Day 11, Answer to Sherrae: Kiarah Lazo

When I was ten years old I knew a man who got locked up for about two years. The reason for being locked up dealt with drug dealing. I was told he never did the drugs; he only sold them to make money and help out his family. I found this out three years after he had gotten out of the “box”. This man was very close to me when I was younger; I actually looked up to him. Even though he broke many promises, I was a child and didn’t understand the whole concept of him being how he was. When the time came for him to come out he was a “changed man”. I think around the time he was locked up the whole terrorist attack happened in New York. I told him how now the airports are very secure and strict of whom and what goes into that airport. He was shocked and amazed at how the world seemed to be falling apart. Family members didn’t look at him the same; I could tell and feel the bad vibes floating around in the room. I didn’t feel the same, and he knew I didn’t by the look on my face. I was scared and kept questioning myself why he was sent away. My younger sister loved this man. Sadly she didn’t know what was going on. She actually thought he was sent away to Wisconsin for a “new job”. I mean, I was told the exact same line but I knew it wasn’t true. From my experience when someone gets sent to the “box” things change dramatically. Things could go back to normal but in my position things only got worse. This man changed so much because of the people around him. He now thinks people need to obey him and follow his rules. I tried being there still because I loved the man but things didn’t work out. We bumped heads constantly so we both went our separate ways. This man who I see sometimes standing in front of his store, giving people dirty looks is now a stranger to me. He no longer exist…

Day 11: Answer to Sherrae' (Jorgina Kelly)

I don’t feel that it was punishment but one time I was so sick that I couldn’t go to school for a whole week and a half. The doctor told me that I had tonsillitis. That is when the throat is infected, germy and my tonsils were swollen. In class we had started a new unit in Government class. I was there the first two days of learning it but when I got sick I couldn’t be there anymore. I felt that I could catch up with the work when I get back to school. When I returned to school, the class had started a whole new unit and I felt like I was not supposed to be in the class. I came back thinking that I’m about to get a little help from my teacher and classmates but I had to use my own time to go after school and get tutored. I felt that since it wasn’t any type of suspension that I had then I should have got in class help instead of having to stay after school for help. It hadn’t change dramatically but enough for me to be lost and feel illiterate at the time. I felt like an elementary child just learning Algebra. I also understood that it was 25 other students that had to have their education also. So I left it at that.

Day 11: Answer to Sherrae

Response to Sherrae

My parents sent me away January 6, 2008 for doing poorly in school. My goal was to become a really good guitarist and I didn’t feel like I had time for school. I also had a band at the time so leaving was a huge risk. I told everyone that I would be gone for 2 months which is the amount of time I thought it would take to get caught up in school. First off, I was sent to north Georgia where I had to survive in the woods. I was really confused because I thought it was a school that I was going to. After 2 months of living in the woods they decide to send me to a boarding school in north Idaho. This was honestly the worst 6 months of my life because they didn’t let me get started in school. My whole purpose was to leave for a month or two just to get caught up in school. What I had to do was work on a farm for 4 months straight, every single day with only a lunch breaks. With only one monitored phone call for 5 minutes a week, I was unable to tell my parents that this place was “hell”. They still thought that I needed to be there because apparently I was doing “excellent” and I was “catching up with my school work”. I finally had it and I decided to run away with my friend. Our consequence for running away was getting sent to another wilderness program where we had to saw wood for 3 weeks straight. I arrived back at the boarding school and they told me that I have to start over and work on the farm again. The only thing that kept me going was the thought of being a professional guitarist and the thought of following through with what I told my friends. As I was about to accept that I would be stuck there for 2 years straight, my mother allowed me to come home in my last attempt to leave. I returned right at the beginning of my junior year and things were better than ever with my band but a few good relationships with friends were ruined. I attended a public high school and nothing was really the same but I had an extreme amount of motivation and confidence with my music. I allowed things to change for the better with the help of all of my friends and most of all, myself. Things were back to "normal" within a matter of months.

No Place Like Home

I just recently moved back to the neighborhood that I grew up in for most of my adolescence. I was gone for about four years. I moved back to this god awful place just so that I can to the bridge. My first day back I wanted to see the old apartment building that I lived in. When I was walking down Madison street I noticed that the stores had changed. Some were closed and others were worse and few looked better. The houses that were occupied when I left were now condemned and boarded up with tall grass and weeds growing all over them. When I got to the block and walked down the street to the house that I lived in I couldn’t believe what had happened. It had turned into a crack house. I saw junkies walking in and out of the once carpeted and nicely decorated hallway. Now the carpet is pulled up and the walls are covered in god knows what. Windows that had curtains on them now had old ratty sheets on them. It was such a disappointment to see a place I once called home look like that I felt horrible and ashamed everything changed.

