Blogging

Coming into the class I didn’t know much about blogging. All I knew is that many people enjoyed doing it and some were even famous for it. At first I had no idea what to write in a blog or how to start it, but as time passed by I developed some new skills. Everything just started flowing and blogging was becoming easier very week. Many of the topics that were assigned were interesting which made the blogging much easier. Another thing that was great about blogging was reading other blogs and learning different things about others. Every time I sit down to read a few blogs I would learn something new. I tried to make my blogs interesting and fun so the people who would read them would enjoy them. I loved getting positive feedback from my classmates. It would motivate me to keep writing every week. Knowing someone actually took the time to read my blogs was the best part. I really learned a lot about blogging in this class and in the future I might continue doing it. It is a great way to express how you feel and others can give you feedback and let you know what they think. I think blogging also helped my writing skills and know writing short or long blogs is much easier.

 

A Great Memory

I've had many memories, but the time I went camping with my family is memory I'll never forget. I remember it like it as yesterday. It was mid July 2 years ago. My dad came home from work and told us the news about camping. He told us him and my uncles had planned a little vacation. I was very excited about it and I couldn't wait. We were going to go to lake casitas on Friday and we were coming back Saturday afternoon. He also told us we were going to go with my uncle Fran and Jesus and their family. That made me even happier because I love spending time with my cousins. Finally the day arrived and we were on our way to Lake Casitas. We took some meat and chicken to barbeque it. Once we got there we went to our camping site and started cooking then meat. After that we played games like soccer, kickball, and even UNO cards. The day was going great and I was very happy to be with my family. The day was ending and we were all getting tired so we decided to sit around in a circle and tell funny and scary stories. The day was over and we were all exhausted, so we fell asleep very fast. The morning came and my parents made some sandwiches for us to eat for breakfast. The trip was sadly over, but I was happy to go home. Camping with my family made me realize how close we are and how much they care about me.

iphone 5

Our technology has advance so much that there is always new cell phones coming out. One of the best new cell phones is the iphone 5. I purchased my iphone 5 about a month ago and I really like it. The iphone 5 is very similar to the iphone 4 and 4s. One of the major diffrenecs is the screen size. The iphone 5 is .5 more inches bigger than the iphone 5. The iphone 5 is carried by AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint.  The iphone 5 has many features that make it unique. The phone comes with very helpful apps like mail, youtube, maps, safari, and music. If those aren’t enough apps there is an app store. The app store is one of the best features the iphone 5 has. With the app store people can buy or get free apps which make the phone more entertaining. The iphone 5 also includes FaceTime which allows two people communicate face to face with one another. Another great feature is imessage. With imassage, iphone 5 users can send text messages to itouchs and ipads without any extra cost. The iphone 5 also has a great camera, it has 8 megapixels. Another great new thing about the iphone 5 is how light it is. It is always convenient not to have a heavy phone in your pocket or your purse. The iphone 5 is also great if you like social networks. Twitter and Facebook are integrated into the iphone 5 which makes everything much easier. I personally really recommend the iphone 5. There is a lot of different things that you can do with it. Whenever you are bored you can play free games or check your social networks. If you need help with anything you can easily use Google to try to solve the problem or use the maps app to find directions. Overall it is a very helpful and entertaining phone.

FFN

Reading Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser was a great learning experience. There were many things I wasn’t aware of. Before reading the book all I knew was that hamburgers where good and that is about it. I didn’t know how the fast food industry worked. I learned about how they advertise which I found really interesting. I also learned about different industries that are affected by the fast food industry. What surprised me the most where the slaughterhouses. I never knew that they were so dangerous. I personality love fast food but I try not to eat it a lot. After reading the book I will probably eat a little less fast food for a couple of weeks but then forget about what I learned. I have to think twice because what scared me the most is the diseases that animals have. I found chapter 9 very interesting and also very scary. That was the chapter that made me think twice about what I consume. The e-coli bacteria is something I never want to come near. Before this book I never really knew anything about fast food and now I do. I am more informed about the industry. I will always love junk food and I don’t think I am going to change but it is very good that at least now I know more about the meat and where it comes from. 

5 lies, 1 truth

  1.  I stared driving when I was 16

2. I never left the state of California

3. When I was 13 I broke my ankle

 4. I haven’t drank soda in 4 years

5. I did track in high school all 4 years

6. I don’t have any pets 

My Soccer Team

My Oxnard College soccer teams means a lot to me. I am currently playing my second and last year for Oxnard College and it makes me really sad. I love going out everyday to the beautiful soccer fields Oxnard College has. Going out every day and playing really keeps me relaxed because I have fun every day. I love my teammates because they are always there for me. They are like my second family. I hang out with my soccer teammates more than any of my other friends. We like to have sleepovers and movie nights and we just talk about soccer for hours. I'm glad I joined the Oxnard College soccer team because of the people I met and because how fun it is.

