Parents

Parents can be hard to understand and talk to, but they can also be the best people to talk to. Even though I do not tell my parents everything about myself, or everything that I do everyday, I do talk to them when needed. I can talk to my mother about many things, but the same does not apply with my father. This might be caused by my father’s closed mind. He is a very inside-the-box type of person. As time goes on and things change, he does not, and his old style of thinking is not easy to deal with at times. On the other hand, my mother is open to many different things and topics, which is why I feel comfortable talking to her about my friends or school. Talking to my mom about situations that confuse me, or decisions that make me feel uncomfortable is a nice way to get through everything. I believe that as I grow older, I become more secretive about my social life, but I believe that as I continue growing, things will become less complicated and I will be able to talk to my mother about many different aspects of my life once again.

Although my parents are always there for me if I need them, it is much easier to confront my friends about situations in school or within my group of friends. It is hard to talk to someone who does not attend my school or hang out with my friends for help in those subjects, which is why I deal with those problems directly with the person or people who are involved. It would be nice to know that my parents went through similar situations as I am going through now and that they would be able to give their input, but that is unrealistic, because my parents grew up in completely different situations than the one that I am growing up in. My mother grew up in Dominican Republic with eight brothers, one sister, and her parents. My father grew up in Cuba with his three brothers, his sister, and his parents. I am growing up in Hillsdale, New Jersey, which is completely different than the places that they grew up in for many reasons, including financial reasons. My friends, sister, and brothers grew up in similar situations as mine, so talking to them is much easier than talking to my parents at times.

Parents are looked up to for many reasons, and usually at one point or another; their children view them as heroes. When a child thinks so highly of his or her parents, it puts a lot of pressure on the parents to do the best job they can as parents. They try to keep that unrealistic role as the perfect parents. Every parent will make a mistake with his or her children, and the worst part of that is the disappointment. Disappointing a child because they could not get a video game or a toy is not a big deal, because that would be forgotten soon enough. The worst disappointment is that which comes from making a mistake that changes a child’s perception of his or her parents. This works vice versa also, because a child that is so highly appreciated is expected to do the best that he or she can, and when it appears that the best was not done, disappointment could be the worst punishment. Parents and children do not like being disappointed with each other, because it shows a sign of weakness in their relationships, and it means that something has to be fixed. Nonetheless, with disappointment can come bonding through realizing that continuing the feeling of disappointment is not worth ruining a strong relationship over.

Disagree or Agree?

1.It is better to live a poor life but live your dreams.
I disagree with this statement because I believe that living a poor life, if it is to a major extent, will make me unhappy. Living your dream is not worth being unhappy for. Also, I believe that dreams are temporary and continue to change as life goes on, so it is not worth the pain.

2.Lying is ok when trying to keep a good reputation.
I disagree with this statement because I think that lying in order to keep a good reputation is the same as living a lie. There is no point in pretending to be something that I am not, because that would make me unhappy and uncomfortable in my own skin.

3.Disillusionment can lead to distrust.
I agree with this because with disillusionment comes doubt. This doubt can lead to distrust in others, yourself, or in whatever has disappointed you.

4.Flashbacks are a way to relive the past.
I disagree with this because I believe that the past cannot be relived. Flashbacks are meant to be memories, but that is all. They cannot take you back to that time in reality and the past cannot be changed.

5.Forgiveness leads to peacefulness.
I agree with this because to forgive means to forget. If all is forgotten, then your mind will find peace due to the fact that there is nothing to worry, fret over, or regret anymore.

6.It is better to ignore something unpleasant than to face reality.
I disagree with this because the only way to move on and live your life, reality needs to be faced. Ignoring something does not make it go away, but it does make you ignorant and naïve to the reality of the situation.

7.Happiness consists of having financial stability.
I disagree with this because I believe that it is possible to be happy without financial stability. The reason for this is because as a kid, I do not have a job or money for myself, but my parents support me. I am glad to say that I am happy, even without my own money, so I think that it would be possible for an adult to be happy as long as he or she has support.

8.The life of a salesman leads one to be financially stable.
I disagree with this even though both my father and brother are salesmen, and both of them are financially stable. The reason I feel this way is due to them, because living with my father has taught me that finances of a salesman depends on the demand of the products in the company, and if the demand is low, the financial stability would be also.

