as family, friends, etc.  Most aren’t born greedy or power hungry.  There urges and wants steer them in that direction.  We should always strive to better ourselves without stepping over people.  For the betterment of humanity, let's hope we do.

Macbeth Rough Draft

Bradson Serikawa

Pd.4

Macbeth Rough Draft

Greed can overwhelm even the best of people.  Once most are given the opportunity, they will strive to obtain it, trampling over everyone in their path.  This so called greed nullifies your senses and leaves you vulnerable to any outside pressures or forces, willing you into doing whatever he or she may want.  In our society, most aren’t given much, it has to be earned.  So, when they see that opportunity or chance to acquire something that normally can only be built up by years of hard work and dedication, they’ll jump at it.  Wanting to take the easy way out.  In the play Macbeth, he is shown as a soldier of war fit to serve his king however, when he comes upon these three witches that tell him what must unfold for him to hold this name as his own, he succumbs to the temptation.  Murdering the ones he held close to him without hesitation.  All because the greed of becoming king consumed his mind, and instilled in it were the words of the witch’s.  Macbeth by William Shakespeare demonstrates that greed and the pursuit of power will always lead an individual, despite their morals, to corruption because the path in which they take is tainted with acts of treachery.

Lady Macbeth is a prime example of someone who became corrupt whilst trying to obtain absolute power.  “Well, now, my lord!  Why do you stay by yourself, with morbid thoughts as your only companions, thoughts that should have died with the people they brood on?  What can’t be cured has to be endured.  What’s done is done.”  At this point, Lady Macbeth has already lost sight of what’s wrong and what’s right, with turning themselves in to the authorities not being an option.  She just wants her so called Lord to move on so that they can rule together side by side.  “Why should we fear who knows it, when no one can challenge our authority?  Yet who would have thought the old man had so much blood in him?”  Lady Macbeth mind is so corrupt that she speaks matter of factly, showing that she has no remorse.  However, everything is starting to catch up to her and she is worried that they will get caught.  Throughout the play, Shakespeare established Macbeth as the worrywort when that could’ve also been her personality too.  Maybe she just wanted to put up a hard exterior to help motivate her husband into doing what must be done.  But, the deeds in which they committed didn’t go unnoticed and people were getting closer and closer to revealing the truth.

Ultimately, Macbeth was affected the most, by becoming brainwashed into thinking that the only way to get to the top was to eliminate those in his path.  “All hail, Macbeth!  You’ll be king one day!”  This is what changed Macbeth’s mindset and the greed started to overwhelm and take control of him.  Macbeth now believed that it is destined to happen, so, he tried to intervene and hasten the process by murdering anyone that was a threat to his throne.  The witch’s prophecy along with the help of Lady Macbeth led him into committing those horrid acts which therefore changed him forever. “She would certainly have died sometime; some day that message would have come.  Tomorrow...and tomorrow...and tomorrow...Life drags on from day to day to the end of time.  All our yesterdays have merely lighted the way for fools to reach their graves.”  Macbeth’s mind is so corrupt that it has no room for sentiment or emotion.  It has become nullified and he talks about life as if it’s just a game and how in the end everyone is going to die anyways.  He doesn’t even have a will to live and that is why as a king, he was never going to be satisfied or happy.

People who are greedy may surpass everyone and rise to the top with ease, but, that greed slowly eats away at your character and feeds off of your maniacal ideas and actions.  The perfect example is Macbeth by William Shakespeare, which shows how greed along with the pursuit of power will always lead an individual to corruption because the deeds or acts in which they carry out are tainted with blood and betrayal.  They have lost their moral compass and have given in to the temptation.  We as humans find it hard to resist things of great stature because we find it so mesmerizing and captivating.  However, you must always think before you do.  Think about who this affects and who you hold dear because after that you may lose them forever.  Always keep in your heart what keeps us sane such as family, friends, etc.  Most aren’t born greedy or power hungry.  There urges and wants steer them in that direction.  We should always strive to better ourselves without stepping over people.  For the betterment of humanity, let's hope we do.

