My Family Tree

Families are one the most important things in my life. One of the reasons why I’m the person that I am today is because of my family. I learned most my values and morals from my family. My family consists of happy, loving, and caring people. Each of my relatives cares for one another’s feelings. We try our best to help one another during the obstacles we face everyday. 

Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I didn’t have my family. My family helps me through my struggles and is always there for me. My happiness comes from the others in my family. The love that my family gives me makes each day of my life worth living.

Having a loving, caring, close-knit family makes the world that we live in a little easier. I believe that families whether blood-related or not, are the reasons that make us happy. My families are my friends and my blood-relatives. These people help me overcome my daily struggles, and are the people that I know I can rely on during a time in need. I know that I can depend on family and they can depend on me. The importance of my family lies in the inter-lying effect of helping one another. Families create happiness, love, and care—these people are the people we will always have.

Family is defined by the love and care. These people that are a part of your family are people that doesn’t necessarily mean that they need to be blood-relatives. The people that you can depend on and creates happiness defines what a family is. Families always go through challenges, but families also find a way to resolve these challenges.

Every family has their own ways of spending time together. My family spends time together by having family dinners on everyone’s birthday. Our family dinners are filled with food, love, and joy. Our family dinners are a time where my family is happiest. Whether it’s my blood-relatives or my friends we always have a dinner together. I have a really big family, so most of the time our family dinners are packed with homemade food and, much appreciation and love.

From my family, I learn to appreciate the love and care that we have for one another I learn to appreciate our traditions and our morals because these traditions and morals are what make up our inevitable bond with one another. My family is like what George Burns said; “Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.”

Dr. Phil-osophies

“Anyone can do something when they want to do it. Really successful people do things when they don’t want to do it.” - Dr. Phil

Dr. Phil is saying that in order to do something really great, we have to make sacrifices. Sometimes we need to take a step up the ladder, even when we think we’re not ready for that step. 

Take into consideration, going off to college. Most teens have lived under the care and shelter of their parents their whole lives, having no idea what it means to be on their own. 

When the day arrives and we’re forced with the decision of leaving for college or staying home and doing something else, the latter sounds really appealing. 



I get to sleep in the same bed I’ve slept in for years, I get to see the family that’s loved and supported me my entire life, and I don’t have to worry about making new friends. 

Those of us who make the decision to go off to college, however tentatively, learn that we are capable of adapting to this new lifestyle and will never regret taking that crucial step. We learn important life lessons and come to accept that our education is crucial to our success in this world. It's not easy, but it's worth it.

ARE YOU READY FOR HALLOWEEN!?!?!?!

Guess what time it is?? HALLOWEEN TIME! Let the parties and trick or treating begin. I love Halloween! It is one of my favorite holidays (other than Christmas).

On Halloween, I love to carve pumpkins or draw scary faces on them. I always do it with my friend; it’s so much fun. You get all messy from carving pumpkins because of the pumpkin seeds. There are so many seeds in a pumpkin its crazy. I did not even know a pumpkin has that many seeds. After you get all the seeds out, you carve out the eyes and mouth. Then you put a candle in it and there you go. Something else you can do if you do not want to get messy, is to just draw a scary face or funny face. I did both ways and its super fun either way. This is my pumpkin is it scary or cute? lol

 

Halloween is the time to dress up to be whatever you want. You can dress up super scary and horrifying like a zombie, a psycho killer, or one of those ghosts that has fake blood coming out of the mask. You can dress up in fun cute costumes like a superhero, an animal, or a fairytale character. Anything you can think of to put on as a costume will work. One time, I just drew myself some whiskers, wore all black and looked like a cat. You can either dress it up or dress it down you will look good on Halloween.

 

One of the coolest things on Halloween is to see all the scary houses around in the city. Some houses go full out on decorations and some not so much. The classic thing that most people do on Halloween is just do some lights and just put up a sign that says HAPPY HALLOWWEN. And the owners of the house don't even dress up. I hate those kinds of houses; they are lame and not fun whatsoever! No Halloween spirit at all. There are houses that go full on, on Halloween though. Some houses play music if there is a block party, people blast there music to the extreme. The decorations on the houses are amazing. Some people put on cobwebs all over there lawn and house. Do big inflatables of a witch, spider, or ghosts. People put signs and spiders and fake blood all over there house. To make it even more enthusiastic, the owners of the house actually dress up. See these kinds of houses have the Halloween spirit that people must go to.

