The interesting aspect of the Thrive text and the weekly sections is that somehow many of the lessons provided were things I either had my parents teach me, I learned from my life experiences or l’ve absorbed from academics and mentors. I chose to pick out the three sections that I felt are prevalent currently … Read more
At the age of 18 this Forgotten Girl moved away and went to Idaho State University. I couldn’t believe my life was happening the way I never would have imagined was possible, even though the weather was freezing beyond what I had planned for since it was January, but each time I stepped out into … Read more
When I first started taking this class I wondered how I was going to do my assignments each week? I wondered if I would be able to find someone young to talk with or visit every week? I said, “this is just too much. ” But to my surprise I didn’t have enough time to … Read more
Growing up, I was met with darkness. Every time I thought I had done something right, it always turned out to be wrong. Everything I did wrong ended in my own desolation. He called me feeble; because I could not handle the agony he forced me to face everyday. I could not escape his wrath; … Read more
When initially starting college, I knew nothing of it as I came from an underprivileged family who not once had ever entertained the notion of attending college. Coming from a Hispanic family, the expectations were to get married and be a good a housewife; however, I decided on my own to explore college, even if … Read more
Grief is something that you cannot truly understand until you experience it. As a kid, I heard about grief in class, but was unable to comprehend that feeling. I heard about the grief my mother fought through when her mom died but was unable to understand how she felt. I would think about my parents … Read more
My first communication strength is listening to my friends and family. I am very adept at listening to my friends and families because I’m competent at the five stages of listening, specifically: receiving, understanding, remembering, evaluating, and respond. I have this uncle named Rajah who tells stories non-stop. He can start a story at eight … Read more
Within the plain, white, confining walls that border our composition classroom in the depths of the Netherlands core, there sits a student who is so completely opposite to the barriers that surround us all. As an avid participant in classroom discussions, she is easy to notice amongst the blur of faces as one looks around … Read more
There are many goals in my life that I want to achieve; therefore, I came up with a few goals to help me out along the way. It is currently my second semester in college, but my first goal is to graduate college in four years and open my sneaker store I want to open. … Read more
The aim of this essay is to reflect upon and evaluate my personal, academic and career developments since I have started university. I will be reflecting upon my experience of the work placement and feedback received from my first semester assignments, along with evaluating my career aspirations and creating an action plan on how to … Read more
General psychology holds some of my fondest memories from my high school days, most prevalent being when my professor offered several personality tests to take for extra credit. Being the typical overachiever, I decided to take part, and I chose the Carl Jung personality test. I’ve always felt more comfortable sitting in a corner, away … Read more
The rain had been falling all day. I grudgingly canceled the tennis game I had planned with my doubles partner Jackson, changing out of my tennis whites with a sigh. I tossed my phone across the room, and it landed on my desk, on top of a pile of folders, binders, and nearly unused school … Read more
Once upon a time there was a young man named Prince Juan who lived in a magical place called Princess Landia. Just kidding his name was Greg, and he lived in an apartment building in Wethersfield Connecticut. He had a degree in science and was very smart. One night he got a call from his … Read more
College Algebra Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch, as you’re entering your favorite amusement park, you hear the chain hills caring a cart full of people. Soon after the sound of the chains is replaced by people screaming as they go downhill at top speeds. Your stomach drops, the combination of fear, anxiety, and excitement build up more as you … Read more
According to the dictionary, empathy is defined as “the understanding of another’s situation, feelings, and motives”. I find it difficult to understand that a person could lack such consideration and compassion for another living creature, but, clearly, I have seen otherwise. On many occasions, I have witnessed disconcerting behavior both aimed at myself, or other … Read more
My whole life I have been a leader, the rule maker, the boss, a take charge and a “get stuff done” type of person. These qualities I attribute to being the oldest sibling, raised by a strong mother, and a stepfather determined to raise another man’s child as best he could. I thrive in situations … Read more
Perhaps, the single most important text that I have ever encountered is Pink Floyd’s The Wall. The album has been constantly listen too, thought about and felt throughout my childhood; and now my adult life. I cant quite remember why I found the album attractive in the first place. I started listening before I could … Read more
My Favorite Vacation I sat at the resort’s buffet with my mom, grandparents, and my brother, while we were relaxed and we enjoyed ourselves. I could smell the salt from the seawater of Gulf of Mexico, it was a rather odd smell, it smelt bitter, fresh, and clean all at the same time. The smell … Read more
I have found that one of my most hindering personal flaws is the fact that I have always been a rather spectacularly terrible speller. This of course was discovered when I began elementary school and started to learn basic reading and writing. In reading I flourished (a bit to be expected as my mother is … Read more
It all started my junior year of high school. I was excited to begin my wonderful journey in Future Farmers of America. I was nervous but the road ahead of me was going to be an awesome experience. Some of my experiences include showing my animals, the competitions I attended, being a FFA officer and … Read more
This I believe. A fighter, That’s what some people call me. Family, friends, people I don’t even really know. They call me a fighter because I fight in my head, against something that can be way more powerful than me. If I win a fight, they call me a fighter because I overcame it, I … Read more
MOVING DAY Waking up to an average morning walking outside in the crisp morning air to get breakfast for myself. After I ate l headed for school to finish those standardized tests at the end of 6th grade. So far my class did well and was eager to get them over with. While I was … Read more
For two years, I played each soccer game with the same pair of cleats. These cleats stayed with me 6 different seasons, 5 different teams, and almost 100 games. The cleats were dark blue (once light blue), and had neon yellow laces. They weren’t the finest cleats, but I had grown a bond to them … Read more
