Business Letter

Dear Aria,

Time is of the essence. I expect you to be taking advantage of it. You are fresh out of high school with huge dreams and admiration, do not waste time on unnecessary road blocks. I presume that you will be continuing your education? If so, this will only be a stepping stone as to what you envision for your life.

I know how difficult things can become between school and work, an also trying to steer your life in the right direction. It can get very overwhelming and consuming. KEEP GOING. Do not sit around watching life pass by as if it were a kind stranger, you have to get up and MOVE. The college life will be an adjustment but you have to stay on track as best you can. If you are still going to continue to work, then that will weigh on you. Opportunities are knocking at your door, all you have to do is open it.

Please disregard all the distractions and the obstacles that are going to land in front of you. Learn from them and try to avoid them at all cost but do not let them pull you so far down you are unable to regain focus. I want to see you earn the degree in Marketing and Fine Arts as you have expressed so openly. It would be a glorious occasion for you. Granted, that you accomplishing these personal goals of your will take effort, I know you will succeed. Hopefully my guidance has been of use to you.

Yours truly,
Aria Edmonds

Aria Edmonds
Business Letter

The Act of Forgiveness

The act of forgiveness is key

Yet the act is a struggle for me

I am very kind and caring

Although reality is overbearing

Trusting people to do the right thing

Is asking so much of our society

If I give you a dollar will you give it back?

If I fall off will you help me return to the track?

When I am down will you kick me?

Or will you help me?

Will you laugh with others

Will you be an enemy or a brother?

The questions are plenty deep in the mind

If trust should increase over time...

The act of forgiveness is key

But trust must be offered from me

Am I willing to lend you a hand?

Are you responsible to hold such a demand?

We will find out as time goes on

Whether forgiveness is the break of a new dawn. 

LOVE and COMPANIONSHIP

 Love and companionship are two of the most important social/emotional components of human beings. All throughout life people say: Get a good education, get a nice paying job, hang around the right set of friends, and then look into creating a family of their own. Well how else would a person accomplish goals and expectations such as those without being interactive with people (companionship) and trying to create relationships along the way (love) so that a person can be well rounded? It does not happen. That is why when kids are in school its important for them to grasp the concept of dealing with other people outside of their family. If someone only knows how to deal with a select number or group of people, how are they going to fend for themselves out in the world against other people that they are NOT familiar with? This similar problem came about in the novel Frankenstein, because the creature was ill-equipped in dealing with human beings. He was not even quite sure how to deal with his own emotions or even his creator, Victor. 

In life, understanding and being familiar with love and companionship gets a person further in life. If someone does not understand the true meaning of friendship (companionship) then they will hardly come across good people and be able to call themselves a good friend. Same thing with love, if a person has never experience love then they will not be very forthcoming to show the same affection if a person does happen to show it to them. They will be lost and confused and may even lash out in a negative or hurtful manner because of their ignorance. These two essential lessons, love and companionship, can either be good or bad for a person to experience; but if the person is unable to display these then whose to say they know how much they are missing of the human experience.

Rejection

Nobody likes rejection but it happens. Rejection can happen anywhere like in school, at work, or at home.

At School
Ashley: Hey guys how was your weekend?
Sarah: Awesome! Guess who went to Cedar Point?! This girl!
Ashley: Uh oh! Haha! Renee, how was your weekend girl?
Renee:*rolls eyes and walks away*
Ashley: Something I said?
Sarah: Who knows.

At Work
Bob: Hey Steve, how was your vacation?
Steve: Good, Bob and you?
Bob: It was very nice. The Bahamas is beautiful!
Steve: It really is.
*Jeremy walks by*
Bob: Hey Jeremy did you finish that report?
*Jeremy continues with no response*

At home
Mom: Keisha, get down here and do these dishes!
Keisha: Alright!
Mom: NOW!!
*Keisha does the dishes*
Keisha: I finished Mom!
*Keisha is ignored*

Rejection comes in all forms in all places. It leaves an awkward atmosphere when displayed and no one likes it. It can rude and unnecessary. Rejection

Who's responsible????

