SILENCE
THERE WAS A
D. Montserrat will never submit to peer pressure. She’s a student at Tec de Monterrey
CONTENTS Peer Pressure ........................................................................... 4 There Was Silence .................................................................. 6 Britney Spears: Biography ...................................................... 9 My Family & Other Animals By Gerald Durrell ................. 12 Traditions and Costumes of Mexico. .................................... 14 June 2011. ............................................................................. 16
Peer Pressure I’m Mexican. I live in Tuxtla Gutierrez. I’m 18 years old and I study at TEC de Monterrey. Different types of peer pressure exist in my school, like wearing a good clothing brand, having a Blackberry, reading the book of the moment, watching a program on TV, or getting a standard score. I think all this kind of peer pressure has negative effects because you look the way other people want to see you, if you want to be like this, you have to make some sacrifices, buy expensive things or do uncomfortable things. You can survive in the school without peer pressure. You shouldn’t change your appearance or routine to be cool. We haven’t copied from others to create lifestyles.
When I was 5 years old I used to play with my dolls in the rain in my garden. My mom used to tell me not to get wet because I could get sick, but I would never listen to her and sometimes my mom and I would have to go to the doctor. I remember I studied my first 3 years of elementary school at C.E.B.E.CH. I used to stay in the same school as my sister, but one day my mom made my sister changes schools, so I was alone in the school. Also, the school was far from my house and when I advanced to 4th grade my mom made me change to the Colegio de Niñas. It was so different from the old school because I would now stay in a public school and the "College Girls" was private. I was studying there for 6 years when the peer pressure began. I used to be quiet and shy, but not anymore I changed my attitude and my appearance; I got new fashion and started to have a new lifestyle. Peer pressure always changes your way of being. I don’t know if I changed in a good way, but I know nobody is perfect so I have negative aspects and some of them are easy to identify. Most of the time peer pressure is negative because it only makes a person pretend to be who they are not and creates a false face. On the other hand I feel OK with my personality as I’m surrounded by people who love me the way I am and I don’t need to change to stay with them.
There Was Silence There was silence, but only for a moment. I was with my family in the living room. There was a problem again, but now it was about my sister; she finally announced that she was pregnant. The announcement disappointed all of us. My brother looked as if he were thinking evil thoughts; my mother just looked worried; my father was getting angrier and angrier, and I didn’t know what to do. *
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Hanna entered the old building. She walked to the 9th floor, which led to the roof, thinking about her future. She knew that the baby would bring trouble. The best, fastest solution she thought of was ending her life. She went up to the roof
and walked to the corner of the building, but at the last minute she didn’t do it.
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My father was walking on the sidewalk. He had told us he needed to get out and think about the problem, and the more he thought about it, the more Hanna needed his help. He knew that. My mother told my father they had to talk with Hanna to find a solution so she wouldn't make a mistake like that again. *
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I used to go out with my sister when I was younger and talk whatever thing, sometimes she advised me to do the best way when I had a problem, and now she’s having a trouble. So I called her and she told me she had been in a old building which was on the Central Avenue. I went with her the fastest I could. When I arrived the building, I went inside it and found her on the 1st floor, she was sitting on it. I talked to her that she should always think before to act, and the only thing that she could do is to start a new life with new objectives. It was difficult with a baby, but nobody said the life was easy.
Britney Spears: Biography Her name is Britney Jean Spears. She has born in rural Kentwood, Louisiana, USA on December 2nd 1981. She has a brother; his name is Bryan, and a sister; her name is Jamie Lynne. Her parents are Lynne Irene and James Spears Parnell. She liked to sing and dance. When she was 5 years she was recognized statewide. When she was 8, she traveled to Atlanta to audition for “The All New Mickey Mouse Club" program, but she was refused because she was so young. However she was registered in the Professional Performing Arts School of New York. In 1992 she had her first appearance on TV as a performer, in Star Search’s program, but she lost. Then she entered Mickey’s Club, where she met Justin Timberlake and Cristina Aguilera, the next pop stars. The program was canceled, and she went back to Kentwood. She said she had been the coach of the basketball team, but she was bored. She had her boyfriend and had gone to the Christmas dancing but she wanted more. She had many troubles making an album because she was refused by the people; they didn’t want to hear another girl. They wanted to listen to new bands like the “Backstreet Boys" and the “Spice Girls”. Therefore, that situation was an obstacle. In 1999, she recorded her first album called “Baby One More Time” based on pop music. The principal song, called by the same name as the album, was Number 1 in 43 countries. Britney became an international success, selling 13 million copies. She recorded a 2nd album named “Oops! I Did It Again” with emotional songs. The 19-year-old was growing up fast, with the media constantly talking about what she was and wasn't
doing, her "rivalry" with former fellow Mouseketeer Christina Aguilera and also her relationship with Justin Timberlake. In 2001 she created her 3rd album called “Britney” which shot to the top of the album charts, breaking records for a female artist with the song “I’m a Slave For You” which took a different turn in musical direction for her. She got the nickname “Pop Princess.” In her performance at the MTV VMAs, she presented with a live giant snake and wearing little clothes and it was a strong change for the fans. Some people would say that she had started going downhill. Britney was increasingly letting her pop princess crown slip, admitting she had lost her sacred virginity to Timberlake, outside of marriage. Britney was seen smoking and drinking to excess on wild nights. It was the beginning of her perdition. In 2003 Britney presented on the MTV Video Music Awards with Madonna, Cristina Aguilera and Missy Elliot, where Madonna kissed Britney and Cristina Aguilera. Although just the kiss of Britney was televised, it caused controversy in her life. If the kiss of Cristina Aguilera had been televised, the person who would have had the controversy would have been Aguilera. But this wasn't her only problem. Later she was a victim of drugs, which caused the poor popularity in her life for being seen drunk with inappropriate dresses, with a bad mood, and the most controversial-- shaving of her hair by herself. She is just a girl with a normal life. Popularity can bring a successful life, but it can bring consequences too. She was so successful in her career that all her life was publicized, and each little mistake was criticized like a big crime by the media. I thought she couldn’t stand the gossip as a result because she left to show the bad Britney that she has inside.
