I believe in going after what I want because everyone deserves more than one chance to get what they want. One time when I was 11 years old, I was with my father on the Southside of Chicago at a shopping mall.  I saw a really pretty outfit that I liked, but it cost a lot of money, because it was name brand and I told him to buy it for me. When I handed him the outfit he told me that I can’t always get what I want because there will lots of things in this world that I would want, but I wouldn’t be able to get them. So I told him “I can get anything that I want because my mommy and daddy have the money!” So I began to pout and carry on until he bought it. One other time in the summer I was 13 years old and I saw a really cute guy that I had my eye on. I told my niece that I can get him to talk to me. She said “I’ll bet you $25 that you can’t get him to talk you, because that boy looks too good!”Just to shut her up I gave him a “friendly” wave and he asked me my name and began to tell me how good I looked. After he walked off she got really mad and said “just because he asked your name doesn’t mean he actually liked you!” I said “but that wasn’t the deal, the deal was that I can get him to talk to me, and next time you say that I can’t get what I want think twice because I get any and everything that I want, oh yeah where’s my $25 ?!” There was also another experience I had in my life where someone thought I couldn’t get what I wanted. My older brother bet me $50 that I couldn’t get anything that I wanted for the whole day. I took him up on that offer because I know that I can; besides that was easy money in my pocket. I asked my mom if I could go out and hang with my friends. She said no not until you do your chores and you homework. I began to cry and get mad, but she still told me no.  I went upstairs to my room and about 5 minutes later she told that I can go ahead, but I need to get my chores done and do my homework when I get back in.         Don’t ever let anyone tell what you can or cannot get because I know that I can get what I want. I’m not saying you should cry for what you because then they’ll think you’re acting childish and then you would not get whatever you are trying to get. If you still don’t get you want try being nice about it then later on try asking again, maybe they’ll give it to you because they saw you took it easily.

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I’ve always asked myself what my parents ever teach me in life. The answer always came out unknown.  Ever since the very first time I asked the question and came out with no answer, I was deeply disappointed. There was really nothing to look up to in my family because it seems like everybody doesn’t show any good qualities. It’s a dysfunctional family. And I’ve never thought that that doubt and dislike would soon change into a belief in blood is thicker than water. In the summer of 2007 I was bound to a doctor’s appointment in Chicago. It was meant to happen for just a day but things got unexpectedly complicated and the appointment extended to over a week. In order to go to Chicago, I had to be separated for my family for a period of a week and live with distant relatives that live there. I was looking forward to it since I was finally spending time away from my family. However things don’t always go as expected. The first couple days came and felt awkward. The absence of my family’s presence and the alien surroundings that came to me when I woke up was saddening. I had to admit, I was homesick and more than that, I miss my family. One afternoon as I was trying to entertain myself by reading a Gardening magazine a startling question came to my mind. Do I have family? It made me laugh for the first part but an overwhelming sadness soon came afterwards. Then the idea deepened as I started to think how lucky I am compare to other people in this world. Everyday numbers of children turn into orphans. These kinds of people don’t have a brother or a sister and some might even have no family at all. These people are the ones with nobody to care for them, nobody to love them, to nobody to depend on, no family. I was in bed the next day, thinking myself to sleep. I’ve only been here for five days and it seems ironic to miss my family already when I don’t even like them that much. I started pondering for reasons why I feel this longing for them. At that moment I just started thinking about the bright side of the family. My brother can be such a jerk to me, and he’s the member of the family who I dislike the most. I realize he’s the one that teaches me to be tough and he gives spunk in my life. I learned that having a perfect life isn’t the real meaning of happiness because nothing’s really perfect and happiness really is appreciating what you have. The last night I stayed in Chicago I have concluded my thoughts. My family might not be the best in the world but they are considered a gift and blessing to me. No matter how your family makes you angry or sad, just learn to see through their flaws and learn to like them. I believe that they’re your foundation in life and no matter how much they don’t meet your expectation of a perfect family, they’re there for you. Just like the saying, blood is thicker than water.

