Extra Curricular Activites

I'm involved in a lot of activites mostly because I enjoy helping out and being involved with others.

• JSA (Junior Statement of America)-discuss and talk about events happening today.
• Read for the Future-go tutor children at elemntary schools.
• SRLA (Students Run Los Angeles)-get trained to run the LA Marathon.
• LATIN CLUB!!! -Compete in the Academics and Athletics of Roman lifes with other schools.
• CSF (California Scholarship Federation)- can apply for a scholarship
• Med-COR Program-help us soar and rise and do the best we can possibly do.

Ninth Chunk of Namesake

DING, DING, DING, We have a winner!!!! Gogol and Moushumi end up having chemistry allright. Within the next that passes they have lunch together at an Italian restuarunt that is near by Gogol's work seeing as how he has an important meeting to attend after lunch. Here they talk some more and enjoy eachother's company, talking of work, and what he's working on. Before they know time flew by and it's time to leave the place. Before they leve the wiater asks if they're brother and sister, Gogol gets offended at first, but Moushumi just laughs thinking of the fact that after all these years someone really buys the idea that they are family.
They end up leaving the restuarnt and leave outside and it is very chilly and Moushumi offers to buy him a hat at this one store that is near by. They go into the store and look for hats and they finally find one that suits him. When it's time to pay for the hat Moushumi pays for it not allowing Gogol stating that it was her idea in the first place. At the register she finds a one of a kind hat and it looks good on her, but can't afford it. She ends up buying Gogol's hat and they walk back to his office. At the end of the day he returns to the store and buys her the hat a birthday present.
The next weekend he goes to her house and they end up making love and their relationship began just like that.
They begin to live in eachother's apartment's and talk about how much and little they know eachother. So far this relation seems to be on the right tracks.

Question: How do you know when you have found the one?

Eigth Chunk of Namesake

With the death of a fellow loved one Lahiri takes on the funeral journey this Bengali family takes, for 11 days they eat no meat and eat a plain meal that only makes sense for them to eat for in a way it fills up the empty space of their dad not being there. One month after this tragedy Gogol has to go back to work, but his sister Sonia stays to help out her mom. In the midst of all of this Gogol breaks up with Maxine, because Gogol is still depressed about his dad and Max just wants him to move as if nothing has happened and he can't do that. Now a year later Gogol visits his mother often mostly to see the picture of his father all by himself in the hallway that they have. They eventually go to Calcultta during the summer to scatter his father's ashes and the Ganges. Time passes and Gogol returns to school to get his registration exam to offcially be an architect and have his name on things he creates .
With his father being gone and he now in his late 20s his mother starts to worry about him and wants him to get settled. So his mom brings up one of the Indian girls that he has known for the longest time ever her name is Moushumi Mazomdar and is currently enrolled at NYU, getting her Ph.D and is a french literate. So Ashima gives the phone number to Gogol and keeps pestering him so that he can call her to go out. He eventually does and they end up going on thier "blind date".
They meet kind of awkward at first becasue although they were "related" they never really spent much time together, so they caught up in their lives, asked one another what they were up to and mostly talked about their past. To Gogol it seems to him that there might be chemistry in the air.

Question: Do you believe in love at first sight? Has it happened to you already? Or have you've ever been attracted or felt something for someone just by seeing them for the first time?

