Real Knights Write Volume 4 Issue 1 by Michael Donohue

Real Knights Write (2020) English 9 Honors - Period 5

Introduction - Mr. Donohue

Ask by Waheed Asgar

Skipping to the TV by Damyan Dekajlo

Always Pack Your Own Dance Bag By : Kaitlyn Farran

Learn To Pick Your Friends: by Thomas Gafaro

Good Habits Come With Age - By Jake Gergyes

Bouncing Back by Evan Grant

Clean Your Room by Edward Harnett

Work For What You Want by Aaron Jackson

Hard Work Pays Off by Chris Marchesini

Your actions have consequences by Adam Muczynski

A Long-Term Lesson by Wesley Reyes

Don’t Always Rely on Others by Olivia Scotti

Anger Management by Francis Scullin

Wrinkles of Responsibilities by Samantha Sambucharan

Introduction - Mr. Donohue One of the more powerful tools that Google has added to its arsenal is the capability to instantly publish the work you create. The ability of the students to create a product, something that they can see, something for consumption by a larger audience is important to show them that their writing can reach beyond the classroom. The students at Holy Cross write. They write often, and they learn to write well. By the midpoint of the year, they have had many different experiences in both reading and writing. They are proud of what they have accomplished as am I. With this in mind, the class worked on a longer lesson in how to write a personal, reflective essay. According to the textbook, a reflective essay is one where the writer explores the meaning of an experience. In class, the students read an essay titled “Carry Your Own Skis” by Lian Dolan. In this essay, she explores the importance of the lessons she learned as a child. The students learned how to use writer’s tools such as anecdotes and analogies in their own writing. Using this essay as a model, the students wrote about their own childhood experiences and how these have shaped who they are today. When the class completed their first draft, they edited… and edited, and edited until they created a version of their own story that they wanted to tell. They prepared their work for publication. What you see here is the result of all of their hard work and effort. Please read and enjoy. Mr. Michael Donohue

Ask by Waheed Asgar When I was 9, my family got a ranch. I always thought that it was for fun and to experience the outdoors or to get away from the city. But this was not the case. When we bought the ranch it was in very bad shape. Many people had the idea of breaking the house that was on the property down. When we started rebuilding the house I always wanted to help. But I was very little and barely knew the difference between a torque wrench and a screwdriver. Rightly so, my directions were clear. If I didn't know how to do something, Ask! I remember I was making a feeder for the chickens and I wasn't sure what to use. So I took the hammer and some nails and while I was making the box I almost crushed my hand with the hammer. The reason was I took the wrong hammer that was not meant to demolish things and not make things. I asked my dad to help me with the project and he made part of the feeder and told me to watch so I could make the other part. I was able to finish the project after I saw how it was done. One day after I got home I was looking through my dresser when I went to open one of the drawers it came off of it rails and into my hands. I was not sure about what I was supposed to do. I tried to shove the table into the dresser but it just wouldn't fit. I didn't ask anyone to help me that day and I ended up breaking the drawer. Another story was when I wanted to fix Chromebooks. I wasn't sure how I ended up breaking apart two Chromebooks without knowing what I was doing. I searched how to fix them and learned all the parts of the computer. I have fixed 12 Chromebooks in the past 5 months. When I first was told to “Ask” I thought that it was just so I wouldn't break anything and that it was but it was much more. This lesson helped me throughout freshman year and probably helped me throughout the rest of my life. I realize now that many people that don't ask end up not doing the right thing. I used to play chess with my friend and he never used to ask me how to play. I used to beat him every time in chess. When he finally asked how to play I showed him how and he could at least put up some challenge.

