Life Plan

 Plans After High School

After high school there are numerous things I want to do and accomplish in my life. I want to go to college. I have already enrolled into Mira Costa College. I also want to continue my music career. I want to tryout for a DCI group, Then tryout for a WGI group.  I have to raise money for those activities. I will live with my parents and have no bills to pay.  I will be working on campus at Mira Costa in between classes. So I will have a very busy schedule.

Emotional Wellness

I want to improve my Emotional wellness. To me, Emotional Wellness is learning how to overcome problems in your life. Being happy is the goal. I want to achieve happiness. I want to have the ability to have empathy. Not sympathy, empathy. Being able to understand and relate with others. Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. I believe being able to do that is a key to understanding the people around you and making friends, meeting new people.

Like I said though, finding pure happiness is the main goal. One thing that I can do to achieve this goal is Spending time with my family, attending family functions. Spending time with my closes friends can also be helpful to my emotional wellness; knowing that I have people looking out for me and just knowing that I have friends to talk to when I need help.

Emotional Wellness involves handling successes and disappointments, living life on life’s terms by responding rather than reacting. To keep me In the perfect balance I Go to church, I read the Bible and pray. Sometimes I use an Online Bible.  I’ll take time to just stop and relax. Kind of like meditating, but taking the time to notice the beauty around me and remind myself to enjoy and take the time to appreciate all I am blessed with.  The people i meet at church are always friendly. The group of friends you can meet are really uplifting. It’s good to keep in mind who is speaking into your life. Is it positive, or Negative? Are your friends uplifting you or holding you back from reaching your full potential?

Environmental Wellness

For my environmental wellness I already do things to help my environment. Doing the easiest thing possible; Throwing your trash away in the trash can. I try to pick up litter and throw it in the garbage can when I have the chance. I also recycle plastics and cans. People litter everywhere and all the time. When my parent litter I tell them to please pick it up. I let them know that I do not agree with it and to please throw it in the trash. If people refuse to pick it up then I will step in and pick it up for them. I know that it going to end up somewhere and it going to have a negatively affect animals and their ecosystem. At school Kids always leave their food and trash on the floor, or they leave it on the table. It unbelievable how much trash is left behind.

It makes me upset because they leave their trash next to the trash can rather than just throwing it away. I am going to be investing in buying a reusable water bottle to cut down on the amount of plastic bottles I use. I know plastic takes years to decompose. The average time is 450 years to decompose. There are different kinds of plastic, so many veiry.  How Long Does it Take a Plastic Bottles to Biodegrade? Just like people keep their house clean, I try to keep my community clean. The world is our home, we should all take pride in keeping it clean.

 

Financial Wellness

For my financial wellness I will plan on getting my very own credit card (California Coast Credit Union). Not too soon though, I will wait until I am 19 or 20 years of age. Once I get my credit card I will carefully begin building up my credit score. If my friends if going to purchase an Item with cash, I will have him give me the money and I’ll use my credit card to purchase the item. Then I will pay off that purchase with the cash my friend gave to me, and If I were to pay it off during the grace period then I can easily avoid paying interest.

Adding on to that I plan on opening up my own Checking & Saving Account. I want to begin saving money for my plan/goals in the future such as Trying out for Pulse Percussion and Pow Percussion (WGI). I will be working on the Mira Costa College campus in between classes. I will need the job to be able to pay my own Car Insurance and the Tags for my car. I own a 2012 Chevy Captiva. The good thing is that My car is all paid off, so I don’t have to make any more car payments.  I find no need to buy a new car any time soon. I want save up money for WGI. I want to try out for Pulse Percussion. It cost about $2,000 to march in the organization. Once I turned 23, I can no longer participate in the organization. 23 is about the age out year.

Intellectual Wellness

For my Intellectual Wellness, I will continue to Education such as attending college. At the moment I plan on going to Mira Costa College and studying Photography and Graphic Design. My Step-Father is planning on setting up a tour for Palomar College. I had the chance to visit Mira Costa College, but I didn’t get to go to the Palomar college tour. I want to see what both campuses have to offer so I can then decide which campus I will be attending in the fall.

