What I Missed the Most

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 The voice of the flight captain woke me up, as he was announcing that the plane would land in 30 minutes. I looked to my left and saw my father staring at the window next to me saying, “We are finally back son. Home sweet home.” I was excited and anxious at the same time to go back home and see the rest of my family.

Spending that previous week in Shenzhen changed my life a little. I got to experience their lifestyle and I was apart of their culture. Over the course of the trip, I went to a lot of different places that ranged from the cities to farmlands. I met a lot of new people but they are mostly my father’s business partners. Most of them are old, so the topics to our conversations were limited. During the times when we weren’t traveling, I was usually in the hotel room relaxing. I brought my laptop hoping to communicate with my friends, but I soon realized that Facebook is banned from China. I tried watching television but all the channels were in Mandarin.

Overall, the trip wasn’t too fun for a 19 year-old college student. For the last few days of the trip, I was home sick. I didn’t feel right being in Shenzhen, I felt the urge to go home. As I got off that plane, I felt like my mission was accomplished and it was only minutes away until I see my mom. When my mom picked us up, I couldn’t help it but to instantly hug her and tell her how much I missed home. 

The Point: There is no place like home.

Education: The Best and the Worst

My worst educational nightmare began with my first English class in college. I was anxiously waiting for my professor to arrive. My mind was filled with curiosity of how my professor would be. I soon realized that the class was a “joke.” It felt like I was re-experiencing middle school. The material he taught was so basic, that I was regressing than progressing. My professor also had an accent that was almost impossible to understand. However, the worst part was that I finished with a “B” in the class. Never again will I underestimate a class.

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My best educational experience did not come from school, but from home. My parents and grandmother are the best teachers I’ve ever had. Even though they do not teach me subjects like Math or English, they teach me the education necessary for life. They help me understand the person I needed to become in order to succeed. Sometimes a warm hug is needed and most of the times a loving spank is given. This educational experience is not just a onetime event. Every single day my ‘best teachers’ continue to mold and refine me into a better person.

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Live Your Life

As I was growing up, I was always known to be the shy one. I was the person that never spoke a single word in class, or never the first one to start a conversation. I was comfortable with my friends, but at that moment in time, friends only meant a few. I was pretty much the typical nerd, although my appearance convinced everyone that I could work for P. Diddy (I wore a lot of SEAN JOHN). Video games became my necessity, while food and sleep were only given to me when my mom forced it upon me. From my understandings I thought life was good, there wasn’t any responsibilities or stress. I was in control in my cyber world. As I was getting older, I started to notice girls, especially the ones that were in my class. I remember having a huge crush on this girl named Tiffany. She wasn’t in my class but I noticed her hanging out with the group of people I know. Every time I glanced at her I couldn’t feel anything but the butterflies in my stomach and the pace of my heartbeats increasing. Soon after telling my friend this secret, the whole school somehow found out, so did she. As a shy kid and an amateur, I told my friend to ask her if the feeling was mutual. The answer I received was a no. At that moment, I felt like my world collapsed. However, I got over that issue and moved on to high school, where I spent the next 4 years of my life searching for my identity. It wasn’t until college that gave me a wake up call. I realized that life’s too short to be afraid of how people might judge you and I learned to show my true colors.

And This I Believed: You should live your life with passion and excitement, and it is okay to be different.

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Generation Entertainment

“Gym, Tan, Laundry!” Many of you may recognize this famous line from the over popular MTV show Jersey Shore. Reality shows like this is the kind of entertainment our generation strives for. I call it Generation Entertainment. People today, are constantly looking for news and stories to keep themselves occupied. However, the type of news may not serve a significant purpose. Also, the music in our generation is becoming more cliché and it usually about sex, money, or drugs. Teenagers are growing on to these entertainments or you could even say that these entertainments are a necessity to them.  

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The Perfect Vacation

Walt Disney World, the place where everyone should go at least once.

The resort is filled with amazing amusement park rides and Disney characters that everyone has all grown up loving. Disney is a great place for family and friends to come together and have fun. It allows visitors to escape the stress and hardships that people experience in their everyday lives. Disney World has become a symbol that represents America and is a huge part of our culture today.

When people think of Disney, they may instantly think of Mickey Mouse or Goofy, however the famous characters are only one aspect of it. Disney World has become an integrated part of our culture. Since its opening in 1971, it has grown to become the largest and most visited recreation site in the world for families. It has become the ideal vacation spot for people not only in America, but from all across the globe as well. Walt Disney has created amazing, mind-blowing theme parks that make up the resort.

Each theme park possesses its own unique qualities and attractions. The Animal Kingdom was by far my favorite theme park. Not only does it offer amusement park rides, but people can also go on Safari expeditions where they can watch animals living in their natural habitat. Disney World is a significant place to me because I shared countless memories with my family there and no other memories could be as important or special as that.

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The Perfect Place

Walt Disney World, the place where everyone should go at least once. The resort is filled with amazing amusement park rides, and Disney characters that you may have loved when you were a child. Disney is a place for family and friends to come together and have fun, and really escape from the stress and hardships that people experience in their everyday lives. Disney World became a symbol that represented America and it is a big part of our culture today. When people think of Disney, they may think of Mickey Mouse or Goofy, however that is only one aspect of it. Disney World has sank into our culture. It has became the largest and most visited recreation site in the world for families and it has became the ideal vacation spot for people not only in America but all over the world. Walt Disney has done a perfect job of creating themes for its resort. Each section of the park has its own unique qualities and attractions. The Animal Kingdom was by far my favorite theme park. Not only does it offer  amusement park rides, but people can go on Safari expedition rides where they can watch animals in their habitats. Disney World is a significantly essential place to me because it represented all the memories I shared with my family and none other memories could be as important as that.

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True Beauty is from Within

Have you ever seen a group of friends that look like they all look alike? Every person in the group is wearing their baseball caps turned to the side and a blank white tee that screams out colorless. I am talking about fashion conformity people! It may seem like your not doing it but everyone conforms to some sort of style at least once before. Fashion conformity creates a gateway for people to help them “fit in” in society and help them feel better about themselves.

The truth is that conformity is very powerful.  I admit, even I was ex-fashion conformer. Back in middle school, I was a huge hip-hop fanatic. Watching those rappers and singers on television were the highlights of my day. Most of their music videos were about how wealthy and popular they were. They always had luxurious cars and beautiful women with them. They became my idols in no time, so I then started dressing like them. Now as I looked back at my old clothes in my wardrobe, I ask myself, “What in the world was I thinking?!?” It’s interesting to see how important “fitting in” meant to me as I was growing up.

Looking back at the styles in the 1960’s, I couldn’t helped to noticed how conservative and classy college students dressed back then. Compared to the style nowadays, I’m curious to know why was there such a big transformation. Typical college girls these days would wear shirts that showed the most skin, and pants that could be as short as their undergarments. College students today seem to be more open and eager for attention. Especially girls, they seem like they want to be able to express their “sexiness” and have the power to “turn heads”. Movies, celebrities, and magazines all have impact on society today on how people should look in order to be beautiful and be noticed.

This is when conformity comes in and change people’s mind about how they should have this specific appearance. However this is not true, beauty comes from the inside and people should not have to change to be beautiful!

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