Goodbye, everyone!

Hey, folks!

I just read through all of your goodbye messages, and I'm sad that I won't be there to say goodbye in person. However, I'm very happy to see that you are the group that made it until the end. You all deserve it!

Good luck on tomorrow's artistic translation projects. I wish I could see them! If you can, post photographs/videos/etc. on the blog.

Starting next week, I'll be back on campus. My office is 623 S. Wabash, suite 600. I'm in the LAS Dean's suite. Please don't hesitate to come see me, especially if you're on campus early. Remember, if you come visit me and tell me how your semester is going, I'll buy lunch. :) I'm also leaving my email address and my office phone number. Call or email me for anything.

Enjoy the next couple weeks, and I look forward to seeing all of you in September; you'll be Columbia College students!

Best,
Danielle
daquiline@colum.edu
312-369-8842

good bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well goodbye blogger on to bigger and better things was cool having my friends comment and let me know how they felt about how I felt. The bridge program was so cool had a great time and also learned more then what I expected. So just say thanks to my teachers for teaching me a lot so that I will be able to be ready for college . also the bridge program made me less dependent on my family and now I can finally say I am an adult . And the lectures were cool also … but what I liked more was the post lectures in class So to me the bridge program helped me a lot and I feel like have a upper hand in to being ready for college so I wish my friends the best in life thanks everyone.

peace in the middle east!

dayyyyummmmmmmmm! this classss! every person in this class is a real person in my eyes. You guys have been reall cool to mee for theses 4 weeks, and im glad i can say that i was appart of your guys group. This class has talked about some personal stuff, i think that kinda forced everyone to respect everybody in the class right away, and thats awsome becuase we dont even know theses people, but we sat down and expressed deep thoughts and we had deep conversations, and we all kept it real and theres nothing better than feeling you could be yourself a 100 percent around people you just met. And as for Steve and Danelle you guys are freakin great! two of the most intelegant people ive met, and you guys defenatly know how to connect with a stranger, and i hope one day to have that skill, but yeaaa im going to look for your guyes name at orentation!

but but but salt is still the shit

CJ says fairwell but not goodbye

Coming into bridge i did not know what to expect. I was uneasy and unsure if I would make it past the first week but still, I came in with an open mind. I was greeted by people with similar fears and understanding teachers. I am happy to say that I have made so many new friends here and I honestly hope that these friendships will last not just throught our time at Columbia, but for a life time. I am honestly glad to have met each and every one of you and I do sincerly hope that we keep in touch over these years. I think we should all make it a point to chill together as often as we can. I love all of you guys and I will miss those of you that I will not see as often. Take care. I wish all of you nothing but the best and the utmost success.

much love,

CJ

The end

Bridge you are a nice young lady who gives your man everything then with the quickness leaves him only for him to realize that he can fall for anything and need to go into his future relationships better. After all you were the first girl he treated with respect, patience, and passion. Now he has to think back on all the other girls he treated bad but what you gave him before you left was the love for girls like you and treat those girls forever how he treated you before he's left in the dust again.
I guess I'm still in love with you Bridge but our relationship is over. We both knew it was only temporary. So I leave you with a 1,000 I love yous, 100 miss yous, and 1 thank you.

And Luis is the truest, C.J. is the cripple Jew, Molly is a Jo bro, Tonas is tonasty, adam is , kiki is um great, leah is m.c. hammer, teri is legendary, jasmine has passion, jauvonnie is cris breezy, and maddy is my sweet heart some time. And I'm the valedictorian FOR REAL.

Goodbye

WOW IT HAS BEEN QUITE A JOURNEY WITH YOU ALL. I am so thankful that I had a class that was family to me. You were truly family, each of you are special and unique in ways that I can't even describe. I really want to say that it was incredible getting to know everyone. I am glad that everyone was able to express who they were and that they were not afraid to show their true self's. I am definitely going to miss you guys. So take care of yourself even though this is good bye I guess we would see each other in the future and hopefully the future will come quicker than we realize. So with these last moments that we spent are coming to an end. I want you all to enjoy these moments and remember them forever. I really want to stay in touch with you so here is my facebook. www.facebook.com/mollyx3smusic and my cell is 6307708840.

So one last time I would like to say good bye. I wish you all the best and I know that you will achieve your dream on what ever it is. I love you all

Love Always.

Molly Bell

Rah Rah ah ah aaaah

Bridge:

At first I was really frustrated when I found out I had to go through bridge, but from the first day I was interested and enjoyed it that I wanted to come back. I didn't realize how much I didn't know about writing a simple paper, I don't dread writing papers anymore (for now) but I feel a bit more confident. Im glad I got to learn how to ride the metra its been real cool even though I missed it a couple of times. I'm glad we had the teachers we did, I think we had the best. The museums were really interesting I don't think I would have ever been to them. I remember when I was in grade school and we went to a museum for a field trip and when we got there all the kids in my class ran to my mom saying she would be their chaperone. So i'm thinking well its my mom I'll be with her regardless, then my teacher said "she has a large group already you'll be with my group" I was mad as heck. My mom let them get in the old fashion cars and stuff that isn't even a loud my mom was fun I knew that and everyone loved her. Thats the only museum experience I had until bridge, and the last museum made up for it. But thanks Danielle, Steve and class I learned a lot from you guys and I had fun doing it.

in case i dont see ya, good morning, good afternoon and goodnight

yeah the blog thing was a good concept i got alot better at being able to answere question right on the spot andimproved my typing. Im excited to get out of the bridge program honestly getting up at 6 in the morning to catch a train and walk all the way from union station was not on my to do list for four weeks out of my summer but it was a great experience theres alot of kool people here and i think i got alot better at writing and a little bit more prepared for college

