Journal #4
Time doesn’t stop, and graduation is coming fast. I have to admit that I am really nervous about it, because it is going to be a great and unforgettable part of my life. Although I'm nervous about it, I’m also excited. I’m already preparing for life after graduation. I have already submitted my application to COS, but I still need to take the entrance exams. In my last journal entry, I wrote about not wanting to go to college, because I thought that I was convinced that I wanted to become a solar panel installer. However, I have been thinking, and I now believe that there are many opportunities available to me. Life can change at any moment, and I may find that I don’t want to be a solar panel installer forever. I like math and psychics, and I am actually good at both subjects. So why not to became an engineer or an architect? Being a college student really isn’t much harder than is being a solar panel installer. These thoughts changed my mind about going to college.
To graduate, I still need to do some assignments for ELA 11B, but I’ll be done in a couple days. I also need to do my exit interview which is on April 7. I think that I have time to prepare. I’ll start to preparing 3 weeks before the exit interview presentation. I’ll practice every day in order to be ready. In order to convince myself that I can do it, I need a lot of practice. I’ll practice by myself. Then, I’ll present to my family so I can get rid of those nerves that everyone faces when they do something important.
The most important thing to me right now is to reach my goals, and my goals are to finish college, to get a good job, and to buy a house where I can raise a family. I want to have my own family and to see my kids grow up. I also want to support my mom, my dad, and my brothers back in Mexico. Their lives are different than mine, because they don’t has many opportunities to improve themselves and to improve their economic situations.
Looking back on my senior year, I have noticed improvements in myself. When I first got here, I only spoke a little bit of English. Now, I think my speaking is very good. My reading comprehension has also improved. I didn’t even move back to the states from Mexico until August 17th of this school year. This is my first year in LHS. Still, in the past six months, I have improved a lot. This is convincing me to go to college. I was thinking that I wasn’t going to make it . . . that I would fail in the first days of college. Now, I think that I can do it. In fact, that’s now my goal. I’m grateful for the people I have met during my senior year of high school, especially my teachers. I am glad that they try to make it easy to understand English. When I don’t understand something, instead of telling me, “Google it,” they try to the concept to me in other words. They want to make sure that I understand them.
To graduate, I still need to do some assignments for ELA 11B, but I’ll be done in a couple days. I also need to do my exit interview which is on April 7. I think that I have time to prepare. I’ll start to preparing 3 weeks before the exit interview presentation. I’ll practice every day in order to be ready. In order to convince myself that I can do it, I need a lot of practice. I’ll practice by myself. Then, I’ll present to my family so I can get rid of those nerves that everyone faces when they do something important.
The most important thing to me right now is to reach my goals, and my goals are to finish college, to get a good job, and to buy a house where I can raise a family. I want to have my own family and to see my kids grow up. I also want to support my mom, my dad, and my brothers back in Mexico. Their lives are different than mine, because they don’t has many opportunities to improve themselves and to improve their economic situations.
Looking back on my senior year, I have noticed improvements in myself. When I first got here, I only spoke a little bit of English. Now, I think my speaking is very good. My reading comprehension has also improved. I didn’t even move back to the states from Mexico until August 17th of this school year. This is my first year in LHS. Still, in the past six months, I have improved a lot. This is convincing me to go to college. I was thinking that I wasn’t going to make it . . . that I would fail in the first days of college. Now, I think that I can do it. In fact, that’s now my goal. I’m grateful for the people I have met during my senior year of high school, especially my teachers. I am glad that they try to make it easy to understand English. When I don’t understand something, instead of telling me, “Google it,” they try to the concept to me in other words. They want to make sure that I understand them.
Journal #3
My winter break was awesome! My first week off, I coordinated my job shadow. The second week, I went to Merced to visit my sister and spent a little time with her. Although our visit was short, it was good quality time. I spend some time playing with my nephews and some time making up overdue school work. The third week was better, because I went to work in the fields. The first day of work was terrible. The second day was even worse. It took me half of the first day to learn how to do the work and techniques to make it easier. The second day was worse, because I was sore for the first day. I had to keep working even though my body was aching. Then, the holidays came, and I couldn't go to work. Those days working taught me a great lesson. I learned to persevere in everything. All that matters is your attitude. This semester is going to be stressful, but what I love the most is the improvement in my English. My speaking and understanding is getting better every day. I know that I have to work on my pronunciation. Even though I’m still gaining confidence in my speaking, I keep taking risks. So there is nothing to regret. Everything at school is good.
To accomplish meeting all my goals for this semester before graduation, I need to finish my course work from 11B which has me stressed and worried. It’s a lot of work, and the time goes by so fast. I don’t have much time to do it. So, in order to get everything done, I will stay after school each day if possible. Also, I will use Flex Time to do get all of my behind pace work caught up. I hope I can accomplish this by the end of the semester.
