How many of us think that the minimum wage is to low? I can say that about 80% of the people who read this said, “me.” Minimum wage in Massachusetts is eight dollars an hour, and I think that minimum wage should be raised to a more reasonable amount. I’m a 19 year old girl who works at Domino’s Pizza for eight dollars an hour. I constantly ask myself why the minimum wage is so low. I believe that we should make enough money to live comfortably in a two bedroom apartment. I live with my boyfriend in a two bedroom apartment with a roommate.  My rent is 750 dollars a month and we divide it into three, that is without utilities being included. I’m a full-time student at BCC  so I can only work part-time. On average i make 120 dollars a week and its been hard to pay all my bills. I sometimes don’t even have money for gas or even food. No one wants to live like this. I feel like many young adults don’t attend college because they have to be working 40 hours or more to support themselves or even there family. According to USA TODAY, here in MA, we have to work an average of 120 hours a week at minimum wage to afford rent (Network).

Today’s gas prices are high for what we earn on a minimum wage job. We all need transportation to get to our jobs. As of today, regular gas is $3.68 a gallon (“Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Prices”). My car gets filled up with about $60 worth of gas, that’s a full 8 hour shift of work to pay gas and some people’s car takes up more than just $60 and may have to work more hours. It is frustrating to see all these TV commercials coming out with all these new cars that are very fuel-efficient.  For example, the Mitsubishi I-Miev  is one of the most fuel-efficient cars out in the market.  It runs on 104 MPG (miles per gallon) in the city, 116 MPG on the highway, overall it runs 111MPG( “The Most Fuel-Efficient Cars”). This car costs $22,995( “Cars. Mitsubishi I-MiEV”). The real question is how are we suppose to fix our gas problems with these new cars coming out, when we can barely afford to live in an apartment with this minimum wage. Car companies try to come up with solutions for the gas prices, while the government doesn’t do nothing about this minimum wage.

Food keeps getting more expensive as time goes by. Many more people get food stamps day by day because they cant afford the cost of food. Out of the Mass population, 12.3% are on food stamps (Food Stamp Statistics).  Families are also being affected by this low minimum wage, “According to economist James Galbraith, raising the minimum wage would raise the incomes of 28 million Americans” (Five Reasons). 

“Five Reasons Why We Should Raise the Minimum Wage.” Saloncom RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2014.

“Food Stamp Statistics.” Statistic Brain RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 May 2014.

“The Most Fuel-Efficient Cars | Best Cars for Gas – Consumer Reports.” The Most Fuel-Efficient Cars | Best Cars for Gas – Consumer Reports. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.

“Cars.” Mitsubishi I-MiEV. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.

“Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Prices for April 29, 2014.” Energy and Environmental Affairs. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.

“Network, Jolie Lee. “How Many Hours Must Minimum-Wage Earners Work to Afford Rent?” USA Today. Gannett, 26 Mar. 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.

Why is secondhand smoke worse than the person smoking it?

I’m pretty sure that everyone has heard people, even doctors say that second hand smoke is worse than the person smoking the cigarette. People that smoke need to know where they smoke and around who they smoke. It is very true when people say that second hand smoke is the worst. The smoke being burned off of a cigarette has more harmful ingredients than the ones being consumed by the smoker. Those harmful chemicals that are being released by the burning of the cigarette is being inhaled by someone else and on top of that, the person is also inhaling the smoke being released from the smoker, making it twice as harmful and worse for the person surrounding you. “Secondhand smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals. Hundreds are toxic and about 70 can cause cancer.” Secondhand smoke causes many health problems in infants and children. Some of the problems it may cause are “frequent and severe asthma attacks, respiratory infections, ear infections, and sudden infant death syndrome”.  Adults health conditions caused by secondhand smoke are heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer. Non-smokers who expose themselves to secondhand smoke increase their chances of getting heart disease by 25-30% and the chances of getting a stroke by 20-30%.  There are around 34,000 premature deaths each year in the U.S among nonsmokers and it also causes nearly 8000 deaths from strokes due to secondhand smoke.   Secondhand smokes causes lung cancer to people who have never smoked and it causes 7300 deaths in the US yearly. To avoid any harm to your body and avoid deaths:

• “Do not allow anyone to smoke anywhere in or near your home”.
• “Do not allow anyone to smoke in your car, even with the window down”.
• “Make sure your children’s day care centers and schools are tobacco-free”.
• “If your state still allows smoking in public areas, look for restaurants and other places that do not allow smoking. “No-smoking sections” do not protect you and your family from secondhand smoke”.

