Over the course of last week and early this week, my household was forced to deal with the economic down turn in a very personal way. My husband heard news at his workplace that lay-offs were in the future, especially for his department. My evenings were spent discussing possible outcomes and different paths we could take to remain above water, especially during the summer when me, as a teacher, does not receive a paycheck. I also did a lot of worrying about the "what-ifs," which led to some sleepless nights.
We found out this week that my husband will retain his job and just move to a different department. Only three people were asked to remain, he being one of them. There are most likely many reasons why he was allowed to keep his job, but one of those reasons is that he is a hard worker. Another is that he is intelligent (college degree, keeps up to date with news, cultured, etc.). Plus, he is also a kind man and a team player. And no, I am not stating these reasons because I am biased - they are true.
I am not overtly fond of sharing my personal life with my students. With the exception of a handful of stories, - which really is a drop in the bucket of my life - I prefer to keep my personal life, well, personal. But, I chose to tell this story because it exemplifies why I am passionate about the education that I try to provide to my students. The world out there can be tough. But, with hard work, intelligence, and kindness, anyone can get ahead and remain ahead for the rest of their lives. I am not saying that the next time lay-offs come down the pipe at his company that my husband will remain immune, but I saying that we all have to work hard for what we get and his retention of his job is a reflection of that hard work.
So, for this week's response, I would like to hear about events in your lives that have helped build your character. They could be positive or negative, but they must be poignant...
23 comments:
Recently many people have been laid-off at work because of budget cuts. Our economy is not in a good place putting many families into stressful situations. I think that now, more than ever, many students should be worried about getting the best education they can possibly get in order to guarantee a job after school. I have not been through any situations like this, but a few events in my life have made me who I am today. The way my parents have raised me throughout my life have had the biggest impact on who I am today. Everyday I realize how grateful I am to be born into such a wonderful family. My parents live and breath for me and my sister, and every decision they make is for the best for us. Hearing about other families, I have never been so grateful for the way my parent’s parents raised them, which they learned to raise us. From working so hard to take us around the world and experience things many people do not get to experience in their lifetime to simply providing us with necessities to succeed, everything that I have been through has shaped me to who I am today.
This story has impacted me a lot and the way I look at life. It has made me stronger.
I would want to share this story to prove my third grade teacher wrong. When I first got here, I was in third grade. I went to Indian Trace Elementary for third grade and then moved to another school. But for that one year that I was at Indian Trace, my first teacher I ever had in the United States changed my perspective in people here and how they looked at us “immigrants.” I didn’t know English what so ever, all I could say was “so so.” It was extremely hard for me to succeed with another language which was very different from my own. But even with my struggle I worked hard and became a good student. I used to stay up late doing homework with my parents. It was hard for me but I never gave up and I always did my best.
One day I forgot to do my homework and my teacher went insane. She started screaming at me that I was such a failure at life and I was never going to get anywhere. She told me that I was useless and I was never going to see my friends or family from Venezuela again. She was attacking me with comments like that. All I did was sat there and I did my best to hold my tears in. I had such anger inside.
Later that day when I got home I told my mom what had happened to me. She was so mad and she started screaming about how that lady could have screamed like that, especially to a third grader. The next day my mom went to talk to the teacher. My mom went inside and told her that they needed to talk. The teacher had the decency to close the door on my mom’s face and said “later” because class was about to begin. This ticked my mom off so bad that my mom held the door open and started screaming at the teacher. The only thing the teacher did was apologize, she was terrified. My mom didn’t even let her get a word in. “How dare you talk to my child that way!!?? Who do you think you are!!?? She’s only a third grader! What gives you the right to talk to someone like that!!???” My mom would say. She kept screaming and telling off the teacher.
Now who is a good student and who saw part of their family from Venezuela? Me. Now I can prove her wrong and show it off in her face that I am and will be better than her. The teacher told me I would be and was and awful student but I guess she was wrong. Now I’m an honored student and I will continue being successful with all my hard work. All my hard work is what has gotten me here where I am now and I’m so proud of myself. For everything I went through and a teacher telling me I wasn’t going to make it. Well here I am in 11th grade, and I made it. I made it so far and with one more year to graduate and I can show it in that lady’s face that didn’t believe in me.