FINAL FAIRWELL
well, this bridge program has been a good experience for me. Im so glad I met all of you, we had a lot of fun telling stupid jokes, debating and getting to know each other these past four weeks.. I'll never forget the ridiculous faces tonasty makes, salt's zombie story, or the imitations we did of each other outside after school bahahaaha.
LUV YA FOOLS! I hope we see each other next year... party at the dorms! And I want to thank steve and danielle too because they were really inspirational, I truly feel like a better writer and thinker after taking this class..
All of you are amazing people, you all have so much potential and are so smart, you will all go far and I know we will see each other soon but even so I wanna wish each of you good luck, stay golden!! LATERRR guyzz:)

what i learned

damn man what i learned in this program..... man i learned so much and made so many new ppl and funny tonas.... who had me dying laughing i couldnt breath.... man its hard to put in words man i would have to say that my english class was the best out of the whole program i had a lot of fun learning how to improve my writing....like who would have thought improving was actually fun.! and alsoi felt that my math clss was ok i mean i didnt really get the meterial at all my teacher was the kind of teacher that said here do this.... and then didint teach us anything so the math portion was really hard for me because i felt like he was going to fast and he didnt say.. step by step that needed to be done and thats the kind of person i am i need things done step by step layed out and so i felt like i didnt learn the math that i was pose to.... so0 thats what i felt like! i dont know if u guys feel the same!

Love Ya'll/Remember ME Jauvonnie/ Good Bye

Hey ya’ll it all coming to an end, I was ready for it to be over when it started but now I don’t want it to end. I have meet new friends now learn new thing. Having the blog help me release something that was on my mind and I was able to write about how I felt about the subject that was giving to us. I can say that I found out some more of who I am. I can say that being in the bridge program have help me became a way better writer then I was before. I love bridge I really don’t want to leave real talk. I will never forget this experience has at Columbia now I love this school more now. at least now I got a teat of the real thing. I’m ready to go all the way in full time at Columbia.
And to all the beautiful friends in my reading class I love you guys just stay cool and yourself because you all are cool as hell. When I c ya’ll around on campus don’t act like ya’ll don’t know me.
Love ya’ll
Jauvonnie

Goodbye

I will miss this class I hope we hang out together and keep in touch. I learned alot from each person and about myself. I hope this blog keeps going. I made some great friends and met some interesting people. Had fun all through out even when I was in trouble. I wish everyone the best of luck in all there goals and I hope we get together and look back on this and laugh. Steve and Danielle I will come visit you often and get advice and share experience. Ill miss everyone alot but I know well keep in touch. Sucks we had 4 weeks with each other and then were off into college. I hope Im remember as funny and determined. Good luck everyone in your life journey=D.

BYE!

So how many of you are living on campus?
It would be nice to see some of you when Bridge is over, I live at the Plymouth dorms :D

Overall the Bridge program was alright, I like this english class a lot better than my other one.
Math was pretty easy. My teacher was crazy though, but she was nice.

Umm I guess it was a good learning experience and gave me a preview into real college courses.
Hopefully my writing class will come easier to me now.

It was also nice to get to know the area way before the other new students. Also getting to know my roommates/floormmates before all the other students move in was fun.

I can't wait for my friends Anna & Antonio from Wisconsin (that's where I grew up) to come here though! They're going to Roosevelt and living at the UC. Also I can't wait to have some more free time to have fun in the city and explore the suburbs more.

Anyway! I wish you all the best :)

- Leah xoxo

Bonjour, class!

Hey, everyone! I just wanted to write you all a quick note to let you know that I received all of your papers via email. I'll be responding to those tonight (which will be Tuesday afternoon for all of you). So, you can be looking for my comments.

Paris is wonderful, by the way! We spent our first day getting over the jet lag and eating everything we could find. I'm terrible at French, but I'm managing to do what I need to do. Here are a couple photos.

Of course, I miss all of you guys. How was Dave Dolak's lecture? What are you all planning to do for your artistic translation projects?

For those of you that added me as a friend on Facebook, I'll approve your request as soon as class is over and you are no longer my students. :)

Be nice to Steve!

Au revoir,
Danielle

Day 13 teri ? by Salt

Day 13 by salt
With the genocide it’s tough to say what you will or will not do. When we say things we must act on them because then our breaths are being wasted and we become full of shit. Although the genocide is horrible and people are dying every day, the system of government just don’t care. They will not care at all. We were suppose to write a letter to the senators of the U.S.A. To me that was a waste of time because my mother always said if my kitchens dirty how are you going to clean someone else. That’s how I feel how can we make change somewhere when we have on a lesser scale genocide amongst each other in our own neighborhoods. I have seen family members kill each other. The government has never cared about any of us where I’m from and I don’t own my own government so how can I help when can go spread the message all we want about these people but we don’t even love each other enough. For me I’ll help the situation by trying to take care of community and helping my mess that’s going on in my neighborhood. If we all had that attitude then we would all have the structure to then help them out. What we need to do first is blitzed these elected officials with these questions then vote for them based off this subject then we will have enough power to say lets go help out and change some stuff. With that all of us as a nation don’t care about genocide so for now we have to just keep blitzing the message and one day we will all care then change what’s going on. I truly hope we can I care I just don’t care for my government and my fellow Americans

Contribution

Thes projects, The Cradle Project and One Million Bones, have touched me quite deeply. Beyond making a bone and giving money I want to contribute in other ways as well. I will dedicate films to it, I plan on volunteerenig when and where I can. Haveing family that barely survived the holocaust I feel it is my duty to aid in this effort. I am unsure as to the perticulars of eactly how i will help, but i do inted to find out and work my hardest.

I wish, than I don't, im happy

Ok, yes I did wish that I had a good ended with me and the father of my child. I love hard and when I say I love someone I’m fucking serious. Sometimes I wish we could had work out only for my son, because I know when he get older he is going to have questions that I am going to have to answer, and once I tell him I know he’s going to be hurt. But just to avoid all the hurt I went through and the hurt that my baby is going to feel. And I hate that is going to have to go through that. But now I don’t wish for a happen ending because I would have never met the sweetest, cutesiest, care hearted guy I ever met. I do think that if I did had a happy ending it wouldn’t last long at all. And I really thank the father of my child for this because he made me grow up and became the great mother and a better girlfriend that I am today. He got me ready for my future. And I’m happier than I have ever been with my son Marion and my new boyfriend and future husband Nathandla.
Now honestly just for now I don’t plan on to make a change now because for me right now is ok. But I know in the future I will make I change don’t know how but I will wait till that time as came to me. So just as of right now everything is all good and well.

