A Warm Smile

           Volunteering now that is something I thought I would never do? Who actually takes time out of their life to give back? I know that by no means has that thought ever crossed my mind; if it weren’t for college admission I probably never would have even taken part in it. I was just like any other teenager thinking charity starts at home with me first and everyone else comes last. However, when you actually take the time to give back it shows you a different side of the world and people you would have on no account ever experienced beforehand.

            It was a mid-September morning there was a nice cool breezy coming from the beach into school; it was such a peaceful morning. I walked into class still sort of groggy and greeted my friend next to me with a simple hello. We got our school materials out knowing fully-well that Mrs. Beckham would have us writing notes all day. However, to my surprise she started the class differently that day instead of the usual daily essay; she began the class with an important update. She began by saying “As you all know college applications start next November. This means you all have this year to fix and do what you need to do to make your applications look good for the admissions boards.” This set the whole class into a wild frenzy realizing that the clock is starting to countdown until we see if all our hard work pays off. Mrs. Beckham dismissed everyone’s worries and continued to say, “So that means if you haven’t done any extracurricular activities or community service this is the best time to start.”  She continued talking for a bit until she let us brainstorm ideas for our admissions essays. At this time I looked over to my friend and asked her “What are you doing for your extracurricular activity?”  She responded, “I have been volunteering at the Oxnard Police Activities League for a while now.”  “What do you do there?”  “We just set up community events and free entrainment for the community.”  “Ehh…yea I don’t know if I want to do that?”   “There is a beach cleanup this Thursday afternoon, come check it out.”  We kept talking about frivolous things throughout the period and continued our day.

            Thursday had finally arrived so I decided that I might as well go to the beach cleanup it was better than staying at home all day. I went over to the Oxnard P.A.L expecting to just fool around and hang out with my friends but I was in store for so much more. I greeted my friend we talked for a few minutes until we were all herded into a van While we were on our way to the clean up location I was already in a defeated state I didn’t even want to be there.  As we arrived I was immediately drawn to the shore line. There were hardly any waves that day and there was barely any breeze but you can always count on the sand to be sweltering hot. I was handed a trash bag, gloves and instructed to start cleaning up. At the beginning it seemed like it was taking forever and I just wanted to get home. As I was cleaning some beach goers came up to me to thank me for my work. I dismissed them with a smile not caring at all about their thanks and praises.  It was finally over and it was time to go home it couldn’t have come any sooner.

            I saw my friend at school the next day and she asked me “So what did you think?” I answered “I don’t know it just doesn’t seem like much fun dude.” She looked kind of disappointed and said “Hey okay so beach cleanups aren’t that fun but you got to come tomorrow for the food bank.”  I didn’t really want to but I agreed to it. The next day I awoke fairly early that dew was still all over our front lawn. My dad dropped me off at Hueneme High School where the food bank would be held. When I arrived my friend introduced me to everyone. She explained to me that we need to unload the boxes that local businesses have contributed. As I looked around while unloading I saw that families were already lined up with bags to receive some food. As I saw them they all seemed so happy and laughing without a care in the world. I thought to myself ‘how could these people seem so happy when some are in desperate times? I could never be able to be as joyful as them caught in their situations.’ It was hard for me to even put myself in their shoes.

            As we finished unloading we started to pass the food around; as I passed the food around I was thanked some many times I couldn’t keep count. I came upon a sweet old lady grey-haired lady. She greeted me with the warmest smile I have ever received and as I gave her the some food she thanked me. She reached for my hand and held it in hers all the while saying “thank you sweetie.” I walked back to my friend to grab another crate and asked her about that sweet old woman. She told me that a lot of these people rely on us to be able to provide a service for them. That the service we provide allows these people to keep food on the time at times. As she finished talking I looked over at that sweet old lady. Suddenly, a feeling came over me I was filled with warmth and a sense of purpose. I felt genuinely happy for the first time in my life being able to help another human being and making a small difference in someone’s life felt amazing.

            I went home that afternoon with a beaming smile on my face. After that day I decided to be a full time volunteer at the Oxnard P.A.L. In the beginning I took part in volunteering for selfish reasons that I’m not very proud presently however, whichever the reason I’m very glad I took part in it. It showed me real happiness for the first time in my life; it showed me that I can make a difference not matter how small. I realized the best part of being a human being is able to feel compassion for one another and that enables us to help each other in dyer times.  To this day I still think back to that sweet old day and her warm smile. Then I can recall that feeling I felt back then to keep me going whenever my life gets to be too much for me. 

Is Marraige Outdated?

Marriage is something that is being taken for granted nowadays in my opinion. It’s a bond between two people to be with each other for the rest of their lives; not just a couple of years. It is something to be taken seriously not lightly. Your make a huge commitment to another person to be with them; so why is everyone running off to get married just do end it in a few months? I personally think that you should really take your time to be with someone and after a while of being together then you’ll know if that person is for you.

