Study Like a Boss
Americanism, Boy, Caste, Ethnic Identity, Female, Minority, Modern Society, Nation, Nation Building, Woman, American Dream, Cultural Identity, Discourse Community, Diversity, Friendship, Gender Roles, Man, National Honor Society, Racial Profiling, Stereotypes, American Identity, Animal Cruelty, Citizenship, Communication, Community.
5:45 a. m. , Wednesday, Boxing Day, 2013. I was sleeping soundly in my bed when the phone rang. I could hear the sound of someone getting up to pick up the phone. Shortly afterwards, I could hear the sound of weeping. I heard my Mom tell my Dad that Oma had passed away. Two … Read more
“Why did we have to move?! ” I exclaimed as my mom and I waited for the bus to my new school to pick us up at the bus stop parking spots. “It’s much cheaper to live here than Long Island,” my mom said calmly “Plus my new job here is higher paying than back … Read more
“Okay, everything looks good,” they nod and hand me a small plastic receipt, “Go ’round the corner and one of our technicians will be with you shortly. ” I’d been donating blood to ZLB plasma for the past few months, ever since I’d left Lana and the luxury of Kenwood for this small one bedroom … Read more
My dad was the person that named me Brian. Knowing him, I was pretty lucky to get a normal name. I’m surprised that it wasn’t something strange or funny-sounding. My siblings have pretty normal names too. My brother is William and my sister is Jennifer. My middle name is Robert. It was given to me … Read more
Music has always been a very important part of my life. As a child, I was mesmerized by Disney’s Fantasia 2000 and watched the Disney sing-a-longs over and over. I began playing piano at a young age, and in middle school added more instruments to my list, such as flute, saxophone, and ukulele. I have … Read more
Immigrated to America When was your biggest event that made you really nervous? In 2013, on Monday. I was in 5th grade, I went to the school as usual, and I was really tired after school. At this point, I did not even think that my father is going to tell us about going to … Read more
What does our future hold for us? Will it fulfill our wishes and dreams? Will we have a happy family? Well in order to worry about our future, we have to learn from our past and how we have changed. About 65 million years ago, a meteor hit Earth and primates started to show up … Read more
Beloved, loathed, and prestigious; what do all these three words have in common? They all describe one of the most highly- marketed and globalized franchises in sports history, the Los Angeles Lakers. The glamorous team with sixteen championships to its name has had its head flushed down the toilet for the majority of this decade; … Read more
Introductory 1:Adversity is a common thing amongst the human-race. Almost everyone has had a problem once or twice in their life. For example, not everyone can agree on everything. Arguments amongst people aren’t rare, and almost every person has been a part of one. Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird had this exact adversity in … Read more
What can I do to win fantasy football every time? I chose this topic because I really like football. I also really enjoy fantasy football. I wanted to know how to always win in fantasy football. I wanted to know the best way to draft. I think the best way to draft was to draft … Read more
THUMP! The ball was hit into deep left, and it had some distance to it. The infield stared as the ball made contact with the bat and rocketed over their heads. They probably should have covered their base or gone out and get the ball from the outfield but they knew that it was all … Read more
7. El Barrio and the Upper East Side: It had been a crazy morning as I ran all over my house trying to find my jacket and boots. My mom had been admitted into the hospital that morning for a massive headache and all I could think about was whether or not she would be … Read more
Intro Alex, and that tree. I’ve lived in two completely different places. For the greater part of my life, in Ecuador, and for the last 4 years, in California. Moving away from the place that I spent my entire life at, has really changed me. I had to leave all of the people I love … Read more
I love that name. It was not a coincidence you were given that call sign. No one in the National Guard knew your story when you were dubbed Black Magic, and yet it is completely appropriate. Black Magic is an artillery term that turns out to be a mirror of your philosophy thus far: Firing … Read more
It wasn’t a typical Friday until I got my morning headache courtesy of the freshman drumline banging out a rough cadence three months and counting after marching season and I stepped in a puddle of spit. And my new black converses just made contact with the remnants of the trombones’ spit valves. The brown tiled … Read more
Play It As It Lays: Life Unscripted (DRAFT) Maria Wyeth is an actress, a beaut, a dimming star, a schizophrenic, and beyond that a untraditional loving mother to Kate, her daughter. The way Joan Didion writes “Play It As It Lays” in satirical way upon Hollywood lifestyle is tantalizing the mind to think that Hollywood … Read more