Woud i want my fairytale ending after it all ?

I feel that at that moment in the things I was going through that I wanted a fairytale ending. But I feel if I would have got it the it would have changed how I feel about things in my life today totally. So if I if I could have it now I wouldn’t want it. Simply because I am grateful of the things I have in life. And also I don’t think I would be as mentally strong as I am today. I can see why we go through hardships and it has made me a better person in the end. I feel also that not being exposed to feeling hurt or growing through with problems I wouldn’t be able to grow through them if I had a fairytale ending. I like my life like it is now but I know if I had chance then I would have took it. I would like to change the way people think. To contribute I think I can help set up an organization which would contribute money but also make it aware to the people that genocide is a serious issue and that its not ok . I would also tell them to think of every victim as there brother or sister. I feel that to make this work we have to first inform what going on then . Get people to get emotionally attached to the issue , then we can then work to stop it together. So other then money that’s what I would to help the cause . Because I am so passionate about making a change in the world but I can can only do so much by my self so that why I want to let everyone know that this is the right thing to do.

day 13 jasmine ? by salt

Day 13 by Salt
In my life I’ve shown that I’m spoiled and always want to get what I want when I want it. All the time however in life you can’t have it your way at all. Sometimes real life just catch up with you and expose you. That ending of this is it I’m happy seem to never come anyway in real life. I mean when you finally get something in life that you have always wanted eventually it breaks down or causes you problems because nothing and nobody is perfect. Even with winning you have that trophy or title you’ve won but if you are a true champion you have scars to prove it. Even with those who don’t have scars feel bad for the rest of their life or isn’t considered a real winner because they did nothing to get where they are. My character Marjane had a fairy tale happen in getting married but time later to end the book she got divorced and moved to france. There are no fairy tales.
I learned this the hard way. After a long summer of playing and having fun when I was 14 years old I liked this girl real bad. The whole summer I couldn’t get her to like me but I was persistent and tried anyway. I dressed nice and treated her how I dressed. By the end of the summer I had got a little taller and she started to be attracted to me, so I felt like a million bucks. I finally had the courage to ask her to be my girl friend and she had agreed. This was the best fairy tale ending to a summer. However weeks later my peers began to snicker behind my back. I mean everyone was laughing at me. I then found out she was pregnant and I had done nothing with her. This messed up my child hood innocence up forever somebody my age was having a baby. I then realized fairy tales are for the movies when you don’t know what happens next.

Adam Barber -teri ?

I am not going to lie other than the donation and making the bones there is really not much i am going to do for the people in genecide and i really doubt most of the people that were involved in the bones project will. now im not saying they dont deserve it and that i am not willing but the fact that i have never been able to meet or expeirience anything to do with genecide makes it a charity that i do not connect with as much. i do wish i could save all those kids but there is really not that much i can do expecially if i am getting involved in charitys that i am much more personalized with like saving animals for example. although i do believe these kids in genecide need help alot more and anytime someone brings a donation box and asks me for some money ill give them what i got to make sure that i am at least contributing to the cause. Also i will let other know about this terrible thing thats going on and hopefully in my telling of genecide ill find a person who is truly moved by their story and decideds to dedicate their entire life to saving them.

i didnt want a fairy tale ending!!

jasmine: trufthfully i never really wanted a a fairytale ending before i was never that person to belive in things that werent really real. i would always see the other people didnt want to see. like for example my sister was dating this dude and he would say "u know i love you" and she belived him long story short i knew that. her relationship with him was not going to work because i seen the things that she didnt see in that relationship and so after that i was like fairy tale ending dont really happen in life and when things go bad they go bad you cant do anything about it except change yourself and make a diffrence in yourself first before doing something so thats someting else that i learned when i was younger. i also thought fairytales where only in movies and cartoons and shows and i still do because those shows, movies etc. are not realistic at all they dont show anything real about the relationship with the couple , or with the family thats on the verge of a divorce, or bassically life they make it seem like to teenagers that you will be with your boyfriend/girlfriend for the rest of your life and to me thats like a waste of time on the media's part because i know that... are not going to last at all i say this because i dont believe in fairy tales i dont even blive in that perfect guy or that perfect girl at all i just dont think there is one of those at all. so thats just how i feel when it comes to things like that.
Teri:ummm this is a hard question because its hard to say what i would do besides give money and make things.... but i would also get other people aware of the problem thats going on so i would really try to spread it around as much as possible and too see how many people i can get to help, and i would also du creative art things to get people involved and also have fun with it. so thats what i would i do

Difference and happy ending.

@ Terri
I dont know how I could make a difference. I always planned to paint the story of peoples lives and show it to the world. I guess I could paint or draw the face of genocide and show the world how it looks to me which isnt a bad idea. On the other hand it feels so small compared to what other could do but its a start. If a few people can see what genocide does to people then we have made a difference in someones life. If one person is reached they will reach another. And so the cycle would repeat. The fact is im not as settled as mosty people. Ideas are always there so this is just a beta step intow hat I think will be my ultimate project.

@Jasmine
Never had a fairy tale ending. Those do not exist for me if i did i could imagine me being spoiled and expecting all good shit to happen. That just isnt life so I would of been hit harder by not walking across the stage than i already was at first. Fariy tale ending would of ruined my perspective on life alot because I would not know the idea of negative outcomes and backire. Truth is Id probably demand stuff went my way rather than making it happen. The way I see it always having what you want or having something end the way you want all the time ruins your perspective on life and ultimately kills any trace of negativity leading to your own demise when you go encounter it. I thank the fact I never got one for if I did I would be naive and corrupted by always having that sspecial ending in my situations never really learning a lesson.

