Update on Essay # 2

Initially, I was going to write the paper on the Students Stopping Cancer (SSC) but then on Tuesday’s class I had an epiphany about another organization that would also make a good topic for me to share with everyone. This organization is called Advancement Visual Individual Determination (AVID). I feel that AVID is more well-known than SSC, and therefore it much easier to do research on them. Another reason why I decided to change my topic was because I had been in AVID far longer than I have been in SSC and I felt like I would able to talk about this club extensively that would satisfy the lengthy requirement for this paper.

In computer class on Tuesday I did the research for AVID and, fortunately, I was able to find a lot of information on this amazing club. By the end of the class period, I got all the information that I needed for this essay. The only thing that I still need to do is find some useful information from the school’s library’s data bank. That is exactly what I did today in the computer lab and I was able to find two academic articles on the AVID program. By the end of the period, I think I have everything that I needed to write my essay.

Stressed Out

Life as a college student is insane. I have not fully felt like I’m a college student until this quarter. For the past five weeks, I have been kept busy trying to study for midterm for one class after another. I guess I should have been mentally prepared for the busy schedule when I enrolled in three science classes. Every week for the past five weeks, there are also one or more midterms that I have to study for. This week I have three midterms that will keep me on the edge of my seat. Today I just finished taking the Anatomy and Physiology midterm and my brain is totally fried from studying all the materials all weekend. Tomorrow I have to study for Microbiology midterm on Wednesday and that is going to be fun. On Thursday, I have to get ready for the Chemistry 205 midterm on Friday. I think I would not feel as worn-out as I am right now if this is just for one week, but this kind of constant studying and testing is beginning to take a toll on me – mentally and physically. The two things that motivate me to keep going are in two to three weeks this quarter is going to an end and I won’t have to deal with this crazy schedule anymore, and the second thing is if I work hard I know my effort is going to pay off. I want to end this quarter on good note

Thoughts on California Conflicts

On Thursday’s class discussion about the California Conflict, I was surprised to hear about what had occurred at one my of the classmates’ high school. I knew about the tensions between the African Americans and the Hispanics, but to actually hear about it from someone my age who witnessed it was surprising. At my high school, the majority of the students attending were African American and Hispanic and throughout my four years stay at school, I’ve never heard or witnessed any fight between the two ethnicities. I felt there were no tensions between the two races. Everyone just lived their lives and hung out with their friends at lunch breaks. Of course, there were also the occasional fights broke out during my high school years, but those fights were just over meaningless things.
During the class discussion on Thursday, I was rereading the California Conflict and suddenly I noticed that for every hate crimes that the writer included in the article he or she always includes the age of the attackers. Once I noticed that, I was shocked by how young these Neo-Nazis are. One of the attackers was even at the tender age of fourteen years old. I thought since that person was so young I would assume that he got use to the diversity in his neighborhood and live in harmony with everyone. I guess I was too idealistic to believe in that thought. After I got over my shock, I got to wonder if the reason the writer included the age of the attackers involving in the hate crimes reported in Southern California was inform the readers that this is not some acts of spur by teenagers’ rebellion against the law. But something that is much more dangerous than one would have thought. I think that the writer main purpose is to inform his or her readers that this hate crimes must be stop, if not it can become something much serious than any one would have thought, such as the destruction of the Nazis. At the beginning, very few people took notice of danger and corruption of the group that called themselves the Nazis, but when people started to paid attention to them it was already too late as the Nazis already obtain too much power and control over their mother land and their neighboring countries that were taken by force. In the end, millions of people were killed and left behind a terrifying reminder of what hate crimes can become.

Reminiscing

This is so sad. Why? Because I stayed inside my house all weekend, studying for my Microbiology midterm on Monday. When I said I stayed inside the house all weekend I meant literally for two whole days, without one step outside the front door. This is not the first time that I’d spend my weekend at home without going anywhere. There is nothing exciting going on in my area and when does it is not exactly the kind of excitement that I want any part of. The area where I am living at is not really a safe place to live. A year ago, one of my friends, who also lived in the same area as I am, informed me that there are some gangs members living in my neighborhood and that I should be careful. I am easily scared so when my friend told me that I was pretty freaked out. Since then, I tried to stay inside my house most of the time. This decision did not affect my daily routine very much because ever since I immigrated to California from Vietnam ten years ago, my family and I don’t really go out that a lot. The explanation for my family seclusion is because we don’t really know any good places for our family to go and have fun. Therefore, we just stay home and be with each other.
I like being with my family like this because I remembered when we were living in Vietnam; I rarely have any quality time with my parents. I’m not saying that my parents were negligent of taking of me because I did have a happy childhood. It was that I felt my parents did not spend a lot time playing me when I was little. My parents were always running their business at the restaurant that we used to own before we came to the United States or spending their time with their friends, traveling around South Vietnam. I, sometimes, went along with my parents and their friends on few of their adventures but I did not really enjoy it though because I was just a little kid with bunch of adults talking and joking about things that I had absolutely no idea of. Therefore, whenever my parents went out with their friends, I hung out with my three best friends in my neighborhood and had the time with my life. Now that I’m reminiscing about my childhood, I can’t help but smile about inseparable my friends and I were. We spent almost every single day together playing in the street, at each other homes, and we also did our own adventures around the Ho Chi Minh City ourselves. I guess in a way when my family immigrated to America my parents and I somewhat, unknowingly, traded our time with our friends to have more of family quality time together.

Life in Colton, CA

The houses in Colton, CA are designed similar to the picture shown above. A front yard with wooded fend dividing one home to another. I choose this picture because despite it nice scenery it has somewhat a lonely and distant feeling to it which reflect the emotion that I feel living in this area.

The reason why I seem to have trouble connecting to this town is because everyone keep to themselves and hardly interact to one another. There are hardly anyone walking around the neighborhood as the picture despict the way this town functions on the town street. There is no one in sight walking on the side walk, there are only people in their cars creating this lonesome feeling. Of course, we are talking about Colton, CA and it is not exactly the safest place for a person to walk around in the neighborhood or the street because the reputation it has. Therefore, I can not blame the residents of Colton to either stay in the house or travel by cars because I, myself, feel more comfortable that way too.

Where I Am From

I am from the zoo
From all different races, personalities, and families
Living in a community of our own
Where the walls of our rooms connecting one home to another

I am from a shy, loving family
From where we show our affection through actions
Rather than words to each other

I am from Loan and Tan’s kitchen,
From rice to pho
The wonderful aroma from the kitchen
Arises me from my slumber sleep

I am from Cassiopeia
From a fan club of Dong Bang Shin Ki
A Korean band that I adored
A band that brighten my day
Whenever I listen to their music

This is where I am from
A place full of different ethnicities
A wonderful family
With an amazing culinary skills
And a proud fan of Dong Bang Shin Ki