 

I love going to haunted houses on Halloween. Some places are actually super scary. An awesome Halloween haunted house is the one done on Argonne play ground on Geary. You must go there. It’s super scary. I went in there with my friend almost peed in my pants. So many things pop up and scare you it can give you a heart attack, but that’s why people like Halloween, for the thrill and excitement.

Halloween is also the only time you are going to get a bunch of candy. The classic words," trick or treat". When kids say those words, that’s the time to give out candy. Kids come home with bags full of candy. Any candy you can think of. A good place to get amazing candy and lots of it is in Sea Cliff! All of you guys must go there if you want super good candy and lots of it. That area is always crowded but the houses there are amazing and the people are super nice, so they are going to give you lots of candy; trust me. I went there and at the end of the night I had two big bags of candy which disappeared in like three days. Yeah, that candy was sooo good. Sometimes you can even sneak into the same house again and get more candy. People usually don’t notice because its so crowded.

 

I love Halloween for the candy, for its spirit, and for its excitement.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!! ENJOY!!!

 

 

You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.

Wayne Gretzky

"You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take." - Wayne Gretzky
 

Wayne Gretzky, a famous hockey player, first said this quote in January 16, 1983 during an interview. The interviewer told Wayne, "You've taken a lot of shots this year" so Wayne replied, "You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take. Even though there is only a 1-5% chance probably of scoring." 

I really like this quote because even though Wayne was referring to hockey, you can use it as motivation for nearly everything. He's basically saying that you're going to fail 100% of the time that you don't try so you might as well just try because even a really low percent of succeeding is better than 0%. Plus, you never know what could happen. Maybe taking a random chance at something might actually work. It's just like hockey. Even though Wayne admitted it's a small chance of actually scoring in hockey, he's still not afraid of taking a shot at succeeding. This quote has really stuck by me ever since I first heard it. Whenever I feel like there's no point in even trying because it's unlikely I can succeed at it, I try to think of this quote. It quickly reminds me that I might as well just try and hope I can do it because that's better than just accepting failure. 

There are many examples of people who were willing to take a shot and became successful even though they knew there was a high chance they could’ve failed. Wayne, of course, is a clear example. He’s one of the greatest hockey players of all time and that’s because he followed his own quote and wasn’t afraid to take a shot (literally) and scoring goals even though he knew there was a very small chance of him actually succeeding. That didn’t stop him and he’s the leading scorer of all time in the NHL now. Another example can be Michael Jordan, one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He wasn’t afraid of taking big shots (also literally) in basketball games to succeed and win. He knew there was a high chance of him failing and losing games but that didn’t scare him. He still took it upon himself to take the shots that would win games for his team and even though he failed plenty of times, he still tried and tried and eventually he succeeded more times than he failed. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are also good examples. They both took a shot at succeeding by dropping out of college and even though they failed at first, they kept trying and eventually succeeded. Are you noticing the pattern now? To be great, you have to take a shot, it’s always better to try and maybe succeed than not trying and for sure failing.

Seriously though, why?

At one point or the other, everyone has their own idea of how to be a "good" student. Perhaps some have an idea of how to be a "great student"... and then there's me. I have this ideal list in my head of how to be the "almost perfect student" and it seriously kills me that although I may know how to fulfill those requirements, why the hell don't I? I know when homework is due, I know what each class is asking of me, yet why is it so FREAKING hard to do all of those things?

One of my difficulties of trying to be the perfect student for myself, is showing up on time. No, its not that I'm lazy or I don't leave my house on time. I've done enough research to know that it only takes me 15 minutes, AT THE MOST to get to school. I do also know that it takes approximately 6 minutes to park, pay and walk to class. If I am so aware of all of these things, then why am I always late to our 8:10 am class?! I stress and think and stress and think and then... AHA.  I realized that, I may have the time approximations on lock, but I haven't been putting into consideration, the fact that there IS traffic half the time on Lake Merced, and that there CAN be a line and/or people who dot know how to work the damn pay station machines for parking.