I’m not sure if I am going to study music in College,but  I do plan on marching for an independent group such as Pulse Percussion, or Pow Percussion, or Broken City, etc.  Music is one of the only activities that activates, stimulates, and uses the entire brain. So music is a big portion of my intellectual wellness. Its helps with my creativity. I love to write my own music. Photography and Ceramics are all a part of my intellectual wellness. They are all subjects where I can use my creative art skills.

I plan on keeping these hobbies of mine (music, ceramics, and photography). I also plan on learning Graphic design.

Physical Wellness

My idea of physical Wellness is being in good shape. Not being overweight, and staying active. My goal I to keep going to the gym consistently. There has been times where I stop going because I have a busy schedule.

I plan on training with friends Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. (Triangle Choke )My friends and I are going to try and meet up on sundays, early in the morning. That is one way to stay in shape and build muscle and stamina. I will also be attending Fitness 19 every week. Not every day most likely, but I am going attempt to go the the gym every week. For a while, I’m not pleased on how my body looks so I am going to try and do something about it. I just have to begin with the first step.

To be physically well, I would also watch what I eat. I need to start cutting off the junk food. My Mother is starting to make healthy smoothies. They are pretty good too! We’ll mix fruits and kale, or spinach and blend it all up. I would like to start the day off with something healthy every morning. Giving my my body healthier foods will be better for my health, easier to build some muscle and lose fat. It will also in a way be respecting my body by giving it the best foods possible. Another activity that I want to begin learning is parkour. I have always been interested in parkour. Being able to maneuver through obstacles in the most efficient way.

Spiritual Wellness

For my spiritual Wellness, I have been going to North coast Church every Sunday. For the first time, I went to the young adult ministry. Its called the Jordan. I plan on going to the Jordan regularly every Thursday night. My friend Jacob also invited me to join him on Monday nights and Wednesday nights. We will meet up at the Corner Cafe and drinks some coffee and just read the bible. I am honestly looking forward to meeting up because I don’t get to spend a lot of time with my friend Jacob. So I am pretty stoked to have a bible study every Monday and Wednesday. I have been going through some rough times and I’m trying to to not get the best of me. Going to church every week is comforting and I know that God always reminds me that everything is going to be ok. My focus is on building a relationship with god.

I plan on meeting new people in the Jordan and making new friends that will really stick with me and uplift me. I’m beginning to read the story of Joseph. It’s in the book of genesis. That the first book in the bible. The story of Joseph is about his brothers sell him to the Egyptians and after many years, Joseph meets his brothers again. The brothers do not recognize him. Joseph became the pharaoh’s right hand man. Joseph then confronts his siblings but then forgives them for their doings. He then convinces the Pharaoh to let pick out land and live in Egypt. Because of Joseph, the Egyptians and the Hebrews lived in Harmony. Until generations later, the Egyptians begin turning on the Hebrews. That’s the next book called Exodus. Thats where the story of Moses begins.

Social Wellness

I am in between being a shy person and a talkative person. When it come to new people I usually don’t talk much unless i’m introduced or they come to me and talk. From there I just talk to the person. I guess its not that I’m shy, but I just kind of mind my own business. If it’s just one person and I then Ill start talking to them before it gets awkward. I will admit that in the streets out in public. If I lock eyes with a stranger I do say hello. Sometimes I ask how they are doing, then I carry on. I have a good amount of friends that I hangout with. But a LOT of people know me, and I don’t know them. I feel that having Dreads makes me really well known around school. Everyone knows me as the guy with long dreads that’s in drumline.

I usually meet my friends in person. Sometimes I meet people on Social Media, but I Don’t truly become friends with them Until I meet them in person. I know that people act different on social media that they do in person. They build themselves up to be this perfect person and that they are super nice. But really, they can be shallow people.

