My Best Friend.

         Karina Pena-Seda was determined to join the Navy at ten years of age. The stories she heard from her uncle and cousins in the Navy assured her desire to join and follow their footsteps. Traveling to different countries and experiencing a little of everything is what she wanted to gain through the Navy, along with the dedication and hardship. But little did she know the impact her hearing could have on her future.

            "I am going to join the Navy." she would say as she stood next to men twice her size. She is a small girl, perhaps 5 foot 2 weighing about 105 pounds. Her black hair, styled specifically for the Navy, did not even touch her shoulders. She kept her head held high as people around her looked at her as a lost cause. No one believed she could do it. No one believed she would survive.

            But the news she got from her doctor the day of her physical for the Navy changed her life. She was informed that her hearing had gotten worse over the years which will prohibit her from being able to join the Navy. But Karina is committed to her excellence and did not let this personal defect did not ruin her or her future. 

            Completing her senior year as CO of the school's ROTC unit and graduating with honors, she continued to move forward as if her bad hearing was never established. But it caught up to her."It was too good to be true." she said when she found out she lost her full Navy scholarship to Norwich University. "But I cannot see myself doing anything else."

            After getting turned down from multiple Navy programs from different universities, she began to think about other alternatives. "Nothing came to mind." she said. Feeling like her life was over, she put her foot down and took control of her life. "I was not going to allow my hearing destroy my future." She began to make calls and soon got an acceptance letter to Mass Maritime where she is majoring in facilities engineering. 

           Although she had to switch from Navy to Marine and could not officially join, she is living the life style that she envisioned along with her bad hearing. All black uniform, Garrison cap, and shiny shoes is what she wanted. 

A Change of Heart.

           I stood there, staring at the answering machine on the night table in my mother's room. Her room was dark, no light shinning through her windows or the usual smell of coffee. I could feel my mother's presence in the room without having to look back. The house was silent and all I could hear was the sound of my breath, inhaling and exhaling. I pressed the blinking red button to hear the new message. It began to play.

"Hey Wanny, it's Shana. I am calling to tell you that Acia's house caught fire early this morning and passed away with her little sister Sophia. Raymond survived the fire but he is in the hospital. All the eighth grades are all meeting at school today at 10 AM. Bye." said Shana.

            My mind went blank as I stood there, still. The room suddenly got cold. The hairs on my neck rose. My hand began to tremble as I reached to press "stop". I turned around to leave the room, trying to keep myself together. But as soon as I walked to up to my mom, standing next to the door, I fell into her arms. Tears ran down my cheeks, my heart began to ache as my cry's got louder. My mom held me tight and rubbed my back. I hid my face in her chest to cover my pain. But you could hear it. Throughout the house, you could hear my pain. But I pulled myself together, wiping my tears with my shirt and began to get dressed.

"We are going to wait for you in the car. Take your time." said my mom.

            When I finished, I walked outside and got into the car. I looked out my window, gazing into the dark, gray sky. There was no sight of the sun anywhere. The cars made splashing noises as they drove through the puddles on the ground. The car ride was quiet and all you could hear were my sobs.

            Arriving to school, I seen a groups of students huddled together. I looked around noticing everyone dressed in black with red eyes and noses. Tissues were passed left and right. Every time someone arrived, the cry's got louder. Her name was called out several times."Acia, Acia, this can't be true. Tell me this is not true." one said. Hearing about her death was not even the worse part. A couple days earlier, I was displeased with her and her choice of friends. I distanced myself from her like normal friends do at times, not knowing what was going to happen to her that Sunday morning.

            The moment I heard about her death, I had a change of heart. I let go of all the anger and frustration that caused me to push her away and others whom I care about. I became an expert at holding grudges without realizing that it might be the last time I speak to them. I never got a chance to tell her I still cared, that I was not really mad, or even a goodbye. From that moment on, I brought peace with those who I pushed away before and began to cherish each moment as if it was the last.

