When you look around you, and you see a diverse selection of people you seem to think or misjudge and say” I could never have something in common with that person”. And even though we may all be different and appear different there is one thing that all people have in common and that’s family. Family is what starts the foundation and generation of people. If we didn’t have ancestors and grandparents none of us would be here. My family in particular is very multicultural and out of the ordinary. My grandparents on my mother’s side couldn’t get married because of their races were different. My grandmother is Mexican and my grandfather is African American, Creole decent. They tried going to Las Vegas to get married but they refused to marry my grandparents. Some years later they had to wait to get a marriage license and had my mother a few years after. On my father’s side his parents married early and had a lot of kids. My father is from a small island in the South Pacific called Tonga, and he’s 1 of 15 kids. The one thing I love about my whole family is that I could sit here and literally type my full family history and make a family tree. I’m proud that I know so much and I know where I came from. I love my family unconditionally; I couldn’t picture life without them. My family is honestly the one thing that holds me together. When I feel like giving up I can always lean on someone’s shoulder and talk to them about anything. There isn’t one person in my family I can’t say I’m not close to. My family and I are so close we’re like the Kardashians. We’re around each other frequently and always do a lot of family activities such as camping and hiking. And even though we all drive each other crazy and fight, we would take a bullet for one another any day. My mother was born and raised in Oxnard so I’m around her family a lot, but as for my father his family lives in different states so I only see them once every few years. But I still maintain a relationship with my Tongan family everywhere. I may complain how much my family annoys me and how much they’re in my business I am very thankful I have a large family on both sides and I know no matter what they will always have my back.

Essay #1

Taiana Fakatoufifita
Professor Crocker
English 101
09/11/2012 Essay #1
Like most little girls growing up you’re either known as “daddy’s little girl” or “daddy’s princess”. Growing up I was known as both. As a little kid I was always around my dad and we were like two peas in a pod. I traveled with him everywhere he went and never had a dull moment spending time together. But as I got older our relationship started to become kind of distant. We went to talking all the time to barely speaking. My dad grew up not having a father figure around, so he was the type of man who had trouble showing his emotions and had no patience for anyone. He had a really troubled childhood, so I didn’t expect him to be best dad ever. Being a young girl going through puberty it made me lean toward my mom more as I became older, because I felt like my dad didn’t understand me anymore. We would bump heads a lot and disagree on almost everything and from that point on it just seemed like our whole relationship went down the drain. As the years went by, my freshman year hit and my parents finally got a divorce.
It’s sad to say, but that was one of the happiest days of my life. I was tired of feeling like I was living with a complete stranger and I knew my mom deserved better. She told me all the stuff he had done to her and the real reason that was the cause of their divorce. The stuff she told me was hard to absorb at first but I understood every part. It was tough on my younger siblings but I was there to help them through it every step of the way. The divorce got worse and it affected them severely. That made me hold grudges against my dad and I hated the person he started becoming. He would come by to pick up my brother and sister but I wouldn’t bother saying a word to him because I was going through a tough rebellious time in my life. It was to the point I was ashamed of whom I was because of all the hurt and the embarrassment he caused my family. Throughout all the suffering and pain, one day changed my whole life forever. It was just another day and I woke up regular as usual. My mom called me and sounded as if someone sucked the life out of her.
She told me my dad was in a terrible motorcycle accident and she didn’t know if he was okay or not. My heart dropped and all I could remember was how fast my heart was beating and my eyes not being able to stop crying. I felt as if my whole world was over and I didn’t know what my next move was; I was completely frozen. My mind and body were traumatized and I couldn’t believe what I just heard. Despite what was going through my head, I was so scared and freaked out I couldn’t even concentrate on my way rushing to the hospital. Inside the hospital I met up with my mom and family still appalled on what was going on. At first I didn’t want to go into his room to see him the way he was but I knew he needed me more than ever. He was placed in the ICU department because he was in critical care which scared me more, but I had to put on my brave suit to get through this. As I entered his room, there were the tears all over again nonstop going down my cheeks. During this moment I thought I was witnessing my dad’s death right before my eyes and even though we weren’t talking at the moment, all that didn’t matter to me anymore.
All my pain and anger was gone in the snap of a finger. I no longer cared to what he did to my family and I all I cared about was his life and making sure he made it out of here in one piece. The next thing I knew I saw a nurse talking to my mom, so I walked over and he told us my dad was very lucky to be alive because he was inches away from hitting his head on a fire hydrant. He’s not an average size man; he’s very tall and muscular and the doctors said it was an advantage to his road rashes and injuries because it could have been worse. It was hard sitting there next to him seeing him in pain and holding bloody hands but I didn’t care; I didn’t want to let go. As much as I wanted to stay the night with him, I had to leave and only pray and wait till the next morning. The next day I went back with my family and was relieved to hear he was going to be alright. My dad was surprised to see me standing over his bed but I didn’t care about what happened in our past. His accident made me realize how quickly people can come and go in our lives and how it can happen to anyone, even our parents. It makes me look back and appreciate how much I really love my dad and no matter what happened between us I’ll never forget the time I thought I almost lost my dad. When my dad got home from the hospital my siblings and I went over in a heartbeat. He didn’t show it but I knew my dad was happy we were all there together. Later that day my mom happened to stop by and brought him soup and some of his favorite fruits. Underneath all her pain and hurt my mom played a huge role in his recovery. She was still there for him after all these years and cared for him as if they never separated.
My parents maintained a decent friendship for us but I knew deep down they both missed one another. We all spent the next week at my dad’s place together to help him recover and take care of him. That whole week spending time with him and taking care of him also made me realize how would I have felt if something went wrong and I never got the chance to say I’m sorry or make up with my dad. I would have never forgiven myself. To this day I regret all the times I never spoke to my dad and denying him. No matter what, he will always be my dad and since the day of his accident I’ve forgiven him. Life is too short to hold grudges and be angry at anyone, especially someone who is one of the reasons you exist. My dad doesn’t show it, but he knows I’ve forgiven him and I love going to his house on a regular and being in his presence with him and siblings. Today, I am a more grateful person who appreciates life for more than what it really is. Instead of complaining about stupid little things that aren’t a big deal, I stepped out of the picture and realized I’m thankful for who I am and what I have. We all should appreciate what we have in our lives instead of being so ungrateful for what we don’t have.

