Coming of Age: Poster Draft

Instead of the silhouette of the girl, It will be me and Im debating whether or not to add a bus stop and a sign saying "One Way Street".

A Summer to Remember: Critique Draft

I could feel the scorching sun on my skin as I walked down the sandy sidewalk. Today was July 4^th to be precise and Ala Moana beach was packed with hundreds of people enjoying the cool blue water. The mouthwatering aroma of barbeque filled the air and families were indulging in all the food. Instead of swimming or socializing like everyone else, I continued listening to the sound of my music. I was still angry with my mom about not being able to go out with my friends. It wasn’t fair how little freedom I had compared to all the other juvenile delinquents out there. With that thought I continued to walk by with my music blasted loud enough for the person next to me to hear. I noticed every once in a while strangers greeted me with a friendly smile or a simple hello, but I wasn’t in the mood to react back. Before I knew it I had already circled the entire beach. At that point I started to walk back to the tent where all my family and friends were. As I approached our tent, I recognized a familiar face that I haven’t seen in a while. To my surprise, it was him.

The last time I saw him was the summer of 2009 and after that I’ve never really talked to him. At first, I didn’t think he recognized me but then we started to talk. I took a stroll around the beach again with him and his cousins. We spent most of the day talking about our lives, our friends, and our family. I learned so much about him and saw that we had a lot in common. When I was talking to him, it felt like I knew him my whole life and it just seemed unreal how comfortable I felt towards him. The day was almost ending and I watched as the sun began to set on the horizon. After gazing at the beautiful display of fireworks, everyone began to pack up and go home. As I was leaving, I remembered that I never even had the chance to say goodbye to him. I looked around to realize he had already left. Even though I was not able to say goodbye, I had a feeling that I was going to hear from him pretty soon.

My instincts were right, because the next day I received a text from him. I had completely forgot that I gave his brother my number so that we could still keep in contact. His brother must have given him my number. A day or so passed when he finally confessed that liked me and I was ecstatic to hear that he felt the same way I did. After that, he and I began talking more and more frequently. Everything was going good until we ran into two problems. For one, summer was about to end in a week and two I’m not allowed to date until my junior year. Usually, the dating part was no problem because I would end up doing it anyways. It just becomes difficult hiding it from my mom. In my past relationships, it never really worked out because we wouldn’t be able to go out to places or do anything without getting caught. I had a feeling that if I wanted this time to work out then I would have to tell my mom about him. To me, this was a big step up because I have never opened up to my mom before. He was the only guy that made me realized that if I ever want things to work out then I would need to stop keeping things from my mom.

I was still sour with my mom two weeks prior but I finally built up the nerve to talk to her. My hands were trembling as I stood outside her bedroom door. My stomach felt twisted and I started having second thoughts. I didn’t realize it was going to be this hard. My brain kept yelling at me to stop being such a baby and knock already. So I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and banged my hand on the door. I came in and told her that we needed to talk. As I sat down on the bed, I could feel my heart pounding hard. But to my surprise, she took it quite well. There wasn’t that much arguing like how it normally is. Before, I’ve always had the urge to say some smart remark and that would just make it worst. This time, I actually took my time to listen to her and for once I didn’t feel the need to talk back. She told me about how she had lost her mom when she was very little and how she’d wished that she had a mom to talk to about these kinds of problems. Listening to my mom talk about her struggles as a kid growing up, it made me realize why she is that way she is. It isn’t to ruin my life or keep me from doing things, its to protect me from what she knows might lie ahead. She explained to me why I wasn’t able to do the things that most kids can do and that is because she is teaching me about moral values and how all my privileges must be earned and not taken for granted. It made me more grateful to have a mom to watch after me the way she has for the last 15 years. I didn’t realize how much trouble I’ve caused her with all my lies and secrets until that day. Neither one of us left the room that night without puffy red eyes.

The morning after the conversation with my mom, I called him up to tell him about it. I told him that I made a compromise last night with my mom about the whole dating issue. Everything that my mom and I talked about finally sunk into my head and I have learned from the mistakes I’ve made in the past. I was glad that he forced me into talking to my mom and his assurance helped me through it all. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have been able to empathize my mom or had any clue about why she was so hard on me. Despite not being able to go out with him until next year, I think that was a smart decision to make. After all, summer doesn’t last forever but the memories and experiences are the ones I will definitely remember eternally.

Social Networking: Teens Who Log On Don’t Lag Behind

Do the positive aspects of social networking sites outweigh the negatives?

YES: Online social networks provide new opportunities for developing and maintaining social and work relationships.

NO: Revealing private information on social networking sites is foolish and can be dangerous, especially for young people.

