It is great!

            This semester has not been how I imagined. I had taken a short break from school during the last spring because I had a baby. As I signed up for all the classes I have now, I knew it was going to be hard because I had genesis but what really topped it of was I also joined the Oxnard College women’s soccer team. Playing soccer while I was attending college had always been my goal and I wasn’t going to give up on it. I am really enjoying this semester because I have good classes and being in the soccer team is a great experience. My only sister graduated this last summer and is also attending OC and is taking most of her classes with me. Having her by my side is great because I have her help and company. This semester is hard but I feel like it is harder because of soccer, it takes a lot of time and that mean less time for homework. Homework from my classes is not as bad as I thought it was going to be. The only class I really feel I am not doing my best is intro to sociology. I feel it is harder because I don’t like how the teacher teaches. I don’t work so it is easier for me to balance school and my family. One big thing that does bother me is that I do not drive and I’m stuck at school even if I don’t have class.  I do plan on getting my drivers license for next semester.  I know that my hard work will pay off because I need a good job. By me getting a good job we would be able to offer her a good home. My daughter keeps me motivated because I need a good job to show her that she also needs to never give up and work hard to reach her goals.

Can you find what is true!

1) I have one sister and two brothers.

2) I go camping with my mom and dad every summer!

3) My husband and I got married a month ago.

4) I have a puppy she is four months old. She is so cute!

5) I work at subway!

6) My favorite thing to do is run on my free time.

Is the SNAP Program Really Helping????

In the article “Preventing Obesity”, by Jonathan D. Shenkin, the question is, should soda be excluded from foods food-stamp users can buy? I agree with Mr. Shenkin, people receiving SNAP should not be allowed to buy soda or any kind of candy or sweets with their card. The people that have this benefit should take advantage of it and use it to keep their children and themselves healthy. Just how the WIC program which is given to low income families with children under a serten age or pregnant women, has its foods that cannot be purchased the SNAP program should as well. I have a healthy baby girl and in order to keep it this way in the future she will not be drinking soda or eating candy on a daily basis. Just how the author says soda is not healthy.  It is easy giving your children soda but it isn’t easy finding out your child is obese, has diabetes , heart disease or tooth decay or other health problems.

Being allowed to buy soda and sweets with your food stamp card is tempting. If the SNAP program made it impossible for eligible users to buy these kinds of things you will see a change in the amount of children with health problems. I have an EBT card and I personally don’t buy soda or candy with it I actually use it to buy healthy food that will help me in the long run. I buy baby food for my baby girl and fruit as well. The SNAP is a program that is supposed to be helping families with food not help children get health problems.

FAMILY

Family has to be the number one thing for me. Family comes before anything. My daughter Genesis is who I live for; she shines my day every morning with a smile. She is going to be seven months already and I wish that time would go by much slower.  I have learned to live my life every day as if they were my last one. I will always keep working hard to be a good role model for my little baby girl.

                The day my life made a big turn and changed forever, was when I met the love of my life.  Julio is boy who I couldn’t stop thinking about and wondered if he would ever give me a chance. The day he finally asked me out I hesitated to answer, you know girls that’s how we do! After being together for over a year I knew he was the guy I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Now we have been together for more than three years and we have a beautiful baby we started our own family. We are happy together and we are going to keep working hard to reach our goal.

                One person in my family who I look up to and hope to be when I get older is my mother. My mother is and always has been a hard working lady who never gives up on her goals.  She came here to the U.S from Mexico as an immigrant and worked hard for what she wanted. She is now a citizen and owns her own house. She started from scratch and is doing just great. She raced my sister and me as a single mother and we were always happy and always had everything we needed and went on vacations every year. We have never needed anything from my so called father. Sometimes I do sit down and think about him, wonder where he is or if he even thinks about us, does he care? Then I snap out of it and realize I don’t need him I never have and a have a lot thank to my lovely hard working mother who I love with all my heart.  As a child I always looked up to her but now that I am a mother myself I admire and appreciate her more than before.

                That girl who I thought was so little and I could always bully around to do my chores, is now in college with me and sometimes bullies me around. I see her and remember the good old days. My sister and I grew up together; we are only one year and a half apart so it has been great I have a best friend.

                My family is not perfect or the biggest but we are a happy one. We have our ups and down but we stick together and always work things out.

