Spoiled Brat

On December 7th, just a few weeks ago, my brother Tristan turned 12.  However, if you were to see him, you wouldn't think he was a 12 year old boy in middle school.  He is short, not even five feet tall, you might mistaken him as a fourth grader.  His language is terrible, I don't understand why he finds it necessary to use profanity in every sentence. Oh and his attitude is awful!  He'll throw a fit if he doesn't get his way.  Tristan definitely does not act like a 12 year old.

For his birthday, he asked for an iPod Touch.  Money was tight because of the holidays, so Mom kept saying she didn't think it would fit in the budget.  He cried for it and asked about it every night.  However, Mom had the same response every night.  No one expected him to receive an expensive gift.

One night, I caught my mom searching for iPod Touch prices. I couldn't believe it.  I didn't think he deserved it and neither did my two other brothers.  She said she was just browsing.  I told her not to do it.  It was basically like having a cellphone and I wasn't allowed to have one until high school,  It would be unfair to us if he got an iPod Touch.

While gift wrapping at Target for my Class of 2017 PBO fundraiser, my Mom stopped by.  She handed me a bag and guess what was in it?? AN IPOD TOUCH! What in the world, she said she wasn't going to get it for him..  I wrapped it up but didn't care if it was pretty looking.  The next morning when he opened up the present, I wanted to puke.  Tristan acts like a two year old, he can barely take care of himself, how can he possibly take care of an electronic?

In my eyes, he's a rebel.  In mom's eyes, he's an angel.

It's Gonna Be Rough

Due to a busy start to the year, I was rarely at home and I was rarely with my family.  School had become my home and ASB had become my family.  On those occasions where I was at home, I didn't spend my time with my mom or brothers.  Instead, I occupied myself with my abundance of homework that was piling up or I slept because I was extremely exhausted.  Although my family wanted my attention, they understood that I was busy.

Just last Thursday, my great grandpa passed away.  He was 94 and his health was becoming worse, so we knew the time was coming soon.  He had been in the nursing home since the beginning of this year and at first, my mom would force us to go every weekend to visit him.  However, my brothers would complain about being there because it was boring.  They made the time spent with him not very peaceful.  My mom then decided to let us have the option of seeing him so that our visits would be more enjoyable and relaxing.  My schedule started to get more full and I didn't have time to visit.  I missed out on a lot of opportunities to spend time with him.  I regret not making more of an effort to see him.  Although we knew his death was coming soon, we weren't prepared for all the tears.

School for me has significantly calmed down, I caught up on grades and now I have the holidays to look forward to.  For some odd reason, I was in the holiday spirits much earlier this year than previous years.  While doing homework, I would put on the Taylor Swift (Holiday) station on Pandora.  I was already telling Jake about all the upcoming events we could go to.  Such as attending December Nights or taking a walk on Christmas Card Lane.  I was so excited to be able to spend time with my family again.  But with the recent event that happened, I really don't know how the holidays will be this year..

73.8 miles, 1 hour and 12 minutes away

A long distance relationships (LDR) is an intimate relationship shared between two people who are far away from each other.  According to "Long Distance Relationship Statistics" on statisticbrain.com, there are 14 million couples who are currently in a long distance relationship.  

If you are honest, trust, and communicate with your significant other, being in a relationship shouldn't be difficult.  Occasionally, there may be a disagreement that leads to an argument, but that should be manageable.  However, even if there is honesty, trust and communication, being in a relationship while being miles apart isn't easy.  I would know because my boyfriend, Jake, and I are one of those 14 million couples.

I thought I would be okay when my boyfriend left for college.  I would busy myself with school and ASB, living my life normally, just without him..  However, there are "things that trigger memories" that cause you to miss your significant other or "randomly cry." (buzzfeed.com)  For me, the topic of college was a trigger, when mentioned, I would instantly become sad.  When we discussed it in AVID, I would put my head down, thinking about him.  It was a constant reminder that he wasn't here when I would see couples walking together, holding hands.  As Jake said goodbye to me on his last day, I attempted to fight back tears, but my emotions won and I sobbed.  When he actually left, I realized that I was not emotionally prepared.

Being in a long distance relationship makes being with each other extremely difficult.  Before, if I was craving Wings N Things or Frozen Yogurt, he would take me out later on that night.  Now that he isn't five minutes away from me, we have to schedule a dinner date for the next time he comes back.  If I told him I was bored and had nothing to do, he would visit me at home.  However, if I ever have free time, I have to hope that he isn't busy so that we can have a FaceTime date.  It's frustrating when a simple activity becomes a hassle.

I live in San Diego while Jake dorms in Irvine.  Although we live in two different cities, Mira Mesa is both of our homes.  One of the best feelings ever is when you finally see your partner back at home, after waiting for what seemed like forever.  I'll admit it, long distance relationships aren't always easy and sometimes you question yourself and your relationship.  Some days are definitely much happier than others, however, there are many days where you want to isolate yourself from the world.  Despite the distance, the love for each other remains the same.  It makes being 73.8 miles or an hour and 12 minutes away, worth it.