Transfer Application

Discuss your interest in your major. Tell how your interest developed and describe a related work or volunteer experience.

          "I can see myself going to college and becoming a child psychologist", is what I remember telling my friends my freshman year of high school. When I was little girl, I observed everything and everyone around me. I never asked any questions but paid close attention to the way people behaved in different situations.

            As I got older, I was told more and more that I had a way with kids. At first I thought it was because I let them make a mess in my room. But soon I realized it was because I listened and held conversations with them. I put myself in their shoes and made them feel comfortable talking to me about anything and everything. Patience was also a big part since sometimes they got out of control. But I managed to seek different ways to settle them down and always it worked. I began to wonder, "Why psychology? Why not a social worker or a teacher?" I soon got my answers when I volunteered to be a mentor.

            In my community, there is a tutoring center where I use to go for extra help. Being a freshman in high school allowed me to be a mentor. I met with the kids twice a week for about three hours. I assisted them with their homework, projects, and helped them create study guides for any upcoming tests. But it did not always go as smoothly as I intended.

            Some kids did not understand the homework or what they were learning and did not want to understand it. They would give up so easily and it made me question why. I wondered how they were raised, what kind of environment they lived in and how they viewed school as a whole. Although they were "too young" to think about college and their future, some answers I received were quite sensible and interesting.

            Over time, some shared that their parents were hardly ever around when they needed help or their parents were too strict and they just wanted to play. One even said that they barley attended school and always got into fights. Now you would think a child is too young to notice these things about their parents, but they did and it had a negative impact on them.

            After three years volunteering there, I better understood why they behaved the way they did and was able to change their state of mind. They did not have the guidance or a set role model like I had when I was younger. I realized I have a lot to give back based on my own experiences and was more certain of what I wanted to become in my life. Making a positive impact on a child's life is a grand thing. To achieve this goal, child psychology is what I decided to pursue at the end of my junior year of high school.  

A Rhetorical Analysis on "Girl"

            As the prose poem begins with listing commands, it can be inferred that a mother is leaving her daughter in charge of chores while she is gone as she tells her to "wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap." But what is revealed in the poem encloses a deeper meaning than a simple to-do list. Instead, the mother focuses on giving her daughter the guidelines on "How to be a Lady" at a young age. In "Girl", Jamaica Kincaid portrays the hardship becoming a lady and obtaining independence at a young age during times of poverty.

            Kincaid's sentence structure in the poem avoids rhythm and lines but includes one, long run-on sentence filled with commands and advice from the mother such as "don't walk bare head in the hot sun; cook pumpkin fritters in very hot sweet oil." The word "don't" demonstrates a command while cooking in "very hot sweet oil" is something the daughter can take into consideration. Kincaid's use of commands and advice's from the mother to the daughter presents the basic guidelines on how to become a lady. She continues to point up symbols such as food and cloth which have a double meaning. To illustrate, the mother informs her daughter on how to make medicine, okra, pumpkin fritters, etc as a way to pass down traditional recipes. Also, she tells her how to wash cloths and set them on a table as a way for her to become familiar with housekeeping.

            In order to be independent from a man, one must gain the skills and knowledge that men acquire. The mother informs her daughter, "this is how to catch a fish; this is how to throw back a fish you don't like..." to prevent her from having to rely on a man for food and/or shelter. The voice that Kincaid gives to the mother, making her open and knowledgeable to the different ways of life, makes the daughter resent her mother and her methods. In times of poverty, there is more work for a woman who is poor than one who is wealthy. The mother attempts to display their condition during this time, but the girl begins to resist.

            The poem concludes with the mother angry as she says, " you mean to say that after all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won't let near the bread?" As the mother struggles to teach her child how to be independent and be able to overcome anything, the resentment the daughter has for her mother blinds her from seeing these advice's coming into place in her future. Kincaid presents the life a mother, in times of poverty, trying to direct her daughter at an age where she is still considered too young to take in all responsibility.