Here are some basic sentences:

Hi, how are you : Hola como estas (The H in Spanish has no sound)

I need help/ Can I help you: Yo necesito ayuda/ puedo ayudarle.

Good morning/ Good afternoon/ Good evening/ Good night: Buenos dias/ Buenas tardes/ Buenas noches.

No puedo creer que este semestre casi esta terminando. Este semestre fue muy ocupado para mi. Yo sabia que seria dificil pero fue tres veces mas dificil de lo que tenia en mente. Microbiologia es una clase muy interesante pero mucho material para  aprender y tengo miedo de tocar todas las cosas a mi alredor por los germenes que hay en todas partes. Anatomia y Fisiologia me mantuvo con las manos llenas aprendiendo huesos, musculos y mucho mas. En Psicologia Abnormal APrendi muchas cosas como el por que la gente se comporta de la manera que se comporta. Auto Acondicionamiento y Defensa me ayudo a estar saludable haciendo ejercicio y aprendiendo tecnicas en como defenderme.

Last weekend my grandmother was admitted to the hospital. Things were not looking very good and everyone in my family was nervously hoping for the best. We spent all Saturday night and all of Sunday in the ICU. I brought my work to the hospital hoping to get some work done, but when your loved one’s life is on the line its almost impossible to focus on anything. I went to school on Monday and was able to get my mind off of things, but because of the weekend I have had the stress piled on greatly.
I had an exam in my math class Tuesday. I was not able to do any homework or study at all that weekend. In college, you need multiple days to study for an upper lever math class. I was cramming away in the library when I received a call to come to the hospital right way. Things had taken a bad turn for my grandmother.

I was at the hospital from 4 p.m. until past midnight with my family refusing to leave without any positive update. Finally we got something to ensure us we could leave and not have to say our goodbyes that night. When I got home, I emailed my math teacher right away explaining that I knew there was no way to pass my exam in the morning.

To give you a brief background, in my professor’s class, she replaces her students’ lowest exam grade with the same grade that they received on the final exam (if the final exam grade is higher). To be eligible for this, the student cannot miss any exam, or make up any exam.

I had understood the syllabus, so I emailed my teacher explaining what was going on and told her: ” I have already called out of work tomorrow morning because I plan on being back at the hospital by 7:30 am. I re-read the syllabus today. I would much rather take a zero on this exam and replace it with whatever grade I receive on the final exam. If need be, to still be eligible to replace my lowest exam grade with my final exam, I will come in, put my name on an exam and hand it in.

I will be checking my e-mails throughout the morning. I plan on bringing my laptop to the hospital and trying to complete work to take my mind off of things. ”

She had not gotten back to me an hour before the exam. So I went to campus in time for the start of the exam. I put my name on it, and filled in all 12 multiple choices answers, did not attempt any short answers and within 5 minutes handed my exam in. My teacher had a stunned look on her face when I was walking out. Later that day she responded to my e-mail and replied:
“So very sorry to learn about your grandmother’s health. I do hope she continues to improve. I did not open my e-mail today until now. That is why I look so stunned when you turned your exam in. Under these conditions I will let you take this exam over. Things do happen which we do not have any control over.”
When I met with her two days later (I did not go to class the next day) we talked about the situation and she understood and is letting me re-take my exam and hand in my homework on Monday.

All of my other professors we’re understanding of my situation and did not penalize me for any assignments or attendance. The actions of my math professor stuck out the most.

The teachers here at HVCC are incredibly humane. My brother attends Albany and he told me that his professors made him go through an entire process to present documents and such through admissions. To hear that made me realize what kind of atmosphere I am in here at HVCC. I have other reasons why Hudson Valley Community College teachers are better than other SUNY teachers which I plan to elaborate on, on my next post.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the wheels turning lately. The wheels on my van are turning as I drive back and forth to campus five times a week, and twice a week to my internship. The wheels on my wheelchair are turning as I roll across campus; into the library, out of the library, over to Amstuz, over to Siek. I am on the go all of the time!