The most famous who have success, probably ingest some substances to survive in the heavy lifestyle that they have, and Britney wasn’t the exception. Maybe the drugs were the cause of her problematic actions. It was a big hole in her life. Actually, she is divorced, but she has two babies, Sean and Jayden. Despite her many personal problems, she has never lost her charm; she made about 8 CD’s and she’s making the 9th which doesn’t have a name yet. She regained her popularity very fast. It is as if she had been cleaning her name. Now she has many projects for the future. Probably If she hadn’t made the mistakes in her life, she would have been more successful than she is now. I hope she will continue to reach her achievements.
My Family & Other Animals By Gerald Durrell The book talked about the adventures of the “Durrells” and the animals. The family was composed of a Mother and her children, a sister called Margo and three brothers Larry, Leslie and Gerald (the youngest). They were from England, but they decided to live on the Island of Corfu. When they arrived to the Island, they had troubles communicating with the people from there because the people who lived in the island didn’t speak the same language as the Durrells. Luckily, the mother met Spiro who had lived in the USA, so he knew a little of English. Spiro helped the family to find a comfortable house, which had all the services that the family needed. Gerald, the little boy, liked the animals; each animal he found he brought to his house. One day Larry was scared by a mother scorpion that was on his hand; it was a big mess because the big scorpion had baby scorpions, Mrs. Durrell didn’t like to kill them, so she told Gerald, he most take the
scorpions out of the house. He had several kinds of animals, tortoises, birds, snakes and scorpions. His mother was worried about Gerald’s education, but he couldn’t go to the school. His mother decided to bring somebody to teach Gerald about the life of the animals. But it was a bad idea because what she did augmented the problems caused by the animals. Eventually, the mother decided to go back where they were from to give a good education to her son. If they hadn’t gotten the problems with the animals, they wouldn’t have gone back to England, because Corfu was such a nice place to live. I liked this book because it talked about the uncommon animals, and let your mind play with your imagination about of the aspects of animal and what would happen if you would get one in your house. In the other hand the book is really funny because told us the troubles that the family had when they moved to another place where none understood them. I think the book have a lesson, be careful about the animals that you had in your house, you must know about them before they live inside of the house.
Traditions and Costumes of Mexico. Mexico has many customs and traditions. One of the most common practiced by people is “Reyes Magos.” This is a Catholic celebration, about three kings that came from Asian countries to visit the baby Jesus. In Mexico, we celebrate with presents for all the children on January 6th. Another tradition is Holy Week. It’s at the end of March until the beginning of April. In these days it is the custom to do many religious activities remembering the last days of Jesus Christ. Independence Day is a tradition celebrating Mexico's freedom on September 15th. Everyone has a big party in commemoration of that with parades and fireworks. Day of the Dead is celebrated on November 2nd. Mexican people go to the pantheon or cemetery to visit their dead relatives and the children go to other houses to get candies at night. The day of the Virgin of Guadalupe is another religious celebration on December 12th for her appearance in front of Juan Diego in 1531. Most people go to the Guadalupe’s church
with a big pilgrimage to bring flowers; beginning the next day the “Posadas” which are little parties with prayers announcing the arrival of Jesus Christ and continue until His birthday (Christmas). People make “Tamales and Hojuelas” for eating. There exist other traditions and customs, but people don’t practice them as much as the ones mentioned.
June 2011. Being a good student, I wrote all my tasks that I need to do for organizing my time. These days I’m used to studying all my notes so as not to forget the topics. On the other hand I can’t stand doing homework because I have been busy in the evening. The only hour I’m free is at 9pm. When I was in elementary school, during exam week, my mom used to help me to study and I used to get good scores. When I advanced to Junior High School, I started to study alone, but I just got bad scores because I didn’t have the custom. So I need to augment it by myself. Before registering at ITESM, I had looked forward to being a good student. Now, I’m 18 years old and almost near the end of my high school studies, and the truth is that I don’t know what major to choose. I’m looking into engineering such as industrial
engineering, but it could be administration or even tourism, and I’m looking for a university too. I need to decide as soon as possible because my graduation is right around the corner.