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. 

Allusion Poster Draft

Allusion Poem Draft

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. 

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. 

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 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. 

Parent Conference: 1st Semester Portfolio

Hi Mom and Dad, 

This past semester, I do feel as if I've done some writing pieces to my liking. Those are the one's in which I'm the most proud of, the one's I've spent a lot of effort and revision on. The personal essays I've written, such as the Coming of Age and the College Personal Statement ones were the pieces I'm the most pleased with. Using the voice trait especially, I feel like doing these personal essays has really helped me figure out more of who I am and who I want to be. Those were created with more than words. They were written with nostalgia and emotion and ambition for a better future, too. 

The major challenges for me during this semester had to be research reports, such as the Risky Business one. As I talked about earlier, personal essays are my strong point. When it comes to non-fiction, though, I tend to have a harder time putting words together that are profession, factual, and still interesting to read. 

Next quarter, I do plan on bettering my non-fiction writing through more essays, and applying that into other classes, too, such as the Exploravision project we're currently doing for Physics. My goals are to become better at research and at phrasing information in a way that the readers would be pleased to look through

View my portfolio at dancergrrl16.wix.com/writingstandards 

After viewing, please comment with answers to the following questions: 

1. What piece of writing did you like best in my portfolio and why?
2. What did you like about my portfolio and sharing and what would you like to see me improve on?
3. Which of the writing traits (ideas, organization, voice, word choice) do you feel was most successful for me?
4. Which of the traits of writing would you like me to improve on in the coming semester?

Thanks! 

THIN documentary review

Eryn Yuasa

Language Arts II

Menemac

Thin (2006) is one of those remarkably rare unrestrained documentaries that focused on a subject that is very relevant to problems that are happening today: eating disorders. Director Lauren Greenfield gave viewers footage of the story following 4 women who suffer from eating disorders and their stories while they’re in the Renfrew Center in Florida, a treatment facility.  The film does a fantastic job at showing what treatment truly is like, without sugar coating anything. Thin won the 2006 Documentary Grand Jury prize at the Boston Independent film festival, and also was nominated for an International Documentary Association Award.

The main women who the film is focused on really help the storyline presented by being completely honest and open with their feelings. They share exactly why they ended up in treatment, how being at the center feels for them, and the film follows up what’s happened to their lives after they have been released from the center. Because of the severe nature of the issue, I strongly recommend Thin to be not for younger viewers. There is no rating for this film.  

If you’re looking for a sincerely raw take of the problem that millions of Americans across the country are facing, than this is the film for you. It’s a documentary that captures interest in the beginning, and then keeps it all the way through the end, as you’re anxious to see what happens to these women after recovery. 7 out of 10 star

Angry Letter Rough Draft

2825 Ala Illima Street

Honolulu, Hawaii 96818

November 13, 2012

Brandy Melville USA

Ala Moana Center

Section 2F, Second Floor

Honolulu, Hawaii 96814

Dear Brandy Melville USA management,

Ever since the store has opened in the Ala Moana Center shopping center, I have been a satisfied customer. The quality of the clothes are great for the reasonable prices that they offer. I can’t seem to leave without buying something new. And the style – very beach like and boho – perfectly fits the climate and the people of Hawaii.

However, I remember the first time that I had ventured into the store and picked up a piece of clothing that caught my eye, I realized that there was no size on the price tags. Taking a closer look around the store, I found that a bunch of small signs had been putting up, simply reading, “One size fits most”. There’s only one size to a large majority of your clothing, with an exception to things such as bandeaus and shorts. This makes it hard for people who are outside the normal height and weight range of an adolescent or an adult. For example, there was a Guilianna maxi skirt that I had looked at, before realizing it was 41” in length and had a 12” waistband. While the waistband had fit, considering I’m only 5’, the skirt had basically drowned me with a pool of material at my feet. If the store offered sizes, finding clothes to fit you would be a lot easier. I’ve had to put back a ton of hi-low skirts and maxi skirts both because the one size fits most idea apparently didn’t work with the body type I do have.

I’d like to mention that the problem is not just me being the wrong size to fit into the clothes. It’s the fact that the stores “one size fits most” motto is degrading to those like me who now feel like we’re not the right size that we are supposed to be. It’s adding to the insecurities and doubts that hit teenage girls and even adults who feel like they don’t fit the picture perfect body that society tells us we should have. Just those simple words and the sizing chart of the store can ruin one’s self esteem.

I completely understand that by making your clothes in one size, it can visibly lower production costs. Brandy Melville is, though, a big choice in clothing for the girls all over the island though, and I feel like it would be worth the extra money to make sure all of these girls feel included and don’t get the wrong message from the stores sizing policy.

Please, keep up the good work with making desirable and affordable clothing for people to wear, but I do feel that you shouldn’t be advertising that everyone’s body needs to look a certain way if they want to wear such clothes.

Sincerely,

Eryn Yuasa

Risky Business Rough Draft

            One of the hardest battles to face is one with your own body and mind. That’s the seemly endless fight almost 11 million people per year struggle with, the fight against an eating disorder. Eating disorders can come in different form, such as binge eating, anorexia, and bulimia. All though often thought of as an unimportant, “self caused” issue, the severe natures of eating disorders need to be brought to attention because of the damaging mental and physical affects they can have on people.