Sometimes things go wrong in a situation and a person just happens to be there. Are they at fault too? Should they be punished also? Is it rightfully so?
I remember I was babysitting with my friend and we were in charge of her little brother until their mom came home. I went upstairs to my friend's room so that I could get some peace and quiet because I was trying to complete some homework. She stayed downstairs on the couch watching TV while he went outside and played. There were other kids out there and they all were playing kick ball, baseball, tag and other stuff. All of a sudden there was this crash and some loud, hysterical crying. I rushed down the steps and my friend was already at the door. Turns out her little brother had peddled head first into another kid on a bike and he hit his head pretty far. However, his mom was there and she witnessed the whole thing. So my friend and I figured that we were not going to be held responsible for the incident. After all, we were not there to see it or stop it right?
Wrong! We were held responsible because technically the little boy was still under our supervision even though his mother was present during the accident. Had the accident took place after we knew his mother was back and she clarified that we did not need to watch her son, then the accident would not have been on our watch.

Out with the Old and In with the New

I remember the final weeks of eighth grade and I wanted to take the feedback close friends had given me and change the way I looked at myself and their opinions. So I began the biggest project of my life which was, Out with the Old and In with the New. 

My Out with the Old and In with the New project made me spend a great deal of time and effort on it because it was literally taking the person that I was and revamping myself into who I had lost track of. For a better understanding, it's like being inspired by your own painting and then going step by step to recreate your painting even better. It does take a tremendous amount of dedication and work. I started off with writing down a list of characteristics about myself both positive and negative. That was the painful part, because I realized the bad outweighed the good...indefinitely. I had picked up some horrible habits and started hanging out with some people who had me on the road to self-destruction. Once I realized my problems, the BIGGEST and most difficult process was trying to force myself out of my habits. It took me some time but I was eventually able to get myself on point where I wanted to be.

My Out with the Old and In with the New project allowed me to be happier and also taught me many lessons. Lessons like: self appreciation, acceptance of criticism, self evaluation, and reconstruction. All of those lessons helped me in more ways than one with the person I am and love to be today. I am finally happy with my own person and that is all that it important. :)

Why do people explore? What kind of devotion does a person have to explore? What sacrifices does devotion include?

1.      What are some ways in which people throughout the ages have explored the unknown?
When people went about exploring or discovering new things they may have to overcome ridiculed or shunned for wanting to know further. For example, when  Ptolemy went against the Church's belief that the everything in space revolved around Earth. He took a lot of flack for exploring the unknown, fortunately that did not phase Ptolemy enough to stop his discoveries. Same as Isaac Newton who had to research, read, and remember various things in order to make sense of his discoveries: Newton's Laws. New ideas come from those who devote themselves to exploration and discovery.

2.      Why have individuals devoted themselves to a life of exploration and discovery?

Long ago, people hardly knew a thing about anything! There were those who were curious and there were those who were not. The people who were curious either wanted to know at any cost, or they simply just inquired every now and again. It was the individuals who wanted to know at any cost that allowed them to devote their life to exploration and discovery. If a person truly wants to know something, then they will do any and every thing in their power to find out exactly what it is that they want to know. If they have to read extensively then they will choose to read, if they have to ask a boat load of questions then they will write down a list.

3.      What sacrifices does such devotion involve?

     A devotion to exploration and discovery requires quite a bit of inquiry and dedication. For example,  an adult and a five-year old. The five-year old asks the adult a question and after the adult answers the question the first thing the five-year old asks is, "Why?" The persistence that the five-year old possesses will enable them to continue asking why until they have a full understanding or good enough explanation. The same scenario applies to everyone. If there is a desire to know, learn, discover, or better understand something and a person is truly up for the challenge to uncover the answer, then they will do just that.

Truth vs. Lie???

Life always presents a person with two options in a situation: tell the truth or lie. There are pros and cons to each scenario whether they tell the truth or they lie. A constant confusion is displayed when a situation takes place and the million dollar question is: "Should I tell the truth or should I lie?" For some, telling the truth is painful but it is necessary to maintain trust in the relationship. For others, telling the truth is a sign of weakness and defeat. Meaning if someone broke a lamp of their parents' and they had time to replace it, then telling the truth would not replace the lamp or make anyone feel better, so why not take advantage of not telling the truth and replace it if there is enough time? Both points of view are very reasonable to argue, but not everyone sees the bad in telling a lie and vice versa. Not everyone sees the good in telling the truth. I for one see it from all stand points...but there is one way that I would prefer over all.