I leave my house at 9:35 the LATEST which puts me on my way to class at 9:56 (PLENTY OF TIME) yet i don't get to the garage until 9:55, and it always takes me more than 6 minutes to
1) find parking
2) park in a spot decently
3) pay for parking as fast as i can, then go back to my car, place the permit on my dash, grab my stuff out of my trunk, then LEAVE.

I know I should've put those last hundred things to do in separate parts of the list but i consider them all in one movement.

I hate that the class i find the most interesting and awesome, has to be at 8am, and that i happen to either not be able to show up, or get to school late for it. I'm swearing that not once have I not cared or not tried to go to class on time, I will continue TO try, and will look deeper into finding alternative game plans to get to school on time. I love learning about how to write essays properly and how to "kill my darlings" but i have to admit. I do NOT get the full fun learning experience because i never have enough luck to get to school on time.

IF there was any class i could be the PERFECT student for, it would be, no doubt, hands down, my 8am English class, with our uniquely amazing prof Caitlin.

Moving Out

I always thought that when I first moved out for college, I would be so happy to have all the independence in the world. No curfew, no parents telling me what to do, just doing whatever I wanted when I wanted. But after awhile, all those feelings went away. Everything changed so quick with my emotions. I missed the presence of having my brothers at home to tease me and fight with me when I would come home. Instead of that, I either come home to an empty house or with roommates I just barely met and aren't that comfortable around yet. I miss having my mom come and ask how my day was and comfort me if it was a tough one. Now the only way that can happen is over the phone, but then that's better than nothing. I can truly say that I took everything that I had at home for granted when I was there. I long for the days I can go home to my own bed, in my own room, with my moms cooking, and my brothers protective care. I always here my friends who are still in college say, "I can't wait to move out of my parents house and be on my own!" & I just tell them to cherish it while it last because a year from now when you are actually moved out, you're going to be feeling the same way I am right now. On the other hand, this is just my personal experience and how I feel. I know others who are completely loving it on their own and who aren't homesick at all. But I guess it's just me. 

"God is dead"- Friedrich Nietzsche

The quote by the German philosopher dates back to 19th century.

The full quote is:

"God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. Yet his shadow still looms. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?"

-  Friedrich Nietzsche

Here are some takes on the quote from tumblr, online, etc.

The parody photo applies Nietzsche’s pessimism during coitus.

The symbolic photo of light and dark, reveals the contrasting quotes. God wins on this one.

The light humor on the quote reveals that, generally, people are comfortable poking fun at religion... Sometimes very offending, but that's just comedy. Yet, he provoking three words contain a deeper meaning underneath the surface.

*YOU CAN SKIP THE BLUE TXT BELOW* (It's more personal experience and a little bit perspective on God)

Usually, I doze off at church which shows a lot about my religious perspective on catholicism. Super turned off, bored, disconnected, etc about the practice causing disbelief on the existence of God. I feared being a doer of evil acts and the damned eternity to Hell more than God. The punishment seemed to have a bigger impact than me rather than looking forward to Heaven.

Plus, it's predetermined whether you will enter the kingdom of Heaven or Hell. Well after I heard about that in Modern World History AP, I thought that why should I try so hard to be good and catholic when it didn't matter in the end and the everything was already set- whether I was a good or bad person...

Wrote this in junior year about the quote:

"Our dirt is a never ending permanence, that is why we have flushed down “Gods” for us to use like toilet seat covers because mankind just keeps defecating."

If you'd like to see my essay click here.

I've changed my perspective on God. A little bit more positive, and optimistic view on GOD formed when my mom texted me this year and told me to talk to him because he will listen. It worked. Less tension, stress, and anxiety resulted the next day.
 People who have more faith in religion are more equipped with coping with crisis. (proof lol)