It was back when I was 14 years old in the 8th grade, when I got an opportunity to take a trip to Washington D.C. to learn, explore, and meet new people in a different state. There was a long way to go, for me to be able to be chosen to go on the trip. This trip was competitive because only 10 students would get to go. I had to do some paperwork to let the assistant principal at my middle school know I’d be participating in competing with other kids at school to go to Washington D.C. I wrote an essay explaining who I was, how would this trip benefit my future, and why did I want to go to Washington D.C. I’d also be in charge of raising $500 on my own and also in the essay I had to explain how would I raise $500 on my own. I was settle to be …show more content…
a cross the country for 5 days and 4 nights. Knowing that I wasn't going to be with my family for a couple of days and most of all be really far away from them made me sad but also happy. Although I've been away from my family a lot of times already, again it was starting. I couldn’t be any proud of myself that I got this big opportunity, and that I know I worked so hard to have the chance of going to Washington D.C and I did. Most students don’t get this opportunity and I am so lucky I got it. My family was really happy for the all the work I did to be able to participate in the trip. Alexandro, my brother was in the 11th grade when he knew I’d be leaving for a couple a days, and the house will be so quiet and relaxing. As well as my other brother, Lexandro he knew I’d be gone for a couple of days too. I can still remember what they told me before leaving. Alexandro told me, “ Have fun! Explore and take advantage of whatever they offer you because you don’t know if this will be your first and last time traveling this far and to a new state you’ve never been to.” I said, “ Yeah. I know.” Lexandro also talked to me and said, “ Enjoy this opportunity because many kids would like to be in school like we all are, and take a trip like you are about to”. I hugged them both and told them, “ I love both of you, thanks for setting me a good example!” Family, I can’t be any thankful for having a family. Being able to see them and talk to them everyday, second, minute, and hour of my life is the best. I am also thankful for still having both of my brothers Alexandro and Lexandro, my little sister Camila, and most of all both of my parents Enrique and Luz by my side. Saturday May 17th, 2014 a sunny and beautiful day in D.C. ! I woke up happy and excited, it was my first actual day in Washington D.C, and I was ready to see new things. While I was getting ready I got an iphone alert that said “Alex’s iphone” and this annoying ringtone appeared. For a while it wasn't a problem but later on it was annoying so I had to turn off my phone so it would stop the sound. I had in mind that my brother Alexandro lost his phone somewhere in the house so my other brother Lexandro had to turn on the find my iphone alert so the sound could go on and be able to find it. Reason why I also got the alert, was because all iphone users in my family are connected, whenever someone loses their iphone some one with the app can go ahead, turn on the sound and alert so the phone can be found. 10:30pm in Washington D.C, I contacted my family it was 7:30pm in Oakland there is a 3 hour difference between Oakland and Washington D.C. I spoke to my mom and I told her about what I did throughout the whole day, I asked her how were they all doing and what they’ve done so far. We had a pretty long talk until I had to go because I was tired and I needed some rest for another amazing day, the next day. I didn’t mention to her the iphone alert I had gotten because I thought it would be unnecessary. Wednesday May 21st, 2014, was the day I was coming back to my lovely hometown. Since I arrived in San Francisco, it was going to be a long way for my mom and Alexandro to pick me up there then come back all the way to Oakland. Instead they both picked me up at Fruitvale Station from Bart. When I seen my mom I dropped my bags and ran to her saying, “ OMG! Mami!’’. No better way to have seen my mom first and hugging her. I also hugged Alexandro who was hiding behind a tree, and I didn’t know why. Most families from the other kids that went to D.C with me, were there too. I was so happy to be back with my family and tell them all about what I did in Washington D.C. I got home to my little sister saying , “ Jackie !!!!!! I miss you a lot (hugs me). I told Camila, “ Aww mousy, I missed you too! but now I am back! (hugs her)’’. I ran to the room to see my dad and I hugged him and whispered, “ Dad, I am back and gave him a hug, he was already asleep because the next day he was going to work early in the morning. After, I went to my room and looked at Lexandro and we both smiled and he stood up to hug me, we both hugged each other. I then went into the kitchen, a minute later I went to the living room where Alexandro and I made eye contact. I asked him, “ What !? what happened to your eye and why is your cheek swollen alex? What the .. Tell me !” Alexandro told me, “ It’s nothing, I just got hit with a baseball at practice”. I stood in the living room confused and thinking about if what he had told me was true. Then again, I walk into the kitchen and ask my mom, “ Que le paso a alex ma? Porque tiene su ojo rojo y su cachete hinchado? mmh?( What happen to Alex mom? Why does he have his eye red and his cheek swollen? mmh?)’’. My mom whispers to me, “ Lo asaltaron Jackie, eso fue lo que paso ( They jumped him Jackie, that's what happened)’’. I was still confused and thinking so hard about the situation.