But there is the bigger wheel that is turning, one that I can’t see, but I know it is turning. It’s the wheel of time, or of life, if you will; and it is bringing about big changes very soon. That big wheel has been turning for a long time for me, and it has brought about many changes. Sometimes it seemed to move so slowly, that it seemed that how things were at that time were how they were going to stay. But time has a way of bringing the changes. Before you know it, you are in a totally different place than you used to be. For many years, my journey included my four girls. I am in such a different place from when they were all little, and during the homeschooling years when their lives was my life. Now they are all getting older, and starting to make journeys of their own, and they are not riding with me as much. The journey I took with their father lasted a long time; but the wheel slowly turned, and we found ourselves in a place where our paths diverged; and we no longer travel together.

That big wheel slowly turned from the very dark and difficult place I was in to a place of light and hope; and I found myself becoming a college student once again. And I’ve been on that path for nearly two years now; and it truly has been such an amazing journey! I’ve really learned so much and grown and changed so much, and met some wonderful people along the way! But that wheel just keeps turning, and I’m drawing closer to the end of my college journey.

I’m going to find myself in a whole new place again. I’m not even sure where that will be yet, but I have been having the feeling that the changes coming are good ones. It’s going to be really good.

“Small wheel turns by the fire and rod, big wheel turns by the grace of God. Every time that wheel turns ‘round, you’re bound to cover just a little more ground” –Grateful Dead

At present, my car is still in the shop, and spending the last two weeks in a flurry of long bus rides, random walks, asking people to drive me around, trying to be efficient about time, and just generally not having the freedom of mobility I’ve let myself get used to, has really made me think about the things I take for granted.

Not surprisingly, there are an abundance of them, and I’m sure I’m not the only person to whom that statement applies. So, I decided to share with you all a (highly shortened) list of things I should be more grateful for, in the hopes that each of you will find something to identify with.

1. People who love me

I don’t like asking for help, and anyone who knows me personally will probably emphatically confirm that. Most of my life has been spent being coddled and cared for, and I now jump at every opportunity I have to tend to my problems on my own. My ego prevents from always reaching out to people, so I’m phenomenally grateful for all the people in my life who love me and have got my back, without even having to be asked. When something goes wrong and all the people around you immediately leap into action to help you, no questions asked, you know you’re surrounded by a good bunch.

2. Generally good health

Running on far fewer hours of sleep than usual, waking up early to catch three buses to school, but not early enough because you still end up sprinting frantically down Congress Street (or, as my best friend likes to call it, “Murder Avenue”) to avoid missing the first one, has a way of making you appreciate your body’s ability to support you through the less fun days. In spite of a recent series of unexplained headaches, and the occasional cold, my body has been very cooperative with me through the good times and the bad. School can be both emotionally and physically taxing; some days it’s easy to forget to even eat. I’m thankful for my health surviving all of my neglect.

3. Good humor

Laughter makes everything better. I’ve tried my best lately to find the funny in the situations I’ve been in, and it’s definitely been helpful. When you’re driving to get frozen yogurt with your friends and your car suddenly starts making obnoxious screeching noises before stopping and forcing you to pull over and delay everyone for classes, when your auto mechanic casually tells you that you need $2000 to fix the damage, or when you’re limping to the bus stop because you hurt your feet wearing heels for a job interview the previous day, it’s nice to be able to laugh at yourself. I’m grateful that the human capacity for amusement can extend far enough to numb a lot of pain.

4. Time’s effortless passage

I’m grateful that the storm always passes. Whether it’s a small problem or a huge one, no matter how trapped I feel or how upset I am, I take comfort in knowing that, given enough time, problems have a way of sorting themselves out. The process isn’t always easy, sometimes it’s just inconvenient and other times it’s downright painful, but once time works its magic, you can usually come out the other end as if it never happened.

5. Existence of easy transportation

Skipping the very thing that started my musings on gratitude today would be absurd, so here it is. I am grateful to have plenty of ways to get around, and I’m not just referring to my car (when it’s actually working). Public transportation is a blessing. I spent 12 years of life in a country where public transportation was scarce, unreliable, and festering with rapists and thieves. Being here and knowing that if another option doesn’t come through, I can always just hop onto a couple of buses, swipe my SUNY ID (a service that HVCC will be offering starting next semester…YES!), and find my way home or to school (alive and unmolested) is a blessing.

In the small hours of this particular Sunday night, when I probably should be resting to prepare my brain for midterms, I’m instead lying (involuntarily) wide awake, thinking about many things, among them the idea of self worth.