The last post response by Leah

Jasmine:

Questions like this are so hard for me to answer,
I can never think of a perfect example until way later.

Hmm, well I guess one time in my life that I wished for a fairy tale ending and ended up with the complete opposite was when my dad moved.
I was four years old, and at the time I was under the impression that he would be coming back, but no he stayed in the East coast and he still lives there to this day.
We still visit each other, so he hasn't lost complete touch with my family.

In fact he's coming to Chicago to drive me back to Wisconsin this weekend.
Anyway, I guess if he had moved back my life would be completely different.
I think maybe my mother and I would have/had a better relationship.
Because being together with only each other was too much at times.

Also my dad and have a weird relationship as well whenever I go visit him there isn't a huge emotional connection between us. Especially since he's at work a majority of the time I go visit him (he's a doctor).



Teri:

Like I've said in posts before, someday I want to come up with my own project!
I'm not sure how to expand on this because I have no clue how I'm going to get that started.
Except I do know it's something I want for the future, not right now.
So for the time being I want to participate in more things like the one million bones project whenever I can.

jasmin!/TERI

JASMIN:yea i honetly used to wish that my dad would come back before i was to old. But as time went on and i got oldere i soon relized there was no happy ending to my situation, it was a really hard thing for me to except at one point. But i obvousley had to move on. If i could go back and somehow change things i totaly wouldnt, but i felt like i missed out on a father aspect, and a mans mind becuase he wasent around, but if he still was i know for a fact that i would have better things in my life. My dad was a rich man by secret so i know he had money. But at times i sit and think that everything happens for a reason. So maby i would have been a mean person, or a robber, or just plain crazy. I probably wouldnt have got this chance to come to bridge and meet the amazing people i have in daneil and steves class. But any way you slice it I still have no father, but then again who said i needed one to be the person i am today.

TERRY: Dam Teri your question is hard to answer, but i guess to help out i will try to be a good person and not hurt others, and yea it sounds simple and easy but thats jus as simple as the genocides doing harm to other people. I think its easy for people to put others down in todays society, and it can be just from hurtful words now i cant imagine how people feel when they have there whole life and dreams destroyed right infront their faces, but thats exactly why i think if society today was less judgmental and less crazy, we would have a better understanding of us human beings and what we live for. In the countries of genocides thats the last thing they do or think of, and i know this becuase of the ridicouls death count.

the last post by teri!

lately we have been talking about genocide and the cradle project so i want you to tell me what it is that you want to do to contribute to one of these projects besides making a bone or giving money. just tell me how you plan to make a diffrence!

C.J.'s Final Notebook Response

My life has been the complete opposite of a fairy tale. I have never really had that picture perfect ending... Don't get me wrong, I have my good times, and my life isn't the absolute worst, but it isn't all roses and sunshine either. There have been so many times that I have wanted things to go better. Like for example, a few years ago I had a crush on a girl in my world lit class. She was the sweetest girl I knew at the time. She had the most attractive personality and physically she was gorgeous. When ever she would look at me with those deep bluish-green eyes I would be unable to speak, move, or hear anyone else around me. I liked her alot but I never had the courage to say anything to her about it. I wished I could man up and just ask her out, but I just couldn't. I wanted the fairy tale ending of nerd gets girl, bt it didn't quite work out like that...I'm not sure how my life would be different if I did ask her. We she might have said yes, it could have spawned a great relationship, who knows. I might even have a better outlook on life if I had. I am not into dwelling on the past. I wish to move on and I have. I'm sure that there is a girl out there for me. When I find her, we will be happy, I'm sure. but life is no fairytale.

Adam Barber

There have been alot of instances in my life were i have wished for a fairy tail ending but in the end got the opposite, for example when i was on the school radio station. we started of great we had a couple people listening and all together it was a great time until one day... we had the b96 radio staion broadcasting at our school that day because of a huge football game going on. because of this game alot more people than usual were listnening and because of the broadcasting interuption from b96 we could not use the dump button (erases 20 seconds of live broadcasting) so we were doing are show as usuall when suddenly i hear my freind john scream "FUCK!!!" i look over to him and relise my other partner Chen had turned his headphones up all the way and he freaked out! not knowing the dumb button wasnt working chen yealled "FUCK MAN PRESS THE DUMP BUTTON QUICK" i dived for the butoon but then relized it wasnt working and started freaking after that happened i got a phone call from our teacher screaming at me telling me i could be arrested for this and that we have at least 30 to 40 listeners today that all heard our little freak out and were sending in complaints. after the incident the next monday i went in to see my teacher, he knew i wasnt the one that was swearing so he told me he would see what he could do with getting me in next semester but the board all heard about my rep and decided they didnt want another incident like that. If i would have just been able to join radio again with no problem then i would have never learned that you cant just mess up like that and get away with it you have to always make sure if your working with someone they have to be just as dedicated as you are, or else youle be stuck getting hurt for their mistakes.

Last posts jasmine -
I really can't remember ever wanting a fairy tale ending.. I guess I always hope things will turn out well in the end. In high school I dated this guy for about three years, and he was always the only person I seriously could see myself with. But our relationship kind of went down hill. He left for a year, and when he came home we fought all the time, but we couldn't seem to move on from each other. It took me awhile to realize we just weren't going to have that fairytale ending, because even though we had love for each other we weren't meant to be together.. I'm glad that things turned out the way they did though because im happy now and content on just doing me and being independent, it's taught me a lot about myself and not to just think with my heart but think with my head also. Im happy to say he's still my friend today too. :)
Teri -
Besides giving a bone and contributing money the biggest way I can think to help is just put my voice out there and spread the word about genocide and things we can do to make change. I think if everyone does this, it really will make a difference because talking about it makes people recognize the issue at hand.