The Seventh Chunk of Namesake

Summer has come once again for Gogol and this time he decides to spend two weeks with his girlfriend Maxine by the beach and spend his birthday there as well. Though before they leave to this all magnificent get away Gogol is asked to see his father off at the airport for he is on his way to leave for Cleaveland for almost a year and leaves the same day that he plans to leave for the beach. So more dutifully than willingly he goes to see his father for a while and off he goes on his adventure with his girlfriend Maxine. Little does he know that this would be the very last time he would ever see, hear, smell, or speak to his father. For later on that year his father perishes in Cleaveland. One day during the winter while still at Cleaveland Ashoke calls Ashima telling her that he's in the hospital because his stomache has been hurting, but he tells her not to worry because he believes it's just something that he ate, and then tells her that he'll call back later. Well the call never came and time has passed and Ashima decides to call the hospital sadly there they tell her that her husband is no longer with them but in another life for he had a suffered a heart attack in which nothing could have been done to save his life.
So after being in shock and crying she calls her children, Sonia right away form San Francisco leaves to where her mom is and Gogol leaves directly from LaGuardia to Cleavand to do all the necessary processes for his dad. He goes to the hospital and sees his dead dad on the bed to confirm that, that is his father, and makes all the necessary arrangements needed for him to be cremated and whatever else was needed.
Then he made his way to his father's rented car and drove to his apartment.

Question: Have you've ever lost anyone you knew? Do you regret not having been with them one last time if it was at one point possible?

Sixth Chunk of The Namesake

After graduating from the architecture program from Columbia by 1994 Nikhil is now livng in New York working barely passing by on th necessities he needs with a little help from his dad to help pay the bills. But now Lahiri has introduced us to another lover of Nikhil's who hemet one day at a party invited by his companion from work. He ends up falling in love for the caucassion girl who's name is Maxine, but known as Max.
They end up in love with one another. They can't seem to be far away from one another. Right away Nikhil is introduced to Max's folks on their first "date." The parents are cool with Nikhil and enjoy his company. The apartment in which Nikhil lives is in no way conditioned that anone should live there so he ends up livin with Max in her house which is pretty much replicated of a Greek revival, in whic he ends up falling in love with it's structure. Here the couple do as they please, and the parents don't really mind. They maake love, sleep in the same room and eveything and are free to express their love for one anothr without fear of wha one might say to them. This goes on for a while and they are very happy with one another, and nothing seems to wrong for this couple at all so far.

Question: Is there such thing as soulmates and do you believe that there is a "happy everlasting"?

Fifth Chunk of The Namesake

As Lahiri continues to write the life of Gogol who successfully before a judge has changed his name to Nikhil Ganguli. Then he is off to college, wanting to stray awayfrom home he left to New Haven, and once he is there a a new school, new bed, new room, new roommates, new teachers, new buildings, and even ne name h begins eberything new and wth a little bi of hope. He feels strange at fist being called Nikhil, but eventually gets used to it and is happy that he i no being called Gogol after a while. Though throughout the time he was in the University he met his first love Ruth whom sadly after 2 wondeful years of being togther they end up separated for Ruth one year studied abroad and even in the summer, but when she returned things were different between the two of them and both realizing it wasn' worth it anymore they went their separte ways. It was that year after they broke up in the fall on his regualr trips back home to visit his dad, for his mom and sister have left for India, during Thanksgiving break that Nikhil finally after so many years learns the real reason of why he was name Gogol Ganguli.
Earlier on is his regular train ride the train had stopped and was delaye for about 1 hour and a half, this was because there was an accident. Someone had committed a suicide by jumping in front of the train and the whole hold up was the police coming and reporting the whle incident. Well when Nikhil brought up the subject the memory of Ashoke's almost deathe was revived and he finally had the strength to tell his son the real reason why he was named Gogol. He told him of that one fatal night that he would no longer have been Ashoke Ganguli.

Question: Have you've ever been in a near death experience that has changed or competely mark your life? If not do you think a near deat experience changes one for the better or how would tha incident change that person's life? or does it even change or mean anything?

The Fourth Chunk of The Namesake

In the beginning of this chunk the Ganguli family has made plans to visit Calcutta once again, but this time for almost a whoe school year, eight months. At first Gogol and his sister Sonia decide they don't want to go and miss a whole year of school, but they end up going and come back safe and sound. On their return Gogol is ready to enter his third year of High School, he is now a junior and dreads the class assignment given to him in his english class. He has to read certain novels of other famous writers throughout the ages. He dislikes this assignment because it revelas everything about him that he has tried to push behind him. For one of the writers was the famous Russian writer Gogol whom he was named after.
There's the fact that he doesn't like his name because he can't ask girls out or introduce himself because he feels ashamed of his name and now learning about the life of Gogol he wonders and questios why he was even named Gogol in the first place. He dislikes the fact that it's not common and that in his eyes it's the most horoundous name anyone could ever have.
So eventually fed up with his name and the whole idea of his heritage pretty much he decides to change his name to what thier parents originally wanted to call him Nikhil. He asked for his parents permission and although Ashima, his mother opposed at first, and Ashoke, his father felt like it was useless he was permitted.