Skipping to the TV by Damyan Dekajlo Ever since I was little, I've loved watching TV. Unless we did something more exciting, the highlight of my day was when I got to sit down and watch Backyardigans, Little Einsteins, Dinosaur Train, or any other TV show that I enjoyed. However, before I was allowed to watch TV, I always had to finish my work. Whether it be using the bathroom as a little kid, or doing my homework once I got to school, there was always something I had to do before being allowed to watch TV. As a child, I presumed that it was because my mom didn't like TV, or didn't want it “rotting my brain” Later however, I learned otherwise. One day I came home and I was excited to play a new game me and my friends had discovered on the computer. I got home and sat on the computer for almost the entire day, from time to time stopping and thinking, “I feel like I'm forgetting something” but then quickly waving it off. I went to school the next day and realized that I hadn't done any homework! I got in trouble in school (and being a child who almost never got in trouble I took it pretty hard,) and then I had to take a note home and get it signed by my mom. This led to me not being allowed to watch Tv for an entire week (which for 8 year old me was the worst punishment I could have gotten.) I was devastated, and from that day on have never forgotten to do my work first. In the years that followed, I never forgot this very important lesson. My schedule was to come home, do homework, study for tests, and only then I could do fun things. NO Exceptions! After my first day of middle school, I met kids who didn't do their work, and played video games as soon as they got home. There were kids bragging about how they stayed up playing video games all night, and then came in with no work the next day, and would end up failing tests and classes. I didn't understand how someone could go home, and go straight to the fun things, completely ignoring their work. As I got older, I began to notice more and more of these “work skippers.” People who would be missing half their things on camping trips because they were too busy doing “fun things”to pack until the morning of the trip. People were leaving super markets with $300 worth of food because they were too busy doing “fun things” to buy anything sooner. People who wore dirty clothes to school because

they were too busy doing the “fun things,” to do their own laundry. But me, I was always prepared. When I went on camping trips, I began packing my bags days in advance, already mapping out what I had to take with me. When I had a test, I began studying as soon as I got the material. When I got homework, I had it done a few days before it was due just to make sure that I didn't miss anything. But these are all modern, and past times that I have used this lesson. Just because I’m going to be an adult, doesn't mean that I will forget all about this lesson. As I grow older, my biggest worries will no longer be just school. As I get older, my worries will be my job, possibly kids, my family. I hope that I can continue to use the lessons I learned as a child no matter how old I am. I know I’ll remember to complete the assignments my boss gives me days in advance. I know I’ll remember to help my kids with work days before its due. I know I’ll remember to provide for my family even when we have all that we need. The reason that I know all of this is because I learned this lesson at a young age. Because I was taught this as a kid I know that I will never forget it. That is why, more important than anything else, I know that I’ll remember to pass this lesson on to anyone that I meet, because of how much it has helped me. Always Pack Your Own Dance Bag By : Kaitlyn Farran When I was younger, I always remember loving to go to dance class. However, I wasn’t exactly an early riser. No matter how late I had woken up my mom always made sure I packed my own dance bag. I thought my mom was just tired, or even mad at me, but little did I know she was only doing this because she cared. Although at the time I saw this as annoying and unnecessary, this simple life lesson has helped me immensely throughout the years. When I was 7 years old, my best friend Nicole was celebrating her birthday . We partied the night away, and had the time of our lives. However, I didn't get home till around 10 o’clock, which is extremely late for a little kid. The party was on a friday, which meant I had dance the next day. That morning I was extremely tired, and resisted every attempt my mom had done to wake me up. I desperately wanted to go to dance, however sleep just seemed like the better option.

Eventually, I did get up, but I wasn’t happy about it. Once I was dressed, I was so relieved that now I could leave, hoping the fresh air would wake me up. I was almost at the door when I realized my dance bag wasn’t packed. I was shocked my mom hadn’t packed my bag , after seeing how exhausted I was. I asked her, “Why didn’t you pack my bag”, she replied with, “it’s not my responsibility, it’s yours”. In my 7 year old head, I thought my mom would then, after seeing we would most likely be late, go pack the bag. However, I now realize my begging and arguing was just a waste of time. A few minutes later, I packed my bag and we left for dance class. This extremely simple life lesson has helped me immensely throughout the years. In school, I’m able to get projects done faster and without any help. And whenever there is an issue , whether it be in school or the world around me, I feel comfortable making the change independently. The people that don’t pack their own dance bags, are those who depend on help from others for almost everything. I am fortunate enough to have learned this lesson, so I can grow as a person.

Learn To Pick Your Friends: by Thomas Gafaro As I began to mature and gain independence, I believed that I was better than everyone else around me. I did not realize how ignorant I was at the time. My mom realized this, and knew this could get me into trouble in the future. She said that the way you act around others, the same types of people will become my friends. So she sat me down and spoke to me about the importance of picking your own friends. My mother told me how at this age, teenagers were known to try and do everything to fit in, even if it meant having to do something you know is very wrong. This was a form of peer pressure, that many young teens tend to do towards other, innocent and defenceless kids. When I entered middle school, I saw exactly what she was talking about. Most of the “popular” kids were picking on the quiet and shy kids. I decided to stay away from those kids because I knew it would lead me into making poor and unwise decisions. I became friends with a group of funny and studious kids, who I, in fact, still am friends with today. They helped me make my middle school years enjoyable and I had fun during those 3 years with them.