Texting...

Texting is a new way of communicating. I bet more than half the people you see everyday using their phones are texting. It has become to addicting to some people, they get arthritis from it. I personally think texting is an advantage but also a disadvantage. It comes in handy if you’re talking to relatives far away or maybe talking to a friend down the street. But texting can take a toll on people when they take texting to the next level. Teenagers die from texting almost every day and don’t even realize how it could affect them. Another disadvantage from texting is how it can affect your writing. People get texting words mixed up in essays all the time instead of the old fashion word. There have been numerous times I’ve gotten words mixed up because of texting. Texting seems to also be a disadvantage for people because in some cases when people are texting they take things the other person says the wrong way. People misinterpret what emotion other people have. Someone can get a message and think that person but they can actually be upset. Overall, I think texting is a new way of communication in today’s world but it’s more dangerous than anyone would expect it to be. 

            In today’s society, reality television takes a huge toll on people. It shows good points and bad points that aren’t always a good influence on others. I’ve watched some reality shows when I’ve gotten the chance but I’m not a really big fan of them. In a way I like reality shows because they show different viewpoints people have and how their everyday lives are. One particular show I watch is Keeping up with the Kardashians. I like this show in a way but then I don’t. I like the fact how they’re all close because I can relate to it. My family and I are similar to the Kardashian’s because we’re always together and we’re close in age. I can relate to some of their arguments and sorrows because I’ve gone through the same with my family as well. What I don’t like about the show is how some of their personalities are and it’s not really reality television.

            When a camera crew actually goes to a celebrity household when there’s a fight/argument they schedule it. So technically the stories of their lives are real but the events and altercations aren’t. I don’t think this type of show harms society or benefits it. I think it’s just a show that shows how much a family truly loves one another and the real problems and hard times they go through. It shows just because they’re celebrities they aren’t as different as everyday people with a big family. And maybe to some people it is benefit because they can relate to the problems and know where to take their next step in a rough situation.  But overall out of reality shows I’m not the type of person that never misses an episode. If there was to be a reality show that was at the same time educational then I could see myself watching it on a regular.  I personally like to watch shows that are educational and interesting. Another reality show I enjoy really watching is Pawn Stars. It’s a reality show about a family business that owns a pawn shop in Las Vegas. When costumers go into their store to sell something a lot of the merchandise is historical. Most people bring in guns from wars, old posters, and even different types of money from all over the world. They talk about what was going on at the time in history and some people even find out who died and who it belonged to. This show is most definitely a benefit because you learn something new every episode. Even the younger generation enjoys watching it. My younger brother, who is 13, watches it all the time because he likes to see all the old artifacts and merchandise people bring in. And it surprises me how much he finds out and learns from it. He’s actually the one who told me about the show.  We both like it so much we’ve even talked about how cool it would be to go to Las Vegas and visit the actual pawn shop.