Kristen and Ashley had been friends since the day they first laid eyes on each other in kindergarten. Kristen was a shy brunette who always put others first. Ashley, on the other hand, was an outspoken blonde who was not afraid to share her thoughts with others. Even though they were completely different, “polar opposites”, as their moms called them, they shared a bond that was completely unbreakable. They always did everything together; from throwing parties together, to taking family vacations together, even renting a dorm together as they moved across the country from Los Angeles to New York. Their lives were perfect, and all their other friends envied them. Little did they know, everything would change for these two girls. “Ooh Kris! You have to try those shoes on! They look amazing!” Ashley raved, holding a pair of the latest Louboutin. “They are cute,” Kristen replied wistfully, “ but they are almost eight hundred dollars! My parents would kill me if they knew I was in Barney right now looking at expensive shoes instead of meeting with my counselor!” “ Loosen up Kris! Who cares if you miss one meeting with your counselor, we are in New York right now!” Ashley said, continuing to look through the aisles. Two hours later, Ashley and Kristen walked out with many bags, Ashley strutting down the streets with her while Kristen looked down at her receipt. “What are my parents going to say when they see I have a two thousand dollar bill to pay off?!” she thought. Kristen always considered her actions and told herself to think rationally, but Ashley somehow managed to convince her otherwise. Suddenly, Kristen’s thoughts were interrupted when Ashley said, “ Brittany just called! She is in Chanel right now and said we should... ... middle of paper ... ...cashier reached for the dress, she frowned. “ I recognize that purse. When did you purchase it?” her smile had rapidly vanished from her face. “ Ummm I can explain..” Kristen looked outside to see that her “ friends” had left her. “ You can explain to the police.” Kristen could not believe how her life had instantly changed because of one bad choice. Her college had been alerted of her dishonesty and she now had a mark on her record. “ I can not believe how foolish I was to listen to those girls. I knew it was illegal, but I should have stood up for myself.” she told herself. Kristen was surprised when Ashley told her that she had gone to Chanel and acknowledged that she also took part in the crime. Although both girls lives were changed and they were negatively impacted by their choice, they learned not to agree to something just because of peer pressure.
Katie’s teacher, Mr. Dubey, puts a very high emphasis on the students at Katie’s school about how important school is. Because Katie starts to feel bad for using David to get into Harvard, his attitude toward the topic changes and he tells that she should be self-serving and not really care what people say and to not "ruin the rest of your life just because you feel a little guilty right now"(74). All of these conflicting messages on what Katie should be like, how she should treat others an...
Now she is in college the problems hit he. As Kristen meets people and sees what they have to say the wheel begins to spin so that she learns things. The rape starts it all off for her- resulting in the women's group- experimenting with her sexuality. So by the end of the year she has stepped clear of the closet and is much more open with herself. Overall, whilst their lives take different paths the objectives are extremely similar in Malik's and Kristen's lives.
In the courtroom, Amanda tried to wipe away her tears. She admitted to the judge, “It seems like I just can't win.” She was still trying to pay off her son's funeral. Like most people, she had no clue that even a basic funeral could cost thousands of dollars. On top of her funeral costs, she was struggling to save money for a new apartment. In addition to her other financial burdens, she still had tickets to pay
When things became difficult in her life, Jeannette always persevered and tried to stay positive. For instance, when Jeannette, Lori and Brian had been saving up money for almost nine months, they came home one day to a broken piggy bank and all of their money, gone. They knew that their father had to have done it, and they couldn’t believe he did. Although “Lori felt too defeated,” Jeannette “started saving again.” She got past what her father had done, and only looked forward. She worked even harder, babysitting whenever she could. Jeannette had such a positive outlook on life and was determined to make up for what had happened. She persevered and worked as hard as she could to make New York a possibility. Her dedication in spite of the obstacles shows true character. Jeannette, not only persevered, but also had to make do with what she was given. Since her family didn’t have a constant source of money, Jeannette learned to use her resources wisely. She knew she had crooked teeth, so she wanted to get braces. She believed she had enough money to pay for them herself, but when she was informed that they cost twelve hundred dollars, she “decided to make her own braces.” She used a coat hanger and rubber bands, and surprisingly, it worked. Jeannette went to the trouble of building her own contraption to fix her teeth, just so she wouldn’t be a burden to her family. She showed
... education. Katie firmly believes that schooling is her children’s only escape from poverty. She is not embarrassed that Francie’s knowledge surpasses her own, instead she pushes her daughter to work harder. Kaite’s constant pushing results in Francie’s acceptance into a college university. Katie Nolan is the heart and soul of the Nolan family and without her Francie would not grow up to be a hard working, intelligent young woman.
