I still currently am going through a difficult experience in my life, the challenge is about my future. With me becoming a senior next year a lot is on my plate and most of it is coming from my parents. The main question about going to college or not, getting a job, moving out or staying at the same home. Now in my junior year, it’s been tough making sure that i keep up with my classes, trying to focus when we have important tests occurring. For example we just finished the SBAC testing, which is important to you for the rest of your school life, yes if you don’t pass you need to take it again until you do. At the moment, i do have summer school to attend in order for me to make up my credits missing from English 10, which still has me thinking of whether i will be able to have a summer job and do summer school at the same time and still enjoy my summer break. And once senior year is here, I have to start looking at colleges or even think about going. I want to be able to support my family once I’m out of high school and my younger sibling just starting, parents are getting older and being the oldest child, I should be able to do what i need to do before adulthood so that i am ready and prepared. So starting now, i need to focus on school, and when summer comes i need to focus on the necessities of becoming an adult and start thinking like one.
Reflection 2:
Recently I have been called in by my counselor in regards of talking about taking summer school. I have some missing credits for a specific class, I was given the same opportunity last summer to take classes over break, but I couldn’t take them because I was out of town. My counselor did say I have the chance next summer to try again, which is this summer of 2017, so I’m still debating whether I should take it or not because of what I have planned over the break. I plan to try and get a summer job so that going into senior year I might finally have a job, have money, get a car and just sort of prepare myself for what’s coming after graduating high school. This summer school is an opportunity to get the credits I need, and hopefully even make my schedule lighter for senior year. Instead of having five classes, because of my plan to take E2020, I’ll have 4 classes which is less to worry or stress about. But one barrier I am still facing as of right now, is will I be capable of handling a part time job, summer school, and even some time for myself to get my mind of school a little, all at once. It’s already been a difficult decision to think about because I do want to work, I also want to stay on track with my education. So that once I’m a senior, there will possibly be more opportunities for me outside of school to prepare me for my future. Also I want to show my parents what I’m capable of, I want to strive for opportunities that they probably didn’t have and make them proud, by showing them I can take care of them, and myself by just pushing myself and to not give up. With my brother barely starting high school once I become a senior is another thing to think about, will he go through the same struggle I went through, and will my parents expect me to be there to help him out.
Reflection 3:
The talent that I’ve had from a few years back is singing. I used to sing a lot when I was little, when we’d have family parties and my aunt would bring out the karaoke, they would have me be the first one to sing. I remember the song that I was known for singing all the time was “Dancing Queen” by Abba, once I started singing all the adults would dance along. I mean, I’m not the best at singing, like I’m not Whitney Houston but I try and at least can sing on key and hit the right tones. Til today, nothing’s changed, I have gotten better at hitting some high notes but I still get a little parched after one song. I’d say the improvement in my singing would be now I am able to sing different songs with a change in tone. So for example the song I’ve been singing along to a lot is “Beauty and the Beast” by Ariana Grande and John Legend ever since the new Beauty and the Beast movie has come out. The song switches from Ariana’s higher octave to John’s lower octave, so that’s something I’ve improved on doing. Also like another favorite artist of mine, who herself goes from a high to low octave or vice versa, Toni Braxton. A lot of my family members sing as well and have really good voices, like I said, we aren’t that good but we have fun doing it. I enjoy watching people do covers of my favorite songs and then later try it myself, I put the lyrics on the screen, play the instrumental of the song and start singing. My aunt does give me tips on how to improve my voice more and maybe one day pursue it as a future career. But I don’t think that I’ll be good enough or have a shot at doing so. So to all those who want to do something they love but don’t believe they have it in them, go for it and just try.
Reflection 4:
How I would express my creative side is my passion for visual art. I love to take photos and edit them into crazy or eye catching creations. Portrait photos are my favorite, I like making my models feel happy and excited to take the photos so that once the shoot starts, all the emotions happening for the portrait are natural and not forced. What I’ve gained from it that has affected other parts of my life is that I’ve gotten better at taking photos and now whenever there is a family gathering, I’m the photographer for the event ( no charge of course ). When in photography class, I always have a different point of view for a project idea or photo idea. But how we solve the issue is we show each other our idea and then compare to see if we could collaborate each other’s concept into one. Sometimes we’ll have the same idea or just different plans to take the photos needed for the project. When expressing my creative side, it’s usually when I’m out with friends or family and I would find a cool place to take photos. It could be in front of a cool mural, or at the beach somewhere or some place that has really cool scenery. I think taking pictures is fun especially if you bond or have a good relationship with your models. I enjoy photography, but I wouldn’t say that I would want to take it in college and make that my major.
Reflection 5:
How I define identity is who you truly are, your background, your personality, identity is who you are. The role that race and ethnicity play in this definition is your ethnical background, ancestors, grandparents, parents. It tells you about your history and who’s side of the family do you portray more. To me, my heritage plays a huge role in my identity, being Filipino not a lot of people really know where or what I come from. On my dad’s side of the family, my grandfather was a war veteran, I don’t exactly remember which war it was but he was a really inspiring man. My dad would always tell me stories about him and how my dad looked up to him like how I look up to my dad. But sadly I didn’t make it in time to meet my grandfather, he passed before I was born. It hurt my grandmother a lot, on a good note all her 7 children were older and could take care of her. Also, they were poor, my mom and dad’s side, both sides my grandpa passed, even an uncle I never got to meet. My parents were able to get an education and got through high school and later headed off to college. So knowing my background and my parents educational experience, I want to do what they did and more, make them proud of what I’ve accomplished. I may not know my full ethnic background, I do know that I am a proud Filipino, but the Spanish did take over the Philippines back in the day and I’m curious to know. Today many people think that I am hispanic or even samoan, but that’s only because of my appearance. Once I tell them that I am actually Filipino, they are shocked and don’t believe me. Some people on the other hand see that I’m Filipino but think that I may have some Asian background. Yes there could be a possibility that I may have Asian ancestry because of where the Philippines is located, but it’s like the same thing with the Spanish. I still won’t truly know my full background ethnic and cultural wise until I somehow find out through other family members or D.N.A. But I am still proud to say I’m full Filipino with a possible hispanic or asian descent. The things that I would say make me uniquely me is my personality, always full of energy, likes to socialize and get to know people. I also like to organize gatherings, so I would probably say that is one thing that makes me, me. If you asked a friend of mine how they’d describe me, they would say party planner. For some reason, I am the one that always likes to organize hang outs or friendly gatherings for whenever me and some pals get together. I’d be that friend, that if some reason we all go our separate ways in college, I would plan a reunion. In conclusion, that’s what I believe makes me Lorena, though I’m pretty sure my friends would have a different opinion, because of the wild and crazy energy that I always have. That’s who I am and that’s my identity.