Coming of Age: Final

            Today was finally the big day; the first day of high school. "I'm going to be absolutely fine," I reassured myself, "Today was going to be the start of a new beginning. I could finally get that fresh, clean start that I always wished for."  After checking my reflection with my phone for what seemed to be the thousandth time, I began to walk the steep hill leading to Moanalua High School.  As I stepped onto the campus, my confidence quickly began to drop. Here I was, in a new environment, surrounded by a bunch of people that I've never seen before, all in their own cliques. I just got here and I was already feeling sad and alone - great. Luckily, a few minutes later the first bell rang, signaling the start of school. 

            Like a typical new kid, I sat all the way in the back, silent. Sure, I gave some awkward, friendly smiles to people in the class, but for the most part, I remained quiet. And that's pretty much how the rest of my classes that day went.  When I got home I recapped what had happened that day and suddenly I started getting all sad again. "Today's only the first day. It's normal to be feeling like this. Things are going to get better eventually," I reminded myself. But sadly, the rest of that first week was the same. And so was the next week after that. And the next week after that. I began to think that things were never going to get better. As more weeks had passed, more work had been given to us and classes started running normally.

            One day during English, we were given an assignment to write an essay. I sat there that whole period, frozen, staring at my blank paper, while everyone else in the class wrote paragraphs and paragraphs. My mind was completely empty. I'd write a paragraph, erase it entirely, write a new paragraph, and repeat the same thing all over again. The negative thoughts that I've been having that entire year couldn't leave my head. After several failed attempts, I started to grow even more sad and mad at myself. My eyes started to water and my vision was getting blurry. I thought about how stupid I was and how lonely I was. I thought about how much I hated this new school and how much I missed my old school, how much I missed my old friends. Tears began to stream down my face and onto my not-so-empty paper. I was having an emotional breakdown in the middle of class- how embarrassing.

            I couldn't believe how different my high school experience had been so far. I was no longer that loud, crazy girl, with a bunch of friends. I was quiet, shy, and pretty much a loser with only one friend. I didn't know anybody. I was no longer that smart girl in every class. I was that stupid one with a low GPA. My confidence had decreased by a lot. I missed my old friends. I missed my old self. I hated high school. I hated everything.

                One day after school, to get my stress out, I went to Kalihi YMCA to workout. The place was already like a second home to me so just being there made me feel the slightest bit more happy. I went on many different machines that worked out my lower body. I went on machines that worked out my thighs, hamstrings, and calves. After about an hour of working out, my body started to ache. It came to that point where I could barely move my muscles. Because I wasn't so used to working out, it was very new for me to experience that kind of physical pain. However, even though my body was hurting, I kept pushing myself. I struggled for an extra five minutes, until I felt my body giving up. It was then that I realized something; things aren't  going to come easy in life. You're going to need to motivate yourself and push yourself to try to get to where you want to be. Sometimes you need to step out of your comfort zone.
            From that day forward, I started pushing myself to step out of my comfort zone. I started talking to more people and joining more activities. Later on that year, I ended up joining Moanalua's Judo team. This not only helped me to gain muscular strength, but it also helped me to gain the confidence that I needed. I also ended up joining many different programs outside of school, such as the Hiroshima Exchange Program and the Youth in Government Program. Through these programs, I built many strong relationships and created many memories with a lot of people. In fact, I met people from all the way across the country. I also gained knowledge on myself as a person. I learned that stepping out of your comfort zone can open many doors in your life. In short, I learned that things aren't going to come easy in life. You need to work for it. The hardest things in life are the ones are most rewarding.

 

 

Coming of Age: Draft

Today was finally the big day; the first day of high school. "I'm going to be absolutely fine," I reassured myself. Today was going to be the start of a new beginning. I could finally get that fresh, clean start that I always wished for. After checking my reflection with my phone for what seemed to be the thousandth time, I began to walk the steep hill leading to Moanalua High School.  As I stepped onto the campus, my confidence quickly began to drop. Here I was, in a new environment, surrounded by a bunch of people that I've never seen before, all in their own cliques. I just got here and I was already feeling sad and alone - great. Luckily, a few minutes later the first bell rang, signaling the start of school.  

