BE: Reaction to Salt, Sugar, Fat

I thought this book was very informative and interesting, it is very easy to pick up this book and get enlightened with knowledge that benefits the reader. This book might have been scary for people that were completely clueless to what they were eating and were getting told the harsh truth. I loved reading all the truths about the food that is commonly found in the market and consumed by the majority of Americans. The thing that sticks in my mind the most after reading the book is just how much sugar is in soda. This book makes every food company seem like evil organizations hungry for profit at whatever the cost. This book made me question why it is still allowed to have copious amounts of salt sugar and fat in almost everything we eat. Then I realized why the food companies are still adding this stuff, we the consumers are too blind to see what we are eating and are being slaves to salt sugar and fat. The book was correct when it said that we are addicted to eating salt sugar and fat, we really do get manipulated by the three to make us addicted to them. I will also remember that we consume 33 pounds of cheese and seventy pounds of sugar a year, these numbers make my head spin because I cannot envision that much sugar and cheese is being consumed by every single American. This book was a wakeup call for me to start changing my eating habits and make a conscious effort to look for healthier food. It also made me think that if I spend more money on healthy food now than buying cheap food it would still be the same as buying my health now rather than later like being in the hospital getting fed nutrients through my blood stream because I didn’t eat healthy throughout my life.

Thanks

BE: Thanks

Ten things I’m thankful for:

11.      Home

22.      Food

33.      Transportation

44.      Family

55.      Music

66.      Health

77.      Weekends

88.      Pets

99.      Laughter

110.  Electricity

BE: Family

BE: Family

            I come from a family where my father has 11 other brothers and sisters and my mother has 5 brothers and sisters. My entire family is easily over 150 people and still growing as my cousins and I get older and start to have children. As a kid I remember spending a lot of time with my cousins from my mom’s side of the family. Most notably my cousins Bernie and Danny, we were born just between the span of a year so we were pretty close already because of our age. We didn’t go to the same school, but even then I would still see them multiple times a week. We would sleep over at each other’s houses and play video games and watch funny TV shows. Growing up the three of us grew up liking the same things and it was really easy for us to get close. We were doing the same curricular activities, we were on the same soccer team as little kids, we were in the same karate class, and same guitar class. We are still really close to this day but we don’t see each other as frequently as we did when we were little kids. From my dad’s side of the family all of my cousins were at least 6 years older than me and I was the youngest. It was hard for me to connect as easily with my cousins because of the age gap, especially my male cousins because when they were 14 + I was just an 8 year old. As a young 8 year old boy they seemed kind of intimidating because they would play pretty rough and I was afraid to get hurt. Seeing that my male cousins were scary to me, I went with my female cousins and had much more fun with them because they were like motherly figures because they would look after me and be nice to me. My aunts and uncles are very likeable, they always seem to be very happy and understanding. Over the years all of my aunts and uncles have always been helpful in giving advice or taking care of me if my parents were at work. The three sisters of my mom Ana, Yola, and Irma have all treated me like their son at one point or another because my mom has done the same for their kids and we have always been kind to each other.

Materialism

   I agree with Lauren Smith when it comes to the subject of the holiday season and gift-giving. I agree with everything she said she is right about the holiday season being a time of selflessness to give gifts to your loved ones and be thankful for all the things you have. I also agree with her point of the holiday season being about spending time with your family and that each gift that is given or received is done with love and selflessness. I agree with most of what she says because I feel that the holiday season can be a time where everyone can feel special and loved. Growing up whenever I thought about Christmas and this time of yearI thought about getting a few gifts and having fun with my family and being in a living room eating a nice dinner with a Christmas tree and everyone laughing and having fun. I never thought about the holiday season too materialistic because the gifts that I would receive would usually practical things that I can use throughout the year. I would receive clothes, school materials, or accessories for my guitar or skateboarding ramps that I can use, and I remember giving cooking supplies to my aunts or tools for my uncles that they can use,  I can’t think of one gift that I have ever gotten that never had a purpose that was just a material item. My family deals with buying presents by looking at the black Friday sales and usually buying things from that day forward until Christmas. We usually get at least one thing for everyone in our family. It never mattered how big or small the gift was to our family because the most important thing for our family was staying safe and spending time with everyone and having a good time.

