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I Almost Died- How I Ended the Decade
Where do I even start? I honestly did not expect to end 2019 like this. It all started with a simple charley horse, a sample leg cramp. A cramp that I have been ignoring for a few months because I “workout” once at the dorm gym. I often get Charley horses and honestly I didn’t have the best diet in college. Sure, I would buy fresh veggies every week, but those veggies would be used for all my high carb infused recipes. Bell peppers would be used for my pasta and fried rice stir-fried. Sure I would make a salad once with half of that spinach bag, but the other…
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I Finally Failed A College Class
**This is not a guide on how to deal with failing a class. In the fall of 2019, I transferred to a big university ( University of Central Florida). No longer was I in a small town with my senior high classmates in my community college class. I was in an official university. The school was only two hours away but far enough to where I felt new. I had a goal. I was determined to become spontaneous in a new city and make the best of my remaining undergrad years. I have always been a good student, always at the top 5% of my class. I’ve never been perfect,…
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Who Am I Writing For?
People often ask me “how many comments do you get per post?” I respond with “zero, but I do have silent viewers”. And that is when I am hit with “With no comments, who are you writing for?” They are right. Who am I writing for? When I created vallesia.com/, I did not create it for huge exposure, rather, I created it to share my thoughts. Would I love for more people to read vallesia.com/? Yes, but it's not really my primary goal. My primary goal is to create meaningful content and assure that I am proud to be associated with them. You will not catch me creating meaningless posts…
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Breaking the Cycle of Poverty in Haiti
The other day I stumble a post on Instagram by a friend. In the post, she captioned I don’t know why people complain so much in Haiti. Just work hard and you will succeed. While I agree with some of that statement, there clearly is something wrong with it. While hard work does help build a nation; a nation is nothing if its government is a sellout. The people alone cannot succeed if the government does not take interest in the current and future economy of the country. When she mentioned Haiti, I knew she did not understand. I grew up in Haiti witnessing amazingly hard working people. Of course,…
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Please be mindful of other’s situations – A memoir
From the first day of primary school till the day of her death, my grandmother always advised me to always be satisfied with what I have. For every day I was with her, she always counsels me, and till this very day, I still live by those pieces of advice. “Accept what you receive today for you to not suffer tomorrow. You see today you don’t know where you will be tomorrow. And last importantly, don’t ever forget where you came from, you are no better than anyone.” Fortunately for me, I never suffered around that time. Coming from a third world nation I was considered “lucky” by all of…
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I’ll Admit It! I Was Ashamed of Being a Part Timer
I finally started my first official job in September 2017. I worked at a pizzeria, I was excited to finally start working and having a little income to buy miscellaneous things. I was not excited that the only place that called back was the pizzeria. I decided to accept the job regardless of my deep concern. I hated the job before I even started. I left the pizzeria and went to work at a retail store. I’ve always been critical of other’s opinions, hence, I was always scared that someone who recognized me would notice me working there. Every day I would come to work and begged that no one who recognized…
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Foreign Aid Is Not Helping Third World Countries
There are plenty of factors that make an individual prideful. For some it’s their bank account, splendor, or intelligence, for others it’s their nationality; their homeland. Regardless of their native lands’ economic status, most have a very deep connection with their homeland. Respect has been redefined numerously in the past. During the early 1900s (WWI &WWII era), respect was given to the nations with the most advanced military and powerful allies. Fast forward to modern time, respect is earned through nations being independence and those who receive little outside aid. This is why third world countries should become independent in order to gain the same respect and to continue protecting…
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Flexible Hours and its Disadvantage on Part-time and Full-time Workers
** I’ve used this same piece to apply for The Edit, but I’ve never received an email back. I figured since it’s my work I should publish it on my website. Last week I met up with a good friend of mine at our regular taco spot. She has been working numerous overtime since the holiday season, while simultaneously attending school. It has been over a month since we last talked face to face. “How have you been?” She asked, “I heard you quit that pizza place.” “I quit after a month” I answered as I sip my iced water. What?” she yelled, “You said you were saving for a…
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The parasitism relationship between intelligence and lower income students with social mobility in the United States.
** This was my final paper for my IDH class. The professor suggested I develop the piece further. This is the final result. The word intelligence shares multiple meaning across the globe. Each country and culture use their own theory of what they consider as intelligence and how they choose to measure it. There have been numerous attempts to unify and provide a global definition of intelligence, but so far, there hasn’t been any luck. If there is no linked definition of intelligence, then, why do we try to measure and classify it? The ongoing debate on standardized test scores has been alive for multiple decades. Many educators argue that standardized…