'This I Believe' Speech "The Family I Love"

   "Family, where life begins, and love never ends." -Unknown 

I believe that a family's love can never falter.

          My now deceased grandpa and the rest of my family live in Progreso, Yucatan. We went on March 16, 2016 to attend his wake. After, my aunt had told my brother and I, "You guys mean alot to your grandma, and she wants to see you guys more, since you two are the only ones she can't see grow up." When I heard that, I realized that even if I didn't talk to her all the time, and wasn't in Mexico for long, she loves me unconditionally and I the same way.

       I realized that my family will always love me, which is why I want to spend all of my time with them. Realizing this has changed my way of life, and now I value my family more than anything. Now, any future actions I do I'll always put them in mind. 

Even as I was writing this, I really wanted to back with all of my family back in Mexico. Even so, I know that however many miles we are apart, a family's love can never falter.

Final Reflection 5/22/16

   
          The three most important things I've learned this year are the proper use of commas, sentence clauses, both dependent and independent, and phrases. I think this because learning these, will increase my level of writing. Knowing these will help me all throughout my life. Mainly since we all write, sentences and paragraphs almost every day, so its important to do it correctly.

          Something we did this year that I personally think I'll never forget would be the Butterfly project. The Holocaust topic has always interested me, and this project brought out both my curiosity and my creativity. When we first stared reading the poems, I got very curious imagining what the concentration camp looked like. As to why I did some further research on the camp. Then when we were told to make a butterfly I went a bit overboard going to different stores for different materials. I loved the end product, and the presentations where very good.

          The nicest thing someone in our class did for me was write the anonymous letter about our problem. My issue that I was dealing with was my grandpa and the prostate cancer that he had. I thought it had to be the nicest thing anyone has ever done to me because I was really scared that he was going to die. However the mystery person told me to keep my head up and hope for the best. I did hope and pray, and in the he sadly did still pass away.

          I taught one of my classmates how to use google docs better. For example, when we were taking notes and she couldn't figure out how to turn on the option to list or change the font/text color. This helped her a lot since we were usually doing notes on the stories we read or essays we'd do. Helping her can also be useful to her in the future, since now she can help others who are confused on how to use Google Docs.

          I think I've made my biggest improvement in writing. I think this because of the multiple writing pieces we've done, and the recent lessons on commas, phrases etc. These lessons will help me in high school and for the rest of my life. Something that I'm proud of accomplishing this year the aphorism project that involved Tuesday's with Morrie. I think this because the project made you really think over the aphorism that we each chose. For example, mine was, "don't cling to things, because everything is impermanent," and I thought this meant life and death. As you shouldn't cling to life, as sooner or later everything dies.

          I think the most challenging part of this year for me was my procrastination. I know its a bad habit to have, yet I haven't really taken measures to fix that. For example, ill put things off until Sunday night, or any night when I know we have homework assigned. I think over the summer ill definitely have to fix that however, since I know high school will give me even more homework then I get now. The summer reading project should help me with my habit, and ill really try to finish it early.

          I think the best piece of writing I've done this year was the Life is Beautiful comparison/differences with Night. I think this because I loved the movie and the book equally. Also the fact that both the movie and the book are in the same time period, yet completely different stories, really interested me. Looking for the similarities and differences between both was also a challenge, but one I didn't really mind. As the whole topic of the Holocaust really interests me and I love reading or watching what ever movie that is related.  

          If I had to chose a favorite book that we read this year, it'd have to be Tuesdays with Morrie. I'd say this because the book has taught me so many life lessons, that I don't think ill ever forget. One that really hit me the most was, "Death ends a life, not a relationship," because my grandpa had passed away before we had started reading it. It was a reminder that I still love him, even if he passed away. The book was also very heartwarming and made me cry on several occasions, in my opinion it was one of the best I'd ever read.

