Materialism

           Out of the two essays about holiday seasons, I agree with the first essay by Amel Saleh.  I agree with him because I have seen it in my family. Every December we all expect gifts, and when that day comes every time someone opens a gift we always criticize what they give. I have even seen that they remove the price tag so that we don’t know how much it costs. In a season where we should worry about having a great time with the family, we worry about what gift should I buy? Every kid loves this season because all they know is that they are getting new toys, and that’s not how it should be. We should know why we always get together at this time of year, we should know the meaning of a holiday, but that is not the case. That’s what I see every year so that is why I think that it is too materialistic.

            Every year when we get together with all the family, well it has change a lot. When I was about 9 years old we would get together and my uncles and aunts would tell us, all the kids, why we were together that day, and we would sometimes get presents. They would read the bible so that we know why we have this traditions and why it was so important to us. Now things have change, every time we get together it does not have any meaning we sit eat and talk. Now they don’t talk to the younger generation of my cousins. Now we do give presents, so it has change a lot because the little kids who are there well they expect a big present for them. Maybe for some people the holiday season is just giving presents, but I was not raised like that so I know people would have different opinions. 

School

            College has been a little difficult for me, but now that I know how it works is getting easier. My first semester at Oxnard College was really difficult for me because in High School I did not had a lot of homework so I had a lot of free time. Being in Oxnard College has helped me to learn new things that I thought I would never learn. I have taken classes that I had to read a lot and even though it was hard at the end it was all worth it. Knowing new things changes you, I now look at some things differently, and it has also opened my eyes on a lot of things. I never thought that I would like to read, when I was in high school I said to myself that I would never read a book, but now I want to read more books. There is nothing that bugs me right now, and hopefully it stays that way.

            In this semester I have been trying to do well, but it is a little bit difficult. I have a lot of homework from all my classes, but I’m trying my best. Even though it’s been hard I try to do all the work I can so I can get good grades. Although is hard I do like coming here because of all that I learn, it has change the way I think about certain things. Another thing that I like is that here you can find people who can help you a lot, and that’s something that has helped me a lot. What keeps me motivated is my family. My brother and my sister graduated from Oxnard College last year so now it’s my turn to give my parents some happiness. What keeps me going, well all I can say is that I have looked at some of my cousins who have live all their life here, but did not go to college and now they can find a good job, they are almost on their 30s but can’t find a good job.

Reality TV

                When I was in high school I would hear people talk about reality shows and I was curious, so I tried to watch some of them. I think that the first one I watched was jersey shore, at that time it was really popular. When I started watching the show I got bored in less than ten minutes. I mean they have nothing interesting, but that’s just my opinion. I know that there might be some reality shows that do teach you something but I just don’t like those shows. Sometimes my sister watches some of those shows and I try to sit down and watch the show but I just can’t get why people like those shows. I can’t get why people like to watch what other people do in their daily lives. I think that they have nothing interesting in which us as viewers can benefit from watching them. In my opinion I think that they are dumb shows, but that’s just what I think.

                In my opinion I don’t know if it is harming or benefiting our society. The one thing I know is that it has change society, because now many of the viewers, who love those shows, want to be like those who are on the TV. We can see it even when we watch the news, in which they show you some celebrity who were or are still in a reality show and now they make the news. I don’t know what types of reality shows there are but I’m referring to the ones I heard and I think they are the most famous. People sit down to watch their lives and try to act like them. I saw it when jersey shore was on, some of my friends started to talk like them and even try to act like some of them. They have a lot of influence in our society, but I don’t think that we can agree whether is harming or benefiting our society. It’s like asking if video games are good or bad in our society, some people will say they are bad others might say they are good influence.

                I would never try to watch a reality show again because of the ones that I watched I know they are all dumb. Reality shows is something I now try to avoid watching, just because I think they are not interesting. Maybe they are not as bad as I think, but now there are many of those shows and I think that there has to be some limit. There are now more reality shows than news and that’s why I try not to give them more viewers. Even though I don’t like them I understand that some people do and that’s great because when I watch TV all I watch are sports, but some people may think that watching sports is dumb. It’s all entertainment some might like it some might hate it, it is just what we like and keep us entertain for a while. 