Unfortunately, we all went to separate highschools, so now I have to start the entire process again of making friends, but with my mom’s lesson, it makes the process much easier. Furthermore, this lesson will help me in college, where making friends is very important, because colleges have many students. Therefore, my mother taught me a valuable lesson I will never forget: Learn to pick your friends.

Good Habits Come With Age - By Jake Gergyes From a young age I was taught about the importance of money. I was taught how to save money, invest in stocks and make money. My parents always expressed this to me. I thought my parents were just trying to annoy me but I really realized how habits are formed and that I really had to be more responsible with my money. When I was young, I would be given $500 for Christmas on the dot. Every time I got it I would spend it so quickly not realizing the habit it has become to spend anything I was given. Be responsible with money and work hard to get it or suffer the habit. One night, I learned that I had to take responsibility into my own hands. My parents wanted me to, instead of spending money all the time, start to realize that money makes the world go around and that I need to be more responsible with it. I realized that bottles, cans and glass had a 5 cent deposit. This really interested me and I asked my dad about this and he said people cash them in for money. I started to want to do this because this would teach me the responsibility of making money. So I started off with taking all of the bottles out of my recycling bin and starting with about $1. Then the next day I started to collect the bottles from my friends and family. Everyone was so happy that I was being responsible and making money at such a young age. I started to take this even further, and I started going to local Parks, picking up the bottles at the Park and collecting them from the recycling bins with my mom. Then my dad suggested we should go to the Parks early on Sunday mornings to collect all the bottles that were left in the parks from Friday and Saturday which is when the Parks are most crowded and all of the sports games happen. So we tried that, and we were so shocked and surprised to find tons of bottles. The

bins were overflowing with bottles from sports games and we made at least $30 just that morning. Twenty bottles is one dollar, so that is 600 bottles in just one morning! We could have been sleeping but instead we took the responsibility to get up at 5:30 in the morning to collect the bottles from all of the Parks in the area. We would usually go to about 9 Parks and 2 Strip Malls. The time we collected the bottles was about a 3 hour period. Once I got into fifth grade things got even bigger for me. My fifth grade teacher Mrs. Amedeo one day during free time saw that I was getting upset that the Parks were changing the recycling bins. She said, “What’s up?” And I told her that “I am upset that they are taking all of the bottles away that I could have collected.” When my teacher heard me say this, she knew what I was talking about and was so inspired and amazed that I did this. Mrs. Amedeo said that I should go get the bottles out of the recycling bin in the classroom. So I did, and I took them home. The next day Mrs. Amedeo started to bring me her bottles from home and she spread the word that I did this to all of the teachers. Now everyone was giving me bottles, and I was making a ton of money. Mrs. Amedeo said to me at the end of the school year “I hope to have a kid just like you one day.” When Mrs. Amedeo said that I knew I was on the right path and that I had to continue working hard. This inspired me even more to go to the Parks and collect the bottles. Mrs. Amedeo motivated me to work hard for my money and do whatever made me happy. People started noticing that I collected bottles around my area. The Parks Department started taking bottles from other Parks and bringing them to me. Collecting bottles really taught me that to achieve anything in life you have to work hard for it, if you do anything is possible. Collecting bottles changed the way I spend money because it taught me that money does not grow on trees. When you are making your own money, you realize how much work it takes to make it and you value money more, you realize the importance of saving money and you develop the right mindset. Me collecting these bottles was an example of how I was taking responsibility into my own hands by working hard to make money and learning how to save it. But all of a sudden one day there was this video game that I really wanted and I bought it because everyone else was buying it. This was something I did not even need. I just