Summary:

Today’s generation has been introduced to many social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Zanga, and so on. Many parents try to keep their child away from these types of sites due to their fears of the online world. Even though there may be some dangers, the good balances things out and shows that the world isn’t as bad as many people imagine it to be. Researchers from USC and UC Berkeley advocate parents to not block their kids from engaging into the digital media world due to their fears. Well-adjusted kids know not to talk to strangers and to be careful about what they put online. In society, electronic devices seem to be the path to how kids find their own identity, are able to work and communicate better, and are able to develop technical skills that they will need later on. Our generation is advancing into technology and these social networking sites help kids prepare for the future.

Article Link:

Social Networking

Proposition:

I agree that it is a lot better for kids to start using technology to improve themselves. These social websites are here for us to communicate more effectively and allow kids to develop their socializing skills. Socializing helps people develop a better understanding of each other. This allows our society to be more considerate of people because now we can relate to each other. Kids should not be restrained from learning how to interact with each other and I think that these sites can help kids enhance their media skills. They can also experiment all the different ways to express themselves and eventually find their identity. Many kids show their media skills such as photography, video making, web designing, graphic designing, and so on through these social networking sites. Overall, I believe we are coming to a new era where technology can allow the youth to be more aware of the things that are going on in their community. With society becoming more knowledgeable everyday, kids shouldn’t wait until they are older to learn about the online world.

Coming of Age: Another Step Into the Real World

As a little kid, all I had to worry about was recess and coloring inside the lines. Now that I have grown older I have come to realize that there are more important things to life. From my experiences, the older I have gotten the more freedom I have gained. With all that freedom also came responsibilities. I can no longer depend on everybody around me such as my parents and my friends. I need to rely on myself and be able to face the challenges that the world has to offer. To me, coming of age means to mature as a person in school, at home, and especially when it comes to money.

Only recently I have "Come of Age", which was the beginning of my high school career. Coming in as a freshman, I didn't know what to expect except that things were going to change. Going from middle school to high school was a big step up for me. There were a lot of exams and projects that helped shape me as a person. It helped me be more responsible for my own learning. Nobody was there to force me to study, instead I had to make my own choices and study by myself. I can't always rely on others to succeed. I was on my own when it came down to taking my exams or applying for the different activities around the school. High school, especially the meneMAC program, has helped me become a more responsible person and be a more independent learner.

Besides school, I have grown more mature at home as well. During the summer, I had a lot of chores that I needed to do. I noticed that I have more harder chores to do compared to when I was in middle school or even elementary school. If I wanted to go out then all my chores had to be done first. This taught me that all my privileges needed to be earned and not just handed out. If I want something, then I have to work hard for it. Life isn't always going to be easy and handed out on a silver platter like how it was in kindergarden. After the summer has ended, I know now that I have to gain my 'freedom'. Freedom meaning things such as my phone privileges to going out with my friends. I should be more grateful for these things rather then thinking its a necessity.

This summer especially, has been a time where I really matured and come to understand my parents more. I have been through a lot, especially with my family. I won't lie, but I've gotten into a lot of trouble in the pass month or so. I've argued with my mom about many things that I thought was unfair. Such as all the freedom that some kids have and that I don't. They weren't even good kids yet they still got to do whatever they wanted. But the more I argued, the more I realized how immature I was being. It wasn't right for me to talk back, especially towards my elders. I learned from my mistakes and am making sure I don't do it again. Once I realized this, I saw myself as a more understanding and a mature person. I should never talk back to someone who is older than me, even if I know I'm right and that they're wrong. Most of the time its pride, and they are really the ones who are right. It just takes some empathy to realize their point of view because sometimes, i don't know that my actions are really hurting me. My elders know what's best for me and that's why they do what they do. It isn't to keep me from doing things, but just to protect me from what they know is coming ahead.

I've always thought that I could get whatever I wanted. As of now, I know that everything I have is due to hard work because money doesn't grow on trees. When I was a little kid, if I wanted the newest toy, my parents were the ones who bought it for me. Back then I thought that it was so easy to get something because all you had to do was buy it at a store. Now, most of the time if I want something then I need buy it with my own money. My parents provide me with all the things that I NEED. They tell me that all the unecessary things that I want, I would have to work for it myself to gain moral value. By that time I didn't know what was coming to me. It isn't easy when I have to pay for things myself. Once I started to work for my money, I saw that the small things that I wanted so badly were not important anymore. Im looking at the bigger picture now and I think that making my own money has helped me "Come of Age".

In the end being more mature is being more understanding of other people's point of view. Not whining about things that you can't always have is all part of being more of an adult. Even though growing up does have its perks, such as more freedom, there are also the responsibilities that come with it. The real world or the reality of things isn't always going to be fair and most of the time it is very competitive. As I have "Come of Age", I learned from my experiences and became a more mature and independent person.