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I believe in repetition because you don’t get anywhere without doing it over and over again. How do you think major league players got where they are today? They either hit and hit and hit or shoot and shoot and shoot. Kids think it is dumb to do something over and over again.  But they don’t know that it is really helping them.  If they want to become like the people that they think are awesome, then they need to practice the same thing over and over again to get better at it.    I haven’t got where I am at baseball without doing the same thing over and over again. I do one thing over and over again to get better at it. I now get compliments from high school baseball coaches because I’m so good. For example, I had a high school coach come up to me and ask me to move to Westville with him. He wanted me to come and pitch for his team. This would not have happened if I didn’t practice my form and release over and over again. Your parents are a good source of repetition. They help you succeed in life and sports. They encourage you to do better. My dad encourages me all the time because he knows I can do better. He wants me to go further than what he did. He went to Lakeland College and was their starting catcher. He did things over and over again to get where he did. He caught and caught and caught every day until could no more. He wants me to do the same so I’m going to do repetition for catching until I can know more just like him. That’s what repetition gets you. I believe in repetition because you couldn’t get anywhere whit out it. It has helped to succeed the thing I want to do.

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I believe everyone should have equal rights.  I think this because of height and weight discrimination.  I can barely go on a roller coaster because of my height. Some people don’t even get to be five feet tall. I am in the eighth grade at a height of four eleven and ninety two pounds. Really heavy or tall people experience this to they can’t fit.  They also have people looking at them for how different they from them. Same thing for waterslides you have to be a certain height and a certain weight. So height and weight discrimination is still in affect. You can help stop this from happening any more.

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I believe in life in Heaven or Hell after death because if I didn’t I would have no hope in life. I go to church and I have all my life and it has just been a fact to me that when you die life isn’t over you go to heaven. I never even thought about it as a kid. I just knew if you believe in God and God coming to earth in human form as baby Jesus and Jesus died for our sin and was resurrected. When I got baptized I accepted God and my belief of going to heaven for myself and continue believing this. When my grandpa died I was really upset and kind of scared but I read John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son and who ever shall believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” The part about the eternal life is what comforted me I knew he believed so he was in heaven looking down. Heaven isn’t the only place you could go when you die there is hell. When a non believer (believer of God coming to earth in human form as baby Jesus and Jesus died for our sin and was resurrected) dies they don’t go to heaven they go to hell. Matthew 13:42: “And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”  This belief has made my life less worrisome. My list of fears is not very big from this belief. I can go and do something dangerous and know that if I die Ii will go to heaven.   The hell part of my belief is scary. Not really scary for me but for the knowledge that a lot of people are going to end up in hell. Heaven and Hell are very real. This is what I believe.

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I believe in art as an expression of a person. Art (being drawing, writing, acting, photography …whatever) is a way of being expressive, without worrying about whether or not people will understand. It can relieve any stress you have, and help keep you calm about things. Not only that, but certain things, should you just say them out loud, can get you into trouble because of what is considered a “good” thing to say, and a “bad” thing to say. People don’t always understand. Whether it’s getting a point across, or a personal belief, sometimes people just don’t get it. If you express it in other means than just telling them, not only can it be helpful to them, but it can be helpful to yourself. People don’t understand why I draw horses, when it’s just that they’re the easiest thing for me to relate to. People may not understand why you do some of the things you do,  but doing whatever thing you do to express yourself, you can maybe show them what you mean, and even if you don’t, it may help you just to have tried. Art can help you relieve stress. Sometimes life is hectic, and you really need to just relax. By writing, drawing, acting, or doing whatever it is you consider “art”, you can relieve your stress. It helps you express things without necessarily just saying them blatantly and, possibly, doing something that you may regret later. It can also help you calm down if you happen to be angry about something. By expressing your stress or anger or frustration this way, you avoid doing something you may regret later. If you openly say you’re -fill in the blank- at someone, you spark arguments. Instead of openly saying it and, for example, drawing it, you may not get into a fight or hurt someone. If you openly say some things, you may get into trouble. Saying openly that you dislike someone means that they get angry at you, and then they may do something to “get back at” you. Then it can drag out and turn into a huge, ugly fight. And if this fight happens to be at school or work, you’re going to be in huge trouble. Who really wants that? By drawing something, writing something, or even practicing your lines for a play or something, you can get out your anger. This way you won’t get into trouble. You can’t always just openly say nor do something, and art can help. Whether its people not understanding what you mean, needing to get out frustration and stress, or you fear getting in trouble for thinking some way. Just by expressing it trough artwork, you feel better for getting it out in a way that is not harmful. By no means am I telling anyone to never say anything; most of the time, saying something is good. But when you just can’t say something, art can help you so it isn’t bottled up, and it isn’t hurting anyone. And nothing says your art has to even reflect the situation. You can draw something humorous even if you’re angry or something cheerful even if you’re not-so-happy. It doesn’t matter; it’s an expression of yourself and that’s all it has to be or has ever needed to be.