She quickly finished cleaning and went to bed to get some rest, as she lay in bed she turned on her phone and could see that her social media accounts were blowing up with the search for the mystery senior that had Tristan going crazy. The minute that he posted a tweet that said he had her cap almost everyone in the entire school had replied saying it was theirs. This made Armani laugh and thinking nothing of it she replied with a comment “wonder who’s” with that she went to
The point of attack in which our story begins is when Nicole and Daina are 24. Nicole has just come home from a long hard first year of teaching math in a rough intercity school district. To put it lightly, life has not turned out how she thought it would. Daina just finished her graduate degree in criminal justice and is applying for social work positions. The inciting incident occurs right at the beginning when Daina asks Nicole how she has been. From her response, the audience can tell there is a lot of tension and stress in her current living situation. Both girls are single, do not know where they will be living next year, and are struggling to see how their current situations fit into their childhood dreams. Ms. Calla, their waitress, starts to reminisce about the time they were just little kids. Then in walk 9-year-old Nicole and Daina from the past from stage right. They are coming to the coffee shop by themselves for the first time. Their heads are full of ideas of what they will be when they grow up, where they will live, and all they will do. As Ms. Calla serves both her costumers in the past and present, in walk her costumers from the future, stage left. Nicole and Daina from the future are 35 and reveal Nicole is teaching math at a different school and is married with 2 kids. Daina is pregnant with her third child and took a leave of absence from the workforce. Stressed with the demands
Arriving at Lacey’s house I walk to the backdoor letting myself into the house. Lacey was putting on tanning lotion in the kitchen, “Lacey,” I called to her, “my mom wants me to pick up snacks for the beach, do you want to go into town with me?”, “Sure,” she replied, “do you mind if my cousin comes with us?”, “Of course I don’t mind,“ I answered, “but we have to get moving, my dad only left me the car to use ‘til noon.”
Jeannette started to lose faith in her parents after they could no longer provide for her, and swore that she would make a better life for herself. “I swore to myself that it (her life) would never be like Mom’s…” (Walls 208) Jeannette has the idea to move to New York to escape her parents, and pursue her dream of being a journalist. She decides that her older sister, Lori, will have to escape with her, because Jeannette would never leave Lori alone with her parents. The next day, Jeannette buys a piggy bank to start an “escape fund”. To make money, Lori would draw and paint posters for kids at school and sell them for a dollar fifty. Jeannette would babysit and do other kids homework. She made a dollar per assignment and and babysat for a dollar an hour.
In the beginning of the story, the reader could tell that Ashleigh knew how her father was “always there if [anyone] need[s] him,” but not invariably there when she needed him (36). This detail allows the reader to know that Ashleigh’s dad is not always ready to help Ashleigh, and Ashleigh doesn’t like how spasmodic her father is towards her. Ashleigh’s father also struggles to think about the feelings of his family members as he “got all of his favourite kinds of Chinese” and did not make the effort to get Ashleigh and her mom what they preferred (37). If Ashleigh’s father does not make the effort he needs to about little things, Ashleigh can not trust that he has thought through something that causes her to be dishonest with her mom, especially since the whole situation appears to be very sketchy. Ashley will not steal the money because she knows that not only is it wrong, her father may have not thought the consequences and depth of the task he is asking her to complete..
