Making Connections

2. One day, in Middle School, I was hanging out with my friend, Dana, when she started to talk badly about our other friend, Anna. What she was saying was true and I definitely agreed so I joined in and said mean things behind our friend's back. The next day I felt really bad about what we said. I went to Dana and asked if we could not do that anymore because it didn't feel right. She said I was being ridiculous and that it was harmless. Every time Dana would talk badly about anyone, I would just say "yeah" but not actually join in on the conversation. I started realizing that I enjoyed hanging out with Anna more than I did Dana. Anna was a sweet girl and never talked badly of peers. I solely but surely stopped hanging out with Dana. I made sure to get my distance from her negativity. A couple of weeks later I heard that she was talking badly about me to her other friends for "ditching" her. I concluded that people willing to talk badly about other people to you will easily talk badly about you to other people. I know that Dana is just an unhappy person and likes to judge others so that people wont get a chance to judge her. I also realized that talking badly about people does absolutely no good for me and is so not worth it. Blowing out somebody else's candle won't make yours any brighter.

Making Connections 

1. A time when I received mixed messages is when I was "together" with this guy. I really liked him and I thought that he really liked me. We would talk a lot but mostly text. He told me all of the time that he didn't want to be in a relationship but I knew I wanted to be his girlfriend. It would hurt to hear that but I understood when he would explain that there is too much drama within a relationship. However, he still wanted to hang out and see me. I didn't understand why he wanted to continue talking and hanging out when he didn't want a long term relationship. He definitely sent me mixed messages. I have learned much from this experience. I understand now that he didn't actually like me, like the way I liked him. My boyfriend now would do anything to be with me. I can see it by the way that he treats me. I can tell the difference between someone who really wants to be with me and someone who just wants a few things from me before they leave. When someone really wants to be with you, you'll be able to tell and will never have to question them. It's definitely nice and helpful to have learned this.

Earning and Learning: Are Students Working Too Much?

4. Enjoying a good book has definitely seemed to decrease lately with students. It doesn't seem like students like to read, mostly because in any free time they have they may not want to do more "work." Students want to rest on their  down time because their days are over-scheduled. We are forced to read in school, we have extra curricular activities and then a job. At the end of the day, we're tired and don't want to do something that's associated with school. For me, I like to sleep whenever I can. To be honest, I would like to read, it just seems like I don't have time. Also, it just seems that there are far better things to do. 

Thesis: Students are working too much, producing an over-scheduled day for themselves. However, working may be the only loophole to their college debt.

"Some students deal with the self-help dilemma by working more because they want to borrow less."

Universities Seeing a Gender Gap in Enrollments

3. I do think Albert Cruz's reasons for not attending college are legitimate. I have a job now, while beginning my years of college. I need a job because otherwise I wouldn't have any money to spend and not to mention the high cost of college now-a-days would be hard to pay off. Having a job at such a busy educational time for me is definitely a struggle. I find myself so tired for classes that I can't pay attention. This scares me because education is really important to me and I have high expectations to do well in school. However, I understand that I need to continue working. If Cruz makes more money than those in college and enjoys it, then that's a job well done in my book. I believe that your career should solely be based on something you enjoy. At the same time, a job is done to make money, so it seems that he's doing his part. Getting back to the high cost of college, Cruz is missing out on the financial debt of college. That, to me, is a HUGE reward. The debt of college, in which mostly every student goes through, is a very brutal reality. Almost nobody can afford the high price of college and it's only becoming more expensive. Even though his argument is very persuadable and personable, I would still advice him to go to school. For me, I love going to school. It gets pretty hard sometimes, but I love to learn and would hate to see it end after high school. I believe that he should take this advice because learning is such a great aspect to life. We learn every day, no matter what we're doing. School is a great place for this to happen. Maybe because of his great job, he could find an even better job because of the knowledge he might retain after college.

Attending college is becoming a rare occurrence and in particular for males that just don't see the point in school after High School.

"At Broward Community College, only 35 percent of the students were men last fall."

"Cruz had planned to earn a degree in business administration, but found out sometimes its not what you know, but who you know."