An event in my life that helped me build my character would have to be the time I went away to sleep away camp, back in 8th grade. Sleep away camp helped me become more independent from my parents. It taught me how to handle myself without " mommy or daddy rescuing me." Socially, I made a bunch of new friends with the influence of nobody else but my complete own opinion. I learned that there were more responsibilities like cleaning. I overall became close with many people and learned from them as well. It was an extremely fun time, and I matured a lot
One event that has changed my life is one of the events at camp. When I go to camp, I'm away from my parents for 40 days and have to learn to become independent. At the camp I go to, we do our own laundry and also at points do volunteer service. One of the volunteer services that we did was working at a food bank in L.A. We packaged, sorted, and distributed many donated items to those who are less fortunate then me and my fellow campers. Many of the people that came had on very worn out clothes, many with holes in them. This experience helped me get out of the bubble I live in and see what many people are actually going through in these tough times. Since then, I have volunteered for more activities then I had in the past and I enjoy helping out others.
There is not one single event in anyone's life that shapes them completely into the person that they are- rather it is the mixture and the added knowledge and experience from various events that create the person that one ultimately becomes. That being said, I have would have to state many of the events that have left a mark in my life. My parents would have to be the people that have had the most influence in the creation of my character, as they have made me responsible and hard working, as well as having imposed their moral values upon me. The different places where I have lived have also had a huge impact on my life, but most importantly, having lived in Belize really shaped me as an individual. Belize is one of the poorest countries in the world, yet I managed to love that country above all others- almost as much as Mexico - because of its pristine natural beauty and because of the people that I met there. The friends that I met, especially one of my best friends- Donovan Holder- managed to show me how to be humble, simple, and above all, grateful for the things that I have, and I will never forget him for that. Also, the sheer beauty of the almost virgin rainforests, coral and barrier reefs, mountains, etc. had a huge impact on me, as they made me the environmentalist that I am today. When someone lives among such natural beauty for so long, it is hard not to fall in love with it and care deeply and strongly about it, just as I do today. There truly is a special sense of conection and a stange, indescribable feeling of the great scope of life and nature that one gets when one is alone in the middle of the rainforest. You are truly engulfed by the sounds, the smell, the beauty of the whole country, and ultimately of the whole planet. Finally, besides the actually experiences and friendships that I have made throughout my stays in the countries that I have lived in, the actual act of moving and leaving behind and starting anew has certainly changed me. It has taught me how to move on, how to remember the past while moving on towards the future, how to learn from past experiences, and more importantly, how life is never constant. Even though we would love for life to remain the same way that it is, moving and looking back and reflecting at what used to be and at what is has shown me that people, places, and ideas change- and not always for the best. Perhaps that is the most important lesson that I have learned, and like I said: It's not one event that shapes oneself- rather its the cummulative experiences from the past and present that add up to create the present and future self.
This story I can really relate too and its something that my family has been stuggling with for the past five years. Its tough to watch your dad, a great and smart man who has the ability to really make a change and do something amazing whether its in a big cooporation or a team, but has one thing holding him back. He doesn't have a college education. You see this helplessness on his face because he has the ability to do so much but since he doesnt have a college education, he struggles to find a decent job and over the past five years he has flip flopped from place to place trying to find a decent pay that can afford to feed a family of five and a huge morgage. As I see the fear in my parents face, as they worry if "this will be the month we loose our house. "Thats why I have grown to be so appreciate for the times that I do have in my house, and I feel so blessed and thankful to both my parents for struggling to keep me and my brothers happy in our home. These struggles have made me more aware of the importance of a college education, as well as taking advantage of all the opportunities that I have.
Events in my life that have helped build my character is having a boyfriend. While having a boyfriend everything has changed. Ive been with my boyfriend for a year and five months now and for once in my life not everything is about me. I have to constantly meet in the middle when it comes to making decisions . over all this time we have gotten into plenty of fights and ive really learned a lot about myself and what I truly like and dislike while fighting with him. Ive learned more about who I am and by working hard for the relationship and working to be the fairest I can be in every situation I have truly grown as a person. Ive realized over this time than more than anything I think people should treat others the way they want to be treated and i will live by that quote for the rest of my life.
Although I was only five years old my father passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack. My mom had no idea how she was going to pay for new pool we just built yet alone the entire house. Five days later my mother accepted a huge promotion and from then on she realized self-reliance can be crucial at any point of our lives. Ever since I was little my my taught me the significance of independence. The first day of kindergarten I was picking out my outfits and walking myself to class while other kids were escorted by their parents. At ten years old From doing my own laundry, household chores, making my own lunch, doing my own projects, walking home from school. So maybe this doesn't seem like a big deal now but it was a lot at that age! I realize now that hard work and determination is necessary to succeed because at one moment everything can change. The essay that we read while studying woman's right is perfect example. In order to be successful we need the combination of diligence and autarky.