                Like a typical new kid, I sat all the way in the back, silent. Sure, I gave some awkward, friendly smiles to people in the class, but for the most part, I remained silent. And that's pretty much how the rest of my classes that day went.  When I got home I recapped what had happened that day and suddenly I started getting all sad again. "Today's only the first day. It's normal to be feeling like this. Things are going to get better eventually," I reminded myself. But sadly, the rest of that first week was the same. And so was the next week after that. And the next week after that. I began to think that things were never going to get better. As more weeks had passed, more work had been given to us and classes started running normally.

                One day during English, we were given an assignment to write an essay. I sat there that whole period, frozen, staring at my blank paper, while everyone else in the class wrote paragraphs and paragraphs. It was then that I realized I was the stupid one in the class. I grew even more sad and mad at myself. My eyes started to water and my vision was getting blurry. I thought about how stupid I was and how lonely I was. I thought about how much I hated this new school and how much I missed my old school, how much I missed my old friends. Tears began to stream down my face and onto my not-so-empty paper. I was having an emotional breakdown in the middle of class- how embarrassing. And it wasn't only that class that this had occurred in. It happened in every single class and every single day.

                I couldn't believe how different my high school experience had been so far. I was no longer that loud, crazy girl, with a bunch of friends. I was quiet, shy, and pretty much a loser with only one friend. I didn't know anybody. I was no longer that smart girl in every class who'd constantly be in the honor roll. I was that stupid one in the class with a low GPA. My confidence had decreased by a lot. I missed my old friends. I missed my old self. I hated high school. I hated everything. Everyday I'd call my friends telling them how much I miss them and how much I hate how things had been lately.

One day after school, to get my stress out, I went to Kalihi YMCA to workout. This place was already like a second home to me so just being there made me feel just the slightest bit happy. While working out I realized something; things aren't  going to come easy in life. You can't just sit around and expect things to get better. I can't expect to get a toned body if I don't push myself and try. I can't expect to gain more friends in school if I don't try. I can't expect to do good in school if I don't study and try. It was then that I gained a better insight on things.

            From that day forward, I started talking to more people and I ended up joining Moanalua's Judo team. In short, I learned that things aren't going to come easy in life. You need to work for it. The hardest things in life are the ones are most rewarding.

 

               

Argueable Viewpoints

1. Common sense is needed

·         They're not in their regular environment so they should be more cautious.

·         If the area look hazardous they need to be more aware and not fool around.

·         "If in doubt, don't go out!"

2. Signs are important

·         It warns people about the dangers of the area.

·         It lets people now when the place is open or closed.

·         It shows people where to  go and where not to go.

3. Information from other sources are needed

·         It gives people more detailed information that the signs might not give.

·         Information from other people with experience could be more influential.

·         Tourist need to do more research.

Hawaii has many beautiful sites that draw many tourist from all over. However, the sites may be hazardous and can potentially harm others. There had been many cases of visitors being seriously injured or even killed while enjoying Hawaii's natural attractions; such as lava flows, coastal tide pools, and trails. I think that it is the states job to post signs about the dangers of the area. Nevertheless, tourists and other visitors should use their common sense, being as they're not in their regular environment.

Signs are very important to have because, like I said earlier, they warn people about the dangers of the area.  Without them, visitors wouldn't know what to be aware of or even where to go and where not to go. In 2002, a man was reported killed when he straddled near the water spout of the Halona Blowhole and was lifted three to five feet in the air and dropped head first onto the rocks. There was a sign posted at the blowhole parking lot, but not near the blowhole. If there had been a sign posted more closer to the blowhole then maybe he wouldn't of done what he did. But although there was no sign, he should've used his own common sense and not gone near the water spout, knowing that water shoots out from it.

Although signs are important to have, tourists and visitors should use their own common sense and be aware of the area, especially if they're unfamiliar with it.  "It would be nice to assume that common sense would prevail, but that's not always the case and we have to be aware that our visitors are not in their regular environment and that they need to be made aware of the potential dangers," says Cindy Orlando.

Revision Process

Where should  I start? I guess I'll start off on the obvious; the title of my blog. The title of my blog went from being 'World of Words' to 'Lost in Reverie', which basically means 'Lost in a Dream'. As we get older we start setting higher goals, standards, dreams, and expectations for ourselves. I thought that this title fit this year's theme;  Coming of Age.
My header actually took me quite some time to finish. I kept creating and changing different headers for my blog. I ended up just going with a beach theme. I gathered up different pictures that I got from Tumblr and put them together. I got pictures of waves and used them as an outline or border for my pictures. Along with the header, I changed the layout and the background to a more cleaner and sophisticated look, and voila` - it's complete!