Having the ability to lead others is essential in today’s world. For approximately the past two years, I have been the team captain of my high school’s robotics team, the Combustible Lemons. The team has competed in a number of regional, state, and international under my leadership. However, our robotics team wishes to be well … Read more
Lacrosse is a contact sport created by the North American Indians, in which the ball is thrown, caught, and carried in a long-handled stick with a triangular frame and shallow netting at one end. The sport is still played today, and is a known tradition in my family. I first started playing when I was … Read more
As a high school student, I have to put much thought into the future. I was born in Guatemala, but I was raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana all my life. We came from a very poor place where we had nothing, education was low, crime was high, and food was scarce. When we first came … Read more
Valley Forge Decision A cold wind blows around my small cramped cabin at Valley Forge. I can hear the rapid breathing of the other soldiers as they try to keep warm. My 9 month term ends in just a few days. I joined the army after hearing about the Boston Tea Party in 1773. Of … Read more
I walked down the stairs counting each step I took. I approached my mom getting ready to leave for work. “Morning Sophie we have cereal and cinnamon roles in the fridge for breakfast. ” said my mom. I stopped talking to my mom and ate the cinnamon rolls, warm and soft it took my mind … Read more
I wake up thinking I am in our old farmhouse. The sun streams through the window and a calm wind blows on my face. I feel almost content until I remember I will have to endure another long day of spinning cotton. When the machines came, we moved to Bedford, Massachusetts, and started working in … Read more
I miss them already. Despite the freezing cold snow and the nipping air, we had a lovely Christmas break. As I inspect my child, now grown with children of her own, holding tickets back to their home, longing envelopes me. Hoards of people push past, unaware of my pain, on their own schedules and heading … Read more
My Life Unknown Reading Jeannette Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle, I really got a feel of what one person’s life is about, of someone who I do not even know. That may be the reason why the book interested me so much. Hearing about all of those crazy experiences she has gone through and the … Read more
The trail continued around the east side of the lake entering a gathering of trees forming an insignificant forest along the lake’s shoreline. From our viewpoint, the trees concealing the trail eventually dispersed on the southeast side of the lake, and the trail blended into the landscape. Using our imagination, we envisioned the route against … Read more
In the near future, I see myself winning the Revolution War with the Patriots. I can picture it in my head, every single little detail. I will be at the front of the army as we charge towards the Redcoats. We will be fierce and strong in our ragged clothes and bare feet. We will … Read more
Have you ever felt as though the whole world was spinning out of control and that you might go flying if you tried to stand, or have you ever felt the feeling of your brain rattling against your skull as a headache pounded its way into your forehead. That is the feeling of a concussion, … Read more
Most people measure success monetarily. We spend the majority of our lives working towards success (“Defining success”). The word “success” is defined in the Merriam Webster dictionary as the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence. Individuals who would be considered successful in this generation are Kim Kardashian or even Justin Bieber. These celebrities simply live … Read more
When my mother called me, I was already running across the road to the reddish, brick-walled building that jutted out from the street corner. At the beginning of December, my mother had wanted me to volunteer at a nursing home. Instead of relaxing on the couch, I’ll be spending most of my winter break entertaining … Read more
It’s extraordinary to think about how we take so much for granted – another belief we take for granted is that every night the stars will shine. When you wake up in the morning and make plans for the day, you never really contemplate those plans changing entirely in the blink of an eye. I … Read more
Outside of school, I have been involved in lots of different activities, such as horseback riding, piano, classical reading and creative writing class. However, I am most passionate about horseback riding, my book discussion club, and my writing class. Ever since I was little, I knew that I wanted go horseback riding—and I knew it … Read more
I could feel the heavy dusty air that lingered around my room as all my memories rushed through my mind. The emptiness surrounded the room that used to be full of life and-”Hey, can you help me out with these boxes?”. It was my mom. It looked like she was carrying about 50 boxes, but … Read more
Within a few minutes, the sound of sirens rushes across the school parking lot. The heat from the pavement causes the emergency vehicles to waver surreally, as if they’re an illusion speeding toward me. I stand numbly next to the wreckage as the firefighters hurry forward to free the lady trapped inside her car. The … Read more
Around five, I drive to meet Mark at a restaurant in San Francisco. I chose to go across the Golden Gate Bridge despite a third phobia of mine – a fear of heights. This fear I discovered the hard way when I walked with Mark and some friends across this same bridge for a charity … Read more
I was in at Save-A-Lot a couple of weeks ago and while I was in line to check out, I overheard a lady talk about a man that was following her on the walking path behind my house. She was talking about how this man would follow her for a couple hundred feet then stop, … Read more
Oh how my life has changed, but it’s not just my life it’s everyone’s now with all this inventing going on the things we have today are so different then when I was growing up. In 1861 when I was a child we lived in poor little run down shacks of wood on dirt streets … Read more
It was over six years ago and all four sons were still living at home. Being a stay-at- home mother, I was home schooling a special needs child. My husband has just started back to his job after being laid off and the mortgage company foreclosed on our home. The financial situation was very tight … Read more
I used to work for the F. B. I. , in the Portland office. It was my childhood dream to be the one who gets the bad guy. My fiftieth birthday was in just three months. I had a wife and three children, still do, and the same job I’d had since my graduation from … Read more
Its been two weeks, and I havent made any real friends. Its just that, I feel as if no one likes me. Sure, Ive talked to a few people, like Jessica and this really hot guy Chase, but Im starting to feel lonely again. I mean, I was captain of the cheerleading squad at my … Read more
Not long ago I lived in a small Bavarian village along the Loisach River and which was nestled in the foothills of the German Alps. I remember the very first time I arrived; I was on a Deutsche Regional Bahn. The Regional Bahn is not as fast as the Inter City Express (ICE) trains, but … Read more