Question: Do you know why you were given the name you are now called today? Do you like your name? If so why or why not, and if not, given the option to choose or change your name what would it be?

The Third Chunk of Namesake

As Lahiri continues to take us through the journey of Gogol through his parent's life they are now at the stage where Gogol can go to school and start Kindergarten. Yet again the parents try to change Gogol's pet name to his name Nikhil, but ended up failing because Gogol didn't respond to Nikhil and only to Gogol. At the same time Ashima was once again pregnant and this time gave birth to Gogol's little sister, Sonali, which is a mixture of her pet name and good name, but eventually since she lives in America ends up being known as Sonia.
Sadly this Bengali family from Calcultta has had to learn to adapt to the American style of life and little by little ending up having to let go some of thier heritage. This is sad because after so many years living thier own way and happily throughout ages now in a matter of years has had to change just so that they can fit and still keep living in this society called the "land of the free".

Quote: "Never before has she rejected a piece of her son's art." Pg. 71

Question: If America is suppose to be a refuge for refugees why does it seem that they still have to change thier old ways just to fit in?

Second Chunk of Namesake

In the second part of the text Ashima has given birth to her new baby boy. She lies in the hospital for a couple of days eating Jell-O and ice cream. Though suddenly becomes worried because she has sent word back home to Calcutta that her she had her newly born and was waiting for a response from her grandmother, that never arrived, the grandmother was to name the child as she has done for all her other children. They needed a name in order to place on the certificate of the child in order to leave the hospital to legally register the child. Ashoke then at the last minute chose the name from one of his favorite novels, and so thier son become to be known as Gogol Ganguli.
Eventually Ashima learns that her grandmother had a stroke and has been paralyzed on her right side, and that she is more of a vegetable than a human now, so much that she has forgotten who Ashima is. So being homesick and her grandmother ill plans are made for Decemeber during break to go to Calcutta to visit. Yet this event had to be done sooner for one day in the middle of the night after Gongol had turned one and had his rice ceremony, Ashima recieved a phone call from home giving her the most horrible news anybody could ever recieve. Her dad had died the day before from a heart atttack. So now she's on her way home sooner than anticpated.

Quote: "Dida, I'm coming," Pg. 37

Question: Is knowing when you're going to die better than not knowing when?

The Namesake

Jhumpa Lahiri is the writer of the novel the Namesake, where she writes of these two characters who moved from thier native land Calcutta to the United States. Lahiri begins by presenting Ashima pregnant and in a hosptial telling us what Ashima fears in this new world. How she fears raising this child all alone without any kind of help. So then Lahiri takes us on a journey and explains that Ashima married Ashoke through an arranged marriage and that because Ashoke went through a near death experience decided to move to America to forget about his past. This leads to why Ashima is in America istead of back home in her native land with all her relatives.
Lahiri takes us through this journey first to make us understand where Ashima and Ashoke come form and why they act the way they do around one another. She lets us know about their religion and their traditions and how really confined they are at times. Which leads into the whole idea of Gogol, Ashima and Ashoke's son, who ends up being raised in America which makes him turn back on his culture. Here the story begins and we end up learning the downward spiral Gogol's life has taken as he struggles through his traditional family holdings and this brand new life in America.

Question: Why do some people who are half Americans and half of another race or mixed are at times ashamed of one thier cultures?