Response to Sherrae (Tationa)

I was locked up in my own box. Not literally but like Jimmy in True Notebooks I was stuck in my box which was my room for something that I was supposed to do but I didn’t do it. My friends NJ and Ashley were going to Ashley ‘s house to spend the night. I wanted to go and I was bent on going, but the day before my mom came into my room and told me that I should of done something that I could not remember a long time ago and since I was so lazy and didn’t want to do it she decided to keep me home. It was terrible for me because I really wanted to get out of the house and with me not doing my chore I spent the rest of the day shifting from channel to channel on television and drawing. Later that same day, my friend NJ called me from my friend Ashley’s house because they were bored and wanted to see if I was ok. It really sucked because I was always trapped in my box and now my box was my house. I can understand Jimmy because being trapped in your room is like being in the box. Your in a room with nothing to do but in comparison I could do a lot more. I was just upset that I was stuck in my house that whole day. Just like how jimmy looked when he got out the box was the same way I felt when I was off punishment.” You know the way a baby cries? That all-out kind, where it sounds like he’s gonna die? I didn’t know I could still cry like that, but I did in the box.” (175). The way Jimmy felt was like how I felt. I was upset and while my two good friends were out the house, I was stuck in the house. The next day I was off of punishment and from what I heard from school, it wasn’t all that fun that I thought. All they did was watch movies and talk. It would have been fun going over my friends house, but I’m pretty sure I would have had more entertainment watching television. : /

Response to sherrare (sean Mackenna)

ive been in trouble countless times. when its more serious though and i have to leave, when i come back its always been the same and we get back to doing the same stuff we were basically. the one time i experinced change was when i came back from a church mission trip. when i used to go to church i was part of a youth group. every summer they would take us to some place in the U.S. where people who had little or no income lived and needed our help. i couldn't go back this year because i cut ties with the church and i had to be here for the bridge program. last year though we went to Fort Wayne Indiana. while we were there we met and helped refugees who made it to America from Burma. i didn't know a lot about Burma when we got there but the group we worked with breifly explained that these people don't know a lot about America but they came here because there government was killing everyone in there country. it really showed when we had to teach grown adults how to read simple words and speak English. that was a real eye opener to me because i wasn't sure how to go about it. the thing that hit me the hardest was when we met the kids. from the beginning i became attach to a boy named Friday and his two brothers Thursday and Sunday. they had names that were days of the week because their parents didn't know that those weren't names. they were the sweetest kids i had ever met in my life. they were grateful for everything. Friday was six, Thursday was five, and Sunday was three. the way they stuck together was so amazing to me and for them to welcome me into there "group" was indescribable. we split into two groups within our organization and would switch off everyday between playing with the kids and teaching the adults. i was told everytime that when my group didn't come that day the boys would be sad and beg for me to come. this kind of compassion they showed towards me was something i never experienced before. i guess what i was trying to get at with this story was when i got home i realized how good we have it. they didn't have water,food, very limited clothing, no cars, computers, t.v.s, and even education. to still be that happy to be running around playing all day enjoying life was just amazing to me. when i got in my room i was so thankful that i lucky enough to have all these things that we take for granite. i felt out of place with my friends for a while because i had grown attached to the boys. since then i haven't heard from them. ive tried sending them mail but seeing as though they cant read i don't think ill be getting a response back. i send them pictures of us and i know they understand that. they made me realize how good life is and how you don't need materialistic objects to be happy.

Day 11 Response to Sherrae' / Arianna King

When I was 14 I was sent to a camp so I can get to know other kids. When I went away I found myself getting to know other kids and forgetting how I use to be. I was known for being a mean person and very self indulged. But, as time went on in camp I became a better person. While in camp my director was a 19 year old college student. She stayed in the little room in the loft. She always said to us if we had anything to talk about to come to her and tell her what was up. But, she made sure she gave us space but the space was to help us become who we are. But, we know that she was very serious about what we should and should not be doing. The night before I left she pulled each one of us and talked to us and gave us her number. I still to this day talk to her. She is one of my older friends that I seek out for advice many times a day. When I came home I talked different and I dressed different. Some of my friends could not understand why I acted so differently. As the school year went on I found myself hanging out with a different group of people and being nicer. My grandmother says she was very happy for my change in attitude and my actions. My old ways was making people not want to deal with me and that left me with a small group of friends that had the same problem as me. So now when I see girls act so mean and always rolling their eyes. I try to understand what’s wrong with them. Then I think back to when I was like that and how I thought the world revolved around me. I am still learning that the world does not owe me anything. But, I think that I have come a long way in my life where I may not fall as hard as any other girl that is my age now. In Persepolis Marjane came back to her once called home to find everything had changed. “I felt as though I were walking through a cemetery. Surrounded by the victims of a war I had fled I was unbearable, I hurried home. (251). This shows how much change her and her once called home had changed.