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I believe in friends. Many people can make friends if they want to, or just don’t want any, but I think anybody can have friends even if they think they don’t have any at all. I believe that a friend can help you in different problems. Also they can be around just being friends and being happy and having fun with them. Another thing is they can they will be real friends and not people who treat other friends bad. When I was little my best friends were real friends, they would help me with situations I had and they would help me resolve them, and how to handle them. I remember when I was in elementary and I had problems with homework I would go to this after school place where they would help me with homework, but this girl she treated everybody she didn’t like  and she would say hurtful things to me and my friends , but on those days I didn’t know how to defend myself yet. That day my friend she defended me and talked back to that girl. That really taught me something, they taught me how to defend myself and that they would always be there when I need them or don’t need them at all.         My friends they fun to hang with at the same time they can be protective but also they can be fun at the same time. They don’t always are protected they are mostly fun and happy, cheerful at the same time, friends can make your life better they can be funny, and have things in common. It’s awesome to have friends they make fun awesome and make it better than awesome it’s just better to have friends then don’t have any friends at all. I believe that everybody that has a friend and treats them bad I believe that deep down they have a good side of them and can be helpful like there that help them even though they don’t want them to help them in anything. Those people should think that they have friends and that they have real friends they can count on. They might not care if you treat them bad they will help you to be a better person and to make you life happier. When I finally saw that they treat me good I started to be a better person and start making new friends and making others happy. I when I had my friends I believed that anybody can have or make friends at the same time. So is a good thing if people have friends their life can be better than they think. Well to me a friend is a good thing that happen in my life because I couldn’t be the person I am now  and a friend can change the person you were before to the person in the future you might be , and I like the person I am today , so my friends are better than being alone.

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I believe that I can be a singer one day. The reason I say that is because I have a very good voice and I want the world to know that.

Let me tell you about my singing career. It all started when I was 12 years old I was in the shower and suddenly I just burst out singing Keisha Cole. Then my mom walked past the bathroom door and I heard her foot steps by the door just standing there listening to me sing. Then when I got out the shower my mom told me I had an amazing voice in that one day I can be a singer.

The reason I selected this I believe is because anybody can achieve in what they believe in. so I say if you got a great talent you should let the world know.  Like me I stared in a bathroom then ending up being in this talent show in front of thousands of people. I think my world is going to blow up because all I have to do is just call around the world in get in contact with people. So these I believe goes out to people that need to share their dreams in don’t be afraid to show off the talent.                           

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I believe in good people who try so hard for good things to happen but it put them down. One day   my  cousin  tried to  get  a  job. But  no  one  would hire him.    All  the  application  he  filled out  stay no one  will hire him. But one day he think a man was going to hired him. The owner call his house and said the history he had was no good for the job. Than  a  man  call and said to my cousin he have to be at work at the biggest  build that the P Diddy work at . That’s the Sean John clothes company build . Now  my cousin is living his dream job . An my cousin have a nice house with to kids to have .My cousin haven’t been back to drugs and gangs and prison .

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