The Glass Castle

What makes a functional family:

Being able to spend time with family, and enjoying the presence of everybody. Not having to argue about every little thing and having to disagree about much either. Being functional is what any family wants to be that many families fall short in.

What makes a dysfunctional family:

A dysfunctional family, is a broken home, not even feeling comfortable around people you grew up with or around all your life. A lot of name calling and always having a feeling like you want to run away from it all. Felling low and not even wanting to figure out why. Always angry for no apparent reason. Being in a dysfunctional family hurts, it bothers, it strays a person away. A lot of families can be dysfunctional at times.

A lot of families have a tendency of being both functional and dysfunctional. My family isn't the best family and there are a lot of times where we weren't the happiest and there were times where the love could not be broken by anybody. What family doesn't argue, doesn't diagree. I believe every family can be a bit of both aspects.

The family in The Glass Castle I wouldn't say is dysfunctional or functional. The way there are are comfortable for them. That is the way they lived, and I believe it just all depends on how a person lived in their certain family. What one may think is dysfunctional, may very much be as functional as just having a family dinner or something. Dysfunctional or functional; at the end of the day there is still a family in it.

The 3 Main Points Of My Life

If anybody has faith, it is me. I've been considered a lost cause for so long, a dead end and a will with no way. I have faith because it helped me believe in the things I never thought could happen to and for me. It allowed me to believe in the fact that I had a future awaiting for me.

The more I know, the more I grow. I have set a lot of standards for myself this past year, and I plan to stay FOCUSED while accomplishing them. I am more aware of different opportunities and I plan to take advantage of them. As long as I am focused and have the desire and the will to keep moving toward destiny, I will be fascinated with what I am going to gain through my experiences.

I've changed for the better. I am not the person I was 2 years ago, and don't ever plan to look back. I wondered back then what my life looked like in the future and I could never see one. Things are crazy for me now. I see things differently and more meaningful. I was helpless, I was torn, I was a lost young man, until I opened my eyes and realized the plans God has for me. I am happy, I laugh more, I love hard, and I am full of life.

I love these three words because they aren't just words for me, they are what I possessed in my life that made me who I am today, and what I am no longer from yesterday. I look at many of my peers that I grew up with make poor decisions in their life, and continue to make those same mistakes. I am no perfect person, but if there is a way for me to transition into a better Rodney, by all means that is what I going to do. I've gotten tired with set backs and failing that I have decided to make things right with myself and continue. I don't want to be a person that had a past, and had no future because of it. I want to make a difference in my life, and maybe differences in the lives of others along the way. I have a little brother that looks up to me, and I will be a role model to that young man in the making. I refuse to let him fall in the same traps I deliberately fell into when I was his age. My past was not the best of me, it took the best in me and turned it into something better for me.

The Fakebook Generation

I have a Facebook but only for entertainment purposes. At first, when I first knew about Facebook, I was hooked on it almost instantly. I would always log on just to see who said what, and what was going on in other people lives just to be a bit nosy, but now I am totally not a fan because of how it doesn't benefit me any. When I was in school in Minnesota before I moved back to Florida, I would only be on Facebook to keep in touch with my family and friends back home. As soon as I moved back, I deactivated it. (Only to find out that it was temporary). There is nothing for me to actually do on Facebook, and it actually absorbs the minds of many who has a Facebook account that go on just to type a status that reads..."Just finished eating breakfast, I am going to work out now." And instantly people begin to like it. Really? What is there to like about reading that? Yes, it is a social network and you have access to what anybody says from here and there, but the actual specific purpose of this network is solely designed for networking.

In the reading, the author says "I've always thought Facebook as online community theater." I could not agree with this statement enough. Everyone you know has an account, and they only use it for some sort of gratification. Facebook is not what it was intended for but yet, to post pictures and get pleasure from the many ideas, emotions and upcomings in a persons life.  A person has no idea how many hours they waste each day, to each week to each month on updating their statuses. Uploading current pictures, searching people and reading about themselves, chatting about the deats for the weekend, and ultimately approving a friend request from a person that they do not even know. Many people who has had a Facebook can attest to doing that.