Just Dance gonna be okay dada doot doot

Jasmin

Everyday of my life is a fairytale, I always say that because even though things that I may not want to happen does happen, it never last long and good always wins over evil, unless I'm the evil. I haven't been through anything so tragic that I'd wished for a fairytale ending its always bound to happen for me. But I did like the way truenote books ended it was just a reality check at the end like dang this is real. The last couple of chapters went really fast got new people and the old were gone doing there thing in the big house, but Kevin was like the main focus at the end, poor Kevin I felt a liitle bad for him and his family. I don't know what really happened but if he was defending himself it sucks he won't be able to go on a date or see a movie for 26 years and by that time no one is going to be checking for him like that.

Terri

I'm not sure if i'll be doing more with the million bones project, I don't get into things like that its not my battle I do feel sorry and donating and making bones I don't mind doing but commiting myself to thing like fighting against genocide isn't for me I'm a lover not a fighter. I will pray and leave it in Gods hands, that he will make this right and help these people. But I would like to make a difference with people who have addictions. That doesn't seem too big of a project to me and I can manage that. I hate to see people go down the wrong road because of drugs and booze. Someday I can make that diffrence and save lives, soon I hope.

Day 13: Molly

Jasmine

When I was growing up I already had my "fairytale ending" planned. I first want to point out that I had a very big imagination. I dreamed that I would have a big house and have the coolest electronics like a touch screen TV. I also wanted to be by my self but have all my friends living with me. I would have more than 12 bed rooms (with a slide in each of them that would lead to the pool). I would have 6 bathrooms with a steam shower and everything touch sensitive like a hand touch sink. I would have a security sound activated system that would do everything for me. I also wanted to have a tennis cour with a rock climbing wall. Because I love both of those sports. In my fantasy house I would love to have a lot of pets because right now I only have a westie (dog) and a fish. I would like a lot of pets in my house just no cats.

I do not always want to single however that's just the case for now. I do want to get married however it has to be the one. I want a perfect husband who will take care of me and will love me every day. I do not want a husband that doesn't do shit he has to be committed to. I do want a lot of kids because I have one sister which is kinda boring. The amount of kids i would like to have is 7. That is the same amount of kids that my Auntie Liz has and it is so much fun going to see them because they are all crazy and loud! Sometimes Fairytale endings do not always have a happy ending we all half to pay the price in some way with interferences that come in the way. But I want to still keep my fairytale ending because I think my future life will be very exciting if I do well at a job and at college. I will take the challenges that come in between these goals because I know what I want in my life and I wont back down.

Teri

When It comes to being involved I am opened to a lot of ideas. I want to make a difference that will catch someones eye. The project that I want to be most involved in is The Cradle project because it seems today their are more orphans in the world that we could ever imagine. The idea that I had in mind of contributing to this project is live auction online. The steps would be easy. For each person that would like to get involved would half to make a unique cradle and find a child with a unbelievable story.

The cradle can be constructed creatively and how your mind reacted to the story. After building the cradle the cradles would be donated to the family that you got the story from. This shows that you actually listen and are humbled about it. After this process you can donate any amount of money that you are willing to donate. I want this to be an idea that will actually be successfully made in the future.

The Last Post

I know that in both books we expected the fairy tale ending but to our surprise we got the raw truth!!! but I want to know did you ever want a fairytale ending in a situation in your life? And if you would have got it would it change how you feel about things in your life today?

SICK VIDEO BY STOP MOTION ARTIST NAMED BLU!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMoKcsN8wM8

Bon Voyage!

Hey, everyone!

I wanted to take one more second to say goodbye to all of you. I'm truly sad to be leaving, and I'm very jealous that Steve gets you all to himself next week. I'll be posting some photos and notes on the blog, and I'll be reading all of your posts.

Also, look for a note from me on Thursday morning! Here are some photos from today's class.

Enjoy!
Danielle

bills and genocide

Adam: in my book persepolis the character marjane is forced tofake the real person she is, I think this because when she moved to austria she made friends that didn’t really care for her at all but she stayed friends with them because she thought she didn’t have anyone else…like for instence she started doing drugs and doing things that she wasn’t supsse to do and. And also I can say in the book that when she was asked what ethnicity she was she said french I felt it was her not being able to say what she really was because she was embarassed. And I have also have been in lots of situations where I have been where I had to do things that I didn’t want to do. Like one time it was a hard time for me and my family so I needed to help my mom pay bills… I mean im still a teenager why do I have to pay bills but I mean hey I had to do it because I didn’t want to stay in a house with no lights or without hot water, or the fact that I and my family had to eat so I had to eat, I mean I had to pay bills instead of going shopping with my friends my friends would say hey lets hit the mall, and im like no man I gatta help my mom pay bills sothats one things that im actually hated doing but I did it because I had to eat and stay at the home so it actually benificted me at all times I didn’t have to worry about the light go off or not having food in the house or the hot water going off and having cold water for everything… so it helped me in the long run!
C.J: oh my gosh I would so protest first off I would say to others who are trying to do it is “look at the people who you are killing imagine them to be you or to be a family member or a friend” and I would also say “what the hell are you thinking doing this to people?” like I cant even grasp the fact that this is still happening now and truthfully I might go on telling them that’s its wrong…. And if that don’t work I might result to violence…to maybe “self defense” and then tell them its wrong and then let them make that desion… but then again I don’t think I would do anything because first history repeats its self so I have a voice and I will use it but that doesn’t mean that they will change their mind and as well that goes along for the violence comment I made… I can beat them up but that doesn’t mean they will change what they are doing, so truthfully im not sure what I would do actually!

day 12 c.j. ?

