Student Success Statement: Thomas Carlyle

"A man without a goal is like a ship without a rudder."

This statement is saying that a person without a goal has no direction. They will go through life being useless because they can't think of how they would like to shape their future. This is dangerous because how can someone even survive without knowing what they want to do.

This type of goal can be anything, whether it be graduating High school, going to university, or finding a job that doesn't require a college diploma. It is simply impossible to live life without any goals at all.

Student Success Statement: Chinese Proverb

Beautiful Character

"If there is beauty in character, there will be harmony in the home. If there is harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world. Conclusion: If there is beauty in character, there will be peace in the world."

The Six Pillars of Character

The six pillars of character are trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.
Trustworthiness is the stated of being trusted. You gain this trust by being honest, reliable, and not cheating.
Respect is more of a series of actions. There are many things you can do to respect others like using good manners and being tolerant of others and their ideas.
Responsibility can be shown in many ways like being self-disciplined or having self-control. Taking the fault when you are the one that is in fault is another way to show responsibilities.
Fairness is very similar to respect. To be fair one must be open-minded as well as not cheat. You must also not take advantage of others.
Caring is the action of showing good emotions to others like being compassionate of expressing gratitude. It also has a lot to do with helping others.
Citizenship is also a very important characteristic. It means to know what is going on in your community and stay informed, as well as respecting authority.
I don't believe you necessarily have to comply with all of these pillars. If you only have 5 of these characteristics it is fine because nobody is perfect.

Student Success Statement: Sophocles

"I would prefer even to fail with honor than win by cheating."

This quote should be very important to everyone specifically because so many people now a days don't care about how they win because winning is all they care about. For example say you're taking the CAHSEE. Someone offers to give you the answers as they see you are struggling. You refuse to accept help because you want to pass the test and know you deserve to graduate high school. You get your scores back and it turns out you need one point to pass. But you feel alright about it. You know you are not at the level to pass but you are willing to study even harder to take this test and pass it. You are diligent toward graduating college.

Memorial Day

1. Memorial day is a day to honor those who have died in service to the US.
2. It's purpose is to honor the dead
3. May 25
4. You support current military or veteran or you can fly a flag.

             

Student Success Statement: Dennis Prager

"The most important thing you will ever have is good values."

Good values are a mix of everything that makes a person good. So instead of just having one or two of these qualities have them all. Have good values is important because it betters you as a person. You will be more positive and make everyone else around you positive. You will also attract people who also have good values so you'd have more friends with good values. Values are what help us make good decision. Having good values you will decide not to steal or kill or anything of the such. It helps us differentiate right from wrong.  

Optician

Duties and Responsibilities: Opticians are eye care doctors specifically meant to find you the glasses perfect for your eyes. they use certain medical equipment to measure the corneal thickness of ones pupils.
Salary:$33.000
Education: There are no specific requirements but a degree in opticianry would give you an advantage.

Reflection:I don't think i would like this job. It seems boring.

Student Success Statement: Wilford Woodruff

"Nothing is ever gained in doing what's wrong."

This statement tells us that, why do something wrong when you won't get anything good out of it. You do get something out of doing what is wrong but it is never pleasant. Think of karma when you do good things, good things happen. When you do bad things, bad things happen. This is what happens when you make a  decision. You either do something wrong and it blows up in your face or you do something good and you get good back.

LAUSD: Family

lausd.net provides a lot of information to parents of students attending a school in the lausd. the links on lausd.net lead to a separate website that gives you even more information. There are also volunteer opportunities for parents.

Nicest Man in the World

Patrick Morgan, a man who worked at an airport in Florida has been deemed the nicest man in the world. After finding an iPad in a case that was also stuffed with thousands of dollars he returned it to its rightful owner. The owner compensated this man by giving Patrick $60. Instead of keeping this money for himself Patrick gave some money to a homeless woman that he stated to be concerned about and the rest to a coworker who was in need of money. Patrick got satisfaction out of this. He will live on knowing how great he made the day of the person who lost their iPad, the homeless woman, and the coworker in need of money.

Student Success Statement:Dr. Laura Schlessinger

"The reward for doing right is mostly an internal phenomenon: self-respect, dignity (self-worth), integrity, and self-esteem."