Macbeth Act 4 and 5 Quiz with quotes

Act 4:

1. The decision to murder Macduff’s family shows that Macbeth is just corrupt and he has no bearings.  He has just lost it and he is willing to listen to anything that the witches propose.  Has lost the motive to pave his own path and possible change the prophecy.  Also, Macbeth is just power hungry, paranoid, distraught, etc.  Nothing can cure him he already has too much blood on his hands.
2. The purpose for the scene between Lady Macduff and her son is to explain Macduff’s departure because the main objective was to kill Macduff so that he was out of the picture.  However, it is just Lady Macduff and her son and they speak to each other of their husband/father’s betrayal.  Whereas the mom agrees that Macduff is a traitor and is trying to explain to her son her definition of that term, the son still disagrees.  Soon after they are murdered since Macbeth is trying to murder all of Macduff’s relations.
3. Malcolm tests Macduff by ranting on about how Macduff can betray Malcolm and kill him since his relations with Macbeth were pretty stable and Macbeth hasn’t tried to bring harm to him yet, so they thought.  Malcolm also tests Macduff about himself and what he truly is like.  Asking him questions about his family and such and why he would even think of leaving his two most valuable possessions.  Just questioning his choices and trying to break him.
4. When Macduff receives the news of his loss, he immediately feels silent grief.  Then Malcolm tells him to speak his feelings and turn that grief into anger towards Macbeth because at this point, they already know that he is a tyrant.  Macduff absorbs the information that Malcolm has told him and focuses his anger toward killing Macbeth no matter the cost.  He also rags on himself saying that this was his all fault and that his family paid the cost for his sins instead of him.

Act 5:

1. Yes Lady Macbeth’s mental condition came as a surprise to me because she was the one that seemed so careless about committing deeds such as murder.  She was like the man in the relationship.  Acting all sturdy and stable like nothing could really faze or get to her when really she felt the guilt this whole entire time.  I guess that I just expected Macbeth to be the one to give it away.  Lady Macbeth could have just been soft from the beginning and she just wanted to create this tough exterior to try and transform Macbeth into a ruthless leader who is willing to do whatever to stay in power.
2. I think that Macduff was ultimately responsible for Macbeth's death because he literally walks out to greet his fellow comrades with Macbeth’s head on a pole.  Also Macduff wanted to avenge his family by slaying the tyrant Macbeth for all of the treacherous deeds that he has committed. Macbeth was going to die anyways because he was losing it both mentally and physically and Malcolm’s army was greater.
3. Shakespeare’s opinion on Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is that they are just like some of the typical people in power who will do anything to get more of that power.  Over time however, they end up becoming corrupt just thinking about the sinister acts that they have done because even though you may try to forget about something, it will scar you mentally and stay with you forever. You will eventually feel the guilt.
4. When Macbeth receives the news of his wife's death, he kind of just blows it off and moves on.  He talks about he would eventually hear the news that she has passed, talks about life and how it is just like a walking shadow, how it drags on from day to day, etc.  Macbeth is already like a shadow of his former self who has no emotions.
5. Macduff reveals Macbeth’s doom by telling him that he was taken from his mother’s womb before her time.  
6. The significance of Malcolm’s ascension to the throne is that Malcolm will have a chance to restore peace and order to the kingdom.

Quotes:

“Macbeth!  Macbeth!  Macbeth!  Beware Macduff!  Beware the thane of Fife!  Dismiss me.  Enough.”

“I mean myself.  In me, I know vice is so rooted that when I blossom forth, black Macbeth will seem as pure as snow.”

“Your castle has been taken, your wife and children savagely slaughtered.  To say how would be to add your death to those of your loved ones.”

“Why should we fear who knows it, when no one can challenge our authority?  Yet who would have thought the old man had so much blood in him?”

“Don’t look so pale.  I tell you yet again: Banquo is buried.  He can’t rise from his grave.”