Change

Peer pressure really gets to kids when they go to school. They see that some kids are wearing a certain type of brand or certain style of cloth and they also want to be cool like them. When I was in Juniors High I thought that Hollister was the best store in the world. I only thought that because so many people were wearing it in my school. It was so expensive but I didn't care because I wanted to be like everyone else. A simple t shirt was about 20 dollars when I could have gotten a similar shirt at another store for half the price. I was pretty much paying extra money to have my shirt say Hollister on it. I wasn’t really paying because at the time I was young and wasn't working. Every Sunday my dad would give us an allowance of 10 dollars and I would save it and at the end of the month I would go shopping. Not only would I spend my allowance money but once we were at the store I would beg my parents to buy my more cloth. All of my friends would buy that brand and I wasn't going to be the only one who didn't wear that. Now I look back and think it was all very immature. I was just following the crowd not thinking about how expensive it really was. Now I know the value of money and think twice about buying cloth that expensive. I know how hard it is to earn money and I'll rather spend it on something more useful. I still love to go shopping but now I think twice about buying something really expensive. I usually go shopping at Forever 21 now where the cloth is much cheaper than Hollister. I probably haven't bought anything from college since I started high school and I'm very proud of myself. 

My Amazing Family

My family is the most important thing to me. They give me the support and love I need. I have to brother; one older and one younger. My older brother’s name is Marcos and he is 20 years old. Marcos and I grew up together since he is only a year older than me. We would always do everything together when we were younger; he was like my best friend. My older brother is a role model to me. He is so nice, strong, trustworthy, and I know I can always count on him for anything. My younger brother is Trinidad Jr. and he is 10 years old. My little brother always knows how to put a smile on my face. He is so funny and always says weird things that cheer me up. I love playing sports or just about anything with my little brother since he always has a lot of energy. I try to be a role model to my little brother because I know he looks up to me. My mom’s name is Emiliana and she is an amazing mom. My mom is always there for me with whatever I need. She cares so much about me and will do just about anything to see me or my brothers happy. My mom always makes sure that there is food on the table so we can eat. She’ll prefer to buy my brothers and me something before buying herself something. That’s the best characteristic about her; that she puts her family first. My dad is also very caring and loving. His name is Trinidad and he is a very hardworking person. My dad is the only person who works in my family so my mom can stay home and take care of us. He works very hard and my whole family appreciates that. Every Sunday my family and I like to go out and spend time together. Every Sunday we go out to breakfast and then we do different things after. Sometimes we go to the mall or sometimes we go visit some of our uncles. I have a pretty big family and I really like it. I like having a lot of uncles, aunts, and cousins. My cousins and I are really close and we always do different things together. We like to go have sleepovers or we like to go out to the park to play different things. At the end of the day my family remembers are the only people I know will always be there for me.

Essay #1

The Sport That Changed My Life

            It all began a beautiful sunny Saturday morning, at the park Parque Del Sol in Oxnard. My dream was finally going to come true; I was going to finally play my first official soccer game. Since fifth grade I had been waiting for this day to come. The love for soccer had always been there because I grew up in a family that loves the sport, but being in an soccer team didn’t really interest me until the fifth grade. At the time I was attending Rio Plaza Elementary and all the boys and girls loved playing soccer. Heading straight to the fields with a soccer ball in my hands ready to play was a daily routine to me during recess. Something about soccer really caught my attention. Maybe it was that fact that it was such an aggressive and competitive sport that made me love it so much. Playing soccer during recess wasn’t bad and I really loved it, but I always wanted to be part of a team. I wanted to have teammates, practice, and have real soccer games. For the remainder of fifth and sixth grade I played soccer with my friends Noemi, Jesus, Nora, Albert, and Erick. I was getting tired of only playing during school but the opportunity of being in a team just didn’t seem to come. My mom didn’t have time to find me a team. She was really busy at the time with work.