Day 12 by salt
Genocide is running rampage like in African countries all over. To stop it has not been solved or even touched upon in my opinion. Genocide goes on for just absolutely no reason. The fact of you killing people who can not fight back is weird. I mean if the case is ruling the helpless humans then all of the horrible things the countries have done they should just use it as a threat to scare the people into doing what you want them to do. To me it just goes on because misery loves company. I mean if the culture of these societies were thriving I don’t think they would waste time raping and killing women and children. So in my opinion the frustration of being poor and running a country that is not going anywhere turns into violent vile acts. I mean that’s the only thing I have because my mind do not think on the level of human being who do those type of things.
If genocide was done in my country and I was not of the race the country was persecuting then I would just keep my mouth closed. I don’t think when government over rules things you could try to stop what they are doing by being a gunless tyrant. To get things accomplished within the government you have to get apart of it. That’s what I would do I would try to get as far as I could politically in the government , then slowly change things over time. Under any circumstances however I would never treat the other race dis respectively I would simply keep my mouth close and be their spy as I climb in the government. To change things and win a strategy is the best way.

Genocide !

C.J:

I would honestly be to afraid of going against the government if they said genocide was alright. I would march and protest with others but standing alone nope, cause they've been a shot me in the face and I'd never got to stay with my family. If its my race then I'd be more braver cause I feel i'd die eventually and i'd do everything to protect my family and friends. I know i'd fight back if they tried to come in our town and hurt us, but I can't say. That would be terrible. But depending on the circumstances I hate to see people hurt each other I would probably get sick of the whole thing and try to make a change.

I don't wanna/ Hell no Genocide

Mark, at first didn’t want to start the writing class at the juvenile hall. But at first he was scared he didn’t know what to except and he didn’t know what he was getting his self in to. To me he was a punk I almost get tired of mark saying he wasn’t sure about everything, he is a grown man he should already know and be prepare for what’s going to happen. But after a while he settles down and get in to it. And then became a friend to all his students that was in the class. And now is glad that he did the writing classes for the students in still do it for the other students that come in.
There were plenty of times were I didn’t want to something but I did because I knew that is had to be done. Like when I was in high school in order to pass and graduate I had to do a 9-12 page paper on top of a 15 min presentation. I only though about how much stuff I would have to look up as well as type and then try to do really good on my presentation. But I was on the honor and I was doing good so I had to get it done because I wanted to get the hell out high school. I was right it did take like 2 months to get the whole thing done and done right and my presentation was good it was so much and I really didn’t want to do it so I suck it up get it done and killed every part of the whole final exhibition that was the name of the whole thing they it. And then I graduation and got the hell up out of that.
The reason why genocide is allowed I think because no one can tell the president how to run their country right, some people in the head position abused their power in on says anything about it. I mean what they can do if they say something they will get hurt. And if that was our president said it was ok hell no I wouldn’t support that and now at this moment I don’t know how I would protest because once you get involved you are really putting you self out there and I don’t need on one in my family or close to me to get hurt just because of my action.

What I Believe

Genocide is still allowed because of the governments non concern on the issue . I feel that the government only intervenes in certain situations only if it benefit’s there country. And I think that some countries allow because of maybe they paid them off not to interfere with them. Also its still allowed because most people don’t even know it is going on for that fact or either just don’t care because it is not happening to them. People have to think that if it was us our children our men our women getting killed then they would have a more emotional connect . And then I think that they wont allow it going on . If my country was to do order genocide I wouldn’t go along with it regardless to the mess the would feed me through media because I know for a fact that it is dead wrong for a government or anyone to do it . I would protest by saying that it is wrong voicing my view even if it gets me killed. I believe that dieing for the because of believing in the right is better then living and conforming the idea or doings of something totally wrong. Marjane didn’t want to veils because she hated it . But she had to anyway so that she wouldn’t be put to death. I remember I wanted to beat up my cousin for what she did to me but instead I didn’t because I was taught that fighting family was wrong . I did it so it wouldn’t cause conflict with our mothers . So I think I did a good thing cause I got over it and she apologized so in the end it all worked out the best on my part

C.J. talks to himself =]

C.J. =]

Our Government thrives on power and intimidation. So do the other world powers. I think that is the reason genocide is allowed is that some of these factions that are commiting these acts have somethings that we or other countires want so we turn a blind eye to what is happeneing and instead distract our publics with news that would be equivelent to what you would see on The Insider in any other forum. We distract ourselves because if we did not we would actually be aware of what is going on in the world we would want to change it and the powers that be can't have that can they? moving on from my conspiracy rant...there are many plausable reasons why we are unaware of what is going on and/or do nothing about it, i just cannot think of any at the moment. If our government started advocating the murder of a set race i would resist with every fiber of my being until the day that i die and join any resistance movement that there was to fight it. protesting can only take you so far, once you reach that point, the time for action and a more solid example will come. sometimes you have to phyisically fight to make your point. sometimes there is no other way...

Adam:
Actually in Persepolis the main character Marjanne gets married to Reza, who had been her boyfriend for quite some time. She was unsure at first about the marriage, even though she knew she loved him.
Eventually their marriage started to go downhill, yet Marjanne and Reza stayed together out of affection. In a way that compares to the character in your book that does something even though they really don’t want to.
In my life I suppose that being Jewish in the past has been something I did just to make my parents happy. I put up with going to Sunday school and Hebrew school for a little bit. But once I was 10 years old I decided I didn’t want to be in Hebrew school anymore, and I never had a Bar mitzvah which is the coming of age type ceremony for Jewish women. So in a way I didn’t let it continue for very long but I did do it out of the greater good for my family.

CJ:
I think some of the reasons genocide is “allowed” is because people feel too helpless to do anything about it. I mean there are protests and groups who try to stop it but it is a huge problem that is now way beyond us and is hard to put to a complete halt. But I don’t think it’s technically allowed I’m sure if something huge could be done it would be.
Of course I wouldn’t go along with propaganda of committing genocide against a certain race from the government. I think you’d have to be a pretty cold hearted person to agree with that. However I’m sure some in our country would. I would try my best to protest against it, because genocide is not right! I would try my hardest to change the minds of our government but I would need a great amount of help.

Day 12 adam ?