Change of Attitude

               When I was a little kid I would always heard my parents tell me that I had to live my life as happy as I can because we never know if tomorrow were going to be alive. Even though they would always told me that I never thought it was important, because all I knew was that I had to be alive until I was about 80 years old. I use to argue with people who said that we can die in a blink of an eye, I would even blink and I would tell them that I was not dead. When I was in high school I join the tennis team and I really liked playing tennis and I learned how to play really fast. The tennis courts were near the baseball field and I really hated that because when they played I couldn't concentrate. I have never like baseball because when I go to a park someone is always playing baseball and they could hit someone passing by.

                One day we were playing a tennis game against another school. That year I always played with a partner, we were playing in our school and the baseball team was also playing that day. We always heard when someone hit the baseball, but we got used to it after several games. That day when I was playing I was about to serve, so I got in position and when I was to hit the ball I leaned forward to hit the ball hard, but when that happened I felt something on the back of my head. I felt weird because no one was behind me, so I thought it was a ghost, but when I looked at one of my friends he threw a baseball to the other side. He told me that it passed right behind my head, and that it almost hit me. That changed me a lot, since that moment I now understand why people say that we can die in a blink of an eye. Since that day I know that it was something that changed my life and the attitude towards life. I now have respect for life and I know that life is a gift that we have to make the most out of it. Now I don’t get mad like I used to and I don’t fight with my brother or sister like I use to.

Fast Food

            My history with fast food, well when I lived in Mexico I did not ate too much fast food. I don’t remember visiting fast food restaurants that often, but I do remember a Burger King over there that sometimes we would go and eat. We would only eat like once a month because we used to live with my aunts and uncles, so we had a lot of cooking there. That change when we move here to the U.S I remember the first week being here I ate like five days in that week. I would eat any kind of fast food except from McDonald because since the first time I ate their food I was about to throw up. Since then my family and I would go and eat fast food every weekend, my favorite fast food restaurant was Burger King, but we would also eat Jack in the box. We would order the big size and I always drank coke and I would get a refill two times. We did that for like five years and even though I watched a movie about what would happen if we ate too much fast food specially McDonalds I still ate it anyway.

                Getting in to college I still ate fast food on the weekends. Last semester I took a health class in which we had to do a project about fast food. In the project we had to investigate what was in most of their food, and the calories. What I found out was really bad for anyone who consumes that kind of food and what it does to our body is really terrible. Most of the food given by fast food restaurant does not even have real chicken, they also contain some bacteria in it. I saw some nasty ingredients that they put on their menu so since that project I have not eaten in any fast food restaurant. With all those ingredients that they put in their food it made me realize that what we put in our bodies is something that it should be made illegal. 

Essay #1

Starting a New Life

When we are just little kids we adjust to the things around us. We know what’s around us, like the people and the houses. Now what happens if you have to leave that entire life behind, because you and your family have to go to another country. All the friends you met, and family that you know, well you have to say goodbye to them. That happened to me when I was twelve years old, we had to move out of our country Mexico to get into the United States.

I used to live near the border and even though the U.S was on the other side, we were on a poor side of the state. It was a really nice place that I liked, but we were not living that well, so my dad decided that we should give it a try and move to the U.S. It was not my dad’s plan but it was our only option so that we could live better. After we sold everything that we had, it was time to go to the other side. We arrived to the place that some guy told my dad, we waited there for like two hours before we met with some guys. We got in a van, I was a little scared but was not nervous, they started talking with my dad and mom, while my brother and I were playing. We got to a house were we slept for a while but then I heard my mom, “wake up it’s time to go”. When we were ready, my dad stopped us and began to pray.

