Since I was a little girl I was taught only Spanish. I was the first child which made me the first child from my family born in the United States. For many Hispanic families, Spanish is the only language they can speak and is the only way to communicate. As the Central American family that I come from, I as well was taught to speak Spanish and made it my first language. As I grew older my struggles with learning English increased.
When I started elementary school my parents debated whether to put me in a Spanish or English class. At last my parents placed me in a Spanish class. At first I did not understand the difference and importance of English. As I grew older and move up into higher grade levels, I understood the meaning of English.
During my first grade I was placed in a normal English class with an African American lady as my teacher who did not speak Spanish at all. I had a hard time communicating with my teacher and the rest of my classmates. I always feared reading in class because I had an accent. When I was in fourth grade and I thought I knew everything in English, I found out that that English is a never ending lesson. There are always more words to learn and different structures for becoming a better writer.
My biggest struggle was in high school, my freshman year. My freshman year I had to put both languages together. I was taking an English and Spanish class. I had to learn to manage both languages as two different subjects rather than putting them together and making it into “Spanglish’, what everyone thinks is a new language.
Many of my classmates would speak “Spanglish” , not Spanish nor English . It’s a mixture of both and improper. I did not want to be one of them. I wanted to be able to speak proper Spanish and proper English.
Now that I am working I get to put the two languages I know into work. Since I work at Vons store as a cashier, I get many different customers who speak different languages. Sometimes I struggle when people like Koreans don’t speak English and cannot communicate with them as I charge their groceries. I am thankful that after all my hard work and struggles, I have been able to manipulate both languages in a way that I can communicate with others with no struggle. Sometimes I even translate people who cannot speak English.
Even though I can speak both languages well, I cannot stop learning because there are always new vocabulary and better ways to make your language stronger and meaningful.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
"Living Reality"
Since I was a little girl, I have seen how my life has changed. I have had good and bad moments, which they have left powerful lessons learned. As my years of education increased I have learned that I’m in this world for a reason. I have seen how lifestyles have changed into a more equal lifestyle for everyone. I have learned that slaves were forced to work with no pay and that we tend to take freedom for granted.
One morning while I sat in my History class and heard my teacher lecture about slaves I realize that there were people out there not as fortunate as me. For many years slavery was seen as a normal form for labor use. African Americans were forced to be slaves and work with no pay at all. Slaves were seemed as machines that would accomplish the work with no hesitation. If they did not do the job right they would get punished and they would get beat up. Now days we don’t experience that kind of abuse at work. We are not forced to work, it’s our decision if we want to work and where we want to work. We sometimes tend to complain that we are getting little pay for our labor, but we never realize that others were getting pay less or not pay at all. We never see our surroundings or try to help others if they need it. We only think of ourselves and what’s good for us. I have learned that there are people out there who are getting pay very little because they are immigrants and other who are trying to get a job in order to survive and provide a roof and food for their families. We need to be thankful with what we have and appreciated. It’s time for us to help each other since economy is out the door and just keeps getting worst.
Every day we hear new things going on in the news. We hear of deaths and how our economy keeps getting worst. For seventeen years I have waited to step up and speak up. Now that I am eighteen I can vote and raise my voice, this is a privileged I have as a human being. I can choose who I want the United States to be ruled, as well as I can make other decisions that make me feel valuable. We sometimes forget that making our own decisions that will please us is just a privilege. Slaves were not allowed to think for themselves or choose what they wanted to do. They always followed orders and commands that the whites would give them. During my government class I learned that freedom is just a privileged and we should be careful of how we deal with it. Some of us get the wrong concept of freedom and commit crimes that are punishable. Our freedom is for us to speak out and let our thought be heard by others in a polite and respectful way, without offending others or causing harm. We all need to learn to take freedom as a privileged and not for granted.
Now days it is common for people to take freedom for granted instead of a privilege. Slaves never had the option of making decisions for themselves, they had to follow orders without complaining. Also, we need to be happy with what we have an not envy others. I have learned that I need to value my education and thank the teachers and family who taught me what I know up to now, if not I would probably be an ignorant person unable to make up decisions for myself.
One morning while I sat in my History class and heard my teacher lecture about slaves I realize that there were people out there not as fortunate as me. For many years slavery was seen as a normal form for labor use. African Americans were forced to be slaves and work with no pay at all. Slaves were seemed as machines that would accomplish the work with no hesitation. If they did not do the job right they would get punished and they would get beat up. Now days we don’t experience that kind of abuse at work. We are not forced to work, it’s our decision if we want to work and where we want to work. We sometimes tend to complain that we are getting little pay for our labor, but we never realize that others were getting pay less or not pay at all. We never see our surroundings or try to help others if they need it. We only think of ourselves and what’s good for us. I have learned that there are people out there who are getting pay very little because they are immigrants and other who are trying to get a job in order to survive and provide a roof and food for their families. We need to be thankful with what we have and appreciated. It’s time for us to help each other since economy is out the door and just keeps getting worst.
