Debate topics

1.) Sport stars should be positive role models

2.) Sharing music online should be allowed 

3.) Video games are too violent 

4.) Smoking should be illegal 

5.) Same sex marriage should be allowed 

6.) Frades should be abolished 

Poem

You were born to be a rainstorm,

To send your voice throughout the night,

To sing your song with falling raindrops, 

To break the darkness with your light,

You were born to show raw beauty,

To wash the dirt out from their eyes,

But the whole world ran for cover,

When you opened up your skies,

So you made your thunder silent,

And learnt t bite your tongue,

You gave them what they wanted,

You gave them life with endless sun,

But as they watched their lives grow weaker,

Watched as their leaves turned brown and dry,

They wished they didn't take for granted,

Your blooming presence in the sky,

You were born to be a rainstorm,

To be chaotic and be bold,

To show there's beauty in the knowledge,

That you cannot be controlled,

Because you might think your not needed,

Life without you is the same,

But nothing beautiful would ever grow, 

If it wasn't washed with the rain. 

Goals in the Marking Period

The main goals that I set for the second semester marking period was not to fall behind or be lazy. Setting those goals for myself would make me a better person in and out of the classroom. The main reason I said to not fall behind is because making up work is terrible, but even more terrible is making up work and having other homework to do also that's due the next day. If I do that, then I will be lazy and not do the made up work, and then fall behind to the point where I'm almost failing. So far with only two weeks left of the marking period, I am not falling behind and keeping up the work, and sometimes do more work than needed. (which I call not being lazy) Compared to last semesters in high school, my work improvement has improved greatly and that has made me a better student in and out of the classroom. In the years to go, I will continue to work hard and maybe harder for everything in the class room so that it would pay off in the long run.

I mainly worked on getting my work done and asking for help when I need too this marking period, more than I ever did in any other marking period. I improved on completing full homework assignments and asking for help when I needed help and going to extra help if I don't get anything. (mainly before tests/quizzes) I think I need to work on mainly keeping up with assignments and not turning in anything late. Also one of my goals that I need to work on this semester and next is getting the same grade in every class, no matter how hard it is. Do all the work, go to extra help if I don't get anything that's going on in the class.

The goals that I set for the next marking period is to do everything that will make you become a good student. In the classroom especially, participating in more discussions, be an active thinker in group activities and many more. To me being an active body in a classroom will help you become a better person out of the classroom but also in the long run when you aren't in the classroom. Being that kind of student will make you do better even on your homework assignments and tests because,your an active listener and will help you study.

The thing I might do this upcoming period is described above. But my goals is to make my school year easier by just doing the hard work first and everything else last. By this I mean, when a project is assigned, do that whenever you have free time just to get it done so you don't have to worry about it in the long run. This can also means not slacking and waiting for the last minute to get everything done.

Putting all of these things together will hopefully become successful in the long run; college. 

I Believe Reflection and Speech

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1fOcPPSAEQ


I wrote this speech based on my family. In the speech I wrote that my family meant everything to me, and how the formed and shaped me to be the person that I am today. In the speech I wrote about my mom, and my two brothers that inspired me the most.

In my speech I mentioned my mom because my mom was the one who raised me. She's the one who was able to play the mom and the dad figure with no problem. She raised eight kids, mainly by herself with the help of my dad's side of the family before he passed away. My mom had a huge impact on my life because she's the one who consequence me when I did something wrong, but when I did something bad, she made me feel like the best person in the world. Also, she put her family before anything, if someone needed help she would be right there no matter where it was. The best thing about my mom is that she always forgave me for what I did no matter how bad it was, she never stopped loving me.

My two brothers who inspired me the most is three years older than me and six years older than me. My brother Kyren plays college football in Texas. I look up to him because I plan on doing the same thing he's doing but at a lower level in college athletics. He always tells me how coaches are, what they do, and how they "work" because every college coach is different. Playing football he has plenty of coaches and each one of them are different. One might be your best friend and the other might hate you or vise versa. He says no matter how rough they are or how they act to you, your hard work and your attitude is all that matters.

My oldest brother Daniel has a family now, but before this he always told me to respect my body and other people around me, but mainly my body. He says that as a pretty young black female, everyone wants you and thinks your "easy" because of the past movements with blacks, but all I gotta do is prove them wrong so that people start changing their mind and seeing blacks as just normal people. Some girls don't do that, but as a young black girl I can do that and it will hopefully change in the years to come.

At the end of the video I state a quote from the bible that means my family is everything. You should always put your family first and before anyone because they are the strongest bond you will ever have until you get married.

Growing Up

I believe that your family can change your view on life. My family is everything, I would put them before anything instantly. Growing up with eight brothers and being the only girl was hard. Sharing the bathroom with them was the worst because either I had to spray a ton of febreze around and suffer the consequences when you walk through the door or wait 45 minutes for it to be free. But they're the ones that always had my back through the good times and bad. Emotionally my brothers made me strong they picked on me and yelled at me when I didn't listen, and physically to deal with the things that brothers do; put me in headlocks, grab me by one leg and hold me upside down, sit on me until I can't breath, or pin me down so another brother can do something to me. Growing up with my family had positive outcomes and bad outcomes, but each thing had a learning experience and made me become the girl I am today. Every day at least, I created a fight or argument with each brother which ended up in me crying or just getting physical fight and having another brother or my mom coming to break us up. Once I got older, it wasn't all about fighting anymore, it was mostly about making me emotionally and mentally strong for the real world today.