            Elementary was finally over and during the summer I occasionally played soccer with my cousins. Then I began to wonder about middle school. The thought of things not being the same as elementary worried me. Maybe I wasn’t going to play soccer every day like how I used to and that really scared me. I didn’t want to lose soccer because it was my favorite hobby and I loved it. Then the first day of middle school arrived and I was officially a seventh grader at Rio del Valle. I sat in class wondering what my friends and I were going to do during lunch time. Lunch came and my friend Noemi and I just hung out the entire lunch time to talk about our first day of school. After lunch, I wasn’t really satisfied knowing that I wasn’t going to play soccer every day how I used to in elementary. Feeling a little down, I went to school the next day knowing things were going to be different for the entire year. What I didn’t know was that my middle school had a soccer team. I was walking down the hall to the cafeteria during nutrition when I suddenly saw a flyer that had a soccer ball on a door. Very excited, I got closer to the flyer and read it more carefully. The flyer said that there was going to be tryouts the following week for the girl’s soccer team and I just couldn’t believe my eyes. Instantly my whole day changed and I was very excited to try out for the team.     

            The first week of school flew by and the weekend came fast. All I did that weekend was think about tryouts; I felt excited yet very nervous. Monday came and I was ready for school and tryouts which were going to be held after school at the soccer field. All I thought Monday about during school was soccer. Once school was over I headed to the restroom to change into my soccer clothes. Once I was done and ready, I started walking to the soccer field, very nervous. There were about 20 girls at the field and I didn’t know any of them. The coach introduced herself to us; Ms. Montano was her name. She talked a little about herself and then she informed us that tryouts would take three days. Tryouts started and we did basic soccer things, like passing and shooting the ball. The next thing I knew the first day of tryouts was over. Very satisfied with my performance, I went home. The next two days were no different than the first and I was finally done with tryouts. At the end of the tryouts Ms. Montano told us that a list would be posted the next day outside of the gym saying who had made the team.

            The next day I went to school feeling anxious, nervous, and excited. The first thing I did when I arrived was go to the gym to check if the list was up. Once I started getting closer to the gym I started to see a white paper by the door, so I started to walk faster. The list was up and I got closer, hoping to see my name. As I started going down the list I noticed my name was there and I couldn’t be any happier. After that, I walked to class super happy and I just couldn’t wait to go home and tell my mom the great news. Since I had made the team, I had practice that day after school and I was very excited for my first practice with the team. The first practice was great. We worked on our foot technique and we also met each other a little more. That day I became closer to my soccer teammates Zully, Rudy, and Maria. The following week we practiced all week after school because our first game was going to be on Saturday. The entire week we practiced hard and conditioned to get ready for our game. After the week was over my new teammates and I knew we were ready to play our first soccer game of the season.

            It was finally Saturday, and I woke up extremely happy because I knew I had a soccer game. Our game was early in the morning at 9:00 am so I had to wake up extra early to be eat breakfast, but I didn’t mind. I woke up at 7:00 since I had to be at the soccer field by 8:00 to warm up before the game. My mom served me cereal with milk and after that I ate an apple because I personally believe that apples give you energy. After eating my breakfast, I knew I was ready to play my first game. My mom drove me to my game and I arrived right on time. Once I got there I sat down just smiling as I put on my soccer shoes and shin guards. After the whole team had arrived, we started to warm up for the game and I started to feel very nervous. What made me nervous was wondering if I was going to start or if I was going to sit on the bench. How I was going to perform also made me nervous, I didn’t know how I was going to do since it was my first game. A lot of thoughts were going through my head as I was warming up, good and bad thoughts. I was just hoping to give my coach a good first impressing on how I played.

            As time passed, game time got closer and closer and I just became more nervous. The next thing I knew, it was game time and our coach called us in to have a talk and say the line up right before the game. I was very anxious to see if I was going to be starting or not. After she gave us a talk about the game and how to play, she started announcing the people who were going to start and I heard my name. The moment I heard my name the butterflies went away and I was ready to play. I was going to be playing forward and I was okay with. That was the position that I was comfortable with. Finally, the game started and I was actually really relaxed. Our team wasn’t doing badly but the other team wasn’t either. It was a pretty even challenge so by half time the score was tied. When half time came our coach talked to us and told us we weren’t doing badly and to relax since it was barely our first game. After the talk we had with our coach we went back to the field ready to play the second half. The second was very similar to the first half. The only difference was that I substituted out of the second half the last few minutes of the game because I was tired. The game ended in a tied and my team wasn’t disappointed with the score.

            Finally, my first soccer game was over and I felt very accomplished. After the game I was very tired, but it didn’t matter to me because I had finally played my first soccer game. I believe that that game shaped my entire soccer career. After that soccer game I haven’t stopped playing soccer it’s been 7 years now. Playing that game I realized that soccer was going to be a huge part of my life. I really enjoy playing the sport because it relaxes me and gives my life balance. Whenever I’m stressed about school or something else playing soccer always helps me. I don’t just play to live but I live to play.