Marriage in America as I see it seems to be in a serious down fall presently. There is a high rate of divorce in this country. It seems the marriage has become outdated and people rather just live together. I don’t disagree with people choice to just live together without getting married because marriage isn’t always for everyone. However, it seems that most people nowadays have a fear of commitment; afraid of being with one single person for the rest of their lives. They are afraid of settling when someone better may be out there. I feel that one of the major problems during this generation is the majority seeking for something better.

In the chapter 2 Natalia River discussed the concept of temporary marriage.  It is a marriage in which the partners can choose an amount of the time in which the marriage can be void; I think we can all agree that such a marriage shouldn’t even be allowed to be called a marriage at all. The vows say “until death do us part” not until 5 years from now. It just gives bases for people to not fully commit into something so important. I just think its ludicrous idea that should not even be fostered at all. Marriage in the past was something that everyone had to accomplish in their lifetime however, times has changed marriage isn’t a necessary anymore. More couples just opt to living together rather than marriage. Cohabitation is a way better option than a temporary marriage.  A temporary marriage is nothing but a sham.

Marriage isn’t part of the social fabric anymore but that’s just my opinion.  Marriage isn’t something that everyone has to do anymore. It was become more of any option then a necessity in today’s society. Even though it’s just an option now doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have its benefits. Marriage is something more meaningful then just a partnership; people that wish to marry can’t because of society not allowing them the equal right as the majority. It’s just depressing how we take the right to marriage for granted while others long for it.

I think the major cause of the marriage taking a downfall in this century is because people are afraid of commitment. I know making a serious lifelong commitment is difficulty and sometimes scary however that doesn’t mean that we should avoid it. We should try to support that youth today and help them understand that commitment isn’t a horrible thing.  However we shouldn’t pressure marriage at all either because then single parents will be pressured to into find a partner and they wouldn’t be able to provide a stable life for their children. All in all marriage is something that we are losing in the turn of the century with fewer and fewer successful marriages. I feel that we shouldn’t just forget about it because it can be a wonderful thing. The youth of today needs to take their time before choosing their partner instead of rushing into because your biological clock is ticking. A more successful marriage comes from to people that really know one another and are compatible. 

My Name

My first name is Aracely Ramirez. I found out Aracely means the  "alter of the sky" or "beautiful alter". My name isn't very common and when I do meet people that have my name it's always spelled with an "I" instead of a "Y". I am actually very fond of my first name; however it wasn't always that way.

When I was younger I actually disliked my name very much. I hated having to correct people more than once on how to pronounce my name; that on many occasions I wouldn't even try. My very own cousins couldn't even pronounce my name either so they ended up calling "Vere". It just became more of bother having to correct them as well so I just let it be. My named seemed like more of a pain if anything when I was younger. 

A few years later, I had an assignment that required us to figure out why our parents named us the way they did and through that assignment I found that my father actually named. He just told me that I was named after someone that deeply impacted him during his teenage years. He wouldn't really tell me much more on the subject. I later learned more on this matter but I'm not quite ready to share that with people yet. 

I know now that my name is special even if it only special to me because my father chose it for me. He didn't choose it out of some baby name book like he did with my younger brother; he named me after someone that changed his life.  I'm very proud to be named Aracely even if I still have to correct people all the time. I know that I can live up to this name just like the person I was named after. I now embrace my name with open arms and I'm going to make my dad proud.

My Past, My Present, and My Future

My name is Aracely Ramirez and I live in Oxnard, California. I was born in June 30th, 1992 in Oxnard, California. I'm the second of three children and I just so happen to be the only girl in the bunch. My parents both emigrated from Mexico to the United States long before me and siblings were born. So therefore we were raised in a Spanish speaking house hold; which made it a little difficult later on in my early school years. I attended Mackinna elementary, Haydock B. Intermediate School and finally graduated from Oxnard High School. By reading this so far it seems I had a typical life nothing to special; however there were some few serious moments in there. I most of them took place towards the end of my 6th grade year and early 7th. During this time I was at loss with everything; I lost both my grandfather on my mother’s side to illness and my grandmother on my father’s side was gravely ill. She gave it her all but she eventually passed away in November a few months after my grandfather. Two loved ones in less than a year, and as a child it was very hard for me to cope. However, my family and friends got my through those times.

Presently I'm attending Oxnard College after brief hiatus. I am just working on my general education while I am here and I'm planning on transferring to a four year. My past influenced my decision when I chose my major. My major just so happens to be Nursing. So not only am I going to school I also, have a part-time job. Actually at one point I actually had two part-time jobs but, that became over-whelming very quickly. When I'm not working or in school I like to just relax and spend time with my friends and family mostly. One of the most exciting news recently is that I'm finally going to be an aunt after such a long wait. It's going to be my older brother’s first child and it's a boy. I just can't wait to finally meet that little bundle of joy in November of this year. So now I'm going to be student by day, cashier by night and assistant diaper changer 24/7.

 Regarding the future I hope I finally get to be a registered nurse working in a hospital so, I can help people while bringing a smile to their face. I hope that I'll be a mother and be able to give the same love and care my parents did to my children. I hope to be able to make some more funny, crazy and loving memories with my family and friends. But what does the future hold in store for me? I'll never really know no matter how much I wish I could, so I'm just going to wait and see.