Cowards

"What are we if we do not stand up for who and what we believe in?" - a friend's away message

As soon as I read this away message, I thought about an appropriate response. And this is what I came up with: If we do not stand up for who and what we believe in, we are cowards. It's as simple as that. And that means that we have all probably been cowards in our lifetime, whether it was not standing up for someone when they were being harassed or sitting idly as someone made fun of someone who you care about. We've all done it; I think that the real question is, why do we do it? Is it because it's easier to just sit there, than to speak up and say something? Is it because once we step out of our comfort zone, we know that we'll never be able to go back to being comfortable? We all want the world to be a better place in one way or another. But most of us just sit around, thinking that someone else will take care of the world's problems. The problem with this, is that if everyone's mindset is the same, nothing will ever get done. We all have to do our part. So, do me a favor: the next time you see an injustice happening, don't just sit there; do something about it!

"All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing." - Edmund Burke

"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." - Albert Einstein

Love, Sweet Love

Love. A disease that has plagued the hearts of millions since the beginning of time. For some, it's welcome. For others, that is not always the case. If you turn on the radio, you will probably hear a love song. If you watch a movie, it will probably have something about falling in love or breaking up. As Shyla said, ultimately, human beings want to be accepted and loved. And when the love of our family doesn't always suffice, we look towards friends and members of our gender or the opposite gender for love and comfort. Time and time again, we've been told that we cannot choose who we love. We cannot choose our family, and we cannot always choose those who we fall for. Everywhere we go, we are bombarded with images of picture-perfect love. A fairytale sort of thing. However, once we grow up and realize that fairytales aren't always possible, we are thrust into the world of reality. The world where love is less than perfect, and where people are often subject to unrequited love.

Love is such a small word to describe the power that the emotion has. Love can change the world. Love can make a fool out of someone. It can make someone change who they are, simply to make their sweetheart happy. Love is risky. When one falls in love, they risk losing a piece of themselves. Sometimes, that risk is worth taking. But sometimes, it's not. I believe that the risk is worth taking when the love is true. I believe that when love is true, you can never lose it. The problem is that lust and infatuation are often mistaken for love. And when that happens, things can get ugly. I'm not saying that there aren't problems in love; problems arise, no matter what aspect of life one is in. The difference is, that in love, one should be willing to work through them. It has been said that most people only find true love once, if even that; only the lucky ones can find it more than once. But if it usually comes around only once, shouldn't you try to make the best of it when it does come around?

The Cycle 2

The ultimate question. What do we, as human beings, want? The only answer we’ve been able to come up with…to be happy. But like a domino effect, one question leads to another. So, next question. What makes us, as human beings, happy?
Is it cars, clothes, money? And if not then why do we believe so? The obvious answer…because what we as human beings want is to be happy. And what makes us happy, more than being accepted…loved? And in our society, in this day in age, cars, clothes, and money are tickets to hop aboard the acceptance train. I can’t think of anything else, besides the smaller, less trivial things. So, love. What is it? What does it mean? A question that will never truly be answered or understood. But…we, as human beings, try our best to interpret the impossible. We are stubborn. But, besides that…since I am the average human being, meaning still looking for an answer, still trying to interpret what I can’t because I have not found “love” or happiness, I have come to a new theory. We, as human beings, want a fairytale. It’s genius and quite obvious actually.
Who created fairytales? Where did they come from? Well, they were once real, or very close to what our world has made them to be. I wonder if they were happy? The prince charming and fair maiden of every story. This probably sounds like nonsense, but it’s true. Think about it. The most popular fairytale of all. Cinderella. Its what everyone wants. And not just the love part. It’s your classic rags to riches, boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy loses girl for being an idiot, boy and girl make up, boy and girl live in giant house, married with children, happily ever after story. Now, this may not be exact…not all women want to be rescued by prince charming…or even a prince for that matter. And now days, with women being able to make their own money and be responsible for themselves…the roles of boy and girl could easily be switched. But, nevertheless, all we want, or the only thing we know to want, is to have a fairy tale.