          Advice to students who will be in this class next year... I'd say be really organized and be prepared. Both of those things are really good especially since we get a lot of papers, and to be really focused since the up coming year will definitely be harder then the one before. Another thing, don't procrastinate. Its really bad trait, and Mrs. Larson likes things always on time. Still one of the most important things I've learned while being in her class. Well, that goes for most teachers in general. I still cant believe I'm leaving Heritage this year, its been a great three years that have passed by so quickly. You guys will definitely have fun this up coming year! The parties were always really fun! ;)

Morrie's Aphorisms - Final Project

          The aphorism that I chose was, "Don't cling to things, because everything is impermanent." Morrie's main message was that you shouldn't let emotions "penetrate you", that instead they should over flow within you. That's how you'd be able to detach yourself from that emotion. ]His message was if you never allowed yourself to bask in the emotion and accept it, you'd never move past it and instead be forever afraid of it. In the book Morrie had specifically said, "And only then can you say, 'All right. I have experienced that emotion. I recognize that emotion. Now I need to detach from that emotion for a moment.'" I think what he says relates to "embracing pain" since after you embrace it, you slowly move past it.

          I can relate this aphorism to a personal experience in my life. I would relate it to my grandpa. I know that sooner or later, everyone dies, and Morrie would also be an example to that. Except when you love someone and you've spent so much time with them, you don't really expect it to end. When my grandpa had suddenly died, it made me realize that anyone can die at any second. The sudden realization made me want to spend as much time with my family as I can, especially as I never properly got the chance to say goodbye to my grandpa. This relates to the aphorism as life is impermanent, and we shouldn't cling to the thought that we get to live forever with our loved ones. 

          I agree with the aphorism 100%. There's many ways you can connect this aphorism to, the one that I chose was life and death. Morrie used it with feelings, and you could also connect it with objects. When using life and death as the example, everyone knows that a person can't live forever, so the aphorism matches as life isn't permanent. In the book it had also said, "But detachment doesn't mean you don't let the experience penetrate you. On the contrary, you let it penetrate you fully." This goes hand in hand to an experience about someone or something dying. You embrace the sadness and accept it, so that you can overcome it sooner. I'd say an aphorism I'd use is "think before you do," since often times, many people don't and that's what usually gets them into trouble.

Socratic Seminar Morrie Reflection

         Tuesday's with Morrie has changed my way of thinking about life, way more then any other book. This book has taught me so many life lessons with Morrie's aphorisms, and our Socratic Seminars helped me really get a clear image as to what the aphorisms meant. For example the aphorism, "'You're not a wave, your part of the ocean.'" When we discussed this, we all had said something different yet in the end we concluded that it meant we are all one and that every person together makes up the 'ocean'. 

          My personal goal through out all the Socratic Seminars was to invite someone into the conversation. The trend that I noticed was that I never actually did it, and I think it's because I never really found a good time to say it. I also never was able to properly form a question in order to bring a person into the conversation. My personal goal never did change, however I did try to involve myself into the conversation more. If we do possibly have more Socratic Seminars, I'll try harder to achieve my personal goal. 

          I noticed as a class, many of us were prepared to speak and had many unique and 'difficult' questions, the ones that made you think more. I think something that helped the seminar was that every one had different parts of the book that they found interesting, and everyone had different questions since we don't all think alike. I think that's one of the reasons why for the most part, the Socratic Seminar's went smoothly. One thing that I noticed was how it was only a specific amount of people who actually were talking. I'm assuming this is why there were awkward silences sometimes after someone had shared a thought or question.  

TWM - What 'Tuesday' Has Inspired You?

          Family to me is the most important thing in the world. It's come to my attention that any of my family members can be taken away from me in the blink of an eye. My grandpa and my uncle where an example of this. Ever since them, Its made me think of my family way more, and miss not being with them in Mexico. Reading the fifth Tuesday, when they talked about family, really hit me hard. As I imagine how his wife and sons must feel when Morrie died.