“When I was on watch on the hill, I looked toward Birnam.  Soon I thought the wood began to move.”

“They’ve tied me to a stake.  I can’t escape.  Like a bear I must stand and fight.  What kind of man is he who wasn’t born of woman?  That’s the sort I’m to fear - or nobody.”

Final Draft of Poem and Graphic Card

MeneMac Logo

Mythical Product

College Essay Final Draft

College Essay Final Draft

UC Berkeley

PROMPT #1: Describe the world you come from—for example, your family, community or school—and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.

The world that I lived in for a very long time was very self centered and indolent.  Everyone around me would be taking time out of their schedules just to help me with incidental problems.  It really seemed as if the world revolved around me.  However, all of this changed during the 8th grade when I got hit by a brick wall.  That experience changed me in many ways for the better.  Not only did I learn to be more accountable for my actions, but I also realized what I could truly accomplish if I just focused and put my mind to something.  Still, this is not the only thing that helped shape me into the person that I am today.  There is my family, school, friends, etc.  which have helped me to realize that it is never too late to change.

Family means everything to me.  Ever since I was a young boy, I learned to respect and care for my family because they are the ones that get you through thick and thin.  My family pushes me into unlocking my hidden potential.  I remember when I was in elementary school and I would never want to do my homework.  My grandma would sit with me for hours trying to calm me down and keep me focused.  She sacrificed so much of her time to try and steer me in the right path.  I remember all those times I had to write essays for class, she would sit with me for a minimum of three hours teaching me sentence structures and vocabulary.  Looking back at it now, I caused her a lot of meaningless stress but she never gave up on me and that helped me to believe in myself.  My parents, they do so so much for me and I can’t stress that enough, but I think that their lectures have made the biggest impact.  When I quit the judo team, my dad sat me down asking me what was the reason for me quitting.   When I explained to him that I just didn’t like the sport, he said that he didn’t have a problem with me not liking the sport (even though he was the whole reason that I joined) he told me that you never quit halfway.  Other than that they just help me with everything especially when it comes to responsibility.  They gave me a ton of chores and different tasks to do when I was younger helping me to become more independent.  These life lessons have been instilled in me and help me today with the current things that I am in like paddling and high school because no matter how hard the challenge, you never back down.

Friends are like the sun on a rainy day.  Cheering me up by making me laugh.  They’re the ones who got your back and can have meaningless conversations with.  Throughout middle school I didn’t like a few of my teachers, so some days I would just mope and groan to my parents that I didn’t want to go to school, but on the contrary I still wanted to see my friends so I would end up changing my mind anyways.  When it came to sports, it was always a competition, especially with them.  I remember one time when we were playing basketball.  I could have sworn that we were out there for at least two hours going back and forth because both teams didn’t want to lose.  One of my friends also helped me to succeed academically because we used to see who could get the better grade and the winner would get bragging rights.  Trust me, I don’t like to lose in anything.  They put me in a very comfortable environment because they would never make any bad decisions like drugs, smoking, or etc. so that helped me to not get into those types of things. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be as upbeat and caring of a person that I am today.  Friends do a lot for you in their own way, but it is their moral support whenever you need it that makes them truly special.

Moanalua is a place of serenity.  I have been going to school in the moanalua district ever since preschool.  There has not been any kind criminal activity in this area as I recall.  Also at every level of schooling, there are security guards walking around or monitoring the campus at all times.  During school, most of the kids are very disciplined however you always have those troublemakers.  The school is not very lenient when it comes to the breaking of rules, depending on what you did, and that’s good because it will help you stay away from those kinds of derogatory actions.  In addition to that, there campus is pretty clean and in the high school they have such things as campus beautification day.  That shows that the school board cares and respects the campus and they want us to too. Where I live, in Moanalua Gardens, all of the neighbors are really kind.  We exchange gifts all the time.  Since the area is so calm, from time to time you just want to take a nice relaxing jog to cool down or relieve stress.  The schools and the area have really opened up my eyes and helped me to find myself as an individual because this is basically my life.  Where I have met all my friends, caring teachers, etc.  Without this place, I don’t know what I would be like.

