Essay 1: Our Special Day

 

On December 11, 2009 I moved in with my fiancé, Irvin Pedraza-Gomez.  I was eighteen and he was twenty-one at the time.  I moved from Anaheim to Oxnard.  This was on a Friday and that following Monday, I began behaving like a wife.  I cooked and cleaned every day.  Also, I worked on my online classes from Fullerton College,-this college is in Fullerton City- while he worked.           

Then, two weeks before my math final, I decided that I wanted to get married through the court.  I told my husband of that decision-or at least about my idea-and he agreed to it.  We decided to get married on the day of my final because we would get married in the afternoon and my final was scheduled for the evening.                                    

So, I called his sister and my mom so that they could find out where we could get married.  Then, I called the Civic Center Plaza in Fullerton City, and I got all the paperwork needed, ready for that day.  We left Oxnard the night before the ceremony.  I took all my necessary school materials and everything we needed for our special day.

On May 21, 2010, which was the next day, a few weeks after my husband’s birthday and mine, we were very busy.  As soon as, the court was opened, we went to get our marriage license.  I remember that as the minutes progressed I began to get more nervous.  When we arrived at the civil court, we had to fill out all the necessary documents.  I could tell he was nervous.                                                                                                                                                                     I kept telling him, “Sign here.”  He would say, “Where?”  I would repeat “Here!”  Then he asked, “Now what?”  I explained, “Now we wait!”                                                                                            

 Then the person who was checking all our paper work asked us if we wanted to get married right away.  We wanted to have the latest ceremony possible, which was at four in the afternoon.  

At that moment, what popped into my mind was the fact that I going to change my name.  I went from Brenda Maria Jimenez to Brenda Maria Jimenez-Pedraza. Even though, I just added my husband’s last name, it was still a big deal.  I had never really thought about changing my last name, or in this case, adding a last name.  However, I was still sure that though I was taking his last name as my own, I still wanted to keep my paternal name.

           

Then, we went to run some errands.  Before long, it was time to get ready for our ceremony.  We got dressed and hurried on back to the court.  He wore a black dress pants, black dress shoes, and a striped dress shirt that matched my dress.  I wore a pearl colored dress with gold heels. When we arrived, we were getting the final details ready, like who our witnesses were and waiting to do the four o’clock ceremony of that day.       

           

As soon as, our witnesses, Ana Toro and Jarem Toro arrived, we were ready to be married.  They signed the papers and we were led into the ceremony room.  I remember that there was a quote on the wall that said something like, “May you always be happy and in love.”  There were curtains, flowers, a podium, and a bench in the room.              We all went in and took pictures.  My husband and I took pictures of us, and then some with our mothers, our siblings, and as a big happy family.  I remember that my sister-in-law also videotaped the entire ceremony.                                                               

While the judge was speaking, I kept thinking of how much I loved this man next to me.  Then, the “I do’s,” came in.  As soon as I had to say the very first “I do,” I began crying.  At that moment, I knew that I would never love anyone, but him.  This, I knew before I decided to marry him, but I did not know how much it meant to me to get married with the love of my life.                                                 

I knew that everyone was staring at us, but especially at me because no one in my family had ever seen me cry--because I am the type of person who would try to hide all of those types of feelings behind a sweet smile.  Yet, I tried to keep it together.  Then, the “I do,” promise began.  I said, “I do,” to everything that the judge asked me.  Afterward, my husband said his share of, “I do‘s!”                                                          

I still could not believe that I took that big step, especially as a nineteen year old.  When I was younger, I would always say that I never planned to get married.  I always thought about dating, and adopting when I became an adult, but not about getting married.  I could never see myself as a married person, but that day, I knew that, that is what I wanted to be happy.  In other words, I am so happy that a wonderful man was capable of changing my way of thinking.