Life is very, very, very short. We start a baby, rosy cheeks, and soft bottom. At this stage, we are represented, as everything good in the world, because we are innocent, not yet exposed to the sins of the world. Sins that have only one purpose. To find or create happiness…love. We continue this stage, in reality, until we reach adolescence. Along the way we want, of course, and we have needs like any other person, no matter what the age. But at adolescence, we start searching and wanting more. We want to know who we are and where we belong. We face real, every day adult problems at such a young age. Then we reach the carefree stage, also known as any age before 35 and after 21. College is complete, and although we are still searching, wanting, needing, and aging…we are overwhelm with freedom and desire and mostly curiosity of what the world holds for us. After 35 we get slapped hard in the face with reality. We realize we now have more responsibility than anything else. And while we get consumed with worries and responsibility and our everyday tasks that we must complete in order to survive…which to us now is the most important thing, we lose our want and need to search and find happiness. And then we realize what has happened to us all so quickly. This is called the midlife crisis. We wish to be young again…search for happiness. And then the rest is a blur…you grow up and essentially, “get over it”, and die away disappearing from the world like a crumb at the beach. You are not forever forgotten, but you never wanted or found what you were searching for. Love…happiness…acceptance. And although some do find love, happiness, and acceptance…the fairytale we all want…it is not even close to fulfilling the amount that actually should. Everyone. And so my next question for you is…is life worth living?

Not trying to be all suicidal…but really consider the question.
We have a cycle. And from what I’ve lived so far…it’s never ending. It starts with birth.

BIRTH>SCHOOL>JOB>MARRY>KIDS>RETIRE>SENIOR>DEATH.
And depending on your religion or what you believe in…you are even reborn and though the cycle might not be identical…depending on what you are reborn as…you still have one main goal…survival.
No one in this world knows how our world came to be. Some look to religion, and others to science, to find the answer. But it doesn’t look like it’s helped much.


I mean…is life really just a fairytale…without the happily ever after? And what do we, as human beings, need to do to find the answer. We need to live.
So live!!! Don’t get caught up in the crazed cycle where you live just to live. But live to see the world, live to meet great people, live to learn, live to see our history!
Don’t live just to live. But, live to see life.

A Horrible Person?

"I think it's wrong to call her a slut but she is a horrible person. She sets a horrible example for young girls. And I don't care if people badmouth her because that's what she deserves."
-- a girl talking on gURL.com's Hot Button Issues Board about Jamie Lynn Spears getting pregnant at age sixteen


Awhile ago, I was surfing the message boards on gURL.com and there was one about Jamie Lynn Spears, in which I found the above quote. Honestly, I couldn't believe what this girl had written. It's good that she acknowledged that Jamie Lynn isn't a slut (according to definition, a slut is someone who is promiscuous, or someone who has sex with a lot of men; notice how this word can only be applied to women), however, I do believe that saying that she is a horrible person is going too far. How is Jamie Lynn a horrible person for having sex with her boyfriend of two years and accidentally getting pregnant? It's not like she's the only one. It happens to other teenage girls (and women) as well. I do understand that young girls look up to her, but at least she's owning up to her responsibilities.

Jamie Lynn has gotten engaged to and moved in with her boyfriend (who is the father of her child) and they are taking care of their baby together. And even though I feel that I shouldn't have to, I give props to Jamie Lynn's boyfriend Casey for finishing what he started and staying with Jamie Lynn and being involved in his child's life, as a lot of other men (or boys, in this case) don't always stick around. Maybe Jamie Lynn does set a bad example by getting pregnant, but maybe she also sets a good example by taking responsibility for her actions. At least she's happy. The only thing that I don't necessarily agree with is how in OK! Magazine, when she was interviewed after giving birth to her child (Maddie Briann Aldridge), she says that motherhood is "so much fun." Now, I'm not trying to say that motherhood isn't fun; maybe it is. But since young girls do look up to her, glamorizing parenthood might not be the best idea, but that's a different topic. However, with that said, I don't think that she deserves to be "badmouthed" for dealing with the consequences of her actions. But my question is, since when does making a mistake make someone a horrible person?

Introducing...

I'd like to take this moment to introduce my brother, who will be a guest author on this blog. I don't know how frequently he will be posting, or if this will just be a one time thing.

He goes by the name of Bereolaesque.

My Sister's Keeper: An Ethical Dilemma

A few days ago, I finished reading My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. The story is about a family that is comprised of a stay-at-home mother named Sara, a father who is a firefighter named Brian, a son named Jesse, a daughter named Kate, and another daughter named Anna. When Kate is two-years-old, she is diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia called acute promyelocytic leukemia or APL. When the doctor runs tests to see if anyone in the immediate family is a genetic match for Kate, the tests come up negative. Sara and Brian then decide to turn to in-vitro fertilization to create a child who is the exact genetic match for Kate. In comes Anna; when Kate needs anything to combat the cancer (in terms of bodily fluids like blood and body parts), Anna is the one to give it to her. She doesn't necessarily have any choice - her parents make all of the medical decisions for her. Near the beginning of the book, Anna sees a lawyer to gain a medical emancipation for herself. And I'll stop there.