Meet A New Person in Class

Friendly, fun, and hardworking are just few of the words that describe Cristian Villa. He was born in Camarillo on June 12, 1994. Cristian comes from a loving family which includes his two older sisters. Currently eighteen years old attending Oxnard College. To him finishing college means more than just getting a degree, since he would be the first in his family to complete college. He is currently unemployed, but he stays busy with soccer and being a full time student. Cristian manages to keep his life under control by taking care of his homework on time and spending a lot of time with his family. His dad is his role model because he has always been there for him to encourage him. His dad has always supported him in soccer and Cristian really appreciates that. Cristian as well is a role model for his little nephew CJ. He tries to be a good example to him and teach him right from wrong. All Cristian wants is to see him grow and become a successful and well mannered man. In about ten years Cristian sees a bright future ahead of him. He plans to be done with school and be working as a firefighter in his hometown Oxnard. He also sees himself with his family; owning his own car and house. In order to succeed Christian believes in the quote by Nike “just do it”. He believes you should just do your anything that will help you succeed without thinking twice. As a freshman Cristian was surprise to see how easy college can be when you stay on task. He really believes that spending time on homework and office hours affects your grades. Being a new student at Oxnard College, Cristian found many new people that he thought were really nice. Cristian doesn’t only like the nice people at Oxnard College that he has met, but he also likes the athletic teams they have there. He enjoys going out to the stadium in the afternoon to support both the women and men’s soccer teams. Cristian is very excited for what is yet to come in his future. He hopes to stay focus in school to complete his goal of being the first to graduate from college.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Texing

Texting has become a big part of many people’s lives. It can benefit many but it can also be a problem to others. While many use it to quickly communicate with others, others use it to procrastinate. People tend to text and forget that they have many other things to do. People seem to get really entertained, especially during class when they are bored. Texting during class can be very distracting, not only for the person texting but for the people around them. Cell phones make noise when they vibrate and that can distract other students. Texting can also be a distraction while driving. Texting and driving is just as bad and dangerous as drinking and driving. People should take it more seriously and put their phone down while they drive. The text can wait, it is not going to go anywhere. Texting is not always a bad thing. Especially when a person’s trying to communicate with someone else and they can’t talk on the phone. Texting can be a quick way to let someone else something within a second. Texting is changing the way we communicate with others. It might be for the better but it also has many problems that can be fixed. It is a personal decision to text and drive or to get off task when you have many other things to do.

Reality Shows

We live in a time where reality shows have taken over our televisions. As a normal human being I do watch reality shows occasionally. I do prefer to watch other shows mainly because reality shows are too much for me. All the people in them over react and like to create drama, but people love that. The audience feeds on other people's anger, jealousy, and drama. Producers are aware of that and they use it in their advantage, because they know we cannot resist it. I can’t stand it when reality show stars pretend like they are actual stars, as if they are real actors. All they do is act as if the camera is not in front of their faces all day and go on with their day, but any other person can do that. I have to admit I have my guilty pleasures of watching reality shows. I also have this hate-love feeling for reality shows because I love to see what other people do with their life but at the same time I hate to waste time watching someone’s life when I can be doing something productive with mine. One of my favorite shows to watch is True life because I actually find it entertaining. True Life are documentaries about a person’s struggles, the show shows how many obstacles they face and how they handle them. Shows like True Life is a example as a good reality T.V show, unlike the other ones like Teen Mom, those type of shows set a bad examples for teens. It promotes the idea of being pregnant at a young age. Pregnancy should come after you are married or when you have your life set and ready to take care of a child, then again everyone has their opinion. True Life actually has a meaning, those types of shows are the ones that make me love reality television. Reality shows have a huge influence on teens; therefore, parents should pay attention to what their kids watch. They want to make sure that their kids are watching reality shows that are going to benefit them and not hurt them.

    Reality shows are certainly entertaining to watch and I admit that. Maybe later in life I will see reality shows pointless to watch but as of right now I don’t see it as such a bad thing. I try to avoid watching reality shows overall, mainly because I am hardly home. I have school to worry about and I also have to spend time at soccer practice. I also like spending time with my friends so I get vey distracted and I hardly have time to watch television. Reality shows can benefit many depending how they decide to take what they see or hear on television. It is up to the person who is watching the show to decide how that is going to influence their life. I personally decide to not let reality shows influence my life. I watch them for entrainment and nothing else, I know better that to follow the crowd and do something dumb that all the reality shows starts are doing. It is a personal decision how you react to watching reality shows.   