bought it out of carelessness because others pressured me to get it. The game was over $300 since it just came out. Once I did this I felt so foolish and knew the truths of this habit. A lot of the money I collected from the bottles was gone. I would never do something like that again. Whenever you make any sort of money no matter where it is from always save it and spend it wisely. When I got into middle school, I realized something about the students. I have seen students in my class receive money from their parents and they spend it very carelessly. It bothered me so much. One student spent $150 on airpods with their parents money and treated them like garbage. These airpods were obviously not important to that student, and they just got them to get them and didn't work to get them. Since it was their parents' money that they spent, they didn't treat the airpods with respect because they don’t realize how much work it takes to make that money. In fifth grade when the students saw me collecting bottles they felt very inspired and would help out by giving me bottles and telling others to do the same. I was called into the young entrepreneur club one day to talk about what I do and all the students were taken back about how I collect bottles. One student even started collecting bottles too, and he said I was his motivation and inspiration. Spending money out of carelessness anytime you get the chance is a bad trait that could lead into adulthood when you buy stuff you just don’t need. You could become homeless from this. The kids in middle school were not responsible at all when it came to money and would simply just spend it anytime they were given a chance to get something. This would lead to a very bad habit when they get older, worse than they have now because it will be their own money. This habit comes with age. If you are brought up by your parents to work hard and do things for yourself by getting a job at a young age, you will be aware of how important money is and you won't fall into this habit. If you don't tackle this habit at a young age and your parents do everything for you, you are doomed. Be responsible with money and work hard to get it or suffer the habit. Later on in my life, now in high school I still notice that people still continue to spend their parents money carelessly and don't realize the work it takes them to make that money. Last year the new Iphone 11 came out, and I saw tons of people beg their parents to get them that phone even though they had an iphone 10. They just bought this phone to stay up to society's standards even though the iphone 11 is really nothing different from their current phone it’s just a few extra unnecessary cameras.

But if they really wanted that “Amazing phone” they should have worked for it. Instead their parents had to take their hard earned money and spend 1,000 dollars on something unnecessary. In class one day I did a pitch on how I would collect bottles and how important money is. I continued to say you have to work hard for your money and not spend it every time you have money available. Many students really thought what I talked about was amazing and I really hope they benefit from this. The students were questioning how much I made from collecting bottles and how I saved all of my money. Taking responsibility in saving my money and working hard to get it by collecting bottles applies to my life now because it taught me that I have to take the responsibility of my life into my own hands. This will make me immune to struggles I may face in the future. In my future I will now not fall into the habit of spending my money carelessly because I will be immune to this habit. I made over 7,000 dollars collecting bottles and I am extremely proud of it. Collecting these bottles also allowed me to meet many amazing people, get a good workout, make money and recycle. A four in one! I am now a stronger, more independent and confident person because I was able to make money by myself and get out into the real world. If this all had not happened, and I had not realized that other kids were damaging themselves I would be just like every other kid wanting to spend their money anytime they got the chance. Bouncing Back by Evan Grant Ever since I was younger my parents always tried to get me to work as hard as I could. By sitting around and not being productive, you are wasting precious time that could be used to improve your long-term success. Natural talent is definitely valuable, but by not working to improve your abilities, you are almost wasting what was given to you. Back when I was around nine years old, I tried out for my elementary school basketball team. I was one of the youngest kids there, but I still wanted to make the team because I was very passionate about the sport. When I ended up getting cut, I was really upset and sat in my room for a while. Then my mother noticed this and kicked me out of the house. Back then, I thought it was because she wanted to clean or