All of these things have played a factor into the person that I am today.  They have helped me to discover my dreams and aspirations.  My family always helps me with my decision making, especially when it comes to looking for what I want to do in the future.  They discuss with me the details on which jobs have the brightest future as well as the ones that can’t be replaced by machines.  My friends encourage me by telling me that anything is possible, and to set the bar high because who knows what the future holds.  Lastly, the schooling district and area play a big role because all of my teachers have prepared me for that next level and were always there for me when I needed it.  As the world around us is slowly evolving so are we.  My dream is to graduate from college while majoring in the scientific field. Then possibly continuing my schooling and getting a doctor's degree.  After that I want to get married and start a family.  Possibly here in Hawaii but who knows.  As of now the possibilities are endless, and it is up to the decisions that I make that will decide my future, so I, will have to make it happen.

College Essay Rough Draft

College Essay Rough Draft

UC Berkeley

PROMPT #1: Describe the world you come from—for example, your family, community or school—and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.

The world that I lived in for a very long time was very self centered and indolent.  Everyone around me would be taking time out of their schedules just to help me with incidental problems.  It really seemed as if the world revolved around me.  However, all of this changed during the 8th grade when I got hit by a brick wall.  That experience changed me in many ways for the better.  Not only did I learn to be more accountable for my actions, but I also realized what I could truly accomplish if I just focused and put my mind to something.  Still, this is not the only thing that helped shape me into the person that I am today.  There is my family, school, friends, etc.  which have helped me to realize that it is never too late to change.

Family means everything to me.  Ever since I was a young boy, I learned to respect and care for my family because they are the ones that get you through thick and thin.  My family pushes me into unlocking my hidden potential.  I remember when I was in elementary school and I would never want to do my homework.  My grandma would sit with me for hours trying to calm me down and keep me focused.  She sacrificed so much of her time to try and steer me in the right path.  I remember all those times I had to write essays for class and grandma would sit with me for a minimum of three hours teaching me sentence structures and vocabulary.  Looking back at it now, I caused her a lot of meaningless stress but she never gave up on me and that helped me to believe in myself.  My parents, they do so so much for me and I can’t stress that enough, but I think that their lectures have made the biggest impact.  When I quit the judo team, my dad sat me down asking me what was reason for me quitting.   When I explained to him that I just didn’t like the sport, he said that he didn’t have a problem with me not liking the sport (even though he was the whole reason that I joined) he told me that you never quit halfway.  Other than that they just help me with everything especially when it comes to responsibility.  They gave me a ton of chores and different tasks to do when I was younger helping me to become more independent.  These life lessons have been instilled in me and help me today with the current things that I am in like paddling and high school because no matter how hard the challenge, you never back down.

Friends are like the sun on a rainy day.  Cheering me up by making me laugh.  They’re the ones who got your back and can have meaningless conversations with.  Throughout middle school I didn’t like a few of my teachers, so some days I would just mope and groan to my parents that I didn’t want to go to school but on the contrary I still wanted to see my friends so I would end up changing my mind anyways.  When it came to sports, it was always a competition, especially with them.  I remember one time when we were playing basketball.  I could have sworn that we were out there for at least two hours going back and forth because both teams didn’t want to lose.  Also, one of my friends helped me to succeed academically because we used to see who could get the better grade and the winner would get bragging rights.  Trust me, I don’t like to lose in anything.  They also put me in a very comfortable environment because they would never make any bad choices like drugs, smoking, or etc. so I guess that helped me to not get into those types of things.  Friends can help you in many ways but it is them just being there for you whenever you need them is what makes them truly special.