THE DAY MY LIFE CHANGED

As I walked into the clinic, I felt as if everyone in there was staring at me. It was cold, and I could hear so many conversations at once, so many people sitting down waiting to be called in. Wondering eyes with looks of desperation, I tried to find an answer in every corner of the room. As I am waiting in line to talk to the skinny white lady in the front desk, my hands start sweating and my feet are shaking. My future lies ahead on a small thin thread of hope, a plus or minus test. Taking this test was not just any test. It was a pregnancy test which could change an 18 year olds life completely.

                “Marlene Valdez” a short, dark lady said. My heart started pounding harder and faster. I stood up and walked towards her, “Hi”, she said, “How are you doing today?” I replied that I was doing well and we got right to the point. She made me pee in a cup and leave it in a little window. When I walked out, I heard her say, “You can take a seat on a chair on your right we will call you in a moment.” I felt as if I was there for hours before I finally got called. This time the nurse told me that the doctor was going to give me my results and have a chat with me. She then took me in to a small room full of pregnancy posters and a bed. I sat in there wondering when someone was going to knock on the door. It started to seem as if they had forgotten about me. A while later a super short, dark, Asian looking lady with short hair said with an accent, “Hi my name is Dr.C. I have your test came out positive. Congratulations! You are about two months pregnant.” At that moment I felt all the emotions that are possible. I was so happy, but at the same time I felt scared and worried. What was I going to tell my mom? As I walked out of the clinic full of emotions, information and appointments, I felt like a complete different person. It was no just me anymore, U had another responsibility.

                When I told my boyfriend and his parents, they were very happy for us. They have always been supportive and nice. They were excited but worried about the same thing I was, my mom! She was a complete different story. It was already been six months that I had not seen or talked to her. We both got into a big argument and I left the house. Since then I had been living with my boyfriend, the person my mom just thought was not right for me. He was supportive and told me he had my back for anything and we were always going to be together. We had been together for two years and having a baby was what we both wanted.

                I was now five months pregnant and my mother still did not know about my pregnancy. My church was going to hold a retreat just for teens here in Oxnard and my friends and I decided to attend. It was going to be in a hotel, for a weekend starting of Friday night. At this experience, I decided to open up to the priest, a tall very young man who I have known for years. As I sat next to him, worried that I was going to lecture me, telling me, I was very young and it was wrong that I was not married, I just didn’t know what to expect. In minutes, I told him what was on my mind and how I needed to tell him that my mom did not know of pregnancy. I also told him I haven’t talked or seen her in a very long time, and that I was not emotionally ready to see her face to face. He gave me advice to right her a letter coming from my heart. After writing the letter with tear marks on it in, I was ready to send it in an envelope. The priest told me, “don’t worry mija, I will send it to your mom with someone”. I gave it to him, thanked him for his advice and help, and just wanted to see what would happen.

        A week later after nervously waiting for a response from my mom, the phone began to ring. As I hesitate to the phone, I knew it wasn’t just any normal phone call. The feeling of it being my mother came over me as I approach to answer, I knew then I would have to answer the phone.”Hello” was my answer with a shaky voice, is a crying response then broke the silence of a mysterious phone call. It was my mother who had called telling me that she had received my letter.  I then insisted in talking to her in person, and she agreed.  As the conversation went on, we both came to an agreement that it was time for me to come home. But I was not yet ready to give up; my only condition was to bring back my boyfriend with me, the love of my life. After a long talk with my mother, she accepted him.

                As my due date came closer, my mom started to change a lot with me. She became more supportive to the point where she held a surprise baby shower for me.  From that day on I realized that my mom was as excided for my little baby to come into this world as much as my boyfriend and I were. This thought made me happy. I felt supported and loved by many friends and family, something I had not felt in a long time. I was now ready to start my new life as a mom myself.

                After going through so much and finding out that I was pregnant, as easy as it sounds having to deal with the consequences it was a memorable event in my life. The decisions that were made helped me become responsible and independent.  As a result my pregnancy is something I will never regret, not only as a life learning experience but also because it made me a better person. It also got me closer to my mom who at first was disappointed, but now that Genesis is born she has turned into a completely different person.  As we all watch Genesis grow, she is filled with happiness and love which puts a smile in our faces every day.

Everardo Hernandez

This past week in class I happily interviewed a fellow mate by the name of Everardo Hernandez. He was born in Zacatecas, Mexico on 1978. He is the oldest of 4 siblings. When he was a little boy he moved to San Pedro, California. There attended Everardo school from kindergarten to senior year in high school. He served for our country for a total of 7 years. On February 10 of this year he got out of active duty, and later joined National Guard. Everardo is a happy father of a young girl and a baby boy on the way. He is not working so school is his main focus at this point going to the gym at the base for two hours is his daily work out. He is a hard working man trying to get a federal job as an Army Corp of engineering. He wants the best role model for his children. Like the disciplined man he is he will never give up on his goals.  

