Sophomore Year: GLO portfolio

Student/ Parent Portfolio Conference

Thursday, May 16th, 2013 

You're invited to come and take a look at my GLO portfolio which showcases the work that I've done over the school year on this day! 

http://dancergrrl16.wix.com/menemacportfolio2013

Influences - This I Believe Final Draft

I expected my time as a teenager to be a lot like what you see on television or read in books. I anticipated all of the late night adventures and secrets and parties and recklessness. Those influences created scenarios in my head that really tainted my ideas of how my adolescence should be like and twisted the decisions I made. Looking back at the two years I've spent as a high schooler thus far, I admit that I had made some decisions that weren't the best, especially when it comes to those from this past year. But through it all, I learned to believe that the people you surround yourself with really does impact the person you become. 

Uneventful would be the sole word I would use to describe my freshman year. I was uncommonly innocent throughout the year, and too naive for my own good. I had one best friend who I did absolutely everything with. Her parent's were immensely strict on her, and on me as well since I was like another daughter to them. Trouble was a foreign word to us. I had devoted all of my time to my best friend, cheerleading, schoolwork, and a dull relationship that I didn't have time to experience anything else. 

Then sophomore year started, and it seemed like everything was changing. I lost the one best friend I had due to her intense passion for cheer and natural talent which allowed her to get to a higher level. It took over most of her life, and since I wasn't nearly as good, it was like I just got left in the dust. Feeling abandoned and throughly confused, I set out on an attempt to find different friends to replace the void that she had left. When fall break begun, it finally seemed as if the trial and error period of finding people to occupy my time was about to result in a success. Suddenly, I was in the company of new people who had outlooks and pasts completely different from mine. I was immediately intrigued. They gave me a glimpse into their world, one which moved too fast and burned too bright. Back then, it didn't occur to me that the things I was participating in with them were damaging me, physically and emotionally. All that mattered was the temporary euphoric feelings I got whenever I was with them. One of them especially had such a heavy influence on me then, due to the fact that he excelled at knowing the exact things to say and do to get me to become infatuated with him. He extended an invitation to me to hang out with him and his friends one night. It was about 10 when he asked, and I knew there was no way my parents would let me out that late. He made a comment that I should sneak out, and at that time it was probably a joking statement, but I knew he would be happy if I did. These people made me feel like I had to do whatever it takes to please them, so I pushed my screen window to the floor and hopped out. I met the whole group that night, and from there I was hooked. I was finally getting a taste of the high school life I had only seen if it was scripted. Night after night. I remember coming home in the blurry morning hours of five or six a.m. most days during fall and winter break, and even some random weekends, too. Car rides with the music turned up loud, surrounded by people I barely knew, it was all for a thrill. I wasn't a big fan of illegal substances, but I did agree to do absurd and stupid things with them, climbing over fences illegally to get a better view of the city lights and searching for warmth from a bonfire on the beach, even though we had already supposedly gotten kicked out from that area since it was closed. My clouded judgement from being with them had lead me to believe that I was able to feel alive when I was in their presence. My outlook to everything was changing. I thought that I was better than anyone who wasn't part of that group. I foolishly began to believe that I was invincible. All of my dreams and future plans suddenly didn't mean enough to me to outweigh having fun. I stopped putting my all into cheerleading, skipping practices and showing up tired from coming home at ridiculous times the night before. I was a mess of emotion back then, where one word could turn me from blissful to dangerously furious in seconds. It was so bad, I ended up getting myself in trouble with the law. My parents found out, and they lost all trust in me. That's when I finally realized that the people I met were causing me more harm than help. I looked back at my life, which was then in shatters, and I was utterly ashamed that there was any way I had let it get that bad. It had started off with me just being lonely, wanting company from others but too naive to know that they were the wrong kind of people to get involved with. I started to try to please them too much, and that led me to feeling like a delinquent at that point, a terrible, useless person. 

So I did something for the betterment of myself; I let go of all the people who were in my life during that period of time that I considered to be my friends. They didn't care about me quite as much as they cared about being able to have a good time, and it took me a while to realize that. I slowly started to piece my life back together again. I grew closer to a group of people that I was always sort of friends with being that we had a majority of our classes together. Most of them came from families similar to mine, where excellent performance in school related things were highly stressed and encouraged. They provided me the good influence I need to get my grades back up, and my name found it's way back to the honor roll list. They truly acted as life support for me then. The boy I talked about earlier who first got me fixated on the dangerous lifestyle I used to be a part of broke my heart to be honest. The old group of friends I had would urge me to do anything possible to forget the pain. I would've folded over in self destruction sooner or later with them. But not the new, healthier group that I had found, who pieced me back together with encouraging talks and wise advice. They taught me something quite essential when I became friends with them, how to have fun without damaging yourself in any way. Instead of late night drives, they took me around the island during the day to the beach to get time in the ocean, a therapy that didn't trigger addictions. Instead of pressuring me to sneak out more and defy my parents, girls from the new group actually ended up getting really close to my family and asking if I could sleepover, go out to watch movies, eat dinner with them, and other stuff normal kids my age are supposed to do with their friends. It was so much more beneficial for me, and I wasn't doing bad things anymore. They showed me how to have a good time without breaking rules. 

I used to always hear that "friends are the family you choose yourself". I never really put much thought into how true that is, and how valuable the choice of your friends was until I found the right group of people that pushed me to reach my full potential and excel in the things that I do. Even in my darkest days, they don't give me anything but positive vibes and encouraging words, which is so different from other friendships I had, who would only be able to numb the pain for a while with a short sense of happiness before I came crashing back down. I believe that sometimes it is necessary to remove people from your life who aren't bettering you as a person. The people you surround yourself with should be direct reflections of who you are or who you want to be, this I believe. 

