I Believe in My Mother

I believe in my mother. She has practically raised my sister and I since we were kids. My father had always lived in the United States but she wanted to stay in Mexico. She has always been a father figure just as much as mother. When I was 5 we moved to the United States and my parents divorced. We had nothing to live off of; she relied a lot on the help of good friends. She started off with 2 jobs, mid night shift and during the day. She worked enough to get our own place. Our whole apartment was bald; there was nothing in it but the usual; a fridge, stove, washer and dryer. Gradually we were able to buy furniture and beds. I had never realized how hard my mom worked for us and the thing she was put through to just be able to put a roof over our heads. I think my mom is the strongest person I’ve ever met, she was put through a lot in her life but she kept her head up for her kids. She wouldn’t let her sadness and tiredness be shown to us, she’s always been the type of person to keep a smile on her face. The person my mom is and the things she has gone through has really impacted the person I am becoming. She influences me every day. She tells me to work hard at school so I don’t have to struggle the way she has and work more than a person can handle, which truly does open my eyes to face reality. Even now, now that we can afford the things we desire along with the things we need, she works hard. No matter how much she despises waking up at 5 in the morning to work or no matter how sick she is, she still gets up to be able to make us happy. When she is struggling she doesn’t show it or take it out on people, she keeps it to herself. She doesn’t let her worries get to her, she stays strong not matter how much weight is on her shoulders. When I have problems and I sit there and pout, I think of how much mom handles it. She wouldn’t sit there in pout; she would smile and make herself realize that things will always end up getting better.  I believe in my mother, she is a strong willed woman and she makes me believe that no matter what struggle life throws at you, you have the capability of overcoming it.

--Genaro Cabrera

Melancholy is a Part of Life

When I was 14 years old, I first knew the meaning of “melancholia.” At the same time one of my best friends was diagnosed with “melancholia.” I still remembered the paintings she drew which used the simple lines to compose something I could not understand. Her feelings became extremely sensitive and silent. She couldn’t control herself even during the classes. Probably just in that time, the fear tightly caught my throat. And then, she left to Singapore to accept therapy in the winter. The light reflected by the snow hurt my eyes and made me cry. She wrote me two short messages after she arrived in Singapore. One was that doctors said to her that what she drew was from her fantasies. She also told me she could not stop the impulse to draw, and the paintings seemed to lie everywhere on the walls and on the floors. I thought I could touch her saturnine countenance through the cold computer screen. I could see she rolled herself into a ball like a desolate hedgehog. The seat she once sat in was moved to the back of the classroom. The ashes and the memories covered the trail she left. The spring flowers began to bloom, I was aware of her leaving for several months.

I read a magazine at that time, and one of articles impressed me. The topic of it was the ice is water which dozes off.  And I wrote a comment about it: just like it, the lamentation is the mirth which is hibernating. When the last piece of ice of winter begins to melt, when the first flower of spring come into bloom, everything will be changed.

Life is just like that. Bad things, good things, all exist. People have different emotions: tears or smile, sadness or happiness, lamentation or hilarity, sweet and bitterness, loss and getting. They are all part of life. No one’s life is like the sea without waves. I was depressed by the life, and gained more about depression. I grow up.

Melancholy was once meandering river. It carried so many memories off, those restless nights; it hid so many secrets, the words I have never said; it contains so many emotions, those dropping tears. And now it is quietly lying in my hand, becoming a savage scar in my heart as part of my pride.

Recently, I received a letter from my old friend. She said she was OK now and she was not tortured by melancholia any more. I tried to write a letter to her. Sweetie, just listen to me. Everyone has his/her own scars, but they are all the past. Melancholy is like sickness. Love can heal it. As long as I hold the true power of my heart, we can fix it. The memories of melancholy will finally become the ashes in the wind. Melancholy is a part of life. We experienced, and then we grow up. This, I believe.

--Fang Fei Lin

No Pain, No Gain

I believe there is no gain, without pain. I believe this applies to every situation. If I spend a lot of time to work on, make an effort and succeed at something, the result is success. Although it has not been easy, I have experienced this many times.

Before I came to the USA, I couldn't speak English very well.  So when I came here, I felt strange and odd. I couldn't understand what people said and it was really hard to adjust to living in the USA. I was afraid to talk with people because I was afraid, what if they cannot understand what I say. I am normally a really outgoing person but when I came here, I couldn't socialize with people because of the language barrier. I was really sad that I couldn’t hang out with friends because I really wanted to meet and communicate with someone. I think that's the reason why I missed my Korean friends and Korea so much. Some of my American peers would tease me for no reason. I don't think being 'Asian' is a reason to tease. Sometimes I really wanted to go back to Korea because of these problems. When I was in Korea, I didn't think that it would be so hard to adjust to living in the USA. I was sad that I was separated from all of my friends and family and yet I was still a little bit excited that I was going to another country by myself and make new friends with Americans. Because of my excitement this teasing hurt me even more.

