Finals week is here and is the most stressful part of the quarter for me. These finals either mean passing the class or not. It is though sometimes because I try to attend every class but things happen and I am unable to attend. Although I am doing fine in most of my classes, the one class that I have not missed, not even one day, is the class that I am having the most trouble with. I guess I always just put studying for class aside and worried more about my other classes. I have learned many things during my first year here in college, but the one thing I have really learned not to do is to procrastinate. I think this is the biggest issue with college students these days. We wait until the day before to start studying for a midterm or final. Trying to cram all that information is not such a good idea because it is too much information to handle at once. I have also learned that you cannot put studying aside. This is a lesson that I have learned from my own mistake of putting studying aside. But now I know and there’s no excuse for it happening again. Now I just hope that I do my best on all my other finals that I have coming up and good luck to everyone on your finals!!!!

Gang Injunctions in Dream Homes

The reason why I chose to do my final project on the gang injunctions in Dream Homes is because this injunction has affected me in many different ways. Although I am not part of this gang two of my older brothers were part of it and they were two of the many that were filed with this injunction. Although my brothers were filed with this injunction, I believe that this injunction was a good idea to control the violence. For many years my mother tried to make my brothers understand that this was not a good lifestyle for them but they just would not listen. Due to my brothers affiliation with gangs my family and I have witnessed things that we would have rather not seen. Finally the Riverside County decided that the violence in this neighborhood had to end and did something about this. Ever since the injunction was issued the rate of crimes has decreased in this neighborhood which makes me feel safer in this neighborhood.

Every year in February there is a Riverside County National Date Festival that takes place in the Coachella Valley. This event goes on for about a week and a half. This is probably one of the biggest events that take place in the valley. There are many things that go on every day in this festival. For instance they have horse racing, monster truck shows, motorcycle shows, they have famous people perform, they also have a hypnotist show and other exciting things.
I have gone to the Date Festival every year since I can remember. Usually I go with my family because there are so many things to do and it is a perfect place to spend some quality time with them. But this year I chose to go with my two best friends that I have here at Cal State San Bernardino. It was very exciting that I got to spend a whole day with them not having to worry about school or getting any homework done. We got on many rides like the Crazy Train, the Zipper, Ring of Fire, Fire Ball and many others. Some were really fun but then again there was some that were kind of scary. I think the worst one of all was the Crazy Train because it hurt and it even left some of us bruises. Also we all got matching shirts done. They had our names and NCK on them (NCK stands for Nancy, Cristina, and Karina), and blue stars on around the names. But the best part of the date festival is all the great food or I mean junk food that they have. By the end of the night we all had stomach aches from all the things we had. We had churros, funnel cakes, candy, fruit, and we even went to eat at Del Taco. After all the rides we got on and all the food we ate we called it a night and we all just went home.

My perspective about my neighborhood!!!

I live in a small neighborhood known as Dream homes. I find it ironic that it has this name because the homes in this neighborhood are nothing to a person’s dream house. They are almost the complete opposite. I have lived in this neighborhood almost my whole life, since I was one year old to be exact. This neighborhood is notorious for gang affiliations and crimes. In the past few years there have been many murders that have taken place there. This neighborhood is so terrible that the county had to place a lawsuit against all its known gang members. This lawsuit would ban many things such as wearing gang related clothing, the usage of gang signs, graffiti and etc. living in a neighborhood like this has not been a pleasant experience. The worst memory that I have is watching my brothers best friend get killed by some of the gang members. Watching something like this was the worst scene that I have ever witnessed but I stop and think that this is reality. I know that if my mom had the choice to move out of this neighborhood, she would do it in a heartbeat. The only thing that stops her from doing so is she cannot afford to live anywhere else. She knows that this is not the best place to raise her children. Some say that living in places like this is how children become associated with gangs. I must say that I can agree to that to a certain extent because it does play a large role in it but a person has the choice of whether or not he or she wants to be a part of it.
When I get older and have children, I wish not to raise my children in a neighborhood like the one I was raised when I was a child. Although living in a neighborhood like that was awful it opened my eyes and made me realize that that was not the kind of environment that I wanted to live. I hope to raise my children in a safe environment. Although crime is almost impossible to avoid, I will try to do my best and find a neighborhood where the crime rate is not that high. I would not want my children to witness the kinds of things that I have gone through because experiences like those are the ones that stay with you forever.

My City!!!

I come from a city called Cathedral City. Although it is not a well known city, it is neighbors with a city that is well known all over, that is Palm Springs. I have lived in this city my whole life as a matter of fact I was actually born in this city. Many cant really say that they were born in this city since there are no hospitals there, but actually I was born at home. Cathedral City is in the Coachella Valley consists of many other cities. Some cities are nicer than others but the city where I come isn't the nicest one of all, especially the neighborhood that I come from it is very old and most of the houses in this neighborhood need serious remodeling. Over these past years this city has gone through many changes, such as the construction of many more buildings like stores and fast food restaurants. When I was younger the only place that we were able to go was the small market a few blocks down, but now if we walk a little more we have a variety of fast food restaurants and even a Walmart Supercenter that were not there before. Although I may not love this city, this where I have lived my whole life.

Where I'm From

I am from where the sun shines every day
And where the palm trees are visible
I am from the grass on my lawn where I would play as a child
(Green in the summer but yellow in winter)
I am from a well known city
With beautiful sites and many attractions
Where even celebrities are known to go

I am from this new world of technology
From iPods to cell phones
Or from laptops to printers
I’m from a family of the leaders and the taunters
Those who can make me feel gloomy but also joyful
It is they who have made me into the individual I am today

I am from the Jordan’s in my closet
To the purses on my wall
I am from the crying all night long
To the nonstop laughter’s with my friends
I’m from being afraid of needles
To expressing this art on my back

Hidden in old box of shoes on top of my closet
Lies sheets of papers
With untold stories and
Memories that I cannot remove from my thoughts
But wishing they never happened