Forgiveness

You said some word,
I believed you
but they turned out to be not true

I tried, but apparently
not hard enough
I didn't know this could be that tough

Even though you kinda
lost your way
maybe we will hang out again some day

You still make me
laugh like before
we should keep hanging out more because I....

Forgive You

"Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them."
                                                                                     -Bruce Lee

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."
                                                                                     -Mahatma Gandhi

Rejection

     When a person says rejection, I immediately think of school. When I was younger I changed schools many times; it was probably one of the hardest things to deal with during my childhood. I never went to the same school two times in a row until middle school so I had to make all new friends every year. While I hated the feeling at the time, the moves taught me how to deal with rejection. When a little girl tries to talk to a group and they push her away, it hurts. This feeling worsens when she tries to talk to several other groups and they do not accept her either. The students had already made their friends and had been with them for years, but there were always those brave and caring kids who would at least try to involve others in their fun. I had not met those wonderful children until third grade. Their names were Deysia Reyna and Celina Silva. They made an attempt to include me into their friendship and we became best friends. Ever since I met them, I have dealt with rejection with a whole new attitude. I will keep my head high no matter what because I know that there will come another opportunity and if not, maybe a better chance will be waiting. Everyone deals with rejection at some point in there lives, but some do not take it as well as others. This is why I am grateful to have learned early on that when one door closes, another opens and that every cloud has a silver lining.

Whose Fault Is It Anyway?

     It is an extremely hard thing to choose who is to blame in a situation where you can see why both the individuals deserve to be blamed. For example, in a tattooing show that I recently watched, called "Best Ink," there was a mistake on the tattoo that would forever be a part of the skin, or client. The client wanted a scripture from the book of Philippians across their ankle. The tattooer was not religious, nor had she ever been to church or picked up a Bible. The artist asked the client 5 times to spell the word Philippians for her and even asked her to write it down. After the client assured her that she was one hundred percent positive on the spelling the artist proceeded with the tattoo. The artist was then confronted by another competitor  and was told that she spelled "Phillipians." This could be the artist's fault because she did not care to look up the spelling on the internet to be sure that her skin was correct; however the fault could fall on the skin for not knowing the spelling of the word and assuring the tattooer it was correct when it was not. Who do you think is at fault here? When things like this happen to me, I try to take some, if not full, responsibility. I am not sure why I do things like that but I feel that if I do something wrong I should own up to it and accept the consequences. This is what I feel everyone should do, but this world is far from perfect and there are more people that are not as honest as others. I hope to see society change someday.

A Great Perhaps

     Ever since humans have been on earth, curiosity has followed. I believe that people have let curiosity get the best of them for many reasons. One of these reasons is that people fear the unknown so when they discover more of the unknown there is less fear. Fame and fortune plays a big part in exploration as well. Discovering a new plant or species could potentially bring about new and improved cures. These cures would definitely bring fame and fortune, therefore people around the world are eager to observe the undiscovered parts of the world. Finally, I suppose that people want to believe there is more to life than what they are experiencing or have experienced. The last words of french poet Francois Rabelais were, "I go to seek a great perhaps."  I suspect that this is another reasons that explorers do what they do. They want to leave this planet knowing that they found their "great perhaps."
     People have searched across the globe on dangerous adventures for centuries. There have been expeditions across rainforests, tundras, desserts, and many more places. There have been many cases in which an adventurer leaves in hopes to discover something amazing and does not return. These cases, although tragic, have played a large part in the discoveries and technological and agricultural advances that we have today. If these people had not tried to explore the unknown, no one would have been able to plan a successful expedition based on their gatherings and new explorers would know what was dangerous when they do search the new land.
     Even though there is a possibility of the fame or self satisfaction mentioned earlier, there are many negative affects of searching unknown places. Explorers have to be willing to sacrifice their life go on these expeditions. One's body has not adapted to or prepared for anything that this new place contains so there is a great chance of death. Death does not only affect the person on the expedition because that person's family will be affected greatly as well. Another thing that adventurers have to sacrifice is luxury. Some people take their possessions for granted and do not realize that when they go on an adventure they will not have amazing food to eat or a nice bed to sleep in. Finally, they might sacrifice their reputation. If a scientist happens to discover a new plant and brings the native plant back to wherever he came from, there is a chance that the plant could kill another species in the area and disrupt the entire food web.