Fast Food

Growing up many kids are influenced by fast food but when I was a child fast food wasn't a big part of my life. My mom made sure to always have food on the table. I loved eating my mom’s homemade meals but sometimes it was just tempting to eat a burger with fries. As many other children I didn't really know the consequences of unhealthy food. We would usually eat fast food with my family on Sundays and then after we would do something fun like go to the movies or ice skating. My parents didn't really nag much about fast food because they knew we didn't eat it very often. Even thought we didn't go out to eat at fast food restaurants very often I still feel like I was a little unhealthy as a kid. I loved eating chips and candy, and no one would be able to stop me. I would take chips to school and eat them during recess and my friends would also share the snacks they had brought. I remember one night around 9 pm I was really craving hot cheetos and my dad was going to the store. So I decided to go with him and I bought a bag of hot cheetos. Then I got home and ate the whole bag very rapidly without even thinking. A few hours later like at 4 am my stomach started hurting a lot and in a couple of minutes I was throwing up. My mom has to take me to the emergency room because I couldn't stop throwing up. After a few hours I was feeling much better but that experience caused me to stop eating hot cheetos for about 4 years.  Even thought  I didn't consume a lot of fast food from restaurants I still ate a lot of junk food. As a child I lacked knowledge and ate junk food because to me it just tasted extremely good. 

As of today, fast food still doesn't have a big impact in my life thanks to my mom. She still continues to cook homemade meals for our family. Without her our family would probably be very unhealthy and irresponsible with food. We still continue to go out and eat on Sundays. I'm still like chips and candy but not as much as use to when I was a child. I try to eat less chips but sometimes I am tempted to eat more than usual because my friend tend to buy and eat a lot of chips. For me it's a bit hard to say no because I know they taste so good. 4 years ago I also decided to stop drinking soda for my own good. One day I just wanted to change something in my life so i decided to quit drinking soda. I still haven't had one drop of soda since 2008 and I am very proud I didn't know I was going to go this long without soda. I proved to myself that if I want to change my eating habits I could do it because I have the power to. 

Past, Present, and Future

Everyone in this world has a different story; even though I’m only eighteen I’ve had many blessings and struggles that tell mine. In my past years I’ve thankfully had more blessings than struggles. I come from a family of five, which includes my mom, dad, and two brothers. I’ve had many highlights in my life that have influence me to be the person I am today. I don’t remember much about my childhood besides having fun with my friends in elementary school. However, a huge highlight in my life was when I joined my 1st soccer team in 7th grade at my junior high. After playing for my junior high I fell in love with the sport and I decided to play in a soccer club, to be more committed to the sport. Once I attended Rio Mesa high school I also decided to play high school soccer there. High school overall for me was a very fun phase of my life but I struggled with my grades. I failed a few classes and my last semester I was very close to failing a couple of classes which would hold me back from graduating. Thankfully, I got the strength to finish high school even if my grades weren’t the best. Then I started attending college at Oxnard and everything seemed to have changed. I started caring more about my grades and future. I finished my freshman year of college with good grades and I was very proud of myself. My freshman year of college I also decided to play soccer for Oxnard College and I don’t regret that decision. I think being an athlete in college helped me to stay motivated and focused in school.

All the events in my past have made me who I am today, a sophomore in college searching for success in life. I am currently attending Oxnard College as a full student athlete. I’m playing my second and last year of soccer at Oxnard College and it makes me very sad because soccer is my passion. I love going out to field with my friends to play the sport we all love. Not only do I have to stay committed with soccer and school but I also have a family that needs me there just as much as I need them there for me. I have an older brother who is nineteen years old and a younger brother who is ten years old. As an older sister I feel the need to help my little brother with school or any problems he has. Life as of right now is treating me very well. I have the support from my family to stay focus in school. I also have amazing friends that are always there for me when life gets rough.

As of my future, I expect many things from myself because I know I’m capable of doing whatever I desire. I plan on attending Oxnard College for another year to finish my general education. Then I plan to transfer to the California State University of Northridge. Once I have transferred I plan to obtain my business degree. I’m not positive what I want to do with my business degree yet because there are so many possibilities, but what I do know is that I’m interested in business. I’ve always admired people who have came from nothing to owning a huge business because they believed in themselves and took a chance. I believe that in order to be successful in life you first believe in yourself and have a positive attitude towards life. Once you know what you’re capable of, convincing others will be much easier.