What would you want that person to know? How would you like to represent yourself?

As a child, I have been shy and very quiet.  The way I expressed myself was by drawing free- handed and writing my thoughts and /or feelings in a journal. In school, trying to make friends was hard because people thought I was mean because of my facial expressions. But they didn’t realize that that was how my face is and what makes it worst today because of an eye injury. Gladly, some individuals saw me as a person who is kind, genuine, respectable, reliable, hilarious, goal-oriented, and dependable. When I became a mother, it hit me hard and fast. I had to sit down and think for hours on what I wanted to do with my life and how would I be a positive role model for my kids. My kids and my mother is the reason why I strive to do my best in any situation. Now as a single parent and young adult, I want you to see the inner me and not the outer me. I want you to see me as someone who is not afraid to share my thoughts and feelings in an appropriate manner, is goal orientated, a team player, someone who is able to follow directions, someone who doesn’t give up easily, and takes the initiative to accomplish anything.

            -Shakila T.

Michelle Le

On May 27, 2011, a student nurse by the name of Michelle Le, was reported missing after having a break from her classes at Hayward hospital. Nobody knew where she had gone or who the last person to see her. Michelle’s family and some people from the community organized search parties and held candle light services and hoped for a safe return. Later in the investigation, police arrested Giselle Esteban as a person of interest of Le’s disappearance. The police was led to Esteban, when they discovered that she blamed Le for the relationship failure between Esteban and her child’s father. Esteban was later charged with murder when they found evidence of blood on her show, which belong to Michelle. Esteban later denied that she didn’t kill Le behind her child’s father. Last week, Michelle’s body was found by a nearby dirt path off I-680, three miles from downtown Pleasanton. Le’s body was so badly decomposed, that investigators couldn’t identify if the body belong to a male or female. The coroners said they will have the identification by Monday, which did belong to Michelle Le.

My feelings about this are sad and mad, but more confusion. I don’t how Giselle blamed Michelle for the breakup with her child’s father. In reality, Giselle is the only person to blame. I also feel that Michelle and her family didn’t deserve this. As a person, it is your responsibility to accept your wrong doings, make a lesson out of it, and work on not making that mistake( or whatever the case maybe) again. Only you make your own choices, NO ONE CAN DECIDE FOR YOU! (Think about it)

For more information, click on this link

http://www.ktvu.com/crimeandpunishment/29221770/detail.html

My high school experience

I went to Skyline High in Oakland, Ca. Most of you know that Tom Hanks and Tommy Davidson graduated from Skyline. Skyline was the type of school that you would go to if you were up to date on all the latest fashions and technology. Everybody had Jordans, the latest phones, and name brand clothes. I was kind of in that category, but I never socialized with anyone. The reason why I didn’t socialize with anyone because everybody had their own clicks or group of people they would hang around during and after school hours. Everyone was also judgmental to me because if you wasn’t up to date with the latest trend or technology, you would be considered broke or a nerd. If you didn’t know, Skyline is located in the Oakland Hills. Especially during winter, it was very cold like we (the students) were in the snow. After school hours, my principal has informed the students and staff that there has been mountain lions on campus. Luckily, I haven’t seen any.

What and who influenced me to speak a different dialect I use outside of Year Up

In school, I had a hard time trying to fit in. I was very shy and didn’t know how to start a conversation with others. At times, I paid close attention to what people were talking about and how they talked, I kind of grasped it but also altered it by mixing in some of my own words and expressions. When I use “slang” (which is now called African American Vernacular English), I thought of some funny sounds and body language to go with it, such as, "bruh-bruh"(with some head nodding and hand motions). As the years went by I made friends and became a bit more social to a certain degree, which made some people think I was weird and maybe a little crazy. I also had a hard times trying to understand and define what some of these unique words actually mean. Now as a young adult, when I run into my former peers, they saw what I was trying to do which was be funny and of course make friends. I also use “slang” with my family and friends. When I talk to my mom, I sometimes use this dialect but some of the words I use are new and have similar meaning to the language she grew up around. So I guess you can say trying to make friends has influenced me to talk the way I do.