"The Road not Taken"

Robert Frost is a beloved poet who wrote the poem, "The Road Not Taken," which discusses the decisions one confronts in life and which path one should take. Frost plainly points out that in life you have two options on the decision you have to make: either you be a "follower" and do what everybody else has done when they've had that same decision to make or be an individual and follow your own path? These two options are the basis for the whole poem he states either be a follower or choose your own path which might be the hardiest thing you'll do but in the end you'll be more satisfied because you did it all on your own.
Personally I love this poem, I read it for the first time in ninth grade and feel in love with this poem because of the message that it gives off in his argument of following your own mind, spirit and heart and not anybody else's path for in the end the path one takes on their own is the most rewarding. I also liked the fact that he used nature as a way to represent life and the decisions one comes upon.

Question: Do people feel really unsecure when they're alone and that's the reason why they choose to follow others instead of what they'd really want?

Gonzales and Daughter Trucking Co.

Maria Amparo Escandon writes of the fictional Mexican-American character, Libertad Gonzales in the novel Gonzales and Daughter Trucking Co. describing her struggle for independence from her dad and the two cultures. Libertad created a weekly book club, at the jail she was in, where once a week she would read her inmates a story, but these stories weren't from the text, it was a re-telling of Libertad's life. Escandon describes how in the Mexican culture the girls are suppose to follow thier dad and never disobey him which is what Libertad has done all her life until she found a man whom she fell in love with and decided to rebel against her dad's wishes of not being near that young man. As the story continues to unravel itself Escandon demonstrates the importance of independence to one as they reach their level of maturity and how secrets and fears will eventually leak out and all can do is just deal with the situation at hand and go on in life.
This to me is one of my favorite texts that I have come across because of the whole mystery it gave and just all the drama an the connection these girls got with one another just through story-telling. Everything is just good about the book and I guess especially since I could relate to it as a Mexican girl as well.

Question: Why is it that in almost every culutre women are always protected and seen as little helpless infants?

Searching for the Perfect Job. (Second Chunk of novel)

As Barbara Ehrenreich continues her journey in the second chunk as Barbara Alexander in the novel of Bait and Switched, she discovers that trying to get a job as a blue-collared person to pass to the white-collared level isn't as easy as it seems. Alexander hoped to find her perfect job in the first couple of weeks, but hope soon began to fade away once four months have passed. The four months have come and gone and she still hasn't been able to find her perfect job, and much less begin to work. In the first chunck she went to career coaches, online help, phone help and any other help she could reach and find to help her find her dream job as quickly as possible. Sadly all her help and time was soon draining her hope at finding her perfect job any time soon. She spent thousands of dollars with all of her helpe like: career coaches, hotline numbers, boot camps, counselors and anything else she encoutnered that she believed would help her accomplish her goal. Though now she began to worry if she will ever reach her dream job, but she never really lost hope. Hence she begins to realize just how hard it is for the people trying to live and the people living in the whtie-colloared economic stability of society really is, and that it's no wonder why people started to lower from the social status so drastically into the blue-collared level of society.

Tone:
Worried, Strong-minded.

Rhetorical Strategies:
1.) Metaphor-"Winter-Spring Plan of Attack" (Page 95).
2.) Irony-"And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." (Page 143).

Application Question:
Does having career coaches, boot camps, or all of this other extra help that Alexander went through really help one find their true perfect job, or is it better to work with less help and do it by oneself?

Job Unemployment of the White-collared Society

Barabara Ehrenreich, the bestselling author of Nickel and Dimed, came out with another book published in 2005 dealing with all the white-collared people, the middle working class, who do everything right: going to college, getting their resume, not getting pregnant before hand, abiding by all the rules and regulations, having had professional experience, and still cannot seem to get a steady job. The novel is entitled, Bait and Switch: The (futile) Pursuit of the American Dream. This novel is a based of from the first book but this time instead of going undercover as a poor person who has to work 3 jobs just to make a decent, steady living, she goes undercover as a "regular white-collared" person and tries to find a decent, steady job in order to make a living. Along the way she's trying to find the fruads and faults that are committed and doing everything of trying to find a job like everybody else. She did online applications to however many she could, and even got help from career coaches. These are suppose to be the people who are on top of the whole job searching business, and know exactly what businesses are looking for and how they can get their clients satisfied, and a nice steady, decent job without much of a hassle. So Ms. Ehrenreich takes us along her undcover journey as she finds how hard the white-collared people actually have it no matter what they did to prepare themselves up until this point.