Every day we hear new things going on in the news. We hear of deaths and how our economy keeps getting worst. For seventeen years I have waited to step up and speak up. Now that I am eighteen I can vote and raise my voice, this is a privileged I have as a human being. I can choose who I want the United States to be ruled, as well as I can make other decisions that make me feel valuable. We sometimes forget that making our own decisions that will please us is just a privilege. Slaves were not allowed to think for themselves or choose what they wanted to do. They always followed orders and commands that the whites would give them. During my government class I learned that freedom is just a privileged and we should be careful of how we deal with it. Some of us get the wrong concept of freedom and commit crimes that are punishable. Our freedom is for us to speak out and let our thought be heard by others in a polite and respectful way, without offending others or causing harm. We all need to learn to take freedom as a privileged and not for granted.
Now days it is common for people to take freedom for granted instead of a privilege. Slaves never had the option of making decisions for themselves, they had to follow orders without complaining. Also, we need to be happy with what we have an not envy others. I have learned that I need to value my education and thank the teachers and family who taught me what I know up to now, if not I would probably be an ignorant person unable to make up decisions for myself.
"Leslie"
Who am I? Is what most people ask themselves. Do we really know ourselves? We sometimes think of ourselves a certain way but is that the same way people look at us? At least as for me, I consider myself a role model and a fighter.
My name is Leslie Janette Giron, I am the first one in my family attending college. I work at VONS store as a checker and I’m a role model at home. Since I lost my father since I was very young I had to step up and encourage my mother and sister to keep on living. As hard as it was life was still going and we had to live every second of it. Since I was the more open minded in my family, I had to inspire those around me by living a life that is more outward focused than inward focused. As the leader of my family I had to set a good example for the people around me to follow, especially my sister who I love.
As I grew up many obstacles were put in my way. The first one was the lost of my dad. Going to school and seeing some of my classmates getting dropped of by their dad hurt me. Knowing that my dad was not going to be there when I had my first boyfriend hurt me all I wanted was my dad. The memories I had of him were beautiful. Even though all my family was crushed I had to overcome my pain and accomplish what he always wanted me to which was going into college. I have always been a fighter who fights for what I want. All I want is to make my family proud of me. I’m a fighter for life and nothing is going to stop me from that.
At last I’m just a nineteen year old girl who is trying to accomplish her goals in life. I want to be someone in life; I want to be an educator for young children. I want to be there on the children’s first struggles and encourage them to be fighters in life. What else can I be? Only life will say, but up till now all I am is a student of Mount St. Mary’s College and a daughter and sister at home.
My name is Leslie Janette Giron, I am the first one in my family attending college. I work at VONS store as a checker and I’m a role model at home. Since I lost my father since I was very young I had to step up and encourage my mother and sister to keep on living. As hard as it was life was still going and we had to live every second of it. Since I was the more open minded in my family, I had to inspire those around me by living a life that is more outward focused than inward focused. As the leader of my family I had to set a good example for the people around me to follow, especially my sister who I love.
As I grew up many obstacles were put in my way. The first one was the lost of my dad. Going to school and seeing some of my classmates getting dropped of by their dad hurt me. Knowing that my dad was not going to be there when I had my first boyfriend hurt me all I wanted was my dad. The memories I had of him were beautiful. Even though all my family was crushed I had to overcome my pain and accomplish what he always wanted me to which was going into college. I have always been a fighter who fights for what I want. All I want is to make my family proud of me. I’m a fighter for life and nothing is going to stop me from that.
At last I’m just a nineteen year old girl who is trying to accomplish her goals in life. I want to be someone in life; I want to be an educator for young children. I want to be there on the children’s first struggles and encourage them to be fighters in life. What else can I be? Only life will say, but up till now all I am is a student of Mount St. Mary’s College and a daughter and sister at home.
Monday, April 21, 2008
"Plaits"
Since we are little girls we are taught different values than boys. We are raised in a way that they set an image of a beautiful woman which we have to follow. They teach us that women represent beauty and elegance. As we grow up we see beautiful women on television and on movies which we look up to. They become our role models and are forced to look like them.
In the story “Plaits”, Frankie experiences the opposite of beauty. By cutting her hair people saw her as a different child. Society has an image of women which they tend to follow. People do not see beyond that. A woman is supposed to have long, silky hair. If a women dares to cut their hair they are judge and seen as men.
When I was little I remember that once my dad told me that I couldn’t cut my hair short during the summer or else I was going to lose my beauty and look like a men. My dad told me that a women’s beauty was based on the hair and body. If we showed that we take care of ourselves by looking beautiful more men were going to want us.
Society is forcing us to follow the perfect image of the women in every front cover of a magazine. If we don’t follow that image we are seen as an ugly woman. Since many women are afraid what others are going to say or judge us about we tend to just follow and not express ourselves. We are afraid of losing our beauty and get stereotyped.
In the story “Plaits”, Frankie experiences the opposite of beauty. By cutting her hair people saw her as a different child. Society has an image of women which they tend to follow. People do not see beyond that. A woman is supposed to have long, silky hair. If a women dares to cut their hair they are judge and seen as men.
When I was little I remember that once my dad told me that I couldn’t cut my hair short during the summer or else I was going to lose my beauty and look like a men. My dad told me that a women’s beauty was based on the hair and body. If we showed that we take care of ourselves by looking beautiful more men were going to want us.
Society is forcing us to follow the perfect image of the women in every front cover of a magazine. If we don’t follow that image we are seen as an ugly woman. Since many women are afraid what others are going to say or judge us about we tend to just follow and not express ourselves. We are afraid of losing our beauty and get stereotyped.
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