What it is to be an American

            I asked a lot of people what it means to be an American to them and everyone had very different opinions on being American. Some good some bad and some simply didn’t want to answer. Some people talk about America like if it’s a magical place were everything and anything can happen. Others see America like if it’s ruining the rest of the world and I was told everyone hates Americans.
            I was told by one person that America is the land of opportunity. That person told me America can make anything happen and that’s why they are here. That’s why they chose to leave there home land to come to America. In America you can get jobs and more opportunities are given to them and there families. There are programs to help them and they can get a better education. She thinks America can help her escape the problems she was facing were she came from and start a new life.
             The other person I asked had a completely different point of view. I was told Americans are greedy and take everything for granted and would do anything to advance in life. They told me they act as if they own everything. For example animals, they are being reproduced like t-shirts. They are treated cruel and it’s unsanitary. Americans are causing global warming. They waste water and energy while the rest of the world suffers. For example they are overproducing cows and there waist isn’t disposed properly which leads to our water drains and oceans. America doesn’t want to enforce their immigration laws. American say they don’t want them here but they really don’t want them to stop coming. If they stopped coming that would mean they would no longer have cheap labor. No cheap labor means having to pay workers at least minimum wage and having to have a sanitary constructive environment. Having immigrants means having people work for nearly nothing and can work in poor health conditions and who can’t complain and work jobs no one else wants.
             I believe some American schools have a good education system but not all of them. I believe the education does help certain groups of people. I believe people do get help in America but I believe the wrong people get helped at least most of the time, and the people who do deserve the help are to embarrass to ask for it. The people that should be getting helped have to much pride to ask for it.
             Americans are 34% over weight we eat fast food and don’t exercise on a regular basis. If we simply ate better we would all have a good self esteem. We eat clone meat, that is so bad for us and some people don’t even know what they are eating. We don’t know what could happen but no one speaks up and says we want organic food. We want food that has not been genetically modified and don’t want to eat animals that have been injected with steroids and hormones. If we took simple but big steps we would live in a better America.

Academic Autobiography

         When I started school I was four or five years old I started a year late. I went to Vermont Elementary school. Most of my elementary years are a blur, the only thing I can clearly remember was crying every morning because I did not want to go to school. Only a few of my teachers in elementary liked me. They always said that I wouldn’t do my work and I would sleep in class.

         My kindergarten teacher loved me even till this day when I see her she says “hi” and starts a conversation. In first grade I always just blended in I never stuck out. Second grade was my best year the teacher liked me and I met my best friends, I had good grades and my parents were happy with me. Through third grade and fifth grade I had really low grades and my teachers didn’t like me. I’ve always been a quite and shy student at first, but once I meet people and I get comfortable I talk a lot.
 
      When I reached middle school it was no different my teachers didn’t like me and I didn’t have good grades. I attended James A. Foshay for sixth through eighth grade. When I started sixth grade I had the same teacher for four of my classes. Her name was Ms. Garcia she never liked me because on the first day of school I got to school late and I never liked talking out loud. I understood every thing we were learning I passed her final and a lot of her test but I still didn’t pass her classes because I would always get kicked out from the class.

        When I walked into my first class the first thing I thought about was finding some one I new from elementary and stay with them. That day I found Caroline that year we became best friends. In the beginning of seventh grade my teachers liked me I did a lot of my work but, I talked a lot more because I knew every one in my classes. The rest of my classes were okay but I never really stood out I would just sit in the back of the class doing my work and listening to music. In the middle of seventh grade I stopped doing my work my grades dropped and I was absent a lot because of personal reasons at home. When I started eighth grade I was still having trouble in my classes and I was still having trouble at home. I was put in really low classes and I had to work hard to catch up on everything I missed when I was absent. I didn’t go much higher since I was still absent a lot. At the end eighth I knew I wasn’t going to walked the stage unless I changed my classes and my English teacher loved me because I always did all her work and tried really hard. I explained to her and she helped me switch my classes and the only space available was in the honor classes and she promise every one I was going to try very hard so they switched me and I graduated in honor classes.

       When I first started ninth grade I knew I had to do better so I was absent less and I did all my work I got mostly good grades. I understood math for the first time and I was passing it but when my grandma passed away I was absent to school for a week or so. When I got back I was sad and I didn’t feel like doing my work my grades dropped but not by much since they were very high. When I started tenth my grades were really low I failed one quarter of English and didn’t get much higher grades in my other classes. When I started eleventh grade I made a promised to my grandmother, my family, and myself to try harder. For now it’s too early to tell but I’ve been trying really hard and I hope I pass.