It was a cold night and I was happy at that time, and to be honest I really don’t know why I felt like that. If I was leaving my country I thought that I would be kind of sad, but it wasn’t the case. We walked for ten minutes and then we finally got to the place. It was really bright because of all the lights, and officer or someone from the immigration came to us and asked some questions, but I didn’t even paid attention because it was my first time seeing those types of weapons, they were not small guns, it looked like if they were going to war. I looked at him and asked, “Have your ever used them before?” my mom squeezed my hand really hard that I wanted to cry.

            Around ten minutes passed and the officer was still asking questions. I wasn’t scared, but then sudden all I heard was some people yelling, “Run, Run!” at that time I got scared. The officer stayed with us, but he kept a hand on his gun. More officers came to where we were and they were not as friendly as the first one. They looked really mad, and one of them started talking really loud to my dad, but my dad never seemed like he was scared or nervous. After a while we finally started moving, they finally let us go. While we were walking all I saw was people sad and crying, a woman with a baby in her arms, it looked as if she was talking to God. There were like two kids around my age who were really scared, I could tell by the look on their faces.

            We kept walking and I started talking to my mom and asked her, “Why were those people crying?” she told me, “Soon you will understand”. We finally met a guy in a car and we got in, he drove around five hours nonstop, and then we finally me our uncle right here in Oxnard. It was so different from the place that I lived. Nice houses and grass everywhere, I felt strange but it looked good. We got to our uncle’s house, and it was a really big house and there we finally met our entire family living here, and that’s how I got here. Now being on this side is really a good place compare to where we lived, but I will still miss where I used to live.

            After everything that I saw that night it changed my life and the way I look at life. It made me realize that not everyone have their life as good as we. Life is not fair for many people and I wonder why, but I will never get an answer. We all have our struggle at some point of our lives, their just totally different problems. If this is a country where people believe in a God then why do they have to show a card to get in? Everyone should be able to go where they want, because we didn’t created the planet, so we have no right to claim what territory is ours. This experienced showed me that if your want a better life, it won’t be easy but it could happen.

Marriage

            I really think that marriage is still alive, and that’s because even though we as a generation are more liberals, we are always going to be looking for someone to be with. Being with somebody will always be in the human minds, that’s how we are raise and how many want to live their lives. Although I do think it is still strong I believe it is not because of the love one has for their partner. Now we see teens having kids, and when their parents notice that the girl is pregnant, the first question they ask is who the father is right? So now the girl tells her dad who the father is, and to make sure that her daughter is not alone they make those two teens get marry. That’s why I also think the divorce rate is getting higher, because those two teens maybe didn't love each other and when they get older they are probably be getting a divorce. That’s why I think that marriage is still strong, and I know that because I've seen it with family members. I see marriage more as wasting money so that people can see our wedding, when we think of marriage most of the time the first thing on our mind will be the wedding and the rings.

            When someone gets married they agree to spend their lives together and to be faithful. In the essay of Rivera, if you get a “temporary marriage” then it is not a marriage. I don’t know why they even called it that name, marriage main point is to live together until someone dies. By doing that temporary marriage, if you are religious, it would be disrespectful. There is no such thing as “temporary marriage” because you promise to be with that person for the rest of your life. In the vows you wouldn't say “and to live with you for the next two years”. That sounds weird to me and I’m sure it does sound weird to you. Getting marry is a compromise between a couple, is not an “if I like it I’ll renew our marriage”. Marriage is a serious compromise that needs to be taken really serious between the couple. To me temporary marriage is like saying F u the church and family tradition.

            I think that if a couple wants to get marry they need to think about what could happen once they marry and give it some critical thought. I do believe that getting married won’t necessarily make you happy. I've seen it with many families who are not happy being married. And even though there is another way to reduce divorce, “temporary marriage”, I think a successful marriage doesn't need an expensive ring so that we show it to the whole world like they do in the media, it also doesn't need an expensive wedding dress, it just need real love and I think that’s the most important thing and that’s what is missing in most marriages. This is just my opinion on marriage, and I know that it would be different from many of you.