It’s an odd concept, really. So much of our worth is attached to forces outside of ourselves that it gets very confusing very fast to attach value to something inherent. Our lives are fundamentally built around the things we do, the feats we accomplish, the people we love, and the bodies and the souls that we carry. These are the things most of us gauge our happiness and success by, and ironically, they’re the things that hinder our love and understanding of ourselves the most.

What is there behind the ever-peeling veneer of our bodies, our intellects, our growing list of accomplishments and milestones? What are we beneath the flurry of activity, and how do we go about finding it when it seems hopelessly lost and elusive?

Although it’s difficult to expose myself even to those closest to me, let alone to cyberspace, let me say this much: sometimes I can’t even motivate myself to smile when I’m alone and unoccupied. And I know I’m not at all alone in feeling that way, which is why I’m writing this.

Self worth is what’s left over when the events filling up our lives are absent, those brief interludes of time when there’s no one, no place, no thing urgently demanding attention. It’s what keeps a person happy on those few pesky days right in the middle of the summer when vacationing has just about lost its novelty and business is nowhere near approaching.

The way our lives are built, with all the day-to-day struggle and urgency, it’s easy to forget about ourselves. Not in the literal I-failed-to-wash-my-face-this-morning kind of way, but in a much more piercing sense. We’re so focused on what we’re doing, whether it’s tasks at school, at work, in our relationships, or in our more banal everyday activities, that we forget who’s engaging in the tasks. There’s a person behind all of it that ends up being neglected in spirit, at least, if not in body and mind.

Where am I going with this? I’m just suggesting you pay more attention to you. With no preconceived ideas about how much you already do, since we’re all different, I can still say that you could probably benefit from a little more.

Do you love yourself? If yes, relish in that love more. If no, fix it! Now. You’re stuck with yourself forever, wherever that may take you. For every minute you spend with friends, family, boyfriends/girlfriends, classmates, coworkers…anyone, really, you spend twice as much with your self. Your life can turn into a pretty sad affair if your favorite person is not the one living it.

Next chance you get, spend a day with just yourself. It’ll either feel really great or really bad, and either way, that says something important. Do whatever. Eat too much ice cream, read a crazy book, drive to the middle of nowhere, get a really bad tattoo on your forehead. Well, maybe not that last one…

Learn to enjoy every moment by yourself, and every other moment will be twice as sweet. All soul-crushing, mind-numbing, body-burning circumstances aside, for what it’s worth, you’re worth a lot. Tow your self around with pride.

I have seven sisters and one brother. Growing up my father would always say that the women in our family were cursed but I never understood what he meant by that until my eighth grade year in high when the pressure started.

My family loved having big family dinners and get-togethers. During these family get-togethers my father would make us wear our best clothes then boasted to the rest of the family about how well we were doing and how proud he was of us. I remember after the first few days of being an eighth grader my family had a get together, after my father showed us off and everyone sat down for dinner. My aunt did the usual, went around the table asking what was new in our lives and what we were excited about. When she got to me, I told her I had just started the eighth grade and that I was excited about my new class and meeting new people. When I said this everyone stopped eating and looked at my father with a worried look. I was confused as to why everyone was so shocked about me starting the eighth grade. After dinner, my mother took me outside and told me that everyone was worried because my six older sisters got pregnant in the ninth grade and dropped out of school and that I was next in the line of girls. That was just the beginning.

Throughout my eighth grade year, my father got stricter than usual. He would always take me to school and would be waiting outside when school was over, even though my school was a 10-minute walk from my house. I was not allowed to go out with my friends or have sleepovers. I was not even allowed to do after school activities. As the ninth grade got closer, things just got worst. The clothes I wore had to be changed, no skirts unless they were seven inches below my knees and no sleeveless blouses. Finally, I was in the ninth grade and decide that all my father was doing was way too much. So, after he picked me up from school one day I decided that it was time for he and I to talk. I sat him down at the dinner table with my mother and told them, I understood what they were doing and that they taught me well about boys and the importance of an education. I also told them that one of my biggest fears was letting them down and having them be disappointed with me. I also went on to tell them that I was mature enough to know that having a baby at my age would just make life harder, not only for me but also for them and that making life hard for them was the last thing wanted. I promised them that I will not only get through the ninth grade but I will also be the first in my family to graduate high school and go on to college. After my big speech, I saw my father’s eyes filled with tears and a proud smile on my mother’s face, and at that moment I knew the “family curse” was broken.