(Health Effects and Secondhand Smoke).

What is in a cigarette?

There is up to 600 ingredients in a cigarette. When burned, it releases up to 7,000 chemicals in the air. At least 69 of these igredients are known to cause cancer and to be very poisonous. Many of these ingredients are in consumer products and have warning labels on them. There isn’t a warning label in a pack of cigarettes just like the  American Lung Association says, ” While the public is warned about the danger of the poisons in these products, there is no such warning for the toxins in tobacco smoke.”  One of the ingredients in a cigarette is acetone, which is found in nail polish remover. Another ingredient is Acetic Acid, which is found in hair dye. It is pretty shocking to find out many of these ingredients that many of us don’t know. Other ingredients found are ammonia, arsenic, benzene. Ammonia is found in many common household cleaners. As unbelievably it may sound, arsenic is used in rat poison. Benzene is an ingredient that is found in rubber cement. Butane, cadmium, and carbon monoxide are also some of the ingredients in a cigarette. Butane is used in lighter fluid, Cadmium is the active component in battery acid, carbon monoxide is the fumes that cars release through the exhaust. As you might see, cigarettes are very harmful to our bodies. Nicotine, which is one of the main additive ingredients, is used as insecticide. There are many more harmful ingredients that i haven’t mentioned, but like i said, there is about 600 ingredients in a cigarette and 99% are harmful to the body.

(American Lung Association)

Why do people start smoking?

People start smoking because of many reasons, the most common is stress relief.  For example, for many years soldiers smoked cigarettes to relief their wartime stress.  Another example is people experiencing low-levels of stress in a high-pressured job. People may start to smoke as a way to manage the tension and nerves associated with the situation. Unfortunately, even though the stress is over, people become addicted. It becomes psychological as well as a chemical crutch. Every stressful situation makes people reach for a cigarette. The cigarette becomes a stressor. It shifts from fighting a difficult situation with the help of nicotine to fighting the nicotine itself. Another reason why people may start to smoke is media influence. Just like advertising, media can influence on the viewer’s decision-making. For example, those commercials where we see a  new fashion trend or the appearance  of a new trendy object in a famous actor or singer’s hand, an influence the viewers to want to look like the actor or singer or want that new object in his or her hand. “Studies have suggested that when young viewers see a main character smoking, they’re more likely to see smoking as well as something socially acceptable, stylish and desirable.”  People especially teenagers, may think smoking is cool because their favorite actor, singer, rapper, comedian, etc. smokes. One other very important reason why people may start smoking is parental influence. Many don’t realize that are closest and our number one  influence is our parents, we want to be just like them when we’re young. We learn from what are say and do. Children that grow up seeing there parents smoke are more likely to smoke than children raised from non-smoking parents. “According to some studies, a parent’s choice to smoke can more than double the odds that the child will smoke.” Even if the parents don’t smoke, they can still influence their children to do so. Parents that don’t make it clear for there children that smoking is bad and why is bad can leave that option for them to try it. If parents aren’t strict about smoking or controlling what their children watch on TV that may influence their kids to smoke, may leave that door open for them to try a cigarette. Parents have to encourage there children to stay away from cigarettes.

(How Stuff Works)

How does tobacco smoke affect the lungs?

The damage to the lungs start early in smokers. Smokers have a lower-level lung function than non-smokers. Lung function worsens while smoking but it takes years to get to the point of noticing lung diseases.  smoking causes many lung diseases close to lung cancer. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (lung-term lung disease) is one of the many lung diseases. It is a mixture of chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Nearly 12 million people are diagnosed with COPD, another 12 million have it but don’t know it because they don’t know the early symptoms of this disease. COPD is the third leading cause of death in the US, mostly women more than men. There is no cure for COPD.  Some early symptoms of this disease may include: shortness of breath during activity, noises in the chest (such as wheezing, rattling, or whistling), and coughing up mucus. Overtime COPD can make it difficult to breathe even when you are asleep. “It makes people gasp for breath and feel as if they where drowning.” Another disease is chronic bronchitis, a type of COPD. It is a disease where the airways produce to much mucus causing the person to force the mucus out by coughing. This is really common for smokers. The airways become swollen and the cough becomes chronic. This can lead to bad lung infections (pneumonia). There is no cure for chronic bronchitis but quitting smoking can help the symptoms keep under control and help the damage from getting worse. Emphysema is another type of COPD. This disease slowly destroys the ability to breathe. Oxygen gets in the blood by moving through a large surface in the lungs, usually thousands of sacs make up the surface.  In emphysema, the walls between the sacs break down and create larger but fewer sacs, causing the  lung surface to decrease, which lowers the amount of oxygen reaching the blood.  Overtime, the lung surface area becomes so small that the person has to work hard to get a breath of air. People with this disease are in risk of diseases linked up with weak lung function. People can only breathe comfortably wit the help of an oxygen tank. This disease is not curable but it is treatable if the person decides to quit smoking.

