A Tale of Two Homes (Digital Story)

I often call Harrisburg, Pennsylvania my second home away from home. Washington, D.C. will always be my home because it is where I was born and raised. Outside of living in the Washington, D.C. area, I spent a large amount of my life and my time growing up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. My mother is from Harrisburg, born and raised. My siblings and I found ourselves spending numerous summers and winter breaks with my grandparents in Pennsylvania. The more time I spent in Harrisburg, the more of its customs and cultures I picked up along the way. I often found it refreshing to get away from my actual home. It was like therapy for me in a sense. Outside of the therapeutic effects, I found traveling to be extremely fun and a chance to broaden my horizons. Surprisingly, a number of people I grew up with never have the chance to travel anywhere outside of where they are from. Some people are born in Maryland, D.C. and Virginia and never leave those places. Also, it helped me look at life differently because of the contrast. Washington is a lot busier than Harrisburg. I am thankful that my parents pushed me out of the box and helped me see the world around me. I still have a strong affinity for Harrisburg to this day because of the time that was spent there. I picked up their culture of city life. My grandparents took us on tours of the city, to city events, the circus, annual parades and more. Especially when it came to things my grandparents valued such as religion and family. I am truly thankful for my experiences and the opportunity to be part of two cities.

For The Love of Learning

     School is a place where every child should be able to learn and play and socialize. To me, school seemed like a big waste of time, energy, and discipline. Academics came easy to me as a maintained all A’s up until the 9^th grade. It was then that I realized I was lazy and undisciplined. The worst part about schooling to me came from me constantly getting in trouble. I hindered myself, and the mood it set at home did not help either. It wasn’t until 10^th grade that I wised up and took education more seriously.

     On the flip side of all the behavioral issues, I found schooling to be fun. I loved the social aspect because I’m a very social person. Once I found out how much power knowledge gave me my excitement escalated. I enjoyed learning as much as I could. Everywhere I went I talked about all the things I knew about the world around me. It was like lighting a dark room for the first time. I truly enjoy walking places and being able to give random facts about them. Knowledge is a life-changing tool that everyone should be able to partake.

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This I Believe: Live As You Are

I remember being in elementary school outside during recess. All of the children would run around frantically trying to find the clique that they best fit in to or wanted to join. Elementary school was such an interesting time period because it shaped most of our thoughts of who we wanted to be later in our lives. Often, my teachers would ask us what we wanted to be in life and often times we responded with the most popular of answers. Everyone wanted to be a firefighter, policeman, doctor, or athlete -little did we know that there was so much more available for us to strive towards. For most of my life, the media and other people dictated to me what I should be. Even as a child I was subject to the influence of others. From the playground to graduation, people have always told me what I should be. Things like money, fame, and power were used as bait to get me to change who I was. From school to the workplace, these three things have changed who people were, into what they were told to be. Many people I know fake to be someone who they are not in order to achieve the status quo. It was not until I matured enough to realize that I live my life for me that I changed my way of thinking. I learned that I did   not want a lot of fame, money, and power even though those things are great. I would rather be an inspiring artist in college trying to make a name for myself. I refuse to let anyone change who I am. In summary, exist as you are and things will change for the better themselves.

The Ultramodern Generation

This generation defines futuristic at almost every level in society. We embody the thoughts of the future and the hope from the past. Now, I’m not saying that our generation will bring the world to the super technological age just yet, but we are on our way.

The computer is the staple icon of our generation and without it we could almost not exist. This generation has everything computerized from communication to personal information to recreation. Nearly everything “old school” has been modernized. Vehicles, cooking appliances, and traditional medicines are just a few examples.

(94 words)

From My Heart to Yours (Blog 5 revised)

My church back home in Prince George's County is a big cornerstone in my life. The name of my church is ‘From the Heart Church Ministries’ and it is rightfully named so. Originally the church was established in Temple Hills, Maryland and ever since then the church has had a profound effect on the community. The building does not hold as much importance as the symbol of the church does in the community. Due to lawsuits and legal rights we were forced to move out of our old building and into a newly renovated space. A big part of my life was dedicated to this church and the meaning it had in my community. A big part of my life was based on the church I attended. From the Heart was a big cornerstone in my neighborhood. The church was depended on for a multitude of things from spiritual guidance to food to housing. I met most of my good friends because of this church. Families were married, families were buried, and families were healed in this establishment. Even as the form of the building changed year to year the meaning of the church never changed. This church is a valuable part of my community, and its imprint will always be in my community. (227 words)

From My Heart to Yours

A specific place that matters a lot to me is my church back at home in Suitland, Maryland. The name of my church is ‘From the Heart Church Ministries’ and it is rightfully named so. Originally the church was established in Temple Hills, Maryland and ever since then the church has had a profound effect on the community. The building does not hold as much importance as the symbol of the church does in the community. Due to lawsuits and legal rights we were forced to move out of our old building and into a newly renovated space. A big part of my life was dedicated to this church and the meaning it had in my community. A big part of my life was based on the church I attended. From the Heart was a big cornerstone in my neighborhood. The church was depended on for a multitude of things from spiritual guidance to food to housing. I met most of my good friends because of this church. Families were married, families were buried, and families were healed in this establishment. Even as the form of the building changed year to year the meaning of the church never changed. This church is a valuable part of my community, and its imprint will always be in my community. 

What Goes Around, Comes Back Around (Blog 4)

Style, we all have it, but do we know what it truly is? Simply, style illustrates the thing or things that you surround yourself with to express who you are as a person. For the most part, style is influenced by your surroundings, the times, and your financial standing. But in reality, it reflects the person you are deep inside and what you deem valuable and worth spending money on.  Looking back into time, we can easily see how styles and fashions evolved over the course of time. Most of the influence on styles came from the condition of the world  at the present time and how people felt about critical situations. Comparing today to 50 years ago, we can easily say that things are clearly different. But are things REALLY that different? For example, I took a look at some of the photos Andy Warhol created and realized that the more things change the more they really stay the same. A lot of the clothing articles and styles people wore back then have wedged their way back into our society and are now popular fashion trends. These trends are around but they are not as old fashioned as they once were. Today, we keep our style as a generation while mixing the old school American style.  Back then the style was more simplistic; it also contrasted with the environment as to rebel against society. The style of their clothing expressed their thoughts, while the background showed the state of society. They also embraced a lot of shadiness and secrecy with wearing shades and adapting to street culture. Today the style of college students is more free and all about self-expression. I see everything from gothic to punk and hip-hop to preppy styles. The styles are very free and vary day to day; there are however a lot of students and steadily stick with one style to express themselves and their thoughts consistently. Regardless of the time period, people subtly tell you about culture through their dress.
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