Passin' Me By

was a two lane freeway. Everything was going well as usual. Cars were passing me by at 60 miles per hour. Then, I felt something strange that was coming from the steering wheel. At the time, I just thought it was normal for a beat up car to swerve. It felt like an alignment job was needed really soon. Brakes were also poor. I had to stomp on the brakes all the way down in order for the car to stop normally. So me being me, I ignored the issue and continued on my 45 minute drive home, which was in Loma

creaked shut behind me and I wandered to the a seat towards the back of the class, away from all the strangers in the room hoping and praying they wouldn’t notice me. Tables filled the room, three rows across and 3 rows deep, with two chairs to each table. A dirty fish tank was to my right, giving off a slightly unpleasant odor. He could have at least cleaned it for the first day of school perhaps. Students began piling in, shuffling to their seats and every chair, passing me by. I could hear everyone

was always telling me stories from his childhood when I'd make even the slightest complaint about one of my daily routines. "You kids drive all those gosh darn fast cars all the time and do a million things a day. Sometimes I wonder if you'll ever stop to smell the roses." "Oh, Grandpa. I know, but I had to walk so far to get here, and now I'm going to have to walk all the way home when I leave," I said. But for some reason, the overused cliché Grandpa brought up struck me in a curious manner

hope to find, and I soon found myself slogging away yet again with more physical labor. This time, at a major electronics retailer, where it was my responsibility to move large appliances, and heavy tube televisions. Things were stable and the pay kept me fed and clothed, but I wasn’t happy at all. After a couple years, and with a

Ice Cube, etc. that glamorize the calling of picking up a gun and “hustling” to sell drugs on the streets. This can be seen in a number of songs, but one song that can be picked out of the lineup is Young Jeezy’s Soul Survivor. “But if you lookin' for me I'll be on the block / With my thang cocked possibly sittin' on a drop, now/ 'Cuz I'm a rida/' Cuz er'ybody know the game don't stop/ Tryin' to make it to the top 'fore your ass get popped, now/ If you a rida” There is not much depth to this song, the

Picture this, you are teenager growing up in Los Angeles, on your way to school and you turn on the radio. “Yo thanks for tuning into to the hottest radio station in the streets of LA. Up next we got N.W.A. with their new single Appetite for Destruction.” That was common for nearly every person who lived in LA and enjoyed hip-hop music. During the early 90s and late 80s, West coast hip-hop was dominated by the gruesome realities of gangster rap and g-funk. Rap at the time was intense, authentic,

The chapter begins with a quote by G. K. Chesterton, and he talks about a saint (Yancey 59). The quote was peculiar to me. It said that a saint exaggerates, which confused me. I thought a saint should be humble and not exaggerate. When I think of someone exaggerating, I do not think of it in a good way. Although, maybe the saint exaggerates to bring awareness to the things people do not realize or something. I do not think I agree with Yancey when he said, “be grateful for your poverty” because

eye level, winking at me in the afternoon sun. I stood on tiptoe, hastily looked around once more, reached into the hole, and withdrew two pieces of chewing gum minus their outer wrappers (Harper 44).” Then again on the last day of school Jem and Scout pass the tree, this time they find two old polished pennies. “They’re real strong in magic, they make you have good luck. Not like finding fried chicken when you’re not lookin’ for it, but like long life ‘n’ good health ‘n’ passin’ six-week tests (Harper

it came to me that Mayella Ewell must

In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus describes courage as “when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”, and Atticus fits his own definition very well. Atticus did not shy away from his difficult situations by any means, but also he had the guts not to do things that might cause a problem. Atticus also doesn’t let what people think of him determine what he does, he doesn’t separate himself