Class Interview

            Today, I met a college student. Her name is Marta Alicia Alatorre. She was born in Ventura California. She comes from a family of three brothers and two sisters. At the age of one, her mom moved to Mexico with her siblings. They lived there while her dad worked in California. Four years later, they decided to move back with her father. Since then, she has not gone back to Mexico.

            Now she is a happy mom who’s motivation is her five kids. They are the reason and motivation to be in college. She considers herself a role model for her children. One of persons, she always look up to is her sister, who has a college degree. Also she works as a medical office clerk at Clinicas Del Camino Real. Her day stars at 8 am to 5 pm from Monday to Saturday. The rest of her evenings, she spends with her kids helping them with their homework.
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Essay #1

The Reunion with My Father

There have been many events in my life that have occurred but there is one that I went through that I believed that made who I am today. It was when I met up with my father after four years of not seeing him. Since he left, my life changed, I became a person less motivated, less responsible, and less studious on school. My life was going to be like many other kids who work at a young age to help their families.

            When I turned 15, my mom told me that I was going to move to USA. She said the reason why I was moving was to be with my father. This was something I did not expect. I felt my soul leaving my body, for leaving the place where I grew up in. My mom and two brothers were going to move in two months than after me.

            It was in a hot Saturday morning, when my uncle and I left my home. As I got in the car, I held myself of crying. Wishing my mom would say that I was not moving and to get back with them.  She just hugged me and said that it was the best for us and that we would all reunite in two months.  No matter what she told me. I could not change my mind that I was moving to see a person who I refused to talk to in the last four years.

As we got to the border, I saw the difference of this country from mine. There were two hours left to get to where my father lived.  There were houses everywhere and huge building reflecting the sun’s rays. I sense that there was not freedom like the place where I was coming from.  I froze at the sight of all the wonderful things on the way to father’s house, but there was no way to keep the thought out of my mind that I would see my father after all this time. 

What would I say to him? What would I do when I saw him? Those were the worries pounding in my head. All kinds of crazy things went through my mind. What if he is with someone else?  If he would not want to be with us.  What if he was not the person I expected and turned to be the worst coming.  All this negative thoughts where in my mind, because all the memories I had of him were not so positives.  I was not sure of forgiving him.

It was about 8:00 pm and it was getting dark and cold. My anxiety was growing. Suddenly we got off the freeway. At the moment, something told me that the moment had arrived. I asked my uncle, if we almost got there deducing what the answer was. He parked the car in front of apartment buildings. As I got off the car, I looked up to the sky taking a big breath for what was to come. Across the road, I saw a young lady in front of a big white apartment waiting for us to cross.  When I got closer to her, I recognized her. She was my older sister welcoming and giving me a brief hug. I was struck by how much she had changed, since the last time I saw her.  Then my uncle left saying that he had to drive two more hours to where he lived. She said to come in and went ahead. I walked slowly behind her looking around. The building was so quiet with the lights of each apartments’ door on. It was not what I thought it would be. A big beautiful house like what I saw on my way over here. She went upstairs heading to apartment number twelve.  There was a small object hanging on the brown door with a word saying “welcome” by that time I did not know what it meant.

As she opened the door, I noticed my other two older sisters. I was so timid, when they greeted me. There he was, coming out of one of the rooms. He had that look of tiredness, but he did not show any feeling of happiness. I knew he was like that there was no way he would have changed. I froze up not knowing what to do. My nervous and emotions could not leave my body. I just went to him and spread my arms to hug him with a blissful smile. Inside of me that was what I have been waiting for to hug him. He was thinner than the last time I saw him. He even used glasses what made him look stranger. Still in my mind was the thought of being in front of the person who I did not talk to for four years and who was my father. Then one of my sisters told us to sit down. There were three couches. Each of them were old and from different colors. The living room was too small. There was not enough room. I sat in the smaller couch right in front of the TV looking around. I barely spoke from the strange feeling in this place. They sat on the sofa that was beside of me. Suddenly all was quiet, but eventually they would start asking me questions. I guessed they were giving me time to assimilate all this. All my feelings of anger vanished at the moment. My mind got blocked up.

One of my sisters begun to ask me how our home, my mom, and her friends were. My father was sitting there quiet like waiting for the right moment to ask me questions. This situation put me more nervous. Then he got up and came towards me. He sat downs beside of me and put his hand on my shoulder. He said to me, “I am glad you came, I really missed you.” But then, he came up with a question that I did not expect, “How are you doing in school?” I took a breath about saying the truth or not, but at the end, I knew there was no reason for me to lie or for him to judge me. I told him that I had dropped out of school a year ago. I looked at him waiting for his reaction, but he just gave that look of guiltiness. Then he said that he would help me get back to the school. I blinked in total disbelief of what he had just said. It was the first time in my life that my father supported me. Also he mentioned that I would not have the same life he had for not having an education. Somehow inexplicably all of my resentments towards him were gone. I was hardly holding myself of crying. After two hours of talking, my dad said that it was time to sleep. It was about 10:00 pm, when they went to their rooms. I lay down in one of the couches, thinking that, that night had been the start of a better relationship with my dad.