some other reason to have the house to herself. So I left and dribbled a basketball for several hours outside in front of my house. Not only did this take my focus off of my disappointment, but I got some time to practice for next year’s tryouts. I ended up doing this almost every day, and slowly building up a bigger passion for the sport. I wasn’t able to play with anyone else, or even practice shooting, but I just dribbled all day. This was a way to sort of tease me and made me love the game even more. That whole summer between fourth and fifth grade, I spent entire days outside. Then I became one of the best players in my entire school. All the kids who seemed to have been dominant in previous years, spent their summers sitting around, because they were arrogant in their abilities. All of the greatest athletes know that during the off-seasons when they aren’t competing, are the most significant times of the year. This is when you would recognize your biggest flaws, and put in all your effort to improve your flaw into a strength. Athletes that I always looked up to as a kid such as Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James, always went through failures but immediately after, worked hard to make sure these failures would never happen again. The ones who don’t follow this lesson end up being successful only temporarily. The ones who used to dominate and were some of the best players at their age, mostly didn’t even play the sport anymore. They became frustrated with how difficult things were getting, and instead of working to improve, they just gave up. Learning this lesson is effective in any field, not just being an athlete. Say you get a bad grade on a test that drops your overall grade to failing, instead of giving up, neglecting that class, and focusing on other classes, you should work your hardest to bring it back up. This lesson also taught me to have a short memory. By forgetting your failures soon after they happen, you are able to keep your head up, be optimistic, and build on your failure. In the 1997 NBA western conference finals, a young 18 year old Kobe Bryant was playing against the Utah Jazz. Kobe made the decision to completely skip college and graduate from high school and go straight to the NBA. This was a very risky decision by him since most players took a few years to play college basketball, improve their abilities, and prepare themselves for the league. So Kobe is now on the big stage at only 18 years old playing with the best players in the world. Kobe and the Lakers ended up losing that series in five games, where Kobe notoriously missed four significant shots. That night, Kobe landed back in Los Angeles and somehow got into Palisades High School. Bryant recalls shooting on the high school’s court until the sun came up. Bryant spent the rest of the off-season doing this and building upon his skills for the next year. The following season, Kobe jumped from 539 points all the way to

1220 points and became an all star. Kobe continued to improve for the rest of his 20 year career and became one of the greatest in NBA history. Without that one horrible night in 1997, who knows if Kobe would have had the same success in his career. This lesson will always be in the back of my head reminding me to forget the days spent in misery and to work hard to reverse the effects of the downfalls. Any further feelings of defeat will be combated with hard work. It is important to realize that everyone has gone through failures, but the successful ones end up overcoming them. Clean Your Room by Edward Harnett When I was young, we would have people come to our house to clean it. Every night before they came, my mother would tell me to clean my room. I was confused by this because I was aware that the people who clean our house were coming the next day. Everytime I asked her why I should clean my room, she would either say just go clean it, or because I told you to. It was obvious when I did not listen when I was told to clean my room, and I would get in trouble for this. As a little kid, I was just thinking that this was because my mother wanted to make it easier for the cleaners and faster for them, but now I know why. My mother wanted to teach me a lesson about taking responsibility for my own things. One day in middle school, I told my mom that I was not going to clean my room because I knew that the cleaners would be coming. When she heard this, she said that she does not care, and she wanted me to clean it anyways. When I cleaned it, I found some of the things that I had lost for a long time. I saw taking responsibility for my things as a good thing. During my time in middle school, I could tell the difference between the people who cleaned their room before the cleaners came. Some people like this were the people who always forgot their lunch and the people who always asked for homework. One day, I forgot to clean my room before the cleaner came. This was not good at all because I thought that they would have misplaced something and put it somewhere else. When I got home that day, I ran to my room to see if all my belongings were still in the right spot. I learned that they were not, and lost one of my chargers to my phone. I had to look for hours to find out where it was. I found out that it was

actually in the back of a drawer underneath many books. When I told my mom that I found it, she said “this is always why you have to clean your room before the cleaners come.” With that lesson from my mom in mind, I made sure to always clean my room before the cleaners come. This lesson is going to help benefit me a lot in the future. I think that during my sophomore year of high school is when it is going to help me the most. I think this because I want to aim to be a more organized person, and my sophomore year of high school would be the perfect time to do this. I am going to start to focus more on my work, and what I have to get accomplished to help benefit my future in a much greater way. Work For What You Want by Aaron Jackson One Saturday when I was in the eighth grade, my sister in the twelth, my sister called me to her room. Her voice shaking, she whispered to me, “I- I got into Ha-Harvard.” In high school, my sister was always an overachiever. All the clubs you could imagine, late nights completing extra credit assignments, getting moody over any grade under a 90. Even in elementary and middle school, which was a special K-8 school in Manhattan that she had gotten into because she was simply too advanced for our neighbourhood elementary, she was consistently excelling. No surprise she went to Stuyvesant High School, the best specialized school in the city, and would go on to Harvard University, one of the best universities in the world. Throughout her entire schooling career, she always worked hard. Sure, she was definitely predisposed to some level of intelligence, but she got everything she wanted primarily through hard work. You have to work hard for what you want. Like many students in New York City when applying to public high school, I had many standardized tests to prepare for and grades to keep high. I had to study algebra and english topics daily, going over things I didn’t understand endlessly, until the test came or the marking period was complete. After all of that, I waited. I waited for the grade to come back, for the high school acceptance letter, for the score on the exam. And yet, it didn’t work out. I didn’t get into any of my high school choices and I received a 445 out of 800 on my SHSAT, one of the standardized tests, which was not enough to get into a specialized high school.