It led her to reflect on how she was living her life, and reminded her of the aspirations she had coming to New York. In the months that followed, she was uneasy, Jeanette couldn’t seem to accept the passing of her father. “ I found myself always wanting to be somewhere other than where I was. It took me a while to realize that just being on the move wasn’t enough : that I needed to reconsider everything” (280). Her father meant so much to her, now that he was gone she was loss and did not know how to move on. As a result, Jeanette realized that life on Park Avenue was not for her and decided to leave her husband, Eric. She carefully planned out her actions and reconsidered all aspects of her life. “ He was a good man, but not the right one for me. And Park Avenue was not where I belonged ” ( 281). Her relationship with Eric was good, she had a stable job and lived in a beautiful apartment on Park Avenue. However, when her Dad had passed, she became more self-aware and began making major decisions regarding her lifestyle. As time went by, Jeanette met her new husband, John. They invited the whole family for a Thanksgiving dinner at their new home. It had been five years since the death of Dad and she was now able to move on and find a closure for herself. She was strong enough to see her family which deeply reminded her of Dad. In contrast, Jeanette was now able to think of Dad in happiness. “We raised our glasses. I could almost hear Dad chuckling at Mom’s comment in the way I always did when he was truly enjoying something” (288). At dinner with all her family, she expresses her memories of her Dad in happiness, in which demonstrates her transition from grief to acceptance. Jeanette’s journey to accepting the passing of her father guided her through major changes in her life and sparked her to realise that the way she living was not right for
Who doesn’t like shopping? I can’t name one person. Phyllis rose states many positive qualities in her essay “Shopping and Other Spiritual Adventures in America Today”. One of the positives qualities she mentions about shopping is that it’s a form of therapy. Being that I love to shop. Rather it’s online or going to the stores it’s something I also find very therapeutic. You don't really need, let's say, another sweater. You need the feeling of power that comes with buying or not buying it. You need the feeling that someone wants something you have--even if it's just your money. To get the benefit of shopping, you needn't actually purchase the sweater. After a long stressful work or school day there’s nothing more relaxing than walking around
Seton Catholic was a small high school, so it wasn’t too long before everyone knew “Crazy Lanie”. That’s the nickname the boys at school gave her. Katie’s physical appearance and loud-mouth intimidated the young Catholic school boys, but her oblivious attitude caused her to be unaware of this. Katie was very opinionated and spoke out in class on a daily basis. These habits were annoying when you were trying to learn, but they came in handy in our Economics class. There was one word that every Seton Catholic student used to describe the Economics teacher—torture. Then Katie came and turned that class around. Her first love is talking, then politics and current issues. So she talked up a storm in class, eventually strayed away from the subject at hand, and turned our class into a current issues debate team. A lot of us appreciated Katie’s unintentional deeds and some didn’t. One guy in particular who didn’t take pleasure in Katie’s existence was Mike Reckliss. Mike was an on the edge type of guy who only cared about his motorcycle and class—that’s where he got most of his shut-eye. Katie, Mike, and I had Business Law together every day after lunch. By the time we got to class, Mike’s stomach was full and he was ready for his afternoon nap. But with Katie there, baby Mikey was a crabby pants. On one particular day, we were discussing a person’s rights to property. Our teacher explained that his neighbor’s tree branches were hanging over onto his property, so technically he was entitled to cut down the branches that extended beyond the property line. Before our teacher could finish his story about property, the light in Katie’s head turned on.
“ No, I would never hurt you,” I assured her as I grabbed her small, precious arm and pulled her away from the dangerous tree roots. Monique with 100% trust in me exclaimed, ” go on flip me.” She was so tranquil, which made me more nervous. I was panicking, my though dried up and I was starting to reconsider flipping her. I had a million thoughts, what if I hurt her, why does she trust me so much? ”Victoria, Victoria!”, Monique screamed. “ Yeah sorry!” I reply with hesitation. I pulled a confident face and started counting down, “ 3, 2, 1”. I grabbed her shaking arm and flipped her over my head into the air. Time stopped at that moment, Monique’s face turned from calmed and collected to scared and surprised in an instance. “Bang” she fell on the muddle, and rough ground. “ARGHHHH”, screamed Monique, from the excruciating pain. “It hurts”, she yelled while laying still on the grey grass
Amanda, somehow, finds a way to be both selfish and selfless when it comes to Laura. Amanda wants Laura to be happy and successful, but does not understand that Laura is too shy and unmotivated to be either. When Amanda discovers that Laura has stopped going to typing class she is beyond disappointing. When discovered Amanda yells at her daughter saying, “Fifty dollars’ tuition, all our plans- my hopes and ambitions for you- just gone up the spout, just gone up the spout like that.” Laura quit something as simple as learning how to type; this realization struck Amanda because if she cannot do that there is no way Laura could provide for herself without a husband. Mrs. Wingfield’s worst nightmare is is for her children to become dependent on relatives and not being able to take care of themselves. After Laura drops out of typing school Amanda says, “What is there left but dependency all our lives? I know so well what becomes of unmarried women who aren’t prepared to occupy a position. I’ve seen such pitiful cases in the South—barely tolerated spinsters living upon the grudging patronage of sister’s husband or brother’s wife!—stuck away in some little mousetrap of a room—encouraged by one in-law to visit another—little birdlike women without any nest—eating the crust of humility all their life!. Amanda had always wanted for Laura to find a nice husband, but then the situation became desperate when the younger women