I said to my mom, “ Ma! como? donde? que le quitaron? cuando paso esto? porque no me dijistes nada cuando hablamos esa noche del incidente!?’’ ( Mom! how? where? what did they took from him? when did this happen? why didn’t you let me know anything that night that the incident happen? when we talked on the phone)’’. My mom spoke to me, telling me, “ Fue el Sabado aqui a tres casas de donde vivimos, iba en camino a la practica de baseball, le pegaron y le quitaron el teléfono pero la policía pudo ver donde estaba con ese sonido que le tiene lex cuando pierdes tu teléfono. Yo no te dije nada porque sabia que ivas a preocuparte y quererte venir, y yo quería que disfrutaras el viaje, que trabajastes mucho para poder ir Jackie’’ ( It was on Saturday, three houses away from where we live, he was on his way to practice, they hit him on the face and took his phone but the police tracked it down with the sound lex can put whenever you lose your phone. I didn’t tell you anything because I didn’t want to get you worried nor have you come back, I wanted you to enjoy your trip that you worked so hard for Jackie...)’’. Speechless to be for the rest of the night, I teared up and I was so
angry, I went ahead and asked myself, “ Why my family? We’ve never hurted anyone so bad like they now hurted us, no ! why my brother? he's a good brother, student, and person, why him? he's just 19 years old, a person who wants to make the best out of his life even if he’s an immigrant living in the United States.” I just wanted to hug him so tight and let him know everything was going to be okay and if he ever needs something he knows who to come to and its us, his family the only people who will help him. These 15 years of life that I have, never did I think something hard like this recent incident would affect my family and change us. Sadly, Alexandro was hit in the face by two persons who are heartless. My brother has his jaw fractured and will have to live with that for the rest of his life. He went to therapy for about 5 months to recover his memory, talk about what had happen, and if he has any anger towards the race of people who fractured his jaw. This incident led my mom, be able to apply to a program called Visa U, which is a program for only immigrant people who get to be protected by police and be able to remain in the country while still being immigrants. Alexandro was 17 years old when this problem happened. He now is 19 years old attending Sacramento State University, majoring in computer engineer and on his way to get his masters degree, he also lives in Sacramento and he comes to Oakland to visit every weekend/vacation. It’s been a year and 4 months since this incident occur. I always think about how much I’d rather prefer to have been here when the incident happen to help my brother out. No one knew or thought it would happen, but like they say “ Expect the Unexpected” and that's what my family and I got. I don’t see myself without either of my family members, they could give me a hard time but I love them so much that I’d give up my life for any of them. I could of lost my brother, and never get to see again, ever until we meet again in the sky. I am grateful to see that he's still with us, with my family and he's still continuing his life although what happened to him is hard. Appreciate, love, enjoy, do what you can with each and every family member of yours, I tell you this because as you can see one of my family members could of been gone even before I knew it. Family is the best you can have in life, it might not be for long, but for some period of time it is for long.
“Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?” a quote from Lin Manuel Miranda’s new musical, Hamilton. This quote will continue to be a testament of my work ethic throughout my lifetime, as I work towards my future. The most important thing we can do on this planet is to leave a legacy, something that is worth remembering, whether it may be countless awards, stunning revelations, impactful inventions, or a caring and righteous family to carry on your name.
Around the month of August of 2008, the bell ranged and I was dismissed from class. Once, I got out of my class, I went to look for my mom’s car. When I stepped onto the car my mom said, “Jose, guess what?” “What,” I said to her. “Your dad and I decided to move to Colorado,” she said to me excitedly. “What in the world is Colorado, ma?” “Oh my God Jose, never mind about that, aren’t you excited that you’re going to be able to live with you dad?” “Yes, of course!” During
Every person has an American Dream they want to pursue, achieve and live. Many people write down goals for themselves in order to get to their dream. Those never ending goals can range from academic to personal. As of today, I am living my dream. My American Dream is to become a nurse, travel to many places, have a family, and get more involved with God.
I once heard someone say, “I can hear your Washingtonian accent.” “Me?” I questioned him in disbelief. “Yeah,” he replied. Then with a little more cheek than I should of, I responded with, “no ya don’t!” and walked away. I remember thinking to myself he was the one that was dropping letters out of words when he spoke. Later on, I realized why I had responded the way I did. I had a perception about accents and dialects that I had subconsciously acquired as I grew up.