Answer to Sherrae- Sam Johnson

I have been on punsihment plenty of times but I never really felt anything has changed. I think I was just more excited that I had gotten everything back. Like one time my father took my drums away from me, my freshman year because he felt I was putting music infront of my school work. That day I swore I wasn't ever going to talk to him again and when I get older enough to start really making my own money, I was going to move! Reality came in years later, but that hurted me more than anything any punishment I ever had. Theres been times when I couldn't go outside, watch T.V., and gotten my cell phone token, but nothing ever compared to this. How I got out of punishment this time, I just got real mad one day when my parents wasn't home and I just set my drums back up and just played til they came home and when they cam home I would run to my room. My dad noticed that it was set back up and he didn't say nothing to me about it. So from then on, I continued on with the same procedure until one day my dad came home early and he walked in the basement and seen me playing. I kept playing like nothing was wrong and he just smiled and walked away. So in a way I got lucky back then.

Response to Sherrae (Christopher Johnson)

The summer before my freshman year in high school was very rough. My mother was unemployed and we were behind on all our bills. She applied for several jobs and finally got a call back to be a Correctional Officer in Colorado. Now my mother gets on my last nerves. Not a day goes by that we don't argue about something. I guess you can say that's how its always been because I'm her only child and its just basically been us my entire life. When she left to go to Colorado I was beyond sad because I'd missed her so much. The things that I was used to having my mom do for me I had to do. When she left she asked my older cousin to look out for me because she wanted me to have a good transition into high school. However the transition wasn't smooth because I wanted her around to give me some advice. Not only was school not okay but my eating habits were awful because i had no one to cook for me and therefore I wasn't in the best health. As it turns out she got injured one month into her training so she had to come back and she returned to her old job as a substitute teacher at my school. That month was probably one of the hardest months of my teenage life because I really missed her. I learned two things while she was gone. 1. Never take your mother for granted because she will not always be there when you need her (not necessarily because of death). 2. Eat your vegetables lol because when she was gone my dinner consisted of junk food and I ended up being constipated for a whole week (too much information I know.) ;) In True Notebooks the boys constantly speak about how they miss their parents and if they could do it all over again they would do a lot different especially Francisco Javier " I know you think I don't appreciate everything you've done for me , but its the opposite. I love you more than anything in this world and I think that there isn't no better mom than you." (96)Although I'm not locked up and my mother is not dead for that one month she was gone I truly felt their pain and truly. Now I know its important to love and appreciate your mother.

Summer Time- Answer to Sharrae'- Antonio Hill

Back when I was a kid, there were lots of trends that came on a daily basis. One day one thing would be in style and then next day another thing would be in style. It’s funny because now I look back at how I used to dress back then and wonder what I was thinking. Well one hot summer day, my little brother went down to his father’s house in West Virginia. A couple days passed, days quickly turned to weeks, and weeks ended up being the whole last 2 months of summer. I think that was the summer that I had the least amount of fun. Everyday something bad happened to me, literally. I had gone over my cousin’s house in Grosse Pointe, MI which is a suburb outside of Detroit. A very racist suburb I might add. I was walking down the street (in the street) and was pulled over because the cops said I was looking suspicious. It just sis happen that I had marijuana on me at the time which actually wasn't mine, it was my cousins I forgot I had it in my pocket. Ended up going to jail and pleading guilty to possession of narcotics, but by the grace of God I had gotten off. Long story short, my mother put me on punishment for the rest of the summer. My brother ended up coming back from West Virginia and it seemed like everything changed. He came back with his ears pierced, a couple tattoo's and car. How crazy is that? I was happy for him but at the same time, you know how people act when they get a car for the first time. His personality somewhat shifted into an "I think I’m the man" mode. It wasn't towards me but seeing his attitude change did bother me. We still have fun and hang out together though.

Day 11 responce Dacia Hill

I’ve always been considered a well behaved young lady. I never did things to get subjected to a punishment like getting into fights at school or failing classes. I was always taught to respect my elders and that helped me learn how to establish relationships with them. The most my mother would ever say to me is that she was disappointed in me and because I had never got into any real trouble that made me feel really bad. Once I go into seventh and eighth grade I began to change. I acquired a smart mouth and a headstrong attitude to anyone who disrespected me and looked down on me. I had lost myself. I turned into one of the people who made my life hell. I found out it was so easy to insult others to copy off someone else to protect yourself. It is hard to stand up for yourself and embrace your true identity. When marjane became caught up in her lies while in Austria, it took insults to herself and her country to bring her back. “That’s a relief considering how ugly she is, it would be unfair if she got a guy like Marc”, “I would commit suicide”, and the highest comment hit her directly. “She lies about knowing war” all of these quotes are found on page 196. For me my wakeup call was when some kids told this heavyset girl if she kept eating she would die. Since I had self image issues that almost made me cry.
My punishments may sound sill to you but I had my books taken away from me because I sent most of my time reading. Another was I had to sit on the couch and watch television I hated watching so much TV and my mom knew it all.