(American Cancer Society)

What effects does smoking have during pregnancy?

Like I’ve stated before, cigarettes contain many chemicals and those chemicals go in through your blood stream. The baby can only only get the oxygen and nutrients it needs through the bloodstream.  The two most dangerous chemicals for the baby is nicotine and carbon monoxide. These two chemicals work together and and reduce the baby’s birth weight and the oxygen. Both of these chemicals are responsible for premature birth and low birth weight.   “Nicotine chokes off oxygen by narrowing blood vessels throughout your body, including the ones in the umbilical cord.” It is almost as if the baby was breathing through a thin straw. It gets even worse because the red blood cells, which usually picks up oxygen, start to pick up carbon monoxide so then it reduces the little bit of oxygen that was going through the thin straw. A shortage of oxygen can effect the baby by not letting it grow or develop properly. “On average, smoking during pregnancy doubles the chances that a baby will be born too early or weigh less than 5 1/2 pounds at birth.”  Women who smoke a pack a day reduce their baby’s weight by 1/2 pound. If women smoke two packs a day, they are taking away a full pound off of their baby’s weight. Baby’s that are born under weight and before there official due date, tend to not have their lungs fully developed , which restricts the baby from breathing on its own. The baby has to stay attached to a respirator for a few days, or even weeks. Even when the baby starts breathing on their own, they still continue to have breathing problems.”Children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy are especially vulnerable to asthma, and have double or even triple the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).” Baby’s can also be born with heart defects.” Smoking during pregnancy can have a long-life effect on the children. They are likely to have learning disorders, behavioral disorders, and score low IQ’s.

“Health Effects of Secondhand Smoke.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 05 Mar. 2014. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.

“What’s in a Cigarette? – American Lung Association.” American Lung Association. American Lung Association, 2014. Web. 09 Apr. 2014.

Cunningham, Matt. “HowStuffWorks “10 Reasons People Start Smoking””HowStuffWorks. Matt Cunningham, n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

“How Does Tobacco Smoke Affect the Lungs?” How Does Tobacco Smoke Affect the Lungs? American Cancer Society, n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

Woolston, Chris. “How Smoking during Pregnancy Affects You and Your Baby.”BabyCenter. Chris Woolston, n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.

Keicha Serrano

Tues & Thurs 10:30AM Class

March 13, 2014

Can Persistence Be Taught?

Persistence is to continuously do something no matter how hard it is or who opposes. It means continuing to work toward a goal even when it takes a long time or things get tough. Without persistence, obstacles stop us; with persistence we learn from our failures. We work with those failures and use them as stepping stones instead of barriers. Persistence allows us to succeed even if we fail because in the long run we will be experienced and successful. Many give up easily, others don’t even try, and a few persist toward the goals that were set. To some persistence is nothing more than getting by the day while for others it means setting goals and accomplishing them no matter what obstacle they may face. We can be born and raised with persistence and we can also be taught it as well.

I grew up with persistence around me day by day. My parents taught me to set goals for myself and to meet each and one of them even if I failed. They always taught me that practice makes perfect and that there is only so many times you and do something wrong until you finally got it right. My parents have definitely been my role models when it comes to never giving up. We moved from Puerto Rico to the U.S. without knowing a word of English just so my brother could get the medical attention he needed. My parents were told in Puerto Rico that my brother wasn’t going to live for long because he was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his brain at the age of eight. My parents’ persistence got my brother live many more years, today he’s twenty-six years old. We faced many struggles along the way but we are here today and that’s what matters.

