Be yourself!

By:Caroline Dalton*

If you look around you are 99% guaranteed to see people not acting like
themselves. People don’t realize that they HAVE to be themselves. It is so
super important. It happens every day, sometimes we don’t notice it. I’ve come
to know that if you be yourself your life is easier. If you be yourself your
true beauty will shine.
If you be yourself your true beauty
will shine because you will be known as a copy-cat if you’re not yourself. For
example, my friend told me that one time her cousin did EXACTLY what she was
doing. She ALWAYS told her to stop, her cousin just said, “Are you kidding?
You’re the one copying me.” I have a
quote it’s, “Copying people shows you don’t believe in yourself.” I asked
everyone in my class if others copy them 100% the class said yes. I also asked
everyone if they copy others, 50% of the class said yes and 50% said no. My
friend Rachel L. said her cousin copies everything she does. There is one problem;
her cousin is a boy wanting to be a girl. She gets mad and frustrated. If you
copy someone if shows weakness. DO NOT copy people. It’s the wrong thing to do.
If you be yourself your true beauty
will shine because if you be your enemy you can become your enemy. For example
a friend of mine told me that his enemy copies everything he does. He gets
really annoyed. When he tells his enemy to stop, the other kid acts like he
never copied him. My point is the other boy isn’t himself so in a way he is his
own enemy. Another example is, my friend Rachel L told me her enemy wants Rachel
to be her. One time Rachel was at her house, and when the 2 of them were
walking down the stairs, the other girl told her to do the exact same thing
when they were walking. Rachel did until she got CRAZY and didn’t feel
comfortable doing that. Rachel stopped and her enemy started copying her.
Rachel told her to stop, she never would. They stopped being friends after
that. The reason they stopped being friends was the other girl got mad at her
for copying and became enemies with herself. Always remember you can’t spell
beautiful without BE YOU. ALWAYS be yourself so you don’t make yourself your
own enemy.
If you be yourself your true beauty
will shine because if you’re someone else you are hiding from who you are. For
example, one time all the girls on my softball team were at my house practicing
before the game. My neighbor came outside and was wearing a skirt sitting on a
swing. She sees my teammates and I practicing and goes inside. When she comes
out again she’s wearing her sister’s softball clothes. Just remember be
yourself. I interviewed my 2 friends Rachel and Madeline, they both went to a
camp and told me a girl there stole their ideas in art. She always sat next to
them so she could see what she was drawing or painting. Every single day she
would steal their ideas. Because of this they weren’t friends. If she painted
her own things the 3 could be friends. Being yourself is also a way to make
more friends. Life is easier when you don’t have to hide.
If you be yourself it’s great. It
shows you can follow your heart no matter what others say. I’d rather be hated
for who I am than to be loved for who I’m not. If you are yourself your true
beauty will shine.

Essay by Madeline Liberman

NOTE: People’s names in this essay have been replaced by fake names to prevent embarrassment.

Believe it or not, sometimes it’s very hard to be truthful to someone. A lot of people grew up with their parents telling them, “Never, ever lie.” But others say sometimes you need to lie. Most of the time these people are wrong, and most of the time in this kind of situation, if you lie, it can be extremely destructive. And sometimes doing the right thing can be hard. It can be really hard. You think you’ll hurt someone’s feelings. But you can be wrong! I once had a friend who told me my lip gloss looked ridiculous. After she gave me a mirror, I realized she saved me from embarrassing myself in front of my classmates. My friend, who I had thought before was being mean to me, was actually helping me out. She was telling the truth. Everyone hates to be lied to, but it takes a lot of courage to not lie to them.

Sometimes it’s hard to be truthful to someone, because it forces you to do things you don’t want to do. For example, while my mom was in high school, she started to hate eating meat. But my grandmother made meat at least 4 times a week! Mom just kept forcing it down so she wouldn’t hurt her mother’s feelings. But her mother still made it a lot. Now, my mother still can’t stand meat. But by lying to HER mother, she was causing her mother to spend lots of money on unnecessary meat. My grandma still doesn’t know my mother hates meat, and my mom is sure she should’ve confessed.