School

Blog Entry: School

            In general when I think of school there is nothing that comes to mind that I like. I’m on the neutral side about everything that has to do with school. The only thing that I would say that I like about school is whenever someone can make me laugh in school or I see something funny happen, but even that is not really school related so everything seems like whatever to me. The biggest challenge for me in school is doing projects or essays in advance of the due date and not procrastinating until the very end. I usually put off those kinds of assignments until the last second and panic and turn in things that are not my best work. Lately I have been trying to work on things in portions and work on things a little bit at a time and I found out that this method is a lot less stressful and can be more effective for me because every time I pick up from where I left off my mind is refreshed and focused on what I have to do, rather than doing everything at once and having all kinds of thoughts go through my mind. The workload for me isn’t too bad this semester because I have a lot of time to get things done and can work in a nice quiet space with no distractions. The ultimate pay-off for me is to get my degree so I can get a nice paying job and make a steady income to be able to support myself. I stay motivated by keeping a positive mindset and always try to smile and laugh as much as I can every day. My age keeps me going because I am only 17 and I want to graduate and my degree as soon as possible so people can be amazed at how young I am.

Opinions

Opinions

            I have changed my opinion about many things in my life, it is natural to think differently as you get older. The thing that I have changed my mind about the most is probably my opinion on school. As a kid I absolutely hated school because I did not like waking up early in the morning to go with a bunch of other kids in a classroom. I thought we were being held hostage as kids to be in this room with an adult to teach us things that we didn’t want to know. I just wanted to be free and run around in the open and play games and have fun. As I got older I started to like school more each year. I started to have fun in the classroom doing assignments and projects. I began to answer questions that the teacher asked and feeling rewarded by knowing that I answered the question correctly. I began to be happy at school because I could still play with my friends at recess and look forward to getting out of school to play even more with them. I realized that school was a good tool for me to not get bored and always have something to do. As I got older and got into high school I really started to enjoy school because I always had a blast in the classroom listening to the teacher tell stories and going to P.E. and playing sports with my friends. I now loved school because I had a lot of fun with my friends that I made in school and realized that without school I would have never met these people. Now that I am in college I like school even more because we make our own schedules and learn the things that we want to learn.

            

Fast Food

Food

            My history with fast food begins as a little kid. I loved to go to McDonald’s, Jack in the Box, Burger King, Carls Jr, In and Out, and any other place you can think of. I loved eating there because it was so good. It had me hooked the first time I ever ate at one of those places because everything tasted good and I was a little kid that did not know how the food was made or what was in the food. I would just care if it tasted good or not. Fast food wasn’t that big a part of my childhood though, because I had my grandmother and my mother living with me and they made way better homemade food than any fast food place. Even though my mom was good at cooking she sometimes didn’t have the time to make food, so I would say that as a little kid I would eat at fast food places fairly often. Maybe like twice a month or less on average it wasn’t uncommon for us to eat fast food. I would get two double cheeseburgers any time we went and that was it for me I didn’t really like anything else at fast food places. As a kid I felt pretty happy whenever we would go to any burger place because it felt like a reward to eat there.

 

            I loved eating fast food all my life up until I got into my sophomore year of high school. My biology teacher Mr. Daw educated me on the reality of fast food and there evil ways. He showed us videos of how the corporations treated the animals, it was an awakening for me. In the videos all the animals were fed corn and were not able to run freely, because they are all caged in to a small confined area with no space to move. Then Mr. Daw showed us the right way for animals to be treated, they were free to run and eat grass and get exercise and they even had their own names and were loved by their farmers. Ever since I was in Mr. Daw’s class my perception of food changed drastically and I began to immediately see the reality of how bad fast food places are. Now I never even think of going to a fast food place because it just looks so disgusting and unhealthy to me now. Now has gotten much better I am very glad that I don’t go to fast food places because I feel much healthier now. Whenever I see a commercial of fast food on TV my stomach starts to hurt because I get memories of when I used to eat that and how horrible I felt. I also showed my whole family all of the things that Mr. Daw showed me and they also stopped eating fast food and thanked me for showing them. In conclusion fast food is nothing to me now I will never eat at any fast food place ever again.