I could not hear anything except for people screaming “gun! ” My face went numb and it felt like my throat was being choked from my inability to speak. My vision suddenly became spotty and I was not able to see straight. All the sounds around me went mute as I scoured every angle around … Read more
There I was living a good life in Nashville, Tennessee. I was very comfortable in the current state that I was in. I was just a young boy during the summer before I would head into the 4th grade. Summer was going amazing with many memories. But then I got told the news that would … Read more
“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions. ” -Oliver Wendell Holmes. One day, I was walking around campus with my friend Faith when both of us stumbled upon a sign in the elevator that mentioned a trip to Europe to study our favorite parts of … Read more
34 years post-plague, Vasquez Landholdings, Southern Texas, fall of 2073 “Hey Giana, guess what? I’m going to give you a spanking! ” “What for? I’ll tell on you! ” “No one likes a tattletale and everyone knows that the birthday girl gets spankings on her birthday. ” Crossing her arms and shaking her head, looking … Read more
The Burns family is the first Black family I met in the ward. Albert Burns Junior was cool! He had swagger, as is the contemporary way to address it. I have never been one for slang, but he, Albert Junior was cool like Dexter. His cool was different though. His cool stemmed from the fact … Read more
When one thinks of meaningful work, generally, they think of labor that accomplishes a certain goal. One thinks of a prestigious job or occupation that has meaning to it, but meaningful work can mean a lot more than just a prestigious job or having meaning to something you do. Meaningful work can be defined as … Read more
Rebecca Yoder Was 12 Years Old When She Disappeared. I look closely at the wrinkly newspaper and see a grainy black-andwhite photo of myself, a photo I never even knew was taken. You can’t tell that I have mousy brown hair or mossy eyes like my mother’s. This is wrong, this all wrong, I think … Read more
Am I the only one who gets anxiety when getting ready to run during track season? It was a hot day in the month of May, our shuttle hurdle team was preparing to run our race that you decide if we would go to state or not. As we were warming up we all felt … Read more
“Yo, Yo, Yo! Check it out dawgs. I’m just keeping it real up here in the front of the plane. Get ready for the flight of yo life. I am your pilot, Randy Jackson, ready to fly you to absolutely nowhere! ” declared Randy as he shoved the microphone back into the wall. My heart … Read more
The tapping on the wood door was enormous in the silence. Shocked out of my solitude, I pushed myself up from the couch and heaved open the door. Silhouetted against the light was a dark-haired woman with a girl clinging to her skirt. I knew who she was. My landlady had told me about the … Read more
He goes to the hoop. He jumps, hanging in the air for what felt like eternity. It was his second game. Brought up from the DLeague, he needed to prove himself. His name is Jeff “Elmo” Beige. As the ball is coming down, closer to the hoop another individual comes into play. The name is … Read more
“Sometimes quiet is violent,” those words ring into the teeming stadium as thousands of zealous fans sing along. One of those fans happen to be myself, standing in the middle of the pit of people. Two shadowy silhouettes exist on stage; one on the piano and the other on the drums. Then suddenly the lights … Read more
My husband Brett and I, were not able to have children of our own. So we contacted the best adoption agency around us, through this agency we now have two beautiful children. Six year old Joseph Louis and three year old Poppy Jean. Joseph is a “slow to warm up” (Mannis 2014) child and though … Read more
He’s always there: next to me in class, across from me at lunch, following me at recess. There’s no escaping him. I could take a step to the left, and you could count on him to close the gap. His words taunt me every day. His cruel jokes, his unnecessary teases, his painful truths, they … Read more
When I was five years old, my parents got divorced. Through the separation process, and some years after, my parents fought a lot. They sometimes brought my 2 sisters and I into it, which was really frustrating. Growing up with parents who are divorced has been a struggle for me throughout my life. It’s hard … Read more
As a student I find myself seated in front of a computer screen for long hours at a time; likewise, it is my obligation as a student to use technology as a resource to further my comprehension in my degree. In my opinion a good excuse to be seated in front of a computer for … Read more
Just like most civilized people I dislike bugs. Actually I really hate them! Just thinking about them gets me all itchy and uncomfortable, and yet one summer evening I would find myself sticking my hands right into their dark slimy lair. I swear God has a weird sense of humor at times. But I guess … Read more
