Essays Galore

     During my second year of attending Oxnard College I have enrolled in a math, history, and english class.  Although it is only three classes, they each come with a very heavy work load that I honestly was not expecting when I first signed up for them. I know that I can do the work, it's just more a matter of finding the time and having the discipline to do what I have to do in order to stay on the right track and pass my classes. I would have to say that the biggest challenge for me is the non-stop writing assignments that my english and history class gives me, especially when it's an essay.

     When I was in high school, I rarely had to compose an essay. They were probably assigned once or twice a year. During my first year of college, I was assigned more essays, but still not enough to make me feel comfortable writing one. I now have at least one essay due just about every week in this semester. The upside to this heavy workload consisting many writing assignments is how much my writing is now improving. I definitely have more confidence in my writing and do not freak out when an essay is being assigned.

     Although all the practice is doing good for me, it is still overwhelming at times and I do find myself considering dropping a class every now and then. When those thoughts come into my mind, I just try to remind myself of how much I've already accomplished and what a waste it would be to drop a class since I would eventually need to take it again in order to fill certain requirements regarding the goals I wish to accomplish. I also think of how fast time seems to fly by, so if I just stick it through and give it my all, it'll be over before I know it.      

The Value of Money

     When we are at a young age, we tend to only focus on small parts of pictures that pop out to us in some way instead of taking them in as a whole image. We don't see the rest of the picture as important because we might not be matured enough to make sense of it. As we grow into our teen and pre-teen years we learn to see more of the bigger picture and why things are the way they are. For me, the value of money was something that took years to fully grasp.

     Like any other kid, I would often see commercials for toys on TV. By the end of it they'd say, "It was once valued at $100.00, but now you can have this toy for ONLY $49.99!" I'd immediately run to my parents and tell them all about it and how little it would cost compared to the larger price. Often times they would looked amused by how "little" I thought the cost was and try to explain how they couldn't afford to get it at that time. It made no sense to me how they were not able to buy me something that I had wanted, yet they could go get groceries the next day. Life just felt so unfair.

     In my early teenage years, I gradually started to realize just how much money it takes to keep up our lifestyle and how to not take it for granted. It wasn't until after I graduated from high school, enrolled in college, and started working as an assistant in my mom's daycare that the whole bigger picture came into view much more clearly. I started to pay for my own school books, supplies, clothes, outings, and whatever else I needed. Having that responsibility forced me to recognize all the aspects of life that come with a dollar sign that I hadn't always noticed before.

     Ultimately, I now have a better understanding of how hard my parents work for their money in order to support their kids. It pushes me to try my best to help out and lessen the financial load off of their shoulders whenever I can.