Another example is when my friend Diane’s cousin asked her to play with Diane’s neighbor, Chris. At the time Diane and Chris were in an argument. Diane said “Sure” because Diane’s cousin really liked hanging out with Chris. Chris refused and shut the door. When Diane’s cousin asked why, she told the truth. She then knew she didn’t have to lie to her cousin and do something she didn’t want to do.

Also, 100% of Ms. Stodden’s class said they had done something they didn’t want to do to be dishonest, and in their opinion, nice to someone, even though the other person didn’t need it. If people just step up and tell the truth, instead of being “nice”, they won’t have to do things they don’t want to do.

Sometimes it’s hard to be truthful to someone because it can frustrate them.

One time a girl I know, Rose, asked her friend if her hair looked okay. Rose’s friend said “Yes” but Rose could tell her friend was lying to be nice. But it would help Rose more if her friend nicely stated what was wrong with Rose’s hair. Her friend should’ve just been straight with Rose and told her, instead of being “nice” and keeping it to herself. Then Rose could’ve fixed her hair! People should stop lying when they don’t have to and frustrating others.

Sometimes it’s bad hard to be truthful to someone because it makes them feel different. One example is when my friend Kate was playing Ping-Pong with her family, and she wasn’t doing well. This was because Kate hadn’t practiced. But the rest of her family was doing great! Her brothers were making fun of her and she was starting to feel bad. When she walked up to the Ping-Pong table, her dad was her opponent. He went really easy on Kate, which was lying to himself and his abilities, and it made her feel like she wasn’t as good as everyone else.

Sometimes it’s hard to be truthful to someone because they think they can’t do anything wrong. Once, my mom told me about an article she’d read. In it, experts explained that children who were praised all the time, or lied to, wouldn’t get very far in life, because they thought they were incapable of doing anything wrong. The kids’ parents would tell them they were doing fantastic all the time, so they would never learn to try again if they didn’t succeed, or practice to become perfect. But later in life, the same children might become cocky and tell others, “I can do this so much better than you.” It could land them in big trouble, and all this just because of these lies.

Another time, when I was looking at all my brother and sisters’ artwork on the wall, I went to my mom and asked her, “Why haven’t you hung up anything of MINE on the wall?” Mom said, “It’s because I’m waiting for the right artwork from you, the one I totally love. I don’t want to hang just any old work.” I wasn’t happy at all; I thought the day she hung something of mine up would never come. Then later, I created another piece, one Mom loved. I was ecstatic when Mom hung it on the wall. If Mom had hung EVERYTHING on the wall, though, I would have thought everything I’d made was amazing! Mom never lied to me about what she liked and what she thought was just so-so. People would work harder and strive for success without constant praise for everything they did.

All this is important because you could really hurt someone’s feelings, career, friendship, or their trust in you if lie to them. It can be really, really difficult to do the right thing and tell someone what you really think. But too many people hide their true feelings in their lies. Hiding your true feelings is hiding who you are and what you’ve become. People don’t want to be friends with someone who they don’t think is trustworthy and doesn’t show their feelings. I think people should take a stand and stop all the lying before it starts. I hope by reading this essay you’ve learned something about lying to someone. Would you lie to your best friend on purpose? In fact, would you like lying to ANYONE you know? So the next time you want to tell your friend her actually hideous shirt looks great, here’s my advice: Think before you speak. Would you like to be treated this way? Because when you step up and tell the truth, you are saving someone from being scarred.

ESSAY

If I Had a Sister...

By Rachel Lucas

“Many people don’t realize that sisters help you through life, but I’ve come to know that they truly do,” that’s what my friends say because they have sisters, but I DON’T! So I say “If I had a sister, life would be easier.” My life would be easier because brothers don’t hang out with you, and just ignore you when you’re trying to talk. Brothers don’t help you, and if they do help you with homework or something, they give you the wrong answer. Also brothers don’t understand you because they are boys and I’m a girl, that’s why moms come in handy but moms aren’t always around. In addition to that, when you’re trying to tell them something, they just walk away!

