Hard to Imagine

Just imagine losing everything you own and are familiar with. This is the situation currently going on in Japan after the tsunami hit earlier this week. The worst damage I have ever had in my community is a powerful flood wiping out the entire downtown district. Aide to the area was numerous, but as we approach the three year anniversary, we are forgotten. I didn't lose anything in the flood, so putting myself in the perspective of such is hard. I can't even imagine. As Japan will soon find out, every country will rush to their aide, but in a few years, just like my own community, everyone will forget.

But let's focus on the present. People are displaced from their homes and water is still covering everything. Take a look at these before and after pictures. Crazy right? A nuclear power plant has a chance of erupting, possibly eliminating Japan and affecting China. Two of the three most powerful economies in the world. We will without a doubt feel a financial hit.

Do we really understand the severity of the situation? Most Americans have never been through such a disaster. How could they possibly know. I mean there are fundraisers and donation requests all over the internet, but do people disregard these? In total, it doesn't matter about those other people who choose to ignore the disaster. We need to be the role models for those people and take a stand. People over there are dying and risking their lives to save others, the least we can do is donate some of our funds.

Let's take a second to put ourselves in their shoes. Life must be horrible losing everything you once knew. Your house is gone, your community is gone, your city is gone, and you just saved yourself from being gone too. So instead of being the greedy Americans thinking me, me, me, let's be the giving ones that say, "I'm here to help," and help permanently. I know this isn't in our nature, but someday I hope to find someone who does just that.

Whatever happened to unconditional love?

    This past weekend my parents and I got into a bit of a tussle. See, I accidentally ran into one of our parked cars in the driveway while backing out with my own. I am actually a really good driver and am always careful, but without looking over both shoulders, I found myself up against our other car.

    Immediately after the incident I ran inside crying. My dad didn't say a word to me and my mom just told me to get my act together and slow my life down so I could go to an important meeting. After calming myself down, I left the household. When I returned later that evening my parents weren't home yet. I resorted to locking myself in my room and doing homework for the remainder of the evening. I didn't emerge, instead I went to bed. As Monday passed, my parents continued to neglect to talk to me. I arrived home from school and walked through the room they were sitting in without a word. That evening, they called my sister down for dinner and neglected to call me. Eventually, my parents sent my sister up to my bedroom to tell me there was leftovers on the stove if I wanted anything. Really? Are we going to play the messenger game or something here? Tuesday went by with still not a single word. To be exact, it was 72 hours without talking. It was like living in a ghost house where people revolve around you but deny your existence.

    I'm still trying to figure out how exactly the silence was broken. I think it had to do with a combination of me being fed-up with it and my parents realizing I was their daughter too. To be completely honest, I know my parents love and support me through everything. They show this unconditional love that can never be broken; no matter what I do. However for some reason I thought it could go away. Vanish. Disappear. This idea is wrong. No matter how mad and frustrated one seems to become with their parents an unconditional love is like nothing else. Parents are truly the most remarkable people one will ever meet. We are theirs.

The New “R” Word is Respect

    Yesterday was our school campaign for Spread the Word to End the Word Day. This campaign is made to eliminate the "R" word (retarded) and emphasize using respect instead. Using the "R" word in a derogatory sense in demeaning to those with intellectual disabilities. For our campaign this year, the Best Buddies Club (a club the unites the general student population with those who possess disabilities) received a large grant called Project Unify. The grant money was used to purchase t-shirts, posters, wristbands, and a large banner/pledge for students of the school to sign.

    To say the least, the campaign was a huge success. However, I believe it had an even bigger meaning to the school. During our announcements, a movie was shown about focusing on one's abilities instead of disabilities. The movie was heart-wrenching and gave the school a good perspective to look at things from. After the movie was shown, I received numerous comments about how good it was and how it truly changed the way people viewed things that happen in our school. After the movie played, one of the Buddies (student with intellectual disabilities) went on the announcements to share how important the Buddies find it to show respect and not treat them differently. Before he went on, he was so nervous. Being someone who messes up on announcements and goes on almost daily, it was hard to see. I believed in him and I knew he could do it. Sure enough, even though he stumbled a bit, he got through everything.

    An even cooler sight was seeing people sign the banner and pledge to not use the "R" word. We made cookies hoping that when people signed it they would get a cookie in return and therefore more people would sign it. Standing by the banner and watching students sign it, I realized most of my fellow colleagues were signing the pledge because they believed in the cause. Some didn't even want a cookie. Wristbands were handed out also, and many people wanted those, to share the word with others and try to promote unity and acceptance. In total 567 people signed the pledge. The event was truly inspirational.

    A type of euphoria sweeps over me when the Buddies are so excited and happy people care about them. Their smiles and laughter make me feel like I'm some super star making their life better, when really we are all just friends. More so, the Buddies are impacting my life. There have been a lot of new and different perspectives they have forced me to see the world in. Watching them interact and get along while some of them lack the basic capabilities I take for granted daily is just amazing. My life has further been enriched by the children I interact with that possess intellectual disabilities. I encourage you to meet people like the Buddies – they truly are great!

