A few years ago, there was this kid show I watched every day called “BackYardigans”. It was a show about five animals doing a fictional adventure together, singing and dancing throughout the story. At the end of it, they would go home. The fun part was that it all really took place within their backyard. When I watched them do all the cool dances and sing the sweet songs, I was really happy. I was inspired to be just like them. I used to replay every dance they did and sing every song. I became very fond of the characters. My mom would hide in the kitchen to watch me in front of the television in the living room. My love of the show and all that I was leading her to take me to dance classes over at Cypress College. The group she put me in
It was a hot, Thursday afternoon. So hot you could burn your hand by touching a window. So hot, you could fry an egg on the sidewalk. Three weeks from now was the best day in 2th grade, field day. Today we were picking relay teams
What started out as a hobby transformed into a passion for an art form that allows me to use movements and expressions to tell a story. Whether I’m on stage in front of an audience of just friends and family, hundreds of strangers and a panel of judges, or the whole school, performing over thirty times, has helped me build lifelong
It was breezy day. The clear, light sky was breathtaking. Almost too gorgeous to foreshadow the disastrous day. It was on a tennis tournament on Saturday morning. I had confidence in my own abilities on that tennis court. As if I was Serena Williams ,the greatest tennis player of this century, and would win the whole tournament. I thought about my strengths and not my weaknesses on the bus ride to the tournament. Like my unpredictable serve, backhand strokes and killer volleys (that end points in an instant).
The date was October 31, 2002. The time was two in the afternoon. The little children across the street walked outside their house to carve a massive pumpkin. The pumpkin had a thick brown stem and a bright orange color, which glimmered in the afternoon sun. Something was really strange about the pumpkin, but I could not put my finger on exactly what was different. The children, who were abundantly excited to go trick-or-treating in a few hours, started carving the round pumpkin.
I woke up at 4:38 a.m. to a call from my buddy Whit, and he said he was on his way to pick me up so we can go duck hunting. The dark morning sky was cold and wet. Fighting to get out of my bed, I finally had the courage to get ready after sitting there for ten minutes. I woke up too tired because of my stupid mistake of staying up too late the night before. Awakened now and ready to go, I looked at my weather app to look at the specific temperature, and it appeared to be 21 degrees with a light breeze. I knew it would be colder on the water, so I dressed properly covered in camouflage, warm gear. I grabbed my gun and bullets, and the day was on as I shut the door quietly, not wanting to wake my sleeping mom.
As I sat in the boiling hot sun, the heat that had overwhelmed me throughout the day surpassed. I was engulfed by Lu Paul, a native Hawaiian advocate who was telling me the story of how Native Hawaiians loss their rights. “How did my people become a minority in their own land?” he asked me inquisitively. I found myself making many connections with this man’s story and my own. As he answered my questions about inequality in his community, he began to speak of many things that I had witnessed in my life, that I thought only my own culture experienced. “My people need to fight for equal education, language rights, and employment”, he stated firmly. It was in this moment I began to broaden my perspective of inequality and minority rights. This along with the many other field experiences I had during my semester abroad, help shape my desire to attend law school and work both nationally and abroad in civil and human rights.
I started studying health and nutrition when I joined Herbalife in August of 2014. I decided to study health and nutrition, because my weight was out of control and I wanted to find a way to live a healthier lifestyle. In 2014 I started making healthier food choices and along with exercising consistently, was able to drop twenty pounds in one month. Losing the weight led me to become a health and wellness trainer and to be a successful trainer I knew I had to increase my knowledge on health and nutrition.
You know, sometimes being judged by your cover, isn't a bad thing. I don't let anyone know who I am, everyone knows my cover, but that's it. We all have something to be sad about, something to cry for. But how often do we think about that? We don't, when was the last time you looked at someone, and asked yourself, I wonder if life is more than a smile, I wonder if his life is hard? We don't, we just look at people and assume that they are happy, or sad.
I live in a tribe of Native Americans who are located at the bottom of the Andes Mountains in the Peru area. Our village faces the ocean which is beautiful at sunset when the sun can be seen disappearing under the water. The orange red glow of the sun reflects off of the dark yet clear blue of the sea. There is a hidden place, even though people only find on accident, that has the best view of the breathtaking ocean. I love that place cause few people find it and if they do the despise it immediately. I call this place my special place because the colorful plants and trees are soothing. The green grass tickles my toes when I stand and cushions my back when I lay down. This place is my go to hill whenever I receive my daily temper.
“You aren’t going to college. I am. That is why it matters,” Mark said while taking several steps back from the fence.
It was a warm summer day on the Bozeman farm. Mr. Heizer worked hard every day to harvest his crops and make sure all his animals are fed. My best friend Birch lived in a coop not that far from the stables. That’s where that grumpy old horse lived, his name was Nester. He’s not very polite to all the other farm animals. Last week Rudy, a chicken who lived next to Birch, walked into Nesters stable and got kicked. No one goes in his stable anymore. The farmer lives in a nice, big, white house on the hill a little farther then where we all live. He’s kind and makes sure we are fed but every weekend he leaves and we don’t see him until the week starts. Some of the animals think he goes to town to sell his crops, which explains why he comes back
As I grew up, from about age 5-10, I had an imaginary friend, and, being a person who liked wolves, and was also a kid, he was promptly named wolf kid. He had claws that could detach from his hand and he could use them as a sort of swing, he had gray hair and looked like me, but he was actually cool. He became one of the biggest parts of my life.
Looking back on a childhood filled with events and memories, I find it rather difficult to pick on that leaves me with the fabled “warm and fuzzy feelings.” As the daughter of an Air Force Major, I had the pleasure of traveling across America in many moving trips. I have visited the monstrous trees of the Sequoia National Forest, stood on the edge of the Grande Canyon and have jumped on the beds at Caesar’s Palace in Lake Tahoe. However, I have discovered that when reflecting on my childhood, it is not the trips that come to mind, instead there are details from everyday doings; a deck of cards, a silver bank or an ice cream flavor.
A baby blue tempera sky paired with an over-easy egg yolk looms over beige, off-white and tan homes. Suburbia cooked at 105 degrees for decades results in delicious bourgeoisie casserole.
As a child I always wanted to be in the spotlight. I was always the ham in family pictures, the one who had to excel past my brother, and be in the know of everything. When I was about twelve years old, I realized that entertaining people was what I was all about. Since I wasn’t any good at telling the jokes around the campfire or singing acappella, I thought about trying my dance skills. I liked dancing and I have always enjoyed music videos like Janet Jackson’s “Miss you much”, so I thought why not? What did I have to lose? With the support of my parents, particularly my mom, I went for the gusto.