March Writers Have Arrived!

 All Students:  Be sure to read the entries for this group -- March writers).  Everyone is required to comment on at least THREE different pieces of writing.  You must submit comments on Canvas (for each one, include the name of the author and the title of their piece, and then your positive, specific comment ) by Friday, April 8 on Canvas .

Remember, comments must be positive, supportive, constructive, and SPECIFIC.  No "Good Job!" comments, unless you follow that with specific things you thought were done well in the piece.  Show them you actually took the time to read and enjoy their work!

"My Marine World " by Lea A

 

My world seemed to stop the day my boyfriend of 2 years made the decision to go to the marines on March 13 of 2022. My marine will be gone for 3 months, or 13 weeks, or 91 days. I discovered that taking the days in small increments helps a ton. I've spent 5 days without him and I can’t seem to find the light at the end of the tunnel. For the first 2-3 weeks I will have no contact with my marine under any circumstances. After 2-3 weeks I will receive one letter from my marine which will include an address where I can mail him back after reading what he wrote to me. I’ll continue to do that from this point on until his graduation day. The difficult part is not hearing him, visiting him, touching him, or being near him. There is a saying “no news is good news” yet I find it impossible to cope with. It seems as though this saying had a two edged knife because if I hear from him it could be bad and if not that could still be bad. The marines are a world full of wonder and a life expectancy of disappointment.

I am stuck at a cross road when it comes to timelines. My senior year will go by fast, but the amount of time my marine will be gone feels like an eternity. Everything about my senior year ending brings me back to the events he will miss as he's gone. Prom is April 9th and my best friend won't be there with me, the celebration of graduating will have to be expressed through one simple hand written letter. The lack of emotions and connection is driving me crazy. Before my boyfriend left he hugged me and whispered clearly, “your strong Lea and I have no doubt that we will be stronger when I get home”. I couldn’t look at him and tell him how scared I was, nor could I let him see that I was incredibly sad and angry. Now that he’s gone I feel lonely, afraid, bored, scared, and most of all, weak. Trying to live up to how he wants me to be is crushing my heart into disappointment. How can I be angry at him for making a great sacrifice? How can I be upset at him for doing something honorable? Although, why can’t I be upset about him leaving me? Why can’t I be angry at him for missing my senior activities? I wish I could answer these questions for myself but even I know that there are no answers. The goal is to stay distracted and trust his decision.

The support of my friends and family is incredible, I have everyone by my side during this roller coaster of emotions. I love each and every person who is there for me in any way possible. The problem that I am having is that no matter who can help me, they won’t be him. I have had a number of people in the past few days tell me “I get it” or “I understand”. The problem that I have is that  no one understands me or what i'm going through unless they have been through this exact process. I am flustered and irritated with the constant questions I face everyday when someone asks “when is he done?”, “how long has he been gone?”, and most of all, “are you okay?” I am not okay as much as I want to be. I am not as strong as everyone thinks. I thought my boyfriend going to the marines was only going to be his battle and yet im faced with so many challenges.

Beyond my emotions, the benefits for him will be good, he has a title that he earned, he will be filled with pride, he will be happy. The moment I see him on graduation day I know all my worry will float away with the excitement and happiness I'll be faced with. The struggle with being in a relationship while the other is in bootcamp is challenging for a reason. The process is meant to be difficult for both partners to test the strength and willpower we each have. Despite the roller coaster of emotions I've learned that I can't be selfish. I’ve learned that I need to trust my marine. The strength that I have can be used if I try hard enough. I learned that my world isn’t going to be perfect or happen according to my plans. The lack of control gives me peace in knowing that I can change and adapt for the betterment of myself and others. I am learning how to be alone so that my marine and I can grow together while being ourselves no matter how different our worlds are. Not being selfish has taught me that no matter the questions people ask me I can be grateful that they are helping in the only way they know how. My friends and family don’t understand what I’m going through and that isn’t their fault. One of the most important things I learned is that I need to love him more than I am angry because what he is facing in bootcamp is much harder than I could ever imagine.The entire process has taught me how to love myself enough to gather my own strength for both my marine and I.

"How to make Tabbouleh Salad!" by Angela S.

 

Arabic culture and food have always been a part of my everyday life. Many of you have heard of places that sell kabab or falafel in Middle Eastern restaurants, and this salad is something that you can always pair with any of these types of foods. One of my favorite Arabic dishes is tabbouleh salad because it is something that I can make so easily and tastes very delicious as well. Tabbouleh salad is a fresh bulgur salad, bulgur is a food that is made from parboiled groats of many different types of wheat (this is the main ingredient paired along with the parsley hence why it is a very green color). It is very heartwarming because my mom and I always make it together during family occasions and on regular days as well. My mom has passed down this recipe to me and I hope you guys will enjoy it as much as my family and I do!