I told myself I need to get more confidence. I tried to talk to people I didn’t know and to smile when I caught someone's eye even if they ignored me. I also tried to improve my English. I think that was the most significant problem because I lost my confidence from the language barrier. I tried to speak English with my sister and I tried to expand my chances to communicate with other people. When we went shopping I asked questions. I tried to listen to other people's communication because I thought, it helps to know what words other English speakers use in that situation. I also paid attention to their pronunciation. I gained confidence. I asked new people what their names were and tried not to be awkward. They were really kind. So I was really happy that I could hang out and communicate with new friends.  

I have worked really hard to improve my English. It has been a painful journey. But now, I can understand what people are saying and I can speak English better than before. Also, I have many more friends than before. I think the reasons that these results came to me are that I tried really hard to make the friends and improve the English. I can't speak or understand English perfectly yet. So I still need to keep learning and working at it. I believe that if I try harder than before, I will improve more and more. If there was no pain, I wouldn’t have improved. So I believe no gain without pain.

--Hyoeun Kang

Everybody Deserves a Second Chance

I started getting in when I was in the seventh grade. I first got locked up for messing up a house.  It was abandoned house. My friends and I just made it our hang out spot. We did kind of mess it up but we really didn’t mean any harm.  We were just kids trying to have fun. Somebody owned it so we got in trouble.

The first time I ever got locked up I went down to the police station. There they finger printed me, took pictures, and then put me

in a cop car.   They took me to the juvenile justice center, JJC. That is when I went bad all the way. Back then I had a bad anger problem.

I would just snap on people for no reason.  I would just start tripping out for no reason, you know how that is.  When I got out of JJC, they put me on house arrest. Out of all that I did not learn anything. I have been to JJC like ten times from 7^th grade through 10^th grade. It is a lot.   

Then, because I was so bad, they put me in the division of youth services, DYS, custody.  I was shipped away from home to Montgomery City Missouri.   DYS is a place you go to get help to change your life. It is like a jail, but different because we can have fun.  It is a camp out in the middle of nowhere. DYS helps you with your anger problem and how to get along with people.  They teach you different ways to help control your anger and to cope so you do not go to big jail. It really did work.  I was going down the wrong path.  I was going to end up in jail.   You don’t get out of DYS custody until you follow all their steps. You have to show that you are ready to be out in the real world with people. You need to show that you will not break the law again.

To be real I am happy that I got locked up because it really helped me to be a better person.  I feel that when I was locked up they gave me all the help I needed to be successful. I’m so happy that everything happened in my life because if it didn’t I would not be in school, and I would not be at Rockbridge where all these people help me all the time. It is good that my life is like this because this is my second chance.   I love and thank the DYS staff because they helped me and gave me my second chance. I also love and thank everybody at Rockbridge that helped me change my life.  I appreciate the entire work people do at Rockbridge to help me and give me my second chance.  I was given a second chance even though I did not deserve it. That is why I believe in second chances.

--Antwane Sanders

Dreams are Your Other World

I believe in dreams. Everyone has dreams and in that moment people feel real. We can fly to the air and meet another person, usually the people I miss. In our dreams appear hope.  One day, I dreamed I was back at my Korean school. I had my Korean friends but there had some my Americans friends too. I chatted with my friends and used English as if we were using Korean. I hope to speak English well and communicate with others as I did in that dream.

People believe dreams can tell the future. In Korea, when you dream of a pig or gold, then people think they will have money something. When you dream of falling on your teeth, then people think somebody who is close to you die or will have bad things. On the other hand, people sometimes think dreams tell the opposite situation. For example, when you dream of a fire at your house or you see something burning to fire, then people think good things are coming to you or you will have money. Similarly, when you dream of your death or people who know dying, then people think that everything will be fine. I don’t know if this is relevant only to Korea or not.

I decided the title of this writing that is ‘Dreams are your other world’. I think dreams are my other world because usually I have dreams that are different from my life. I imagine almost every day about what I do in the future, after I come back to Korea, my friends, family, my school life, clothes and cosmetics. I continue imagine these thing, then they are appear to me in my dream that night. It is like going back to Korea. I meet my friends. I imagine what I want buy for clothes, fashionable clothes and what I need to cosmetics for my skin. And I imagine about my school life. Usually I imagine these things and then I feel them. Thus, I can experience new things in my dreams. I believe in dreams.

--Yoo Jeong

Achieve To Succeed

          I believe achieving your highest goal will make you succeed in life. There could be many different goals you may want to achieve but there’s always that one goal in your life time that you’re going to want to achieve. All you have to do is believe in yourself and it will happen. My goal was to read at the grade level I am in. My goal was achieved.