It is amazing to me how consuming this popular invention has gotten and will always seem to be. As long as it is still here and people are still no matter what going to participate in such, the minds of many will always be desensitized.

LIFE

Sometimes I go outside and sit on my balcony and think about my life. Am I really satisfied with the way I'm living? I may spend all day just trying to figure out what my future ahead looks like. I am faced with all these decisions, and I never seem to be going the right way. I thank a lot of people that I have in my life that encouraged me to do what I do. If it wasn't for them, I honestly would not know where I would be right now. I try to stay focused, but it seem like the Devil always find its way to screw things up! Some days, I want to cry, some days I want to give up, but I know that there is much more for me to accomplish in this life than to give everything up I worked hard to get. I always tell myself though: When times get tough and it feels like the devil is crushing on you, just know God has greatness waiting on you. If I didn't have this faith and this belief that I will obtain success one day, I wouldn't even try to pursue my studies. I know I am destined to be great, I just take a few detours in my journey. But all in all I will be okay.

Bernard Mohorn: A Great Man of His Time

Bernard Mohorn was one of a kind. My only great-grandfather and my best friend. The talks that we used to share, I can remember them as if he still told them today. One of the most memorable stories that he used to share was when he was in the Vietnam War. Everytime he would begin to reminisce on his past he would say, "you wanna hear somethin boy?" After I heard that, I knew that there was a story going to be told.

Whenever he told his stories, I would be able to see vivdly what he was saying. For instance, the still bodies that laid on the battle ground either dead, or badly wounded by their enemies, or even by their same army. I remember when he told me about seeing his best friend die right in front of his eyes. Barely being able to identify him from the dust mixed with sweat that almost covered all of his face, and the blood that took over half of his army uniform.

As he would revive the war from his past, I would always try to relate to the distinctive sounds he must have heard. I began to concentrate on the sounds of the bombs being fired, and everyone loading up their weapons for attack. The winds that whirled against the sounds of bullets being punctured into the chests, and heads of these soldiers. The frantic chaos that were yelled by both sides, and even the pounding of their feet on the battle ground as they charged at their opponent.

Oftentimes, my great- grandfather wasn't able to finish his stories about the war because of how many of them affected him. When it got to that point, I would try to comfort him by reminding him of how great he was for being able to fight for his country and be able to stand tall and say so. The feelings I felt inside when I was with him can never be described entirely, but will always be memorialized because I never anticipated the day he wouldn't be able to share another one of his stories with me again. Until this day, a piece of him remains in my mind, soul and spirit.

Education Metaphor

My writing metaphor would be like a painter, trying to make a beautiful painting appear on a blank canvas. Painting requires a lot of thinking, planning, and precision.  The painter knows that he is going to be judged on the quality of his work; therefore he puts a lot of time and effort into the painting.  With the first stroke of the brush, it is clear to the artist where he wants the painting to go.  Once, the painting is done there’s the perfect picture.

The Importance of Education

EDUCATION IS............


First and foremost, I have to say that before anything education is everything. My mother always told me that "without education, I won't have nothing." I mean to explain that further, she means that without education, I will never be able to have the knowledge I would need to succeed in life. Education gives a person the courage to take on many aspects in life that one desires to. Actually, education makes a person who they are. If I wasn't forced to attend school by my mother, I probably wouldn't have the right mindset towards education today. Without it, it actually encompasses me in a tight space; with it, I am sure to obtain the many opportunities that are there for me to take advantage of.

A person can never stop learning something new. With the accumulated knowledge that never seems to seize, learning can never be an issue; it is up to that individual though. Everyone has the same brain, and the same ability to retain information that one is able to perceive. Education is power, it is life, and without life I am without breath. It lives within me, I walk by its beat, and I will continue until I become satisfied. Though, I will never be satisfied, so education shall be apart of me until death calls my name.