 

Ingredients Needed:

➢   3 tablespoons of Bulgur (this can be found in Ralphs or Walmart)

➢   9 bunches of fresh parsley *this is one of the main ingredients so it is highly necessary

➢   ⅓ cup of Onions

➢   4 tomatoes and 2 cucumbers

➢   3 tablespoons of Olive oil

➢   ¼ cup of Lemon juice

➢   1 teaspoon of salt and ground red pepper

➢   Optional: fresh mint that can be added into the parsley & lettuce if preferred to eat with the tabbouleh

 

Tools needed:

➢   Cutting board

➢   Measuring cups

➢   Vegetable chopper

➢   A few different sized bowls

Steps to making Tabbouleh:

 

1. First, grab a small bowl and add some cold water until half of the bowl is filled. Add the 3 tablespoons of Bulgur into the bowl and let sit for about 1-2 minutes.
2. Wash the parsley and cut the stems off of them. We will need to cut the parsley until it is very thin without the stem. This is an important step because we want the parsley to be as thin as possible.
3. Wash the tomatoes and cucumbers and then slice them into medium sized slices before putting them into the vegetable chopper. Also, in this step we can cut the onions into slices. Then using the vegetable chopper, cut the tomato slices into thin square cubes. After all of the tomato slices are cut, put them into a separate bowl. With the cucumber slices, cut them using the vegetable chopper and add the onions as well until they are small square cubes. After this is completed, add them into the bowl with the tomatoes.

➢   It is important to be very careful while doing this step!

4. Next, grab a large bowl and add all of the vegetables into this bowl with the chopped parsley. Drain the water bowl with the bulgur, and then add the bulgur into the large bowl with the rest of the ingredients. After this, add a teaspoon of salt and a pinch of ground red pepper. Along this, add the ¼ cup of lemon juice with the 3 tablespoons of olive oil into the same bowl.
5. Finally, mix all of the ingredients together and taste the delicious salad to see if it needs any salt or more lemon juice.
6. Optional: Wash a batch of lettuce and cut into slices just like it is shown in the picture. As it is served on the side of the tabbouleh, put some tabbouleh in the middle of the lettuce and enjoy!
7. Optional: You can also add in fresh mint, that can add a little bit more flavor into the tabbouleh.
8. Once everything is to your liking, serve the tabbouleh and enjoy this flavorful salad with any other meals that you would like!

 

As this might seem like a very complicated recipe to make a salad, it becomes very easy to make after more practice. Tabbouleh is also served with fries, kabab, or hummus. Our personal favorite is eating tabbouleh with BBQ (such as kabab and chicken) with a side of hummus in the summer. We usually make this salad in the summer because it can be refrigerated and refreshing on a hot and long summer day. It is a very delicious salad as it can add a little taste of sourness from the lemon juice. There are many more Arabic foods that are very popular and delicious but this salad is in my opinion the best because it can be paired with so many other Arabic foods. Enjoy!

 

 

Picture from: https://www.simplyleb.com/recipe/tabbouleh/

"Purple" by Stephen J.

 

In our day to day lives, it’s not uncommon for emotions to be tied to colors. When I was little, my parents painted my room blue because water always had a soothing effect on me. My mom only wore white and black when my grandparents died, thus my only association with both colors is mourning and loss. One time when I was playing at the park next to my house, I gave a mortified glance to my mom as I had just stepped in dog poop, continuing to only associate brown with disgust. Once, my 2nd grade teacher asked, “What is your favorite color?”. Nonchalantly, I respond, “Purple.” Given that a few of my other classmates had also said their favorite color was purple too, it didn’t come as a surprise when I had the same choice. Though my thoughts and opinions have evolved with time, my choice of purple has remained the same. A combination of red and blue, the secondary nature of purple blends the contrasting feelings of red and blue. Red tends to have an association with danger, anger, passion, and blood. Blue portrays the opposite: tranquility, freedom, the sky, and sadness.

Playing off the idea of Sigmund Freud’s iceberg analogy of psychoanalysis, blue can be analogous with id and red with superego. The blue of my life is what I describe as my “inner child”, the primitive impulses, non-conformity to the norm, idealistic views of life, and the same child that did just about anything they wanted without a care in the world. It is who I am when nobody's looking; it’s who I am when the mask comes off. Similar to how the water soothed me as a baby, blue is the person I feel most comfortable being. At least that’s what it would have been if social constructs didn’t exist. My red can be described as the social limitations, insecurities, and fear that protect me from harm. Like the angel on my shoulder, my “red” is in a constant battle with “blue”, fighting the impulses for the sake of social acceptance. Most of that “red” is a by-product of my parents and the views they fed me growing up, but also encompasses the morals I’ve obtained through my peers and teachers. It’s the environment that created who you see, the conscious habits that shape the actions I do.

When the concoction of my past is finished brewing, the result is purple. The id and superego forming my ego; red and blue becoming purple. I am my favorite color. I am purple. Rather than a light purple that incorporates more blue, my purple resembles more of a plum. Having lost most of my impulse with maturity, red has taken over my purple from 2nd grade. Purple to me is a key to my mind, unlocking the experiences that I repress that make up who I am. Like yin and yang, purple represents red and blue: the danger in freedom and the freedom in danger. We all have a purple, it just needs to be found.

“A Single Word” by Kyler A.

Love. A single word with a variety of meanings behind it. This concept, feeling, or whatever you want to identify it as is difficult to measure and understand as humans. All we know is that we feel it, right?