Essay #1

Jesus Cervantes

Gaylene McPherson

College Composition

September 16, 2014

Losing a Loved One

 My whole life I have always had my whole family with me. I lived with both my grandparents and my parents in the same house along with my little sister. I was pretty lucky to have two sets of dads and moms living with me and teaching me things and caring for me at the same time. I loved my grandpa he taught me lots of things. The most memorable thing that he taught me was how to ride a bike I remember I was very scared, but he taught me to be brave. He told me to get on the bike and to just go. I remember I fell off the bike and got hurt but he told to get back on the bike and try it again and I fell again. He told me to get on again and this time I didn’t fall off and he said to just do my best whenever I keep failing and just keep doing my best. My grandpa loved cycling, it was his favorite hobby, he would always be fixing bikes and riding them as much as he could. After I learned to ride my bike he would pick me up from school with his bike and also take my bike so we can ride them home together. He taught me how to do chores around the house and how to be a hard worker.

When I was born my grandpa was done working but he would still get up early and do as much as he could around the house. I learned a lot from him whether it was directly or indirectly. He would tell me stories about life in México in the 20^th century and how different life was back then. He would make me laugh by making funny faces he would say funny sounds. Overall my grandpa was a great example for me growing up as a kid he would never get angry at anyone he was always loved by everyone who knew him. He was a very healthy and strong man and everyone thought he was going to live until he was at least 100 because he was so healthy.

My life so far to this point was very routine. I would wake up in the morning go to school then see my grandpa waiting for me after school with the bikes so we can go home and then I would repeat the same thing for the whole week, but something changed. My grandpa was feeling sick, it was a shock to everyone because he would rarely get sick because of his health and his great physical condition from cycling. It was in the morning that my mom took him to the hospital and I had school so my mom took him to the hospital I went to school not realizing the events that were going to take place in the next couple of weeks. I got out of school and I saw that my dad was here to pick me up instead of my grandpa and he told me that we were going to go see my grandpa at the hospital. At the hospital we arrive and I see my aunt’s uncles and cousins in the waiting room with concerned and scared faces because no one in the family knew what news the doctor was going to say. The doctor comes in and asks for my grandma and my mom and her 3 sisters. They go out to the hallway to get the news that my grandpa has pancreas cancer. I was in the waiting room and I didn’t get to see how they reacted, but after asking my mom how she reacted she just started crying uncontrollably. It turned out that my grandpa has had this cancer for a few years now.

From this experience I learned that no matter how healthy you live you can still get sick. My grandpa was to stay in the hospital for the next two weeks. In those two weeks I was told he was going to be fine by my mom, she didn’t want to tell me the truth because she knew I wasn’t ready to know the truth. Looking back im glad that my mom didn’t tell me because for those two weeks I would be scared and confused. After two weeks of staying at the hospital my grandpa died. I came out of school to find my dad with a very sad face expression. He told me “son your grandpa died,” I said “what? I thought he was going to be fine.” I was very confused I couldn’t believe that my grandpa had died. I asked my dad “what’s going to happen now?” and he didn’t answer. We get into the car and we arrive home to my mom and grandma crying uncontrollably. I have never seen my mom cry how she did before so I was really confused. That night I was lying in my bed and I was thinking of all the things that I did with my grandpa and couldn’t help but feel sad that he was gone and started crying. Within the next few days my grandpa was at the funeral service lying in the coffin. That was my first time seeing a dead body and it looked lifeless, skinny, and it made me very sad. Next was my grandpa’s mass at the local church and the whole church was filled with people who loved my grandpa. It was packed and I wasn’t surprised that so many people were affected by the loss of my grandpa everyone loved him. At the mass the father was talking about how good a life my grandpa lived and that this was not a time of sorrow but a time to rejoice that he was in a better place now.

The next morning was the funeral I remember getting up really early and dressing up in all black clothing and going to church to meet with the father and my entire family and everyone else who loved my grandpa and get ready to go to the cemetery where my grandpa will be buried. The ceremony at the cemetery was the final place where I can see the body of my grandpa before he was buried. I let out all my emotions that day I felt the energy of my family’s tears and it felt good to let out all our emotions. The death of my grandpa was a huge wakening for me. It taught me that life is short and we all must enjoy while we can because we all are going to die someday. I learned to appreciate the people in my life while they are here.