Texting and Driving

      Approximately   60% of teens text while driving, abs sadly this number gets bigger threw the years. To me texting and driving is a really bad habit that someone can have .This can cause a lot of problems.

      Texting while driving can be reason to crash. It only takes one second of not looking at the road for it to all happen. Another thing that can happen is that if a cop sees you doing it he has the right to pull you over and give you a big fat ticket, now I think is it really worth it. All the phone companies say pay twenty dollars and get unlimited text messaging but if you crash or get a ticket how much more are you going to pay. I know,  you are at home and you can be texting   with someone and it is a really interesting conversation and so you start driving and it rings or vibrates, it is very tempting to open the message and reply. I honestly do not do it I see it as a very unesasery thing to do but for example my friends do and it just gets me scared. I hate texting while driving.

Reality Shows

           Reality shows can be interesting, so yes I do watch them. I like to watch the once that are or seem to be real life stories like Teen Mom, 16 and pregnant, The Hills etcetera. The show 16 and pregnant was very helpful, I was pregnant when that show came out and I would always watch it. I can actually say that this show along with Teen Mom were a guilty pleasure to watch. Every time I would watch it, it got me more and more excited to go into labor and hold my baby. It also helped me understand that it was not going to be easy being a teen mom, going to school was going to get harder and waking up during the night was going to be my future.
          
            Therefore I consider that some reality shows can be helpful and others are just good for entertainment. Some show don’t really have a good point to them they are just drama about other peoples lives for example Jersey Shores, Real Chance of love, I love New York and many other that Come out on VH1. I do have to admit Jersey Shores is a fun show, but shows like these I believe ca affect society. Young teens can watch this show and think that thing that the people in this show do are fun and right to do but some just are not. Looking at things from other points of views shows like 16 and pregnant or Teen Mom can get teenage girls to ether think that it is a big responsibility to be a mom and more when you are so young and know that they shouldn’t get pregnant. In the other hand others especially parents may say that there show encourage girls to get pregnant. All type of reality shows can have an effect in society in a good and bad way it only depends at how you look at it.

Fast Food

As a child I don't considere fast food to have been a part of my life. I mean it's not like we never ate it but I can still hear my mom saying "No that food is bad for you, it is just going to get you fat, I have food at home!" For me it was a treat if I would bring an award or good grades home Chuck E Cheese here I come!!! I always had so much fun eating pizza and playing games, trying to get as many tickets as I could. I always tried to eat as many pizza slices as I could im not gana lie one time I ate eight slices. I felt that when I ate all that, I was eating like a grown up and that felt good. when I was younger I didn't know fast food was so unhealthy so I enjoyed every bite.


Now I eat fast food more than i ever imagined. I don't want to say I rely on it, but sometimes it seem that way. Most of the day im at school and I play twice a week my boy friend gets home too early for me to cook. I would have to say that eating fast food is my easy way out...

past....present...future

       Hi my name is Marlene valdez I am 19 years old. I was born on March 29, 1991 in Ventura. I was raiced in oxnard with my mom and sister. My mother has always been my father and mother figure. I grew up very close to my younger and only sister, we always played school together and would take turns being the teacher. I also grew up playing many games with my neighbors. As I grew up I always said I was going to be a teacher and a professional soccer player. I still hope that one day I reach my goals. My past was great and  I would never change anything about it.
      The present is hard but not impossible. I am recently a full time student at oxnard community college and play soccer for them. I now live with my boyfriend Julio and we have a baby girl named Genesis. She is five months old and she means the world to us. I am not recently employed because of soccer and Genesis but I do plan to work soon. Getting up in the morning, taking my baby to a babysitter and going to school is what I do every morning. I shure never thought that was what i was going to be doing, but it isn't as hard as I imagined. My life right now is full of surprices and I love it.
      I do not know what the future holds for me but I hope that it is positive. I wish to mayor in child development so i can be a preschool or elementery teacher. I also hope that one day I can open my own child daycare center. I also plan that one day I can have a house of my own with atleast five rooms. I want five rooms because I want to have more children after I settle in. Since i have been playing soccer my hole life I would like to be a soccer mom. I hope everyting goes well. My past was the best, the present is going great and my future is yet to be seen.