Moanalua is a place of serenity.  I have been going to school in the moanalua district ever since preschool.  There has not been any kind criminal activity in this area as I recall.  Also at every level of schooling, there are security guards walking around or monitoring the campus at all times.  During school, most of the kids are very disciplined however you always have those troublemakers.  The school is not very lenient when it comes to the breaking of rules, depending on what you did, and that’s good because it will help you stay away from those kinds of derogatory actions.  In addition to that, there campus is pretty clean and in the high school they have such things as campus beautification day.  That shows that the school board cares and respects the campus and they want us to too. Where I live, in Moanalua Gardens, all of the neighbors are really kind.  We exchange gifts with them all the time.  Since the community is so calm, from time to time you just want to take a nice relaxing jog around the area to cool down or relieve stress.  Since I have been living here for a good amount of years now I can say that this area and schooling district has really helped me to find myself as an individual.

All of these things have played a factor into the person that I am today.  They have helped me to discover my dreams and aspirations.  My family always helps me with my decision making, especially when it comes to looking for what I want to do in the future.  They discuss with me the details on which jobs have the brightest future as well as the ones that can’t be replaced by machines.  My friends encourage me by telling me that anything is possible, and to set the bar high because who knows what the future holds.  Everything is slowly evolving as we are coming of age.  The schooling district and area play a big role because all of my teachers have prepared me for that next level and were always there for me when I needed it.  My dream is to graduate from college while majoring in the scientific field. Then possibly continuing school and getting a doctor's degree.  After that I want to get married and start a family.  Possibly here in Hawaii but who knows.  Right now, the possibilities are endless and it’s up to me and the decisions that I make so, I, have to make it happen.

Paragraph Thing

I was at the coffee shop, picking up a mocha for my wife.  As I was waiting in line, I noticed a man across the street reading his newspaper upside down.  I decided to take a closer look but stopped in my tracks as he was staring right back at me.  He showed no signs of emotion with his emerald eyes, looking into my soul.  Suddenly, I felt a tug on my shoulder and spun around.  So quick that my hand ended up slapping him in the face leaving a read imprint.  It was just the employee telling me that my drink was ready.  When I opened the door to exit I saw that the man had disappeared.  I was so flustered, questions racing around in my head.  Because of this I bolted to my car that was parked a good block over.  I ran like I was being chased by a car, paying no attention to my footing when I suddenly tripped over tree root.  I was airborne, falling face first.  The impact knocked me out.  When I awoke,  I felt the water streaming through my toes and realized that I was on a beach.  My head was throbbing from the earlier incident.  As I slowly got up, holding my forehead,  I saw nothing but sand for miles.  I was dumbfounded.  Breaking into tears not knowing what to do because my wife was the one who did everything.  I was stranded.

It was the last stretch of Kauai's annual 12 mile charity race.  I was in the lead.  No women had ever won this race before. Sweat streamlined down my body like a raging waterfall.  My adrenaline pumping, urging me to go on.  I felt weightless as I was striding that final mile.  Then I saw it.  The finish line.  I couldn't believe my eyes. I had been training my whole life just to win this marathon with all of those years of cross country and track.  It was in my grasp.  Then suddenly I heard faint footsteps behind me.  I started to panic. Thoughts going through my mind like what if this and what if that, but I told myself no.  I had been training too hard for this moment and nothing would stop me, as I remembered a quote that my cross country coach used to tell me, "Make it happen."  I pushed ignoring the excruciating pain that I felt in my left ankle.  I did it.  I was the first women to ever win this marathon.  My name would go down in history.  As I calmed down, I put my arms on my head and started to cry.  Tears of joy.

Coming of Age Poster Draft

Coming of Age Final Draft

How I Survived 8th Grade

There comes a time in someone’s life when they meet an obstacle that seems truly daunting. How they choose to overcome this challenge will eventually shape them into the type of person that they may become.  For me it happened in the 8th grade.  Up to that point, school seemed like kind of a breeze for me.  I was able to comprehend and understand most of the information in my classes and that in turn resulted in me attaining pretty good grades.  However, in hindsight, many of my elementary teachers were pretty laid back in that they didn’t assign as much homework or projects that you think they would, especially trying to prepare us for that next level.  Then, when I reached middle school, things got a whole lot more difficult.  There was a lot more projects, due dates, homework, you name it.  The teachers were constantly assigning new assignments.  That being said, I was still able to pull through while maintaining a solid 3.8 grade point average.  Having accomplished that, I figured that 8th grade wouldn’t seem so challenging and in the beginning I was right.  The first two quarters, I was able to keep up the good grades...the road ahead was looking great.  Then it happened.

