The Beat Within

-Julia, Marin  “Until the lion learns how to write, every story will glorify the hunter.” Chinua Achebe  This quote to me seems to say that until both stories or sides are told, only the one told will be telling the events. One person will always prevail; they will tell it in the sense that all glory goes to them. To me, the hunter in other terms is the good person and the lion is the typical bad person. But that’s a black and white version. To me, looking deeper into the quote would be the gray portion. When we don’t

-Alejandra, San Mateo  Hey, today they want me to talk about my ideal partner. My ideal partner is my boyfriend. He is everything I look for in a guy. He’s smart, respectful, loving, good looking, and he spoils me always.  He’s nothing like the guys in our generation. He’s one of a kind. We’ve been through hell and back. No matter what, we’re always there for each other. He makes me feel happy, excited, and loved.  We’ve been together since I was thirteen and he was fourteen. I remember it like it was yesterday. He’s my twin, my other half.

-T, San Bernardino For basically the majority of my life my father wasn’t really present. He was always out in the streets doing things that would always take him back to the same place. He has been getting locked up ever since I was little enough to not understand.  I would say that a big role of why the way he lives his life is partly because of the drugs he does. The other reason is because of the adrenaline he gets from running away from the police.  He enjoys the way he lives, except for when reality hits him

-Nicholas, Sonoma Pride to the sun, to the wind in my lungsOh, wretched man I am, I have a lack of prideOh, how the deeds I could have doneWould have been great, but I fell victimTo my thoughts in the days I felt grey.The days I couldn’t cure, that’s why prideTo the moon, to the sun, to the stars,Because through everything I’ve lived,I’ve seen pride through my eyes allBut from within, for I was tempted with sin,Oh, wretched man I am.Pride to my father, my brother, my mother,How proud I am to those who loved me,My acts too little to

-JDC, Albuquerque I’m proud of my mom. It’s easy to be proud of a parent just because they’re your parent, but my mom has been through hell itself. I watched her from a young age struggle with her mental health. I know that if I struggled, I would try and give up.  She never tried to give up but instead found ways to cope and still be the best mom I could’ve asked for. She implanted strong morals in all of her children. It might not have made sense back then, but the more I grew up, I realized I