At first, when I heard about the book and how the parents essentially created Anna so that Kate would live, I thought it was a very selfish thing to do, and that it wasn't fair that they didn't even consider Anna when they did this. However, as I actually read the book and thought about it, I realized that no one knows what they would do if thrust into a situation like that, and you can't really judge someone unless and until you have been in that situation yourself. No, they didn't think of Anna when they conceived her via IVF, but they were thinking about saving the daughter that they already knew. The daughter that they already spent time with. The daughter who they had only had two short years with. The daughter who they were afraid of losing. They were just trying to be the best parents that they could be, and although one may not agree with some of their choices, one still needs to respect what they did, because it would be a hard decision for anyone. They love all of their kids. They wanted them all to be safe and happy. But sometimes, maybe the best of intentions aren't enough. Maybe sometimes, love isn't even enough.

Truth or Dare?

Truth or Dare? Truth? Okay, here it goes. If you wanted to have children more than anything in the world and you found out that your husband was infertile, would you divorce him?

Let's examine this issue. Many would say that love should be beyond fertility, or infertility for this matter. However, the key words are "should be," as there are many cases where people get divorced simply because of this minor (or major, depending on how you look at it) setback. In this day and age, there are many ways that people can get past infertility (if you're willing to shell out a small fortune), but even if you are unable to, is it really worth divorcing the one you promised your life to? Why is marriage not a big deal anymore? People get married after not getting to know each other, knowing that divorce is always an option. What happened to the meaning of vows? When you take those vows, you are pledging your love to someone for the rest of your life. How is that not meaningful?

So back to the original Truth. If you wanted to have children more than anything in the world and you found out that your husband was infertile, would you divorce him? The answer should be no. Because true love is undying and shouldn't falter. Problems will arise, but your love should carry you through them.

Happy Friday the Thirteenth. 

Sorry

I know we haven't posted anything lately. It's just that we've gotten busy with school. We still have many topics that we'd like to talk about, so please bear with us until our next (formal-ish) post.

For now, I kind of feel like leaving a quote, so I will:

"You should not have to exchange happiness for success, but happiness can be fleeting and the lessons you are learning at this school are not all inside the classroom."

- Abigail Van Buren (Ask Abby)

Thank you!

Double Standards: Teachers vs. Students

There are many double standards that I could talk about, but in this post, I'm going to talk about the double standards between teachers and students, as it is the issue that has come up the most. Teachers get away with so much more than students do. I'll start with something that happened recently. A teacher was talking about how us packing up before she dismisses us is a pet peeve of hers, and that she wasn't going to change. By saying this, she was implying that we should change because she wasn't going to. But why should we have to change? I know it's not a big thing, but we should all give a little and take a little.

Second example. Students often get penalized for turning things in late, but if teachers don't grade things or hand papers back within a reasonable amount of time, nothing happens, and sometimes they even become angry with us when we ask where our work is. In one class, a teacher hasn't handed back a paper or test that we did and took in January, and in another class, a teacher hasn't handed back a paper that we did in November or December.

Third example. At my school, there is a strict policy on being late. If you are one of more minutes late (for no apparent reason), you are subject to an unexcused tardy (or UT). If you are five or more minutes late, you are subject to an unexcused absence (or UA). I am not complaining about the rules, as they are understandable. However, many teachers are frequently late to classes, seemingly without reason or reprecussions. One teacher was even twenty-five minutes late to her forty-five minute long class. If a student is five minutes late, we get a UA, but if a teacher is twenty-five minutes late, it seems like nothing happens.

Fourth example. We have a chapel. It's not faith-based. We have speakers (usually teachers and students who are seniors) who talk about anything significant that they feel like talking about. We're not allowed to speak during chapel. One day, it was a teacher's chapel talk and he talked about how he is an Atheist and how people should actually think about what they believe and not just believe something because their parents do or out of fear. Another teacher stood up at the near end of the chapel talk, shouted "God Bless You!", then stormed out. From what I know, she didn't have to apologize or anything. I also know that if one of us, as students, had pulled a stunt like that, at the very least, we would have had to apologize to the chapel speaker, and probably to the school.