I would rather someone to tell me the truth over a lie no matter how small or big. I was always taught that you tell the truth regardless of the situation. I decided to do it my way because I was hard headed (surprise, surprise!). I was goofing around with one of my very best friends and her mom had repeatedly told us not to throw rocks because eventually one of us would get hurt. Since we were “invincible” we figured that would never happen. Well as fate would have it one day I threw a rock across the street and she happened to bend down and look up right as the rock hit her by the eye. When her mom asked me what happened I was faced with two decisions: tell the truth or tell a lie. Well I tried to incorporate both, which did not serve me very well. I told some of the truth, but I took out the “I threw the rock” part. I did finally end up telling the whole truth, but her mom explained to me that had I told the truth in the beginning she would have been more accepting. (My friend did heal and she is ok now.) With that I began to understand that the truth was a good thing even when it was covered in bad.

As a person I prefer people to tell me the truth, because if they do not then I instantly lose trust in them and it makes me feel like they are unpredicatable. However, I can relate and understand some of the reasons why a lie would look like a better choice. A pro can be that the other person can still trust them and deem them as someone who owns up to their mistakes. That is a good characteristic to possess. Another pro can be that the weight of the incident is then lifted off of your shoulders. Cons of telling the truth would be hurting a person’s feelings, the person becoming angry, that person may also accuse them of lying, and/or they may not accept them. Even still in the end, I will be 100 times more receptive and understanding when I am approached with the truth. No matter how mean, harsh, cruel, heart breaking, or even outrageous the truth may sound.

My high school experiences!

High school is the time when most people gain a direction. The simple lessons in high school are going to help someone in their academic endeavors. For me, I can decipher from the negative and the positive what I will need to continue doing well. When I entered Early College High School I began to encounter many academic struggles, accomplishments, and aspirations.

In high school I come across a handful of struggles. Struggles like my college classes, homework procrastination, and my studying habits. In my college classes, it’s the constant fear of missing an assignment that was a challenge for me. Homework is important to me, but sometimes I do not always start my homework in the right amount of time. I procrastinate for various reasons but mostly when I am tired. As for studying, it took me a long time to learn how to study. I have never been a student who had to study much until I got into Early College High School. I had to study for subjects like World History, Biology, Physical Science, Geometry, and English at times. Aside of the academic struggles I have had a lot of accomplishments.

            When I entered high school I tried to keep up my grades as best I could. I received honor roll for both grading periods which was very hard to do. I managed to also be invited to be recognized by the Lorain County Alliance of Black School Educators (LCABSE). I was very pleased as to what hard work and determination got me. Along with my awards and recognition I also finished out with a very high 3.4 GPA. These goals that I accomplished around the same time period got me thinking, about what I wanted to put my knowledge to good use for.

            I can honestly say I have always been a dreamer. I could take a whole day to dream up what directions I want to go in life. Right now I am aspiring to graduate Early College with both my high school diploma and my Associate of Arts degree. From then on, my imagination fills up with countless possibilities of what I could go on to be. I want to embrace my love for open end creativity, so I am leaning towards Interior Design. I also do not want to ever be limited to just one aspect of life so I also want to major in Marketing, which is basically a degree in business or finance. Whatever I end up doing with my life I know that it will be good for me and that I will always try my hardest.

            I can definitely admit that high school has thrown me some curve balls! All throughout the experience so far, I have dealt with each challenge to the best of my ability. I have worked hard during my academic struggles and accomplishments, so I know it will help me with my aspirations.

Cyber-Bullying

The common problem of cyber-bullying has now once again resurfaced, and the big questions are coming at everyone in heaps. People, teachers, administrators, and other kids ask day in and day out: Why does this happen? Why do I think people bully online? What should someone do about it? How should it be properly handled? Is it more likely for people to take a stand online or in real life? What would I do if I witnessed people being bullied?  I have a neutral opinion when it comes to forms of bullying and some people may agree and others may not.

            Why do I think people bully online? People bully online for a multitude of reasons. Bullying online occurs because they have a broader audience, spectators who are going to feed into their nonsense. A bigger audience means more supporters to a cyber-bully. Sometimes when a person is being bullied online it can be a result of their behavior also. People never really think of that reason because they feel sorry for the victim being harassed, but bullying can be a form of payback in a way.

            Is it more likely for people to take a stand online or in real life? People that take a stand toward bullying differ on how and where they take a stand. On social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblir etc.) there will normally always be at least one person who comments back taking a stand or defending the person being bullied however, those comments can be deleted or even prompt for more bullying to take place.

            What would I do if I witnessed people being bullied?  This question is where I become very iffy on the subject of bullying. Bullying, whether people like it or not, is a normal thing that happens to people at some point in time. I have been in some situations where people have been bullied and (Some people may disagree with me on this…) on different occasions I may help, ignore it, or depending on whom it may be I might sit back and watch how far it will go. It does not matter how many times you say something, comment, try to stop it, it continues as long as there are responses. I have been in the place of the victim on countless occasions. I know from experience that whether people stick up for you hardly makes much of a difference. It gives the person a little comfort in knowing they have support in the situation however, that support does not fully make the emotional pain go away. 

