Memories

Well. Sophomore year is almost over. Writing this blog is so bittersweet. When I look back over the past school year and think of all the different memories I have, I go from smiling to crying to laughing and do it all over again. I think of the times where I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe and the times where tears streamed down my eyes. I think about the restless nights where I stayed up for hours studying and the nights that I didn't wanna go to sleep because I didn't wanna say goodnight. I think about all the friendships that I've made this year and all the broken relationships. I think about all the things that made this year so stressful and the little things that made it worthwhile. I can definitely say I've grown, and there's no doubt I've learned this year. But when I think about this year, I sure wish someone would have warned me! I most definitely wasn't prepared for it. So as I end sophomore year and began junior year, I will leave you with a few words of advice.

1. Be thankful for everything. You never know which breathe may be your last or when the last time you will talk to someone may be, so take nothing for granted.

2. Cherish your close friends. You know those few people who have always been there for you? Yeah, don't lose them. Don't ever take them for granted because you have no idea how much you need them.

3. Don't trust everyone. Some people will act like they care, but they only want to tear you down. Choose your friends wisely and don't share everything with everyone.

4. Study. Study. Study. Sophomore year is a lot harder than freshman year. You're in for it. Not everything's gonna be so easy anymore. Keep your grades up.

5. HAVE FUN!! Your high school years are supposed to be some of the best of your life. Don't wish your life away. Take a break and take it all in, you're gonna miss this!

Good luck!

Regret

Regret. What is it? Most would say they regret doing something, but what does that mean? Does it mean they did something that wasn't like them and they won't do it again? Does it have a definition?

Everyone does things that they wish they wouldn't have, but some would call it regret and some wouldn't. So what is regret? Is it the time that you ate that fourth piece of cake when you know you didn't need it? Or is it deeper than that? Some would say regret is simply something that you wish you wouldn't have done. I would agree with this statement, but how do you deal with it?

People say "live life with no regrets," but at the same time they are the ones that do the "stupid things" according to society. While they say this, they are throwing their lives away for a little fun. They're trading their eternity for a few nights of excitement. Would this not be considered regret? If one things for sure, they'll regret it when they die.

Some say they regret not saying something to someone or not doing someone for a love one who is now dead. So when you say "live life with no regrets" maybe that means you need to spend time with the people you care about. Who would regret that?

I hope that when I'm coming close to death that I can truly say I have no regrets. I may have done some things that I wish I wouldn't have, but I hope I won't regret the way I've lived my life. Society these days finds their happiness in Blurry nights, Facebook likes and Twitter follows. If you lost everything would you regret living that way? Don't you want more than last nights bragging rights? What if you died today? Would you have lived a life full of regrets? The future is a gift even though this is the present, live with no regrets.

The Sentence of a Lifetime

"Christ died for you, live for him; Jesus is the answer you will search for."

This sentence would be the most important sentence to pass on to another generation if something happened and no other information could be passed on. Throughout history, man has discovered everything else on the earth. We have invented virtually everything that we use today. But the one thing that man will need is religion, and a hope that is only found in Christ, and this hope cannot be made up or invented. If nothing else were to be passed on, man could figure out a way to survive and a way to make things work, but this new generation would not be capable of coming up with something as amazing as Jesus. Man cannot comprehend the beauty and flawlessness of Jesus, and without someone else telling them, no one would ever have the imagination to possibly think of something so great. With this sentence, the new generation could have hope, they could have faith, and there would be more peace overall. When all else goes wrong, people look to God, everyone places there hope and faith in God, and they pray over what they need. Man can do a lot on its own, but this is not one of them. They need that hope of Jesus; they need to be able to place faith in someone heavenly rather than something on the earth. It's up to them to figure the rest out, if we did it once, they can do it again.

Teenagers Dealing With An Identity Crisis

Everyone knows that the teenage years are some of the hardest years in your life, you go through changes in your body, you face the new pressures of growing up, you are pressured by your friends to be or do certain things and on top of that, you don't really fit in. And by that I mean that you're not quite a kid, but you certainly aren't an adult yet. This is why I believe that the number one problem adolescents deal with is a senses of identity and finding a place in this world where they fit in. Every teenager has gone through an identity crisis where they couldn't decide who they were or who they wanted to be. We change our wardrobe, our preferences, our personality and even our morals. We are willing to change everything about us just to fit in somewhere. We move around from group to group desperately searching for somewhere to fit in; honestly just anyone who will accept us for who we are. 

A news station in Kansas recently asked teenagers what they think about this whole situation of "fitting in", and the responses were just what they predicted. 

"People, so they won't be alone, they'll just join cliques because they'll want to feel like they fit in, even when they really don't," said eighth grader Monserrat Barrera. 

Another eighth grader agreed, saying "They'll pretty much do anything to be popular."