Bankrupt: Detroit & General Motors

General motors walked away with Billion of dollars because they begged the Government to help them and the president agreed to lend them our tax dollars.  The president had to make a decision. Both were very hard choices to make, both choices were bad. General Motors provided many jobs. People were going to lose their jobs. Detroit went from being the Motor City, to looking like a third-world city.

Detroit is is huge debt. Its like a ghost time in some parts. Detroit is about $18 to $20 Billion Dollars in Debt! The city’s future is being determined by politicians, and Business Leaders.

period 3 Blog Post

A Chain of Followers

During the teenage stage of a kids life is when the part of their brain called the Medial Prefrontal Cortex begins to develop. The Medial Prefrontal Cortex is what causes kids to worry a whole lot about their social life and fitting in. Once they are at their begging years of being a teenager, they are figuring out who they are.

 

The Pain of Paying $$$

Cash or Credit? That’s the choice you have make when you are paying for something. Which is the most painful? Well many people would say that paying with cash is more painful than paying with a credit card. But why? Is it because you are actually handing money over? Is it that you can actually see how much is being payed? Rather than a swipe of a card. When you use a credit card or even a debit card, you’re not giving anything over, its just a swipe of a card and the bank does the rest. Sometimes when you are using a card it almost feels like you aren’t  spending money.

How To Throw on the Potter’s Wheel

Step: 1

First you have to place the ball of clay in the center of the wheel. Then, you have to get a bowl of water, a rib, and a sponge. Those are the tools you will need. Then you can begin throwing.

Step: 2

Turn the wheel on at a medium-fast speed. Then drip some water on the clay and begin centering it. You have to center your clay to where it is not wobbling. Then bring the clay down into a hockey puck.

Step: 3

Once you have the hockey puck shape, push your thumb down in the center of the clay. Next, you put your two fingers in the center and pull outwards,  creating the base of your mug.

Step: 4

Then you will stick your left hand in the hole and keep your right hand outside. You will apply more pressure from the outside and raise the clay. Make sure you take your time. If you rush it, it can cause your wall to become uneven. When you start to raise the clay, its helpful to slow down the wheel just a little bit. Make sure you use all the clay and raise it.  If not it can make you piece heavier than it needs to be.

Step: 5

Woo Hoo! you did it!

Once you’ve finished throwing on the wheel make sure not to touch your piece while it’s wet. Let it dry for a day or two.  After it dries you will fire it, glaze it, then re-fire for the final stage.

Inequality for All

I learned that That middle class is what keeps the economy moving. The lower class doesn’t make enough money, so they most of the time don’t pay taxes. They stop paying bills, they can only use that money for the things they truly need such as food, feminine products, hygiene products like body wash, deodorant, toothpaste, toilet paper, and clothes. The wealthy makes millions of dollars, but they don’t spend a lot. They save that money in banks. When the rich saves more than they are spending a lot of that money is not being circulated, so it causes there to be not much money that goes around; and when the government makes the lower and middle class pay a higher percentage of tax than the rich, it makes it harder to keep the money circulating.

Something that made me sit back and think for little bit was when the movie brought up “The wealthy people are the one who create jobs, why would you tax them more”? I have family members that always say that. They are republican. The wealthy kind of creates jobs for Americans, because if you think about it the wealthy usually move their business to other countries. Its cheaper to move to another country. The wealthy will just get wealthier. Like in the movie, they said “The fat cat will keep getting fatter”. Referring to what I said previously, the rich save up their money so there is no money being circulated through the economy.

Health fair blog post

Why I chose the topic

Would you like to find a way to stop overeating? I chose this topic because I myself wanted to quit overeating. I found myself eating a lot of junk food almost every day. I wanted to make a change and start eating less junk food and more healthy foods. I started to go to the gym more often to get my body more in-shape. There is also a large percentage of adults in the U.S. who are dealing with obesity.