Halfway through 8th grade, I just got hit by a brick wall.  I don’t remember the exact date but my whole world turned upside down.  I wasn’t doing my homework, wasn’t paying attention in class, wasn’t studying which resulted in bad test grades, etc.  I didn’t understand what was happening to me.  This built up so much frustration inside that almost every night while I was lying in bed I would start asking myself questions like, “How did this happen” or “Why can’t I focus.”  Then came the worse part.  Since I wasn’t doing my assignments and my parents checked jupiter grades often, they asked me one day, “What are all of these?” “Why are they missing?”“Didn’t you turn these in?” I was so afraid to find out what they might have done if I told them the truth that I was falling behind in school, that I actually lied.  I made up a story about turning all of these assignments in but my teachers just didn’t update it.  My parents believed me since I never lied before and I was such a good student.  So I went along with it but I felt a pang of disgust inside and the guilt that I lied just kept on recurring in my mind.  However, as the days went along I found that lying just became easier and easier.  

Ultimately though, my poor performance started to raise a “red flag” to everyone.  Luckily for me, my teachers were very kind cause they all knew that I was a much better student than what I had been showing.  Most of them would call me in to talk after school and would ask me the typical questions like, “ What’s going on?” or “Why aren’t you turning these in?”  And I simply couldn’t answer them because I myself didn’t know what was going on or why I didn’t have the urge to turn these assignments in.  My parents also realized something wasn’t right and I remember having these long talks with them about why I wasn’t performing as well as before.  Naturally,  since I didn’t have any good answers for them, they assumed that I was just being lazy.  They began to take away my privileges (phone, ipad, watching tv, etc.) in hopes that that would kick start my work habits, but it didn’t.  Oh, it may have worked for a couple of days but eventually everything went back down.  Things came to a head when in math class I ended up missing at least 10 assignments and my dad found out in a conference with my teacher.  Man, I’ve never seen him that mad before…..ever! I thought I was going to be grounded for life but my mom and grandma were convinced that something else had to be physically wrong with me.

They took me to the doctors and it was discovered that I had hyperthyroidism or Graves Disease.  Hypothyroidism is the overactivity of your thyroid gland resulting in a rapid heartbeat and an increased rate of metabolism.  Because of that you have a hard time concentrating since it is like your brain is running a mile in a minute.  All of a sudden everything was starting to make sense to me because a lot of the symptoms were what I was experiencing.  No wonder I was having a such hard time sitting still and felt like my brain was always in a “fog”!  We linked that to my performance in school and as soon as I started to take medication, everything started to come back into focus.  I could concentrate again!  I could finally have a restful night’s sleep!  My study habits came back to normal as well as my grades.  

Learning to live with graves disease has helped me to re evaluate how I approach my study habits.  Even though the disease played a huge role in my academic performance, I still knew that some of it was out of laziness and in the end I used it partly as a cover up.  Knowing what it felt like to get lectured for hours, or having parent teacher conferences weekly was just embarrassing.  Sometimes it even got to the point where I wanted to throw up because of the situation that I had put myself in.  My parents and teachers all stressed to me that if they didn’t see that potential they wouldn’t have come down so hard on me, but they knew that I wasn’t living up to it both as a student and an individual.  As of now, living with the disease hasn’t affected me much because I know how it is on the other side, and I don’t want to let all of the people that have fought for or believed in me down...especially myself.