Each brother had a huge impact on my life whether it's beating me up to learn my lesson or watching out for me and giving me tip on how to live life and the future, but my parents made the most impact on me. They're the ones that made me who I am. My dad and my mom got divorced right after my younger brother was born, then my dad shortly after died due to liver failure. Since my mom had to do both duties now, she struggled, but it didn't stop her from attending sport events or giving up whatever we needed. My mom has been there for me through thick and thin, tears of anger and tears of joy, even during my brat moments and during my sweetheart moments, and no matter what I do she will always love me. I look up to my mom the most, because ever since she and my dad got a divorce, she has just been focusing on her kids and the restaurants and making sure that we live unforgettable lives. She always supports me no matter how much I make her mad, but she tells me "no teenager can be perfect."

The one day that I was getting along with my older brother, Daniel, he taught me the most, not physically but emotionally and how I should grow up being a respectful young lady. One day he said, "you shouldn't let anyone come between my family and you because it's the strongest bond that you will ever have with anyone. As a young mixed lady you should always be respectful and have a positive outlook with everything that goes into you and out of you. You should also have respect for your body, keep it in shape and don't give it up to anyone you have no respect for. You should always keep your body sacred until you meet that one person that you will soon marry." My older brother inspires me the most because out of every one of my brothers, right now, he inspires me because of his success, personality, and outlook towards and in his life. He's the one who went to college for sports, focused on what he did best, then after college found his first love and is now marrying her this summer. He inspires me to focus on myself, focus on what I do best, and graduate high school, then soon after, college. Then after college focus on everything else that involves me succeeding in life.

I have so many physical stories that I could go on for days about, but there's one that will always stick in my head, and when I get physically weak, I just think about this story. My second youngest brother, Kyren plays college football for Texas A&M. Including that scholarship he had over 30 D1 offers for football, basketball, and track and field, but he chose football because it keeps you in shape both physically and mentally, especially playing for a high D1 college. Before he went to college, he wasn't physically ready which lead him to not be emotionally ready. As soon as he got recruited, his coach told him he had to get physically and mentally tough in a matter of months, which he knew that he couldn't do, he decided to go to prep school closer to Texas A&M to make sure he was ready for what he had coming. Whenever he comes home, which is very rare, he tells me everything, all the stories, good and bad, and tells me how I could deal with it if I ever come across a coach like his. He always comes home with different stories about his college coach, good and bad. As a college coach you’re supposed to be mean, but his college coach takes it beyond meanness, he yells all the time and when he’s yelling breaks objects against anything that’s close to him. The worst part is that one day, he treats you like the best player on the field and his best friend, but then the next day you're his worst enemy. My brother said that, that was the worst thing to get used too, but as you get older, you just get use to the fact. Kyren’s stories almost make me feel like I don't want to ever play college sports but he says, "if you're in good shape, that one less thing you gotta worry about." Kyren telling me all these stories just motivate me into being in physical shape so I don't have to worry about it in college or the years after college.

A quote from the 1 Peters 4:8 states, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” This quotes describes my family perfectly because they might be rough all the time, but in the long run they will always be by my side and have my back.

Blind Side Monologue Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qU0mg-cMtA
(Copy and Paste to watch!)


When trying to find this monologue, I knew that I was trying to find something that was meaningful to not only me, but everyone else. When I saw the Blind Side come up, I knew that I had to do something from the movie, because as a teenager, that is by far the most inspirational movie and had an impact on my personality towards sports and adults as a teenager. Finding a quote that was in the Blind Side wasn't hard, the only hard part was trying to find which one to choose because they all have a special meaning to them, from playing on the field to connecting as a family on and off the field.

I chose this monologue on courage and honor, because to me that was the best one towards teenagers and how life should be lived as a teenager. When reading it over, Michael said it perfectly even though his English wasn't the best. He stated that everyone should have courage and honor in their hearts and if they do, then that's pretty good. Even though his speech isn't perfect English, deep down, that should mean something to teenagers. I aim this mainly towards teenagers because as a teenager, I sometimes lack those aspects in life, and to be able to succeed in life, you should aways have those aspects in your life, no matter how rough it is.

While rehearsing this, memorizing it was tricky as it got to the end, so it took longer than expected. The beginning was easy to memorize, because I felt like it repeated itself, so I just had to remember what came next and after. Towards the end it was hard to memorize because I felt like he just put random stuff together to get it all in, and plus his English wasn't too good, so I had to change his words around and put in words that weren't included.

Blind Side Quote

"Courage is a hard thing to figure. You can have courage based on a dumb idea or mistake, but you're not suppose to question adults, or your coach or your teacher, because they all make the rules. Maybe they know best, but maybe they don't. It all depends on who you are, where you come from. Didn't at least one of the six hundred guys think about giving up, and joining the other side? I mean, the valley of the death that's pretty salty stuff. That's why courage is tricky. Should you always do what others tell you to do. Sometimes you might not even know why you're doing something. I mean any fool can have courage . But honor, that's the real reason for you either do something or you don't. It's who you are and maybe who you want to be. If you die trying for something important, then you have both honor and courage, and that's pretty good."