The Greatest Homecoming On Earth

At Mira Mesa High School, homecoming is the BIGGEST school event of the year.  Students, staff and families look forward to this four part event every year.  With the help of the community, ASB spends early mornings and late nights at the school to provide the best homecoming yet. 

On October 6th, after an exhausting month of preparing, it was finally time to kick off Homecoming Spirit Week.  Students dress up out of the ordinary and participate during lunch time activities.  Every day during lunch there is a table set up with music for people to collect spirit points, hoping to win an ice cream party.  Monday's dress up was Marauder Mimes, students wore black and white clothing.  The activity was The Ultimate Circus Sideshow, similar to Fear Factor, students put their faces in unknown food and ate disgusting food items.  On Tuesday students were to be the Ringling Bros and have a temporary twin for the day.  The activity was Hungry Hungry Lions which required students to kick as many balls as possible in their given corner.  Wednesday's dress up was Magnificent Marauders, a day where students had a reason to dress up.  The activity was Hold Onto Your Seats, musical chairs with a twist.  Thursday's dress up was You Belong In the Circus Day, students wore polka dots, stripes, etc.  The activity was Clown Car Overload, classes stuffed themselves in a van for an allotted amount of time.  Friday's dress up was Class Colors and the activity was Circus Parade, where class floats were admired.  Although only students participate in spirit week, it is important because it is the first event to hype them up for the game.

With one event done, next up was pep rally.  The gym was decorated to look like the inside of a carnival tent.  At 10;51, when headsets were on, the doors opened.  Students rushed in wearing black, white, yellow and blue and sat with their class.  There were circus acts and activities.  Dance team performed and cheer taught the classes multiple cheers.  The royal court was announced as well as nominees for King and Queen.  Class advisers walked out and gave speeches.  It then ended with drum line and confetti canyons.  You could tell from all of the screaming that pep rally was a success.

As soon as rally ended, ASB had to clean up and move on to the next event, game.  Mira Mesa High was playing against Lincoln High.  Instead of a blue out, the student section was a white out.  The 500 people to enter were given blue and yellow powder or light sticks.  During half time, students opened up their bag of powder and threw it up in the air.  Royal Court drove around in convertibles, King and Queen were announced.  Class floats were displayed and classes performed thirty second dances.  At the end of the fourth quarter, ASB started getting ready for the after show.  Screens were put up and acts were brought out.  Other groups were supposed to perform, but due to time, they were cut only dance team performed.  It was a devastating loss of 7-20, but it was a memorable night t that ended with spectacular fireworks.

The last event was homecoming dance.  At 8 o'clock on Saturday night, students lined up with their dates to check in at the dance, A Gatsby Getaway.  The gym was decorated with murals of metallic and shimmer, balloons were hung to ceilings.  The decoration created a 1920's vibe with carnival accents.  If students didn't want to dance there were carnival games, caricature artists and photo booths.  11 o'clock was the end of a four part event.

Although ASB complained about the endless hours spent on homecoming, nothing is better than seeing everyone with a smile on their face because of a successful event. There were many pros and cons to each event, but each event is a learning experience.  Regardless, it is obvious that it was The Greatest Homecoming On Earth.

Community Post #1

The article, "Exposing Hidden Bias At Google" by Farhad Manjoo, addresses the concern of gender inequality at Google.  The lack of diversity of male and female within a company is due to many factors, such as racism, sexism and hidden bias.  People are aware of this ongoing problem and have attempted to fix it. However, how do we know if the efforts to improve diversity are working?

In an attempt to increase the amount of diversity at Google, they have had numerous workshops for their employees to attend. However, they don't have a set plan or goal.  As said in the article, "Google is attacking the problem with its considerable resources and creativity.  But it does not have a timeline for when the company's work force might become representative of the population, or whether it will ever get there."  If Google doesn't have an estimated date where equality and diversity is reached, how do we know that they actually want to fix the problem?  Just because they are trying to find a solution, doesn't mean it's making a difference.

In another attempt to increase the amount of awareness, Dr. Welle constructed a 90-minute lecture.  As said by him in his training, "everyone is a little bit racist or sexist."  Sadly, racism and sexism have become an every day habit in today's society.  There are people whom you could classify as racist or sexist due to their blunt remarks.  These people are told time and time again that they are racist or sexist.  However, there are people who's comments go unnoticed, yet they are definitely racist or sexist.  These people are the ones that do the most harm.  It's called hidden bias.

Of the two attempts to improve diversity, did any work?  There was no real evidence that workshops affected diversity at Google.  However, there is evidence that Dr. Welle's lecture worked.  The comments that went unnoticed were getting called on as hidden bias.  Eventually, Google will be extremely diverse and so will society.