Maybe if I had a sister, she would hangout with me because my brothers DO NOT! For example, there’s no one to hang out with besides friends, but friends aren’t always home! And your brothers IGNORE you! One day I was REALLY bored and I wanted to play a game that needed more than 2 people. I asked my brothers if they wanted to play. Mark said, “I’m watching T.V. and anyways, I HATE that game!” So I asked my other brother, Richie if he wanted to play. He replied saying, “NOOOOO!!! I WANT TO PLAY THE WII!!!” I told my mom and she said that Richie had to play but Mark didn’t. I told her that MORE than 2 people had to play the game! She said, “Fine, your dad and I will play with you guys!” Richie was angry and had an attitude the whole game. If I had a sister, she would probably play without being forced and wouldn’t be angry the whole time! My friend Caroline says, “A sister is a best friend!” My other friend Brynn knows how great a sister can be. She said,” Once I was riding with my sister, having a blast. We were going to see the movie Ramona and Beezus. I was having so much fun! My sister was 17 so we could go by ourselves. We had popcorn, candy, and watched a great movie! On the way back, we talked and talked and talked! I got to know her a lot better!” So Brynn hung out with her sister and had a great time.

Also if I had a sister, maybe she would help me when I need it because my brothers DO NOT! For example, “when helping others, don’t look for a reward; if you’re looking for a reward, don’t help others!” my friend Caroline needed braids in her hair, but her mom wasn’t home and her dad was really bad at it! Her brothers wouldn’t have a clue on how to do it, so she couldn’t get her hair in braids! If she had an older sister, she would know how to do it. So Caroline is just like ME, we don’t have sisters to do our hair! Caroline said, “I would want an older sister and a younger sister because older sisters you can look up to, and younger sisters are cute and adorable and can look up to ME!”

Another example of my life being easier is how a sister would understand me more. For example, “It is our brothers and sisters that we learn to love, share, negotiate, start and end fights, hurt others, and save face. The basis of healthy (or unhealthy) connections in adulthood is cast during childhood.” That quote is a little confusing to me but it makes sense if you read it over and over again. Another example is my friend Jenna has 2 sisters and 1 brother. She said her sisters understand her more than her brother does. In addition, when I’m trying to talk to my brothers about something, they don’t understand me and just ignore what I’m saying! If I had a sister maybe she would ACTUALLY listen and understand me!

So what I’m really trying to say is that sisters help you through the ups and downs of life. If you have a sister, you know what I’m talking about and understand my difficulty of NO SISTERS!

THE END!=)

Word Riddle

by Madeline

1. It starts with a letter between e and k.
2. Fill in. Bullies are ______.
3. It has 4 syllables.
4. You would not be like this to your friend.
5. It means to be unfriendly to someone.

Word Riddle

1.It starts with a letter between A-Q.

2.It means to start.

3.It has 3 syllables.

4.It could also meant to be true.

5. It ends with sh.

What am I?

~Caroline Dalton*

MCBA PROJECT #4

The character I think is most interesting is Olive. I like Olive because the most because shes a ghost. Olive is a ghost so that allows her to do everything she wants invisibly like mow the lawn. Another reason Ilike Olive is she made Ignatious really happy and before Olive came into the book Ignatious was my favorite character. The second reason I really like Olive is because she has weird opinion changes. Like for example she hated Ignatious so much in the beginning that she dropped a chandaler on him and in the end she was his wife. How do you go from dropping a chandaler on someone to getting married to them? The last reason I really like Olive is because she took care of Seymour and I kinda felt bad for Seymour because his parents left him home on a long, long trip and they didn't want him anymore. Thats why my favorite character is Olive.

Mystery Word Riddle by Writerman AL 1

To do this you have to be good at being sneaky

Harriet Tubman ______ slave catchers all the time

Some people never answer questions so they ________

The word starts with a letter between A and G

Some coaches do this in a press conference

What am I ?