Parents teaching their kids persistence is very important because one day they’ll look up to what they did and understand that we get what we want when we fight for it. My parents fought for my brother’s life and he is still here with us today. It’s just like I read in a web blog called “The Science of Learning Blog” by Norene Wiesen “Students who have mastered persistence are able to work through challenges, deal constructively with failures and adversity, and achieve the goals they have set for themselves”. The best way to teach children persistence is by teaching them with the sport they love or any one thing they love to do. They will have the passion for it and they’ll try and try to get it right. Parents need to cheer for their kids even if they got it wrong because they tried. We as parents have to let our kids fail and not jump in even if it’s tempting. If they fall, let them get back up again on their own. Little things like that will teach kids to persist.

Some kids learn to persist at a very young age on their own. I read a classmate’s essay in which she had to learn how to walk again at the age of nine because of a car accident. Her doctors said it would be very rare that she would walk again. She kept trying to walk no matter how hard it was. It was hard for her to maintain hope as she says, “A few times I thought I was able to but I was mistaken, I fell and I cried, but I got back up.” Her parents were always there to support her and not letting her give up on walking again. Even though she was so young to even understand persistence, this shows that when you really want something you do anything it takes to accomplish it.

Persistence is in each and one of us, some more than others. I read another classmate’s essay about fixing his car. He knew he needed the car to get where he needed to and even if it was a tuff job he had to get it done. Even if he was losing his patience he didn’t give up, like when he says, “Every little bolt on this car tried my patience and continuously had me cursing at my car as if it were an actual person.” He ends up asking his cousin for help. They both end up finishing the process together. This person instead of giving up because he couldn’t do it on his own, he looked for help and that’s what persistence really is, it’s not giving up. Teaching kids persistence is important because when they grow up and face challenges like this person did, they will know how to face them.  They will learn how to appreciate every little thing just like he did when he says, “All those hours spent banging my knuckles against metal as I tried to loosen a bolt in a tricky spot and all those shirts that went in the garbage from being covered in grease all seemed worth it.”

Persistence can be taught and it can also grow in you. Parents have to encourage their children to grow up strong and never be afraid to keep trying. It’s easy to show kids to persist, you can show them in board games, sports, learning to ride a bike, etc. When you persist, you learn. Learning new things is very important in life in order to adapt to new situations and the only way you learn is to persist. I’m very happy that my parents always told me to persist because today I am a very independent girl that won’t give up until I accomplish what I want. If I ever have kids in the future, I’m going to make sure they learn how to persist for their dreams.

Works Cited

1. Wiesen, Norene. “Teaching Persistence: How to Build Student Stamina.” Teaching Persistence: How to Build Student Stamina. Scientific Learning Corporation, 14 Jan. 2014. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.
2. “Teaching Young Kids Persistence.” GreatSchools. Great Schools Corporation, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.

1. “My Writings English 101.” My Writings English 101. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.

               We really enjoyed making this video. It was really fun and easy to do. We focused on the persistence that we all go through when we go through heart breaks. We just want to get over the heart break and move on. We used images from the movie “The Vow” which is a great movie and shows strong persistence.  The video shows the transitions of when they fight and break up, they cry and suffer the heartbreak, they think of everything that happens, they start going out with there friends and slowly getting over there pain, while finally meeting their new significant other and smiling again.  The group project was a different experience that we all enjoyed. Pictures and videos can say as much as words can. The only tricky part was posting the video in our blogs but other than that everything went great. ♥☺☺☺

Cosmetology is one of biggest passions. I love everything about it , the hair , the makeup, the nails, and even the facials and massages. I was one of the lucky few who got excepted in the cosmetology program for free in Durfee High school. Cosmetology is the study of face, hair, nails, and skin. When I started Cosmetology I had no idea what it really was. I just thought it was straightening and curling hair, but it was much more than that. My main goal was passing the class and getting my cosmetology license.

I started cosmetology when i was a sophomore in high school. We read in class everyday and took tests every week, I was pretty upset because the tests where hard and all i wanted to do was hair not book work. Every week I got my tests back and all i seen was red pen ink all over the paper correcting all my wrong answers. i scores low most of the time. Out of the five days we were in school, three of them were book work days and the other two days were hands on and test days. Mostly every hands on assignment i passed but i tried millions of times to get just as perfect as the teachers. I still remember when we started learning braiding. I tried to do a french braid so many times that my fingers were hurting. The teacher told me to do it tighter and i tried and tried all period until I finally got it. That same day the teacher came up to me and told me “Keicha in order to stay in this class and pass it , is if you do good in both hands on and book work. I need you to put you same effort you do in class when we do hands on to the book work. You need to understand the material in order to do it.” My heart dropped when she told me that because i really wanted to be in that class so I decided to study harder for my tests. Every night i read over the chapter study guide she gave us and answered all of the questions in the book at the end of every chapter. My grades started to improve every week and i passed the class with a B-.