After the ceremony we went out to eat at a Chinese food buffet.  We all sat around a circular table and ate as a family.  We talked about our future plans and of how our lives had changed since moving in together.  Everybody seemed very happy to see us so happy together.  It all seemed like a dream come true.                                                    

Afterward, my husband took me to Fullerton College to take my Math Final a few hours later.  After that, we kept the celebration going at my sister-in-law’s house.  We talked about starting a family, and going out.  We stayed up the entire night.  In fact, we did not go to sleep until Sunday when we drove back to Oxnard that night.

This Month's Featured Student

            Everardo Hernandez was born in Mexico, Zacatecas and raised in San Pedro, California.  Hernandez is the oldest of four siblings.  He went to school in San Pedro from Kindergarten through his senior year.  After high school he would began partying for three years.  Afterward, he went into the Armed Forces for seven years.  Then, this past February the tenth, he was out of active duty.  So, we joined the National Guard.  He is not only a   defender of the United States, but also a proud father of a little girl and a boy on the way.                                                                                                                                                      
             The Post 9/11 G.I. Bill motivates him to go to college because it is helping him pay for his education.  Also, not having a job motivates him to get a college degree.  His current schedule is going to the gym at the navy base in the mornings for two hours, going to school in the night, and attending drills one weekend of every month.  He says, “I have all the time in the world for my family because I do not have a job right now!”                                                                                                                                                                        He see's himself as a role model for his daughter because he is always trying to be a good father and teacher for her.  Three words that describe him are: quiet, disciplined, and motivated.  Years from now he hopes to be working in a federal job, preferably for the Army Corp. of Engineers.                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
             What he likes about Oxnard College is the driving distance, the class schedules, and the services.  However, he thinks that the campus should be improved by providing more parking spaces and better technology availability.  His cultural background influences him to get a better career and to have a better education than his parents.  Coming to college has given him the experience of having been away from school for so long.             

Texting-Important and Fun

Texting is a lot of fun because we can be well communicated with whoever we want. We can talk to others without really talking to them, so other people are not able to hear a private conversation in public. Also, texting can be used to quickly remind someone of where to pick up something they need where silence is required and speaking on the phone is not allowed-places like the library. That way if people are studying, no one would be bothered by someone else’s phone conversation. Another reason why texting is useful, is when someone is at a party and they get call. The call can be ignored, but immediately answered by a text. That way the partier does not have to worry about not being able to hear what the caller is saying, and the caller does not worry about all the music and the noise in the background of their conversation.

            However, even though we may not put much thought into it, having the privilege to text may be a necessity at some point in someone’s life. For example, in case of an emergency. For instance, if someone breaks into someone’s house and they find a place to hide, it is probably safer to text someone for help, rather than calling someone and running the risk of being heard and found by the intruder. Another type of emergency in which a text may be more useful, might be when someone goes missing. Especially, because in order to file a missing person report with the police, there is a specific procedure to follow before doing so. A text may be the difference between finding that person dead or alive. Sometimes, finding them at all because some people are never found, or if they are found, it could be after years have passed by and usually by then it is too late.
            Also, texting should only be used if done so wisely. Even though most of us want to text back as soon as, we received the message, it is not always the right thing to do. For instance, if we are driving we should wait to answer the message until the appropriate time, in order to try and prevent an accident. Also, we should not text where it is not allowed because all our actions have consequences.

Reality TV

           I do not watch that much television these days, so I rarely watch reality tv.  If anything,

I usually watch movies.  I tend to avoid reality shows because  I do not like them.  I try to avoid them as much as possible.  Even though, sometimes I end up watching them because my husband wants to watch them.  Or sometimes, also because we go to visit the family and they are already watching one of those shows.

            However, I am not really sure about them being a harm or a help to our society.  I think, that maybe, in the past they probably were more of a harm because of how and/or what people thought about whatever, they would watch.  But, now everyone seems to be more open-minded and we seem to think mire objectively.  In other words, we think twice about if what we are watching can really happen, or if it is completely made up with technology.            