Bullying is a serious matter but different people deal with it in various ways. Anyone who tries to stop it is not 100% successful and those who do nothing are not fully contributing.  It is a broad topic with many subjects and a handful of questions …. It is up to the victim, the audience, and the bully to come up with the answers.

What right do they have???

In this picture a woman is trying to save her home from being demolished by South African police because it is sitting on illegally sold land. In what sense do the South African police have to destroy the home that she has provided for herself and her family? She was sold this illegal plot of land and whether she knew or did not know maybe she did not have a choice in a sense. She could be poor with nowhere else to go and no one else to turn to, which all but makes the circumstances worse for her.

 For some odd reason people can turn very coldhearted when it comes to the less fortunate and those in poverty. This woman tried, even though she was unsuccessful, to stop them from demolishing her HOME. If she could have had somewhere else to go the act of the South African police coming to condemn her house would not have great effect on her. Even if it did, they would not have received as much of a rise out of her as they did.

Tragically people take things away from people day in and day out. Is it right? Should it be addressed? Will it ever end? So many commonly discussed questions have brought people to know solution. Hard working people have things taken from them every day due to whatever the case may be, but that does not make it right. That just emphasizes that those sorts of things happen in life. In the early days, people used to be considerate and give others a break. What happened to the generosity? Has it all disappeared for the greed of power and money?

People who help vs. people who flee

There are various ways people react the way they do. For people who are exposed to devastation, mayhem, chaos, or other craziness they react one of two ways: 1) They stay back and help those in need or 2) They worry about themselves and keep it moving. There is no right wrong way to handle a crisis it all depends on the person.

People saving others

            When a person risks their own life to save someone else or others, that says a lot about their character. It shows they have a heart, compassion and an act for helping others. It also shows that they have taken into consideration they may perish also. People risk their lives for others for multiple reasons such as: they have been in the same or similar predicament, they love them, they have guilt, they do not know any better, or they feel sorry for the person. Whatever the reason some people risk their lives, other’s not so much.

People fleeing chaos

            When a person looks out for themselves first it means they value their own life! At that point, they only have one thing on their mind: SURVIVAL. Those kinds of people can be deemed as being “selfish” or “cruel” sometimes when that is hardly the case. This frame of mind is most commonly known as the; Fight-or-Flight reaction. Not everyone can block out the Fight-or-Flight reaction, but there are those who can. Even though some people choose to go about escape differently, that does not make them any less of a person.

Someone

If had to choose one prson from the past I would have wanted to meet, I would have wanted to meet my grandfather on my mother's side. I hear the stories about him, I hear all the good and bad times, and I hear how much of a down to earth person my grandfather was. I wish I could have met him honestly. To see for myself what he was like. I would take him to like...I guess car shows, motorcycle shows, semi truck shows, and a restaurant so we could talk about anything! He could reteach me how to play Dominoes, teach me how to play cards, and chess. I would also ask him if he could teach me about cars perhaps a little mechanics. I might ask him what he enjoyed the most about life and what he wished he could have changed. Anything he would make up for at all. I would treat him like me elderly dad. I really do not have an involved grandfather. The one on my Dad's side is alive, but he shows very little interest in me. So I claim I have no grandpa. I wish I could have met my grandpa, it could have been fun!

Winter Vacation

            During my winter break I had some real extravagant, exciting, over the top type of plans! However, when it came down to it… I accomplished absolutely NONE OF THOSE! I barely even left Lorain County. Now, my break was not necessarily all bad, but no doubt it could have been a little more colorful. The highlight of my vacation was when I went shopping at Great Northern with my mom and my friend.

            I think there was a purpose to me not living out my winter break plans. I was able to spend it with my family, friends, and loved ones the way it was supposed to be. No let downs or disappointment; I am just blessed to have been able to wake up each day and see all my loved ones to the same. Year in and year out people get caught up in the commercialism of Christmas, when really and truthfully that is not the true meaning at all. Christmas time is the time to be spending with family and loved ones who care about you. If someone is a Christian it is the time to be celebrating Jesus’s birthday! The holidays have way more meaning than just presents and gifts. So if that was the hidden reason for why I did not do much during my winter break than so be it! J