            People argue that eating disorders are just a self-caused problem. No one is physically forcing you to have an eating disorder. But this is something that has been classified as a real problem by medical doctors. When you have an eating disorder, it causes things in your brain to change and people start to think differently. Harsh consequences can be aftermaths of eating disorders, and that’s why it needs to be shown as a real problem.  

            Having an eating disorder can lead up to more server mental illnesses such as depression and the thoughts of suicide. That being said, they cannot just keep being brushed aside. People suffering from anorexia are 50 times more likely to die because of suicide due to the psychological changes that being severely underweight can have.  Half of all patients diagnosed with a binge eating disorder have a history of depression. 24% of bipolar patients have met the criteria for eating disorders and 44% have said they’ve had trouble controlling their eating with their disorder.

            A disorder can be defined as a disturbance in physical and mental health or functions. That being said, an eating disorder can be critically damaging to physical health, also. Anorexia, or failure to maintain an adequate body weight and doing so by having excessive dietary restrictions, can cause medical changes such as bone loss, difficulties with temperature regulations, low heart rates, low blood pressures, and more. Psychologically, they can trigger anxiety, depression, social isolation, and perfectionism. Bulimia, or recurrent binge eating accompanied by compensatory behaviors such as purging, excessive exercise, and fasting can cause electrolyte imbalance, tooth decay, and esophageal vicars in the medical area. Anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and difficulties with impulse control can be some psychological side effects. Binge eating, which is recurrent binge eating without compensatory behaviors can cause anxiety, depression, substance use, and more psychologically. Medically, it can cause obesity and gastric problems.

            No person truly suffering from an eating disorder should have to feel like what they’re going through is unimportant or not a real problem., Having an eating disorder is in deed like a battle against yourself. By bringing this to attention, we can create open options for treatment and encourage to bring about body peace for everyone. 

Vocabulary Word

College Essay Draft

What intrigues you? Tell us about one work of art, scientific achievement, piece of literature, method of communication, or place in the world (a film, book, performance, website, event, location, etc.) and explain it's significance to you. 

When I was younger, everyone around me had an interest in the written language. I grew up around books, around stories, around rhymes. My grandmother, especially, had been the one to spark my love for literature. One of her nursery rhymes that remain in my memory to this day was the poem of the crooked man.

“There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile.

He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile.

He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,

And they all lived together in a little crooked house.”

“Nana?” I had asked her, bursting with curiosity. “How can a man be crooked?” All I could picture in my mind was a hunchbacked fellow.

Her exact answer I can’t recall, but I know it had something to do with telling me that the man was not crooked in looks, as I was under the impression of. His personality was crooked, and that had left me absolutely bewildered for the longest time.

The question as to how a crooked personality could be possible remained in the back of my mind after that.  It wasn’t until I came across the poem “As I Walked Out One Evening” by WH Auden, however, that I truly was able to interpret the meaning of it. In the closing of that poem, Auden used the line “You shall love your crooked neighbor, with your crooked heart.” There it was again. A crooked neighbor, and now my heart was lopsided along with it.

Then the idea struck my mind like lightning, and I saw the meaning of both Auden’s poem and the nursery rhyme my grandmother always used to read me as if it were presented right in front of me.

The crooked person represents a human being, who can appear as a conventional as can be when seen from the outside. But the word “crooked” tells of their imperfections.

Everyone has some faults in his or her lives. Knowing that, we still should all love each other just the same. And that’s what both these poems are trying to get across. Whether it is your friends, or your family, or some celebrities you’ve only read about or seen on TV, they’re all not perfect because the standard of perfection is undoubtedly unreachable. And we’re in acceptance of this.

Maybe the poems are trying to teach us about forgiveness, too. If all of the crooked characters in the nursery rhyme can live in peace knowing each other’s faults and weaknesses but disregarding them all, than humans shall too.

I apply this concept of necessary forgiveness to the life I have, mainly in my family. Experiences faced in previous years have brought upon a lot of rough times for us. Considering we were both stubborn as nails, my mother and I can hardly compromise on anything. There has been weeks where my mother and father went without speaking to each other.  I’ve honestly gathered my money and clothes and packed up to get away at one point when things were particularly bad.

But then I remembered that I couldn’t just turn my back on everyone, and that sometimes I needed to forgive. My mother and I forgave each other for not seeing eye to eye all the time. My father and mother forgave each other for not always being respectful and sometimes ignoring the fact that they were in love. My family that I used to feel like I had to walk on eggshells around in order to not set off the bomb that would cause everyone to go crazy and fight, forgave each other for everything. We realize we’re not all idea, and we’ll never be, but the only thing we can do is forgive and accept.

I see the faults in everyone around me, and I’m sure they see mines too. But we have pure compassion for each other. All of us imperfect people will continue to love our crooked neighbors with all our crooked hearts. And the thought of that, will always be intriguing.   

