New Way to Spend a Holiday

There are many times in our life that shape who we are, most of these “moments” go unnoticed. Things happen and change us in an instant so we often don’t remember these “moments” simply because they do not come across as something memorable. They just happen. If you’re lucky enough, you can remember this defining moment, and be able to reflect on this moment in a time of need, to remind yourself of the long journey that got you where you are at today.

Here I stand on the brink of adulthood, a daunting place to exist. I peer over the edge and gaze into a chasm, bright but blurry. I am afraid. I am anxious. But I am hopeful. I am hopeful because I know that my past has defined me, but it is my future that will continue to mold me. As my years as a teenager draw to a close, I find myself reflecting on pivotal moments that taught me what it really means to be a good human being.

The bravest moment I have ever had is when I quit putting up with people's crap and took a stand. The person at the time happen to be Davis Paul. Davis was always trying to stir problems in P.E. with me. He would push me and say hateful things everyday and one day enough was enough. He tool Axe and sprayed it in my eyes. I pushed him, he turned around to fight. Then he tried to pick me up and we both fell to the ground. When he missed I picked him up and body slammed him into the locker room floor, busting his head on concrete. He got chocked out in the moment I was brave and will no longer take anything off

There is more to life than just physically growing up; it’s about the experiences we gain from them and how we mature from these experiences. It makes us mature and has definitely taught me a thing or two and what I’ve learnt is, our lives are defined by our choices and the pathways we choose to take. They might be good or they might be bad.

Life is a gift in which many have the great experiences that come with it. As children, most have loving parents, helpful teachers, a good education, and friends that encourage us to fulfill our dreams. We become teenagers who think we know it all, strictly care about having a good time, and make memories that we can carry with us throughout our lifetime. Eventually we must grow up. We get a job, marry someone, and start a family. If you haven’t noticed already, I am describing an ideal life that many don’t have the privilege of living. Adult years begin to tear you apart and build up stress. Learning to live a life on your own can and will lead to tears and mistakes. Although everyone makes mistakes some can be more

We donated our time to a charity during the fall, the JROTC program decided to do the Mana Cafe to help those in need. It was a food drive and people would help gather food together to deliver it to families that needed it for the winter. Everyone was pitching together and doing their part to get the food together and in the people’s car. Even in the cold weather, everyone was having fun, knowing that they were doing excellent in their hearts. Therefore that day families were allowed to eat despite their economic struggle and all as a result of the service we did to help them.

For the past two years I have dedicated one Wednesday a month to going to Ronald McDonald House. While there, my peers and I would cook and serve a dinner for the families staying in the House. I loved the way it felt to give back to these families that had been going though such hard times with their children, so I decided to

My act of courage is when I found out that i had Reactive Attachment Disorder. You can get this from being abused when you were a little kid or a baby. Well in my case I was abused by my mom for two years. She abused me since the day I came home from the hospital till the I was almost three years old and got put into foster care so I got away from the person who was abusing me for a couple of month's. I just found out on January tenth, 2017 at a meeting that I had to go to that I had Reactive Attachment Disorder. You can also get this from being separated from your parents for a while and I was whenever I was put into foster care I was separated from my real mom for the rest of my life and my sister's and brother's dad died when I was

Every year on Thanksgiving and Christmas my whole family gathers at my great- great aunt’s house for dinner. This annual tradition has taken place since my grandma was a little girl. We join hands around the table, which is

I’ve had to learn how to grow up quickly. I wasn’t a little girl thinking about playing outside anymore, I was a little girl thinking of the future, when and how I would see my mom again. My maturity level was well beyond that of my peers. While little girls had their moms to turn to with difficult situations, such as dealing with puberty and boys, I learned how to deal with these situations on my own. Growing up with a hardened Marine as a father, there was no “rainbows and butterflies” associated with hard times; I learned that growing up meant I had to think for myself. I had to rely on only my instincts and my adolescent perception of life. Although this made for a perpetual series of ups and downs, I was able to pave a clear path to bring me right where I am today, at peace with myself and grateful for what the situation has taught

I have volunteered our local chart choose around my neighborhood that have partnered up with the Houston food Bank . Once a month on a Saturday the Houston food Bank sends a truck full of food and the church distributes the food to people in need around the neighborhood. I along with others would work behind the scenes and package all the food into a box and prepare for it to be distributed. Volunteering for this cause was super fulfilling. Regardless the hot weather I would wear again I knew that it was going to such a good cause. Just imagining a family who would otherwise struggle to have a meal to eat would now have a whole feast f have a whole feast ready on their table for their families.

Dear family for Illinois,remember when it was snowing that a fell in the snow and came out cold and wet and the sleds that we would go to MC Henry in Woodstock and grama would make us hot cocoa it was the best day of my life.well it started in December when we spended all the time sleeping there well all my family can to come over and say hi and had a nice time . well you think that all no no no when Christmas can everybody came to celebrate and was so cool but the best gift was the family that was there was like you will never get cold because you know they will always be on your back.

that moment, every day, I realize that everything I do is not for me but for my two boys that God

As a child, my family would celebrate every holiday with grandeur, especially Christmas. We have specific traditions and rituals that we carry out during the season, but the most important of our traditions is what we do on Christmas morning. Our rituals and traditions reflect our values as well as my own of family, unity, and tradition. The morning of the holiday my mother has always woken my brother and I, and then brought us to our dad so we could all walk down to the family room. As we gather in the family room around our tree and presents, my mom serves us each a piece of her Christmas casserole, saved for this special morning. Following our video-taped walk down to our presents, my brother, mother, father, and I open one gift from each other and the first thing in our stocking. After this ritual, my brother and I would go downstairs to our in-law suite where our grandmother lived, to wake up our Mimi and pull her upstairs so that we could finish opening presents and have hot chocolate with our entire family. One Christmas morning

The tradition began on Christmas day in 1994, when my great grandmother Doris Murray gave a simple housewarming gift to my mom and dad, as they had just moved in to their first house together. The gift was a cookbook she had purchased from a local church in which she was a frequent visitor to. Little did our family know that within this cookbook would be a recipe that evolved in to a tradition that would be made at all of our following family gatherings. Together, my mother and great grandmother cooked a lasagna that would be a part of the meal for Christmas supper, and almost every family function that followed. As my great grandmother was the oldest member of my father’s side of the family she was