Augustus Waters from The Fault in Our Stars once spoke, “I’m on a rollercoaster that only goes up my friend. ” At one point in my life, I found this quote to be totally insignificant. Now that I look back on my teenage years, I see it. The rollercoaster only went up from the point … Read more
“Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work. ” Vince Lombardi, Green Bay Packer coach. This quote has been the foundation for my father’s belief that team sports teach commitment. When I started middle school my father insisted that I … Read more
Around five, I drive to meet Mark at a restaurant in San Francisco. I chose to go across the Golden Gate Bridge despite a third phobia of mine – a fear of heights. This fear I discovered the hard way when I walked with Mark and some friends across this same bridge for a charity … Read more
My first trip the rocky mountains in colorado was amazing. I had so much fun! It all started when a few days before summer break began last year when I overheard my step-dad and uncle talking about a hiking trip in Colorado that we were going to take sometime in the month of early July. … Read more
When I woke, the waning light of day had become total darkness; it consumed the entire room. At first, I did not know where I was and then felt Louis’ body against mine and remembered that he and I had made wonderful love before falling asleep. I could hear his even breathing; feel the warmth … Read more
I am a communicator because everyday single day I ask questions and talk to people. Mostly questions to teachers because sometimes I don’t get it, but sometimes my friends because they might be confusing. One of my goals is to not wait until the last minute to do all my homework because sometimes there are … Read more
There was a knock at the door. It was my roommate from college. I was finally riding on an airplane for the first time in 11 years. I had finally saved up enough money to go to Hawaii this Winter. The shuttle had arrived and we loaded our bags onto the van. I looked back … Read more
I was in at Save-A-Lot a couple of weeks ago and while I was in line to check out, I overheard a lady talk about a man that was following her on the walking path behind my house. She was talking about how this man would follow her for a couple hundred feet then stop, … Read more
Ever since my mother had me she always talked about California and how she used to live there and how much she loved it there. She was always talking about going but we never got around to it. During my freshman year, about one week after the second quarter ending and over four years of … Read more
Most people have moved before sometime in their life. For me, it was only two times. The first move was an international move from Vietnam to the United States of America, when I was barely 8 months old. At the time, it was just my mom, dad, and me, moving across the world to start … Read more
As a child, I remember laying on my twin-sized bed. On one side, all my stuffed animals lined up by size and importance, then me and my mother on the other. Each night, smelling like strawberry shampoo, I would line up my cotton menagerie, wiggle under the covers, and rest my head on my pillow, … Read more
Chapter 1 Awaken My name’s Michael and this is my story. This all started when I went to sleep in my home in New York. I had a dad, my mom had disappeared when I was five. Life was great until I turned 15. This is the year when my worst nightmare began. I was … Read more
It was a simple beginning to a beautiful day in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The dry morning air brought a wealth of warmth to my tired skin. “Today is a day of opportunity,” I thought. I would hopefully be entering the work force after a long battle with unemployment. I was excited because my days were … Read more
Having the luxury of great health and family, it can be difficult for me to see outside the realm of comfortability and see the daily hardships people experience. There are so many people without housing, stability, and monetary resources, and these people often find themselves wondering where they can find help and figure out what … Read more
High school is one of the biggest transitions in a person’s early life. You go from being at the top in your school to the bottom. For me, it was very hard to adjust to this change. On my first day of high school, I walked into first period so nervous I thought | was … Read more
Usually when you tell someone you don’t want to do something, you expect them to just understand and walk away. Even though I had been asked multiple times if I had read “The Hunger Games” the answer was still no. And then I continued on saying that I didn’t want to read it… ever. It … Read more
I hear the doorbell jingle as I add a scoop of chocolate fudge to this kid’s ice cream cone, causing me to poorly place the scoop and causing all three scoops to topple over. I mutter a cuss word under my breath and apologize to the chubby redhead standing in front of me looking slightly … Read more