Influences - This I Believe Rough Draft

I expected my time in high school to be a lot like what you see on television or read in books. I saw stereotypes of all the kids there being conveyed, and I expected my teenage years to be full of late nights and parties and adventures and recklessness. That slipped ideas into my head and twisted the decisions I made. I admit to making wrong choices, within the last year especially. I had found myself in the company of the wrong group, and allowed them to change me. But through them, I learned to believe that the people you surround yourself with really does impact the person you become. 

Uneventful would be the sole word I would use to describe my first year of high school. I was innocent throughout the year, and too naive for my own good. I had one best friend who I did everything with, who's parents were very strict, so trouble was almost a foreign word for us.  My grades were consistently satisfactory enough to make the honor roll every quarter. I had devoted all of my time to cheer, and schoolwork, my best friend, and a truly tedious relationship that I didn't have time to experience anything else. 

Then sophomore year happened, and it seemed as if everything changed. I lost the one friend I had because her intense passion for cheer and natural talent allowed her to get to a higher level that took over most of her life. Feeling abandoned and thoroughly confused, I set out on an attempt to find different friends to replace the void that she had left. At this point, I just needed something to occupy my time. When fall break begun, I had finally found myself in the company of new people with outlooks completely different from mine. I was immediately intrigued. What I didn't realize, however, is that I had stumbled in with the wrong crowd. They gave me a glimpse into their world, one which moved too fast and burned too bright. Back then, it didn't occur to me that the things I was participating in were damaging me, physically and emotionally. All that mattered was the temporary euphoric feelings I got whenever I was in their company. My outlook to everything was changing. I thought I was better than everyone else that wasn't part of that group. I thought I was invincible. Suddenly, all of my dreams and future plans didn't mean enough to me to outweigh having fun. My grades started to slip. I was defying my parents, and not giving them the respect they deserved. I stopped putting my all into cheerleading, skipping practices, showing up tired from coming home late the night before. I was so full of emotion back then, where one word could turn me from purely blissful to hazardously furious in seconds. It wasn't until I got into actual trouble with the law when I was with them that I finally realized that these people I met were causing me more harm than help. I looked back at my life, which was then in shatters, and was utterly ashamed that I had let it get this bad. 

That's when I did something for the betterment of myself. I let go of all of the people who were in my life during that period of time that I considered friends. Because they didn't care about me quite as much as they cared about being able to have a good time. I slowly started to piece my life back together again. I grew closer to a group of people that I was always sort of friends with, but all but ignored when in a clouded mindset of rebellion. They helped me through it all. Most of them were from asian families like me, where excellent performance in school related things were highly stressed, so they provided me the good influence I needed to get my grades back up. They took me around the island to the beach, to watch movies, to have sleepovers and do normal things for girls my age. What's different is that they showed me how to have fun while being a good person. 

I used to always hear that "friends are the family you choose yourself". I never really put much thought into how valuable that choice of your friends was until I found the right group of people that pushed me to be my very best and excel in the things I do. Only positive vibes and encouraging words were sparked from them in even my darkest days. I believe that sometimes it's necessary to remove people from your life who aren't bettering you as a person. The people you surround yourself with should be reflection of who you are or want to be, this I believe. 

Occupy Moanalua

Team TEAL has been working on a project entitled Occupy Moanalua, which is aimed at the everyday heavy backup of traffic in the student parking lot at Moanalua High School. This is a flyer advertising the movement, and the goal is to have all student driver (and even teachers if possible) come out and protest in the front sidewalk of the parking lot to show the administration that there is blocks in the parking lot and they need to be fixed. One of the main problems is the crossing walk, which has nobody overseeing it so students sometimes cross carelessly, and continuously with no respect for drivers. We want to enforce someone whether it be students or an extra administration officer to simply act as a crossing guard for the students crossing and the cars in order to prevent that backup and allow more safety.

Tribute Poster

Shades of Gray

This project made me reevaluate a lot of the activities I previously had going on in my life. Although some of the list is made up (I haven't stolen anything, be to jail or been close to going to jail, or committing a serious crime such as murder), it does show me I have made some impulsive and reckless decisions and participated in such activities, and that isn't good for me. As the stages of development from the childlike phase of doing without thinking to growing into a matured adult and letting both society and what you personally know to be wrong and right were taught to me, I realize that I'm past the stage where I'm supposed to be. Now, this list doesn't include all the good I've done in the world to, so by looking at this, judgement may arise, and the word careless may been thrown out to describe me. I assure that I am not, and although I have been influenced to make choices in the past that were not the best, I think I'm progressively moving towards things that are more beneficial to me personally and to making better choices as a person.

Final Allusion Poem

She was 10. 

and already knew greater things were in store. 

People looked at her a bit differently. 

Like she was a bit strange, a bit flighty, a bit troubled. 

And she was. 

But that didn't falter her. 

With such a small frame

you wouldn't immediately see the huge ambition in that girl. 

Unless you looked into her big brown eyes

filled with fire and excitement. 

It was common to hear her speak her mind, 

regardless if her opinions were differing from those

of her peers. 

She made her first get away 

into the world of euphoria and exhilaration

and from there she was hooked on that feeling. 

She was flying. 

She was free. 

Her adventures got more frightening 

as they got closer to the stars. 

More things were being put at risk. 

 

Now it was time for the most monumental one. 

Warnings and cautionary tales 

were told to her 

about the dangers of the trip she was about to pursue 

for the destination in her mind 

was one so small and seeming

unattainable. 

They thought she was crazy 

attempting to do 

what just "cannot be done."  

They asked if she was wiling to take the chance 

and she nodded with confidence.

That's when she got into the plane and took off. 

Previous memories were replaced with visions of her future. 

She was making her great escape 

and she never looked back.