 

This intangible thing that a lot of us, including myself, desire to feel is extremely ambitious to grasp our minds around. According to the Oxford Languages dictionary, love is an intense feeling of affection, interest, and pleasure. Read that sentence again, and it's clear for many to establish that it sounds relatively simplistic. An emotion that makes us feel safe, wanted, or even agitated and overwhelmed. That surface-level understanding is what we as humans can mostly perceive and share towards others when we are asked “what is love”, but I attempt to dive deep into this strong emotion.

 

We all know that people such as our family show and give us their love, including our parents, siblings, cousins, and many more. Some of us have even experienced love in a romantic setting, where we care for one’s well-being in order to better the intimate and friendly bond created between one another. However, as cliche as it sounds, love is complicated. Whether we address love in a platonic or romantic way, it will always be perceived differently by every individual as we all have different experiences that establish our individual definition of what love ultimately is. Additionally, love between anyone within our lives is simply just shown in a multitude of different ways. I like to relate this speculation particularly with the way in which we understand subjects differently in school. Whether the cause is the teacher or the student due to the situations that they are in or have experienced before, our understanding of the concepts being taught is influenced by a vast amount of incidents and responses. In essence, we learn things differently compared to other students, the same way in which we interpret the meaning or feelings regarding love.

 

Likewise, I believe that there is and never will be a genuine step-by-step guide on how to show someone or something our intense passion and energy towards them. Sure, advice can be given to situations like gift-giving or other languages that technically show love, but nothing regarding love is ultimately explicit. Personally, a romantic relationship that began over three years ago has solidified my insight towards the efforts one must adhere to in order to portray their emotional and physical attachment. Sacrifices, concern, and compliance are one of many actions that a person must admit to in order to present love, but this struggle results in a successful and valuable perspective that cannot be described until one reaches that point.

 

As I said, love will never be explicit. It’s something that simultaneously keeps our minds going, as well as breaking our dreams apart. Life will always contain the fight for love, so next time you hear the words “I love you” from anyone significant within your life, always recall the deeper intentions and significance behind that single word.

"Rejection" by Arsalan H

What is rejection? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word “rejected” is “not given approval or acceptance.” When one feels rejected, one most often feels the emotional lows of life. But one must always remember that this feeling is only temporary and rejection only opens up thoughts of redirection.

As E.L James once said, “I am crying over the loss of something I never had. How ridiculous. Mourning something that never was – my dashed hopes, dashed dreams, and my soured expectations.” Rejection is something everyone will face at one point in their life. After so many rejections, we become numb, creating a sort of tolerance. But after so many rejections, there is always a redirection; A “white light” at the end of a dark cave. Rejection is associated with failure, but no one has had a perfect life. Failure in itself is a key to success as most teachers would say.

Think of famous public figures that have gone through so many rejections, until they finally got an opportunity. J.K Rowling, for example, credited for the writing of Harry Potter, was rejected from 12 different publishing houses until Bloomsbury decided to offer Rowling her first contract. Now after so many rejections, why did she continue to persevere until she finally made it? The main reason was that she believed in her ideas and did not let the thought of rejection put her down. What we should realize from her life story is that we must always believe in ourselves, and our strengths and not undermine the talents we possess regardless of how many rejections we come across. Other people such as Steve Jobs faced rejection from his own company but managed to bring themselves back on top. As he said himself, "I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me." Rejection is a chance for us to reflect back on past conditions to see what could’ve been done better, or believe in ourselves and continue to try until we see that “white light.”

 

So, why am I writing about rejection? Well, today is March 18th, the day when 3 major UCs released their admission decisions. Long story short, I got waitlisted for all 3 of those colleges, which is basically a rejection without the added emotional trauma. The chances of getting out of the waitlist are, on average, 10%. Instead of collapsing to my knees and questioning my worth, I thought about everything that I had done all 4 years of my life in high school; Thought about everything I had accomplished, and everything I planned on accomplishing. I came to realize that this minor rejection was not the “end of the world.” I realized all the other opportunities I was blessed with in form of admission to various other colleges. Even though I would’ve loved to see that “Congratulations” at the top of my UCLA or UCI letter, the fact is, I did not get that reality. There is no point in crying for something that you never had or something that is out of your control. No one can change the past but you can certainly change the present and the future.

Always remember that rejection is a form of failure, but failure is the only working key to success.

 

 

 

 

 

Sources

 

Quotes:

 

https://www.heart.co.uk/showbiz/10-stars-who-were-rejected-before-making-it-big/steve-jobs/

 

https://www.therichgetsricher.com/50-rejection-quotes-on-life-by-famous-people/

 

Examples:

 

https://www.insider.com/revealed-jk-rowlings-original-pitch-for-harry-potter-2017-10#:~:text=T

 

he%20novel%20was%20rejected%20by,houses%20before%20Bloomsbury%20accepted%20it.

 

&text=It%20goes%20on%3A%20%22A%20copy,J.K.%20Rowling%20her%20first%20contract

 

.%22

 

https://www.heart.co.uk/showbiz/10-stars-who-were-rejected-before-making-it-big/steve-jobs/