Last example. At my school, we have an Honor Code. Breaking the honor code is worse than breaking a regular rule. Honor code violations include lying, stealing, cheating, breaking into boys/girls dorms, etc. Recently, there have been a few Honor Committee (HC) meetings involving girls who broke into their boyfriends' dorm rooms. The punishments given were off-campus suspensions and academic probations. However, there are also unmarried teachers (among others) who many students have seen going over to each other's houses late at night and not leaving until the next morning. I understand that it is different, as they are adults, and we are teenagers. But is it not the same "crime"? I'm not trying to pick on anyone, but I just don't think it's fair.

If you're going to set an example, you should set a good one. You can't set a bad example and then wonder why we do the things that we do.

Stereotypical Stereotypes

What is a stereotype? An expectation? Something to live by?
I think about this question a lot because it is often brought to my attention. But it's not so much what is a stereotype, but why do they exist and why do we follow them. America is supposed to be a smart country, but why do we follow such poor examples. Men are smarter than women, blondes are stupid, Asians are smart, preps, jocks, nerds, etc...... They come in all different types. Some say that a type of people act a certain way because of their race, religion, looks, education, the list goes on. But I think to myself, what stereotype am I? Do other people see me as a stereotype? These are the things I ask myself when people glance at me...do the people I hang out with make me follow a stereotype? Is normal....a sterotype? Does personality even matter any more in today's society? Or is it soley based on...an assumption...a stereotype? If I struggle for 21 odd years to get the best education possible and get a great job, does it matter? Was it worth it? If people are just going to make me who they want me to be or who I am in their heads, without even getting to know me or without getting past things...what's the point? I think about all of this almost every second of the day, and I will continue to think about it forever....because everyone thinks....no matter who they are or are seemed to be. Life never stops. You enter the world, live your life, and leave the world. Rarely are you remembered, except by the one's you love. I want to make a mark on the world, I don't want to be a stereotype. I want to be me. I want to be a Shyla....

Sex Sells, Pt. 1

"S.E.X. Take a deep breath and think before you let it go."

-- 'S.E.X' by Lyfe Jennings

The song 'S.E.X.' by Lyfe Jennings is possibly the only song I know (and I know a lot of songs) that tells you to think before you "give it up" to someone. In our society, a lot of songs are about having sex. These songs usually degrade women and make sex something dirty. And sex shouldn't be a dirty thing, especially when it's done in the right circumstances. I believe in waiting until you get married to have sex -- not just because it's the "Christian thing to do", but because a girl's/woman's virginity is really something special. It's something that you can only give away once, and it really is the ultimate gift you could give someone. I go to a church camp every summer, and last summer when everyone was leaving, some counselors (all male counselors) and older students (all female students) stayed behind and talked to the younger students (a mix of male and female) who weren't leaving for awhile. They started talking about how your virginity is the ultimate gift that you could give any guy and how if you give your virginity away before you get married, you really have nothing to give your husband. I had never really thought of it that way, but I realized that what they said was true. Even in the world of prostitution, a lot of customers pay more for younger girls who claim to still have their virginity (sometimes these claims are lies).

Now, I'm really not trying to put down people who have sex before they're married. But if you are my age (around fifteen years old) and think that you are ready, I ask you this question. Are you emotionally and financially ready to accept the consequences, whether good or bad? If the answer is no, then I really think that you are not ready to have sex. Even though it may not exactly seem like it in the society that we live in, sex is a really big deal. And no, everyone else is not doing it. I actually know a lot of teenagers (not to mention adults) who look down on young people who have sex. And it's not because people are against them. People simply don't think that most teenagers are ready for the responsibility that comes with having sex. And yes, I do understand that it is not the 1940s and people don't have sex just to have kids anymore. But regardless, you still need to be ready and responsible.

In America, people get nervous when sex is talked about, even more nervous when the urge is acted upon, and most conversations where it is talked about are just awkward, to put it simply. Teenagers who haven't had sex tend to be really sexual, and say really sexual things because it's basically a foreign and unknown territory to them. People who have had sex just want to keep it on the DL (well, some people...), and would rather not talk about it or anything related to it. And I ask, why is sex always depicted in the media? Songs, books, movies, television shows. It's hard to go through your day without seeing anything about sex. Why is that? And why is it considered a dirty thing, and not something sweet that is shared between two people who love each other?