As you can see, even teenagers agree they deal with this problem. Most will admit that at some point, they have changed something about themselves just to fit in. And although they may not like something; if it means fitting in, they'll do whatever it takes. Although this is a problem in teens, the problem is also in the teens. The reason that teenagers are constantly searching for their identity and desperately trying to fit in is because we live in a world that if you aren't like everyone else, you aren't cool. So if you don't like a certain type of music, or you don't dress a certain way, then you won't be accepted. The only solution to this problem is for teenagers to fix it themselves. Although every age group faces the issue, teenagers have it the worst. If teenagers would simply accept people for who  they are and not what they do, this problem could be eliminated. 

http://www.katv.com/story/16955553/fitting-in-as-a-teenager-how-to-help-your-child-face-cliques

Teenagers Dealing With An Identity Crisis

Everyone knows that the teenage years are some of the hardest years in your life, you go through changes in your body, you face the new pressures of growing up, you are pressured by your friends to be or do certain things and on top of that, you don't really fit in. And by that I mean that you're not quite a kid, but you certainly aren't an adult yet. This is why I believe that the number one problem adolescents deal with is a senses of identity and finding a place in this world where they fit in. Every teenager has gone through an identity crisis where they couldn't decide who they were or who they wanted to be. We change our wardrobe, our preferences, our personality and even our morals. We are willing to change everything about us just to fit in somewhere. We move around from group to group desperately searching for somewhere to fit in; honestly just anyone who will accept us for who we are. 

A news station in Kansas recently asked teenagers what they think about this whole situation of "fitting in", and the responses were just what they predicted. 

"People, so they won't be alone, they'll just join cliques because they'll want to feel like they fit in, even when they really don't," said eighth grader Monserrat Barrera. 

Another eighth grader agreed, saying "They'll pretty much do anything to be popular."

As you can see, even teenagers agree they deal with this problem. Most will admit that at some point, they have changed something about themselves just to fit in. And although they may not like something; if it means fitting in, they'll do whatever it takes. Although this is a problem in teens, the problem is also in the teens. The reason that teenagers are constantly searching for their identity and desperately trying to fit in is because we live in a world that if you aren't like everyone else, you aren't cool. So if you don't like a certain type of music, or you don't dress a certain way, then you won't be accepted. The only solution to this problem is for teenagers to fix it themselves. Although every age group faces the issue, teenagers have it the worst. If teenagers would simply accept people for who  they are and not what they do, this problem could be eliminated. 

http://www.katv.com/story/16955553/fitting-in-as-a-teenager-how-to-help-your-child-face-cliques

Fraction Friends?

 Many people believe that you act like the people that you hang out with. For instance, if you hang out with the "athletes" you are most likely going to be an athlete yourself, or if you hang out with people who love something specific, you probably love the same thing. Not only do you probably like the same things as the people that you hang out with, you probably act like them. 

I believe that this is true. I think this is not only true for the people I know, but also for myself. I have developed traits and characteristics from my friends, that if I did not hang out with them, I most likely would not have. I can see some of my characteristics in my friends as well. I believe that this naturally occurs. In the same way that we have some of the same personalities as our family, we also develop personalities similar to our friends over time. It is rather impossible not to when you spend so much time with someone.

For me, I feel like this is a good thing, I think that I can learn and grow as a person by being with my friends. I think that I have developed some of their good traits, and it makes me a better person. However, this is because I have a great group of friends that make the right decisions and do the right thing. I am so thankful for them and glad that they put me in a position to grow as a person.

Ignorance is Bliss?

I believe society’s main problem as a whole is ignorance. This is why our world is struggling in so many different areas. People are uninformed on economic, social and other issues that concern not only some, but many. The leaders in today’s world base their decisions off of a feeling or one reason. Instead, we should be informed on these issues and study the historic times that our world has faced these issues. For example; if we are dealing with economic issues, we cannot simply do what we think is the right thing, but we must also study history. Before making a decision, we must see if we have faced the issue in past times, and how to deal with it properly and what not to do. The term “Ignorance is Bliss” is not one that we can relate our problems to. Ignorance is fact is not bliss, ignorance leads to many problems. We do not know how the decisions we make will truly affect our nation and world as a whole. Instead, we think of the part time issues.

The way we solve the issue of ignorance is simple. We should allow more informed people to run our countries and make decisions. If we allow ignorant and uninformed citizens to make all the decisions for everyone, we will be in trouble. And that is what has happened. We have allowed ignorant people to take head positions over our countries and trusted them with our lives. The decisions they make determine almost every aspect of our live. Instead of dealing with the major issue of ignorance, why not place informed people over us, which will eventually solve numerous problems that we are dealing with.

Fear, Is It In Us?

When most people think of fear, they think of what they are afraid of, they also may think of a time that they were scared, or frightened. And most often, they relate that fear to an object, something that they believe "caused" the fear. When we relate our fear to something, we most often have experienced a bad encounter, or time with this thing. If someone is afraid of snakes, you could most likely guess that they were put in a bad position with one at some point in there life. But at other times, we use others peoples fear as an excuse for our own. Often times, you will see on the news of an event such as a shark attack. They portray sharks to be these deadly harmful creatures and it makes everyone who sees it frightened. What the viewers don't know is that sharks are actually not as bad as everyone thinks. In fact, hot dogs kill more people annually than sharks do! Also, even something as simple as beds kill 450 people annually compared to the average of five deaths caused by sharks!

So is fear something that is in us? Is fear a natural reaction to anything that can harm us? I would say that fear is overused. And by overused, I mean that people these days use fear as an excuse. We live our sheltered happy lives, dodging anything that may potentially harm us or even simply frighten us. We as individuals look out for ourselves and loved ones and anytime a threat is faced, we naturally avoid it by working up something inside of us called "fear."