Marriage

BE: Marriage

            I thought the ideas presented in this chapter were pretty relevant to the America that we live in today. Marriage has definitely changed since the 20^thcentury because America is changing as well and everything is getting modernized. Marriage might not seem necessary to some people now.  To those who do get married divorce is becoming more common as the roles of women are changing. In the 20^th century women were seen as wives that stayed home to feed the children and clean the house and make breakfast for her husband. In today’s America women are now more than able to take on the role of the 20^thcentury man and make most of the money in a marriage. I think the main reason women were not as successful in the 20^th century was because they were seen as lesser beings compared to men and they were not able to vote and do many jobs that were considered work for men. An example of this is military jobs and law enforcement I think. There is definitely more women working in these fields and being successful in today’s America. I don’t think that the idea of temporary marriage would be a good idea because that doesn’t seem like a marriage to me, because a marriage is supposed to be a commitment and not some sort of contract. I sort of feel that marriage is still alive and strong in America. After seeing that marriage is only 50% in America now then 72% in the 1960’s it definitely makes me think that marriage declining in America. These stats make a lot of sense to me because in the 20^th century it seemed that marriage was a must for a woman if they wanted to be financially stable. Being with a man who worked was every woman’s dream. I don’t know how fast or how slow it is declining but I do know that for sure it is declining. It just seems that marriage isn’t necessary anymore. Before marriage might be comparable to getting a degree in today’s world for a woman because women might have been encouraged heavily to get married back then sort of how they are encouraged to go to school now and get their degree. Another reason why marriage seems to be declining is that you don’t necessarily need to marry your partner to be committed to them because both partners are probably very educated and can assess the best situation for themselves without getting married prematurely that might lead to a divorce. Nevertheless it still seems to me that it is normal to get married. Society definitely encourages you to get married. I feel that being married is seen as a positive thing in someone because they found someone that they loved and made a commitment to stay together. Marriage also brings a social status of being seen as a well-respected person in my eyes at least. In conclusion I feel that the marriage rate has changed in America because America is so different now.

Names

Names

            My name is Jesus Cervantes. The name Jesus was given to me by my mother Lorena and my father Jesus. My dad’s dad is also Jesus. The name Jesus is obviously most famous by Jesus Christ. The most obvious reason I can think of why I was given Jesus because it was my dads name. If my dad had a different name other than Jesus I think my name would be something different. The name Jesus gives a clue to my heritage because my family is mostly catholic and the name Jesus is very famous in that religion and all over the world. For this reason I feel that my name carries a lot of weight and I will be respected just by name alone. I feel that someone will be careful of how they act towards. I feel that people wont do anything negative towards me because they probably will feel that they are disrespecting Jesus Christ if they are religious. I myself do not believe in Jesus Christ so to me the name Jesus is just a normal name, but to the people who believe in him will probably respect me. Even though my name is Jesus my family and friends all call me Jesse. They all do it because I think Jesus sounds too formal to say in a non-formal setting. For these reasons it feels like a chore to say my real name to new people that I meet. I would love to change my name to Jesse because it feels like me it fits who I am. Jesse feels like a name of a carefree person who likes to have fun. I do not like telling people my name is Jesus because it feels too formal to me. My last name Cervantes originates from Spain Cervantes means the servant of the lord. I do not like the meaning of my whole name at all because it all has to do with religion. My name literally means servant of the lord and that does not fit who I am because I do not believe in Jesus Christ. When I add my last name Cervantes to Jesus it feels nasty to say because my name is all in Spanish. I would like to have a name that was said in English because we live in America and it would flow smoothly to say an English name in normal conversations. If I could change my whole name I would love to change it to Jesse Chase. I feel that this would be a nice name for me because it is short and easy to say and easy to remember. Changing my first name to Jesse would be an easy transition because all my family and friends already call me that and I like it. The last name originates from medieval times and was used by skilled hunters. The last name Chase is also short and easy to say and it has a nice ring to it “Jesse Chase.”

Past Present Future

Past Present and Future

            My name is Jesus Cervantes and I am 17 years old. I was the first child in my family and I was very privileged growing up, my parents bought me all the things I wanted as long as I behaved well and did well in my schoolwork. I have been to Mexico countless times to visit my parents’ homes when they were children and that has made me appreciate how lucky I am to be living here in America.

            Now my life is pretty much the same. I still live with my parents and we go on trips to Mexico every summer. I am still a full time student that is trying there hardest to make good grades. The only thing that’s different is my mentality I use to think about things in a negative way, but lately I have been a much more positive person.

            In the future I hope to be a wealthy successful man. I will hopefully have my computer science degree and a nice job. I want to own a house and have a wife and kids and treat my children how I was treated so hopefully they can also do well in school and be positive people. I want to live a nice long healthy life and enjoy everything as much as possible.