I had to take cosmetology until i graduated high school and completed a thousand hours taking that class in order to pass the class and to go for my license. Junior year was a lot more different than sophomore year. Now instead of being there for one period, I had to be there three whole periods. This time it was less book work in class and more hands on work. We were responsible for all the book work for homework. I was in a different classroom now. The classroom had bright yellow walls and a lot of stations like a real salon did with all the black leather chairs that you pumped up and down, all the huge mirrors, and shampoo and conditioner at every station.  I was so excited when i seen my new classroom. It really seemed like i was in a real hair salon. Cosmetology class was getting a little more intense. The tests were longer and harder, the chapters were longer and went deeper in the subject, and we had new manikins of our own that we needed to take care of. At first I started to score low on my tests. There were to many big vocabulary words and most of them sounded the same. I stepped it up and started studying harder. I went home and went over two to three pages each night. I have to admit it was hard to concentrate with all the TV shows i wanted to watch,  all the texting i wanted to do, everything else around seemed more tempting than just studying and i got so bored easily. I had to turn off my phone and my TV, go in my room with the door shut, and just try to focus. Hands on work in class was getting more serious. Our work was being critiqued and judged harder. Every little hair sticking up were points taken off. When we straightened hair, it had to be with no friz and it had to be paper thin and straight. I just went over the piece of hair a hundred times until it was really straight. Our straighteners weren’t as good as they should have been so I bought myself a new one just to improve my work and get higher grades.

Many times i just wanted to give up. Listening to your teacher critique any small thing about your work, really made everyone feel bad, i know i did. i tried the best i could everyday and it only seemed like she was never satisfied with our work.

               Ever since I was younger I loved to write, whether it was my own stories, or the ones I had to do in school. Spelling was fun until the teacher started grading it. As the years went on, writing was going to change dramatically. Learning the rules on how to write was going to help me become a better writer. Writing was my favorite subject in school and since it was I had to learn how. The only way to learn is to start everything from the beginning.

               The first impression I had with writing was enjoyable. I got to learn how to write my name and make silly sentences with words from a word bank. Back in kindergarten I use to write my name the way I said it. The reason why I spelled it different was because everyone, including the teacher said my name wrong. My teacher had to write my name out in the paper since that was going to be an important task throughout my life. After she wrote my name out, she gave me a blue stencil with letters and I traced my name. I also had to write it out for myself. The teacher made writing our names a project; we had to make nametags for our tables. We got to decorate it however we liked to. I loved doing that project that day. While riding the bus home I couldn’t think of anything else then telling my mom how much fun I had in class with the project the teacher gave us. After that day I knew that not every day was going to be like that one.

               In first grade it was all about spelling. Whether it was sounding each word out or just guessing. I always sounded the words out but I always ended up adding extra letters to the words. Then one day the teacher announced that there would be a spelling test for the next week. The fact that I didn’t know what a test was got me a little nervous. I thought it was classwork that got graded a little harder. There was one word that I constantly misspelled which was because, I always spelt it becos. Each night I went home and studied hard. I made my sisters say the word out loud and I would spell it back to them. When they didn’t want to help me study, I would write the word over and over again. The more I studied the better my grades were. I always tried my best to get that sticker on the top left hand of the paper even though I didn’t always get it, when I did I was the happiest girl. My parents placed every test on the refrigerator but when they saw I was getting them constantly, they stopped. I knew moving up to the next grade was going to consist of much more than just spelling tests.

               In Mrs. Hernández second grade class we would always talk about nature. It seemed to be her favorite topic since she spent most of the class talking about it. She made the whole class write about it after watching videos of different parts of nature. I always made up my own stories, but Mrs. Hernández told me I was not following directions. Directions were also a new concept that I had to understand and follow. Having a good imagination helped me out a lot with my stories. The next elementary school years weren’t going to be as fun as the ones before. It seemed like every year that went on, English class got more and more complicated.