            I remember a time when I wanted to achieve a couple goals of mine and there was one goal I did achieve which was reading at a 10^th grade level. One time in 1^st grade I had to get held back because my reading wasn’t exactly where it was supposed to be. For a little while I felt dumb and realizing that only a few kids in 1^st grade get held back for reading well I guess I was the lucky one. I never thought that you could get held back in first grade but it was possible and back then I wasn’t too worried about being held back but then as I started getting older I had to deal with telling people my age and they would be like how are you older than me and I would just tell them that I started school late.

            The only thing that sucked about being held back was seeing the same teachers and people asking me about my age. I was and still am older than a lot of the kids in my classes. I think me being held back was good because in the long run I’m reading at the level that I’m supposed to be reading at. My reading teachers in the past and present helped me also they helped me grow as a reader and become a growing reader also.

            My Reading has progressed over time because of the reading classes I‘ve been in and the lovey teachers that have helped me believe in myself. A lot of my progress has come from my work ethnic because I’m always doing my writing task and reading done. I used to think reading was dumb and not useful in our everyday lives, but then when I started reading books that caught my attention I started thinking and saying if I can read at a good pace and think about what I read then I wouldn’t have to be in reading classes anymore and I could get into a good college. I worked hard, and that’s why I believe that achieving your highest goal will make you succeed in life.

            Believing in yourself will make your goal happen. A couple days ago I had an IEP meeting and my reading teacher Mrs. Weaver was there she told my case manager how good of a reader I am and how it has improved. I scored high on my reading test and it said that I read at a 10^th grade level. Mrs. Weaver also said I go back and read when I don’t understand something. Throughout the years my reading improved and me believing in myself paid off. That’s why I believe Achieving your highest goal will make you succeed in life.

           

--Jasman Sydnor

The "This I Believe" Final Project

Click here for the  This I Believe Workbook

YOUR TASK: Write a This I Believe essay that meets all of the writing guidelines. (Guidelines are included in this workbook.)

Submit a high quality draft of your essay no later than May 9^th, 2012.

Both, your final essay and an audio recording of your essay are due no later than May 15^th, 2012.

This I Believe

Of all of life’s big questions, “What do you believe?” is one of the most important. And for many, the answer may be one of the hardest to actually put into words. By asking individuals to write and share their personal philosophies, This I Believe hopes to encourage people to express the core principles that guide their daily lives, and to develop acceptance of—and even respect for—beliefs different from one’s own.

This I Believe Essay-Writing Guidelines

We invite you to contribute to this project by writing and submitting your own statement of personal belief. We understand how challenging this is—it requires such intimacy that no one else can do it for you. To guide you through this process, we offer these suggestions:

Tell a story: Be specific. Take your belief out of the ether and ground it in the events of your life. Consider moments when belief was formed or tested or changed. Think of your own experience, work, and family, and tell of the things you know that no one else does. Your story need not be heart-warming or gut-wrenching—it can even be funny—but it should be real. Make sure your story ties to the essence of your daily life philosophy and the shaping of your beliefs.

Be brief: Your statement should be between 350 and 500 words. That’s about three minutes when read aloud at your natural pace.

Name your belief: If you can’t name it in a sentence or two, your essay might not be about belief. Also, rather than writing a list, consider focusing on one core belief, because three minutes is a very short time.

Be positive: Please avoid preaching or editorializing. Tell us what you do believe, not what you don’t believe. Avoid speaking in the editorial “we.” Make your essay about you; speak in the first person.

Be personal: Write in words and phrases that are comfortable for you to speak. We recommend you read your essay aloud to yourself several times, and each time edit it and simplify it until you find the words, tone, and story that truly echo your belief and the way you speak.

Ecclesiastes (Produced and Directed by, Hyoeun and Feng Fei)

The process of completing this project is meaningful for me. At first, I chose to work with Hyoeun and my choice was right. I have learned how to corporate with other people, how to arrange time effectively and how to consider the deep meaning of each poem.  

For making our project impressive to other people, Hyoeun and I faced other difficulties. First, we overviewed all the poems and found two poems that we loved most, “Ecclesiastes3:1-8” and “This is just to say.” We had some problems of figuring the purposes of the poems. We talked about it for about an hour. Then we wrote it down and compared the points. For making these two poems vivid, we chose to make two little movies. We discussed how to make the scenes of the movies and how to make it fluent and attractive. We discussed the tones of the movies and the technology to make them.

This was really an effective way to teach us how to complete a project together. The process brought me much precious experience. I am so proud and glad that we can do this project together. We are fortunate to get this chance to show our talents and abilities.

--Fang Fei Lin

This is Just to Say (Produced and Directed by, Hyoeun and Feng Fei)

Dream Big (Produced and Directed by Dacia Ayers, Raysean Huggins, and Auriel Buckley)

Dreams (Produced and Directed by Jasman Sydnor)

Art by RBHS students
Poetry by Langston Hughes