Coming of Age Rough Draft

How I Survived 8th Grade

My coming of age moment happened when I was in the 8th grade.  Up to that point, school seemed like kind of a breeze for me.  I was able to comprehend and understand most of the information in my classes and that in turn resulted in me attaining pretty good grades.  However, in hindsight, many of my elementary teachers were pretty laid back in that they didn’t assign as much homework or projects that you think they would, especially trying to prepare us for that next level.  Then, when I reached middle school, things got a whole lot more difficult.  There was so much more projects, due dates, homework, you name it.  The teachers were constantly assigning new assignments.  That being said, I was still able to pull through while maintaining a solid 3.8 grade point average.  Having accomplished that, I figured that 8th grade wouldn’t seem so challenging and in the beginning I was right.  The first two quarters, I was able to keep up the good grades...the road ahead was looking great.  Then it happened.

Halfway through 8th grade, I just got hit by a brick wall.  I don’t remember the exact date but my whole world turned upside down.  I wasn’t doing my homework, wasn’t paying attention in class, wasn’t studying which resulted in bad test grades, etc.  I didn’t understand what was happening to me.  This built up so much frustration inside that almost every night while I was lying in bed I would start asking myself questions like, “How did this happen” or “Why can’t I focus.”  Then came the worse part.  Since I wasn’t doing my assignments and my parents checked jupiter grades often, they asked me one day, “What are all of these?” “Why are they missing?”“Didn’t you turn these in?” I was so afraid to find out what they might have done if I told them the truth that I was falling behind in school, that I actually lied.  I made up a story about turning all of these assignments in but my teachers just didn’t update it.  My parents believed me since I never lied before and I was such a good student.  So I went along with it but I felt a pang of disgust inside and the guilt that I lied just kept on recurring in my mind.  However, as the days went along I found that lying just became easier and easier.  

Ultimately though, my poor performance started to raise a “red flag” to everyone.  Luckily for me, my teachers were very kind cause they all knew that I was a much better student than what I had been showing.  Most of them would call me in to talk after school and would ask me the typical questions like, “ What’s going on?” or “Why aren’t you turning these in?”  And I simply couldn’t answer them because I myself didn’t know what was going on or why I didn’t have the urge to turn these assignments in.  My parents also realized something wasn’t right and I remember having these long talks with them about why I wasn’t performing as well as before.  Naturally,  since I didn’t have any good answers for them, they assumed that I was just being lazy.  They began to take away my privileges (phone, ipad, watching tv, etc.) in hopes that that would kick start my work habits, but it didn’t.  Oh, it may have worked for a couple of days but eventually everything went back down.  Things came to a head when in math class I ended up missing at least 10 assignments and my dad found out in a conference with my teacher.  Man, I’ve never seen him that mad before…..ever! I thought I was going to be grounded for life but my mom and grandma were convinced that something else had to be physically wrong with me.

They took me to the doctors and it was discovered that I had hyperthyroidism or Graves Disease.  Hypothyroidism is the overactivity of your thyroid gland resulting in a rapid heartbeat and an increased rate of metabolism.  Because of that you have a hard time concentrating since it is like your brain is running a mile in a minute.  All of a sudden everything was starting to make sense to me because a lot of the symptoms were what I was experiencing.  No wonder I was having a such hard time sitting still and felt like my brain was always in a “fog”!  We linked that to my performance in school and as soon as I started to take medication, everything started started to come back into focus.  I could concentrate again!  I could finally have a restful night’s sleep!  My study habits came back to normal as well as my grades.  

Throughout all of this the main lesson that I learned was not to lie no matter how bad the situation.  My parents and teachers all stressed to me that if they didn’t see that potential they wouldn’t have come down so hard on me, but they knew that I wasn’t living up to it both as a student and an individual.  Just knowing that they had this much belief in me made me feel motivated to never let that kind of thing happen again.  I guess till this day, that is why I have been trying my hardest in everything that I do because in the back of my mind I don’t want to let all of the people that have fought for or believed in me down.  

Community Graphic

Graphic Card Final

Graphic Card

Words From the Heart Graphic Card Finale

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