Research Process

For my Research, Irvin and I (my group partner) gathered multiple sources based on overeating. Appetite control, the effects of overeating, 17 reasons why you overeat, and Statistics of obesity. We collected all of our sources and saved them in our Filpboard. From there we we created a Research Graphic Organizer. Our driving question is “How to avoid Overeating”? The audience we are targeting are Elementary School  children. We wanted to act on this because we wanted the new generation to be educated at a young age because its easier to prevent something rather than having to get someone out of an eating addiction. More than two in three adults are considered to be overweight or obese. and more than one in six children and adolescents ages six to nineteen years of age are considered to be obese.

Our work

From all the work we’ve done so far, we created a research paper talking about this subject. We go further in depth about the harmful effecgts of over eating and how you can prevent overeating. For the Elementary kids, my partner Irvin and I created a Brochure . We decorated a poster board to bring for the kids. The school we will be presenting at is Bobier Elementary School.

 

Japanese Interment Camps (WWll)

The Internment camps

When Pearl harbor happened, there was a lot of racial discrimination towards all Asians in America. People thought that they were the enemy. The U.S. Government decided to put all Japanese-Americans into relocation/internment camps. Many people protested against it, many were for it. There was a serious hatred towards Japanese people. People would write “Japs not welcome”, saying they are no longer welcome in America.

All Asian people were looked at the same. They were assumed to be Japanese. People called them racist slurs such as Japs, Chinks, and Ching-ching chinaman, ect. The american government believed that the Japanese-Americans were spies, sending information to Japan. That is the reason they were put them in internment camps.

There are two sides of the story so it depends on what you believe in. People say that It was a good idea that the camps were in place. That It was for a good cause, to protect the American people from potential risks. Others said that it was completely wrong. It was a violation of their rights. There was about 110,000 to 120,000 people in Japanese internment camps and about sixty percent of them were  american citizens.

Present Day

I hear that history is repeating itself today. Instead of the Japanese, its Muslim. With ISIS going on today, people think that every Muslim is a terrorist/ or a part of ISIS. During this election year, President Elect Donald Trump stated that he will ban all Muslims from the U.S.. He will also stop Muslims from entering our country. Something that he plans to do is kick out millions of Mexicans from the U.S..  The situation with Muslims is already causing people to discriminate Muslims. NOT ALL ARE TERRORISTS!!

I feel that the situations with Mexicans is going to become worse as well. The whole thing that Trump proposed. Kicking out Mexicans and building a wall. Claiming that Mexico is going to pay for the wall and not the U.S.. Not all Mexicans are illegal. I fear that racism will return (not that it went away in the first place), but that it will rise from the shadows.

 

My Photo 1 Class

Photographic Imaging 1

In my Photo Class at Vista High School, We have been studying a few things.  We learned about shutter speeds (slow & fast), Aperture, ISO, and now we are going to be learning about abstract. My photo teacher Mrs. Olden is really cool. I had her as my teacher freshman year when I took a Digital Art class, then my senior year I decided to take my first photography class and once again she is my teacher.

Balloon Pop
Fast shutter speed project

 Classwork

One of the really cool things that I was doing was the fast shutter speed project. We has water balloons and popped them over people. The kids in my class volunteered to pop water balloons on them. I was really fun. I got some really great shots. I had a good time. My teacher Mrs. Olden even volunteered to Get splashed!

Next we moved on to our Aperture project. That was also really fun. We had to bring in object from home to take pictures of.  I brought two small pumpkins  the belonged to my mom. We learning about the F stop. We had to take three different picture with three different apertures (f stops). I shot in F/5.6, F/6.3, F/16. The project all together was “Photographic Techniques”. It included aperture, fast/slow shutter speed, and ISO.

The slow shutter speed was new. I learned about light painting. I enjoyed it a lot and I plan on using that technique more often.  This photo was a 15 second photo. A classmate of mine downloaded this app called my light paint and what  you do is just wave the light around like crazy . You can spell words, draw, or do basically whatever you want! Its great.