          One of the reasons I chose this 'Tuesday' was because of what Morrie had said through out the "chapter" about family and its support. Morrie had said the quote, "'The fact is, there is no foundation, no secure ground, upon which people may stand today if it isn't the family.'" To me, this means that what ever happens, your family will always be able to support you and love you. That the love from your family is the greatest thing you can possibly get in this life, and I think this is true a hundred percent.

         Another reason why I chose this 'Tuesday' was because of what Morrie had said, which was the most powerful thing in that Tuesday. Morrie had said, "'Love each other or perish.'" I chose this because I think it means that if you don't love your family to the best of your ability, your not living correctly and really that goes in certain situations. This quote signifies how you should love your family as much as you can, because as I had mentioned before, they can be taken in the blink of an eye so in that time, love them as much as you can.

Tuesdays with Morrie - Bucket List

           My first thought when reading Tuesdays with Morrie book was that it was very saddening, and I had thought I wouldn't like it. Since I usually like to read books that don't cause sadness, but instead make me laugh and bring smiles. When we first read through the table of contents, I felt really nervous when I saw it had said "We say goodbye". It gave me a really bad omen and I didn't feel like it was going to be a nice book. However, were already at page 40 and I can honestly say that I'd love to keep reading. I'd like to go ahead because Morrie and Mitch's relationship makes me curious. How if they had something like that, couldn't we all? It seems nice that Morrie cares so much about Mitch, even possibly as a second son. 

          One thing that got me sad in the book, was when Mitch had said, "... and I swallowed because I knew, deep down, I was no longer the good, gift-bearing student he remembers. I only hoped that. for the next few hours, I could fool him." This made me sad because I don't want to know what will happen when Morrie finds out what has changed. Even when Mitch hadn't visited, and only did when he saw that Morrie was on TV. That made me a bit mad, as I would always keep in touch if I ever would have a professor that meant so much to me. That being said, I love how the book cuts back between the past and his present, I found that to be a unique writing style that I like more then other types.       

Bucket List:

• Learn Japanese
• Finish learning Italian
• Travel to Tokyo, Japan
• Travel to Progreso, Yucatan
• Be fluent in writing in Spanish
• Have 5 dogs
• Graduate from college with a bachelors degree
• Get a nice apartment in the city
• Travel to all 50 states
• Learn how to program/code
• Go bungee jumping
• Become good at cooking
• Have a pool
• Get good at photography
• Go sky diving
• Travel anywhere, but in first class
• Get good at baking 

3rd Quarter Reflection Blog

          Something I have accomplished that I am very proud of would be my butterfly from the butterfly project. I think it was in seventh grade when I had first heard of the butterfly project, and I was so excited, already thinking of how I would get to do it one day. Once we started, I was already making mental imagines on how it would look. The week we had to build the butterfly wasn't easy. The designs I had wanted proved to be a lot harder to build then I had expected, and I had a lot of trouble arming the butterfly itself. I had to use hot glue for the most of it... not fun. However overall I was really happy from the outcome and I loved seeing everyone else's butterflies. 

          I'd say the most challenging part of third quarter would be our argumentative essay. Seeing as I wasn't in school and actually in Mexico. It was really stressing to come back and realize how much homework that was assigned while I was away. The only thing I had managed to finish was the three main body paragraphs of the first draft. When I had come back, I tried to follow Edmodo as best as I could and in the end finished. I had spent a lot of time on the introduction and conclusion, I actually think out of all the paragraphs those two were the hardest. Of course, it won't be as great as everyone else's, but I think I tried my best and I was happy how it turned out. 

          The area I think I've made the biggest improvement in would be my vocabulary. I say this because as I write paragraphs I find that at some words, I stop and think, "What's another word to use?" For example, if I were to write "bad" I would stop and think that I could change that to a say, "terrible, or miserable. I think that because of this, my writing has improved quite a lot. I have to thank the vocabulary tests that help me. My vocabulary also helps me when I'm talking to other people. For example I was talking to a friend, and she had mentioned something about a person being very religious, so I said, "then she's a pious person right?". It made me happy to know I knew that.