So what was I missing? To some, what I did would be considered hard work. But my sister was the one who had stayed up all night working. She had put in the extra hours compared to me. I didn’t work hard enough, and this was the result of that. Hundreds of thousands of kids were doing exactly what I was, so I got the same result many of them did too. This is a principle that will follow me into college and my career. You can never expect the same results as someone pulling all-nighters and aiming for 100s if you don’t put in the same effort as them. And this applies outside of school. For anything in life, you need to work hard. Hard Work Pays Off by Chris Marchesini When I was little, and I could finally hold a baseball bat, my dad started to teach me how to play baseball. I always thought that what he was saying was never correct. However, as I got older, I realized that he was correct. When I was younger, I would go hit in my batting cage with my dad. We would do drill after drill after drill even though I didn’t think it would help. He would always tell me to work hard and I could achieve my dream. When I was 11 years old, I was told that if I wanted to play high school baseball, I needed to start working hard at it. I started doing more baseball activities to get better. My dad would always tell me that hard work pays off. When I turned 5, my family went down to Florida. My dad taught me the fundamentals of how to hit a baseball in the blazing heat. The few days we were down there, it was consistently around 100o. After hitting for 30 minutes, my reward was that I was able to jump in the pool and then got to go to an adventure park. I know I have learned this lesson because in the spring of 2018, I went to tryout for my middle school team. I made the A-team and realized that I was not only better than the other kids, but I also worked harder than them. I realized this when the coach was hitting ground balls on the field and I was the only one fielding every single ground ball. After the tryout, he approached me saying, “You were very impressive and I think you will be the shortstop on the team.” That’s when I remembered what my dad always said, “Hard Work Pays Off.” I continued to work hard throughout that season which earned me the starting shortstop spot on the team. I played really well throughout the whole season. Working hard and playing well in the season allowed me to make a very good team that summer. Even though I was playing in a higher age group, I still played very well and helped get my team to play at Yankee Stadium. My teammates started to call me “Captain Clutch”. During the winter of that season, I worked hard to get bigger and

stronger to be able to try out for my school’s JV baseball team. Not only did I make the team, I played really well and earned the starting shortstop role. In middle school, I studied really hard to achieve one goal. That goal was to get scholarships to schools. I ended up receiving two scholarships. After having two big injuries in 2019, the winter of 2020 meant that I had to work extremely hard to make sure I was not only equal to kids, but was also better than they were. When I got to Holy Cross, I studied really hard to get good grades resulting in getting Principal's List twice. As I continue to get older, I continue to realize the people who work hard and the people who don’t work hard. People that didn’t work hard didn’t make the teams they wanted. People who didn’t work hard didn’t get good grades on tests. People who didn’t work hard struggle to find a job. The people who do work hard at things make the teams they want to make, they get good grades on tests, and can find a job easily. In the past, I have used this lesson to help better my life. Even though I will eventually become an adult, that doesn’t mean to stop using this lesson. Your actions have consequences by Adam Muczynski When I was 9, my father started to make me do jobs around the house. These jobs included doing the dishes, taking out the trash, raking the leaves and mowing. I always thought that it was so that he and my brother had help, and so that I knew what to do and how to do it when my time came. However it also taught me something else without me even realizing. Your actions have consequences. Sometimes, when I forgot to do the dishes, or take out the trash when I was asked, I would get not only an ear full from my dad, but he would also force me to do the jobs anyway, and by that point the jobs got even harder to do. The dishes would have dry food on them, which is very hard to scrub off, the garbage would smell more and be