College application? I don’t have plans to go to college. The main reasons are that I’m not good at English, and college English classes are really hard. I understand that you do an essay in class each day, and there are a lot of written reports. A lot of the work is similar to the work that you do in English. I already compare my English 12 to the English from freshman year of college. English 12 looks already seems hard. When I look at what I would have to do in college, I realize that the work in English 12 is easy in comparison. Another reason that I do not plan on attending college is that to accomplish my goal I don’t need to go to college. The only thing I need is my high school diploma. You are probably thinking, “What company are you going to be working for?” My first choice is Solar City, and my second choice is to work for the electrict company.
After my graduation, while I wait to get hired by Solar City, I’ll apply to the woodwork shop here at Lindsay. I already have experience on woodworking, so I guess that increases my chances of getting to work there. If these options do not work out, I’ll go to Merced and apply to work where my nephew works. His job is to lay tiles. If none of these work out, I know that I have the capacity to work in the fields. Finding work doesn’t worry me too much. What has me worried is my English 11 class.
To accomplish meeting all my goals for this semester before graduation, I need to finish my course work from 11B which has me stressed and worried. It’s a lot of work, and the time goes by so fast. I don’t have much time to do it. So, in order to get everything done, I will stay after school each day if possible. Also, I will use Flex Time to do get all of my behind pace work caught up. I hope I can accomplish this by the end of the semester.
College application? I don’t have plans to go to college. The main reasons are that I’m not good at English, and college English classes are really hard. I understand that you do an essay in class each day, and there are a lot of written reports. A lot of the work is similar to the work that you do in English. I already compare my English 12 to the English from freshman year of college. English 12 looks already seems hard. When I look at what I would have to do in college, I realize that the work in English 12 is easy in comparison. Another reason that I do not plan on attending college is that to accomplish my goal I don’t need to go to college. The only thing I need is my high school diploma. You are probably thinking, “What company are you going to be working for?” My first choice is Solar City, and my second choice is to work for the electrict company.
After my graduation, while I wait to get hired by Solar City, I’ll apply to the woodwork shop here at Lindsay. I already have experience on woodworking, so I guess that increases my chances of getting to work there. If these options do not work out, I’ll go to Merced and apply to work where my nephew works. His job is to lay tiles. If none of these work out, I know that I have the capacity to work in the fields. Finding work doesn’t worry me too much. What has me worried is my English 11 class.
Journal #2
The end of the semester is coming up fast. Before it's over, I need to finish my senior project. I need to catch up on my writing for my Clubs and Activities section, and I also need to do my job shadow which is going to take me awhile. The person that I am shadowing doesn’t have permission for me to shadow him yet because he does dangerous work. I still need to catch up in my Government class. I am really behind, because my counselor changed my schedule in the middle of the semester. I have to work hard to complete my measurement topics so that I can catch up. I almost have them caught up, but I’m going to need to expend hours of my regular sleep at night to work on school work. In US History, I am doing well for the moment.
At this moment, I feel really stressed because of the work that I have to do. I know that it’s difficult, but I also know that it will be worth it. Sometimes, I feel like I want to give up and go back to Mexico. Then, I remember that I have goals, and I forget about that. A positive attitude is necessary to move forward. I will always stay strong and keep myself from giving up.
Since my last journal entry, life has changed a lot. I'm very stressed, because the end of the semester is approaching too fast. I need to complete my projects and complete my measurement topics. One of the biggest difficulties that I am experiencing right now is the job shadow, because right now the workers are working in alleys. This means that it is too dangerous for me to be there. So, I haven’t completed my job shadow yet. I hope I have it done before coming back to school from Winter Break.
I am enjoying my senior project, because I am doing activities outside of school. Activities like the job shadow make my learning apply to the real world. I will do my job shadow as soon as possible. If the person that I want to shadow doesn’t get permission soon, I will shadow someone else. It may be my brother’s friend. He works for Solar City, or I might shadow my neighbor who works with wood. I have not decided yet. I feel very supported by my teachers and my parents as I prepare for graduation.
I like that the teachers here at Lindsay High School care about all the students. They always help us with whatever we need. They even let us stay in Red Zone which means that we can stay after school to catch up on the work that we need so that we can get all the credits we need to graduate. I need a lot of credits to graduate, because this is my first year in Lindsay. I need to have credits from English 11. Stuff that I don’t like about my senior year is that I am having some problems with some assignments and the projects from all of my assignments are due at the same time. My difficulties with English do not help me with finishing my work at the same time as my classmates, but I am doing my best. I will reach all my goals.
At this moment, I feel really stressed because of the work that I have to do. I know that it’s difficult, but I also know that it will be worth it. Sometimes, I feel like I want to give up and go back to Mexico. Then, I remember that I have goals, and I forget about that. A positive attitude is necessary to move forward. I will always stay strong and keep myself from giving up.
Since my last journal entry, life has changed a lot. I'm very stressed, because the end of the semester is approaching too fast. I need to complete my projects and complete my measurement topics. One of the biggest difficulties that I am experiencing right now is the job shadow, because right now the workers are working in alleys. This means that it is too dangerous for me to be there. So, I haven’t completed my job shadow yet. I hope I have it done before coming back to school from Winter Break.