Things in these times have been horrible and they're getting worse. My mom, along with many other co worker, lost her job. She was a speech therapist at an office that treated autistic kids. She loved her job, she is very passionate about helping those kids in anyway she can. I guess some of that rubbed off on me, I joined the best buddies program here at cypress. Anyway, the point is that now that she has no job its been difficult to make ends meet at home, my job isn't enough for both of us. She has been trying to get a new job but it's really tough out there. I'm really glad your husband got to keep his job, it's a headache to get one now a days.
My parents divorce was one of the biggest obstacles in my life. It was so unexpected that it completely tore me apart.But i feel as if everything happens for a reason. This huge impact helped build my character and who I have turned out to be. In ways I am thankful for it (please don't judge me) but my parents are happier and i have also grown a really strong father daughter relationship. The divorce has taught me to appreciate the loved ones in your life because you never know what life has in store.
An event that helped build my character would have to be not to long ago. It would have to be the time that my parents had left to Dominican Repulic and had left me home alone with my brother and step sister. It was hard to keep the house clean, especially since my step sister is not one of the cleanest people in the world. I pretty much had to fend for myself. I had to learn how to make myself food and how to keep the house clean, which ended up being a disaster. After a while I ended up getting annoyed of this mess and eventually ended up cleaning the house, doing the laundry, etc. I now appreciate what my parents do a lot more and have an idea of how to set up a more organized life for myself.
One experience in my life that helped change my character is how well off my family and I are. In some places around America and other countries, the inhabitants don’t have anything. I’m not talking about T.V’s or computers, I’m talking about food, clean water, and some sort of shelter, the necessities for human life. This completely altered my outlook on life and makes me be thankful about my life.
An event, or events, in my life that have helped me build my character is my dad losing his job. Unfortunately, this has happened to my family more than once. Each time we have had to cut down on our spending and we've had to find ways to reduce the amount of electricity and water we use so that the bills won't be too high. There was even a time when we were going to have to move because it was too expensive to live in this area. Luckily my family has been able to make it through each time my dad lost his job. And thankfully, he has recently got his job back, now we are just hoping that he will be able to keep it. These events have taught me how strong my family is, to be wise with how much money you spend, and to conserve water and energy.
Thank you for sharing your personal thoughts with us because, after all, you do have a first name and a life outside of school. I am glad to hear that everything worked out. The situation which you both went through is an enhancing life lesson. I agree that hard work allows you to overcome obstacles in life and helps you be successful. I’ve experienced that in life because I went through a period in life in which I worked extremely hard in becoming a stronger dancer. I remember that as a child, I used to go to ballet classes with the mind of a hard worker who took their craft seriously. I remember being only ten-years old and working so hard in ballet class that I sometimes wanted to cry, although ballet was my passion. All of my hard helped me obtain amazing opportunities later on life. When I was fourteen, I enrolled myself in Virtual School because I was asked to dance within the Corps of Ballet of a professional ballet company in Miami. Therefore, as a young ballerina, my professionalism and hard work allowed me to dance at a higher level. As time went by, I grew as a dancer and enhanced my ballet repertoire. I'm still young, but I've had many dancing opportunities that have helped me grow as a person and have made me realize how hard work pays off. I will never regret the tears, blisters, and all the sacrifices, because all of that was truly worth the outcome. Nowadays, my ballet repertoire includes dancing in well known ballets such as Giselle, Swan Lake, Carmen, The Nutcracker, and Le Corsaire. I am certainly proud of all my hard work. I bet you are very proud of your husband's and your own! Good luck to the both of you :)
Well I can really sympathizes with this story. Recently I had lost my job at Bonaventure country club. So normally I felt this sort of pain, it wasn't something serious but it was their. And then a week later, my father receives news that this company will be conducting lay-offs too. But this comes at a harder risk, because here in Florida its just me, my mom, my bro, and dad. That's it no one else everyone is in California. So this news with lay-offs it worries my parents, as this naturally would worry anyone. But similar to your husband being a hard working employee that he is offered a similar job at a company that's right next door to his old job. Like you said with hard work and dedication things work out. So I imagined what would happen if my dad wasn't offered that job, I probably back on the road to California.
