Personal Narrative: The President's Challenge

“Do you like your job mom?” My son Matthew asks me casually looking up at me from his wooden desk chair. I’m working on cooking our family dinner and he’s currently working on a 10th grade essay, where he describes what he wants to become when he grows up. I always have thought that term “growing up” was funny, because through everything I certainly never have. I smiled down at him and answered “Yes, Matthew, I love it very much.” “Can I interview you about it please, it’s part of the assignment?” he replied. I nod and make my way over to the matching desk chair and sit down. “Just answer my questions about your job” He said. “Wait Matt, don’t you have to write this down?” “UGH mom this isn’t 2016, no one writes anymore. Gosh. My IPhone 17

I didn’t believe in aliens until I was abducted by them. I was put in some kind of contraption and I’m not sure what happened exactly, but it’s clear that I’m not where I was. Everything in 2016 is different, I don’t know if I’m in a different state or not but people are dressing differently and acting differently, and the cars, the cars are all different! I’ve been here for quite some time now and have noticed a lot of differences from where I lived in Oceanside, California in 1940. I’ve been transported to the year 2016 and there are so many things that have changed and evolved and among them are political, economic, social, and cultural changes.

Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else.”

Johnnie, Veronica, Frank et al. do me a solid with all your “knowledge” and “wokeness” step outside your educational privilege and support systems for a minute. I in no place in my post said anything about America being perfect so what you did was hijack a status about the solidarity I feel for the people in my life and in this country who very much will struggle with an intensified troubling life experience in the country to PROVE you have some kind of exceptional wokeness or understanding of America. MISS me with it. No America was not safe for everyone but we just did was extend the people who it was unsafe for. If that’s cool with you then carry on with your bullshit. I have NEVER EVER said it’s a safe place for everyone. I have NEVER

America’s gift to my generation is amazing because veterans have used all their potential for us. They fought for us to be alive right now. Their gift to us is much more than I expected. I am so thankful and I appreciate all they have done for us.

In class we watched a video over a very opinionated male who explained the reason why America is not great. I have a lot of respect for this man and I think that he brought up some extremely valid points that I have never thought about. What I mainly want to touch on is the fact that he accused my generation of being apathetic. He basic says that we could care less and are lazy good for nothings. The best response I can think of is, look at who raised us. Now, I am not saying that it is entirely our parents fault or their parents fault for the reason why teenagers do not care about school, grades, or the world. I am just saying that it is unfair to put the entire blame on my generation saying that we are the reason why the America is not great. He makes it seem that as soon as my

Have you ever felt like you wanted to achieve something so bad but just don’t have enough energy or motivation to do it? Like eating healthy, running a marathon, become president of the United States. I felt the same but mine was losing weight. All through my childhood and adolescence I have been a heavy kid. I was involved in many recreational activities and sports such as baseball, soccer, and basketball. With all this exercise I felt like I would be able to lose this weight but I just kept gaining more weight. Later during my heavy weight period I started developing sad thoughts and for the most part anxiety. I felt like no one liked me and that no one knew who I was.

It’s been 2 years, 35 days and 22 minutes, and I’m still peeking through the dismal, damped window to just have a look at my family. Though years have passed but I still see my mother stepping out of the door every morning with the hope that her daughter Selina Dimp, would arrive. If only she knew that our separation would result to her survival, the urge and temptation to step in my house, smell the aroma of my ever favorite lasagna, tease little Jason and be in the arms of my mother has grown extremely more. No matter how many years have passed but the plague is still out there on our streets, infecting every person I love , my own brother and my entire Nation. As always, the newsboard flashes “The Republic of America war against the Democratic of America is still in progress” , the same old news by the government but for the first time it shows something that gives me a leap of faith for a second. The

On October 27, 1858, I was born in New York City. I was very fortunate to be born into a wealthy and well off family, but I was not as lucky with my health. As a young child I was very weak and constantly ill. By the time I was a teenager, I was tired of being of being frail, and began doing gymnastics and weightlifting to build up my strength.

America’s greatest gifts to my generation in my thoughts, are freedom, internet access, and jobs.These are only some of the things that this generation are available to.We have been given the opportunities that people would have wished to have.Even so, some people take those chances, and abuse them.Here is why I chose these three opportunities.

With everything going on in the news and the new administration, I have been feeling the urge to do something. I happened to come across an online site where it talked about taking action. So, I decided to organize a Stockton Huddle, which is a 90-minute gathering for people of all walks of life to sit and calmly discuss their concerns about the new administration and its policies. Huddles are the second of 10-planned actions in the First 100 days of this presidency, which launched at the Women’s March in Washington D.C.

Grand cars drive down our street. Radios are now practically in every home and play news and stories for families to listen to. Homes are stocked with new appliances, the latest technologies. Some may say that our great country has reached a golden age of prosperity and wealth. However, take a look from a different perspective, and you’ll see that this isn’t the case. America is not the land of the free. Technology may have advanced, but socially, we’ve remained stagnant. Some of our citizens are still shackled by the ties of racial and sexual inequality, and freedom is something they long desperately to grasp.

All the women in my family, myself included, love the Rob Reiner film American President (the one where Michael Douglas is the president and falls for Annette Benning) to the point where my mother and two aunts can quote the whole thing without missing a beat. While I’m not quite on their level yet, one quote that I can always jump in on is: “We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them.” I want to be one of those people—a relentless problem solver with new, creative and innovative ideas to make the world around me a more connected place. And that’s why I’d flourish at Eugene Lang, as well as contribute to the driven and dynamic student body of artists and innovators that attend the school. I hope to become

The moment I saw the election results I broke down. Not only did I lose as President, but I lost as Vice President too. Suddenly, I was just the Secretary, the one who did nothing but listen to others. Suddenly, I would not be able to have as much influence as I aspired to have. Suddenly, it seemed to me, that the very students who had said they supported me were the very people who made me lose. It hurt my pride and affected my friendships. I felt like an outcast who everyone joked about. I contemplated quitting theatre because I felt unwanted by my peers. However, I pondered what that rash action would accomplish. I hadn't joined theatre for the approval of others, I joined because of my love for the theatrical arts. I realized that those

I was stuck in the 24-hour prison of signing day. I knew I wanted to get myself out there and break out of these introvert chains, but though I enjoyed my first year of French Club, managing it let alone becoming vice president is a responsibility that requires skills I thought I lacked. Raising my hand for the position that day, I dove headfirst into danger, thinking only of how I would regret the decision within the coming months. However, I knew it was for the best since I lived through enough anxiety and social awkwardness already; it was time to stop. Debuting my senior year as the new French Club Vice President, I set a lofty goal of making socializing my new favorite hobby.