Tone: cautious, determined, curious

Writing Style: learned

Rhetorical Strategies:
1. Allusion- "and to mask all emotion and intention behind bland, smiling, and agreeable public faces." (Page 53 last sentence in paragraph).
2. Emotional Appeal- "who according to the coaching web...hold your hand at every step along the way." (pages 15-16 end of page).

Application Question:
Has the time from which Ms. Ehrenreich and now of how the white-collared society conditions in working have changed, or are they getting better or worse?

Our Govenor working with our Environment.

On Thursday, December 27, 2007 Kristin Kloberdanz/Fresno sat down with our governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and asked him questions concerning the law suit against the Enviromental Protection Agency(EPA), and the federal government regrding the fact how California and 16 other states can't set uop their regulations on fuel emissions. (http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1698594,00.html) Kloberdanz/Fresno fisrt discusses the probability of winning this case against the federal court, Schwarzenegger feels very confident in the fact that they will win this law suit, seeing as how the court has already lost four other cases. Then she asks whether there were any problems with the other businesses concerning with lowering the fuel emissions to lower the cause of greenhouse gas. Our govenor stated that there was no problem because before that he sent a whole with the bussinessmen disscussing the situation and getting them to agree to what he was proposing, on lowering the fuel emissions. Then the interview goes on saying that our govenor feels pround that California can go on and take charge and change aspects of the state that it doesn't like and create a ripple effect showing to others around the world that change can happen as long as the ideas are brought up and they are followed up upon, like California, which enforces the laws passed and takes them seriously. Finally they comment on how they hope that this reduction on greenhouse gas will work and reduce our feul emission, which is why he states that this will create many benifits because there will be more job opportunities in the aspect of inventing new ways for airplanes and cars to funtion without emmitting so much greenhouse gas.

Clarification: Does Arnold Shwarzenegger have faith in his plan on lowering the greenhouse gas?

Application: Do you think our environment will really ever lower it's perctenage in the greenhouse gas, or that all these new inventions will really help out our environment?

Siblings Facing the "Real World"

On Monday, Dec. 24, 2007 Amy Lennard Goehner wrote the article "Autistic Kids: The Sibling Problem" describing the reality that autistic siblings face everyday with their siblings.(http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1698128-1,00.html). Autism is a development disorder that doesn't allow the child or person with the disorder to interact with others socially or in any way of communication, and can only do a certain limited amount of activities, has very few interests in other things, and has a repition of certain movements. This disorder is noticable the fisrt few years of life and the reason for which it occurrs is unkown. Goehner goes on and writes how the siblings of autism have to deal with their siblings in everyday type of situations and goes on to question and answers that normally come up with kids that have autism. Like how a parent should explain to the other siblings the disorder thier siblings have and how they should interact with one another to create less conflict, because the autsim kids can get aggressive or frustrated easily or may not play with thier other siblings at all. They should also explain that if they do take care of their disabled siblings that they are not the parents, espcially if they are younger because they are kids too and it's not up to them to be in charge of them that they still have thier childhood to live, but that once they become older and the situation has been talked about that they will beome the parents of their disabled sibling, but by then it would be completely up to the sibling to take on that responsiblity, but most do, according to the Autism Society of America. Also it is encouraged for the siblings of autism to attend sibworkshops to interact with other kids with the same problem to realize that they aren't the only ones who go through this and that in a way that what they fell like depression, sadness, and envy are normal, and that they shouldn't be ashamed of thier siblings because they are different, even though majority of the siblings will just laugh at the embarrising things thier siblings will do and will even defend them.

Clarification: Is having a autsim sibling anything you should be ashamed of?

Application: If you had an autism child as a sibling would you be any different than you are now?