heavier, or there were mosquitos all over the lawn while I was working. So I learned that my actions had consequences. I started noticing people who hadn’t learned this lesson as early as elementary school. An example of some such people happened in middle school, when our teacher sent out a few of my classmates to our small school library to do some work. So on my way back from an errand I decided to stop by and say hi, only to find one of them walking on the table, and the others waiting to take their turn next. I could not understand why they were doing it. So I asked, “Why?” and what they told me did not satisfy me. Now, when I say that I learned that my actions have consequences, I don’t only mean that as I was able to use my knowledge to avoid trouble, like walking on a table would bring, but I could also use it to run into a favorable situation. An example of this is, let's say you want to get to college, you can use your knowledge of action and consequences to help you get into your dream college. You know that all colleges like to see that you do lots of after school activities and sports, so you can start doing a lot of after school activities, and/or sports to increase your chances to get into that dream college. A Long-Term Lesson by Wesley Reyes I started to do chores and my own duties at a young age. When I was 7 years old, I started to do my own, even though it was simply things like cleaning my toys. When it came to completing my chores, that was priority. Everytime I didn’t happen to complete my chores, my parents would say, “We will take away what you love the most.'', which would usually be my Nintendo DS at that age. I would consider my cousin lucky for having very flexible parents, they would never take away his Nintendo DS. However, at one point, I never got in

trouble because I did all my chores and did them well. But of course, with age comes new responsibilities. As I got older, my chores also changed, becoming more and more difficult. I would always think that I did everything right, but then my parents criticized just about anything that I did wrong. Sometimes I would make them very upset by not doing the simplest of things, like checking the pockets before putting them in the washing machine. I made this mistake not only once, but twice, resulting in: a pen to be in the washing machine, clothes with heavy ink marks, and my dad’s wallet being wet, with his many cards and cash still useful but the wallet itself falling apart. But after learning from these little mistakes, I would do the chore with ease. I would always see my cousin complain about their chores saying that they are tired or that they have something to do. My parents taught me to do my duties before leaving the house to do fun stuff, like go out. It was like a reward system, that if I got my chores done, then I could enjoy the rest of the day. About a year ago, I was assigned a new chore, which was not an easy one. Cleaning the bathrooms is a huge responsibility to get done every weekend. What made this chore more difficult is the fact that my apartment had two bathrooms. This takes about three hours of cleaning without stopping, and I would always do something wrong. It was just like doing laundry, but with more concentration and dedication. When I did laundry, I watched television while I folded the clothes and waited for the next clothes to fold. This is when I realized my parents wanted to challenge me so I could realize how difficult everything is. My realization made me question whether or not I am smart and dedicated when it comes to anything. After observing and talking to my friends, I realized that I am very responsible and caring for what is good for myself. Some of my friends don’t care about what their parents say, and also don't care much about school. This made me feel responsible and different, and made me feel better about myself. It’s not just about doing chores, it’s knowing what to do correctly. Some people don’t even know how to simply wash the dishes, because unfortunately for them, their parents haven’t thought them to. But fortunately for me, my parents taught me responsibility in a good way to help me everyday.

Don’t Always Rely on Others by Olivia Scotti When I was younger, my mother began teaching me not to rely on others. She did this for a very good reason. When I was in elementary school, there were many events that my family members would like to show up to. For example birthday parties, talent shows, plays, recitals, my communion, and my graduation. There was always a family member who never committed to what they said they would do. They would always say they were coming to watch me dance and sing or come to a birthday party, but they would never show up. I used to become very upset by this person and I let this one person determine my happiness. One birthday I cried the whole time and ruined it not only for myself, but all my guests as well. My mom saw how upset I was so she told me to make myself happy and not to focus on this person. In 8th grade, we received a project that was very important. This project was a pass or fail project. It was a group project and I happened to be paired with some questionable classmates of mine who I knew were not that reliable. These classmates didn’t send the data I needed and they didn’t complete certain tasks that were necessary to complete the project. My teacher told me as long as I had my part of the project done then I would pass. I found all the data myself and put the project together as best I could. I did my part and some extra to make sure I would pass. Some other kids in class relied on their classmates to send the data, which they never received. They trusted their classmates and waited around for them. They ended up failing the project. They never did their part of the project because they waited around for their classmates to help them or to send information. I feel as if the lesson, “don’t rely on others' ' can be very helpful in my future in college and in the workplace. When I’m a junior or senior and I am getting ready for college I won’t need to rely on anyone else for help. When I am in college and have a partner for a project, I won't rely on them to help me or to even complete their part. This can also help me in the workplace. I won't rely on my coworkers to help me or to relay a message to my boss. I won't rely on my friends to get stuff done for me because in life your friends aren’t the ones making money for you. You need to rely on yourself and yourself only to be successful in life.