I feel like I hit the jackpot with this one, this was the second to last days I would end up going to Union Square and was I happy I decided to. As I was sitting on the steps, I looked over to spot a man who had stains on his t-shirt, paint dripped on his boots and a rather intense opinion about politics. He had a sign that said “Free Speak out” on it and he was definitely cutting it loose with his opinion (Fig. 11). “I’d like to bring up a few points about Hilary that people don’t know before handing the mic over. She overthrew the government of Honduras, we know that. Now Honduras is a wreck, it was a wreck before, it’s even worse now. (Eric). “Ok, were going to open up the mic, this is a free open speak out and we’d like to hear what other people have to say” (Eric). The gentleman named Eric who was first speaking as seen in (Fig. 11) was the one who organized
Hey Brandon, I wanted to ask you something since you been to DC before. I found a hotel in the Alexandria area and it seems like I would have to go to the Pentagon City Metro Station in order to get to DC. Now the question is if you went to the metro stations before, were they pretty decent? I mean I survived subways in NYC can't be any worse than that lol, but I just wanted to make sure, I'm a little picky when it comes to things like that lol.
One week this summer I was able to live in a completely different world than the privileged one I had been living in all my life. This summer Memorial Road Church of Christ took me to Honduras on a mission trip where other students my age would be serving the people and church there, rebuilding houses smaller than my room for whole families to live in. The mission trip allowed me to learn a lot about the people of Honduras and myself. It was put into perspective for me how blessed I am and how much I take for granted and how much I think I deserve, while people are much happier than me with much less than I have. The trip forced me out of my comfort zone, which was challenging, but I always felt like a stronger person after finishing something I did not want to. No matter how uncomfortable I got, serving the people in Honduras who really needed it was fulfilling, and the impact that it had on me was greater than anything I had ever experienced before. One trip to a disabled children’s orphanage allowed me to appreciate my
It was about two years ago when I arrived in United States of America, and I still remember the day when I left my native country, Honduras. As I recall, one day previous to my departure, I visited my relatives who live in San Pedro Sula. They were all very happy for me to see me except my grandmother Isabel. She looked sad; even though she tried to smile at all times when I was talking to her, I knew that deep inside of her, her heart was broken because of my departure the next morning. I remember that I even told her, “Grandma, do not worry about me, I’ll be fine. I promise that I will write you letters and send you pictures as much as possible.” Here reply was, “I know sweetie I know you will.” Suddenly after she said that I started to cry. For som...
My trip to the Getty museum was filled with anticipation and an unknowing of what Iwas actually searching to write about. I went on a Friday at about eleven but the museum was still full. It took about twenty minutes to find parking, the wait in line was long, and the tram had so many people it felt even hotter then it actually was. But overall the experience was fun. I enjoyed checking out the works of art and watching the classes of elementary students learn about the history and culture in the room. On one occasion I was very surprised because a mother asked her daughter, who could not have been more than six, about a painting was which she correctly identified as Vincent Van Gogh’s Irises, which was great because I never knew about Van Gogh at her age.
My heart was pounding as I boarded my flight leaving the Bangkok International Airport. A flight attendant in a grey dress with a red bow draped over her shoulder announced; “Welcome aboard flight AA350 to the United States.” My journey began that day.
My teammates, Alex Wu, Andrea Palate, Namara Haq, and I rode the bus, went to city hall, visited the Brookside biking path, Arbor Villa Tennis Court Park, the Plaza, McGonigle’s Market, and KC Community Gardens. The experiences I had visiting these places helped me connect the concepts to the material I learned in class. First, we walked over to Brookside where there was a place to rent bikes to ride on the trail. The Brookside area is an older part of Kansas City, but is well kept and modernized.
Were walking in the hot summer heat of July in Times Square. I’m exhausted, after cramming myself inside a rush-hour subway for 30 minutes and taking a 45 minute ferry to the Statue of Liberty my parents still wanted to go to Times Square. I reminded myself that vacation was meant to be fun and relaxing, so I told myself to “get over it”. As we're making our way through the tourist trap of the city I notice a very brightly lit building with a full clear-glass structure, that read “M&M”S World”. I jumped, M&M’’s was my favorite candy and I was already intrigued by the structures unique color combination across the outside of the building. My and I walked in and were awed by the displays of red, white, blue, green, and every color imaginable.
Mom came to the door in confusion when she saw who it was. Mom gives me that look as to leave so I do. When Mom comes back, I see my Mom crying. I run up to my Mom and hug her asking her what’s wrong and she says, “Your Dad has been Deported”. Those 5 words had rung in my head.
Last week, My family and I took a trip to Washington, DC. We drove there, which was a fairly terrible experience, but DC itself was nice.
It was the second semester of fourth grade year. My parents had recently bought a new house in a nice quite neighborhood. I was ecstatic I always wanted to move to a new house. I was tired of my old home since I had already explored every corner, nook, and cranny. The moment I realized I would have to leave my old friends behind was one of the most devastating moments of my life. I didn’t want to switch schools and make new friends. Yet at the same time was an interesting new experience.