Es increible lo rapido que regresamos a la escuela, el tiempo esta volando y yo decidi estar adelantada en vez de atrazada. Es mucho estres cuando tus tareas tienes que netregarlas en pocas horas y no estan hechas. Yo empese a imprimir mis clases y a hacer mi tarea una semana o par de dias antes. Yo tambien busco ayuda cuando n tiendo de la clase. Yo voy al departamento de estudios de Biologia a estudiar the Anatomia y Fisiologia, Microbiologia, y los laboratorios de esas clases. En el centro de eestudios de Biologia te pueden ayudar si estas tomando alguna clases de ciencias como: Quimica, Biologia, Nutricion, Terminologia Medica, y mucho mas.

Discrimination in any form including racial profiling is frowned upon by the government and most American citizens. My family taught my siblings and I to never judge a person by the color of their skin or where they were born, and that we should make our own judgements based upon experience, and even with experience we should never make that judgement on everyone with the same race or origin of the person we experienced. Law enforcement personnel have been using racial profiling as a way to identify criminals and possible terrorists however no one person or group of people should be arrested based on their race, ethnicity or national origin and the stereotypes associated with them, rather than their behavior.

Most people are not aware of how big a social issue racial profiling is, and some don’t even consider it an issue because the stereotypes used about people are sometimes true. When I ask my group of friends if they have ever been racially profiled or if they know of anyone who has, more than half of them have been and or know about someone who has. My friends consist of African Americans, Latinos and many other races. Most of them had been pulled over, searched or arrested because of their race and or origin. I believe that if an individual does not show criminal  behavior or a reason to be arrested then they shouldn’t. No one knows what someone is going through emotionally. A person could be having a bad day, having been pulled over and searched multiple times by different police officers and gets pulled over another time by a different officer in the same day. Being the human this person is, they could snap and get shot by the officer.

I was born in Jamaica and moved to the United States when I was 16 years old. Being born and raised in Jamaica I was not aware of the stereotypes about Jamaicans until I started school in US. I was shocked at what people believe was true about Jamaicans and how completely wrong they were. Some of the stereotypes were: “All Jamaicans smoke marijuana. All Jamaicans know how to dance. All Jamaicans love jerk chicken and curry chicken. All Jamaicans have anger problems and are quick to fight. Jamaicans don’t speak English.” I found it funny that people knew so little about my culture and that they were shocked to know that I am Jamaican and I was completely different from what they thought a Jamaican should look like. Although stereotypes are sometimes true, it is not fair to those that are trying to make a new beginning but can’t escape the stereotypical views people have about them.

Race should not be a factor in a way an individual is treated. Because of a few idiotic behaviors of people that associated themselves with the Muslim religion, the honest, hard working Muslims now have to live with the consequences and be a target for people’s anger and hate comments. Why couldn’t the people who committed the crimes be known for their name instead of race or national origin? Is it to give people the relief that someone so disturbed could not come from their race or national origin? People should be given a fair chance to make a first impression and not be pre-judged by someone because of their race.

One of the classes I am taking is an internship program. It’s a regular class, with a textbook, weekly reading assignments, and tests; but what is different about this is that I have to complete 90 hours of work at an off-site placement. It’s a great opportunity to put the things I have been learning in various classes to actual work, and get some on-the-job experience. I was fortunate to be placed at Memorial Hospital, in the medical records department. I just started there this week, and it has been a great experience so far.

One of the other classes I am in is English Comp 2: Writing About Literature. I really enjoy the reading selections, but where I struggle is with trying to interpret symbolism or hidden meanings. I’m a pretty “surface” person. I am amazed when I read what people in the class have interpreted from the reading; so insightful. What has been helping me to look deeper into stories and gaining different perspective has been to take part in the book club that meets once a month here on campus. We all read the same book, but everyone gets a little something different from it; or has different things that stood out to them. The book club is open to everyone on campus. The next meeting will be on Wednesday, February 20^th at noon in the meeting room on the lower level of the library. The book chosen for this month is “Where I’m Bound” by Allen B. Ballard, an author who will be speaking at the campus at the end of the month.