#11

I have never got anything took away from me nor have i ever been put on punishment. One of my close friends (Ria) stay in trouble while she was in school. She always stay suspended because she stay fighting and being disrespectful to her teachers. I used to always tell my mom about the trouble she gets in , my mom felt as if i didn't need to hang with her. But to me she wasn't as bad as she acted in school. My mom felt that i didn't need her as a friend no more and she is acting that way maybe because she needs attention.
Ria mom tried punishment but that didn't stop her from acting that way.Taking away your personal items can hurt you in a way but after a while you start to forget about it. During the middle of the school year Ria mom decided to send her to Texas with her father and just maybe Ria will change her ways. I was a little bit upset at first when she left but i start to realize things was much more peaceful in school with out her starting trouble. Months went by and those long Months started to turn into years. Five years later Ria came back but only to find out everything around her was different. I told her i couldn't be her friend anymore. i felt bad saying this but it was only for my own good.
And after while Ria started to feel bad about putting her mom through all that trouble , she didn't realize it until nothing was the same anymore.
In True Note Book on pg.96 Francisco wrote a letter to his mother telling how sorry he was. " sometimes i want to throw myself in your arms and cry, but since i am so big i don't dare to. you know what mom, when it seems like i wasn't listening your words stayed in my mind.

Answer to Sharrae- Jamahl Jackson

We all seem to have things like loved one and material things ripped from us in a instance and withour notice.I often feel like things are always taken from you then your life is changed.

I remember a time when my life changed dramatically.I left from the U.S.A because my dad was in the military so we moved alot.At first I was excited about moving to a diffrent country then soon my feelings changed from excited to dispair and madness.It changed about because i thought at first i was movin to tokyo but later found out that we were moving to manilla,Philipines."I never heard of that place" I thought to myself but I have heard of china and things like bruce lee,Jackie Chan,and Jet Li.So this is what I associated Asian culture with.

But my life changed so dramatically because when i got there i found out that it was nothing like that, it was nothing what i thought.It was very traditional and laid back.The atmosphere was very tranquil. I thought to myself "they dont do the same things that we do in the usa.

I just wanted to blend in and hurry and get it over.

I saw myself in a new atmosphere and as a human being I tried to manipulate the natives mind and tried my best not to be seen.I just wanted to blend in.

But that was even harder because i was taller than everybody and i was like 1/3 black people in the whole school.The otheres were miliatry brats like me.

But that didnt stop me from making friends.The change didnt really affect me the way i thought it would.I still made friends and didnt become socially awkawd I did pretty good because the change was for the good!

Day 11 Response to Sherrae' {{Sherrae'}}

I wouldn’t call this a punishment, I would call this more of a consequence. There was the one time when I was about 15 and I didn’t clean up my room. I mean I didn’t think it was so messy. There were a couple of shirts, pairs of shoes, jeans, and belts. But I didn’t think it was that dirty that I had to suffer a consequence. One day my mother, younger brother, and older sister was about to take go shopping and to the movies, but I couldn’t go because my mother thought my room needed to be cleaned. She told me to clean it up at the beginning of the week, when it wasn’t as messy, and I chose not to. So they left me home, all alone cleaning my room. I honestly think they could’ve waited just a few minutes for me to clean it but instead they left. So I spent about 15 minutes cleaning my room, while they took the entire day to shop and see a movie. When they got back they had several shopping bags from dozens of stores, ice cream, from Baskin Robins, and smiles on their faces. And to top it off they’d met Lisa Raye and her mother while shopping. And I like Lisa Raye because her wardrobe is pretty nice and she’s funny. So yea, I cried because I felt like I’d missed out on fun. Just like in the book, True Notebook, Jimmy felt like he was in the “box” forever. He was only there for two days, and when he got out he got his personal items take away. (pg. 77) I can imagine how he felt, probably sad and angry because if we’d done the right thing from the start we wouldn’t have had to suffer a consequence.

Day 11 Blog Question {{Sherrae'}}

In the book, True Notebooks, Jimmy writes about a time he was sent to the “box”, and what was only two days seemed like two years to him. After he came back from the “box,” he realized that just within those two days so many things had changed. He states in his writing, “I came back from the box, went to school, and found out that not only did all my material things get taken away from me but I was also now out of the play I was participating in.” (pg. 177) Have you ever been put on punishment or been away from something or someone, and when you came back, you felt everything had changed? If so tell about a time you encountered with, and how you felt.If not, do you know of a friend, or someone else that has?