Day 12 by salt
In life we all make decisions that in the future will be the reason we have to make another decision good or bad. For instance myself, I have always joked and played around in school. I had always tried to be the funny guy or the outspoken cool one. This decision to do these things however led me down a devastating road of bad grades and low ACT scores. Applying to college was the last thing on my mind because even though I had graduated I still was in the dirt when it came to my grades. I knew no one wanted a half stepper. So, with that I decided to just work and then apply after 2 years off from schooling. This is where I applied to Columbia College Chicago. This was going to be great I could finally let my creativeness explode in a classroom. However the school sent me a letter saying I had to go to the bridge program basicly I had to audition to get in. I was so embarrassed so I decided that I wouldn’t go because obviously I’m not smart enough. The decision of going would have made me a better person though so, I decided I’d go and I’m here and it’s one of the best decisions ever.
My decision is kind of like Marjanes decision. She decided that she would marry even though she didn’t know if she loved her boyfriend Reza. This however was not a great decision for the young girl. This led her to make another decision get a divorce or stay married she decided that she would get a divorce. This was a decision for the better because neither party would have to deal with the stress of not wanting to be married any longer.

TONAS !

Adam:

To become a better musician I had to quit every other thing I loved doing as well, I couldn't play any sports after school and I had I didn't have anytime for clubs and other things. It was straight music, rehearsals after and sometimes before school, and then saturday mornings. It was hard but I loved every moment of it, all the practicing because you always feel like you can be better and you can make your lips more tighter/fuller and have a bigger sound. I wish I were allowed to do all the things I liked. I felt good to know it wasnt just me who had this problem my cousin also had to choose as well as my sister. When you're young you should be able to do all things not be limited. But I understand where coaches come from, if they see you have potential they will pull you more towards their direction.

The volunteer folks at the Juvenile Hall are nt forced to be there but they are in a sense. They go to these kids court hearings and have little functions for them. I know it may be tiring or sometimes you don't alway want to, but something inside you tell you that you have to and thats where you need to be, this is what you should be doing. Its like you said its for the "Greater Good" <----did you get that from Professor Dumbledore ? ::lol::

cj, then adams, manny fresh jia!

CJ:truthfully i feel as if our generation could be a geniside in a diffrent way. i feel as if our generation is killing of the way wee look and act towards people. i dont know if its just me or somthing but i think that the teens in our generation have little respect for elders, we have all this new technology and were denying others cuz we feel as if we know everything. its almost as if kids are growing up with media to set there futures, and not all media is possitive,,,,now as for the real genocides like in west africa and darfur. I think its power, the government wants full power over everyonebecuase they probably see that there comunities and country is falling apart, and also falling deeper and deeper into debt or whatever it is, but there has to be some dark dark dark! hate in the person or group of people who started all this. If our country went crazy and tried to force us all to kill and steal, and all that crazy shit. i honestly dont want to say i would go along with it,buttt i would be terrifyed to die, actually i would prolly just die, that stuff is way to crazy to even consider.

ADAM:in true noot book i feel as if jimmy wu didnt really want to be there becuase he got sent to the black box for smoking dope, but he got cuaght in a embarrasing way.The next writting session they had he came in with his head down becuase he knew everyone found out that he had gooten caught bhecuase the lighter fell out his ass. Mark still encourages him to right though, so even though he didnt want to be there he still showed that he had faith.. in my life school was the thing i hated the most even in third grade i was falling of , luckly for me my aunt was the only person in my family persuing college. She gre up dirt poor and she was on her way to sucsees , so she knew what the future really held for people and the opportunities one can have in life. She sat my hyper ass down almost every day. she got me to work for sure, and my mom made sure of it, and wen i didnt want to my mom would get her big mexican belt with the eagle on it and hit me with it. it was messed up but i was ignorant, but thanks to my aunt i know working hard can take you anywere .

How to react

@Adam
Marjane is always forced to do stuff she does not want to like wearing a veil. She knows if she does not wear it rules will be enforced. She also has to deal with great injuistces but she speaks out against those alll the time. Marjane as a child had to put up with alot more in my eyes being a child during the revolution she had to swallow her tongue and let some of the things that were done to her and her family go. In Persepolis there are not many occassions when people take whats given to them. The only people who do are those who wear veils and have the fundamentalist mindset. Most people are scared into this lifestyle because they see no other way to live.
To me apologizing is hard for me its to hard and i have to swallow my pride to ultimately do it. Sometimes you think about how embarassing, and undiginified it will make you look so you refuse to do anything.Another thing i do even though I dont want to is take peoples insults or smart comments. I do this becuase int he end theylll be the ones left behind me when I move on. Though I do not always handle it well I tend to lash back with sarcasm at times. I also have a hard time staying in class but I do because I have to to be sucessful in and make it out there int he world and stuff.


@CJ.
Genocide is acceptable as long as it isnt your own people. We allow it because int he end if they interfer we will not be able to handle the outcome. I think it some ways we are right but wrong. We should help but at the same time we are not prepared to handle the outcome as well as we think. In the war in Iraq we said we shoudl help free these people yet the outcome sruck us hard. We started somethign that will take A LONG time to heal as our econmomy. I feel as though our decisiont o invade Iraq was a bad one because we just went head first really. I dont see the war we are really fighting other than to start terriorist attack on our country. Yes ti did need to be handled but not by a full scale war. Some poeple in Iraq probably feel as though weve made the hold on them worse by coming. What happens after we leave? What does the Usa do about our crisis?
If genocide was ok'd I would not have a stance it is truly one instance when I would be speechless and I would not be bale to take it. Truth is genodice is ok everyone a black man kills another our generation because diminished everyday. That is a personal genocide that can not be stopped. I dont have an exact answer ont his part due to conflicting issues and emotional ties. I would nto want to bring a biased opinion to the table as since genocide is emotional feelings and sensetivity will get involved as it did with Iraq. Poeple thought with there hearts and emotions rather than logically to me. As it stands I dont have a set reaction.