I think a true experience that made me a stronger person was where i grew up. I lived from the age of 5 up till 15 on my family farm in Albany Ohio. I was used to waking up every morning and working and learning how to be an Akers. We are hard workers who belive in character and morals. I worked hard but the thing that i believe that made me the strongest was how living where it was me and all this land made me see how life really is. It gave me time to think and become close with who I am. I would wander off and just be alone with my dog. Peace. Growing up here really made me value and look at myself as i got older and stronger. I learned from my father and grandfather, small things that mean the world. Makes me proud when i look back. When i was in that situation i didnt think this way i dreaded working at times. Hauling lumber, rotatliling a field, fixing tractors and cutting the acre and a half of land around the house. Hard work that made me who i am today.
Being a hard worker, persistent, and dedicated to the things I love to do has gotten me to where I am.
I work as a gymnastics coach at the same gym where I am part of the competitive team. To get to these places was not easy at all, especially because they gave me a job in times of lay-offs and also they won't accept anyone in the team unless they are missing a team member and they ask you through letters by recognizing your hard work and great effort.
Becoming a coach for the sport I've been doing my entire life, and being in the position of many my role models throughout my life is an awesome feeling and a great pleasure. Also, being able to "transfer" my knowledge of gymnastics to the girls I coach is also an awesome feeling, it is definitely fulfilling and satisfactory.
Becoming part of the team, has been the opportunity of my life. First of all, being asked to join the team at my age is very hard; second, it was in the middle of competing season, third, the other girls in the team have become my friends and even my family very fast, we all have lots in common and feel related to one another.
I love this two recent experiences that have change my live forever in a very good way, this has help me mature and be more responsible, it has also taught me that is never too late for anything and that it is possible to be similar to your role model one day and maybe even become one for other people, as it has happen to me with one of the girls I taught.
Events have not impacted my life nearly as much as people. Every day I witness trolls and the most despicable people on the internet who influence me to do my best to never pre-judge. My older brothers have taught me that hard work pays off because I see that their "not work" doesn't pay anything. My parents have taught me that efficiency and kindness and/or charisma will get you places in this world. I suppose there were events leading up to these realizations but I like to call those events life because it's not one but a whole myriad. My peers have taught me what it feels like to be picked as well as to see the pain in one's face as they are picked on. That has made me stronger and more outspoken because I cannot stand injustice. All the the living things in my world have influenced my character much more than the silly events that have occurred.
Well, you're already aware of the fact that my parents switched my school last year. Along with that came a LOT of change in my life. I was unhappy and unsatisfied with my life. I realized that the things I had were not rights but privileges. It brought me down to earth and I personally learned that you don't know what you got till it's gone. Since I have been back a Cypress, I am a different person and I am able to view things differently and have a greater appreciation.
First of all, it's nice to see that your husband's hard work and dedication paid off; it shows that good people actually do get breaks in life. One event that has shaped my life is when I moved to the United States when I was seven years old. At first it was hard because I didn't know a word of English, but I worked hard to learn English and get used to my environment, because of that I'm a better person today.
I can relate to this blog kind of.With the school systems
budget cuts it's always a worry in my mind and my dads mind that he'll be gone.Fortunatly that hasn't happened but it's stressful knowing it's possible.Times are already tough because it's only me and my dad,him being the only income so there is alot to lose but that's reality.
One time in my life that helped build my character was when I turned 15, my parents gave me a trip to Europe with a group of Venezuelan girls. I admit it was one of the best experience in my life. Coming into a group of unknown girls and at the same time trying to enjoy the art of the world was just fascinating! For instance, I remember walking up the narrow streets of Italy detailing every architectural structure. Traveling became part of my character and my observation skills increased. Now, my eyes catch numerous minimum details and so, I started to write too.
To begin with, I want to let you know that I can definately empathize with your experience. This past year wasn't easy for me or my family. My step-dad had gotten laid off, and couldn't find a job for about six months. At first it wasn't easy, but I think we all adjusted to the changes.
I definately think, those six months were the toughest six months of my life. Although, it was not a good experience, I learned a lot from it and it definately helped me build my character. As I was going through that time, I realized, how ungrateful we are and how ambicious we can be. This experience also opened my eyes to a new world. The world of "the less fortunate." I got to see that there are much less fortunate people than I am, and the things you can do to help them. Finally, this experience made me stronger, in the sense that I learned to adapt myself to different situations and how to deal with them.
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