Word Choice Graphic

The sky was almost entirely covered in fluffy white clouds. To the left was a broad dark rock, almost 25 feet in height. People crouched on the top of the rock, waiting and watching expectantly, as a boy with red printed swim shorts jumped off. He was about half way to the crystal clear teal water. His arms flew back from the impact of the wind and gravity both.

College

The main school that I'm currently looking at would be New York Universities' College of Arts & Science, specifically the Journalism Institute.

http://journalism.nyu.edu/

What intrigues you? Tell us about one work of art, scientific achievement, piece of literature, method of communication, or place in the world (a film, book, performance, website, event, location, etc.) and explain it's significance to you. 


Other schools:
- Missouri School of Journalism http://journalism.missouri.edu/
- Columbia University School of the Arts for writing http://arts.columbia.edu/writing
- Princeton University for Creative Writing http://www.princeton.edu/main/

Coming of Age Poster Draft

Coming of Age Essay Rough Draft

The person that graduated from the middle school in the summer of 2011 and the person sitting here writing this essay today might as well be two completely different people. The first was a shy, introverted girl. She didn’t yet know what she wanted her future to consist of, and to say she didn’t open up to people was an understatement. Her changes into a girl who was still small in height but huge in spirit could be a result of many different life experiences and challenges she faced in that 1 ½ years. However, the main one had to be that 2011 summer before freshman year. That’s the summer I joined the Moanalua High School cheerleading program. Despite the negative connotations associated with the sport itself and the people who play it, cheerleading was the thing that truly sparked my coming of age.

            Bland would be the one word I would use to describe my life before cheerleading had made its impact. I tried a lot of things, from ballet to soccer, but none had yet captured my absolute interest. Believe it or not, my teachers would actually tell me that I needed to speak up more in class. I’m a huge dreamer now, but I don’t think I was even half that back in middle school and before. The future seemed like a vast unknown to me, something in which I had no plans for.

            I exited middle school still waiting for the shift.  Back then, I didn’t known what that shift was exactly or what would bring it about. I just knew that there was some kind of bigger plans in store for me, and I had to really go out and search for them.

            It was a spontaneous decision to join cheerleading, to be honest. I wasn’t looking for a shift. I think I was just set out to find a new hobby to distract me from my dull every day life. That first day of tryouts will be forever etched in my memory, reminding me of the changing point between my personality then and now.  The nerves had really taken over me, and I was practically shaking. But then they called my name and told me I had made the team. The state of shock I was in was indescribable. It wasn’t the same as accomplishing anything before. This was different. This had meant something to me.

            My first season of cheerleading had changed me a lot. For starters, I used to be practically one of the laziest people you would ever know. The amount of time I spent parked in front of computer screen or TV was higher than I would’ve liked. Cheerleading changed that. Cheerleading taught me to dream.  From day one as I watched varsity hit every motion precisely, throw girls up into the air and catch them solidly as they twirled down, and perform inverted jumps like it was simple, I learned goal setting. My ambition had sparked that summer, and that’s something that I carried with me every day after that. Not just in cheer, but in the real world as well. Now, I know exactly where I want to go in life and what steps I need to take in order to get there. The dreams in my head about my career as such are as big as my dreams when I step on the cheer mat.

            One of the lines in the competition cheer last year was simply “Do work, commit, we strive for the best. Through pain and stress we will conquer the rest.” This is something I really live by. Becoming a cheerleader is much more than just wearing the uniform and putting on a peppy smile at football games. It’s much more than the big bows and curly hair. It’s much more than it’s negative stereotypes. Becoming a cheerleading taught me commitment, determination, pride, and perseverance, all things that again is carried on with me through my normal everyday life. This especially comes into play with school. I don’t allow myself to give up without a fight anymore. If I want something, I’ll put in all the work necessary to get it. It’s something I really pride myself with having, because of the things I’ve accomplished.

            I’m stronger now, because of cheer. People stereotyped me from the very beginning. They tell me all cheerleaders are the same. They tell me I’m supposed to be dumb, supposed to be a flirt, supposed to be an airhead. But I’ve learned to not let criticism and other peoples’ negative words bring me down. People can disrespect me, but they won’t break me down. Before, I used to get my feelings hurt at the slightest of things, and that all changed after I started cheer.

            So, I’m sitting here, writing this essay, and reflecting about how something as simple as joining a sport could change my life completely. I’m blessed for the opportunity that was given to me when I made the team. That was the shift in my life that I had needed. It made me the person I am today, a girl who doesn’t give up, and chases her dreams. Forever changed, forever greatful. 

Blog Revisions

To show the changes that happened within the last year, I drastically changed my blog. My header and title is different, now being named "Reflected imagination" which is really what my writing is, my imaginations reflected into letters and words. In my header, I used a lot of galaxy and city light pictures, to match my description. "If your dreams don't scare you, they're not big enough." is the quote in my description and I think it matches perfectly because my biggest dream is to live in a big city one day with a career I love, and because everyone always told me to "reach for the stars." I also changed my background to a picture of a collection of books, and that's something I dream to have in my future house one day to fuel my love for reading. All in all, I think this new blog perfectly represents who I am now in my life rather than who I was a year ago when we first started MeneMac.