Anger Management by Francis Scullin When I was a kid I was a big troublemaker. My parents taught me to control my anger and not to be very violent. I remember one time in second grade I was very angry because another kid was messing with me and making fun of me. Eventually I just snapped and flipped my desk at the other kid. Luckily the other kid didn’t get hurt, but I still got suspended and my parents were very disappointed in me. My parents scolded me and explained to me that in that situation it is best to just ignore them and walk away. At first I didn’t really value this lesson they were trying to teach me and I ignored it. I kept on being the same way I was and always fighting with other kids. I was about to go to middle school when I realized how valuable this lesson was. When people are making fun of you they the thing they want most is to make you mad or sad. You shouldn’t let them have that satisfaction, and you should just let it be and ignore them. Fighting doesn’t resolve anything and it only makes things worse. I realized because I noticed my parents' actions. They would never try to argue with anyone and tried to keep calm and resolve conflict peacefully. You should not immediately resort to arguing and fighting with someone. In my life today I have not recently ever really fought with anyone. I try to think before I act and keep things happy and peaceful. I have noticed some people I know weren’t taught this lesson. One of my friends was suspended from his school because of a fight with someone over some petty argument. He got too heated and ended up punching his classmate in his face. Things turned into an all out fist fight. He got in lots of trouble at school just because he couldn’t calm down and ignore this person. I think this lesson will help me a lot in the future. People often lose their jobs over an argument that could have easily been resolved. Also this could help me a lot in college. I could be expelled from my college only over a single fight. If I can calm down and walk away when someone is bothering me this would not happen. Life only gets harder as you get older so if I can’t stay calm I

can’t be successful. The most successful people are calm and aren’t violent. To succeed I need to stay out of trouble and not make mistakes that could possibly ruin my life. People are often arrested for problems that could have been resolved with this lesson. You just need to stay calm, ignore people and walk away.

Wrinkles of Responsibilities by Samantha Sambucharan My dad always made me iron my own clothes since I was nine. He could constantly tell me, “when I was your age, I was doing blah blah blah blah..” It would all go in one ear and out the other. I wholeheartedly believed that my dad made me iron my own clothes because he was too tired. After him not doing it for me and making me learn, I never had to ask anyone to do it for me. The “iron your old clothes” eventually moved to “keep track of your spendings.” Since I was in 8th grade and was going to be moving to high school very soon, the option that was bestowed on me was pay for catholic high school and try to earn a scholarship for college or go to public high school and save money for college. My dad tried countless times in many examples to show me how to save money and prepare for the future. Even though he wanted me to go to Valley Stream Central High School, I believed that I could come to Holy Cross and work hard enough through my four years to get a scholarship. As my time in Cross came, I had to learn how to stretch my $20 a week between lunch, breakfast, and snacks to last for the week. If I spent too much, I was on my own to figure out what I would do. The next time around, I’d always make sure I spent my money wisely and kept record of how much and what I bought per day. The talk of college didn’t end there, however. My dad would always keep my updated on the amount in my savings account and remind me to contribute komeny whenever I got for Christmas or my birthday. All of this made me think of what I want to do for the future so I can prepare ahead of time. From dipping my toes into new interests such as having a career in flying or law, I was able to make decisions that narrowed down my choices. It soon became easy to notice the people around me who weren’t worried, nor did they seem to care about

what they would do after high school. When I attended the National Flight Academy in June of 2019 on a scholarship from Delta Airlines, I was able to gain further knowledge about becoming a pilot, working in air traffic control, and all the others things I was interested in as a career. Having a week there allowed me to really see if I liked it and wanted to learn further. However, I noticed kids there who seemed to want to come just to spend the week away from their families. These were the kids who slept during the lessons and when the exciting things were being done, such as flying in the plane simulator, they had no idea what to do. They would ask myself or other kids there to do stuff for them or what to do in general. Observing all this, I realized that if I was able to learn for myself, there would be no need to rely on someone else for help. There was no need to depend on someone else to do my responsibilities. Listening to those lessons at the academy allowed me to know what I had to do and do it on my own. That independence can help me in the future to be able to take care of myself without relying on anything/one to do it for me. In college, without my parents, I’d need to be able to iron my own clothes and keep track of my spendings. Later down the line, a long time from now, I can teach my own kids to have independence and tell them, “when I was your age…..”