            In my opinion, reality shows have a huge affect on our society.  Whether, we accept the fact or not, anything and everything we watch, say, or do, always affect us in one way or another.  Sometimes, we do not see right away how it may affect us, but it does.  We can be affect in a positive way or a negative way.   For instance, if a young child watches people fighting, they may think that, that is “cool” and then they may start fighting with anyone, for no reason.  Their excuse for doing what they did, is that they saw it in television, and that they did not see any harm in their actions.  When in reality, television does show how badly hurt someone can get or the consequences of their actions.  So, reality television may be a good or bad thing to watch.  It all just depends of the person’s mentality.

Fast Food-Always Delicious, But Not Always Nutritious

            My history with fast food…  I would not call it history because I still eat it every once in a while.  Yet, it was not and will not be a regular part of my family’s life.  Fast food has always been a treat for me and my family.  My mom would take us to Ho Toys Chinese Food Restaurant (in Anaheim).  I would usually order half of fried rice and half of steamed rice, orange chicken, and teriyaki with a pink lemonade.  I always loved eating that.  However, we would sometimes go to Burger King, Varsity Burgers, Carl’s Jr., KFC, or to a buffet, like Hometown Buffet.  I still remember how much we enjoyed eating out as a family when we had a chance, because of how busy our schedules got, as we grew older. Oddly enough now that I think about it, back then I did not put much thought into how I felt about fast food.  All I remember thinking about at that moment is that I was going to enjoy my favorite food, or at least, one of my many favorite foods.  I did not stop to think about how healthy was the food that I wanted to eat.  There really weren’t any worries on my mind about how many calories, how much fat, or what it took to cook the food.                                                           

But, as of this past December, I kind of did rely on fast food for the first couple of days because I moved in with my husband.  I remember that our first weekend of living together, we ate at a fast food restaurant or at the buffet because we were barely purchasing appliances, cookware, groceries etc…that Saturday and Sunday.  However, after that, I would cook daily, and we have only gone out to eat on occasion.  For instance, we plan to go to a buffet on Wednesday.  So, we do not rely on it that much.  This is a good thing because my younger siblings expect me to eat fast food frequently, because of the stereo type that, that is what all college students eat.  They thought that I would be eating fatty food all the time.  So, they are very surprised that I still maintain my healthy eating habits.  Which, now I see that this decision of eating healthy has had a huge affect on my siblings.  Now, they hardly eat fast food, and there rarely is any junk food at my mother’s house.

Before, Now & After

            My name is Brenda Jimenez. I had always lived in Anaheim with my family. I went To Benjamin Franklin Elementary, South Junior High, and Then I graduated from Katella High School. I figured that I would be going to California State University, Fullerton, but that did not happen. I was accepted to go there, but I did not have the money and I did not want to get a loan because of the interest rates. So, I decided to go to Fullerton Community College, and continue on going to St. Boniface Church because I became a group leader. Which, I did! I started at Fullerton in Fall of 2009 and kept going to church to help the younger youth get in touch with God. I went to school Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Then I went to church, Tuesdays, Fridays, Sundays, and sometimes Saturdays. I loved helping at every church event that we had. Also, I spent as much time as possible with my friends and family. I loved all my family events.                             

            But, then I decided to move in with my boyfriend, last December who was already living in Oxnard. So, I do not see my friends or family as much as I want to. We only drive to Anaheim on special occasions. For instance, since I continued my education at the same college through online classes I would go back and forth for tests. Then, on the day of my last final, my husband and I went to Anaheim and we got married through the court. This is why I am now going to Oxnard College. This was something that I had not planned, but it was worth it. Now I am able to take more courses than at my other school. I also, hope to get another job soon because my husband is disabled for the moment, and he cannot work.                                                                                                                                               

             As for my future, I plan to complete my general education and get my Associate’s Degree in Psychology by this Spring or the next Fall Semester. I am hoping to become A Special Education Teacher after transferring to a four year university and to also get my teaching credentials. Then, my husband and I plan to go to Mexico and get married through the church over there. After that, I hope to start or have started a family. I want to have children, but I am not sure of when that will happen. However, if I do start a family by the time I am done with school, I plan to move to Mexico for two to five of years and teach over there. Since we both have very big families over there, we want to move over there for awhile. Yet, since I cannot see the future, things can change, so I always take things, one day at a time.