Maybe it's because we've made it into a dirty thing, and it's not always between two (...or three, or four) people who love each other...

Stay tuned for Part Two.

Remembering MLK...

April 4th, 1968. On this day, Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered by James Earl Ray (there are still some disputes regarding whether or not James Earl Ray was actually the one who killed MLK). Forty years later, on the anniversary of his death, we wonder, "What happened to the dream? Is it still alive? Would MLK be satisfied with the way we live today?" I would say that if Martin Luther King Jr. was still alive, he would applaud how far we've come, yet still be disappointed. Although I did not live during the civil rights movement, as a young black teenager, I think that we haven't come as far as we should have in forty years, not just in terms of equality, but in terms of where the world should be in 2008. In our world today, there is so much blatant hatred of each other, so much senseless violence. It even makes me wonder how long I'm going to live when people are killed everyday for just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's ridiculous. MLK would probably be disappointed with this, especially with the fact that black people are killing off other black people. It might come to a point where there are none of us left, though I'm sure some people would be happy about that. He might tell us not to give others the satisfaction of us killing each other off. I know he would applaud the fact that the two people in the Democratic party who are running for president are Barack Obama, a black man (well, he's mixed. His father was African and his mother is white), and Hillary Clinton, a white woman. And they both actually have a fair shot at it. He would look down upon the genocide in Darfur, Sudan, which the United Nations hasn't labeled a genocide because the people responsible have vetoing powers in the U.N. (China and Russia). He would also look down on what happened during Hurricane Katrina. It happened in late August of 2005. It's three years later and New Orleans isn't even close to being rebuilt. My cousin went there for spring break to help out and she says that except for one district, it looks like the storm hit yesterday. He would probably look down on the fact that the KKK is still out there and has a website and parades. Yes, parades. It seems as though no matter how far we've come, we still have a lot farther to go. His dream would most likely still be the same. All he wanted was for us to all get along and live in peace. What was so wrong with that?

The Cycle

Sex, drugs, rock and roll
speed, weed, birth control
f*** the panties, buy a thong
party hard all night long
grab a tequilla
take a shot
f*** the guy you think is hot
life's a b****
and then you die
so f*** this world
and let's get high

I thought about this phrase a lot and first off it's upragraded a lot since it was just sex, drugs, rock and roll
But, I decided that I didn't complete disagree with this saying
Although I know that this is no right way to think about things...I must say that it makes a lot of sense to me.
The world today has a lot to do with sex, drugs, music, and having fun.
The average person doesn't usually live past 85 and are lucky to make it that long.
If you go to college, you generally want get out of school until your 20's and then to get a job and support yourself.
Of course people want families and careers, but a lot of the population doesn't feel this way.
When you've been partying all your life and you have to end it, most people would decide not to....end it that is.
Honestly if you think about it, having fun shooting the breeze all your life...or working hard every day trying to make a difference in the world. I was listening to a song called The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance when I was listening to this. The lyrics talk about dying, and what's going to happen when your gone. It makes you question whether or not you're going to make a difference and be remembered. (The lyrics are below)

My Chemical Romance Welcome To The Black Parade Lyrics

When I was
A young boy,
My father took me into the city
To see a marching band.

He said,
"Son when you grow up
Will you be the saviour of the broken,
The beaten and the damned?"

He said
"Will you defeat them,
your demons, and all the non believers,
the plans that they have made?"

Because one day I'll leave you,
A phantom to lead you in the summer,
To join the black parade."

When I was a young boy,
My father
took me into the city
To see a marching band.
He said, "Son when you grow up
Would you be the saviour of the broken,
The beaten and the damned?"

Sometimes I get the feeling
She's watching over me.
And other times I feel like I should go.

Through it all,
The rise and fall,
The bodies in the streets.
And when you're gone we want you all to know

We'll Carry on,
We'll Carry on
Though your dead and gone believe me
Your memory will carry on
We'll carry on

And in my heart I cant contain it
The anthem wont explain it.