BeLIEve

     In my opinion, telling the truth is the right thing to do. People should tell the truth in all situations no matter how extreme, although lying might seem like the best way to deal with a situation. Whether a person is lying about what they did wrong or taking credit for something they did not do, the lying rarely ever stop at one little, white lie. if someone lies about doing the dishes and another person asks what kind of dish soap they used, the liar must either lie again or come clean then and lose some of the inquirers trust. I also do not believe it is alright to lie in order to spare someone's feelings. The person will have to find out the truth eventually. I think it is better to be honest and trustworthy than to take something that is not rightfully earned or delay feelings that are bound to surface anyway.

"Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters."
                                                                                                                                         -Albert Einstein

The (Academic) Life of a High Schooler

     My name is Briana Long and I am a sophomore in high school. Unlike some of the people I grew up with I do not go to a regular high school. For the past two years I have attended Lorain County Community College through an Early College program. I take all my high school classes at the college and I will graduate high school with an associate of arts degree. During my high school experience I have encountered struggles that I have overcome and accomplishments that will hopefully help me reach my aspirations.
     High school is not the easiest four years of a teenager's life. Through the first two years of Early College I have faced many struggles. Studying was very hard for me because I never truly had to study during middle school or grade school. I did not know how to study and I also struggled with time management. Homework was never an issue prior to Early College so I had to rearrange my schedule and stop procrastinating. The last thing I struggled with was worrying. I was very hard on myself every time I got a C on a test or quiz and stressed myself out over everything that I thought was inadequate. Though I had a hard time in the beginning of freshman year, I overcame those struggles and accomplished many things.
     I am proud to have accomplished so much during my time in high school. I was very excited to have graduated freshman year with a 3.466 grade point average. I have also done HIV research with Dr. Kestler's Research group in an Early Scientist program that started the summer of freshman year and will continue until my graduation. Finally, I have been able to overcome my struggles with time management and worrying with extracurriculars. I was a Lorain High School Varsity Cheerleader freshman year and a part of the Early College High School dance team along with the Early Scientist program during sophomore year. I continue to hope that these accomplishments will assist me in reaching my goals.
     I have set many goals through the course of my high school year. One of my goals is to maintain the 3.6 grade point average that I have earned this year. Another aspiration that I have is to present at the American Society of Microbiology convention in Denver, Colorado on May 18. Finally, I hope to get in touch with colleges and start making a plan for my future.
     In recent years I have faced struggles, I have achieved accomplishments that I never would have dreamed possible, and have set new and improved goals for myself. From freshman year to the present I have almost overcome every struggle that I had to deal with throughout the years. My accomplishments with time management and my worrying have given me confidence I never knew I had. My aspirations have pushed me to do my best and to work hard. In conclusion, high school is difficult and different but a person learns so much throughout the journey.

We're Not Gonna Take It.

I think that no one has the right to take something from somebody if the object is not belong to them. I consider this a form of bullying. Taking things is very disrespectful and is stealing, which is not only a sin, but is against the law as well. If an object is stolen and the owner is unaware that the object is stolen I believe that this should go to court where a judge can decide who the object should belong to. I also think that the person who stole the object should be arrested for stealing, which is not out of the ordinary. no one has a right to invade a person's privacy and personal space and take an object that is not theirs. It could not only cause the person being stolen from grief, but it could also cause the person stealing to go to jail. This would limit future opportunities and ultimately ruin their life.