 

If you would like to take the pledge against the "R" word you can visit - http://www.r-word.org/

In A Snap

    Last weekend a group I am apart of had our first round of interviews for some grant money we are giving away. Until we began to interview different groups, I never realized how much good is happening in my city in which I had no idea about. I have always known that the city I reside is fine, but I guess I never fully understood the capabilities the people within the city had to make a difference.

    There is one interview, I'm not saying it was good or bad, but it stood out. The man came in dressed in overalls with a big smile on his face. Not typical interview attire. As we began to talk to him, within a split second he began crying. Flustered ourselves, we frantically began flipping through the books we had and writing down random words. He was crying for something he is passionate about, but was this crying staged or necessary? As he calmed down and told us the ideals of his project, we continued to look around flustered. When the man left the room we erupted into whispers of shock. Asking one another if what we thought just happened actually happened, and sure enough it did.

    This experience and man I met reiterates the concept that anything is capable of happening within a snap. As humans we need to be prepared for anything and everything because within a snap everything can change.

The Truth Prevails

    There's always the one person in a grade who has a bad reputation or just is known for sleeping around and partying all weekend long, you know the type I'm talking about. They're the ones who wear way too much makeup and always seem to wear clothes as simple as a t-shirt in a slutty way. They even seem to suck up to teachers in the creepy-touchy way, making everyone squirm in their seats. Well no one who isn't already friends with that person ever thinks they are going to talk to that person, however this idea is wrong.

    I try to talk to whoever. I like to talk and many people have stories to share. Well there is this girl in one of my classes who has the bad reputation of the grade. I truly know she is a smart girl, but got mixed with the wrong crowd and tends to follow their lead on the weekends. If only she could see her own potential. Anyways, I attend a kickboxing class during the week and she happens to be in the same class as me. She has always been nice to me and says, "Hi." I run with one of her friends and asked if she was some fake person or something and the answer was pretty much she has her enemies and friends due to the things she does.

    Today, when none of my friends I do the kickboxing class with showed up, I talked to her. Interestingly enough, she was incredibly nice. I know she's known for being fake and everything, but still, she was acting genuinely nice. We talked for a bit about our post high school plans and believe it or not but she has dreams of making a difference in the world just like myself. She told me how her sister was in the Peace Corps and the way the experience wasn't all her sister had ever imagined, but she still wants to join someday and clean drinking water for children. The girl with the bad reputation wants to be a environmental engineer.

    After our talk I realized even more so just how much potential she has. We can all fake who we want to be and get mixed in with the wrong crowds, but this doesn't mean our dreams change or intentions go askew. The truth prevailed; she was just an ordinary girl with a bad reputation who will most likely make a difference someday, and then everyone will see her true colors.

Citizens Who Never Receive A Thank You

    Yesterday I had my first drug test to get a job. I have never done drugs in my life nor do I ever care to. I am pretty much an anti-drug freak. I refuse to take aspirin, and when I get sick I prefer to not go to the doctor because all they like to do is prescribe drugs. Most think I'm crazy, but I believe that any unfamiliar substance I consume is detrimental to my health. And I'm not going to lie. I was scared to go to this testing. I kept on thinking what if they mix my test up with someone else's? Or what if I have had something, even though not drugs, but it shows up as drugs? I haven't yet heard the results of my test and I'm positive they will be fine, but let's discuss this experience as a whole.

    I went in for my interview on Monday night. This was a group interview and kind of strange considering everyone had to answer the same question in a circle. I of course was first and my answers were pretty good considering how easy the questions were. I want to become a lifeguard and there's a skills check session I need to attend after I'm hired. I'm a little nervous for the skills check as I haven't used my skills since November, but with some review I will be fine. They told me at the interview that I need to go for a drug check the following morning. This is a little inconvenient as I had to get up at five just to make it to the screening place before school.

    When arriving at the lab, the ladies behind the desk didn't have my information. Creating a frustrating situation for me, they decided to test me anyways and call the city later in the day. When I was called back to go "pee in the cup" she explained the instructions and turned the water off so I couldn't tamper with anything. Problem was, I couldn't fill the cup. Having gone earlier that morning, I was incapable of filling the cup at all. I resorted to an embarrassed smile and handing her a half full sample. She was capable of stretching out the sample (thank the Lord), so I was able to leave. Now it's waiting time of whether or not I get the job. I'm confident that I will be hired because they hire just about everyone, but there's still the chance I may not.

    More so, however, I would like to talk about the ladies who work at the lab. Quite incredible people, wouldn't you say? I mean, I know that they are not saving the world or changing lives or anything like that, but it takes a lot of gut to deal with urine everyday. Most people probably go into that lab and treat those ladies rudely. Some of the people find it funny to mess with them if they are drug users creating even more issues. But I think these are the citizens who never receive a thank you. Don't they deserve one? These very special ladies keep job situations in check, making sure that drug users are not being hired, especially if they plan on going to work under the influence. They truly keep environments in check and are the true, quality citizens of working situations.