Category: Piece of the Week

by IT, Sacramento The best advice I have gotten was when I was told that “in life there will always be ups and downs. There will always be people who doubt you and want you to fail. And there will also be people who want to see you succeed and do something positive in life. So as long as you keep pushing and stay on the right track, you will be okay.”  I feel this is one of the best words of advice I have received because not many people know that no matter what people say, good or bad,

by Mario, Santa Cruz The only time I remember forgiving others was this time when my uncle gave me my first car. It was a Honda Civic ’03, all beat up but shhh, it was for free. I asked my mom to swap cars for a week. She had a new Honda Civic ’07, and it was hella clean. She agreed to. So I think it was a Wednesday when my mom asked me if she could get her car back. I was, like, sure, give me mine back. She was giving me the keys when she said, “But I

by AC, Sonoma The silent treatment is something I do all the time. Especially to the staff who most annoys me because I don’t want to put myself in some situation, I’m not going to like the outcome of in the end. And also, just to keep the same relationship with staff but I’m not going to half of the time. I try this and help myself, but it ends up never working because either staff see it as me just trying to be disrespectful. I don’t answer things from them but in all reality, I’m just trying to get

by Jose, Santa Clara Today I am goin’ to talk about how you think before you act and how it would affect you. I always think before I acted but sometimes it would get me in trouble and sometimes it would work out for me, but most of the time not. And I been thinking a lot lately and think how I should move and how to act so when I do something, I always think before I act and make my decision on how I feel and how I feel about other people. And when I do something I

by DJ, Sacramento The last time I cried was two nights ago. I cried because I think of my loved ones a lot and my dad a lot. It would be if my dad was still here, I wonder where I would be. It makes me think would things be different. Would I have had to learn lessons by going through it to see how the outcome is?  Would I still feel alone even though I have a lot of people in my corner? People that’s here for me. I also cry because I feel I failed as a son

by Jorge, San Francisco The way my dream house would be described is as a big house in the middle of nowhere where I could only be with my family and my current girlfriend. My house would have ten bedrooms. One bedroom would be for me and my girl, another for my Mom, one for my sister and her baby daddy and son. The fourth would be for my Dad.  The fifth would be for my baby sister, who would have the best room beside my mom’s. The other five rooms would be for my guests. Each room would have

by DJ, Sacramento I am determined to change my old habits, to make a change. I do not know anyone who likes to be in jail, on probation or in the system their whole life. I do not want to be incarcerated my whole life and I do not want my little brothers to follow the same path. It is not worth it, and it is not worth your life.  I am determined to do anything to better myself. I can better myself by expanding my learning and by making better choices. For me to succeed, it will take for

by Jose, Santa Clara My dad is my hero. I’ve always had a good relationship with my dad. My dad was always there for me. He never let me down. He would work from 5am to 10pm at night everyday. Even though he worked late shifts, he still came home and showed me that love.  There was always food on the table. He worked hard as a truck driver and as a construction worker. When I was four he was deported to Mexico. A year later, he came back. In that year that he was gone, we lost our house.

by C, Sacramento I write to express myself, to release the pain, or to get things off my shoulders. It’s like if I don’t got no one to talk to, I can write my feelings down on a paper and feel better with myself. I know some of this is published, and it can help someone else by telling my story.  Sometimes, they can relate to my story because I read people’s stories that are published and or some books and it helps me, as a person to do better or have a better perspective on some things in life.

by David-Michael, Santa Clara My hero is my sister. Ever since we were young I was always getting into trouble, either if it was fighting or causing problems. My family stopped caring, started calling me a delinquent or the black sheep of the family. But my sister was never like that. She always took care of me, left dinner on the table when I would come home late, or even after a fight when I would come home bleeding and bruised up, she never judged me. She would always clean my cuts and scold me as if she was my