A world that sends you reeling
From decimated dreams
Your misery and hate will kill us all

So paint it black
And take it back
Lets shout it loud and clear
Defiant to the end we hear the call
[Welcome To The Black Parade lyrics on http://www.metrolyrics.com]


To carry on
We'll carry on
Though your dead and gone believe me
Your memory will carry on
We'll carry on
And though you're broken and defeated
You're weary widow marches

And on we carry through the fears
Ooh oh ohhhh
Disappointed faces of your peers
Ooh oh ohhhh
Take a look at me
Cause I could not care at
All

Do or die
You'll never make me
Because the world,
Will never take my heart
Go and try,
You'll never break me
We want it all,
We want to play this part

I won't explain
Or say I'm sorry
I'm unashamed I'm gonna show my scar
Give a cheer
For all the broken
Listen here
Because it's who we are


I'm just a man,
I'm not a hero
Just a boy, who had to sing this song
I'm just a man,
I'm not a hero
I
don't
care

We'll carry on
We'll carry on
And though you're dead and gone believe me
You're memory will carry on
We'll carry on
And though you're broken and defeated
Your weary widow marches on

We'll carry on

But let's face it. Not every one of us can be an Oprah. Sure celebrities are remembred, but what did they do for the world that was so great? They didn't save lives like doctors did or stop crime. They didn't teach. Why are they so famous and why are they remembered? There is a cycle to life. School+College=Career, Career+"That special someone"=Marriage Marriage leads to family. Then you get old and die. I don't mean for this to be disappointing and a put down to the world, because when I grow up, I will most likely follow this cycle. But why not have no cycle instead? Why not live the unexpected life?

Not all surprises are bad....

Childhood

Below is a conversation that Shyla and I had while texting yesterday afternoon. I have edited it from chatspeak to normal English for the convenience of readers lol.

Shyla: It's really scary to think we'll be adults in 3 years.
Abby: Oh my gosh. I was about to say "no we won't" and then I thought about it and was like whoa. Hahaha but we won't really be adults because we'll probably still be dependant on our parents.
Shyla: True, but it's like our childhood will be gone... forever.
Abby: Hahaha. Enjoy it while it lasts because in reality, it doesn't last too long. 18 years out of an average 80 year existance. And we're in such a hurry to grow up that we don't even really appreciate it.
Shyla: I know. I just have to make my life worthwhile and make a difference.
Abby: Aww. Yeah, that's what I want to do too. But I'm scared of death, so I hope that by the time I'm old enough to die (naturally), I'll have come to terms with it.
Shyla: It's one thing to be scared of death. Haha I'm scared of life lol.
Abby: Hahahaha. That too. But I feel like you can't really be scared of something when you're living it every day. You just have to learn how to live, if that makes sense.
Shyla: Haha. Yeah, it does lol.
Abby: I can't imagine retiring...
Shyla: Oh my gosh, haha. I know. I don't think I want to.
Abby: Me neither. But it seems like you go to elementary and middle school to set the foundation for high school, and then you go to a good high school to get into a good college. You go to a good college to get a good job and make a lot of money so you can retire. It all seems pretty pointless to me...
Shyla: That's because it is. Lol.
Abby: I mean, I'd love to work and make a name for myself and make a positive difference, but the route doesn't really make sense, unless you consider retiring as achieving happiness and doing all that you needed to do. But a lot of people try to do everything that they weren't able to do before during retirement.
Shyla: Yeah lol. I don't think that we have a good cycle. There's only so much to accomplish.
Abby: I know. Maybe that's how some people go overboard, thinking they could do it all...

If you ask most adults something that they regret about their childhood, they'll say something along the lines of not appreciating it for what it was while they were living it. With that said, why are we so obsessed with the idea of growing up? Getting a driver's license, turning 21 so we can go to Vegas and drink (legally), paying bills, getting a house. Why do we look forward to it when the people who are living it wish they could go back to being like us? As the saying goes, you really don't know what you've got until it's gone. In this case, the thing that you're losing is your childhood.

As We Are...

This is As We Are; our blog to express our opinions. You may wonder why our URL is "asweare11". As We Are was chosen as the name of our blog for a couple of reasons. 'As' is an acronym for both of our names. 'We' is meant to represent all of us together in the world. And 'Are' just kind of completes the fragment. '11' is in the URL because 'asweare' was already taken, so Shyla and I decided to pick numbers that mean something. We chose '11' because we graduate in 2011, so that number kind of means something to us. But that's just the deeper meaning of it. We also liked "As We Are" because it basically portrays how we are in this specific state of being. It can have a lot of meanings, which we will leave up for interpretation. We're not exactly sure what we hope to accomplish with this blog yet, but we are assuming that the purpose will become clear to us as time goes on. But for now, we hope that whoever is reading will enjoy our observations on life and the world that we live in.

Sincerely,
Abigail & Shyla