Adam Barber

my question:

In true note book their are alot of charicters that have to do things they truly didnt want to. not just the inmates even though they would probably be the best example of having to do something they dont want to but they are actually forced into going their, alot of the staff work there volunteerly and this shows how strong they are because without them the prison would not work as well as it does now take duane for example he did not want to work there anymore and mark at the beggining of the book was terrified of going there but ended up doing it because he knew it was right.

When I was at high school i had to do alot of things i really did not want to like academics all togethre for an example but my senior year i finally relized if i didnt work hard to get the hell out of there i would have to stay for another year and i would rather go work at mcdonlads than do that so i decided to try my hardest and ended up graduating and doing really well in my art classes at the same time. sometimes you just have to swallow your pride and do what you gota do.

CJ question

The reason genecide is still allowed in todays world i think is because of dumb ass govermental officials that are to afraid to fight against things that are obviously wrong. they believe that because its not going on in there country they dont have to do anything about it which is rediculous because we could be helping out real people with real problems instead of spending all our money on creating entertainment devices and other wastefull things. If there was a genecide in america against a certain race i would not go along with it at all i have always wanted the chance for an intense protest and although i never want a genecide to happen here if it did happen i would be more than happy to devote my life to stopping it and helping the victims out, i believe we are all the same so if anyone ever discriminates against someone of a different color or culture i would stand in between them and tell them if there going to hate on them cause there of a different culture you might as well hate on me too cause were both people and i have my peoples back.

C.J.

Adam

In this world, I have learned that we all have to do things that we don't like. Whether its a job we hate, working with someone that you don't quite get along with, or doing homework we all have to do this things because its for our own good. Earlyer in True Notebooks there is a scene where the prisoners are having a writers retreat and the female gaurd doesn't want her girls to sit with the other boys because she is scared of what will happen. She then explains to Mark that he is nieve for seeing the bright side of things and talks about how a pencil can easily become a weapon. But she allowed it because deep inside she knew it was for the greater good. They were all good writers and it was important for them to mingle and share ideas despite their incarseration. I, myself have had to do a fewthings that I was completely against but I did them because of a greater good. I can think of one situation in perticular where I was forced to go along with a project in school, but if i didn't I would receive a failing grade in the class. I'd rather not discuss what the project entailed me to do, but just know that I was very much against it and I did it anyway...

CJ -
I don't necessarily think genocide is allowed in the world, I think that it is a huge problem in the world though. If it was for some reason "allowed" then yes, I would most definitely be against it. I would protest it, just because something is the "law" doesn't mean it's right. For example, it's against the law for homosexuals to get married, but this is not something I agree with and I don't think it's fair. There is a saying - stand up for your rights. It should be someones right to get married to the person they love, just like it should be someones right to live.
Adam -
In true notebooks the characters have to do many things they don't want to without a choice. I don't know if I think being sentenced to life in prison is for the greater good... I guess some people would see it that way because it means a criminal is being kept of the streets and that keeps people out of danger. At the same time though, they are just kids. Many of them seem to have learned from their mistakes and just want to turn their lives around, it's really unfortunate that they will never get that opportunity if their convicted. There's a part in the book where one of the boys talks about how the justice system isn't right because if you lock someone up for twenty- some odd years and he gets out - even if he wanted change in the beginning since nobody believed in him or supported him, when he gets out all he will feel is betrayed and will look for is revenge. After reading this book it really makes you feel remorse for these boys, I feel like they deserve a second chance to become the men they strive to be.

Day 12: Molly

CJ
Genocide is a serious action on what is going on in the world today. I think that genocide is allowed in the world today threw hatred and jealousy. I believe people that commit genocide do not know how deal with different cultural experiences. I believe that most people in different countries today allow this because they don't know how to control their actions of a reason to commit genocide. I think genocide is like the game following the leader. They do not know when to stop they just keep following. A main reason why people allow this to happen is they do not know how to express or show emotion. They are afraid to admit they are isolate dd with their own culture. They want everyone to live in a one culture society.
I would not go along with our government to commit genocide on a particular race because i believe that is bullshit. I believe that our government wants to act in a society that they want everything to be the same. I also believe that the media with propaganda is always supporting it because they play the game following the leader. I just think we need to stop relying on our government decisions so much because in a way they are mind controlling us to follow their rules even though our own constitutions states we are no longer part of a controlled country. I think our government doesn't even care about our Constitution any more because they want to make up their own bull shit. I would protest by uniting everyone together and asking them what do you want to be changed. How do you feel about the government in our society today. I would make the protest into a violent action because it would just make things ugly and may turn into something relating to genocide.

Adam

In Persepolis Marjane hated following the Shah new "rules". In her adult years, she wanted to enjoy life and enjoy the little things. When she attended a party she was having a good time. One of her friends saw a patrol guardian of the revolution out the window. They knew they were going to get in trouble because they were enjoying their culture. She hated the fact that the guardian was stopping the fun time and ruined the night by taking her friend to prison. She knew that she was going to get in trouble by disobeying the rules. After her and her friends seemed to put the negative aspects of what bad things happened that night. They turned those negative things into a funny aspect. She didn't really want to want to talk to the guardian about what was going on at that party however she knew that she had to because of the Shah new "rules".

During high school I had to attend a lot of tutoring help for my dyslexia. I hated going right after school and during the summer. I hated gong right after school because i was so fricken tired. I also hated going to the tutor for 2 days in the summer because I couldn't really enjoy my summer in my high school years. I was busting my ass unlike the other kids who where outside and sleeping in I was in school. I didn't like how my tutor always pushed me. I wasn't against going to the tutor fully because I knew it will make a difference in my education experience. My mom always told me I always worked hard because I never gave up. Even though those tutor appoiments where mandatory. I still got the greater good out of it. With out going to the tutor I wouldn't be where I am today.
what have you had to do in your life that you were truly against but forced yourself to because it had to be done for a greater good?