My Influential Character

By Joel B.

What character or story has influenced something you've done or a decision you have made? Explain.

     The character that has influenced me the most in my life is Jesus Christ in the Bible.  I try my best to live by His examples and be like Him.  Ever since I was young, my parents have taught me to live for God and to learn from His life here on earth.  My decisions are also affected because in everything I do I try to ask myself what would Jesus do?  I remember when I was little I had a wrist band that had the letters W.W.J.D on it which was a great reminder in everything I did to put Jesus first and see what He would have done in a certain situation.  I strive to continue to live for Him and to always remember what would Jesus do so I can keep trying to be more and more like Him.

Anthony Flores- COLLEGE

We all are so much closer to beginning our careers and embarking on an adventure that we have been waiting for since freshman year (or since 6th grade if your like me aha). We each have worked hard in order to recieve the acceptance letters from our dream colleges. Although we think that we are all ready for this new experience, I believe it might be a little harder than we think.
Each day I beg for college to come quicker and I realize that maybe I'm going to miss highschool and the easy life we have more than I thought. When I moved on from junior high to highschool, I missed the simple life as an 8th grader that I took for granted. Maybe thats how college is going to be after highschool, that I might miss my family being involved in my everyday life and in the choices that I make. Or maybe even miss waking up to my little brother watching spongebob at the highest volume possible.
The big jump for me is being able to make my own choices and having to handle the consequences on my own without my parents. Its almost every weekend when I wished I was in the position to make my own choices and do what I want without the parents say so. However, once I get that position in time, I believe my choices will be based off of whether or not my parents and family would be okay with them. I realize all of their questions, comments, and concerns were to help me as a young adult and prepare me for the real world.
I believe that we all start to see things in this way when we begin to mature and look at our childhood from a different viewpoint. I'm now holding on to my family and the simple life I have for as long as possible, because I know I am going to miss it.
-Anthony Flores

swag.

My Response to the Invisible Man

 By Joel B.    
    
     In chapter five of the Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, I found lines that not only impacted me but also inspired me to grow closer to God as well.  This line, which actually was a song, occurred when everyone was in church singing and praying.  The line states, "Lead me, lead me to a rock that is higher than I." (117)  I believe this is a great statement because not only are you surrendering your life up to God but you know that He is going to take care of you much better than you could ever take care of yourself.  Unfortunately, I haven't always lived by this principle and sometimes I want to go my own way and do my own things.  However, I never get very far because I chose not to have God with me, leading me to a rock higher than I will ever reach.  This reminds me of the parable in the Bible where it talks about one man building his house on the sand and one man building his house on the rock.  When the storm came, the house on the sand was destroyed but the house on the rock stood strong.  Today, if I choose God to be the rock of my life, the storms of this life will never destroy me.  I will never forget this parable because not only is it great to look to for the present but also it will be a great reminder in the future to always put my faith in God, so He can lead me.  He will always be bigger than I and I have to realize that without Him I can accomplish nothing.  However, with Him I can do anything, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me ." (Philippians 4:13)

Everyone Being Egual In a State of Nature

click to watch the book burn!

 Today in class Mrs. Elliott introduced us to our next unit. I found the transition from Gender and Class Inequality to Race Inequality to be very interesting. The parallels between being a women and a minority are pretty similar. Today I was fortunate to read the article about African-American migration from the South to Chicago. Several things in the article really stood out in my mind.
  In the beginning of the document in the pre-read part it talked about the newer generations of African Americans wanting to travel to the city to have a new life. Each generation of African Americans, as they moved farther and farther away from their slave ancestors, received more rights and education. As time slowly went forward they were awarded more opportunities than their forefathers. Until finally they got the courage to branch out and travel to the city.
 Of course their move to the city wasn't all sunshine daises. Hearing about the violence in Chicago and the amount of racial tension was unbelievable. It got to the point where African Americans were too scared to even come to work. The Red Cross, who usually comes to third world countries after disasters like floods and famine, had to be brought it to pass out supplies. It's hard to believe that in one of the finest cities in the world race riots and hate could escalate that high.
 To me the most difficult part to hear about is the innocent people being hurt. Whenever one person of one race does something to another person of a different race, their race has to retaliate. The excerpt also described situations where a black individual would do one heinous thing to a white person and then white people would go out into the street and kill 20 black people as revenge. Same goes with blacks having to kill innocent whites to try to get revenge on them. Fighting violence with more violence. An eye for an eye. Leaving the entire city blind to see what they were doing was just making everything worse.
 The amount of fear blacks and whites had for each other and the huge gender and class divides in 18th century England are both caused by the same problems. Division by society through labels. In society we label everyone and everything so it's easier to talk about. These labels just allow some people to float to the top and for other people to stay at the bottom. It almost makes one want to shed society completely and return to nature. In a state of nature we would all be equal and free. Everyone would be the same and we wouldn't have to worry about society's confines. Of course these transcendentalists ideals wouldn't work. We can't all just shed our clothes and run into the forest and start anew. It's human nature to form laws and create society. Soon enough everything would be back to the status quo.
 Of course as time goes on women and minorities become more and more equal. Modern day American is 100 times more tolerant than Chicago at the time, as evident by our black president. I know that change is possible and it happens everyday. I believe it is part of evolution for hate to disappear. As we and our society evolves hate will become less and less.