9.Determination always leads an individual to live his/her dreams.
I agree with this, because determination is exactly what is needed in order to do what a person wants to do. Without determination, there is nothing pushing a person towards his or her goal. Determination is very strong, and is enough to get you to where you want to be as long as you keep your determination strong throughout the steps that lead to your goal.

Eventually, I would like to settle close to/far away from my parents, because...

Eventually, I would like to settle close to my parents, because I could not imagine being far away from my family permanently. Even though we do not get along at times and I repeat over and over again how much I want to move out of my house as soon as possible, I love my parents with all of my heart and I would be no one without them. My family has always been and will always be the most important thing in my life no matter what. I love spending time with every single person in my family, which is why I am grateful that a majority of my family lives near me. I love living in New Jersey with my family, and I hope that the living situations never change. I want to continue my close relationships with everyone and I hope that the places which everyone move to will not destroy that.

Something I do not understand about my father/mother is...

Something I do not understand about my mother is her fear of telling others the truth. Even though she tells me a lot of the things that she worries about, she fears telling others the same exact things. Sometimes my mother keeps secrets from my father, sister, her brothers, and even her own mother because she is afraid of them and what they will think. She decides to keep secrets from them about many aspects of her life and about her opinions because she does not want them to react badly. The reason this confuses me is because even if she strongly believes that she should say what she wants to say to them, her fear takes control and she backs out of saying whatever it is. I wish that I could help her realize that she can tell anyone in her family anything, because no one will judge her and everyone will support her no matter what.

The best thing about my relationship with my father/mother is...

My mother and I have a very strong relationship, mainly because we trust each other more than we trust anyone else. I have told my mom things that I have never told anyone else, and she has told me things that she has never told anyone else. This is because my sister and father are not the best at keeping secrets, so we turn to each other to have conversations that we need to get out of our systems but that we never want to come up again. I love having this bond with my mother, because it makes me feel comfortable that I know that I can tell her anything, and it also makes me feel good that she feels the same way towards me. I would never give up that bond with her for anything, which is exactly why I try not to lie to her ever and to tell her everything that she should know.

My father/mother worries about...

My father and mother both worry about the future of each and every one of their children, including me. My father has two children from his first marriage, Josue and Jose. Jose is the oldest, and he is the one that my dad worries most about of the two. My father wants Jose to achieve his goals and to be able to do exactly what he wants to do, but the problem is that he is not sure of what he wants to do. He is now 25 years old, and he has decided to go back to college for medicine. He graduated from college about two years ago, but his grades were not good enough in order to go into medical school, so now he is trying again. Next is Josue, who had a child at the age of 20 with his girlfriend at the time. Now he is 21, happily married, and is blessed with a beautiful baby girl. My father worries that he will never finish college and never reach his true potential now that he has a daughter and wife to support. On the other hand, Josue is very happy, which is what matters most, so my father is baking off from him. My parents had two children, my sister Melissa and I. My mom worries most about my sister, because she has not had the brightest past, but she also believes in her very much, so she backs off and lets her grow on her own. I am the youngest, and surprisingly, the one child that my parents do not worry too much about. My brothers and sister have done much worse than I have ever done, so my parents trust in me more than them, which works to my advantage. Even though they worry too much at times, I know that they are just trying to protect and do what is best for us because they love us, so it is easy to deal with them.

My idea of a perfect job is...

My idea of a perfect job is a job that not only pays well, but one that also makes me happy. I do not want to have a job that makes me unhappy or that bores me, which is why I would like to go into the field of law. Even though I do not want to make my decision for my future job by money, it definitely plays a large role in my choice. I do not want to live pay check to pay check, and I want to be able to do what I want and to purchase what I want without the worry of debt. My perfect job is one that is extremely interesting, because I get bored easily, and I do not want to regret the job which I choose to take. Also, it is important that before I go into a certain field of work I make sure that there is a demand in that field, because I do not want to spend a large part of my life looking for a good position in the field of my choice. Choosing a job is very important, because it might be what someone does everyday for the rest of his or her life, which is why I take this decision very seriously.