Light Painting
Light Painting

We also learned about all kinds of composition techniques. Here is a link to my google slide that I turn in for my photo class. composition techniques.

 

Improvements

Something that I have been really improving on is my photo editing skills. A lot of my pictures are starting look more professional and sharp. They are coming out really clear, rather than what they used to look like when I first started my photography journey.

Symmetrical Opposites

My Photo Gallery

 

Progress in Photography!

What’s a Street Meet?

A street meet is an event where hundreds of photographers come together and we walk around the city and take pictures. What do we take pictures of? Well, there are models who show up in costumes, face paintings, etc. It’s a really great experience to network with other photographers. It can be inspiring and plus,  you can learn a lot from the other photographers.

My Experience

My uncle woke me up that day at around 4:00 am in the morning. The street meet started at 3:00 pm. He wanted to take me to this beach where there are caves. He said you have to hike down this mountain and then you can go on this rock platform and take some long exposures of the sunrise. It was so cool. We stayed there for a few hours, I got some really cool shots.

fb_img_1475919894226By the time we arrived at the street meet, I was pretty intimidated. Everyone looked super professional, some looked normal. It was like almost everyone there was packing some top of the line equipment. My uncle and I spoke with some of the other guys, they seemed cool. Once the gig started, I felt a little more comfortable. The models were posing, photographers were doing their thing taking pictures.

I was taking some OK pictures in the beginning. I was just chillin’ in the back taking pictures, rather than getting up to the front fighting for the best shot. Later on I did work to get the best shot, don’t worry. There were at least more than 100 photographers at the street meet, and each model was crowded by about 30 photographers. I tried to get every model so that I had a variety of people. All of them were different.

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My First Print!

This year I had my first print. Usually I only post my photos digitally (Instagram,Twitter, and Facebook). The reason why my picture was printed was because I was going to enter my work in a art show.

20161019_134554 This picture was taken inside of my car. It was after a rainy day in San Diego County, there were water drops on my car windshield.

 

My Photo Gallery

 

Emotional Wellness

Venting

Talking about your emotions to a friend or family member really helps clear your mind. To have emotional wellness you have to have a clear mind. Many time people keep their stress or problems to themselves. They end up living with that stress without ever releasing it, letting it add up until it starts to eat you away.

How I see things..

This is how I see it. You’re hiking a mountain and you have a backpack that is empty.  This mountain has tough obstacles You need to climb , crawl, jump, swim, and walk a very long distance. That distance represents life, and the tough terrain represents the obstacles in your life. Every time you get  stressed, You place a rock in your backpack. When you go through a depression, more rocks go in your bag. When you hold grudges against people, more rocks fill your backpack. Soon to the point where your bag is filled completely with heavy rocks. (holding on to these rocks represents keeping everything to yourself, not venting).

You trying to carry those rock up the mountain can make thing way more difficult than it needs to be. Trying to maneuver your way the mountains obstacles with a backpack filled with heavy rocks make the journey twice has difficult.

Holding in your troubles, stress, depression makes your life hard. That why venting to others, telling them about what your’re going through can be a good thing. 1. because that person or group can help with giving you advice to fix your problem. and 2. You are releasing all of your stress and troubles, etc. You letting it all out. Your are emptying your bag of rock, and with an empty bag you carry less wight on your shoulders, making it easier to maneuver your way up the mountain. You either go through life with a heavy bag of rocks or you can drop the bag and move on.

Keeping Emotional Wellness

One way is just talking to someone. If its personal be sure its someone you trust. Don’t hold it in, its good to let it out. Theirs no need to hold it. If it doesn’t help you, you don’t need it. Venting is what I do. I good to have a strong support network. In other words having people that care about you.  Relaxing is also a way to keep emotional wellness.

A big thing is you need to love yourself. Feeling good about who you are. Be confident in YOU! Be positive, be happy. It makes life a little easier.