Since that night, my life turned up in a good way. He persuaded me to get back into school. I graduated from high school, and now I am a college student and all because of him. My relationship with him is not the one I would like to have, but it is the better than nothing. Now I know and understand the reasons why he left us. As an adult, I understand that I should not judge someone for what they did or do, because I do not know the reasons that led him to do it.

Texting

            In today’s society, there are a lot of new inventions that have made people’s life easier. They all bring benefits to us but there are some that also have brought negative benefits. Some of them are now big issues that even countries are making new laws to prevent use them illegally. A perfect example is texting. I think texting is used more as a distraction than as a tool.

            Texting has brought one of the best options to communicate with people who are far away but also have brought problems to them. One of the problems is texting while driving. I think it is something that everyone has done at some point. Texting behind wheels increases the chances of a car accident. I always try not to answer my cell phone because I know that I may have a car crash and put my life and of other’s on risk. Another thing, I have seen with texting is that is used by students as a way to cheat on tests. I have seen how some of my classmates use their cell phones to send the answers of exams through texting. I think text messages are an amazing tool for us but we are who decides how to use it.

Reality Shows: Mis Novelas

         My family and some other families in my hometown did not have a TV. I think by that time my family could not afford to buy a television or they just did not think it was important. One day, I heard my father say that we did not need a TV to live. When we moved to Ensenada Mexico, it was the time I first saw a reality show or a novela. In English, a novela is a serial drama. As an adult, I am not the type of person who watches TV all day. Now and then, I watch reality shows or novelas. My job and my classes take most of my time; therefore, I do not watch TV that often. In the evening, my family gathers up in the living room and that is when I see las novelas. Most of time, I watch football soccer. I would rather watch a movie with a good purpose than a reality show; however, I see them more than anything. Although I do not like to watch novelas, there are some that catch my eye. There are a few shows that are about humor. Novelas could be good for some people, but at the end, it would not give anything good to learn from.

            In first place, las novelas are only fictional stories but also based on real life. Every time I see a novela for the first time, I do not get the purpose of it. I see my sister and how they leave whatever they are doing, once las novelas begin. They sit in front of the TV for one to three hours daily watching novelas. That is what I dislike the most about them. People can do other activities instead of watching them. As an example, my sisters often do not complete their homework because they do not want to miss an episode of the reality show. A novela will not show you how to live your life.  

            Also it could have a big influence on the audience. There are some parents who admit their kids to watch novelas that are not appropriate for them. I think the kids are more vulnerable to be influence by the television. The children can not separate the reality from the fantasy. Las novelas show things that are not appropriate for kids at a young age. As an example they are shows where they show people half naked. The kids tend to do what they see on TV. They are not watching educational programs. Sometimes the children just assume that life is what they show in these reality shows.

            At the end, las novelas are TV shows that will never change or get removed. I think every one decides what they want to watch. Personally I do not think they are helping the society. Most of the time, they show to the audience things that are not appropriate. Big companies only want to entertain more audience than other companies. I believe parents should be more responsible for what they allow their children to watch. They are the ones are responsible of what their kids learn and watch.

Junk Food

            When I was a kid, fast food was not a big influence in my life. Where I am from there was not a lot of fast food places. As I grew up, fast food was becoming part of my life. By then, my family would go to eat in a fast food place, if it was only a special event or we were out of home. In my hometown, people used to eat more at home than go out. They will not spend their money on junk food, when they can eat healthy home. One thing my mom always says is that home cook is better than junk food. I think all that junk food got into my life when I started school. When I got into first grade, I only thought about lunch at school. I really liked chips and candies but what I loved was the chocolate bars.

            Then my whole family moved to USA. It was the city where I saw a lot of fast food places where I could go to eat all the food that I never had the chance to try before. My father took us to McDonald, Subway and Taco Bell. I was not use to eat burger or pizza before. I began to eat pizza most of the time in high school and sometimes I drank two or three sodas a day. On Fridays my family used to go to eat burritos. Then on Saturdays we ordered Domino’s pizza. Also on Sunday’s morning I drank one or two cups of coffee. As I started to work I have less time for eating healthy. On my way to work, I go to get a coffee and donas at Ihop. Sometimes I would just decide to drink energy drinks. When I got into College, I started to go to McDonald more often. I just did not have enough time to get lunch at home and then go to college.  I did not think that eating unhealthy would cause so much physic problems. A Big Mac extra value was my lunch.

            At the end eat this unhealthy habits can bring many physical problems. Last year, I went to see a doctor. because I did not feel so well. I could not even run a mile because I just really tired. Then I got the news that my mom was diagnosed with cholesterol. It was shocking to know what was the caused. Now she is taking a lot of medication pills. For myself, I started a diet in order to loose weight. Some of the food, I cut down are burritos, burgers, and soda. Now I tend eat healthier food. I feel more comfortable with my new eating habit. I can do things that I could not do because of my weight. It is hard to change my eating habit but it is not impossible. I think the fast food will not end because in today’s society, people tend to have less time to eat healthy food.