The most significant event I have experienced in the last 4 years

                Moving to Ohio was a big change for me. I was told I would be staying with my dad for the summer. I didn't even know i was going to have to live here, until my mom called me up one night and told me that I was going to have to stay. I was devastated. I couldn't believe that she was making me stay in Ohio with my dad, knowing how much I disliked him and my step mom. At first she said I would only have to stay for my junior year, but she eventually said I should just finish out school here. I really didn't want to stay here and it wasn't just because I missed my mom.

           After living with my dad for a while things went down hill for me. I was so unhappy, but when i expressed how I felt, someone, usually my step mom would say that I was pretending to feel that way for attention. She even once said that i was coughing for attention and tried to make me go to bed. She would talk about me to my siblings and say things like "Anna doesn't do the dishes right," and I only know this because my little sister would repeat these things back to me. Living with this for the last to years taught me to avoid conflict whenever possible and to not take things too personally. Because now I can see that if someone feels the need to constantly put someone else down, they obviously have some issues of their own that they need to work through. Moving to Ohio changed my how I view other people and how I deal with unkind people.

Theme in Sweat

              One of the themes in sweat by Zora Neale Hurston is what goes around comes around. Sykes, which is Delia's husband has been abusing her for 15 years. he emotionally and physically abused her. Towards the beginning of the story Delia said,"'Sykes, what you throw dat whip on me like dat? You know it would skeer me--looks just like a snake, an' you knows how skeered ah is of snakes'"(1). Sykes replied to her, '"Course I knowed it! That's how come Ah done it"(1). This is proof of his intimidation of his wife. He even went so far as to bring a rattlesnake home in a box and refuses to remove it. And one day she has enough of his mistreatment and makes him leave, but he refuses to take the snake with him. One day wile Delia is away from the house, Sykes comes back and puts the rattle snake in the laundry basket, knowing she would wash clothes later. this is done as an attempt to kill her. When she comes home she sees it and runs. Sykes goes back to the house and is bitten by the snake and dies. he calls out for Delia but she doesn't go inside the house. Sykes was abusive to Delia and tries to kill her with a rattlesnake, but he ends up dying instead.

This I belive essay

      I believe in individuality. Since I was in middle school, I decided to be different. I didn’t want to become a carbon copy. I have always believed that everyone should be different. I used to go to every day and see almost everyone wearing practically the same thing, the same colors, and the same hair, -everything the same. Most people follow trends, but I prefer to stat them. In my mind starting trends in individuality and following trends is conformity.
      Society is set up in a way in which conformity seems to be the only option. To get a job you have to conform, to get into a good school you have to conform. Our society seems to be all about conformity. But if you look at the people who have changed this country and even the world, they refused to conform. I you look at people like Martin Luther King Jr. or Jackie Robinson, who went against the status quo, they were individuals. Fancy clothes, cute hair, and trends, won’t get you anywhere in, life. At first glance it looks like conformity is what gets you places but in reality its individuality.

      I strive to be an individual because; Individuality is what I believe in. I believe that people should be themselves instead of trying to be like others, because honestly who is going to care about who wore what in 10 years.

this i believe

race
 Seeing with the heart

addiction
I will take my voice back

responsibility
 A duty to Family, Heritage and Country

birth
 considering adoption

 change
The true value of life

      The essay, The True Value of Life, made the biggest impact on me. I can't imagine myself empathizing with anyone who was in jail for drunk driving, especially if I was injured because of what they did. If I had to live with chronic pain everyday, I could not even imagine myself forgiving the person who caused it. But after hearing and reading some of the reasons that helped her forgive him, I got a new perspective on forgiveness. I can kind of understand how she was able to forgive, but I don't think I would ever be able to forgive him, if I had been put in her situation.

I believe in...

I believe in second chances because everyone makes mistakes.
I believe in individuality because no two people are alike, no matter how much they try to be.
I believe in hope because we all need something to believe in.

My First Self Piercing

        I have always had an obsession with piercings, since starting high school. So when I was fifteen I asked my mom if I could get my belly button pierced. And of course being who she was, she said no.  For me no was not going to cut it. I had to have my navel pierced. One day while I was on the computer I was looking up belly rings and came across a site that also sold piercing needles. I decided to order some needles and a couple of belly rings.

       A couple days later when it arrived I was so excited. From the moment that I opened up the package, I knew that I was going to do it. I decided to do it on a Friday. After doing some extensive research on placements and sanitation, I decided to use alcohol to sanitize the needles that I was going to use. After cleaning the needle with an alcohol prep pad that my mom used for nursing I marked where I was going to pierce myself. Then I started to insert the needle.

        It hurt more than I had thought. While I was piercing myself, my friend Alex called me on my phone. When he asked me what I was doing, I said, “I’m piercing my belly button.” Then he replied, “Oh, do you want me to call you back later.” I told him it was fine we could talk. At this time I was still trying to push the needle through. When the pain would get unbearable I would stop and take a break for a minute, and then keep going. It took me three hours to get the needle all the way through. It took so long mostly because I was talking on the phone the whole time and taking breaks. After getting it through, I was ecstatic. It looked great.

Boston Marathon Explosions

     When I first found out about the bombs in Boston, I wasn't sure what to think. The whole situation reminded me on 9/11. Once the images that I saw on TV started to sink in, I started to wonder why someone would want to set off bombs on am marathon route. Even now, a day later I still don't have a complete understanding of what really happened, and it bothers me. When things like this happen, I start to think is anyone really ever safe. As the injury count rises, I am sympathetic to the people who were injured and their families and friends. what happened in Boston is truly a tragedy.