This quote is saying that the reward for doing right are more of an emotional thing than a material thing. You can't buy self-respect and dignity. You must earn it just like you would earn the respect of others by showing them how responsible you are. If you see an old lady standing on the bus it's a given that you should stand up and give her your seat. Imagine how better you'll feel once you've done this good deed.

LAUSD: Students

The student portal at lausd.net provides a lot of important information that can be useful to all. There are several links that take you to different websites specifying the requirements for certain colleges. Some links send you to the college board website. It gives you information about the SAT and AP testing. The information provided on lausd.net is very helpful to all students who are looking to graduate and continue to study in a college/university. This will help me in the future when I need more information about college. I plan to use all of these services once I start looking into colleges.

Forgiveness

Eric Smallridge was a drinker. Despite the consequences he drove drunk. One night as he was driving drunk he hit two teenage girls, Megan and Lisa. Both girls died that night. Eric was sent to prison and that was that. Megan's mother said that she had felt as if she had justice, that our country's justice system did them right. He was sent for 22 years. One day Renee, Megan's mother, reached out to Eric. She wanted to forgive him for what he had done. It was like a burden lifted form Eric's shoulders. He wrote back to her and explained how sorry he was for having done what he did. After that he started going to high schools with Renee to explain the dangers of drinking and driving to students. This got his sentence reduced and he was eventually let out early. We learn from this not just that drinking and driving is  a horrible mixture but that forgiveness is always the way to go.

Student Success Statement: Alan Paton

"When a deep injury is done to us, we never recover until we forgive."

This statement is telling us to forgive and forget. Living a life seeking for revenge is no way to live. We must remember that we are all human. We were all created with flaws. Not only should we learn to live with these flaws of ours but we must also learn to accepted peoples flaws. You need to understand why that person made that mistake. We have to be understanding of one another. Before you go off on someone for something they did to you ask yourself, "Why did they do this?" Then ask yourself, "Is this really what they deserve?"

Student Success Statement: Thomas S. Monson

"Dare to stand alone."
So many people now a days are afraid to make their own choices. Out of peer pressure they decide not to do what's right and decide to be a follower. There is a fine line to when you can be a follower. If you are following someone who makes good choices, is studious, and kind then that is amazing. Go ahead and follow all you want. When your friends want you to do something illegal with them or just bad then you shouldn't be friends with those people. They will only lead you to trouble. Besides who likes being a follower anyways. You should be the leader and be the one to stand up and make good choices.

We Need Diverse Books

Diversity in books are very important but some may question it. They may argue that, 'Why do we need if there is [that one obscure character that never acknowledges their ethnicity/sexuality' or 'What's the point if I already read 1 book like that?' For starters you may want to consider what representation means to people. Representation is the act of being described or portraying someone or something. There are a lot of white cis- gender people being represented which is not a bad thing at all, but keep in mind that there are 7.2 billion people on this planet and the country with the largest population is China. Not once last year did I read about a Chinese character. So why is representation important? Well, it gives people a voice. It acknowledges the lives of people who aren't white and cis. When do we start representation in literature? How about we start since the beginning? I would have felt a lot more confident as a child if I had read about a little chubby Mexican girl. I would have thought 'Wow if she can be happy so can I' and instead of wonder why I didn't fit in with today's standard of beauty. Representation doesn't mean representation for only different ethnicities. When I say representation I also say sexually. It is said that children know since childhood that they like either boys or girls (or whoever they may like). This is why it is important to have a character that just like boys. This way children won't feel alone or wonder why they are different. If you are asking yourself why would I want my child to be exposed to this at an early age, then I will be frank and say you are most likely homophobic. It's fine though there is always time to change. To get started with Diverse books you may want to start slow and read Sandra Cisneros's books. The House on Mango Street is a classic. For children she also has Hairs/Pelitos. Sandra uses bilingualism in her books by using both Spanish and English making her books more realistic. However if you don't know Spanish you don't have to worry because she quickly translates whatever she has written.
     
David Levithan is also an amazing writer. I particularly like Boy Meets Boy. Its a beautiful novel that truly portrays sexuality and how it is like to be gay, but most importantly doesn't focus on the main character's sexuality. All of his books are always good choices when you want a diverse book.
          
I speak out for diversity in all literature in hopes of normalizing what is completely natural.