I am enjoying my senior project, because I am doing activities outside of school. Activities like the job shadow make my learning apply to the real world. I will do my job shadow as soon as possible. If the person that I want to shadow doesn’t get permission soon, I will shadow someone else. It may be my brother’s friend. He works for Solar City, or I might shadow my neighbor who works with wood. I have not decided yet. I feel very supported by my teachers and my parents as I prepare for graduation.
I like that the teachers here at Lindsay High School care about all the students. They always help us with whatever we need. They even let us stay in Red Zone which means that we can stay after school to catch up on the work that we need so that we can get all the credits we need to graduate. I need a lot of credits to graduate, because this is my first year in Lindsay. I need to have credits from English 11. Stuff that I don’t like about my senior year is that I am having some problems with some assignments and the projects from all of my assignments are due at the same time. My difficulties with English do not help me with finishing my work at the same time as my classmates, but I am doing my best. I will reach all my goals.
Journal #1
So far, my year has been going very well. Classes are somewhat complicated because of my difficulties with the language, but soon, I will be familiar with my classmates.I'm working hard to achieve that. The last few years have been very different from this year. In Mexico, of course, my classes were easier than they are here, because obviously, there the classes were in Spanish. That is what is holding me back at this time. I understand the content, but understanding English is difficult. I think learning no matter what your language issues depends less on your teachers’ attitude. Yes, that counts for a lot when you are learning, but one must also do their part. It’s really about your own motivation.
Right now, my goal is to serve the community with my work. I want a very secure job. I would like to work in a government job or for a good company that would give me good job security. I know there will always be challenges, but I hope not to have too many obstacles in the future.
Fortunately, drugs, alcohol, and tobacco do not catch my attention. This is definitely an advantage. Like most young people my age, I have great access to those things, but I'm not interested.
Let's talk about when I started high school. My first year here at Lindsay High School is so different from when I started high school in Mexico. However, I’ve learned that no matter what the circumstance, if you prepare, you can persevere . . . even in high school. My second year was somewhat complicated, because I was often late to school. I had a hard time keeping up with my work even in the first few weeks. It was even more difficult as the work became more advanced. That's why I fall behind. My third year was quite exciting. Between participating in sports and cultural activities, I was really involved. I was practically participating in everything. On days that I was laying sports I was able to travel around the valley, leaving the region to go to other regions to play volleyball. We even made a trip to the coast. It was a six hour road trip. We stayed two nights there, spent time on the beach. It was a very beautiful place. We had a similar experience going to the coast to play volleyball. This time, it was three nights . . . three nights of no sleep, because the sound of the sea was very loud. It kept me awake. We had another game in a very different type of place. We went to another town to play against other students. The students were very good, and they worked hard to win. However, in the end we got the victory. Not everything was fun and sports related. The days were filled with work for my classes, because I made the decisions to come to the United States to finish learning English. I decided that I want to graduate from high school, have a good job, and to get good pay for the work I do.
I want to be done with high school this year. I mentioned this to my advisor. I know that it will be difficult, but I am hopeful. I hope I can finish all my subjects this year by November. I would like to play soccer too, because my I do not have much to do during the evening, and I like sports.
Right now, my goal is to serve the community with my work. I want a very secure job. I would like to work in a government job or for a good company that would give me good job security. I know there will always be challenges, but I hope not to have too many obstacles in the future.
Fortunately, drugs, alcohol, and tobacco do not catch my attention. This is definitely an advantage. Like most young people my age, I have great access to those things, but I'm not interested.
Let's talk about when I started high school. My first year here at Lindsay High School is so different from when I started high school in Mexico. However, I’ve learned that no matter what the circumstance, if you prepare, you can persevere . . . even in high school. My second year was somewhat complicated, because I was often late to school. I had a hard time keeping up with my work even in the first few weeks. It was even more difficult as the work became more advanced. That's why I fall behind. My third year was quite exciting. Between participating in sports and cultural activities, I was really involved. I was practically participating in everything. On days that I was laying sports I was able to travel around the valley, leaving the region to go to other regions to play volleyball. We even made a trip to the coast. It was a six hour road trip. We stayed two nights there, spent time on the beach. It was a very beautiful place. We had a similar experience going to the coast to play volleyball. This time, it was three nights . . . three nights of no sleep, because the sound of the sea was very loud. It kept me awake. We had another game in a very different type of place. We went to another town to play against other students. The students were very good, and they worked hard to win. However, in the end we got the victory. Not everything was fun and sports related. The days were filled with work for my classes, because I made the decisions to come to the United States to finish learning English. I decided that I want to graduate from high school, have a good job, and to get good pay for the work I do.
I want to be done with high school this year. I mentioned this to my advisor. I know that it will be difficult, but I am hopeful. I hope I can finish all my subjects this year by November. I would like to play soccer too, because my I do not have much to do during the evening, and I like sports.