All Blog Posts (955)

“Don’t strive to make your presence noticed, just make your absence felt!”

I used to be very materialistic and egocentric.  I simply thought that money could do anything and that being rich meant being successful.  I firmly believed that money would bring me happiness, respect, and success.  I wanted to impress the others by showing how smart I was and the many expensive things I owned.  However, I was too young and naïve to recognize the many other things life has to offer.  In the…

I have always been told that I am a great child who is capable of absolutely anything.  I have never doubted this, but I do realize that there are certain limitations to my potential.  I don’t consider those limits in my life journey though.  

I was raised in a Hispanic household who was…

Dakota Collins

Discussion 1D

WDYDWYD?

            My passion and my joy is playing soccer. Why I do it is for a number of reasons from the simple to the more personal. First I’ll start with the simple and that would be that for me soccer is something that I deeply enjoy when I play I forget all of the stresses in my life and focus solely on the pure joy that the game gives me. I started playing soccer at the age of six and loved it and at first I…

As a child growing up, I have never really had the option of failing. It has always been my mother who has encouraged me to do my best, to get a better education, to work with my brain and not my body, and to live a slightly better life than she did. She has encouraged me and supported me throughout my life.

 As a people pleaser, I find it extremely difficult to let down those around, especially my mom, and myself. There’s a pressure to continue doing well in school, to get into a…

I do what I do because I believe that I am getting to closer and closer to living how I was created to live. I am not perfect and I am never going to be, but I can strive daily to love and live by faith. I live for Jesus Christ and for His glory. I want to live a life that shows I am not worth anything, but He is worth everything. Jesus has changed my life and shown me that the objects of this world will never satisfy me. The way that people view me and the friends I have will never satisfy…

“If the pain continues you may want to consider giving up water polo all together.” These are the words of a doctor I saw just a few days ago. Within the past month I have learned that I have two fractured vertebrae and a bulging disc in my back. The doctors don’t know how I got these fractures but all I know is they are irritating my nerves causing me immense pain in my lower back. Never in a million years did I think that I would have to give up sports all together. My parents raised me…

I do what I because I am me, Kelley McCarroll-Gilbert.  I consider my actions to be the best possible decisions depending on the situation.  At the end of the day when I think about my activities, I want to feel better about myself knowing that I have made a difference.  I want to help make someone else’s day better and reached out to someone who was having a rough day.  I do what I do because of who I am.   I do what I would want someone else to do for me.

I do what I do because I do…

Why do you do what you do? How many people in this world would have thought about this question or had answers for it? Why do you eat only three times a day, sleep lately and wake up lately, watch Japanese TV shows, have thousands of facebook friends, buy smart phones and tablet PCs, listens to the hip hop, study at Powell, hate math, gossip with friends at Starbucks for hours, use Mac PC, or drink alcohol? Will we be able to have just one simple answer that can explain all of these specific…

My parents finally moved to a one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles when they first arrived from the Philippines. On March 15, 1988, Kevin Earl Briones was born. That same day, he had also passed away. Kevin is my older brother or as we say in Tagalog, kuya. It was that event that allowed my family to move to a town about 40 minutes away called Norwalk.

On May 14, 1991, Tatiana Marie Briones was born, the second child to Renato and Evelyn Briones. Kuya Kevin's death was at the…

I fear living a life in solitude. I would do anything to prevent loosing a friend even if it means masking my emotions or putting others before myself. Until I can satisfy their needs, then will I be happy with myself. I do what I do so I wont have to sit alone waiting for someone.  Pleasing others and knowing that I have not yet disappointed them is what I do. The last thing I want is for my friends to loose faith in me, unable to find me reliable or hold a promise. Everyone wants to…

Car rides were especially lonely as a kid, not having anyone to pick a fight with or to swap stories with. I yearned for even the simplest of things. As I got older, I found it…

For the thrill of the chase

Why do you do what you do?

      Although there are some things in life that I might never be able to obtain and some dreams that wont ever come true it is the pursuit of these things that keeps me…

It was the last year of my high school. I still had no idea what I want to study in college. At that time, I was not even sure if I want to go to the college. I wanted to be a writer. I had full of ideas in my head. I just wanted to start my career as a writer rather than spending time studying something else. Of course, none of my family besides my grandfather agreed with it. I fought with my parents to the point we stopped talking for a month. During that time, my grandfather told me “If…