Tess fallen victim to fate?

By: Audrey T
I think that fate is a really interesting concept that appears in Tess. To me, fate is Hardy's answer to the question "Why, if God is just, would he allow the good to suffer?" It must be that everyone has a set plan that they are destined to follow no matter how good or bad they are. So does this mean that nothing can change one's fate and that there is a plan for everyone set from birth? Or is it that a person comes upon a coincidence in life that leads to another and another, ultimately leading them to a fate they cannot avoid? Tess is extremely good and moral -- almost to the point of sainthood -- yet God still allows her to endure a terrible and unfair life. Hardy even asks, "...where was Tess's guardian angel?" on the night that she was raped by Alec. It seems as if Hardy is trying to draw attention to the fact that people put too much faith in God to control all situations and change them for the better, when, in fact, he is standing by letting bad things happen to people all the time. Throughout the novel Tess can never seem to catch a break. She continues to move on with her life after she is raped and after her baby dies, and even when amazing opportunities are presented to her, like when Angel proposes to her, she sticks to her morals and turns him down; sure that her past has ruined her. It is Tess's persistent faith and strength that causes her to transform from a mere girl into something holier. If Tess's struggles are what make her so holy, then is it God's neglect in her time of need that has made her this way? Maybe God is allowing people to suffer so that they can grow and transcend the harsh realities of the world and not simply that fate dictates one's life.

Important Words Paper

          Throughout my life, words have played a major role in describing what I do and what I believe. The knowledge of these words began when I was just a little child with my parents reading me stories and telling me how to act as I grew older. Strength, determination, responsibility, as well as faith, hope, and love are words that I have found were the most meaningful and significant in my life.
          Strength is the property of being physically or mentally tough or the power to resist stress or force. This word has meant so much to me in my life because it reminds me that every time a situation in life brings me down, God has given me the strength to get right back up again, “He sends a cross, but He also sends the strength to bear it.” (Tolstoy) Determination is the quality of being unwavering when trying to achieve something. This is very similar to strength in where I strive, no matter what the cost, to never give up and finish the race, “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.” (Lasorda) This is one of the most important words to me because in baseball there are many times when I feel like giving up when I have been defeated, but it takes real determination to be able to get back up and face the next challenge ahead.
          Another word that has influenced my life greatly is responsibility. Responsibility is a form of trustworthiness. Ever since I was young my parents always wanted me to learn this word and apply it to my own life. I believe as I grew older and more mature I realized that this word is very essential in building trust. It is important to me that people know that if I am asked to accomplish a task I will be responsible enough to complete it. Responsibility is especially important when a person is in leadership and has a great deal of power, “Remember, with great power, comes great responsibility.” (Spiderman) So many people in today’s world don’t see the need for responsibility, but I believe that if people lived by being more responsible everyone would be highly respected, trusted, and honored.
          Eventually, all the words that have meant so much to me in my life will fade and only three will remain. These three words are faith, hope, and love and have influenced my life since I was born. Faith is having a confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing. My faith in God is what gives purpose to my life and without Him I would be lost with no sense of direction. Hope is the virtue and desire to search for a future good in all situations. This can be difficult, but it is not impossible to attain this perspective with God's help. I put my hope in God when things seem impossible and with His help I can do anything. The most significant word of them all to me is love. Love can have different meanings and be experienced at different levels but my goal is to love people by seeing them the way that God sees them. I try my best to love everyone no matter how they treat me in return, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13) These three words have a great impact on my life and the way I treat others.
          All of these words describe my intentions in what I try to accomplish. Even though sometimes I may fall short, I try my best to have strength, be determined, take responsibility, and do things with faith, hope, and love. Ever since I was a child my parents have taught me the right words to live by and I hope to continue to live by these words as I keep on growing to be all that God created me to be.

College Supplement.

The person is my father, the place is Lake Havasu, Arizona. Here, he and I would revisit the places where he taught me how to ride a bike, how to dive, and how to lace my shoes. I would let him know that these are the same places where he taught me that the most expensive things in life are those that do not bear a price tag. I would show him that these are the same places where he instilled in me the values of patience, respect, and open-mindedness, the same way he continues to teach me today.

-Christian Dade